Sir Richard Bourke, K.C.B., Governor of New South. Wales, writes James Busby, Esq., of date April 13, 1833:—You will proceed to New Zealand in Ms Majesty's ship Imogene, commanded by Captain Blackwood, who has been requested, not only to afford you protection in case of any untoward event, but the countenance and support which the presence of one of his Majesty's ships of war is calculated to afford as well, upon your first arrival in the country, as during your conference with the chiefs. If your proposal to reside, in an accredited character, in New Zealand shall be received by the chiefs with satisfaction, which from the tenor of your address to his Majesty, there is little reason to doubt, you will confer with them as to the most convenient place for establishing your residence and claim their protection. If you find it necessary to offer such chiefs or grant any presents of considerable value, they shall be furnished on your application.

He is informed he cannot be clothed with legal power to arrest British subjects offending against the law, as an act to that effect had not been passed. He is counselled to rely upon his influence with the chiefs for enforcement of his measures. Transports, felons, and offenders from other colonies to be arrested and forwarded to Sydney. He was also exhorted by his mediation to prevent inter-tribal conflict and warfare.

Mr Busby, the new British Resident at New Zealand, arrived at the Bay of Islands in H.M. ship Imogens, May 5. Owing to the stormy state of the weather the ceremony of landing did not take place till Friday, the 17th, when the party landed and proceeded to the missionary village, a short distance from the beach. They were received by three white-headed chiefs, who, as the editor of the Sydney Gazette expresses it, rising in succession, welcomed them in a short speech, delivered with so much gesticulation as to resemble a dance. The main body of the chiefs and warriors then advanced with great noise and clamour; they were then arranged in a dense, but regular, body, when they commenced the war-dance of the country, wielding their muskets with great force, and going through evolutions; the tendency of their movements being to create a feeling of their power and force; after which they quietly seated themselves, when six or eight of the chiefs delivered in succession a short speech of welcome. The latest speakers making a way, the party advanced through the troops, preceded by one of the chiefs wives, in a kind of dance. As soon as the natives had passed they commenced firing their muskets and making a dreadful shouting. Amidst the smoke and noise the party made their way to an enclosure in front of the chapel, which is situated about the centre of the missionary village, where a table had been placed for the Europeans. Captain Blackwood was seated at Mr Busby's right hand, and there was a space for the Rev. H. Williams at his left, he, however, remaining standing. In the meantime a crowd of natives came pouring in, and Mr Williams and the other missionaries were employed in arranging them in a semicircle in front of the table, with their chiefs before them. When the chiefs had taken their places, Mr Busby rose and produced the following letter from the King, which he read, and a translation of which Mr Williams read in the New Zealand language:—

Lord Viscount. Goderich, one of the principal Secretaries of State to his Majesty the King of Great Britain, to the Chiefs of New Zealand.— Friends,—I am commanded by the King to acknowledge the receipt of the letter which you addressed to his Majesty, and which you entrusted to Mr William Yate to forward to England. The King is much gratified to find that the cause for alarm which appears to have existed at the time when page 24your letter was written has entirely passed away, and he trusts that no-circumstances may occur in future to interrupt the tranquility of New Zealand, which is so necessary to the maintenance of a close commercial intercourse between its inhabitants and those of Great Britain. The King is sorry for the injuries you inform him that the people of New Zealand have suffered from some of his subjects. But he will do all in his power to prevent the recurrence of such outrages, and to punish the perpetrators of them according to the laws of their country, whenever they can be apprehended and brought to trial; and the King hopes that mutual goodwill and confidence will exist between the people of both countries. In order to afford better protection to all classes, both natives of the island of New Zealand and the British subjects who may proceed, or be already established there, for purposes of trade, the King has sent the bearer of this letter, James Busby, Esq., to reside among you as his Majesty's Resident, whose duties will be to investigate all complaints made to him. It will also be his endeavour to prevent the arrival among you of men who have been guilty of crimes in their own country, and who may effect their escape from the place to which they have been banished, as, likewise, to apprehend such persons of this description as may be found at present at large. In return for the anxious desires which will be manifested by the British Resident to afford bis protection to the inhabitants of New Zealand against any acts of outrage which may be attempted against them by British subjects, it is confidently expected by his Majesty that, on your parts, you will render to the Resident that assistance and support which is calculated to promote the object of his appointment, and to extend to your country all the benefits which it is capable of receiving from its friendship and alliance with Great Britain.—I am, your friend, Goderich.

"Colonial Office, Downing street, June 14, 1833."

While his Majesty's letter was reading all the Europeans present rose and took off their hats, and remained standing and uncovered until it was finished. After this, about 15 of the chiefs delivered their sentiments in succession; and although their speeches contained little more than a welcome, they were delivered with abundance of animation and gesture. A blanket and several pounds of tobacco were then delivered to each of the 22 chiefs who were present.

After the assembly broke up, the Europeans of the party adjourned to the house of Mr H. Williams, where he entertained 50 persons with a cold collation, and in the meantime the native kitchens began to pour forth their contents. The strangers were seated round the plot, in front of Mr Williams's house, and the natives belonging to the missionary establishment, to the number of 30 or 40, began to bring in the viands. The potatoes were brought in small baskets, made for the occasion of a kind of flax, and which are never used a second time.

The joints of beef were carried in the hand, and the procession moved forward, everyone singing or shouting, and holding his or her portion as high as possible. The stranger natives were quiet spectators of the scene. They went and came in this order five or six times, and no sooner delivered their burdens than each tried to outstride his neighbour to obtain a fresh one After all the potatoes, beef, flour, and porridge had been brought in this manner, the leading natives of the mission divided them into portions, according to the number of the tribes. None of the strangers, however, moved from their seats till one of the stewards went round with a long rod and pointed to each tribe the portion allotted to it. Most of the beef and potatoes they carried to their canoes, and out of 600 who partook, in a very short time the greater part had departed to their homes.—Hobart Town Courier, July 26, 1833.

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Declaration of Independence proclaimed early in 1835. The ''Alligator went with Captain Lambert, and three different flags were presented to a number of the chiefs, and they chose one of their own, with the understanding Great Britain would acknowledge it and afford it protection. These flags being spread out before them, one was selected, and Mr Busby was established as. Resident from the time of giving the flag.—Captain R. Fitzroy, in Select Committee.

Contemporary Opinions Re Colonisation.

In the first place, the missionaries have been invariably against Europeans' settling in New Zealand. Of course the natives regard the missionary ideas on the subject much, but as far as I have heard from other Europeans, many of them would like it much, because if they plant they do not know whether they will reap what they have planted, in consequence of the continual war amongst them. They would undoubtedly look to the introduction of more Europeans as a mode of introducing quiet into the country. There is no nation more intelligent on land or any other subject. As a proof of that, there is at present sailing out of Sydney a New Zealand chief of the tribe of Waitangi in the Bay of Islands. He is chief officer of the Earl Stanhope, whale ship, and if he had not been a foreigner he would long since have had command of the vessel. There are at present sailing on the Pacific ships with cargoes worth £20,000 and upwards steered by New Zealanders day and night. When they had an opportunity for being instructed they have shown great ability. Their farms have astonished every stranger who has seen them. Everyone is surprised at seeing the beauty of their land: the weeding of it and the regularity of things generally.—J. S. Pollock, in Select Committee, 1837.

The colonising scheme is, in the judgment of the Mission Society, founded on injustice, and calculated, if carried into execution, to hinder the progress of the mission, and to intercept its civilising influences. The society has therefore determined to give the scheme all the opposition in their power.—Report of Committee: Church Mission Society.

Certainly no authority should be assumed by the Government that would infringe the sovereign rights of the Natives. Interrogated:—You are understood to say the objection of the Church Mission is not only to the particular mode of the settlement of a colony as contemplated by the New Zealand Association, but that the objection is to European colonisation altogether?— Yes, under the sanction of the Legislature and the Government. There is no arrangement which would carry British authority and government into the island, and, by consequence that administration of coercive authority over the colonists, but which, from their position, must necessarily be very large, and which, being exercised at such a distance from the parent State, increases the danger of its being abused.—Dundas Coates, secretary to Mission Society, and Rev. John Beecham, in Select Committee.

Up to what point in civilisation the agents of the Missionary Society can be advantageously employed is, perhaps, a problem that has not yet been solved. We have recognised principle of this kind in dealing with countries in rather a different state from New Zealand. When the operations of the missionaries have arrived at that point at which the systems of the Church of England are administered here, then, in that case, the period for the exertions of the Missionary Society has ceased. But, with reference to such a country as New Zealand, I apprehend that period must at present be distant, and therefore the probability is that the sphere of exertion of the missionaries will continue a considerable time to come, if not prematurely broken in upon by the introduction of colonists. At the same time, I should say, very dis-page 26tinctly, that the Church Missionary Society have the strongest objection to missionaries being employed in any way beyond their proper province as religious teachers and instructors, and that whatever assistance they may have hitherto given Mr Busby, or which they might give to any authorities in the island, would be to the most limited extent, and only as a temporary arrangement, but certainly not with the view of that forming an integral part of our operations.—Dundas Coates and Rev. J. Beecham, in Committee.

Replying to the question, If the Government is to become a Native Government, under missionary regulations or dictation, would not that bring the missionaries always into action in all the civil affairs and business of the country?—Certainly. For my own part, I never contemplated the missionaries being placed in the way of dictation or of direction to the natives. I presume the missionaries in New Zealand, as the missionaries in some other districts of the South Seas have done, would, when the chiefs themselves were in want of the means of administrating a salutary government, give them counsel and information on that or any other point affecting their interest, which might enable them to carry out their views; but beyond that point I do not anticipate the agency of the missionaries would be ever employed, and I believe they would lose their distinctive character by any such employment. —Dundas Coates and Rev. J. Beecham, in Committee.

New Zealand is not in that forward state of civilisation which you may be led by different reports to entertain. To raise a barbarous nation is not the work of 20, or even 40, years, with the slender means which have been employed. The Europeans living here hinder, rather than forward, the work, and what could the missionaries have done had not their weapons been mighty through God. It was by dint of labour and exertion this mission was begun, and it requires the same to continue its operations.—Mr King, a missionary in New Zealand, and quoted by Coates and Beecham in Committee.

The state of European population is bad as it could be. It was at Kororarika: I do not think I ever saw such a bad community. There was drunkenness and profligacy of all kinds.—Rev. F. Wilkinson, in Select Committee, 1838.

I know captains of such bad character go to New Zealand that I would believe almost anything of them. I never trusted myself on shore at night on Entry Island.—J. B. Montefoire, in Committee.

Morality is at the lowest possible ebb, and it is much the worse amongst tribes frequented by sailors. Kororarika Beach is proverbially one of the lowest places—one of the most degraded, even amongst the natives themselves. The women are very much affected with venereal disease of the most virulent type. I apprehend there is not one in fifty of these women without the disease, and that one may be the wife of a chief. Frequently the English will go to the masters of vessels; they first of all barter with the natives, and take their women on board and get the highest price they can for them. One man I knew was in the habit of taking pigs and women at the same time to vessels —selling the pigs and the use of the women for the time being all in one lot. The women were to return again. Sometimes the women go to sea. Two or three instances I know of masters of vessels giving as much to their women as about £100 each, and carrying them off with them on their voyage. Then they leave them on the islands—they go out for three months, and leave them there, or take them with them, according as they can agree with the women themselves. Speaking generally, all the ships there have women on board in great numbers.—J. Wilkinson, in Committee.

The missionaries take very little pains with the whites. Indeed, not the slightest. They have every possible ridicule cast upon them by these people. page 27So much so that they have abandoned every attempt to improve them, and merely act with the natives. They have given up arguing with the ship masters, finding it entirely fruitless.—Wilkins, in Committee.

A New Zealand woman will not kill her children until she has seven or eight of the family alive.—Evidence given by Nayti, a Native, in Select Committee.

The majority of persons are persons of irregular conduct and infamous character. My own servant recognised two persons whom he had known when a constable as convicts in Van Diemans Land. I presume they had escaped. There was another whom a fellow passenger in the same ship with me happened to meet when he was in half uniform. He got out of his way with every expedition. They almost all sell spirits. Our own ship was placed in very serious peril in consequence of their supplying some of the crew repeatedly with spirits. We were obliged to tie one of our men up.— J. D.Tawell, in Select Committee.

[Mr Charles Enderby on the subject in Select Committee.]

Have you ever brought any of the natives home in your ships?—A good many of them.

Do they appear to take to the usages of civilised life readily?—Perfectly so. Unfortunately, when they return home they return to their native habits very soon; but we do not find them quit our vessels; they have continued with us many years.

You mean they return to you every season?—Yes; we have got two men that have been in our service nine years.

Have you ever had any conversation with them as to their internal regulations or the habits of their tribes?—I have had conversations with them upon that subject, but they do not seem to be well acquainted with their own country.

Can you give any evidence to the committee as to the necessity of establishing law in New Zealand, arising out of the want of control now possessed there, for the purpose of repressing the excesses committed by the crews and other persons belonging to whale ships and other vessels?—I believe the whaling ships have caused, in the first instance, the disturbances that have originated in New Zealand. It has been a fishing station for a number of years, and the whale ships visiting there, the crews have continually deserted; they have found the natives receive them favourably; and after establishing themselves on shore, and opening liquor shops, they have induced the crews of the other ships visiting there—English and American—to desert their ships. Such is the state of disorder in this island that it is impossible to control our crews; they seize the boats—in fact, the crews during the time they are there are in a constant state of mutiny, because they apprehend that there is no law to repress them. The French and Americans have brought vessels of war there, and they have a certain degree of protection, much more than our British ships have.

You are of opinion that it is absolutely necessary that some controlling power should be vested in some British authorities in New Zealand for the purpose of repressing these disorders?—Certainly.

The French ships of war are for the purpose of protecting the fisheries?— They are.

Do you conceive that great difficulties might be apprehended from a partial settlement of the island?—Considerable quantities of oil are produced at the present time by American and French fishing vessels; and if the whole islands of New Zealand are not colonised by the British, the French and American settlements will be transferring their oil to the British settlements, and thus introduce it as of British fishing.

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Have not the natives of New Zealand a considerable aptitude for the sea?—We have a good number of them in our employment; we have several at this time; we find them much more peaceable and better conducted altogether than the English sailors; they are much more under control and command.

And capable of acquiring a knowledge of navigation?—Perfectly so.

From what you have seen and heard of them, do you believe that there be any indisposition on their part to the assumption of the sovereignty of the island by the Crown of this country?—I should say not the least.

Is there a disposition generally on their part to amalgamate with Europeans?—Yes; they look up to the English more particularly than to any other European people.

Is there a disposition to acquire the manners and customs of civilised life?— Yes.

Are there any suggestions which you would offer to the committee with regard to the proceedings of this country in New Zealand?—There was one point on which I wished to offer a suggestion: that, in the event of colonising New Zealand, which I think is absolutely necessary, no port charges should be levied on whaling ships; otherwise the evils that have now been created in New Zealand will only be transferred to some of the other islands. Port charges were levied in New South Wales, and the vessels consequently visited the Bay of Islands, and thus the evil was created there; and I feel assured that if port charges were levied upon whaling ships which are at liberty to visit any island, and which merely want refreshments, the evils which have been now created in New Zealand would probably be created in New Guinea or some other island. But it is absolutely necessary to establish some law in New Zealand, and I cannot see any way in which that can be done except by colonisation—establishing some form of government there—for the natives are wholly incompetent to form any government for themselves.

In so distant a voyage you are obliged to stop at some place like "New Zealand to obtain refreshments?—We must do it. No place is so convenient for that purpose as New Zealand. It is in the heart of the fisheries, and it is in the direct homeward track of vessels from New South Wales through Cook Strait.

Are you of opinion that a considerable and valuable export trade might be created, by your being enabled to freight your homeward-bound vessels there, in the event of New Zealand being colonised?—I do not think that would apply to whaling ships, but it would afford an opportunity of obtaining natives of New Zealand in greater number for the whaling ships, and we should then navigate with them. According to law, we are now prohibited from taking more than a certain number of foreigners; we should then be able to take them when we arrive upon the whaling ground, and dismiss them when the whaling voyage is terminated, saving expense upon the outward and homeward voyage.