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flax have long been subjects of untiring assiduity and interest amongst our settlers, and have this year yielded important profits, and a valuable accession of wealth to the place. Partial cargoes of that prepared by the natives are constantly shipped to Sydney and Hobart Town; and full ones to England may be relied on, if intelligence, in answer to inquiries on the subject, should satisfy us that the price to be obtained there will render it an advantageous remittance. Hitherto, no process of preparing the flax has been entirely approved of, as sufficiently economical and expeditious to supersede the method in use by the aborigines; but various modes are under trial, and await only the supply of machinery from Sydney to be tested. Should any of them succeed, the exportation of their produce would be steady, and limited only by the demand for it.

"The "Nelson" brig, which takes this, will sail from hence to-morrow direct for London, with a full cargo of oil and flax. The "Tyne" will take all her dead weight in oil from this port and other parts of Cook's Straits, and the "Lady Leigh” will sail direct for England with a full cargo of oil in about six weeks."

Though Mr. Thorp says that whalers had left their ports as provisions had become dear, and whales scarce, and though Dr. Dieffenbach predicts that in a few years there will be none at all, yet Mr. Heaphy maintains, on the contrary, that this is not the case; for after stating that during the year 1841, upwards of 1800 tons of oil, and seventy tons of bone, had been obtained at the various fisheries, the worth of which, in England, would be nearly £60,000, he adds, "it is generally imagined in England, that the fisheries on the New Zealand coast are declining, and

that ere long, the trade will cease to be profitable, but this idea is erroneous. There can be no doubt of the fact, that fewer whales are taken at some of the stations than was the case formerly, but this is no proof that a less number frequent the coast. The establishment of so many whaling parties along the coast, causes such competition, that there are actually more fish caught now than at any other period since the commencement of the enterprize. As a proof of this, I may mention, that the value of the oil exported from Sydney, was, in 1830, £59,471; in 1835, £180,349; and in 1840, £224,144; which proves an increase of nearly four times the quantity and value. Much of this oil is obtained at New Zealand; probably more than one half, as there are but few fisheries, comparatively, on the Australian shores; and the number of whaling vessels fitted out there is small." The above statement by Mr. Heaphy, is fully borne out by Colonel Wakefield's despatches.

The third staple commodity of New Zealand is timber, of which some kinds are adapted for furniture, and others for spars, masts of ships, and sawn planks. Of the Kauri pine, which is the only timber (with the exception of some wood adapted for furniture,) exported from that country to England, Australia, and the East Indies, there is none nearer than 200 miles to the north of Port Nicholson, as it does not grow to the south of thirty-eight degrees of south latitude; but from its growing almost invariably upon a poor soil, which, after being cleared of the timber, is not worth cultivating; the inhabitants there, would rather dispense with it on that account, as they have other woods which are equally useful, particularly for furniture, though not so large. The largest specimen

of the species is at Mercury Bay, seventy-five feet in circumference, though it grows to the greatest perfection in the Hokianga district, where it frequently attains the height of a hundred feet, and thirty feet in circumference, though the highest timber trees there, fit for the royal navy, are nearly all gone, those remaining being good for logs, but not for spars, and therefore the timber trade there is on the decline. From its durability, elasticity, and size, besides being easily wrought, it was occasionally used by the Board of Admiralty for spars, masts, &c., in their various dock-yards; and I have seen in Sydney the most beautiful floors laid with it in some of the more fashionable houses. The shipment of spars, however, has never been a profitable trade, owing to the great expense of bringing them to the water side.

Extensive fields of coal have been discovered in different parts of New Zealand. At Massacre Bay, in the Middle Island, situated in Tasman's Gulf, there is enough on the surface for the supply of all the settlements for many years to come; and there is no occasion for steam engines or mining, as in England, as it is procured by merely excavating horizontally through the cliffs from the beach. One cargo of it that was taken to Wellington, was found to give a great heat, and leave no ashes, though it burned away rather too fast to make it economical for poor emigrants. Coal has also been discovered at Port Nicholson, and at Mokau, in the Taranaki district; whilst at Port Otago, in the Middle Island, where New Edinburgh has been placed, about fourteen miles up. the river, there are large beds of it, of which the natives make no earthly use.

The shores of New Zealand abound with various

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fish suitable for the palate, and they expect soon to carry on an extensive trade in dried and cured fish. The habouka, or abuka, which sometimes weighs nearly a hundred pounds, is a wonderfully good fish for its size. The moki, weighing about twenty pounds, is also tolerably good; and the kawai, or New Zealand salmon, though by some amateurs considered equal to ours, would no doubt be much prized by the slaves in Brazil, as being infinitely preferable to the flesh of the shark, and the whale, which they eat there. Most of the fish, however, of which I partook when at New Zealand, was so strong tasted, compared to ours, that I am satisfied the people there eat of it, as the cattle do of the fern, because they can get no other.

CHAPTER III.

Manners and Customs of the Natives-Tattooing and Cutting their Flesh-Tapuing - Cannibalism - Massacre of the Crew of the Boyd-Feasting on American Sailors-Horrible Treachery and Murder of Captain Marion and his Crew.

The New Zealanders have a singular method of testifying both their joy and sorrow, by cutting their faces, arms, and legs, with broken muscle-shells, inflicting deep gashes; and I have seen a dozen of them at a time, covered with blood from head to foot, upon the death of a relative. Indeed, I gave a female a trifle to let me see how she did it, when she immediately took up a muscle-shell, broke it, and came across her arms in two or three places, when the blood almost immediately oozed out. She was so much disfigured before, that I thought an additional cut or two could do her no harm. When friends arrive after a long absence, in addition to this cutting process, they continue howling for several days like wolves, which is rather a singular method of testifying their joy. This practice is fast disappearing, however, with the progress of civilization.

Polack, in his excellent work on the manners and customs of the New Zealanders, after allud

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