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mats with European blankets which “keep the skin in a continual state of irritation, and harbour
vermin and dirt far more than the native mats” (II:18). Third is the preparation of maize which is
done incorrectly and unwholesomely by allowing it to decay in water. Fourth is their reluctance to
eat the pigs they own in favour of trading them for blankets, muskets, powder and lead. And last
but not least are the consequences of the decrease in wars and the relinquishing of dances, songs
and games through the efforts of the missionaries, whereby “[i]nstead of being constantly in
bodily exercise, they became readers, an occupation very much suited to their natural indolence”
(II:19). In other words, “instead of an active, warlike race, they have become eaters of potatoes,
neglecting their industrious pursuits in consequence of the facility of procuring food and blankets,
and they pass their lives in eating, smoking, 126 and sleeping” (II:19f.). Thus, he sees the main
problem being that the Maori have “adopted part of our food and part of our clothing, but they
have not adopted the whole” (II:20), 127 with chronic catarrhs being the most common affliction
“in consequence of the natives exposing themselves to the cold and humid external air, after
having been heated in their houses by a temperature of 100º Fahrenheit” (II:22). 128 However, in
saying that, one cannot underestimate the eternal laws of nature, whereby it cannot be totally
discounted that “some races of men, like the different kinds of organic beings, plants, and
animals, stand in opposition to each other; that is to say, where one race begins to spread and
increase, the other, which is perhaps less vigorous and less durable, dies off” (II:14f.), and “if it
be the design of Providence that the race should disappear”, it is only morally right to “alleviate
that change in the inhabitants of countries of which we have taken possession, and at least to have
the satisfaction of knowing that we have done everything in our power to prevent injustice or to
lessen the extent of it” (II:15f.).
Despite the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 in order to protect Maori rights,
whilst ceding sovereignty to the Queen through becoming British citizens and retaining
possession of their lands and fisheries, 129 injustices and fatal conflicts still had the potential to
126 See also I:24, 32, 38, 58.
127 He gives the example of the frequent occurrence of a “sickly native” being “soon restored to health after being
clothed in a shirt, trousers, and a jacket, instead of a blanket only, which he can, and does, throw off at any moment;
and when provided with a strengthening diet, with meat and a glass of wine or beer, - in fact, when he lives altogether
as we do, - it is singular how well this mode of treatment generally succeeds, if no acute disease exists” (II:20).
128 This view is easily understood when seen in the light of a previous episode, where even in the face of violent and
cold gales, which interfered with the expedition’s tents, the Maori from the nearby ‘pa’ “always came quickly to our
help, generally rushing in a state of nudity out of their warm houses, and, with mirth and laughter, soon helped the
pakea [sic] (stranger) to put up his house” (I:362f.).
129 “This was done with a few tribes in the northern parts of the island, and with some individuals in the southern; but
circumstances made it afterwards necessary, without consulting the wishes of the inhabitants, to assume at once the
102