It is a great Advantage to have a certain Quantity of Timber upon an Estate?
- A great Advantage. The English frequently will purchase Land for their Convenience, and endeavour to have the Forest of Cowrie within the Trust.
Do you know whether the Natives generally seek out the Settlements of Europeans, and establish themselves near the Whites?
- No; I have not known any Instance of that; but the Whites generally seek out the Natives, and place themselves near them, in order to have promiscuous Intercourse with the Women; and they live in their Houses, and not in those built by themselves.
Do you refer to those who have bought Land?
- Those Persons build Houses upon their own Land.
Do the Natives come and live near them?
- No; they do not come near them at all, in that Case, to reside near them. They will not reside where the Europeans are, unless they will afford some Part of their Time to their Instruction. For instance, there is one Family there of the Name of Powditch, another of the Name of Mayor; Mr. Powditch never could keep any native Servants; Mr. Mayor always had native Servants, as many as he thought proper to keep. The Reason the Natives assigned to me was, that Powditch cared nothing for their Instruction, only for his own Emolument; that Mr. Mayor gave up his Time in a great measure to their Instruction, therefore it was their Duty to do something for him.
They were Servants quite free to go?
- Yes; but when the English People go there they frequently purchase Slaves, and keep them as their own Property afterwards. The Chiefs frequently sell their Dependants in that Way; sometimes getting a Musket for them.
It is Slavery in fact?
- It is Slavery; but they are in a better Condition with the English than with their own Masters. In many Instances an Englishman pays them no Wages.
Is that done to a great Extent?
- That is done everywhere, I believe.
What Proportion of European Women are there among the lower Class of Sailors?
- None at all. The European Women, if they go there, will not stay. I never knew any Instance but One of that Kind. She was in the Country with an English Person; she came from Hobart Town, and went away with him.
There are some European Women, the Missionaries Wives?
- Yes, and a few others.
Those are respectable Persons?
- O yes, their Character is unblemished.
When a Chief sells his Land, does he consider himself as foregoing all Title to further Right over that Land that would otherwise have belonged to him as Chief?
- I have no Doubt he does; he gives up the whole Possession. With regard to the Government Part, I cannot say whether that is well understood or not; perhaps he has no Idea of that; but with regard to the Possession of the Land, he has not the slightest Idea of ever possessing it again.
He ceases to exercise upon the Land so sold any Authority?
- Yes; his Authority ceases from the Moment of selling the Land. Kiri Kiri exemplified that; the Chief gave up the Land after being sold, and emigrated to East Cape.
Though that Land so sold amounts to considerable Tracts, the whole of it is left without any Law or Authority whatever?
- Without the slightest. Where a large native Village used to be on that Spot, when I visited it there were not Half a Dozen native Houses to be seen.
