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and would live in one community with the Europeans. It may be that single individuals will do so,
but it will never be the case with the majority. (II:145)
In other words, he does not see the main problem as the amount of land allocated for the reserves,
although for him “ten acres of arable land for each individual of the tribe, man, woman, or child,
chief or slave, is ample” (II:149), 131 rather that the Maori will not occupy it, as they favour
communal living in places that are “generally not very available to Europeans”:
What an injustice would be committed if we were to take from them the land which they occupy,
and which they have cleared, and were to restrict them to that portion which has fallen to them by
a lottery in London, and thus perhaps to separate a tribe from the spot where they were born,
where they have hitherto dwelt, and where they have buried their kindred! (II:147f.)
In this way, Dieffenbach observes a strong and noble attachment to their own land, more so than
is the case with the “imported race of shopkeepers, who only strive to dissolve the ties which
should bind them to the land of their birth, and who pride themselves on their own ignorance
regarding everything that belongs to the original inhabitants” (II:175). 132 If proper measures are
implemented, the two objects of colonisation, “that of opening new markets for British
manufactures” and “converting in the course of a few years an island of savage tribes into an
integral portion of Great Britain, emulous to resemble its parent land in wealth, happiness,
strength, knowledge, civilization, and Christian virtues” (II:176), could easily be achieved in the
future. However, if land squabbles and tensions increase, interracial conflict is only a matter of
time:
There are already reasons for fearing an approaching conflict between the natives and the
colonists, if the latter continue to be placed upon land belonging to the former, and for the
peaceful and lawful acquisition of which no attempt even has been made. Up to the present time
the energies of the New Zealanders to defend their rights have not been roused, and they have
merely protested against the injustice; but, if left unprotected, the multitudes of Europeans pouring
into their country will not intimidate them – they will rather fill them with suspicion, stimulate
them to exertion, and to convert them into open foes. And let not such an enemy be despised: the
New Zealander is no coward; he can live in his impenetrable forests, where no European can
follow him; he can cut off all chance of colonization, especially if necessity teaches the tribes to
forget their own dissensions and to be strong by union. (II:139)
131 However, he notes that for missionaries “two hundred acres for each child was thought to be a liberal allowance”,
in which case, “if that quantity is not thought sufficient for the children of a missionary, who have no claims to the
land, I should assert that it is not sufficient for a native, there being no reasonable ground for making a difference
between them” (II:149).
132 See II:173-76.
104