Original Correspondence.

New Zealander, Volume 3, Issue 178, 12 February 1848, Page 3

Original Correspondence.

(LETTER Z.) EDUCATION OF ABORIGINES. To the Editor of the New Zealander. Sir:— " Custom bath in it the property of easiness:" and nothing is more difficult than to reform a formed character. " The child," it bat been well laid, "ii father fi> the man :" and he that would approach this undertaking in an intelligent, I may add scientific •pirit, mu t begin at fir«t principles. He mint begin with the chiLlren. 1 he Chinese, it if said, possess the art of compelling their trees to assume the most fantastic shapes. Large forest tree* are represented in their shrubberies by miniature plants in every respect an exact counterpart of their originals ; while others are seen adopting the most grotesque forms. This, no doubt, they effect by attending to the plant in its youth. But, to attempt auteiiully to alter the character of that most unmanageable creature, nvn, in his matur t — developed state,—* would not be very dis•iruilar from «ssaying to prune down a full grtwu oak into an ornamental s .rub for a greenhouse. Christians they hare become, and will become; became, here conscience comes in with strong:, counterTailing powers, on essential question* : but, history abundantly evinces, that though Christianity is a sure pioneer to the amelioration of the temporal condition of our species, yet, it for the most part requites time to opeiate, before it can usher in the younger sister, civilization. To form the habits, therefore, by education, is the object to which our energies should be now directed ; and, to enable education to hive its legitimate effect, you must begin with the youth. It has been we-1 said, " give me a child in the first ten yean of his life, and 1 will let you do what you please with him afterwards {"—another form, it will be observed, for the divinely authenticated sentiment, '• Tram up a child in the w^y he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. To attempt to form a college, without preparatory schools, would b« the same as commencing an orchard before plants had been prepared in the nursery. — Cambridgt and Oxford would present but a meagre appearance if there were no elementary schools to supply them. We are rre«stures of sympathy ; and nothing less than an immense measure of resolution, will enable us long to withstand surrounding example. Th« few that can bo reached at by a colle.e, will soon feel the irresistible power, not only of early habii, bu', aUo, of con* tagious influences, on their return to their nativa residences. An attempt, therefore, to r.irilize, tuiut ba done on a large scale : to be <aige. it must be cheap ; and infant are far cheaper than adult schools. Instruction is not morr than ahaif of the w»>k of education. Inculcation of sound principles, and the formation of correct habits, are as essential to the good of the individual as of socety. The education of a New Zealand er should comprise the establishment of entirely new habits and tastes in the articles of clothing and food ; as, also, the mould ing the character into habits of piompt obedience, ot order> of cleanliness, of industry. Merely two or three years, which is all that adults could spare at a college, would have no more lastiag effect into a, bucket ol wtfer poured on the sands-

Perhaps, »ir, you have not had the tame opportunities, »» 1 hive had, for dbsetving New* Zealand society, and the wants, of the country in the matter of education. If you had, you would not, most probably, have rccqmmenfjed, so strangely, the immediate formation of a college, in your paper of Dec. 15. I confess I would not advocate the establishment of such an Institution at present. It would be experimentalizing too much with resources and opportunities that are now of untold value. If, after a few years, tbe ColonUts find it f.iil, discontent will urine ; and the wool- work of education will shaie the fate of the Protectorate. How we shall make the most of our money, is a« legitimate a question in education as in mercantile speculations. A Government grant might be so administered as consul ci ably to retard this most desirable work. Injudicious generosity will disincline the farored party for personal exertion, will discourage the zealous who have not received such a sbtance. As long as the Government follow closely in the steps of the good men who have elaborated the system now acted upon by the EnglHi Government, at home, so long will they command the approbation of every sensible well-wisher of education, in the Colony. In England, whether they be normal institutions, or elementary schools, one uniform rule is acted upon, by the Government. The Grantees must evince tUeir ■ense of the boon, by meeting the Government; at least hair-way. The effects of this regulation are most beneficial. It excites attention, arouses the energies, developes resources, induces economy. There are abjut twenty thousand Aboriginal children in New Zealand under ten years of age. In tlieir name I would present an humble petition to His Excellency —not to support — but, rather, to so employ his resourced ai to call into tnergy those schools, for their benefit, of which we can scarcely say more, at present, than that they are " living a dying life." Canals have been ptr.ialjr dug. Let His Excellency itrengi hen the hands of the workmen, and encourage Education to pour its fertilizing resources through the Country. The laborers at present engaged are few, aged, discouraged, Jistracted : — distracted by the multiplicity of duties, secular ai.d spiritual, ihat cluster round tntse that are placed in large spheres in solitary families, far from any advice or co-operation ; — discouraged by the total inadequacy of the means now available for the work of education. None but themselves con form a conccp ion of their difficulties. Censures and vain desiderating! are donations which all are ready to bestow. More substantial aid is seldom received. 'Till, at last, the majority have got into somewhat the «ams state of mind as the donkey of the poet, upon whom hit nutter continued to heap his loads, and bestow his whip. We put down our ears, and quietly submit to the vapulation. Let, however, His Excellency touch our burdens with the tip of his finger, and Education will rive and traverse the earth. I remain, Sir, your obedient icrvant, A CHURCH MISSIONARY.

To the Editor of the New Zealander. Sir, — For the satisfaction of the public mind, and for the purpose of furthering the cndi of justice, I send you jome importune information respecting the murder of Lieut. Snow and family. I attended the inquest held on the bodies, and the impression of horror at the deed hai never been removed from my mind ; I determined tnen that 1 would not rest till I had g-iined some clue to the discovery of the murderers. The parties whom I at first suspected, and whom I was in a measure severely censured for accusing, are the very parlies who &re at present (and those only) the subject of my suspicions, I, Sir, am married to a native female ; and I am aware that the feeling has been expressed, that those Europeans, who have such connection*, must have means of gaining information on the subject of this crime. This is a mistake, for the matter has been sealed with secrecy in this instance. But to prove to my fallow colonists that a man, connected even as I am, may retain bo h Irs loyalty and his sense of social relations, I have exerted mykelf unremittingly in the pursuit of information; and not as some have supposed, in the hope of reward ; for lam no Judas, to soil my fingers with money as the price of blood. J For a long time, as I have befaie mentioned, my suspicions rested on certain individuals ; but the ob- ; jsct of the crime, whether plunder, revenge, or a gauntlet of defiance to the Government, IJeould never understand ; lat last resolved to try a visit amongst the Waikato tribes, and listen to all that was going on. With a single blanket, unaccompanied by any native, I viiited the Nga ti te Mio (both at Ihu Matou and Pi hi Akura^ Ni;a te Ata (Ka'ipa's tribe), a Kahu. wera — Nga te Mahuta, Waikfto beads, from thence to Nga te Tipa, and Nga te Po, at the Ihu taro, (tne scene of the celebrated battle about the boundary line.) From thence 1 proceeded 10 the Nga te Po, on the Paparoa side of Wang hape, and retm ne>l by way of Tuukau to the Nga te Maru at Tui M*ta ; from thence to Nga te aki Tain, at Papa kura, and back to Auckland ; having traversed a distance of ai least one hundied and fifty miles withia the week. The plan 1 pursued was not to question, but to listen ; till an opportunity offered of making the subject of my enquiry the ordinary subject of conversation; and 1 had almost despaired of gaining tny intel igence, till the subject was broached by two of the most mflu. n ial and best behaved chiefs in Waikato, both baptued natives. They spoke earnestly and ss. tiously on the subject, and I led them to follow mv own suspicions, till we reached the point on which I wanted information, viz , tho Raupa-alia's speeches at O Itaki and ti<e Thames** The conversation became deeply interesting, (for 1 mix royaelf wi h their interests as far asjusiica will allow me), nnd the elder ' cbiof told me of the strtnous exertions the Raupaia'ia had made to get them to attack the Europeans, but the most important thing resulting fr m this meeting, was securing a literal copy of the Rauparttha's song, calling for vengeance on his captor*, as payment for his b' ing made a prisoner. Truly the old fiend put onp h- appearance of an angel of li^ht wh n he we -it to the Church Missionary hymn book, and close one of the hymns as perfectly expressing his feelings. This is a fact, for his song was actu iliy the thirty seventh in that collodion— but coutaiot expressions harmless and simple vs they may teem to the uninitiated in old uative customs, which have often, deluged the home of the New Z -alander with the blood ot his bis relations, as payment fur the enslaving of some ehu'f of rank. 'J hid is hi. song :— B hua toku orri^a, mo aku tini he ; irunga i tou liju»a, makctia maikii ki an. I aui pouri pu ano, kau c koe j I ou ano kd, mamma— mahara mai hi au — A hau i tae ki t^nei ra, hrmahi hold nau waihvki teut-i maltingn. Maharatia c Aroe— Ka tone nei a Wiro, ki a hoki atu au, c boa, ki a uuua ia, mahara viai ki au. Ka waka Uta pu a hau, t- 1 hicre i te ao ; ko icua koe wakaro ai, mahara maiki au. I have maiked the words " mahara maikii ki au," (which mean* remember me) and which aie so frequenly repeated, in Italics ; as being an expression well unJersiood by natives, and baring a peculiar meaning ; this meaning 1 will expUm. But separate from these wordi, the wholo i ong io tht mouth of %

natire chief, and one ia Rauparaha'i situation, would have produced in their customs deedi as black ia <lye »s , the lafe murder. I can assure you ,- Fir. however much you may be surprised, that lam stating a startling/act; such as the evidence of any disinterested natire chief will confirm. I will give you an instunee of the use of the words " Mihara maikii ki au," viz. remember me. It was the custom often when a chief of rank w«i taken prisoner and he became a slave, while smarting under the bitterness of bondage, degrad d rank and the de« •ire of vengeance, to convey these identical words to bis relations; so sure at he did this, fonie settlement belonging to his raptors was dentrojed, and burnt, and its people mutdi'red. It has been known thtt an enslaved chief has gone "With his ciptors to a feast, or a visit to the tribe amongst whom he was bora. Presents have been exchanged, feasting hai been going: on, the Maori his been crowded with swingers, all are joyous Out the relations of the captive chief and himself ; tears such as a father sheds over a degraded child, or a son on the neck of the mother who gave him birth, have flowed abundantly; till maddeneu with his feelings, the slave rises and mixes amongst his former friends and dependuNts, ami thus utters the dread appeal for vengeance, M Mahara ruai ki au.'' The silence of that night lias been broken by the ones and gro«p» of murdered guests, and the morrow hit shewn a sight of even deeper horror. I will bring my suthority whenever it shall be needed, and more information, into a court ot justice i( necessary ; but the. more I know of this mattrr, the more neceskity I see lor great foresight and consideration on the part ol the government in their plan of proceeding j and I can see no good likely to reMik from giving intelligence, without a strict judicial inquiry is made. It should hive been done in MukVs case ; and th« interpreter in these examinations should possess the sh.twJness of a lawyer. I can further bnni; evidence to prove by the testimony of a native chief of high standing, that the ftauparaha asked the Wuikatos' ior four hundred men to return with him overland, for the purpose of assisting in exterminating the Europeans at Wan*anui and elsewhere ; but 1 am happy to say, our Waikato friends rf jected the proposal in the->e words, — " Where should we find fathers like the Europeans ? they clothe us with blankets. It cannot be done. If the government put their feet on us, then we will lift up our guns and tomahawks. But we have lived long together in Waikato, and if we fight amongtt ourteWes, we will not interfere with our white men. It will not be right." A notice of some dangerous expressions made use of by the Rauparaha in one of his speeches, appeared in the Southern Cross. But there is enough in his song to have caused the extermination of the whole of v«, if his strength had been rqual to his desire of vengeance. Soon after this meeting, the murder took place ; one of the parties, 1 suspect, is related to Rau- | partha, he is a priest and a reputed wrcerer ; has he not art enough to make superstition put the seal of secresy oil the lips of bis accomplices. He may do so for a time, but the day when superstition had a perfect s*ay over the native mind is passed away. But the Rauparaha's dangerous appeal, coupled with the fact of his attempting to get men and arms from the Waikato, and the murder succeeding his calis for vengeance, leave no doubt on my mind as to the person who originated the deed. Who were the perpetrators? If they are young men, they will shrink from the presence of Europeans alone ; if they are old savages, they will carry * bold face amongst u» 5 as men of cruel mmdi, without conicience, without principle, and like the people denounced by the Almighty in Ezekiel, as " wretches seeking blood." I have no authority to justify my proceeding ; I have dons with this mdtter now. Let the government commence where I leave off, they will bs in the right track ; and if they shonld ever require the assistance of one who mourns for the victims, and would punish the murderers, they will find me ready. I remain, Sir, Your's, &<\, CRAYON. Auckland, Feb. 11, 1848.

To the Editor of the New Zealander. Sir :— May 1 ask you to correct a statement which has been made — that the Orwell was lost in consequence of the incorrectness of Mr. Omsby'i Chart of the Mauukao. The Chart used on that occaiion was not Mr. Ormsby's, hut one constructed by Capt. Richards of the Victoria Brig, who sailed through ihe p isiage in which the Orwell was wrecked. I must add, likewise, that, from what I can Irarn, the sailing direction* given upon it appear to have been correct. 1 trust that you will inirrt this in justice to Mr. Ormsby, who is a. present abaent fiora the Colony. JUSTITU.