1 10 INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES [PART I. 



silently for forty years, when it was at length ex- 

 piated by the death of him who committed it. 



They are cruel in their wars, either of retaliation 

 or aggression, and it cannot he denied that they 

 possess a good deal of selfishness, and have not that 

 true generous spirit, that gratitude for benefits con- 

 ferred, or that true friendship, so characteristic of 

 European and Eastern nations. But we never find 

 these qualities amongst savages : they are, in fact, 

 the fruits, and the best fruits, of refinement and 

 civilization. 



It will readily be seen that the character for fero- 

 city and treachery, which has been ascribed to the 

 New Zealanders, does not justly apply to them in 

 times of peace. In their domestic relations they are 

 very easily guided ; and if outrages are committed, 

 they are either the consequence of superstition or are 

 authorized by what they regard as lawful customs. 



I am sorry to say that, by intercourse with 

 Europeans, the natives have lost many of their ori- 

 ginal good qualities, and have acquired others, far 

 less amiable. They have become covetous, suspici- 

 ous, and importunate. They have lost a great part 

 of their hospitality and politeness ; and their refus- 

 ing aid, when the stranger is most in want of it, or 

 exacting exorbitant recompense for it, makes tra- 

 velling now very annoying. To this must be added, 

 that those who have become Christians refuse, by 

 the ill-judged directions of the missionaries, to 

 furnish food or to perform any kind of work for a 



