306 



hand in hand, with increasing civilization. But whilst I have thought it 

 necessary thus to call your attention to this subject, I have done so chiefly for 

 the purpose of suggesting a comparison between the rapid changes which are 

 effected in new countries, as the result of their sudden occupation by civilized 

 man, on the one hand, and the wonderfully slow process by which the physical 

 character and organic life of our own country (for example), has been changed 

 from, the condition in which it appears to have existed at the time of the cave 

 men, to that in which we now find it. 



Let us now turn to the special subject upon which I propose to address 

 you. 



It is manifest that a subject so broad can, consistently with what is due 

 to your patience, be only partially dealt with, and therefore, whilst I propose 

 to offer some general reflections on the questions involved in it, I intend to 

 confine myself, by way of example, chiefly to a consideration of the effect which 

 has been produced upon these Islands. 



In looking into the history of the discovery of these Islands, we are led to 

 believe that the impressions made upon early voyagers were somewhat 

 erroneous, for whilst it is true that the general aspect of a coimtry, as legards 

 its fertility, may as a rule, afford an idea of its capacity for sustaining a popu- 

 lation, yet that capacity may be very different from what the immediate confor- 

 mation and appearance of the country would lead the traveller to expect ; height 

 above sea level, exposure to special winds, and a variety of other causes, giving 

 rise to the anomaly. Captain Cook (as you are aware) sailed round both of these 

 islands, determining their size and figure, as well as their character and appear- 

 ance, and the general opinion he arrived at was, that the whole country was 

 one long chain of mountains with fertile valleys near the shores, and that it 

 was chiefly covered with dense and in many places impenetrable woods. But 

 even then our great navigator appreciated the advantages which these islands 

 might, at some future time, offer as a field for settlement, and we have no reason 

 to suppose that the most sanguine opinions which have since been formed on 

 that subject, are not open to realization. 



Except, however, by the Maoris, these islands remained entirely un- 

 occupied until the year 1818, when the first missionary settlements were 

 formed at the Bay of Islands, and until a short period before that, the only 

 animals which had been introduced were the dog and the pig, and the only 

 vegetables the kumera, the taro, and the gourd. How the Maoris obtained the 

 dog is doubtfulj but they owed the pig to Captain Cook, whilst the kumera, 

 the taro, and the gourd, had certainly been brought with them upon their 

 original migration to this country. It is a singular fact (so far at least as I know), 

 that these islands produce no indigenous edible fruit or vegetable capable of 

 being improved into value by cultivation, and, therefore, although the Maoris 

 used a considerable variety of indigenous vegetable substances as food, these were 

 quite insufficient for their ordinary purposes, and they were therefore compelled 

 to devote a large portion of their time and attention to the cultivation of the 

 few introduced plants to which I have before referred. But the population 

 was not sufficiently numerous, and their cultivations were not sufficiently 

 extensive to effect any great changes in the aspect or organic life of the country. 

 It is true that for a long, but remote period, during the latter part of which 

 man was certainly an actor on the scene, these islands had been the habitat of 

 large struthious birds, of which the osseous remains are to be found distiibuted 

 all over the country. What were the actual circumstances under which they 

 disappeared we cannot say, although analogy leads us to suppose that the birds 

 themselves, as well as their eggs, were diligently sought for as food in a country 

 otherwise destitute of large animal life, and that they were gradually driven 

 awav from those grounds which alone afforded them the means of sustenance, 



