the New Zealanders . 
355 
children bom, and those who are now alive, will give us 
an idea of the number born, and of the proportionate 
number of deaths. But a more full account I must leave 
to a future period. 
Born. Killed. Died. Now alive. 
8 families grown up. 63 2 38 23 
9 families, young. 28 0 17 11 
9 families, young . 26 1 12 13 
These families have not been selected, but have been 
taken in little parties as they have sat together. It has 
struck me, that if all the families in two tribes were taken 
down, with the number of births and deaths that have 
occurred in each family, we should then be able to ar¬ 
rive at something like the average number of births and 
deaths that have taken place in the whole island. It has 
been observed, that two-thirds of the deaths in New 
Zealand take place under 20 years of age. If this is the 
case, I should think half of them occur in infancy. In 
confirmation of this statement I shall only mention one 
instance. Within a fortnight of our Sophia’s birth, either 
before or after, there were five native children born of 
the natives liviug near us, only one of whom is now alive : 
these died within six months of their birth. The one 
which is now alive was medicined and fed by us when he 
was ill. Some of the New Zealanders have a great many 
children born,—some as many as 14, others 15, and a 
few have had 20: nor are these occurrences rare; and 
yet if five or six of these arrive at middle age, it is con¬ 
sidered a large family. When something of the kind 
was mentioned some time ago, I was unwilling to admit 
the fact; but, from my own observation, I find it is the 
case. From 1835 to 1838 it was considered that the 
population decreased; but that from 1838 to 1841 it has 
increased. If a reason be asked why so many of the 
New Zealanders die in infancy, I should answer, first, 
from the idleness, negligence, and thoughtlessness of the 
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