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The Southern Districts of New Zealand

Contents

page xi

Contents.

CHAPTER I.Hakaroa—its Climate—Story of Tamaiharanui and Te Rauparaha—Census of Native Inhabitants—French Company's Claim to Banks's Peninsula—Otakou—Description of the Harbour—its Whale Fishery—Ingenuity of a Sea Bird—Disease called “tuhawaiki” 1
CHAPTER II.Old Pokeni—the “Moko” or Tattoo—not a mark of rank—Kohi's Tale—motives which led him to consent to be strangled—The chief Taiaroa—A Missionary and Police Magistrate deceived—Natives naturally prone to falsehood, but equally ready to confess the truth afterwards—Striking or shooting a person by proxy—A “Kanga” or Curse, very insulting to a Native—Missionaries liable to curse inadvertently—mishap which thus befel a Clergyman—Religious objections of the New Zealander to allow food to touch his head or back—His ideas of the cause of disease—Great value of the stone called “Pounamu”—whence obtained—how worked—its value in China—its composition 15
CHAPTER III.Native Population of Otakou—causes of its diminution—Erroneous opinions as to the general decline of the Aboriginal Population of New Zealand—Edinburgh Review on the sub- page xii ject—Numerous remains of old Pas no evidence of a former large population—Proportion of Males to Females—State of Females—Case of Suicide—Health of Natives—Climate—Cannibalism—Sacred character of a “Taua” or military force—Meaning of the terms “Tapu” and “Noa”—Reasons for believing that the population has increased during the last ten years 39
CHAPTER IV.Tuhawaiki's Fleet—his character—skill as a draftsman—Land Claims—Singular history of certain Title Deeds—Monster claims—Responsible office of the Commissioner—Absentee Natives liable to suffer injustice—Indiscriminate distribution of Crown Grants—to whom beneficial—to whom hurtful 79
CHAPTER V.Pedigrees of Natives—Traditionary history—its worth—Native Lawyers—Claims to Land, how proved by natives—Rights of Females in Land—History of the Southern Tribes—Practical value of Tables of Pedigrees 92
CHAPTER VI.Visit Waikouaiti—Mr. J—'s history—Mode of paying Whalers—their former drunkenness and improvidence—present improved moral condition—Tale of Stephen Smith—Amicable relations of the two races—Mode of grinding and boring holes through the Pounamu stone—Visit Purakaunui—Hospitality of an old whaler—Four notes of the bell-bird 105
CHAPTER VII.Voyage in a whale-boat—Coal district—Perils by sea—Whaling station at Onekakara—A sick whaler—Whaling statistics—Moeraki—Native village—A tragedy—British law applied to natives—“The Children of Wesley” and “The Church of Pahia”—Bones of the “Moa”. 124 page xiii
CHAPTER VIII.Voyage to the Southward—Molyneux Bay—Wreck of the Brig Lunar—Extraordinary whaling exploit—The Bluff—Awarua—The Southern Plains—Koreti or New River—Whaling station at Aparima—Tuhawaiki's schooner—Ruapuke—A whaler's narrative—Rakiura or Stewart's Island—Shores of Foveaux's Straits—Climate—Eligible site for Colonists. 141
CHAPTER IX.Sail to Otakou—Journey to the River Taiari—Expedients in the Bush—The Kotuku—Native village—Disinclination of natives to travel by land—Progress up the river, and return overland—Description of country between Taiari and Otakou—The Scotch settlement Dunedin—its prospects of success—Native pig-preserves—Concluding remarks on the whale fisheries 165
CHAPTER X.Preparations for a journey by land to Hakaroa—“Kouraraki”—Natives' traditions—their superstitious dislike to travel by night—“Tutu” or “Tupakihi”—its poisonous properties—View from Pukeuri range—The north-west wind—The River Waitaki—Interview with natives at Te Puna-a-maru 179
CHAPTER XI.Encampment on the bank of Waitaki—Mode of preparing fern root—Mokihi—Huruhuru's description of the interior of the island—Te Pueho's war party—Te Raki's escape—The River Matau—Wanderings and fate of the war party—Sandals used by natives—Dangers of Waitaki—Resident population—Rakitauneke's oven—Waihao—Land and sea breezes 200
CHAPTER XII.Travelling on a beach—Unexpected meeting with the Bishop—A deserted whaling station—A native encampment—The page xiv “Titi” or mutton bird—Te Rehe—Ninety-mile beach—Wai-a-te-rua-ti—Harowhenua—Natives' anxiety about the sale of Banks's Peninsula—Census 219
CHAPTER XIII.Journey continued—“Kauru” or root of the “Ti”—The River Rakitata—Solitary instance of a scarcity of water in New Zealand—The River Orakaia—Mode of fording rapid rivers—Peculiarities of rivers whose sources are in the Snow Mountains—Taumutu—Tikao's letter—Extremity of the ninety-mile beach—Arrival at Hakaroa 233
CHAPTER XIV.The Agent of the French Company and the natives—Wakaoroi (Pigeon Bay)—European settlers—Trespass of cattle—Kokourarata (Port Levy)—Iwikau and Taiaroa—Complaints made by natives regarding forcible occupation of their lands—Visit to Wakaraupo (Port Victoria)—View of the “Canterbury” Plains from the hills above the harbour—Treatment of runaway sailors by natives—A good example for settlers—Return to Hakaroa 250
CHAPTER XV.Second journey to Wakaoroi and Kokourarata—Tedious voyage in a leaky schooner with the Bishop—Arrival at Port Nicholson 272
Appendix 281
Vocabulary of the “Kaitahu” Dialect 305