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The first negative form this takes is moral corruption or at least a deviation from the norm,
in which the role of missionaries is yet again heavily, and sometimes unfairly, emphasised:
I am sorry to say that, by intercourse with Europeans, the natives have lost many of their original
good qualities, and have acquired others far less amiable. They have become covetous, suspicious,
and importunate. They have lost a great part of their hospitality and politeness; and their refusing
aid, when the stranger is most in want of it, or exacting exorbitant recompense for it, makes
travelling very annoying. 122 To this must be added, that those who have become Christians refuse,
by the ill-judged directions of the missionaries, to furnish food or to perform any kind of work for
a traveller who may happen to arrive on a Sunday, which must sometimes take place in a country
where one entirely depends upon the natives. Highly as I appreciate the merits of the missionaries,
I must say that they have omitted to teach their converts some most important social, and therefore
moral duties, which they will only acquire by a more intimate intercourse with civilized
Europeans. (II:110f.)
The second outcome is that in the face of continued European progress their change in lifestyle
encourages a greater degree of idleness, a popular stereotype for this period, as traditionally they
are seen to have done only what was needed and nothing more. Yet they have the potential to
further exert themselves, if motivated enough to do so, a task which in itself seems difficult at
best, but not impossible:
In their native state they are as laborious as their wants require; but, easily satisfying those, and
unable, even by their utmost exertions, to compete with the lowest of Europeans, they get lazy and
indolent, prefer begging to working, and pass a great part of their time in showing their acquired
fineries and contemplating the restless doings of the colonist. As servants they are very
independent, and Europeans will do well, if they want any native helps, to treat them with
attention, and rather as belonging to the family than as servants. 123 They have this feeling of
independence very strongly, and it is very creditable to them. (II:111)
Thus, it is not a case of their being naturally lazy, rather the Maori are hard-working by ‘savage’
standards, although at times also by European standards, in accordance with their own non-
European lifestyle, which creates a somewhat ambivalent and contradictory image to say the
least.
122 According to Dieffenbach, the generous image of the Maori preparing food baskets upon hearing of a stranger’s
arrival is “rapidly giving way to European modes of hospitality” (I:314), and, as a consequence, has been replaced by
that of the extortionate Maori, “as among the colonists they see no transactions but what are based upon an exchange
of money and labour”, and “their knowledge of the value of time and money will remain for a long time very
imperfect” (I:297). The result of this is that when Dieffenbach finds out his Maori servants have left due to promises
of higher wages in Auckland, he states: “I advise any one who intends to travel to New Zealand to avoid the towns, if
he wishes to find natives, of whom a great number are required to carry provisions and baggage” (I:289).
123 Cf. I:28, 31, 90, 122, 166, 215, 299, 302, 311, 319.
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