The Old Story Ratified.

Dating the publication of this last edition of the "Tales of Banks Peninsula," Mr F. A. Anson, whose name is associated with the account of Piraki written for the second edition, paid a visit to New Zealand to dispose of the Piraki property. It was little thought it would be his last visit; but only a few months ago news was received of his death. When Mr Anson was in Akaroa, the writer had a conversation with him regarding the contradiction of the old story about the importance of the ceremony of hoisting the flag at Green's Point, Akaroa, August 11. 1840 It will be remembered that on August 11th, 1890, there was a ceremony at the spot in commemoration of Captain Stanley's prompt action. In those days there was nothing to mark the place where the Union Jack was run up. Mr Anson bad always taken a keen interest in the early history of the Peninsula, and he suggested that the Peninsula people should put up a monument at Green's Point in 1897 to mark the place where the flag was hoisted, and, as all know, the monument was erected there. On his last visit, Mr Anson had the names inscribed on the monument of those instrumental in erecting it– a very fortunate thing as so many of the old people have passed away. Mr. Anson bad read all Messrs R. McNab's and Andersen's letters denying that the Akaroa ceremony of 1840 was of any importance, and he stated to the writer that he could not understand the attitude taken up by these gentlemen. He declared that up to 1897 no one ever doubted that Captain Stanley was taking possession of the South Island, and he had known many of the old hands intimately. Mr Anson is best known historically by his publication of "Hempleman's Log" in December, 1910, with an excellent glossary. He told the writer it was his intention to go into the matter of hoisting the flag, and in October,

1913, the following letter appeared in the Christchurch "Press," which is worthy of reproduction in this article, and helps to prove very conclusively that the story of the chase down the coast in August, 1840, told in the early pages of this work, is no myth:—

"Sir,—It is with feeling of rather varying interest that I read in London on August 11th (memorable date), the letter published on this subject signed Johannes C. Andersen, Christchurch, July 21st. With your permission, I would like to show him that the late Dean of Westminster was under no delusion when he had the brass tablet put up in our cathedral church to commemorate his brother's smart achievement as Commander of H. M. S. Britomart. Neither were the Akaroa County residents making any mistake at all, when, at my instigation, they subscribed in 1897 for the erection of an obelisk at Green Point, which should serve as a lasting memorial of the Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee, and at the same time mark the spot where the Union Jack had been hoisted by Captain Stanley in 1840, and sovereignty over the 'Middle' Island thereby secured for Britain, instead of France. Mr Andersen tells us that there was 'no race at all,' 'no ceremony of taking possession,' and no 'mystery whatever.' But Hobson's letter of secret instruction to Stanley is dated July 22nd, the very day on which 'sail was loosed and cable shortened at eight o'clock in the morning' on the old Britomart, 'the anchor was hoisted and sail made at eleven,' while, according to Baron de Thierry, 'the French frigate (L'Aube) soon followed her.' This letter enjoins 'the most inviolab [gap — reason: illegible] secrecy on the subject of this commission,' and even goes so far as to suggest that 'the conveying of two magistrates to Port Nicholson' (Wellington) may be made 'the most ostensible purpose of your cruise," the 'real object' being to 'at once depart with the utmost expedition to Akaroa and Banks Peninsula,' so that on 'his (Captain Lavaud's) arrival at that port he may find you in occupation,' and unable 'to dislodge you without committing some direct act of hostility.' Can it be truly said that mystification was not intended here? page break

Monument At Akarora,
Where the Union Jack was hoisted in 1840.

page 337or that there was 'no race,' when in obedience to those urgent instructions Captain Stanley's prompt action enabled him to have the British flag flying on Green Point (though his boats had not returned from 'proclaiming' at Piraki and Price's Fishery) before the arrival of the Aube on August 15. As regards Mr. Andersen's contention that Stanley 'did not come to Akaroa to take possession, but merely to hold courts for magisterial purposes,' I need only say here that, if 'the flag was hoisted' (an integral part of the taking possession ceremony) 'and courts held at five places… Piraki Bay being one of the four' (sic), there is no mention of a 'court' having been held on August 15 in the Piraki log, but only the arrival of a man of war's boat 'to issue our proclamations respecting the land of New Zealand.' Certainly, it is stated in Hobson's letter that 'the magistrates will be instructed to hold a court on their arrival at each port, and to have a record of their proceedings registered and transmitted to' him, but until these records are forthcoming it is open to question if the courts were ever held But, suerly, before we begin to 'surmise' on incomplete evidence about details in connection with the events of long ago, it would be advisable to review the Native position of affairs in the North and Middle Islands at that time; consider carefully the scope of French and British aspirations in regard to them, and piece together every scrap of reliable information obtainable Then only we can start making deductions from authenticated facts as to what must have been running in Lieutenant-Governor Hobson's mind when he penned this letter of secret instruction to Captain Stanley on July 22, 1840 To take the Native position first:—During the thirties of last century, not only the North Island itself, but also that part of the 'Middle Island'—now known as Marlborbugh Province—was owned and ruled over by a number of independent North Island chiefs; while the Ngaitahu warriors, a tribe quite distinct and speaking in another dialect, held sway over ail the rest of the country, Stewart's Island included. Cloudy Bay, therefore—where Major Bunbury proclaimed British sovereignty by right of Native cession on June 17, 1840—page 338was North Island property; Stewart's Island, where 'he did not meet with the Natives,' and therefore (June 5) proclaimed by right of discovery' only, was merely an outlying portion of Ngaitahu territory, which extended northward to the Kaikoura range In the South Island (with which we are concerned) during this decade, the chief Ariki, of the Ngaitahu, had been taken prisoner and brutally murdered by the northern chief, Te Rauparaha. The tribe had been decimated and driven to take refuge like a scattered flock of sheep in the extreme south, but in the latter thirties they were recovering their spirit under two new chiefs, and bad made more than one successful attack upon their northern enemy in Cloudy Bay In 1837, they sold a block of land, some fifteen miles square, on Banks Peninsula to a French whaler named L'Anglois and the same block of land a second time, in 1839, to George Hempleman, the Prussian owner of a shore whaling station in Piraki Cove. In both islands missionary effort was making progress, but mostly in the north, where white men were coming to trade, or live, with the Maoris in greater numbers every year. The French whaler, L'Anglois, went back to France after purchasing the Akaroa block of land, and before very long had succeeded so well in stirring up an interest in the colonisation of New Zealand that by the end of the year 1839 the newly formed Nanto Bordelaise Company had appointed him to command the Comte de Paris, which was only waiting for intending emigrants to come on board before sailing for New Zealand to settle them on the already purchased Akaroa land The French Government, too, had taken the matter up, and had ordered the frigate L'Aube (Captain Lavaud), to the Antipodes for the protection as well of the emigrants on arrival as of the new French possessions in the South Island afterwards England had gone to work in a different way. The New Zealand Company, of 1825, which sent out emigrants to Hokianga in the Rosanna, under aptain Herd, had been a failure—as much as anything from want of the 'charter' promised to it, but never granted. The 'Association' of 1837 was practically stillborn; but the pro-page 339moters persevered, and the Land Company of 1839 was formed under much the same directorate, Edward Gibbon Waksfield being the moving spirit from its foundation for the next seven years. Finding the Government of the day directly opposed to any colonisation scheme not initiated by themselves, the Troy was despatched by the Company in May, 1839, to take over the lands at Hokianga and any acquired elsewhere since 1825, and to prepare the way by further purchases from the Natives for the advent into New Zealand—early in the year 1840—of four or five shiploads of emigrants to the number of about fifteen hundred. This determined action of Wakefield forced the hand of the Home Government. In June an order was gazetted for the extension of the boundaries of New South Wales, so as to include any territory which is or may be acquired in sovereignly by her Majesty in New Zealand, and in July, Captain Hobson was appointed Lieut. Governor over these same not yet acquired Maori lands. It was a unique as well as difficult position that he left England in August to take up, viz, first, to persuade Native chiefs to cede their rights of sovereignty to England's Queen; and second, 'to exercise in a lawful manner those functions of government' which the New Zealand Land Company would otherwise find it necessary to ursurp. Arriving at the Bay of Islands in H.M.S. Herald on January 29th, 1840—from Sydney, where he received his credentials from Governor General Sir G. Gipps—Captain [unclear: Hobson] lost no time in calling a meeting of the Native chiefs at Waitangi for February 5th, at which the treaty proposals for the ceding to her Majesty of all their individual rights of sovereignty were to be discussed. How Governor Hobson succeeded in overcoming the reluctance of many chiefs to sign the 'Treaty,' and the steps he took for obtaining signatures in all parts of the islands, hardly concerns us. Sufficient to say, that although signatures were still being obtained up to the latter part of June, British sovereignty was proclaimed by him on May 31st, over the North Island 'by virtue of the treaty' and over the two southern islands' by virtue of the right of discovery.' Now, Major Bunbury's report concerning his doings in the page 340south islands could hardly have reached the Lieutenant-Governor in the Bay of Islands before July 1st; while the French frigate L'Aube arrived there on July 11th. Captain Lavaud was friendliness personified, and loquacious, in his desire for information about recent happenings. Conversation with him must have raised doubts in Captain Hobson's mind. The North Island was unquestionably safe under British sovereignity, and that part of the Middle Island to the north of the Kaikouras, by virtue of signature to the Treaty of Waitangi by the individual owning chiefs, and the proclamation ceremony at Cloudy Bay; but was the rest of that island equally secured by the one proclamation at Stewart's Island and 'right of discovery' alone? And would this claim of established British sovereignty hold good against French occupation' by a previous purchaser (L'Anglois), or against the title deeds of the other foreigner (Hempleman), already residing on the spot? To gain actual possession of the lands before the arrival of intending settlers, and to make another formal 'proclamation' there of sovereign right over the entire island 'by virtue of' that possession, were obviously the wisest, if not the only, steps to take. So Hobson sent Stanley down to Akaroa in urgent haste in the faint but fervent hope that he might get there before the French. In that case all would be well But the L'Aube was a faster ship than the Britomart, so the L'Aube must be delayed; and any suspicion, aroused by the sailing of the Britomart, set at rest by the yarn about 'just a couple of magistrates being taken round to Port Nicholson.' 'Captain Lavaud may, however, anticipate you in Akaroa,' Hobson goes on, and in that case Stanley is instructed to 'protest in the most decided manner, and impress upon him that such interference must be considered as an act of decided hostile invasion,' 'he was to produce Major Bunbury's declaration,' and 'my proclamation of the 31st May, etc, etc.' But I will not quote further from these 'instructions' from Hobson to Stanley, which are open for anyone to read, It is the letter of a wise administrator, but of a very anxious man, who need not have felt anxious, had he page 341been able to see the masterly manner in which Captain Stanley would carry through the important commission [unclear: entrusted] to him, and by the (justly commemorated) smartness of his action, secure sovereignty over the 'Middle' Island of New Zealand for the British Crown.—Yours, etc,

F. A. Anson.

London, 21st August, 1913."

Regarding this same matter of hoisting the flag, the letter of secret instructions from Governor Hobson, quoted by Mr Anson, has been given in full on page 101 as an addition to the article in the first edition, entitled "French Settlement of Akaroa." This letter was unearthed by Mr. Guy Schofieid, to whose researches we are also indebted for the report of Captain Stanley to Governor Hobson, written at sea on September 17, 1840 If anyone had a lingering doubt as to whether Captain Stanley was sent to forestall the French, that doubt must be dissipated by the report.