Government not having been completed according to his view of the matter, he thinks that the amount he has already received is only a fair equivalent for the feast given by him at Kaitaia upon the late Governor's arrival there.

"Fourthly, He (Nopera) promises that the settlers at Mongonui shall remain unmolested, and be permitted to occupy the spots they reside on, with any cultivation attached,' until the whole of the matter be arranged; and this license he considers an ample compensation to Porirua, &c., for any rights they may have had to the lands.

"Fifthly, That he would not now relinquish his right over these lands, either to the settlers or to the Government, for any consideration that could be offered, but that he will maintain his right to the lands vi et armis.

"The adverse tribes have opposed the sales made by Nopera to Mr. Ford and Mr. Taylor, and with more show of justice, because these lands have been their dwelling places for very many years.

"I proposed divers modes of arranging their differences to these chiefs, but without effect, Nopera being the most determined in resistance. He considers that the offer (as he calls it) of the Government in 1840 to purchase his rights over the heads of Europeans already settled upon these lands was an absolute confirmation and admission of his title.

"The two parties mustered upwards of 400 fighting men, were fully armed with abundance of ammunition, and their muskets loaded with ball cartridge. Each party danced the war dance, and was harangued by their respective chiefs; and at one time it appeared very probable that they would have come to blows before me.

"I have frequently visited Nopera since, in the hope of finding him in a more tractable disposition, but hitherto he has not given way in the least.

"I intend to proceed to Kaitaia in a few days to investigate the claims not disputed by these parties there, and shall endeavour to bring Nopera to terms during my stay there, but my hopes of being successful are very faint.-I have, &c.,

(Signed) "EDWARD L. GODFREY, Commissioner."*

-

A month later the Commissioner writes from Kaitaia :"Immediately after my arrival at Kaitaia all Nopera's tribes

* Report on New Zealand, 29th July, 1844. Appendix, p. 125.

120

RESISTANCE OF THE NATIVES TO

assembled there in considerable numbers; and in a public conference many violent_and_seditious speeches were made by Nopera and other chiefs. In these harangues they declared"1. That the sales of land around Kaitaia already made by Nopera and his party to individuals should be acknowledged; but that any surplus lands, i.e., those the Government does not grant to the claimants, will be resumed by the chiefs who sold them.

"2. That they will sell no more land either to individuals or to the Government.

"3. That the chiefs will exercise all their ancient rights and authority of every description as heretofore; and will not in future allow of any claims or interference on the part of the Government.

"4. That they are all (except Nopera) very unwilling to arrange the dispute about the lands at Mongonui.

"5. That they (Morenga and his party) object to give the promised compensation for having stripped the vessel at Waro, one old gentleman declaring that they would be on the look-out for and take advantage of every similar God-send."*

The vessel referred to was a new schooner on her first voyage, which got on shore, when she was stripped by the natives of all her sails and tackle, and became a total wreck in consequence. According to native custom, the plundering of a shipwrecked vessel, or of a burning house, is a legitimate proceeding; nor would the suffering party, if a New Zealander, think himself wronged. He would consider it a just punishment for allowing his canoe to be wrecked, or his house to catch fire. But by the. influence of the Protector, a tract of land had been promised as compensation for the plunder of this vessel. The change thus indicated in their intention was owing to their having heard that a tract of land, which had been given on the Kaipara River for the destruction of a settler's house there, had not been given to the settler, but appropriated by the Government, who said they would give the settler what was right. The natives who plundered the vessel now asked "if they should give the land, would Tipene (the owner of the vessel) get it?" "Did Potete get the land which was given for the burning of his house?”

Porirua, the Ngapuhi chief, who had sold the greatest part of the land to the settlers, and accepted 1007. from the Government for the remainder, and who had come armed to the Commissioners' Court to assert and maintain the rights he had conveyed,

* Report of 1844, p. 126,

INTERFERENCE WITH TITLES GRANTED BY THEM. 121

although he and his people had ceased to have any interest in them, was joined by other Ngapuhi chiefs, with three large canoes full of armed men, from the Bay of Islands.

As regarded the Ngapuhis, the war which they came to wage was altogether upon a point of honour. Otane, the elder brother of Porirua, expressed himself thus to the Protector of Aborigines:-" He had been accused and abused by the Europeans for selling them land which did not belong to him, which had made him much ashamed; and to show them that he could not act so unworthy a part, he offered the Government a piece of timber-land in the district of Oruru as a compensation for Noble's claims to Mongonui,"* referring to the claims recognised by the Government. Otane's feelings, as thus expressed, were the feelings of all the tribes with which he was connected; and they mustered their forces to protect the rights of the British settlers to the lands which they had conveyed to them. The most powerful_influences-those of the Bishop of New Zealand, Archdeacon Williams, the head of the Church Mission, and Mr. Clarke, the Protector of Aborigines-were brought to bear upon them in vain. Nor was peace made till fifteen natives had lost their lives and much property had been destroyed. It was in this contest that Hone Heke, the leader in the subsequent war, first distinguished himself by his coolness and determination.

The Bay of Islands lost much of its importance by the establishment of the Government at Auckland-a large proportion of the settlers accepted the offer made by the Government to exchange their lands in the neighbourhood of the Bay for land near Auckland. The establishment of a Custom-house, and the levy of duties upon imports, and especially upon tobacco, had made the harbour a less desirable resort for whaling ships, and thereby caused much discontent amongst the traders of the place; and this discontent was communicated by them to the natives. It was asserted that foreigners had encouraged them to rebel, by the assurance of assistance from other nations, if they would repudiate the English flag. And all their former confidence in the uprightness of the Government being destroyed, Heke's rebellion broke out by the cutting down of the flagstaff on a hill above the town of Russel. In two letters addressed to Governor Fitzroy he gives his reason for this proceeding. In the first letter, dated May 21, 1845, he says: "We are taunted with this language by the white people; by the white people of Hokianga, of Wangaroa, of Kororareka, of

*Parliamentary Papers of 21st May, 1846, p. 127.

:

Wahapu, of Otuihu: they made this statement—' Your land will be taken by the Governor, and after that you will be killed. Look at Port Jackson, at China, and at all the islands; after that manner will this island be treated; the flag takes possession of the land'-the English first, after that the French, and then the Americans (made, this statement)-then I assented to these statements. They did this for four years. On the fifth year we assented to those often-repeated statements of the white people made to us. Then, first, we touched the flagstaff; it was chopped that it might fall. After that it was put up again. We then said, it is all true, for they urge the point, and we land." said we would die upon our

The second letter, which is dated July 15, 1845, is as follows:-" Mr. Governor, this is my message to you; let my faults be examined by you. Was the commencement made by I think it was by you, by the white man. I you or by me? was in ignorance; the white people said to me, 'John Heke, your land is taken by the Governor. I replied,' By what means is it taken?' The white people answered,' By the flagstaff which stands at Maiki.' I said, What is to be done?' They replied, Cut down the flagstaff; it was chopped down, the tree fell.' I said, 'What meaning is there in the flagstaff? The white people told me the power of the Queen is in the flag; there are three nations in it.' I said, "God made this land for us and for all our children.'

In another letter, dated 29th August, 1845, he asks the Governor to provide a ship to take him in search of some other dwelling-place. He says: "This is mine to you; my retention of my lands, and my sorrow for my lands, shall cease. them all go, the whole of them. I will not attempt to save even a part land. my

of

Let

"The thing that I put most value upon is land, because it was given by God for a dwelling-place for man in this world, a resting-place for the soles of his feet, a burial-place for strangers of the world. Amen.

if

"If you compassionate us and give us a ship, there will be no difficulty about the relinquishment of the land by us; not, then how is it to be? We, the evil people, shall remain upon our lands then? But if we go elsewhere it will be good the offences will not be seen. It is written, 'If you are evil entreated at one place, remove to another.'"*

It has been stated that the Customs have been one of the causes of the native revolt, the natives paying double price for

* Heke's Letter to Governor Fitzroy in Papers of 21st May, 1846, p. 150.

tobacco and not being allowed to trade with the ships for it; on the other hand, they received twice or three times the former price for their produce after the establishment of the colony. But the abolition of the customs did not prevent the second outbreak; nor did the waivers of pre-emption of 26th March and 10th October, 1844.

In reference to the Customs' duties, Governor Grey, under date the 12th May, 1846, writes to Lord Stanley as follows:

"Whilst upon the ground of discontent, no objection at present exists to the payment of Customs' duties, as the native chiefs are beginning very generally to understand that the Government cannot be conducted without money; they are also generally anxious to enjoy the advantages of good government, and several of the principal chiefs have stated that they see that so long as the duties of Customs are the payment made to the Government so long will the wealth of the Government depend upon their being rich enough to buy clothing and articles of luxury; that it will thus be the object of the Government to see them wealthy, and they, therefore, entertain no fear of their lands and property being taken from them."*

The only real grievance of which the natives had cause to complain was the inability of the Government to buy their land, which the Government were bound by the treaty to do whenever it should be offered at a fair price-that is, such a price as they were accustomed to receive from the settlers before they bound themselves by the terms of the treaty to sell no more land, unless to agents appointed by the Queen to treat with them for it. But the natives at the Bay of Islands, so far from complaining of this, had entered into a league to put any native to death who should offer to sell land. It was otherwise at Auckland, where, as Governor Fitzroy informed the Secretary of State, the natives were clamorous to sell land; but there was an absolute inability on the part of the Government to enter into new purchases of land, having neither funds nor articles of trade, nor authority to draw on the home Government."†

66

"At the first meeting held with the natives at Waimate, in the Bay of Islands district, after the cutting down of the flagstaff, no complaint was made of the Customs, or any allusion to them by any of the twenty-four chiefs who spoke in reply to

* Papers in continuation of Papers presented 26th August, 1846.

+ Papers of 14th March, 1845, p.21.