WITH THE NEW ZEALANDERS. 31 
however, he opens his treasures, to distribute 
amongst his friends, what is his rage and disap- 
pointment, to find that there is only a little pow- 
der scattered at the top and bottom of the cask, 
and that all the rest is mould ! — Can Europeans 
be surprised that the New Zealanders should pay 
them in their own coin ; that they should half fill 
their flax-baskets with stones, to increase the 
weight, or their baskets of potatoes with pieces of 
wood, to increase the bulk ? 
The flax-trade, on the present system, cannot 
last long in New Zealand. The natives’ wants 
are supplied ; and their natural idleness will pre- 
vail over their desire for luxuries. The fields of 
flax are inexhaustible ; but labourers or machinery 
are wanted to dress it : could it be properly pre- 
pared, it would be an almost incalculable source 
of riches to those engaged in it. The operation, 
as performed by the natives, is most tedious. 
Each blade is dressed singly; and has to pass 
through several processes, before it is ready for the 
market. The carelessness with which it is, in 
many instances, turned out of hand has materially 
lessened its value, and injured its reputation. 
Flax and timber are the staple commodities of the 
country. Cultivation may do much, as the land is 
in some places fertile ; but it is these two articles 
that have drawn so many Europeans to visit this 
people, and to settle amongst them. 
Barter, of every description, is now gradually 
giving way to the introduction of British coin and 
