166 Transactions. 



for two years, and included a good deal of sharp fighting. Owing, 

 no doubt, to the spirit introduced by the missionaries, and the 

 influence of their families, the contest was prevented from 

 developing ■ into a war of extermination. It was conducted on 

 new and civilised lines. There was no cannibalism or slaying 

 of the wounded. With the exception of the Kororareka episode, 

 property was respected, and non-combatants were unmolested. 

 It was, in fact, more of a tournament than a war — a trial of 

 strength, which left no sting behind it. 



But it was very different with the war of 1860. This war 

 began in Taranaki, and lasted for ten years, spreading over a 

 third of the North Island, including Taranaki, Waikato, and 

 the districts about Poverty Bay. Ten thousand men were en- 

 gaged on the European side ; and it is estimated that some 

 £12,000,000 was expended before the contest was brought to 

 a conclusion. Considering the large forces engaged on both 

 sides, the number of men killed in the field was comparatively 

 trifling ; but the effect of the campaign as a factor in the pass- 

 ing of the Maori was deep and far-reaching. Multitudes of the 

 most robust and vigorous men were withdrawn from the work 

 which in normal times was barely sufficient to maintain them 

 in comparative comfort. These had to be fed, and the produc- 

 tion and transportation of the food more than taxed the ability 

 of the women and non-combatants. Houses and cultivations 

 had to be abandoned in the country accessible to the troops, 

 and hunting and fishing grounds were deserted. For years 

 this kind of thing went on. The whole population of a vast 

 area extending from sea to sea was kept in a state of unnatural 

 tension, and it would be impossible to estimate the numbers 

 that perished from sickness and privation. 



On the conclusion of the war all Native land beyond a certain 

 line was confiscated by the Government, and the Maoris had 

 to fall back and form new settlements as best they could, often 

 with the total loss of any live-stock they might have possessed. 



Te Whiti. 



The long delay of the Government in fulfilling their promise 

 to allocate land to those Natives who, though living within the 

 confiscated area, had not taken up arms caused much disap- 

 pointment and distress. Brooding over their wrongs, and seeing 

 no hope of redress, they at last found a mouthpiece in Te Whiti, 

 who arose as a prophet in 1880, and established himself at Pari- 

 haka, a few miles south of New Plymouth. It was assumed 

 that he was about to start on the warpath like a second Te 

 Kooti, and once more the country was got under arms. A 

 large force of Constabulary and Volunteers was got together. 



