PREFACE 
TO THE FIRST EDITION. 
In presenting Te Ika a Maui to the Public, it will 
be necessary to commence with saying, that this was 
formerly the only name which the Natives had for the 
North Island, and that it is nearly identical with that 
which Cook first received ; being literally The Fish 
of Maui, the Maori Creator, who first drew up this 
second Britain “from out the azure main.” 
The name of New Zealand has succeeded it; and 
it seems a pity that so noble an appendage of the 
British Crown, which has been gained, not so much 
by the power of our arms, as by the voluntary con- 
sent of its inhabitants, through the influence of the 
Gospel, should still retain so unmeaning a name, 
which was not even given by its first discoverer. 
The good taste of the present age has re-named the 
neighbouring Continent and its attendant Isle. Yan 
Diemen’s Land and New Holland will soon be ob- 
solete, being supplanted by the more euphonious 
names of Australia and Tasmania. Why should not 
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