THE EXTINCTION OP HACBS. 



181 



countries not very dissimilar in olimate, and where the inhabi- 

 tants 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 practiced; and this proves that a change of habits was 

 beginning amongst the natives, even when New Zealand was only 

 thinly inhabited by Europeans. When I visited the Bay of Is- 

 lands in 1835, the dress and food of the inhabitants had already 

 been much modified: they raised potatoes, maize, and other agri- 

 cultural produce, and exchanged them for English manufactured 

 goods and tobacco. 



It is evident from many statements in the life of Bishop Patte- 

 son,*= 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 dis- 

 covered the Islands in 1779, the- population amounted to about 

 3o0,000. According to a loose census in 1823, the numbers then 

 were 142,050. In 1832, and at several subsequent periods, an ac- 

 curate census was officially taken, but I have been able to obtain 

 only the following returns: 



Tear. 



Native Population. 



(Except during 1832 

 and 1836, when the 

 few foreigners in 

 the islands were 

 Included). 



Annua] rate of de- 

 crease per cent., 

 assuming it to 

 have been uniform 

 between the suc- 

 cessive ceHiSuses; 

 these censuses be- 

 ing taken at irreg- 

 ular intervals. 



1832 

 1836 

 1853 

 1860 

 1866 

 1872 



130.313 

 108.679 

 71,019 

 67,084 

 58,765 

 51,531 



4.46 

 2.47 

 0.81 

 2.18 

 i.ll 



« 'Life of J. C. Patteson,' by C. M. Tounge, 1874; see more especially 

 vol. 1. p. 530. 

 13 



