Page:Report from the Select Committee of the House of Lords, appointed to inquire into the present state of the Islands of New Zealand.pdf/67

 Rh Do they employ themselves in hunting?
 * Fishing, shooting, and a great deal in Sleep; they are very lazy.

Have they any Course of Trade with Europeans?
 * Yes; those that I saw I traded with them myself to a considerable Extent, and have Friends doing so now.

Do you know what is necessary to legalize a Sale by a Chief; is it only in the Breast of the Chief?
 * The entire Disposal of it belongs to him, but there are many subordinate Chiefs, like the Families of large Landed Proprietors in this Country; they each have their small Estates.

Did you ever know a Case in which an European had bought Land from a Native, and that immediately afterwards he parted with it to an European, before he had made any Improvements in the Land?
 * No, never.

Is it the Practice of one Chief to sell to another Chief?
 * I should doubt that; I should not think it was.

What is the Title by which they hold their Lands; is it that there is one Chief who has a certain Number of Chieftains belonging to his Tribe?
 * Yes; I think that that is the Fact.

Each of those second Chieftains has Land of his own?
 * Yes.

Can a second Chieftain sell without the Sanction of the head Chief of the Tribe?
 * Yes, I think he can; because I think that the very Land granted to me, the Possessor was only a Third or Fourth Rate Chief in point of Rank.

Can the head Chief sell without the Consent of the subordinate Chiefs?
 * I think he can, and that the others can accept without the Consent of the head Chief.

You do not think that the head Chief could sell the Land of the other Chiefs?
 * No.

Do you think that it descends from Father to Son, as in England?
 * Yes.

The Chiefs are hereditary; but it is not always the eldest Son who succeeds, is it?
 * I did not go far enough into that to enable me to answer that Question. Any Person of the least Understanding can see at once the Distinction between the Chiefs and the others; they are a very fine Race of Men.

There is not the Signature of the Chief to the Grant you have put in?
 * No. When I was there I thought it of no Use to have the Signature of the Chief; because how easy it is for any Man to sign it, and how is it possible afterwards to tell that the Chief did sign it; it is merely making a Man put his Signature to an Instrument he knows nothing about; and I have no Doubt One Half of the Documents which have been made out are in that State.

Do you conceive that the New Zealander, if he were going to cede his sovereign Rights over the Country, would be fully aware of the Nature of the Bargain he was making?
 * I think he would.

In the Bargains they have made heretofore, do you suppose they have made any Bargain consenting to others coercing them?
 * No, I think not.

Do you think they would be satisfied with a Law that would prevent their having Five Wives if they thought fit?
 * No, I think not. (123.2.)