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Although omitted from the extended title of the work, Dieffenbach’s purpose was not only to give
a faithful representation of the country and its ‘natural productions’, but also to make future
colonists “relinquish those ideas of the savage nature of its inhabitants, derived from a series of
publications, written by persons whose knowledge of the country is so slight, and whose
intercourse with the natives has been so limited, as to render it impossible for them to form a
correct judgment” (I:20). 65 Thus, he makes a special effort to capture the ‘real’ image of the
Maori, yet his ‘unvarnished’ account of these people, whose total population he estimates at
114,890, 66 is not, however, without its biases and stereotypes. The second volume of his work
offers a more systematic approach and in-depth ethnographic analysis than the first volume,
which is made up of various encounters as he experiences them, yet is not only based therefore on
first-hand experience, but also conversations with local Maori and various second and third-hand
European sources, 67 the result of which often takes a romanticised form. 68
Inspired by the writings of Herder and the tenets of the Romantic movement, the concept
of the ‘Romantic Savage’ was born in the minds of artists, writers and scholars alike as a
welcome return to the more positive image of the ‘savage’:
Burnt Bush. New Zealanders and the Indigenous Remnant, 1880-1930”, in: ibid., 119-35; James Beattie,
“Environmental Anxiety in New Zealand, 1840-1941: Climate Change, Soil Erosion, Sand Drift, Flooding and Forest
Conservation”, in: Environment and History 9:4 (2003): 379-92; Trevor H. Worthy and Richard N. Holdaway, The
Lost World of the Moa: Prehistoric Life of New Zealand. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2002, 529-66;
Carolyn King, Immigrant Killers: Introduced Predators and the Conservation of Birds in New Zealand. Auckland:
Oxford University Press, 1984, 36-81; Ministry for the Environment, The State of New Zealand’s Environment 1997.
Wellington: GP Publications, 1997, esp. Ch. 8, 27-32; Cathy Marr, Robin Hodge and Ben White, Crown Laws,
Policies, and Practices in Relation to Flora and Fauna, 1840 – 1912. Wellington: Waitangi Tribunal, 2001, esp. 13-
34, 197-226, 291-332, 400-2, 420-24, 426-30; David Young, “Treasure Islands, c.1300-1642”, in: Frontier of
Dreams: The Story of New Zealand. Eds. Bronwyn Dalley and Gavin McLean. Auckland: Hodder Moa, 2005, 49-
52.)
65 As he says: “I have learned to regard the evidence of Europeans against the natives with great distrust” (I:36).
66 It should be noted, however, that his estimate of 6,490 for the Cook Strait tribes (I:195) appears as 5,490 in the
combined total of all areas of New Zealand (II:83, 150), which would therefore make the corrected estimate 115,890.
Earlier estimates saw his total as no more than 40,000 due to his only viewing the country from coastal regions and
contrasting it with the exaggerated estimates of previous explorers (II:81f.). Pool, on the other hand, suggests this
estimate is too high, with 70,000-90,000, or perhaps a figure of 80,000, providing a more accurate guess (Pool, Te Iwi
Maori, 50, 53-57, 234, 237f.; Maori Population, 52-55, 193-96, 208f.).
67 One source which has already been compared with Dieffenbach’s work is J. S. Polack’s Manners and Customs of
the New Zealanders (1840), the first detailed European monograph on the Maori. (See Jörg Baiter, Ernst
Dieffenbachs Beschreibung von Neuseeland: Eine ethnographische Analyse und kritische Würdigung. MA Thesis.
Albert-Ludwigs-Universität zu Freiburg im Breisgau, 1986, esp. 43-53, 72-169.)
68 Cf. Ernst Dieffenbach, “Briefe eines jungen Deutschen von der andern Seite der Erdkugel”, in: Intelligenzblatt für
die Provinz Oberhessen im Allgemeinen, den Kreis Friedberg und die angrenzenden Bezirke im Besonderen 7:45 7
Nov (1840): 310-12; Ernest Dieffenbach, “Report to the New Zealand Company, respecting the Physical Condition
and Natural History of Queen Charlotte’s Sound, Cloudy Bay, Tory’s Channel, Port Nicholson, and the surrounding
Country”, in: Supplementary Information, 72-110, esp.101-10; Ernest Dieffenbach, New Zealand and the New
Zealanders. London: Aborigines’ Protection Society, 1841.
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