Hocken. — On Literature in New Zealand. 487 



Having thus said farewell to these faithful servants, regret- 

 fully because their remains are nowhere preserved for our 

 veneration, we pass on to the next era, marked by the year 

 1840. It will preserve the order of this recital if, for the pre- 

 sent, our first English literature — newspapers, pamphlets, &c. 

 — remains unnoticed, and place be still given to the Maori, 

 which becomes of increasing interest. No sooner had Captain 

 Hobson established himself in Auckland than steps were 

 taken to carry on that system of native instruction which the 

 missionaries had always viewed as a prime duty. The facili- 

 ties for doing this were considerably greater, and those who 

 took an active interest in the work much more numerous. 

 The list of these, from first to last, is a very long one, and it 

 redounds to our credit as colonists of Great Britain that the 

 performance of this great duty was never neglected, and that 

 every effort was made to carry on that civilisation which 

 Samuel Marsden began in simple homely method. No hu- 

 mane person can view but with deep regret the gradual dis- 

 appearance of the noble people who first owned these lands, 

 and the question has often struck the writer whether we, as 

 their keeper, exercise at the present day as much interest in 

 their welfare as was the case thirty years ago. Four years 

 since I rode from East Cape to Gisborne, a distance of a hun- 

 dred miles, passing through magnificent country, nearly all 

 being native lands. It was painful to see the half-ruined 

 kaingas, the trifling cultivation, barely sufficient for need, the 

 squalid, idle appearance of the natives, and the general air of 

 desolation. Coming from the south, with its rich farms and 

 cultivations, the whole of this district seemed desolate and 

 depressing. The valuable asset of these rich lands was 

 certainly theirs, nor could they starve upon it, or fritter 

 it away by a sale in which the Government had no voice. 

 Still, these questions force themselves upon us : Cannot 

 these people be saved from themselves, and stimulated by 

 proper measures to practise the simple virtues of cleanliness, 

 activity, and industry ? To compass this would be a states- 

 manlike policy, and it might be effected by selling these 

 lands, or a sufficient portion, and disbursing the proceeds in 

 raising the unfortunate owners from the depth of sloth and 

 ignorance in which they are sunk. Until some measures of 

 the sort are taken it must appear that we are not now doing 

 our duty. War is over, and can no longer destroy or disturb 

 our best efforts. Amongst those former lovers of the race — 

 men who gloried in the name of " philo-Maori " — may be 

 mentioned Sir William Martin, the first Chief Justice, and 

 his wife, Bishop Selwyn, William Swainson (the Attorney- 

 General), Dr. Shortland, Mr. Mantell, and Sir George Grey. 

 This is but a fraction of the number, but it contains the 



