POPULATION. 
257 
former, more than he consumes. Hitherto the chief mortality 
has been amongst the children, who literally were starved, 
having nothing but the breast until they could eat the potatoe, 
which was their main support. It was not to be wondered, 
therefore, that the poor little creatures should be cut off; 
having so little stamina, the influenza became peculiarly fatal 
to them. 
In estimating the population, the grand error appears to 
have been the over-rating that of former days. The traveller 
seeing the remains of fortified pas on almost every high hill, 
their parepare, or trenches, still indicating their existence ; 
and finding these remains exceed the number of places now 
seen, he concludes the race is rapidly diminishing, and this 
appears very natural. I thought the same, until I became 
better acquainted with them and their ways. 
The insecurity of life in former days compelled them to 
dwell in fortified places, and these were always situated near 
their cultivations. The native had no idea of renewing his 
land when exhausted by successive cropping, and, in fact, had 
no necessity for doing so, having such an unlimited extent at 
his command; therefore when he found the land no longer 
able to yield him the usual return, he abandoned it, and sought 
a fresh locality for cultivation, and there erected a new pa for 
his defence. When I first came to Wanganui, I laid down the 
course of the river, and marked the pas on its banks ; there are 
scarcely any of those places now inhabited, all having been 
abandoned for fresh ones. In fact, their abodes may be re¬ 
garded rather as fortified camps than towns, their stay in one 
place being only until they have exhausted the surrounding 
country. The conclusion therefore is, that the native race 
was never very numerous, and that the present ills, which 
threaten its existence, are more than counter-balanced by the 
advantages of better food and clothing, and an altogether 
improved way of living. As religion, civilized habits, cus¬ 
toms, and peaceful pursuits gain ground on the savage life 
of former days, the New Zealand race may not only endure 
the evils consequent on civilization, but even gain thereby. 
The population of these islands has been variously estima ted, 
s 
