TS^ HA CiSS OF MA A . ^li 



tiveness of the women aud on the extmofdinary mortality 

 of the young children (pp. 31, 34). In proof of this he 

 shows (p. 33) that in 1844 there was one non-adnlt for 

 every "1.6% adults;; whereas in 1858 there was only one non- 

 adult for every 3.27 adults. The mortality of tile adults is 

 also great. He adduces as a further cause of the decrease 

 the inequality of the sexes; for fewer females are born than 

 males. To this latter point, depnending perhaps on a widely 

 distinct cause, I shall return in a future chapter. Mr. 

 Fenton contrasts with astonishment the decrease in New 

 Zealand with the increase in Ireland; countries not very 

 dissimilar in climate, and where the inhabitants now follow 

 nearly similar habits. The Maories themselves (p. 35) 

 ** attribute their decadence, in some measure, to the intro- 

 duction of new food and clothing, and the attendant 

 change of habits;'^ and it will be seen, when we consider 

 the influence of changed conditions on fertility, that they 

 are probably right. The diminution began between the 

 years 1830 and 1840; and Mr. Fenton shows (p. 40) that 

 about 1830, the art of manufacturing putrid corn (maize), 

 by long steeping in water, was discovered and largely prac- 

 ticed ; and this proves that a change of habits was begin- 

 ning among the natives, even when New Zealand was only 

 thinly inhabited by Europeans. When I visited the Bay 

 of Islands in 1835, the dress and food of the inhabitants 

 had already been much modified ; they raised potatoes, 

 maize and other agricultural produce, and exchanged them 

 for English manufactured goods and tobacco. 



It is evident from many statements in the life of Bishop 

 Patteson,* that the Melanesians of the New Hebrides and 

 neighboring archipelagoes, suffered to an extraordinary 

 degree in health, and perished in large numbers, when they 

 were removed to New Zealand, Norfolk Island and other 

 salubrious places, in order to be educated as missionaries. 



The decrease of the native population of the Sandwich 

 Islands is as notorious as that of New Zealand. It has 

 been roughly estimated by those best capable of judging, 

 that when Cook discovered the Islands in 1779, the popula- 

 tion amounted to about 300,000. According to a loose 

 census in 1823, the numbers then were 142,050. In 1832, 



* *' Life of J. C. Patteson," by C. M. Younge, 1874; see more 

 especially vol. i, p. 530. 



