u miim To Marsden. ROSERf MCNAS! CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Otto & Hermie Kinkeldey Endowment 4.»t»rt ,rs*VI vjowe" The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028640500 FROM TASMAN TO MARSDEN. From Tasman To Marsden. A HISTORY OF NORTHERN NEW ZEALAND FROM 1642 TO 1818. BY ROBERT McNAB, M.A., LL.B., Litt.D. ^"^t^^^ J. WILKIE & CO., LTD. GENERAL PRINTERS AND PUBLISHERS. PRINCES STREET, DUNEDIN. 1914. — The Author's Other Works: 1. 1893 The Outlook of our Secondary Schools. 2. 1903 Forestry in its Relation to the Farmer. 3. 1904—^MuRiHiKU : Some Old Time Events. 4. 1907—MURIHIKU AND THE SOUTHERN ISLANDS. 5. 1908 ^Historical Records of New Zealand, Vol. I. 6. 1909—MuRiHiKU. 7. 1913—The Old Whaling Days. 8. 1913 Open Letters on Proportional Representation. 9. 1914 Historical Records of New Zealand, Vol. II. Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 8 had previously appeared in the press. Nos. 9 and 9 are Government Publications. Nos. 6 and 7 formed the thesis for the author's Litt.D. degree. CONTENTS. CHAPTER. TITLE. PAGE. Preface. I. Discovery by Tasman, 1642 and 1643 1 II. Cook on the East Coast, 1769 16 III. De Surville Visits Doubtless Bay, 1769 ... 33 IV. Cook Completes his Survey, 1769 and 1770... 46 V. Marion's Visit to the Bay of Islands, 1772... 59 VI. Stray Visitors, 1773 to 1793 75 1. —Furneaux visits Tolaga Bay, 1773. 2. —Discovery of the Kermadecs, 1788. 3.—H.M.S. "Gorgon's" Visit, 1792. 4. —Kidnapping Flax Dressers, 1792 and 1793. 5. —D'Entrecasteaux's Visit, 1793. 6. —Governor King's Visit, 1793. VII. The First Timber Trade, 1794 to 1801 ... 86 VIII. The First Whaling Trade, 1801 to 1806 ... 95 IX. The Day of Te Pahi, 1806 to 1809 109 X. The Massacre of the "Boyd," 1809 and 1810 125 XI. After the Massacre, 1810 to 1814 138 XII. Development of the Mission Scheme, 1807 TO 1814 154 XIII. Marsden Establishes the Mission, 1814 and 1815 168 XIV. The Bay of Islands, 1815 to 1818 187 Bibliography 213 Index— Personal 221 Shipping 224 General 225 ; PREFACE. This work is one of a series intended ultimately to cover the period of New Zealand history between the discovery of the Islands by Tasman in 1642, and the Proclamation of British Sovereignty and the appointment of a Governor over them in 1840. So far the author has covered, of that ground, the history of the southern portion of New Zealand and of the islands lying to the south, all geographically, but not all politically, connected with New Zealand. This will be found in "Murihiku," for the period from 1642 to 1829, and in "The Old Whaling Days," for the period from 1830 to 1840. This volume makes a commencement on the history of the northern portion, and brings it down, with more or less com- pleteness, to 1818. The division into northern and southern districts is largely artificial, and the author has found it necessary, here and there, to repeat portions of his former work. This is so in the case of Tasman's movements on the coast, and of Cook's discovery of Queen Charlotte Sound and Cook Strait ; and his doings in that locality had to be reviewed to make com- plete a narrative of his survey of the North Island. The story of the Betsy had to be given once more to complete the northern events of the year 1815. In all cases only so much material was repeated as was necessary to bring the events then being dealt with to a suitable stopping place. The author has treated the Kermadec Islands as within the area of Northern New Zealand, but he has not thought it advisable to deal with the latest additions to the Dominion in the form of the Cook Islands. These can be best treated in a work dealing with the South Pacific Islands generally there is nothing to connect them with New Zealand, any more viii. FROM TASMAN TO MARSDEN. than with Australia or with South America. In the case of the Kermadecs the sperm whaling ships formed a connecting link between them and the Bay of Islands, but even then, beyond the facts of their discovery, stray mention by whalers, and the description of the great volcanic upheavals of the year 1814, they are rather barren of story or incident. On the occasion of the publication of his last book the author intimated his intention of reviewing the whole field after he had completed the northern area. As a consequence of this decision he has reduced the size of this volume by one-half, and will make an effort to bring out a volume every year, it now being no longer necessary to delay proceeding to press until the field is exhausted. The author hopes that the change in his plans will be found acceptable to his readers. The Appendices found in former volumes have now been discarded, the intention being to carry them all forward to the volumes of the "Records" published by the Government, thus avoiding duplicate publication. Since "The Old Whaling Days" was published last year the author has had a remarkable illustration shewn him of the hopelessness of delaying publication until every fact of historical importance was unearthed. By the kindness of the Chief Justice of New South Wales he was permitted to peruse the Supreme Court papers of the very earliest days of the Sydney Settlement, and in them he found a great quantity of material relating to the New Zealand sealing trade, principally in the form of disputes between master and man in the interpretation of their contracts of emplo3^ment, but also claims for insurance on damage done by ships, adminis- tration papers, &c. So valuable is this material from the point of view of New Zealand history, that had it not been already in the author's mind to republish later on, his exam- ination of these papers would have rendered it necessary for him to have done so. Life is too short, and one's readers are in too great a hurry, to wait xmtil a work is complete before pubUshing the results. The Natives and Native history is a subject on which the author has always felt himself weak. This did not matter PREFACE. ix. when dealing with Southern New Zealand, as the Natives did not bulk largely in the narrative, but as we come north that is altered. Although the work is limited to Europeans, and treats of the Natives only so far as they come into contact with the Europeans, the author is having gradually to import the Native race more and more into the narrative. In doing this he has accepted the identity of chiefs, and the spelling of their names, adopted in the Journal of the Polynesian Society, and, where there is no mention of them there the name as given in the source of information is adopted. It will be of inestimable value to the author if Maori scholars, and others who are familiar with any Maori name or word wrongly reproduced, would communicate that fact to the author in time to have it corrected for his final work. In this con- nection the author would tender his thanks to Mr. S. Percy Smith for reviewing all references to Maoris and Maori names in "The Old Whaling Days." Owing to the word "Maori" not having been found by him applied to the aboriginal race up to the year 1818, the author in his narrative designates them "New Zealanders" or "Natives," except where his feelings get the better of him and he calls them harsh names. The period of 176 years dealt with in this volume may be divided into several periods. The first covers the days of the great discoverers, commencing in 1642 with Tasman, continuing with Cook, De SurviUe, Marion, and Furneaux, and ending, in 1793, with D'Entrecasteaux. We have thus to deal with the doings of three Frenchmen, two Englishmen, and one Dutchman. To obtain the material used when dealing with Tasman, Heere's translation of that navigator's Journal, published in Amsterdam in 1898, has been used as the last and most critical word on the question ; in addition, the sailor's Journal has been copied, translated, and utilised. The chapters relating to Cook have been compiled largely from his Journal, and from that of Banks. A log of the Endeavour, supposed to be Lieutenant Hicks', now in the possession of Mr. A. H. Tumbull, of Wellington, has also been consulted. Cook's X. FROM TASMAN TO MARSDEN. "Voyages" have been drawn upon, but with caution, for, as the reader knows, they were written by a man who did not accompany the Expedition, and naturally must be adopted only after careful consideration. In the case of De Surville, the story of his visit to New Zealand had only been told in the most meagre manner, and the Journals of his Expedition had not been seen for probably a century when they were unearthed by the author during a visit to Paris in 1910. The author claims to be supplying to his readers the first full account of De Surville's visit to New Zealand ever written. Marion's fate was recounted from Journals kept on board the two ships belonging to the Expedition, and as none of them was utiUsed in the preparation of the French account, given to us in English by Ling Roth, a fair amount of new matter is now available.