colonized the country about 500 years ago, coming, according to their own traditions, from "Hawaiki," which may denote Hawaii, the principal island in the Sandwich group, or Savaii, in the Navigator Islands. All the original settlements of the Maoris were probably made on the shores of the North Island' -the South Island, together with Stewart Island and the islets, being peopled by migrations from thence, and by subsequent conquest. When the islands were first settled by Europeans, the Maoris were much more numerous than at present, and their numbers are still diminishing, and there is but little doubt that the beginning of the end has come for the Maori race. In character, the Maoris are "warlike, courageous, quick at learning, good at imitation, fond of oratory, and susceptible of strong religious feelings; but they are vain and proud, revengeful and jealous, though not devoid of good qualities, and are now on good terms with the colonists."

The British Colonization of the islands may be said to date from 1814, when the first missionary settlement was established at the Bay of Islands. Traders from New South Wales then came and established agencies, and Sydney merhants formed numerous whaling and lumbering stations on the coasts of both tslands. But nothing of much importance was done until 1839, when Colonel Wakefield selected a site for a settlement on Port Nicholson (now Wellington) under the auspices of the New Zealand Company, and, in the following year, numerous vessels arrived with hundreds of immigrants from Great Britain and a few from Australia. The total population (exclusive of the Maoris), according to the census of 1901, was 772,719, an average of nearly 8 per square mile.

The order in which the various settlements were formed is thus given in the Australian Handbook:-(1) Wellington, as already stated, founded by the New Zealand Company in 1840; (2) Auckland, established by the first Governor, Captain Hobson, in the same year, who also made the first treaty with the natives-the Treaty of Waitangiby which the sovereignty of the island was transferred to Great Britain; (3) New Plymouth, also founded by the New Zealand Company, in September, 1841, after a preliminary expedition the year before; (4) Nelson, founded by the Company in October, 1841; (5) Otago, founded in March, 1848, by a Scotch Company working in connection with the New Zealand Company, and under the auspices of the Free Church of Scotland; (6) Canterbury, similarly founded in December, 1850, in connection with the Church of England; (7) Hawke's Bay, originally part of Wellington Province, was formed into a separate province in 1858; and (8) Marlborough, originally a part of Nelson, was separated in the same manner in 1860.

INDUSTRIES: New Zealand is, first and foremost, a sheepfarming and therefore a wool producing country, also exporting large quantities of frozen mutton; secondly, a cattle-rearing country, exporting hides and some frozen beef; thirdly, an agricultural and fruit-growing country, exporting grain and farm products largely; and, lastly, a mining country, producing gold, coal, silver, and other minerals.*

1. Both of these names would be pronounced by a Maori as Hawaiki, but some think that the word has only a mythical signification and reference, being used much as "home" is by ourselves.' 2. About 40,000 of the Maories dwell in the North Island. Less than 2.000 are found in the South Island, about 150 in Stewart Island, and about the same number in the Chatham Islands. 3. The natives are said to be conscious of their fate in which not only the approaching fate, a people themselves, but also the native fauna and fora, seem involved. Hence the Maoris rightly say-As the white man's rat has extirpated our rat. so the European fly is driving out our fly. The

foreign clover is killing our ferns, and so the Maori himself will disappear before the white man. Dr. Moore, however, thinks that the wonderful vigout and tenacity of life of the Maori race is such that, in time, they will blend into the mixed nation called "young New Zealand." just as the Cets have our Anglo-Saxon-Danish-Norman blended into nation, and that the ranks of this young natten wil furnish to the world orators, politicians, poets, wes chants, and warriors equal in bravery, ality, and energy to any of those born of a purely white race 4. See further the summary of agricultural and pastoral information in the New Zealand Hans book, issued by the Emigrants Information Office

The pastoral industry is by far the most important, and the available land is mainly used for rearing sheep and cattle. But although the sheep and cattle "runs" cannot be compared in size to those in Australia, they are, owing to the fact that much larger areas are covered with sown grasses, more productive and capable of supporting a comparatively much larger number of stock. There were in the colony in 1906 about 19,131,000 sheep, 1,811,000 cattle, 327,000 horses, and 250,000 pigs.

Wool is the staple product, and about 140 million lbs. are now annually exported, nearly the whole of it going to London, "whence about two-fi.ths of it is re-exported to France, Belgium, and America. Much of the best wool used in the carpet factories abroad comes from New Zealand." The trade in frozen meat only dates from 1882, but the exports have risen from 15,000 cwts. in that year to nearly 1,700,000 cwts. in 1905. The export of hides, skins, and tallow is also large, but comparatively few horses or cattle are sent out of the colony.

But although the colony is mainly pastoral, it is a'so very largely agricultural, and produces more grain and potatoes than any other Australasian colony; the yield per acre of all the grain crops, including maize, is also larger. The aunual production of cereals is now nearly 30 million bushels, and their cultivation is rapidly advancing throughout the colony, which bids fair to be, in the near future, the great agricultural centre in the Southern seas. "Not only grain and bread-stuffs, but potatoes, hay, chaff, roots, vegetables, butter, cheese, bacon, hams, even meat and fish, preserved or frozen, are sent over in immense quantities, and are eagerly bought at Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne, at highly remunerative prices. All kinds of English fruits and vegetables thrive in almost all parts of the colony, an grapes and oranges come to perfection in the warmer parts of North Island. In 1905, nearly 13,000,000 bushels of oats were produced, the wheat yield being 6,800,000 bushels.

MINING: The mineral resources of New Zealand are almost as rich as those of any other Australasian colony. They include rich deposits of gold, extensive coalfields, almost every variety of iron ore, as well as immense quantities of iron sand, which abounds on the sea coast, some silver, tin, copper, and other useful metals and minerals.

Gold-about 70 million pounds' worth of which has been produced in the colony-was first discovered in 1842, but it was not practically worked until 1852, at Coromandel, on the northern coast of the North Island. But little of the precious metal, however, was obtained until, in 1860, rich deposits were discovered in Otago, and subsequently in Westland, Nelson, and Marlborough, in the South Island, and in the Thames Valley in the North Island. The distribution of gold is one of the most puzzling phenomena of nature, and nowhere is it more remarkable than in New Zealand. There "it is found in all sorts of places and conditions; pure, in lumps, loose among the gravel; in scales or particles in the sand of rivers; in nuggets or rough pieces in holes among stones or huge boulders; mixed pellmell with the spoil of rivers backed up by the sea; in fine dust, mixed with black steel sand, thrown up on the beach from the bottom of the sea during storms; in veins, or specks, or needles, in the very substance of quartz rocks, often invisible to the naked eye when most plentiful; in ragged patches in rotten stone crumbling to the touch.

combined with silver and all sorts of other minerals; lying on the surface of the ground as if somebody had just spilt it there out of his pocket; fixed in the ifts of rocky gorges of thundering torrents; cropping out in rough ridges of quartz reefs on the tops of hills; hidden half a mile in the bowels of a mountain, and 500 feet below the surface of the earth." Output of gold in 1905, 520,500 ozs, valued at over 2 millions sterling.

Extensive coalfields exist in New Zealand, and coal-mining is rapidly becoming an important industry in both the North and South Island. The annual output is now considerably over 11⁄2 million tons. Iron ore is abundant, but the workings are limited to the rich iron sand which occurs plentifully along the coast, and which is found to yield a metal equal to the best Staffordshire iron. Copper exists at D'Urville's Island and elsewhere, and silver has been found in various localities. Large quantities of tin ore have been recent y discovered in the Remarkable Mountains in Stewart Island, and are now being worked. There are productive springs of petroleum or rock oil at Taranaki, on the west coast of North Island, and at Gisborne, on Poverty Bay, on the east coast. Building stone and marble are regularly quarried, and graphite, antimony, and manganese are also found ard worked. The katri gum industry yields an important article of export, the annual value being about half a million. The gum is found chiefly in the Auckland district, by digging on the sites of old kauri pine forests.

COMMERCE: The commerce of New Zealand is mainly carried on with the United Kingdom and the Australian Commonwealth—the trade with foreign countries, except the United States, is very small. As in Australia, the volume of trade in proportion to the population is very great, but the exports are largely in excess of the imports in New Zealand. Total annual value— exports 15 millions sterling; imports, 12 millions.

The annual turnover, therefore, amounts to nearly 281⁄2 millions sterling, an amount which, in proportion to the population-888,600-is very large, being about £32 per head.

The chief exports (excluding specie) are, in order of value, wool, frozen meat, gold, butter and cheese, hides, skins and leather, phormium (New Zealand flax), kauri gum, tallow, grain, pulse and flour.

The chief imports (excluding specie) are, in order of value, clothing and clothing materials, iron and steel goods, pater, printed books and stationery, sugar, spirits, wines and beer, tobacco and cigars, fruit, oils, tea, coal, and

fancy goods.

Nearly two-thirds of the imports are from, and the bulk of the exports go to, Great Britain, the annual value of the trade between the colony and the mother country amounting to about 20 millions sterling. The principal exports to the United Kingdom, in 1905, were wool, £5,642,500; fresh meat, £3.164.700; butter, 1.468,000; tallow, £421,000; sheep skins, £417,000; and kauri gum, £414.400. The chief imports from the United Kingdom, in the same year, were iron (wrought and unwrought), £1,017.700; cctions, £725,800; woollens, £457,600; apparel and haberdashery, £454,000; and machinery,

L318 000.

PORTS: The principal ports for vessels entering and clearing for the United Kingdom are Auckland and Wellington in the North

Island, and Port Lyttelton for Christchurch, and Port Chalmers for Dunedin, in the South Island.

These ports carry on an extensive trade with the Australian Commonwealth, as well as with the mother country, as also do the ports of Napier, in the North Island, Bluff Harbour (the port for Invercargili), Oamaru, Timaru, and Nelson. in the South Island.

COMMUNICATIONS: In addition to over 2,500 miles of railways, there is an extensive coaching system between the railway termini and other important centres, and constant communication by steamers between all the principal ports in the colony, and also with the Australian colonies, England and America.

With the exception of 113 miles of private lines, the railways of New Zealand belong to and are worked by the Government, which, up to the present, has spent in their construction over 24 millions sterling. In 1906, the Government lines open for traffic were 2,520 miles in length-943 miles in the North, and 1,464 miles in the South Island. The railway system of the colony is as yet incomplete, but the main lines are gradually being extended, and it will be possible, before long, to travel by rail from Auckland in the north to Invercargill in the south-the only break being at Cook Strait.

The principal lines in the North Island are (1) from AUCKLAND north to some distance beyond HELENSVILLE and south to MOKAU, and also to MORRINSVILLE, TE AROHA, and LICHFIELD; and also to ROTORUA, the centre of the Hot Lake District; (2) from NAPIER by WOODVILLE and EKETAHUNA to WELLINGTON; (3) from WELLINGTON to NEW PLYMOUTH ; and (4) from WELLINGTON to MANAWATU (private line).

In the South Island, there is a continuous line from CULVERDEN, about 60 miles north of CHRISTCHURCH, along the eastern and south-eastern coast to and beyond Invercargill, passing through TIMARU, OAMARU, PORT CHALMERS, DUNEDIN, and other coast towns and ports, with branches from CHRISTCHURCH to LYTTELTON (its port), and from INVERCARGILL to BLUFF HARBOUR and to KINGSTON, on Lake Wakatipu. An important line (not yet finished) also runs from NELSON, on the northern coast, to GREYMOUTH and HOKITIKA, on the west coast, and there is also a short line along the coast from WESTPORT to the coal mines north of that town. On the north-east coast a short line runs from PICTON through BLENHEIM to AWATERE, and will be extended southward to connect with the main line of South Island. Several branches strike inland from the main line, most of them in the Otago and the Canterbury districts. The Midland Railway, which will connect Greymouth and Christchurch, is being built.

The coaching system is very extensive and complete, and passengers and cargo are conveyed from port to port by the vessels of the Union Steamship Company and other lines, and to and from the minor ports by small coasting The New Zealand Shipping Company's steamers sail every fourth Thursday from LONDON, calling at Teneriffe, Cape Town, and Hobart, with cargo and passengers for all New Zealand ports. The steamers leave New

steamers.

Zealand every fourth Thursday for LONDON, via Rio de Janeiro and Teneriffe, The Shaw, Savill, and Albion Company's mail steamers also run once a month from LONDON, calling at Teneriffe, Cape Town, and Hobart, to New Zealand, returning via Rio and Teneriffe. The steamers of the Union Steamship Company and the Oceanic Steamship Company also maintain a monthly mail service between AUCKLAND and SAN FRANCISCO, via Honolulu. Although WELLINGTON is 16,000 miles from LONDON, the passage between the two ports has been frequently made in less than 40 days.

A submarine cable connects New Zealand with Sydney, and telegraphic lines unite all the chief centres of population in the colony, while the telephone is in general use in the larger towns.

GOVERNMENT: The general government consists of a Governor, appointed by the Crown, a Ministry who form the executive, and a Parliament of two Chambers.

The New Zealand Parliament consists of a Legislative Council of 46 nomin ated members (two of whom are Maoris); and a House of Representatives of 74 members (4 of whom are Maoris), chosen by duly qualified electors.1

The total Revenue amounts to over 7% millions, and the Expenditure to 7% millions, while the Public Debt amounts to 60 millions sterling, or £67 per head of the population.

For the defence of the colony there is a volunteer force of 18.500 men, and a small artillery force. The approaches to the principal forts are defended by heavy batteries, supplemented by torpedo boats and submarino mines.

Elementary education is free, secular, and compulsory. Higher education is provided for in a large number of endowed colleges and grammar schoos. The University o. New Zealand has power to confer degrees, but it is solely an examining body. To it are affiliated the Otago University at Dunedin, the Canterbury College at Christchurch, and the University College at

Auckland, 2

There is no State Church, and no State aid is given to any form of religion. DIVISIONS : Up to the year 1876, New Zealand was divided into nine provinces-four in the North Island, and five in the South Island—but in that year the provincial governments were abolished, and the colony was then divided into Counties. The nine provinces

are now termed Provincial Districts.

The Four Provincial Districts in the North Island are Aucklana, in the north; Taranaki, in the west; Hawke's Bay, in the east ; and Wellington, in the south.

The provincial district of Auckland occupies nearly the whole of the northern half of the North Island, and is characterized by its warm and pleasant climate, its valuable kauri forests, and the absence of open pastoral country. It is,

3

1. Until 1875, each of the provinces into which the

3. The kauri pine, the most famous of New Zea

colony was, until then, divided, had its own separate land trees, is entirely confined to Auckland, and Government, which consisted of a Provincial Coun- almost wholly to its northern extremity. The var

ci, presided over by a Superintendent.

able kauri gum is found on the site of ancient kauri

schools for Maori children, about 3,900 of whom are

2. There are 96 village schools and 6 boarding forests, and lies, in many cases, at a considerable

depth, and is indeed largely mingled with the strats

under instruction. There is also a Native College of tertiary coal, which abounds in the province.~

(Te Aute, Hawke's Bay) for the higher educa tion of Maori youths. Local se f-government was granted to the Maories in 1901.

The Australian Handbook.