The Treaty of Waitangi

[58] The name of this priest does not seem to have been preserved.

[59] They were members of the Mounted Police Force which Captain Hobson had brought with him from Sydney.

[60] _Rangatira_: Chief, gentleman, one in authority.

[61] In his discussions with the Maoris, Bishop Pompallier had stressed the point that he held the advantage over the Protestant Missionaries in that he was a member of the Episcopacy. The best attempt on the part of the natives to render into their own language the word Episcopo, in its varied forms, was "_Pikopo_," hence the Bishop and his converts became known as _Pikopo_.

[62] The Revs. Ironside and Warren, of the Wesleyan Mission, arrived at a later hour, with the contingent of Hokianga natives, including Tamati Waaka Nene; and on the following day they were amongst the witnesses to the signatures.

[63] _Authentic and Genuine History of the Signing of the Treaty of Waitangi_, by the Rev. W. Colenso.

[64] These were all of foreign manufacture, and were the gifts of Bishop Pompallier. On this point Jameson says: "But the most virtuous of human actions are liable to be misinterpreted and misjudged, and M.

de Pompallier"s liberality to the natives was uncharitably stigmatised as an attempt to bribe and lure them to the adoption of the Catholic persuasion. This conduct was invidiously contrasted with that of the Church of England and Wesleyan Missionaries, who deemed it a point of duty to hold out no temptation to the cupidity of the natives, as an inducement for them to become Christians, and also to encourage among them regular habits of industry, gave them nothing except in fair exchange for agricultural produce or for services performed. The Protestant Missionaries have laboured with great zeal and success amongst the New Zealanders. But in acknowledging their merits, we, in common justice, cannot condemn the motives of M. de Pompallier."

[65] A short spear.

[66] "Captain Hobson spoke briefly but emphatically and with strong feeling."--Felton Mathew.

[67] Rewa once replied to a European who had chided him because he had ceased to pay him his customary visits, "I was ashamed to go, because I had no present to offer you. Formerly, when I went to see my friends I always carried them a present of pigs and potatoes, but I am a poor man now. I have sold all my land and I have nothing to give my friends."

[68] Mr. Gilbert Mair was a merchant at Kororareka. Mr. James E.

Clendon was likewise a merchant there, and had been a.s.sistant British Resident at Hokianga. He was at this period U.S.A. Consul.

[69] Meaning the Proclamation referring to land t.i.tles.

[70] Colenso repudiates the suggestion that the speeches were not properly interpreted, and explains that Maori oratory is redundant with repet.i.tion which, of course, was very properly eliminated during the course of the translation.

[71] The Bishop of Australia thus wrote to Mr. Williams on the subject of the Missionaries" land claims: "I am led to believe that the immediate consequence of establishing the British Dominion will be the settlement of t.i.tles to land according to the principles of law and equity. This proceeding will necessarily lead to a judicial investigation of the landed properties transmitted to the Society.

These should be exactly and jealously re-examined, that you may be prepared to sustain them, even to the minutest point when brought under the scrutiny of the world at large, as beyond all doubt they will be. I think also that it will be expedient that you should take advantage of the warning thus given of what you are to expect, by preparing a most full and explicit account of all the transactions between you and any of the natives."

[72] This native had been actually christened at his own request as "King George," Mr. Williams having taken the responsibility of reversing the names, and entering them in that form in the Register.

[73] This was not the great t.i.tore, who was the first to commence the felling of kauri spars for the Navy, but another chief of the same name. t.i.tore Nui (the great) signed the Treaty under the name of Takiri.

[74] The Rev. R. Taylor relates an instance in which Tareha was about to despatch a slave for some real or imaginary offence. Mr. Kemp, one of the Missionaries interposed, and could not be persuaded to let the killing go on. Whereupon Tareha picked him up (for he was a small man) and carried him over to his cottage, deposited him inside, and told Mrs. Kemp to shut him up and keep him out of harm"s way. He then returned to the business on hand. On another occasion the Missionaries discovered Tareha in a choking condition, a fish bone having lodged in his throat. He being _tapu_ (sacred) none of his people dared touch him, but after considerable labour the Missionaries succeeded in dislodging the bone with the aid of a pair of scissors. After he had recovered, the punctilious Tareha claimed the scissors as payment for the desecration of his sacred throat.

[75] Here he held up the canoe paddle, which he had used dramatically throughout his oration.

[76] This was a reference to the New Testament, which had just been printed in the native language at the Missionary Press, at Paihia, and circulated amongst the tribes.

[77] Amongst the many contradictions which the historian of the Treaty of Waitangi has to reconcile, none is more difficult than the explanation of Hone Heke"s att.i.tude towards the negotiation. The report of his speech as printed above is taken from Colenso"s account of the proceedings, and would lead one to suppose that Heke was in favour of the treaty. Colenso"s view is supported by the Rev. Henry Williams, who tells us that Heke "fully approved" of the treaty and advised the people to sign it. Other accounts are quite different. The Rev. Mr. Burrows states that Heke "gave a lot of trouble" at the signing of the treaty. The Rev. Mr. Ironside reports that Heke "was violent in his harangue against Captain Hobson, vociferating repeatedly in his native style, "_Haere e hoki_" ("Go, return").

Tamati Waaka came to me and said his heart was _pouri_ (grieved) with Heke"s violence, and the way Captain Hobson was being treated.

"Well," I said, "if you think so, say so"; whereupon Tamati sprang up and made his speech." In some interesting annotations made on the treaty by Mr. William B. Baker, translator to the Native Department in 1869, that gentleman says: "I remember distinctly being present during the whole of the meeting; that Hone Heke Pokai was very violent in his language, though he is not mentioned by Captain Hobson. The chief whose name is given, Kaiteke, was a better-known character in those days than Heke, who, though a person of high rank and influence through his marriage with Hongi"s favourite daughter, Rongo, had previously led a very quiet and retired life. A war of words ensued between Tamati Waaka Nene, who came in at this crisis, and Heke, the result of which was that Waaka "removed the temporary feeling that had been created."" There is thus a distinct difference of opinion and impression between Mr. Colenso and the above writers who were also present and heard what was said.

[78] _Vide_ Captain Hobson"s despatch to Sir George Gipps, February 5, 1840.

[79] The Treaty.

[80] "Nene spoke in a strain of fervid and impa.s.sioned eloquence such as I never before heard, and which immediately turned the tide in our favour."--Felton Mathew.

[81] _Life and Times of Patuone_, by C. O. Davis.

[82] This was a reference to Bishop Pompallier. The remark was no doubt prompted by religious prejudice, and serves to show to what extent the bitterness of sectarian feeling had already grown, for Patuone was otherwise a man of a most kindly nature.

[83] "One of the chiefs said, "Give us time to consider this matter--we will talk it over amongst ourselves, we will ask questions, and then decide whether we will sign the treaty." The speeches occupied about six hours, and the whole scene was one I would not have missed for worlds, and which I will never forget."--Felton Mathew.

[84] An attempt was made during the afternoon to distribute a quant.i.ty of tobacco amongst the natives, but in their impetuosity to secure the "fragrant weed" they upset the distributor, and an unseemly scramble ensued which resulted in a certain amount of bad feeling.

[85] "In the meantime Mr. J. R. Clendon, an Englishman acting as American Consul, the Missionaries, and many interested persons residing there, or about becoming settlers, were made to understand that their interests would be much promoted if they should forward the views of the British Government. Every exertion was now made by these parties to remove the scruples of the chiefs, and thus form a party strong enough to overreach the rest of the natives, and overcome their objections. About forty chiefs, princ.i.p.ally minor ones--a very small representation of the proprietors of the soil--were induced to sign the treaty. The influence of Mr. Clendon arising from his position as the representative of the United States, was amongst the most efficient means by which the a.s.sent of even this small party was obtained. The natives placed much confidence in him, believing him to be disinterested. He became a witness to the doc.u.ment, and informed me, when speaking of the transaction, that it was entirely through his influence that the treaty was signed."--Extract from Commander Wilkes"s _Journal_.

[86] In some _Early Recollections_ Archdeacon Williams attributes this affability to the fact that at this time Captain Hobson was "under the delusion" that the Catholics carried the sway with the natives.

[87] The Bishop rather plumes himself that by his intervention he secured the inestimable boon of religious freedom to the people of New Zealand--_vide_ his _History of the Catholic Church in Oceana_; but he is obviously labouring a point about which there was no dispute.

[88] Archdeacon Williams is responsible for the statement that none of the natives held back from signing the treaty because they did not understand it, but many did because of extraneous influences brought to bear upon them.

[89] Hone Heke signed the treaty under his ancestral name, Pokai. All the writers are agreed that he was the first, or amongst the first to sign; but on the treaty itself his name appears as sixty-sixth in order, the place of honour being given to Kawiti, his confederate in the war of 1845. This may be accounted for by the fact that he wrote his name on the part of the sheet that came most convenient to him.

[90] The tattoo marks on their face.

[91] At the close of the second day"s ceremony Patuone advanced to the dais and presented Captain Hobson with a handsome greenstone _mere_ as a gift to the Queen. He afterwards returned on board the _Herald_ and had dinner with the Governor.

[92] The _Herald_ lay off the Hermione reef, where her guns could command the lawn in front of Mr. Busby"s house, as well as the flat to the left on which the Maoris were camped.

[93] The following interesting reminiscences regarding the Treaty of Waitangi are from the pen of Mr. George Elliott-Elliott, who in the year 1841 was Record clerk in the Government service: "This celebrated doc.u.ment, a sort of New Zealand Magna Charta in its importance, is not a single doc.u.ment, but is composed of a number of separate sheets; and, if I remember rightly, some few are of parchment and some of paper--the text is the same in all; these separate sheets were sent to the different tribes and _hapus_ of natives for the signatures of the different chiefs and influential men amongst them. Some of them could write, and signed their names; others affixed their marks, in the shape of what was supposed to be an imitation of the tattoo on their faces. Each of these sheets was in charge of some well-known European, generally some one in connection with the Church of England or Wesleyan Missions, who attested the signatures and remarks of the various persons on the doc.u.ment, and, on completion, returned it to the Government.

"There is no doubt that this treaty has a _mana_ peculiar to itself, and that the natives regard it with respect. They believe that they have thereby voluntarily given up to the _Pakeha_ a something which is their loss and the _Pakeha"s_ gain; but what that something is they are quite unable to define. I feel pretty sure that if, from any accident in the early days, this doc.u.ment had been lost or destroyed, the natives would never have been induced to sign another. That it was once saved from such accident the following will show: In 1841 the Government offices were held in a four-roomed wood cottage in Official Bay, Auckland. The Colonial Secretary, the Audit, the Colonial Treasurer, and the Customs each had one room. Mr.

Shortland was Colonial Secretary (the Audit was also under his control), Mr. Cooper was Colonial Treasurer and Collector of Customs.

There were four clerks in the establishment--Grimstone in the Treasury, Leech in the Audit, Freeman and myself in the Colonial Secretary"s. We were the Government in those prehistoric days. I was called Clerk of Records, and had charge of the various records and papers--not many then--amongst them this Treaty of Waitangi. This, with the seal of the colony, I kept in a small iron box brought from Sydney in the _Westminster_ the year before. I was living in a _raupo_ whare in Queen Street, close to Shortland Street, at that time ("41), when early one morning--I can"t remember the precise date--I observed a great body of smoke ascending from Official Bay. I at once ran up Shortland Street, and on reaching the top of the hill found that the Government offices were on fire. When I got to the building one end was in flames and the place full of smoke. I saw that nothing could save the place. I at once tied my handkerchief over my face, got the door open, and rushed into the room which the Colonial Secretary occupied. I could not see for the smoke, and the handkerchief both blinded and choked me. The room was small, and I knew it so well I could put my hand on anything in it blindfold. I at once went to the iron box, unlocked it, took out the Treaty of Waitangi, and the seal of the colony, and ran out again directly. I suppose from the time I entered the building until I left it was not more than a minute, but it seemed an hour. I carried the seal and the treaty to the house of Mr. Felton Mathew (Surveyor-General), which was close by, and gave them into his charge. When I got outside the burning offices several persons had come up, amongst them some seamen from a French man-o"-war, then in harbour. They had a portable fire-engine, but it was useless, for there was no water. Of course the building and its contents were all destroyed, amongst them the iron box from which I had taken the seal and the treaty. The box was made of common sheet iron.

"I subsequently fastened the different sheets of the treaty together and deposited it in the Colonial Secretary"s office, where I presume it has been ever since."

To commemorate the signing of the treaty, Mrs. Busby planted the Pohutukawa tree still growing in front of the old Residency (see ill.u.s.tration).

The Maoris have also erected a monument on the opposite side of the river, beside what is known as the Treaty House, where they at one time hoped to establish a Parliament of their own. The monument was unveiled by the Hon. William Rolleston, Native Minister, on March 23, 1881.

The original doc.u.ments comprising the Treaty of Waitangi are now in charge of the Department of Internal Affairs.

CHAPTER V

IN SEARCH OF SIGNATURES

Although Captain Hobson had every reason to be gratified with the result of his mission at Waitangi, it was perfectly obvious that the signatures obtained there were only sufficient to give him jurisdiction over a very circ.u.mscribed area of country. It was equally evident that if the full intentions of the British Government were to be given effect to, it would be necessary to put into practice the Mahomedan principle and go to the mountain, since the mountain had failed to come to him. He accordingly arranged a campaign by which the districts north of the Bay of Islands would be visited, either by himself personally, or by his duly accredited officers. Pursuant to this arrangement on the morning of the 10th, the Lieutenant-Governor (accompanied by Captain Nias) and his suite left the Bay of Islands and rode over to the Mission station at Waimate, where on the 12th they held a meeting and obtained the signatures of all the chiefs present. With two of the Church Missionaries, Messrs. Taylor and Clarke, added to his company, Captain Hobson left Waimate next day and continued his journey to Hokianga, where it was antic.i.p.ated a great meeting would be held. On arriving at Waihou, a settlement on the banks of the river about seven miles above the Wesleyan Mission station,--for he was now within the Wesleyan sphere of influence,--the Governor was met by the members of the Mission and all the princ.i.p.al European settlers in the neighbourhood. Here he received, probably in the form of an address, the warmest a.s.surances of the settlers"

fidelity to the Queen, and the most hearty congratulations to himself upon his selection as her representative.