NEW ZEALAND. 413 



large, and are easily brought to the coast by means of the numerous 

 streams. 



The natives use these trees in building their canoes, which are dug 

 out of a single log. They have no out-rigger, and are in consequence 

 liable to accident from want of stability. Great ingenuity is shown in 

 repairing them. We saw a war-canoe which was sufficiently large 

 to be manned by fifty men ; it had a prow extended ten feet upwards, 

 which was elaborately carved and decked with tufts of feathers. The 

 paddles have spoon-shaped blades, by which the canoes are propelled 

 with great swiftness. 



No native quadrupeds were found wild in New Zealand. Cattle 

 have been introduced, and thrive. Those which are imported require 

 to be fed, but those raised in the country can provide for themselves, 

 and grow fat by browsing. 



Among the birds, are the native nightingale and the tui, also known 

 under the sobriquet of the parson-bird. The latter is a great favourite 

 with the natives. 



I saw it only in a cage, and its note did not strike me as pleasing, 

 but several of our gentlemen saw and heard it in the woods ; they 

 describe its note as rather louder than that of the bird called by the 

 Samoans "poe," and it is at times said to utter a cry resembling the 

 sound of a trumpet. 



The domestic fowl does not appear to have been known before this 

 island was visited by white men. 



I made inquiries in relation to the mode in which birds were taken 

 in this country before the introduction of fire-arms, but could not obtain 

 any satisfactory information. I was inclined to think that the natives 

 had no method of doing this in former times. 



The great staple articles of trade are flax, spars, and wheat ; pota- 

 toes and gum are also exported ; but the whale-fishery is of more value 

 at present to foreigners than all the productions of the soil. This is 

 carried on from the shores by parties of New Zealanders and foreigners ; 

 but they are rapidly destroying this source of wealth, for, as has been 

 stated, their eagerness for present gain leads them to destroy the ani- 

 mals whether old or young, without discrimination. 



The whaling establishments of British subjects on the coast are 

 numerous, and the most disgraceful acts are perpetrated by their occu- 

 pants and by the crews of the whale-ships, who not only use violence 

 against the natives, but against each other. As New Zealand is in the 

 immediate vicinity of the whaling-ground, it is a desirable rendezvous 

 for our whalers ; and the American whaling fleet, actively employed 

 on the coast in the spring of 1840, amounted to one hundred sail. 



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