58. At this era every vessel approaching the coast had boarding nets, and
during three years ending 1817, one hundred New Zealanders were slain by
Europeans, in the immediate vicinity of the Bay of Islands. (Proceedings of
the Church Missionary Society, Vol. v.) Such murders did not pass
unavenged, although the blows given fell on the wrong parties.

59. The brig "Agnes," of six guns, with fourteen men on board,
stranded at Poverty Bay, in 1816, and all the crew, save John Rutherford,
were killed and eaten. (The New Zealanders, London, Nattali, 1847, Cap.
v., pp. 86 to 101, John Rutherford's narrative.) "A whale ship was cast
ashore at Wanganui, in 1820, and all the crew, except one European and
one negro, were killed and eaten." (Thomson, Vol. i. 253).

60. In 1823, efforts were made in the British Parliament to stop these
inhuman scenes, by passing an Act giving to the Supreme Courts of
Australia and Tasmania, jurisdiction over British subjects in New Zealand,
Act 4, Geo. IV., cap. 97, but with little effect.

61. In 1820, Hongi, Hika (the Napoleon of New Zealand) and Waikato
embarked for England, accompanied by M.r. Kendall, a missionary ; and
on arriving at London, were of great assistance. to Professor Lee, of
Cambridge, in the construction of a vocabulary and grammar of the New
Zealand language.

62. When the ambitious warrior Hongi visited England, in 1820,
George IV. gave him. an audience, and dismissed him. with a suit of armour,
and many presents. On his return from England, he visited Sydney, sold
all the valuable presents, excepting the coat of mail, and purchased 300
muskets, returned to New Zealand, and commenced exterminating several
tribes in the north. Early in 1822, Hongi embarked in his war canoes at
the Bay of Islands, with 1000 followers, steered up the Hauraki Gulf, and
entered the river Thames. Totara, a fortification standing on its left bank,
was taken by stratagem, and 300 of the enemy were eaten. (See Rev.
S. Marsden's Journal, Church and Wesleyan Missionary Reports, Christianity
among the New Zealanders, by the Right Rev. William Williams, D.O.L.,
Bishop of Waiapu, London, 1867, and numerous other publications.)

63. The lawless doings of Europeans in New Zealand, so far attracted
the notice of the Imperial Government, that Acts of Parliament were passed
in 1823, and in 1828, whereby the jurisdiction of the Courts of Justice in
New South Wales (of which colony New Zealand had, in 1814, been
proclaimed a dependency) was extended to all British subjects in New
Zealand. "An act to provide for the administration of justice in New
South Wales." (9 Geo. IV., c. 83, 1828.)

64. An attempt was made to colonize New Zealand; in 1825, a company
was formed in London, of highly influential men, among whom was Lord
Durham, to colonize New Zealand. A vessel was fitted out, sixty settlers
embarked, and late in the year 1826 they arrived in New Zealand. The
place chosen for the settlement was near the mouth of the Hokianga River;
and here captain Herd, the Company's agent, purchased a quantity of land,
and two islands in the Hauraki Gulf. Unluckily for the success of the
colony, the Hokianga natives were at war with those of the Bay of Islands,
when Captain Herd's settlers disembarked; and the sight of a war dance,
and alarming reports of battles won and lost in the neighbourhood, so
terrified the colonists that most of them left the country, after a short
residence. (Thompson, Vol. i. 269.)

12

65. In 1831, a letter applying for the protection of King William IV.,
signed. with the names or marks of thirteen chiefs residing in the Bay of
Islands, was transmitted to England by the Rev. Mr. Yates, then head of
the mission in New Zealand. Representations were also forwarded at the
same time from the Governor of New South Wales, suggesting the appoint¬-
ment of a person in the character of British resident at New Zealand.

68. The result of these joint solicitations was the compliance of the
Imp'?rial Government with the recommendation for the appointment of a
resident, And in 1833, Mr. James Busby, a settler in New South Wales,
was appointed to that position, with a view to check the enormities
complained of, and to give protection to the well-disposed settlers and traders.

67. Lord Goderich, in the name of King William IV., in answer to the
address, June 14, 1832, expressed His Majesty's sorrow for the injuries
which the New Zealanders had sustained from some of his subjects. The
letter, and various presents from the King, were presented to the assembled
chiefs by Mr. Busby, on his arrival in the colony In May, 1833.

68. Lieutenant McDonnell, R.N., was appointed, in 1830, to be a
temporary British Resident in Hokianga, with similar instructions to those
of Mr. Busby.

69. Wreck of the "Harriet." In April, 1834, the barque "Harriet,"
J. Guard, master, was wrecked at Taranaki, near to the spot were New
Plymouth now stands, and nearly all the crew massacred. Guard escaped,
and with some of the sailors, went to Sydney, and reported the circum-¬
stances. The Government of New South Wales sent His Majesty's ship
"Alligator," captain Lambert, and a company of the 40th Regiment, to
rescue the prisoners. Mrs. Guard and children were rescued, not, however,
without a struggle, in which several natives lost their lives. (Report of
Select Committee, House of Commons on Aborigines, 1837, Parl. Papers,
1830, No. 585, Marshall's account.)

70. In 1834, Mr. Busby suggested to the Governor of New South Wales,
that' New Zealand should have a national flag, and that ships owned by
New Zealanders should be registered. Sir Richard Bourke sent three
pattern flags by H.M.S. "Alligator," to the Bay of Islands, for the chiefs
to select from. The one selected was an ensign, with stars and stripes,
whlch was afterwards altered, and was hoisted, inaugurated with a salute of
twenty-one guns from H.M.S. "Alligator." An account of these proceedings,
dated April, 1834, was transmitted by the Governor of New South Wales to
the Imperial Government. Lord Aberdeen in reply (dated December, 1834),
approved of them in the name of the King, and stated that the Admiralty
had instructed their officers to give effect to the New Zealand Registers, and
to acknowledge and respect the national flag of the country. (Parliamentary
papers, 1840, Lord Aberdeen's letter.)

71.. In 1830, a declaration was issued by the Baron Charles Hyppolitus
de Thleny -- who announced his intention as "Charles, Baron de Thierry,
Sovereign chief of New Zealand, and King of Nuhuheva," one of the
Marquesas Islands -- of a formal declaration of his intention to establish in
his own personn an independent sovereignty in New Zealand. On receipt of
this information, Mr. Busby Issued an official address to hIs countrymen in
New Zealand, dated Bay of Islands, 10th October, 1835, calling together
the native chiefs, in order to inform them of the Baron de Thierry;s attempt
on their independence.

13

72. The result was a meeting of chiefs; an address from Mr. Busby,
October, 1835; and a Declaration of Independence by the chiefs of New
Zealand, under the designation of "The United Tribes of New Zealand."
In November, 1835, Mr. Busby transmitted a copy of the Declaration to
the Under-Secretary of State (Mr. Hay.)

73. In May, 1836, Lord Glenelg, in a despatch to Major-General Sir
Richard Bourke, Governor of New South Wales, acknowledges the receipt of
the Declaration of Independence. and concludes, "His Majesty will continue
to be the parent of their infant state, and its protector from all attempts on its
independence." (Official Despatches.)

74. In 1836. the evils of continued anarchy in New Zealand became
more aggravated, in consequence of the desultory colonization then taking
place at various spots along its coast, and a petition to the Crown for
protection was drawn up and signed. by the Missionaries, and some of the
most respectable of the European settlers. The merchants of London, in
conjunction with the principal houses engaged in the South Sea trade, also
signed a memorial to the Crown. setting forth the evils of such a state of
affairs, and a Committee of the House of Commons on Aborigines, set
before the British public the state of things in New Zealand.

75. In 1837, Sir Richard Bourke, Governor of New South Wales.
despatcbed Captain Hobson, then commanding Her Majesty's ship " Rattle-¬
snake," to the Bay of Islands, to protect British subjects and report upon
the lawless proceedings of the natives at Kororareka. Captain Hobson, in
an able report, dated August, 1837, after adverting to the decrease of the
natives, and the simultaneous increase of the British subjects, he speaks of
the latter as every day acquiring considerable possessions of land, and
suggests that certain remedial action should be taken to avert the disastrous
consequences likely to ensue from the conduct of many of the Europeans
towards the natives.

76. Kororareka, at this period the only large settlement in New Zealand,
was situated at the Bay of Islands. In 1838, it was the most frequented
resort for whalers in all the South Sea Islands, and its European population,
although fluctuating, was then estimated at a thousand souls. "It had a
church, five hotels. and numberless grog-shops, For six successive years a
hundred whale ships were anchored in the Bay. Thirty-six large whale
ships were anchored at Kororareka at one time, in 1836; and in 1838,
fifty-six American vessels entered the Bay, twenty-three English, twenty-one
French, one Breman, twenty-four from New South Wales, and six from the
coast." (Thomson, Vol. i. 280.)

77. The Bay of Islands was also the seat of the Mission Station, having a
large native population.

78. In May, 1838, a public meeting was held at Kororareka, to determine
the best means for affording protection to life and property, resulting in the
formation of a society called the Kororareka Association. Shortly after the
formation of the Provisional Government of Kororareka, steps were taken
by Her Majesty's ministers for the establishment of some competent
authority within the Islands of New Zealand. A Select Committee of the
House of Lords collected a mass of information, which but too fully confirmed
previous representations of the deplorable condition of the islands.

79. In the year 1836, a Committee of the House of Commons inquired
into the subject of the disposal of Waste Lands. with a view to colonization,
and in 1837 a Society was formed in London, with Lord Durham at its head.

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In June 1838, Mr. Francis Baring introduced a Bill into Parliament which
embodied the views of the Association; the Bill was opposed by Her
Majesty's Ministers and thrown out.

80. The colonization of New Zealand was announced to the British public
on Saturday, April 27, 1839, when a splendid dejenue was given at
Lovegrove's West India Dock Tavern, Blackwall, on the occasion of the
completion of the equipment of a vessel to proceed to New Zealand, for the
purpose of forming settlements in those islands, under the superintendence
and management of a company formed in London. Mr. Hutt, M.P. acted
as chairman, G. F. Young, late M.P. for Tynemouth, deputy-chairman.
The Earl of Durham, Lord Petre, and other distinguished noblemen and
gentlemen interested in the colonization of New Zealand were present.
(Morning Chronicle, April 29, 1839; see also J. H. Wallace's Early History
of New Zealand.)

81. "To the late John Lambton, first Earl of Durham, and Mr. Edward
Gibbon Wakefield, England is chiefly indebted for the systematic colonization
of New Zealand. After the failure of the scheme of 1825, of which Lord
Durham was the most influential mover, the formation of a colony was
considered hopeless. On several occasions the question was mooted, but
those persons to whom it was referred invariably asked, who would prefer
migrating to a country inhabited by cannibals." (Thomson, Vol. ii., p. 4.)

82. The New Zealand Company was then formed: Governor, The Earl of
Durham; Deputy-Governor, Mr. Joseph Somes, and a directory composed
of noblemen and leading public men in Great Britain. On the 2nd May,
1839, the company issued a prospectus; and on the 12th May, 1839, before
the directors had divulged their scheme to the public, the ship "Tory,"
(Captain Chaffers, R.N.), 400 tons burden, sailed for New Zealand, having
on board Colonel William Wakefield, the company's chief agent; Mr.
Edward Jerningham Wakefield; Dr. Ernest Dieffenbach, naturalist to the
New Zealand Company; Mr. Charles Heaphy (afterwards Major Heaphy,
V.C.) as draughtsman ; Mr. John Dorset, surgeon; and a New Zealander
named Ngati. Two days after the ship was clear of England's shores, the
Directors announced that the Company was formed. After a rapid passage
of ninety-six days, the "Tory" sighted New Zealand on the noon of
16th August, 1839.

83. On the following day, August 17th, the "Tory" entered Queen
Charlotte Sound. After exploring Queen Charlotte Sound and the Pelorus,
Colonel Wakefield crossed Cooks Strait. "September 20, 1839. "We
weighed anchor at daylight, and left the Sound with the tide and north-¬
west wind. We had to beat into the harbour of Port Nicholson, and
came to an anchor at three in the afternoon." (See Colonel Wakefield's
Journal in the Twelvth Report of the Directors of the New Zealand
Company; also J. H. Wallace's Early History of New Zealand.)

84. On the 30th September, 1839, Colonel William Wakefield, the New
Zealand Company's principal agent, took formal possession of Port
Nicholson in the name of the Company under a royal salute, and the New
Zealand Flag was hoisted on an immense staff, erected for the purpose.
There was a war dance, a war song, and a dinner. "The native oven which
contained our dinner, was then opened, and we were invited to attend.
After doing justice to the joints of a pig, which had been killed for the
occassion [sic], and the whole of which we were bound in native politeness to take
away with us, however little we might eat, we drank the healths of the
chiefs and people of Port Nicholson, in champagne, and christening the

-15-

flag staff, took formal possession of the harbour and district, in the name of
the Company, amidst the hearty cheers of our party, and the assembled
natives." (Colonel Wakefield's Journal; see also J. H. Wallace's Early History of
New Zealand.)

(To be continued)