intimation of what is impending. He submits much more calmly than the victim of a legal distraint in England, and sometimes entertains hospitably the ministers of this wild justice. Frequently the punishment extends to the family or tribe, and almost always includes the individual who has been sinned against as well as the sinner: a man, for instance, being mulcted in this way for the frailty of his wife. The English, who rarely get beyond the conventionalisms of their own country, did not understand being punished, even for the most obvious offences, without being first tried and condemned,-tried where no law in their meaning of the term existed, and condemned where there were no ministers of justice. They called the transaction robbery, and defended their property with the strong arm, and thus mutual bad feeling was engendered and kept up.

The English, besides, were not merely a different tribe, but a different race; and although each New Zealand tribe may have been accustomed to be at feud with its neighbours, all collectively were at feud with the strangers. These strangers were, at one time, considered as gods, being invested with divinity by the artificial thunder they wielded; and the poor natives, when they found it impossible to prevent the white men from settling upon their shores, looked up to them with reverence and awe. But drunkenness, which they hated; unguardedness of temper, which they despised; and inordinate covetousness, of which they were the victims, were no attributes of the celestial nature: and the charm began to unwind even before the Europeans shared with them the secret of firearms for gain-selling their birthright for a mess of pottage. Then came the disputes among the intruders themselves, and the weakness and vacillation of their government in the land question; the authorities some

times siding with one party sometimes with another, but always yielding to any appearance of force when the natives thought fit to exhibit it. Under such circumstances, it is no wonder if, in the intercourse of the two races, only the unfavourable side of the aboriginal character should have presented itself. To Europeans, the natives are grasping, covetous, false, and either cringing or insolent as the occasion demands. Among themselves they are generous to a fault, polite, kind hearted, and sincere. Their generosity, more especially, is unbounded; for although, in practice, it may be said to be merely an interchange of gifts, it frequently reduces the giver to poverty for the time, and leaves him to the chances of the world for a return. In giving, they do not sound a trumpet like the eastern nations, but carelessly fling the article on the ground before their friend; and the latter picks it up without a word of thanks. This is called ingratitude by Europeans, who do not understand refinement when they meet with it in a different form from that of their own.

On the other hand, the New Zealanders are supposed to have less natural affection than most other tribes of mankind. The mothers, though sufficiently kind and forbearing, neither fondle their children nor chastise them; although occasionally they put them to death (if females), and without the excuse of poverty as in China, or (at least in late times) of superstition as in India. The affections of individuals are bestowed upon the tribe; and there is no private or family friendship. The husband and wife are as indifferent, yet as polite, to each other as in the best circles of Europe; and parents expect and receive no more assistance from their children than from strangers.

A portion of this is explained by the system of tribes, which answer to the castes of India. A mother is of a

different tribe from her husband, and consequently from his children, and she no more dares to beat the one than the other, as the insult would be immediately avenged. The husband, on his part, is under the same restriction with regard to his wife; and hence a conventional politeness takes the place of natural affection. The children thus brought up become independent when as yet tiny boys and girls, cultivating their patches of land for their own support, and paddling about alone in their canoes-the latter, it is said, at four years of age. They are grave and quiet as befits little men and women, and the females often marry at eleven, and become old and withered at an age when their sisters of other countries in the same parallel are as yet in the prime of youth. A New Zealand fair is not courted, and the mere fact of a man leading her to his hut constitutes her his wife. chiefs are allowed a plurality of spouses, and stand upon no ceremony in planting in their harem such unmarried women as they fancy. Chastity is not reckoned a feminine virtue before marriage; but a wife is under taboo to her husband, and infidelity becomes a crime.

The

The New Zealanders, notwithstanding all that has occurred, appear to be an exceedingly gentle, tractable, and easily governed people. The work of conversion. goes on rapidly among them, and the odious habits of savages disappear with their gods and idols. Their hitherto uncultivated intellect is of a high order; and in their commercial dealings, they exhibit a zeal and acuteness which would be remarkable even in Europeans. What, then, is the obstacle to the pacification of this beautiful and interesting country?

It is the fact that the New Zealanders sold their land and their fealty under a delusion. Their untutored minds were unable to conceive the idea of a great nation. They

supposed the British to consist of a few small tribes like themselves, and were willing to locate them on their lands that they might profit by their intelligence and their trade. This was clear from the circumstance of their considering the non-occupation of the estate sufficient to render the purchase void; while in other cases the chiefs made rival boasts among themselves of the ingenuity of "their white men." When they saw, however, that there was no end to the immigration, and that the Queen of this countless hive, whom they had expected to bring up the rear, was as far from making her appearance as ever, they took the alarm; and being encouraged by the indecision of the government, and the conflicting interests of the colonists, they at length appealed to the arbitrement of battle.

A war in the bush, where the hatchet must pioneer the sword at every step, may be prolonged for years, and can only end with the extermination of the natives. Would it be inconsistent with the honour of a mighty nation to yield the northern island to this handful of gallant savages?-to assist, befriend, and trade with them?—to allow its subjects to purchase such lands as they might be disposed to sell, and settle among them in friendly communities? If this is done, it may be safely predicted that their country will in time become one of the most valuable colonies of Great Britain; that they will themselves amalgamate insensibly with the new settlers; and that in a very few years this brief chapter in their history will become obsolete.

CHAPTER III.

NEW SOUTH WALES AND TASMANIA.

THE Continent of Australia is supposed to present an area of upwards of three million miles; but with the exception of the narrow rim along the line of coast, which is about eight thousand miles in length, all is one of those blanks which earlier geographers would have filled with the words terra incognita, and still earlier would have laid out in imaginary countries and impossible seas. A ridge of mountains appears on all sides to approach the shore, sometimes within a distance of only thirty miles; but what may exist within this circle it is difficult even to conjecture. In most other parts of the world there are great rivers which connect the interior with the sea, and appear designed by nature for a path by which men may fulfil their destiny in replenishing the earth; but here, among numerous anomalies almost as extraordinary, these waters either dwindle or entirely disappear before reaching the ocean. Some suppose the interior to be a vast