An Epitome of Official Documents Relative to Native Affairs and Land Purchases in the North Island of New Zealand
Conversation with Te Heuheu
Conversation with Te Heuheu.
In speaking of Hone Heke, he said he considered him to be in the right; that he was asserting his freedom and that of his country; that pakehas (Europeans) had advised him to do what he had done; and that the British Government intended to deprive the New Zealanders of their lands, their liberty, and their rights as chieftains, but that they would be found a determined race of people, strong, well skilled in war, and not easily subdued. The English were an insatiable people, desirous of conquering all nations; that Napoleon Buonaparte would have been a match for them, had he not been taken by stratagem. The Americans also were too strong for us, but the Natives of Port Jackson had fallen victims to our encroachment, which, he feared, would ultimately be the fate of himself, and his people.