Page:Reminiscences of Earliest Canterbury 1915.pdf/8

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those recollections in accordance with their bearing on the following subjects:—

(a) The Maoris, the aborigines of New Zealand.

(b) The Whalers, who preceded the pioneers.

(c) The French Pioneers.

(d) The British Pioneers.

(e) Personal and Sundry Reminiscences.

Following this classification then, something falls to be said of the Maoris, and it will be more convenient and more intelligible if, in the first place, the author, drawing upon a long and intimate experience with the Natives, sets down some general impressions concerning them, and afterwards specifies such incidents as throw some light on those impressions. He will conclude with a few personal reminiscences of one or two of the notorious chiefs who have left their mark for good or ill on the early pages of New Zealand history.