Page:Reminiscences of Earliest Canterbury 1915.pdf/60



The early French settlers arrived in Akaroa in 1840. Including children they numbered about sixty. Amongst them was a sprinkling of Germans, and on landing there appears to have been a natural segregation, the Germans moving round to what is now known as German Bay, whilst the French remained in Akaroa.

About this time the Maoris were troublesome; and, for the protection, not only of their own countrymen, but of all Europeans, the French Government sent out a warship (the “Aube”), which, besides cruising about the Peninsula waters, established blockhouses to shelter the settlers in case of attack by the Natives. Two of these blockhouses were built in Akaroa, and one in German Bay. They were well constructed, and, had any Maori rising taken place, the settlers would have been safe from assault until re-inforcements reached them.