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fenced in, and kept extremely clean, show all the vigour of vegetation for which New Zealand is
so remarkable” (I:214). At times due to superior knowledge of the land, naturally rich soil is
chosen for their plantations with greater fertility for crops, such as maize, potatoes, taro, turnips,
cabbage, kumara and pumpkin (I:186). 107 This is, however, contrasted with their habit of clearing
paths by fire to travel to and from these plantations which “have not failed to produce their
natural effect” (I:368). 108 As can be seen, with regard to Maori advancements in agriculture and
European construction, the Maori appear to exceed on many occasions in both methods and
appearance.
In Dieffenbach’s opinion, the Europeanisation and civilising of the Maori is worthwhile
when they reach an “altered and improved condition” (I:301), yet this is not always the case, as is
witnessed in the Maori tribes and individuals he encounters. The first Maori community he comes
across at Anaho, for instance, consists of a fairly idyllic and peaceful lifestyle despite its open
contact with the reportedly nefarious element of European society:
These people were well provided with the necessaries of life; provisions were plentiful, and we
were enabled to lay in a large stock of potatoes and pigs at a very moderate price. From the
neighbouring whaling establishments they had obtained articles of European clothing in exchange
for their commodities, and their condition seemed to be a happy one. I was astonished to find it so
easy to deal with them; and instead of sinister savages, brooding nothing but treachery and
mischief, as many travellers have depicted them, they were open, confident, and hospitable, and
proved of the greatest service to me during my frequent rambles in the woods. (I:31)
No instances of drunkenness exist here in spite of the mixing that goes on with the whalers, yet
drinking is a habit of those with constant contact with Europeans in certain coastal areas (I:41).
Along the way Dieffenbach is not often disappointed by the levels of civilisation and hospitality
he meets, in which the latter is not always a result of the former, such as the friendly Rotoaira
Maori who “appeared to be in a very primitive state, which, however, was not, in my opinion, at
all to their disadvantage” (I:359), or those at Waipa, who he describes as “perhaps, the finest set
of people in New Zealand, [who] are familiarized with Europeans, and very anxious to receive
them into their country” (I:334), while the Taupo tribes are “decidedly the best specimens of the
race that I had seen in New Zealand, and excelled in their hospitality towards strangers, in
prudent attention to their own affairs, in cleanliness and health, most of those who live on the
107 Cf. I:120, 142, 170, 216, 218.
108 Cf. I:58, 85, 336, 346, 389, 411.
93