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of their nature to seek for justice in the form of revenge, are held up to the execration of mankind
as murderers, and as proper objects of cruel retaliation. 18
Furthermore, as there is “abundance and to spare of vast unoccupied territory, without
encroaching on what is required by the native population, - a surplus which they are most
desirous to sell”, due to their “very small, quite insignificant” numbers “in proportion to the
immense fertile territory they possess”, 19 it is only right to make use of the land they cannot make
use of themselves. And when a chief sells his tribal land his people shall not be made homeless,
but will receive a portion of reserved land “to be held in trust for their use and benefit”, 20 albeit
scattered around Company-owned property. Moreover, as these transactions are to be made by
means of gentle “persuasion”, namely “the kind of influence to which alone the successful
missionaries have trusted”, it is only proper “not [to] attempt to convert any part of their country
into British territory, without their full, free, and perfectly-understanding consent and
approval”. 21 The reality, however, was somewhat different. Despite all the philanthropic and
humanitarian discourse, the crux of the matter was they needed land to sell in a hurry, money, or
at least tradable goods, to buy land and finance their venture, in addition to immigrants and
investors to begin with, as well as a nice amount of surplus for their own interests. It began with
land being sold in Britain before anyone from the Company had even set foot in New Zealand and
continued with Edward Gibbon’s brother, William, being sent out in the Tory in 1839 to hastily
set about purchasing and surveying as much land as possible by whatever means at his disposal
before the first immigrants arrived, and writing dispatches to prove the validity of sales and the
readiness of the land for immigration. All in all, it was an impossible exercise (a fact not helped
by the inadequate translating skills and legal ignorance of the resident whaler Dicky Barrett), 22
with some Maori unwilling to give up their land, some not knowing they already had, and others
selling land which they did not even own in the first place, all of which was naturally omitted
from the dispatches. 23 Accompanying the first ship of Company agents was a German scientist
and explorer by the name of Ernst Dieffenbach, who, it will be shown, was not a simple
mouthpiece for their propaganda.
18
Wakefield and Ward, British Colonization, 269f.
19
Ibid., 271.
20
Ibid., 56.
21
Ibid., 53.
22
See Julie Bremner, “Barrett, Richard ? – 1847: Trader, whaler, interpreter, hotel owner”, in: DNZB 1, 19f.
23
See John Ward, Supplementary Information Relative to New-Zealand; comprising Despatches and Journals of the
Company’s Officers of the first expedition, and the First Report of the Directors. London: Parker, 1840, 5-24, 27-61,
111-59; Temple, Sort of Conscience, 229-66; Burns, Fatal Success, 111-25.
60