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In this way, for Dieffenbach, their ‘natural’ character combines the peaceful and Romantic
with the warlike and barbaric, in which he believes “their good and amiable qualities far outweigh
the bad” (II:107). On the one hand, they make “affectionate husbands and parents”, and “although
the younger and more vigorous chiefs supersede the aged in their authority over the tribe, the
latter are respected, and their council listened to” (II:107). The Maori also have a desire to
instruct themselves, and are in general “very attentive to tuition, learn quickly, and have an
excellent memory” (II:108), although he is of the opinion that due to a lack of specific sounds and
consonants in their own tongue “all attempts to teach the natives the English language can only
end in their acquiring an unintelligible jargon” (II:301). In terms of “quickness of perception” of
objects which surround them, “they are superior in general to the white man”, and are driven by a
“spirit of curiosity” which “pervade young and old” (II:108). 81 Furthermore: “The tribes more
removed from intercourse with Europeans are hospitable, and this cardinal virtue was once
common to all. In the interior a stranger, whether European or native, is always received with
welcome: food and shelter are soon prepared for him” (II:107). 82 On the other hand, this level of
politeness, which “would do honour to a more civilized people” (II:109), is contrasted with their
often unpredictable behaviour:
[T]heir temper often changes very quickly; and a fickleness of character appears, a change from
good to bad humour, often without any imaginable cause, which, especially when travelling, is
very disagreeable. But if this irritability of temper is met with firmness, they suppress it; and,
indeed, it is often put on to see how the European will bear it. If they are treated with honesty, and
with that respect which is due to them as men, I have always found them to reciprocate such
treatment; and I have travelled amongst them with as much pleasure and security as I have in
European countries. 83
A prominent feature of their character is to retaliate and revenge any wrong they have
suffered. The wrong is often imaginary, and quarrels arise without any cause, especially if a tribe
possesses the right of the stronger. I know an instance where the remembrance of a murder had
81 “This spirit of curiosity leads them often to trust themselves to small coasting vessels; or they go with whalers to
see still more distant parts of the globe” (II:108). However, over the previous seventy years since Cook’s first
contact, “their knowledge of navigation has diminished, and with it that bold adventurous spirit which made them
brave the dangers of long coasting voyages” (II:97; cf. I:335; Salmond, Between Worlds, 175-397). A drawback to
this level of curiosity, on the other hand, is the “art of keeping a secret”, which, the “New Zealander is little
acquainted, although he possesses in many other respects great self-control; the secret must come out, even if his
death should be the immediate consequence” (II:106).
82 However, in saying that, as is the case with all barbarous nations, he comments: “Though endowed with many
good qualities, his charities are exclusively confined to his own tribe, which is, in fact, composed of his blood
relations. His neighbours, inhabiting the same land and speaking the same language with himself, he generally
regards as his natural enemies” (I:101; cf. I:91, 102, 169, 199, 304, 310, 313f., 332, 359, 361, 382, 411, 415).
83 As he says: “I have always indeed made a point in New Zealand of keeping my patience and composure in all
discussions with the natives, and have in consequence fared well. I recommend the same system to all those who
have occasion to travel amongst savages, who, by the bye, are in this respect often our superiors” (I:335f.).
83