Stuart And Stewart Island.

The through passage in Foveaux Straits, and, perforce, the insularity of Stewart Island, is attributed to the discovery of one Dugaid Stewart, or Stuart, and, one way and another, his memory has been twisted into a variety of incongruities. He was identified with the notorious Captain Stewart, of the brig Elizabeth, which played nefarious part in the Te Rauparaha invasion of 1831. In correcting that error the opposite extreme was gone to, and he was dubbed a hero of romance—a Scotch Jacobite, who had taken part in escapades connected with the "last of the Stuart line." The one tale appears as ill-authenticated as the other. The first and only record referring to him is page 105published in the Hobart Town Gazette, June 10, 1826. It reads: "Captain Stewart, of the ship Prince of Denmark, had arrived in New Zealand from England, as reported by Captain Lovatt, of the schooner Sally. He had commenced the settlement on his own account on Stewart Island, which, since the discoveries of Captain Cook, was supposed to form the southern extremity of Tavaipoenimboo," (this is meant for Te-Wai-poenamu, the name by which the Middle Island was first designated), "or the Southern Island, but which Captain Stewart first discovered to be an extensive island, separate from the main by a strait of 20 miles."

That is the first and only mention made of Captain Stewart in connection with the alleged discovery of the through passage. The discovery of the straits themselves is mentioned 17 years' previously. Sydney Gazette, March 12, 1809, writes:—"Yesterday, arrived from the southward, the Governor Bligh (Mr Goron, master), with upwards' of 10,000 fur seal skins. On January 31 she fell in with the Fox at sea, with about the same complement. The Fox had lost her anchors and cables, and was very short of water, which latter want Mr Goron relieved as far as was in bis power. In a newly-discovered strait, wmch cuts off the South Cape of New Zealand from the mainland, he fell in—about the middle of February—with the Pegasus (Captain Buncker), who had been pretty successful, and learned from him that he had spoken the. Antipode, schooner, nine or ten weeks out, she being then very short of provisions, and about to return to the Seal Islands to take her gangs. In the straits above-mentioned, which have been called Foveaux Straits, the Pegasus struck on a rock, but received little damage, and the General Bligh met a similar accident, though with no material injury. The above straits Mr Goron describes as being about 36 to 40 miles in width, and a very dangerous navigation from the numerous rocks, shoals, and little: islands with which it is crowded."

Stewart, it appears, was in England in 1820-21. He stated that in the prosecution of his South Sea fisheries he discovered an uninhabited island, containing enormous mineral wealth in gold, silver, and precious stones. On the faith thereof sums of money were subscribed for the purpose of exploiting the island.

A South Sea whaler arrived in the Thames (London) in the interim, and, on being appealed to, he cast discredit on Stewart's alleged discovery. Without disclosing his purpose, the whaler had an interview with Stewart, and succeeded in getting him to locate the scene of this marvellous island. The whaler readily recognised it to be our Stewart Island. He had been careening there, and, as it happened, was quite as intimately acquainted with it as Stewart. The fraud became palpable, and Stewart decamped. He was, however, apprehended and brought to trial. A large proportion of the money subscribed was recovered, and, in consideration thereof and the fact of his pleading guilty to a minor count in the indictment, he was sentenced to three years' imprisonment. Returning to the colonies, he got command of the Prince of Denmark, and appears to have gone in for speculation of another kind. He became a notorious trafficker in dried Maori heads. In Parliamentary Committee the pursuit is described as follows:—"The mode in which the New Zealanders preserve the heads of their deceased friends is curious, and as effective as that by which the Egyptians prepare their mummies. The skull is first completely emptied of its contents; the eyes and tongue being likewise extracted, after which the nostrils and entire inside of the skull are stuffed with flax. At the neck, where the head has been cut from the body, they draw the skin together like the mouth of a purse, leaving, however, an open space large enough to admit the hand. They then wrap it up in a quantity of green leaves, and in this state expose it to the fire till it is well steamed, after which the leaves are taken off, and it is next hung up to dry in the smoke, which causes the flesh to become tough and hard. Both the hair and teeth are preserved, and the tattooing on the face remains as plain as when the person was alive. The head, when thus cured, will keep for ever if it be preserved dry." In 1830 this traffic was at its page 106height. In a parliamentary paper recorded in 1838 the Rev. Mr Yates is reported to have said: "Formerly, the head of a chief was preserved as a matter of honour, but when it-was found a gun could be procured for one a custom arose of preserving the heads of the enemies for sale and of killing slaves for the sake of their heads." The practice reached a climax in 183C. Sydney Government Gazette, of April 16, 1831, says:—"The people of the Bay of Islands were defeated with considerable loss at Tauranga, and the conquerors: dried the heads of the slain and sold them to the master of the schooner Prince of Denmark, bound for this port via the Bay of Islands. On the vessel's arrival there a number of natives came on board to trade. The master of the ship, in a state of tipsy-jollity, brought up a sack containing 12 heads and rolled them out on the deck. Some of the New Zealanders on board recognised the heads of their fathers; others those of brothers and friends. Appalling weeping and lamentations rent the air. The master, seeing his dangerous position, put to sea before the news of the cargo spread on shore. The Sydney Herald, of August 2, 1831, renders a slightly different account of this transaction. It says: "A very severe encounter took place a short time ago between one of our colonial schooners and a party of New Zealanders. It appears that the vessel during her trip to Sydney had procured a large number of native heads, and also brought up a chief with them. While the chief was on board the captain had occasion to overhaul his stock of heads, and they were all incautiously exposed on the companion. The chief caught a glimpse of them, and recognised the heads of some of his own relatives. He said but little at the time, but when he returned to the island he procured a party to avenge the insult offered to him. They immediately commenced firing upon the schooner, and a regular fire was kept up by both sides for some time, when the vessel weighed anchor and sheered off. It is more than probable that if the schooner had not crowded on all sail, the captain and crew would have been sacrificed, and an exchange of heads being made." The scandal was put a stop to by the Governor of New South Wales, who issued a proclamation imposing severe penalties, and calling upon all who had heads in their possession to return them forthwith to the friends of the deceased. Thereafter Stewart appears to have fallen into penury, and took up his abode with the natives at the Bay of Plenty, amongst whom he died about 1852 in a state of extreme destitution.

Published by command of the Governor of New South Wales:—Three men who fled from a sealing gang in Foveaux Strait, and had gone away amongst the natives with a boat and a quantity of carpenters' tools, were killed and devoured under circumstances entailing serious inconvenience and distress on their companions, as well as for their temerity in wantonly exposing themselves to the fury of the merciless hordes of savages infesting that barbarous coast-March 30, 1810.

Murray, ganger of a seal party left in Foveaux Strait, arrived in Sydney per the Governor Bligh. He reports his party was landed October 7, 1809, with provisions for six months. The vessel intended to cruise elsewhere, for about that term, but had not since returned, owing to which disappointment they were latterly much distressed for provisions, with supplies of which he will be immediately despatched back by the owners.—Sydney Shipping Records.

From the same source we learn two gangs left by the Sydney Cove; one in Molineux Strait (Molyneux Bay), the other at South Cape, were, in similar circumstances; being left with three months.' provisions in November, since which period the vessel had not returned. Their distress must, in consequence, be severe, but will be brought to as speedy a close as every possible exertion made on the part of the owners can accomplish. The gang at South Cape had unfortunately lost their only boat shortly after they were landed, page 107which, was, however, replaced by one spared to them from the Fox party, without which their condition would have been exceedingly distressing.

As early as the year 1810, when the Sydney Cove was prosecuting these adventures, Stewart Island natives appear to have been contracting a bad reputation. A Sydney Customs Record dated March 30, 1810, made by the master of the Boyd, reports:—"At Port William, which is distant 60 miles from the Solanders, the Boyd fell in with a whale boat, with seven men, left by the Brothers in October, 1809; from the overseer of which I received the mortifying intelligence of several boat crews in various employs having been barbarously murdered and mostly devoured." During the next 28 years the morale of the place does not appear to have improved. The Hon. E. Barrington, in parliamentary committee of 1838, states-.—"There is one settlement of English at Stewart Island, which is the southernmost of these islands. They are not in the least confined in their excesses by any ship of war that may arrive on the coast. We know nothing of their goings on. They may knock each other on the head, and nothing would be known about it."

From his long stay in Foveaux Mr Murray, noted above, became tolerably conversant in the native language, which he describes as being totally different from that of the Bay of Islands, where he formerly lived. The people of both places dress pretty much alike, and are nearly similar in their manners. There were two small towns on that part of the coast, upon which his gang was stationed, each of which contained between 20 and 30 bouses. Each house contained two families. These houses were built with posts, lined with reeds, and thatched with grass. They grow potatoes, which, with their mats, they exchange with the sealers for articles they chose to give in exchange; preferring iron or edged tools; none of which they had ever before had in their possession. Those on the sea coast live mostly on fish. Their canoes are inferior to those of the Bay of Islands—not exceeding 18 inches in breadth, but from 14 to 16 feet in length, which want of proportion renders them unsafe to venture any distance, without lashing two together, to prevent upsetting. Their offensive weapons are stone axes of an immoderate size and weight, and large spears from 12 to 14 feet in length, which they do not throw; and, as an unquestionable evidence of barbarity, Murray affirms that, when two factions take the field, their women are ranked in front, in which position they attack and defend, the men levelling their weapons at each other over the heads of the unfortunate women, who rend the air with shrieks and lamentations, while the conflict lasts, and frequently leaving more dead upon the field than do their savage masters. The vanquishers devour the bodies of their fallen enemies, and bury their own dead, and, like the Gentoos the women follow their husbands to the shades. To their king or principal chief, whom they call the Pararcy, they pay profound respect, and such was their deference to superior rank that no civilities were paid to any of Mr Murray's people, unless he were present, and he was also honoured with the rank and title of the Pararcy.—Sydney Gazette, August 5, 1810.

[Foveaux Strait and its settlements played important parts in the early history of the south. Particulars of its discovery as a through pass are dealt with (see Stuart and Stewart Island). It is named after Major Joseph Foveaux, who appears to have gained kudos for himself in the administrations of the parent colony. He is first mentioned in the muster roll, December 25, 1793—one of four captains of the N.S.W. Corps. He presided at a court of inquiry to investigate a charge of mutiny preferred by Lieutenant-Governor King against a detachment of the corps serving at Norfolk Island. The mutineers were found guilty, "but, in respect of the many insults that evidently created all the confusion complained of, the mutineers were recommended as being not unworthy of mercy." August 10, 1798, he was appointed judge and president of the Court of Vice-Admiralty held at Sydney. April 29, 1800, he page 108was appointed commandant at Norfolk Island, vice Captain Townson. In a despatch, to the Home Office, March 10, 1801, Governor King advises that Captain Eoveaux's conduct on the island had been meritorious and highly deserving of the trust. June 9, 1801, he is appointed Lieutenant-Governor. January 30, 1802, Lord Hobart writes: —"The conduct of Major Foveaux fully justifies the appointment of that officer as Lieutenant-Governor, and I desire you will take the earliest opportunity of communicating to him my perfect approbation of his promptitude and vigour in suppressing the dangerous insurrection on the point of breaking out on the island; and you will exhort him to persevere in the same firm and vigilant course." Such is the honourable mention from which Foveaux Strait took its name.]