SIR GEORGE ARNEY'S VISIT TO KAWHIA.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 212, 3 September 1873, Page 2

SIR GEORGE ARNEY'S VISIT TO KAWHIA.

: The following despatch from.. the Officer .(Administering . the Government , to the Earl of Kimberley will be read with interest, giving as. it does a graphic aodount of the visit paid by the Luna with Sir G. Arney and the Native Minister on board: to tbe harbor of Kawhia : — Mr Lord — Adverting to my recent visit to Kawhia, and to the memorandum of the Native Minister transmitted in my despatch No. 31, of this date, it may be superfluous for me to add any remarks thereon ; but, as sanguine anticipations are formed that our visit to Kawhia will be followed by important results, I venture to invite your Lordship's attention to some of the conditions on which these anticipations are baaed. The harbor of Kawhia, as your Lordship j is doubtless aware, is nearly midway the ports of Man ukau and Wanganui, on the western coast of the North Island, and opens by far the most valuable inlet in that long, often tempestuous, line of coast. Its waters cover a considerable 'area, and ramify up two principal channels into the surrounding hills, .Those hills fold back

into the interior, connecting themselves at no very distant interval with the great Pirongia ranges, which latter, after rising in some parts more than 2,000 feet, at descend upon tbe lower waters of the River Waipa, • and enclose that side of the great Waikato basin. Amidst and behind the hills which encompass the harbor of Kaivhia, but with easy access to its the MaeTri King and his immediate' adherents have "planted- themselves. -£ An aukati, or pale of separation, which the colonist is rarely allowed to pass, have been established on the side of the Waikato, the progress of settlement and civilization Jrom the anterior of ith is island is barred ; and while the harbor of Kawhia continues closed to seaward, the exclusion of the settler and the isolation of the natives are complete. Regarded with a view either to strategic eobjeot^ or- to the isolation of the inhabitants, the site is but too judiciously chosen; and this exclusive arbitrary —control' of -aiFexfensfve^ accPcommodipus^ harbor__formß perhaps the most real, if not the only symbol of true sovereignty held by Tawhiao. On the othei°hand, it may reasonably be^xnecied-i^iat Kibe harbor of Kawhia be orrce again opened to shipping, its i shores will again become the scene of European enterprise, and that totally different relations will thenceforward arise, jipt only between the natives and the 6«ittlerj.butjletwleen the natives and Her Majesty's Government. .I. say "again" for Kawhia was formerly "settled, to thd reciprocal advantage of both races; Vestiges of the settlers' improvements still remain; and after steaming a considerable disjtapce up-Ahe harbor, wi first anchored -opposite ar? European-built bouse ' and store (now deserted), wherein a settler -.formerly conducted a lucrative trade with the natives, and is reputed to have laid r the foundation of a fortune which he now leSiJoys in 8^ neighboring Golcfiy. V - The soil up the hill slopes from the water's edge, while it is sometimes open 1 and at others covered with bush, in gener-' ally productive, and not unfrequentiy is ol excellent quality .Ij Cattle also were visible' 'in various dlrectieesg along the shore and along the hill sides. The native occupiers formerly raised and brought to market large supplies, the product of these slopes, upon occasionally are still seen ' traces oi fences and cultivation. Indeed, we shared the benefits of their cultivations; for shortly after the Luna anchored, natives appeared tracking their courses ; from different directions to the shore, for whom Mr M'Lean at once sent one of the ship's boats to bring them on board, and who brought with them .good melons of different kinds, grapes, apples, &c, lamenting only that they had no previous notice of our intention to visit them, and thus had failed of an opportunity^ bring much larger supplies. But, notwithstanding their advantages of soil and climate, these natives appear to be miserably poor. On the Waikato side of Tawhiao's aukati, the Natives are less poor; fdr""th&' Hauhau, although he banish the pakebn beyond the pale, is not reluctant to cross that pale, or to . avail himself occasionally of the settler's stores and merchandise. But the isolation of the Kawhia Native is more exclusive and more stringent. He has only the hills on one side of kiQftWd'fcbfii&ieary ocean on the other.. He $i&y, indeed, command a sufficiency of food, attainable by moderate labor — fish, flesh, fowl, vegetables* and fruit; but he wants to be clothed as well as fed. Many of those who came^on board thV*LunAwere i? seiintiiy covefreet, others Were" in-^ags; and while one finely-grown man crouched for a while under the ship's side, and hesitated to come on board from mere shame at his ragged clothing, another Njative desypondingly comnlained that it was no' use Tor them to come among the Europeans, because they^had no money to buy clothes. In others the hollow cough and jsuhken aspect betrayed a constitution^ which already, before the winter is yet on, was suffering from cold and exposure. fTheee _p.o.or . people evidently, felt the evils which they. had brought upon themselves by their selfrimposed- isolation, and must needs long for ttsos.eicqmforts which a. re? sumed intercourse with the settlers would diffuse amongst them. ..> | Your Lordship wilt probably believe thalt the' 'welcome offered by them to their waters waV'siiicer'e.' That welcome was earnestly cbnveyed^also-'- by -their chiefs'; Seated round the poop deck 1 of" the'; Luna they conducted their debate with the Regularity of a r formal runangd. The memorandum of the Native Minister gives;, the; general course \p( thediaqu^ionj. Suffice, it for me to add, that the chief Tapi-.; hana, both while replying to the chief WiTako,.M.L.C, and on his being presented to and shaking bands with myself, declared himself reconciled; while it was repeatedly urged- the Luna 'letuiujd , visit » Kawhia again and again, after which it was intimated that the harbor might be open 'to air vessels. This assurance was confirmed in. the presence of . Tv , Tawhiao. Nothing could >¥c of fairer ~jfrom'iße , 'than^.r.was/^the ! whole bearing of that young man. His demeanor was dign.ified,-yet modest and becoming. On being presented 1 to myself 1 he bid me the usual Maori salutation, Tena Ko'e, nj)t with the jaunty-^even £ bantering — air often assumed hythe natives, but slowly, a P d Wo % *? D A °/ v J.otense melancholy. He then stood before' me awhile, with his

right band in mine, his bead drooping,! in silence, and under visible emotion; until suddenly he drew back, retreated to a bench at the side of the deck, and there sat for a considerable time between two attendant chiefs, his head bent down, his face buried in his two hands, and in silence. At length he rose, stepped forward and again shook bands with me, after which he preserved a more assured composure. The whole conduct of the young man led me to tbe same conclusion es that formed by the Native Ministerviz., that Tv Tawhiao attributed to his own visit tbe significance of breaking down the barriers of isolation, and pledging himself henceforth to a reconciliation with the Europeans. Upon conditions like the foregoing, it is not unreasonable to hope that the natives of Kawhia, reduced as they have been by their isolation from prosperity to poverty, will ere long accept the introduction of those comforts which they evidently wish to obtain, and that, as ■ ancillary thereto, the harbor of Kawhia will be reopened to the trade and enterprise of the colonist. But that trade would almost of necessity be accompanied, if not introduced, by the locating of the colonist himself upon those shores; and it is, I believe, invariably found that the introduction of a settler among tbe Natives is followed by that of the Magistrate, Native as well as the European, whose jurisdiction tbe natives themselves become ready and eager to invoke in tbe adjustment of their disputes. Such relations, ence established, are not easily dislocated. The natives have never of themselves failed of their confidence in our Courts of justice as Bucb; and in 1861, after the first year of the Waitara war, tbe Resident Magistrate's Court at New Plymouth disposed of a greater number of causes in which natives were . plaintiffs than had ever been disposed of in any previous year before that tribunal. Having regard, then, to the geographical position of Kawhia, as already described, in connection with the district immediately under the control of Tawhiao, it is not too much to expect that if such relations as are above indicated should be established on the shores of Kawhia Harbor, the natives from the other side of the ranges would find it to their interest gradually to accept them likewise. Meanwhile, it is a vital object to induce all Natives alike to resort and submit themselves to the supremacy of the criminal law of the country. The Hauhaus living witbin tbe borders of Tawhiao's district have evinced a certain disposition to recognise that supremacy — at all events as regards offenders who may come witbin those borders in order to escape from justice. The following example has recently occurred :— An accused person, not a Native, fled from Tauranga, and took refuge within the aukati; the police boldly pursued him, and where at first threatened with death by the Hauhaus, but on explaining tbe object of their mission, the police were allowed to search for the offender, and the Hauhaus, although declining formally to surrender the fugitive, yet gave such directions to tbe police that they could not miss the capture, which they ultimately effected, of their man. He was brought to trial before myself and convicted. The Government are anxious that Tawhiao should be induced to recognise and act on the same principle in all \ cases, especially those of homicide, whether committed by Native or European, and whether within or without the borders of the Hauhau territory? for tbey consider that even if thus aauch should be accomplished, the substance of sovereignty would be in a great degree conceded, the barrier between the Natives and the Government would soon disappear, and the authority of the Queen's warrant would be recognised throughout every part of New Zealand. After observing for so many years the Natives* mode of action, lam not prone to form hasty anticipations of their improvement: they move slowly, and after long deliberation, but lam hopeful they will still yield to conciliatory treatment. I wish also to assure your Lordsbip that during the short time I may administer the Government, I shall abstain as far as practicable from interfering in questions of policy, whether Native or European, and shall avoid doing any act which may commit his Excellency Sir James Fergusson to this or that line of conduct. My humbler duty will be so to carry on the Government, under the advice of my Ministers, that no heavy arrears of business may be cast upon Sir James Fergusson when he arrives, a"ud to hand over the machine to his Excellency in the same admirable working order as Sir G. F. Bowen has left it. But I agre9 with my Ministers in thinking that, for the purposes and within the objects abov*» specified, we ought not to delay J I should accept the first opportune - * but any occur, to improve *»• -*/» should relations with the N*'\ - aoße friendly initiated on my r**' stives which were of Kawhia. -cent visit to the harbor Ia co»" ; yow" aclusion, I beg to apologise to ~» Lordsbip for thie long, and, I fear, wearisome Despatch. It will probably be the only occasion for my trespassing upon your Lordship's time. In that hope, I have, &c., G. A. Arnet. The Right Hon. the Earl of Kimberley.