Andersen. — Mission of the '" Brifomart " at Akaroa. 89 



From to-day [21st August] a British Magistrate has been appomted to reside at 

 Akaroa and will establish himself there. I suppose it is the arrival and the landing of 

 our colonists that has called forth this measure. I had a conference on this matter 

 with him. and I could sec a certain fear concerning my intentions ; nevertheless, I am 

 pleased at liis presence, because, together with mine, it might avoid misiHnderstandings 

 between the established British and our colonists. . . . 



In ending this despatch I must repeat to Your Excellency my whole idea : No 

 colonization possible' in these seas if we do not obtain the withdrawal of these Procla- 

 mations and declarations as to the island of Tawai Poenamou (Middle Island) ; and 

 then, apart from the inconvenience of' the neighbourhood, one would have to make a 

 better choice of emigrants than those brought out by the " Comte de Paris." 



There is a voluminous essay written by Lavaud, entitled " Voyage and 

 Attempted Colonization of the South Island of New Zealand, undertaken 

 by the Corvette ' Aube,' commanded by Commander Lavaud," which 

 gives more detail than the official papers, but is hardly more to the 

 point. 



It will be admitted that Lavaud was placed in a very difficult position 

 through the change of circumstances that had taken place since he left 

 France ; that he, as representative of that country, bore himself in a 

 courteous if independent manner, and that both he and Hobson acted with 

 admirable mutual forbearance ; that there was no race, the French objects 

 having been defeated whilst Lavaud was still at sea and in ignorance of 

 events ; and that Lavaud, whilst accepting the defeat with difficulty, did 

 so with dignity ; that his action was the best he could have taken, both 

 for the continued amity of the two nations and for the comfort of the 

 emigrants. 



In conclusion, it is a pleasure to be able to express this respect for one 

 who represented a nation with whom we have often been at variance, but 

 between whom and ourselves a bitter war against a common foe has, we 

 trust, consummated an enduring friendship. The French did not prosecute 

 their claim ; upon inquiry, the New Zealand Government, in view of the 

 fact that a large number of emigrants had been sent out in good faith, at 

 a cost of £15,125, made the company a grant of 30,000 acres, and the 

 company finally ceded all its rights on the peninsula to the New Zealand 

 Company for the sum of £4,500. 



Many contemporary versions have appeared of what was supposed to 

 have taken place at Akaroa in August, 1840 ; and it was the great dis- 

 crepancies among these, and the reading of Stanley's report, that awoke 

 in the writer a suspicion that the ceremony performed was not one of taking 

 possession, but merely one of exercising civil authority in virtue of posses- 

 sion already taken ; and that more facts were to be gleaned from the dark 

 fields of the past. 



-It is to be hoped that the whole of the official correspondence, both 

 English and French, may be made generally available by publication. 



