164 



John Sac. Conduct of the 

 American consul. 



NEW ZEALAND. 



Prospects of the islanders. 

 Allotments of land made. 



mated for the year 1841 at 50,9221. 3s. 4d. 

 sterling, which is about equal to }0l. for each 

 man, woman, and child ; for the whole foreign 

 population on all the islands is not supposed to be 

 more than five thousand. The great precipitancy 

 with which the islands were taken possession of, is 

 said to have been owing to the fears entertained 

 that the French intended forming a colony on the 

 southern island in like manner. 



After my arrival I gave the men liberty. Among 

 the first who obtained it was John Sac, a native of 

 New Zealand, and of the neighbourhood of this 

 bay. His native name was Tuatti, and he was a 

 petty chief. He had been some time absent from 

 his country, and had sailed in the expedition from 

 the United States, was an excellent sailor, a very 

 good fellow, and had been enthusiastic in the praise 

 of his country and countrymen. According to him, 

 there was nothing like New Zealand ; and under 

 this feeling he hired a canoe to take him on shore, 

 for which his countryman charged him three 

 dollars, although half a dollar would have been an 

 exorbitant price. He landed at Tibbey's, and 

 being desirous of going to his friends, wished to 

 engage a canoe to take him about ten miles up one 

 of the rivers, the Kawa-Kawa, where they resided. 

 For this conveyance he was asked 21., nearly a 

 month's pay. Poor John could not submit to this 

 extortion, and was found sitting on a log, greatly 

 mortified, depressed, and incensed at such treat- 

 ment. 



After John returned on board, he made a pi-opo- 

 sition to Mr. Waldron, in a letter, to purchase the 

 island which he called Motugee, with the territory 

 of Muckatoo, belonging to his father and family, 

 and expressing his belief that they were all op- 

 posed to the encroachments of the English, and 

 were determined not to part with their land to 

 them. 



Although the land about the Bay of Islands is 

 much cut up by indentations, yet from this circum- 

 stance it affords many pretty views, which have in 

 some respects an appearance of an advance towards 

 civilization, that one hardly expects to find within 

 the scope of the residences of these savages. 



At the time of my visit, which was, as has been 

 seen, immediately after Captain Hobson's arrival, 

 and the signing of the treaty, or cession, it was 

 evident that full seven-eighths of the native popu- 

 lation had the same feelings as are found expressed 

 in this note. The circumstances that have occurred 

 at New Zealand fully prove the necessity of having 

 American citizens as our consuls abroad. Mr. J. 

 R. Clendon, our consul at New Zealand, an inde- 

 pendent state, and the only representative of a 

 foreign power, whose interest was at stake, was 

 consulted by some of the most powerful and influ- 

 ential chiefs, who had refused to sign the treaty or 

 cession to Great Britain. They came to Mr. Clen- 

 don for advice, how they should act, and he ad- 

 mitted that he had advised them to sign, telling 

 them it would be for their good. He himself 

 signed the treaty as a witness, and did all he could 

 to carry it into effect ; but, in doing this, he said, 

 he had acted as a private citizen, by request of 

 the governor, thus separating his public duties 

 from his private acts. At the same time he buys 

 large tracts of land, for a few trifles, and expects 

 to have his titles confirmed as consul of the United 

 States. This is not surprising, and any foreigner 



would undoubtedly have pursued the same course; 

 for his personal interest was very great in having 

 the British authority established, while the in- 

 fluence he had over the chiefs was too great not 

 to attract the attention of the governor, and 

 make it an object to secure his good- will and 

 services. 



The prospects of these islanders are, in my 

 opinion, any thing bnt pleasing, and the change by 

 no means calculated to insure their happiness, or 

 promote their welfare. It seems to have been 

 brought about by a rage for speculation, and a 

 desire to take possession of this country, in order 

 to secure it from the French. The idea that it was 

 necessary to extend the laws of New South Wales 

 over the island, in oi'der to protect the natives, and 

 break up the nest of rogues that had taken refuge 

 there, is far from being true. No such necessity 

 existed, for there was no difficulty in having any 

 one apprehended by sending officers for the pur- 

 pose, or offering a reward. 



The New Zealand Land Company have been the 

 secret spring of this transaction, and under the 

 shelter of certain influential names, the managers 

 have contrived to blind the English public. It will 

 scarcely be believed that the New Zealand Land 

 Company had disposed of several thousand shares 

 of land before they purchased an acre. Some 

 three or four thousand emigrants, who had pur- 

 chased allotments, left England on their way to 

 take possession of them, just after the agent. 

 Upon their arrival they could obtain no satisfactory 

 information respecting their allotments, and were 

 left in a destitute condition, to spend the few 

 earnings they had left, and to endure all the pri- 

 vations to which people landed in a new country 

 are subject. 



Even of those allotments that have been given 

 out, many are not susceptible of cultivation. It is 

 scarcely to be believed that the high names which 

 stand at the head of this company could have been 

 informed of the true state of things ; yet it is 

 generally supposed in this part of the world, that 

 it is by their exertions and influence that the 

 British government has been induced to take for- 

 cible possession of the territory of an independent 

 state, which New Zealand undoubtedly was. How- 

 ever this may be, the speculators have succeeded 

 in their object, and the country will now be retained 

 by England, even if a military power should be 

 necessary. Should the New Zealanders resist, and 

 they are a warlike race, yet acting against Euro- 

 pean discipline, they will readily be overcome. 

 They are not unlike grown children, and may be 

 more easily ruled by kindness, and by satisfying 

 the wants of the chiefs, than by force. The popu- 

 lation will soon disappear before the whites, for 

 the causes that have operated elsewhere are to be 

 seen in action here, where the savage is already 

 sinking imperceptibly before the advances of civili- 

 zation. While philanthropy, real or pretended, 

 is ransacking the globe to find subjects for its 

 benevolence, it seems a little surprising that 

 scarcely a voice has been raised in Parliament 

 against this act of usurpation. 



On the 29th of February, 1840, there was a vio- 

 lent gale at the Bay of Islands, said by the mission- 

 aries to have been the severest they had experi- 

 enced, with perhaps the exception of one which 

 took place shortly after their arrival. Many vessels 



