502 



NEW ZEALAND. 



Dec. 1835. 



Zealand, and the amount of commerce carried on there, the 

 state of government of the country is most remarkable. It 

 is, however, incorrect to use the term government, where 

 absolutely no such thing exists. The land is divided, by 

 well-determined boundaries, between various tribes, inde- 

 pendent of each other. The individuals in each tribe con- 

 sist of freemen, and slaves taken in war ; and the land is 

 common to all the free born ; that is, each may occupy and 

 till any part that is vacant. In a sale, therefore, of land, 

 every such person must receive part payment. Among the 

 freemen, there will always be some one, who from riches, 

 from talents, or from descent from some noted character, 

 will take the lead ; and in this respect he may be considered 

 as the chief. But if the united tribe should be asked, who 

 was their chief, no one would be acknowledged. Without 

 doubt, in many cases, individuals have obtained great in- 

 fluence; but as far as I can understand the system, their 

 power is not legitimate. Even the authority of a master over 

 his slave, or a parent over his child, appears to be regu- 

 lated by no kind of ordinary custom. Proper laws of course 

 are quite unknown: certain lines of action are generally 

 considered right, and others wrong: if such customs are 

 infringed, the injured person and his tribe, if they have 

 power, seek retribution ; if not, they treasure up the recol- 

 lection of the injury till the day of revenge arrives. If the 

 state in which the Fuegians live should be fixed at zero 

 in the scale of government, I am afraid New Zealand would 

 rank but a few degrees higher ; while Tahiti, even when first 

 discovered, would have occupied a respectable position. 



December 23d. — At a place called Waimate, about 

 fifteen miles from the Bay of Islands, and midway between 

 the eastern and western coasts, the missionaries have pur- 

 chased some land for agricultural purposes. I had been in- 

 troduced to the Rev. W. Williams, who, upon my expressing 

 the wish, invited me to pay him a visit there. Mr. Bushby, 

 the British Resident, offered to take me in his boat by a creek, 

 where I should see a pretty waterfall, and by which means my 



