THE PROGRESS OF THE NEW ZEALANDERS IN CIVILIZATION.
(Concluded from NO. 42.) To the Editor of the Nelson Examiner. Sir, —In contrasting the two races who are now intermingled in these islands, there is no more marked feature by which the difference of character of the two kinds may be indicated, than the mind exhibited towards persons suffering under bodily affliction, supposing the outward conduct to he a manifestation of the internal feeling. As the Maorics are in a kind of transition male, this icmnrk is meant to apply to them in their primeval stale \ of barbarism, before they became affected by European intercourse Whatever charges may be brought against Great Britain in her intercourse with other countries, and in her internal regulations, it will not, I think, be qucitioned, but that she has shown great attention to the care of her subjects immediately dependent upon the public funds, where bodily distress has been brought upon them in her service. Individual cases of hardship and want of attention to invalids, there may he. Nevertheless, according to our information, Great Dtilain has seen to accommodation mid relief being largely prorided for her servants placed in s-ich circumstances. Besides the Government hospitals in Great Britain and her colonics, establishments on a grand scale for outcasts, (he helpless, and invalid?, have been erected by other moans throughout the i country. Such provision could scarcely be expected in a savage country. The apathy of the New Zealander in cases of nflliction, in'glit not, however, be expected by strangers to their manners. They have bean careless in the extreme es regards attendance on illness. An individual of their tribe, racked with pain, or ulcered in body, was allowed to get cured us he bisl might; and I have seen ulcered legs, which, but for the knife of the English surgeon, would h:ive brought on the diseased person certain destruction. In other cases, the Maori itch was and is allowed to increuse upon their children, from the mother's want of attention to their cleanliness. The burdens imposed upon the women ir. providing for the wants of the family, may be urged as an excuse for this ueg'cct ; and I am inclined to think that.tfieicbildrc.il grow up unattended to, almost uncarcd for, from the circumstance of the mothers being labourers on the ground, bowers of wood, and hearers of burden to the community. Inattention to invalids, nnd want of care of children, aic at all events conspicuous faultsjauiongst the Maorics, and, as such, should be pointed out and commented upon by European visitors. Cleanliness, as u preventative of disease, is well known, and litc again there is''nothing in barbarism to be praised. Bui there is au inducement to lazy, dirty habits, which has been brought to the Maories by their intercourse with Europeans, which ought to be contended against by <ill those desirous fur the adtancement of the New Zvalaudcr—l refer to tobacco-smok-ing. This practice has been defended in a missionary production, on the ground ol health. Admitting the soundness of the argument on the head specified, 1 think it will be as near the truth to say that a barbarian commencing a gratificaiion of this kind, generally held to be injurious when commonly used by a civilized being, must, with a barbarian's greedy continuance in the indulgence, be the beginning of many evils. On tho head of cleanliness, set down in my i-laisiftcdtion At the outset, I cannot say much
Cor m.tiw improvement bs rogunls the statu of ;'.icir vill •:.■••», though I have observed the •ttree'is or • qunfs of some pahs kept clean | and neat, nil rubbish being cure'ully removed fiom (lie s-nue. Willi respect to personal clesnUt-Oes ti.jie is more to lie sold in their favour. I would now return to my narrative, which liiy more directly in my way of treating of the subjects on hand, nnd from the treatment I experienced from the Alaories on my journey, I would stiy licit they are getting better nll'ected in cases of sickness or distress. I have myself experiencetl their kind offices, when I have arrived at their settlements with my bare feel swollen with travelling amongst the fern, or over rocks covered with shell fish, painful to travel upon, where the feet have not been used to such travelling. In most cases, the Maori inhabitants of the hut I occupied, would procure some pork fut, and the feet b'.ing held close to the fire, the hinou would be ruhhed over the feet by Maories, with much sympathy of expression, the lookers on exclaiming, " Ka nui mate te wai wai o tfi Pakcha 5 ka nui mumae pea." At another lime, when much exhausted by travelling in the heat of the day, I had nearly fainted by the way, nnd laid myself down to sleep in a Maori enclosure. After recovering a littl-, I was led, supported by some of the young men, to their village, the boys running before me talking and mnking gestures, showing how nimble they were. In this plight, I considered myself like one of a company of strolling players, whom I have seen as a boy, visiting n country town at home, being rather forlorn and abject, still the conspicuous character for the time. Many of these Maori pahs are beautifully situated, lying say ten or twelve miles from the coast, in an open space, surrounded by the trees of the country. The plantations are generally nt a little distance from the pah, on clearings by the sides of the hills, or in the midst of the woods of the plain. T would be pleased, were it my part, to record a marked improvement in the condition of the women. They have been benefitted by the introduction of articles of European apparel, but otherwise, I think, they are still subject to the same drudgery, mitigated in some slight degree probably, as to what they had to endure in their savage state. They work away upon the land, carry burdens of wood, besides having the preparing of food to attend to. Consequently, their houses, their person*, and their children, are neglected. Disease is fostered, and Maori advancement is retarded. The most important topic, and the last belonging to my present effort, remains to be touched upon—the education of the natives. R!y place is to state what I know is doing with respect to this. I would however, first give my opinion upon a means discussed in a late publication, (New Zealand Evangelist, p. 225: extract from North British Review), in which civilization is held as of no account in the reclaiming "I" the barbarian, and education and religion are held up as the means. Leaving the religious qucstio.i out of view—l go for. education and civilization. In fact, 1 think they are intimately connected together. The introduction of manufactures and the arts of civilized life, when properly regulated, I hold to be vciy beneficial to a rude people. Hut I speak of tha useful aits and manufacturer, ami would give the pre-eminence to education. The missionaries are now alive, perhaps they have been ao long, to the importance of giving the Maorici a knowledge of the English language, This is, I consider, an important step towards a greater union between the two races, and towards the advancement of the. New Zenlander. At almost every missionary station, some of their people, principally the younger part of the commu-. nity, are being instructed in the English language. Writing has long been taught them, and an acquaintance with figures is becoming common. At Mr. Schwaehenburg's station, at Mokau, I heard a Maori read a portion of the New Testament as fluently as an ordinarily educated European. Is it not lo be supposed lhat a good acquaintance with the English language by the natives, would much encourage the residence of \, mic settlers amongst them ? —at least, that a powerful obstacle lo such settlement would be removed were the Maori tongue disused in intercourse with settlers fresh from England. A good plain English education lo the natives, would in my judgment, be of immense service in the prosperity of these islands. We live in what may be termed properly an utilitarian age, and although some allowances ought to be made for the romance of first impressions in the spectacle of a strange people and strange language, particularly on young minds, it is on the permanent improvement of the natives by education, the introduction among them of useful arts> and encouragement held out to white settlers of comfortable improved circumstances, and security of life and property, that j we must rely, according to my sentiments, for
the fluw of emigration of respertablelamilies, which is now hanpily resumed, being continued in such a stream as shall within a few years make New Zealand a land of abundance, a land cultivated and adorned, where it is to be hoped civilization may progress, good institutions may be obtained, and truth and justice vf ill prevail. It is only due, Mr. Editor, to (lie conductors of tlie press in New .Zealand, that an acknowledgment should be made of the facilities afforded by them for the instruction of our fellow countrymen of both races, and to you I beg to return my thanks for publishing this paper; antl if Ihe conductors of the Alaor Messengers at Auckland and Port Nicholson do not stand upon ceremony, I beg to express my sense of the importance of their labours, to put au end to fighting in this country, and for the promotion of peace and prosperity. I am, Sir, yours, &c, Georob Tayloh. Wanganui, Jan., 1850.
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Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume 2, Issue 44, 29 August 1850, Page 3
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1,601THE PROGRESS OF THE NEW ZEALANDERS IN CIVILIZATION. Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume 2, Issue 44, 29 August 1850, Page 3
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