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Conclusion
As New Zealand society evolved in the latter periods of the nineteenth century, so did the subject
matter and focus of the respective visitors, many of whom were not scientists, but non-academic
travellers. While others like Reischek were more concerned with the state of the environment or
the ‘natural state’ of the Maori, various German-speaking visitors in the late 1870s and early
1880s found New Zealand society, the people, cultural characteristics, and the disenfranchised
and ‘dying’ Maori to be of more interest. More often than not these accounts were written for a
general audience (although additional contributions sometimes had a more scientific basis), were
of a less philosophical nature, and tended to be narratives of their experiences rather than
comprehensive quasi-scientific works. As one would expect, Hochstetter’s Neu-Seeland has been
used as one of the primary sources, in which all of the post-Hochstetter visitors in this study
either refer directly to his work or at least show clear influences. And as his standard account was
clearly outdated in many respects, it left sufficient room for others to comment not only on the
realities of social and technological progress in the colony, but also on whether their expectations
as visitors, scientists and explorers were fulfilled. However, due to their predominantly shorter
stays, these German-speaking arrivals understandably had less time to get the full picture, and
were not in the same position as Dieffenbach, Hochstetter and Reischek to offer advice or
criticise policies. As it has been shown, during the ‘Long Depression’ the state of the economy,
employment and the quality of life in general were all in decline. New Zealand was even depicted
in the German press as a heavily indebted colony which could no longer accommodate German
immigrants, with those already living there forced to lead a somewhat isolated and ‘British’
existence, resulting in the author’s conclusion that it was better to stay at home than immigrate to
New Zealand. Naturally, these comments were influenced by the unfavourable situation that
existed for German immigration. In the case of Buchner, Reuleaux, Finsch, Hübner and
Lendenfeld this same focus did not exist, with the only exception being their tendency to mention
prominent German figures met during their stay.
Several years before the ‘Long Depression’ had set in, Buchner reiterates Hochstetter’s
British paradisical imagery, and relates the ideals which his fellow immigrant passengers were
striving for such as class equality and egalitarianism, although he is not as pleased with the state
of public roads and transport. Given his present position as a medical doctor and his later role at
an ethnological museum, it is understandable that he would possess a strong interest in the state of
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