The Maori.

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, Issue III, 7 October 1890, Page 2

The Maori.

j Outsido the colony, and we might , | any generally inside the co'ony also, ' it is a common idea that the Maori i race are Year, by year slowly dying . i oat To those who have known the I New Zealand native, free from the 1 coutamiuation of the iow-class whites, it, is a matter of satisfaction lo know that such is not the ca^e. The oavly colonists have much to thank the Maoris for, and the hardships of travelling would have been much increased had it Dot been for the [ generous hospitality of the natives. In the year 1868 a census of the 1 Maori inhabitants was taken, as accurately as could then bo done, and it was estimated that there were, in • both Islands, 39,000 Maoris. For • this number, it was reckoned that \ the inhabitants of the King country ' numbered 10,000, whereas, after- [ ward 9 ,it was discovered there had ■ been only 7,000, so that the numbers ■ in 1808 were correctly only 86,000. In the year 1886 another census was taken, and very great care was oxer- [ cised to secure accuracy, and it then r was fund that there were 42,500 • natives, so that since 1868 the Maoris had increased by 6,500. It was ' established, by those returns, that [ the Maori* in the Uriwera oouutry and by the North Capo had very much increased in numbers. One v ason assigned for this increase is, that 'they live more in families, giving up the general herding together, and dress and live more consistently; another, and a decidedly important reason given is, that they are much more temperate than they used to be, and in some parts no liquor is to be had at all, all the tribe being total abstainers.