The official mind was at this period passing through the evolutionary process under which the Maori as a fighter was at first despised, then feared, then respected. At the moment it had progressed no more than the first phase, and was accordingly arrogant and bombastic in the attitude. Lindsay Buick 1
This chapter takes a broad view of the concept of strategic intelligence and traces the development of the picture that Maori and European formulated about each other prior to the outbreak of the Northern War in 1845. It traces the growth of the relationship between Maori and Europeans and highlights the general impressions that each group had about the other. It argues that the early settlers and British administrators made inaccurate and distorted assessments about the Maori ability to wage war, and that Maori assessments of the military strength, capability and motives of the British were also flawed.
World views
The ancestors of the New Zealand Maori began moving from South East Asia before 2500 BC, spread across the islands that dotted the Pacific Ocean in one of the great colonising movements in history,2 and by 1300AD had reached New Zealand.3 All phenomena in their world could be explained by reference to the actions of one or more of the many gods that influenced their lives, and they lived in a complex spiritual inter- relationship where the people, their ancestor gods and the environment were one in kinship.4 Pre-European Maori had no concept of a world outside of their own, believing
1
T. Lindsay Buick, New Zealand’s First War, or The Rebellion of Hone Heke, Wellington: Government Printer, 1926, p.49.
2 Anne Salmond, Two Worlds:First Meetings between Maori and Europeans 1642-1772, Auckland:
Viking, 1991, p.24.
3 J. Wilmshurst, T. Hunt, C. Lipo, and A. Anderson, ‘High-precision radiocarbon dating shows recent
and rapid initial colonization of East Polynesia,’ www.pnas.org/ggi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1015876108, accessed 10 December 2011. There has been considerable debate about the likely date that Maori ancestors arrived in New Zealand. The most recent estimate using carbon dating is approximately 1300AD.
4 Salmond, p.39; H.M. Wright, New Zealand, 1769 -1840: Early Years of Western Contact: Harvard
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that they were the only people in existence.5 They had no word to describe themselves as a race, as there previously had been no need to differentiate between themselves and any other people. The unexpected arrival of alien beings from across the water was an extraordinary surprise.
By contrast, the first Europeans to visit New Zealand were actively looking for new and exotic lands and people. Western thought believed in the existence of a fabled realm at the bottom of the world, a counterweight to the mass of the European continent, and in the period 1560-1770 Europeans began to search for the lost continent Terra Australis Incognita. The impetus for the search had three elements; intellectual, commercial, and national rivalry. In the sixteenth century, Spanish and Portuguese explorers spread their nation’s empires for the glory of their kings and the church.6 In the seventeenth century Dutch explorers set sail for primarily commercial reasons, while in the eighteenth century, British and French explorers and scientists combined all three motives.
The English and French desire to discover new lands grew out of a period of intellectual ferment which began in the sixteenth century and was in full bloom by the eighteenth century. This spirit of inquiry, known in German as ‘Die Aufklarung’, and now commonly known as ‘The Enlightenment’ or ‘The Age of Reason’, saw new ways of thinking in every field of endeavour. Following Immanuel Kant’s command to, ‘dare to know’, thinkers pursued knowledge of a great range of phenomena with fascination and zeal, and this included the subject of exotic lands and people. Travellers brought tales to Europe of people from other lands that were non-Christian, but never-the-less virtuous with high standards of conduct and morality. Rousseau developed his concept of the ‘noble savage’, a pure soul at one with nature and untainted by the poisons of western life, and when compared to the lot of the Christian poor of Europe, the noble savage lived a utopian life-style which cast doubts on the church’s teaching of original sin.7
5 The only possible image of a world outside the New Zealand archipelago lay in the memories of
their ancestral home, Hawaiki. Their limited horizons may even have rejected the word now used to describe all of New Zealand - Aotearoa, which originally may have referred only to the North Island, see Salmond, p.437, Note 8.
6 Douglas L. Oliver, The Pacific Islands: University Press of Hawaii, 1961, p.90. 7 Salmond, p.46.
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William Dampier’s book, A Voyage around the World (1697), inspired European interest in the Pacific itself. The demand for exotic tales of adventure was met by writers such as Daniel Defoe with Robinson Crusoe (1719) and Jonathan Swift with
Gulliver’s Travels (1726) who both set their stories in the Pacific.8 With intellectual curiosity high, the great mass of the European population gave impetus to the development of overseas trade,9 and Britain and France in particular, began to extend their rivalry to the Southern Pacific. New developments in the design of ships and navigational equipment provided the ability to stay at sea for up to three years. The Pacific Ocean, that vast expanse of water and tiny islands that spread over a third of the earth’s surface, and which was so alien and yet enticing to the European mind, was finally becoming attainable.
France’s defeat, humiliation, and subsequent loss of her North American colonies after the Seven Years War, which ended in 1763, led to new initiatives to restore national pride and acquire colonial possessions. So inspired, the French explorer Bougainville, acquired and settled the Falkland Islands in 1763 and the Englishman Wallis made the important ‘discovery’ of Tahiti (The Society Islands) in 1767. Britain and France were both fascinated by this supposed utopia and soon the Southern Pacific was alive with ships from both nations as they pushed ever further southwards in search of the fabled southern continent, and the commercial opportunities it was believed to hold. The scene was now set for both nations to ‘discover’ New Zealand. Cook proved that Australia and New Zealand were not part of the Great Southern Continent as Tasman had thought, and that the mythological landmass did not lie in the temperate zone or even further to the south. The search for Terra Australis Incognita was over, but the struggle between Maori and European had just begun.
First contacts between Maori and European
The first contact between Europeans and Maori occurred when Abel Tasman’s ships sailed into Tai Tapu (Golden Bay) in 1642, the home of the Ngaati Tumatakokiri. Attempts to communicate with each other were frustrated by the immense gulf in understanding between the two races. The confusion ended tragically when the cockboat from one of Tasman’s ships was unexpectedly rammed by a Maori canoe. Four of the
8 G. Williams. ‘The Pacific Adventure’, Winds of Revolution: Time Life Books, 1991, p.79. 9 Salmond, p.47.
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sailors were crushed to death and one of the bodies was hauled aboard the canoe and hastily spirited ashore. As eleven canoes approached the ship later, Tasman ordered grape-shot to be fired at them and at least one man, possibly the chief, was hit. The Dutch sailors were furious, and as they sailed away, they named the place ‘Murderer’s Bay’, their assessment being that, ‘the detestable deed of these natives against our four men of the Zeehaen’s crew perpetrated this morning, must teach us to consider the inhabitants of the country as enemies.’10 Tasman’s next and last attempt to communicate with a party of Maori was as futile as the first. His men landed on an island in the Three Kings group in search of fresh water, and were stoned by Maori standing on the cliffs above.
Tasman departed New Zealand waters little the wiser about its inhabitants, and the information that he conveyed back to Europe did little to dispel the wild speculations about the creatures that peopled the southern lands. Excerpts from his journals were published and they formed the first concrete elements of European knowledge about New Zealand, and through the journals Maori acquired a bloodthirsty reputation in Europe.11 The Maori too must have struggled to make sense of their pale- skinned visitors, with their floating islands and guns, who departed just as abruptly as they came. However, the oral tradition mentions very little of the events in Tai Tapu, and the Ngati Tumatakokiri were subsequently wiped out by another tribe, so nothing of lasting significance appears to have been taken from the brief encounters.12 In light of the disastrous nature of these first meetings, it is perhaps fortunate that after Abel Tasman’s visit, ‘the European records fall silent about ‘Zeelandia Nova’ for more than 120 years.’13
James Cook’s voyage to observe the transit of Venus and to search for the great southern continent brought him to New Zealand in 1769. The expedition was a true voyage of scientific discovery and included among its members an extraordinary complement of talented scientists and artists. Cook too, had a capable and enquiring mind and a keen interest in human nature. Endeavour carried a comprehensive library which included volumes to assist in identifying flora and fauna, and most importantly, a
10 Salmond, p.82. 11 Salmond, p.82. 12 Salmond, p.82. 13 Salmond, p.84.
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definitive collection of European knowledge about the South Pacific: ‘a large collection of voyages and sailing directions (a translation of van Nierop’s account of Tasman’s voyages, Campbell, de Brosses, Anson, Dampier, Byron, and manuscript journals from Wallis’ voyage among others); de la Landes and Pingre’s memoirs on the transit; [and] an advance copy of Dalrymple’s Voyages in the South Pacific Ocean, with its map showing Torres’ passage through Torres Strait.’14
The land Tasman had visited was now called New Zealand by Europeans, but whether it or Tahiti was part of the southern continent was still widely debated. Cook’s instructions ordered him to investigate each landfall, ‘to describe the soil, animals and birds, fish, mineral resources and flora; to cultivate a friendship with the inhabitants and to observe their “Genius, Temper, Disposition and Number,”…all log books and journals were to be collected at the voyage’s end and sealed for delivery to The Admiralty.’15
Endeavour made landfall in several places around New Zealand during its six- month stay. A Tahitian priestly high chief, Tupaia, carried on board was able to communicate with the Maori. Even so, these early meetings were so charged with tension created by the huge difference in social customs, that there was considerable bloodshed, however this time at Maori expense. Cook had no intention to harm the Maori and he was distressed that the communication and cultural difficulties caused both parties to quickly lapse into violence. The warlike nature of the Maori was always apparent and whenever the Englishmen came upon a party, even in boats, they were challenged, presented with a war dance (haka) and usually attacked. 16
Cook’s detailed observations of the Maori included scrutiny of their political structure and methods of warfare. He noted an absence of iron or projectile weaponry
14 Salmond, p.102.
15
H. Morton, and C. Morton-Johnson, The Farthest Corner- New Zealand – a twice discovered land, London: Century Hutchinson, 1988, p.102; Salmond, p.98.
16 A.H. and A.W. Reed (eds.), Captain Cook in New Zealand - the Journals of Captain Cook,
Wellington, Reed, 1951, p.144. The first meetings between British and Polynesians in Tahiti were similarly aggressive when Captain Wallis first called there in 1767, see P. De Decker The
Aggressions of the French at Tahiti: and other islands in the Pacific, Auckland: Auckland
University Press, 1983, p33. It is also likely that the British misunderstood the ritual challenges and took them to be more hostile than the Maori intended, see Salmond, p.1.
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and correctly assessed the strength and virtual impregnability of pa.17 The tribal nature of Maori society led to fractious groupings and Cook observed ‘they generally told us that those that were at a little distance from them were their enemies; from which it appears to me that they were very much divided into parties which make war one with the other.’18
When the practice of cannibalism was discovered, Cook’s men were horrified and the common seamen were aghast to find themselves face to face with the people eaters of the Southern world that their legends and superstitions had foretold. Many of the crew became obsessed with the idea of cannibalism and the pagan practises associated with it, and naturally communicated the horror of their discoveries upon their return home.19 In this way, the fear and fascination of New Zealand’s cannibal coast grew in the minds of seafarers, adventurers and the European public, whose views were still governed by superstition, fear of supernatural beings, and the belief that weird and evil creatures peopled the undiscovered portions of the globe.
Both Maori and European interpreted each other in terms of their own yardsticks and values. For Maori, the sight of Cook’s ship was far outside any frame of reference that they had, so they conceptualised it in terms of the phenomena they knew.20 At Tuuranga-nui (Poverty Bay), the ship was mistaken for a giant bird of unequalled beauty and size which was similar to those spoken of in tribal legends. The rowing boats were un-feathered fledglings and the pale skinned sailors were divine creatures.21 Elsewhere the Europeans were described as atua (gods), goblins or visitors from Hawaiki, the Maori peoples’ ancestral home. A chief from Whitianga explained later that his tribe thought that Captain Cook’s vessel was a large kind of whale and the men on board were gods, ‘when we saw them pulling with their backs to the bows of the boats we thought they must have eyes in the backs of their heads.’22 The Maori greeted their strange visitors with a mixture of fear and fascination. Cook himself made a strong impression and the magic and horror of the musket left the Maori enthralled and puzzled.
17 Morton and Morton- Johnson, p. 87. 18 Reed and Reed, p.144.
19 Salmond, p.244; Morton and Morton-Johnson, p.94. 20 Salmond, p.244.
21 Salmond, p.124. 22 Salmond. p.87.
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Perhaps the greatest legacy for both races from Cook’s visit was the vast amount of information that went back to Europe. That information included drawings, scientific data, and of course, stories about the remarkable indigenous people and their wild and beautiful land. Cook’s excellent nautical charts made it easier for adventurers to indulge their fascination with the Pacific. In a very real sense, the voyage of the Endeavour
opened doors between the cultures of Europe and the South Pacific, which could never again be closed.
The Frenchman de Surville was in New Zealand waters at the same time as Cook and the paths of their ships actually crossed at one point, although neither knew the other was close by. As with Tasman and Cook, de Surville’s attempts to communicate were frustrated by the huge cultural gaps that again led to hostilities, and he departed New Zealand with a Maori prisoner on board after having burned a fishing village in reprisal for perceived wrongs. A more serious incident occurred three years later in 1772 when another French expedition, this time led by Marion du Fresne, visited the Bay of Islands. The Maori were initially welcoming, perhaps in response to Cook’s earlier use of firepower. However, the Frenchmen unwittingly breached a tapu and the Maori were culturally obliged to punish them.23 Du Fresne’s apparently naïve assessment of the danger of their situation was not shared by his subordinates who realised that the mood of their hosts had become ominously hostile. Du Fresne was eventually deceived, killed and eaten; an act for which his second in command, Crozet, exacted a terrible revenge by killing at least 250 Maori. Again the problem arose out of misunderstandings about what the actions of each party actually meant.
Despite being conscious of the danger Maori presented to isolated groups of Europeans, Crozet’s perception of their military power in the face of European muskets was unflattering, and he correctly assessed, and proved, that the Maori weapons were no
match for European muskets:
All of these murderous instruments are carved and worked with care and the savages possess large quantities of them. Nevertheless all their arms are ridiculous and contemptible when opposed to men armed in the European fashion; fifty fusiliers with sufficient ammunition, and who might have to revenge themselves on these people, could without danger destroy them like wild beasts and entirely exterminate them.24
23 Salmond, p.402.
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Fig. 2.1 Augustus Earle: Meeting of the artist and Hongi Hika at the Bay of Islands, November 1827. Alexander Turnbull Library.
These early visits by European explorers were peripheral to the mainstream of Maori tribal histories and therefore of little interest. Certainly the vast majority of Maori were sublimely ignorant of the fact that Europeans had even visited their land. However in the Bay of Islands at least, a rudimentary intelligence picture was developing, and the events surrounding the visits of Cook and du Fresne were within the living memory of the generation that survived until the eve of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840.25 These Maori had seen something of the apparently supernatural military power of the Europeans, and realised that they were an equally aggressive people who were capable of great violence and destruction. European technology awed them, and although they did not understand how the ‘walking sticks’ worked, the seed of desire to acquire muskets had been planted. The Nga Puhi chief, Hongi Hika, later drew the same conclusions as Crozet about the musket’s superiority over traditional weapons, but the enemies on his horizon did not extend as far as France.
The first European explorers to visit New Zealand were operating at the very forward edge of European knowledge. They had almost no idea of what they would encounter and their minds reflected the conflicting theories and beliefs that were current