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Minutes of Evidence Before Select Committee on
- has seen them; every one is surprised at seeing the Beauty of their Land, the weeding of it, and the Regularity of every thing.
Had you an Opportunity of seeing the Manner in which any Land was acquired by Europeans?
- I have purchased Five different Pieces.
What was the Nature of the Transaction by which you acquired Possession of that Land?
- The first Piece I acquired I requested the Chief to sell to me; the other Pieces I bought the Natives requested me to purchase, and at the same Time they told me, “Now, remember you are going to get our Land; this descended from our Forefathers; do not think to give us a mere Trifle for it; give us that which we should have. See that Stream; so let your Payment be; it goes in various Creeks, and refreshes all the Land about it; so must your Payment refresh all concerned.” Then again they would say, “The Things you give us are nothing like the Value of the Land; that will last for ever; but what will become of your Blankets? They will become sick or dead by-and-by. What becomes of your Tomahawks? They will all be sick or dead. Glass and Iron are brittle; you are going to steal our Land from us.” (They are fond of joking.) “Your Payment must be good to us.”
They held out that the Equivalent which you gave for the Land must be of a valuable Nature?
- Yes. “There is this Tree; look at it; if one Branch falls there will come another; it will remain to your Children; but what will come to my Children when these Things are worn out?” They have a full Knowledge of the Value of the Land.
After expressing their full Knowledge of the Value of the Article you were to have, and the Article you were to give, they proceeded to make the Agreement?
- Yes; then they would say what they wanted. I went with the Natives and marked the Boundaries. I would have European Witnesses who had nothing to do with the Land. After that I took them home to my Store, and gave them the Payment I would make them; some would object to it; others would say, “Oh, it is good; we will have it;” then they went together and talked. Perhaps they did not come again for Three or Four Days; then they would come and say to me “No; give us this, and this, and this, and then the Land is yours.”
Was that the Mode, in point of fact, in which you acquired Possession of the Land you have?
- It was.
Had you an Opportunity of employing the Natives as Servants?
- Yes; the Land is so cut up by Water that we are obliged to go backwards and forwards in Beats; I employed native Boys; sometimes they would stop, and at Times they would run away. In improving my Place on the Kororarika, I had to employ some Men to dig away Part of the Hill; the Natives would come, and I would say , “How much will you dig me that for?” “Oh, give me a Blanket; give me an Axe;” or they would say, I will work for you for Three Weeks for so much. In no Instance have I deceived the Natives.
Did the Natives generally perform the Quantity of Service they undertook to perform?
- As far as boating went they did; but where digging was required they did not like it at all; after One or Two Days their Hearts got pore or dark as they called it.
It was hard Work for them?
- Yes; but as Farm Servants they are admirable; and if the Place is colonized no People will become better Farm Servants than the New Zealanders. There are Numbers on board American Ships. I was with Commodore Jones, who is now on an Expedition from America; he took me on board his Vessel, the Macedonian, and showed me a New Zealander there; in fact in all the Ports of America I saw New Zealanders; and there are Numbers here sometimes.
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