surrounded by a set of circumstances of the most
unfavourable kind for the development of the qualities of which they
were possessed; and I have often looked on with admiration, when I have
seen them protesting against, and endeavouring to restrain some of, the
dreadful barbarities of their countrymen.

As for the Maori people in general, they are neither so good nor so bad
as their friends and enemies have painted them, and I suspect are
pretty much like what almost any other people would have become, if
subjected for ages to the same external circumstances. For ages they
have struggled against necessity in all its shapes. This has given to
them a remarkable greediness for gain in every visible and immediately
tangible form. It has even left its mark on their language. Without the
aid of iron the most trifling tool or utensil could only be procured by
an enormously disproportionate outlay of labour in its construction,
and, in consequence, it became precious to a degree scarcely
conceivable by people of civilized and wealthy countries. This great
value attached to personal property of all kinds, increased
proportionately the temptation to plunder; and where no law existed, or
could exist, of sufficient force to repress the inclination, every man,
as a natural consequence, became a soldier; if it were only for the
defence of his own property and that of those who were banded with
him--his tribe, or family.

From this state of things regular warfare arose, as a matter of course;
the military art was studied as a science, and brought to great
perfection, as applied to the arms used; and a marked military
character was given to the people. The necessity of labour, the
necessity of warfare, and a temperate climate, gave them strength of
body, accompanied by a perseverance and energy of mind, perfectly
astonishing. With rude and blunt stones they felled the giant
kauri--toughest of pines; and from it, in process of time, at an
expense of labour, perseverance, and ingenuity, perfectly astounding to
those who know what it really was, produced, carved, painted, and
inlaid, a masterpiece of art, and an object of beauty--the war canoe,
capable of carrying a hundred men on a distant expedition, through the
boisterous seas surrounding their island.

As a consequence of their warlike habits and character, they are
self-possessed and confident in themselves and their own powers, and
have much diplomatic finesse and casuistry at co