Page images
PDF
EPUB

bals had left the place, after cutting up and dividing among them the mangled bodies of his unfortunate countrymen. He then darted from the wood, and succeeded, as before noticed, in reaching the vessel.

Though, after this appalling information had been given, little doubt could be entertained as to the fate of Marion and his people, a company of men, well armed, was immediately dispatched in the long boat of the "Mascarin," to ascertain, if possible, how they had been disposed of. After searching for some time, they perceived the boat crowded with natives, in which the unfortunate commander and his companions had been conveyed. Lieutenant Crozet, who had under his command a party of sixty men, employed in cutting down wood not far from the place, on being informed of what had taken place, ordered his men to collect their tools and proceed instantly to the boats, without communicating to them the intelligence he had received, which he thought might discourage them. When approaching the boats, the natives followed them, demonstrating by their gestures the most hostile intentions, and crying out that their chief, Te Kuri, had killed and devoured Marion. The undaunted resolution of Crozet, who drew a line upon the sand, and threatened to shoot whoever should overstep the boundary, had the desired effect of keeping them at bay till the sailors got into the boats. But no sooner were the boats putting off, than maddened, it is supposed, at their own folly in permitting their prey to escape, when it was in their power, they rushed into the water with the view of hauling the boats ashore. By this manœuvre, however, they laid themselves open to that just and severe

retaliation which the French did not hesitate to inflict.*

Walton has omitted to state one reason why they do not eat white flesh when they can get black, and that is from the aversion which all savages entertain to salt provisions, and the flesh of the whites, it seems, has a saltish taste, probably from taking salt to our meat, which they never do. From the enquiries which I considered it my duty to make on this important subject, I discovered that the flesh of a girl about fifteen or sixteen, if plump, and in healthy condition, was considered the most delicate and juicy, and I have no doubt it was a girl of this description who was thrown into the oven alive, to be ready by dinner time. Dr. Dieffenbach states, when treating on cannibalism, that the natives, "when conversing with him freely on the subject, admitted that human flesh was well-flavoured, particularly the palm of the hands and the breast."

Cannibalism has now, however, ceased over the whole of that country, and also wars among the various tribes, thanks to the introduction of civilized society amongst them. The only possible reason that can be adduced for their continual wars, and the inhuman banquet which was the consequence of victory, among a people, in other respects, comparatively mild and gentle, is that what at first originated in necessity, had been perpetuated by habit, and exasperated by revenge. Cannibalism indeed, as a matter of

*In the "Voyage de Marion," quoted in the "New Zealanders," p. 53, Crozet remarks, "that they treated us with every shew of kindness for thirty-three days, with the intention of eating us on the thirty-fourth."

course, ceased with their wars, as it was all along connected with them, and seems to have been kept up more from the implacable desire of revenge, joined to the superstitious belief that the strength and courage of a devoured enemy were transferred to him that eats him, than from any predeliction to that unnatural practice. Indeed, as a proof of the friendship that now subsists among the different tribes so lately at war with each other, I may mention, that one of the tribes in the Northern Island, not far from Auckland, gave a grand feast, in 1844, to all the surrounding tribes, at which several thousands attended; and, among other dainties provided for that feast, there were 5000 sharks, which were all demolished.

It may therefore be said, that

No longer tribes encount'ring tribes,
Disturb that peaceful shore;

To ploughshares they now beat their spears,
And study war no more.

CHAPTER IV.

The Wairoa Massacre.

The tragical event which happened at Wairoa, on the 17th of June, 1843, by which twenty-two of our countrymen were killed, will form a memorable epoch in the annals of that country; though, from the conflicting statements regarding the cause of that calamity, it is difficult to arrive at any satisfactory conclusion regarding it.

By the settlers in that country, it has been imputed to the combination of a variety of causes. Among these the chief seem to be, first, the delay in the settlement of the land claims on both sides of Cook's Straits; second, the distance of these, (by far the most important in the colony,) from Auckland, the capital and seat of government, situated 350 miles from Port Nicholson, at a remote corner of the North Island, and containing, in conjunction with the Bay of Islands, only one-fourth of the European population now settled in that country; third, the breaking of the treaty concluded between the natives and the New Zealand Company, in 1839; fourth, the circumstance of the natives having been allowed, in some former cases, to attack the settlers with impunity, which gave

them fresh courage for further resistance; fifth, the conduct of the protectors of the aborigines, who are represented as totally unfit for their office; and lastly, the conduct of the missionaries.

The Church of England missionaries are accused of having been all along, from motives of self-interest, hostile to the New Zealand Company. Indeed, one of the most active members of that body, the Rev. W. Williams, went from the Bay of Islands to Port Nicholson, about the latter end of 1839, just two months after Colonel Wakefield, as agent for the Company, had made an arrangement with the natives there, for the cession of their rights on obtaining certain equivalents. To be sure this eminent divine did not succeed in preventing the natives from concluding the treaty, or in obtaining the land which he wished, not indeed for the Church, but for himself; but it is alleged that he was too successful in his attempts at disparaging the Company, and the settlers there, in the eyes of the natives. Mr. Williams, it would appear, paid a visit on that occasion to his amiable friend Rauperaha, who, it will presently be seen, acted a most conspicuous part in the late tragedy. As a further proof of his zeal in the cause of the Gospel, he and ten other missionaries of that enterprizing church, presented, in 1841, to the commissioners appointed by government, claims to no less than 96,219 acres of land, in the districts which they had long occupied in the vicinity of the Bay of Islands; and four others subsequently gave in claims to nearly the one-half of the above amount. One of the Church of England missionary catechists, Mr. Fairburn, laid claim to a tract of country near Auckland, extending to about thirty square miles, not a bad estate for a missionary,

« EelmineJätka »