The Southern Districts of New Zealand
A Journal, with Passing Notices of the Customs of the Aborigines

This 1851 publication recounts Edward Shortland's experiences among the South Island Maori during an official tour in 1843.

Edward Shortland (Author)

9781108040631, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 29 December 2011

364 pages, 5 b/w illus. 7 maps 4 tables
21.6 x 14 x 2.1 cm, 0.46 kg

The physician and ethnographer Edward Shortland (1812–93) first travelled to New Zealand in 1841, a year after the Treaty of Waitangi. He became private secretary to Governor William Hobson, and quickly learned the Maori language. First published in 1851, this book describes Shortland's experiences on the east coast of New Zealand's South Island while conducting a census of the local Maori settlements in 1843. It documents South Island Maori myths, traditions and everyday life, and includes genealogical tables and a short word-list of the local dialect. It also describes a French Company agent at Akaroa reporting the successful introduction of French vines, the Scottish settlement at Dunedin, and the productivity of several whaling stations. Shortland reminds prospective settlers of the importance of understanding the 'ideas and prejudices' of the Maori, whose many qualities including 'natural bravery and love of freedom' guarantee them continuing 'political weight in their own country'.

Preface
1. Hakaroa
2. Old Pokemi
3. Native population of Otakou
4. Tuhawaiki's fleet
5. Pedigrees of natives
6. Visit Waikouaiti
7. Voyage in a whale-boat
8. Voyage to the southward
9. Sail to Otakou
10. Preparations for a journey by land to Hakaroa
11. Encampment on the bank of Waitaki
12. Travelling on a beach
13. Journey continued
14. The agent of the French Company and the natives
15. Second journey to Wakaoroi and Kokourarata
Appendix
Vocabulary of the 'Kaitahu' dialect.

Subject Areas: Australasian & Pacific history [HBJM]