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The Descent of Man

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the years 1830 and 1840; and Mr. Fenton shews<br />

(p. 40) that about 1830, the art <strong>of</strong> manufacturing<br />

putrid corn (maize), by long steeping in water,<br />

was discovered and largely practised; and this<br />

proves that a change <strong>of</strong> habits was beginning<br />

amongst the natives, even when New Zealand<br />

was only thinly inhabited by Europeans. When<br />

I visited the Bay <strong>of</strong> Islands in 1835, the dress<br />

and food <strong>of</strong> the inhabitants had already been<br />

much modified: they raised potatoes, maize,<br />

and other agricultural produce, and exchanged<br />

them for English manufactured goods and tobacco.<br />

It is evident from many statements in the life <strong>of</strong><br />

Bishop Patteson (42. 'Life <strong>of</strong> J.C. Patteson,' by<br />

C.M. Younge, 1874; see more especially vol. i. p.<br />

530.), that the Melanesians <strong>of</strong> the New Hebrides<br />

and neighbouring archipelagoes, suffered to an<br />

extraordinary degree in health, and perished in<br />

large numbers, when they were removed to<br />

New Zealand, Norfolk Island, and other salu-

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