 |
|
WHEN
the first Europeans arrived in Zealand waters, the land was still green, and
forests with their apparently inexhaustible
sources afforded a wonderful field for
exploitation Cook cut spars in Dusky Sound, and his example
was followed by the commanders of naval
vessel which began to frequent
the coast, particularly the Bay of Islands and the Firth of Thames,
in early years of the nineteenth
century. No doubt the British Admiralty, which through the War
American Independence had lost valuable timber reserves in North America,
was fully alive to excellence of New
Zealand spars. There is even a tradition that these were
fitted to several war ships at Trafalgar. This trade in kauri spars was
centred in Sydney and the Bay of Islands, and
the timber was soon known throughout
the world When the brig Boyd was captured at Whangaroa and the
crew massacred by the Maoris in 1809, had called there for a cargo of spars
for the Cape of Good Hope. This disaster
did not, however, destroy the trade, and by 1820 Hokianga and
Thames had also become trading posts of
considerable importance. This growing demand for timber called
for something better than a haphazard supply cut
with Maori assistance. In 1826 the
first New Zealand Company had
among its emigrants some sixty sawyers and ship-wrights, of whom
about twenty settled at Hokianga in 1827 to form the nucleus of a timber
colony. At the same time, at Port Pegasus, Stewart Island, a similar though
shortlived venture was launched. Systematic timber-cutting brought eager
traders to the north, especially to the Hokianga River, where by 1836 about
seventy white men had settled. They sold their timber in exchange for
tobacco and flour at the rate of eight shillings per hundred feet of one
inch by eleven inch planks.
With excellent timber available, it was not long
before the boat-building industry was
firmly established in the north.
In the thirties vessels built in New Zealand began to trade
with Australia and seriously embarrassed
the Sydney Customs officials, because they did not sail under any
recognised Government. The colonising
activities of Wakefield and his friends, however, were soon to end
all that. With the settlement of New Zealand, the relationship of settler to
forest was to enter a new phase.
Loading timber on the Hokianga River in 1839. note the
primitive methods of towing and hoisting the timber.
|
|
Described as 'A View taken in the
woods' this lithograph is from the Atlas to Dumont d'Urville's 'Voyage de
L'Astrlabe' (1830)
The South Island looking across Cook
Strait from near Paekakariki. Originally many of the hillsides in this
locality were covered with bush.
Sawyers at work in a kauri forest on
the banks of the Wairoa River near Kaipara. Charles Heaphy painted this
picture and the picture to the right. |
![[Company Logo Image]](_borders/New%20Image.JPG)
.htm_cmp_global110_hbtn.gif)
