History of New Zealand
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| Yours Truly, Alfred Saunders |
Form the perfece : the author is the first settler in New Zealand
As the first settler who landed from the first immigrant ship that entered Nelson Harbour, on the ist of February, 1842, and as the oldest member of the New Zealand House of Representatives at the present date,I have often been earnestly requested, both by my colleagues in the House and by other New Zealand settlers whose judgment I value, to place on record something like a concise and connected narrative of the more important events that have come under my notice, in some of which, both as a settler and a public man,
I have so long been permitted to take an active and a more or less responsible part. So long as I had little expectation that I should outlive so many of my contemporaries and comrades, I felt under no obligation to undertake what could be better done by more able men.
But as the most promising of my comrades have, one after the - other, gone to their rest without having made any effort to place their knowledge and experience on record, and as the existing historical works on New Zealand do not, either separately or collectively, supply a complete, compendious and reliable record of the leading events in New Zealand history,
I have consented at the eleventh hour to undertake a task which I may or may not live to complete, but which will, even with this volume, cover the dates about which little will be remembered by the present generation, upon which official records are not to be found, and of which little would be known to later writers who may be induced to contribute to the history of New Zealand.
I have devoted what some of my readers may consider an undue space to the only reliable early records, for which we are so much indebted to Captain Cook and the Rev. Samuel Marsden. It has long appeared to me to be a matter for regret, and even a just subject for reproach, that the deeply interesting work of those two great men should be so little known or appreciated by the present generation of New Zealanders ; and that such men have been far more honoured in Australia and even in England, than they have been in the country to which their best done in consequence of being now able to command the grandly simple narrative of his own work in his own words.
The publication, by Mr. Corner, only three years ago of Cook's own journal in his own language, gives a new interest to the great navigator's work, and to his own unpretentious description of it, now no longer obscured by its translation into the more scholastic language of Dr. Hawkesworth.
This has appeared to me to justify some account of his educational restrictions, and the insertion of some copious extracts from a journal which from so many different points of view, can hardly fail to command much interest and much veneration. It is neither his power, his ability, nor the multiplicity of his resources which give the great charm to Marsden's noble character.
It is that heroic unselfishness and steadiness of purpose which enabled him to despise dangers, to brook disappointments, and confidently and continuously to face difficulties which very few men would have encountered so long, so patiently, or with such complete ultimate success.
I need offer no apology for the space occupied to indicate the great work of the unselfish man who first discovered and proved how much latent worth and honour lay hid beneath the rugged exterior of the Maori character, and who made the colonization of New Zealand compatible with the preservation of the physically and mentally powerful race who were always so ready to die in defence of their real or imaginary rights.
To " say nothing but good of the dead " may be a motto often rightly adopted in the ordinary conversation of daily life, but is evidently not admissible as a guide for the impartial historian.
A mere assemblage of panegyrics could only be contemptible if professing to be a history ; and it must be obvious to all that, in attempting to write a comparatively modern history, at a time when " Part of the host have crossed the flood.
Reading form chapter CANNIBALS, ROCKS AND SCURVY. 1769-1771. "The calm, fretless dignity of the soul amidst the wild tempests and agonising sufferings of this mortal scene." — DR. DAVIES. ON Saturday, November 4th, in latitude 36° 47' he put into a bight, now called Cook's Bay, and make preparations to observe the transit of Mercury on November 10th, for which the weather was fine and the observation was successfully made and recorded.
The natives, after making some hostile demonstrations which were not resented, became on the following morning " very fair and friendly ; two came on board the ship. To each I gave a piece of English cloth and some spike nails."
On the day of the transit the captain's journal tell us— " As soon as it was daylight the natives began to bring off mackerel and more than we knew what to do with ; notwithstanding I ordered all they brought to be purchased in order to encourage them in this kind of traffic." Whilst the Commander and the Astronomers were on shore devoting their attention to the transit of Mercury which came on at 7.21 a.m., Mr. Gore, the officer left in charge of the ship, committed one of those thoughtless acts of cruelty which are so often allowed to destroy the budding confidence of an uncivilized race. It is pleasant to note the progress of the Commander's own views as to the folly anedinjustice of such harsh cruelty. In his journal the event is thus described :
" One man offered to sell a ' hadhow,' that is a square piece of cloth such as they wear. Lieutenant Gore, who at this time was commanding officer, sent into the canoe a piece of cloth which the man had agreed to take in exchange for his. But as soon as he had got Mr. Gore's cloth in his possession, he would not part with his own, but put off the canoe from along side and the occupants then shook their paddles at the people in the ship. Upon this Mr. Gore fired a musket at them, and from what I can learn killed the man who took the cloth. After this they soon went away."
" I have here inserted the account of this affair just as I had it from Mr. Gore, but I must own that it did not meet with my approbation because I thought the punishment a little too severe for the crime, and we had now been long enough acquainted with these people to know how to chastise trifling faults like this, without taking away their lives."
The next day we are told that " none of the natives came off to the ship this morning," and although the ship remained there five days longer, we hear nothing more of supplies of fish.
The author is Alfred Saunders (1820–1905), a prominent New Zealand figure known for his multifaceted career as a farmer, reformer, temperance advocate, and politician ,Early Life: Born in Market Lavington, England, Saunders emigrated to New Zealand in 1841, arriving in Nelson in 1842. He was known for claiming the title of Nelson's "first settler," having famously waded ashore with an axe and spade.
Editor's noteThis is part of curating books that tell us about history.of Nations, at the time of World Cup,I really don't know anything about New Zealand nor its history. So this book is for me and for curious people. I published so far 10 countries that are in World Cup 2026 .