Romance of Empire Series
Edited by JOHN LANG
NEW ZEALAND
TO MY WIFE
Heke fells the flagstaff at Kororareka
(Page 169)
ROMANCE OF EMPIRE
NEW ZEALAND
BY
REGINALD HORSLEY
AUTHOR OF 'IN THE GRIP OF THE HAWK,' 'STONEWALL'S SCOUT,'
'THE YELLOW GOD,' 'THE BLUE BALLOON,' 'HUNTED THROUGH FIJI,' ETC.
WITH TWELVE REPRODUCTIONS IN COLOUR FROM DRAWINGS BY
A.D. M'CORMICK, R.I.
LONDON
THE CAXTON PUBLISHING COMPANY,
CLUN HOUSE, SURREY ST. W.C.
INTRODUCTION
This book does not contain a history of New Zealand, but something ofthe story of many full and stirring days. Almost like the ghost theMaori thought him, Tasman came swiftly out of the rosy West, strucka blow which harmed his country more than it hurt those upon whom itfell, and yet more swiftly sailed away. Notable enough were his comingand going, but only as the prologue to the drama which began after aninterval of one hundred and twenty-seven years. Then there steps uponthe stage of Maoriland that well-graced actor, Captain Cook; and so theplay goes on until the fall of the curtain upon the peace which closedthe long struggle of the brave tribesmen with settlers, soldiers andcolonists. Another interval, not so long, and then, fitting epilogue,the Dominion.
The years since 1870 have no doubt held romance enough of their own.Books have been written and may still be written of the romance ofpeaceful settlement, of sport, of mountaineering in New[Pg vi] Zealand, orof soldiering by New Zealanders in other lands; but, save for a fewepisodes, one may say that the romance of the history of New Zealandended for the present with the vanishing of Te Kooti. Then, at least,ended the era of turbulence, and began the fat years of progress andprosperity, and it is as difficult for a State as for an individual tobe romantic when "with good capon lined."
Yet so crowded with incident is the brief period named that I havepractically confined the story to the most prominent of the factsindexed in the New Zealand Official Year Book for 1906. Even withthis limitation there is not space enough in which to tell the wholeromantic story. At most, an impression of the vivid happenings of thepast can be presented, and this is what I have tried to do.
I gratefully acknowledge my indebtedness to those who, being dead, yetspeak—Thomson, Gudgeon, "A Pakeha Maori," and others,—whose vanishedhands picturesquely chronicled some of the events with which this storyis concerned. From Sir George Grey, the gentle "Knight of the Kawan,"I had the legend of the Loves of Heaven and Earth and the defiance oftheir rebellious sons. To the Honourable William Pember Reeves, HighCommissioner for New Zealand in London, I am greatly[Pg vii] obliged for booksof reference and the loan of valuable photographs.
If I am not one of them, I yet claim the consideration of the Childrenof the Dominion, since I am connected with them by ties of kin andhappy memori