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THE LIFE OF
SIR FREDERICK WELD
G.C.M.G.
< fir-7rc.lt rick 3Ccl.l Q.& H
THE LIFE OF
SIR FREDERICK WELD
G.C.M.G.
A PIONEER OF EMPIRE
BY ALICE, LADY LOVAT
WITH A PREFACE BY
SIR HUGH CLIFFORD, K.C.M.G.
" LET all the ends them aim'st at be thy country's,
thy God's, and truth's."
SHAKESPEARE.
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS
LONDON
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W.
1914
All rights reserved
TO
THE TEN SURVIVING CHILDREN OF
SIR FREDERICK AND LADY WELD
AND TO THE MEMORY OF THEIR SONS
DOM JOSEPH BASIL WELD
OF THE ORDER OF ST. BENEDICT
WHO DIED IN THE SERVICE OF GOD
ON FEBRUARY 27, 1908
AND TO
OSMUND
OF THE COLONIAL CIVIL SERVICE
WHO DIED IN THE SERVICE OF HIS COUNTRY
ON JULY 14, IQIO
FOREWORD
SIR FREDERICK WELD'S career is set forth with
sufficient terseness and no undue flattery in the
obituary notices of the three countries New Zealand,
Australia, and the Malay Peninsula in which his life's
work lay. They are the justification for the claim
the author makes for him of ranking as a Pioneer of
Empire.
In the leading newspaper of the first of these
countries it is said that :
" In 1844 he arrived in New Zealand, and was
returned to Parliament at its first session, held in
Auckland in 1854. The same year he was appointed
a member of the Executive Council. In 1860 he was
made Native Minister, but resigned in 1861. In 1864
he was entrusted with the formation of a ministry ;
his policy of self-reliance, which involved his sending
back to England the Imperial troops, was accepted
by the Secretary of State and favourably commented
on by both Houses of Parliament in England. In
1865 he again resigned office. He was the first to
explore the province of Nelson, and some of the
uninhabited districts of the Middle Island. He was
the author of several papers and pamphlets, etc.
Hints to Intending Sheep Farmers in New Zealand,
which has passed through two or three editions ;
' On the great Volcanic Eruption of Mauna Loa
(Sandwich Islands), 1885, and the ascent of that
Mountain,' published in the Journal of the Geological
viii FOREWORD
Society. Also ' Notes on New Zealand Affairs, 1869.'
It was said of him that ' he introduced the self-
reliant policy into New Zealand, dispensing with the
aid of British troops, which, while costing the British
ratepayer about two and a half millions a year,
embittered the relation between the Mother Country
and the Colony, and was entailing heavy burdens
and imminent bankruptcy upon the latter. He be-
lieved in using small bodies of men trained to bush
fighting, in making roads, and in removing grievances
that might exist.'" 1
We take a similar record of Sir Frederick's life
in Australia from a West Australian paper :
" Sir Frederick Weld possessed all the qualities
to make him an ideal governor of a new and struggling
colony. A skilful administrator, a clever statesman,
an explorer of no mean repute, and a practical farmer
and squatter, the care which he gave to the pre-
paration of many beneficial projects was only equalled
by his firmness in carrying them out. In Western
Australia his abilities had ample scope. At his
coming he found the country in a lethargic condition,
knowing almost nothing, and caring as little about
the rest of the world. He at once took up the work
of bettering her position, inspiring her to higher
ambitions, stirring her to a more active life, and
bringing to the task an indomitable will and all the
gathered wisdom of a rarely varied career, he achieved
a success that can be looked upon as little less than
wonderful. Short as his tenure of office was, he was
able to say of the Colony long before its close, ' At
last she moves' a statement which describes a course
of progress due to his enlightened policy, then visibly
beginning and which has never been entirely inter-
1 Morning Post, Wellington, New Zealand.
FOREWORD ix
rupted. Sir Frederick Weld was the originator of
the movement which has conferred upon us the free
Constitution we now enjoy ; he gave to the country
its first telegraph line, its first steamboat service, and
its first railway line." 1
The following testimony is given to Sir Frederick
Weld's work in the Straits Settlements :
" Perhaps the greatest claim that he has upon
the gratitude of the people of the Colony is the extra-
ordinary success which has resulted from the vigorous
but careful policy which he has pursued with un-
flagging energy in the Native States. Few of our
readers can realise the state of anarchy in which these
States were plunged wiien Sir Frederick Weld assumed
the reins of government. It appears incredible
to the traveller, as he steps into his carriage at the
railway station on the lines of the Native States, that
such a short time has elapsed since nearly the whole
peninsula suffered under the misgovernment of native
rulers. Sir Frederick Weld has withstood with his
usual cheerful courtesy a certain amount of hostile
criticism. ... He has made a bloodless conquest
of the Peninsula, and roads and railways have been
among his most trusted agents in achieving his peace-
ful victories. . . . Singapore has been wonderfully
improved of late years. A number of important
buildings which were much wanted have been erected,
and the place fortified, thanks to the persistent efforts
of Sir Frederick Weld in impressing on the Home
Government the absolute necessity of providing us
with adequate means of defence. We have also to
report great improvements made in the lighting of
the Straits, and the establishment of a Forestry De-
partment, and of European and Sikh contingents."
1 Western Australian Record, Perth.
x FOREWORD
The author gratefully acknowledges the help and
encouragement given her by Sir Hugh Clifford,
K.C.M.G. She has also been much indebted to the
late Rev. Dom Basil Weld,O.S.B., for the materials
for his father's biography collected by him, and to his
researches into the Weld pedigree ; and to the author
of Lulworth Castle and its Neighbourhood ; and to Sir
Henry McCallum, G.C.M.G. She has also made great
use in the Life of Sir Frederick Weld of the following
books : Swainson's New Zealand and its Colonisation ;
Fox's War in New Zealand] Major Richardson's Our
Constitutional History ; Whitmore's Last Maori War ;
Wise's Australian Commonwealth ; Fenton's Tas-
mania ; Sir Frank Swettenham's The Real Malay ;
McNair's Perak and the Malays] Sir Stamford
Raffles 's Memoirs, and the Journal of the Royal
Colonial Institute.
PREFACE
AT Lady Lovat's request, and almost at a moment's
notice, I furnish a preface to this biography ; and
I am glad that the task has been assigned to me,
because an opportunity is thus afforded to me of
paying a tribute of love and respect to one of my
father's oldest friends, to the first Colonial Governor
under whom I ever served, and to a man to whom
I was deeply attached.
Though the author of this book has been mainly
concerned with the delineation of the personality
of Sir Frederick Weld, the incidents of her hero's
life were of such a character that the story of it forms
naturally a series of chapters in the early history of
some of Great Britain's most interesting and im-
portant Colonies and Possessions. Young Weld
went out to New Zealand as a squatter at a time when
the Maori was still in full possession of the lands of
his ancestors. He left it twenty-six years later
after having filled the post of Premier of the Colony
at a season of peculiar difficulty and danger leaving
behind him as a heritage the memory of the " Weld
or self-reliant policy," the keynote of which was the
theory that a colony capable of self-government must
trust to itself and to its own resources, courage, and
energy, and cannot for ever, without loss of self-
respect, continue to look to Great Britain to fight
for, protect, and mother it.
He was appointed successively Governor of
Western Australia and Governor of Tasmania, and
xii PREFACE
held these posts for five and a half and for six years
respectively. Finally, in 1880, he became Governor
of the Straits Settlements, and filled that position,
save for one year's leave in England his first return
to his home for a decade and a half until the middle
of 1887. Thus from the age of twenty, until he was
a man of sixty-four, his life and his life's work were
bound up successively with the history of the Colony
which he helped to make, and with that of those
other Colonies over which he was set to rule and
whose destiny he did much to fashion. Leaving
aside, therefore, the personality of the man and to
those who knew Sir Frederick Weld his personality
was the supreme attraction the record of his life
has inevitably attaching to it a wider, larger interest
than is to be inspired ordinarily by even the most
vivid portrait of a fine and noble character.
The statesman is born. The administrator is
made. For the task of administration (or so some of
us think) is as much an acquired craft or trade as the
science of the electrical engineer, or the skill of the
expert fashioner of patent-leather boots. It is a
hazy appreciation of this fact that has led Great
Britain which has, the gods be praised, a happy
knack of stumbling and blundering into the only
safe path to entrust the work of administration
for the most part to her permanent officials, and to
confide questions of statesmanship to their Parlia-
mentary Chiefs. Weld, there can, I think, be little
doubt, was far more a statesman than an adminis-
trator. It was the statesman's instinct, rather than
the skilled hand and the tempered experience of the
administrator, which stood him and his successive
Colonies in the best stead. It was this gift of states-
manlike vision which directed the course he shaped,
and persuaded others to follow, during the troublous
times that beset New Zealand in its most critical
PREFACE xiii
period of transition. It was this, above all, that
enabled him to view the essentials in the problems
of the Protected Malay States, during a peculiarly
critical moment in their somewhat tempestuous
infancy, to see so clearly, through all the obscuring
littlenesses of that time, the brilliant future which
we know to-day, and with imaginative brain and
calm, steady hand, to order all things for the attain-
ment of that future.
And it was part of the superlative good fortune
which has almost invariably attended the now
Federated Malay States (their very balance-sheet
reads like a fairy-tale, no less), that with the hour
of their need came the man. Nay, not the man, but
the men. What an exceptionally strong combination
of outstanding men he had at his disposal. As I
look back across the gulf of thirty years which divides
me from those days, it seems to me that then there
were giants in the land. To aid him in the Colony,
Weld had Sir Cecil Clementi Smith, " out and away
the best Colonial Secretary that I have ever had,"
was the late Lord Stanmore's verdict on him, spoken
to the present writer, the late Sir William Maxwell,
one of my predecessors on the Gold Coast, a man of
quite exceptional administrative and literary ability,
whose sad and premature death robbed the Empire of
a great servant. In the Native States he had Sir
Hugh Low, Resident of Perak from 1877 to 1889, who
reimported into the Peninsula from Borneo the cult
of dealing with Malays, which had been transmitted
to him from Stamford Raffles through the first Rajah
Brooke ; and such men as the late Sir John Rodger
(another of my predecessors on the Gold Coast), as
poor Martin Lister, most lovable of mankind, as Sir
Frank Swettenham, who himself afterwards rose to
be Governor of the Straits, and a host of others.
Yet it was Sir Frederick Weld's vivid and personal
xiv PREFACE
interest in the affairs and politics of the Malay States ;
his long journeys through our jungles ; his indefatigable
efforts to acquaint himself with all that was going
forward, of all that was doing, or all that remained
to be done ; his generous appreciation of good work,
and his hatred of the shirker and the inefficient,
which drew from all the best of his officers the best
of which they were capable. Before he had been
a year in the country he had grasped the essential
fact that for a prolonged period the administration
of these new, raw lands would call for a greater
measure of elasticity than can, alas, be secured under
the more rigid and precise Crown Colony system ; and
seeing this, he pronounced a definite and authorita-
tive opinion against annexation. He perceived quite
clearly that, at the long last, the internal adminis-
tration of the Native States would have to be
assimilated very closely to that of the Colony ; and
in our own time that process of assimilation has been
made practically complete. He made it his business
to see, however, that it should be a slow, a gradual,
and a natural growth ; and to this unquestionably
is due in a large measure the phenomenal rapidity
with which the Native States were developed, and
the cordial understanding which has long subsisted
between the Malay rajas and chiefs and their white
advisers. Annexation would have transformed them
into our unforgiving enemies.
I have said that Sir Frederick Weld was a states-
man rather than an administrator ; and during the
years of his tenure of the Governorship of Singapore
the opinion was held by not a few malcontents that
the Colony and its affairs were receiving scant
attention, and that the Native States bulked too big
upon the Governor's mental horizon. There was
some truth in this contention ; but while Sir Cecil
Clementi Smith filled the post of Colonial Secretary,
PREFACE xv
there was no grievance, since all felt that the
guidance of purely colonial politics was in very safe
and very capable hands. Later, however, though the
Native States continued to "swear by" Sir Fred-
erick Weld, it is undeniable that his reputation in
the Colony suffered some eclipse during the last two
years of his administration. But the statesman was
ever busy, hand and heart and brain, building more
surely than perhaps even he knew, the foundations
upon which such a stupendous monument of success
has since been reared. He had little time to give to
gross details of administration ; yet, in the view of
some of the smaller folk around him, these were the
problems which should have claimed priority over all
mere Native States' affairs.
But it is of Sir Frederick Weld, the man, rather
than of Sir Frederick Weld, the statesman, that I
would here write.
Very tall, slim and erect, with great ease and grace
of carriage, he looked all men in the face, with a
certain modest yet frank self-confidence which
betrayed itself in the most naive ways. It is only
Sir Fred, I fancy, who would have had at once the
nerve and the simplicity to read Tennyson's Ode on
the Death of the Duke of Wellington aloud to the poet,
in order to compare his own and his host's elocu-
tionary styles, and fearlessly to demand the great
man's verdict thereon.
He was remarkably handsome, when I knew
him as a man of over sixty, with his white hair
and white Dundreary whiskers, his fine figure, his
calm, honest, pale blue eyes, the transparent case-
ments out of which there looked a soul utterly at
peace with its God, with its neighbours, and with
itself. He had more brains, more experience, and
fewer sorrows than Colonel Newcome ; but the
essential character of the man was singularly like that
xvi PREFACE
with which Thackeray endowed his hero. Incapable
of a meanness or of deception himself, he was apt
to read into those about him finer qualities than they
in fact possessed. It was as though a glamour shed
from his own purity of thought and intention illumined
others, in his eyes, with the glow of virtues to which
they could lay no claim ; and even as a boy, I
remember registering the silent opinion that he was
a singularly bad judge of men. But on the whole, I
think, this betrayed him into few mistakes. No one
who came in contact with him could withstand the
spell of his peculiar charm, the innate nobility of his
character, the principles so exalted, by which his
life was guided, that any departure from them by so
much as a hair's breadth, never, I think, presented
itself to his imagination in the light of a possibility.
And for such a man other men will usually work
well, impelled by shame, it may be, if they be not
stimulated by example.
To me, when I joined the Civil Service of the
Malay State of Perak as a lad of seventeen, he and
his were more than kind and welcoming ; and I
loved this splendid old fellow with all a boy's enthusi-
asm. Practical man of action though he had been
all his days, he delighted in poetry and literature of
all kinds; and this too was a bond between us.
I was fortunate, moreover, in that he gave me the
opportunity to serve him in 1887, by obtaining
the Sultan of Pahang's promise to conclude a treaty
with the British Government, which eventually
led to the protection of that large State. He had
been rather severely criticised for having had the
boldness to entrust a special mission of some delicacy
and difficulty to so young a man I was at that time
not quite one-and-twenty and I think I can see him
now, dressed in sleeping- jacket and sarong, and with
disordered hair, tramping about his bedroom in
PREFACE xvii
exclamatory delight when, having arrived in Singa-
pore unexpectedly in the middle of the night, after
an absence of three months, I woke him up to tell him
the result of my mission just as the dawn was
breaking.
A statesman, honest, fearless, noble, kind ;
inspired by a wonderful and perfectly unostenta-
tious piety ; and beyond all things simple, so that the
boy's heart in him was never subdued, and the purity
of the boy never tarnished, he dwells in my memory,
and so must always dwell, as perhaps the finest
gentleman that I have ever known.
HUGH CLIFFORD.
CHRISTIANSBORG CASTLE,
THE GOLD COAST.
CONTENTS
PAGE
THE WELD PEDIGREE . xxvii
CHAPTER I
Frederick Weld's early recollections, at home and abroad
His college life He completes his education at the Friburg
University Hesitations over a career Decides on colonisa-
tion in New Zealand I
CHAPTER II
He embarks in a sailing vessel Adventures on board Lands
at New Plymouth Meets with relations at Wellington
They start for the bush Vavasour and Weld drive the
first flock of sheep ever landed in New Zealand Their ex-
periences as sheep-managers The colonists are threat-
ened with starvation, and inundations Bush life in the
Wairarapa 14
CHAPTER III
Description of New Zealand : its colonisation Discouragement
given to the New Zealand Company The cause of it
The Treaty of Waitangi The Massacre of Wairau In-
glorious ending of the New Zealand Company Character-
istics of the Maori nation Their passion for war Partial
pacification of natives between 1848 and 1860 ... 32
CHAPTER IV
Weld takes a share in a sheep-station Description of Warekaka
Exploration in search of ground for a sheep-run A native
pah The Tangi Ware-homa, the house of losing
Troubles with the Maories Heki's attack on the settlement
in the Bay of Islands : subsequent bloodshed Fitzroy is
succeeded as Governor by Grey Hutt campaign Weld's
adventures at the Muka-Muka pah More adventures with
natives, and explorations The new station of Flaxbourne . 48
CHAPTER V
Sporting experiences at Flaxbourne by land, lake, and sea
The political situation in New Zealand Sir George Grey
postpones the grant of Representative government to the
xx CONTENTS
PAGE
colony Weld refuses a seat on nominee Council Takes
a leading part in an association for the defence of settlers'
rights More explorations Starts a new run, Stonyhurst
Embarks for England His joy at seeing his family and
resuming his old habits Death of his father Return to
New Zealand Representative government given to the
colony Weld is elected for Wairau Colonel Wynyard
sends for Fitzgerald, and he invites Weld, Dillon-Bell, and
Sewell to join him Ministry falls through tenacity of the
"old gang" Weld starts with Hon. J. Wortley for the hot
springs Visits Ohinemutu The pink and blue stalactite
terraces They make the ascent of the Mauna Loa He
returns to Wellington Sails for England Meets Miss de
Lisle Phillipps They are engaged and married He
nearly dies of typhoid fever They return (1860) to New
Zealand 76
CHAPTER VI
The Maori point of view Results of native land league
Governor Gore Browne holds a meeting at Taranaki
Teira defies land league War declared by the Maories
A dissolution enables Weld to get into Parliament He is
appointed minister for native affairs A patched-up peace
with the natives Gore Browne replaced by Sir George
Grey The " flour and sugar " government Grey's seizure
of Tataraimaka, followed by declaration of war General
Cameron takes the field with 15,000 men Meeting of
General Assembly Native affairs by order of the Colonial
Office are handed over to colonists The Assembly votes
,3,000,000 to carry on the war Weld maintains an in-
dependent part in politics Varying fortunes of the war
Outbreak (1864) of the Hau Hau fanaticism Horrors com-
mitted by the Maories Desperate financial difficulties of
the colony Grey sends for Weld to ask his assistance in
"saving the country" He consents on his own terms
The " self-reliant " policy He forms a ministry, and secures
large majority in both Houses Prosecution of the war
Colonial forces carry all before them Parliament meets
Various beneficial measures are carried Weld breaks
down in health Is defeated on a question of taxation
Resigns He is succeeded by Stafford Weld's last speech
in the House He returns an invalid to Brackenfield
Collapse of the Stafford administration A coalition Weld
and his family embark for England in 1867 Summing up
of his career in New Zealand 105
CONTENTS xxi
CHAPTER VII P AGE
Weld's continued interest in New Zealand Appeal to him from
the Press to return there The last Maori war Weld
accepts Governorship of Western Australia (1869) Dinner
given to him before his departure He and his family set
out for Sydney Breakdown of s.s. Balclutha on their way
to King George's Sound Received with much acclaim at
the seat of Government, and at Fremantle Letters to
Right Hon. W. Monsell, describing the situation in
Western Australia A sketch of the land laws in Australia 144
CHAPTER VIII
Early history of the Swan River Colony Its first Governor
The expansion of its bounds It is forced by poverty to
apply for convicts Success of the experiment A blot on
the annals of the colony The loss to the community when
it ceased to be a penal settlement Trade depression, at an
acute stage when Weld was appointed Governor He starts
on a tour through the settled districts : York, Northam,
Newcastle, and New Norcia Sketch of the Benedictine
Settlement Weld's horse falls under him He continues
journey with a broken rib Inspects the Geraldine copper
mines, and the Murchison district Returns to Perth in
December Starts in January 1870 for the Black wood
district Weld sums up his opinions of the prospects of the
colony, after visiting these settlements, in a speech at
Bunbury Dispatch to Lord Kimberley describing the
features of the country Weld equips expedition headed by
Mr. John Forrest to explore the hinterland of the Great
Australian Bight A Bill is passed giving Representative
government to the colony 162
CHAPTER IX
A year's progress by Western Australia Opposition headed by
" convict press " Weld encourages immigration He sums
up causes for stagnancy in the colony An Education Bill
passed Letter from Sir James Ferguson The (so-called)
Disestablishment Bill A dispatch describing Albany and
its neighbourhood The Governor takes a journey to the
north-west, visiting Roebourne on his way He is laid up
on his return by severe fit of gout Visit of British squadron
to Australian waters H.M.S's Clio and Cossack Officers
are treated to kangaroo hunt, balls, and races Trial of a
settler for murder of native His condemnation, followed
by commutation of sentence Continued progress of Western
Australia commented upon by the Governor in his message
to the Legislative Council 192
xxii CONTENTS
CHAPTER X
PAGE
Letter to Lord Kimberley from Victoria plains A black post-
mistress Weld visits coal seam discovered by Gregory
early in the century Also lead and silver mines Inspects
site of proposed railway between Champion Bay and
Northampton Weld's New Zealand affairs He asks for
leave to go to New Zealand to settle matters between him-
self and partner He starts in February 1874 Spends a
week at Sydney the guest of Sir H. Robinson Lands at
Lyttelton ; is given a very friendly reception Describes
changes in New Zealand His affairs are satisfactorily con-
cluded He is given a dinner at Wellington His former
colleague Fitzgerald makes flattering allusion to his services
to the colony He returns to Western Australia and is
appointed to governorship of Tasmania His summing up
to Secretary of State for Colonial Affairs, and to Legis-
lative Council, of his five years' governorship Last
addresses Tribute paid twenty years later by Sir T.
Cockburn-Campbell to his work in Western Australia . 213
CHAPTER XI
Discovery and colonisation of Tasmania Early difficulties ot
colonists, from soil, natives, and bushrangers The Black
War G. A. Robinson, protector of the blacks A peaceful
solution of the native question A fresh departure in the
annals of Tasmania Responsible government Favourable
terms accorded by the Crown to her colonies Effects of
gold and tin discoveries Weld describes his arrival His
anxiety about his wife She charters a ico-ton schooner
and makes a voyage of 2000 miles in it The Governor is
made C.M.G. Salmon-fishing in Tasmania Ministers . 233
CHAPTER XII
Weld's encouragement of the Volunteer movement Black out-
look in Eastern Europe in the year 1876-7 Fears of Russian
aggression A Memo, for Ministers on the subject of the
undefended state of Tasmania The Governor gives prize
for encouragement of rifle-shooting He makes a speech
on the subject of the duty of citizens to arm themselves in
defence of their country Sir Frederick Young on the cause
of " Unity " Further remarks to ministers on Federal
action Weld's travels in Tasmania Mrs. Weld presents
colours to the Tasmanian Rifles The Governor re-
christens newly-discovered gold mine of Brandy Creek
He is appointed to Straits Settlements Voyage to
Singapore 249
CONTENTS xxiii
CHAPTER XIII
PAGE
" The golden Chersonese "Sir Stamford Raffles Sir Andrew
Clarke, and the establishment of the Resident system in
Malaya The murder of Birch, and Perak War The
problem before the Governor of the Straits Settlements
A dispute on the Malacca frontier settled by him Visit
from Prince Henry of Prussia Weld starts on a tour of
the provinces Malacca Races Voyage on the Pluto
The Bindings Visit to Captain Murray, Seramban A
Chinese play The Sultan of Selangor Kuala Lumpur
A shooting party The great cave at Batu Dinner with
the Capitan China An alligator shoot A visit to the
Resident of Perak Thaiping Review of Sikh force A
durbar The Regent of Perak A fishing expedition A
canoe journey up the Kinta Leper hospital Reception at
Penang Hill bungalow, Penang Visit to Sultan of Kedah
Fish-spearing at Anak Bukit Return journey . . 265
CHAPTER XIV
Causes for Weld's success with Eastern races Dispatch on the
subject of policy to be pursued in the native States The
Bendahara of Pahang Rajah Mahdi gives trouble Visit
to Maharajah of Johore A paper on the land question
Proposed remedies for existing chaos Malay character-
istics The Governor visits Perak Returns to Singapore
and is laid up with gout He holds a meeting with the
chiefs of Rembau at Bukit Putus Pass, and lectures the Yam
Tuan on his duties Royal visitors to Singapore King
David of Sandwich Islands Regent of Siam The Welds
go to the Hill Bungalow, Penang Sir Frederick and
Captain McCallum make the ascent of Mount Ophir
King of Siam's half-brother visits Singapore Also Duke
of Clarence and Prince George of Wales The festivities
given to celebrate the royal visit 311
CHAPTER XV
Boundary disputes Hill Bungalow Excursions to neighbour-
ing States Disputes in the Chinese camps Journey to
Tanjong Kinkong The village goes out fishing Blanja on
the river Perak Debt-bondage the crying sin of Malay
States A visit from an intriguing Ranee More trouble
with the Chinese A smuggling conspiracy ending with
banishment of two Chinese leaders The Rembau chiefs
are summoned to Malacca The Yam Tuan formally
xxiv CONTENTS
PAGE
deposed for complicity in crimes The Governor accepts
Serun bin Saidin as his successor The State of Jellabu
ask for a Resident Summing up of progress in the Straits
Settlements A letter to The Times 344
CHAPTER XVI
Sir Frederick's health breaks down He and family embark for
England Reception at Chideock He reads a paper on
British Malaya at the Royal Institute, which is followed by
a discussion Death of his eldest brother He receives two
years' extension of governorship Is made G.C.M.G. Sir
Frederick and Lady Weld return to Singapore He gives
an account of his experiences amongst the natives to an
old friend His criticisms on the naval and other defences
of Singapore Intrigues and disturbances on the Siamese
frontier Dispatch to Lord Derby on the subject Corre-
spondence with Mr. E. Satow Marriage of Sir Frederick's
daughter to Lieut. Jasper Mayne The opening of the
Selangor railway He appoints Mr. Lister to the post
of Commissioner to Sri Menanti Wilderness Cottage
The successful issue of Mr. Clifford's mission to Pahang
Expedition to Brunei to decide three-cornered quarrel
between its Sultan, the rebels of Limbang, and Rajah
Brooke A Venice on stilts Interview with rebels
Shooting expedition at Kudat, North Borneo Intrigues
at Borneo Governor delivers his ultimatum The Sultan
accepts his terms Visit to Sarawak Return to Singapore
Queen Victoria's Jubilee The Governor cuts first sod
of railway, Seramban Farewell visits from native chiefs
Sails for England 374
CHAPTER XVII
Chideock described Ancient memories Modern developments
Meeting of Imperial Federation Impetus given to the
movement in 1889 in Canada and England Lord Rose-
bery and Lord Carnarvon on Imperial Federation Sir
Frederick on the same subject Weld joins pilgrimage to
Palestine Duke of Norfolk's letter to Sir H. Ponsonby
The Queen's message in reply Sir Frederick starts for
Malay States in the interests of the Pahang Development
Company He is attacked by fever in Pahang Returns to
Singapore in dying condition Recovers sufficiently to em-
bark for England Reaches London, and after some weeks
gets back to Chideock He dies there on the 2Oth of July
1891 An appreciation 405
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
SIR FREDERICK WELD, G.C.M.G. (Photogravure) . Frontispiece
FACING PAGE
KAIKORA MOUNTAINS. 23RD DECEMBER 1850 . . 86
From the camp on the Avatere.
"TE TERATA," LAKE ROTOMAHANA. STH OCTOBER 1854 . 98
GREAT ERUPTION OF MAUNA LOA, HAWAII. i6TH NOVEMBER
1855 ........ 102
SIR FREDERICK AND LADY WELD . . . .104
MOUNT EGMONT, " TARANAKI." 1861 . . . .114
MOUNT ODIN, "TAPUAENUKU." 1861 . . . .124
GOVERNMENT HOUSE, PERTH, WESTERN AUSTRALIA . 188
WEST AUSTRALIAN VEGETATION. 1869 . . . 204
ROTTNEST ISLAND , . . . . .212
From the Government House.
GOVERNMENT HOUSE, HOBART, TASMANIA . . . 236
THE DERWENT RIVER, TASMANIA. 1878 . . 242
GROUP AT GOVERNMENT HOUSE, SINGAPORE. I4TH
JANUARY 1882 ...... 340
THE WELD FAMILY
THE pedigree of the Weld family has been on more
than one occasion the object of antiquarian and
genealogical research. But had this plea for a
brief account of it been wanting, a stronger one
could be urged and that is the keen interest that
was taken in it by the subject of this biography.
Few would be tempted to deny that a long line of
ancestry is an incentive to honourable ambitions,
and this sentiment, which is in some degree common
to most men possessed of this advantage, was in a
special manner characteristic of Frederick Weld.
The Welds, like so many other families, have what
may be called a traditional or legendary origin and
an historical one. Strong evidence in their case may
be given for the traditional, as their claim to be
descended from Edric the son of Alfric, who was
brother to Edric, Duke of Mercia, is supported
by the authority of Camden. Alfric (whose wife,
Edina, was a daughter of King Ethelred) was killed
at the battle of Assendun, 1016 A.D. fighting for
Edmund Ironside against the invader Canute. His
son is styled Edric Childe in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle,
a name which denotes his close relationship to the
royal family. Simon of Durham alludes to him as
" a very powerful thegn." Freeman says : " He was
a chief leader in the resistance to the Norman Con-
quest on the Herefordshire border . . . holding out
in woods and difficult places, whence the Normans
called him Wylde or Sylvaticus." The opposition
xxviii THE WELD FAMILY
offered by Edric to the invaders seems to have lasted
the greater part of his life, for in the next mention
we find of him it is said " that William the Conqueror
deprived Sylvaticus of all the land in the Marches,
that is to say, in or on the borders of Wales at Melinnith
(quandam terram quce vocatur Melenyth), which he
had held before and during the Conquest, and handed
it over as a perpetual inheritance to one Ralph de
Mortuo Mari or Mortimer." 1 Freeman remarks that
with Edric's submission (circa 1070) all resistance
was over in the West. 2 There seems to be strong
presumptive evidence that William received him (or
possibly a son of the same name) into favour, as we
find that he was accompanied in his campaign in
Scotland by Edric, and that a part of the lands
possessed by the family was restored to them.
Mention is made more than once of the Wylde family
in the reign of King John, and in the Cartulary of the
Monastery of St. Peter of Gloucester, dated 1263-84,
a deed is given in which the Abbas et conventus hand
over a piece of arable land to one William Touch of
Slymbridge, two acres of which joined the property
of Elias le Wilde. In 1299, notice is entered in the
Roll papers that Agnes de Assheleye and Avice de
Wilde, nuns of St. Mary's, Winchester, bring news of
the death of Christina, their Abbess, and have letters
of licence to elect a successor. William de Wylde
appears in the Cartularies of the time of Henry in.
as under Forester of the Royal forest of Mara 3 in
Cheshire, of which a small portion of afforested land
still survives in the forest of Delamere. Apparently
this office was hereditary, as Omerod, in his standard
History of Cheshire, after noticing that the name of
1 Monasticon Anglicanum, Dugdale, pt. xlvi. vol. i, pt. v. p. 349.
2 Short History of England, p. 105.
3 The Blundevilles, Palatine Earls of Chester, were hereditary
Foresters of this forest, which was of enormous extent, covering two
Hundreds.
THE WELD FAMILY xxix
William Wylde occurs on the Plea Rolls (temp. 40-46
Henry in.), says : " He was perhaps succeeded by
Wm. Wylde de Crouton, who, with Ralph his brother
(6-7 Ed. ii.), was presented by the Coroner of the
Hundred for having feloniously slain Richard de
Acton and Wm. de Shakelok, this probably
happened in the execution of his duty as Forester."
Omerod l goes on to remark : " but no evidence occurs
of this very ancient family having earlier than
Henry in., if so early, any property in this parish."
To conclude the evidence of the connection of the
Welds with Edric the Wylde : a tombstone erected
to Sir John Weld's memory in the East Lulworth
churchyard in 1 674 gives the descent from Edric through
nine generations to William the High Sheriff of London.
With William Wilde the family to which he
belonged emerges into historical daylight. Early in
the fourteenth century he fared forth to London,
and in the year 1330 we find his name (Willielmus
atte Wylde) as representing the borough of Marl-
borough in Parliament . He was engaged in commerce
as well as in politics, and in the year 1352 he was
made High Sheriff of London. He is mentioned as
Alderman of Coleman Street in the year 1 349, again in
1372. He married his countrywoman, Agnes 2 de
Whettenhall, a granddaughter, on the spindle side,
of the famous soldier and condottiere Sir Hugh
1 Omerod sees in the fact of the Wylde family occupying this post
a proof against their being descendants of Edric arguing that the
Noman conquerors were not likely to give it to any but their friends.
T. Parr Henning, per contra, writes that "though the matter of the
Weld pedigree was one which was both difficult and intricate," and
one " which had hitherto defied the united efforts of heralds, anti-
quarians and archaeologists," yet that, in his opinion, " there was legal
presumptive evidence that Edric the Saxon was the progenitor of this
ancient and venerable gentle House." (Notes and Queries, 5.8. I. 347.)
2 Anne, according to Omerod, but William Wylde in his will (enrolled
in the Hustings Court, London, May 1371) makes a bequest to his wife
Agnes.
xxx THE WELD FAMILY
Calverley, and as Agnes was a co-heiress we find that
their son, on William Wylde's death, returned to
Cheshire, and settled at Eaton, 1 a property which
he inherited through his mother. Here the family
remained till the reign of Charles n. A member
of the family Ingeramus Wilde is mentioned in a
charter of James iv. as the owner of land in Edin-
burgh, adjoining certain lands of Holy Cross Abbey ;
and the name of William Wylde occurs in the list of
squires who followed Henry v. in his French cam-
paign, where it is mentioned that he had two foot-
archers as his attendants.
On April loth, 1552, we find a charter from Sir
Gilbert Dethick, Garter King-at-Arms, granting a
crest to John Weld of Eaton. In this document
Dethick refers to " William Weld, Alderman and
Sheriff of London in the XXVI 1 1 th yeare of King
Edwarde the thyrde, whos auncestors have byn
the bearers of thers tokens and auncient armes of
honnor." 2 " This extract from Dethick," says the
eminent genealogist, T. Parr Henning, " uncontro-
vertibly establishes the fact that William Weld had
a long line of predecessors previous to the fourteenth
century." The coat of arms confirmed not granted
by Sir Gilbert Dethick to John Weld of Eaton has
been considered, not without grounds for the opinion,
to bear reference to the Saxon outlaw, Edric the
Wylde. The shield has a field azure, fesse nebule and
three crescents ; the former pointing to his banish-
ment beyond seas, and the latter to Edric's three
midnight attacks on the city of Shrewsbury. The
crest is a wyvern issuing from a ducal coronet. John
Weld married Joan, daughter and heiress of John
1 This property is not to be confused with the estate of the same
name owned by the Grosvenor family the latter from its commanding
the ferry over the Dee being known, anciently, as Eaton boat.
3 The decree was confirmed by Flower Norroy in 1579.
THE WELD FAMILY xxxi
Fitz-Hugh of Congleton, by whom he had four sons.
The eldest, Robert (of Eaton), succeeded to his father,
but after two generations the family failed in the
male line and became merged in that of Lowndes.
John, the second brother, upon whom the Shropshire
property of Willey devolved, was an ardent Royalist,
and both he and his eldest son joined the standard
of Charles i. when he raised it at Nottingham. They
were knighted by the King for their services to his
cause, the father at Wellington on the i9th of
September 1642, the son (of the same name) three
days later, at Shrewsbury, 22nd September. Sir
John Weld, senior, was High Sheriff of Salop in 1642,
and was fined 2555 for his loyalty to the King.
Charles n. reinstated him as Town Clerk of London
after the Restoration, a post which he held till his
death in 1666. His son married Elizabeth, daughter
of Sir George Whitmore of Balmes, also a great
Royalist. George, their son, was numbered amongst
those present at the ill-fated surrender at Worcester
in 1651, and became (in 1670) deputy lieutenant
of the Tower of London. He left no heirs male, and
the Willey branch of the Weld family is represented
by the Weld- Foresters. 1
The Weld family in the male line was carried on by
the fourth son, Humphrey. Like his ancestor, he
made his way at an early age to London, and, like
him, made his fortune there. He married Mary, the
daughter of Sir Stephen Slaney, who was Lord
Mayor in 1595-96, and was made High Sheriff of
London in the last year of the reign of Queen Eliza-
beth. James i. named him to the council of what was
known as the Virginia charter a board whose duty
it was to regulate the settlement of the new Colony.
Knighted at Whitehall by King James in the third
year of his reign, Sir Humphrey Weld became Lord
1 Lord Forester is the head of this family.
xxxii THE WELD FAMILY
Mayor in 1609. He died in 1610, leaving large
property in London and the estate of Ludwick Manor,
Hertfordshire, in the Hundred of Broadwick, to his
eldest son John, by his second wife, 1 Anne Wheler.
Sir John Weld as he became in 1617, when he was
knighted by James i. married Frances, daughter
of William Whitmore. He acquired the property
of Arnolds in Middlesex, and was succeeded by his
son Humphrey, in 1622. Humphrey, in the early
part of his life, seems to have enjoyed the favour of
the King, as he was appointed by him Governor of
two strong places on the southern coast, Portland
and Sandesfoot Castles. In 1641 he bought Lul-
worth Castle and the large property belonging to it
from Lord Howard de Walden, the grandson and heir
of Thomas, Earl of Suffolk, and ten years later Weld
House in Drury Lane, as a London residence.
Humphrey Weld did not remain long in peaceful
enjoyment of his Dorsetshire property, as the Castle
fell into the hands of the Roundheads in 1643-44,
who garrisoned it and committed various depreda-
tions upon it, such as carrying ofl the leaden pipes
and much of the wainscoting of the rooms. ' By
the account of Captain Thomas Hughes the Governor,
3 tons of lead were sold and 2 more delivered for the
use of the garrisons at Weymouth, Poole, and for the
siege of Corfe Castle." 2
1 Anne, who was a Protestant, left directions in her will that she
should be buried six feet deeper than her popish relations, a fact which
leads one to believe that they conformed only outwardly to the new
religion. It seems probable, considering the positions occupied by
Sir Humphrey Weld and his son during three reigns when the penal
laws were administered in all their severity, that they abandoned the
practices of their Church, and if they were secretly Catholics that they
were not recognised as such by their contemporaries.
z Lulworth and its Neighbourhood, by M. F. Heathcote, p. 28.
Lulworth Castle is described as follows by Blome in his Britannia, 1673.
He says, " Lulworth Castell is esteemed the best seat in the/whole country
as well as for Beauty and Fairness, as a pleasant scituation and prospect
into the Sea, having the accommodation of a large Park well provided
THE WELD FAMILY xxxiii
In 1638, Humphrey married Clare, daughter of
Thomas, Lord Arundell of Wardour. In the latter
years of his life he appears to have fallen into
disgrace at Court, as he was deprived after the Re-
storation of his governorships. Whether this was
due to his connection by marriage with a family
who, though they had given the utmost proof of
loyalty to Charles i., were made to bear the full brunt
of religious persecution during the reign of his son,
or because Weld had thrown off a thin disguise and
owned himself what he undoubtedly was, a Catholic,
is unknown. He died in 1685, leaving one daughter,
who was married to Nicholas, Earl of Carlingford,
and bequeathing all his property to his widow for
her lifetime.
The Titus Gates plot breaking out soon afterwards,
the Weld property suffered in the general wreckage
of everything appertaining to the Catholic faith or
name. Weld House, which had been let to the
Spanish Ambassador, was utterly destroyed its site
was occupied later by Great and Little Wild Streets.
An estimate is extant among the family papers of
the " Goods plundered and taken away by force by
the Rable when they broak open and puld downe
Weld House." 1 Amongst the items " which ye
Earle of Carelingford not in England (owned) ye
value of his goods, not well knowne but supposed
to be, worth 500. Sir Josia Chylde's goods stood
in ye appartment value 100. Lady Weld's goods
value 120," and so forth. Lulworth Castle seems to
have had a narrow escape from a similar fate, and
been saved by the presence of mind of a neighbour
and the fidelity of its guardian, Joseph Tomes. The
latter writes : " God has been pleased to raise up a
with Dear." The foundations were laid in 1588, and it was finished
in 1609. Inigo Jones is said to have furnished the plans.
1 Lulworth and its Neighbourhood, pp. 15, 16.
3
xxxiv THE WELD FAMILY
friend of allmost an enemy, Mr. Culliford, after
haveing on ye i5th instant checked the Rable at
Wareham . . . sent next day for Mr. Willis, being
informed that he was here, and afterwards for me,
and proposed to me the searching the Castle for
Armes, which I willingly accepted and desired
certificate of it to show in case any disorderly psons
should attempt the house, which ye next day was
accordingly performed, and the discourse of it which
we sent abroad has so far appeased the multitude
that I hope wee are out of danger/' and much more
of the same sort. Two years later an appeal was
again made for protection by the agent (William
Willis) to Sir John Morton and Mr. Turbevoile,
gentlemen, and, doubtless, magistrates of Dorset.
On this occasion also the danger was averted ; but the
petty persecutions, constant fines, and liability to
imprisonment on the smallest pretext lasted nearly
a hundred years longer. Sir William Weld of
Compton Basset succeeded to Lulworth Castle on
the death of his uncle's widow. He married the
daughter of Sir Richard Shireburn, and at the death
of her niece, the Duchess of Norfolk (who was the
only child of the last baronet of that name), he
inherited the Shireburn estates in Lancashire. He
was succeeded by his son Humphrey, who married
Margaret the daughter and heiress of Sir John
Simeon, and through her the Welds became the
representatives on the female side of the very ancient
and honourable family of Heveningham, who, accord-
ing to Fuller, could count twenty-eight knights in
unbroken succession. In 1745 an attempt was made
to implicate John Weld, grandson of the above, in a
Jacobite plot. It was alleged that an anonymous
letter addressed to him at Lulworth had been mislaid
by him and picked up at Poole, which proved his
complicity with the King's enemies. Weld was
THE WELD FAMILY xxxv
summoned to London in order to clear himself, and
gives the following succinct account of his journey in
his diary.
On 30th September 1745 we find the letter en-
dorsed : " Copy of ye letter found near Pooll."
" October, 2nd. Mr. Bond called here; the six
coach-horses sent to Mr. fframpton's.
" Sunday, 6th. Col. Dury, Capt. Biron, ye two
messengers Ward and Tomson and 4
soldiers came about seven at night.
" jilt. I sett out for London with them.
( ' c)th . Arrived inTown at Ward ye Messengers ,
ye corner of St. Martin's Churchyard.
" 1 2th. I was examined at Lord Harring-
ton's, by ye Duke of Newcastle and Lord
Harrington.
" i$th. I was carried down to ye Cockpit
and there discharged by ye D. of New-
castle, and went to my sister Betty's." 1
Thomas Weld, son of the above, succeeded his
brother (who died childless in 1775) at the age of
twenty-five. His was to some degree an arresting
figure. He is represented in a fine portrait at
Lulworth as a tall and exceedingly good-looking
man holding in his hand, the plan of the chapel built
by him in the grounds the first destined to be used
for the services ol the Catholic Church since the
Reformation. 2 He died at Stonyhurst, the old
mansion-house of the Shireburns, which he had made
over to the Jesuits on the Feast of St. Ignatius, after
making his annual retreat there.
He left a property to each of his six sons. Lul-
worth to Thomas, his eldest son, who was first married,
1 Ltilworth and Us Neighbourhood, p. 21.
2 He was given permission to build this chapel by George in., who,
however, stipulated that it should bear as little resemblance as possible
to a religious edifice.
xxxvi THE WELD FAMILY
then after his wife's death entered Holy Orders, and
was raised to the dignity of Cardinal by Gregory xvi.
in 1829. To Joseph, the second, he bequeathed Pyle-
well in Hampshire ; Chideock, to Humphrey ; Britwell,
in Oxfordshire, to James; Hodder, to John (the Jesuit);
and Leagram, in Lancashire, to his youngest son,
George.
Frederick Aloysius, third son of Humphrey
Weld of Chideock, was born on May 9th, 1823.
THE LIFE OF
SIR FREDERICK WELD
CHAPTER I
SIR FREDERICK WELD begins the reminiscences which
he wrote for his children partly in 1 886 and partly in
the last year of his life as follows :
" Chideock, where I was born, belonged to my
father, Humphrey Weld. He was a younger son of
Thomas Weld of Lulworth Castle and of his wife
Mary, daughter of Sir John Massey Stanley of
Hooton Hall. My mother was Maria Christina,
daughter of Charles Lord Clifford of Chudleigh and of
his wife Mary Eleanor, daughter of Henry Lord
Arundell, all old Catholic families who had rendered
good service to the Church and State in trying times,
and had been distinguished for their loyalty as well
as for their religion.
;< My grandfather Weld had a very large property.
He owned land in Lancashire and Hampshire as well
as in Dorsetshire. He founded Stonyhurst College,
and many convents and missions, and brought over
refugees to this country (amongst others Trappist
monks and Franciscan nuns) during the French
Revolution. He obtained for doing so the personal
assent and support of King George in., who showed
much favour, and even affection, for him and his
family. Holy in his life, patriotic, high-minded and
generous to an extreme degree, magnificent when
occasion required it though personally remarkably
self-denying fulfilling all the duties of a great country
2 EARLY RECOLLECTIONS
gentleman, equally to his king, by raising men for
defence during the war, and to his neighbour by his
support of field sports and his hospitality, Thomas
Weld might have been looked upon as an ideal pro-
prietor, yet not even the personal favour of his
Protestant king could place him in his proper position
while the penal laws were yet unrepealed. Chideock,
an old Arundell property, was bought by my grand-
father Weld from my maternal great-grandfather
Arundell. It was in a neglected state. Its old castle
had been destroyed by Sir Edward Hungerford and
his Roundheads after the gallant resistance of old
Daniel the steward, whose body lies in Chideock
churchyard. All that was left was a priest's house,
which included a little chapel, where Chideock now
stands. My father built the house, and greatly
improved the property. These outlays and the
bringing up of a large family kept him comparatively
poor, and prevented him from doing more than
leading a quiet life in the country where, however,
he did an immensity of good amongst the poor, as
magistrate and in other ways. He and my mother
were models of every virtue. She sold her finest
jewels (which she loved, as they had belonged to her
mother) for the poor, in the Irish famine. Her life
was a series of good works. Most of my early re-
collections are connected with Chideock and Ugbrooke
and, a little later, with Lulworth. I remember
particularly how I used to wish to sleep out at night
under a certain old tree at Ugbrooke, and the scorn
of the nurses who failed to recognise the early develop-
ment of my ' bush ' instincts.
" When I was not quite five years old we went to
France and my uncle Clifford came to live at Chideock.
Our route would probably have been from Chideock
to Lulworth by Dorchester, whence we sailed in my
uncle Joseph Weld's yacht, the Arrow, to Ports-
mouth. We went across from Portsmouth to Havre
de Grace in a steamer. I can remember the nurses
were rather frightened of them, and the Chideock
fishermen used to say that they would frighten all
the fish out of the Channel.
" From Havre we went up the Seine to Rouen.
I remember the chestnut tree avenue there, the
VERSAILLES IN 1828 3
glorious old cathedral, and the smell of the tanneries.
From thence we went to Versailles and lived in a house
in the Place d'Armes. Here I was in my glory,
as there were reviews, parades, and drilling going on
under my eyes all day long. Nearly every day we
went to walk in the Palace Gardens, which were open
in the absence of the King and court. I remember
well the fountains and statues and the smell of the
violets in the bosquets. I have been told since that
I always saluted the sentries, and that some of them
much amused no doubt when no one was looking
would salute in return. My military ardour ran so
high that when my brother Edmund was born I
got all ready to drill him. At last, when after two
hours anxious suspense I was allowed to go and see
him, I was shocked at his diminutive size and asked
to see his feet ; on beholding them I said, ' With such
little feet he could never be drilled/ and wept and
would not be comforted."
As a youth Frederick Weld was exceedingly
delicate, and whilst at Versailles his life was despaired
of by the doctors from an attack of ague following
after typhoid fever. That he recovered he ever be-
lieved was due to his mother's prayers.
The memoir goes on to say :
' We remained that winter at Versailles, and then
went to Paris and stayed a few days in the Rue St.
Honore, opposite the Tuileries gardens, where I saw
Charles x. That was the spring of 1828. Two years
later he was driven into exile, and was received by
my father and mother at Poole, and lunched at Upton
on his way to Lulworth, where he stayed, with the
Duchess d'Angouleme and the rest of the royal family,
for some weeks till the English Government offered
him a refuge at Holyrood. After a short stay in
Paris we took a small house at Honfleur and there
spent several happy months. I was gradually re
covering my strength, and I used to enjoy working
in the garden, digging out ponds and trying to make
them hold water. Charles, my eldest brother, came
4 CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION
to us there from Stonyhurst where he was at school ;
and so did my second brother, William, from St.Acheul,
a school near Amiens, and my eldest sister, Eleanor,
from the Sacre Coeur Convent at Paris then the
fashionable place of education for the daughters of
families of the ancien regime, many; of whom had been
for generations friends of our families. Apollonia and
Chrissie were there too, Edmund was the baby.
Amy and Lucy were born after our return to England.
I was still a poor weakly thing, and even after leaving
France, when we got back to Lulworth, I remember
when my mother left me, as she sometimes* did, I
used to fear lest I should suddenly die during her
absence. At Pylewell and at Lulworth I used to
play at regattas with my cousin Mary, and I saw
(and drew a picture of) the Champion Cup being won
by my uncle's yacht Alarm, which beat the Duke of
Norfolk's Arundell, Lord Belfast's Louisa, and Lord
Durham's Albatross."
Catholic Emancipation became law whilst he was
staying with his parents at Ugbrooke : " when we "
(this is his comment upon it) " who had been born
legal helots in that England which had been made
by Catholics, and whose Constitution was built up
and is still maintained on Catholic principles, by
means of Catholic traditions, became once more free.
My grandfather left Ugbrooke to take his seat in the
House of Lords, and a great reception was given to
him on his return."
The recollections which follow show that he was
gradually outgrowing the delicacy of his early youth,
by the evidence it gives of the keenness with which he
threw himself into every boyish game and sport
an ardour to succeed in everything which he under-
took, which followed him through life, and was one
of his strongest characteristics. Fishing was his
passion, both in the brook which ran close to his home
and in the sea, where, he notes, " under the care of a
steady old fisherman from the village I was sometimes
SCHOOL LIFE 5
allowed to go out boating and fishing." The same
keenness attended him in his other pursuits, playing
at soldiering was one of these, also reading and draw-
ing.
At last the moment came for him to go to school.
He felt it deeply, he tells us :
" I can still remember as if it were yesterday
looking back through the gateway and gaps in the
hedges to get a last glimpse of Chideock. We must
have been at least a week getting to Stonyhurst,
where my school-life was spent. I knew a good deal
of English history and was charmed beyond measure
at recognising the battlefields Tewkesbury, for
instance and various abbeys and castles which I
had read about ; and almost equally so with the rich
beauty of the scenery. I remember making a drawing
of the Tor at Glastonbury, and of the Wellington
Monument at Wellington, to send home in my letter."
He went first to Hodder, which is the preparatory
school for Stonyhurst, and only removed from it by
a distance of a mile, and followed on, with the rest of
his class in his second year, to Stonyhurst. He was
not a hard worker, he tells us, except where his special
tastes were concerned. These were history, languages,
and geography. He had also a turn for versification,
and generally carried off the prize for poetry.
' For my age," he writes, " I was well up in English
literature. I had a good general knowledge of our
poets, and nothing delighted me more than to discuss
my favourite passages with my friends. My political
ideas have always remained much the same. I have
deeply loved true liberty, based on Catholic principle,
and combined with reverence for authority. I have
always been able to enter into the views and feelings
of an antagonist with respect, when such was merited
by honesty. I have always recognised that simple
and absolute truth was divine and not attainable
in the human sphere attainable in religion therefore
6 LIFE-LONG FRIENDSHIPS
with a divine guide, but not in politics ; that there is
a spiritual and temporal sphere, each with their
special mission ; that each should support the other
as far as circumstances render it possible ; that neither
should invade the province of the other, but that the
moral should nevertheless rule the political, and that
the exposition of the moral law though not the
direction of matters in purely temporal exigencies
must rest with divinely constituted spiritual authority.
My views in this respect have never altered, and after
[ left Stonyhurst they were much developed by Fr.
Freudenfeldt, the Professor of Philosophy at Friburg.
Moreover, I was always an ardent admirer of the
English character when seen at its best, and I believe
I have understood it as well as appreciated it. To
this much of my success in life is due. God made me
an Englishman heart and soul ; thus only could I
approach the ideal which was ever before me, and thus
only deal with my fellow-countrymen."
Fred Weld made many friends while he was at
Stonyhurst, some of whom were lifelong ones. Such,
for instance, was his friendship with Simon Scrope,
and he was also on terms of close intimacy with
A. Macdonell, Count Charles de Croisy, and Henry and
William Clifford, and Alfred Weld the three last
being his first cousins.
His recollections go on to tell of keen competitions
for a first prize in poetry and composition (in these he
generally came out victorious), and his love for games,
especially football. But such reminiscences may be
looked upon as of greater interest to his own family
than to the general public. His vacations were
spent either at home or at Lulworth or Ugbrooke,
in the enjoyment of the sports he loved, such as fish-
ing, shooting, and even on rare occasions hunting,
when he was lucky enough to get a mount. On one
occasion, his parents having gone abroad, he spent
the winter vacation with his relations the Arundells
of Wardour. He was then seventeen and a half years
VACATIONS 7
of age, and a conversation he had with Lord Arundell
one night in the smoking-room for the first time set
him thinking that the pleasant holiday life he was
leading could not go on for ever.
" One day we were sitting together after dinner,
whilst he smoked his nightly cigar, and he said to me,
' Fred, you are growing up ; what do you intend to
be ? '
" I answered that I had not made up my mind,
but that I should like to be a soldier. He replied,
' That is an expensive profession nowadays. But
listen to me : none of your family have taken to
professions, and the penal laws while they existed
debarred Catholics from many. But all that is
altered now. Remember this : If you vegetate on a
small allowance you will go to London for the season
and get through your money in no time ; then your
relations will take pity on you and say, ' Poor fellow,
we must ask him here for some shooting ; and we
shall feel we are conferring a benefit on you.' But
if you take to a profession and work hard at it, it
will be the other way. We shall say, ' He is a busy
man, I wonder if he could spare time to run down and
have a day's shooting ? and then you will be doing us
a favour.'
1 These words from my shrewd old cousin made
a great impression on me, and years afterwards I
recalled this conversation to him, and pleased him
much by telling him the effect it had had on me."
The following year Fred's father took him away
from Stonyhurst, and sent him to complete his
studies at the University of Friburg in Switzerland.
He tells us he was very sorry to leave the " dear old
place," to which, in nine years, he had got deeply
attached. The reason which influenced his father in
making this change was, in the first place, because he
would have better opportunities of following up the
higher studies ' at Friburg under distinguished pro-
8 A SWISS UNIVERSITY
fessors than existed in those days at Stonyhurst ;
secondly, because at Friburg he would be given the
advantage of cultivating foreign languages, for which
he had already shown a marked aptitude. He could
at this time speak and read French with facility, had
mastered Italian sufficiently to read Dante in the
original, and he also knew a little Spanish. Later on
he added German to the list of languages with which
he was familiar. Fred found some of his Stonyhurst
companions at Friburg, amongst others Henry Clifford,
who had preceded him there by a few weeks, Philip
Vavasour, and Alfred Weld. He says :
" We formed a small English colony in the midst
of eight hundred students of all nationalities. I was
in philosophy, and worked at metaphysics, logic,
ontology and physiology under Fr. Rothenflue,
and at the philosophy of history under Fr. Freuden-
feldt. The latter became my great friend, and I
received lasting benefit from my studies under him.
I also attended a course of modern law, and one of
chemistry and natural philosophy. I did not like
Friburg nearly so well as Stonyhurst. The exceed-
ingly strict continental method of supervision was
very irksome to Englishmen, and I am afraid that
insular pride and pugnacity led some of us to assume
airs of superiority, and to resent affronts that w^ere
not always intentional. Matters culminated when,
avowedly in defiance of the Frenchmen, we gave a
Waterloo banquet in a summer-house in the play-
ground, to which we invited our friends, a few Belgians,
Poles, and Hungarians. We formed a small but
enthusiastic party, and the French assembled in
front and hooted us. Whereupon we charged with
nearly as much effect as the Guards did on the day
we were celebrating, and sauve qui pent in the enemy's
ranks was the order of the day. The next morning
we were sent for into the august presence of the Father
Rector, himself a Frenchman. With great firmness
and kindness he pointed out the impropriety of our
conduct and the subversion of law and order which
must result from such outbreaks. He ended by
FR. FREUDENFELDT 9
putting us on our honour never to repeat these pro-
vocations, and sent us away completely subdued and
determined to show that an Englishman put on his
honour can be trusted anywhere. After that we had
no more rows. With Fr. Freudenfeldt, who had been
specially recommended to us by the Rector as
guardian and mentor, I formed perhaps the greatest
friendship of my life, and I may almost say I still
think of him daily, and never without love and
gratitude. He was the wisest man and the best
adviser and held the widest views, as well as the
most just ones, of any man I have ever known. Also,
he had the keenest insight into character.
" His life had been a remarkable one. At an
early age he had been attached as tutor or governor
to the person of the two royal princes of Prussia,
of whom the elder of the two became King Frederick
n. He was for a time lecturer on the literature
of Southern Europe at the University of Gottingen.
Then when Germany was crushed under the foot of
the first Napoleon after the battle of Jena, Freuden-
feldt was one of the patriotic poets who by their war-
songs roused the spirit of the German people. And
when the hour arrived to strike a blow for liberty
he helped to raise and joined a ' students corps.' He
was A.D.C. to General Liethen commanding the ist
Prussian Division in 1815, and on the day of Ligny
(called by the Germans Fleurus) he was temporarily
attached to Bliicher's staff. He was present in his
capacity of A.D.C. at Waterloo, and was one of the
first to enter Paris when it was taken possession of by
the allied troops. After peace was declared Freuden-
feldt, in spite of great inducements being offered to
him to remain in the army, returned to his literary
pursuits. He accepted the chair of Professor of the
Philosophy of History at Bonn University, stipulating
that he should be free to express his opinion on re-
ligious subjects in the University, which was half
Catholic and half Protestant. The result was such
as might have been expected, and as he himself partly
anticipated. When it came to such burning questions
as the Reformation, and the causes that led to it,
and the consequences that followed from it, though
supported by his own pupils, his opinions led to dis-
io WATERLOO
turbances which, in the absence of support from the
University authorities, led to his resignation. He had
other trials of a domestic nature of a deeply trying
kind, and finally he sought consolation in religion and
joined the Jesuit novitiate.
' I left Friburg at Easter 1843. I had talked
much with Fr. Freudenfeldt about my future.
My own wish was to go into the army, but he dis-
suaded me from it as he thought that with no prospect
of war the life was an idle one. I was sorry to leave
Friburg and to part with many friends whom I
could hardly hope ever to see again ; nevertheless I
was delighted to return to England. I travelled
by diligence to Basle, thence by rail, newly opened,
to Strasburg and down the Rhine by Liege to Brussels,
where I found many friends and relations. I enjoyed
myself very much there and visited Ghent, Bruges
and Mechlin, also Louvain, where my uncle George
Weld and his family were living at that time. I
visited, of course, Waterloo, and read and learned
every possible particular regarding it, besides thor-
oughly studying the plan of the battle. I went over
the field with Sergeant Cotton, and asked him what
were his impressions of the battle. He had been a
light-cavalry man. He said that in the morning the
English were struck by the immense extent of the
French front as it deployed into line, and at the
number of their batteries. Also that they knew
that they could not count on most of the continental
contingents that made up a considerable part of
our army. Nor did they know what support they
would get from Bliicher ; but they had immense
faith in their leader, the great Duke, and the old
soldiers who had been in the Peninsular War inspired
the young recruits who filled our ranks with implicit
:onfidence that somehow or other they would be able
to beat the French. Such were the impressions of
one of the rank and file in the great battle that
decided the fate of Europe for more than half a
century."
Fred Weld's return home after two and a half
years' absence was a joyful one. He found the
CHOICE OF A PROFESSION n
family party nearly complete, the only exceptions
being that of his eldest sister, who had gone to be a
nun at the Visitation Convent of Westbury, and of
his eldest brother, Charles, who had settled down to
an artist's life in Rome.
' To me (he says) home life, varied with visits
to my friends, for instance to Simon Scrope, or
Henry Clifford, and to my relations, fishing and
shooting and going to Cowes regatta with my father,
appeared at that time a dream of perfect happi-
ness. But I knew it could not last. Lord Arundell's
advice was ever before my mind, and I felt I could
not bear to be a burden to my father, or a hanger-on
on my relations. It was proposed that I should be
an engineer and go to the United States, but civil
engineering was not in my line, and I objected to
going outside the shadow of the British flag. For
the same reason also because my father was opposed
to it I did not accept a nomination in the Austrian
Army which was offered to me through my brother
Charles, by the Austrian Ambassador in Rome. I
had thought of the Bar, but I doubted whether I
had the special talents necessary for success. My
natural tendency was towards the Army, but in those
days the Army was a very expensive profession, and
men for the most part entered it as a means of leading
a pleasant life and rising by purchase to high posi-
tions rather than for any other reason. People
seemed to think there would be no more wars so
long had peace lasted. One profession remained
which had always had an attraction for me, and that
was colonisation in a new country.
" My cousin Henry Clifford and I had often
wished that our lot in life should be the same, and
we had always put a life of adventure in a new
country as an alternative to the Army. He entered
the Rifle Brigade and I went to New Zealand : such
was the outcome of our dreams. To leave my
family and all I loved in England for years (for it
could be no less) cost me the deepest pangs ; but
the more I thought about it the more I inclined that
way. I saw in that course a probable means of at
12 COLONISATION
once becoming self-supporting, and at all events of
being a burden on no one. Then the excitement
that must attend on pioneering in a wild country, of
adventures with savages, ' hairbreadth escapes by
land and flood/ all told on my imagination, and I
thought, and still think, that what Bacon calls ' the
heroic work of colonisation ' is one worthy of the
keenest minds and the stoutest hearts. To help to
tame the wilderness, and build up a young nation,
to bring knowledge of the truth to savages, and
extend the rule of the British Empire are no unworthy
objects ; and if any one should doubt what colonists
many of whom were animated by similar aspira-
tions have done, let him look at a map of the world
of the sixteenth century and contrast it with one of
the nineteenth, and notice the great nations that
have arisen in that interval ; and how religion, com-
merce, the arts, and civilisation have followed in the
footsteps of the colonist. If my early or perhaps
it would be better to say my lifelong aspirations
were dreams, it may at least be admitted that they
bore fruit and were not idle ones. ' They call us
enthusiasts/ said John Godley, himself a great
colonist, at a farewell dinner given in his honour
at Wellington, New Zealand, ' but I should like to
know when anything was ever achieved without
enthusiasm/ "
The reasons which turned Fred Weld's thoughts
towards New Zealand were as follows : It was a
country with a future before it, and three young
men, Henry Petre, Charles Clifford, and William
Vavasour, of whom two were relations, had preceded
him there the year before. Also a friend, Frederick
Jerningham, a member of a family well known to
the Welds and connected with them, was at that
moment occupied at Weymouth in getting recruits
in the shape of labouring men to take out with him
to that country. Fred therefore, at his father's
suggestion, went to Weymouth and got all the in-
formation he could collect from the intending colonist
4 DIEU ET MA DEXTRE' 13
and talked over the situation with him. On his
return journey he says :
" I took a dog-cart to Abbotsbury, to see the
swannery there and the ruined chapel of St. Catherine-
on-the-Hill, and walked back thence by the cliffs
to Bridport, and so on to Chideock. That walk
was the turning-point in my life. It is long years
ago, but I still seem to see the wide blue expanse
of the western bay glittering in the sunlight, and
sweeping round the Bill of Portland the farther
hills on the Devonshire side lost in a soft blue haze.
I still see the smooth rounded Dorsetshire downs
which I trod, and can almost fancy I can smell the
fragrance of the wild thyme and the gorse. I won't
say all that passed in my mind ; sufficient that when
I reached the end I had made up my mind. t Jacta
est alea.' No looking back ! Courage and forward.
I thought also of the motto of the grand old knightly
race of Heveningham, of whom the Welds are the
representatives, ' Dieu et ma dextre,' and I adopted
it henceforth as my own. I arrived at Chideock
just before dinner, but nothing was said until it was
over. After my mother and sisters had left the
room my father asked me what I thought about the
colonisation scheme, and I told him my decision, and
he gave me his and my mother's consent to it."
The decision reached, much remained to be done
before Fred started on his voyage. Farewells to
various members of his family had to be made, vale-
dictory visits to Lulworth, Ugbrooke, and Pylewell.
Also provisions to be laid up for the long journey.
Finally, Fred started with a modest sum of golden
sovereigns in a bag, and a land order from the New
Zealand Company of one hundred acres, and another
for a town-lot in the (future) city of Wellington.
CHAPTER I I
"The true nature of a man includes all he has in him to
become." ARISTOTLE.
FRED WELD felt much the parting with his family,
to all of whom he was bound by the most affectionate
ties, but to one of his buoyant spirits a long-continued
depression was an impossibility. Accordingly we
find him before long throwing himself with his
accustomed keenness into his new life. The ship
in which his passage was taken and that of his new
friend, Frederick Jerningham, and the emigrants he
had collected, was called the Theresa, a small sailing-
vessel of 750 tons. As the date of their embarkation
was 27th November, it is not surprising to hear that
the Bay kept up its traditional reputation and was
passed under reefed top-sails.
" I enjoyed myself," he writes, " as I have ever
done at sea, especially in a sailing-vessel. When we
had made a little southing and began to stretch
away to the Azores, the other passengers began to
come on deck, and their appetites began to rival
mine, which was no gain on fresh meat ' days. We
had fresh pork and fresh mutton twice weekly, on
the other days excellent ship's pea-soup and salt
meat. So we did not exactly starve. Also Jerning-
ham and I had laid in a stock of Dutch cheese and
tinned meat ; so to be asked by us to supper on these
delicacies was looked upon by our fellow-passengers
as a great privilege. Our drinking water had been
taken from the Thames, and could have been smelt
a mile off, but we were told it was quite wholesome,
and that its merits consisted in this : that it would
A PIRATE-SHIP 15
ferment, and so work off its impurities and then keep
for ever. This at least was the nautical view, and
I believe there was something in it, as after a certain
stage of nauseousness the water did get better, and
remained so, though it certainly would not be con-
sidered drinkable nowadays."
After comparing the fare of the somewhat " ill-
found barque " Theresa to the modern luxury of the
ocean liners, he continues :
" Still, good salt pork and good pea-soup are not
to be despised when one is young and healthy, and
with such an appetite as mine was an heroic
appetite, one such as an Homeric feast would alone
have satisfied. The fare on the Theresa, especially
after all the sheep and pigs had been killed, was not
only not luxurious, but not even over plentiful, and I
remember on one or two occasions when we had
fried porpoise liver it was looked upon as a welcome
addition to our bill of fare.
<( Our first adventure was being chased by a
E irate brig showing Danish colours, off the Azores,
he hoisted her colours, tacked, and stood after us
close-hauled to get to windward. She came within
range, but probably took us for a troop-ship from the
numbers on board, and because as she neared us we
began shooting with rifles. Jerningham and I guessed
what she was from her manoeuvres, her look, and the
evident anxiety of our captain. We said nothing,
but proposed getting out all the rifles and guns, and
commenced practising at bottles.
" She fell astern again in a light and baffling wind,
which favoured us, in the night, and at daybreak she
bore up and went off in an opposite direction. A
week or two after that date she chased and nearly
captured another English vessel. We heard full
particulars of her and of her captain and crew and
armaments later on. She carried four long guns,
and might well have captured us, especially as she
slightly outsailed us on a wind. I mention this as
she was, I think, one of the last regular pirates on
the Atlantic. It was said that, by connivance of
certain Portuguese authorities, she sometimes passed
1 6 A WHITE SQUALL
muster as a trader, and made her headquarters and
got her supplies at Porto Praya, where she spent
money and was well known."
This incident was followed shortly afterwards on
Christmas night by the passengers on board the
Theresa being woke by shrieks of fire. The usual
panic under such circumstances took place. It was
supposed to have broken out in the hold, so the
hatches were battened down. The women in the
steerage hearing the tumult rushed on deck in their
nightgowns. The fire-bell rang for the crew to turn
up, but most of them had been keeping Christmas
only too well and were too drunk to leave their bunks.
When an effort was made by those who had kept
their heads amongst whom were young Jerning-
ham and Fred Weld to discover the extent of
the fire, it was found that the whole thing was a
practical joke on the part of some of the second-class
passengers.
1 The next day," Fred remarks, " we held an
indignation meeting, but the captain being himself
to blame, shielded the guilty ones, so that nothing
came of it. A few days later, soon after sighting
Tristan da Cunha Isles, we had another adventure
of a very different kind. I happened to be on deck,
and saw a white squall coming up. I warned the
mate, who, however, only laughed at me. In a moment
it struck us and we lost our main-top mast, and all
our lighter sails and hamper, and split our fore top-
sail into ribbons. The squall came up with a cloud
of spray, driving the sea-birds before it. It struck
us utterly unprepared, and reduced us to a wreck
before we could look round. The sailors behaved
admirably. I ran down to my cabin, and got my
book and sketched our main-mast. I have got the
sketch still. We heeled over but righted as our sails
were blown out of the bolt ropes. We were then off
the Cape of Good Hope, and I hoped we should have
put in there for repairs, but instead of that we were
FIRST IMPRESSIONS 17
all made to set to work to repair the damage, and
having done so we pursued our voyage. At length,
one morning just before daylight, on the i/th March
I was awoke by the cry of ' Land.' Day dawned
on a dull heaving sea. All we saw at first was a low
line of coast ; then the sun rose behind the tall cone
of Mount Egmont, which I then thought and still
think one of the most beautiful mountains in the
world, and we saw its glorious outline standing out
against the morning sky. Such was my first view of
New Zealand.
11 The next morning we anchored off New Ply-
mouth in an open roadstead, and went ashore, through
the breakers in a surf-boat provided by the New
Zealand Company. A tiny settlement had been
founded there not long before, consisting almost
entirely of West Country folk. Several Dorsetshire
and Devonshire men when they heard I was on board
knowing my name came to see me, and were
most friendly and obliging, asking me to their
cottages, and offering me presents of various kinds.
We slept that night on land in an empty shed, rolled
up in our blankets. I was up early and set off to
explore the nearest ' bush/ with my gun, and after
the manner of newcomers I remember admiring
immensely the long creepers and other signs of semi-
tropical vegetation ; but I do not think I shot
anything worth mentioning. The next morning
Jerningham and I started on foot on a twelve-mile
walk to the Waitara, a river afterwards well known in
New Zealand history. We were hospitably received
at ( Taranaki ' Cook's farm on the way, and slept
that night in a grove of Karaka, or New Zealand laurel,
on a bank overlooking the river, and were regaled
by the two ' Pakeha Maories ' (as Europeans who
had adopted semi-native habits were called) on
cockles and wild pig. Next day I went out to
sketch and bathe at the mouth of the river, and there
my adventures very nearly came to a sudden end.
I was alone, and I walked along a curved spit of
land formed at the mouth of the river along which
the tide was running out strongly. Unfortunately
I slipped and fell from shallow into deep water, and
found myself being carried out to sea. I was no
1 8 THE WAIRAU DISASTER
swimmer Henry Clifford had done his utmost to
teach me at Friburg, but had failed. But now, seeing
certain death before me, I suddenly remembered the
instructions I had received, to strike out slowly, etc.,
and before long I found myself surmounting the first
and second line of breakers, and at last felt my feet
again on land. I remembered then that my father's
life had been saved from drowning in almost precisely
the same way.
" We returned next day to New Plymouth. A
gale of wind was blowing and the Theresa was drifting
inshore, and was nearly on the rocks. A crew of
shore whalers went off in a heavy surf and got sail
on her a slant of wind favouring her and brought
her up again in the offing. We got put on board,
but the wind changed again. The sailors, who had
quarrelled with the captain, refused to work, and the
result was that we hung on till we lost an anchor,
and again drifted almost on to the rocks. Next day
we got under way with a change of wind, and by dint
of helping to work the vessel ourselves, we stood
across ^the straits to the settlement of Nelson then
in its infancy where we anchored ; and here most
of our crew were sent to prison or to such a substitute
for it as the place afforded. Nelson was still in a
state of great uproar and excitement over the affair
of the Wairau which had just taken place. In that
ill-advised and ill-carried out attempt to arrest the
powerful chiefs Rauparaha and Ranghiaiata for their
interference with the survey of the Wairau Valley,
Captain Wakefield, R.N., the New Zealand Company's
agent, Mr. Thompson the resident Magistrate, and
many other of the finest colonists and truest friends
of the native race lost their lives. That was bad
enough, but it was not all : British prestige suffered
a severe blow on that occasion from which it took
years to recover. Before this happened, in the days
of the earliest pioneers and the old whalers and
seal-fishers, the English were looked upon as invincible ;
the natives now discovered their mistake. In short,
I had arrived in New Zealand at a time of deep dis-
couragement. The Governor, Captain Fitzroy, R.N.,
though a worthy man and doubtless well-intentioned,
was quite unequal to the situation. There was a
NEW ZEALAND HOSPITALITY 19
standing feud between the Government and the New
Zealand Company. The settlers could not get
possession of the land which they had bought and
paid for, and the universal discouragement was such
that public meetings had been held at Wellington,
where the New Zealand Company had established
its headquarters, to debate the question whether it
would not be better to abandon the country and move
en masse to South America."
Though a newcomer, and with only such knowledge
of the situation as he could pick up from the friends
he had made, as he went from one tiny settlement
to another, Fred Weld never lost heart, or doubted
the ultimate success of the undertaking into which
he had launched his fortune.
" I liked the country," he continued, " from the
beginning, and believed it had a great future before
it. But of those who first came out, the great
majority came to grief in one way or another, some
morally, some physically, the greatest number
financially. Of the thirty-five cabin passengers who
sailed with me in the Theresa not above two or three
were successful. It was a case of the survival of
the fittest."
After a delightful week at Nelson, where Mr.
Jerningham and Fred were hospitably entertained by
a cousin of the former, Mr. Dillon, and a Mr. Francis
Dillon-Bell (afterwards Sir F. Dillon-Bell, K.C.M.G.),
who was the New Zealand agent there, they took
ship again, sailed through Cook's Straits and anchored
in Wellington Harbour at nightfall a thin line of
lights scattered along the beach showing the houses of
the settlement. Fred landed on St. George's Day,
23rd April.
His cousin, Charles Clifford, came out in a boat to
meet him, and he soon after forgathered with two
other relations, Vavasour and Petre, and these and
20 ROCKS AHEAD
Colonel Wakefield accorded him (he tells us) a true
colonial welcome in the hearty spirit of the early
days of New Zealand.
" Of the land," he continues, " which I had bought,
I found that my town acre at ( Windy Point ' was
being sold by the cart-load for mortar by an enter-
prising blacksmith. On being asked by what
authority he did this he answered, * By none at all.
People offered to pay him for the sand, so he saw no
objection to selling it.' My other purchase of a hun-
dred acres had been seized with the rest of the district
to which it belonged by the natives, and it was not
for some years that I gained possession of it. I then
let and afterwards sold it, for I never had any taste
for pottering about little bush cultivations, an occu-
pation which is more suitable to labourers with large
families.
" I had not been long in the country before I
made up my mind that sheep-farms alone were likely
to prove remunerative in New Zealand, and to give
it that impetus which it required to save it from
disaster. Great difficulties there were, no doubt,
but, as I believed, not insurmountable ones, and these
got over I felt convinced that a fair prospect of future
success awaited colonists who were prepared to face
hardship and exposure. These difficulties were, as I
have said, great ; no pasture-land was in the hands
of the Government, which, moreover, steadily dis-
couraged all enterprise in that direction from fear
of opposition from the natives. Also it was the
opinion of many that the country was not adapted to
sheep-farming ; and very little was known, and great
doubts expressed, about the existence of good pasture-
land. Then the difficulties of transport and communi-
cation had to be faced the absence of roads in a very
wild country, abounding in dense forests, steep hills,
rivers, and morasses. Also such a life would necessi-
tate great sacrifices on the part of any one who adopted
it. He would have to live almost alone with a few
shepherds and servants, in the midst of turbulent
and warlike tribes, whose confidence could only be
gained by uniform tact and firmness for only by
FIRST EXPERIENCES 21
such means could he maintain an ascendancy over
them which would ensure the peace of the district.
The first step would necessarily be the assent of the
natives to the occupation of certain defined areas in
consideration of a fixed annual payment ; but the
Government at this time refused to recognise any
such agreements. And yet experience was to show
that such agreements were not only the foundation
of the prosperity which came later on giving the
country its largest and principal article of export-
but also contributed to the civilisation of the natives,
and the establishment of the good relations which
afterwards came to exist between them and the
settlers.
" I was not long in starting my new life. Clifford,
Vavasour and Petre had entered into negotiations
with some chiefs in the interior, and were about to
start a pioneer sheep station in the newly discovered
Wairarapa Valley. They had bought a few hundred
sheep from New South Wales, and I at once offered
my services to help to get the flock to its destination,
and be of all the use I could in carrying out this new
enterprise.
"It was on the ist of May, nine days after landing,
that I began my experience of bush life. I started
on that bright May morning full of joy and hope,
and in the best of health and spirits. Wellington
Bay was a glorious sight in those days. Thick forests
clothed the hills, now bare, in some places down to
the very water's edge, and the snow on the summit
of the Tarirua Hills made a perfect setting for the
trees and the glittering foliage of the laurels and other
evergreens in the foreground. Petre had put me
up the night before we started at his house, so he and
I set forth together, each with his roll of sleeping
blanket, and a few indispensable articles w r rapt up
in it, on his back. We were joined at the other
side of the bay by Vavasour, and here we found the
flock of sheep in charge of a shepherd and boy, and
some men who had been hired to carry flour,
salt pork, cooking utensils, guns, axes, and such
things. The hills were uncommonly rough and steep,
the sheep weak after their journey, and the men's
loads heavy, so we only reached the lagoon beyond
22 MAORI FERRYMEN
Pencarrow Head the first night, and there under the
side of the hill I passed my first night of camping-out.
" It was cold and windy, but I woke well-re-
freshed and with a great appetite, as usual, for salt
pork and ' damper,' the latter on this occasion,
owing to adverse circumstances, containing an undue
proportion of sea-sand and ashes. But these were
minor drawbacks, and I soon learnt what it was to
do without pork or damper, and to depend on dried
eels and wild colewort, or the product of the chase,
for provender.
" We were many days reaching Wairarapa Valley,
which was our destination, and lost some sheep on the
way on the rocks, and in getting them round the
headlands which were washed by the sea, there being
no road inland. We encamped there in a grassy
gully, and here we met another flock of sheep, be-
longing to my future neighbour, Mr. Bid well, in
charge of a Mr. Swainson. They were travelling
in the same direction as we were, and, like us, were
waiting till an arrangement could be made with the
Maories to ferry the sheep across the outlet of the lake
into the new district. I slept that night under the
shelter of a blanket tied to some sticks fastened to-
gether with bands of flax-leaves. On either side of
me, tied to the supports, were two bulldogs, which
we had brought with us for the purpose of hunting
wild pigs. At first I slept soundly, in spite of the
chilly wind which swept down the gully, but presently
I was awakened by a sudden gust of wind accompanied
by a storm of rain which upset my shelter, tore off
and whirled away my blanket, and wet me to the
skin. Each dog thinking the other had attacked him
and was the cause of all the pother flew at the other's
throat, and in an instant we were all rolling on the
ground together. That was the night of my coming
of age birthday, 9th of May, 1 for which reason I
remember it well.
At last the Maories, who are the keenest hands in the
world at a bargain, especially in a case like this when
they knew we were entirely dependent on their
services, came to terms. This was a bargain of
much importance, as it was bound to fix the price of
1x844.
WAR&KAKA 23
such dealings in the future, and so seriously affect
our access to our market. Some days, therefore,
were taken over it, and at the end we had to give
about twice as much as would have been asked by
any English ferryman. The sheep with the shepherd
and boy and all that remained of the provisions were
sent on to our new station, Warekaka. Petre
then returned home, and Vavasour and I remained
with the Maories in order to see about getting up food
and stores which had been dispatched in a whale
boat to Tekopi a native village and whaling station
at no great distance, which was the nearest practicable
landing-place.
" A week or more passed and no provisions
appeared. We lived on potatoes without any salt,
and on a few ducks which I had the luck to shoot,
for here we found a scarcity of game. Then, knowing
that there could be little or nothing left of the pro-
visions which had gone up to Warekaka with the
flock and shepherd (the sheep themselves of course
were as thin as scarecrows after their voyage, and
were lambing and quite uneatable) and that they
had not even natives in that district to supply
them with potatoes, we settled that Vavasour should
stay and watch for the boat whilst I went to Ware-
kaka in order to keep the men with the proceeds of
my gun. There was a faint native track up the
valley, also marks of the passage of the flock to go
by, so I arrived all right, carrying a load of ducks
and pigeons which I had shot in the swamps on my
way a welcome addition to a nearly exhausted
commissariat. I found a bark hut on the ground
constructed by the natives on what they considered
the most correct and latest European principles.
It had two large holes for doors, and two others on
each side which were intended for windows ; but as
both doors and windows were wanting, the rain and
wind drifted right through the house. Moreover,
the roof leaked like a sieve, and the hut itself was
built, for no conceivable reason, on a low bit of land
which was often flooded by the* river as we soon
found out to our cost. Of course it ought to have
been pulled down and built up at once elsewhere,
but the people we had got with us were a useless
24 A PLAGUE OF MOSQUITOES
lot, and I was a young bushman and had everything
to learn. Also the pressing necessity was to keep
the house supplied with food. Besides this, I did
not own the house. Vavasour had paid what in those
days was considered a large sum 25 to the natives
for building it. True, its value was represented by
the bark and the reeds, but it was a ' ware nui,' a
great house, and there was nothing to equal it in
size (30 feet by 12) within sixty miles on one side,
and the breadth of the island on the other. At first
we slept on beds of fern round the fire, but later
on (in the rainy season) we built up an island of
stones in the middle for a fireplace, and moored our
canoe alongside it. One advantage was that I could
shoot duck and waders out of the door, and paddle
the canoe in and out of the window without any
difficulty. All these experiences did not come at
once, and we had many very pleasant ones before
we changed it for a better situation.
" Our greatest trial while we lived there was
mosquitoes. No pen can describe, or mind conceive,
the horrors of them. They put out the wick in a
tin of fat which constituted our only apology for a
lamp ; they got into our mouths while we were
eating ; they filled the air with their hateful humming.
I have since been in many countries renowned for
mosquitoes in various parts of the world, but never
have I known anything approaching, even remotely,
the horror of the mosquito season in the Warekaka
Valley in those days. I am, however, anticipating.
At this time we were suffering, not from floods and
mosquitoes, but from hunger. Many years after-
wards, Bidwell, who was now encamped near us,
and with whom we shared our provisions and ammuni-
tion, used to recall with me the ' happy days of
starvation ' in the Wairarapa Valley. Salt pork,
flour, tea, rice, and sugar were things of the past,
ducks and pigeons in the vicinity were getting
thinned down and shy, and our stock of ammunition
even was running low. I had sent away some of
the men to get some more food, but my doves were
a long time returning to the ark, and meanwhile
things were beginning to look serious. The party
consisted of a shepherd lad who lived, I suppose, on
SHORT COMMONS 25
his fat, as starvation seemed to leave no trace on
him, and who spent his time looking after the sheep
in other words, sleeping ; M. E., a young man
whose principal characteristic was laziness, but who
undertook to cook whatever I shot. I was game-
keeper, commander-in-chief, and general purveyor.
With the first glimmer of dawn I used to get up,
and, gun in hand, with my powder and shot in a
pouch tied round my neck, accompanied by my
bull-mastiff (who made a splendid retriever), plunged
into the swamps very often up to my neck and
disturbed the wild duck at their early breakfast in
order to provide for ours. Midday was generally
spent in the woods ; I was unfortunate in never
coming across wild pigs, but I did not then know
their haunts, and as a morning lost meant a dinner
lost I could not spare time for exploration.
" About a fortnight of this sort of life passed, and
still there was no sign of the relieving party and my
stock of powder and shot began to get very low. I
did not dare to risk a difficult shot, and the birds
were becoming scarce and shy. One evening I made
the following proposal to E. that I would divide
that day's spoil of the chase with him and the boy
(three pigeons only), taking half one with me as
provision for the day ; that I would start at the earliest
dawn which would give me time to explore some woods
several miles from the hut, where I had previously
seen game, and should not return till nightfall. This,
with any luck, should give us a full larder for a day
in advance. I made only one stipulation, namely,
that, having divided one pigeon between them, the
other one and a half should be put into the pot
with a handful of rice, which was all that was left of
the provision we took up with us, and some wild
cabbage, to stew, so that on my return there would
be something for us all to eat. E. did not much like
the prospect of a day on such remarkably short
commons ; however, with the prospect of an enticing
supper, and of a replenished larder, he agreed. More-
over, he had a pipe and tobacco, and nothing to do
but to lie on a bed of fern all day and watch the pot
and long for the evening being bound, of course,
by solemn vows not to touch the stew, but leave it
26 'HOPE DEFERRED, ETC. 1
for fair division when I returned from my chasse,
and the fat boy from his daily sleep among the
sheep.
" The next day I started off at an early hour.
Owing to scarcity of ammunition I only dared to
risk a shot when I was certain of bringing down my
bird, so it was late in the day before I had made
a bag of eight pigeons, and turned my head home-
wards. I then got a teal, and soon after, to my great
joy, caught sight of a number of wild duck feeding
close together in an open pool in the middle of a
flax swamp. I cautiously waded towards them,
concealed by the tall flag-like leaves of the flax, and
just as I was beginning to fear that I was getting
out of my depth I found myself within easy distance
of them. Hunger knows no compunction, and I
was desperately hungry so I gave them both barrels
as fast as I could pull, one on the water, and one
just as they rose. Four never moved again, one,
a wounded one, was retrieved by my dog, and another
escaped among the reeds, but I bagged five and got
home at dusk, triumphant with over a dozen head
of game in my pockets or hanging over my shoulder.
My first inquiry was after the stew ; E.'s answer was
satisfactory. He had sampled it at noon : ' Just
a spoonful to see it was all right, and it was good.'
1 Off the fire with it then/ was my answer, ' and we
will divide it between us.' Oh ! the vanity of human
wishes ! Oh, cruel fates ! My pen declines, infandum
renovare dolor em. No water had been added since
noon, and all that was left of that dish for the gods
was a little gluey substance of the colour of tar which
stuck to the bottom of the pot. I will draw a veil
over what followed, and the remarks I made to E.
When the fat boy had recovered from the dangerous
effects of his disappointment he was made to scrape
out the pot, and E. was turned out in the cold to
pluck and prepare some of the birds. We did not
get supper till a late hour, and E. got his last which
was a comfort.
" Poor E. ! he was not without good points, but
they were not of a nature to be of much use either
to himself or others. After coming to grief in various
ways in New Zealand, his passage home was paid by
CONTRASTS 27
a kind friend, and he was sent back to his relations
in England ; and more lucky than many a youth
who found his way to the colonies because he could
be made nothing of at home, he ended by making
a good marriage, and he and his wife as far as I
know lived happily ever afterwards. Few of the
many specimens whom I have come across of the
genus ne'er-do-weel so affectionately shipped off to
the colonies by their relations, who, to use a trenchant
colonial phrase, wish to bury their dead out of sight,
were as lucky as E. was. I have known more than
one sink to the lowest depths of degradation, moral
and physical, deprived of all the influences for good
which might have been brought to bear upon them
by their friends in England. In pleasant contrast
with these are the manly, high-principled gentlemen,
the stout yeomen, and sturdy labourers whom I have
also known as colonists in New Zealand, and who have
laid the foundation of her prosperity and future
greatness. All these indeed were not successful.
Some failed, and others rose upon their fall a more
monied class as a rule, and with lower aims ; but in
the nature of things the early simplicity of life and
brotherhood could not last. Many old dreams, and
perhaps illusions, fade away, but I, for one, look
back on those early days and the friends I made
then with truest affection, and shall retain that
feeling to the last.
" I have wandered some way from Warekaka.
When (as usually happens) things were at their very
worst they began to mend. One night we were
sitting supperless over the fire, talking over the
situation, and we settled that next day the shepherd
lad should return to the gully where we had left
Vavasour and the relief party, to find out what had
happened to them ; and meanwhile, as I had four or
five charges of powder left, I decided to stick to the
ship as long as any hope remained. The outlook
was as dark as the night around us, when suddenly
far down the river we heard, or thought we heard,
for the sound was too faint to make certain, the
sound of a gun-shot. An anxious pause ; then
another report ; then another. Could it be Vavasour
with the men and food ? A few minutes more as
28 A RESCUE
the canoe turned round another reach of the river
we heard shouts, and more discharge of firearms.
It must be it was the convoy. On went fresh
logs, up blazed the fire, sending sparks up to the very
roof, whilst we put on our biggest pot so as to be
ready for the salt pork, potatoes, and other luxuries
which were so soon to be ours. In no time at all
the whaler was at the landing, and Vavasour jumped
out, his face beaming with pleasure at seeing us, and
finding us still alive starving indeed, but not starved.
He had long explanations, of course, to give of
unavoidable delays. We also had much to say.
What a night it was ! We consumed oceans of
pannican tea, and dough-cakes quickly prepared,
and salt pork there was nothing wanting to the
feast. Then, finally, this was followed by a luxurious
sleep on fresh fern covered with warm blankets
which Vavasour had brought up with him. Thus
ended a glorious evening.
" We now considered the station as fairly estab-
lished. The natives came and settled down in a pah
(stockade) at about a mile off, and began the cultiva-
tion of potatoes. I, meanwhile, continued and
extended my shooting expeditions in order to save
our provisions as much as possible. Before long we
came across the haunts of the wild pig a most
useful discovery. I also set to work to clear, dig,
and plant a garden, and the first European vegetable
ever grown or eaten in the Wairarapa district, now
the home of many thousands of Englishmen, was a
turnip raised by me. Later on, before I left New
Zealand, I ' lived ' like Mr. Justice Shallow ' to eat
many a pippin of my own graffing/ but these were
early days, and my efforts then were limited to the
strictly necessary. We were in great difficulties at
that time with our sheep, which were in a miserable
condition, and many of them diseased. The shepherd
turned out badly and finally left us. Then the winter
was upon us and again we were on very short com-
mons. The natives also gave us trouble ; for having
paid for the hut we found it impossible to make
them finish it, and in those days we neither under-
stood their ways nor they ours.
" The first winter which we passed in the Waira-
THE HUT FLOODED 29
rapa also was one of exceptional severity, and it was
followed by heavy floods. We had prepared, as we
thought, for anything that could happen, by building
berths on logs to raise our beds of fern off the ground.
But even this precaution did not avail us. One day
we were awakened at daybreak by a rushing and
furgling sound, and on stepping out of my berth
found myself up to my knees in water : the river
had risen and flooded the hut ! I woke up Vavasour,
and the fat boy, and then waded out, and found
our canoe fortunately moored within reach. We
then set to work and built a platform inside the hut
with some big logs, which made a foundation for the
hearth. We lit a fire, put on a kettle to make tea,
and filled the canoe with dry fern from our beds,
moored it alongside the hearth, and as we had already
put our not too plentiful supply of flour, tea, sugar,
etc., in security, we felt pretty comfortable. The
roof leaked, but to that we were quite accustomed.
Before taking off my wet clothes I waded out and got
some duck in the swamp, which was now level with
the river, the valley being all one lake. On my return
I settled myself with my two ' pig dogs/ Lump and
Boxer, beside me in the canoe, whilst Joe, sitting at
the opposite end, poured out tea and fried salt pork
at the fire which was now burning cheerfully. As
to Vavasour, I can see him now. He sat on a high
long-legged stool of our own manufacture with his
feet on a bucket, smoking a short clay pipe and
perfectly happy. How we laughed, and how we
enjoyed that breakfast ! I remember it as if it were
yesterday. Scarcely had it ended, however, when
the water began to rise above the level of Vavasour's
bucket ; so he decided to bolt, and seek shelter in
a hut which had been built a short time before by
some stockmen, higher up the valley. He reached
this at last, though not without considerable difficulty,
as all the creeks were in flood. But if the flood had
been good fun the subsiding of it was not, as it left
the floor deep in mud, and coated the sides of our
bark hut with the same miry substance to the height
of three feet. We had two more floods in the course
of that spring, owing to the melting of the snow on
the mountains.
30 STATION-LIFE
1 In the spring Clifford returned from Auckland,
where he had been attending Fitzroy's Legislative
Council, bringing with him a man of the name of
Cavershill a Border sheep-manager and a first-rate
man. Cavershill's services were sorely needed. We
knew nothing about sheep, and, as I have said before,
our little flock was decimated by disease, and we had
lost half that year's crop of lambs owing to the bad
weather and other causes. The first thing Cavershill
did was to take them up to the hills, and from that
time they began to improve. He was a very intelli-
gent man, and an enthusiast about sheep. He was
quick too in adapting his knowledge to the new
conditions, and in some ways our hills were not
unlike the Cheviots, the country from which he
came. I threw myself heart and soul into the work,
thoroughly mastering it in all its branches. I re-
member often sleeping out with the flock at night to
guard them from wild dogs, and I made a point of
going among them till I came to know most of them
by their faces and general appearance. It was my
great ambition at this time to be a first-rate bushman
and sheep-farmer, and I may honestly say, looking
back on those days, that I consider that I owe my
success in life, humanly speaking, to my devoting all
my energies to any task which I undertook, and always
doing it as well as I could, and with all my might.
I did not mind risks or hardships much, and I was
always of the opinion that a gentleman ought to set
the example in such matters to the men under him.
In spite of drawbacks of all kinds I enjoyed the life.
I did not dwell much on the future it certainly did
not look very promising at this time. Still I was, I
believe, one of the very few who took to the country
from the very first moment and never lost hope in its
future.
" We did not see much of Clifford at the station.
The mosquitoes and hard fare were not to his taste.
He lived at Wellington where he conducted a land
agency, and when I went to town he always gave me
a most hospitable reception. I never went there,
however, except to get my English letters, or for
pressing reasons. What a treat those letters were !
They were always four or five months' old, but how I
A STRENUOUS LIFE 31
longed for them, and how often I read and re-read
them ! We were fifty miles from Wellington, and
frequently in a high tide had to wade through the
sea, and cross the creeks (sometimes up to one's arm-
pits in water), to get there climbing up and down
rocks and steep hillsides. In those days I thought
nothing of walking forty miles a day, carrying a load
on my shoulders consisting of a blanket and provisions,
besides, often on my return journey things we
required for the station. Such was my apprentice-
ship to bush life in the Wairarapa."
CHAPTER III
'
" He that wrestles with us strengthens us; our antagonist is
our helper." BURKE.
FEW probably of the Colonies which have attained
success and prosperity are as little known to the
British traveller as New Zealand ; the obvious
reason being that though he will face discomfort by
land it requires more than a common reason to
encounter the same, or even lesser drawbacks, on a
long sea journey. A short description, therefore,
of the country and the position of affairs politically
and socially at the time Frederick Weld landed
there will help to explain his history.
The two islands, North and South, which form
New Zealand are divided by Cook's Strait, and are
1 200 miles in length with an average breadth of
about 1 20 miles. The climate differs considerably.
In the Bay of Islands, in the extreme North, oranges
and lemons ripen in the open air, and the vegetation
is sub-tropical. In Otago, in the Southern Island,
frost and snow are not unknown, and oats and Scots-
men are popularly said to thrive there taken as a
whole it may be described as that of the British Isles
with the three worst months left out. If the climate
offers every inducement to the European to settle
in New Zealand, the scenery to any one with an artist's
eye possesses an even more irresistible attraction.
Rivers, exquisite inland seas, a mountain range in
the Southern Island which rises to over 14,000 feet-
its sides clothed with forests, and, in places, with
tree-ferns and many varieties of flowering bushes
THE FIRST COLONISTS 33
of the most gorgeous description everything com-
bines to make it one of the most attractive countries
in the world. And yet at the time of the landing
of the passengers of the Theresa, many of the colon-
ists, as we have seen, despaired of its future, and were
on the point of re-embarking and setting sail for
South America. To account for this state of things
we must go back to the time when the great English
explorer first set his foot on the Islands.
With Captain Cook's landing in New Zealand in
1769 the history of New Zealand as a British colony
begins. He took possession of it in the King's name,
as he had previously done in his discovery of the Islands
of Oceania and the great continent of Australia.
He reported that the natives were friendly and in-
telligent, and departed, leaving a most useful legacy
behind him in the shape of some pigs, which ran wild,
and increased and multiplied, the Maories probably
not becoming acquainted at once with their merits
from a culinary point of view ; and these for fifty
years afterwards were the only quadrupeds on the
Islands. In the wake of the discoverers came
whalers and sealers, and later on in 1810 mis-
sionaries. Later still, in the 'twenties and 'thirties,
a certain number of settlers from New South Wales,
attracted no doubt by rumours of fat lands in New
Zealand, and facilities for purchasing them from the
natives, came and squatted there. So far the
Colonial Office had taken little or no interest in this
far-away appanage of the Crown. It had mildly
discouraged settlers for fear of difficulties with the
natives ; but an event at last occurred which obliged
the authorities at home to take up a line of some
sort ; and that was the formation of the New Zealand
Company. The question then had to be faced :
Were emigrants to be encouraged to go out to colonise
New Zealand, or were they not ?
34 ENGLAND AND HER COLONY
Undoubtedly Exeter Hall was responsible to a
large extent for the answer. The missionaries,
Anglican, Wesleyan, and Methodist, had had a great
success in New Zealand, and we cannot blame them
for doing their utmost to stop the introduction of
a hitherto foreign element a crowd of squatters,
in whose wake drink and every vice of civilisation
was certain to follow. There was, moreover, a strong
feeling in favour of the " noble savage," for such
he was made out to be in every pamphlet and journal
which took up the subject. Why should we molest
him in his happy hunting (or fishing) ground ? was
their cry. Perish the thought ! And sentiment,
being as we know the distinguishing mark of the
early Victorian period, carried the day. The New
Zealand Company was treated with sternest disdain ;
no means short of imprisonment and fine was left
untried to force them to give up their scheme. But
all was of no avail. They had a strong board of
directors, 1 and a determined man, Lord Durham,
as Chairman. So in spite of receiving no assurance
of support from the mother country, who in fact
all through treated the luckless Company like the
proverbial step-mother, reserving all her delicate
attentions for her ugly elder daughters the Maori,
they chartered several vessels, and set sail for New
Zealand.
It is perhaps hardly to be wondered at that the
(step) mother country did her best to discourage
English enterprise, as she had practically cut the
ground from under her own feet ten years before.
In that year (1832) a gentleman of the name of
1 Lord Petre, who was one of the directors, equipped and dispatched
an emigrant ship, the Tory, to New Zealand in 1839, his son the Hon.
H. Petre being on board. The Government sent a frigate in her
pursuit, but the Tory having secured a good start reached its destination
without hindrance.
TREATY OF WAITANGI 35
Busby had been appointed by the Government to
New Zealand under the title of Resident or Repre-
sentative of the Crown, with the function of pro-
tecting British commerce, and " repressing outrages
of British subjects on the natives." A little later
the Crown, acting on the advice of Mr. Busby and
the Governor of New South Wales, who had a kind
of titular authority over the Islands, presented the
collective tribes (who were not collected, and being
nearly all at war with each other had no autonomous
existence whatever) with a national flag, which was
formally hoisted and saluted by a British man-of-
war. Later still, in 1834, the Resident got thirty-five
chiefs together purporting to represent the Maori
race, and which (to quote an impugnable authority)
really only represented one tribe occupying not one-
fiftieth of the Island, and invited them to sign a
declaration asserting " the independence of the
united tribes of New Zealand, and constituting them
an independent State."
In the year 1840, however, a complete change
came over the spirit of England's dreams or perhaps
it would be better to say that she woke up only just
in time to find that a rival was in the field, and
that France had sent a frigate to take possession of
the Islands on the strength of her repudiation of
them in order to use them as a penal settlement.
No time was to be lost. Accordingly Captain
Hobson was deputed in hot haste as Consul, with
the mission of recovering the British sovereignty
by treaty with the natives. Again the same farce
was gone through. The treaty of Waitangi was
signed by forty-five chiefs (properly speaking, heads
of families) belonging to a single tribe, the Ngapuhi,
who occupied the district from which the treaty took
its name.
Aware no doubt of the insufficiency of the claim
36 A NATIVE CONFERENCE
of the negotiation to represent the Maories as a
nation, Captain Hobson sent messengers round the
country to obtain further signatures. A Major
Bunbury, who had been dispatched armed with
these instructions, was only just beforehand with
the French ; x and finding that he was closely pursued
by emissaries of that nation, he cut the Gordian knot
by proclaiming the Queen's Sovereignty " by right
of discovery " over the Southern and Stewart's
Islands. By this treaty the natives acknowledged
the suzerainty of the Queen, but the full possession
of their land was reserved to them. It was with
considerable difficulty that the native mind could
be made to grasp an abstract idea such as that
which was involved in the claim made for her Britannic
Majesty, as they had nothing that corresponded in
the smallest degree with it in their own language
or customs ; but they finally accepted the inter-
pretation, that it signified giving up the shadow and
retaining the substance ; and with this they were
satisfied.
That the treaty of Waitangi meant anything to
anybody except to its framers and the wiseacres at
home may be confidently denied. New Zealand
settlers, known to be authorities on the subject and
thoroughly acquainted with the native mind, unani-
mously declare that as regards the vast majority
of Maories it was never anything but a dead letter.
The evidence given twenty years later on the subject
of the treaty at the Kohimarama Conference a sort
of Maori Parliament at which representatives of
most of the Maori tribes assisted was as follows :
" Paul Tuahaere, a very intelligent chief, at the
time member of the Provincial Government, said :
1 The French colony at Akarao, in the Southern Island, is the only
survival of the effort made by the French on this occasion to colonise
New Zealand.
THE NEW ZEALAND CO.'S CLAIMS 37
' Blankets were brought by Williams ' (Captain
Hobson's emissary), ' these I call the bait. The fish
did not know there was a hook within ; he took the
bait and was caught. Mr. Williams' bait was a
blanket. When he came to a chief he presented his
hook, and forthwith drew forth a subject for the
Queen.' Another very respectable and loyal native,
Heme Parae, said : ' As to what is called the treaty of
Waitangi I heard nothing about it. It is true I
received one blanket. It was given to me without
explanation by Mr. Williams.' " l
This treaty, though the immense majority of
Maories had never heard of it, and the few before
whom it was laid never grasped its meaning, was
accepted in its entirety by the Crown's advisers ; and
the New Zealand Company, in their attempts to buy
land from the natives, found themselves continually
thwarted by the attitude of their representatives in
the country. Possibly if they had gone to w r ork
slowly and tactfully, gaining the confidence of the
natives, who in many cases were as anxious to sell
land as the Company w r as to buy it, all would yet
have been well. Unfortunately before they had been
three years in the country they made a faux pas of
such magnitude, that it not only extinguished all
the Company's prospects of success as a colonising
agency, but justified every measure taken in their
disfavour.
This incident, which is mentioned by Frederick
Weld in the previous chapter, occurred six months
before he emigrated, in June 1843, an d is known as
the Wairau Massacre. The claims of the New
Zealand Company to land purchased from the natives
amounted to some million acres, these were situated
partly in the Northern Island and partly in the
northern portion of the Southern Island. These
1 Journal of the Proceedings of the Royal Colonial Institute, vol.
xiv. p. 105.
38 A DISPUTED SALE
claims were in many cases stoutly resisted by the
natives some rightfully, on the ground that as by
native custom land was always held by the tribe in
common, the consent of all the heads of the families
had not been gained. Or, as was the case in other
instances, when they found they could get a better
price for it by holding on, and disowning the original
sale.
It was in the case of a disputed sale (though
whether it belonged to the first or second category
will ever remain uncertain) that a party of land-
surveyors who had been sent from the Nelson Settle-
ment to mark out the ground in the Wairau Valley, a
district in Cloudy Bay, for occupation by intending
settlers, were stopped by the Maories, their stakes
pulled up, and every means used to turn them from
the performance of their task. This information
coming to the ears of Captain Wakefield, coupled
with the news that Rauparaha and Ranghiaiata,
two powerful and unscrupulous chiefs, had advanced
claim to the disputed land, and evidently meant
mischief having already burnt a hut belonging to
the chief surveyor he hurried to the spot. In a letter
written by him to his brother x before starting, he
says : " The magistrates have granted a warrant on the
information, and Thompson, accompanied by Captain
England, self, and a lot of constables, are off immedi-
ately to execute it. We shall muster about sixty, so I
think we shall overcome these travelling bullies. I never
felt more convinced of being about to act for the benefit
1 Edward Gibbon Wakefield, author of The Art of Colonisation,
and secretary of the New Zealand Company. Opinions in the Colonies
differed about the merits of his theories ; but the view held by J. Robert
Godley, the great coloniser and philanthropist, was undoubtedly shared
by many. In a letter to Adderley he remarks : "I earnestly hope
and believe we have now seen the last of colonising Associations. I
long held with Wakefield that they were positively good ; then I came
to look upon them as lesser but necessary evils. Now I consider they
do more harm than good."
THE ATTACK 39
of all, and not least so with regard to the native race." *
Accordingly Captain Wakefield set forth to the
scene of disturbance, accompanied by half a dozen
colonists, Captain England of H.M. I2th Foot Regi-
ment, Thompson, the chief constable of Nelson, Mr.
Brooks as interpreter, and about twenty-five labourers,
and other men connected with the Survey department.
On the 1 5th they reached the mouth of the river
Wairau, and here arms consisting of cutlasses,
muskets and pistols were served out to the men,
who had been sworn in as constables by the Com-
pany's storekeeper. The following day the little
party marched up the valley and came in sight of
the two chiefs and their followers having previously
divided into two bodies, one under command of
Captain England and the other of Mr. Howard.
Strict injunctions had been given to the men not to
fire without orders.
At first all went well ; then Mr. Thompson showed
his warrant and directed the constable to execute it
on Rauparaha, and instructed Brooks to explain the
meaning of it. Mr. Thompson also explained that
he was the Queen's representative, and, pointing
to the warrant, said that was the Queen's book, and
that Rauparaha must go on board the brig with
the constable to answer for the offence of burning
Mr. Cotterell's house. This, he explained, had nothing
to do with the land question. Was it surprising that
Rauparaha refused ? The conversation now became
heated. Thompson said that if the chief would not
come, he would use force, and pointing to the English,
said : " There are my men, and they shall fire upon
you all if you won't come." A man of the name of
Richardson, who apparently kept his head, called
out : " For God's sake mind what you are about."
1 This account (considerably abbreviated) is taken from Swainson's
New Zealand and its Colonisation, pp. 109-15.
40 A WHOLESALE MASSACRE
Thompson paid no attention, and called on the armed
party to fix bayonets and advance. They did so,
and, whether by accident or design is uncertain, a
shot was fired on the side of the English. The firing
then became general, and at first it seemed as if
the latter would have the best of it. Then they
wavered, and Rauparaha seeing his opportunity
urged his warriors to the pursuit. Again and again
Captain Wakefield and Thompson shouted to the
men to hold their ground, and turn and charge.
The white men were totally undisciplined, the large
majority labourers, who had probably never used a
bayonet or a cutlass before in their lives ; and, when
the panic had become general, were powerless before
savages used to war and armed with guns and toma-
hawks. The slaughter was terrible. Rauparaha, it
is said, destroyed the greater number with his own
hand. At last Captain Wakefield, finding it im-
possible to rally his men, ordered them to lay down
their arms. The triumph of the native was complete.
The losses of the English were nineteen killed and
five dangerously wounded ; the numbers engaged
being fifty-six on the British and about forty on the
native side. The Maories lost four killed, and five
wounded. Wakefield and Thompson were among
the slain.
The explanation of this tragedy can only be given
in the Latin saying : Quern Deus vult perdere, prius
dementat. Anything so ill-planned, so rashly entered
into, so feebly carried out, it is impossible to conceive.
The immediate results were that the Maories made
the discovery that instead of the English being
invincible they were able to inflict a crushing defeat
upon them in spite of the preponderance of numbers
on their opponents' side. The result to the settlers
all over the Islands may therefore be easily imagined.
The first settlement which was threatened with an
CLAIMS OF THE NEW ZEALAND CO. 41
attack was Wellington ; as, anticipating retaliation
from the English, Rauparaha and Ranghiaiata in-
stantly crossed Cook's Straits with a large band of
warriors and entrenched themselves in the neighbour-
hood of that town, which was then the headquarters
of the New Zealand Company. A conflict was
averted by the influence of the missionaries, but
murders and outrages inflicted on squatters in out-
lying districts became of frequent occurrence ; in
short, the native problem had reached the acute
stage. This was one of the many results of that
fatal day. Another was that it placed the various
contending parties in the Islands into entirely fresh
relations with each other.
To begin with the New Zealand Company : the
massacre of Wairau may be said to have dealt them
their death-blow. The main difficulty they had to
contend with from the first was to carry on negotia-
tions with the natives for the sale of land under the
steady discouragement of the Colonial Office and its
representatives in New Zealand. These difficulties
were now increased tenfold. Their affairs became
more and more involved. " On all sides they were
beset with claims for compensation and redress,
their capital was expended, and the native owners
of the soil were now unwilling to deal with them for
the sale of it on reasonable terms." 1 The Company
as a last resource claimed compensation from the
Government, and a committee was appointed in
February 1 849 to examine into the complaints made by
them of losses sustained in consequence of the pro-
ceedings of the Colonial Office and of the local Govern-
ment in New Zealand. Lord Howick was appointed
Chairman, and the committee reported that in their
opinion the Company were entitled to redress. The
Conservative Government was then in power, and
1 New Zealand and its Colonisation, p. 137.
42 TRIUMPH OF MAORI CHIEFS
Lord Stanley, who was at the time in the Colonial
Office, refused to carry out this injunction. In 1852,
Lord Stanley with a change of Government went out
of office, and was succeeded at his post by Lord
Howick, who meanwhile had been transferred to the
House of Lords through the death of his father. Lord
Grey having supported the Company's claim when in
committee (as Lord Howick), could do no less than
carry out his own recommendations. Accordingly,
after much discussion, in the House and out of it,
this compensation was fixed at the sum of 200,000,
which was settled as a debt on the waste-lands of the
New Zealand colony.
Such was the somewhat inglorious ending of the
" John Company ' of the southern hemisphere.
To conclude with Swainson's verdict, from whose
pages we have taken the above facts : " Taking a
general view of their proceedings, it must be ac-
corded to the New Zealand Company that but
for their timely and zealous efforts New Zealand
might have been lost to the British Crown ; that
they hastened the measures too tardily taken for its
colonisation ; and that they colonised it at several
points with some of the finest settlers who ever left
the parent State." l
To return to Rauparaha and Ranghiaiata, whom
we have left in open revolt against the Crown's
officers, and terrorising the district, it is but natural
to ask what means were taken to punish the offenders
and protect the innocent. The answer is a simple
one. None. Governor Fitzroy (Hobson's successor)
was no doubt well-intentioned, but timid, and wholly
without initiative, and finding himself incapable
of unravelling the tangled web of events he referred
the whole matter to the Colonial Office. As it re-
quired eight or nine months to get a reply to dis-
1 New Zealand and its Colonisation, p. 148.
RESULTS IN THE COLONY 43
patches, and Her Majesty's advisers were at an even
greater disadvantage from many points of view than
the Governor himself, the answer when it arrived
like many another answered nothing. Temporising
was what was chiefly recommended, and carefulness
to keep out of such scrapes in the future. As for
blame, it was equally and impartially bestowed on
both parties.
That the case was a complicated one may, in
justice to Fitzroy and his counsellors, be readily
conceded. Also that in the absence of the chief
witnesses for the natives had taken to the bush,
and their opponents were butchered it would have
been exceedingly difficult in the inflamed state of
colonial public opinion to have obtained an impartial
verdict in the case of a trial, may also be admitted.
But the effect on the native mind was none the less
disastrous, such subtleties for him having no existence.
To the Maori one fact only was clear as the sun at
noon-day ; that he had defied the power of England
with impunity, and that he had dipped his hand in
the white man's blood and gone unpunished. All this
signified weakness on the part of the enemy a fatal
miscalculation which cost the lives of thousands
before it was set right.
A series of acts of aggression on British lives and
property date from the time of the Massacre of Wairau.
It was followed ten months later by an attack on
Whale Island by Heki and his tribe. Moreover,
when disputes rose between the settlers and the
Maori, instead of resorting to arbitration, a method
they had readily adopted in earlier days, frequent
recourse was had to the gun or the tomahawk. The
appointment of Sir George Grey to the governorship
of the Islands and the energetic means he took to put
down the rebellion in the Hutt campaign, also the
personal ascendancy he gained over the natives by a
44 MAORI CHARACTERISTICS
policy of mingled firmness and clemency, produced
a temporary lull in the hostilities. But the peace
which followed was at best but an insecure one.
The confiscation of the land of the rebel chiefs, an
extreme measure frequently threatened but at last
carried into execution, stopped the native wars in
New Zealand. Till this means of punishment was
resorted to the two sides were unequally matched ;
for whereas war meant death to the Colony's pros-
perity, it was the natural occupation of the Maori,
his favourite pursuit which took precedence, in his
estimation, of all others. There is no doubt that it
was a long time before " the powers that be " in
England, to the profound exasperation of the
colonists, could be made to understand this indubit-
able fact. No one who was in frequent and intimate
contact with the natives, and had got to understand
the working of their minds, would deny them the
possession of fine points, but any calculation made on
any basis but that the Maori was first of all a fight-
ing man would necessarily be delusive. All their
habits their cannibalism, the infanticide they
practised on their female offspring, point to the same
conclusion. Like the Red Indians, the subject of
greatest pride with them was the numbers they had
slain in battle, and the native wars (we are told by
a first-rate authority) were, at the time the English
began to colonise their country, rapidly bringing
about the extinction of the race. The same authority x
tells us that when he first landed in New Zealand, in
1842, a celebrated native of the Southern Island,
who went in whaler society by the name of Bloody
Jack, had just succeeded in driving Te Rauperha
back to Cook's Strait with great slaughter, and when
on going on board a British man-of-war he was asked
1 Sir Charles Clifford, Journal of the Royal Colonial Institute, vol.
xiv. p. 112.
THEIR PASSION FOR WAR 4$
who he was, replied, " Me all the same as Duke of
Wellington, Rauperha all the same as Napoleon.' 1
Which anecdote shows that the native had some
sense of humour, as well as a knowledge of
history.
It has been said of the Maori, by one who knew
them well, that it was impossible to describe them
in general terms : that they were at once the most
generous and the most rapacious of savages ; the
most faithful, and yet the most ungrateful ; the most
bloodthirsty, and yet, on occasion, the most kind-
hearted. To label them generally as it would be
possible to do without gross unfairness in the case
of a lower-grade nation, such as the Australian
aborigines would be to give an utterly deceptive
impression of their merits or their defects. It would
be as correct to describe them as devils or pious
Christians (and they have been placed in both cate-
gories) as to speak in the same way of the inhabitants
of Liverpool or Chicago. More so, as respectability
and the policeman having no existence in the case
of the savage, natural instincts had it all their own
way. And just as individual differed from individual
so tribe differed from tribe, even in their strongest
and most generally recognised characteristics, as for
instance their passion for war. Some tribes, it was
well known, would willingly have lived at peace
with their European neighbours, cultivated their
potato patches, given their labour and shared their
land such of it as they did not require in return
for the tobacco and blankets, and various other
things, for which a partial civilisation had given
them a taste. Others, on the contrary, like the
savage tribes in the centre and eastern shores of the
Northern Island, such as the Waikato, the Ngati-
poro, and the Uriwera, had no sooner sown their seeds
in the spring than they sallied forth in search of
6
46 THE BELGIUM OF NEW ZEALAND
adventure. Spring with them meant " the time when
kings go to war." l These deep-rooted differences
between the various tribes of New Zealand were no
doubt all in the colonist's favour, when he strove to
throw out roots in various parts of the Island. If
by some he was looked upon as the enemy of their
race and nation, by others he was welcomed as their
friend, almost their saviour.
Fox, in his account of the Maori wars, gives an
instance of this :
" The Ngatiwhatuas," he writes, " occupied a
district which lay between the two greatest and
most warlike tribes in the island, the Ngapuhi and
the Waikato. These latter tribes were always at
war, and when Waikato invaded Ngapuhi via Ngati-
whatua they usually gave the latter a back-handed
blow in going or coming. So when Ngapuhi invaded
Waikato they in their turn gave a dig in passing,
and as these invasions were annual the position of
Ngatiwhatua became something worse than that of
Belgium used to be among the belligerents of Europe.
In short, they were known to say : ( If you English
had not come they would have eaten us up between
them ' " 2
The result of this state of things was that the
Ngatiwhatua pressed his lands on the only too-willing
Pakeha, and was glad to part with a portion of his
territory in order to enjoy peaceful possession of what
was left. It was in this manner that the Auckland
district was settled upon by Europeans. But this
partial and temporary truce which occurred after
the colonisation of New Zealand was too pleasant
to last. It lasted with (comparatively) insignificant
interruption for twelve years ; from the time when
the native risings after the Wairau disaster were put
1 They have an equivalent for this phrase in the Maori language.
2 W. Fox, War in New Zealand, p. 26.
TAMIHANA 47
down by Governor Grey with a strong hand in the
year 1847-48 till the year 1860.
About the year 1854 a movement was set on foot
by the disaffected tribes of the interior of the North
Island to oppose the sale of land to Europeans. This
was followed a little later by their electing a king to
rule over them. The leading spirit in both cases
was an astute native of the name of Tamihana,
known to the English by his " missionary " name of
William Thompson. Though these developments of
the native mind were looked upon with a suspicious
eye by the governing powers, they did not at first
oppose them. Both Sir George Grey and Colonel
Gore Browne adhered to a line of policy which had
been adopted with regard to the Maori race from the
outset, and which it must be admitted was a sound
one, namely, that they were to be allowed to manage
their own affairs in their own way as long as they
did not menace European lives and laws. As long
as the Queen's writ ran over the Islands the Maori
might be and was allowed to choose his own chief,
and to call him king or by any other name that he
fancied. That the passive policy of their Excellencies
was blamed when it was followed by trouble and
disaster goes without saying ; a fairer verdict would
be that their action had little or no influence on the
course of events. It was improbable that a warlike
people such as the Maori would have allowed the
gradual encroachment of the white man on their
lands and liberties without a struggle. The struggle
had to come, and, equally, it had to end in the
supremacy of the stronger and more civilised race.
CHAPTER IV
"Thou, O God, sellest all things at the price of labour."
DA VINCI.
BEFORE young Weld had been long at Warekaka
negotiations were started between him and its owners
with the object of his joining them, and buying up a
fourth share in the station, his means not allowing
of his buying a third. Petre, who had been joint-
owner with Clifford and Vavasour in the concern,
had decided to give it up in order to devote his
attention to horse breeding. The plan seemed to
promise well all round, and Fred, writing to his
father on the subject, says :
" I hope I shall be of real use to them, and
I trust I shall as you know the French saying,
Vail du maitre fait les brebis gras. Now as Clifford
has to be generally at Wellington to attend to his
agency affairs, and Vavasour goes back to England
in six months, some one must be here to look
after our interests. Then what an advantage it
will be to me, when I go home, to be able to leave
them in such safe hands. . . . With regard to ad-
vising any one to emigrate to this country, I can only
repeat what I said before : there is very little money
in the colony at present, consequently very little
sure pay even when there is work. Still there are
a good many instances of men beginning with nothing
who have worked their way to a house and a bit of
land, especially at New Plymouth."
Writing a little later, when the terms of his
partnership were concluded, he says :
PROSPECTS OF SHEEP-FARMING 49
" As soon as the purchase is completed I shall be
part-owner of 450 Merino and Southdown ewes and
of about 250 lambs on a splendid station rented from
the Maories, with a hut, etc. I shall have the benefit
of Clifford's experience, and of his acknowledged
talent for business. You will no doubt see the
immense advantages to me in this plan. I wall only
add that sheep-farming is undoubtedly the most
promising speculation which can be gone into at
present in New Zealand. The wool alone must in
the first few years pay the expenses of the station,
and then one has the certain prospect of an increasing
flock. This station, too, offers many advantages.
The wood behind the house furnishes us with fuel ;
the water we get from the river, which is close at
hand, is excellent though on one occasion we had
a little too much of it. However, a flood is probably
very rare, as the banks are 15 feet high. We are
going to erect a saw-pit on the opposite side of the
river, and John Foss, who has lately been working
for Jerningham, is coming to saw boards, and make
doors and shutters for our new house. The river
furnishes us with a communication with the sea,
and Clifford is looking out for a boat to put upon it
which will save great expense in bringing up pro-
visions, which at present have to be carried up by
natives from the coast, a distance of fifteen miles.
Warekaka itself is about fifty miles from Wellington,
and the road over the hills being impassable we have
to follow the coast-line which is anything but direct.
The distance from a market therefore renders more
cultivation than is necessary to supply our own wants
totally useless, and this state of things will probably
last for many years to come. The soil is in many
parts excellent, and some day possibly will repay the
agriculturists ; at present the value of the place arises
from its being the nearest land to Wellington for
pastoral purposes on a large scale. The station,
which consists of about one mile square of undulating
grass land backed by a fine range of hills also
available for sheep and possessing bush land enough
for all our requirements for a hundred years or more,
is rented by Clifford, Vavasour and myself at 12 a
year from the native chiefs, who are glad to get
50 THE WAIRARAPA VALLEY
white men amongst them to buy their pigs and
potatoes, and supply them with tobacco in return for
work. We are also going to take an adjoining plain
for a winter station if we can get the chiefs to part
with it, for our present one though first-rate in summer
is much too wet in winter, and the plain is always
dry. In addition to this the river and swamps are
thronged with duck and widgeon and teal ; the woods
are alive with kakas (large red and brown parrots)
and for most part of the year with pigeons. There
are not a great number of wild pigs close to the
house, but there are plenty, we have lately discovered,
at a short distance.
" There is no doubt that in a short time the whole
of this valley and the adjoining ones will be settled
on by sheep and stock-breeders, as they are quite
equal to any part of Australia for pastoral purposes.
We may therefore reasonably expect a good return
for our capital if we continue increasing pur stock,
and paying attention to our breed keeping at the
same time our whole establishment on as economical
a footing as possible. We have also the advantage
of being the first settlers in the valley, and when we
have sheep to sell, who would not prefer buying his
sheep to stock a new station on the spot to sending
for them to Sydney ? A very little reflection must
show that the advantages of being early settlers
(for pastoral purposes) in a country like New Zealand,
which if it goes ahead must ultimately become the
centre of farming operations, is incalculable. More-
over, New Zealand wool fetches a higher price in
England than that of Australia, and as the population
increases, so will the demand for mutton. You may
therefore see your son now transmogrified into a
shepherd ! I take my gun in my hand most mornings
and sally forth to yisit the ' fleecy treasures/ and see
how they are getting on ; and on my way I often
knock over a hawk that rises from some dead lamb
he has been devouring we lost a good many lambs
this year from the wet, the ewes having lambed at
the wrong season ; and perhaps I get a shot at some
huge paradise ducks or ' poutang a tangi ' that come
flying heavily past me. Returning home I work at
the future garden, or at anything else that may turn
A MAORI SERVANT 51
up, or I may set off for the woods to shoot pigeons or
parrots for dinner. Another day I take my little
native servant with me, and paddle down the river
in a canoe and turn into the lagoons, and lying on
the bow of the boat I bang away right and left at
the ducks that rise on all sides. Or I may go to some
native settlement and return with the little craft
loaded with potatoes and perhaps a pig or two in
return for tobacco. Then there are expeditions of
various kinds to be made and an occasional pig
hunt, so you see we always find plenty to do.
<( The household consists of Vavasour and myself,
shepherd, shepherd's boy, and the little Maori,
who is principally employed in cooking. He lives
with us because he gets good food and clothing. He
is about ten years old, and is a young chief among
his own people. He is perfectly ignorant that we
consider him as a servant, and thinks that we are
very kind in letting him stay here, and he helps as a
matter of course, and obeys as being the youngest.
He seems very fond of us, and if he goes on as he
promises to do, I should pronounce him to be one of
the best specimens of a Maori that I have yet seen.
We had another lad before him, but we got rid of him
as we caught him making off with a lot of stolen
articles. Besides these we have generally a native
or two, and sometimes a European working on the
place. ... I have let a small part of my town acre
in Wellington for seventeen pounds a year, and the
agent is trying to dispose of the rest of it at ten shillings
a foot rental for frontage. My country section is a
very fine one, but is still in the possession of the
natives."
Writing a month later to one of his twin-sisters he
says :
' I am lying down on a mat in my little ' ware ' or
hut, before me on the ground is a fire, and on it a pot
boiling with some pork for dinner. I had just begun
to write this when in walked a native chief, and with
him half a dozen of his retainers, and laid himself
down by my side. So you may fancy me now, lying
52 A NATIVE ALLY
down writing with my visitors round me all watching
the motions of my pen with the greatest interest,
never dreaming that I am in the act of describing
them. The chief, who is much tatooed, is rather a
handsome, I may say gentlemanly-looking, savage.
He is draped in an English blanket and wears a shark's
tooth in his ear by way of ornament ; by his side is
his Meri Poemannoo or green-stone club and head-
breaker, as the white men call it. It is about
a foot long, very heavy, and cut out of a
lump of hard green polished stone. This chief is
a great friend of mine. He calls himself some-
times Wetterike (Frederick) and me Narro (his
name). He sells me potatoes and pigs for tobacco,
and threatens to break any man's head who steals
from me, so I sometimes give him a cup of tea as a
great luxury, and a bit of hearth cake or dough-nut.
At my feet is my little native lad dressed in white
trousers, and a blue sailor's shirt, his head ornamented
with white albatross feathers. On the other side of
the fire are two or three natives and a little boy ;
one is dressed in an old counterpane, and the rest in
mats of their own manufacture, some of which are
very curious and beautiful. I see one of them is
looking intently at my iron soup-pot, but he is very
much mistaken if he thinks he will get my dinner.
The worst of these visitors is that they are some-
times given to thieving, and as I am alone in the house
this week (Vavasour has gone to Wellington to get
seeds for the garden) I am obliged to remain indoors
all the time they stay. It is not often I let in so
many. I am expecting every day the arrival of
John Foss to finish the house, and shall be very glad
when we get the doors up as we shall then be able to
keep the natives out without any difficulty."
In a letter written a month later, Weld gives an
account of an exploring expedition made by him and
Clifford in search of winter pasture for their sheep :
" We started from Wellington," he says, " for
Tecopi (a pah in Wairarapa Bay) in a little trading
cutter. There was a heavy ground swell, and we were
TREATMENT OF NATIVES 53
becalmed for some hours under a hot sun, and to my
surprise I was so desperately sea-sick that I verily
believe that if the Alarm herself had come alongside,
and on the other hand a canoe to paddle me ashore,
such was my anguish, I should have jumped into the
canoe and made for the land. The next morning,
after landing at Tecopi, we started for the sheep-
station accompanied by a number of natives, who
happened to be travelling our way. Clifford and
I could not help speculating at what you alLat home
would have said if you had seen us surrounded by
these natives who, armed to the teeth, were playing
every kind of game as we went along. You would
certainly have thought that the good-naturedly
brandished tomahawk was about to descend on our
heads in order to furnish food for some of the elegantly
tatooed jaws that were grinning round us. It is
very difficult to judge of the native unless you have
lived with them as we do here. A savage, when his
passions are dormant and he is treated as a companion
and friend, is quite as safe probably more so
than two-thirds of the Europeans you meet in these
colonies. It is true that the foolish conduct of the
Goyernor in allowing the natives to take the law into
their own hands, and not allowing equal justice to
white man and Maori, have estranged the settlers
from the natives. But even now if he comes to their
houses he invariably receives food, and seldom goes
away without a present of tobacco or a trifle of that
sort. If disputes occur it is undoubtedly owing to
the policy of Hobson and Fitzroy and the Exeter Hall
philanthropists who have persuaded the natives that
they may do anything and everything with im-
punity. If a native chief is taken up for stealing he
is persuaded to make restitution, and then gets a
horse or some such gift from the Governor for having
been a good boy and given back what didn't belong
to him. A year and a half ago Rauparaha murdered
the Nelson magistrate at Wairau in consequence of a
dispute about some land (which has since been proved
to belong to the New Zealand Company), and Fitzroy
this year issues a writ appointing him a native con-
stable, a post which is held in great honour by the
Maories. The Governor gives this to the murderer,
54 PIONEERING EXPEDITION
and refuses it to chiefs who have behaved well. What
is the consequence ? the Ngateawa chiefs say openly,
1 We have always behaved well ; we have killed no
white men ; but now we see the Governor gives
payment to Rauparaha for killing white men. We
will do so too. We can kill white men as well as
Rauparaha.' This candid remark of old E. Puosi,
a < Port Nicholson chief, is a better comment on
Fitzroy's ' policy of conciliation ' than all the news-
paper criticisms that have ever been written.
" On our way up to the station we met some
settlers on their way down who told us that our house
was flooded, and that Vavasour, when last seen, was
seated in a canoe in the parlour calmly smoking his
pipe. Pleasant news for people who were hungry
and tired after a long day's walk. We were relieved
on arriving to find that the house instead of being
knee-deep in water was only ankle-deep in soft slimy
mud. We found Vavasour well, and quite prepared
for the expedition which was to start the following
day. Accordingly we dispatched messages to the
natives, and on 1 8th November started on a pioneering
expedition to Ware-homa. The party consisted of
Clifford, Vavasour and myself, three white men, and
about six Maories the main body of the tribe having
gone forward. Te Koro, who accompanied us, is the
chief of the tribe or clan to which Ware-homa
belongs, and like all other natives he is very anxious
to have a white man on his land. His clan are part
of the great Ngategahuni tribe, to which all this
southern end of the Island belongs and which is
divided into septs or families, each of which has its
own chief a distinction earned partly by gifts of
nature and partly by birth but all of whom would
unite in times of danger. We started at an early
hour, the Maories carrying our guns and overjoyed
at being lent pistols, and other weapons to ornament
their persons. We were all in great spirits, with Lump,
who is a cross between a bulldog and mastiff and a
perfect beauty, barking and careering about as if
quite aware of the opportunities he would have
of pig-hunting.
" The road lay for the first few miles on a nearly
level and grassy plain ; then we halted at a small
A NEW ZEALAND DAMSEL 55
pah at the foot of the hills which surround the valley
where lies our sheep-run. I had been so far before,
but when we ascended an opening in the hills all was
new and unexplored. The country was hilly,
abounding in grass, and with quite sufficient wood
both for shelter and fuel. The most important
discovery we made was of a herb called anise or
aniseed, of which the existence in the Northern
Island had hitherto been denied. It possesses re-
markable fattening qualities, especially for cattle.
It is much used in France, as you probably know,
for flavouring cordials, etc. It grows in this country
in great profusion, scenting the whole air. We saw
numbers of flowers which were unknown to us,
amongst others an extraordinary-looking orchid.
Some Maori girls who joined the party at the pah
presented us with bouquets of flowers, and seemed
highly amused at our interest in them. After a
longish day, with only one halt for a smoke, we
began to speculate when we should come up with the
main body of the natives, when a lad just ahead
stopped, and pointed to a thick wood by the hillside
whence a thin curl of smoke could be seen slowly
rising. We entered the wood under an arched
passage of evergreens, and found ourselves in the
midst of natives in a space cleared of underwood, and
containing bark sheds. Great was the uproar when
they beheld their ' white men ' and the chief ; and
mighty the yelping of curs and squealing of pigs.
When the uproar had subsided a little I was intro-
duced to Te Koro's wife, a jolly motherly-looking
dame, wrapt in a mat, and comparatively clean,
and very good-natured in appearance. We made
friends at once, and she began by presenting us with
a little pig. She has three grown-up sons, and a
brat about eight, the ugliest and most amusing little
beast I ever came across. Also a daughter of about
fifteen or sixteen called Irrihabeti not pretty, but
with a pleasant expression. In one ear she wore a
shark's tooth, and in the other a half-crown piece.
Her black hair was neatly smoothed down,
and bound with a strip of flax like a diadem
across her forehead. She wore a mat of native
manufacture with a girdle round her waist. This
56 A FEAT IN SWIMMING
description will give you a good idea of the get-up
of a New Zealand belle.
' The first scene on our arrival, whilst our men
were pitching the tents, was a desperate affray
between Miss Irrihabeti and her monkey of a brother.
The young lady had caught a fine fat rat and was
cooking the delicious morsel at the fire when the
brother came behind, and with a sudden jerk pitched
it into the fire. Poor Irrihabeti picked it out, and
recommenced toasting it, but again the brat jerked
it off the stick, seized it and made for the bush.
Who could stand this ? Irrihabeti could not, so
she pursued the culprit, caught him, scratched and
slapped him, but the rat was lost in the struggle,
and she returned finally to the fire, avenged but
empty-handed. The Maories after a great feast on
wild pig (which they caught on the way) fell asleep
round their fires, and we went to our tent, and were
not long in following their example.
" Our path the next morning led over hills and
through woods till we halted at midday on the
banks of the Ruamahunga River. The natives did
not seem at all inclined to go on any farther, urging
that the river was in flood, etc. However, we passed
over, and found the current, though rapid, was not
above knee-deep. The scene when we forded the
river was truly ludicrous. Our party was about
fifty or sixty strong, and we were accompanied by a
large retinue of cur dogs and pet pigs. The latter
were carried away by the stream one after another,
whilst the old women shouted to them in the most
plaintive manner from the bank. Finally, six large
pigs were carried down a rapid below the ford, when
suddenly a young native leapt in after them, and a
most exciting chase followed. After a time the Maori
reached them, and with great difficulty succeeded
in getting them all ashore. I never witnessed a
finer feat in swimming. The scenery at this ford
was very picturesque, and I took a rough sketch
of it after passing over. Leaving the river we
traversed a fine grassy plain and encamped in a
wood for the night.
" Our journey the next day (2Oth) occupies a
large space in my journal, for we saw much that was
THE TANGI 57
important to the sheep-farmer and grazier, this
part of the country being as yet wholly unknown.
Our route lay through a succession of the most beauti-
ful plains covered with luxuriant herbage, well-
watered, and sheltered by belts of forests. In some
places one might almost have imagined oneself in an
English park, and in others where the road left the
valley the scenery became even more beautiful
and wilder, and one caught sight of the distant snow-
clad ranges of the Porirua. These plains would be of
great value if any means could be devised of getting
the produce to market, as some day no doubt there
will be, when the country is opened out. We saw
some fine trees in the woods and I measured one, a
tetara pine, that was 24 feet in circumference at 5 feet
from the ground, which ran up for 40 or 50 feet without
a branch. I also saw a rata tree of even greater
size and circumference, and tetara pine of great size
are common. Towards evening we approached a
large pah, and pur arrival was announced by firing
the guns and pistols a great waste, but one which
is insisted upon by our conductors. The inhabitants
were all assembled at the entrance, but not one moved
forward or offered to greet us, until we formed in
order and advanced all together towards them.
We were then welcomed by loud whining, and cries
of, ' Come, come/ uttered by all the old women of
the place. The Tangi then followed, which is a
ceremony peculiar to the Maori, and is used as a wail
over a dead body, or, as on this occasion, as a sign of
joy at the meeting of friends. A more curious one
could hardly be imagined ! They all sit down on the
ground, as only natives could do, with their knees on
a level with their chins, and begin to cry. The women
howl in the highest notes and the deeper notes of the
men forming a bass accompaniment. The Tangi
concluded, rubbing of noses followed, after which a
chief dressed in a handsome dog-skin mat made a
speech to which the bystanders did not seem to pay
much attention. Then Te Koro got up to reply,
and from what I could learn, congratulated the
Tukiswaihinese on the prosperity of their tribe and
told them that he was taking white men to see his
land, and that if we liked it, and were good to him, he
58 A MAORI BANQUET
would be * warm in his old age ' ! Then the Maori
ovens were opened, and the feast began. The ovens
consist of holes in the earth ; a layer of heated stones
is laid at the bottom, the food is placed upon them,
then a layer of wild cabbage, and some other leaves
with an aromatic flavour, the whole is well soused
with water, covered up with earth and left to steam.
This was the contents of the oven, which were piled
up in a pyramid in front of the principal hut. First
there were eels and potatoes and wild cabbage in
flax baskets, then two tubs full of lumps of pork
swimming in melted fat. All eyes were bent on the
appetising edifice, and one of the hosts came forward
and, striking one of the baskets, called out in turn the
names of the principal guests. A great set-to
followed, the givers of the feast mutely gazing, and
envying the felicity of their guests, but never offering
to share it. Some of the famishing pah-dogs, enter-
taining no such scruples, made a vigorous attack at
the pile, and actually succeeded in carrying off some
lumps of meat, and when after abundant kicks they
were made to deliver up this booty it was distributed
among the women and children, who doubtless found
it excellent. The women at this pah were got up in
gala costume, their hair fantastically adorned with
wreaths of ferns and flowering creepers, and with ear-
drops of polished green-stone. The ' old lady/ Te
Koro's wife, had her hair tied up with loops formed of
the transparent filament of a leaf brought on purpose
from the Southern Island, one of which, at my request,
she gave me. We left the pah after a good deal
of trouble and delay, the tribe being very anxious for
us to spend a night there, and I believe to avenge
their disappointment, misdirected us. After a time
we got on to the right path, which led through a
wood where we were much impeded by the luxuriant
growth of creeping plants which abound here. We
struggled, in single file, up hill and down dale through
dense bushes and a network of creepers, sometimes
drenched by rain or enveloped in thick mists from the
mountains. Never was I more pleased than when at
dusk we found ourselves close to a bark hut in which
we sheltered for the night, drenched to the skin, and
as hungry as hunters. So far we had been travel-
THE HOUSE OF LOSING 59
ling in a north-east direction, but we turned off now to
the south-east, and were making straight for the coast.
" The next morning (22nd) we made an early start
and journeyed the whole day through woods, and
up and down some steep hills, besides having several
deep streams to cross, one of which was breast-high.
We might have killed several pigs had we had the
time to spare. Lump had an exciting chase after
one, but it managed to get away. Towards evening
we encamped in a wood, behind which rose a steep hill
from whose summit we heard that a view of the land
of promise, War-homa, could be obtained. Clifford
and I could not resist climbing it to get a sight of what
was the object of our expedition. The view was
glorious, and the fine plains and meandering river
everything seemed to point to its being all that we
required. Vavasour, on our return to camp, shared
our anticipations, and was equally excited. The only
doubt was : whether the plains were wet. Te Koro
assured us they were not. We dined on our last piece
of salt beef, and two potatoes each a present from
' the old lady/ and after making a roaring fire fell
asleep in pleasant anticipation of the morrow.
" The next day we started by walking about seven
miles down the bed of a river, then turned off, and
a mile more brought us in sight of the plains of Ware-
homa. A great disappointment awaited us there,
Our ideas and Te Koro's certainly did not correspond
on the subject of swamps, for the land we had come
to see was ankle-deep in water, covered with reed-
grass, and filled with pig-ruts. Towards midday we
came on to a native clearing, where we managed
to buy potatoes ; we also shot a pig which turned
out to be ear-marked, i.e. private property ; how-
ever, we made that all right by promising full pay-
ment. Towards evening we reached the seaward
boundary of the plains, and no doubt remained that
the main object of our journey was a failure and that
Ware-homa would always be too marshy for a sheep-
station. The old chief was as much disappointed
as we were, and I really felt quite sorry for him
finding all his hopes for a ' warm old age ' being
frustrated. The next morning we left Ware-homa,
which, by the way, means ' the house of losing/ the
6o A MAORI WARi
natives having deposited some green-stone in the
river with the idea they would breed (they fancy it is
a kind of fish, because they find it washed down in
the beds of mountain-torrents), but instead of breed-
ing the tide rose and washed it away : hence the
name. The following day we reached Castle Point,
so called from some very fine rocks which rise to a
height of almost 300 feet above the sea-level, and
bear some resemblance to the broken and dismantled
walls of an old medieval castle. The scenery here is
most beautiful, and in addition Rauginacomo (the
native name for the district) possesses a beautiful
harbour, or rather three, the centre one being a land-
locked cove.
" On the 26th of November we left Ware-homa
to return home, and I am sorry to say that the Maori
nature of our old friend Te Koro showed itself by
the usual begging, accompanied by extortionate
demands for services he had rendered us. That
night we pitched our tent near the pah of a man who
calls himself Wereta or Wellington, a brother of
Rauparaha's and one of the most truculent-looking
natives, also one of the most greedy and extortionate I
have yet come across. His hut was the finest I have
seen since I came to the country, and is worth de-
scribing. It was about 50 feet long by 20, and 6 feet
in height, and supported down the centre by a row
of pillars. The roof was thatched with reed-grass,
and tied with flax in a symmetrical pattern. The
beams of the porch were painted black, red and
white, and the side walls were red and black laths,
half concealed by a fretwork of milk-white bark.
The peak of the roof was surmounted by a figure of
a Maori coloured in red and yellow ochre, and much
decorated by feathers. The colours were so taste-
fully blended that the effect of the whole was re-
markably good, in fact it was the best specimen
of native taste that I have yet seen. The next day
we continued following the coast-line till we reached
Pahoa, and from there we struck across country,
taking a northerly course, and travelling mostly
up the bed of the Ruamahunga River (the hills, and
even banks on each side, being so precipitous as to
be practically impassable) till, on the 29th, the anni-
SUCCESS OF SHEEP-STATION 61
versary of the day I sailed for New Zealand, we got
back to Warekaka.
" In spite of having failed in the principal object
of our expedition we did not for a moment regret
having made it, as we had gone over a great deal
of ground hitherto unexplored, and we have also
learnt a good deal about the habits and ways of our
Maori neighbours. All that we have seen, both on
this occasion and on previous ones, confirms what
we have been told ever since we came into the
country, and that is, that the natives who have
come under the Fitzroy-cum-missipnary influence
have not gained much by it. The principal tenets of
the so-called Christian natives is that if they read
the Bible and chant hymns twice a day they are
sure to go to heaven. Now the natives who have
to do with the whalers, instead of the Bible dis-
tributors, when they steal or break their bargains
are brought to their senses by an application of Jack's
fists ; on the other hand, when they behave well he
is ready enough to share his ' baccy ' with them
and treat them kindly. The consequence is that
where Jack Tar has been governor and missionary the
natives are honest, and proud of their white men.
If Fitzroy had followed the sailors' example of whole-
some severity and well-timed kindness, all these diffi-
culties about non-fulfilment of bargains with the
Maories would never have happened. The authori-
ties will some day find out their mistake. A sound
thrashing is the only cure for the arrogance of some
of these chiefs, and the general opinion is that the
sooner it is administered the better. 1 '
Weld's prognostications of the future success of
the sheep-station seem to have been more than
justified, as we learn from a letter written home a year
later, 1845, m which he says that he and his partner
Clifford then had a flock of 900 ewes and 80 wethers,
besides rams ; also that they had made arrange-
ments with a newcomer into the valley to winter his
sheep at is. 6d. a head, a very paying bargain,
he adds.
7
62 WERETA
" I am more confident than ever in the success
of our sheep speculation," he writes. " We have
now, by an agreement made lately with the natives,
got a run of about six miles by one and a half in
extent, and a boundless back run of hills, which are
the most valuable part of the ground, and which for
their ' lay ' and quality of pasture are, in the judg-
ment of experts, quite unequalled in this part of the
world. Our only fear now is of a native outbreak,
or that this land may be offered for sale, in which
case, like the patriarchs of old, we should have to
strike our tents, and drive our flocks to yet remoter
districts. As regards risk of sale, I do not think it a
very serious one, for the following reasons. It would
not pay any one at present to farm so far from a
market. Secondly, a great part of the Wairarapa
land is poor and only fitted for grazing, though there
is some very good soil, and probably all but the
bogs and gravelly tracts might be rendered pro-
ductive. Thirdly, if a new colony is formed in this
district it would probably be on the opposite side of
the lake, so instead of being a detriment it would
be an immense benefit to us.
" As for the native difficulty, you may have heard
a report of a row in the Wairarapa Valley, so I will
give you the true account of it. A month or six
weeks ago a man of the name of Barlow was invited
by the natives to found a station about thirty miles
from here. I happened to meet him on his way
up, and introducing myself we fell into conversation,
and I said to him : ' Whatever you do, be firm with
your natives.' He did not take my advice. Wereta
or Wellington, a chief whom I mentioned to you in
my letter a year ago, came to his station and of
course tried to extort presents from him as all the
Maori do. Barlow, instead of boldly refusing, gave
him a bag of sugar, etc. Of course the savage got
more and more insolent, and one day when Mr.
Barlow was away, encouraged by repeated compliance
with his demands, insisted on being given some
clothes, when the white man who was in charge at
last made a stand, refusing to give him anything more.
Wereta then grew outrageous, and a native of his
tribe sitting outside the hut said, ' White man is
MAORI LOGIC 63
right, Wereta bad man.' Hearing this Wereta flew
at his unfortunate clansman and, according to one
account, tore out one of his eyes according to another,
only half killed him. This done he turned to the
white man and said, ' It was you who made me so
angry. That was the cause of what the Maori said,
and which made me hurt him. So I seize everything
you have got to make up for the injury you were the
cause of my inflicting ! ' (or words to that effect). This
judgment, which is in strict accordance with Maori
notions of equity, was accordingly carried out, and
the station plundered of everything it contained.
" After this there were symptoms of a disposition
to plunder by the natives in the valley, but a report
that the Port Nicholson whites have taken notice of
it, and that soldiers are now on their way to New
Zealand, have squashed it. You have heard of the
destruction of the Bay of Islands settlement ; since
then a regiment under Colonel Hulme attacked Heki,
the rebels having taken refuge in one of the most
strongly fortified pahs in New Zealand, but as he had
no artillery he was forced to retreat. He has lately
been superseded by Colonel Despard, who arrived
with reinforcements from Sydney, and we now hear
that the latter attacked the pah on the 3rd of July,
and being also short of artillery, determined to carry
it by assault. The attacking party advanced
gallantly and carried the outer palisade. They
then found themselves confronted with a second
stockade formed of trunks of trees, and doubly
loopholed. The men (volunteers, militia, and sailors),
who should have been carrying ropes and ladders
and axes, had thrown them away after storming the
first palisade, and now found themselves exposed
to a deadly fire in front and on the flanks, and unable
to climb or overthrow the stockade, or return the
enemy's fire. A retreat was sounded, and the very
few who were unhurt carried off the greater number
of the wounded, but seventy dead were left on the
field. A night attack was projected a few days later,
but meanwhile Heki and his tribe had, unperceived,
abandoned the pah, and gone off to the bush. The
horrors cannibalism in its most revolting forms
inflicted on the bodies of the slain were past belief.
64 THE HUTT CAMPAIGN
Poor Philpotts of H.M.S. Hazard, son of the Bishop
of Exeter, was first in the attack, and shot down in
the breach. He was a gallant dashing sailor and
universally beloved here. When the troops entered
the deserted pah his shipmates found his eye-glass
and part of his scalp hanging to the stockade."
Early in the following spring (February 1846)
news reached the Wairarapa Valley that Fitzroy had
been superseded as Governor by Grey. The excite-
ment all over the colony was great, and the settlers'
hopes ran high that the policy of the new Governor
would reverse that of his predecessor. Nor were
they disappointed. Before long the colonial party
and the natives were equally satisfied that Grey was
prepared to take an impartial view of the many
burning questions of the day, and not to deliver
judgment till he had heard both sides. One of his
first actions was to take vigorous measures to put the
settlers in possession of the Hutt district, which they
had been forcibly kept out of by Rauparaha and
Ranghiaiata, in spite of the Maori acknowledging
that they had no rights over it, and that the sums
asked for it by its former owners had been fully paid.
The news of the Governor's action having reached
Ranghiaiata, " his first move was " (we quote Weld's
letter) " to incite some of the natives to refuse to
leave the ground which they had sold. This was
followed by the murder of two families of out-settlers,
and at length he attacked a British camp, and
tapu-ed the roads to Wellington from the Hutt
valley, which from the Maori point of view was equal
to putting it under a blockade. Till now Ranghiaiata
had been professing friendship to the Governor
(trying to hoodwink him as he had done Fitzroy), but
now the mask was fairly thrown off. Rauparaha
played a deeper game. He at first succeeded in
persuading the Governor of his good intentions, but
TERINGA KURI 65
a letter of his coming into Grey's hands proved
unmistakably his treachery. Grey caused him to
be arrested in his pah by the police and sailors, and
lodged on board the Calliope struggling and biting
his captors and screaming for the Ngatiporo to
rescue him. The moment he was taken prisoner
his tribe joined the Europeans. The Hutt militia
and friendly natives have taken Ranghi's pah, and
the joy of the great number of the natives, as well as
colonists, knows no bounds. Ranghiaiata is still
at large, but his power is gone, and there is little
doubt he will soon be in our hands."
Though Fred, in order to avoid alarming his
parents, touches lightly on the risks he ran from
native outbreaks, we know from his diary and from
an account published later of his early life in New
Zealand that he took his full share of them. His
knowledge of the country, and of the language and
habits of the natives, caused his services as volunteer
or guide to be much in request. Thus we find him
accompanying the expeditionary force to Porirua
in the Hutt Valley campaign, on which occasion he
met with the following adventure.
The British troops on their way to the seat of
the disturbance encountered an unfriendly tribe,
headed by a well-known filibuster of the name of
Teringa Kuri. The officer in command disposed of
his men in a potato-clearing in the forest and awaited
their attack. Fred, believing that the natives were
lying in ambush, climbed up a solitary dead tree
which commanded a view of the position, to recon-
noitre. His surmise turned out to be correct, and
he found himself an easy mark for the enemy who
were concealed in the inequalities of the ground. He
got back without being fired upon, and reported
what he had seen, and at the same time warned the
officer in command that the main body of natives
66 A PARLEY WITH THE ENEMY
were, in all probability, posted in the woods on the
hills leading to Porirua ahead of them. Also that,
as the troops had marched in double file through
thick jungle to gain the potato-clearing, they must
be prepared for an attack in the rear. The situation
was a critical one. Grey, who had accompanied
the force, asked Weld what he advised. He at once
offered to return to the stockade at the Hutt bridge
and lead a body of men thence along the hills, so as to
command the natives' position and threaten their
rear and line of communication with Porirua. This
he considered would induce them to retreat, in which
case, if the commanding officer chose to attack
them, they would be between two fires. Grey
favoured the suggestion, but it was not adopted
the commanding officer deciding to await the enemy's
attack in the position he had taken up. Accordingly
he posted his sentries and piled arms, and the natives,
after a short interval, proceeded to follow his example.
Weld then crossed the neutral ground, passed the
sentries and held a parley with the natives. They
said they were quite ready to fight, but were waiting
for the English to begin. It was for this reason
that they had not fired at Fred when he climbed
the tree, it being a bad omen to kill the first man.
They wanted the first killed to be on their side as a
sacrifice to the god of war. Next day the Maories
retreated, and built a strong pah in the hills near
Porirua, which shortly afterwards was surprised
and gallantly captured by the Hutt militia after a
long night march through the dense forest.
On another occasion a report reached the in-
habitants of the Wairarapa that a large force of
natives belonging to the northern inland tribes were
on their way to attack them. It was also said that
the line of communication between that district and
Wellington was threatened by a marauding party,
A PERILOUS EXPEDITION 67
who had established themselves at the Muka-Muka
pah, half-way between the two settlements . A meeting
was hastily summoned by the defenceless squatters,
at which they decided by a large majority to seek
safety by flight. Weld announced his intention of
holding on, or taking refuge temporarily should
events make it necessary in the mountain gorges
between the valley and the sea. It was resolved,
finally, that a messenger should be sent to Wellington
to find out what the authorities there would be
prepared to do for the protection of the settlers.
Weld at once volunteered for the post. The journey
was encompassed with difficulties, as the road lay
between the Muka-Muka pah and the sea the
hinterland being impassable. There was no time
to be lost, for not only the peril was imminent, but
it was important to encounter the enemy's strong-
hold at the dead hours of the night. Accordingly
Weld started off without a moment's delay on his
perilous journey. The night was well advanced
before he reached the critical point of the expedition,
and rounded the headlands which project on either
side of the bay ; here he ascertained beyond doubt
that the pah was in the possession of the enemy. A
full moon lighted the scene almost as clearly as if by
day. To walk past the houses along the beach
without being seen was to attempt an impossibility,
and it was equally impossible to pass behind them.
Weld saw that his only chance was to keep in the
wash of the sea making a dash whenever he saw
his opportunity. Accordingly he crouched and ran,
lying flat as the wave broke and letting it wash over
him ; then again rising and making another short
run, till at last he had passed the village and got
under the shelter of some rocks. A dog or two
barked whilst he was crossing the bay, and he heard
voices, but no alarm was taken, but as soon as he
68 A HAND-TO-HAND ENCOUNTER
had reached cover a chorus of dogs barking roused
the natives. Fred, however, did not stop to listen,
and being now out of sight he started at a run, leap-
ing from rock to rock till he reached the little stream
of the Waimarara four miles distant. Here he took
to the water wading for some distance up the stream
in order that if he was being pursued by dogs, the
scent should be lost ; hearing no sound of pursuit, he
lay down in the bush and slept till dawn. The
following morning he reached Wellington and fulfilled
his mission.
This alarm turned out to be a fallacious one as
regards the inhabitants of the Wairarapa Valley,
the hostile natives having turned their attentions
elsewhere. But on referring to Fred's journal for
the following year, 1847, we find that he was once
more steering his barque in stormy waters.
On 1 4th June, we read the following entry :
" A row in Kimi Kimi pah Tiffin (the shepherd)
and I against the Maori. Rohpia began by endeavour-
ing to * rush ' Tiffin's gun. I broke a stout Maori
stick on his head, inflicting a severe wound. 1 Guns,
tomahawks, knives, etc. were produced, but we held
our ground, with our backs to a precipice, and no one
dared to approach us. After this had lasted for half
an hour, we left the pah with flying colours Rohpia
and his mob being entirely nonplussed, and public
feeling amongst the Maories running high on our side.
We had gone to the pah to try and get a dog which
had been worrying sheep. Rohpia (who had once
before tried to tomahawk young Tiffin) is an intruder
on Matuere's ground. The satisfaction with which
the Maories seem to regard the affair was due to this
circumstance and from his having begun the row.
There were about twenty natives in Rohpia's pah,
mostly armed with tomahawks and adzes."
1 To appreciate the gravity of this fact it should be mentioned
that among the Maori the chief's head is looked upon as sacred, and the
penalty of injury to it is death.
A NEW GOVERNOR 69
It may not be without interest to the reader, who
has followed young Weld's career so far through
perils in which he may literally be said to have carried
his life in his hand, to learn from one of his home
letters the spirit in which he encountered them.
Writing to his father he says, alluding to his
solitary life in the bush :
" But God can shower down His graces on the
inhabitants of the wilderness as well as on him who
is permitted daily to kneel at His altar, and I feel
confident that Our Lady who has brought me so far
safe through so many difficulties will not desert me
now when I stand so much in need of her protection.
It is this confidence which makes one look forward
without fear to the chances of a sudden death. ^. . .
I have often thought this over, and I am convinced
that if God places a man in a position in which he is
deprived of religious succour and I feel sure that it
is God who has placed me here He thereby, in a
manner, binds Himself to give proportionate grace
and assistance. ... Be sure I never pass a day
without thinking of you all, hardly an hour. Still,
though I long to be with you, I cannot but own
that I am quite happy in the exciting life I am
leading. Our ' Lord Western ' sheep have arrived.
They cost us a good deal, but I think they will prove
a good ' spec,' as they will give our flock a name.
We are all in high spirits here on account of Grey's
appointment. So far he has been a great success.
He is quiet in his manner, uncommunicative, and
very decided. Not above asking for information
before making up his mind. Strict with his officials,
but very affable to the settlers, and to all appearance
much interested in everything that has been done
the very reverse of his predecessor. He has already
gained a great name amongst the natives, and I
am confident that if things can be put straight out
here and I firmly believe they can he is the man
to do it."
The owners of War&kaka, as we have already
perceived, had no intention of letting the grass grow
70 NEW ZEALAND SQUIRES
under their feet. Accordingly early this year we
find Fred exploring the country south of Cook's
Strait in the Southern Island, with a view to starting
a " run " there.
" I have just returned ," he writes to his father,
" from an expedition to the Wairau. I went up
Queen Charlotte's Sound, which is a long sea inlet
running up into the land for about thirty miles,
and forming a series of splendid harbours ; indeed,
ships may lie close inside the rocks in deep water.
Captain Cook was its first discoverer, and the name
of his ship and the date of his visit cut on a tree
may still be seen. The scenery is most beautiful.
There are several small islets, and the mountains
are heavily wooded, with here and there clearings
and patches of cultivation and native villages.
There are a few European cottages belonging to men
who live by whaling a wild race of beings who,
however, possess the quality of hospitality in a high
degree, and go in this country by the name of ' New
Zealand squires.' After an evening walk along the
shores of the Sound, amidst flowering shrubs, and
enlivened by birds which appeared fearless of our
approach, we slept at a ( ware ' of one of the aforesaid
' squires,' who regaled us with wild pork and hearth-
cakes, potatoes, and tea made from a native shrub,
and goat's milk. The next morning our host
having, indignantly almost, refused all payment
we climbed up through a deep defile on to the plains
of Wairau. Our guide (a native) got off the track
on our way there, consequently we had to cross
and re-cross five times a deep, though narrow, stream,
stepping on logs far below the surface of the water ;
one was actually floating, and, of course, rolled as we
passed over it. We next crossed a swamp and then
emerged on to the scene of the massacre, which
I examined, naturally, with much interest. Old
Rauparaha's position was an exceedingly strong one.
Had the Europeans anticipated a fight they would
never have made their advance where they did, as
owing to the lie of the ground it would have been a
moral impossibility to have gained any decisive
A NEW STATION 71
advantage over the enemy. Poor Wakefield and
his companions are buried on the spot where they
were tomahawked in cold blood; a railing marks
the place."
Writing home a little later, he alleges a number
of reasons for this fresh departure. One of the
foremost of these was that there was no possibility
of expansion in the Wairarapa Valley, as the flock
increased, such as was to be found on the plains of
Wairau. Reasons of health also contributed ; the
constant exposure and hardships that the life at
Warekaka entailed, also the malarial air of the
marshes, had seriously impaired Weld's health,
though for fear of causing uneasiness to his parents
he had hitherto made light of his maladies. After
the change had been effected he more than once
mentions how much he had benefited by the change.
He writes in the following terms of the proposed
plan to his sister :
" I don't know what you will think at home about
our giving up the Warekaka ; you will perhaps
be sorry for it, regretting all that has been done to
improve the place ; also on account of its beautiful
scenery. These thoughts certainly weigh with me also,
but in spite of all I am very glad to go.
In the first place, the want of woodland scenery is
compensated for to me by the sea, and the great
extent of dry and open downs ; I shall also with my
yacht be much nearer the town than I am now.
Then I shall have no river to ford, sometimes breast-
high, no rocks to climb at high tide on the beach,
or (as an alternative) to sleep out in the rain all
night. Nor shall I, in the Southern Island, have
any more anchoring off lee shores in open boats or
swampings in the surf of which last I have had
enough to last me for years."
In a letter to his father on the same subject he says :
" I have invested my last year's profits from
72 DESCRIPTION OF FLAXBOURNE
War&kaka in the new station, and as that was not
enough to keep up my fourth share (as at Warekaka)
of 2000 of the best sheep in New South Wales, I
have borrowed 500 from Clifford or rather his
father and the sheep will, I hope, pay off interest
and capital in two or three years. . . . The Dorset-
shire downs may give you some idea of the country
this side of the Straits. It differs totally from the
other Island. I have not a neighbour, native or
European, for forty miles, so I am ' monarch of all
I survey.' It is a fine healthy country, with neither
swamps nor forest, and with a range of snowy moun-
tains, the Lookers-on, in the background. We have
five horses, one a very beautiful, well-bred mare which
I call Mirza and which Clifford bought for me at
Sydney ; some cows and a bull. The sheep, which
are far the best ever imported into the colony, are
as follows : 2000 Clifford's and mine l and 500
on a ' thirds of increase, and half- wool ' arrangement.
We may sell the old station if we get a good offer,
as there is great difficulty in getting a trustworthy
manager, otherwise we should keep both. In either
case I shall make Flaxbourne my headquarters, as
this will be the most important station. The house
is nearly finished, and will be very comfortable.
I intend having a garden and vinery in a deep glen
behind the house. The sides of the glen are of
white limestone rock, and a clear stream rises through
it and falls at a height of thirty feet at the head of it.
This cascade is overhung with creepers, and I defy
Switzerland to produce a lovelier spot contrasting
as it does with the bare hills by which it is surrounded.
I will send some sketches home, as soon as I have
time for them."
That the process of installation in their new
quarters was not done without some hardship and
discomfort, the following extracts from Weld's journal
will testify.
On 5th August he notes :
1 Three years later (March 1850) he writes : " We have now 11,000
sheep on the ground, and we are selling our rams at 20 apiece, the
highest price ever given in the colony."
ADVENTURES BY LAND AND SEA 73
" I left the Ocean with the first lot of sheep ever
driven from Port Underwood to Wairau. Storm
and rain a killing night. Arrived at Robin Hood's
Bay half dead. Sheep ditto. Camped out with
them, being afraid of native dogs. Clifford followed
with more sheep next day.
" 1 3th August. Crossed 1103 sheep over the
Wairau, sent them on with shepherd, and returned
next day to Port Underwood ; found the London
barque in harbour discharging sheep.
" 1 7th August. Took the London sheep to
Robin Hood's Bay; rough work, very bad wet
night.
' 1 8th. Trouble with natives at Wairau River.
" 20th. Crossed the Bluff River with sheep, had
to throw them all into the water, a day and a half's
hard work. Sent back shepherd, and with the boy
drove the sheep to the station (Flaxbourne) which we
reached 24th August.
" 3rd September. Dreadful storm of hail and
rain. As soon as the flood caused by it was over
dispatched men to Cloudy Bay for supply of provisons,
ours running short.
' 1 4th September. Reduced to wild cabbage.
Had to kill a ewe for food ; got very tired of it when
on 1 8th September boat arrived with provisions.
" 30th September. Petrel arrived ; her first trip.
:< 3rd October. Sailed in Petrel for Cloudy Bay,
and returned with cargo.
' 1 3th October. Man overboard from Petrel. He
jumped after the dinghy, which had broken loose,
and the wind proved too strong to let him get back
to the ship or overtake the dinghy. Sam (the only
other hand on board) slipped his anchor to save
him. I could not tell from the shore whether he
got the man or not. He brought up again under
the Steeple rocks. We are still in uncertainty, and
shall remain so till the wind lulls. Trust all is
right, as Sam recovered dinghy and made no signal.
1 1 4th October. Pulled off early next morning
to the moorings to get the anchor, but found the
wind south-east, and the Petrel standing away for
Cloudy, haying picked up her anchors early. The
man is all right."
74 A RETROSPECT
The following entry in Weld's diary a few days later,
' I have been very unwell lately/' will cause no
astonishment to the reader.
Apparently, however, this illness was only a
passing one, as later passages in his diary show that
he was once more in vigorous health and was ex-
ploring the country in his neighbourhood, shooting,
yachting, and attending to the business of his " run "
as before.
A year later (1849) he writes to his mother as
follows :
" I begin a letter to you from old Warekaka, the
scene of my earliest labours as a bushman. I have
been here a fortnight, and find everything looking
well and prospering, with the exception of a serious
loss in sheep killed by native dogs. The natives
themselves are behaving very well, and are daily
improving. Dressed in smart blankets, shirts and
trousers, and many of them riding good horses they
are hardly recognisable, externally, for the same
filthy, half-starved, quarrelsome beggars they were
less than five years ago when our first sheep were
driven down the valley. No less remarkable is
the change in the appearance of the country, or in
ourselves. We were happy, then, if we could get
pigeons and potatoes once a day ; we sheltered our-
selves in a sieve-like barn, lay on fern round an open
hearth, when the floods allowed of a fire, and warmed
ourselves after a hard day's wading after ducks by
drinking sugar and milkless tea (we hadn't always
the tea) or swilling jorums of the soup in which our
ducks or pigeons had been boiled. Then, too, we
were in hourly uncertainty as to the continuation of
friendly relations between ourselves and the native
tribes with individuals of which we were constantly
obliged to differ and even to have to use our fists,
in order to maintain our rights and the respect due
to us.
" Now the Wairarapa contains some dozen good
houses, fenced enclosures, wheat fields, bridges,
drains, etc. Rude carts are to be seen on the roads,
NEW FEATURES IN THE LANDSCAPE 75
drawn by horses and oxen, and on the river the
smartly painted whale-boat with its load of wool or
stores has begun to replace the long snake-like canoe,
painted dark red with its prow adorned with curious
carving and plumes and manned with swarthy
paddlers who used to make the forest echo with their
yelling boat-songs. One of the newest features of
the valley is the appearance of cottages belonging
to the wives and children of the European settlers,
and consequently gardens in the front and poultry
yards at the back, just what one would see in an
English village. . . . Yesterday, one of the natives
came to me to inquire as to the possibility of putting
up a water-mill. His plan, however, hardly fell in
with my jdeas. / was to put up the mill and then
if the natives liked it they would pay for it. I told
him what steps could be taken should they decide
on building one, but declined the honour of doing so
myself. This shows, however, how the mind of the
Maori has turned to peaceful ideas of late. Two
years ago, if I am not mistaken, this very man was
one of a mob who threatened to burn the house and
heavenlknows what besides."
CHAPTER V
" Our acts our angels are, or good or ill,
Our fatal shadows that walk by us still."
BEAUMONT AND FLETCHER.
IN describing Fred Weld's life as a colonist in the
previous chapter, we have, in order not to interrupt
the thread of our narrative, given a somewhat one-
sided ^impression of him. Ardent of character, he
asked of life all that it had to offer ; warmest affection
in his home-ties, art, friendship, sport, and, in addi-
tion to all this, what has been well called " religion
of the heart," in his case the moving spring of all
his actions. He was also of a most genial and
sociable disposition ; and it might be said of him
that he touched life, and his fellow-men, at many
points. Thus in spite of the fact that his letters
bear no trace of complaint at months of enforced
solitude, when business or pleasure took him to
Wellington, he thoroughly enjoyed his holiday, and
threw himself into society regattas, balls, or what-
ever offered with the keenness of one who has never
had the chance of wearying of such amusements. Of
course it was not long before the colonial society of
the capital got up races, racing competition of one
kind or another being as necessary to the Britisher
wherever he may find himself as the air he breathes.
Accordingly we find him writing home in 1849
regretting that an accident had prevented his entering
his mare Mirza for the Wellington races . He remarks :
THE PETREL 77
" We have formed this year a Jockey Club at
Wellington, of which Petre is president and I am a
member. It was started in order to put a stop to
certain acts of blackguardism which had begun to
show themselves last year. Rather than allow this it
would be better to have no races at all."
Passionately devoted as Weld was to sailing, the
building of a boat, which was a necessity to the
partners at Flaxbourne in order to take their wool
and stores backwards and forwards to " town," was
full of interest to him.
" Our new boat," he writes, " will be finished
next month. She is to be 36 feet over all, with
proportionate beam, decked, but with large movable
hatchways. She is built of cowrie, the best possible
wood, and copper-fastened in the most substantial
manner. A thoroughly experienced boat-builder is
building her ; she will carry about nine tons. As to
form, she will not be very beautiful, I fear, as for
greater safety we have given her a sharp stern, and
a sheer fore and aft ; this is required here in case of
heavy seas, particularly in beaching the boat, should
that be necessary. Her rig is to be a cutter with a
little mizzen, dandy rig, like the Alarm \ We are
giving the command to an experienced whaler, who
will work on the station when the boat is not in use
at least he is to be captain, and I commodore,
and between us a crew can be dispensed with. We
shall have no boom, and a brail to main-sail. As
Flaxbourne is only six hours' run from the Port
Nicholson heads with the two prevailing winds to
take one backwards and forwards, and ports for small
crafts on both sides of the Straits, you need not be
afraid that I shall drown myself."
That the Petrel was a success we see from a letter
written a little later :
' Yesterday I sailed half-way across the Straits,
but a shift of wind contrary to tide, with a very
78 NEIGHBOURS AND VISITORS
heavy sea, drove us into port again. In going out
we beat the Eagle, a large brigantine that ought to
have been able to hoist us on deck and beat us, and
in returning we licked a little schooner that had the
impudence to come out of one of the bays and challenge
us, though we had reefed main and mizzen-sail and
storm jib at the time, as it was blowing hard."
The remoteness of Flaxbourne from all human
habitation was not of long duration, as he writes early
in 1849 :
" I am beginning to get neighbours here. A young
man, Sir George Congreve, is going to settle close to
me ; he seems likely to make a capital ( squatter/
and his society will be a great acquisition. He has
been staying here for a few days, and I liked him very
much. I am also in hopes I shall have a Major
O'Connell and his wife for neighbours. I know
them very well and am quite at home in their house
at Wellington. He has spoken to me a good deal
about settling, but as he is a brigade major and has
good hopes of promotion, I hardly like to advise him
to sell out, and settle in the bush. . . . Another
advantage besides society will be the number of
books that will come into the country. The O'Connells
in particular have a good number, and have already
been most kind in lending them to me."
A little later he writes :
" I have just had two officers of H.M.S. Acheron
and four men here, surveying. One of the former, a
midshipman, is a brother of Lady Grey's. They
seemed to enjoy themselves very much. The sailors,
too, were in high glee, and thought it great fun to
work amongst the sheep in the pens. They were of
great use to me helping my men at a busy time of
the year, and I gave them as much tobacco, fresh
meat and potatoes as they could manage. As to
the officers, when they were not surveying we went
out shooting, and when they returned to Wellington
the boat was, literally, laden with duck, woodhens,
FLAXBOURNE LAKES 79
and rabbits for presents. (New Zealand gentlemen
do not sell their game I) Just before they started,
Spencer, whilst shooting, came on to the leg bone of
a Moa (the gigantic Dinornis) sticking out of the
ground. He did not seem to care for it, and gave
up his right to it to me as Lord of the Manor. Since
he left I spent part of two days digging out the rest
of the skeleton. It had been covered by a landslip,
and, commencing at the feet, or rather the next bone
to them (for they were lost), I disinterred a tolerably
perfect skeleton up to the neck. I was in hopes of
finding the head, but there was no sign of it. One
of the legs was perfect, it must have been 6 feet long,
and the bird must have stood 14 or 15 feet high at
least ; yet even this is not so large as some, which,
according to Owen, have attained the height of
1 6 or 17 feet. By the way, it is not certain they are
as yet extinct, and they were undoubtedly not
uncommon at a very recent period. I wonder Cook
never heard or saw any of them. The natives think
they still exist in the interior, though I never heard
of one who had seen them. There is no doubt that
they formerly ate them, as their bones have been
found, mixed with human bones, in their ovens."
That Weld's exile at the Antipodes was tempered
by attractions which appealed to him equally as an
artist and a sportsman, may be seen by a letter he
writes to his eldest sister in this same year. On
returning from a two days' expedition in search for
sheep that had been lost, he says :
" I was never more struck than upon this occasion
with the beauty of the Flaxbourne lakes covered with
wild-fowl. They remind me in a way of the swannery
at Abbotsbury, though on a much larger scale. You
have no idea what a glorious sight it is in the early
morning when the mist is just clearing off the waters.
Unseen one creeps along the banks, and poking one's
head up over a tuft of flax one beholds thousands
(no exaggeration !) of ducks floating on the shadowy
surface of the lake. There is the big paradise duck,
something like the muscovy duck, with its amber
8o A LETTER HOME
breast and white head reflected in the waters ; the
common grey wild duck, the teal, and the bright
plumaged widgeon chasing one another in play, or in
pursuit of insects ; whilst on the banks the long-
legged plover struts about, and perhaps a white crane
shows itself on the rising ground the latter being
so shy that one never can get a chance of a
shot ! Possibly one may hear the distant boom
of a bittern. Then the uproar which arises the
moment a head is raised from the place of conceal-
ment ; off flies the white crane, the ducks quack,
the whole lake is in commotion the enemy has
appeared."
Two events occurred about this time which not
only were full of interest to young Weld, but also
helped to shape his future career. One was the
departure of his partner, Mr. Clifford (who had been
married the previous year), for England, and the
other, the invitation given him by Governor Grey
to become a member of the Legislative Council.
With regard to the former, he writes to his father :
" Clifford's departure, owing to his dissolution of
partnership with Vavasour, which renders his presence
in England advisable, though it took me by surprise,
I welcome, for this reason : I had always feared
that he would want to return when I did, and, of
course, we could not both go at once. By the present
arrangement I shall be able to start within six months
of his return, and by that time I hope to have made
money enough to pay all my expenses home and out
again, without coming on you or injuring myself. . . .
You will of course see him and talk over the subject
with him. I can well see the objections which may
be raised ; it may be said that after being in England I
should not like to settle down again to the life I am now
leading, but I feel I should be doing you an injustice
(as well as myself) if I were to suppose you would
not trust me to do what I have shown I can and am
willing to do. Besides, I like this wild life, only I
feel I must have a holiday sometimes. A more valid
NOSTALGIA 8 1
objection is, that badly off as I am it would be a loss
of time and money. To this I answer : with your
consent I am determined to start for home in two years,
and nothing on earth excepting, of course, your
wishes will keep me longer without going home.
It is said out here that three years in the bush unfit
a man for civilised society. I don't hold that
doctrine ; I consider that a gentleman by birth and
education will always remain such as long as he
retains his self-respect, but yet were I to remain
many years without mingling with English and
family society, I do feel that though I should not think
less or less affectionately of you, that it might have
a disadvantageous effect on my future life, which
by God's help will not all be spent in managing a
station, in exploring the wilds, in hunting boars, or
in negotiating high treaties and compacts with my
blanketed allies."
During the time which intervened before his
return to England, he again and again alludes to
the longing he had to revisit the beloved home circle.
" Yesterday," he writes to his father six months
later, " I went out in my whale-boat to see if I could
not pick up a Friday's dinner, and caught a fish
like a ' seatown cook,' two rock-cod, and a fish that,
though small, could only be compared in beauty with
his satanic majesty. After that I could not get
another bite, and conjectured that some big fish was
driving the others away ; and so it turned out.
He announced his presence with a jerk on my line
that nearly took me overboard. I played him ten
minutes, and finally hoisted into the boat a fine Har-
bonica weighing 70 Ib. They are rather like a cod,
only far better to eat, the head makes a capital
soup, and they are very good salted. I wish you w r ere
here to share my fast-day dinner though I think after
all, if that could be, the Harbonica would occupy
but a small part in our thoughts. Yet besides the
intense desire I have of seeing you again, I often
wish that you could look in upon me, were it only
for you to admire my little garden, with its peach,
82 POLITICS
vine, plum, apple, apricot, cherry trees, besides its
fuchsias, almond trees, and honeysuckle. With
what pride I should take you into the shearing-
shed, and show you fleeces weighing 5 and 6 Ib.
of the very finest wool from Merino sheep, which
for symmetry of frame would rival your own South-
downs. Then I should take you to see Mirza and
Glendon, and the other horses, and to the cowshed
where you would read me a lecture on the cows
such as I fear in the old days at Chideock I used
to attend to so little ! Then we would call Scout
and go for a ride on to the downs spotted with sheep
and almost recalling the downs at home, though with
the difference here of the snowy peaks of the Kai-
koras looming in the distance. . . . Now, having
wasted half a sheet of paper in inditing this foolish
daydream, it occurs to me that the pleasure will be
even greater when we meet at Chideock, as please
God we may, next year."
As his own affairs made less demands on his time
and attention, also the still more pressing " native
question " being for a time in abeyance, we find Weld's
interest in politics increasing. His letters were now
full of allusions to them. Thus early in the year
1847 ne writes as follows to his father :
" As to political news, we have not ceased agitating
for self-government ; and as the waste of public
money (our own) and that voted to the colony by
Parliament still continues, we trust that as this
fact becomes known in England we shall obtain those
powers of self-government that all Englishmen have,
except those who devote themselves to extending
the colonial Empire of Great Britain. You will
hardly believe it, but one of the latest acts of our
Lieutenant-Go vernor has been to give X. 200 a year,
in spite of the expenditure being thousands in excess
of the revenue ; and this in a country in want of roads,
of schools, of native hospitals, of light-power, and a
hundred other things ; meanwhile we, the settlers,
have no recognised mode of endeavouring to stop
this system of profligacy and waste. Remember
A NOMINEE COUNCIL 83
that we are taxed at the rate of 3 ics. a head over
the whole European population, men, women and
children, by the arbitrary authority of a Governor,
and a council composed entirely of members ap-
pointed by him. . . . The condition of the natives is
gradually improving, and they are daily adopting
more and more our habits and customs. A Maori
newspaper has been started by some Europeans,
which may be very useful in instructing and civilising
them. They are very much interested in it, and
most anxious to borrow it, but their natural instinct
of avarice prevents their giving much support to it
in a pecuniary way."
Early in 1 848 he writes again as follows :
" Our new Constitution has been burked by
Governor Grey, who represented to the authorities
at home that the natives would never submit to a
rule in which they had no part a very frivolous
argument, as they have now no part in his absolute
sway, whereas in a representative government they
would be admitted to a share of self-government as
soon as they were sufficiently civilised to register a
vote. At present they are indifferent by what
form or Constitution they are governed. A more
sensible reason would be that Grey feared to find
himself hampered by factious opposition, at all events
in the north, which has always given most trouble.
Moreover, I think him naturally fond of unlimited
power ; however, be that as it may, his policy on
the whole has been good, so we have reason to con-
gratulate ourselves on the reign of King Grey, autocrat
of all the New Zealands ! "
The following year J he mentions to his father :
" Sir George Grey has been giving us a council
and offered me a seat on it, which I declined. The
proposed council is, in fact, a mere blind, with no
object except to take responsibility off the Governor.
Its members are all government nominees and
officials, and are not allowed to bring in any Bills
without the Governor's permission. This is to be a
1 January 1849.
84 SETTLERS' ASSOCIATION
temporary measure only representative government
being hung up for four years. Now, in the first place,
I dislike the idea of acting as a puppet ; and secondly,
in my opinion, if it be now impracticable to give us
some degree of self-government, it would be better to
go on as before, an absolute government in name 'as
well as in fact. Personally I am convinced that
representative institutions could never be introduced
under more favourable conditions, for public opinion
is strongly in favour of Sir George Grey's general
policy, and no factious opposition need be apprehended.
It is admitted on all sides that the Constitution must
come sooner or later, and I for one should wish to
see it started under a capable and popular man like
Sir George Grey, rather than under some incom-
petent bungler like his predecessors. The Governor
sent for me a month ago very suddenly. I had
arrived only an hour before from the bush, and had
not a moment given me for reflection. He was
prepared with arguments and persuasions, whilst I
had not discussed or taken the opinion of anybody
on the subject. Yet for two hours we kept up an
animated discussion, and I found afterwards that
my arguments and suggestions by a curious coin-
cidence were precisely those of several men on whose
judgments I place the most reliance, and who have
thought out the matter most deeply. Grey was
most flattering in the manner he offered me the seat,
and I took care to express my appreciation of his
kindness and of the honour he was doing me, and I
think he realised that my refusal of it was not due
to any party motives or chimerical ideas. I have
since had two or three most delightful days' yachting
in his company. We had long talks on a variety of
subjects, including his own plans. He is a man who
likes to hear people's opinions fully and unreservedly,
and his own ideas are often exceedingly interesting
and valuable."
Weld's appreciation of Sir George Grey's kindness
and good intentions did not, however, prevent his
taking a leading part in an Association which was got
up six months later (August 1 849) to defend the settlers'
AN ADDRESS TO THE COLONIAL OFFICE 85
interests in New Zealand. The resolutions passed
unanimously by the " Settlers' Constitutional Associa-
tion " do not mince matters. The Chairman of the
Committee, in a letter addressed to Lord Grey (the
Colonial Minister), refers to the postponement of
representative institutions recommended by the
Governor, and says that " the party which I represent
was called into existence by his Excellency's attempt
to deprive the colonists of New Zealand of the boon
of self-government which your Lordship had deter-
mined to bestow." After more than hinting that
his Lordship's confidence in the Governor's honesty
of purpose was misplaced, the Chairman submits
thirteen resolutions to Lord Grey's consideration in
which the Committee set forth with much plainness
their wrongs and grievances against the said Governor.
The tenth resolution, moved by Weld, declares :
" That the advantages proposed by Sir George
Grey to be derived from the four years' acquaintance
with the practice of legislation which he imagines his
Nominee Council will have before Representative
Institutions are conceded, are entirely fallacious.
Any skill in the art of legislation supposed to be
thus attained must necessarily be merely personal.
But it is certain that scarcely one probably not one
of those whom Sir George has persuaded to sit in
his Nominee Council will be returned by the suffrages
of their fellow-colonists to the future Representative
Councils, and the fruits of their four years' experience
would thus be entirely lost. Nor, indeed, is there
much chance of such skill being attained. Men
never learn to do the work of freemen by wearing
the despot's livery. ' Many politicians,' as one
of the most distinguished of Her Majesty's ministers
has observed, ' are in the habit of laying it down
as a self-evident proposition, that no people ought to
be free till they are fit to use their freedom. The
maxim is worthy of the fool in the fable, who resolved
not to go into the water till he had learned to swim.
86 EXPLORATIONS AND DISCOVERIES
If men are to wait for liberty till they become wise
and good in slavery, they may indeed wait for ever/
This is the answer, and a most conclusive one, to all
the insinuations of Sir George Grey, that the colonists
are to learn the art of freedom and the craft of legisla-
tion by contemplating the acts or joining the de-
liberations of his Nominee Councils. If proof of the
position be required, it is to be found in the fruitless-
ness of the late session of the Nominee Council of
this Province, when the lame attempts at legislation,
the want of intelligence, and total absence of inde-
pendence displayed, drew down the contempt and
laughter of the whole community."
The above, and remaining twelve resolutions,
which certainly show no lack of enthusiasm in the
good cause, were forwarded both to the Colonial
Secretary and Sir W. Moles worth and other members
of Parliament, and personages known to be interested
in New Zealand matters.
This year and the following one were very busy
ones for Weld. In the absence of his partner, Charles
Clifford, in England, he had the sole superintendence
of two large stations, but in spite of the work and
duties they involved he managed to find time for
more exploring expeditions. In December 1850 he
started in company with his friend John Robert
Godley, who had lately come out from England as
agent for the Canterbury Association, for Port Cooper.
After inspecting the site for the future town of
Lyttelton, then consisting of a few scattered huts
prepared for the reception of the immigrants, he went
on to Christ church. From thence, accompanied with
a single native, and with only the provisions they
were able to carry on their backs, and a blanket each,
he started on his return journey through country
which had never been previously trod by Europeans,
back to his station at Flaxbourne. A little later
he succeeded in finding a pass through the Kaikora
HOME AGAIN 87
range of mountains which divide the Wairau from
Canterbury, thereby conferring a great boon on
the settlers of both districts.
January 185-1 finds him once more in Wellington,
and his journal records that he and his partner, Charles
Clifford, had settled to part with Warekaka and take
up land in a new station (Stonyhurst) lately dis-
covered by Weld. <( We had a gay time at Welling-
ton," he remarks, " the races helped to make the
time pass rapidly, and Mrs. Petre gave a grand
picnic before we sailed. Early on Monday, loth
February; I jumped out of bed, and saw the ship
getting up her anchor, ran down to the beach where
I found my men just coming for me, got on board
in the nick of time, and we were soon beating out of
the Heads." The voyage lasted four months. On
the 1 2th of June they sighted the Start, left the ship
in a pilot boat, and " when morning dawned we were
in the well-known Weymouth roads. I never felt
more crazy with joy than on landing. We took
the coach to Bridport, and on my way I heard 01
Charles's marriage, 1 and found the village decorated
with flags, in his honour. Every one was out when I
arrived. I sent messages to say I had come; my
father met me from the sea, the rest by ' Mamma's
elm.' ' The journal records a very gay and happy
six months in Fred's life visits to old friends, and
to the homes of his youth, to Lulworth, Ugbrooke, and
Wardour. Also to Danby, where, on the i2th, on
Stanton Moor, he bagged 29^ brace of grouse. On
the 2ist of August he went south to see the Alarm
sail for the Challenge Cup against the America,
which he mentions as " a most unsatisfactory race."
" We won," he says, " the Queen's Cup at Ryde a
few days later."
1 He married Mary, daughter of Thomas Bland of Kippax Park,
Yorkshire.
88 DEATH OF MR. HUMPHREY WELD
Keen as Weld's enjoyment of sport was, and his
pleasure in his friends' society, and home life, they
did not distract his thoughts from certain problems
which had been occupying him for the years previous
to his departure from New Zealand, as the following
paragraph in his journal proves :
" On leaving London I proceeded direct to Ham
House, Mr. Adderley's place in Staffordshire, where
I met Fox, Sewell, and Wakefield, to consult on New
Zealand politics. We had previously helped to defeat
the intention of ministers to saddle the New Zealand
Company's debt on the general revenue of the country.
We now concocted a Constitution which was after-
wards approved of by the Duke of Newcastle and
Lord Lyttelton, and upon which Gladstone's resolu-
tions were founded. I stayed at Ham House three
days/'
Many delightful visits are noted during the course
of the winter : covert-shooting parties, and hunting.
Particularly is noted a visit to his great friend Simon
Scrope, " where," he says, " I spent some of the
pleasantest days of my life. It would be needless for
me to attempt a description of my first day on ' Peri,'
with the ' Harworth,' from Melbury cover, with
only Simon and I well over the last fence I am
not likely ever to forget it, or the disaster with the
1 Irishman ' Hairtrigger, or our long day with the
Duke of Cleveland's."
The new year was to bring Weld a great sorrow.
On the 8th of January the news reached him at
Tichborne that his father had died suddenly at
Allerton, in Yorkshire. A long gap occurs in his
diary. The next entry we find is as follows :
' I was for a long time prostrate in mind and body.
Finally I resolved to go out to New Zealand as soon
as possible. Many causes contributed to this con-
clusion ; it was my mother's wish too, and I felt
it was the best thing I could do."
PAMPHLET ON SHEEP-FARMING 89
The summer was spent at Chideock, with occa-
sional absences in London to make preparations for
departure, and farewell visits to his relations. He
embarked in August and saw land off Otago on I2th
December. On his return, Weld flung himself with
his habitual energy into his old life. During his
year's residence in England he had found time to write
a pamphlet, entitled Hints to Intending Sheep Farmers
in New Zealand. In this he treats at length of the
capabilities of soil and climate in that country for
sheep and cattle rearing. Also on the most remunera-
tive breeds of sheep ; on cross-breeding as opposed
to pure breeds ; and on the diseases to which sheep
are liable. Also on the price of land, and the prospects
of success to capitalist or squatter. He concludes
with remarks which were certainly drawn from his
own experience :
" Besides possessing the practical qualifications
which I have enumerated, a man to be happy in
such a life should have resources in himself. He
should be fond of all kinds of active exercises :
riding, boating, duck-shooting, sea-fishing. Above
all he should be of a studious turn, as sometimes his
book and his dog will be his only companions. Such
accomplishments as painting and music, far from
being out of place in a bark hut, are invaluable there.
At home they are agreeable occupations, but in the
bush they are more. For in moments of gloom or
despondency, of vain regrets for the past, or useless
longings for the future, the mind is often diverted
and aroused from a morbid state by their cheerful
and soothing influence."
This pamphlet ran to three editions, and even
now may be consulted with advantage by the would-
be colonist.
His return to New Zealand at the end of the year
1852 coincided within a few months with the grant
made by the Imperial Parliament of a Representative
go THE CONSTITUTION
Government to New Zealand. This Act established
a General Assembly, consisting of a Legislative
Council 1 and House of Representatives the former
being appointed by the Governor, and the other
elected on a 5 property qualification which was
equivalent to manhood suffrage. No distinction
was drawn of colour or race in this enactment, and
it was a moot point for some time amongst the colonial
authorities whether the franchise was extended to
the natives or not. Their vote, however in practice
was never refused at the poll, and in 1864 a law
was passed giving them equal rights with the British
settlers in this as on other questions. The country
was divided into six provinces, which were governed
by a superintendent and local council, in whom very
large powers of self-government were invested. This
Constitution was proclaimed by Sir George Grey
on the i;th of January 1853. Within six months
of this date, he was moved to the Cape. Before
leaving the Colony, he called the provincial govern-
ments into existence without, however, summoning
a General Assembly : a crucial error of judgment
which led to disastrous results. For the local auth-
orities were not long in assuming powers incom-
patible with that invested in the central government,
to the grievous detriment of law and order in the
Colony.
The following year Lieut .-Colonel Wynyard, the
acting Governor, summoned the first General Assembly,
in which Weld sat for Wairau, and Mr. Clifford was
elected Speaker. The House met on the i7th of May,
and Weld proposed the first amendment on a motion
" that a clergyman be asked to open the proceedings
with prayer." This was to the effect that the House,
though recognising the importance of religious
1 The Legislative Council numbered fifteen, and House of Re-
presentatives sixty. These numbers were subsequently increased.
WELD is APPOINTED A MINISTER 91
observances, objected to an act which might tend
to the subversion of that perfect religious quality
which was guaranteed by the Constitution. The
amendment was lost, but its principle was recognised
by a formal resolution unanimously passed ; prayers
were then read by an Anglican clergyman. On
subsequent occasions prayers were read by the
Speaker.
Weld's first speech in the House was on respon-
sible government. The old official party still held
the reins, and affairs were at a deadlock. After a
debate which lasted several days the House passed
unanimously the following resolution :
" That amongst the objects which this House
desires to see accomplished without delay, both as
an essential means whereby the General Government
may rightly exercise a due control over Provincial
Legislature, and as a no less indispensable means of
obtaining the confidence and attachment of the
people, the most important is the establishment of
ministerial responsibility in the conduct of the legis-
lative and executive proceedings of the Governor."
Colonel Wynyard, on receiving this intimation
of the wishes of the Representatives, sent for Mr.
J. E. Fitzgerald, who had taken a leading part in the
discussions, and requested him to carry on the business
of the House till the Home Government could be
referred to to facilitate the retirement of the " old
gang." Fitzgerald associated with himself Weld,
Mr. Sewell a lawyer of great ability and Mr.
Dillon-Bell, and proceeded to draw up some very
urgently required measures. At first all went
smoothly, but before very long it was clear that there
were adverse influences at work. What these were
we read in a letter from Weld to an old and intimate
friend : 1
1 Mr. Simon Scrope.
92 TENACITY OP OLD OFFICIALS
" When we entered office it was agreed that the
officials who formed the old executive should continue
for the present to fill their posts and carry on the
routine work till their retiring pensions were agreed
upon, and the Home Government had accepted their
resignations. Well, things went on this way till
the end of the session approaching the Assembly
declared in unmistakable terms its wish that perman-
ent arrangements should be made for the transaction
of business. Besides this, such strong evidence of
financial mismanagement had come out that the
House demurred at voting large sums of money to
any but a responsible executive. Again, we had in
several of the Bills introduced by us asked for large
powers for the Governor and the executive, in order
to remedy various existing evils ; the House a
very Conservative one was quite ready to grant
these powers, but only to a Governor with responsible
advisers. The acting Governor at first appeared to
side with us, but he was won over by our opponents.
I, for one, would not retain my place in the Administra-
tion unless all the offices were filled with really
efficient men in cordial co-operation for the same
ends. Mr. Fitzgerald the head of our ministry
came round, after a little consideration, to the same
opinion ; and the two others thought the same.
The Governor would not give in, so we resigned.
The Representatives were, of course, furious, and there
was a very stormy scene in the House. Responsible
Government which they rightly considered had been
conceded to them had been upset by the tenacity
of the old officials, who had made it impossible to
carry on the government. A vote of thanks and con-
fidence to us was at once passed unanimously, Wake-
field and two or three of his followers not remaining
to vote."
The prorogation of the General Assembly followed
on the resignation of ministers, and the Colonial
Office at home settled the question six months later by
pensioning off and dismissing the former office-holders.
Colonel Gore Browne was appointed Governor of
New Zealand the following year. On his arrival
A GREAT SORROW 93
he announced to the General Assembly then sitting
his intention " to continue the policy hitherto
adopted towards the aborigines in maintaining in-
violate their right to their land, and securing to them
an impartial administration of justice." He also
signified his intention of carrying out the principle
of ministerial responsibility in all its integrity.
He then dissolved Parliament. With the new General
Assembly which met on i5th April 1856, and not till
then, could parliamentary government be said to
have begun.
To return to Weld, one is conscious from an
examination of the letters and other papers relating
to this time of a change that has come over him. He
had gone through a great sorrow. It was his first,
and for the moment it was an overwhelming one.
His home was broken up, his family scattered.
We have got letters too intimate and sacred to be
published in which he offers to give up his prospects,
at that time very encouraging ones, to go and live
with his mother in England. She refused to let him
make the sacrifice. Her health was delicate at the
time of his father's death and she only survived him
six years, and those years she dedicated to God ;
following the example of her daughters all of whom
had adopted a religious life she became a nun
of the Benedictine Order at a convent in Stafford-
shire.
The Crimean War was at this time occupying every
Englishman's thoughts, in the colonies no less than
at home, and we find Weld writing to his eldest brother
to ask him to ascertain if there would be any chance
of his being able to get out to fight as a volunteer.
He tells him all his old longing to be a soldier has
returned, that his life in New Zealand has begun to
lose its charm, also that as his affairs there had
prospered greatly he could well afford himself a
9
94 EXPEDITION TO THE HOT SPRINGS
holiday. 1 Pending the arrival of an answer, Weld
started on an expedition to the hot springs of New
Zealand, with a friend, the Hon. James Stuart
Wortley. They left Auckland in the last days of
September at the end of the session, and found them-
selves, after various watery adventures at Tauranga,
on the east coast of the Northern Island. Weld's
journal, from which we quote, was illustrated by a
number of sketches.
" October $rd. A canoe put us across to the south
side of the harbour, passing Archdeacon Brown's
house prettily situated on a hill amongst peach
trees, above the bay. Breakfasted on landing,
then crossed sandy flat below the Monganiu which
Gibraltar-like forms the south head of the entrance
to the harbour. We then found ourselves on a
sandy shore (good walking at low water) which
stretches to a distance of fifteen miles to Maketu.
Wortley and I reached it two or three hours before
our Maories. Having had our letters forwarded to
Rev. J. Chapman we called at his house on a rising
ground a little distance from the pah. Mrs. Chapman
asked us to stop. Spent the evening there, but
went back to our tent to sleep in order to make an
early start in the morning. Maketu pah on a cliff
above entrance of the river, schooners can enter.
Haupapa, chief ; gave him letter from Governor
Wynyard ; a big handsome man, face tatooed all
over. He was very anxious to lionise us over the
country ; we declined the honour.
" October 4th. Off at sunrise. Country swampy,
hills covered with fern. Reached fine river about
4.30, encamped a mile farther on near some wares.
The Maories one a hunchback came on with us
the following day.
" October $th. Country hilly, with fern and fine
Rimu and Tawa trees. Strong sulphurous smell.
We came in sight at midday of lake Roto Iti, and
1 The answer, when it arrived, gave no encouragement to Weld's
hopes ; the war also was drawing to a close,
THE LAKES 95
descending to the banks of an inlet camped there,
awaiting the advent of a canoe which Bartholomew,
the hunchback, had arranged with us in the morning
to send across to meet us here. This our first view
of the lakes was certainly a very beautiful one. Canoe
arrived but was too small. Wortley crossed lake
with luggage, and the rest of us walked on. Met a
Maori and engaged a canoe to return and pick up
Wortley, and come back for us afterwards and land
us at a pah at the junction of the Roto Iti and
Rotarua lakes. This appeared to be a more direct
road to Te Ngue than the one over the hill from the
place where Wortley had landed. Waited for some
time and sketched one of the headlands with a
picturesque pah. Returned with our guide, and
launched a large canoe at his kaingu still farther up
the lake. At this spot the Maketu River flows out
of the lakes, and the road starts for Tauranga.
Paddled up the Koto Iti, which is about eight or
nine miles long, hills and islands wooded, with
promontories crowned with remains of pahs. After
going about three miles down the lake, found Wortley
at Ware Tata. A hot stream flows down into the
lake from a source that was puffing up clouds of white
steam on the hill above. The w r ater a pleasant heat;
our Maories took a bath. Slight smell of rotten eggs.
Pushed off again and returned up the lake, passing
several hot springs on the left hand. Heavy hail and
thunder storm, in the midst of which we got to Moreha
pah. Pushed on for Te Rotorua our natives employ-
ing others to carry our packs. Two miles brought
us there. Mr. Smith made us welcome, and here
we passed the night. His house is on a flat with
garden and orchard, and seemed comfortable and
homelike.
" October 6th. Canoed across Rotorua to Ohine-
mutu, about six miles. The lake is about seven or
eight miles long, with an island which is inhabited.
Legend says that a maiden called E. Hine Moa swam
across, three miles, to her lover a rock was pointed
out to us on an opposite headland where she had
left her clothes. The lake is of no particular beauty.
Steam of boiling springs rises at several points
round its shores. Met a canoe laden with fresh
96 OHINEMUTU
water mussels, and got some. Arrived at Ohinemutu,
and sent Bishop Pompallier's letter to Marino, who
was working at a mill that a European is building a
mile hence for the natives. He turned up directly,
a tatooed face, with dress and manner a cross between
a groom put of place and a seedy sacristan. He
touched his hat (!), shook hands, and took us up to
the priest's house which was empty where he and
his wife ' Mary ' (a clean, tidy-looking native) fed
our Maories and ourselves on the fat of the land.
Ohinemutu, both as regards nature and art, is by
far the most interesting place I have seen in New
Zealand. Formerly it must have been beautiful,
now, like all the pahs I have seen, it bears unmis-
takable signs of decay, and of a dwindling population.
Quantities of very fine and elaborate carving lay
scattered on the ground. The outer palisade had
fallen, a fact due no doubt to the posts decaying
from the heat of the ground ; also possibly to tribal
wars. Enough remained, however, to show what it
once was. In the evening Wortley and I wandered
about in the pah amongst boiling springs and geysers
passing from one ware to another and admiring
the beauty of the carving, in many instances painted,
with which these now deserted houses are loaded.
We noticed three-fingered men amongst the figures.
But the artificial curiosities of Ohinemutu are nothing
to the natural ones. The point of land^on which it
stands appears to be a mere crust entirely undermined
by cavities filled with boiling water. In many places
one has but to push one's stick into the ground to
cause a jet of boiling water to spurt out. Springs
are puffing up steam on every side, and their water
flows off into pools of varying temperature where
the natives spend most of their time, smoking and
chatting, some bathing, whilst others enjoy themselves
squatting on hot flat stones. The whole place, built
amongst and over these springs, is a perpetual
vapour bath. Some of the springs throw up jets of
water to a height of twenty feet one did so whilst
we were looking and then subside to their usual
bubbling state. Others again never get beyond a
gentle simmer ; some are of pure water, others flop
up mud and slime. Natives civil and obliging.
ASPECTS OF THE COUNTRY 97
Marino and his wife hospitality itself ; we got clothes
mended, bread baked, etc. They had no flour of
their own and potatoes were scarce.
" October 7th. We sent our Maories on the road
to Okarika along the shores of the lake, whilst (under
Marino's guidance) Wortley and I took a more inland
route in order to see the hot springs of Waka-rewa-
rewa, intending to join the men at the end of the lake.
After passing over a moorlike tract covered with
manuka scrub and fern a puff of steam now and then
rising from the ground we reached Waka-rewa-rewa.
These springs are even more remarkable than those
we had previously seen ; they consist of cauldrons
of hot water and mud, and boiling springs, some in
pits amongst the manuka, others rising out of craters
of calcareous stone and chemical salts, apparently
formed by the action of the jets of water. This
place is situated at the foot of the hills at south-west
end of the Rotarua lake, and about a mile from the
shore. The ground round it is broken and rocky.
The general aspect of the country is wild and moor-
like ; small patches of bare calcareous stone are
scattered amongst the scrub ; the rocks are covered
with pure sulphur in crystals, hot mud as well as
water springs rise in all directions, and steam pours
out of every crevice and fissure in the rocks or earth,
whilst there is a constant noise of bubbling, hissing
and puffing in short, all the sounds and pulsations
that tortured steam can produce, both in the ground
under one's feet, and above it. Marino put us on the
main track, and we soon overtook our natives. We
then kept straight on till we reached Okanka, a very
pretty lake about two miles long by one mile broad,
with fine wooded banks and beautiful distant views
of the Terawera Mountains. We got a native boy
to row us down the lake, then landed, climbed a
low hill and found ourselves in sight of Lake Terawera.
Our course lay along the shores of this lake. At
Karadee (Galilee) we got a boat a good deal of sea
on, but the wind fair. After a time we got into
smooth waters, between narrows, on one side trees
down to the water's edge, on the other the bare
rocky slopes of the Terawera Range. The headlands
here were crowded with pahs, occupied (our natives
98 THE BLUE AND PINK TERRACES
told us) by rival chieftains who have all, within the
last six months, been at war with each other. We
Eassed one pah which was a heap of ruins having
een destroyed in a night surprise. A man came
down to our camp fire who had been wounded in
three places and who described his escape with much
pride to our Maories, showing them his scars. From
the narrows we passed into a very rapid stream of
which the waters were pleasantly warm, and which
flowed through a swamp abounding in wild duck,
which, however, are protected by ' tapu ' from being
slaughtered. It was nearly sunset when we reached
Te Tarata, which I can only describe as one of the
loveliest sights I have ever seen. It is a succession
of basins or terraces of stalactites, the colour of marble
or alabaster, over which water flows from basin to
basin till it falls into a crater filled with boiling water
at its foot. 1 This crater, or pool, is intensely blue
in colour, with an island covered with red rocks,
and brilliant green foliage ; on three sides of the
pool there are steep cliffs partly covered with bushes.
We encamped here for the night, and the Maories
made themselves a blanket hut, and were happy
feasting on a pig I bought at Karadee.
" October 8th. Got up early and ascended terraces,
admiring the pools of opaque blue, and pure blue
water enclosed in delicate shell-like basins of spotless
stalactite. Tried several heats, and, finding one to
my liking, bathed, and returned to my blankets till
breakfast time, leaving my dirty clothes in a pool
to boil. After breakfast walked to the top of the
crater, and sketched. In the afternoon Wortley
and I, guided by the wounded native, started to see
the other wonders of the lake. Rptomahana is small,
not above a mile across in any direction, reedy, and
apparently shallow. Wild fowl abound, especially
a white-winged teal, and the pukeko was strutting
about everywhere amidst the reeds. We landed, and
were taken up to a most picturesque spot amongst
the hills to see a pool of boiling water, which, whilst
we sat near it, suddenly favoured us by spouting up
water to the height of 20 or 25 feet, and then quietly
subsided. An overgrown path over soft moss, and
1 These terraces were destroyed in an earthquake, June 1886.
RETURN TO WELLINGTON 99
through a luxuriant growth of manuka, led us to a
little lake of a deep pea-green colour. Returning to
our canoe we passed two islands with red rocks and
green bushes, and yellow flowering shrubs, and landed
at Olukupuarangi where the rose-coloured terraces
are situated on the opposite shore of the lake. Climbed
up to the top of the terraces which are even more
beautiful, we thought, than any we had yet seen.
They are white, and shaded with delicate rose-colour,
the steps deeper, and more uniform than at Tarata-
from which they also differ in there being fewer
pools after every ascent or step. We walked half
round the crater (above the terraces) as far as the
natives considered it safe to go, in some places
standing on the shore, which is encrusted with
sulphur, looking down into the fathomless depths of
the lake, in others wading in, where it gradually
shelves off, to get a view of the shallows which fade
away into the most exquisite shades of blue and
green. We returned late to the camp, having seen
more beautiful sights than I had ever witnessed
before in my life."
After thoroughly exploring the volcanic region,
Weld and his companion continued their journey
westward to Lake Taupo in the centre of the Island.
Their road on leaving the lake lay through very wild
and uncultivated country, where they more than
once encountered natives who had never before
looked upon a white man's face. They reached
Wanganui in the last days of October, and New
Plymouth shortly afterwards, from whence Weld
took ship to Wellington and returned to his pastoral
occupations at Stonyhurst and Brackenfield.
In August 1854 the news reached New Zealand
of the great eruption in the Sandwich Islands. This
was an opportunity not to be lost ; accordingly Weld,
accompanied on this occasion also by Mr. Wortley,
chartered a small sailing vessel and started off for
the scene of action. They took nearly three weeks
ioo ERUPTION IN SANDWICH ISLANDS
for the voyage, and long before they reached their
destination they could see that the " great mountain "
(for such is the meaning of the name Mauna Loa)
was in full activity. Weld sent an account of his
ascent of the crater to Sir Charles Lyell, and it was
afterwards published in the Journal of the London
Geological Society. The following is a somewhat
epitomised version of it. On landing on the island
Weld says :
" We saw three principal summits, Mauna Kea
(13,800 feet), Mauna Loa (the ' Great Mountain,'
13,700 feet), and Mauna Huala Lei, rising above the
forests and upland valleys, not, however, with that
sharp-cut angularity of form usual in volcanic
regions, but rounded and swelling in their outline.
We crossed the island by the open valley of the
Waimea, where many products of the temperate
zone flourish, and, passing over the shoulder of
Mauna Kea amid forests and belts of timber, descended
thence into the Hamakua district on to the little
town of Hilo, following a tract above the eastern
seacoast through a most beautiful country. Numerous
ravines filled with banana, bread-fruit, and candle-
nut trees cut deeply through the grassy slopes,
which dotted with clumps of pandanus and bamboo,
and varied by small coffee and sugar plantations-
rose from the sea-cliffs to the forests. As we approached
Hilo, clear bright rivulets dashed down the rocky
channels of the ravine and fell in cascades into
the sea.
" Hilo is a place of some importance as a resort of
whalers, who frequent it for supplies. It may be said
to stand at the foot of Mauna Loa, though the summit
of the mountain is about forty miles inland with a
gradual ascent the whole way. . . . The present
eruption broke out on nth August 1855, at about
12,000 feet above the sea-level on the northern side
of the mountain. Having spent some days at Hilo,
and completed the necessary arrangements, we
started with natives and horses for Kilauea, intending
to proceed on foot. The ascent, though very gradual,
THE MAUN A LOA 101
may be said to begin immediately on leaving Hilo.
The weather was unpropitious, and where the path
was not lava it was deep mud, so that it was not till
the second day that we reached Kilauea. The country
varied between woods and jungles, and open tracts of
fern, Ti (Draccenia terminalis), and other bushes.
A little before we reached Kilauea we entered the
region of the Koa a tree resembling the Australian
Eucalypti, but which I believe is classed by Douglas
among the Acacia tribe. The soil, which is of a
red colour, was covered with masses of scoriae, and
in many places by streams of old lava. On the
afternoon of i4th November we stood above the great
crater of Kilauea, 4104 feet above the sea. We found
a grass-built hut on the verge of the upper rim of
the crater, and here we took up our quarters. The
mountain of Kilauea may be described as the base
of a broad, low, truncated cone, standing on a high
level plateau on the side of Mauna Loa. From our
hut we looked down upon two partially sunken ledges,
covered with grass, fern, and bushes. Below these
ledges lay a great crater like a round basin, about
seven miles in circumference at the upper rim. The
depth from the highest of the surrounding cliffs to
the bottom of the crater has been calculated at about
1 500 feet ; these cliffs form a kind of wall of yellow-
ish gravelly clay and dark basaltic rock, and are
nearly perpendicular. Looking down into the crater
it had the appearance of a flat plain of dull lead-
coloured lava, and containing an infinity of small
mounds and craters, whence issued clouds of smoke.
Mr. Stuart Wortley, who was prevented by indis-
position from going on with me to Mauna Loa, and
remained at Kilauea, observed some small craters
within the great crater occasionally ejecting hot stones
and melted lava. The lava cools into every variety of
form and consistency ; the most curious is the
capillary lava called by the natives ' Pele's Hair.' It
strongly resembles hair of reddish, brownish, or golden
hues, and is supposed by the Sandwich Islanders to be
the hair of the goddess Pele, who luxuriates in the
bath of fire of her volcanoes in the same way as they
do in the cool waves that break over their coral reefs.
' Having spent a night in the grass-hut I started
102 ASCENT OF CRATER
early in the morning of i5th November with three
natives for the new craters of Mauna Loa. After
walking a couple of miles through a grass country
we entered a wood, and began the ascent. In about
two hours we began to emerge from the wood, and
by 9 a.m. we were fairly upon the lava. It was an
old lava stream, with various species of Epacris
a red whortleberry and similar plants growing in
its crevices. Our course this morning had diverged
a little to the north, and then to the south of west,
but now we made straight for the upper crater
on the rounded back of Mauna Loa bearing about
west. Before us lay a vast wilderness. On either
side belts of woods that had escaped comparatively
recent eruptions struggled yet a little higher up the
mountain side. We passed several large caverns,
once the ducts of molten lava, and formed of the
cooled upper crust of the lava-current. Proceeding
onwards, over lava and loose porous stones like
pumice, only harder and somewhat heavier, we
arrived about 11 a.m. at a little oasis of coarse grass,
with a few bushes and koa trees, an old hut and a
deep pool of delicious water in a deep cave. Here
the old track to the north-west of the island turns
northwards passing between Mauna Loa and Mauna
Kea. We halted here for a few moments to refresh
ourselves and then pursued our course up the bare
lava. At about 3 p.m. the guide, disappointed in
his expectation of finding water in a cavern, altered
his plan and instead of keeping his westerly course
turned north-west. Shortly before sunset we found
a little water amidst a few solitary stunted bushes,
and then, turning westward, shaped our course
directly for the low r er of the two craters, which
were sending out dense volumes of smoke above us.
We lay down for the night in a little patch of half-
vitrified ashes, at a height as near as I could calculate
of about 9000 feet above the sea. The next morning
we started before sunrise. Our way lay, mile after
mile, over loose, light scoriae boulders, yeasty-looking
basins, and tortuous folds and waves of solidified
lava caverns whence the hot lava had flowed
away, and hillocks of stones burnt to a deep orange-
red. The view from the site of the eruption of 1852
WELD'S ENGAGEMENT 103
which we passed during the morning was most
glorious. The old conical craters on its summit were
covered with newly fallen snow ; its huge outline
lay shadowy and dim and the clouds of smoke that
rose round its base from the valley below, the wild
dreariness of the foreground, and the tropical sky
above all, formed a picture which was indescrib-
ably grand and impressive. About midday we
arrived at the scene of the present eruption. After
walking some distance across the recent lava, we
obtained a good view of the fiery flood below, through
a broken part of the surface. The huge arch and
roof of the cavern glowed red-hot, and, as with some
difficulty we reached a point directly over-hanging
it, the glare was absolutely scorching. The lava at
almost a white heat flowed slowly down at the rate
of about three or four miles an hour. Passing
several similar abysses and fissures we arrived at
the lower crater. The upper crust of the lava having
cooled, the discharge there was entirely subterranean.
Lying down on the hot stones I attempted to look
over as it were down a great chimney to see
the boiling lava, which I heard seething and bubbling
below. I got my head over the edge, and had just
time to see a long broad fissure full of smoke when
I was almost suffocated with smoke and sulphuric
acid gas and thought myself lucky to beat a retreat
in safety. . . . Our sleeping-place was about 500 feet
below the level of the crater. The night with us
was fine, but whilst above us the crater rolled up
dark columns of smoke, below over Hilo and
Kilauea a great thunderstorm raged. Later it
rained, and in the morning the outside of the rug
in which I slept was white with hoar frost/ 1
The descent was performed without difficulty,
and in half the time taken for the ascent.
A month later Weld started for England. His stay
on this occasion was short. He was back in New
Zealand early in 1857, and remained there till the
autumn of 1858, when he again embarked for home
The following winter was to mark a fresh departure
104 WELD'S MARRIAGE
in his life, for he met the gentle being who was to
transform his existence, giving him what his affec-
tionate nature craved for, more than for any of
fortune's gifts a home.
The history of their courtship is a short one.
They met, fell in love, and after a short interval he
proposed and was accepted. Filumena was the
daughter of Mr. de Lisle Phillipps l of Garrendon Park,
and Grace-Dieu Manor in Leicestershire, and his
wife, Laura Clifford, the latter being Weld's cousin
in the second degree through his mother. They
were married on the loth of March 1859, in the private
chapel at Grace-Dieu, and spent their honeymoon at
Teignmouth. This was to have been followed by a
journey to the south of France, but on their way
thither they stopped at Chideock for a passing visit
to his eldest brother and his wife. Here he was
taken ill with what turned out to be a severe attack of
typhoid fever. For weeks he hovered between life
and death, and finally was nursed back to life by his
devoted wife and his sister-in-law. His convales-
cence was a long and slow one ; but he was sufficiently
recovered by the month of October of the same year
to start, with Mrs. Weld, on his return journey to New
Zealand, where they arrived in January 1860.
1 Mr. Phillipps assumed the name of de Lisle in 1862, and was
afterwards known as Ambrose Phillipps de Lisle.
SIR FREDERICK AND LADY WELD.
[To face p. 104.
CHAPTER VI
** The day is short and the work great. It is not incumbent
upon thee to complete the work, but thou must not therefore
cease from it." TALMUD.
NEW ZEALAND at the period which we have now
reached was passing through a critical moment of her
history. More than one cause contributed to this
state of things. The Constitution was a new machine,
and like many new machines it did not at first work
smoothly. The provinces, instead of acting in har-
mony with the central authority, intrigued against it ;
thus much of the time and energies of the Govern-
ment were taken up in a struggle for supremacy which
might have been directed to more useful ends. 1
The native question also had come once more to the
front, and there were unmistakable symptoms that
the fire which had been smouldering for twelve years
was about to burst into flame. Many causes contri-
buted to this, but the one that lay on the surface was
that the hitherto inarticulate wrongs of the Maori
had found a voice in Tamihana, 2 and a rallying-point
in his puppet-king Matuera Potipau. If we could
look into that little-understood thing, the black
man's mind (the rule applies equally to those of a
1 The provinces claimed great powers in financial and other matters,
even passing laws affecting the contract of marriage, which accordingly
differed in different parts of the colony.
2 Tamihana, or William Thompson, alias the King-maker, by all of
which names he was known to the settlers, was a Christian. He took
a prominent part in the rebellion, but ended by making his submission
to the Crown.
105
106 THE LAND LEAGUE
tawny skin, and to the native of other lands besides
the New Zealander), we should probably see small
fear of the British soldier, but a deeply-rooted one of
the power behind him. To the Maori the soldier was
any thing but the invincible being we like to think him.
Tradition dies hard in the bush, and tradition no
doubt recalled the triumph of Ranghiaiata and
Rauparaha at Wairau triumphs, too, which went
unpunished, and were followed by no reprisals. There
were other reasons as well which contributed to give
them confidence. They had possession of the whole
interior of the Northern Island. In that wild country,
amidst primeval forests, and mountains which had
never been trod by a European foot, the native had a
safe place of retreat whither the redcoats had never
attempted to follow him. He was as well armed, too,
as his adversary, as till the war broke out little or no
embargo had been laid on the sale of arms. To the
leaders of the war party, therefore, all that appeared
necessary was an excuse to break the peace so that
they might " try conclusions " with the soldiers,
and having beaten them, turn the Pakeha bag and
baggage out of the Islands, and the hated and ever-
encroaching British rule that they represented.
The excuse was soon found. A native of the name
of Rawiri defied the land league and offered a piece
of land in the province of Taranaki to the Govern-
ment for sale. He was first warned, then on per-
sisting he was made an example of and shot. Colonel
Wynyard, acting on the theory that it was no part
of his duty to interfere between natives in their
disputes, left the crime unpunished. A blood-feud
ensued in which the murderer was slain by Rawiri 's
friends under circumstances of peculiar atrocity.
Taranaki was still the scene of disturbances when
Colonel Gore Browne was appointed Governor. He
visited the province early in 1859, an d held a meeting
A TEST CASE 107
there, first with the settlers and afterwards with the
natives. On the latter occasion a chief of the name
of Teira offered his land for sale, which was accepted
by Gore Browne on condition that he could prove his
title to it. Wirimu Kingi, who was present, objected
to the sale, and on his being asked to show his rights
over it he disclaimed any. Having made his protest
he called off his followers and departed. 1 The
Governor treated this as a test case ; that he did so
was unfortunate in the light of future events.
But the information which might have saved him from
making the mistake was not forthcoming at the time,
and no blame could be attached to Gore Browne
for his ignorance of it. In a dispatch to the Colonial
Office of the 29th of March 1859, after explaining that
it was absolutely necessary to vindicate a right to
buy land, he says :
" The right to sell land belonging to natives
without interference on the part of other chiefs (not
having a claim to share in it) is fully admitted by
Maori custom. Any recognition of such a power as
that assumed by Kingi would therefore be unjust to
both races, because it would be the means of keeping
millions of acres waste and out of cultivation. I
have, however, little fear he will venture to resort to
violence to maintain his assumed rights ; but I have
made every preparation to enforce obedience should
he presume to do so."
Directly afterwards Parris, the land commissioner,
was sent to Taranaki to examine into Terra's title.
The investigation was concluded in January 1860,
and decided in his favour ; accordingly part of the
purchase-money was paid and orders received to
proceed with the survey, and some relations and
followers of Kingi who had settled in the district
1 He is reported to have said, in the picturesque phraseology of
his nation, " Yes, the land is Teira's, but I will not let him sell it ;
lie has floated it, but it shall not go to sea."
1 08 WAR BREAKS OUT
were forcibly evicted. 1 This was a signal for revolt.
Kingi stopped the surveyors with an armed force. He
was opposed by British soldiers. Pahs were erected
by the Maories and fired upon by the troops. Kingi
got reinforcements from the Waikato tribe. The
Governor sent to Australia for more troops ; the war
had become a national affair, openly supported by
nearly every tribe in the Island, and secretly sym-
pathised with by the remainder.
A dissolution of the General Assembly enabled
Weld, on his return to New Zealand (May 1860),
to offer his services once more to the electors of
Wairau. In his address he alludes in the following
terms to the two questions which at that time were
agitating all minds in the colony :
" The present difficulty at Taranaki is not a question
in any way of ownership or title to land. It is this :
Can a chief who assumes tribal authority forbid the
exercise of rights of ownership by a native owner of
land? I hold that quasi-sovereign authority, as claimed
by W. Kingi in his forcible attempt to prevent the sale
of land which did not belong to him, to be incom-
patible with the authority of the Crown. Whilst I
deeply regret the necessity of an appeal to arms, and
foresee the losses, bloodshed, expense and other
sacrifices which it may entail on the colony, I yet
doubt not but that the most humane as well as the
wisest course is now, once and for ever, firmly to
uphold and establish the supremacy of the Crown.
' " I will now pass to the second question of vital
interest to the country. Is New Zealand to be
divided into a federation of petty states with arbi-
trarily fixed yet unchangeable boundaries ? Should
not rather the action of the people of the country be
given free play to enable them to fulfil the conditions
of a healthy growth by altering old geographical
and political boundaries to meet such requirements
as may be deemed necessary under changed condi-
1 The Governor was supported in these measures by his ministers
and all the leading men in the House, with the exception of Fox and
Fitzgerald.
AN OFT-QUOTED AXIOM 109
tions ? The tendency to the former system has grown
out of the mode in which our Constitution was launched
adrift by Sir George Grey, whilst the latter system
was no doubt the ideal formed by the Minister of the
Crown who proposed, and by the Parliament that
granted, our Constitution."
In the former system, he goes on to say, he sees
a great and unnecessary expense, confusion arising
from concurrent powers six or eight legislative
bodies doing badly what might be better done by one
and a multiplicity of laws. In the latter system
he sees a reduction of expense, simplicity and unity
in laws and administration for common objects,
one legislative body in which competent men might
meet, with full local self-government, legislative and
administrative in all local matters.
He concluded by pleading his health, which had
not by any means recovered from his severe illness
of the preceding year, as a reason for not meeting his
constituents in person.
As soon as the House met, Mr. Stafford, who at
that time possessed its confidence, was asked by the
Governor to form a ministry, and at the Premier's
invitation Weld became minister for native affairs.
In one of the first speeches he made in this capacity
he laid down in the following oft-quoted words his
views on the right way of dealing with the race :
" The rule," he says, " for managing the natives
resolves itself into a simple axiom which I will give
you. At all risks be just, at all risks be firm. Justice
requires wisdom, firmness requires external support ;
much therefore depends on the support of the Home
authorities, much on the assistance afforded by this
House."
He goes on to say that his attention had been given
for years to native matters, that, in his opinion, the
10
no TRIBUTE TO COLONIAL FORCES
true course to have taken in New Zealand would have
been to have shown in an unmistakable manner the
power of the Crown side by side with its justice and
mercy. He denied indignantly the accusations which
had been made against the colonists as a body, and
expressed the opinion that " if the noblest race of
savages that we know dies out, its ruin will be caused
by its friends not by its foes. It was the so-called
friends of the natives who had opposed measures
which would have strengthened the hands of the
Government and enabled it to do what was necessary
for their education and civilisation."
One of the most useful measures brought forward
by Weld during his term of office was one for the
amendment of the existing Militia Act. In his
speech on the second reading he gives a strong
testimony to the services rendered by both the
Volunteers and Militia of New Zealand in past days.
" I remember well/' he said, " how the Hutt and
Wellington Militia behaved in the old war. No men
could have behaved better ; New Zealand has a great
deal to be proud of in her Militia and Volunteers."
Measures of great use and importance were passed
in this session. When the ministers came into
office the finances of the country were in a very
unsatisfactory state. The outstanding debts,
including that due to the New Zealand Company,
amounted to nearly half a million ; measures were
taken by which these were provided for by fixed
payments distributed over a period of years, equitably
over the whole colony. Powers were also obtained
from the Home Government to pass an Audit Act
which gave the Legislature complete control over
the Public Accounts. Steam communication was
established with Australia and round the coasts of
the Islands, and considerable sums expended on
the necessary and pressing work of roads and bridges.
THE WORD OF PEACE in
Whilst these measures were occupying the atten-
tion of the House, the guerilla warfare was being
carried on with varying success between the natives
and Her Majesty's troops and the Militia. At the
end of a year little advantage had been gained on
either side. The flourishing settlement of Taranaki
had been laid waste by the natives, and the women
and children had had to flee to New Plymouth for
safety. The arrival of General Pratt infused fresh
energy into the war. He sapped the approach to
one of the strongest of the enemy's pahs, and at the
last moment, when it was about to be blown up,
Tamihana, who was in league with Kingi, and the
prime instigator of the whole movement, sued for
peace. The Governor, accompanied by the Minister
for Native Affairs, went to Tearei pah to conclude a
treaty of peace ; the latter gives the following account
to his brother of what happened there :
' I am in camp on the Waitara," he writes, " with
the Governor, as the insurgents here have asked for
peace. We, of course, are equally anxious to give
it, as we hope it will break up the confederacy which
threatens the whole of the settlements of the Northern
Island. We shall have enough left on our hands
still when this chief submits if he does so. We have
had a suspension of hostilities for a fortnight, and
yesterday there was a meeting between the Attorney-
General, Native Secretary, and myself, on the part of
the government and the heads of the native troops.
There was a grand reception afterwards of the hostile
natives and the friendly ones. One of the chief
features of their proceedings was the appearance of
a young girl to whom, according to their customs,
it is left ' to say the word of peace.' This girl was
clothed in a red shawl and a mat, and, her hair plaited
with fern, and bare-legged, walked in front of the
hostile warriors, weeping as she approached our
natives. Their wives, decorated with green leaves
and white feathers, welcomed them with cries and
loud wailing. Entering the pah they sat down in
1 1 2 RESIGNATION OF THE STAFFORD MINISTRY
two parties and all lamented together ; after that
they made ceremonious speeches and feasted. To-day
we meet them again, and if all goes well the Governor
will be produced to read his speech to them, but we
don't want him to appear till all has been settled
and agreed upon."
Nothing came of these negotiations, but a peace
was patched up a little later which lasted with only
minor outbreaks for about two years. In October
1 86 1, Colonel Gore Browne's term of office having
expired, he was sent as Governor to Tasmania.
The appointment of his successor, Sir George Grey,
was attended with a considerable flourish of trumpets.
The colonists were given to understand that he was
sent by the Home Government as " a great pro-
consul," a pacificator, who by his influence with
the natives would bring about the end all had in
view and many had striven for in vain a lasting
peace. It was even whispered that he had caused it
to be represented in influential quarters that if the
tangled web of New Zealand affairs was ever to be
unravelled he was the man to do it. Whether the
colonists shared in these sanguine views or not is
a different matter. There is strong reason for be-
lieving that those who were most behind the scenes
did not ; but they loyally and unanimously determined
to give the new policy and its author every chance.
The Stafford ministry had been replaced, in
July 1861, by one of which Mr. Fox was the leader.
This ministry was in power when Sir George Grey
met the General Assembly for the first time on his
return to the country in July 1862. It did not long
possess the confidence of the House Mr. Fox re-
signing on a question arising out of an offer, 1 made
1 This dispatch was in answer to one from Sir G. Grey asking that
the native affairs should be placed on the same footing as the other
business of the colony.
THE FLOUR AND SUGAR MINISTRY 113
by the Colonial Office, then represented by the Duke
of Newcastle, to give the management of native
affairs, which had hitherto been in the hands of the
Governor and controlled by the Home Government,
to the colonists. Mr. Fox's resolution was defeated
by a union of the extremists on both sides. Those
who wished entire ministerial responsibility did not
consider he had gone far enough. On the other
hand he did not satisfy such of his supporters who
were in favour of leaving the native affairs under
the Home Government till such time as peace was
restored, and were also desirous of giving Sir George
Grey a free hand in the management of the native
question. The Dillon-Bell ministry, which took office
on Mr. Fox's resignation, pledged itself to use every
means for the pacification of the country now
trembling on the edge of a war and, besides declining
the Secretary of State for the Colonies' proposition
to take over the entire responsibility of the manage-
ment of the Maori race, asked for " an inquiry into
the respective obligations of the mother country and
the colony towards the native race." In pursuance
of the former object the government in power (which
became known as the flour and sugar government)
started mills for the benefit of the natives wherever
they were asked for or required ; various Acts,
framed by the previous ministry to lead the natives
into habits of law and order, were enforced ; native
Commissioners and Magistrates with large salaries
were appointed, and numberless natives were made
paid assessors and constables. In short, whatever
the Governor deemed necessary to back up his
friendly overtures to the Maori was given without a
murmur or stint by an obedient Ministry and a
complaisant Opposition.
The natives accepted the olive branches, but as
far as results were concerned, the sums expended
H4 THE TARANAKI MEN
might as well have been thrown into the sea. They
looked upon the Governor's policy as a confession of
weakness, and bided their time waiting, as was
their wont, for the Pakeha to make the first move.
The colonists also waited for something to be done,
for the situation called for immediate remedies. In
spite of the Maori having sued for peace at the end
of the last war, the slight advantages gained by the
British troops had never been followed up. The
Tataraimaka block was held by the natives without
a show of right on their side. Waitara was only in
the nominal possession of the Colonial government,
and though many of the original Taranaki settlers
stuck to their guns, they did so at the peril of their
lives. The cause of the native disturbances focussing
on the province of Taranaki is easily explained. It
was surrounded on two sides by hostile natives.
The Waikato and Ngatiruani, both powerful and
warlike tribes, had undisputed possession of the dense
forests in the interior of the Island on its west and
south-western frontier. Again and again it had been
laid waste by Maori incursions, but the settlers, who
were for the most part sturdy west-country folk,
stood their ground. Living under the shadow of
that glorious peak Mt. Egmont, it was said of them
that they had imbibed something of the love of the
mountaineer for their adopted home. To the Tara-
naki man " the mountain," as it was always called
by him, was an object of love almost of reverence.
' Like the Greek islander who, placed in the vale of
Tempe, asked, ' But the sea, where is the sea ? ' ;
so the Taranaki man would have asked if he had
been moved elsewhere, ' But where is the moun-
tain ? ' " *
A year elapsed without any further developments.
Sir George Grey visited the Upper Waikato and
1 F. A. Weld, Notes on New Zealand Affairs, p. 48.
WAR IS DECLARED BY THE NATIVES 115
tried to get an interview with the king, but this
design was frustrated by his majesty's wily advisers.
He returned empty-handed leaving a bad impres-
sion behind, as he had been heard to say that " he
would dig round their king's flagstaff till it fell." He
made another effort to meet some hostile natives
near Wellington. Here also he was foiled. The
" personal influence " game was played out. Some
of the attempts to get hold of the natives had come
to signal grief. The well-meant but indiscreet efforts
of a stipendiary magistrate, Mr. Gorst, had produced
a revolt which ended only just short of bloodshed.
A military station which the Governor had made
on the Waikato River, and the report which had been
spread that he was going to put a steamboat on it,
was met by determined opposition. The natives
wrecked the building, and put a powerful bar across
the stream. Matters were in this state when the
Governor, early in the spring of 1863, whilst Parlia-
ment was in recess, announced his intention of taking
possession by armed force (if necessary) of Tatarai-
maka, and ceding the disputed territory of Waitara
to Wirimu Kingi and his friends. 1 The seizure of
the Tataraimaka block by an unlucky disregard of
consequences preceded the cession of the Waitara.
It was hailed as a declaration of war by the Maori
chiefs ; a few days later a small detachment consisting
of two officers and eight rank and file were ambushed
by a party of the Waikato tribe and shot down to
a man. The Government also intercepted letters
addressed by the leaders of the king's party to the
natives in Cook's Straits exhorting them to " Sweep
1 The Governor's reason for giving up Waitara was based on the
fact that Kingi's relations had occupied pahs for ten or twelve years
on part of the land sold by Teira to the colony. This, according to
tribal customs, did not invalidate Teira's power to sell, but it led to
difficulties which induced Sir G. Grey (contrary to the general feeling
of the colony) to cut the Gordian knot by its surrender,
Il6 AN AUTOCRATIC GOVERNOR
out their yard, and we will sweep out ours." This
letter announced the intention of the chiefs to attack
Auckland, and concluded with the last line of a well-
known war-song : " Grasp firm your weapons, strike !
fire ! "
Directly afterwards the colony was informed
of the surrender of the Waitara. That such a
sequence of events was unfortunate (to say the least
of it) in view of its effect on the native mind, which
is ever ready to connect surrenders with defeat, can
scarcely be denied, though to the Englishman it
simply meant carrying out an act of justice previ-
ously determined upon. These events were followed
by a vigorous prosecution of the war on both sides.
Reinforcements of all kinds, including five gunboats,
were sent from Australia and Tasmania, and a large
army of 15,000 men, inclusive of militia and volun-
teers, under General Cameron took the field.
When the General Assembly met on the iQth of
October 1863, the war, dating its commencement from
the murder of the British escort on 4th May, had
lasted nearly six months ; moreover, the policy of
the Government was reversed to an extent that must
almost have taken away the breath of its members.
Undoubtedly Sir George Grey's conduct smacked
more of the autocrat than of a Governor of a colony
provided with a Constitution and responsible ministry.
But the situation was a grave one, and the " Royal
speech " was received with commendable forbearance.
In it, the Governor, after referring to the native
rebellion and the means that he had taken first to
avert it, and then to defend the colony, goes on to
say that the most obvious of the measures which will
have to be taken for the prevention of future wars,
are " the introduction into the disaffected districts
especially of an armed population sufficient to defend
itself against all aggression. It should be distributed
THE FOX MINISTRY 117
in military settlements along the frontiers of the
settled districts and elsewhere, so as to afford pro-
tection to the inhabitants of these districts. A con-
siderable number of volunteers for such settlements
have been introduced, and Bills will be submitted for
your consideration to authorise and make provision
for the carrying out of these objects on as extensive
a scale as seems practicable at present. This will
necessarily involve the occupation of a portion of
the waste lands of the rebellious natives, but while
ample land will be left for their own requirements,
it is only just that they should be made to feel some
of the evil consequences of plunging the country
by wanton and unprovoked aggression into the
expenses and miseries incidental to civil war."
A dispatch from the Duke of Newcastle followed,
in which he announced to the Governor that in future
his position with regard to his advisers would be the
same with regard to native as to other affairs ; that
is to say, that he would be generally bound to give
effect to the policy which they recommended for
his adoption and for which, therefore, they would
be responsible.
The House of Representatives, in reply, passed a
resolution, without a division, to the effect that
recognising " the thoroughly efficient aid which Her
Majesty's Government is now affording for the sup-
pression of the rebellion, and relying on its cordial
co-operation for the future, the House cheerfully
accepts the responsibility thus placed on the colonists."
A similar resolution was passed in the Legislative
Council (or Upper House). A new ministry was
formed by Fox, with Whitaker as his Attorney-
General.
Schemes of the magnitude outlined by the Governor
in his " message " demanded a corresponding outlay.
The House rose to the occasion and voted that the
n8 WELD'S POLITICAL OPINIONS
sum of three millions should be raised, and applied
as follows : War expenditure, 1,000,000 ; immi-
gration to the North Island (of 15,000 to 20,000
people), 300,000 ; public works, such as roads,
bridges, and general expenses of location of settlers,
900,000 ; arms, 100,000 ; electric telegraph in
South Island, 150,000. Also 550,000 for purposes
specified in the Loan Act.
Considering the (already) heavily indebted state
of the country's exchequer, and the small number
of its European inhabitants at this time about
180,000 this loan could only be described as a
portentous one. It was proposed to pay it by a
first charge on the proceeds of the sale of land in
rebel districts, the interest and sinking fund being
charged on the general revenue of the whole colony,
estimated for that year at 691,600. The " Sup-
pression of Rebellion " Act was also passed, which,
besides being opposed by Weld and Fitzgerald (his
future colleague), was characterised by the former
in one of his letters as being " tyrannical, and based
on the worst type of Irish legislature of the last
century." It was never put into force, and one of
Weld's first acts on being made Prime Minister was
to have it repealed.
Enough has been said earlier in this chapter to
show the deep divergence between Weld's political
opinions and those of the ministers who succeeded
him in office. Without agreeing with their programme
he did nothing to embarrass it. His own policy
with regard to the native question never wavered.
He was in favour of one of conciliation, which was as
far removed from what he called (in one of his letters
home) the " pap-feeding " one as it was from the
drastic measures by which it was succeeded. Above
all, he was in favour of continuity in the treatment
of the so-called subject race, and he foretold from
BRACKENFIELD 119
the beginning in his speeches both in the House
and out of it the effect on the natives of the vacilla-
tions on the Waitara question and its final surrender,
and of the petulant changes of policy of the head of
the administration which savoured more of temper
than of statesmanship.
Though Weld took his share in the work of legisla-
tion in the years 1862 and 1863, he steadily refused to
have his name put forward as a candidate for office.
His life at home was now a fully occupied one. He
had lately transferred his home from Flaxbourne
to Brackenfield in the Canterbury district, in the
neighbourhood of Wellington. Here, like the patri-
archs of old, he looked after his flocks and herds
and profoundly blessed in his domestic relations
led a life of almost ideal happiness. An artist to
the core, he had chosen a beautiful site for his house,
and his letters home are filled with accounts of the
growth of the trees he had planted and of his plans
for its future embellishment. It must be borne in
mind, too, that Weld's income was entirely dependent
on his profession ; his wife had brought him but a
small dowry, and he had already given " hostages
to fortune," being at this time the father of three
daughters. Under these circumstances he did not
consider himself justified in making heavy sacrifices,
such as taking up the time-absorbing and exceedingly
ill-paid game of politics would have entailed, unless
forced to do so at the call of duty.
The war meanwhile was being prosecuted with as
much vigour as the tactics of the natives permitted.
On more than one occasion when attacked by British
troops in a strongly defended pah they contrived
to escape by a masterly retreat under the very nose
of their opponents. Finally, in November 1864, they
sustained a crushing defeat at Ranghiri, where 189
prisoners were taken and more than one rebel chief
120 NATIVE TACTICS
was found among the slain. General Cameron
followed this up three weeks later with an attack
on Ngaruawakia, the stronghold of the Waikato and
the residence of the king. This was also successful.
A descent had been made simultaneously on
Tauranga on the east coast, whither the king and
W. Thompson had sought refuge, and here also,
after various hotly-contested engagements (chief
amongst which was the attack and defence of the
Gate pah, and its subsequent evacuation by the
natives), the British troops obtained a partial success.
Still the war showed no signs of drawing to a con-
clusion. It had received a fresh impulse on the
enemy's side by the outbreak of the Hau Hau or Pa
Mariri fanaticism. This sect first showed itself in
March 1864, when a body of natives, having sur-
rounded and butchered a small detachment of English
commanded by Captain Lloyd, proceeded to drink the
blood of those who fell and cut off their heads.
" A few days afterwards (according to the native
account) the angel Gabriel appeared to those who
had partaken of the blood, and by the medium of
Captain Lloyd's spirit, ordered his head to be exhumed,
cured in their own way, and taken throughout the
length and breadth of New Zealand, that from
henceforward this head should be the medium of
man's communication with Jehovah. These in-
junctions were carefully obeyed, and immediately
the head was taken up it appointed Te Ua to be
high priest/' 1
The following were amongst the tenets prescribed
by the sect :
" The religion of England as taught by the mis-
sionaries is false. The Scriptures must all be burnt.
All days are alike sacred, and no notice should be
taken of the Christian sabbath. Men and women
must live together promiscuously so that their
1 W, Fox The War in New Zealand, p. 127.
THE HAU HAU FANATICISM 121
children may be as the sand of the seashore for
multitude. The priests have superhuman power,
and can obtain complete victories for their followers
by shouting the word ' Hau.' The people who adopt
this religion will shortly drive the whole European
population out of New Zealand this is only prevented
now by the head not having completed its circuit
of the whole country. Legions of angels await the
bidding of the priests to aid the Maories in exter-
minating the Europeans." x
This creed, which was framed on the attractive
principle of embodying all the most cherished dreams
of the race, spread like wildfire. In a very short time
thousands of so-called Christian natives enrolled
themselves under the prophet's flag, for his doctrines
appealed not only to their nationality but to the
brutal passions of the savage, to gross immorality,
cannibalism, and the excitement of wild and obscene
fanatical rites.
This new development damped the hopes of
those who looked for a speedy termination of the
war. When the General Assembly met in November
1864, the political and other prospects could hardly
have been blacker. The prisoners (214 in number)
had escaped from the island of Kawau and had en-
trenched themselves on a hill commanding the
city of Auckland. The ministers, discontented with
the Governor's policy, had resigned after an acri-
monious dispute with him. Sir George Grey and
General Cameron were on the worst possible terms.
The financial position of the colony could hardly
have been more unsatisfactory. Mr. Reader Wood,
who had been sent to England to negotiate the
3,000,000 loan, had found the Home Government
unprepared to guarantee it except on impossible
terms. The pressing need for money was such
that he had to " instruct the Crown agents to dispose
1 W. Fox, The War in New Zealand, p. 129.
122 WELD'S PROGRAMME
of a million of the 5 per cent, debentures unfettered
by the restrictions of any minimum. On the 26th of
August they reported that they had disposed of that
amount, realising from it 803,657, the purchaser
paying the half-year's interest of 14,448." x The
year's expenditure owing to the war-bill and the
heavy liabilities occasioned by the large state-aided
immigrations amounted to 909,505, and money was
still pouring out at the rate of 70,000 a month.
Another cloud on the horizon was the movement for
separation which began to show itself in the Middle
Island. So far the Southern Island had backed up
the North from motives of loyalty, but free as it
was from a " native question " it was beginning to
groan under taxes imposed on account of a war which
threatened to be interminable.
Weld, writing to his brother in October whilst
on his way to the opening of Parliament, alludes to
the amnesty offered by the Governor to the natives,
and regrets that it is not likely to lead to a lasting
peace as " the Maori always considers that the first
direct overture for peace is a confession of defeat."
He then goes on to discuss the prevalent rumour
that he would be offered the premiership.
' I think," he writes, " my policy would be too
bold for the Representatives. I should propose
to ask the Home Government to take away all the
soldiers, and reduce our own forces to about 2000
men, whom I should arm with the best rifles pro-
curable ; these I would have trained to bush work
and employ a part of them on the roads when not
required to fight. With regard to the natives, I
should not disarm them it would be equivalent to
a war of extermination to insist upon doing so.
Their pride would be hurt as well as their fears
roused, and we should only succeed with the loyal
tribes, who would thus be at the mercy of their
enemies. I should pardon all offenders except those
1 Major Richardson, Our Constitutional History, pp. 33-4.
THE SELF-RELIANT POLICY 123
convicted of murder, and I should confiscate only
enough land to show them that they lost by going to
war, and, in order to secure the peace of the country,
by starting armed settlements where they were
required. But I should leave even the most turbulent
tribes more land than they could ever require, which
would then be of treble its present value. I should
offer every inducement to the defeated tribes to settle
down quietly, and enforce their submission by making
roads through the most disturbed parts of the country
by force if necessary. At the same time I should
stop the lavish expenditure in presents and bribing
the natives to keep quiet. By the policy I have
sketched out I believe the expenses of the colony
might be reduced by one-half."
Weld had an opportunity within a very few days
of carrying out his views.
The morning after his arrival in Auckland he
writes in his Notes :
" The Governor sent for me and asked me to
undertake the formation of a ministry and, as he
said, to assist him in saving the country under over-
whelming difficulties. My health was not strong at
the time, and I had other private and personal
reasons which at any less urgent crisis would have
led me to decline, but I felt it to be my duty to go to
work, and I consented. But before attempting to
form a government, I obtained from His Excellency
a pledge that I should have his concurrence in carrying
out my policy should I secure the approval of the
Assembly.
' I felt strongly that divided responsibility, or
rather divided authority, for all British subjects as
responsible to the Queen and to our common country,
was at the root of half our misfortunes. I also felt
that the time had come to put into force the true old-
English Colonial policy of self-reliance. I knew that
I should be called quixotic, that the timid would
fear, the lovers of military routine be shocked and
scandalised, the self-interested would cry out. Self-
reliance included also self-exertion and self-sacrifice
it was not difficult to realise what that meant to a
124 THE PREMIER'S CONDITIONS
?eople accustomed in a great degree to rely on others,
did not expect to succeed at once, especially in
view of the difficulties by which we were surrounded,
but I hoped to plant a seed of life which would bear
fruit in time though I might never live to see it."
As a condition to taking office, and before forming
a ministry, Weld gained the Governor's consent to
the following propositions :
" (i) Mr. Weld, having received the Governor's
commands to undertake the formation of a ministry,
and having at an interview stated the grounds upon
which alone he should feel justified in placing his
services at the Governor's disposal, now submits in
writing the following propositions for His Excellency's
consideration.
" (2) Mr. Weld is of opinion that the system of
double government by Governor and Ministers has
resulted in evil to both races of Her Majesty's subjects
in New Zealand. Recognising the right of the Home
Government to insist on the maintenance of their
system as long as the colony is receiving the aid
of British troops for the suppression of internal
disturbances, he is prepared to accept the alternative,
and will recommend the Assembly to request the
Home Government to withdraw the whole of its
land force from the colony, and to issue such in-
structions to the Governor as may enable him to be
guided entirely by the recommendations of his
constitutional advisers, excepting only upon such
matters as may directly concern imperial interests
and the prerogative of the Crown.
" (3) Mr. Weld is aware that the Governor, before
taking action upon a proposition which would change
the whole aspect of the relations between the mother
country and the colony, may probably feel it his
duty to ascertain the views of Her Majesty's Govern-
ment ; he would therefore, pending their decision,
recommend to the Colonial Parliament that the
colony should undertake a reasonable liability for
the services of troops actively engaged in the field,
at the especial recommendation of His Excellency's
Ministers, and for such troops only.
THE WELD MINISTRY 125
" (4) Mr. Weld would recommend that a small
standing colonial force be kept on foot, armed and
trained with special reference to the nature of the
services required.
" (5) It would be his duty to advise that at least
one strong military post should be occupied about
the centre of the coast-line of the Ngatiranui country
with such force as the Lieut .-General may deem re-
quisite, and that a road may be made from Wanganui
to the northern part of the Taranaki Province.
" (6) The colony having entered into arrange-
ments with a large number of military settlers, Mr.
Weld proposes that sufficient land, being part of the
territory belonging to the insurgents, and now in
military occupation, should be seized to fulfil those
engagements."
In a seventh paragraph, Weld alludes to a measure
passed in the last session to change the seat of Govern-
ment from Auckland to Wellington, and proposes to
carry it out at once ; and in a concluding one he
informs His Excellency that should he think it his
duty to differ on any material point with his con-
stitutional advisers, " Mr. Weld would without
hesitation place his resignation in His Excellency's
hands, and consider it essential that in such a case
the Assembly should at once be called, or other
advisers summoned."
The Governor having acceded to the above
proposals, Weld formed a ministry consisting of Mr.
Sewell as Attorney-General, and Mr. Fitzherbert as
Colonial Treasurer. Major Richardson, Major Atkin-
son, and Mr. J. C. Richmond also joined the govern-
ment, and at a later period Mr. Fitzgerald became
Minister for Native Affairs. The House of Repre-
sentatives, when Weld stood up to address it as
Prime Minister, was doubtless in the mood to listen
to any one who professed to have a " new cure for
an old evil." He was also personally popular with
the members. He could therefore count on a patient
ii
126 A CRISIS IN NEW ZEALAND POLITICS
hearing. After a speech which lasted an hour and a
half, in which he explained the proposed ministerial
policy, he ended with the following peroration :
" Sir, before I sit down I must, in a few words,
allude to the circumstances under which we have
taken office. When I was sent for by His Excellency,
and requested to form a ministry, he intimated to me
that the task he desired to impose upon me was one
of extreme difficulty, but which gave an opportunity
of performing great service. I had also been told
on trustworthy authority that a large number of
people in the colony did me the honour of calling
upon me to devote myself to the public service in
this great emergency. Doubtful, as I well might be,
of my ability to meet the difficulty, and recognising
as I did that in the twenty years in which I have
known New Zealand no crisis of similar magnitude
has ever arisen, I have yet, sir, felt it my duty,
having ascertained from His Excellency the Governor
that there was a prospect of my being able to carry
out my policy, to place my services, should I secure
the approval of the House, at the disposal of the
country. My hon. colleagues know, as well as I
know, what we risk by taking office at such a time
with native affairs unsettled, financial difficulties
impending, with public feeling in England seeking
to withdraw the assistance of the mother country
from the colonies, an empty treasury, and heavily
taxed resources. Therefore we may ask for a large
indulgence and a generous support on the part of
this House. We have felt, to use the words of a
great Englishman, that ' Her Majesty's Government
must be carried on/ We come forward then, when
called upon, to carry on Her Majesty's Government
over the colony of New Zealand. . . . When we
measure the importance of the crisis, and turn to
our own capacity, we might well and better men
than we might well be disheartened, but we are
supported by the consciousness that if we fail, and
if we fall, we shall at least fail or fall at the post
of honour and of duty."
Weld, in a letter to his wife, gives the following
THE NEW POLICY 127
account of the reception he met with in the House.
He says :
" I write this during a debate on resolutions we
have proposed about the troops being recalled as
soon as possible ; also about our relations with the
Home Government. We tried our strength in ' the
Lords ' to-day, and with four or five of the Southern
men absent had a majority on the removal of the
seat of government resolution. In the other House
we had the largest majority I ever remember a
ministry to have had thirty-five to eighteen, with
three absent who would have voted for us. I was
mentioned specially by Fitzgerald in terms that made
me feel quite ashamed ; he ended by saying that the
country was quite safe in my hands : that I was a
man of tried courage, that every one knew what I
had done in old days single-handed in a wild country,
etc. etc. Stafford also was very complimentary,
and quite faltered when he spoke of our old friend-
ship, and of not being able quite to agree with me
now. Even Fox promised me his cordial support. I
know it would have pleased you to hear all this. So
now I suppose we may consider the whole thing
settled ; for your sake I am very sorry, but I know
you will do your duty as willingly and cheerfully as
any wife in the world would do, and I will try and
do mine."
The remainder of the session, which lasted till
the 1 3th of December, was taken up in passing various
Bills required to carry out the new policy. In view
of the indebted state of the colony, the Customs
Revenue was increased from 600,000 to 800,000.
u Another part of the new policy was to take power
to raise one million of money by the issue of short
dated 8 per cent, debentures in anticipation of the
three million loan, thus to avoid the ruinous sacrifice
of raising money at 20 per cent, discount." Powers
were also given to carry out the Panama mail contract .
The Assembly was then prorogued till July.
1 Our Constitutional History, p. 37.
128 GENERAL CAMERON TAKES THE FIELD
The pacification of the country by means of roads
carried through the disturbed districts had been a
prominent feature in the new programme. With
this object, Weld lost no time in starting military
posts between Taranaki and Wanganui, a distance of
1 20 miles, of which about 90 was already held by
the colony. The natives, encouraged by the
Governor's amnesty, and Mr. Cardwell's dispatch
(in which he recommended a policy of "voluntary
cession " on the part of the natives instead of con-
fiscation), took heart of grace, and attacked General
Cameron, who had advanced in support of these
posts to the Waitotara River. The Maories numbered
between 400 and 500 men, and the General being taken
by surprise narrowly escaped defeat. In this engage-
ment the British troops, who were about 900 strong,
all told, lost eleven men, and the same number of
dead on the Maori side were found on the field. This
was the only engagement of any note during a cam-
paign which lasted from the end of December till April.
The natives took to the bush, " whither," as the
General observed in his dispatch, " it was useless for
us to follow them," * and the General kept to the road
traversing the distance of fifty miles which divides
Nkumaru and Waigongoro at the rate of one mile
per day. This road or track lay along the sea-beach,
so the natives in allusion to this, and the pace at
which he went, called him the " lame sea-gull."
The autumn having now set in, General Cameron
went in to winter quarters at Auckland being the
only soldier, according to Sir George Grey, who ever
thought of doing so in New Zealand. From this
instance of military ineptitude it is a relief to turn
to the doings of the colonial forces.
General Cameron when crossing the Waitotara
1 Fox's War in New Zealand is the authority for the above facts.
See pp. 175-76.
CAPTURE OF THE WEREROA PAH 129
River had left a strongly fortified pah called Wereroa
on his right flank. This pah not only threatened his
rearguard, but was a standing menace to the Wan-
ganui township. A long correspondence ensued
between him and the Governor as to the feasibility
of attacking the pah, Cameron declining to do so
without more troops from England. To this Weld
replied (in a memorandum of 2Oth March 1865), that
" he advised the Governor to oppose any such
demand ; and he refused to recommend any operations
to be undertaken which might involve the retention
of imperial forces in the colony, and submitted his
opinion that a colonial force of bushrangers and
cavalry united with the loyal natives, whose interests
are identified with those of the colonists, would be
sufficient to undertake and execute all operations
required."
The Governor, eventually, under the advice of his
ministers took the matter in hand himself. With a
small force, consisting of about 300 friendly natives,
140 Forest Rangers, and 25 Wanganui cavalry, he
attacked the pah having divided his forces, and
sent one contingent under Major Rookes and Major
Macdonell by a very rough track through the bush
in a mountainous country, to carry a redoubt com-
manding the enemy's position. The redoubt was
taken, and likewise fifty prisoners, who had come
to the relief of the pah, without the loss of a life.
The pah being no longer tenable was abandoned by
the natives, and had the colonial forces been backed
up by the imperial, every man would have been
captured. Unfortunately the latter, under the
command of General Waddy, " had no orders " from
his superior officer, so though in close vicinity of the
encounter the regulars took no part in it. The
colonial troops followed up this success with an attack
on Pipiriki, a stronghold of the enemy in the Waikato
130 THE OUTLOOK BRIGHTENS
country, and took this and another pah, Ohoutai,
with hardly any losses. These successes were the
subject of a leading article in The Times, where it was
said that " the volunteers were taking -pah after
pah, and making short work of the war." Thus
Weld fully proved his contention of the superiority
of " men accustomed to the bush, confident in their
own superiority in bush-fighting over the Maories,
carrying their own provisions, and able to hut them-
selves quickly and comfortably as any bushman
can, armed with the best and most perfect weapons.
Such men, properly led (and there were men to lead
them) and moving in small bodies, would be invin-
cible." i
When Parliament met in July, the increased
cheerfulness of the outlook was reflected in the
response of the Legislative Council to the Governor's
address. They " heard with satisfaction " various
announcements ; amongst others that a Bill was to
be laid before them to appoint a Commission to advise
upon the best means of obtaining parliamentary
representation of the native race for which object
certain chiefs were to be invited to a conference in
Wellington. Also that the " policy agreed to by
us relative to the withdrawal of Her Majesty's land
forces has been approved of, and will be adopted by
the Home Government." They agree to the thanks
of the colony being due to Major Rookes and other
gallant officers of the colonial and native forces, and
recognise that General Waddy and officers and men
under him had given all the assistance in their power,
" though precluded by their orders " from taking any
active part in the conflict. They concur in the
opinion that additional proof has been given by
the operation in Taranaki and Wanganui, that the
colony may rely with confidence on the skill and
1 F. A. Weld, Notes on New Zealand Affairs, p. 29.
REMOVAL OF NATIVE DISABILITIES 131
gallantry of its own officers and men, and the devoted
courage of the loyal natives. It continues, as follows :
" We thank Your Excellency for your promise
to issue orders for the return to England of five
regiments, which we trust and believe will be quickly
followed by the remainder of the imperial troops.
We rejoice to think that the conditions imposed on
the colony for the full attainment of constitutional
government in native as well as in ordinary affairs
will thus be fulfilled.
" We also note with satisfaction that the Act of
last session relative to the establishment of a postal
service by Panama will be carried out at once, like-
wise that the recent gold discoveries in the Middle
Island have opened new fields for emigration, and
given fresh impetus to the development of the material
resources of the colony."
The document ends by concurring with His
Excellency in seeing no cause for anticipating any
check to an onward progress, which by God's blessing
cannot fail to carry them through difficulties which
already had begun to disappear.
Several important measures were passed during
the session. An Act was passed confirming the
contract for the Panama Mail Steam Company which
completed the chain of steam communication round
the globe. " This," Weld notes, " though New Zealand
doubtless benefited by it, we did mainly on the ground
that we were bound in honour to do so, owing to
previous transactions to which the credit of the
colony was pledged." * The Natives' Rights Bill was
carried, which, besides benefiting the Maories in
various ways, aimed at removing certain legal dis-
abilities which prevented their having easy access
to the supreme Court for the registration of their
land titles. Other Bills affecting the public security
in outlying districts became law. The Separationists
1 F. A. Weld, Notes on New Zealand Affairs, p. 35.
132 RESIGNATION OF WELD MINISTRY
were defeated. But as the session drew to a close
it became clear that the disintegrating elements of
New Zealand politics the petty jealousies, the
parochial views, which a common fear of a common
danger had brought into line were working for the
downfall of the ministry. In this critical state of
affairs Weld's health, which had been seriously
undermined by his illness in 1859, and had never
wholly recovered, broke down utterly under the
pressure of anxiety and hard work, and he was
unable to take his place in the House.
The question on which the ministry fell was a
financial one. They had inherited a huge debt from
their predecessors, and though in the year they had
been in power they had introduced measures which
were already effecting a saving of 160,000 a year to
the exchequer, though Weld by his general policy
had given confidence to the public, so that the New
Zealand debentures, at one time unsaleable, were
now negotiable at 8 per cent., yet additional taxation
was required to meet the current expenditure. To
raise the required sum the Government proposed the
imposition of a duty on stamps. A coalition between
the members of the province of Auckland, who were
thirsting for the blood of the ministry who had had
the courage to carry out the will of the country
regarding the transfer of the seat of government
from Auckland to Wellington, and a coterie in the
Middle Island with whom Weld had refused to make
terms on the Otago Native Reserves Bill which
he had opposed as unfair to a small tribe of
natives in that district opposed the Bill. Weld
had warned his party that he would resign in
the event of not obtaining their full support ; ac-
cordingly when he was saved from defeat by the
casting vote of the Speaker only, he at once sent in
his resignation.
THE GOVERNOR SENDS FOR STAFFORD 133
Weld's comment on the proceeding in his note-
book was as follows :
" Resigned as the House would not afford us
that full and cordial support (in imposing additional
taxes) which was necessary to carry out our policy
of self-reliance, to provide for the proper maintenance
of the financial credit of the colony, and to complete
the pacification of the Northern Island. His Ex-
cellency, by my advice, sent for Mr. Stafford to form
a ministry. His Excellency, in our final interview,
expressed in the very strongest terms his regret at
losing us, but, he said, if the blow was to come he
was glad that the ministry should fall with dignity,
and in a manner (and in a cause) which would raise
the character of the colony immensely in the estima-
tion of England. He said our administration had
already done so. I thanked His Excellency for the
cordial co-operation he had always given us. I
explained the reasons why I did not think it right
to ask for a dissolution. I further said that the policy
of self-reliance had, in my opinion, been tried and
had succeeded, that no great principle can be estab-
lished in government without undergoing temporary
checks, and that I trusted to time to prove the
justice of our cause."
These words were fulfilled to the letter.
These were not the only benefits derived by the
country from Weld's term of office. As the leading
newspaper of New Zealand wrote : 1
f He has done wonders ; surrounding himself
with able colleagues, he has finally accomplished
two measures which the greater part of the colony
had been anxiously desiring the abolition of the
system of double government, and the removal of
the capital to a more accessible situation. He has
recovered the finances from a state of chaotic con-
fusion, and carried on public business with a vigour
and success long absent from our colonial affairs.
He has routed out the spirit of idle ' half-work '
which had been fostered under the unchecked pro-
1 The Press, November 1865.
134 CAUSES OF FALL OF MINISTRY
fusion of the previous administration, and stamped
his own uncompromising honesty and energy of
purpose on every department of the service. His
policy has met with warm approbation from the
Home Government and has been still more heartily
approved by the large majority of his fellow-
colonists." x
If we concede all the above merits to the " self-
reliant " administration it may well be asked if
there was no other cause, deeper and more far-
reaching than any we have mentioned, which would
account for its fall. To this we cannot give a better
answer than by quoting another passage from the
same paper : 2
I( Many of those who had greeted their policy
with loud welcome, and exhausted their terms of
admiration over Mr. Weld's chivalry and British
pluck, drew back when they were called on to pay
the cost. They admired self-reliance, they gloried in
the fact that the colony had undertaken to defend
itself without the assistance of British troops, but
they wished to achieve those noble objects economic-
ally. It was good that a policy should be spirited,
but it was better that it should be cheap. The
credit and the honour of the colony might, they
contended, be redeemed at too dear a price."
A dissolution also was impending, and the dread,
in the minds of many, of facing their constituents
1 The writer might have made out an even stronger case. It was
said later : " Up to the time of Weld's government the public accounts
of the colony were only published when from one to two years old.
Long delayed, when delivered they were unintelligible. His govern-
ment made an entire change. They inaugurated a system under
which quarterly and annual publications of accounts was required to
be made punctually. Also measures for auditing and comptrolling
public expenditure ; in short, measures of a character that could alone
form the basis upon which any real and not imaginary schemes of
retrenchment and economy can be established." Fitzherbert, The Hutt,
1 4th Feb. 1866.
2 The Press.
A DELUSIVE ECONOMY 135
with the guilt upon them of having voted for fresh
taxation outweighed all other considerations. " The
shade of the hustings was over them all" ; to this and
to Weld's uncompromising straightforwardness his
ministry owed its downfall.
Mr. Stafford signalised his assumption of the
reins of office with a speech " feeble and unsatis-
factory beyond any which has ever been delivered
on such an occasion. " x Weld, who had recovered
sufficiently to struggle down to the House answering
from the front Opposition bench " exposed the
shallowness of the Prime Minister's statement of his
policy, showing that he had avoided every question
on which the country had a right to be informed as
to the real views of the Government. Did he mean
to keep the troops, or not ? " Mr. Stafford answered
that what he had said was, that he would offer no
advice to the Governor inconsistent with the instruc-
tions sent out from England . ' ' Exactly , ' ' retorted Mr .
Weld. ' Then you mean that we are to pay 40 a
man for the troops ? " Mr. Stafford tried to get out
of this conclusion. Mr. Weld then called on the
minister to show his colours before he went to the
hustings. " I," said he, " have always said clearly
what the Government wished and intended ; we
showed our colours so that all could see and under-
stand them. The hon. member has sent up his
colours, as they do at sea, tied up in a ball : I call
on him to pull the ensign halyards and let them
float out to the wind. Let us go to the country on
a distinct question of policy. If you can save
240,000 to the colony, I will support you. But I
say such economy is a delusion ; you can only
economise now at the cost of greater expense
hereafter." z
These were Weld's last words in the House of
1 The Press. a Ibid.
136 THE STOP-GAP PARTY
Representatives. His health had broken down under
the strain upon it, and he was warned by the doctor
that unless he abstained for some time from all
brain-work and, above all, kept away from the
excitement of political life, he would run the risk of
being an invalid for life. That this view was not
unduly pessimistic we learn from other sources.
Mrs. Weld, writing home, mentions that her
husband has had to give up all his active habits,
and has been prostrated by headaches which pre-
vented his making any exertion, mental or physical.
In one of these letters she says that
" Fred has had a testimonial presented to him and
signed by a large majority of the members of both
Houses, saying that they hoped, if his health per-
mitted, that he would again take his place as leader
of his party ; and that the ( stop-gap party ' (which
is the name Stafford's ministry goes by) would soon
give place to the ' self-reliant/ There have been
huge meetings all over the country in support of
Fred's policy, at which the mention of his name was
sufficient to bring out vociferous cheering. The
Christchurch people have sent a deputation asking
him to stand, and saying that they will return him
free of expense and without his going near the place,
if he will only consent. But the doctor says it would
be madness. He wants Fred to leave the country
and go home to England, for a complete change, but
this, he says, he cannot afford to do at present."
Sir George Grey in a letter to his former minister,
dated the i6th of October, alludes to " the very
sincere regret " with which he parted from him.
He says :
" I shall always feel grateful to yourself and your
colleagues for the ability and discretion with which
you have at all times advised me, and have conducted
the affairs of this disturbed country during a most
difficult period. You thus afforded me an assistance
which can only be duly appreciated by those who,
UNREDEEMED PLEDGES 137
having had equal difficulties to contend with, have
had at the same time a support of equal value afforded
them."
The closing of the session of the year 1865 followed
almost immediately on the defeat of the government.
Ten months elapsed before the House reassembled
in August 1 866, giving Stafford ample time to redeem
his pledges to it with regard to financial reforms.
Fortune favoured his administration ; the opening
out of fresh goldfields in the West Canterbury district
in the winter of 1865 had brought a large increase
of population, and with it a corresponding rise in
the revenue. Native affairs wore temporarily a
brighter outlook in consequence of the vigorous
measures taken by General Chute (Cameron's suc-
cessor) to put down the rebellion. 1 Yet in spite of
these advantages, and the increased confidence in
the monetary world which the Stafford ministry
owed to the wise measures initiated by their pre-
decessors, rumours gained ground long before the
House met that the 240,000 of savings promised
by the head of the government would not be forth-
coming when the day of reckoning came. These
rumours were converted into certainties when Mr.
Jollie, the Colonial Treasurer, produced his Budget.
The liabilities of the colony to the reduction of
which a large sum had been allotted by Mr. Fitz-
herbert remained untouched ; the expenditure had
increased, Auckland had benefited by a sum of
1 With regard to this campaign Weld wrote : " Mr. Stafford has
stated in the House of Representatives that he did not advise the
campaign. I should have resigned rather than permitted it. General
Chute marched victoriously from one end of the district to the other ;
he entirely re-established the prestige of British troops, but also upset
all Mr. Parris's negotiations with the natives, destroyed at least one
friendly village by mistake, shot a prisoner against the protest of the
only colonial authority present, and though his success from a military
point of view was complete, nothing could have been more unfortunate
for the prospects of peace." Notes on New Zealand Affairs, p. 48.
138 REORGANISATION OF MINISTRY
100,000 and fresh engagements had been entered
into to the extent of 200,000. To meet the deficit
Mr. Jollie asked for an income-tax as well as a duty
on stamps. A vote of want of confidence was at
once moved by Mr. Moorhouse, which was carried
by forty-seven votes to fourteen. This was followed
by Stafford's resignation. The Governor then sent
for Moorhouse, who declined to take office and recom-
mended the reinstatement of the Premier, a course
which was agreed to by the House after some days'
discussion.
It may seem strange that Parliament after marking
so strongly its disapproval of Mr. Stafford's administra-
tion should have submitted to his resumption of
power, but several causes led to this result. Dis-
satisfaction had long been felt in the colony for the
constant changes of ministry changes which were
destructive of all continuity in public affairs. Per-
sonally, also, Stafford enjoyed the confidence of the
House, and held foremost rank amongst its leaders.
When, therefore, he professed his readiness to adopt
the cardinal points of his predecessor's policy, and
with this view invited the leading members of the
late government to join him, he succeeded in concili-
ating the most determined of his opponents. Before
long he was able to announce to the House that he
had gained the consent of Mr. Fitzherbert to act as
Colonial Treasurer, Mr. Hall as Postmaster-General,
and Mr. J. C. Richmond as Commissioner of Customs.
Colonel Haultain continued to occupy the post of
Defence Minister. Major Richardson also agreed to
join the Government and act as its representative in
Otago. This coalition was successful in retaining the
confidence of the country for nearly five years.
Many months elapsed after Weld's retirement from
office before he was able to resume his ordinary life
BRACKENFIELD 139
and occupations. A year later he wrote as follows to
Mr. de Lisle :
" As to my health, I can at last speak of consider-
able improvement ; I am to-day going to travel
up the country by easy stages. The doctor recom-
mends it as a change, and that I may be out of the
way during the excitement of the elections. Besides
this it is very necessary to me to visit the sheep
stations on business grounds as it is eighteen months
since I have been able to go to Flaxbourne, my
principal station. . . . Our little chapel is just
finished. It is all wood, and built so as to show its
construction, with an open roof, etc. The windows
are of stained glass, the three lights over the altar
containing figures of St. Joseph, the Mater Dolorosa,
and St. Filumena. The wood itself is very fine, and
the panelling well executed. It has a square tower,
and reminds me a little of one of the early Lombard
churches in the Grisons. Brackenfield is beginning
to look very beautiful. The trees have grown
astonishingly ; we are now revelling in the finest
peaches and nectarines, the former grown on stan-
dards, all, of course, in the open air. The place, too,
is becoming stocked with pheasants and quail which
we have introduced. We are much fonder of it,
Mena especially, than we ought to be, considering
that we are about to leave it, possibly for ever.
As far as money matters go, it would be more satis-
factory if I could remain on here another eighteen
months from this time. If I go on improving I may
possibly do so. Much will depend on my getting a
good tenant for Brackenfield, which is a property
which should eventually become very valuable."
In May 1867, Weld, having arranged his affairs
in New Zealand, started with his wife and family,
now consisting of four children, for England.
Weld was correct in his anticipations . The current
of events was to carry him to other countries, and to a
fresh career.
He had landed in New Zealand a youth of twenty,
he was leaving it at the age of forty-four, a man^of
140 A RETROSPECT
mature judgment and experience. He could look
back, during that interval, to twenty-four years
of strenuous effort and fruitful endeavour. More-
over, he could claim to have assisted at the birth of
the Constitution, and to have witnessed its full
development ; and he had given his largest co-opera-
tion according to his lights on both occasions.
i, Though during that period in which a generation
had grown up he had seen the colony weather many
a storm, he left it at a time when it was still far from
having attained to that immunity from disorder,
external and internal, which it has since attained.
New Zealand during the years which preceded his
departure may have been said to be standing " at
the parting of the ways." It was due to him, and to
11 the good men and true " who shared his counsels
and divided his labours, that the colony adopted the
honourable and self-sacrificing policy which led to its
ultimate success, both as regards the domestic prob-
lems which were dividing the public mind at that
time in New Zealand, and the larger ones which had
reference to its connection with the mother country.
Of the first-mentioned problems enough has been
said already ; of the last, a word or two remains to be
said.
It is not necessary to go very deeply into the
annals of the history of the colony to realise that not
only the action of the Crown's advisers was at times
exceedingly unpopular with the settlers, but that
more than once the tie which bound them to the
mother country was strained almost to breaking-
point. There were several causes for this state of
tension. One, doubtless, was that the distance of
England from her colony at the Antipodes interfered
greatly with the use and value of her advice, fre-
quently rendering it worse than futile. Another,
that the changes of policy necessitated by the British
THE COLONIAL OFFICE 141
government - by - party system was specially dis-
advantageous in the case of New Zealand, which,
complicated as it had to be by a native question,
made a firm and consistent bearing with regard to
that race a matter of supreme importance. When
to these difficulties we add an ever-recurring money
problem, the situation as affording grounds for a
quarrel may be considered complete.
The case for the settlers has been put with some
show of reason as follows :
1 The conduct of the imperial authorities for a
series of years has brought the colony to its present
state of embarrassment, and instead of charging the
authorship of this state of things on the colonists, it
is the duty of those who, from the first, had the
management of native affairs to reduce them to order.
The colonists, indeed, are making ruinous efforts to
remedy the evils caused by others, but their efforts
are thwarted by the attempt to impose impracticable
conditions on them. When they seek to defray a
large and (as Mr. Gladstone admitted) unprecedented
portion of the cost of the war first entered into with-
out their being consulted and apply to the Home
Government for the nominal assistance of an imperial
guarantee to enable 3,000,000 to be raised at a lower
rate of interest than would otherwise be possible,
their application is virtually refused.
' In place of three millions, a guarantee is offered
for but one million, and that only on conditions which
so impossible of fulfilment are they it is difficult
to characterise properly, especially having regard to
the causes which led to the loan being required. It
is sufficient to ^ state that it would be difficult to
conceive conditions more ingeniously calculated to
effect the ruin of New Zealand. They are such as
would not only produce present financial embarrass-
ment, but would destroy the future credit of the
colony, and all belief in its honour. One, indeed, of
these conditions, namely, that the payment of loans
already obtained (except one guaranteed by the
Imperial Parliament in 1857) was to be postponed in
12
142 WELD'S POLICY
favour of the million which they offer to guarantee,
is so monstrous, that it would scarcely have been
believed that it had been seriously proposed by a
British Government, had not the dispatches and Bill
referring to it been published." *
Such was the situation when Weld took office.
From the first he set to work to establish a modus
vivendi between the two opposite camps with what
result the reader will already have seen. His loyalty
to his adopted country never interfered with his regard
for justice and the rights of the mother country.
One of his first acts was (we quote from his Notes)
" to instruct the Crown agents to deliver to the Lords
of the Treasury securities to the amount of 500,000
to which we considered England had an equitable
claim, conduct which raised the credit of the colony,
and which has since induced Her Majesty's Home
Government to meet us in regard to other claims and
counter-claims in a spirit of liberality." That this
view was a correct one we learn from the Colonial
Secretary's dispatch to the Governor, acknowledging
the receipt of the news of Weld's resignation.
Mr. Car dwell says :
"It is very desirable you should clearly under-
stand that no change of ministry in New Zealand
will affect the views of Her Majesty's Government in
respect to the policy embodied in the resolutions of
the Assembly of New Zealand in December 1864.
Having accepted with entire satisfaction that policy,
Her Majesty's Government intend to adhere to it
and to be guided by it."
This was not the only occasion in which Weld's
policy met with the approval of the Crown's advisers,
as we learn from a debate 2 in the House of Commons
which followed the Maori rising in 1868. On that
1 The Case of New Zealand, p. 13. 2 i2th August 1868.
DILLON-BELL'S VERDICT 143
occasion the Rt. Hon. Mr. Monsell, the Under Secre-
tary for the Colonies, alluding to the trouble in New
Zealand, said that :
" After Mr. Weld went out of office they (the
Government) had omitted to take the precautions
which common sense suggested for their own protec-
tion ; and that it was on account of the absence
of precautions that these lamentable events had
occurred. There were two parties in that country :
the self-relying party, and the one which wished
to go back to the old system. The self-relying
party were strong enough to get the principle of self-
defence sanctioned to the full extent, but were not
able to obtain the means of carrying out the necessary
measures of defence, the absence of which was one of
the causes of the horrible massacres which had lately
occurred."
This policy with which Weld's name is associated
was also favourably commented upon in a debate in
the Upper House.
This chapter of Weld's life may be fitly closed
by quoting words used by Mr. Dillon-Bell in the
General Assembly the year after Weld's resignation
of office :
" The absence of Mr. Weld from that House would
be to all who had taken a part in the affairs of the
country for so many years a subject of very great
regret. He held, perhaps alone, among the public
of New Zealand, the place of a man whose word was
never doubted, whose honour was never questioned,
whose advice was always sought, and whose counsel
was never refused in cases of public difficulty."
CHAPTER VII
" Grow old along with me,
The best is yet to be,
The last of life for which the first was made.
Youth shows but half see all,
Trust God, nor be afraid."
BROWNING.
WELD'S health benefited much by the sea-voyage on
his return to England, and the change of scene and
the rest which followed it completed his cure. To a
man of his active habits and vigorous mind a life made
up of holidays would have been utterly uncongenial.
Rest meant for him recuperation after past exertions,
and preparation for fresh effort. It was not long, there-
fore, before he began to look out for work. Two
courses were open to him. He might have returned,
with restored health, to resume his political career and
pastoral occupations in New Zealand. Or he might
have availed himself of a promise given to him by the
colonial authorities of a Governorship in the Australian
Colonies, a post to which his long apprenticeship to
politics in New Zealand had made him specially eligible,
and for which his services to the Crown had given him
an acknowledged claim.
There is little doubt but that New Zealand tugged
a good deal at his heart-strings at this time, for he
loved the country, and it was once more in trouble.
As he wrote to a friend somewhat later, a great deal of
the spirit he had tried to infuse into his fellow-
colonists had oozed out for want of encouragement :
144
A STRONG MAN WANTED 145
" Men only exert themselves when they can carry
out their own plans ; military spirit is only evoked in
a people when they know they may need to have to
defend themselves ; cost is only reckoned when they
know the bill will come home. In short, when men
can depend upon others they will not rely on them-
selves. Recent events are proving that the colony
can defend itself, and this in spite of the self-reliant
policy having been worked by ministers ^ who did not
believe in it, who were ready to triumph in its failure,
or who at best only half believed in it."
The state of affairs in New Zealand in the years 1 868
and 1869 certainly justified the misgivings felt for that
colony by those who longed for its peace and prosperity.
General Chute's campaign in 1866 had shown what
British soldiers could do even in the bush, when
fighting the Maori on his own ground. It was short
and decisive, so decisive that hopes were entertained
that the natives would be content to accept it as final ;
the last struggle in that trial for strength which they
had waged with the white man ever since he came on
to their territory. The result was that the long-
deferred move of sending away the imperial troops
was carried out. One regiment only was retained for
the defence of the colony ; New Zealand was left to
her own resources. Now would have been the oppor-
tunity in a time of peace to prepare for war, but Mr.
Stafford was still at the head of the Government, and,
deceived by that ignis-fatuus which has so often led
the official mind astray false economy, he at once
took measures to reduce the colonial forces. The
result might almost be looked upon as a foregone
conclusion. For the natives, having recovered from
their losses in the Chute campaign, once more took
up arms to avenge themselves. Again were past
scenes and tragedies enacted, settlers were massacred
at Patea and elsewhere, a prophet of the name of
Titokowaru had risen up and was attracting all the
146 AN APPEAL
discontented to his standard, and the Northern Island
was once more involved in a native war.
The cry of a " strong man " is a national instinct
in times of difficulty. Such a name Weld had made
for himself in New Zealand. The following appeal
therefore may be taken as expressing the feelings of
many who had begun to despair of the power of
the Government then in authority of coping with a
critical situation.
The writer, after asserting that " were Mr. Weld
in the country he would undoubtedly be called to
power by the voice of the people, " goes on to say
that " he neither overrates his abilities nor under-
rates the abilities of other public men, but in time
of public danger one quality there is which is of
more value than all others the capability of gaining
public confidence, the power of evoking the latent
energies, and the courage and heroism of a people.
No public man has ever enjoyed the public esteem
and affection of the country to the same extent as
the late Premier. In this great emergency, then, in
which the colony is placed we say : Send for Weld.
The country will rally round him. That this re-
bellion might be put down utterly and for ever in a
few weeks if the colony chose to do so, we are con-
fident. That 200,000 Europeans could overwhelm
and destroy the elements of savage life which exist
and, alas, are rapidly spreading amongst a people
numbering about 30,000, of whom many are not
in arms against us, and many are on our side, is
absolutely certain. But with every day's delay the
danger increases. It is confidently asserted that
Titokowaru had but 40 followers when he began
the war, now he has 800. The Chatham Island
fugitives numbered about 180 when they landed,
now they are 800, of which it is said more than 100
are cavalry. There are now as many or more Maories
AN IMPORTANT DECISION 147
in the field than there were at any time opposed
to General Cameron. Every success brings fresh
allies and the ranks of the enemy swell daily. It is
a dreadful calamity to have to fight ; still more so
to fight in a civil war ; worst of all when the war
has been brought about by our own faults and
follies. Again we say, the man who first raised the
standard of self-reliance, and bore it to the front
amid the acclamations of the colony, is the man to
show what he meant by that doctrine. He at least
never disguised the necessity of maintaining the force
of the law by organised power. Had he been in power
during the last three years we should not have seen
the present reign of anarchy, extending to the lowest
rank in the army . Again we say : Send for Mr . Weld . " 1
This appeal must have reached Weld at Rotherwas,
his temporary home in England, within a few weeks
of the Secretary of State for the Colonies' offer to
him of the Governorship of Western Australia.
Whether there was much hesitation on his part
between the two invitations or not we have no
means of ascertaining. That common sense and the
doctor (on this occasion agreed) had much to say in
the decision, we cannot doubt. His wife and friends
in England were unquestionably on the same side.
His complete breakdown under the heavy strain of
work and anxiety during his Premiership must have
warned him of the folly of encountering the same
risks again. When, therefore, he received Lord
Granville's offer he at once accepted it.
Weld's definite severance with New Zealand
politics dates from this time, but his interest in the
affairs of that country lasted till the end of his life.
This interest was not confined to matters which
affected him personally as a landowner or co-pro-
prietor in pastoral enterprise. It was shown at all
1 The New Zealand Times, November 1868.
148 LAST MAORI WAR
times and on all occasions. The correspondence
which he carried on with his friends there, and the
keenness with which he followed the course of the
last New Zealand war, which, as we have seen, was
again testing the manhood of that country, sufficiently
prove it.
Tedious and slow as was the campaign against
Titokowaru, its ultimate result was never for a moment
in doubt. Not only did the dwindling numbers of
the Maori race render them with every successive
year less of a match to the ever-increasing European
population, but one tribe after another was by
degrees won over to the side of law and order. The
Waikato and the Uriwera the latter a brave moun-
taineering race, who had possession of the precipitous
range of the interior, north and north-east of Hawke's
Bay alone held out.
The campaign which opened in the spring of 1 869
began badly for the British arms. A small and
hastily raised detachment under Captain Westrup
was defeated at Paparatu by Te Kooti, who on
escaping with his companions from Chatham Island
had joined forces with the Uriweras. A detachment
of militia and volunteers under the able command
of Colonel Whitmore x was sent in pursuit of Te
Kooti, who, acting on the usual Maori tactics, having
gained a success, took to the bush. Whitmore,
though labouring under every possible disadvantage,
with only raw recruits under him, and hampered by
a disaffected contingent of native troops, pursued
and caught up the Uriweras in the bed of a wild
mountain torrent (the Ruakiture) where he defeated
them, and wounded their leader Te Kooti.
1 Afterwards Major-General Sir James Whitmore. He was made
K.C.M.G. and Commandant of the New Zealand Colonial Forces in
reward of his services. His history of The Last Maori War under the
Self-Reliant Policy, which was dedicated to Sir Frederick Weld and his
colleague, I. E. Fitzgerald, G.C.B., is the authority for the above facts.
TE KOOTI 149
Trusting to this success for the pacification of the
east coast, Mr. Stafford (who at this time was still
at the head of the Government) recalled Colonel
Whitmore to Wanganui on the west coast, where
hostilities had been begun against Titokowaru, who,
with a following of 600 warriors, was terrorising
that district. Again the first encounter at Moturoa
resulted in the partial defeat of the Colonial troops.
The Maories, however, in spite of this success, made
no attempt to take the initiative. Titokowaru
retreated to the hills, and after several rearguard
encounters with the troops under Colonel Whitmore's
command, he was finally brought to bay in the swamps
of Te Ngaire. Here the insurgents met with a
crushing defeat, one from which they never re-
covered.
The closing scenes in Te Kooti's career, though
less dramatic, were equally disastrous to the Maori
cause. Having recovered from his wounds he and
his followers made a descent on a settlement in
Poverty Bay (now called Gisborne) and foully mur-
dered its inhabitants, including the R.M. Major
Biggs, his wife and child, and servants of both sexes.
An expedition, again led by Colonel Whitmore, was
sent out against him to Ngatapa where he had en-
trenched himself in a strong hill fort, and from whence
he was dislodged, with great loss of life to the defending
party. For four months afterwards he and his band
eluded the British troops in the woods and fastnesses
of the wild Uriwera country. Finding it impossible
to hold his ground there he crossed the island and
attempted to gain adherents from the Waikato tribe.
The prestige of his name, however, was fast dying out,
and at last, after a campaign which lasted fourteen
months and in which his countrymen, Te Keepa J
and Ropato, distinguished themselves by their valiant
1 Better known, to the colonials, as Major Kemp. ,
150 A LASTING PEACE
services to the Queen, he made his submission to the
colonial government. With Te Kooti the last hope
of the conquered race expired ; 1870 dates a new
era in the history of New Zealand. Since then the
two nations have lived together in peace and amity
as loyal subjects of the Crown.
Weld was appointed to the Governorship of West
Australia in March 1869. A few days before his
departure his friends took advantage of the occasion
to give a dinner in his honour, at which a considerable
number both personal and political were present.
Amongst these were Lord Lyttelton, the Bishop of
Ely, Earl of Denbigh, Lords Clifford and Arundell,
Rt. Hon. C. Adderley, M.P., Sir T. Gore Browne,
K.C.M.G., Sir George Grey, K.C.B., Admiral Erskine,
The Master of Lovat, Col. Hon. Henry Clifford, V.C.,
Sir Charles Dilke, M.P., H. Sewell, etc. Lord
Granville, K.G., took the chair. In proposing the
health of H.E. Governor Weld, he made a passing
allusion to his own position (of Secretary of State
to the Colonies), which gave him the power of selecting
the best and fittest men for Governmental posts.
Then applying this to the subject of the toast, he
said that Mr. Weld had had a cosmopolitan educa-
tion, and at an age when most men were still at
college he was battling successfully with all the hard-
ships and difficulties met with by the first settlers
in a new colony. By his moral and intellectual
qualities he had raised himself in the estimation of
his fellow-colonists until he was placed in the high
position of Prime Minister of the colony, and in that
position he followed out, and imbued others with,
the principles of self-reliance which were now bearing
fruits in New Zealand. After going at some length
into the question of what was required to make a
good colonial Governor, and pointing out that these
SYMPATHY WITH THE COLONIES 151
qualifications were united in the new Governor of
Western Australia, he said that his friends must
not undervalue the difficulties he had to encounter ;
he was going to a colony which had greatly increased
of late in wealth, in revenue, and more particularly
in public works ; but that much of this prosperity
was due to the convict labour which had been largely
introduced there, and of which the colony would now
be deprived, and he felt that Mr. Weld was just the
man whose energy, and whose power of inspiring
energy in others, would help the colonists to tide
over the effects of the temporary blow.
Weld, in answering the toast, acknowledged the
complimentary terms in which it had been proposed,
and said alluding to his career in New Zealand
that though some of those who were present had not
always approved of his policy, he trusted that all who
knew him would acquit him of vanity in saying
that in every public act he had been inspired for the
good of the colony. He had the more confidence in
saying this because he had been fortunate enough
to meet with the utmost generosity, even from those
from whom he had been compelled to differ, and he
believed that in doing his duty as a colonist he had
done his duty as an Englishman. He had been an
exponent of views which had been advocated by
greater men than himself, and if this demonstration
indicated sympathy with the colonies it was sym-
pathy which would grow in proportion to the de-
velopment in the colonies of the self-reliant qualities
which Englishmen admired and which had made
England what she is. In conclusion he said that
though loving his country as dearly as any man, its
associations, and its field sports, he would resign them
at any rate for a time, because work was the highest
end of life, and he could not assist in develop-
ing the resources of the colonies without at the
152 ADELAIDE
same time promoting the interests of the old
country.
Ten days later, on May i5th, 1869, Weld and his
wife and family (the latter now consisting of four
daughters and two sons) started for Australia. He
took an aide-de-camp and secretary with him ; the
former, Frank de Lisle, being his brother-in-law,
and the latter his cousin, Henry Weld-Blundell.
They arrived at Adelaide on the 2nd of August,
and were received with much kindness and hospitality
by Sir James Ferguson, who was then Governor of
South Australia. Weld describes his first impres-
sion of the country to his father-in-law, Mr. de Lisle,
in the following terms :
" It would be impossible to tell you how kindly
we have been treated by Sir James and Lady Edith
Ferguson, or to enumerate the festivities, inspection
of public institutions, etc. etc., that we have got
through since we arrived here. I had a day's hunting
with the hounds (oh, how different from Leicester-
shire !), also what the newspapers called a ' vice-regal '
shooting party, which was great fun just like a
day's shooting in the Zoological Gardens : kangaroos
of all sizes, wallabys, thousands of black swans,
ducks, bustards, pelicans, and cockatoos. Unfortun-
ately the blacks drove the game the wrong way,
owing to some mistake, so we did little or nothing,
except seeing the game out of shot."
Mr. and Mrs. Weld took leave of their hospitable
entertainers on August isth, and having sent their
children by long sea to Perth, took the mail boat
Balclutha to King George's Sound, with the intention
of proceeding thence by land to the capital of Western
Australia and seat of his future Government.
Before they got far on their journey the Balclutha
sprang a leak ; her screw-shaft, owing to the pressure
of the water, broke down, and the stern compartments
of the ship were flooded to the depth of 6 feet. By
BREAKDOWN AT SEA 153
dint of great exertions on the part of the captain and
crew the leak was partially arrested, but the vessel
was utterly disabled and drifted like a log before the
wind. On the i8th, the day after the accident,
she was sighted by the barque Aurifera, which came to
her assistance, took her passengers and mails on
board, and conveyed them to Wallaroo, the nearest
port on the western seaboard. Weld, in a letter to
Sir James Ferguson, speaks with admiration of the
pluck and coolness of the captain and crew in presence
of a danger which threatened at any moment to be-
come fatal, a coolness which was shared by his wife,
" who never lost her head for a moment and at once
began to make preparations for a flight to the boats,
should the ship sink at once/' and by the rest of the
passengers. The incident, though it delayed con-
siderably their arrival at Perth, had no other un-
pleasant results. A tug was sent to the rescue of
the Balclutha, and she was safely towed into port.
The Welds re-embarked in the Rangatira and arrived
at Albany on King George's Sound on the i8th of
September. Here they met an enthusiastic welcome,
accompanied with much speechifying, from the
colonists and local authorities.
" King George's Sound," Weld writes to Mr.
Monsell (then Under Secretary to the Colonies), " is
the coaling station of the P. & O. Mail Steamers,
and is a fine harbour quite landlocked. Unfortun-
ately the water shoals so gradually that boats drawing
a foot or two of water only can go alongside the jetty ;
when we can afford it we must run it out a good deal
farther. We are just now going to lay down water
pipes to the end of the jetty from an excellent spring ;
the expense will be small and the accommodation
to shipping very great. There is very little good land
about Albany, though a few farms show that an
attempt has been made to cultivate it ; the soil is
chiefly sandy and rocky, and on proceeding inland
covered with forest ; also with beautiful flowering
154 THE GREAT BIGHT
shrubs and plants. From the geological formation
of a range of hills in the vicinity I believe it more
than probable that gold will be found there. No
proper search has yet been made. The people do not
seem at all enterprising ; still, Albany has improved
very much since I last saw it, and is really a pretty
little place. After visiting schools, and pilot station,
and inspecting the convict department and getting
information on many points respecting it, we pro-
ceeded on our way to Perth, partly riding and partly
driving. We slept either at police stations or at
roadside ' accommodation houses.' As it was im-
possible to change horses on the road, we had to travel
at the rate of about 30 miles a day. We reached,
however, the end of our journey of 260 miles without
any undue fatigue to Mrs. Weld and with the horses in
excellent order. The country we passed through was
all forest, the timber in places very fine and valuable ;
the soil generally inferior, and much that was quite
useless for cultivation. Still there were spots of
considerable fertility, and we passed one village
on our road which showed signs of quiet prosperity,
and where we were greeted by nicely dressed school
children, who welcomed us with bouquets of flowers,
and a little guard of honour of pensioners who pre-
sented arms as we arrived. To come across such a
scene in the heart of the Australian forest was very
striking. We were on all occasions most kindly
received at the police stations, and everything possible
done for our comfort, the rooms being often decorated
with wild flowers and wreaths in token of welcome.
The forests, as I have previously said, were inter-
minable, but so rich were they in wild flowers that we
never found the road wearisome, and the kangaroos,
wallabys, emus, and cockatoos, which we were always
coming across, were a constant source of interest.
Passing through the Darling Range amid forests of
jarrah (or West Australian mahogany) we emerged
upon the broad belt of flat land which stretches from
the Range to the sea, watered by the Swan River
and its tributaries. Here signs of civilisation began
to appear ; we passed a cart or two carrying sandal-
wood, and occasionally caught sight of a few wood-
cutters' cottages, and some gardens and cultivations
PERTH 155
in which vines, oranges and peach trees were growing
in great profusion. At last we pulled up at a roadside
inn where Colonel Bruce (the officer administering
the government) had come to meet us with a wagon-
ette and fresh horses ; and, drawn up under a tree,
were a body of mounted volunteers looking very
smart and soldier-like in scarlet uniforms, commanded
by an old officer of the Dragoon Guards. From
thence we drove to the Channing township, where we
found a great concourse of settlers, also arches,
and so forth, and where I received a loyal address
which was followed by luncheon. A carriage and
four conveyed us in the afternoon to Perth, which
we reached in the evening of 3oth September. An
address was read by the Chairman of the City Council
under an arch of palm leaves, the town being very
prettily decorated with arches and flags. I was then
duly installed and sworn in, the pensioners, a fine
body of men, forming a guard of honour.
' ' Our house is a charming one, Elizabethan or Tudor
(or a mixture of both), built rather in the continental
than in the English style of that period. The grounds
by which it is surrounded are well laid out ; orange
trees, vines, olive and date palms, bananas and
Indian Neam trees grow side by side with the English
oak and the Australian Lanthorrea and Eucalyptus.
At the foot of the garden there is a broad reach of the
estuary of the Swan River. The town of Perth
consists of a collection of small houses, cottages and
gardens, and a few good buildings ; the roads and
streets are bordered with the Indian Neam tree now
a mass of delicate lilac flower. The roads, alas, are
very sandy, badly made and badly metalled. Since
my arrival I have been to Fremantle, which is the
port, and a bigger place then Perth, where I came in
for a great reception. I have also been to Guildford
to receive an address. Besides this we have held the
usual levee and Drawing-room. All went off very
well and, I hear, gave great satisfaction. Beyond this
I have hardly moved out of my office, and have been
working hard. Everything here seems to be referred
to the Governor. I have to sign my name to selling
an old cart, or buying a spade. I think much of
this system of detail may be altered later on with
156 WEST AUSTRALIAN PROBLEMS
advantage. I have every reason so far to be satisfied
with the men who are with me, and I think my
Executive and I shall work smoothly together, and
with a little tact I hope to get a hearty support from
both them and the people. Hitherto all has been
plain sailing, but there are plenty of rocks ahead. In
the first place, the country is suffering from a very bad
season, want of rain and no crops, low price of wool,
and general trade depression. Next, there seems to be
a general, or fairly general, dissatisfaction at the form
of government, and a feeling that nothing has been
done to develop the resources of the colony. Also,
that till larger powers of dealing with the land, and
with immigration, are given to the colony, or to some
power in the colony, this cannot be mended.
" Again, there is the education question. Probably
Lord Granville will take no steps of decided nature
in the matter till I can report more fully, more especi-
ally as he has called upon me (disp. loth July 1869)
for a report upon the whole cognate question of grants
to religious bodies. I have only this morning had his
dispatch handed to me, but before advising upon a
matter of such delicacy and importance I must
have time to inform myself thoroughly on the sub-
ject. Indeed it may be necessary to await the re-
sult of the census which is to be taken shortly,
more especially as I hear that it will entirely alter
the relative numerical proportion the various de-
nominations bear to one another. It would also be
proper and desirable that I should talk the whole
matter over carefully with the Bishop of Perth (Church
of England), who is now absent at Champion Bay.
I may count, I am told, on finding him a thorough
gentleman, and one who will assist me by giving me
all the information in his power. I owe my best
thanks to Colonel Bruce, late acting Governor, who
has done everything in his power to assist me. Mr.
Barlee, the Colonial Secretary, also shows every
disposition to support me. Of Mr. Wakeford, the
Comptroller of Convicts, I have already formed a
very high opinion. We have engaged the services
of a good geologist, and I propose to get a first-class
engineer to report on our harbour, and on public
works : both of these steps are of urgent importance.
THE TIMBER TRADE 157
We are also negotiating with a company to open out
the timber trade and make a tram or railway to
the forests, where there is an inexhaustible supply of
the finest timber in the world for railway sleepers
and piles for water-jetties and piers. The demand
for this wood in India and the colonies is unlimited,
but we cannot supply it without improved means
of access to the forests. No other colony would have
been so long in moving in the matter, but our de-
plorable land regulations stand in our way, and we
have no power to alter them. Every other colony
can deal with the land question, you must help
us in this. We have a hard struggle before us to
send this colony ahead. I think it can be done, but
you must not tie our hands."
A little later, he writes as follows to the same
correspondent :
' We have just concluded, with greater dispatch
than I had anticipated, a preliminary arrangement
(or, rather, basis of one) with a company to make a
railway to our timber forests, and to commence
exportation on a large scale. The terms, I may
safely say, are such as no other colony under the
circumstances would hesitate to give, but they are
in excess of the present land regulations, which are
such as to prohibit any attempt to open the country
by giving land for railway-making. The fact is, the
framers of these regulations appear to have been
quite ignorant of the value of land here ; we have
millions of acres utterly valueless except for timber
or minerals. Again, the Crown reserves its right to
minerals, which is the case in no other Australian
colony : under such circumstances what are we to
do ? How can we progress ? How compete with
other colonies ? Now you must not think that I
have begun by committing a breach of the law;
the company's representative is satisfied to set to
work at once on the understanding that I shall use
my best endeavours to get the Secretary of State's
assent to our agreement. I tell you frankly that the
fate of the colony depends upon its getting an export
at once. Here we have one. India alone will take
13
158 REVISION OF LAND LAWS
500,000 sleepers a year of our timber this I have
on high Indian-Railway authority. The other
colonies will also take a large quantity, and our
supply is equal to any demands upon it. But we
have not the money to make railroads, especially in
uninhabited districts, and without rail or tram roads
we cannot get our timber to a port at a paying price,
or in any quantity. We have room for twenty such
companies, and there is only one way we can pay
for rail or tram, and that is in land, land which is
mostly bad, and at this moment utterly valueless.
Now I want to enlist your support, and to make
you believe that we on the spot, with local knowledge
and experience in these matters, know best how to
deal with the land, for the good of the country, and
so as to give it an export and bring a population
into it, and enable it to be self-supporting. I hope to
hear from you sometimes, and that you will take an
interest in my poor little Cinderella of the Australian
colonies. We have found a small amount of gold,
and I hope for more when we get our geologist here-
then will Cinderella ride in a gilded chariot, drawn
by kangaroos. "
Weld was successful in his appeal to the Colonial
Office, and a modification of the land laws enabled
him to carry out his engagement with the railway
contractors.
The land question being one of vital importance
to the colony at this time, a short survey of the laws
affecting it, and of their subsequent readjustment,
is necessary for a full comprehension of the situation.
Roughly speaking, the early colonisation of the
Australian colonies may be classed under two
headings : that which took the line of least resistance
in other words, the policy of drift or its opposite,
a stern adherence to certain theories which had been
carefully elaborated in the study, but which when
carried into practice were found wanting in some
or all of the qualities necessary to ensure success.
The principal exponent of the latter method (the
LAND LEGISLATION 159
colonisation by theory) was the well-known writer
on political economy, Edward Gibbon Wakefield.
He may be said to be the spokesman of the rigid
views of an earlier school of thought, and by his
brilliant though delusive treatise on Colonisation,
and the Society of that name founded by him, he
acquired considerable influence over the men of
light and leading of his day.
The prominent feature in Wakefield 's scheme was
the creation of a fund from the sale of land at a
fictitious value, by which labourers were to be brought
out to the colonies free of cost. His aim was to
start the three grades common to civilised countries,
of proprietor, small farmer, and labourer, in Australia.
This method (a very plausible one on paper) was
the precise opposite of that employed in the colonisa-
tion of Western Australia, which accordingly, in the
opinion of the convinced followers of Wakefield, was
a colossal instance of the failure resulting from the
absence of all system or policy. Undoubtedly the
Wakefieldian was right in ascribing as a main cause
to the slow progress between the years 1845 to 1865
of the Australian colonies, to the paralysing effect of
great blocks of land being in the hands of a few
owners, and the want of systematic colonisation, as
exemplified by dearth of labour and discouragement
of immigration.
Unfortunately the followers of Wakefield, in avoid-
ing these pitfalls, fell into others in South Australia,
where their theories were given full play, of equal
magnitude and significance. These were described by
Wise in his Commonwealth of Australia 1 as follows :
' In order that the colony should be self-support-
ing from the start, the Commissioners entrusted with
its foundation were to sell 35,000 worth of land,
and raise a guarantee fund of 20,000. The land
X P. 117.
160 LAND LEGISLATION
was to be sold in sections of eighty acres at i an
acre, with a town allotment added, making the total
cost 8 1 . The Act authorising the venture was
passed on i4th August 1834, but by December 1835
not more than 26,000 worth of land had been sold,
and the price was reduced to twelve shillings an acre."
Though the scheme was given every chance of
success by the Commissioners, who, as Wise remarks,
" were men of business though enthusiasts," it
did not take them long to discover that it was un-
workable. The inflated price of land ruined a great
many who had come out with a little capital, and who
having spent all they had in buying land either dimin-
ished or lost their power of giving employment. Ac-
cordingly the penniless immigrants who had been
brought out in large numbers hung about the towns,
and " men," to quote the same authority, " who should
have been growing wheat were employed in building
public offices. Emigrants kept pouring in ... and
yet the increase of population seemed but to increase
the rate of wages. In truth, the colony was living on
borrowed capital. The inevitable result followed. The
Governor's drafts on England were dishonoured, and
but for the fortunate discovery of copper ( 1 842) and
other minerals, the colony must have been abandoned.
The Wakefield system had proved a mere delusion." 1
In Western Australia, on the other hand, all the
worst consequences of a policy of drift, or of no policy,
were exemplified. Thus in the early days of the
colony, the country being of boundless extent and
much land worthless, the first settlers were given
large acreages at nominal prices with conditions
attached to them which were possibly difficult of
fulfilment, and in practice never enforced. One of
the leading spirits among the early settlers was Mr.
Thomas Peel, to whom was allotted 250,000 acres,
1 B. R. Wise, The Commonwealth of Australia, p. 118.
LAND LEGISLATION 161
coupled with the obligation of bringing out 400
settlers ; Sir James Stirling, the first Governor of
West Australia, and Colonel Latour received each
100,000 acres on similar conditions. As these large
grants of land, which a generation later were frequently
owned by absentee or do-nothing landlords, were mostly
in close proximity of the few centres of civilisation,
the newcomer on landing in Western Australia found
himself at such a disadvantage that he showed his
opinion of the situation by taking the first occasion that
presented itself of moving on to the next colony.
The first step towards an improved state of things
was taken by Lord Grey in 1849, when he invited
a Committee of the chief settlers in West Australia
to consider what could be done to attract immigra-
tion to their shores by adapting to their requirements
the " Waste Lands Acts " introduced by him in 1843.
By this measure the land was divided into A lands
and B lands. The A lands were limited to 320 acres,
or under, and were let on eight-year leases at is.
per acre, subject to conditions as to cultivation. The
B lands were leased for pastoral purposes at a rental
of 5 per 1000 acres, and los. per 1000 acres for every
additional area of that size also on eight-year
leases. Special inducements in 1864 were offered to
sheep farmers to settle in the northern districts of
the colony. Still more favourable conditions were
given in the early 'seventies to purchasers of land.
The waste lands in rural districts in the hands of the
Crown could be bought in blocks of not less than
ten acres at los. per acre, or on " occupation leases "
in blocks of 100 acres by deferred payments of is. per
acre spread over a term of years.
The Torrens' Act, which was introduced into
Western Australia by the Legislature in 1878, gave
great facilities for the transfer and registration of land
and did much to attract population to the country.
CHAPTER VIII
" Le monde fait progres toujours, mais c'est un progres en spirale."
MADAME DE STAEL.
THE early history of Western Australia, or the Swan
River Settlement as it was first called, may be given
in half a dozen paragraphs. One explorer after
another Edel and De Witt early in the seventeenth
century, D'Entrecasteaux in 1792, George Dampier
a little later touched its shores, found little to
attract them and passed on. No riches below the
soil or fertility above it, or promise of success
for commerce or enterprise raised the cupidity of its
visitors. To sum up, the line of the poet Gray de-
scribing the " short and simple annals of the poor n
could have been used as appropriately for the history
of the Swan River Settlement up to the middle of
last century as for that of the village of Stoke Poges.
In 1 829, Great Britain, which had already annexed
the eastern seaboard of the continent of Australia,
sent Captain Stirling as her representative to the
western shores of that country, and he established the
seat of Government at a spot about eight miles from
the coast to which he gave the name of Perth. For
nine years, Stirling struggled under the almost over-
whelming difficulties of the situation in which he was
placed. The settlers, who had been attracted in the
first instance by the offer of free gifts of land, one by
one deserted the colony, preferring, perhaps wisely,
flight to slow starvation. In 1832 he was petitioned
by the few who persevered to return to London to
represent their hard case to the Colonial Office.
162
EXPLORATIONS 163
His mission was successful, and, having got grants in
aid of their more pressing necessities, he returned to his
post in 1834. From that time the fortunes of the
colony began to look up, and when Stirling gave up
his command to one John Hutt in 1838 the colony
had already made some strides in the direction of
prosperity.
These years were eventful ones to the colony on
account of the great expansion of its bounds. Dale
in 1830, in his explorations due east of Perth, dis-
covered a fertile tract of country watered by a stream
to which he gave the name of the Avon. Before long
two townships sprung up in the locality, to which
the names of York and Northam were given, and these
soon rivalled the seat of Government in numbers,
and eclipsed it in prosperity. Roe, another intrepid
explorer, three years later penetrated 500 miles
into the south-western hinterland, and Moore and
Colley taking a north-easterly course mapped out
and surveyed the country which was afterwards
known as the Victoria Plains. Captain Grey l in 1839
explored a large extent of country stretching north-
east of Champion Bay. He likewise discovered and
named the Gascoyne, Murchison, Hutt, Irwin and
Arrowsmith rivers, and all the country between the
24th and 33rd degrees of latitude which was watered
by those streams. The country then discovered,
and added to the oversea dominions of Great Britain,
is 12,080 miles in length and 800 miles in breadth,
and computed to be about eight times the size of the
United Kingdom.
It is a great drop to come down from these large
figures to the number of the population, which in 1838
was given as 1928 and in 1843 as 3843. The increase
in the following five years (between 1843 and 1848)
was even smaller 769 instead of 1915 with the
1 Afterwards Sir George Grey, K.C.M.G.
1 64 A NEW ERA
result that the colony yielded to its fate, and a
deputation was sent to the Governor to ask him to
take steps to make Western Australia a penal settle-
ment. This experiment (for it was undoubtedly
looked upon in that light) answered ; the convicts
were sent and the colony was supplied with what
at once made for material prosperity, namely, free
labour. A town sprang up where previously only
a collection of mud or timber huts had existed, large
sums of imperial money were expended, and, in short,
a new era began for the colony. That there was
the " reverse of the medal " goes without saying, but
on the whole the plan worked well, and the steady
progress made by the country between the years 1850
and 1868 whilst it was used as a penal settlement
testifies to the fact. It was also generally agreed
amongst those best acquainted with the criminal
class in Western Australia that, though a certain
number had to be classed as irreclaimable, a large
majority when taken away from sources of tempta-
tion readily renounced a life of crime. To these the
facilities offered by the colonies for a fresh start in
life were incontestable, many married and settled
down, and eventually became useful members of
society.
The one blot which sullies the early annals of
Western Australia, and which was of so grave a nature
that it can hardly be passed over in silence, was the
treatment by the settlers of the aborigines. To show
the estimation in which they were held in the early
days of the colony, it is only necessary to quote the
testimony almost diffidently advanced of Sir William
Robinson, that, in spite of the general opinion to the
contrary, they probably had souls ! These are his
words :
" Notwithstanding any generally received pre-
judice that they are incapable of improvement, and
THE ABORIGINES 165
the opinion still occasionally expressed that they are
not to be considered as men, and have no souls, they
have both physically and mentally the powers,
capacities, sympathies, and affections which dis-
tinguish men from all other animals. 1 ' l
Acting on the convenient theory that the natives
had no greater claim for kindly treatment than the
wild dingoes which marauded the vicinities of their
villages or homesteads, the settlers gave them no
quarter. Whenever the aborigine disputed the ground
with the white man, or infringed on what he considered
his rights, the black man went to the wall. The
following testimony recorded in the Colonial Times
of 6th July 1832, shows the treatment they received
in the Southern States of Australia, and that of the
Western States differed in no way from it :
11 Last week a party of our citizens killed a large
number of savages . They surprised them seated round
their fires, and having placed themselves on some rising
ground near, shot them down with a carbine without
running any risks themselves." 2
The more humane amongst the settlers, assuming
that the aborigines were incapable of any rise in
the social scale, left them severely alone, and not
till many years later, in 1 846, when the Benedictines
founded the colony of New Norcia, was any effort
made to educate or civilise them.
Hutt was succeeded as Governor in 1846 by
Colonel Irwin, who made way for Mr. Fitzgerald in
1848. Weld's immediate predecessor was Governor
Hampton.
Lord Granville in his remarks on the difficulties
Weld was likely to encounter in his new post did not
overstate the case. Western Australia was at the
1 Sir William Robinson, K.C.M.G., On Duty in Many Lands, p. 48.
2 Dublin Review, 3rd series, vol. v. p. 62.
1 66 MAHOGANY CREEK
time when he assumed the reins of government in a
state of transition. The withdrawal of imperial
subsidies, in consequence of the colony no longer
being made use of as a penal settlement, produced
a depletion of the exchequer which affected every
class and industry. Immigration at this time was
at a standstill. No encouragement was afforded to
private enterprise. The resources of the country
were utterly undeveloped. Again, the colony was so
completely cut off from the rest of Australia by its
isolated position, and the almost entire absence of
postal, telegraphic, and steam communication with
its neighbours, that competition, that powerful
incentive to public spirit, was conspicuous only by
its absence.
Before setting to work to tackle these problems,
Weld started for a tour of inspection of the principal
districts of his Governorship, so as to make himself
acquainted, by a personal survey, with the resources
of the colony and its wants and deficiencies. With
this object he started on his first progress on 26th
October, in a north-easterly direction, his objective
being the mining district of Geraldine. Mrs. Weld
accompanied him as far as Guildford, returning the
same day to Perth. His letters to her form a journal
of the expedition. He dates his first letter from York.
" After leaving you," he writes, " we rode through
many miles of forest till we reached a range of hills
which we climbed by an easy ascent. There was a
fine view on the summit, and had not the sun been
too low we should have seen Perth and the sea
beyond it. The forest stretched far below us, showing
here and there a break of lighter green, denoting
patches of cultivation. We slept at a neat little
roadside inn at a place called Mahogany Creek. It
was kept by an old man-of-war's man, called Gregory,
who having married a widow with thirteen children
(a nice-looking woman) came to anchor here for the
THE VALE OF YORK 167
rest of his days. He had the ensign flying in my
honour at the end of the trellised vine walk which
led to the door of the inn. In the morning he
showed me an apricot tree in his garden, off which his
wife had sold in one year 10 worth of fruit. Next
day we rode again through endless forests consisting
mostly of jarrah ; the road quite a fair driving one
all the way. We passed one or two inns, a so-called
lake, of reeds, but little else of interest. The inn,
where we took a long rest at midday, was neat
and clean, and covered, as seems usual here, with
vines. After riding about forty miles we came in
sight of the valley in which York is situated, and of
cultivated land fields of green corn stretching up
to the edge of the forest. Here we were met by a
large cavalcade of well-mounted gentlemen and
farmers. They formed up on each side of the road
(perhaps sixty or eighty in number) and I rode through
the middle, bowing. Later on we were joined by more
people in carriages. There was much cheering, and
I then led them at a smart trot into York, riding in
front with the Colonial Secretary, and one or more
of the principal farmers on either side of us. We
slackened our pace as we approached the town,
which is about the size of Guildford. Arches had
been prepared, one of palm branches, with inscriptions
and flags quite pretty, and a guard of honour turned
out. There was again more cheering as we rode
along the main street on our way to the hotel ;
altogether it was a great turnout considering the
size of the place, and they tell me York was never
so gay before. The Agricultural Show takes place
to-day, but owing to the shortage of feed, from want
of rain, they say it will not be a good one."
York being a central spot, Weld made it his
headquarters for some days. He visited thence
the neighbouring townships, Newcastle, Toodjay,
and Northam, at each of which settlements he was
greeted with triumphal arches, speechifying and
other tokens of welcome. He writes on the 3ist of
October to his wife as follows :
1 68 AUBURN
" I am writing this to-night in order to be ready
for the next opportunity of posting a letter to you,
as the posts here seem very irregular.
" I rode on Friday in the direction of Beverley
and back by another road, a distance of about thirty
miles. I visited Mr. Lee Steere's place which was
being sold by auction ; a good house, with fine
farm-steadings, etc., all going for very much less
than their value. A man with 4000 to invest could
hardly have found a better chance of making a start
in life. Afterwards I lunched with Mr. Taylor, a
rich yeoman and miller, and owner of some fine
fields, a garden and orchard all very nice : he was
once a labourer. On Saturday I took an early walk
before breakfast, and went afterwards to the Parkers
to see their place. He is also now a rich man, and he
told me that he had begun on next to nothing. I
am more and more of the opinion that a young
man who has made up his mind to work hard as
I did when I first went out to New Zealand should
do well in this country, and the risks and hardships
to which he would be exposed would be nothing
in comparison to what I underwent in New Zealand.
From the Parkers I rode on to ' Auburn/ so named
by a man who claims descent from the poet Goldsmith ;
it now belongs to an individual called Mackay. I
went from thence to Hawkhead, and afterwards to
Tipperary, which belongs to Mr. Sam Burges ; the
latter is a very fine place. Mr. Burges showed me
his horses, and I rode over the farm on a magnificent
one which he offered to lend me later on in the year
if I liked to have it. We got back to York in the dusk
of the evening."
A ball was given at Newcastle to celebrate the
Governor's arrival, of which Weld gives the following
account to his wife :
' The ball at Newcastle was very funny ; there
were some good-looking girls at it, quite nicely
dressed. The men dressed anyhow, and some danced
like kangaroos, but nothing could exceed the order,
fun, and good-humoured enjoyment, and withal
propriety, that prevailed both at the ball and the
A SCOTTISH HOMESTEAD 169
supper. Haying gone to bed about 2 a.m. after the
ball, I was in Mr. Phillipps' wagonette by 6 a.m.,
and he drove me to his place (which is now let),
called by him Culham after his brother's property in
Oxfordshire. His tenant had neglected it, but it
might be made into an exceedingly fine place. Here,
and elsewhere, I saw large fields of wheat not much
affected by the bad season. The hills which surround
it are beautifully wooded, just like what a gentleman's
park would be at home. We went on thence to
Mackintosh's farm for breakfast ; Mackintosh began
life as a shepherd boy and is now a well-to-do land-
owner ; he is a first-rate specimen of a Scottish
Highlander, and an excellent settler. I came by
appointment, and he met me some distance from his
place on horseback, with his son and two daughters
the latter strapping, big, good-humoured lassies.
They rode behind the carriage, and got all the dust,
and when I remonstrated one of the girls answered,
' What does it matter ; we can get a good wash when
we get home ! ' We found the usual arch, and flags
flying as we neared the house, and having come some
fourteen miles before breakfast besides inspecting
Phillipps' horses and farm I did full justice to the
beefsteaks to which our host regaled us. We went
afterwards to the sheep-shearing sheds, and I believe
I quite won old Mackintosh's heart by the interest
I took in the work ; all his shearers and household
turned out as we rode away and cheered lustily.
" We were now leaving the settled country and
had about thirty miles to go before reaching New
Norcia. We had not gone far when Frank's horse
cast a shoe, so he returned with Phillipps in his
wagonette, and is to rejoin us to-morrow. We soon
left behind the hilly and wooded country through
which we had hitherto been travelling, and came on
to sandy plains with fewer trees, where scrub and
flowering shrubs predominated. The flowers, which
must have been lovely, were nearly over, but I have
kept and dried some for your collection. After a
ride of about ten miles we came upon a little open
space with a spring surrounded with grass, and
here, under a wide-spreading gum-tree, we saw some
travellers reposing. Ten or twelve miles more of
1 70 NEW NORCIA
wild bush country brought us to another oasis where
we found fine shady red-gum trees, paper-bark
shrubs, and grass and water. We were also greeted
with the sight of the wagonette and cart which had
been sent on before us, with the materials for a
capital luncheon. Sergeant Buck produced wine
and soda-water beautifully cooled from the spring,
which after our long ride in the blazing sun we found
exceedingly refreshing. We rested for some time
afterwards and read the English papers, which Buck
had brought with him, and then went on with our
journey. We noticed before leaving the spot the
Mission brand on some of the big trees, and I found
later on that the spring and land surrounding it had
been bought by the monastery from Government.
A few miles more brought us to the confines of the
Benedictine settlement, where we were met by the
monks and natives the latter to the number of
about eighty or a hundred and I was presented with
a congratulatory address. Escorted by the Prior
and followed by the crowd we passed through fields
beautifully cultivated and under a triumphal arch,
and finally arrived at the monastery church. Here
the Abbot Bishop met us, robed in full pontificals,
and led me up the church to the sanctuary. Domine
salvum fac was then sung by all the community, in
which the dusky congregation joined lustily."
A day or two later he writes again as follows :
" I cannot say enough about the kindness I have
met with since I came here. Nothing could exceed
Bishop Salvado's hospitality, so, though I came with
the intention of spending a day or two only, he has
persuaded me to prolong my stay over Sunday.
This place is full of interest too from every point of
view ; I have learnt much about the natives and of
what can be done for them also about their limita-
tions. The monks tell me that, like children, they
cannot work long at a time. So they are encouraged
to spend some hours every day in dancing, and
singing, and gymnastics, of which they are very
fond. Also they are allowed now and then to go
off to the woods and return to their former wild life
for a bit. Then they come back and go on again
RUDESINDO SALVADO 171
quite happily till the fit returns. When I get back
I shall have much to tell you about this place and
its founder."
No sketch, however brief, of the early days of
the colony would be complete without some account
of the success achieved by the Benedictines in solving
a problem deemed insoluble by all but them, namely,
that of training the aborigines to a civilised life.
This conquest for it was no less in the moral order
was mainly due to the devotedness of one man,
Rudesindo Salvado.
He and his companion Serra were Spaniards and
members of the Benedictine Order at the time of
the suppression of the monasteries in Spain in the
Revolution of 1835. Ejected from their monastery
of Compostella they sought refuge in Italy, and at
the end of ten years, despairing of being able to
return to their own country, they volunteered for
the evangelisation of the Australian aborigines.
Gregory xvi. accepted their services, and in a beautiful
parting address he bade them, " Remember you
belong to the family of our glorious Patriarch St.
Benedict : Remember how many apostles there
have been my brethren and yours who have not
only converted barbarous natives to the Faith, but
have likewise trained them to a civilised life : Re-
member you are about to tread the same path they
trod : Do not dishonour the habit they wore ! Go
forth, and may Heaven bless your holy aspirations." l
Salvado and his companion set out for the scene
of their future labours in June 1845, an d arrived on
the shores of Australia in January the following year.
No trial or discouragement was wanting to the in-
trepid missionaries in the first years in which they
toiled in their difficult enterprise. Within a month
1 Memorie storiche dell' A ustralia, per Mgr. Rudesindo Salvado,
Q.S.B., Vescoco di Porto Vittoria, p. 144 et seq.
ENCOUNTERS WITH NATIVES
of their arrival at Perth, after a service in the little
Catholic Church which, we read, was crowded by
Protestants as well as Catholics, who had assembled
to wish them God-speed they started, staff in hand,
two carts carrying all their worldly possessions,
and headed for the wilderness. For five days they
travelled in a north-easterly direction ; then, reach-
ing a farm which was at that time the farthest out-
post of civilisation, they halted for three days to
rest their oxen. On continuing their journey they
encountered almost at once the dire obstacle to
Australian exploration, namely, scarcity of water.
For days they wandered under a burning sun, and
uncertain whither to turn their footsteps. At last,
when both man and beast were on the point of
succumbing, they came to a spring in an oasis. The
drivers now refused to go any farther, and, having
unloaded the contents of their carts, abandoned the
Benedictines to their fate and returned whence they
came.
Salvado related that their first and most pressing
necessity being to get a roof over their heads, they set
to work with tools they had brought with them to
build a shelter from the tropical sun and rains.
Whilst thus employed they suddenly discovered that
they were surrounded with natives who had taken
advantage of the cover of the trees to approach them
and judging from the spears they carried in their
hands with no pacific intentions. The night came
on, and they lay down in their half-finished hut, but,
as Salvado tells us, sleep fled from their eyes, and they
spent the night in prayer. In the morning the
savages had disappeared, but the following day they
returned in greater numbers. On the third day the
savages advanced once more, and this time with
threatening gestures, brandishing their spears.
Salvado and his little following four in all went
PEACE-OFFERINGS 1 7 3
out to meet them, with (he says) God knows what
fear in their hearts but showing no signs of it on their
countenances, and holding out little cakes sweetened
with sugar which they had prepared as peace-offer-
ings. At first the natives seemed inclined to refuse
the gifts, but the monks having by their gestures
showed that their errand was a friendly one, and
induced some of the number to eat, the others fol-
lowed, and they were soon devouring the food and
disputing for the crumbs that were left over.
A beginning was thus made, but many more
dangers and difficulties followed. The provisions
disappeared rapidly, bribery being the only means
of keeping on good terms with the natives. Illness
broke out amongst the missionaries, which, consider-
ing they were now reduced to the same fare as the
savages, namely, roots of a more or less edible
nature, grubs and lizards, was hardly astonishing.
In order to get help for his brethren Salvado re-
turned once more to Perth under the guidance of a
native. A subscription was raised there, and, pro-
vided with some of the more pressing necessities,
such as provisions, a plough, and seeds, he hurried
back to find that a colleague the Irish catechist,
Gorman had fallen a victim to the awful privations
entailed by the situation.
Their numbers were now reduced to three ; still
they never lost heart, though their troubles were by
no means over. On one occasion after they had
built a little chapel and reclaimed a piece of ground
from the wilderness, returning from a short absence
they found that a great mob of wild horses had torn
down their fences and trampled on and laid waste the
fruit of a year's industry. Another time a native,
from whose murderous assault they had rescued a
woman, had in revenge set fire to the bush which
surrounded their holding, and their lives were saved
14
174 ULTIMATE SUCCESS
by what could only be looked upon as a miraculous
intervention of Providence. The difficulties they
had to contend with in gaining an influence over the
savages, with no means of communication, at first,
except what they could convey by signs, may be
readily imagined. Not only were the Benedictines
ignorant of the language of the aborigines, but so
low were these in the scale of humanity that their
vocabulary was wanting in any words except those
required to express their material wants, which were
of the most elementary description. In a wild state
they never cultivate the ground ; they went naked,
being ignorant of the simplest form of weaving ;
they had no knowledge of the use of metals. Like
wild animals they roamed through the primeval
forests, sometimes reduced to starvation, when (like
them) they fed on the weakest of their tribe, or, at
others, gorging themselves with the flesh of kangaroos
which they killed with their spears or dowarks
primitive weapons, but which we are told they used
with astonishing dexterity.
It was at the cost of years of patient perseverance
and self-sacrifice that the native was taught that the
white man whom he looked upon as his natural
enemy was his friend. But when that lesson had
gone home the rest by degrees followed. Little by
little they were reclaimed from their savage life ;
they learned to sow, plough, and reap, and the Bene-
dictines, by making them share the fruits of their
industry, had no difficulty in inspiring them with
an interest in it. A church, school, cottages, rose up,
and at the time of Governor Weld's visit New Norcia
was one of the most flourishing settlements in
Western Australia.
Weld's first letter to his wife after leaving New
Norcia is dated from Mr. Whitefield's station. He
says :
EMU-HUNTING 175
" We arrived here after a very pleasant and
prosperous journey. We stopped on our way at Mr.
Macpherson's to look at his horses. We were accom-
panied, on leaving him, by his three sons with their
kangaroo dogs, and we had a splendid gallop after
an emu. I enjoyed it immensely and my mare
' Maura ' carried me well ; though I had a bad start
I was well up when the emu was lost in the bushes
the horses and dogs were quite tired out. The next
day we got on to sandy plains covered with scrub ; a
few flowers were yet in bloom, some of which we col-
lected for you. We camped out that night. Next
morning Mr. Phillipps and I started after a kangaroo.
It got up before me, and I had not galloped far when
the mare I was riding (a very good one of Phillipps')
caught her foot in a root, or stump of a tree, and
fell. My foot was bruised but nothing to signify.
I only mention this in case an exaggerated report
might reach you ; it was not her fault or mine. To-
day I drove, as I thought possibly the stirrup might
hurt my foot. We reach the Irwin Hotel and the
' settled ' country to-morrow. You may expect us
back in the second week of December, by which time
I shall have been over a thousand miles."
Weld's next letter is dated nth November, from
the Irwin Hotel on the Irwin River :
' The day after I wrote to you we drove over
plains of sand the rich undulating country of the
Upper Irwin stretching far on our right. The sandy
dunes were covered, as usual, with flowering bushes.
We are now in a cockatoo country, and I saw six
cockatoos all white, with rose-coloured crests on
one bush close to the road. Such beauties they were !
At dusk clouds of black and of white cockatoos were
flying about near the water-holes on the Irwin ; we
also saw some emus. We lunched at a place called
Strawberry Hill, the police station on the Irwin,
and as we were leaving the dogs killed a kangaroo.
I forgot to tell you that when I was at Whitefield's
Mr. Barlee brought me a young * dolgite ' a little
beast something between a kangaroo and a shrew-
mouse. It was only half-grown, with a long nose
and very pretty. It had only just been caught, and
1 76 DONGARRA
it proceeded to curl itself up in Barlee's hand, and
went fast asleep. They wake up at night. Mr.
Brown, the Resident Magistrate, came to meet us
here. My foot is all right ; I am still a little stiff
in the side, but the pain is going off, and I hope not
to feel it during the short distance we have to go
to-morrow to Dongarra. I am writing to Sir George
Grey from this spot, once the scene of his great suffer-
ing and privations, now as he predicted it would
some day be covered with golden grain. I feel
sure he would like to hear from me from hence."
The letter is resumed from Dongarra :
" We rode here," he writes, " from Irwin House
on Monday, and were met by the usual cavalcade.
I visited the port and a fine jetty at the mouth of
the Irwin which is nearly finished. I inspected also
a steam corn-mill, and arranged about a beacon and
school-house being built ; both of which were much
wanted. Yesterday we rode about fifteen miles to
Reynold's Inn. The corn-growing country does not
extend much beyond Dongarra, but a great deal
of the land that we passed through would be quite
fit for cultivation. Captain Wilkinson, a retired
army officer, now a settler, brought us news at the
inn of the sudden death of the Resident Magistrate
of Geraldton (Champion Bay), a Mr. Durlacher. They
tell me he leaves a wife and children who will be quite
destitute. We waited at the inn till a Mr. Maitland
Brown (the Greenough Resident Magistrate) had time to
ride on to the town, 1 to ascertain what steps had been
taken about my reception. A postponement seemed
probable, Durlacher having been very popular in
the district. Brown returned in a very short time
and told us that they had decided not to give up the
celebrations, on the ground that the display of loyalty
should take precedence of personal feeling. Accord-
ingly we set out, and now the six greys came in to
requisition. A beautiful mare had been selected for
me, very fiery, but free from vice. Maitland Brown
said he knew I was a rider so should be able to sit
her, but if I was still suffering from my fall perhaps
I ought to take another, a quieter one. However,
1 Greenough Flats.
A LOYAL DISTRICT 177
she was such a beauty that I could not resist her
charms. She danced about a great deal and was
mad for a gallop, in which I indulged her, but we
were soon on excellent terms. The Colonial Secretary
and Comptroller's greys gave them enough to do.
Mr. Brown rode by me on a powerful iron grey. They
were a splendid lot, mostly bred on Brown's own sta-
tions . We had a ride of about fourteen miles before we
came on to the first arch, where we found a cavalcade
drawn up. My mare acquitted herself to perfection,
and seemed quite to enter into the spirit of the thing ;
she was not the least frightened by the arch or the
crowd, but advanced proudly, rearing a little, and
pawing in a very slow canter, and apparently bowing
right and left just as I did. Maitland Brown, who is
a first-rate horseman and one of the greatest lovers
of horses in the colony, said he had never seen a
prettier performance. At the lunch, which followed
afterwards, there was no speechifying except the loyal
toasts, and a few words from me in reply to my
health being drunk, on account of poor Durlacher's
death. A particular request was made to me to take
a ride in the afternoon round the district (about ten
miles) to see three or four more arches which had been
erected in honour of the occasion. I think some of
my suite had had enough by this time, having already
accomplished thirty-two miles on horseback ; however,
I did not like to disappoint the people, so we started,
and all the mounted men rode with us. When we
came to the last arch I addressed them, wishing them
good-bye and thanking them for their grand reception,
which showed their loyalty and good feeling ; I also
told them that before returning to Perth I would
take a quiet ride round the plains, and look in at some
of their homesteads.
* This morning before breakfast I walked down
to the seashore, which is about a mile and a half off,
and collected flowers on the way. There are sand-
hills between this and the sea, and on the other side
of the house a great stretch of cultivated land
now covered with waving corn. It is a fine country
from the agriculturist's point of view, though the
crops owing to the late drought are poor, but the
people will have enough for their own wants, leaving
1 78 GERALDTON
some over for exportation. This, for Western Aus-
tralia, is undoubtedly a very rich district. Barlee,
Maitland Brown, and Phillipps, have gone to Geraldton
for Durlacher's funeral, so I am taking a day's rest.
To-morrow I make my entry there ; I then visit
various stations and go on to the Geraldine lead mine,
and see the copper districts. Then my farthest
point will be reached, and I shall begin to work
back first to the Irwin, thence by a road along
the coast via Gingin and Bindrom to Guildford and
Perth. I am going to have a new road made in this
district which will not cost much, and save a long
detour of from forty to fifty miles to the inhabitants."
After receiving the usual enthusiastic welcome at
Geraldton, Weld visited the convict station, prisoners'
quarters, and hospital ; and then made a tour of
inspection of the shifting sand-drifts surrounding
the town. He mentions that the work of planting
and laying down bushes on these sand-hills had
already been begun by his predecessor, and that
he proposed extending the zone of operation. He
then inspected the mouth of the Greenough River
with a view to a possible shipping place. " The
country north of Champion Bay," he writes, " is for
the most part arid and bare, diversified with rising
ground of, however, no great height, such as Wizard
Peak, and Moresby's flat-topped range. There are
some fine views, and the dazzling orange or gold
colour of the Nutzia floribunda literally lights
up the landscape with its blaze. As a plant the
Nutzia is insignificant, but its flowers are so brilliant
that they are visible at a great distance." After
leaving Geraldton, Weld proceeded to the mining
district on the Murchison River. He says " want
of capital alone prevents the great natural mineral
resources of the country being developed." The
Geraldine lead mine at the time of his visit employed
about a hundred men, and between 80 and 85 tons
MINERAL RICHES 179
of lead were raised monthly ; but with more money
expended these figures might be increased indefinitely.
An effort had been made some years previous to his
visit to open out the rich copper mines of Gerald-
ine, but they had failed from want of capital, and
all that remained were the deserted shafts and ruined
cottages, once occupied by workmen and their families.
On his return journey Weld was persuaded to
consult a doctor about the pain he still felt in his side,
and he then learned that one of his ribs had been
fractured in his fall, and the discomfort from which
he had suffered was the result of the efforts of nature
to reunite the bones. He makes little of the injury
in writing to his wife, and after mentioning it goes
on to observe :
" I have not suffered at all as yet from the heat,
though one day the thermometer stood at 100 in
the shady verandah, and (I was told) was 132 in the
sun ; but I think this is a very exhilarating climate
at any rate it agrees remarkably well with me."
Three weeks after returning from Champion Bay
(in January 1870) Weld set out once more on his
travels. This time he took a southern course and
visited the Blackwood district, making a short stay
at the principal stations, such as Dardanup and
Bunbury. At the later town he was entertained
at a dinner at which he summed up his impressions
of the country in a speech which throws considerable
light on its social and commercial status at this period,
as well as on his own views and future policy.
He began by saying that he believed he would
be meeting the wishes of the colonists by telling
them what he thought of their country, and its future
prospects, and that he had only delayed doing so
till he had been given time and opportunity of
forming his opinions. He was aware that the colony's
i8o CAPABILITIES OF THE COLONY
progress had been slow in the past, but he believed
that it contained the elements of future prosperity,
and that as the necessity of finding fresh outlets for
capital was spreading day by day there was a good
prospect of its being attracted here, where they had
a clear field with little competition. The colony was
beginning to be better known, and he was convinced
if people, especially the labouring class, came to
Western Australia and kept from drink the real
and greatest obstacle to their success here they
would find, and bring, prosperity, and have no need to
search for it elsewhere . He saw great capabilities in the
southern districts he had visited ; they would keep a
considerable population men who, like the Canadian
lumberers and backwoodsmen, look on trees in the
same light as the farmer does on his crop of corn.
Part of this country, as well as the northern districts,
would support a wheat-growing population, but he
thought more attention might be given to other
products of the soil, such as wine, oil, and fruits,
whose prices varied less than that of corn. He then
alluded to the risks of the land being thrown out of
cultivation by over-cropping examples of which he
had known in the other colonies and in America.
He said he looked on artificial grasses and green
crops as the salvation of the farmer ; cattle-feeding
would give him the means of renovating his land.
Referring to other forms of industry, he reminded
his audience that there was an American whaler
then lying in their port with a cargo on board of oil
taken on their coasts. The American farmers, he
said, clubbed together to fit out whalers, supplying
them with stores, pork, flour, etc., from their farms,
and sent them thousands of miles to these coasts
whilst we forgetting that much of the early pros-
perity of Sydney and Hobart-town was due to whaling
enterprise made no effort to compete, though, he
POLITICAL OUTLOOK 181
said, he need not hardly remind them there were
plenty of whales for them and for us. The farmers
had some great advantages in the colony ; one was
in their roads, which were much superior to those
in almost any country he was acquainted with, and
another in the cheapness and excellence of their
fencing material. The agricultural class, he said,
were the backbone and sinews of a country. The
pastoral class were the pioneers ; they should be
encouraged to the utmost, consistent with the
interests of the agriculturist, and as long as they
did not stand in the way of the cultivation of the
soil. He strongly advised them to pay increased
attention to the quality and breed of stock. After
alluding to the natural wealth of the country in ore
and timber he said that these were temporarily locked
up through difficulty of access and want of capital.
There were impediments under the present form of
government to obtaining a loan, but he thought
they might be overcome, and in his opinion public
money might be legitimately employed in making
tramways, improving the harbours, and in other
ways which would develop the resources of the
country. In referring to the movement which was
beginning to show itself for Representative govern-
ment he said :
' My political opinions are well known, and I
am not likely to swerve from principles which have
guided me through life. Though I am very far
from supposing that any form of government is
perfect for all have advantages and disadvan-
tages still I believe that the Representative form
is the one best adapted to the genius of the English-
speaking race. I also believe that no government
will succeed that does not reflect the spirit
and genius of the people it has to govern. The
question before you is : How and when should Re-
presentative government be introduced ? I believe
1 82 RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT
I am at one with the people of this colony in saying
that they are not as yet ready for Responsible govern-
ment. They are not ready now, because the best
men among you now cannot afford to give up their
time and neglect their private affairs to take office
on an uncertain and precarious tenure ; and if they
find it impossible to do so, office would go into the
hands of men seeking only its emoluments. The
result would be the worst form of despotism : a
despotism founded nominally on the will of the
people, but really on the power of a few men who
would ride rough-shod over you and make your
interests subservient to theirs. I must also warn
you that Responsible government may follow closely
on Representative government. It grows out of it,
and though its introduction might be delayed for
a time by the exercise of tact and forbearance on the
part of Government and representatives, yet it might
come sooner than you wish or consider advisable.
The adoption of the Act i3th and i4th Victoria has
been pressed upon me. I do not regard this Act as
perfect, but I think it workable. I am not a doctrinaire
with regard to Constitutions. I believe that all that
is required is a skeleton which may be covered with
flesh and blood ; in short, may have life put into it
to suit the circumstances of the country into which
it is introduced."
After discussing the pros and cons of an immediate
adoption of the Act, and alluding to the unanimous
desire on the part of the population in every district
he had visited to have it passed, he said :
" The absence of all political excitement may be
advanced as a proof of the fitness of the present
moment for a new form of Government. Delay
might be dangerous ; a gold discovery or similar
cause might at any time lead to a sudden influx of
population from the other colonies, and we might
be forced to take a sudden plunge, such as that of
universal suffrage, at the bidding of irresponsible
demagogues, which might be disastrous to the
interests of the colony. I desire to avoid such a
plunge ; I do not think a very low suffrage would be
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 183
for the good of this country. I should like to see,
concurrently with constitutional changes, an increase
of local and individual exertion, a start made in the
direction of road boards and Chambers of Commerce.
Municipal and educational business, also mining
affairs, should be managed less by Government, more
by local authorities. Free and individual action
would thus be encouraged. This is my idea of
educating people, and if it is urged that they are not
fit for self-government, I would answer, When would
they be fit ? "
He concluded by saying :
" It has been my aim in life to render my humble
assistance in the great work of raising up a people
at the Antipodes, whose fresh life and vigorous action
would rather invigorate than drain the resources of
the mother country ; whose loyalty might be
instinct with memories of the past and aspirations
for the future. If I could evoke such a spirit, and
could hope to leave the people of Western Australia
more patriotic than I found them, more of a community
and less of a collection of units, I should ask for
nothing better by which to be remembered."
Before entering into the questions of the change
in the Constitution and other developments, social
and political, contemplated by Weld, it may be of
interest to read his summing up of the capabilities of
the country which he traversed between the months
of October 1869 and March 1870. The following
are extracts from a dispatch to the Secretary of State
for the Colonies. After mentioning that he had
travelled about 2100 miles on horseback and visited
every district of any importance in the colony, with
the exception of the small outlying pastoral settle-
ment of Nichols Bay, which is frequented by pearl
and shell fishers and cannot be visited except by a
long uncertain voyage in sailing vessels, he says :
11 The whole of the settled country of Western
Australia lies between Albany, King George's Sound,
1 84 TIMBER OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA
in the south and the Geraldine lead mines on the
Murchison, the extreme northern limit of my journey
that is to say, between the 28th and 35th parallels
of south latitude. This country is for the most
part level, often undulating but never mountainous.
The western seaboard is comparatively flat, and of
sandy character, composed chiefly of the detritus
of old coral reefs. Farther inland a formation
which is here called ironstone prevails ; it appears
to be a conglomerate of disintegrated granite, stained
with iron. Granite, slate, quartz, pipeclay, and in
some places trap, are found in this country. The
Darling Range, for instance, presents all these
characteristics. It runs from north to south in the
central district inland of Perth, and appears once to
have formed the coast-line. The whole country
from north to south, excepting the spots cleared for
cultivation, may be described as one vast forest ;
sometimes, but comparatively seldom, the traveller
comes upon an open sandy plain covered with shrubs
and flowering plants in infinite variety and of exquisite
beauty, and often (especially in the north and eastern
districts) low scrubby trees take the place of timber.
The jarrah, sometimes erroneously called mahogany,
a tree of the Eucalyptus tribe, covers immense tracts
of land ; as timber it is extraordinarily durable, and
as it resists the white ant and the Teredo navalis
it is admirably adapted for railway sleepers, and for
bridges and harbour works . The sandalwood already
affords an export ; and tuart and kari, both of which
run to an enormous size, are valuable timber trees.
In the southern districts I have ridden for miles
amongst kari trees, some of which, lying on the
ground, I have ascertained by measurement to reach
150 feet to the lowest branch; many, I estimated,
are twice that height from the ground to the topmost
branch thus emulating in size the Californian
Wellingtonia, the kauri (Damnara australis) of New
Zealand, or the great Eucalyptus Purpurea of
Tasmania.
" The geological features of Western Australia
would indicate the presence of gold, but as yet it has
only been found in minute quantities ; copper,
lead, plumbago, and other minerals abound,
CAPABILITIES OF THE SOIL 185
especially in the Champion Bay district, affording,
there can be no doubt, opportunities for the invest-
ment of capital. I have now in my possession a
specimen of coal which I am assured is of considerable
commercial value ; it was found on the Murchison
River. The pastoral resources of the colony, though
far from inconsiderable, are smaller than might be
expected from the extent of the country, but I have
seen some very fine grassy tracts, and many bushes
and plants which would afford good feed for cattle ;
and I have everywhere remarked the fine condition
of the stock, even in this exceptionally dry season.
As a horse-breeding country, I think, with care this
should have few rivals. An expedition which I am
about to send out along the shores of the Great
Australian Bight will, I hope, not only open up com-
munications with South Australia, and add to our
geographical knowledge, but may also result in
extending the area of pastoral enterprise. A con-
siderable amount of wheat of remarkably good
quality is grown in Western Australia, which possesses
some fine agricultural districts ; the crops generally
are light, but that is owing to over-cropping and
slovenly farming. It is to be regretted that more
attention is not paid to fruit- and wine-growing ;
this is essentially the land of the olive and vine.
The Western Australian wines are, as a rule, carelessly
and unscientifically made, but as far as I can judge
they seem to possess many of the characteristics
of the Spanish and Sicilian wines, and they are found
to contain a larger proportion of alcohol than the
wines of other Australian colonies.
11 It has been often remarked that it is a drawback
to Western Australian colonisation that its best land
is scattered about in patches. This is true in reference
to land available for corn-growing, or for natural
pasture, but it would be a mistake to suppose on that
account that one could not get a crop out of it ; the
light sandy soil about Perth, for instance, astonishes
me with its abundant garden produce. The vine
grows luxuriantly everywhere, even on the apparently
sterile ironstone ranges ; and the flooded low-lying
lands would grow the New Zealand flax to perfection.
" Probably Western Australia will never support as
1 86 A YOUNG EXPLORER
large a population in proportion to its area as many
other countries, but I believe it will support a very
much larger one than is generally supposed, when the
necessity is recognised of not forcing nature but of
growing Mediterranean products in a country which
possesses a Mediterranean climate and in many
places a South African soil. I cannot omit all refer-
ence to harbours. The port of King George's Sound
is well known, and there are several good roadsteads
and anchorages along the coast, but a careful survey
and some additional lights would be very beneficial.
I shall have the honour of forwarding to your Lord-
ship by next mail a report by Mr. Dogmour, consulting
engineer, upon Rockingham, Fremantle, and the
Swan River navigation."
Directly after Weld's return to Perth he carried
out a plan of which he had first conceived the idea
soon after he set foot in Western Australia, and
which, in the six months' interval which followed, he
had had time to mature before putting into execution.
This was the dispatch of an expedition under the
conduct of Mr. John Forrest, 1 a young man who had
already made his name as an explorer, to report on
the southern coast of the colony between Albany and
the northern frontier of South Australia.
In a summary of the acts of his administration
before leaving Western Australia in 1874 he refers to
this measure as " The last act of an expiring auto-
cratic regime," and he admits that he would not in the
then-existing state of public opinion have got a vote
in favour of it. He goes on to say :
" I believe nothing I have ever done was more
unpopular, and yet I am convinced no sum of public
money was ever expended with greater results. For
Mr. Forrest's expedition has bridged the gap that
separated Western Australia from the other colonies,
has led to settlement on the shores of the Bight, and
1 Afterwards Sir John Forrest, K.C.M.G., the veteran politician of
Western Australia and its Premier for ten years.
A SUCCESSFUL EXPEDITION 187
to the connection of this colony with the rest of the
world by electric telegraph."
Mr. John Forrest had already proved his qualifica-
tions for the office to which he had been appointed,
by his services in an expedition which had been
organised to recover the remains of Dr. Leuchardt
and his party two years previously. Weld refers to
him and to the expedition in the following terms, in a
letter to Sir Roderick Murchison dated loth June 1 870 :
" I have shown him (Forrest) my appreciation,
as far as lay in my power, of the services he has
already rendered, and am now employing him on an
expedition which if successful will, I have reason to
hope, confer great benefits both political and econo-
mical on this colony, by connecting it with the south-
eastern colonies, and by opening out new fields of
enterprise. It will also, in any case, extend consider-
ably our area of geographical knowledge. He is now
exploring overland along the Great Australian Bight,
with orders to proceed to Adelaide, and to halt at
Eucla or other suitable spots where he can extend his
researches inland. He has with him a small but
carefully equipped and selected party. He is to
proceed by land, and a small coasting vessel will
supply him with provisions at two points on the coast.
I hope much from this expedition, and see good
grounds for my expectations being fulfilled with
regard to it ; they are not very generally shared
by the people of this colony, however, who see in the
expedition a present expense which we can ill afford,
and are sceptical about future benefits."
Three months later Weld writes to Mr. Monsell :
" The exploring expedition under Mr. Forrest
has been heard of from Port Eucla, whither I sent a
small coaster to provision them. They are now
doubtless on South Australian territory, having
traversed some fine grassy tracts of country. The
natives they came across were friendly, and, I hear,
express unbounded astonishment (they themselves
being naked) at one of the exploring party taking off
1 88 COLONIAL DEVELOPMENTS
his boots. No doubt they expected that the white
man was constructed so as to take to pieces altogether.
I am very much pleased with the success of the
expedition and cannot overrate its importance to the
future of these colonies. "
He writes to the same correspondent in October
of the same year :
" Mr. Forrest, the explorer, has returned. He
was well received in Southern Australia ; he has not
yet sent in his full report, but the ultimate results
of the expedition will, I doubt not, be very far reach-
ing. We shall in a year have telegraphic communica-
tion across Western Australia from Fremantle to
Perth and King George's Sound, and there is talk in
Victoria of a cable to connect Melbourne with the
Sound. I hope this war will raise 1 the question of a
cable from Point de Galle to Fremantle, thus directly
connecting Australia with the British and Indian
systems."
1870 was notable in the annals of Western
Australia for more than one reason, for it was in the
course of that year that the first step was taken by
the Legislature towards Representative Government.
The process of development whereby a Crown colony,
which had hitherto been ruled by an autocratic
Governor who was responsible only to the Colonial
Office, was admitted to the privileges of self-govern-
ment was in this case a slow and gradual one, befitting
the importance of the change.
There is no doubt that public opinion was strongly
divided at this time in Western Australia on the
subject of the preparedness of the country for free
institutions. The convict element present in the
colony was one which could not be overlooked in
any estimate of its state, social or political. But,
as Weld remarks in a letter to Lord Granville, they
had already arrived at a point where it was im-
1 The Franco-Prussian War.
A FRESH DEPARTURE 189
possible to retrace their steps. For in the Constitu-
tion granted to Western Australia, it had been
provided that " upon the presentation of a petition
signed by not less than one-third of the house-
holders of the colony, praying that a Legislative
Council be established in accordance with the con-
ditions of the above Act, it shall on certain prescribed
conditions be lawful for the now existing Legislative
Council to pass an ordinance to carry the prayer of
the petitioners into operation under the provisions
of the aforesaid Act."
These conditions had been fulfilled. In 1865 a
petition under the prescribed form had been pre-
sented to the Legislative Council signed by a large
number of householders, and had been rejected by
it. Again, in 1869, a petition to the same effect had
been brought forward, and was awaiting the con-
sideration of the Governor and Legislative Council
at the approaching session. Under these circum-
stances, Weld goes on to say he is of opinion, after
giving very anxious and careful consideration to
the question, that nothing would be gained by
further postponements. Moreover, he considers
that the upper and yeoman class to which the
franchise under the provisions of the Act was virtually
restricted, was politically as sound there as in other
colonies. He had been struck by the primitive sim-
plicity and kindliness of manners shown by many
of the inhabitants of the settlements he had visited
a state of things which was remarkable in a country
peopled in a large measure with members of the
criminal class. He adds, that he would be unjust
were he not to point out that it was not uncommon
to find men belonging to that class who have made
good settlers, and have raised themselves to positions
of respectability and independence. The measure
having thus been discussed in all its bearings, and
15
190 THE NEW CONSTITUTION
ample time having been given to its consideration,
all that remained to be done was to carry it into
execution. Accordingly Weld summoned a meeting
of the Legislative Council on 23rd May, and placed
before its members a Bill embodying the form of
Representative Government, provided by the Act
13 & 14 Viet. (cap. 59), and invited them to con-
sider the advisability of adopting it. Having him-
self spoken strongly in favour of the measure, he
put the motion " that the Bill be read a second time."
The fate of the Bill was decided by a narrow majority.
In a Council consisting of eleven members, five voted
against, and six including Mr. Barlee, Colonial
Secretary were in its favour. The Governor's vote
gave it a majority of two, which carried the Bill.
In the new Constitution given to Western Aus-
tralia the administration continued to be vested in
the Governor, who exercised his functions with the
assistance of an Executive Council, whose advice
he asked, but was not bound to follow. The House
of Representatives during the first three years of
its existence consisted of twenty members, of which
number eight were appointed by the Crown, and
twelve by the votes of adult householders, paying a
rental of not less than 10. Perth and Fremantle
returned two members each to Parliament, and
the other eight districts into which the colony was
divided sent one member each. That an adminis-
tration conducted on these lines was not unattended
with difficulties and occasional pitfalls for the " man
at the helm " will readily be conceived, for being him-
self debarred from taking any part in the proceedings
of the House, either by speech or vote, he had only
the services of the eight nominees of the Crown to
depend upon to introduce and defend his measures.
Of these, four were Government officials, who accord-
ingly acted as spokesmen for the*Head of the Ad-
A DIFFICULT TASK 191
ministration. The remaining four, though nominally
supporters of the Government, occasionally asserted
their independence by differing from it thus causing
considerable friction in executive circles. It is
obvious, therefore, that the post of Governor in a
colony which was neither a Crown colony pure and
simple, nor one endowed with a responsible Govern-
ment, but an anomaly partaking of the nature of both,
was one that required no small amount of tact ;
and perhaps Sir W. Robinson was not far wrong in
saying, " Let no man take charge of such a form of
Government who is not as patient as Job, as in-
dustrious as a Chinaman, and as ubiquitous as a
provincial Mayor in France." l
1 On Duty in Many Lands, p. 51.
CHAPTER IX
r< La parole c'est un acte ; c'est pourquoi j'essai de parler."
E. HlLLO.
IF " to see oursels as others see us " (to quote Burns's
somewhat hackneyed line) is useful for nations as
well as individuals, the inhabitants of Western
Australia must have drawn profit from a news-
paper 1 article entitled " The shaking up" of that
colony, in which the opinion hitherto held by the
more advanced Southern States with regard to their
sister colony of the West, is set down in a manner
more candid than complimentary. According to
this article "Western Australia seems at length to
have reached the turning-point of its history where
progress begins . For the last forty years it has been
known by repute only as a penal settlement, or a
dead-alive place that could never become a prosperous
colony. An English serial in 1865 referring to it
as * Big Western Australia/ the most sleepy and
stagnant of all our colonies, went on to say :
' Roundly speaking, nobody does anything in this
last-named place ; nobody has any money, nobody
buys or sells, nobody lends or borrows, nobody
wants any workmen, and nobody could find any if
he did ; but everybody wants to go away unless the
Government will continue to support the place as a
penal settlement.' This description given by a
writer in All the Year Round would have been as
truthful twelve months since as it was five years
ago. A remarkable change, however, is now taking
1 The Queenslander.
193
'AT LAST SHE MOVES' 193
place which it is no exaggeration to state is entirely
the work of one man. What credit is to be given
to the Imperial Government for the selection we know
not, but it was a fortunate thing for Western Australia
when Mr. Weld was appointed Governor. "
Probably to every country " the moment " comes
sooner or later ; and in such cases " the man " is
seldom wanting.
The Town Hall of Perth, which had been begun
by Governor Hampton, was opened by Weld on the
" Glorious First of June," the anniversary of the
great naval triumph of Lord Howe over the fleets of
France and Spain. He drew the attention of the
company assembled on that occasion to the steps
that had already been taken in the nine months
since he had come to Western Australia to develop
the resources of the colony. A start had been made
with the timber trade ; the whaling industry had
been given a fresh impetus ; an exploring expedition
had been sent out which besides having for its object
a discovery of a route to the neighbouring colonies,
would, by discovering fresh country, give a new
outlet to pastoral enterprise. Encouragement had
been given to a company seeking to establish a
through telegraphic system, which was one of the
greatest boons that could be conferred on any com-
munity. The rates of intercolonial postage had been
reduced, and the postage taken off newspapers.
Again, a great step had been taken in the direction
of Responsible Government. Much still remained
to be done, still he thought it might be said of the
colony, " At last she moves."
The first session of the Representative Council
of Western Australia began on 5th December, when
the Governor in his message was able to congratulate
the members on the progress of the colony in spite
of commercial depression and three successive bad
194 IMMIGRATION SCHEMES
seasons. He announces that a Bankruptcy Bill
and other important legal measures tending to
assimilate the laws of the colony and practice of its
Courts to English forms would be submitted to them.
Also that the Education question which was one
of the greatest importance would be placed before
them for their earnest and impartial consideration.
The protection and amelioration of the condition of
the aborigines being an imperative duty and one
which he hoped to see increasingly recognised, he
proposed submitting to them a Bill for the pro-
tection of the natives at the pearl fisheries, and to
regulate their employment.
He ends by saying that, relying on the assurances
of support that he had received from the country
and with the concurrence of the Crown, he had estab-
lished a Representative form of government in
the colony, and that its success, with God's blessing,
would mainly depend on the wisdom, moderation,
and patriotism of its members.
The Council was prorogued on 7th January 1871
till July of the same year.
A letter to Colonel Maude who was at this time
at the head of the Emigrant and Colonist's Aid Com-
pany, shows Weld's interest in a subject which affected
so nearly the prosperity of Western Australia. After
alluding to the circular he had received from Colonel
Maude, he says :
" I take a great interest in emigration questions
and hope your company may be the means of supply-
ing a great national want, and conferring equal
benefits on the colonies as well as on the mother
country. This colony possesses immense tracts of
unoccupied land, much of which is of inferior quality,
but there is some good land, and even the light and
sandy soil of the ironstone country grows vines in
luxuriance. Flax also could be cultivated with profit
here. We have the finest hard-wood forests in the
MINUTES OF PROGRESS 195
world, and great undeveloped mineral riches, and
added to this the best climate on the Australian
continent. What we want is population, and capital
for public works of a reproductive character. The
colony is very poor but owes no money, and though
stagnant to a deplorable degree there is not much
actual want less I should say than in some of the
neighbouring colonies. We have, however, as a rule,
an inferior labouring population, from the fact that
a large proportion are released convicts ; the rest
of the population is a well-conducted one, simple and
primitive. Crime is infrequent, and life and property
as safe here as in any other part of Australia. This
colony is ages behind any other it has simply
vegetated ; it wants new blood."
Writing a little later to another correspondent,
Weld remarks :
" The country itself is underrated by the outside
world, and not understood by its inhabitants. What
it needs are Italians and Spaniards to grow wine,
silk, oil, and fruits ; Norsemen or Canadians for its
forests; English or Scots-men to cultivate its lands.
Shepherds of a superior quality, again, are much
wanted, and capitalists who would run the mines and
start fresh industries. Also we require a com-
mercial body of men who would establish a healthy
system to take the place of the truck system which
Ere vails here. I have been a colonist for years and
ave travelled much, and I have seen no better field
for the investment of capital than Western Australia ;
but a new population is wanted, and must be intro-
duced before any real progress can be expected from
the colony."
So far all had gone well between the Governor
and governed in this remote Australian colony ; each
saw the other through a rose-coloured atmosphere.
Such a state of things could hardly last. It lasted
until Weld put his foot on the hornet 's nest in other
words, till he drew upon himself the wrath of the
convict population and its press, a force to be reckoned
196 CONVICT ARISTOCRACY
with at this time in Australia. This is Weld's
account of his misadventure to Mr. Monsell :
11 I am in dreadfully bad odour now with the self-
constituted ' convict aristocracy ' here. Their organ
says I am the worst Governor they ever had, though
all were bad ; and they compare me to the Emperor
of the French, and the King of Prussia ! This is
because I revoked the ticket-of-leave of a rascally
convict lawyer, a member of the aforesaid aristocracy ;
until then I was the best of men and of Governors.
Fortunately, if I am a despot I am a remarkably
thick-skinned one, and am quite impervious to abuse."
These clouds were not the only ones on the horizon.
The Representative system of government being a
new one in the colony, the lately-elected members
naturally showed their sense of their new privileges
and their British independence by obstructing
government measures in which they detected the
smallest desire to coerce them ; and, like children,
they were very ready to detect the pill in the jam.
Weld writes a little later to the same correspondent
as follows :
" The difficulties that usually attend the exercise
of newly-acquired political powers by persons totally
unaccustomed to them have, as I anticipated, been
felt very noticeably here. Indeed, owing to the
persistent misrepresentation which that part of the
press owned and edited by ex-convicts had indulged
in of every act of the Government since I revoked
the ticket-of-leave of which I have previously told
you, these difficulties have been exaggerated. You
cannot imagine the effect of personal abuse has on
the people here. Magistrates (paid) will not do their
duty in convict matters for fear of abuse from the
press ; and members vote for measures which in
private they do not attempt to defend, under threat
of the lash that is held over them. You will be
amused to hear that I am accused of being the cause
of their not getting a large loan my dispatch to
Lord Kimberley and his answer notwithstanding
THE NEW ORDER OF THINGS 197
and they gravely assure the people that the Home
Government would have been quite ready to give a
guaranteed loan, and mention that the open-handed
Mr. Lowe (a sobriquet quite new to him I should
think) is only too anxious to give one. As to our
Council they are well-meaning, fussy, and full of plots
for petty obstructions which are intended to show
their power and independence. Individually they
express their confidence in me, and when we meet in
private seem easily convinced by my arguments ;
then they go to the House and badger the Colonial
Secretary, and the next day come and tell me that
they did not understand the effect of their action. I
always, as you know, expected that I should have a
great deal of trouble under the new order of things,
yet I think it was best for the country that its
Eolitical education should have been begun, and I
elieve that my ambition for it will be realised, and
that having found it a corpse I shall leave it a living
and intelligent body. There appeared no chance
after the election of carrying an Education Bill
either on the basis of a double system, such as now
prevails in England, or on the Irish plan. They
were in favour of a perpetuation of the present system.
I therefore agreed to a compromise, under which the
Catholic schools of Perth and Fremantle would have
had a grant equal to the sum saved to the Govern-
ment by the children educated at those schools.
The Council very unexpectedly threw this out. The
popular feeling now is setting in the direction of
the recommendations made in my dispatch, and Mr.
Keenan's much-abused memo., so I am not unlikely
to carry out my views in the long run.
The Council has carried a resolution proposed by
the leader of the Opposition in favour of an arrange-
ment being entered into to put an end to the dual
system of convict management by which the
control and expenditure on the convict account may
be handed over to the colonial authorities. Some
such arrangement would no doubt save expense, and
I had already mentioned it in one of my letters to
Lord Granyille, and since alluded to it in a dispatch,
but I considered it a matter in which the initiative
properly lay with the Home Government. Should
198 EDUCATION BILL
such an idea be entertained it must be very carefully
worked out, and the strictest and most definite
stipulations made, and full powers kept in the
Governor's hands to enforce them, by withholding
moneys, or appointing or removing officers. It must
be remembered that even leading men and govern-
ment officials are under the influence of the convict
element here to a degree unknown in any other con-
vict colony. This and other difficulties will be solved
as they are already in a fair way of being solved
by immigration and by capital being attracted to the
colony. I do not intend pressing for an immigration
agreement on a large scale at present. I think that
the best way would be to make a money compromise,
and let us bring out a few families of the kind we
need, and as we need them. I shall wait meanwhile
to see what action, if any, will be taken by the Legis-
lature before I report again on the question."
The Session of 1871 was chiefly memorable for the
passing of an Education Bill. This Act before being
made law passed through many vicissitudes in the
hands of a suspicious Opposition who detected a
Popish plot in every paragraph. The form it at
last assumed closely resembled the one in operation
in England at the time it was passed. Schools were
divided by this Act into two classes, elementary and
assisted. The elementary were largely subsidised
by Government, and were under the control and
supervision of a central board, assisted by local
district boards. The central board, which was ap-
pointed by the Governor, consisted of five members,
all laymen belonging to different religious denomina-
tions. The local district boards were elected every
three years, and all ratepayers were eligible as office-
holders. Half an hour a day was set aside for reading
the Bible, or other religious book approved of by the
board ; but a conscience clause prohibited the use of
catechisms or any religious formularies, and the Bible,
if used, had to be read without note or comment.
DENOMINATIONALISM 1 99
Compulsory attendance could be enforced by local
boards. Assisted schools received capitation grants
from Government on condition of submitting to
inspection of secular results, and to the observance of
a conscience clause during the four hours of secular
instruction provided for by the Act.
Catholic schools were in the hands of the Christian
Brothers, and their teachers were certificated by
Government.
The following letter from Sir James Ferguson
(Governor of Adelaide), to whom Weld sent a draft
of the Bill to ascertain what was being done in the
other colonies with regard to education, may be of
interest to readers :
11 I like your Bill a good deal. I don't think we
should have the least chance of carrying it here, and
expect to find irreligious education a sine qua non of
any Bill that is accepted. As you desired it, I
showed it to our Bishop. He points out that clauses
22 and 24 comprise the chief objects of the Bill and
that the conscience clause is very fair. He objects,
however, as I do, to the ' ticketing ' the children
according to denominations, and so of stereotyping
their schismatical or sectarian bringing up. I should
say the right of withdrawal from religious teaching
was sufficient. I suppose you found it necessary,
however. He thinks that clause 9 will make your
Government schools quasi-pauper schools, and drive
from them the better class. Such, however, is not
our Scotch experience, where a similar provision
has always existed. Further, he thinks that the
proposal to assist denominational schools, even where
a Government school exists in a district, is rather
extravagant and unfair to the Government school,
and that this is designed in favour of the Roman
Catholic Schools. If it is, I do not dislike it on that
ground, for a Royal Commission of Scottish schools,
of which I was a member while we denied the
existence of a 'religious difficulty ' in the case of
Scotsmen in general, at least of Presbyterians in
200 A ROSE-WATER REVOLUTION
general, recognised it in the case of the Roman
Catholics, and proposed that to them alone separate
grants should be made. I dare say this feature is
the one which irritates both the Bishop of Perth and
the Protestant dissenters. You must know that
even among Anglo-Catholics recent events at Rome l
and elsewhere have aroused a good deal of irritation
and jealousy which before was confined to the sects
who live upon their abuse of Catholicism. I, however,
think that if the Church of England cannot produce
guilds or societies to evangelise the people as your
regular clergy and sisterhoods do, we have no right
to be jealous."
A Bill was also passed during this Session to
regulate the grants made by Government to religious
bodies. On Weld's arrival in the colony he had
found a dispatch from Lord Granville to his prede-
cessor, dated loth July 1869, directing the officer
administering the government to report on the sub-
ject of ecclesiastical grants with a view to an equitable
distribution alike in substance and in form of such
grants. And he was further desired to report whether
the circumstances of the colony created any difficulty
in applying to Western Australia the principle of
religious equality which had long been recognised
in the Australian colonies. Though the change fore-
shadowed in the above dispatch produced a certain
amount of agitation in ecclesiastical circles where
it was popularly spoken of as " the disestablishment
of the Church " it did not take long for members of
all Churches to realise that the Bill which was framed
to carry out the principle of equality was a fair and
equitable one. Weld, in a private letter to Mr. Mon-
sell on the subject, says in allusion to this accusation :
" I think you must admit that if it is true that I
have disestablished the Church of England in Western
Australia which was never established the re-
volution at least was a very rose-water one."
1 An allusion to the Vatican Council.
CAPE LEEUWIN 201
Weld gives an interesting account of a tour of over
900 miles which he made on horseback in the south and
south-eastern districts in a dispatch to Lord Kimber-
ley, dated the 3oth of November, from which we
give the following extracts :
" I left Perth on the loth of November for Albany.
I was anxious to see the state of the main road to the
Sound, along which the telegraph line is now in course
of construction, and also to inspect the convict depot
before withdrawing the convict establishment from
King George's Sound, which I propose to do almost
immediately. I find the road much improved since
my first arrival in the colony, and, owing to the
plentiful rains that have fallen this spring, the country
was in unusual beauty. I stayed a day in the
Williams district, and rode down the valley a distance
of some fifteen miles, returning on the opposite side of
the river after visiting several farms which impressed
me favourably with the capabilities of this district. It
has also much good unoccupied land. I left Albany
on the 22nd and reached the hospitable homestead
of Mr. Muir of Forest Hill, one of our prosperous
settlers who has raised himself to the position he
now occupies, and has brought up a large family
who owe their success entirely to his, and their,
industry and energy.
:< I now proceeded to carry out a design which I
had long entertained, of exploring the little-known
south coast country which stretches westward to
Cape Leeuwin, the extreme south-westerly pro-
montory of Australia. Sending on my baggage and
the rest of the party by a bush road to a point on
the Warren River and taking one pack-horse with
me, and accompanied by Andrew Muir and a mounted
police-orderly and a native, I diverged to the sea-coast,
and after travelling for six days a distance of about
1 60 miles without meeting either European or
native inhabitant I reached Mr. E. Brockman's
station on the Warren River, where I was rejoined
by my suite. During this part of my journey I
was enabled to make several sketch corrections
on the map of some importance. After fording the
202 THE SHANNON AND CHESAPEAKE
Gordon and afterwards the Walpole River above
Nornalup Inlet I reached Broke's Inlet, which is very
incorrectly laid down in the maps, and I found that
the Shannon falls into it near its north-west extremity.
A considerable stream which runs into the Shannon
from the westward at a few miles from its mouth
I called the Chesapeake thus associating the name
of the Shannon with that of her gallant antagonist.
I believe that a careful survey at Point D'Entre-
casteaux would establish a safe anchorage under
Low Island. Sunken rocks are scattered over a
wide area, but there appears to be plenty of room
to work a sailing vessel between them. The southern
coast of the colony from Albany to Broke 's Inlet is
deeply indented. The land generally is poor. From
Broke 's Inlet westward the country may be described
as follows : At fifteen to twenty-five miles distance
from the coast it is thickly wooded ; the undergrowth
is so dense in places that it is most difficult to pene-
trate through it without using the hatchet, and
would be impossible but for the absence of climbing
or parasitical plants. Nearer the coast we came
upon swampy plains covered with coarse vegetation
into which our horses frequently sank and from
which they were with difficulty extricated. Here
the kari and jarrah forests broke up into smaller areas,
and varieties of Melaleuca, Casuarina, and Banksias
predominated. The grassy knolls and undulations of
ground were frequently enlivened with the bright
turquoise blue of the dwarf lobelia ; the peppermint-
greener than most Australian trees is found here in
profusion, growing singly or in groups, whilst in the
valleys the black-stemmed Xanthorrea and its congener
the palm-leaved Xamia fix the distinctive Australian
characteristics of the scenery in an unmistakable
manner.
f< One of my principal objects in visiting this
part of the country was to judge for myself its fitness
for settlement. A good deal of the open country
is occasionally occupied by the stock of a few settlers
who live inland, but I am told cattle require frequent
change, and can only be left a limited period on the
low ground by the seashore. By the introduction of
Indian couch grass, and English grasses for which
AUGUSTA 203
the climate is well fitted, the capabilities of the coast
country might no doubt be increased indefinitely.
As I have on a previous occasion described jarrah
and kari forests I will only now mention that the
question of shipment is the single one that presents
any obstacle to establishing a large timber trade
on this coast, and a survey would in all probability
remove that difficulty. This coast offers exceptional
facilities, especially at Augusta (the mouth of the
Blackwood River), for building schooners and other
small vessels, from the proximity of the forests to
the sea and the quality of the timber. Whales
abound on the coast, and the estuaries teem with
fish. Augusta was settled in 1829 and deserted
many years ago ; as I looked on its forests and its
fine river and inhaled the fresh breeze from the
Dorsetshire-like downs that rise above Cape Leeuwin
(the most south-westerly point of Australia), I could
not but wonder that a spot possessing such attractions
in climate and scenery, and no inconsiderable natural
advantages, should have been abandoned. Two
families yet remain at Augusta ; but much of the
land here is owned, as is the case in many other parts
of the colony, by absentees and non-residents . Almost
the whole of the country which I have described is
well watered. In the vicinty of Cape Leeuwin there
are several subterranean streams of large size. I
have seen them in more than one instance pouring
a large volume of pure water into, or out of, a hill of
limestone formation. Very curious conical mounds
exist near Cape Hamelin, also on the coast a few miles
eastward of Augusta. I could not give the time
required to investigating them, or to ascertaining
their origin."
A second letter, dated 3Oth of January 1872,
records a journey taken by the Governor to the north-
west of the colony. After mentioning that H.M.S.
Cossack had called for him and his party and landed
them in TienTsin roadstead in Nichols Bay, he writes :
" The town of Roebourne is twelve miles from the
landing-place and consists of a few scattered houses,
204 SOIL IN THE MAKING
including the Residency and courthouse, and police
quarters, which are good substantial buildings of
their kind. No attempt has been made at cultiva-
tion or gardening, the appearance accordingly of the
town is not prepossessing. It stands on the slope
of a bare range of hills, a river-bed with some trees
and bushes in front of it, and beyond a plain covered
with grass and bushes and low hills in the distance.
The day after my arrival I started on an expedition
inland with a small party consisting of the Surveyor-
General, Lieutenant Eden of the Cossack, and Corporal
Vincent of the Mounted Police, under the guidance
of two settlers, Messrs. Macrae and Patterson. We
returned after four days' journey, our farthest point
being the Fortescue River, which is about eighty miles
from the coast. As we went and returned by different
routes we gained a good knowledge of the principal
features of the country. A belt of low hills and
plains surrounds the coast to a distance of about
fifteen to twenty miles . After that we came on to high
tablelands from which a few hills such as Mount Bruce
stand out, attaining an altitude of from 4000 to
5000 feet . The formations are occasionally sandstone,
but more frequently metamorphic igneous rock. I
noticed granite, tufa, quartz, and slate.
" Looking at the country from a geological point
of view, it strikes one that it is only now in course of
undergoing the transformation necessary to make
it ready for the occupation of man. One sees piled
up masses of rock, split and rent by the action of
tropical suns and rains, which are again being reduced,
by the same process, to gravel and shingle, and then
to fine red dust. This is caught up by the tufted
spinifex which, in its decay, goes to the formation
of a soil which only requires irrigation to grow all the
lavish wealth of tropical vegetation. Such soils are
even now visible in the district. I travelled over
plains consisting of light-red soil, where wild yams
were growing amidst a scanty vegetation of spinifex
and grass, and after rain I was told that a profusion
of plants amongst others the wild melon spring
up and cover the ground, and I witnessed myself
how a passing thunderstorm had brought up a
luxuriant growth of herbage. At the Fortescue a
FLOilA AND FAUNA 205
stream rises suddenly out of the ground and runs
for some distance parallel with the deep pools which
form the bed of the main river. This stream irrigates,
and partly surrounds, a piece of land of extraordinary
fertility which was covered with luxuriant vegeta-
tion, amongst which the slim tall shaft and graceful
fronds of the. Fan Palm were conspicuous. I noticed
a dwarf fig bearing a small edible fruit, which might
be improved by cultivation, and a larger species
much resembling the Ficus macrophylla.
11 The fauna of this district is of considerable in-
terest. I saw several different species of kangaroos
of a kind new to me, and which I should say are un-
known to the southern parts of the colony. There
appeared also to be a great variety of birds ; we saw
bustards, partridges so called pigeons, cockatoos,
duck, teal ; also flights of pigeon of a kind appar-
ently peculiar to this district, a few emus, a flock of
the little shell-pink coloured parrots, and pink and
slate-coloured cockatoos in countless numbers. The
bird that goes by name of partridge I have also never
seen before ; it is a beautifully marked and crested
little bird, wonderfully tame and somewhat resem-
bling the Calif ornian quail, but is larger ; the flesh
is white and delicate but with no game flavour.
" The country that we traversed is better watered
than I had anticipated, we rarely travelled fifteen to
twenty miles without encountering springs. We came
across a good many sheep and cattle stations on our
journey. The present number of sheep in this
district is calculated at about 56,000. I see no
prospect of any rapid increase, as owing to the pre-
valence of long droughts, and the intense heat, light
stocking is a necessity. Cattle appear to do well ;
there are about 800 head in the district. Horses
also thrive, though increase is slow owing to mortality
among the foals. The breed should be improved by
an admixture of Arab blood ; the horses I have seen
were coarse and underbred, and consequently liable
to suffer in a long journey in the great heats to which
they are exposed in this tropical climate. Shipments
have been lately made to Singapore of horses, sheep,
and some cows, and highly remunerative prices have
been realised ; return cargoes were taken of tea,
16
206 THE PEARL-FISHERIES
sugar, rice, and other commodities. It is said here
that unless freight and charges at Fremantle are
reduced, the Nichols Bay trade will desert that port,
and flow in the direction of Singapore. A steamboat
bought by an enterprising settler is now on its way
out from England, which will in all probability give
considerable impetus to the settlement by improving
its communications with other ports, as well as by
promoting its industries.
" The chief reliance of the North- West Settlement
is placed on its pearl-shell fisheries. It is carried on
by about seventy-five Europeans, who employ about
three hundred and fifty aborigines belonging to the
district, exclusive of women and children, and a few
Malays. The industry is of growing importance ; it is
carried on from small craft about thirty in number,
most of which average from i o to 2 5 tons . The season,
which is limited by the temperature of the water,
lasts from September to May, both inclusive, with
occasional breaks owing to stormy weather. The
fishery is carried on by divers who work on the banks
at slack water, generally from two to three hours a
day, or more when days are long and the tides turn,
and dive to a depth ordinarily not exceeding 3 to 3^
fathoms of water. The take this year has exceeded
so far any previous one ; and as new banks have been
traced, and will probably be hereafter worked along
an extended line of coast, also old banks appear to be
periodically replenished from deeper waters, there is
a good prospect of this industry becoming one of
considerable importance. Several valuable pearls
have been found, but the mother-of-pearl shells are
the mainstay of the fishery. They are quoted as
high as 216 a ton in the London market, the average
being about 150 or 160. Probably 150 tons will
be exported this year.
" Whaling has also been carried out with marked
success on these coasts. I have allowed Messrs.
Marmion & Pearce of Fremantle to establish a whal-
ing station on Rosemary Island, and this year after
securing 42 tons of oil they were obliged to suspend
operations for the season from want of casks, though
whales were still plentiful. I have also made arrange-
ments to enable an establishment to be set on foot,
THE ABORIGINES 207
on payment of a nominal rent, to commence operations
on Borrow Island for preserving turtle in tins for
Melbourne and the general market.
" The total European population of this district is
about 200, and consists chiefly of adult males ; these
are for the most part energetic and enterprising, and
as they look to their own efforts for success, they
are likely to achieve it. The settlement has been
formed by the joint exertion of men from the Western
and Southern Australian colonies. The natives, who
are in constant intercourse with the Europeans, are
docile and friendly, and appear to be on good terms
with the settlers. Almost all the labour is performed
by them ; they receive food regularly all the year
round in return for services rendered during the
pearling season money they do not value. I am
happy to say that consequently drunkenness is rare
amongst them. Though a red handkerchief to wrap
round the head appears to be admired, and in the
township some slight covering is affected in deference
to European prejudice, clothing also is reckoned a
superfluity among them. The aborigines I came
across up country were clothed in their native duski-
ness only, all but one gentleman, who was attired
in a single strand of grass twine tied round his waist.
;< Though the labour of the district is almost ex-
clusively in the hands of the blacks, where they are not
brought in immediate contact with settlers, they are
not always to be trusted to respect property, or even
life. A policeman not long ago was killed by natives,
and the murder of a man of the name of Lazenby, a
master pearler, occurred quite recently. Mr. Lazenby
was reputed to be kind and considerate with his natives,
and a favourite with them, but sufficient grounds
appeared in the inquiry to induce the Resident
Magistrate to issue a warrant against four of his native
servants, who have been committed for trial.
lt It would be very desirable, when our means
permit of it, that a small armed schooner should be
maintained as a police boat, in which the Resident
Magistrate might at times patrol the coast. Moderate
licence fees for pearling boats might then be imposed ;
at present other boats come from other colonies to
pearl, and add nothing to our revenue. I should
208 COMMODORE STIRLING
also wish to see a cottage hospital and a gaol erected.
There are at present only ten children in and about
Roeburne, but before long a school will have to
be built, the Board of Education only requiring
twelve children to grant assistance from Government
funds."
The hard life and exposure for days in the saddle
under the burning sun of the tropics brought on an
attack of gout, from which Weld was still suffering
when the arrival of H.M.S. Clio, under the command
of Commodore Stirling, obliged him to make efforts
for which he was still unfit. Stirling being the son of
the first Governor of Western Australia, Sir James
Stirling, whose name was still held in high honour by
the settlers, received a welcome worthy of the occasion
and of the name he bore. Weld records the arrival
in his journal as follows :
" March i6th. Drove from Perth to Fremantle
with de Lisle. Went off with Captain Croke, Harbour
Master, and the Colonial Secretary in a pulling boat
to H.M.S. Clio. Commodore Stirling saluted with
nineteen guns and yards manned when I went on
board. They got up anchor and steamed out of the
harbour soon after we arrived. Fire broke out in
the hold when we got off Rottnest Island. I was
struck with the admirable order on board every
man in his place, no noise or confusion. The fire
was put out in about twenty minutes. Very little
damage was done, some firewood, a cask or two of
tobacco, and the ship's side and lining partly burned."
The Clio landed its passengers at Geraldton, where
a great reception was given to Commodore Stirling.
It was followed by a dinner at Greenough Flats, and
another at Glengarry. A kangaroo hunt on a large
scale was organised by Mr. Maitland Brown the
owner, according to Weld, of the finest stud in
Western Australia at which the gallant colonist
THE COLONY WAKES UP 209
mounted the officers and their friends. The Governor,
unfortunately, was debarred from taking a part at
these festivities, as after the first two days he suc-
cumbed to them falling into the hands of the
doctor, who, he mentions in his journal, prescribed
various remedies, and amongst others complete rest.
" That," he adds, " and sea air on board the Clio
soon brought me round."
A week later, Weld writing to his brother
mentions more gay doings :
" The colony has quite woke up of late, owing to
the presence of H.M.S's Clio and Cossack, which have
been sojourning in West Australian waters. We have
had two balls at Government House, with a hundred
and fifty to two hundred people at each, besides
several dinner-parties and picnics which, as the news-
papers say, were numerously attended. An effort
has to be made on an occasion of this sort, and in a
colony which has hitherto been so little known like
Western Australia it is doubly a duty. The colonists
also showed much hospitality to our visitors. We
got up, amongst other things, a hurdle race, and I
regret to say Frank de Lisle came to grief riding my
mare Camilla. She was the best jumper, and he the
best rider on the course, but not having been in
regular training, she fell at the second last jump.
He broke his collar-bone, but is now fast recovering.
The officers of both ships say they were never better
treated than they have been here. The Commodore
was called away suddenly to Sydney about the South
Sea kidnapping affair, so we have now once more
subsided into our usual quiet."
This state of quietude did not last long, as in
June of the same year the colony was agog on the
subject of a charge made against a settler belonging
to one of the leading families of Western Australia for
the murder of a native. This accusation, moreover,
involved another against the head police magistrate
of Perth, for neglecting his duty to commit the
210 A CAUSE C&L&BRE
delinquent on the capital charge, and allowing him
to go on bail. Finally the Attorney-General caused
the man to be re-arrested and committed to prison
to await his trial. Burges was convicted by the
jury of manslaughter, and sentenced to five years'
imprisonment. This sentence admitting that the
accusation was proved would appear to be a suffici-
ently lenient one, but it was not so regarded in the
colony, and great pressure was brought to bear on
the Governor to commute it. Weld, however, refused
to interfere in the matter. His sympathy with the
down-trodden race had been roused more than once
since he came out to Australia ; this was a test case,
both judge and jury had been satisfied by the evidence
that the prisoner had fired at the native " with
intent to kill." He therefore allowed the law to take
its course.
B urges 's friends meanwhile left no stone unturned
to get the sentence reversed their plea being that
he had shot the native in self-defence ; petitions
were got up, widely signed, and dispatched to the
Secretary of State for the Colonies, with whom they
so far prevailed that Burges' sentence was commuted
from five to one year's imprisonment.
Weld in a letter to his brother comments with
much natural indignation on the indifference to
human (black) life in the colony which the incident
had brought to light. " What," he asks, " were the
Aborigines Protection Society about ? Had such
a case occurred in New Zealand, Exeter Hall would
have started indignation meetings and held up the
colonial authorities, as well as the author of the deed
and its abettors, to everlasting obloquy. Were
the aborigines of Western Australia outside the pale of
humanity ? Had they not likewise souls ? "
Exeter Hall maintained a stony silence, but if the
question had been put before the settlers of New
ROTTNEST 2 i i
Zealand or Australia there is small reason to doubt
what their solution of it would have been.
Notwithstanding the fact that the Colonial Office
saw reason to upset the judge's verdict, Lord Kimber-
ley in a private letter to Weld expressed his approval
of the line taken by him with regard to the native
race ; and though the question whether Burges was
guilty or not was left, from the action of the Home
Government, for ever open to doubt, the strong
measures taken for the vindication of justice had a
marked effect on the public mind, and bore fruit in
a growing disposition to treat the claims of an
oppressed and inferior race in a more humane and
forbearing spirit.
An occasional remark, such as we read in a letter
home dated 9th October of this year, of " How I wish
I could have a day with the hounds, or after par-
tridges," shows that deep as was Weld's interest in
his government his thoughts frequently turned to
his own beloved Dorsetshire home. He goes on to
observe :
" I have been staying lately at Rottnest, my
country or rather island home, and have had Mr.
Howard, a Lincolnshire parson one of the good old
school staying with me. We were up every morn-
ing, and out with our guns by 6 a.m., and had some
fair sport ; a mixed bag of quails, pigeons, and sand-
Eipers. Later in the day we used to go out sea-
shing. In fact we had a very jolly week."
In proroguing the session of 1872 in the autumn
of that year, Weld commented at some length on the
public spirit of the Legislative Council in voting the
sum of 35,000 for the construction of public works.
These works were of the utmost importance for the
progress of the colony, and consisted of lighthouses,
the extension of existing telegraph lines, the improve-
ment of river navigation and preliminary railway
212 A FISCAL SURVEY
surveys. With regard to coast surveys the Governor
was able to announce that the Imperial Government,
at his request, had consented to send out an experi-
enced officer to undertake them, and had also under-
taken to pay half the expenses of an enterprise which
when completed would confer material benefit on
their commerce. Weld reminds the members that
they were for the first time about to use their credit
for a loan, and it was accordingly a fitting occasion
to impress upon them that immigration should ever
go hand in hand with borrowing. " You will thus/*
he continues, " at once increase your power for borrow-
ing and for repayment, whilst you will diminish your
burden in proportion to the numbers of producers
and consumers you may introduce into the country
to share it. In placing at my disposal a small sum
for immigration purposes you have made a commence-
ment which, insignificant in itself, points the way to
future efforts."
A convinced free-trader himself, Weld had exerted
himself from the time he assumed the reins of govern-
ment in Western Australia to loosen the bonds of protec-
tion which he was convinced stood in the way of the
progress of the colony. A Government measure had
been introduced during this session to repeal an Act
for imposing duty on imported goods, and of exemp-
tion of certain goods from duties, and to make other
provisions in lieu thereof, to which he refers as
follows :
" You have reduced the list of taxed articles very
largely, though not to the extent that I had recom-
mended, and you have thereby conferred a considerable
boon upon the producers and consumers of this
colony. You have also wisely left an untaxed loaf
to the people merits which, in my opinion, counter-
balance some departures from the true principles of
political economy."
CHAPTER X
-That State must sooner or later perish where the majority
triumphs, and unintelligence (unverstand) decides." SCHILLER.
IN the course of the following year (1873) Weld made
a tour on horseback of about one thousand miles in
the rural districts of the colony, in the neighbour-
hood of the Victoria Plains and Champion Bay. He
describes his journey as follows to Lord Kimberley :
" I left Perth on the 4th of September. Early
on the morning of the 6th a violent cyclone, accom-
panied by lightning and thunder, broke over our
camp, and deluged the country. I succeeded, how-
ever, in crossing the flooded country and the Moore
River on horseback, and reaching New Norcia, where
I was received by Bishop Salvado with his wonted
hospitality, and remained there till my suite and
baggage rejoined me, which they succeeded in doing
a few days later, when the waters had subsided.
Your Lordship may be interested to hear of the
appointment of a black woman, the first of her race
who has ever held a government post, to the situa-
tion of postmistress at New Norcia. She is a half-
caste, and six years ago was running wild and
naked in the bush. She is now married to a very
intelligent and well-conducted half-caste, and a good
workman. She gives complete satisfaction in the
discharge of her duties as postmistress, and is re-
commended by the inspector for the additional post
of telegraphist as soon as the new line is opened. 1
1 Twelve years later (1885) Sir Frederick Broome, who was at that time
Governor of Western Australia, mentions " that the cricket eleven from
New Norcia visits Perth for an occasional match, and is generally victori-
ous. Year by year, with infinite labour and expense, it turns a number of
213
214 MINING PROSPECTS
Her cottage and that of her next neighbour, a full-
blood Australian black and his wife, to both of whom
I made a surprise visit, might serve as an example of
neatness and cleanliness to many a European labourer's
wife. I also saw a native boy, whose character was
so bad two years ago that the police applied to me
to know what could be done with him, making horse-
shoes at the forge, and I learned that he and other
two so-called bloodthirsty savages sent down by the
police had by kind and firm treatment and good
example become useful and reputable members of
society. Before leaving New Norcia I inspected a
substantial stone cottage which is being put up by
the Abbot Bishop for telegraph offices. I then
pursued my way northwards along the line of tele-
graph now in course of erection, which follows the
inland route from the central to the northern districts.
Near Arino I examined a shaft sunk for copper, where
a small vein of rich ore is being followed down in
hopes of striking a lode. I was in the saddle soon
after daybreak next morning, to examine a coal-seam
discovered many years ago by Mr. Gregory, the
celebrated explorer. I reached it by noon, and
found in the very spot marked by Gregory a large
bed of bituminous shale in the bed of the stream. The
shale burns with difficulty and emits, when lit, a
distinct smell of bitumen. The field seems of con-
siderable extent, the shale cropping out at spots
two or three miles apart from one another. I hope
ere long to be able to test a field which seems to me,
and to the Surveyor - General who accompanied
me, to offer a fair prospect of coal or oil. I visited
afterwards some ground which had been prospected
for gold two years ago. The holes at the time of
my visit were filled with water, but the country
did not appear to me to be more promising than
many other parts of Western Australia which have
as yet attracted less notice. I reached the next
day Mr. Maitland Brown's station at Glengarry,
after a ride of one hundred and nine miles in two days.
the natives into Christian and civilised beings. I have known a full-
blooded low-type savage go out from this noble mission into civilised
life not only a good Christian but an expert telegraphist." Proceedings
of the Royal Colonial Institute, vol. xvi. p. 200.
THE LABOUR MARKET 215
Whilst at Glengarry I inspected Mr. Brown's fine
stud of horses. He is the largest and most scientific
breeder in Western Australia, and his profits in the
Indian market are proportionally good ; were his
example followed, a great gain might be reaped in
the colony.
" On leaving Glengarry I went on to^the Greenough
district and was present at an agricultural show
and dinner there, and was afterwards entertained
by the municipality and settlers both there and
subsequently at Geraldton to a public dinner. Great
satisfaction was manifested to me both publicly
and in private for the measures which have been
taken of late for the advancement of the interests
of the colony. The new land and mineral regulations,
steam communications on the coast, and telegraphic
communication by land, were amongst the matters
which seemed to give most satisfaction. The one
great desideratum and that it is one is a healthy
sign is labour ; wages are high and still rising. In
the Champion Bay district alone I was assured on
all sides that employment at five or six shillings a day
would be found for workmen from the moment they
landed on these shores.
" Your Lordship's decision with regard to the
railway which it is proposed to make between North-
ampton and Geraldton is looked forward to with
great eagerness every one seeing in the scheme the
inauguration of a fresh era for the prosperity of the
country. I inspected the line, and a number of new
mines in its vicinity. The old copper mines have
not as yet been re-opened, but negotiations respect-
ing them are impending, and large prices have been
asked by their owners for mines which have lain
idle for years. So far lead mines only have been
re-opened, but the whole district seems to be exceed-
ingly rich in minerals. I saw a lump of apparently
solid lead or galena, weighing three-quarters of a
ton, and saw many lumps not much inferior in size.
The only limit to production now is the scarcity of
labour and difficulty of cartage. The latter is paid
at a rate of a shilling a ton per mile, but hundreds
of tons of ore are lying at the mines and cannot be
brought to port. I saw the process of smelting
216 BRIGHTER PROSPECTS
carried on at Kojibinanna at works which have
been erected by the Melbourne and Champion Bay
Mining Company. The line taken by the proposed
railway is undoubtedly the best that could have
been selected, combining as it does utility with
economy ; also because it will be of great use to the
agricultural population on the Brown River and round
Northampton, and conduce to the opening out of
the mineral riches of the district.
" I may here mention that there has been a remark-
able extension of pastoral enterprise in the Victoria
Plains and their vicinity. The coffee plantation
started there has failed, but the small expenditure
involved will not be lost, and I have offered the im-
proved site for an experimental and acclimatisation
garden to the inhabitants of the district.
" I was glad to observe when I was at Geraldton
that the efforts employed in ' bushing ' the sandhills
which were gradually overwhelming the town and
shoaling the harbour have been thoroughly success-
ful. The new lighthouse is approaching completion,
and the extension of the jetty is in progress, though it
will soon be insufficient to meet the growing require-
ments of the place. I visited a number of farms
on leaving Geraldton, and passed through the centre
of the Greenough and Dongarra district ; all looked
prosperous, and the struggles and failures due to
the late bad seasons except for the moral to be
drawn from them bid fair to be forgotten in the
prosperity of the present one.
' I diverged to the coast, though it was out of my
route, on my return south to look at Jurien and
Cervantes Bays. The former will prove, I have
little doubt, an excellent harbour, and should the
latter be available for vessels of light draught, of
which there seems fair prospect, it will promote the
profitable occupation of some good land at no great
distance inland which is at the present moment being
occupied by settlers.
" I found time, whilst passing through the eastern
districts on my return to Perth, to visit the Darling
Range at a point near the northern road, forty miles
from the seat of government. There is a great de-
posit of iron ore there ; in fact it has been described
THREATENED TROUBLES 217
with some exaggeration as a' hill of iron," but there
seems no doubt that ore exists there in very large
quantities, and steel of the finest quality was made
from the mine some years ago by the Royal Engineers.
It is surrounded by forest, so is provided with an
almost inexhaustible supply of fuel in its vicinity
for charcoal and smelting purposes. There is reason
to hope that a company in Melbourne and in Eng-
land will be immediately formed to work the mine.
Similar deposits have also been found in other parts
of the Range, and tin, copper, gold, and coal are also
said to exist in this part of the colony. Specimens of
the former have been forwarded to Newcastle to be
reported upon, and I have also taken measures to get
information about the other minerals found in the
vicinity."
A letter from Weld to his wife written in the course
of this journey shows that his private affairs were
occupying a good deal of his attention at this time,
and as they were of a nature to affect his conduct and
future plans they cannot be passed over in silence.
It will be remembered that Weld at the time he
left New Zealand was the owner of considerable
property there, and still retained his partnership
with Sir Charles Clifford in the sheep runs of Flax-
bourne and Stonyhurst. Early in the year 1873,
overtures had been made to Weld by Sir Charles
Clifford with a view to his eldest son George being
taken into partnership. This proposal Weld, in the
interests of his family, had thought fit to decline.
The letter to which Weld refers was in answer to his
refusal :
" I wish very much you had been with me when
I got this intelligence. You may remember when you
urged me to reject Clifford's wishes about George, I
said perhaps if I did so he would dissolve partnership,
and claim his right as senior partner to buy me out.
Though I thought this possible, I did not think it
likely ; however, he has done so. It is on account of
2i 8 WELD EMBARKS FOR NEW ZEALAND
you and the children, and because it cuts me away,
as it were, from the work of all my early life that I
feel this so much. Had he given me time, and let
me go on for a few years longer, things are now looking
so well that I should (most probably) have been then
relieved from all anxiety for your future or for the
children's. There is, however, one good side to the
matter ; my debts will be paid, and there will be a
few thousands over and Brackenfield left. It will
be almost like beginning life over again ; but at
least we shall have only ourselves to depend upon.
If I have health to work for some years to come I
do not fear for the future. We must learn more than
ever to trust ourselves utterly to God, Who already
had done so much for us. Of course, I shall have to
take any appointment that is offered me, and go on
till I can retire on a pension. As for my health, I
do not see the least ground for uneasiness on that
score. You will I know keep up a good heart,
and, I feel sure, agree with me in looking upon this
as an indication that it is God's will that I should go
on working."
Weld's first impression on reading Sir Charles
Clifford's letter was that the business between them
could only be settled in England ; second thoughts,
however, led him to a different conclusion. Accord-
ingly he writes to his brother in November 1873 :
" I am glad to say that on returning to Perth my
legal adviser strongly recommends that the questions
between me and Clifford should be decided on the
spot ; namely, in New Zealand. He takes the same
view that I do as to the principles on which the
property should be valued. I have asked for three
months' leave in January to go to New Zealand.
I have not answered Clifford by this mail. The
whole situation which is opened up by his letter
requires much consideration, and there will be a great
deal to arrange, especially as regards who is to value my
share in the stations, and the basis of the valuation."
Leave having been granted, Weld started for
SYDNEY 219
New Zealand in the last days of January. He writes
as follows to his brother on 7th February :
" I started with Henry Weld-Blundell on the 25th
and met George Clifford at the Sound, and we came
on to Melbourne together. I have had a telegram
from Clifford putting off business till the arrival of
next mail. In the meantime I have been to Sydney,
where Weld-Blundell and I were guests of Sir Hercules 1
and Lady Robinson at Government House. They
are very nice people, and besides showing us the
attention which it is usual for one Governor in the
Colonies to pay to another, I believe they quite
reciprocated the feeling we had for them, and were
really glad to see us. Lady Robinson reminds me in
some ways of my dear aunt Lucy.
" Sydney is unquestionably one of the most beauti-
ful spots in the world. The combination of the fine
Government House and grounds, the park and
botanical gardens adjoining it, the lake-like bay
with its islands, and noble shipping, close under steep
banks, or cliffs, clothed in lofty forest trees all
produce an effect which can hardly be rivalled, still
less surpassed. Archbishop Vaughan was invited
to meet me at dinner the first night I got there ; he
is well, and hard at work. He has a great task before
him, but he is essentially " the right man in the right
place." As to Melbourne, you would be astonished
if I were to tell you of the heights to which these
young colonies aspire in their public buildings,
institutions, their art collections, gardens of acclima-
tisation, and so forth. Wherever I have been I have
met with the kindest reception, and were it not for
my natural anxiety about Mena, I should have said
I had seldom enjoyed myself more. I have never
been better in my life in health in fact, never so
well since my great illness in 1859. To give you an
instance : I got up yesterday at 4.30 a.m., rode
about ten or twelve miles before breakfast with Sir
Hercules to see the race-horses training, returned,
had a bath and breakfast, went with Mrs. St. John
(his daughter) to visit a hospital, spent some hours
in inspecting it, and all its arrangements, minutely,
1 Created Baron Rosmead in 1891. Died in 1904,
220 A SUCCESSFUL MISSION
did some shopping and returned to lunch. After
lunch rode to Botany Bay, saw Cook's and La
Perouse's anchorages and landing-places. Returned
after a ride of twenty-five miles or so to dinner ; after
dinner went to the opera, and got to bed at about one
in the morning. The next morning I was up soon
after six o'clock as usual, not a bit tired. I only wish
Mena was with me, but she does not care for many
of these things in the same way as I do."
Weld's visit to New Zealand was a success from
all points of view, as the letter he wrote to his wife
within a week of his arrival there, and the postscript,
added a month later, attests. It is as follows :
" I reached Lyttelton on the i5th of February.
There were many ships in the harbour all ' dressed '
in my honour. Harmon, the acting Superintendent,
the members of the executive, Maude and Mont-
gomery, Bowen, Tancred, Packe, Ackland, and other
old friends came off to receive me, and a special train
conveyed us through the tunnel to Christchurch.
Lyttelton still looks the same straggling town we
remember it, but it has many new buildings. Christ-
church is immensely grown, and I noticed the addi-
tion of some fine new buildings and shops a great
improvement on what were there before. It is still
surrounded with quite a grove of big trees, so does
not appear to be much more of a town than it did
in our time. I had a serious shock on arriving at
Brackenfield to find that a fire had broken out in the
left-hand gully and destroyed all the trees up to the
bridge, the lodge being saved. No doubt some of
the trees will recover, but it will be a terrible eyesore,
and is a great loss. The ground was so dry that
even the English grass failed to stop the fire, and
unfortunately assistance was not at hand, so it was
with difficulty that even the buildings were saved.
" I slept at Bowen 's the night after landing, and
last night in Cathedral Square, at the Watts Russell's,
who were as kind and nice as ever. I have also seen
many other old friends, the Gregsons, Packes, and
Rpllestons ; every one inquires after you, and all
wish so much you could have come."
RENEWAL OF PARTNERSHIP 221
The following postscript was added on the s.s.
Alhambra on Weld's return to Melbourne, and is dated
the 2Oth of March :
" I am so glad to be on my way back to you, and
long to hear about you and the baby. Everything
has been settled satisfactorily. My partnership with
Clifford has been renewed for ten years ; at the end
of that time he may buy my share at valuation, and
he may put in a son, or sons ; this, however, would
only affect his shares in the concern. I am quite
satisfied with these terms, which in fact are what I
proposed to Clifford after receiving a very conciliatory
letter from him."
Affairs were eminently prosperous at this time in
New Zealand. The seven lean years which began in
the early 'sixties, and were at their height when Weld
left the colony, were over. During that time com-
mercial depression had reached its climax ; wool had
been lower than it had ever been known to be before,
and a heavy debt pressed hard on the colonists, and
till the year 1870 the native disturbances pressed
harder still. Those days were past, and no shadow
from them was perceptible in the joyous tone which
pervaded the after-dinner speeches at the entertain-
ments given in Weld's honour by his old friends on
his return to New Zealand. The special " note " of
these festive gatherings was the present prosperity
of the colony as contrasted with the vicissitudes
of its chequered past. It must unquestionably have
been a source of profound satisfaction to Weld on
his return to a country where he had spent the
best and most fruitful years of his life, to hear that
this growing success and prosperity was associated
in the minds of his fellow-colonists with a policy
which he had been the first to initiate. Thus at a
dinner given to him at Wellington, at which Sir
James Ferguson, the Governor of New Zealand, was
17
222 AN IMPERIAL POLICY
present, and his friend and former colleague, Mr.
Fitzherbert then Superintendent of the province
of Wellington was chairman, the latter, after re-
marking that nothing higher could be said in praise
of any one than that he had made his mark in his
day, and in his country, said :
" I have already told you that Mr. Weld has made
his mark in the history of this colony, and to one or
two of his acts I will now briefly revert. First, he
claimed for it an entirely new policy. He elaborated
and thought out one which, though ridiculed by
some, at the time, has become the settled policy which
old men, middle-aged men even our children have
now adopted, the independent policy of self-reliance.
And although to-day we find ourselves swimming on
the top of the tide, secundo flumine, everything
favouring us, from the day Mr. Weld successfully
inaugurated that policy, that day dated the success
the fruits of which we are reaping now. Nor was it
any narrow-minded policy dictated by personal
vanity or ambition. On the contrary, in spite of the
opinion of the sceptics of the time, it was in reality
a policy of the very broadest scope. If I were to
call it a truly colonial policy I should fall short of
what is due to its originator, for it was in the widest
sense of the word an Imperial policy. But it is not
only in respect of the inauguration of that policy
that Mr. Weld's name will be for ever connected with
this colony. There is another, a subordinate one,
but still one of great importance. I refer to an act
which is known in every country as we learn both
in ancient and modern history as one most difficult
of accomplishment, and that is the transfer of the
seat of government from one part of the country to
another. Without the least personal interest in
the matter, and amidst difficulties and opposition,
Mr. Weld accomplished that task in New Zealand.
That too was conceived in no local spirit, the project
was planned upon the broadest colonial views,
prompted by the single idea of creating a great future
for the colony. It was predicted in regard to that
project as it was to that of his policy of self-reliance
FUTURE PROSPECTS 223
that it would be certain to break down ; but Time,
the great searcher of truth, Time has proved that he
was right, and there, notwithstanding local jealousies,
and the opposition of parties who endeavoured
to catch at any straw to damage the scheme, it still
remains, and will do so, because the idea of it was
not conceived in any narrow partisan spirit, but for
the benefit of the colony as a whole."
Weld in answer (according to the Daily Tribune)
" spoke modestly and well of his efforts as a
pioneer colonist, and touched eloquently upon the
duty and privilege of having engaged in what Sir
Walter Raleigh called the heroic work of plantation."
" Mr. Weld," the newspaper goes on to say, " took
part in these early struggles as settler, politician, and
Minister, and always with clean hands and generous
aspirations. He doubtless rejo'ices in the prosperity
of the colony with which he is so closely identified,
and the people of Wellington as representing the
colony have done a graceful act in yesterday's recogni-
tion of his services."
Soon after Weld's return to Western Australia
he was offered the Governorship of Tasmania by
Lord Carnarvon who, with a change of Government,
had taken Lord Kimberley's place at the Colonial
Office. He writes as follows to his brother on the
subject :
" I hear that I am to have Tasmania, but unless
it is given out in England do not announce it. I
shall have the best climate, the finest house and
grounds possible, with very little to do except to
amuse myself perhaps too little to suit my taste
for work, for I shall be a ' constitutional ' monarch,
with a ministry to advise me ! However, I have
played the autocrat here long enough, and worked
hard enough to satisfy even my love of work (and
power) for some time. The only drawback of
Tasmania is the reduced pay. It is a first-class
government in rank with second-class pay, or some-
224 TASMANIAN GOVERNORSHIP
thing like it thanks to Whig economy. However, I
shall hope to save out of my New Zealand income,
and I really don't know how I could get on in England
with such a family as I have."
In October he writes again to the same corre-
spondent :
1 It is not, I can assure you, without sadness
that I find myself booked for another term, but
with so many children there was nothing else to be
done, and I should have had some scruple too in
giving up a career in which God has placed me and
in which I trust I have been of some use. Also,
there is much cause for gratification in the appoint-
ment. It was so confidently predicted that the
stand I made in behalf of the native race had ruined
my prospects ; and the lying insinuations made
against me in some of the newspapers on religious
matters have likewise proved of no avail. I have
had some exceedingly kind letters from the Governors
of other Australian colonies congratulating me on
the appointment. Sir T. Gore Browne writes that
' it is the best Governorship in Her Majesty's gift
(income excepted) ; climate, scenery, and govern-
mental appointments are perfect/ Sir George Bowen
writes in the same strain ; he says, ' I am sure you
will all like Tasmania it has everything to recom-
mend it. Every one is delighted you are going there.'
He adds a remark which it will please you to hear
I should not quote it to any one else. He says,
1 It must be very gratifying to you to leave Western
Australia in so flourishing and progressive a state.
Your energy has created fresh life there under the
very ribs of death.' J
In opening the fourth Session of the Legislative
Council the Governor drew the attention of its
members to the improved state of commerce and
agriculture in the colony, and consequently to the
great increase of revenue ; an increase which warranted
the adoption of schemes required for the develop-
ment of the resources of the country, many of which
AN IMPORTANT STEP 225
had been previously held up for want of funds.
Amongst these schemes he laid special emphasis on
the encouragement of immigration, on the greatly
needed harbour works at Albany, on the improvement
of the port nearest to the seat of government, and
the construction of a telegraph line to South Australia.
By applying part of their surplus revenue to the last-
mentioned enterprise they would be brought into
immediate communication with the other colonies,
and thus terminate that isolation which had so long
retarded the advancement of Western Australia.
The Legislative Council during this Session took
an important step in the direction of Responsible
Government by affirming without a division " that
although the Representatives of the people have
confidence in the integrity and ability of the present
government, they consider the time has arrived when
a change to that form of government known as
Responsible Government might be introduced with
benefit to the country, and that this honourable House
do humbly pray that His Excellency the Governor
will be pleased to introduce a Bill for that purpose
and recommend Her Majesty to approve the same."
Accordingly Weld in closing the Session, in pursuance
with the wishes of the popular or independent
members (the nominees or members of the Executive
having taken no active part in supporting or opposing
the resolution), informed them that he had at their
request caused a Bill to be prepared based upon
those provisions which experience had proved to
work best in other colonies possessing Constitutional
Government."
The second reading of the Bill having been passed
by a large majority, the Governor, in order to give the
country an opportunity of expressing its deliberate
opinion on its merits, dissolved the Council.
Weld had made many friends during his five years'
226 OPPOSITION AND PREJUDICES
term of office in Western Australia : with the settlers
of the Victoria Plains and Geraldton, we see from his
letters, he had been on terms of much cordiality ;
it is not surprising therefore to find that they rallied
round him on the occasion of his last public appear-
ance in that district when he turned the first sod of
the railway which was to connect it with the town of
Northampton. It was a great day for the inhabitants
of Champion Bay, and one of no less importance for the
colony, for though the beginning was but a small one (the
line measured about thirty-three miles) it meant much
in the future, in the same way as the stride of manhood
exists potentially in the steps of a little child. Many
speeches were made at the dinner, or dinners, which
followed, and much incense was burnt at the shrine
of the hero of the day. It is from no contempt of
hero or worshippers that we omit all record of these.
The fittest memorial of the workman is the worth
and endurance of his work, not the applause it draws
from the crowd ; and the Western Australia of to-day
with its network of railways, connecting the settled
districts at all points in that vast territory, is sufficient
tribute to the importance of the work set on foot that
day.
In a last dispatch to Lord Carnarvon, dated loth
October, Weld, after summing up under various
headings the progress made by the colony during the
five years of his administration, has a few words to
say on the difficulties under which he had laboured,
as well as on the prejudices he had had to overcome.
He gives as instances the strong opposition he had
met with to his schemes for promoting intercourse,
both by steam and telegraph, with the neighbouring
colonies.
" There was a strong feeling," he writes, " four or
five years ago, that the construction of telegraphic
lines was a waste of public money, and recently a
THE FINANCIAL SITUATION 227
prominent (elected) member of the Legislature ob-
jected publicly to the line which is being made to
connect this colony with the outer world on the
score that it would only benefit a few individuals !
Such ideas, however, are rapidly becoming obsolete.
Again, after much and persistent opposition, the
Legislature has at last been induced to vote a subsidy
to the steamboat service on the coast which will
connect our ports in the north with Albany on King
George's Sound Albany being the port of call of
the Royal Mail Steamers from Europe and the eastern
colonies. This has already done much to open up
this colony, and render access to it no longer difficult
and uncertain. It also greatly facilitates inter-
communication. And yet objections have been made
to it in this instance also and by the same en-
lightened member on the plea that it would offer
facilities to people to leave the colony \ The steamer
we have got at present is quite inadequate, a second
and more powerful one is required, and will no doubt
come before long ; but I hear of no Western Australian
capital likely to be forthcoming for that purpose,
nor for steam communication with India, though
nothing could promote the interests of the colony
more than such a service, which would render its
magnificent geographical position available, and open
a market close at hand for its products. I have
frequently stated my willingness to give all possible
government support to any such undertaking.' 7
With regard to the construction of a telegraphic
system, Weld observes that having found Western
Australia with 1 2 miles of telegraph line he leaves her
in possession of a complete telegraph system, consist-
ing of 900 miles of wire, worked at remarkably small
cost, in efficient order, and affording the greatest
advantages both to the public and to private service.
In summing up the financial situation he says :
' It will be observed that when the whole author-
ised loan is raised the colony will be only in debt to
the extent of little over one year's income, or, at the
228 LAST ADDRESSES
rate of 5 i6s. a head. Whereas Victoria is indebted
at the rate of 10 195. 5d. and Queensland 32 123.,
New South Wales 19 73., and South Australia
10 i8s. 5d., a head."
In a financial summary which the Governor put
before the Legislative Council a short time before
leaving, he says :
' Taking the year ending 3oth September 1869,
and the same day in 1874, I find that the revenue was
then under 109,000 and expenditure over 107,000,
as against a revenue exceeding 161,000 and an ex-
penditure of about 13 1 ,000 in 1 874, an increase there-
fore of 52,000 in five years, of which only about
12,000 is derived from net increase of taxation.
Your imports have increased from 233,300 to over
367,000, showing the increased means and consuming
powers of the colony, and your exports from about
179,000 to 400,000 marking its increased producing
power."
Many were the valedictory addresses presented to
the Governor before he took his departure ; amongst
these was one from the Legislative Council, and an-
other from the clergy of all denominations of Western
Australia. But perhaps none pleased him more than
the heartfelt thanks he received in a parting letter
from the Abbot Bishop Salvado, in his own name and
in that of the Benedictine community and the
aborigines residing at the mission of New Norcia,
for his interest in that settlement. After enumerat-
ing the reasons which they and the rest of the
Catholics of the country had for gratitude towards
him, and alluding to the " warm and enlightened
interest he had taken in the welfare and advancement
of this native institution," he says :
' For this proof of your sympathy towards an
unfortunate race as well as for the philanthropic
measures adopted by your Government in behalf of
REMINISCENCES 229
these hapless children of nature, we pray and trust that
you will be requited by Him who does not leave without
reward even a cup of cold water given in His name."
Weld parted from his wife and children on the
2oth of December the state of Mrs. Weld's health
at that time not permitting her to undertake the
long and fatiguing journey to Tasmania. He reached
Albany, after visiting Channing and Bunbury on his
way, in the end of December, and there planted the
first post of the line of telegraph which was to connect
Western Australia with Adelaide, on which occasion
he received a warm ovation from his friends and from
the public. On the 6th of January 1875 he embarked
on the s.s. Per a for Tasmania, taking with him his
eldest son, Humphrey.
Sixteen and a half years later, a member of
Weld's Legislative Council gave his reminiscences to
the public of the work accomplished by his former
Chief in Western Australia ; it may not be considered
out of place here. 1 After remarking that he had seen
with pleasure an appreciative notice of the career
of one of the truest and most intelligent political
friends the colony has possessed, he continues :
11 So great have been the changes in the past
twenty years, that probably now only a minority
of our people have a distinct recollection of the late
Sir Frederick Weld, and of his work for Western
Australia. Possibly only Mr. Burt, Mr. Marmion, Mr.
Maitland Brown, and myself who all first entered
public life as his nominees to seats in the old Legis-
lative Council retain full knowledge of his aims
and endeavours, his views and his hopes for the
colony's future. To us he always opened his mind,
stirring us with his ambitions for our progress, and
animating us with the enthusiasm which had so
much to do with his success.
1 Sir Thomas Cockburn-Campbell, Bart., President of the Legislative
Council of Western Australia. This letter appeared in the Western
Australian Record, August 1891.
230 A LEGACY OF POLITICAL VITALITY
' To say that Sir Frederick Weld first woke Western
Australia from political slumber, from the state of
torpor to which Imperial pap-feeding, isolation, and
energy-numbing influence had reduced her, is hardly
an exaggeration. He preached to the rising genera-
tion here what Smiles has preached to that of the
mother land the virtue of self-help. His great
object was to instil into the people a desire of self-
government, to rouse them from their easy-going
contentment, and make them feel what great things
may be achieved by those who try with perseverance
and determination. To newcomers, Western Australia
even now seems backward to a degree which excites
their impatience and occasionally calls forth their
expressions of contempt. What would not they
have said of the Western Australia of twenty years
ago, when, fresh from the vigorous public life of
New Zealand, Governor Weld arrived in this country.
To lift it from its stagnation seemed a hopeless task,
and the first means the new administrator adopted
(the establishment of Representative institutions)
like putting the cart before the horse. But Sir
Frederick Weld knew what he was about. ' The
constitution may be premature/ he used to say,
' and in one sense it is so, but it is only by aid of
the people that I can work for the people. It is only
by having them at my back that I can get my projects
accepted by the Colonial Office.' The accuracy of
this view was confirmed when the then Secretary
of State declared of the first railway constructed
by the colony, that he would never have agreed to
the Governor's scheme but for the unanimous support
it had secured in the Legislature.
11 The tentative commencement of a railway system,
the establishment of telegraphic communication, and
of a steam-service on the coast, the encouragement
of exploration, and of fresh settlement, the opening
of the timber industry, the birth of a representative
government in the Legislature, in municipalities, in
road boards, and in school boards all these Western
Australia owes to the distinguished statesman of
whose death we have just been apprised. But the
best legacy he left us was a political vitality, and an
eagerness for progress which those who have lived
AN IDEAL UPPER CHAMBER 231
in this country through the last two decades must
acknowledge have led to a wonderful transforma-
tion of its conditions and of its prospects. . . . More-
over, he had a genuine affection for the colony, and
for its people ; he believed in its resources, and
predicted for it a bright and prosperous future in
the full freedom of self-government.
" Mention of the part which, eighteen years ago,
Sir Frederick took in a movement to secure this
freedom must not be omitted from a sketch of his
political connection with Western Australia. That
he had any hand in the sudden determination of the
Legislature at that time to demand responsible
government is a mistaken impression. But when
the decision was taken favourably to the proposed
change, he did not conceal his satisfaction, nor his
hope that the result would be a more rapid advance
to the colony. But the Civil List proposals, in part,
and still more largely the nominated Upper House,
which Sir Frederick Weld's Constitution Bill con-
templated, caused dissensions to arise, necessitated
a dissolution, and gave a check to the reform motion
from which together with other circumstances it
took many years to recover.
!< Upon the subject of the best method of forming
an Upper House, Sir Frederick Weld held decided
opinions. Essentially an aristocrat by birth and
by breeding, in appearance and in temperament, he
yet was a true Liberal in the best sense of the word ;
he had the reverence of a Christian gentleman for
the poor, the lowly, and the suffering. He hated
class oppression, and while not insensible of the
dangers to the State which might arise from the
excesses of democracy, he desired to give a fair
share of representation to all, and was willing to
trust in the ultimate good sense of the people. Sir
Frederick Weld's idea of an Upper House was one,
not to curb the power of the people, but to protect
them against the power of their representatives ;
to act patriotically and wisely in times of doubt and
trouble, rather than merely to champion the interests
of a class. But the majority here failed to grasp the
Governor's object in proposing a nominated Second
Chamber, and, insisting upon the elective principle,
232 A WHITE MAN'S COUNTRY
played directly into the hands of the Conservatives.
Though the advent of responsible government was
delayed, the feelings which inspired the movement
in its favour continued to grow and thrive, and, even
under the old Constitution, bore useful fruits."
Two years after this letter was written the
prosperity which Sir Frederick Weld had foretold,
but did not live to see came upon Western Australia,
literally in " leaps and bounds," in consequence of
the gold discoveries at Kalgoorlie and elsewhere.
The population, which at the end of last century was
only about 45,000, rose in the following twelve years
to 270,000. Since then the progress of the colony
may be said to have been uninterrupted. Though
for so long the least popular of the Australian colonies,
it has unquestionably merits for which it has not
been sufficiently credited. In the first place, it is
essentially a white man's country. The severe
droughts which at intervals have devastated the
South and South-eastern colonies, have left Western
Australia unscathed. A steady rainfall can be
depended upon in what is known as the winter season.
Also the terms on which land may be leased and
purchased in Western Australia since it received
the grant of Responsible Government in 1890, are
more favourable than those accorded by any other
of the Australian colonies.
CHAPTER XI
-Work life's work, reading life's riddle as thou canst, till life
be past,
Thou shalt stand not unrewarded in the clearer life at last."
TASMANIA owes its name to the Dutch navigator
Tasman, who was the first European to land on its
shores. He discovered the island in the year 1642,
and having taken possession of it on behalf of his
sovereign, the Stadtholder of Holland, he called it Van
Dieman's land 1 after the Governor of Java. A
hundred years later (1772) it was visited by a French-
man, Captain Marion de L'Orne, and in 1777 by
Captain Cook, who planted the British flag on the
island at Adventure Bay, on the southern coast.
During the last decade of the eighteenth century
other celebrated explorers, such as the Admiral
D'Entrecasteaux accompanied by the naturalist La
Billardiere, Captain Haynes, Lieut. Flinders, and
Bass, sailed round the island, reconnoitred its bays
and inlets, but made no attempt to colonise its
shores ; finally, in 1803, a handful of Englishmen
crossed over from Sydney and established themselves
on the Derwent, on the south coast of the island. A
year or two later they were followed by another
party, who, led by Colonel Paterson, settled first at
Port Dalrymple, and afterwards at Launceston in
the north.
1 This name was changed to Tasmania in 1853 at the petition of the
colonists, when the island ceased to be made use of as a penal settle-
ment.
233
234 THE "BLACK WAR"
The early history of the colony was neither a
prosperous nor a brilliant one. Though the climate
of Tasmania was favourable to the growth of all the
products of a temperate zone, the wild configuration
of the ground, the rocky nature of its soil, and the
dense forests which covered the whole centre of the
island offered, at first, almost insuperable obstacles to
agricultural or pastoral enterprise. Like Scotland
(only perhaps more so) , it was ' ' the land of themountain
and the flood " ; thick scrub clothed its valleys and
the sides of its hills, and nowhere could the labourer
be said to wrest the fruits of the earth by the sweat
of his brow from a more stubborn and unwilling
mother-earth than he did in Tasmania.
Nor was this the only difficulty the pioneers of the
country had to contend with. In 1803-4 it was
made a penal settlement, and thus the population
during the first half of the nineteenth century being
constantly recruited from, and contaminated by the
criminal class, was unquestionably a wild and dis-
orderly one. Trouble with the natives, which began
in the earliest days of colonisation, culminated in
1830 in the " Black War " ; a name popularly given
to an attempt on the part of the settlers which was
approved of by the Governor Colonel Arthur and
supported by the military force of the colony
amounting to about eight hundred men to surround
the natives and drive them into the Tasman peninsula
on the south-east side of the island. The scheme was
carried out with praiseworthy diligence and energy.
Prodigies of valour were shown in scaling the moun-
tains and tangled scrub in the interior of the country,
or as Fenton the Tasmanian chronicler puts it in
" performing wonderful exploits of locomotion. "
The expedition cost the Government the sum of
30,000, the dead loss to the community at large
was estimated at 30,000 more, and the proceeds
A PHILANTHROPIST 235
so to speak of the campaign were the capture of
one man and a boy.
Though the net result of this comedy was nil,
unless that of affording food for inextinguishable
laughter to the colonists for successive generations
may be reckoned under that head, it brought a man
to the front who succeeded where three thousand had
failed. This individual, George Augustus Robinson
by name, was a man of no education, a bricklayer by
trade, and a Wesleyan. Being of a kindly disposition,
he had seen with regret the ill-treatment to which
the aborigines had been subjected, and had learnt
their language in order to administer spiritual con-
solation to them in prison, and thus acquired con-
siderable influence over them. In 1829 he applied
to Governor Arthur for the post of keeper or guardian
of such of the aborigines who could be induced to go
and live in Brunei Island, which it was proposed to
make over to them. This application was accepted,
and he received the appointment with a salary of
100 a year. Owing to causes for which Robinson
was not responsible this scheme fell through. He
then submitted a proposal to the Government to
undertake, single-handed and unarmed, an enter-
prise which the combined efforts of Governor, soldiers,
and settlers had failed to bring to a successful con-
clusion. By this time Robinson doubtless had
inspired the authorities with confidence in his power
over the native race, and the genuineness of his
philanthropic efforts in their behalf ; accordingly
he was invested with full powers as protector of the
blacks, and all the necessary means given him to carry
out the scheme. Backed up by the Government and
accompanied by a small band consisting of eight or
ten Europeans and half a dozen natives, whose
fidelity he had tested in Brunei Island, he traversed
the country from one end to the other, visiting the
236 PROGRESS OF TASMANIA
native camps at the risk often of his life and of the
lives of his faithful followers ; and at the end of three
years (in 1 833) he had, by exclusively pacific measures,
induced the natives to follow him to Flinders Island,
the place set aside by Colonel Arthur for their resi-
dence. Only two hundred and three aborigines re-
mained of the six or seven thousand who were said to
people Tasmania when it was first colonised thirty years
earlier. This small remnant lingered on till the year
1856, when what was left of the race were brought back
to the mainland ; the last member of it died in 1872.
It is satisfactory to learn that the philanthropist
was rewarded not only by the gratitude of his fellow-
countrymen but by the sum of 8000 and a large
grant of land, on which we may assume he lived
happily ever afterwards.
The native question being disposed of, the colony
began to make progress, notwithstanding the con-
tinued influx of convicts which still clogged the
wheels of the politico-economical machine, and
interfered with the growth of population by immigra-
tion. Thus during Colonel Arthur's twelve years'
governorship the population had increased from
13,000 (of whom half were convicts) when he arrived
to over 40,000 when he left, and of this number
23,000 were " free." The exports had made a
corresponding, or even greater advance, having
risen from 14, 500 in 1824 to 320,000 in 1836.
Sir John Franklin succeeded Colonel Arthur as
Governor, and though his name will ever shed a
lustre over the annals of the island and his memory
be held in veneration for the high-principled and
single-minded tone of his administration, as well as
for the encouragement he gave to the pursuit of
science the Royal Society of Tasmania owing its
origin to him his governorship was not signalised
by any special event of national importance.
TASMANIAN CONSTITUTION 237
Two years stand out in the history of Tasmania
marking a fresh departure in her political and social
life. The year 1850, when, in the words of the
Queen's speech, a measure was foreshadowed (( for
the better government of the Australian Colonies,"
and the year 1853, when, in response to the repeated
entreaties of the inhabitants, the island ceased to
be used as a penal settlement.
The first form of Representative government
given to the colony was that which was adopted by
Western Australia, of which a full account has been
given elsewhere. Five years later the Royal assent
was given to the Bill presented to Her Majesty by
Sir Henry Young (at that time Governor of Tas-
mania), petitioning for a Responsible Government.
Tasmania was the first of the Australian colonies
to receive the boon of free institutions. Unlike
New South Wales, which adopted the elective prin-
ciple for the Lower House only, and South Australia,
where both branches of the Legislature were elected
by the people the whole body of electors forming
one constituency in Tasmania, as in Victoria, the
Upper House was also elective, but the qualification
of voters was higher than that of electors in the
Lower House.
The House of Representatives in Tasmania con-
sisted of thirty members, who were elected for a
period of five years ; it was subject to the power
of dissolution possessed by the Governor, who,
however, had no power to dissolve the Upper
Chamber.
The occasion of the bestowal of Responsible
Government was wisely made use of by the mother
country to cement friendly relations with her colonies.
With this view her concessions were framed on
the most liberal scale ; the land fund, which had
hitherto been administered by the Crown, was
18
238 MINERAL RICHES
handed over to the disposal of the colonial Legis-
latures. Large powers were also given to the
colonies to make any such alteration to their in-
stitutions that might later on be deemed advisable.
No claim was made for prudential duties, the
colonies being allowed to use their discretion in
taxing British manufactures for their own benefit.
In short, all that the Crown retained in the way of
sovereignty was the appointment of a British repre-
sentative as Governor, and what was equivalent to
an engagement to defend her colonies against foreign
aggression.
Great progress was made by Tasmania between
the years 1850 and 1855. The trade with Australia,
in spite of the protective duties levied by New South
Wales to defend her own industries, steadily increased.
For, though the gold discoveries in the neighbouring
colonies at Bathurst and afterwards at Ballarat
attracted great numbers of the population to the
gold-fields, the prosperous state of the island's
finances enabled the Government to do much to
open out the country and extend its commerce.
Roads were made wherever they were required in
order to facilitate intercommunication between the
various settlements. A steamboat service was also
started with the neighbouring colonies, and the
land laws were remodelled on the most liberal
principles in order to offer every inducement to
immigration.
These years of plenty were succeeded by the
same wave of depression whose course we have
traced in the neighbouring colonies of New Zealand
and Western Australia. But though Tasmania's
progress was slow for the following fifteen years it
was steady, and the discovery of the mineral riches
of the country, especially of Mount Bischoff, known
as " the mountain of tin," the credit of which is
TASMANIAN SCENERY 239
due to the well-known mining expert Mr. James
Smith, and subsequently of the auriferous district
at Brandy Creek, did much to attract capital to the
country.
Sir Thomas Gore Browne's governorship (1861-
66) was principally signalised by the commence-
ment of railway lines, which were afterwards further
extended and completed during the period of office
held by his successor, General Du Cane. Whilst
Du Cane was in power (1872), direct telegraphic
communication was established with England. The
latter was Weld's immediate predecessor.
Weld writes to his wife to announce his arrival
in Tasmania as follows :
" We sighted the Tasmanian coast on the i5th
a fine bold outline, and steamed up the Tamar,
which is a most beautiful tidal river, or estuary,
up to Launceston, where we landed at about four
o'clock, and were received by the Mayor and a
great crowd. An address was to have been pre-
sented to me there, but finally it was decided that
as I had not been sworn in this ceremony should
be deferred till later. Henry 1 met me on board,
and as it had been arranged that we should continue
our journey the same day, we went on to the station
where we found a railway truck gaily decorated
(the carriages are not yet built) and a special train
waiting to take us to Campbell-town. We travelled
through a beautiful undulating country with fine
views of distant mountains, and noticed a good
deal of cultivation, with hedges, and meadow land,
reminding us slightly of Scotland. We spent the
night at a comfortable inn at Campbell-town and
started the next morning after breakfast in a huge
coach-and-four, which belonged formerly to Sir
James Ferguson, for Hobart-town. After a pleasant
journey through pretty scenery and a stoppage at
an inn, the ' Melton Mowbray,' for luncheon, we
reached Bridgewater, on the Derwent, at about four
1 His secretary, H. Weld-Blundell.
240 GOVERNMENT HOUSE
in the afternoon. We were met by three members
of the Ministry, and they accompanied us, without
foing into the town, to Government House. There
found a few rooms habitable, but the rest of the
house in the hands of painters and decorators.
They had got three rooms ready for us, and prepared
a little room as a dining-room ; also an office, a
temporary one, which I shall use till the other is
ready for occupation. The next day I was sworn
in ; a great crowd, and every one showing me much
cordiality."
Two days later he writes :
" I think I shall get on very well here. I have
made acquaintance with the Chief Justice Sir
Francis Smith, Mr. Dobson the Puisne Judge,
Bishop Bromby (Anglican Bishop of Tasmania),
and Sir E. Wilson, President of the Legislative
Council, and found each and all friendly and obliging.
The Bishop offered me the use of his carriage and
horses whenever I might require them. The house
is charming big, but not much too big for our
requirements, and the garden and grounds are
delightful, though I fear they will be expensive to
keep up on the diminished salary. The views from
the house and grounds are very beautiful, and
remind me rather of Queen Charlotte's Sound.
" Our Bishop (Murphy) and several priests have
called. I have also made acquaintance with the
V.G., Fr. Dunn, whose church, St. Joseph's, is
nearest to Government House. It is most incon-
venient not having a carriage, and the drag, I hear,
will not be ready for a month. My new uniform
has not arrived, and I believe has been left in Ceylon
with all the other English goods sent by P. and O.
s.s. Pekin for want of room in the Per a ; a number
of passengers also could not be transhipped. The
servants I have engaged seem so far quite satis-
factory, the French cook, Beaurepaire, whom I told
you about in my previous letter, especially so. His
meagre dinners are excellent ; Henry says he is
looking forward to Lent with pious rapture ! I
am sure you cannot fail to like this place ; it would
be perfect if only you were here."
AN ANXIOUS PROBLEM 241
Before leaving Western Australia, Weld had
contracted with the captain of a sailing vessel to
bring his wife and family straight from Fremantle
to Hobart-town. This arrangement, though it
sounds primitive enough to modern ears, promised
the minimum of discomfort if not the maximum of
luxury. For, whereas by embarking in the regular
steamboat to Tasmania via Melbourne, Mrs. Weld
and her nine children and large impedimenta would
have had to submit to three transhipments, by the
other plan she would have got into the vessel at
her own door and been landed at the door of Govern-
ment House. Unfortunately, difficulties supervened,
as we learn from Weld's letter to his wife, dated
2nd February :
" I have just received enclosed letter from
Captain McEachran which distresses me much, for,
as you will see by it, he has sold his ship, so our
arrangement with him falls through. Were it not
that I trust in God's care of you and the children
I should be even more anxious and unhappy than
I am. It is quite impossible for me at this distance
to advise, or at least settle anything for you. If
you could find another vessel with a trustworthy
captain, that would be best : if not, you will have
to go overland, or by the Georgette to Albany ; she
would be very uncomfortable and crowded, but I
am satisfied that she is a good sea-boat, and at this
time of year you would probably have a calm
passage. Whatever you do, spare no expense.
Bring Crinoline l with you if it is at all possible to
do so ; she would be invaluable to you here."
A little later Weld heard of the arrival of his
sixth daughter, born on the ist of February. His
letters during the ensuing three months were, natur-
ally, full of allusions to his anxiety about his wife
and of plans and preparations for her arrival at
1 A pet mare belonging to Mrs. Weld.
242 COLONIAL GAIETIES
Hobart-town. He writes to her on the i$th of
February :
11 The house is still in the hands of the workmen,
and they tell me it will be quite two months before
they are out of it. We are making a lovely climbing
walk in the grounds, round an old quarry which has
been converted into a pond. It is to be a fern
gully ; you know the tree-ferns of Tasmania are
celebrated, and every kind of flower and shrub
seems to thrive here. The Swatara, an American
frigate, is in port at present, and I gave a picnic
last week for the officers, as, owing to the unfinished
state of the rooms, I can give no dinners yet. We
drove in two four-in-hands to New Norfolk about
thirty people, including the Americans. I liked
some of them very much, particularly the captain.
The picnic was a great success ; the drive a lovely
one, and the spot chosen for it on the banks of the
Derwent was most picturesque. I have also been
to the regatta, and an aquatic procession, which
was very gay and pretty. Hobart-town is full of
visitors now, as owing to the heat in the other
colonies people are flocking here. Besides these
gaieties I have been on a round of inspections,
visiting hospitals and asylums, and so forth. I
have also been down the Derwent to Port Arthur,
to visit the convict establishment."
A fortnight later Weld writes as follows to his
brother :
" I have just heard from Mena that she is making
a good recovery and has engaged a schooner of
about 100 tons, and will start early in May. It was
the only one she could get, but it is so small that
I feel terribly anxious, especially as she and the
children will have to live in a deck-house. I should
have preferred much if she had decided on the
Melbourne route, but she disliked the small steam-
boat to King George's Sound, and the various
changes. If they get a smooth passage it will be
all right, but I dread for them the heavy seas round
Cape Leeuwin, and on our southern promontory.
A 'RURAL REPAST' 243
They will be at least a fortnight or three weeks at
sea. God grant that the boat may come safe, but
you can conceive what my anxiety is. If it was
not for the prayers that are being said for us and
that we have been so often protected and helped
by prayer, I don't know what I should do."
A letter, dated the I2th of May, to the same
correspondent says :
" I have no good news for you. Mena would
now have been well on her way had the vessel sailed
to her time, but the last mail brought me the news
that four days before they were to have started
the baby was taken dangerously ill, and that she
was worn out with anxiety about it. Till I get the
next mail, or till they arrive, I shall not know
whether they were able to sail or whether they lost
their passage, or whether the baby is alive or dead.
Mena writes like a saint or a heroine she is both
and tries to make the best of it ; but I cannot bear
to think what she may be going through in that
long voyage of over 2000 miles in a little loo-ton
schooner. I will say no more it hardly bears to
be thought of, much less spoken about, except in
acts of resignation and conformity to God's will.
' I write this from my bed, having been laid up
with gout for nearly a week. I got it at the end
of my last journey. I was returning on horseback
on a very wet day to town when I met a melancholy
and draggled deputation on the high-road, who
begged leave to present me with an address, accom-
panied with an invitation to their settlement of
' Peppermint Bay.' I went with them to the village
and inspected a school, etc., whilst my horse was
being fed, but refused to breakfast. However, this
did not satisfy them, and though I was certain that
sitting down to a meal in my wet clothes would
bring on an attack of gout, having already felt the
preliminary symptoms, I could not persist in my
refusal, so I found myself let in for a large ' rural
repast,' and had to hear and respond to I don't
know how many toasts. And what made it more
absurd, I don't know to this day whether I was
244 THE MARY HERBERT
the host or only the guest ; time and the bill will
show. Two days later, after I had got home I
climbed up to the top of Mount Wellington (height
4100 ft.) through woods, tree ferns, and over rocks
and boulders, the ground generally very steep, and
did it in excellent time. Arthur Stourton (who is
staying here) and a Puisne Judge, a famous walker,
accompanied me. It was St. George's Day, so we
drank the Queen's health and confusion to her
enemies on the highest pinnacle in well-earned
Chartreuse. I really thought that day's work would
have defeated the enemy such fine mountain air,
and splendid exercise. But no, on the eve of the
Ascension it became worse ; I drove to church on
the Feast, hobbled up to my place, and that evening
was so bad that I had the greatest difficulty in
climbing up the staircase to my bed where I have
remained, more or less, ever since."
Weld's next letter to his brother is dated three
weeks later :
" Mena and the children have at last arrived.
I had been laid up for a whole month previously,
but was beginning to get better when, on the ist
of June, the Mary Herbert was signalled twenty miles
out with the wind contrary. I hired a steamer
and, lame as I was, got on board and went off to
meet them, and by nightfall we had tugged the
vessel up to the wharf. Though it was getting
quite dark a great crowd had assembled, who cheered
us most lustily. I cannot describe the sympathy we
have met with from all classes. I wish you could
hear Mena's description of what she underwent in
the voyage. In the first place, the deck-house was
so small that they had hardly room to turn
round in it. If it had not been for the steward, who
behaved splendidly and who, with Mena, took
entire charge of the children the nurses being
worse than useless I don't know what would have
happened. Then they had very rough weather,
though the wind was fair generally, so that they
continually spent the night mopping up the water
which flooded the cabin. The captain turned out
CAPUA 245
to be an ex-convict, and besides drinking like a fish,
knew so little about his work that Mena had to give
orders to the crew to reef in the sails. The cow
gave no milk, and had to be killed on their arrival,
and Mena's pet mare, the most beautiful, docile
creature in the world, which followed them on
board like a dog, and can never be replaced, died
on the voyage. Thank God, Mena and the children
are quite well, and little Angela began to improve
from the time of their going to sea." x
Weld's life in Tasmania, though doubtless
pleasant enough, must have offered a marked con-
trast with that led by him in Western Australia.
He alludes to it in one of his letters as his " Capua/'
and says that his official duties were as a rule re-
stricted to presiding at a weekly meeting of his
Executive Council.
He received shortly after his arrival in Tasmania
the Companionship of the Order of St. Michael and
St. George an honour which his friends thought
rather tardily bestowed. His comment on it to his
brother is characteristic. " The Cross is very pretty
with the motto Auspicium melioris ^Evi, which is
good ; St. Michael is on one side of it and St.
George on the other. At all events, the Order has
one member of the third class who has a devotion
to, and daily invoked, its patrons for many years."
Attempts had been made for some time previously
to introduce salmon and trout into New Zealand
and Tasmanian rivers, and Weld, as a keen angler,
took much interest in them ; he alludes to the subject
in the following letter, dated 2Oth December 1876 :
" A fish was sent to me the other day caught in
the brackish water at the head of the tidal estuary
of the Derwent. It weighed about 9 lb., the back
was dark bluish-grey, sides and belly silver (very
1 The Mary Herbert was wrecked on its return journey and all hands
on board drowned.
246 ANTIPODEAN ANGLING
bright), with black spots on head and gills ; we ate it
and thought it unmistakably a salmon, and a very
good one, the flesh pink and flaky. The Salmon
Commissioners having previously examined the fish
pronounced it to be a common brown trout !
Another fish of 3^ Ib. caught recently, they say is a
young salmon. Anyway, we have now got fish that
look like salmon, taste like salmon, and, I am told,
take the fly like salmon the latter I hope to prove
for myself before long. I forget if I have told you
that an undoubted salmon of over 21 Ib. was lately
caught at Port Chalmers in New Zealand, bred from
ova sent from here."
In an undated letter, written probably somewhat
later, Weld returns to the same subject :
" I have just been fishing again. The river was
alive with salmon and sea-trout, but all gorging
themselves the greedy brutes on small fry, and
consequently very shy. I returned with three grilse
5 J Ib., 4j Ib., and 2^ Ib. all beautiful fish, but only
one for every day I fished. I saw numbers rising
and jumping the last day I was out, but they rose
short and would not look at my fly. The river was
still much too high for me to fish from the shore, or
to do anything at the falls." He adds later : " I
wrote the foregoing some days ago. In telling you
about my last fishing expedition I forgot to give you
an account of the sport I had had just after the last
mail went out. The river on that occasion also was
much too high, and only fit for boat work. I tried
Lord Gormanstown's huge flies, which he sent me
for such occasions, in the only likely water I could
reach, but without success. Returning, I tried the
minnow, and when we got close to the bridge, nearly
opposite the spot where I told you when I first came
Patrick had lost my fish for me, I hooked another.
This time his son Michael was rowing the boat, and
when I had played him for about ten minutes, and
he was getting a bit less lively, the current carried the
boat under the arch, and Michael being undecided,
and the fish very decided he went under another.
Imagine my agony ! However, by skill on my part
MINISTERIAL CRISIS 247
and complaisance on the part of the fish I got
him round the pier and under our arch, and into
the fine stretch of water below, and there I killed
him. He weighed 8 lb., and was a regular beauty.
I also killed on the same occasion a fine sea-trout of
4! lb. Since the last mail, therefore, I have killed
five salmon, weighing 21 lb. I have not been fishing
for trout, but I am told there are plenty in the
smaller streams. A few years hence the colonies
will become regular fishing quarters a triumph of
acclimatisation of which I can boast I was one of the
earliest promoters in these antipodean regions."
Weld had been about two years in Tasmania when
an adverse vote precipitated the fall of the Ministry
which had been in power on his arrival. A letter
he wrote to his brother on the occasion is interesting,
as showing his views of the position held by a Governor
in a colony possessing Responsible government :
1 This ministerial crisis has afforded me an oppor-
tunity of reasserting an unquestionable point of
Eractice affecting the Crown's prerogative, which
om disuse was in danger of becoming obsolete. I
think I have done something to make the proper
and constitutional influence of the Crown a reality,
as I hold it ought to be even under Responsible
Government, and I find my action is approved by all
whose opinion is worth having. I am strongly of
opinion that a constitutional ruler need not neces-
sarily be a roi faineant, though he may appear to
be so to the outside world, and in this I am quite
consistent with the views I held as minister.
1 I am getting on very well with my new ministers.
The Premier is a colonist with considerable landed
property, a University man, and an ex- Archdeacon
of the Church of England. He has not had much
political experience, but is a man of considerable
knowledge of the world and gentlemanly feeling.
The Treasurer is the only member of the Cabinet
who has been in office before. He is a country
gentleman of some ability, and holds strong opinions,
being extremely outspoken in his likes and dislikes.
2 48 MINISTERS
Personally, I have always got on particularly well
with him, and he looks a great deal to me for advice.
My other minister is a doctor, a Member of the Upper
House. He has a good deal of local influence, being
very popular with the poor, and he has also a con-
siderable business connection. You will say I have
rather a queer ministry, and people thought here at
first that they would never stand. I have already
saved them from making more than one fatal mis-
take, but they are gaining ground, and as this is an
expiring parliament a general election may give
them a fresh lease of life. Of course you must under-
stand that I never obtrude my advice on ministers,
or advise at all on purely party tactics, but when they
want the benefit of my experience I give it. Had
the late ministers, with whom I got on very well,
taken a hint or two I gave them, I believe they would
have been in office now.
" We have been living very quietly till lately, and
not entertaining at all, but Mena being quite strong
again, and Parliament about to meet, we have just
come out of our shell and given a ball and a few
dinners. I am also giving a conversazione to the
Royal Society here, of which I am President, and I
am going to read a lecture on the volcanoes of the
Sandwich Islands to the same learned body at their
next meeting. We are to have a concert, too, at
Government House. This for quiet people like our-
selves is pretty good, and having got that and Parlia-
ment over we hope to get down to the country and
rusticate for a time.' 1
CHAPTER XII
La parole vraie porte." REN BAZIN.
IT is not, however, with efforts (doubtless strictly
constitutional ones) to influence the action of
ministers, or as dispenser of hospitalities at Govern-
ment House, but with a matter much nearer Weld's
heart that his five years' lease of power in Tas-
mania will be associated : and that is with the
infusion of fresh life into the Volunteer movement,
and the preparation of the colony for defence in the
event of war. To appreciate the cause for such
preparations we must give a glance at the world
outside the Antipodes.
The year 1877 opened under auspices that
threatened seriously the peace of Europe. The treaty
of San Stefano had put an end to the Russo-Turkish
war, but its tenor seemed likely to produce a greater
conflagration. For Russia, in setting aside some
of the most important guarantees contained in the
Treaty of Paris, by which she secured for herself a
paramount influence in the whole of South-eastern
Europe, left Europe in no doubt as to her intentions.
The dispatch of the British fleet to the Dar-
danelles and the resolution taken by Government to
call out the reserves, and to summon a contingent
of Indian troops to occupy Cyprus, and the resigna-
tion of Lord Derby in consequence of these measures,
are all matters of history. So also are the wild
rumours which were then afloat of Russia's designs
for future aggrandisement. With European politics
249
250 RUMOURS OF WAR
as such we have no concern. But in the same way
as a great stone thrown into the waters produces
ripples which spread from the centre to the very
shores of a lake, so the disturbances in England
caused a corresponding commotion on the distant
shores of Australia and the adjacent islands.
A dispatch from the Governor to Lord Carnarvon,
dated i2th May 1877, contains the following passage :
" I fear from the latest news that a general war
is almost inevitable. It is reported here that a
considerable Russian fleet has been sighted in the
North Pacific. Presumably it would not be strong
enough to risk an encounter with our China or
Pacific squadrons. It would be more likely to seek
to evade them and try to strike a blow at Australian
commerce and English prestige in these waters by
endeavouring to capture some of our very few small
ships of war, and by laying our towns under contribu-
tion. I presume that, in the event of our going to war
with Russia, she would make use of privateers. The
Americans are not likely to follow our example and
pay us damages for any Alabamas they might fit
out ; unless, therefore, our commerce is protected
by armed cruisers now that neutral bottoms make
neutral goods we must expect to see our carrying
trade pass out of English hands, and a great part of
our seamen follow the trade. I should like therefore
to submit to your Lordship's consideration the
urgent necessity of strengthening the Australian
squadron with some swift cruisers carrying, at least,
one heavy gun. The first blow is the one that tells,
and how often has England for want of vigour and
foresight lost that advantage, and been forced to
recover her lost ground at the cost of great sacrifices !
No doubt if the occasion arose such sacrifices would
be made, but a comparatively trifling effort and
outlay now, would obviate their necessity. I must
conclude by apologising for remarks with regard to a
subject on which no one could be more conversant
than yourself."
This dispatch was followed by a " Memorandum
AN INSURANCE AGAINST ATTACK 251
for Ministers/' dated i4th August 1877, from which
we take the following extract :
" I have considered it my duty from the time
I came into the colony to call the attention of
ministers to the question of defence. I have ever
held that no country has a right to claim the privi-
leges of self-government and ignore the responsi-
bilities of making such provision for self-defence as
may be commensurate with its powers and resources.
Tasmania cannot undertake works, or maintain a
force sufficient to defend itself against a powerful
expedition ; this could only be effected by a federa-
tion for such purposes with the neighbouring colonies.
Were Great Britain involved in a war, nothing is more
probable than that armed cruisers would attempt
to levy contributions on undefended British Settle-
ments and cripple their commerce. Such an intention
has been openly avowed by Russian newspapers
in the event of England becoming involved in the
present war, and perhaps at no period of history
has the system of making the conquered pay the
conqueror assumed such proportions as it has of late
years.
* Is ' our own poverty our defence/ as I have
heard it said ? We have in the banks at Hobart-
town 300,000 in bullion, and this, and a similar
round sum obtained, no doubt, from Government
to avert such disasters as the town being bombarded,
the plunder of shops and private dwellings with
accompanying outrages, would seem a sufficient
inducement to cruisers or privateers to visit these
waters ; a similar one would be to levy forced con-
tributions of coal and provisions denied to them in
defended ports, but accessible here.
" It is in my opinion quite within the means of this
colony, and should be looked upon as an insurance
on its growing wealth, that it should protect itself
against cruisers and privateers, from whom the real
danger is to be apprehended. A very small paid force
of Artillery and Engineers, available in time of peace
for public works, supplemented by an Artillery
Volunteer Corps, a few companies of Volunteer
Rifles, some Gatling guns to prevent landings, with
252 THE LAUNCESTON ARTILLERY
a view of storming batteries, possibly a heavy gun
or two in addition to those we have already got, and
a small, swift steamer carrying torpedoes, and supply-
ing the place of the present Government schooner :
these or some of these comparatively inexpensive
means might be taken to avert widespread loss to
the public and individuals, and grievous detriment
to our commerce, such as might paralyse our revenue,
arrest public works, and throw back the progress of
Tasmania for years."
Early in the following year, 1878, Weld availed
himself of the occasion of handing over a cup, which
he had given for the encouragement of rifle-shooting,
to a successful competitor, to make a pronouncement
which was intended to reach a wider audience than
the one he addressed. After remarking on the
pleasure it gave him to do honour to a member of the
Launceston Artillery, " a little band which had sur-
vived the winter of neglect, and kept alive a spark
of military feeling in Tasmania," he said :
' ( My object in promising this prize was to en-
courage the revival of the manly exercise of rifle-
shooting, in the hope that it might lead to something
more to the promotion of defence organisation,
and to the rise of that martial spirit which should
ever go hand in hand, even in the smallest communi-
ties, with political rights ; and I have not been
disappointed.
" At a moment such as this, when the question of
defence is occupying all men's thoughts, when your
statesmen are consulting, and your citizens coming
forward to offer their services, when every telegram
from Europe comes throbbing with hopes or fears
for the peace of the world and the honour and welfare
of our common country at such a time it would
be wrong for me to be silent. It is but seldom, and
only on a few subjects, that a Governor can wisely
or even constitutionally speak out his whole mind,
and unless I can speak plainly I prefer a golden
silence even to that silver speech to which I lay no
NATIONAL DUTIES 253
claim. But this is a subject which alike involves
imperial and colonial interests, and is in no sense
a party question. I will therefore propose some
thoughts for your consideration upon the relations
between England and her colonies in reference to
defence, and upon your position, interests, and duties
with regard to them.
11 All through my life I have held strong and
decided opinions on these subjects, and have urged
them both in a private and in a public capacity.
They are, briefly, that it is the duty of every loyal
subject of the Queen, and indeed of every citizen of
a free country, to take his share, by head, or by arms
or by purse, in whatever way his abilities, his avoca-
tions, his bodily powers or his circumstances may
admit, in the defence of his country. It is very well
to talk of loyalty lip loyalty is cheap ; these are the
tests we want of loyalty, and by these tests, if I
mistake not, we are prepared to stand.
" Few in numbers are we, and poor when com-
pared to some great and powerful communities such
as we know of, but we are not so few or so poor as to
be indifferent to ' all that doth become a man/ or
unequal to the call our country makes upon us.
Part of my youth was spent in Switzerland amongst
a kindred race whose institutions to this day (as the
historian Freeman points out) are closely analogous
to those of our Saxon ancestors. It happened
sometimes in those days that one heard sneers at
their citizen soldiery, but it was due to these that
a country with a population scarcely larger than
Tasmania, and girt by no silver sea, protected by no
mother country, maintained, shoulder to shoulder,
their independence against a foreign enemy. Boy
as I was my heart warmed to them, and now, as a
man, my measure of respect for a country is largely
dependent upon the readiness shown by its people
to come to the front and fulfil their duties whether
by peace or by war.
" Duties, observe, I call them. Nations have
duties, Provinces and Colonies have duties, and men
have duties.
' It is the duty of the mighty Empire to which
we belong to uphold her position amongst the nations
19
254 IMPERIAL DUTIES
of the earth, not from the mere lust of glory or of
power, but because a great nation in the full strength
and vigour of life cannot stand still : it must either
advance or decay. This great Empire, whose off-
shoots gird the world, has a mission and a destiny to
which she must be faithful, or she will fall like Rome
or Carthage ; and her ruin would be one such as
hitherto the world has had no example, for even of
the Roman power it might be said that it was chiefly
military, not essentially, as Great Britain is, a com-
mercial, naval, and manufacturing power. Colonies
also have their duties to perform in co-operating
with the mother country to an extent proportionate
to their numbers and their resources. It is their
advantage to do so, as well as their duty, as I hope to
show later.
" Men also, as individuals, owe protection to the
State and to their families.
' It may be objected that I am appealing chiefly
to sentiment. Men who theoretically despise senti-
ment are unconsciously very often moved by it.
But I am not going to appeal to sentiment only.
I will return to the three headings of imperial,
provincial, and personal duties I have already laid
down, and will inquire how far our interests coincide
with them. And in the first place, with regard to our
relations with the mother country as an integral
part of it. We may be drawn into war by this
connection ; England also may be drawn into war
to protect us. It has been held by some that we lose
by the connection, and by others, as frequently,
that England loses by it. England will never seek
war nor will she ever go to war of this we may be
very sure unless she is forced to do so by public
opinion which judges that such a war is necessary
and just. Englishmen in the colonies think much
the same as Englishmen at home on these questions.
War does not suit them, but they are ready to go to
war rather than submit to national humiliation,
or sacrifice national interests. I will go further, and
maintain that even the native-born colonists take
more interest in the success of the British arms in a
war waged at what, to him, is the other end of the
world than he would in any merely local question.
DEFENCE OF THE COLONIES 255
I was in New Zealand during part of the Crimean War,
and part of it in England, and I can testify that news
of our successes was received as enthusiastically at
Wellington or Otago, as the fall of Sebastopol was in
London or Edinburgh. And though this is not the
time or place for me to discuss questions which are
not at present ripe for solution, I repudiate the idea
that colonists are ready to make up their minds that
their children will be members of petty states without
a past, instead of citizens of a mighty Empire rich in
deeds, with a glorious past and, I fondly trust, a still
more glorious future. What do we gain by the
connection ? We gain in addition to a breadth and
elevation of view which comes, or should come, of
such connection, the very substantial benefit of
immunity from insult, plunder, or annexation, or the
alternative of a military and naval expenditure
disproportioned to the means of a young country.
11 Tasmania is exposed to attack on account of
her geographical position, which I have heard pro-
nounced on good authority to be one of the eight or
ten most important ones in the foreign possessions
of Great Britain. I have not failed to bring this
circumstance under the consideration of the imperial
authorities, as also, when Governor of Western
Australia, I brought the strategical importance of
King George's Sound under their notice. I hold
these two positions to be the most important strate-
getical ones in Australia, and the occupation of
Hobart-town, or of King George's Sound, which could
be made almost impregnable, would entail great
efforts and a large expenditure for their recovery.
I hope that our delegates will, at the approaching
Australian Conference, bring the subject of defensive
federation before it, for the hostile occupation of
Hobart-town or of King George's Sound would affect
in the very highest degree the interests of all Australia.
Such occupation or attempt at occupation is not at
all probable at present ; nevertheless it would be wise
to provide against it.
" Can we defend ourselves ? In the opinion of
competent authorities we can against such a foe
as is likely to molest us, for such vessels would not run
serious risks at a distance from any friendly harbour
256 COLONIAL IMPATIENCE OF CONTROL
affording means to refit. Our batteries would soon
destroy any vessels they had once crippled ; and if
the enemy escaped to sea, she would probably fall an
easy prey to an English man-of-war, and her case
then, if requiring to be docked, would be desperate.
These are great risks to run, few men would un-
necessarily incur them ; moreover, we may con-
fidently rely upon England being ready to assist
these colonies especially which help themselves, as
she has done in the case of Victoria.
" And now I come to my third point. No man
works for the public good but at the cost of some
personal sacrifice. Some may say as I have heard
it said ' Oh, in the event of war we should turn out
to a man.' But, unfortunately, a custom prevails
of hanging or shooting any persons not in the uniform
of a regular enrolled corps who may be taken in arms.
In the Franco-Prussian War the Prussians, who were
by no means an uncivilised enemy, in such cases shot
hostages selected by lot from among the unarmed
inhabitants of the districts where this happened,
when they could not or would not deliver up those
who had thus fired on them, besides levying extra
contributions there. Putting aside this little incon-
venience, the fact remains that undisciplined men act-
ing on their own devices might often be as much
or more in the way of their friends as their foes.
No Government would be justified in entrusting them
with arms unless put under strict control, in purely
defensive positions, and even then it would be a
great risk, and a doubtful gain, if any. I doubt no
man's bravery, but I would most strongly impress
on Volunteers that though our race is a fighting one
and comes of a fighting stock it is one singularly
impatient of control, perhaps even more so in the
colonies than at home, and therefore I say that
obedience and respect to officers are the first and
most essential requisites. You may march well,
but unless you bring to your work strict discipline
and unquestioning and implicit obedience, you are a
powerful piece of machinery under no control, out
of gear, with wheels working wildly in different
directions, and consequently utterly useless. You
may be sure that there is no man who does not better
THE VOLUNTEER MOVEMENT 257
himself by gaining that self-control which is necessary
for discipline in a soldier, more especially if he yields
obedience because it is a self-imposed duty, possibly
to one in some respects his inferior. And if this
is a lesson to men, morally as well as physically, it is
still more a valuable training for boys, and I wish all
our schools would have cadet corps ; I should be very
willing to give every encouragement in my power
to them. I want you to make the thing a reality.
If it is not to be a reality, better to have nothing to do
with it at all, and I tell you you cannot make it a
reality without earnest work ; discipline and diligence
for the men, and painstaking exertions for the
officers. Difficulties may, and will, arise, but
patience, forbearance, and public spirit smooth away
obstacles, and pave the way to success, a solid and
permanent success such as I trust is destined to
influence the future character and destiny of those
who come after you in Tasmania, who I trust will
grow up self-reliant, and consequently self-respecting,
and who will look upon their defensive organisation
not as the outcome of a sudden panic, but with a just
pride as the fulfilment of a duty co-relative with the
possession of political freedom."
This lecture did much to evoke the patriotic
sentiment in Tasmania, to which Weld so confidently
appealed, and which, though it may sometimes
slumber, can never be wholly extinct in any com-
munity, whatever their race or nation. Its practical
result was to infuse fresh life into the Volunteer
movement, which up to this time had been in a some-
what dead-alive condition. Weld, the year after his
arrival in the colony, had started a Rifle Association,
which now counted forty members, and was already
doing good service in encouraging what he rightly
called the manly exercise of rifle-shooting. This
movement was followed up in 1877 by the formation
of a Volunteer Corps in Hobart-town. Hitherto,
Launceston, in the north of the island, alone enjoyed
the distinction, with three corps a Light Cavalry,
258 AN IMPERIAL ARMY AND NAVY
a Rifle, and an Artillery Corps of having made
sacrifices in defence of the country. Thus, before
Weld left the colony, he had the satisfaction of know-
ing that by the encouragement he had given both
by word and act to the Volunteer movement it had
not only gained in efficiency, but had more than
trebled its numbers.
The interest evinced by Weld for local defence
as well as for the defence of the Empire, was recog-
nised outside the narrow limits of the island. A
letter, dated i6th July of the same year, from Mr.
(afterwards Sir Frederick) Young of the Royal
Colonial Institute, shows the strong approval given
to his views in England. Young writes as follows :
" I forwarded a copy of your lecture to the Duke
of Manchester, who, in acknowledging it, observed
that he greatly admired its tone. I quite endorse
your opinion about teaching the Colonies not to rely
upon the, comparatively speaking, over-taxed English
ratepayer for defence, while they look on without
attempting themselves to contribute anything to-
wards it. What I want to see established throughout
the Empire is a real Imperial Army and Imperial
Navy to which all parts of it in due and just propor-
tion may contribute, and then whenever redcoats
or bluejackets make their appearance in Australian
or Canadian waters the people there may be able to
say with pride, ' This is our Army and our Navy, for
we pay our share towards it equally with the English
people at home.' This is what I am labouring "here
so earnestly to inculcate. It is this which would be
the first inevitable, practical step towards Imperial
Federation by Parliamentary Representation."
A " Memorandum for Ministers," written by the
Governor in July 1878, shows that he had no inten-
tion of allowing the matter to drop. After one or two
preliminary remarks, he writes as follows :
" A few years may elapse before the outbreak of
a great war, but no one can look at the present state
FEDERAL ACTION IN THE COLONIES 259
of Europe without feeling that nothing but a spark
is needed at any moment to light a widespread con-
flagration.
" What are the probabilities of the next few
years ? England, we may anticipate, will maintain
her present naval supremacy, but it is quite possible
that the advance of science may once more revolu-
tionise the art of naval construction, and that once
more she may have to build a new fleet and elaborate
new naval tactics. Party considerations, too, may
influence her policy, and peace may again lull her
energies, and it is not impossible that she may once
more be found unprepared at the outset for war.
Other nations are certain to make great efforts to
counterbalance the preponderance which England
has assumed in the counsels of Europe. Possibly
these may in a few years have a more assured base
of operations, and far greater power so placed that
it may readily be brought to bear on the Pacific
Ocean. Also, it is not unlikely that the Australasian
Colonies will be far richer, possess a far more ex-
tensive commerce and commercial marine, and be
in every way far more worth plundering.
" One thing we may count on, and that is, that in
a few years British Australasia will be strong enough,
if united, to keep her shores perfectly safe in the event
of any temporary failure of imperial assistance ;
and again, that she will be able, and I believe will be
proud, to show that she can hold the first rank among
young countries in war as in peace. Other countries
may have strong military and naval settlements in
this part of the world in the North and South Pacific,
but they will be merely military or naval Govern-
ment settlements. No mere bureaucratic settlement
of that kind can hold its own against a people, young,
it may be, but rich, progressive, full of life, free,
self-supporting, and deeply attached to the mother
country, so long as that people is true to itself, and
does not take up defence questions on an emergency,
and in a spirit of panic, but as a part of its everyday
life.
' I have already spoken publicly on the subject
of Federal action ; and the representative of Tas-
mania at the late International Congress has since
26o ENCOURAGEMENTS TO PATRIOTIC SPIRIT
received an affirmation of that principle. Nor was
this premature, for the material progress of these
colonies is apt, in my opinion, to outstrip the fore-
sight of statesmen colonial as well as imperial ones ;
and though a practical statesman should not look
too far ahead, to be blind to the signs of the time
would be an even more fatal error. One most
valuable suggestion in the report is that with regard
to Reserves. We do not want a large permanent
force, but we want on emergency to be able, sud-
denly, to increase it. We want to have a consider-
able body of reliable trained men available when
required. I would even go beyond its recom-
mendations, and allow a certain number of Volunteers
also, who would take pay to pass into the Reserve.
I have myself made similar suggestions to those con-
tained in the report regarding the Police, and the con-
sideration of military service as a first step to certain
civil appointments. I have also pointed out how
small steamers might be employed in time of peace
for survey work, and police and lighthouse work,
which might be utilised as torpedo boats and look-
out boats in times of war.
" I further hold that military exercises and
military spirit should be encouraged throughout the
colony. The basis and support of military organisa-
tion is a widespread patriotic spirit."
That Weld's efforts in the cause of Imperial
Federation were not very warmly taken up by his
Responsible advisers, we learn from a letter to his
brother, dated August 1878, in which he complains
that what he had done in the cause of defence has
been hampered by the inertness or opposition of
ministers.
" In spite of these," he writes, " I anticipate a
satisfactory conclusion to my schemes. But it is
rather trying at times to have to sit and wait, and to
know that it is only by dint of patience and tact
and temper that one can hope to carry the day. I
sometimes feel like water dropping on a stone, and
such a stone flint would be a better word."
THE TASMANIAN RIFLES 261
No such limitations to the Governor's pent-up
energies existed with regard to his efforts to make
himself acquainted with the country and people
under his rule. His love of fine scenery, and for
pioneering in a wild and uncultivated country,
such as the greater part of Tasmania still was in
the 'seventies, took him to many of the most out-
of-the-way districts of the island. On these occa-
sions, always on horseback and accompanied generally
by a single member of his suite, he enjoyed the
hospitality gladly afforded by the settlers, and in
return for a night's shelter he gave them the benefit
of his large experience in pastoral or agricultural
matters. In this way, we learn from his journal, he
travelled more than four thousand miles over the
island.
It was in the course of the summer of 1878 that he
performed a feat the memory of which still lingers
in the island. On one occasion the news reached
him when he was up country of the departure of the
mail on the following day. He had letters of import-
ance which he wished to dispatch; accordingly he
started off, and, giving himself only time for a change
of horses and hurried meals, accomplished the distance
of a hundred miles which separated him from Hobart-
town between sunrise and sunset after having being
thirteen and a half hours in the saddle.
The presentation of colours to the Tasmanian
Rifles, which had been embroidered by Mrs. Weld
and her daughters and by them presented to the
regiment, was made the occasion of a gala day at
Hobart-town. The Launceston Volunteers were
brought from the north of the island, and took part
in what the local paper called "the finest parade
which has ever been witnessed in connection with
the present Volunteer movement." From the same
authority we learn that the Launceston Artillery
262 BRANDY CREEK RE-CHRISTENED
headed the column, and that six companies of Rifles
and three of Artillery took part in the proceedings.
After the colours had been consecrated by the Ven.
Archdeacon Davies, Mrs. Weld presented them to
Lieutenants Reid and Scott (who received them
kneeling) with the following words :
* I present you with these colours in the hope
you will guard them as the type and emblem of
your loyalty to the imperial throne, of your devotion
to the defence of those dear to you, of your homes,
and of your honour. I doubt not but that should
occasion unhappily arise, you will emulate the example
of the Volunteers who, in other parts of the Queen's
Dominions, have proved the value of their services in
actual war. And when the Governor and I have
left your shores, let me hope that these colours will
not be less cherished by you because they were my
handwork, and will remain a memorial of our love
for Tasmania and our devotion to her interests."
The Mayor, Sir James Wilson, replied briefly
in suitable terms.
One of the last public occasions at which the
Governor appeared before leaving the colony was when
inspecting in the autumn of 1879, with the Colonial
Secretary, Hon. T. Reibey, and the Minister of Land
and Works, the newly discovered gold mine, Brandy
Creek, at which he received a large deputation of the
leading mine managers and other officials belonging
to the new township. After the usual loyal senti-
ments of devotion to the Throne had been expressed,
and acknowledgments of the interests shown in the
mining community by the Governor, he was invited
to re-christen the mine.
In his answer, Weld told them that the name
he would give them was one which at that moment
was on the lips of all Englishmen ; that his choice
of it emanated from no party spirit, and that he
hoped the day would never come when Englishmen
APPOINTMENT TO STRAITS SETTLEMENTS 263
either at home or abroad would refuse to recognise
merit even in those who might happen to differ from
them in politics. It was that of the Prime Minister,
Beaconsfield a man who would go down to posterity
as one of the greatest statesmen England had ever
had. By the force of his genius he had raised himself
to the first place in the Councils of his nation, and he
might at this moment be looked upon justly as one
of the leading minds in Europe. He thought that
the course of events had fully justified Lord Beacons-
field in saying, after his return from the Berlin Con-
ference, that he brought back " Peace with honour "
to the British nation.
Six months later Weld received an intimation
from the Secretary of State for the Colonies that he
had been appointed, when his term of service in
Tasmania expired, to the Governorship of the Straits
Settlements.
Tasmania was not behind Western Australia
in its appreciation of the merits and services of
Governor Weld ; thus the last days of his stay there
were filled up with engagements of the usual kind,
including addresses and complimentary dinners. A
very handsome presentation was also made to Mrs.
Weld by the ladies of Tasmania.
The Welds embarked on the 5th of April 1880,
crossed to Sydney, where they were the guests of
Lord and Lady Augustus Loftus at Government
House, and started on the i;th for Singapore.
Weld gave the following description of his new
residence in a letter to a friend a month after his
arrival at Singapore :
' What has struck us most on arriving here was
the extraordinarily vivid green of the vegetation.
The Emerald Isle is nothing to the Straits Settlements ;
our eyes are hardly used to it yet. We are very much
pleased with our surroundings ; the grounds are
264 SINGAPORE
beautiful, with a terraced flower-garden, and a
croquet and lawn-tennis ground, with an army of
natives to keep them in order. The park is also
kept as smooth as a lawn. The house is perfect for
a tropical country ; the rooms of great size, and all
opening on to a huge colonnade, so as to give a free
current of air, but divided by numberless screens.
The house is considerably bigger than our Tasmanian
one, the colonnade in front being 354 feet long ; the
latter is paved with cream-coloured marble.
" We have seen a good deal of the Maharajah of
Johore, who has always been on most friendly terms
with my predecessors here. He is a Mohammedan,
of course, like all the Malays, but very civilised
quiet, with exceedingly pleasant manners ; in fact, a
superior man. I shall go and pay him a visit as soon
as I have time, and his new palace at Johore is
finished. It is on the mainland, at about fifteen miles
distance from Singapore. I have given up all idea of
asking for leave now, as there is much to be done
here, and the work is most interesting. I trust my
family will be able to stand the climate ; so far we
have not felt the heat much, though this is said to be the
hottest month in the year. It does not approach what
I have felt in Western Australia, or even occasionally
in Tasmania, or in a New Zealand nor 'wester. Here
82 in the shade is considered hot, but there are
frequent showers (a shower for every day in the
year, one is told) and constant thunderstorms. The
nights, too, are never oppressive. What is trying to
the European constitution is the absence of all cold
weather ; and that this is a trial is proved by the fact
that many, even the strongest, after a time break
down under it."
CHAPTER XIII
" Revolutions arise from great causes but out of small incidents."
ARISTOTLE;
THE Malay Peninsula in these days of ubiquitous
globe-trotters is almost too well known to need
description. Of its history perhaps less is known,
though it is one of great interest to the Imperialist
as demonstrating the astounding growth of British
influence in the Far East in the course of last century.
Milton's sonorous line : " Down in the golden
Chersonese " l in Paradise Lost is one of the few
early references to it in English poetry or prose. 2
More than a century sooner, however, it had become
at least nominally the appanage of a European power.
For in 1511, Albuquerque, the great Captain-General
of the Portuguese possessions in the East, after a
successful campaign in India passed on to Malacca,
to avenge the treatment which had been meted out
to Diego Lopez de Siquiera by its Sultan. Malacca
was at that time the great emporium of South-eastern
Asia, and Albuquerque, having after some fighting
established the Portuguese power in this important
town, thereafter contented himself with sending
peaceful embassies to Siam and China and to the
Moluccas. By this means he secured for over a
hundred years the monopoly "of the spice trade and
1 The Aurea Chersonesns of Ptolemy and Pliny.
2 Three expeditions undertaken successively by Thomas Stephens
in 1579, by Ralph in 1583, and another in 1591, prove that the com-
mercial possibilities of the East Indies were not unknown to British
traders and navigators,
265
266 THE EAST INDIA COMPANY
commerce of those countries to the Crown of Portugal.
The seventeenth century witnessed the decay of
Portuguese influence in the Straits and Malayan
Archipelago, and the growth of the power of the
Netherlands. In 1641, Malacca was seized by the
Dutch, in whose possession it remained till we took
it from them in 1795. After the Treaty of Vienna
we ceded it to them, but resumed possession in 1824
in exchange for Benkulen, and have held it ever
since.
The East India Company, which had been for
some time stretching out feelers in the direction
of the China seas, purchased in 1786 the island of
of Penang * (at the suggestion of Captain Light)
from the Rajah of Kedah. This was followed in
1798 by the acquisition by the same Company of the
province of Wellesley, and in 1819 by that of Singa-
pore, the latter being the capital of what was after-
wards known as the Straits Settlements.
Singapore will be associated in men's minds as long
as the British rule lasts in the Far East with the
name of Sir Stamford Raffles, and as long as that
name is remembered it will stand for a line of conduct
which we are proud to think marks British officialdom
in her oversea possessions with good faith, and clean
hands, and an earnest desire to extend the benefits of
law and justice to the races who have invoked her
assistance or submitted to her rule. His life has
another claim on our interest, it coincides with the
growth and extension of British influence and
dominion in the East Indies.
Stamford Raffles was born in 1781, and having
passed into the civil service was sent by the East
India Company to Penang in 1805. He was a good
linguist, and before long had acquired a proficiency in
the Malay language which brought him under notice
1 In Malay : Pulau Pinang, Betel-nut Island.
SIR STAMFORD RAFFLES 267
of the Asiatic Society in Calcutta, and through that
Society, of Lord Minto, who was at that time Governor-
General. After he had been five or six years in
Penang his health broke down from over-work, and
he went to Malacca to recruit. Whilst he was there
he was so much struck with the capabilities of the
country that in consequence of his representations
Lord Minto resolved on retaining it to the Crown,
though its surrender had been previously decided
upon. When the Governor-General embarked shortly
afterwards on an expedition against the island of
Java, relying on Raffles' knowledge of the native
States, he sent him as agent to Malacca. After the
expedition had come to a successful conclusion
Raffles was appointed Lieutenant-Go vernor of Java,
where he was confronted with a task of colossal
difficulty, as his rule extended over six million
natives, led by turbulent chiefs, the greater number
of whom had never submitted to European rule, the
Dutch authority whom we had superseded having
extended over little more than a third of the island.
One of his first acts was to abolish forced native
labour, and re-model on British lines the administra-
tion of justice, and ways of levying the revenue.
Crawfurd (his successor in the government of the
Malay States) speaks of him as an " intrepid inno-
vator," and his career from first to last shows that he
was never wanting in the courage of his opinions.
In 1812 he organised and dispatched an expedition
to the island of Bantam, which from the information
he had received of its wealth in minerals he judged
would be a valuable addition to British possessions
in the East Indies. Three years later the British
Government, in spite of vehement protests and
remonstrances from its Governor, resolved to cede
Java to the Dutch. Lord Minto, in view of this
catastrophe, had, before leaving India, appointed
268 SINGAPORE
him to the Residency of Fort Marlborough in Ben-
kulen, but Raffles had by this time broken down in
health, and instead of taking possession of the post
he returned to England to rest and recruit. In 1817
he returned to the East and took up his new job,
the Board of Directors having confirmed the appoint-
ment. Here again he devoted himself to administra-
tion and philanthropic work. He began by emanci-
pating the negro slaves owned by the East India
Company, reorganised the police, started native
schools, and established friendly relations with the
neighbouring chiefs. He also found time to explore
the little-known interior of the country, and by
his scientific discoveries and collections he made
great additions to the knowledge of the savants of
Europe of the flora and fauna of those remote
regions.
The report having reached Benkulen that the
Dutch had designs on the Malay States, Raffles
started at once for Calcutta, and succeeded in im-
pressing on the Governor-General, Lord Hastings,
their paramount importance to the British Crown.
He especially singled out Singapore, as holding the
key of the situation in the Far East. The East India
Company, acting under his advice, bought Singapore
from the Sultan of Johore, and Sir Stamford Raffles 1
raised the British flag there on 29th February 1819.
He had now reached the apex of his fortunes. His
further plans for extending the Empire brought only
failure and disappointment. In 1821, on his own
initiative, he bought the island of Pulau Nias, princi-
pally with the object of putting an end to the slave
trade, of which it was the headquarters. For this
he was censured by the Directors of the East India
Company. His health, which had always been delicate,
broke down. In 1823 he threw up his appointment,
1 He was made K.C.M.G. in 1817.
SIR ANDREW CLARKE 269
and embarked for England. On his return journey
the ship he sailed in was wrecked and an absolutely
unique collection, which he had spent a lifetime in
acquiring, of birds, beasts, insects and flowers, of
the value of twenty or thirty thousand pounds, also
memoirs, and notes for a History of Borneo and
Sumatra which he had intended to write, were all
lost. He survived this last blow of fortune only
two years, and died at the comparatively early age
of forty-five in 1826.
For the fifty years which followed the death of
its first Governor the history of Singapore was un-
eventful. With the province of Wellesley, Penang,
and Malacca it formed one of the Indian Presidencies,
till, in the year 1 867, it was made a separate Crown
colony under the name of the Straits Settlement,
and was handed over to the Colonial Office. Pros-
perity was slow in coming to it, the obvious cause
being the disturbed state of the native states in its
vicinity. In 1873 the guerilla fights between the
people of Perak and the Chinese engaged in the
mines, and the constant acts of piracy inflicted on our
trade by both Chinese and Malays, brought matters
to a crisis. Sir Andrew Clarke, R.E., was appointed
Governor of Singapore with orders to protect our
interests in the peninsula, and to use his influence
with his unruly neighbours with the object of ensuring
peace and better government. Sir Andrew began by
summoning the Perak chiefs to a meeting at Pulau
Pangkor, and after examining into the rival claims
of the two pretenders, Sultans Ismail and Abdullah,
he decided in favour of the latter. Then acting on
the instructions he had received, and following out
the same policy that had been pursued in India, the
Governor imposed a Resident on Abdullah, who was
to advise him on matters of state and instruct him
in the arts of civilised government. Whether the
20
270 THE PERAK WAR
Sultan underrated the power behind Sir Andrew
Clarke, or whether Mr. Birch (who had no personal
knowledge of Malays) did not use sufficient tact in his
difficult and dangerous office, is a moot point, but
before long he incurred the jealousy and hatred of
Abdullah, and in 1876 was foully murdered by his
followers. The Perak war followed : a short campaign
in which two thousand British troops were employed,
several native villages suspected of complicity with
the crime were burnt down, and a good many officers
and men lost their lives. In the end the murderers
were given up, and either hanged or deported to the
Seychelles. Abdullah was of the latter number, and
Jusuf was installed in his place. British influence
maintained by Residents, begun in Sir Andrew
Clarke's time, was during his successor Sir W.
Jervois's governorship extended to Selangor and the
state of Sungei Ujong. Thus at the time of Weld's
appointment the Straits Settlements comprised the
island of Singapore with its chief town of the same
name, in which Government House was situated,
Penang, and Province Wellesley and Malacca. Also
the protected states of Perak, Selangor, and Sungei
Ujong. The latter included a kind of suzerainty
over a cluster of small states which now form with it
the Negri Zembilan, or Nine Counties.
To sum up the situation from the political and
social point of view : to the outward eye all seemed
peace and harmony amidst these heterogeneous races
when Weld was called upon to assume the reins of
office in the Straits Settlements. True, a " little war "
was simmering in the region of the Negri Sembilan,
but in those days a native dispute was synonymous
with a recourse to arms, and this was a mere ripple
on the waters. The country was steadily growing in
riches and prosperity. The Residents, each at their
posts, were, according to their instructions/ ' advising,"
THE RESIDENT SYSTEM 271
and yet doing their utmost to make their up-to-date
and painfully enlightened advice as little unpalatable
as possible to, the rulers, who were no longer trusted
to rule. The system was in full operation. Still
much, it would be scarce an exaggeration to say
everything, remained to be done. The foundations
were laid, but the edifice had to be built up. The
tradition of hundreds of years of corrupt dealings
and foul living had to be broken through and lived
down. The new way had to be demonstrated not
only as the better and higher way, but as the one
which would be, if necessary, enforced by British
gun-boats, which could not be infringed upon with
impunity, but which, if embraced with zeal and
loyalty, might mean and here " comes the rub "
a new heaven and a new earth : for the Sultan,
chief or Penghulu, 1 prosperity and immunity from
civil war, and an increasing revenue ; to the baser
sort, release from the horrors of debt bondage, the
security of equality before the law, and a hundred
privileges hitherto denied to them.
To see this thing through was the problem, or
rather undertaking, put before the Governor of the
Straits Settlements. To assist him in his task,
though they took nothing from his responsibility, the
Governor had an Executive Council consisting of
ten members and a Legislative Council, also composed
of the same number of members, holding ex-officio
seats ; this included the Chief Justice, the officer in
command of the troops, and six other members who
were nominated by the Governor subject to Her
Majesty's approval. This Council was presided over
by the Governor.
The first question of importance which claimed
Weld's attention on his arrival was the dispute in the
protected state of Sungei Ujong.
1 Head-man,
272 REMBAU
Accordingly we find the following entry in his
journal :
11 May nth. Mr. Cecil Smith l (Colonial Secretary)
here this morning as usual. Went into question of
native affairs in the Peninsula. The Datoh of
Rembau has a dispute with Seyd Hamed on our
Malacca frontier. Directed that a letter should be
written to the belligerents to lay down their arms and
submit their case to my decision.
" May i2th. Received H.E. Chow Phya, Pleni-
potentiary and Ambassador Extraordinary from the
King of Siam to the Court of St. James' and his
suite. A stout ugly man, ill-dressed in European
clothes, but with pleasant smile and manner. He is
also Minister for Foreign Affairs of Siam, and is going
to arrange a treaty and present the Order of the
White Elephant to Her Majesty.
"May iSth. Meeting of the Executive Council,
stated my view on the Sungei Ujong succession, with
which members concurred.
" May igth. Interview with the Datoh Perba of
Rembau i I asked him what induced him to resort
to arms, and why he had not consulted the British
Government. He replied that he had consulted it.
On being further questioned he said that General
Anson (who was then administering) had told him to
send his demands to Seyd Hamed. He (the Datoh)
then inquired what he was to do if they were refused.
Anson's reply was, ' You must take your own course,
but mind I don't authorise you to use force.' This
he repeated to me a second time before the Colonial
Secretary.
(< May 2gth. Received telegram from Lord Kim-
berley, Secretary of State for the Colonies, announcing
that the Queen, on his recommendation, had given
me the K.C.M.G. and Mr. C. C. Smith the C.M.G.
" June ist. In accordance with my orders, Rembau
men have evacuated Tampan.
" June iSth. Legislative Council. In the after-
noon German man-of-war Prinz Adalbert arrived,
with Prince Henry of Prussia, second son of the Crown
Prince and our Princess Royal.
1 Afterwards Sir Cecil Clementi Smith, K.C.M.G.
PRINCE HENRY OF PRUSSIA 273
" June 2 ist. Sent carriage, i p.m., to meet Prince
Henry and suite at landing-place. We had a big
official luncheon to meet him, about forty-five people.
I received him at the steps of the grand entrance and
took him up to the drawing-room where I presented the
naval, military, and civil authorities to him. He wore
the gold collar, ribbon, and badge of the Grand
Cross of some Prussian order, and full naval uniform.
After the dinner he proposed the Queen's health and
I the Emperor's, and in doing so I said a few words
of welcome to our guest . ( I had been asked previously
not to propose his health). Everything went off well.
I took the Prince afterwards for a drive in the four-in-
hand, and drove him past Tanglin and back via
River Valley Road to the Esplanade, where we
alighted, and walked to see the view from the water-
works. In the evening we had a sort of informal
repast, at which Lady Sidgreaves (the Chief Justice
was absent), Mr. 1 and Mrs. Swettenham, Major Gray,
Lieut. Cosmo Huntly Gordon, A.D.C., Lieut .-Colonel
Parnell, Captain Cumming, R.N., and the Prince's
suite, Baron von Seckendorff, and two other Prussian
officers were present. The Prince and Baron von
Seckendorff remained for some time after the others
left , chatting and smoking, and seemed quite sorry to go .
"June 22nd. Went with the Prince and Baron
von Seckendorff early to Johnston's pier to see him
off in the Pluto. The yacht took him to Johore
to lunch with the Maharajah ; and in the afternoon
I drove my team to Bukit Timah to meet them on
their return. They arrived about up to time in the
Maharajah's carriage, with four horses and pos-
tilions quite a good turnout. I took the Prince on
the box of my drag and drove him to Johnston's
pier, where they embarked. We parted with cordial
expressions of regard on both sides, and regret on
theirs (which seemed sincere) that they could not
make a longer stay. Prince Henry is a very nice
young fellow, straight-forward and unaffected, and
with a decided sense of humour."
On the following day (23rd June) the Governor
started on the steam-yacht Pluto for a tour of in-
1 Now Sir Frank Swettenham, K.C.M.G.
274 MALACCA
spection of the provinces under his charge, beginning
with Malacca. His letters to Lady Weld give a
detailed history of his experiences :
" Mr. Irving, the Resident Councillor of Malacca,"
he writes, " came off to meet me on board the Pluto and
took me ashore, in a boat with awnings towed by a
steam-launch. Malacca is exceedingly pretty, with
wooded islands, and an open roadstead which, however,
must have silted up and shoaled a good deal since
the Portuguese used it as a trysting-place for fleets
and armies, and the basis of their operations in the
East. As I passed rapidly ashore over a sea as
smooth as glass I could not help thinking of the
saints and of the sinners, of the apostolic mission-
aries, and the wild adventurers, soldiers of fortune,
and men greedy for gold (as the others were of souls)
who had stepped ashore on that white beach fringed
with palms and shady trees. The town is crowded
down to the water's edge, and is very picturesque
with its quaint red-tiled houses ; some curious looking
sheds being built on piles right into the sea. A
grassy hill rises in the centre of the town, on which
stands the still massive ruins of the first Catholic
Cathedral in the Far East, in which the body of
St. Francis Xavier reposed for several years before
it was finally translated to Goa. We landed at stone
steps under spreading trees which led to a broad grass
esplanade. A guard of honour, of the 3rd Buffs,
was drawn up, and presented arms ; some presenta-
tions were then made of principal residents, some
officials, a Rajah or two, and one or two leading
Chinese, and we then drove about a hundred yards to
the Stadthaus, the former residence of the Dutch
Governors who conquered the place from the Portu-
guese. It is an interesting old house, built at the
foot of the hill, and close to a canal-like river which
no doubt attracted the Dutch, as reminiscent of
home. It contains some good rooms, which are
mostly used as offices ; some are kept for the use of
the Governors, and are just now occupied by the
Chief Justice, who is here on circuit. There is also
a fine carved wood staircase, and a picture (a bad
one) of Lord Minto, who took the town in person and
THE CATHEDRAL 275
burnt certain Dutch instruments of torture in public":
said instruments are portrayed in the background.
" I walked up the hill afterwards with Mr. Irving
to his bungalow, which is a very good house in a fine
situation with a glorious view from it. I must now
go to breakfast. I have been writing this in the
balcony of the police station at Machap with a Malay
policeman standing ' at attention ' over me. I sug-
gested to Mr. Swettenham that it was unnecessary,
but was informed that the man was enjoying him-
self thoroughly, and felt he was performing duty as
body-guard, so I allowed him to remain. "
The letter is resumed the following day on Sir
Frederick's return to Malacca :
" I have just returned from Machap, and am more
struck than ever by the beauty of the view from this
bungalow. The hill it stands on is about a hundred
and fifty feet above the sea, so one looks on to the
roadstead with its gay shipping of Chinese junks and
curious Malay sampans (a fine Russian frigate has, I
see, just come in !). Above us are the ruins of the old
Cathedral with a lighthouse built on to it ; and on
either side stretches out the picturesque old town of
Malacca. Here and there, nestling amongst palm-
trees, one sees detached bungalows, the minarets of
some mosques, and the kiosk-like roofs of the joss-
houses, and beyond a perfect sea of verdure. The
town is surrounded by low hills, but Mount Ophir
and the Rembau mountains rise in the distance to a
considerable height ; the former is about four thousand
feet high. There is no view at Singapore to compare
with it. I have charming rooms here, and Mrs.
Irving is exceedingly kind ; they have asked me to
stay with them as long as I am in the town.
11 June 26th. I have been going over the Cathedral
with Irving. There are several fine tombs on the grass-
grown floor of the nave. One of a Bishop Paul, S.J.,
1 the second Bishop of Japan,' dated 15 A.D. (the rest
of the date effaced). The greater number of tombs,
however, are Dutch, and belong to the seventeenth
century. The building is roofless ; and I am told it
was much disfigured by the Dutch. There is a large
276 A RECEPTION
chancel at the east end, which was walled up. I
noticed the introduction of some Renaissance pillars
and decorations ; the church was supposed to have
been built about the year 1555. A lighthouse tower
quite modern has been built into the wall on the
west end. I got the key and penetrated into the
chancel, hoping to find the aisle of the High Altar,
and the spot where St. Francis Xavier's shrine, or
coffin, was kept. There was a division in the place,
and stone supports on which I thought at first the
coffin might have stood, but after a careful inspection
I am inclined to think that the Dutch had pulled
down the former chancel, and the place where the
altar and shrine stood, and built a guard-room or
something of the kind on the site. It has been used
as a powder magazine quite within recent times. The
hill on which the Cathedral stands is surrounded by a
high wall, so no doubt in its day it was considered
a strong place ; one gate alone remains, a very
picturesque one, and a fortified well a precaution
against the Malays poisoning the springs.
" In the evening I went to the Chinese burial-
ground to meet a deputation from the municipality,
and from the Chinese, who had come to me to have a
knotty point settled in which there were so many
interests and rights involved, and sanatory con-
siderations to be taken into account not to mention
ancient concessions, and Government proclamations
that I thought we should never get at the bottom of
the story. However, I studied it on the ground and
heard all the arguments and then delivered my
verdict, which I think will meet the case, and they
all professed to be satisfied though whether they were
so, is a different thing. In the evening the Irvings
gave a reception at which a good number of people
were present ; amongst others there were two little
boys, 1 sons of Sultan Abdullah, who is pur prisoner at
the Seychelles for complicity in Birch's murder.
Also some Chinese in full fig, some descendants of old
Portuguese and Dutch families, and various officials.
There was some singing too, in parts ; altogether
we had quite a pleasant evening.
" June 2$th. Drove to our boundary, by Alor
1 Rajah Ngah Mansur and Chilian of Perak, -
ATHLETIC SPORTS 277
Gajah, and crossed into Tampan. Met Seyd Mahomed
on his way to see me ; he turned back and took us
to his house. I examined the stockade recently
built by the Datoh Perba of Rembau's people when
they took it. The Datoh had carried off all Seyd
Mahomed's furniture, in fact wrecked the place.
The latter appeared to have about thirty followers.
He drew up a guard of honour (men all armed with
rifles), and would have fired a salute with some small
cannon he had got, but I told him my visit was
unofficial ! He seemed very grateful for what I
had done for him, and as I had sent back the Datoh
Perba, and restored to him what was left of his house,
he had every right to be.
" June 27 'th. I was up early this morning, and went
to Mass at the Cathedral, which is modern and larger
than the one at Singapore, but not so clean or well-
kept. Mass was said by a Chinese priest, so rever-
ently and quietly ; he had a light thin moustache
and, I think, a pigtail under his chasuble. He is a
confessor, having been imprisoned and condemned
to death, and finally banished for the faith. After
Mass was over I went into the sacristy and asked him
for his blessing. I had a talk also with Fr. Delonette,
who told me several things about St. Francis Xavier
which I had not known before.
" In the afternoon I went to see the athletic
sports a great concourse of people of all shades of
skin, and every kind of colour and costume. The
3rd Buffs did most of the racing. Captain Howarth
won the foot race (Ladies' Prize), to the great delight
of his wife. I gave three prizes first, second, and
third for a 300 yards foot race, and it was the closest
and best race of the day. I stayed till dusk and gave
away the prizes. There was immense excitement
over a tug-of-war, when the Malay police pulled
against a team of Klings, 1 and equal excitement
when the soldiers pulled over the Malay police, who
had defeated the Klings. I believe, however, that
Malays could beat an ordinary man-of-war's crew in
a long pull on the water. They have been known to
row forty-five miles in one night. ... By the way, do
you know that our friend (and your friend's husband)
1 The name given by the Malays for the Tamils of Southern India.
278 JAKUN SCHOOL-GIRLS
Rajah Mahdi was, in his time, a famous pirate,
and quiet as he looks has killed his dozen or so
men ?
" With regard to my journeys, they have been very
interesting but not specially eventful. The roads are
tolerable, in some parts excellent. Most of the flat
ground is taken up with the cultivation of rice. The
Malays use a very primitive plough, and it is dragged
by that most antediluvian-looking animal, the water
buffalo man and buffalo generally working up to
their knees in mud and water. All the flats are
dotted over with clumps of coco-nuts, palms, and
bananas, and each clump contains a dwelling, and yet,
in spite of living in a marsh, fever and malaria are
unknown here. 1 The richness of vegetation on the
higher ground is indescribable ; one sees every kind
of palm-tree, and orchids and wonderful flowering
creepers, many of which were quite new to me. In
the clearings one comes on to the plantations of
tapioca and pineapples growing wild. I saw some of
the latter growing out of the tiles of an old roof.
The houses are very picturesque, with deep caves like
Swiss chalets, but even quainter. They are generally
raised high off the ground on posts.
" June 2%th. Yesterday, after the mail had left,
I went to visit the convent, which is a nice bungalow
house with large grounds planted with coco-nut
trees stretching down to the sea. There were about
one hundred and twenty children, but a good many
were absent on account of its being Sunday ; of these
about thirty were paying scholars. The Rev. Mother
pointed out les sauvages to me Jakun girls. There
were about a dozen of them ; one of whom Fr.
Delonette described as being une irks bonne fille, and
said she was going to be a lay-sister ; but as they
have a way of running off to the woods when they are
grown up, I should think they could hardly count
on her vocation. I asked if there were any descend-
ants of the Portuguese amongst them, and about
fifty were made to stand forward all quite dark.
Swettenham tells me that they seldom intermarry
with the natives, though their appearance would
1 Sir Frederick must have been misinformed on this point, as they
are very prevalent.
ST. JOHN'S FORT 279
lead one to think so. It is sad, however, to see these
children who bear some of the noblest historical
names in the world, such as D' Albuquerque, De
Castro, De Souza, Gonzales, and Pereira the latter
being probably of the same family as St. Francis
Xavier's great friend, merchant princes in their day
so poor that they can hardly pay a few cents for their
schooling, and are o,ften clothed out of charity. The
nuns asked if I could give them increased Government
assistance, and I hope to be able to do so. They have
a number of Chinese orphans, but hardly any Malays.
I drove afterwards with Fr. Delonette to the priest's
houseto callon Fr . De Souza, who welcomed me warmly,
and told me I was the first Catholic Governor to enter
the church (which is hideously renovated outside)
since the Portuguese lost Malacca two hundred and
fifty years ago. I called afterwards on the officers'
quarters, and later on drove with Swettenham into
the old town and saw some exceedingly curious old
houses, and the interior of a Chinese temple or
joss-house. We also called on two rich Chinese, and
had tea with them, and saw all kinds of beautiful
and rare curios. These houses were charming, with
open courts, and gardens. Whampoa's house is
quite European by comparison, and not half so
interesting.
" June 2%th. Up at 5 a.m., and off at 6 to drive to
Kessang, Swettenham and I in one carriage, Gordon
and Superintendent of Police in another. We visited
hot springs and Government forest reserves ; also a
French naturalist, who insisted on making me accept
a magnificent collection of bird-skins, for which I
shall have to make him a magnificent present ! He
also pressed a most fascinating little monkey on me,
but this I refused. She was long-haired, and her
affection for her master was so great as to be almost
ludicrous. She put her arm round his neck, and
cried when he made her leave him, though she obeyed
him all the same.
" On my way back I climbed up a hill to see a
fine old fort called St. John's. It was quite perfect
and very interesting ; I could trace the side from
which the attack was made, the bullets and shot
marks being still visible ; it was taken from the
280 RETURN TO THE PLUTO
Portuguese by the Dutch. I also visited the hospital
and gaol.
" 2gth. Very tired last night, and slept till
8 a.m. Mass was at 9 at the Cathedral. Then in-
spected military hospital, and chose a new site.
Settled also question of new site for a school, and went
on to see a curious Armenian tomb in the Protestant
Church. A good many Government matters came
before me, and had to be decided upon. I also
pardoned two men ; the wife and children of one of
them came to implore me to let him off, and I found
on investigating the case that the husband and his
fellow-culprit had been punished enough already
(it was not a very serious offence), so I cut short the
punishment, which will save the family from desti-
tution. One has so often to refuse, that it is pleasant
to be able sometimes to act according to the dictates
of mercy, and one's own inclinations.
" I start this afternoon for Pangkalan Balak. It
is possible that I may go to Purang first, as there has
been an outbreak of the beri-beri sickness in that
district, and if Dr. Mackinnon thinks my presence
there would be of any use I should visit it first.
" July ist. Before leaving Malacca a great
number of Chinese merchants came to visit me in
order to wish me good-bye. I suggested to them that
as the new school will be much used by their com-
patriots, they might subscribe and pay for the site,
and I would have a tablet put up with the names
of the donors, They seemed to approve of the idea.
That night, Swettenham and I embarked from a
little native village twenty miles north of Malacca
after a delightful drive, much of it through jungle
and high trees ; a good road, and very shady and
pleasant. We walked about a mile from the police
station to the beach. The boat was waiting for us
on a smooth sandy shore, and a number of strange-
shaped boats and vessels were pulled up on the
beach, and equally strange natives in quaint cos-
tumes were assembled to see us go on board. We pulled
off for a mile or two past fishing stakes stretching
far into the sea, and reached the Pluto. The sunset
was a beautiful one the sea a dead calm, and of a
purplish-leaden hue, the promontory and island to
A CHINESE BEAUTY 281
our north, a low streak of dark neutral tint, and,
where the sun had set, crimson light against a deep
blue sky. We dined on deck under an awning ; I
had one cigar afterwards, and slept comfortably
a cool night till morning. We had anchored at
the mouth of the Linggi River, and at an early hour
we left the Pluto to come in at high tide, and got into
a boat with awnings, and were towed up the stream
past Sampang, till we got to Permatang Passir.
The latter is quite a town on a small scale, and
they had made great preparations for our arrival ;
the houses were all decorated with red stuffs, and a
canopy stretched for me to sit under, and a great
firing off of crackers, and salute of small cannons
greeted us on landing. Here we were met by Captain
Murray, the Resident, who took us part of the way
on horseback, and afterwards in his wagonette, for
about twenty miles till we reached the Residency,
which is a good-sized bungalow on the top of a hill.
About two miles before we got there, we passed through
a town called Kassa, inhabited by Chinese and
Malays, and were met outside it by the principal
Malay chiefs, the Datoh Klana and Datoh Bandar,
dressed up in gala costumes. When we got inside
the town we were received by Malays with banners
and standards of feathers, and a procession of
Chinese with tom-toms. The prettiest part of the
show was a procession of eight little Chinese girls,
dressed in gorgeous silks and brocades the children
themselves being beautifully painted like little china
figures ; one was perfectly lovely with almond-shaped
eyes and long eye-lashes. I had no idea a Chinese
could be so exquisitely pretty. She looked about
ten or twelve years of age. The firing off of cannon
and crackers was perfectly deafening, and they
threw handfuls of crackers under the very feet of
the horses, who, strange to say, did not seem to
mind it the least. The journey, to-day, lay through
a richly wooded country with plantations and
villages at considerable intervals from each other.
Six years ago no white man had ever penetrated so
far into the interior, and there were only a few Malays
living in the jungle and scarcely any of the ground
was cultivated. When we reached the Presidency,
282 A BATTLE-SCENE
the police force which numbers about thirty strong,
and whose parade-ground is overlooked by it fired
a salute from seventeen field-guns. There are a good
many tin ' washings ' in this neighbourhood. The
country rises into high wooded hills behind the
Residency, and nutmeg trees, coffee and many
other curious plants, including ipecacuanha, grow in
the gardens which surround it.
" July 2nd. This morning, after first breakfast,
we started to ride to a hilltop about eleven miles
from here ; when we had nearly reached the summit
we dismounted and walked up about three hundred
steps, which brought us to a little bungalow built
of palm leaves and bamboos. The hill is about
1500 feet above the sea, and there is a magnificent
view from it. The Pahang Peak in the Bendahara's
country on the east side of the Peninsula is visible
from here, and southwards one can see almost as far
as Malacca, and northwards towards Selangor. The
blues, and lilacs, and pearly tints were softened in
the distance with a delicate haze, and here and there
a curl of white smoke, or patch of yellowish-greenish
cultivated ground, relieved the brilliant green of the
jungle in the middle distance. At our feet was a
deep precipice overgrown with wild plantain (banana)
and fern. We have just been watching a huge
centipede hunted by hundreds of black ants. It
lasted over half an hour, and was a most curious
sight. The ants would have killed him, but the
middle and tail of the pack came across another
party of ants, and a desperate fight ensued. Ulti-
mately the centipede, after many doubles in which
he contrived to throw most of his pursuers off the
scent was only followed by a few of the leading
hounds, finally only by one, and he, after running
back for assistance, and not getting any, gave up
the chase. The centipede was thick and scaly, and
nearly four inches long. He made a good fight for
life, and deserved to get off, though he did so by a
narrow squeak. At one time he had hundreds of ants
after him, and twenty or thirty on his body, biting
his eyes and ears ; if the ants had had a good whipper-
in they must have killed him. We have seen three
flying lizards since we came here, and some horn-
SEREMBAN 283
bills. This house is built on high posts ; it only
contains one bedroom, a bathroom, dining-room,
and a balcony. We (Swettenham and I) are going
to sleep here to-night, and return to the Residency
to-morrow afternoon. I wanted a day's complete
rest in order to work up my correspondence, which is
in arrears. I have also been colouring some sketches
in the Malacca country. There is to be a bonfire on
the peak which will be seen for miles round, in honour
of my visit. As the hut is so small, Gordon remained
at the Residency with Mr. Lister (Lord Ribblesdale's
son) who is staying with Captain Murray.
" July yd. The bonfire last night was a beautiful
sight. This morning the noise of the monkeys and
birds, bull-frogs, and some kind of cicala at daybreak,
was indescribable. I took a long rest and did not get
up till 8 a.m. A great fog came rolling up from the
sea whilst I was dressing the effect of it was rather
fine ; it looked almost like the smoke of a bush-fire.
I had just got out of my bath and the temperature
went down so much that I was glad to put on my
warmest clothes.
" July 4th. We came down from the hill yester-
day, leaving the temperature at 73 in the
shade, and returned to the Residency at Seremban.
I went in the afternoon to look at the ( experimental
garden,' which was very interesting, and to see the
police shooting at a target. In the evening, after
dinner, we went to see a play at the Chinese theatre
a very funny performance. Some of the actors'
dresses were most gorgeous, brocades covered with
gold and silver embroidery. Tom-toms and gongs
were strummed upon all the time, marking the
inflection of the voice like an accompaniment. The
stage voices especially in the ladies' parts were raised
to a sort of squeak, which had the funniest effect.
We stayed there nearly two hours, and left the
wicked Rajah engaged in making love to an Empress
or she to him she sitting on a chair of state behind
a table with a red cloth on it, whilst he was perched
up on something which looked like a baby's chair
at the other end of the stage. People went in and
put all the time and did not seem to take much
interest in the performance. The story was the old,
284 A STAG-HUNT
old one of the wicked Baron (or Rajah) making love
to the virtuous peasant's wife, with an Emperor
and Empress thrown in the former dressed like an
absolute nightmare. There was a good deal of
pantomime introduced, acrobatic feats, etc. One
Chinaman pulled himself up to a beam by his own
pigtail, passing afterwards over it. I thought his
scalp would have come off, and I noticed he held
on to his head when the performance was over,
as if he had found it rather uncomfortable. On
our return through the village to the Residency we
saw numbers of Chinese gambling in the market-
place. I should have liked to have stopped to have
seen a little more of it, but of course could not do so.
" This morning 5th July we started, on horse-
back, to shoot sambur (red deer), Captain Murray
having organised a great hunt ; but there was only
one seen, and nobody got a shot at it. There are
elephants in the neighbouring jungles one was
seen here not very long ago, but they can only be got
at by studying their haunts, and giving more time
to it then I have to spare. This evening some chiefs
from the State of Sri Menanti, which is not very far
from here, came to me to complain of their ruler,
and of the interference of the Maharajah of Johore.
I told them that if they wished, and the ruler agreed,
the British Government would advise them on matters
of policy, also on their internal economy, and that such
advice would probably lead to peace, and a more
stable government,
" July jth. Steam-yacht Pluto. Off mouth of Klang
River. I have just heard that a mail is waiting at
Klang for our letters. We left the Seremban Resid-
ency yesterday ; I inspected the hospital and gaol
at Rasak and wished the Datoh Klana and Datoh
Banda good-bye. Captain Murray drove us four or
five miles, as far as the Datoh Banda 's place ; then
we mounted and rode by a jungle path through
thick forests to Lukut. We hardly saw a living
creature all the way, and had to go slowly as the
ground in places was very boggy, almost under water.
Mr. Douglas, Resident of Selangor, came in a beautiful
steam-yacht of about 40 or 50 tons to meet me at
the mouth of the river at Lukut, and to take me
THE SULTAN OF SELANGOR 285
to the Pluto. In the night we steamed up the coast
to Jugra in order to pay our respects to the old
Sultan of Selangor. The river at that part is still
and deep with forests of mangrove on either side.
There is a curious hill at Jugra like a pyramid with
a flattened apex ; all the surrounding country is
covered with dense jungle. The Sultan, who is a
very queer old fellow, sent his ghari to meet us, and
we partly drove and partly walked to his house,
through a rather pretty scattered village. We were
saluted here by some small guns, and his son, Rajah
Musa, met us, and led me into the enclosure, and
up to a reception-house, on the steps of which I
was met by the Sultan, Abdul Samat. He was
splendidly got up, with a magnificent sword which
had been presented to him by the Queen, and wore
a kind of hussar jacket, a rich sarong, slippers, and
some fine diamond rings. The reception-house was
a handsome building, carpeted inside, and with a
table in the centre covered with fruit, flowers, and
silver. We sat around it on a raised platform.
The room was surrounded by a verandah, but separ-
ated from it by screens, so that the people could see
all that was going on without pressing too closely.
The Sultan appeared to be exceedingly pleased at
my visit, and at my congratulations on the improved
state of the country of late years, etc. etc. He
struck me as being in his dotage, but the Resident
told me he thought he was only very nervous.
However, he seemed much delighted, and after some
talking he subsided, and sat chattering in a low
voice to himself.
" After taking leave of the Sultan we got on
board the boat again and were towed by the steam-
launch over a very shallow bar to the Pluto, where
I was glad to get a bath and second breakfast. We
saw some bright blue crabs, a small crocodile, and
walking fish, on the banks of the river. Poor Rajah
Mahdi is here ; he is very ill indeed ; we are going
to land him this afternoon in his own country I
believe to die. We are now steaming into the Klang
River, and shall soon arrive at the village of Klang,
where we sleep to-night at Captain Douglas's house.
To-morrow we go on to Kuala Lumpur, and shall
21
286 KUALA LUMPUR
stay there and make excursions in the neighbour-
hood till the 1 2th, when we return to Klang. So
far the expedition has been a most successful one,
and I have enjoyed it immensely. Mr. Swettenham
is a very pleasant companion ; he is fond of this
kind of life, and knows all about the country and
the people, besides talking the language perfectly.
" July 9th. I have just heard that a vessel is
leaving, and this letter, if sent off within an hour,
may catch it. When I last wrote we were in the
straits of Klang ; we steamed up the river between
green wooded banks till we reached the town, where
we were received with a salute from an old fort
erected on a hill commanding the river. This fort
was formerly held by our friend the old Rajah Mahdi,
and is supposed to be the scene of many wild exploits
in the old piratical days. The jetty was decorated
with every kind of gay hangings, and I drove up
from there to the Residency, where I was received
by .Mrs. Douglas and her daughters, and I after-
wards made a circuit of the town with Captain
Douglas. It is a pretty little town, but is being
deserted for Kuala Lumpur, which is farther inland.
" loth. We left early, and were towed by a
steam-launch up the river. We saw a kingfisher
with a brilliant orange head and red and blue wings,
some pigeons, but no alligators ; the banks were
thickly wooded, and the river got very muddy and
narrow as we advanced, till, reaching Demarsarah,
we left the boats and took to the saddle. From
thence we rode to Kuala Lumpur, where a grand
reception awaited us. Some thousands of people
turned out, and the streets were decorated with
strips of coloured cloth and bunting and triumphal
arches.
'This morning (nth) we were up early, and
Mr. Swettenham, Captain Douglas, Daly, and I
went out shooting after deer but, alas, we saw
none. I missed a little pig and got three jungle
fowl. The latter are said to be the ancestors of our
barn-door fowls, and certainly resemble them very
much, but they fly like pheasants. We saw lots
of tracks of elephants, mostly about ten days old.
The jungle is extraordinarily interesting such a
A BUFFALO-DRIVE 287
variety of bird- and insect-life. I saw a man who
had been attacked by a tiger on the road, and been
badly clawed by him, and would undoubtedly have
been killed had not his little boy (of six or seven
years of age) thrown his basket at the tiger, where-
upon the tiger retreated ! The man's wounds are
now healed, but he was ill for a long time from the
shock. Tigers seldom attack men, never a man on
horseback ; they have, however, a special fancy for
Chinamen.
" July iith. We were in the saddle yesterday at
5.30, on our way to Batu. The country we passed
through was thinly populated, undulating, with
occasional views of distant hills, the foreground
mostly jungle. We stopped for a short time at
Batu, where a Malay chief, a native of Pahang, had
made great preparations for our arrival, decorated the
village (the people of which are mostly Sakais *),
and got a chair of state ready for me in his house,
which was also prettily decorated. After leaving
Batu we got into thick jungle with fine forest trees,
a path had been cut for us through it, so it was
rideable. There was an endless variety of beautiful
flowers I longed for you to see them. After pro-
ceeding for some miles, we suddenly came on to a
huge rock, about four or five hundred feet high,
absolutely perpendicular and rising like a great fort
or castle out of the forest, with trees and twisted
roots growing out of it and clasping and crowning
it. I have never seen anything resembling it. It
seemed like an island in the vast forest, and its up-
heaval was probably due to volcanic action. There
is another rock very similar to this one in Perak, they
tell me, called Gunong Pondok. A river was running
at its feet and partly surrounded it. We had now
come to our hunting ground ; so we separated, Mr.
Douglas, Swettenham and I forming one party,
under the guidance of the village chief and two
Sakais. We tracked a herd of buffalo (Bos sondai-
acus) for fully an hour, but never saw them. They had
been on the ground that morning, as the blades of
grass they had bitten and trodden down had not yet
withered. We saw nothing to shoot except a bird
1 One of the original tribes of the Peninsula,
288 A MAMMOTH CAVE
about as big as a guinea-fowl, and very like one in
shape, but of a most gorgeous colour, peacock green,
gold, and orange ; it ran along the ground close to me.
The hen-bird seemed dark ; if I had had my shot-gun
with me I could have killed them both. After
walking for three hours in the forest, we returned
to the big rock where we had left Dr. Mackinnon
and Miss Douglas. The other party, consisting of
Captain Rhodes, Dr. Barrington of the Buffs, and Mr.
Taylor, an officer of the Ordnance Department, had
not been more successful than we were. We then
climbed up a steep path, and at the height of about
a hundred feet above the level ground we found
ourselves at the mouth of a huge cave, in which
luncheon had been got ready.
" I must describe it : picture to yourself a huge
banqueting-hall, with a dome-shaped roof about
300 feet high, and at least 150 feet long, with great
apertures in the roof through which the light streamed,
softened into green and gold by the overhanging
trees. The Malays have a legend that a fairy princess
lives in the summit of this great crag into which
no human foot has penetrated and that when she
shows herself to a man she brings him good fortune.
I can imagine no more appropriate spot for a fairy
dwelling-place. Standing within the cave, and
looking out of its dark framework of stalactite pillars
and buttresses into the sunlight, and wealth of
tropical vegetation stretching away for miles below
me, I really felt that it was worth while making the
tour of the globe if only to see that sight.
11 Having got very wet and hot in our tramp in
the forest, I was very glad to be able to change my
wet clothes in a recess of the cave. I was attended
by two Malays, who watched the operation with much
earnestness and reverence, as if they were witnessing
a religious ceremonial ; probably they thought it
was one ! Luncheon followed, which was a most
picturesque affair, groups of Malays and Sakais in
every kind of dress, and undress, in marvellous
variety of colour, some armed with parangs, 1 and
other curiously shaped weapons, stood or squatted
around us. It was like a scene in a play stage
1 Cutlass.
A MALAY SCENE 289
brigands and all complete. After luncheon we
explored the caves by torchlight ; thousands of bats,
disturbed by the light, flew over our heads. I shot
one or two for Dr. Barrington, and the noise of the
reverberations through the caves was very grand.
When we came to the last one they gave three cheers
for ' the Governor ' the first one who had ever
penetrated into these wilds. We afterwards went
down to the river, and I tried to catch a fish, with
both fly and minnow. It was no good ; so the
Malays (who are not particular how they get their fish)
threw the root of a plant called ' tuba ' into the water,
which has the effect of stupefying them, and before
long they come to the top. Such a scene followed ;
the Malays shouted and yelled, throwing themselves
into the water and hitting the fish with sticks, and
laughing just like a heap of schoolboys. They killed
about a hundred or two small fish, like our roach.
There was one rather larger, of about 4 or 5 Ib. weight,
and a few that looked like barbel, of from i to 3 Ib.
weight. Though it was poaching, it was great fun,
and reminded me of fishing the brooks at Stony-
hurst on ' good days.' We got home in time for me
to have a short nap after my bath before dinner.
We dined at the Capitan China's, 1 and it was a great
function. The reception-hall I described in my last
letter was, I find, built expressly for this occasion.
As I entered, with Mrs. Daly, the military police,
who numbered about forty, presented arms, and
the bugles sounded. This was the signal for the
explosion of Chinese crackers a performance which
lasted fully a quarter of an hour. The Capitan's
expenditure in crackers must have been portentous.
The dinner began with birds' nest soup, the rest of
the dinner was European. When it was over the
Capitan proposed the health of the Queen Empress,
then mine ; after which I proposed that of the
Sultan of Selangor, and Douglas the Capitan's ; all
short speeches.
" After this I should not have been sorry to
have been allowed to go to bed, but the Chinese had
got up an entertainment in my honour at their
theatre, so I had to go. It was allegorical, and
1 The head Chinese of a State goes by that name.
290 CHINESE ENTERTAINMENT
represented all the rival Rajahs, headed by the
Sultan, giving up their quarrels and putting them-
selves under the Governor's protection, and doing
him homage. The absurd part of it was that in spite
of there being an actor on the stage who represented
the Governor they, perpetually, one after the other,
bowed down before me. Afterwards they sang an
ode of welcome in which they wished me every kind
of prosperity, a long reign as Governor, and so forth.
I can't describe the gorgeousness of the principal
personages, Rajahs, Sultan, Governor, etc., with
their banners and dresses of the most brilliant colours,
and rich materials, stiff with embroideries in gold
and silver. Also women who were supposed to be
riding on hobby-horses of which the heads only were
visible, the rest being hidden by masses of rich
drapery. Then there were tumblers executing
wonderful antics in scarlet trousers and blue jackets.
One was constantly reminded of the medieval
pageants which one reads of in history. I was
glad to leave as soon as the part addressed to me
was over, and got to bed about 12 p.m. after a very
hard day's work.
" July i*$th. In the morning I went over a
tapioca factory. I also received a Malay deputation
and inspected the government offices. The Malay
spokesman was eloquent about the good my coming
would do in this country, and said that it was clear
that I took an interest in the people and wished
them well, and that they all hoped I should long
be Governor, and should return shortly to see them
again ; and after I had replied, and said that the
Queen took much interest in the welfare of all the
countries under her protection, they answered that
they knew she must be good, and anxious to help
them, for, whereas formerly they had suffered much
from wars and rapine and oppression, now they
lived in happiness and security. I also received a
Chinese deputation about mining and other busi-
ness.
" July 1 4th. On board s.s. Pluto at anchor,
mouth of Klang River. We started this morning
on horseback at 5.30. As we rode through the
town (Kuala Lumpur), we stopped to visit the gaol
CROCODILE-SHOOTING 2 9 1
a temporary one and found the sentry, musket in
hand, fast asleep in an easy-chair ! I had to settle
the site of a new fort and Residency there ; after
this was done we rode on to Damansara through
the usual forest scenes, hearing but not seeing a
number of hornbills who made a great noise in the
trees over our heads. We got on board steam-
launch at Damansara, and on to the Pluto at Klang,
but did not land to take leave of Mrs. Douglas as
I had a slight touch of gout. The Ranee Mahdi
came off to see me, with presents for you and Minnie
and a petition for me. The old man is very ill.
We have dropped down the river, and shall lie at
the mouth of the straits to-night, as we expect a
steamer with Singapore letters.
" July i$th. Gout better this morning, having
been doctored by Mackinnon. Proceeded north-
wards along the coast to Sungei Buloh, a little archi-
pelago of rocky islands which have been lately
populated by fishing people who say that they are
safe from pirates now that they are under the Queen's
protection ; formerly their wives and daughters
and they themselves ran the risk of being carried
off into slavery. We anchored, and went up a river
to shoot crocodiles a very narrow and muddy creek
with slimy banks overhung by mangroves which
sometimes almost met over our heads. It was full
of crocodiles, and before long we caught a glimpse
of the ( wake ' of one in the water, but did not get
a shot till we passed the village ; then as we rounded
a point two big brutes rushed, or rather tumbled,
out of the jungle over the slimy banks into the water,
but the point of land prevented my getting a shot.
The next minute two more came down off the mud
on the other side, and I managed to shoot them
both, right and left. I had two more shots, and I
believe both were hit, but they got down into the
water and were lost. Captain Rhodes hit one,
Gordon did not get a shot, and Mr. Swettenham
gave me his chance. We are now about to land at
an ancient Dutch fort at Selangor, which is in ruins.
We were to have made an expedition to shoot water
buffaloes to-morrow, but it is very tame work,
almost like shooting cows, and as I have still some
292 A DUTCH FORTRESS
gout about me it is not worth while to risk a wetting
in the marshes, so I have given it up.
July i6th. Selangor River.
have just been ashore at Kuala Selangor,
which was once an important place but now is only
a collection of huts. The police quarters are in the
Dutch fort, a very interesting old place on a hill
overlooking a wide stretch of sea-straits, and miles
of forest and jungle tenanted by elephants, and
tigers, and all kinds of wild animals. The earth-
works were planted with senna trees by the Dutch
and they have now attained a great size. Some
guns are still there, and the remains of the gate,
and some of the outworks. The Dutch built the
fort about two hundred years ago, and used to levy
blackmail on the traders on the river ; the Malays
stormed it, and took it from them. Rajah Mahdi
held it for some time against our troops in the late
war, and put many shot-holes into H.M.S. Rinaldo
from his guns ; but the Rinaldo was pluckily handled
by Captain Robinson (a brother of our friend Sir
Hercules), and he shelled the outer fort from the
sea, and stormed it, and then boldly ran up the
river and attacked the position at close quarters,
and the old Rajah had to give in.
" July ijth. Steam-yacht Pluto, Dindings.
" In my last letter I told you about the old Dutch
fort. I forgot to mention that in front of the gateway
stands a large flat stone upon which the Sultans of
Selangor are installed on their accession just like
the famous stone of Scone which was afterwards
brought to Westminster Abbey. Captain Douglas,
the Resident, left us to-day after dinner. I gave him
permission to keep the old Residency at Kuala
Lumpur as a guest-house, and for the use of the
Sultan when he was there. It seems singular to
present the Sultan with a house in his own country,
but without this permission he would not think
of taking it. There are reasons of policy which make
it advisable that he should have a suitable house at
Selangor, and Douglas says that the permission to
make use of it will please him very much, and he
will look upon it as a great mark of friendship. We
entered the Bernam River this morning a very
THE BINDINGS 293
wild country covered with jungle, and with hardly
any inhabitants visible on its banks. We steamed
for sixteen miles to Sabah, a small village where I
was received on landing by Rajah Hitam, who has the
reputation of being a troublesome man, and by his
brother Rajah Indor, who has that of being a very
good fellow. The manner and appearance of the
latter were very prepossessing, and Mr. Swettenham
speaks highly of his services to us in the late war.
We went afterwards to the court-house (police-
station) and then to Rajah Indor 's house. When I
asked Rajah Hitam if they had any grievances to
complain of, he expressed himself as quite satisfied ;
I found, however, that it was possible to make one
or two changes in the revenue, especially in abolishing
a tax on salt fish, which presses heavily on the poor ;
its abolition will be of considerable service to the lower
classes in the district. I spent most of the afternoon
finishing and colouring some sketches. I have got
one of Malacca, another of a sunset after leaving
Malacca territory, two of Sungei Ujong, and one, a
large sized one, taken from Mr. Kaye's plantation.
I also took one this morning at Sabah. When we
got out of the river we steered northwards to the
Bindings. There was rather a heavy sea and a fine
dark red and yellow sunset behind the islands, so
we put off dinner till we got into smooth water
between the largest island, Pulau Pangkor, and the
mainland. Properly speaking, it is the mainland
which is called Binding, the word meaning wall,
because the coast at that spot is high and precipitous.
The entrance to the river is a very fine one, with a
good harbour ; here we anchored for the night.
Mr. Bruce, the Superintendent and the Penghulu,
Hadji Hakim, a very nice old man, came off to us.
" July l8 ^. I gt up at daybreak this morning,
and painted, and wrote a dispatch before breakfast.
We went on shore afterwards, and were received by a
military police guard of Sikhs. A lovely spot, such
fine wooded hills and bold rocks, and a smooth
beach with coco-nut trees, and a mosque, and clear
brook with a bridge over it all embosomed in foliage.
The population is very small, mostly fishermen, and,
when we saw it, looked peaceful enough ; two years
294 A GAY RECEPTION
ago, however, it was the scene of a tragedy. Some
Chinese pirates came over to the island, killed Captain
Lloyd the superintendent, wounded his wife who
luckily escaped and left another woman, a Mrs.
Innes, to all appearance dead, though she afterwards
recovered. We looked at sites for a new Residency,
and then went to another bay to examine the ruins
of an old Dutch fort which had been visited by
Dampier the great navigator early in the seventeenth
century. On returning to the Pluto we steamed up
the Binding River or, rather, arm of the sea a
most beautiful view, with hills in the background
like a Scottish sea-loch. I made a sketch of it, and
must now go on deck to see the last of this lovely
scenery before it gets dark. After dinner we shall
land Hadji Hakim and Mr. Bruce, and then steam
on to Larut. The Hadji considers himself badly
used by the Regent of Kedah, and I have had to make
peace between them.
" July igth. Thaiping, Perak.
' This morning I woke at 4 a.m., went on deck,
had coffee and biscuits and a smoke, and enjoyed
the nice cool breeze in an easy-chair and seeing the
sun rise. We arrived at Lukut before breakfast
shoal banks no vessel drawing more water than
the Pluto could get in. About 10 p.m. she missed
the channel, and got stuck in the mud. We took a
boat and soon after met Mr. Low, 1 the Resident,
steaming out in his launch to meet us. We were
towed by the launch to Teluk Kertang, and after
passing through various villages arrived at Thaiping.
We visited a hospital, custom-house, the old Mantri's
house which it is proposed to turn into a prison, and
a police-station on the way. The village and roads
we passed were decorated with flags and arches, and
flowery wreaths, and complimentary mottoes in
English and Malay. At Thaiping a great crowd had
assembled, and a salute of artillery was fired, and the
military police, all Sikhs (in dark turbans, red tunics,
and white trousers), formed a guard of honour. Few
regiments could equal them in appearance with
their handsome bronze faces, soldierly bearing, and
fine physique. Thaiping is quite a little town, being
1 The late Sir Hugh Low, K.C.M.G.
TIN MINES AT KAMUNTING 295
sorrounded with tin mines ; part of it was burnt
down very recently, and I authorised a loan
to help to rebuild it, much to the satisfaction of the
people. The Residency is on a round knoll above
the town ; the tin diggings and washings are close
by, beyond that come small cultivations, and, farther
still, high wooded hills.
" July 22nd. Residency, Kuala Kangsa.
" In the evening of the day I dispatched my
letter to you (iQth) we walked round some villages
and mines, and inspected a hospital which had been
extemporised for the beri-beri cases. The patients
are ordered spirits, and had an extra glass given to
them to commemorate my visit. We visited several
places with a view to investigating the origin of this
mysterious disease. So far no theory can account
for it. The mines are exceedingly interesting.
They are nearly all worked by water ; the mineral
riches in tin of this country are practically inex-
haustible. The local Capitan China owns several
mines ; in one alone he employs over 1000 coolies.
Mr. Caulfield, an engineer, took me over the mines,
and Mr. Low drove me afterwards to see the principal
Chinese village here called Kamunting. The next
day (2oth) I drove in the morning before breakfast
to see some more mines, and a cottage hospital for
coolie miners, and chose a site for a new one. Also
went to see the market-place. Received a deputation
of Chinese, with a few Malays, on the subject of
tenure of lands ; also on rebuilding houses, and some
other questions. Late in the afternoon I drove to
the parade ground, and saw the military police,
infantry and artillery parade under Major Swin-
bourne, and Mr. Walker x of the 28th, the latter was
A. B.C. at one time to Sir William Robinson. I
never saw anything better than the appearance of
the troops. The Sikhs are many of them six foot
high, well-made, and very good-looking. Their
uniform is all blue with white belts (when on guard
of honour, red with white trousers) and black turbans
with a scarlet tag. The native officers also wear
black and gold pugarees hanging down their backs
1 Colonel R. S. Walker, C.M.G., for many years Commandant of the
Malay Sikh Guides.
296 THE SIKH FORCE
from their turbans, and sashes. The artillerymen
were a smaller lot ; they had two brass howitzers
and one Krupp 6-pounder. They were very smart
indeed ; the evolutions, especially skirmishing and
bayonet practice, was excellent. Though only about
130 men were on the ground, it was really a fine sight.
I sat most of the time in an arm-chair with a Sikh
orderly holding an umbrella over my head. Then we
returned to the barracks and saw the Sikhs wrestle.
It was quite a scientific performance in its way. The
bronze-like figures of the men, their graceful postures,
and lithe, wiry, and yet often muscular limbs, would
have made a splendid study for a sculptor or painter.
Their activity is really wonderful ; some couples were
more than half an hour before one threw the other,
or before one laid the other on his back a feat
which is necessary for victory.
" J u fy 2 3rd (Sunday). I went to early Mass,
7 a.m. It was lucky my gout was gone, for I had to
walk a little way there being no road, only a path
to the mission-house and church. The Chinese
sang hymns and litanies nearly all the time Mass was
being said, and three or four Eurasians sang the Ave
Maris Stella. The church was poor but neat, the
congregation consisting of about four or five hundred
Chinese, but the church could hardly hold them.
After Mass I had a cup of chocolate with Fr. Allard,
and was met on my way back to the Residency by
Mr. Low who took me to see the gaol. It was
beautifully clean, and very well arranged, dry, and
in a good situation. I cannot understand why
beri-beri should have broken out here. They gave
the men extra rations of meat in hopes of stopping
it, but nothing had any effect. The sick are now
being removed to the temporary hospital at Kamun-
ting.
" On Friday night a tiger which has often been seen
prowling about the village, and which had killed a
deer in the garden, at about 7 p.m. jumped out of the
bush into the road on to some Chinese who were
returning from the mines and ' played with them
like a kitten ' I was informed. The Chinese were
terribly alarmed, and shrieked and made such a row
that the tiger left them and ran away. One ran
KUALA KANGSA 297
into the dhobi's house which was close by, so we
asked the man to show us the tiger's footprints.
They were quite distinct on the roadside, and the
impression of his claws in the clay where he had
jumped, across a little brook, was as strong as if it
had been taken in plaster of Paris. His foot was about
as broad as a cheese plate, I could not quite span it
with my outstretched hand.
" After breakfast we went to look at the military
police hospital : a fort is to be built here, the site
was chosen by Captain Rhodes ; it commands the
town and barracks, and the road from Kamunting.
Later on we started inland for Kuala Kangsa a
beautiful drive, by a good, but unfinished road.
Mr. Low has had broad drains made by the side of
the road, a plan I much approve of. After a short
time we got amongst the hills into lovely wooded
country. We saw several ponds covered with the
broad leaves and exquisite flowers of the pink lotus,
or water-lily, the flower which in India is sacred to
Buddha. The villages (two or three) which we
passed through were prettily decorated. The distance
to Kuala Kangsa was about twenty- two miles, and
after we had come about seventeen in a pony carriage,
we were met by elephants which had been sent to
take us the rest of the way. One, a huge fellow
with grand tusks, was destined for me and Mr. Low
to ride. We climbed slowly over the narrow pass,
still traversing beautiful hill and forest country, a
clear stream flowing over rocks at one side, when
we saw suddenly in front of us a huge, isolated rock
about 400 feet high resembling the hill containing
the caves which I described to you in Selangor. I
took a rough sketch of it from the elephant's back.
A little later on we met another elephant with a
load of coco-nuts on his back, whose tusks had been
cut off. He seemed rather alarmed at our elephant
(who took no notice of him) and still more so at a
pony that followed in the ghari. It is a singular
thing that a huge animal like an elephant should
be frightened at ponies, and still more so at the
smallest dog. A few miles farther on we came to
a coffee plantation owned by a Mr. Wrey, where
we stopped for a short time and went to see his
298 EASTERN ETIQUETTE
nursery-garden with some fine tea plants ; three or
four miles more brought us to Kuala Kangsa. Kuala
signifying river mouth, for here the little Kangs*a
River flows into the Perak River. We found great
preparations there for my reception. The village
street and the path leading up to the Residency,
which stands on a slight eminence, was decorated
with arches, crimson hangings, and inscriptions.
The military police were drawn up at regular in-
tervals, presenting arms as we passed, and all the
people turned out and much salaaming and bowing
ensued, whilst the cannon fired a salute of seventeen
guns. The Rajah Jusup, the acting Sultan of Perak,
Rajah Idris, Chief Justice, and about twenty Rajahs
and Penghulus chiefs of districts received me in
the centre of the town, where we dismounted, and
walked up all together to the Residency. You can
imagine what a striking picture it made the gay
show and brilliant uniform and dresses, with the
background of quaint Malay houses, buried in palms
and coco-nut trees, the broad river, 300 yards
wide, and, in the distance, a beautiful view of
mountains. All the native ladies had congregated
in a kind of open pavilion close to the Residency,
in order to see the procession up to it. I was told
afterwards that they would have been highly pleased
if I had gone in and spoken to them. The ' Robber
Datoh/ Toh Sri Lela, told me he would have made
no objection ; however, on such a complicated
subject as the Eastern code of etiquette it was better
to keep on the safe side !
" I held a durbar on my arrival with the Regent
and other chiefs which went off very well, and I
am told gave great satisfaction.
" This is such a comfortable house, a charming
view from it, and everything so well done. I hear
they are trying to arrange an elephant-shoot for
me. The difficulty is that their haunts are at a
considerable distance from here (three or four days'
journey), so they have been trying to attract them
to this neighbourhood by turning out some lovely
young she-elephants ; however, so far the stratagem
does not seem to have succeeded.
11 July 24th. Mr. Low and I took a walk round
THE ROBBER CHIEF 299
the town very early this morning. I saw the nursery
gardens, police quarters, and lock-up, and had a
talk with two Malay youths who were imprisoned
there. One was very good-looking, with such a
pleasant face. He said ' good-morning, Tuan/ 1 with
a smile, when I entered his cell. These two, and
two more who are at large, have been convicted of
the murder of a Chinese pedlar, and there can be
no question about it, as they have confessed the
crime. The fact is, Malays think no more of killing
a Chinese than a tiger does, and yet we thanks to
Mr. Low's admirable tact, courage, and good manage-
ment, and the great affection they bear him are
beginning to inaugurate an entirely new era in which
crimes such as this, though they have not ceased,
are very infrequent. When I congratulated Jusup
on the law and order that prevailed, he said it was
entirely due to the good counsels of the English
(i.e. Mr. Low's). The two murderers who have
not yet been arrested are brothers of chiefs belong-
ing to this district, so there was a meeting of Rajahs
to-day at the Residency to consider the case. The
' Robber chief ' told Mr. Low that he had killed
so many men himself that he understood all about
it, and that he did not intend to authorise such
proceedings again, and agreed to have the murderers
given up. He said to me, ' I am a man of few words,
but what I say I do.' It is only four years ago
(1876) since this man and his people made General
Ross and his staff and a handful of sailors and soldiers
run for their lives, close to this spot, and four or
five soldiers, an officer, and a sailor were shot down
before they reached their boats. The ' Robber
chief ' said to me, ' You must not think, Tuan Besar, 2
that my village is as bad as men make out ; things
have been said of us that we don't deserve.' It is
said in the case I speak of that the village was
plundered by the soldiers and sailors, and a man
unjustly hanged, which was the cause of the natives'
attack. There is no doubt General Ross was repri-
manded for hanging the man, and the inhabitants
of the village (which belongs to Toll Sri Lela) even
now fear treachery, and all wore their krisses when
1 Master. 8 Great Master.
300 A DURBAR
they came to see me. I rather like the chief, and
would have gone to see him and his village, but Mr.
Low thinks it would be unadvisable to do so till
the murderers have been given up.
11 July z$th. I broke this off yesterday, as Rajah
Muda came to take me out fishing. He had a boat
with a roof ready for me, and boatmen got up in
black and yellow ; he went in another boat, Mr.
Low in another, and Mackinnon in a third. We
rowed about a mile down the river and I killed a
sebarau, a kind of roach, with a minnow. The
Rajah fished with a casting net, so did the other
Rajahs. They had men beating the water and
throwing in bait to attract the fish. They only got
some very small fish ; mine was the biggest, and
it was only about half a pound weight at most.
The scenery just below the Rajah's house is very
beautiful ; we saw a huge tame elephant fanning
away the flies from her young one which was lying
down, and every now and then sprinkling sand over
it the said baby being about the size of a bullock.
At night after dinner we went by invitation to see
a theatrical performance, given by Rajah Muda,
of dancing girls, though they could hardly be said
to dance. The principal actors were a girl and
her husband, who kept up a kind of dialogue he
being a clown and rather funny. It was eminently
decorous but rather slow, and we all got very
sleepy, and were glad when we were allowed to go
to bed.
" 26th. I have just been holding a durbar.
It took place in a court with a kind of open hall.
We were met by the Capitan China, and quite a
thousand people were present ; a guard of military
police presented arms, and kept the space clear
round a raised chair which I occupied, with carpeted
steps ; the Resident and the rest had lesser seats
round me. First, compliments were exchanged ; then
we proceeded to business, which was mostly con-
cerning mining disputes ; petitions were presented,
and so on. To-morrow we go and see some caves,
Sunday will be a quiet day, and then we embark
for the Binding Islands on our way to Penang.
The Malays have just turned up in large numbers
SAKAIS 30!
with a band of native instruments ; two curious
drums, played on one end with a stick and on the
other with the hand, a kind of gong, and a board
with round pieces of metal (rather pleasant in tone),
struck with a stick. We had speeches and com-
pliments, a present of fowls and bananas, and then
dancing ; a sword dance, a wrestling dance, an
umbrella dance, and a kris dance. The performers
moved slowly round each other twisting their wrists
and hands, and moving their bodies and limbs into
curious slow attitudes in very good time with the
music. The performers, who danced two at a time,
were all men. Now I am going to choose a site for
a new fort, so must conclude.
" July 2%th. The day after I last wrote was
very wet, so I remained at home and transacted
business all day. Some Sakais (aborigines) came to
see me, and shot at a mark with their sumpitans,
i.e. blow-pipes with arrows, which are poisoned when
they are in pursuit of game or their enemies. The
following day (2ist), we started at about 8.30 in
seven fine boats, the decks protected from the sun
by palm-leaves, and my crew dressed in yellow and
black the latter came from the village which belongs
to my friend the Robber chief, and seemed very good
fellows. The Dragon (my boat) was formerly
owned by Birch, the Resident whose murder was
the cause of the Perak War. I have just finished a
sketch of the river and of some Malay boats. The
river is most beautiful ; it narrows a little when one
gets below Kuala Kangsa, and hills rise to either
side. In the evening we went ashore and I held an
audience in a hut on piles at a place called Blanja.
We slept on board the boats, and with a mattress
and a mosquito-net we were very comfortable.
u Early this morning (29th) I went out shooting
on a marsh, or pond, covered with pink lotus, and
azure blue water-lilies, or bog-beans. I shot a
magnificent crane or heron, and had some long shots
at teal and ducks. I was in a canoe; Mr. Swetten-
ham, who walked, got three teal. They were
1 shepherding ' a tiger for me to shoot at Blanja,
but after it had killed two Chinese they thought it
was time to put an end to it, so they destroyed it
22
302 ON THE RIVER KANGSA
with a spring gun. We have been going down the
river all the morning, and I have been finishing a
sketch I began yesterday. I fear I shall have to
defer my return for another week in order to go on
from Perak to Penang. It is necessary I should see
the Regent of Kedah ; he is a feudatory half-vassal
of the King of Siam, and I have several matters to
arrange with him, such as a boundary question, and
a treaty for the extradition of murderers ; also about
some land in dispute between him and the Penghulu
of Pulau Pangkor. The Regent is a pensioner of
ours, so I have a good hold over him. I have
promised to send the Bendahara of Pahang some
kangaroo dogs which he wants, by a messenger who
takes him an elephant from the Perak authorities.
Government will pay for the dogs in return for the
elephant tusks he sent to Singapore.
" July $oth. I wrote the last page on board the
Dragon : we did not reach Durian Sabatang till
after dark last night. We passed to-day the spot
where Birch was murdered. He was bathing in one of
the little native bathing tanks, which are walled round
with palm-leaves, and was stabbed whilst in the
water, so he had no means of defending himself.
When the punitive expedition was sent out, the
Sultan's fort and the village were destroyed, and
trees cut down, and in reprobation of the crime no
one now is allowed to plant or build there. A little
lower down the river we were shown the place where
Captain Innes, R.E., was killed, and two officers
who were with him were wounded in an attempt to
storm a fort, which was afterwards taken and de-
stroyed, like Abdullah's. Mr. Swettenham was in
that affair. We slept at the Residency, which was
occupied by Mr. Paul, who is superintendent of
Lower Perak. It was late when we arrived, and we
were up before daylight and walked round the town,
which is a horrible hole almost under water. I was
glad to get away to the steam-launch, and after re-
ascending the river about three miles we entered
the mouth of the Kinta River. We reached Kuala
Teja that night and slept at the Residency, which is
a charming house with walls made of rough attap
woven into a pattern. Though the house only cost
AN UNINVITED GUEST 303
one thousand dollars to build it is quite a fair size,
the woodwork very good and solid, with six or seven
rooms on the top storey, and a large verandah and
balcony. A tiger was walking about the night we
were there ; with any luck we should have seen him,
as we were sitting out in the verandah smoking in
bright moonlight. Now comes the strange part of
the story ; the tiger who often prowls about the
village on this occasion went into a small cottage,
not above ten paces from the guard-house, and slept
there in company with an old woman. She only
woke up to find out who had been her visitor when
he had gone, but there were unmistakable marks
where he had curled himself up to sleep.
" /w/y 315^. We descended the river early in the
morning in the same way we came up it, after frater-
nising with a rather nice old fellow who is known to
have committed a particularly villainous murder in
the * good old ' bad days when nobody took account
of such trifles. The Kinta is narrow but deep enough
to be the highway for tin and passengers. We are
improving it, and I am authorising money to be raised
for a road from Kota Baru, to lead in an opposite
direction to Bhota on the Perak River half-way
between Kuala Kangsa and Durian Sabatang. Ulti-
mately we shall connect Bhota with the Binding
River at a spot a little above Kota Siam. The Kinta
runs through a jungle which formerly was so dense
that a high-roofed boat could with difficulty get
through. The vegetation is the richest I have yet
come across. We have seen gangs of monkeys both
here and on the Perak River. They look very pretty
throwing themselves from tree to tree with an almost
incredible agility. We also saw hornbills, some
beautiful kingfishers, eagles, kites, and buzzards.
We reached Durian Sabatong that evening at 4 p.m.
and got on board the launch again, and steamed
about six miles down till we found the Pluto at a
spot where we are going to make a canal, about three-
quarters of a mile long, to Durian Sabatong. By
so doing six miles of navigation will be cut off, and it
will afford a good situation for a dock which is much
required, and a better site for a town than the one at
present occupied by DurianSabatong /which accordingly
304 A LEPER HOSPITAL
will be moved there. After settling these matters we
walked a little way along a new road which is being
made, then went on board, and had a bath and dinner
whilst we steamed down the fine broad river, and made
for our old anchorage at Palau Pangkor.
1 I am much pleased with all that I have seen at
Perak. It is a grand country with plenty of rich
fertile land, and immense mineral resources. As
to Mr. Low the Resident, he is a man after my own
heart a noble fellow with a true sense of duty, an
Englishman of the best type.
"August ist. Steam-yacht Pluto, off Palau Pangkor
(Sunday).
" We are having a quiet morning at anchor here.
The Penghulu and his wife and daughters came off,
by invitation, to see the ship. We have settled upon
a site for the house and residency here for the super-
intendent, Mr. Bruce. In the evening we went ashore
and had a hunt. I had one shot at a wild boar in
the bushes, but did not stop him ; he looked rather
like a tame pig. The wild boars here do not
seem half as big or savage as the New Zealand ones,
of which I have killed dozens with only a couple of
dogs and my hunting-knife. The Punghulu also had
a shot, but was unsuccessful. After dinner Mr. Low
left . I was sorry to part with him ; he told me that my
knowledge of Maori ways made me understand the
native questions here, which I think is true.
" August 2nd. We put off last night, and this
morning were steaming up to Penang, and on our way
we landed at Pulau Jerajah to inspect the leper
hospital. It was not a pleasant duty, as some of
the poor people were terrible to look at, mere wrecks
of humanity, but it was a duty, and I was very glad
afterwards that I had been there, and that I had had
Dr. Mackinnon with whom to consult. The hospital
was built by the Chinese by subscription. It stands
on a flat with wooded hills in the background, and the
white sandy beach in front. The building is a fine
one with a central hall, and long tiled corridors
and wards stretching out on either side. It is very
cool and well arranged. Rows of coco-nut trees line
the beach, and the view from it is most beautiful.
We went through the wards and all over the premises.
PENANG 305
The patients made no complaints, but after making
inquiries I was able to order various improvements
in their diet and so forth. After consulting with
Mackinnon, and at their request, I trebled their very
small allowance of tea, and we arranged, in some
special cases, that the dose of opium should be in-
creased. They seemed very grateful. The doctor
in charge appeared an intelligent man, and Mackinnon
thought well of his treatment of the patients. The
view was quite lovely as we neared Penang, fine hills
rising above the red-tiled roofs of the town, and
quantities of boats and shipping all ' dressed,' and
crowds of people in gay native costumes lining the
shores. In the far distance, thirty miles off, one
could just perceive the outline of the grand peak of
Kedah. General Anson came off to meet me, the
Buffs furnished a guard of honour, and we landed
in the midst of a great clatter of guns and drove to the
General's house, where I found a number of letters
from you awaiting me.
' August 6th. Hill Bungalow, Penang.
' I have had two very busy days at Penang
while staying with the Ansons at Suffolk House, and
was very glad to come off here to rest, and tackle
my correspondence. The day after we landed I
opened the town-hall, and held an informal levee
at the government offices, inspected gaol, and looked
at sites for one or two new buildings. The next day
we had races, which were very good. I also spent
a long morning at the Missionary College. It was
most interesting : there were Siamese, Chinese,
Tamils, Indians and Japanese, some of them sons
of martyrs, and, no doubt, some of them will be
martyrs themselves. They presented me with an
address, and verses in Latin. I had a very pleasant
breakfast with the Fathers, who were all most kind
and friendly. I went afterwards to visit the convent
where there is an orphanage for girls, principally
Chinese. They looked so nice in their red dresses,
and had charming manners. I also saw the boys'
school, where they read me an address. An addition
is much required to both institutions, as though very
clean and well-kept they are much too small ; I hope
to be able to do something to help them.
306 THE HILL BUNGALOW
' Yesterday morning I again went to the races,
and in the afternoon had business to transact at
the government offices. This morning we drove off
here, in order to see whether the house will be
suitable (and large enough) for us to use as summer
quarters. We drove to the foot of the hill, and
then rode four miles up a steep though good road
to the bungalow. It stands in a glorious situation
with exquisite views on every side. The house
consists of two cottages joined together by a very
long open corridor roofed in with attap the whole
containing, I should think, quite enough accommoda-
tion, of the cottage kind, for our family. There are
capital places for children to play in, under cover.
The rooms are not large, of course, but quite as big
as ordinary English bedrooms. The house stands
on a peak, with paths and terraces extending in
every direction and masses of palms and tree-ferns,
and lovely flowers of every description, orchids, and
poinciana, 1 and even some roses and geraniums. I
send you a tiny rose-bud and some poor little violets
to remind you of England or Brackenfield. The
view from the verandah is very fine sea, straits,
river, islands, and mainland with distant hills, all
stretched out at one's feet. You could not fail to
be enchanted with the place. The air, too, is delight-
ful, and feels quite fresh and invigorating after the
stifling heat of the plains.
(< August jth. Kota Star, Kedah.
1 I sent off an unfinished letter by the harbour-
master at Penang the day before yesterday, as I
heard a mail was just starting. We arrived at
Kedah on the 3rd, and anchored at a roadstead
some way off from the shore. Kedah, though the
population is Malay, is under the protection of Siam.
It was conquered by the Siamese early this century,
and they have never quite loosened their hold over
it. We bought Penang and Province Wellesley
from a former Sultan of Kedah, and still pay a yearly
sum of two thousand pounds for Penang. We also
give a pension to the Regent Tunku Udin. The
Rajah Yacub came off in a steam-launch to receive
me. There were three boats, the launch, a very
1 Poinciana Regia : in English, " the flame of the forest,"
THE SULTAN OF KEDAH 307
long Siamese boat or canoe painted black and made
out of a single tree, with a deck-house in the centre
with silk curtains and a European boat with an
awning. Rajah Yacub asked me which boat I pre-
ferred, and I chose the Siamese one. There was
rather a heavy ground swell, but no break on the
bar, which was very shallow, their tug touched the
mud slightly. We then entered the mouth of a
fine river with low flat banks, swarming with croco-
diles ; a curious hill, shaped exactly like an elephant
lying down, in which there are caves visible in the
distance. The town is situated some way up the
river, at the junction of two streams. It has a
good court-house and offices, and other rather fine
buildings. Some Chinese junks and Malay proas
lay alongside the wharves, and I also noticed a
government schooner built on English lines, a smart-
looking craft, amongst the shipping. We landed at
a platform, which was carpeted and decorated,
amidst much noise of guns firing, and a considerable
crowd of spectators. The Regent received me on
the steps and we drove off to a house which had
been got ready for us, which is extremely comfortable
and well furnished. Here the Sultan, a youth of
about eighteen, received me. We sat and conversed
for a short time, and then they left, and we sat
down to an excellent breakfast. Rajah Yacub and
his brother the Regent and the young Sultan who
was a nice-looking and pleasant mannered youth
wore London-made clothes with a sarong, and were
very civilised in appearance. In the afternoon the
Regent and Rajah Yacub came, and drove us to see
the town, and later on took us to shoot alligators
up the river in a boat with an awning. I missed
my first shot at a small one, about five or six feet
long, the shot just going over his head, but he came
up again, and this time I hit him in the brain, and
he never moved again. My next shot was at a very
big one lying on a steep bank. I knocked him right
over and he rolled down into the river. My next
chance was lost, as the cartridge missed fire. After
returning to Kota Star (which we did in the steam-
launch) we drove with the Regent about four miles
out of the town to see a charming country residence
308 ANAK BUKIT
with an orange grove, belonging to the Sultan, called
Anak Bukit. The house, which was a fine one, was
built on a little eminence and surrounded with
terraces. To one side of it there was a large pond
or tank full of Ikan Kaluai, a kind of carp, the
Gouremier of the Mauritius. They came to be
fed with bits of orange, and seemed quite tame ;
then some fish spears were produced and we (very
treacherously) proceeded to open an attack upon
them. At my request the Regent took the first
shot, and missed. I tried twice; my second throw
was a good one, just shaving his head. Mr. Swetten-
ham's second went right through the fish's head,
and he pulled him in, spear and all, by the string
which is fastened to the spear and looped round the
wrist. After this the fish either lost confidence in
us or went to bed, the sun having set, so we gave
it up and drove home. On our way to the carriages
we passed through the gardens and admired the
trees laden with oranges and limes, and peeping
out of a round hole in a dead branch we saw a
lovely woodpecker, with a black and white and
crimson head. We also found a chameleon on the
same tree. Our drive home was through padi
fields, and we passed some elephants on the road.
The people all squat down in these native states,
as a mark of respect, when the Sultan or other ' big
man ' passes. The road was an excellent one ; it
runs for about sixty or eighty miles to the first town
on the Siamese frontier. It is strange to think of
being so near that almost unknown country Siam
that one could drive a four-in-hand into it. The
Regent, who is not a strict Mahommedan, dined
with us. We sat for a long time afterwards and
talked business. The conversation was a friendly
one and will, I think, lead to satisfactory results.
I have reason to think that the Regent was pleased
with the tone of my remarks, and manner of dealing
with him, and that I have done some good by coming
here.
" August Sth. Drove early this morning to
Anak Bukit, where we met Yacub, and got into
a charming canoe with small painted cabin and
paddled up a tiny stream under trees and arched
SCENES IN KEDAH 309
roots a kind of by-lane embedded in delicate
ferns, orchids, and palms, in short of vegetation such
as one never sees out of the tropics. Fancy paddling
up the orchid- or palm-house at Kew, with monkeys
gambolling about, apparently quite tame, and
gorgeous kingfishers and butterflies darting through
the trees like animated jewels ! Here and there we
came upon cottages nestling amongst the trees, and
passed bridges made of bamboos for the people to
cross the stream, or canoes, where sometimes there
was only just room for two to pass each other. On
one occasion we met a boat full of women; who all
turned their faces to the jungle, as was right and
proper, in passing us. But (wondering to myself
whether Eve was not curious here) I looked suddenly
around, and found Eve was looking, and was very
much abashed indeed, so I turned away quickly.
We saw some lovely little otters playing on the banks.
The climb up the hill to the caves was a very steep
one, over all kinds of creepers and gnarled and
twisted trunks of trees. My long legs and Swetten-
ham's gave us a great advantage in climbing, and I
think we rather astonished the natives. The caves
were magnificent, and being lit by torchlight, which
exaggerated the wild effects produced by the swarthy
natives in every costume, and want of costume, the
scene was very striking ; I have seldom seen a more
picturesque one, exceeding anything ever painted
by Dore. The caves were not unlike those at
Selangor, so having described those I will say no more.
Then back again in boat and carriage to the house.
8 p.m. We have just dined and are going to start
down the river and join the Pluto as soon as the
Regent is ready. I am going to give him a passage
to Penang. Our people are giving a ball there, and a
Siamese grandee is to be present whom he is anxious
to meet. It must be very galling to the reigning
family here to be under subjection to Siam. They
have fallen in the world, but unquestionably they
are of royal descent, and have reigned over this
country for many hundred years ; they claim to be
descended from Alexander the Great ! To-morrow
morning we touch at Penang, and go on to Province
Wellesley ; drive in a southerly direction as far as the
3io CONCLUSION OF TOUR
Krian River, and sleep at Parit Buntar, a magistrate's
station on the Perak border. The following day
(loth) I am going to inspect hospitals and police-
stations, and see over a sugar plantation, and sleep
on board the Pluto off Butterworth pier. On the
iith we go to look at the Malakoff tapioca estate,
then to Penang where we have a mess dinner followed
by a ball sleep on board that night, and get back
to Singapore either that day or the following one.
At latest I shall be with you on the i3th.
CHAPTER XIV
"Life with all it yields of joy and woe,
And hope and fear,
Is just our chance o' the prize of learning love,
How love might be, hath been indeed, and is."
BROWNING.
THE tour made by Sir Frederick Weld in the pro-
vinces under his rule, and recorded in the last chapter,
was useful to him from more than one point of view.
Its first and most obvious advantage was that it
enabled him to study at first hand the characteristics
both in the upper and lower strata of society of the
people whom he was called upon to govern. Also, by a
happy chance he was enabled to do this under most
favourable auspices. For in Mr. Low, the Resident
of Perak, and Mr. Frank Swettenham he found
helpers and advisers who, by their familiar knowledge
of the Malay language and their intimate acquaintance
with all the complications and intrigues entailed by
the mixture of races Chinese, Malay, Kling, and
Tamil of which these provinces were composed,
were able on many occasions to supply him with the
key to difficult situations. In addition to these
advantages (of which the wise administrator is
always ready to avail himself) Weld brought certain
merits to the discharge of his task which were wholly
his own. One of these was a manner distinguished
by mingled dignity, sauvity and firmness which
was peculiarly adapted to impressing the people
with whom he had to deal, who, like all the Eastern
races , are very susceptible to such influences. The
312 THE GOVERNOR'S PROGRAMME
Malay in particular deeply resent an uncourteous
and offhand manner, and one of their familiar sayings
is : " The Rajah may take my life, but he has no
right to speak loudly (i.e. rudely) to me." The
elaborate courtesy of past generations does not
find much favour in these though it would not be
difficult to find advocates even now to defend it
but a courteous manner born of a kindly disposition
can never be out of date, and will be a mark of good
breeding as long as the world lasts. Such Sir
Frederick Weld possessed in an eminent degree. He
had also the faculty of inspiring affection in those
who served under him. It has been said that to be
popular you must be loved, and the easiest way of
inspiring love is by loving. In these words we have
the secret of Weld's influence over the native races.
Several subjects of importance claimed the
Governor's attention on his return to Singapore.
One of these was the adoption of a settled policy
with regard to the " protected " and native States,
and another the re-settlement of the land-tenure
question in the colony. Besides these there were
other subjects of minor, but still of considerable
importance ; foremost amongst these was the re-
modelling of the police force, the encouragement of
Indian immigration, and the consideration of measures
to be taken for the defence of Singapore.
In a dispatch dated 2ist October 1880, Weld
asks for instructions from the Secretary of State
for the Colonies, and formulates his own opinions
on the question of the future treatment of the native
States. He writes as follows :
" My recent tour in the Malayan Peninsula, whilst
viewing the present, led me to consider the future
of the native ' Protected States/ and I will now lay
before your Lordship some considerations on the
subject.
A CONSISTENT POLICY 313
" It seems self-evident that interests affecting
not only the welfare and position of large popu-
lations but of a country which is the key to the Far
East should not be left to chance dealing. I may
therefore presume that the Home Government has
considered or is considering its future policy
with regard to the native States of the Peninsula.
Nevertheless, no indication of that policy has (as far
as I am aware) reached my predecessors even con-
fidentially. Yet a Governor would gain immeasur-
ably when determining on a course of action, which
he frequently has to do suddenly on an emergency,
if he knew what was to be the future conduct of the
Crown with regard to these States. Consequently
it appears to me that your Lordship cannot be kept
too exactly informed on the views held by Her
Majesty's representative in this colony and the
grounds on which he holds them, if only as affording
materials for a policy which would enable cases
to be dealt with as they arise, and so lead to a con-
sistent line of action.
" My diffidence in addressing your Lordship so
soon after my appointment to the Governorship of
the Straits Settlements would have been even greater
had I not found that my opinions were in complete
agreement with those of Mr. Low, the Resident of
Perak, of whose judgment I have formed a high
estimate, and who has had exceptional opportunities
of getting reliable information on native matters.
Moreover, Sir William Robinson, my predecessor,
having addressed an able confidential memorandum
to the Colonial Office, was informed that he was at
liberty to show it to me ; from this it appears prob-
able that you might expect at an early period to be
put in possession of my views on the same subject.
The native protected States are now unquestionably
in a satisfactory position, and every year of peace
and progress renders it less likely that the status quo
should be disturbed ; still, years must elapse before
good government can be said to be established on
a firm basis. A slight matter, the indiscretion of a
Resident or even of a subordinate, might lead to com-
plications, and it is impossible with the men and
means at our command to be sure that no such
314 ROCKS AHEAD
accident may occur .' Moreover, it must be borne in
mind that advantageous as the present regime is for
the people who are rescued from oppression, good
government, though it means security for the op-
pressed, is a restriction, not a relief, to the oppressor.
Consequently, though gratified, I was not surprised
to see the loyalty of the people to our rule, when
making my tour in the native State, but I was pleased
and astonished to find Rajahs, such as the Rajah
Idris 1 of Perak, not only working with us, but taking
a real interest in the work, apart from mere motives
of self-interest. Yet it must be remembered that
when the memory of past oppression has somewhat
died out amongst the people, it is not unlikely that
the native princes, who will still doubtless cherish
the recollection of past power and dignity, and resent
the forced obedience to foreign rulers, may make
an effort to regain what they have lost, and that a
quarrel between native chiefs, or a Chinese faction
fight, might serve as a spark to light a widespread fire.
" The present theory of the native States govern-
ment is that we advise, and do not assume the possi-
bility of our advice not being taken ; but no hard
and fast rule can be given for such advice. The
Administrator, just before my arrival, acting on in-
structions from England, declined to allow the
Resident of Sunjei Ujong to give any advice in regard
to the election of the Datoh Klana. In that case
there were reasons for leaving the election free, but
some guarded indications of the views of the Govern-
ment might often be given with advantage, and cases
might arise in which decided action would be abso-
lutely necessary. On this occasion the question
arose : If the Resident will not advise on the election
of the ruler, on what ground does he advise on the
levy of the taxes, or prevent us the chiefs of Sunjei
Ujong from exacting imposts from the people ?
The only answer is, that in one case it was not thought
advisable at headquarters to do so, and in the other
it was.
" Our advice, as a matter of fact, in criminal
cases, and financial questions, in the prevention of
oppression of debtors and slaves, is often taken
1 Now H.H, Sultan Idris of Perak, G.C.M.G.
THREE ALTERNATIVES 315
merely because it is supposed that what we advise
will have to be done, and it is recognised that we are
powerful enough to enforce our decisions.
" Again, a very large and increasing Chinese
population, containing a large proportion of the
lowest classes, is an element of considerable danger
in the country, and will require firm and careful
handling. Looking hopefully, as I do, on the ex-
cellent work which is being accomplished in the
Peninsula, and never doubting its success, still it is
impossible to ignore the fact that we are, and have
been, relying on something more than mere advice,
and unless we are prepared to evacuate, the country
must continue working on the same lines in the
future. Three courses are open to us :
"i. To prepare gradually for retiring from the
native States.
" 2. To annex them.
"3. Gradually to increase our influence, as
occasions arise, over the States south of Siam, though
not necessarily with a view of any immediate ex-
tension of the Residential system. And with regard
to the protected States, to show no signs of relaxing
our hold upon them, and to continue working through
the native rulers by advice discreetly given but
firmly administered.
" With regard to the first course : I concur with
Sir William Robinson in thinking that did we abandon
them now their plight would probably be worse
than it was when we first interfered. I do not think
anything would justify us in leaving them to anarchy,
and our own interests as well as theirs forbid it.
Nothing that we have done so far has taught them
to govern themselves, we are merely teaching them
to co-operate with us and govern under our guidance.
To teach men to govern themselves you must throw
them on their own resources. We are necessarily
doing the very reverse. Moreover, I doubt if
Asiatics can ever be taught to govern themselves ;
it is contrary to the genius of their race, to what
we know of their past history, and to tendencies
created by their religious systems. What suits
them is a mild and equitable despotism ; that we
can give them, but in the present circumstances,
3i6 ANNEXATION
having regard to all the discordant elements existing
in the Malay Peninsula, they would be unable to
give themselves. Johore might be quoted against
this view, but the position of that State is quite
exceptional. Nine-tenths of the population of Johore
are Chinese or European. Capital has been invested
in the State because of its close proximity to Singa-
pore, and also because the Maharajah is always
advised by the Governor, and by his own European
agents and lawyers. He himself has spent all his
life amongst Europeans, has been on intimate terms
with successive Governors, and been much influenced
by them. But even in this case no one can count
on what line might be taken by his successor. Good
rulers may arise in all countries, but, judging from
the past, good native government seems not to be
a plant congenial to the soil, and every year native
rulers are confronted with greater difficulties owing
to the growth of a foreign, and especially a huge
Chinese population. Moreover, it must be borne in
mind that not only has European capital been
encouraged to flow into the native States owing
to the order we have established there but a large
field has been opened to European and Chinese
settlements for agricultural and other purposes ;
this capital is being invested in the confidence that
we shall not retire from the ' protected ' States.
Both Malays and other races accept our rule in these
States, and the majority, I doubt not, do so grate-
fully ; and further, the British government is both
by chiefs and people looked upon as the supreme
arbiter in disputes in the purely native States, and
thus accepted as guardian of the peace in the
Peninsula.
11 If this be conceded, the next point to be con-
sidered is the advisability of annexation : not, of
course, a sudden one, but proximate, should circum-
stances lead up to it ; also the framing of our policy
so as to lead to that end.
" Setting aside any unforeseen and exceptional
case, I am not prepared to advocate such policy.
I think to continue as we are doing now is more to
our advantage and that of the people we govern.
Complications may arise, but I fail to see why they
BENDAHARA OF PAHANG 317
may not be as effectually dealt with under the present
system as any other ; whilst the development of
the resources of the States, and the influx of European
capital, is not likely to be arrested as long as it is
known that we have no intention of receding from
our present position. Countries in the position of
the Malay States require a somewhat elastic form
of government ; justice and firmness should be
tempered by tact and discretion, and great care be
given to the selection of Residents and even of sub-
ordinate agents. The native States are not, in my
opinion, ready for a system which approaches more
nearly the purely British one which prevails in our
Colonies. The Residential one is more fitted for
them, and should their rulers learn wisdom in time
they have the opportunity of imitating the example
of their Residents and working out their own good.
It is more likely, however, that the contrast between
their rulers and our representatives will lead to the
spread of a desire among the people which has
already shown itself at Sri Menanti to throw them-
selves on us for protection.
"It may not be irrelevant to add that the
Bendahara of Pahang a State which is situated
on the east coast and marches with Selangor and
Perak has just intimated to me his desire to visit
me at Singapore should it be my pleasure to receive
him. I had a short time ago expressed to envoys
sent to me by him my desire to maintain friendly
relations with him, and I accordingly welcome this
overture on his part. Though invited several times
to Singapore by my predecessors, the Bendahara
has never yet visited Government House since he
obtained supreme power in Pahang. I heard (con-
fidentially) during my recent tour in the native
States that the Bendahara had a great wish to come
to Singapore to seek my advice, and looking to the
important position of Pahang with regard to the
Western States, 1 improved relations between him
and the British Government would lead to good
results on both sides. I am inclined to think that
he has been led to take this step by comparing the
1 Pahang is situated on the east coast and marches with^Johol, the
Negri Zembilan, Selangor, and Perak.
23
3i8 AN ENTENTE CORDIALE
increased prosperity of the neighbouring States with
the stagnation which in spite of great natural
resources he cannot fail to perceive in his own.
Owing to its geographical position an alliance with
the ruler of Pahang would do much to consolidate
our position and influence in the Malay Peninsula."
The entries in Sir Frederick Weld's journal show
that this projected visit was carried out within a
fortnight of its announcement. He mentions it as
follows :
" October 2oth. The Bendahara of Pahang arrived
this morning. I sent a message to him to say that
the Maharajah was expecting him at Johore, also
that I should be pleased to receive him here leaving
him free to make his choice. He settled to go first
to Johore, as had been previously arranged. He
came in the Maharajah's steam-yacht, accompanied
by about three hundred followers in small crafts.
" October 26th. Maharajah of Johore called to-day.
I had a long and satisfactory conversation with him.
One of his remarks struck me. He said : ' If I saw
a thing as clearly as the sun in the heavens, and you
saw differently, I would yield (my opinion) to you.
You are my Father, and I wish always to take advice
from you.' Very oriental, but I think he meant it.
" October 2jth. Much preparation made for the
Bendahara ,'s visit. Sent four-in-hand to Reservoir
to meet him. He arrived with the Maharajah and
a large retinue. His kris-bearer and another official
followed him everywhere ; he also had a large train
of attendants. He is a slight, elderly man with a
pleasant expression of countenance and smile ; very
shabbily dressed for a man of his power and riches,
but I am told that is not unusual amongst the great
Malay chiefs. We had an official dinner, followed by
an ' at home ' and music, at which Carlotta Patti
sang."
The Bendahara, after spending a day or two at
Government House, followed up these friendly pro-
ceedings by electing to take up his residence in the
RAJAH MAHDI AGAIN 319
city of Singapore. While the house was being pre-
pared for his reception, he returned to Johore.
A week later we read in Sir Frederick's journal :
" November ist. Bendahara of Pahang landed in
state from the Pluto, which I had sent to Johore to
convey him here. He received a salute of fifteen
guns ; and as it was a wet evening I sent a carriage
to meet him. On his arrival at Government House
he was met at the entrance by a guard of honour
in red coats, with a band playing, and by me in
full uniform on the staircase. He was dressed in
black velvet coat and cap, with a sarong, and splendid
diamond rings. He brought his little boy (aged
about five years I should say) who behaved ad-
mirably, salaaming and squatting down in front of
us as we sat on a sofa in the big saloon. The Maha-
rajah's brother was also there. After exchanging
compliments, I took him back to the entrance hall,
and he proceeded, in my carriage, to the house which
has been prepared for him and his very numerous
followers."
Three days later the following entry occurs in
Weld's journal :
" November 4th. Drove the Bendahara in four-
in-hand to the Reservoir. He told me he should
like to visit Singapore every two or three years.
Also that he thought he could, by acting on my
advice, do much to improve the state of his country
to which I replied that though I obtruded my advice
on no one I was glad to give it when asked."
The Rajah Mahdi, of whom we last heard as being
in a moribund condition, and taken to his native
land to die, apparently on reaching it made a rapid
recovery and returned to his previous tricks as we
find mentioned in the diary.
" November $th. Rajah Mahdi was to have come
here to-day, but did not do so, as he had been told
that I had heard of his intrigues in Selangor. He
320 JOHORE
has behaved very badly, and will have to be kept
in Singapore in future.
11 November 6th. Rajah Mahdi came this morning.
He denied that he had been agitating at Klang, or
elsewhere ; though his version of the story was
plausible, there is strong evidence against him. I
do not believe, however, that it was more than an
attempt to lead me to recognise him as Rajah of Klang,
by proving the support he would receive from the
people there. But this in itself would create trouble
and might lead to much more. I cannot let him
return to Klang, as it would be at the risk of unsettling
everything.
" November 12th. The Bendahara called, and
asked to see all the children. He made Mena and
them presents ; to Mena he gave a necklace and
bangles, and to the rest (including Gordon x and
de Lisle 2 ) packets of gold dust. Of course the
presents go to the Treasury, but I shall buy back
the necklace as a souvenir. The gold was afterwards
valued at 120."
Though Sir Frederick Weld had more than once
visited the Maharajah of Johore (Johore being only
separated by narrow straits from the island of
Singapore) the latter had excused himself from
asking Lady Weld till the palace which was in
course of erection on the Welds' arrival at Singapore
was ready for the reception of guests. We find
an account in the diary of their first official visit,
which may be of interest to those who are curious
in country-house visiting, and would like to know
how these things are managed in the East.
" November i$th. We started this morning in
two parties for our visit to Johore ; Mena and
Edwin de Lisle and all the children left in the Maha-
rajah's steam-yacht Panti at 8.30. We started an
hour later and got on board H.M.S. Curagoa at 9.30.
They went round by the West passage and arrived
1 A.D.C.
2 Private Secretary ; afterwards M.P. for Loughborough.
ISTANA 321
some time before we did. The Cura$oa on arriving
saluted the Malay flag. I landed at 4.30 with the
Datoh Bandar and the Maharajah's brother, who
came off to meet me. Captains Grey and McCallum, 1
extra A.D.C.'s, and Lieut. Cosmo Gordon and a number
of officers accompanied me, all in full uniform. An
address in Malay was presented to me on landing,
the quays being decorated with flags and a triumphal
arch. A flag-pole fell on my head as I was replying,
but did no harm as my cocked hat broke the fall.
Drove through the town to the foot of the hill where
the Maharajah and Bendahara met me, and led me
up some steps till we reached the entrance of the
palace, where I received more addresses from Planters
and the Chinese colony. The palace is a large and
fine one ; we have a whole wing to ourselves. A
number of guests here, including the Sidgreaves,
Shelf ords, etc. We sat down forty-five at dinner.
" November i6th. Ladies went out driving. We
had a shooting expedition, and de Lisle bagged a
deer ; it was not found till following day, no one
else got a shot. We went in the afternoon to look
at the Maharajah's tea and coffee plantation, which
appears very promising. A large dinner-party.
" November ijth. Boys went out fishing. Most
of the party went to Mr. Watson's bungalow for
tea. Full dress official dinner about seventy people.
Maharajah made a speech to which I responded.
It was followed by theatricals, the trial scene in
The Merchant of Venice and a farce called The
Rough Diamond.
" November iSth. I was up early and crossed
over to Singapore with Mr. C. Clementi Smith and
Captain McCallum. Meeting of the Legislative
Council ; passed the Estimates, and then returned
to Johore reaching the palace at 6 p.m. Dinner
at 7.30, at which sixty people were present ; it was
followed by a concert and a ball.
" November igth. Very tired, but had to get up
to see naval brigade paraded ashore, and making
sham attack on Istana. Rinking the rest of the
morning. The children went out fishing. In the
afternoon we went up the river with the Maharajah
1 Afterwards Sir Henry McCallum, G.C.M.G., Governor of Ceylon.
322 A LAND ACT WANTED
in a steam-launch. Dinner party as usual, suc-
ceeded by conjuring tricks. The evening concluded
with a ball which lasted till a very late hour.
" November 2oth. Mena and the children left
this morning in the Pluto amidst much cheering
and waving of handkerchiefs. The Maharajah went
to see them off and on board. I stayed till after
dinner, for the regatta, and left at about n p.m.
by torchlight the bearers (wearing yellow and red)
lit up the grounds, and there were Chinese fireworks ;
a very fine scenic effect. We got home at 1.30
after a very enjoyable but fatiguing week."
This somewhat exhausting holiday over, Weld
set himself to work to tackle a job which had con-
fronted all his predecessors in turn, but which so far
had never been successfully dealt with. This was
to reduce to order the chaos which prevailed in the
land courts owing to the diversity of land tenure in
the Straits Settlements. Writing privately to the
Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, Sir Fred-
erick says : " Everybody told me on my arrival here,
If you can only put the land affairs in order you will
be the greatest benefactor the colony has ever had."
To this difficult and intricate task Weld brought a
great power of work, and the very useful qualifica-
tions of a considerable knowledge of the working of
Land Acts in three different colonies.
A few points gathered from a " Paper to be laid
before the Legislative Council n by the Governor
may be of interest to the general reader, though it
does not pretend to be exhaustive :
' The question divides itself into two branches
the administrative and the legislative. I will take
the former first, because bad administration, or
rather the want of it, is at the source of a state of
affairs which I think is without a parallel in our
Colonies. We have, as I shall hereafter show,
fairly workable laws based on defined principles,
A REIGN OF CONFUSION 323
but what we have wanted is a Land Department
strong enough to work them. ... I will commence
by taking Penang and Province Wellesley. The
arrears due in those settlements for rent amounted
to over one hundred and thirty-eight million dollars.
Many lands held by leases or permits have been sold
in fee-simple by Government, others have been
abandoned, and are now undistinguishable from the
surrounding jungle, others again have been sur-
rendered. No account has been kept of such trans-
actions, so that it is impossible to ascertain from any
record what proportion of that sum is recoverable,
or indeed due, and not a mere debt on paper. Over
sixty-eight millions of dollars are due on permits
alone for unsuryeyed land, and I am told by Mr.
Penney that it is impossible to identify most of the
lots. ... In Malacca the energy of Major Squirl
has mended matters, as he was a man physically
able, and willing, to use personal exertion in visiting
allotments and settling claims on the spot ; still,
much remains to be done. There are in Malacca
about 10,000 acres of revenue survey still awaiting
completion ; 14,227 allotments already surveyed,
containing nearly 37,500 acres of which no leases
have been issued owing to the want of draughtsmen
to plot the surveys. Books have long been allowed
to fall into confusion owing to the staff being so
much below strength, and great loss to revenue,
besides much confusion, have resulted. On Singapore
island, owing to the presence of the head of the
Department, matters have been somewhat better, but
here also the staff has been unable to keep pace with
the work ; lands lie waste and abandoned, and
public interests have suffered. . . . The effects of
the starvation of the Department are summed up
in the words of Mr. Swettenham thus : ' No one who
has not been some time at work in one of the three
land offices can have any conception of the terrible
confusion into which matters have got ; I believe
it is so bad that no legislation can put matters to
rights except by making an entirely new start.' He
then instances the unreliability of the rent-rolls, of
the want of landmarks, of discrepancies between the
areas occupied and those named in leases, of sub-
324 TENANT-RIGHT
divisions unknown to the land offices, of confusion
of titles, and great losses consequently to the Govern-
ment. In Penang the land question was at first
almost entirely neglected, and devoid of system.
In Malacca it appears to have been dealt with in a
less arbitrary way, owing to its being a populous
country with land customs and prescriptive rights
under ancient royal families. The Malay customs,
which appear to have been recognised as the basis
of our own procedure, admitted the right of the
cultivator to occupy the soil permanently as long
as he paid Government a tenth of its produce and
continued to cultivate it. Tenant-right, in fact,
exists there in its fullest form.
" After the Portuguese and Dutch conquests
much land was allowed to lie waste, owing to the
decrease of the population, which led to certain
seignoral rights being given to individuals by the
Dutch Government. These, when the country first fell
into our hands, were looked upon by the East Indian
Government as being of greater value than they
really were, and have since been compromised for
annuities.
" The first attempt to deal effectively with the
land question was in 1839, when Mr. Young was sent
as special commissioner from India to study and
report upon it. An Act was then passed which would
have given the country all that it required, if men
and money had been given to work it, though it does
not perhaps carry the system of registration far
enough. In 1861 an Indian Act vested the Malacca
lands in the Crown in fee-simple, saving the rights
of cultivators or occupants ( as long as they pay
one-tenth of its produce in rent.' Provisions were
also made for commutation of title, for issue of per-
petual leases, for survey, and examination of titles
and other necessary matters. The Land Office was
too weak to carry out the Act, so nothing was done.
In 1876 an Act was passed against unauthorised
squatting, and to carry put the objects of the Act
of 1 86 1 and facilitate its working. This Act re-
mained inoperative from the same cause. ... I now
come to remedial measures. The first and most
obvious is to increase the surveying staff and to
MALAY CUSTOMS 325
push forward surveys. The immediate completion
of the revenue service is essential, and would be self-
paying at once ; but before a revenue survey can
be made the areas must be fixed. In India the
Collectors of Revenue are high officials who decide
matters on the spot which is the only way they
can be decided. Also, they must be done by officials
whose position places them above suspicion, and
whose physical powers enable them to travel and
to walk in jungles, and in the mud and water of the
padi fields ; but it is not always that such men (to
whom these offices are given as rewards for long
services) are capable of such exertions in a tropical
climate, or if they are remain so long. Thus we
are met with a great practical difficulty, as, owing
to the puacity of European officers not on leave,
many Departments are being extra worked at an
expenditure of energy which must in the course of
nature lead to further applications for leave. . . .
A good knowledge of Malay is of great importance
in a Land Commissioner, as interpreters might easily
be bribed into giving a colour to one side or other ;
it is even more important that he should be a man
of high character, possessed of good sense, a judicial
mind, and physical endurance in jungle-work.
' I now come to the second part of my subject :
the changes in laws and regulations that are required.
' ' There can be little doubt , if we take Malay customs ,
the acceptance of those customs by our Government
in a long series of years, Eastern modes of thought,
and the peculiarities of the country into considera-
tion, that we must assume as a starting-point that the
Crown remains in ordinary cases at least the land-
lord, whilst the tenants as long as they pay rent and
cultivate the ground are to have fixity of tenure.
' The question then arises, what length of lease
should be given ? on what terms should renewals
be granted ? Should leaseholds be put up to auction,
or sold by fixed premium ? And are periodical
assessments advisable ? Ultimately the question
resolves itself into this : Is it the Government's
object to make the most it can out of its land, or
to get the land settled and worked in the best possible
way, avoiding many difficulties, and trusting to find
326 LAND SALES
a sufficient if not a larger revenue accruing from
the progress of the country, and fixed and moderate
land payments ?
" I incline to the latter course, and think that the
more legitimate function of a government is fulfilled
by it. The Government is not a dealer seeking to
make a fortune by getting the highest prices for his
wares ; it seeks to raise sufficient revenue for certain
requirements only, and to raise that revenue in the
manner least vexatious to the people, and least likely
to raise friction between itself and the races it governs .
11 I consequently propose to grant leases of 999
years under strict conditions as to payment of quit-rent
and beneficial occupation of the land, non-fulfilment
of these conditions to entail forfeiture. A scale of
premiums to be fixed for ten years for town, village, and
country lands by districts. Town lands to be put up
to auction, the fixed premium being the upset price.
The scale of premiums may from time to time be
revised by a board to be appointed by the Governor,
and a new rate may be fixed by him in Executive
Council. This revision of the scale will only affect
land yet unsold, or falling into hand, and will be a
reasonable advantage to give to the revenue if the
progress of the colony warrants it. Very different
would be the effect of periodical assessment of land
as advocated by the Attorney-General in an able
report which I append, and with which I concur on
all points excepting this one. I think a sense of
security is much weakened where there is a prospect
of reassessment. Not only would a man abstain
from permanent improvements, but many would
take successive crops of an exhausting character out
of the soil when awaiting the assessor ; also a number
of assessors must be paid by Government who would
certainly be offered bribes by the lease-holders, of
which much corruption would result and small gain
to the land revenue.
' My reasons for preferring a fixed price to
auction in disposing of country lands are as follows :
Auction gives an undue advantage to the capitalist
and speculator or the peasant cultivator, and Govern-
ment in many cases does not get the real value
because the poorer man will not bid against a known
THE TORRENS ACT 327
capitalist. Moreover, a man is deterred from ap-
plying for Government land because of the fear of
delays and being outbidden, and so gives a higher
price to a speculator with whom he at least runs no
risk. Another objection is that when there are few
competitors private bargains are made to the detri-
ment of the Government. The land being sold,
registration should follow and be the title. A
complete system of compulsory registration on the
Torrens principle seems to me the most obvious
remedy of all our difficulties. As titles are presented
for registration, back rents and dues would be re-
covered, simplification, easy transfers and mortgage
would be an equal boon to the tenant and to Govern-
ment, which, once their system was established, would
work on oiled wheels.
" To establish this principle it would be necessary
to have a Land Titles Registration Commissioners,
who should have a complete knowledge of the working
of the Torrens Act. . . . Little difficulty will be
found in fixing the premium for town or village
lands yet in the hands of Government, but a very
serious question has arisen in respect to be taken
regarding town lands which have been leased, and
some of which are now of great value, and will ere
long fall into the hands of Government. In regard
to this question, I consider that while Government
is entitled to a substantial premium and increase of
quit-rent on giving a 999 years' lease, it should deal
liberally with men who are representatives of those
who have made the colony, or who may themselves
have helped to make it. I propose subject to
modifications that a Commission be appointed to
divide the towns into districts, to take the municipal
roll as their basis, and to assess the letable value
of the holdings upon them."
After discussing some other points in connection
with the assessment, Sir Frederick Weld draws attention
to Major McNair's report in which the Surveyor-General
anticipates with the assistance of staff (surveyor and
draughtsmen), which the Government of Ceylon had
put at their disposal, that he will be able to bring up
328 A COMPARISON WITH INDIA
arrears of surveys, and place the revenue surveys of
this colony on a satisfactory footing at a cost (as set
forth in his Memo.) of $23,264 for the first year,
$21,764 for the second year, and $10,932 for the third.
The Governor concludes with some suggestions with
regard to the staff which would be required to carry
out the proposed changes in the working of the Land
Departments.
Lord Kimberley, acknowledging the dispatch on
on the 2Oth of January 1882, remarks that the argu-
ments for and against a permanent settlement of the
lands held for the State " are set forth in it with
great ability." He enters into a detailed commentary
upon all the points set down in the document, and
dwells especially on the question of reassessment,
comparing the Governor's views and recommendations
with the practice in India, in the following words :
' Rents are reassessed in the greater part of
British India at intervals of thirty years. This
appears to me a sufficient term, coinciding as it
very nearly does with a generation, but I shall not
object to its extension within narrow limits if, in
your opinion, the particular circumstances of the
Straits Settlements make a somewhat longer term
desirable. In fixing the new assessment no account
should be taken of the improvements affected by
the occupier : the increase, if any, must be made
dependent upon the rise in the value of land, which
is due to the making of roads and consequent ac-
cessibility of markets and to the general development
of an industrial community or to other causes." He
concludes as follows : " In thus explaining to you
the views I entertain on the subject of the Govern-
ment lands in the Straits Settlements, I would add
it is in my opinion of paramount importance that
the regulations that may be laid down should be, as
far as possible, in harmony with the practice, habits,
and ideas of the inhabitants, and I desire that you
will report to me at your early convenience any facts
that have a bearing on this aspect of the subject."
FALSE ECONOMY 329
A glance over the Governor's correspondence at
this time shows that his remarks on the short-sighted-
ness of over-working officials were not misplaced.
He writes as follows to Mr. Meade l : " X. has
applied for leave. I am told his head is affected.
Mr. Edward Irving must go instantly he is in a
dangerous state of health. I shall give him short
leave before his resignation, and Mr. Knight, his
second in command, can keep things going in the
Audit Office till the reply comes to my present dis-
patch. . . . The extension of leave to Mr. Kinnersley
is unfortunate, as Mr. Isemonger's case is urgent ;
we really are killing off our men too fast." A letter
to Mr. Hugh Low, written a month later (27th April),
shows that the health of that hard-working (and
hard- worked) official was suffering from the usual
cause : " I must write to beg, entreat, or use whatever
pressure is required to prevent your going to Kinta
before you have perfectly recovered. The royal
family have quarrelled for years, they may be re-
quested to proclaim a truce till you are well again.
If they decline they will only remain in their normal
state for a little longer, and I will take all the blame
but I will not take the blame of letting you injure
your health."
One of the difficulties under which the pioneer
settlers in the Malay States struggled was scarcity
of labour. The Malays may be said to be the aristo-
crats of our Eastern colonies. They have a civilisation
of their own ; 2 their manners would have been no
disgrace to them in any circle, however distinguished,
1 Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies.
z The Malays have undoubted claims to be numbered among
civilised races. They live in houses showing a considerable amount
of taste. They are a settled and agricultural people ; they are skilful
in some of the arts, especially in gold- and metal-working. The upper
classes are educated, and their laws and systems of government show
a knowledge of the principles of equity such as prevail in civilised
communities.
330 INDIAN IMMIGRATION
and their dislike of manual labour was probably as
great as that of any member of such circles. The
rich soil yielded its fruit to them with hardly an
effort, and their requirements were few ; it need
not cause surprise, therefore, that, living in a very
enervating climate, they enjoyed their idle life and
refused to be moved from it. The " hewers of wood
and drawers of water " of the Peninsula were almost
exclusively Chinese. Finding the Malay States a
profitable field for their energies the Chinese had
practically captured its trade and labour market,
especially in the mining districts. The Chinese
population x at the time of Weld's appointment
outnumbered the Malayan at the rate of four to
one, and the stream of immigration was still setting
steadily towards the States ; but in spite of this
influx, labour in the country districts was scarce and
dear. To supplement the coolie element, which
for this and other reasons was deemed advisable, the
Governor turned his attention to the teeming popula-
tion of the provinces of Bengal, and tried to attract
them to the Malay States. In a private letter to
Lord Kimberley (28th April) he writes :
" Pray allow me to beg of you to consider very care-
fully my dispatch of this mail upon Indian immigration
to native States. I can assure your Lordship that with
the large powers the Executive has in the native
States it will be more easy for me to guarantee that
the coolies from India will be well treated there than
it could be even in our own settlements. The
question is of very great importance, no less than
opening out a most magnificent field of industry
and commerce, securing a future revenue to the
States, and a comfortable home to thousands of poor
people in a country which exactly suits their tastes
1 In the returns of the census for the island of Singapore in 1881
the population is given as 139,208, the Chinese numbered 86,766 and the
Malay 22,114, the remainder being made up of European and other
nationalities.
EXPEDITION UP COUNTRY 331
and requirements a people, too, who are exposed
to misery and starvation in the homes they are
seeking to leave."
Early in this same spring Weld joined Mr. Low
at Perak and made a shooting expedition with him
to the confines of the Siamese territory. His journal
contains the following account of it :
" February 4th. (Residency). Started up the
river in a fleet of boats Low and I in the Dragon,
Regent Jusup in another boat. Elephants and guards
of honour went by jungle track. Stopped at mid-
day to sketch the tomb of the ancestor of the Perak
royal family, who is said to have sprung from the
foam of the mouth of a cow. Arrived that night at
Chigar Gala ; Rajah Muda went to track a wild rogue
elephant. The head-man Seyed showed me his pedi-
gree, with his descent (35th) from Mahomet.
" 5*A. Tracked elephant without success. Edwin
de Lisle killed some beautiful pigeons on an island at
the mouth of the Plus.
" 6th. Started early and paddled up the Perak
River till we came to the junction with the Plus. The
river is about a hundred yards wide here, though at a
distance of 140 miles from the sea. We continued
our journey up the Plus River, the way lying through
rich jungle with some cultivated land here and there.
We passed some notjvery formidable rapids, the crew
working well and cheerfully. Reached Lasak at
sunset.
" jth. Low and I went about eleven miles up
Plus River, passing the junction of the Korbu. We
were now in the Sakei country. Great number of
tracks of wild animals visible on the banks. The
jungle is very beautiful here with coloured foliage
plants, and much rich land. Returned to Lasak,
and went about three miles up the river bank on
elephants to some sulphur springs called Sira Char,
and watched all night in a hut built in a tree over a
pool for Rajah Muda, but no big game came.
" 8th. We saw a lot of fish rising in the pool at
sunrise, probably carp or roach. When we got back
to Lasak we saw the tracks of a wild elephant which
332 THE JUNGLES OF PERAK
had crossed in the night. Low and I went afterwards
to the salt-licks and waited in a boat all night at a
ford where big game were supposed to cross. I slept
in the dark hours just before sunrise, and got a chill
which brought on an attack ,of gout. We saw
nothing.
" gth. Gout in left foot from sleeping barefoot in
heavy dew. Saw a number of Sakei at Kuala
Kerbau who were on their way to see me. Got
one to make some throws with his casting net, but he
caught nothing. We were told that a tiger and
rhinoceros had been walking about at night tracks
of the latter were visible on a small island in the
river, but neither were to be found. Low and I went
on elephants to Bangdang, the Siam salt-springs.
Gordon and de Lisle had got there the night before.
The noises of wild animals and birds at night are
most curious and interesting. At sunrise the monkeys
made sounds like a pack of hounds in full cry.
" loth. Before starting down the river I dis-
tributed presents amongst about sixty Sakeis who
had come to see me. They are the aboriginal tribe
of the Peninsula, and live in the mountains. They
do not resemble the Malays at all ; the latter are
supposed to have come from Sumatra and to have
conquered the country in the eleventh or twelfth
century. The Sakeis are small about 4 feet 4 or
6 inches high, and active, and have light-coloured
complexions, with low foreheads, and curly hair,
and pleasant expressions. They seem cheerful and
good-tempered. They said since we came the Malays
no longer steal their children and carry their wives
off to captivity. Managed to get back to the Re-
sidency, though with considerable difficulty, owing
to gout and a great thunder-storm.
"llth. Started late in the afternoon for Matang.
Met young Wrey at the top of the pass, who asked
about Indian immigration. I told him I had been
doing my utmost to encourage it, and would con-
tinue to do so. Mr. Low and the others walked
over pass. Changed horse on the other side ; a jolt
threw Low right out of the ghari, and the pony
started off at a gallop the reins hanging on the
ground. I leant over the pony and got one rein
SUNGEI UJONG 333
with one hand, then fished the other up with a
stick, and managed to pull up the pony. No one
hurt, luckily. We were given a fresh pony at the
next change, which first refused to start, and then
bolted off at full gallop. Reached Malang all right
after dark supported into the s.s. Kinta, and dined
on board, Major Swinburne and Mr. Wynn (collector)
joining us.
" 1 2th. Steamed along the Trong inlet, passed
Chinese settlement amidst endless mangroves. Some
lovely views of distant mountains. This network
of creeks and mangrove swamps was once a nest
of pirates and bad characters ; it is now as safe as
any part of the country. Passed Pasir Itam. Took
bearings over the westernmost point of Bruas River,
which bounds our territory, to find inland boundary,
which from information received to-day from the
Penghulu of Pangkor I believe to be established
beyond dispute. Steamed to Pulau Pangkor, where
we were met by Mr. Douglas and the Penghulu and
anchored for the night."
Sir Frederick's attack of gout having become
considerably worse, he was forced to give up the
rest of his expedition and return to Singapore, where
he was laid up for over a month. Six weeks after
his return from Perak he started for Sungei Ujong,
where his presence was required to settle disputes
between the native chiefs of that district. The day
after his arrival at Malacca he writes :
" March 2jth. Steamed up Linggi River to
Permatang Passir. Lunched at Mr. Lister's x planta-
tion and went on to Residency (Captain Murray).
The Datoh Klana and Datoh Bandor came to see
me in the afternoon, and later on the Capitan China.
" 2%th. Started at 9.30 for Bukit Putus Pass to
meet the chiefs. Captain Murray drove me a mile
or two ; I was then carried in a chair by Chinamen
past the scene of the repulse of the roth Regiment.
At the foot of the Pass I got on to one of Murray's
horses and rode about three miles. A police station
1 Mr. Lister did not join the Public Service till 1884.
24
334 WARIS' RIGHTS
on the summit of the Pass, and stockade which was
stormed by Captain Channer who won the V.C.
at this action. I was received here by the Yam
Tuan, 1 Ungku Bongsu, the Datoh Moui, and other
chiefs, and about six hundred people, all armed with
the kris, and a guard of honour numbering one hundred
and twenty men. I had a long, and I think satis-
factory, talk with the chiefs. I spoke my mind very
plainly to the Yam Tuan told him that the advice
of the British Government was that he should govern
his people in accordance with the old Malay customs
as long as those customs were good and just. I
advised him to reinstate Ungku Bongsu, and went
into the question of the quarrel between the chiefs,
and (as far as I could see) convinced him I was
speaking for his good. I then caused two buffaloes
to be distributed among the crowd of followers.
Old Ungku Bongsu came to me afterwards and
actually wept over his treatment by the Yam Tuan,
and expressed his gratitude and affection for Captain
Douglas and me.
" April ist. I had a long talk with some Waris 2
and others about ' Waris' rights,' with regard to
taking grants of land and taxes, and reminded them
that formerly any Rajah could do what he liked
with the people. What would their rights have
been worth j under the rule .of Mahmoud or Mahdi ?
Now that the British Government protected them,
and saw that justice was done to high and low, they
should be willing to pay something towards its
maintenance. Still I did not insist on their taking
grants of land, but told them if the}'- did not choose
to do so they must not expect the same security as
others enjoyed who had taken them.
" 2nd. Started early from Residency, and spent
an hour with Lister at his plantation. After leaving
him visited large tapioca farm belonging to Sie Bong
Tiong. Out of 5000 acres he has got about 2500
in cultivation ; he is said to have spent 15,000
on it and to have got the principal back in five or
six years. There is a manufactory here on a large
1 Paramount Chief.
2 Literally " heirs " ; the title given in the Negri Sembilan to the
representatives of certain leading clans.
ROYAL VISITORS 335
scale ; alter lunch they paraded about four hundred
coolies, who as I left formed in a double line and
' presented ' chunkals (hoes). I stopped again at
another plantation, belonging to Tang Tek Cham,
of 2000 acres. Got back that night to steam-launch
at Permatang Passir.
" $rd. Rajah Baud of Sungei Ujong came off.
News had reached me that the officials who farm
the revenue had been guilty of a good deal of l squeez-
ing ' of late ; this I have put a stop to. Things have
been going wrong for some time in the newly ' pro-
tected ' territory, and I think my visit here will be
of considerable benefit to the poor people. Later on
in the day the Datph Bandar of Sungei Ujong and the
Datoh Miida of Linggi with one or two other chiefs
came on board, followed by the Datoh Perba of
Rembau, and some boat-loads of retinue. We had
a long conference, and after thoroughly sifting the
case I decided the boundary question between the
two States. The case seemed clear enough, and I
was satisfied myself with the decision, and both
parties accepted it without observation. "
The following day Sir Frederick returned to
Singapore. A few days later (i9th April) we find
an entry in his diary to the effect that he " heard
with deepest regret the news by telegram of Lord
Beaconsfield's death, the greatest statesman of our
day."
The Straits Settlements during this summer seem
to have been the meeting-place of many royalties and
semi-royalties, all of whom were received with much
hospitality by the Governor and Lady Weld at
Government House. The first to arrive was H.R.H.
the Duke of Genoa, brother to the Queen of Italy,
who called, spent some hours there, visited the
" lions" of the town and continued his voyage the
following day.
On the 9th of May, King David Kalakana of the
Sandwich Islands arrived from Bangkok and spent
two or three days at Singapore. A dinner and
336 MORE EXPEDITIONS
reception was given in his honour, after which he
departed on a visit to the Maharajah of Johore.
A visit also is mentioned from the Regent of Siam
the Siamese royal family being on terms of much
friendliness with the representative of Great Britain
at this time.
In June the Welds moved in force to the Hill
Bungalow in Penang, and remained there three
months. These months were for all the family the
holiday of the year, and consequently deeply en-
joyed by them. Though Sir Frederick's letters
and official work followed him there, he still found
time for much congenial occupation ; chief amongst
these was sketching. Gardening also was the source
of the greatest enjoyment to him, and reading.
Here he found time to interest himself in his daughters'
education ; the two eldest had inherited his taste for
drawing, and accordingly we find frequent mention
in his journal of sketching expeditions, and of the
lessons he was giving them in that gentle art.
On 29th October, Sir Frederick started on a
journey up country, east of Malacca. He writes
about it as follows :
" October 2^th. Malacca. Set off at 7 a.m. with
McCallum in gharies to see some boundaries in
dispute inland. Arrived at Pular Sebang, and
interviewed the Penghulu. Great loss of cattle by
disease in this district. No ploughing-bullocks
available for padi land, and much lying uncultivated
in consequence.
" 2$th. Rode on by Dusun Kasar to Kuala
Sungor. A nice old Penghulu met me with spear-
man, carrying his ' spear of office.' He wishes to
retire but could not suggest a successor. No loss of
buffaloes in this secluded spot, where they have
hardly any communication with the outer world.
This (Ulu l ) is a beautiful country, fine, grassy
glades, and sago palms ; it is hilly, but with some
1 Interior.
ASCENT OF MOUNT OPHIR 337
cultivated (padi) fields. Rode on to police station at
Nyalas ; arrived there very hot and tired, stopped
to eat, then continued our journey to Chabau at
the foot of Mount Ophir. Here we found Mr. Skinner
and Dudley Harvey, 1 with huts and food prepared
for our arrival.
" 26th. Some delay in starting owing to trouble
with coolies as to distribution of loads. Got off at
8 a.m. on foot, first crossing padi fields, then a path
through a wood, then cultivation and a few houses,
where we met one of our surveyors. We stopped
at a cottage about five or six miles from Chabau,
where we had water poured on our heads and backs
the heat of the sun now being intense, the hills which
we were nearing shutting out all the air. Saw
ruined cottages, and orchards which had been
abandoned and destroyed by the Maharajah's people
during the Muar disturbances. We now got to a
river, with fine timber on its banks, at the foot of
Mount Ophir. We bathed and rested, and at about
2.30 started up the mountain, reaching a hut which
had been prepared for us at Batu Padang (two-thirds
of the way up) at sunset, drenched to the skin.
" 2 jth. We made an early start. McCallum and
I reached Gunong Tundok, a lower but twin peak to
the west of Sidang (Ophir), in about forty minutes
(height 3550 feet). We had a good view of Ophir from
here ; then came a dip of 150 feet, and an ascent
of 650, very steep, but not difficult, as there were
plenty of tough bushes to pull oneself up by, and
reached the summit, which we made out by one
aneroid to be 4050 feet, and by another 3960 feet
above the sea. About a hundred feet from the top
of the mountain is a huge overhanging mass of
rocks, under which travellers sometimes camp,
and where we found a spring. We spent some time
there and made tea. The view from the top of the
mountain is very fine forests spreading in all
directions, towards Malacca we could see some open
land. The sea and the islands, and even the old
cathedral, were distinctly visible. I noticed some
pitcher-plants, Melaleucas and Dachrydiums on our
way up. We were told we were in luck to have had
1 Resident Councillor of Malacca.
338 SIAMESE ROYALTIES
such a fine view, as, owing to the moisture of the
climate, the summit is generally wreathed in mist.
McCallum and I made a rapid descent, halted for a
bathe at Lobok Kedongdong, and reached Chabau
about 3.30."
The year 1882 opened with a visit from two
Siamese princes, one a half-brother of the King and
the other a brother of the Queen of Siam, who were
bearers of letters and presents for Queen Victoria.
The visit of the royal envoys was so timed as to
coincide with that of Prince Edward (the Duke of
Clarence) and Prince George of Wales, who were
making the " grand tour " in a squadron under the
command of Admiral Lord Clanwilliam and who
arrived a few days later. Sir Frederick's diary
records it as follows :
" Captain Tunnard went off to the Siamese yacht
to arrange about landing of the princes. They are
bearers of autograph letters to Lord Clanwilliam,
as Commander of the detached squadron to the Duke
of Clarence and Prince George to whom the Queen
of Siam is presenting gold caskets of Siamese work-
manship. In the afternoon the princes landed ;
they received a royal salute and a guard of honour
of a hundred men (Buffs). I sent down three car-
riages to bring them and their suite up to Govern-
ment House, and received them at the foot of the
staircase in full uniform. H.R.H. presented me with
an autograph letter from the King of Siam, and
then civil speeches and compliments followed. Their
uniforms were of some kind of gold brocade very
handsome.
11 In the evening at 5 p.m. I went on board the
Siamese yacht Vesatri to return their call wore by
arrangement only frock coat, so that I might drive
Prince Devawongsa in my four-in-hand. Salute
was fired when we landed, and I drove the two
princes to the Botanical Gardens, etc., getting them
back to the yacht at dusk. The King's brother
talks English admirably, and is very intelligent and
agreeable. He is much pleased with Singapore, and
MORE ROYAL VISITORS 339
anxious to examine all our institutions. I have placed
Mr. Talbot at his service to act as cicerone. He told
me he admired our success in governing the natives."
The following day Lord Clanwilliam arrived by
the Messageries, 1 and called at Government House
to arrange about the reception of the Duke of Clar-
ence and Prince George, who were to arrive two
days later. Sir Frederick describes the visit in a letter
to his brother in these terms :
" We had the flag-staff ' dressed ' for the Duke
of Clarence's birthday on the 8th, when the ships
were due, but they did not arrive till the next even-
ing, about 4 p.m., as I was starting for the first day's
races. It is not etiquette for the Governor to make
the first call, so I sent my A.D.C. and the Colonial
Secretary with letters to Lord Charles Scott, Captain
of the Bacchante, and Captain Durrant of the
Cleopatra, and the Reverend J. Dalton, the Princes'
governor, welcoming them, and giving them a
sketch of my proposed arrangements, with copy of
address to various nationalities, and so forth. No
one came ashore that night. The next morning
(loth) Lord Charles Scott, Captain Durrant and Mr.
Dalton came and took up their quarters here, and
I arranged everything with the latter, who is a first-
rate fellow. He agreed to the Princes receiving
an address on landing on condition there should be
no salute nor guard of honour. At 4 p.m. I drove
down to the jetty ; the town and bridge were beauti-
fully decorated, arches and flags and awnings of
every colour under the sun. As I arrived, with my
two extra A.D.C.'s, a man-of-war's boat pulled up
with the two Princes in plain midshipman's uniform
and Mr. Dalton. He introduced and delivered them
over to me, and I conducted them to a raised dais,
and introduced the deputation. The address was
duly read, and Prince Edward read the reply; he
was shy but dignified, and did it very well. The
immense crowd of every nationality (and dress), the
1 Lord Clanwilliam had been obliged on account of his health to give
up command of the Squadron, and was on his way home on sick leave.
340 SINGAPORE EN FJSTE
decorations, and strange boats and shipping on the
river seemed to please them very much. Prince
George particularly was highly amused. This was
their first visit to the East, so that they had never
seen anything of the sort before. They were soon
quite at their ease with me, and long before we
reached Government House they talked as if they
had known me for years. Mena, with Chrissy and
Cecily and the private secretary, were waiting to
receive them on our arrival, and we took them into
the drawing-room, where they amused themselves
looking through a big telescope and talking to Sir
Harry Parkes and his daughters. Sir Harry is, as
you know, our Japanese ambassador, and a very
nice fellow. Soon afterwards the King of Siam's
brother arrived with another Siamese prince at-
tended by a magnificent suite. The ladies then had
to take up a less advanced position, and Prince
George having been dragged away with difficulty from
the telescope, I ushered up the Siamese royalties and
presented them to the Princes, and a great exchange of
civil speeches and presentation of gifts followed . After
that some Malay grandees came to pay their respects,
with an interpreter, and there was again an exchange
of pretty speeches. When the levee was over the
royal middies rushed off to change their uniforms for
plain clothes and play lawn-tennis. Before it was
time to dress for dinner they had been all over the
place, playing with the tame pets (a delightful monkey
and a puppy who romp together all day), and in fact
seemed perfectly at home. We had a big dinner
that evening of about forty-five people. I took our
two Princes, and Mena followed with the King of
Siam's brother. All went off very well ; Prince
George got a little bored before the end, but he
managed to smuggle a plate full of crackers on to his
lap, and after that he was quite happy pulling them
with Cecily, who sat next to him. In the evening
we drove round to the principal Chinese streets, a
procession of five or six carriages. The two Princes
went with me in the first carriage, and we drove
slowly so that the people could all see them. The
streets were canopied over with coloured stuffs and
hanging lanterns, and all the sides of the houses
S .s
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fc w w
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W <J o 2-3 .
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o^I
A DEER-DRIVE 341
lighted and decorated some in very quaint fashion.
It was a very striking sight, a great crowd of natives,
mostly Chinese, lining the thoroughfares, and though
a very animated one it was exceedingly orderly ; fa
very few policemen being all that was necessary to
keep order in the streets. The next morning (nth)
we had a shooting expedition. I drove the Princes
in my four-in-hand to Bukit Timah police station,
the rest of the party, which consisted of Lord Charles
Scott, Captain Durrant, Captain Stopford, and a
young middy, George Hardinge (a son of Lord
Hardinge 's), and A.D.C.'s, following in the break.
Here we were met by Mr. Thompson, who had got
beaters, trackers, and so forth ready for the fray,
and we proceeded to beat the jungle for deer or pig.
Prince Edward came with me, and Prince George
with Durrant, and Captain Tunnard was told off to
look after little Hardinge, and see he did not shoot
anybody. Two deer broke cover near our stand,
but I could not get Prince Edward to see one when
it would have been an easy chance, and by the time
he got on to it the deer was off into the bushes ; the
other was out of shot. Captain Durrant killed a
boar. In the next beat Prince Edward had a shot
at a deer and hit it, but not in a fatal place so it
got away. We had to omit the last beat to give time
for the Princes to return, get a bath, change into
uniforms, get something to eat, and go off to receive
the Siamese envoys on board the Bacchante. They
were to have returned for the races at 4 p.m., but
the Siamese were an hour behind their time, so, to
the great disappointment of the people, they did not
get back till the races were over. We had another
large dinner-party in the evening to finish off all the
notabilities. Before dinner Prince George asked
me if I would not have the number of dishes cut
down, so that dancing might begin sooner ; I an-
swered I would give orders that they should be
served as quickly as possible, which pleased him
greatly. We had a little dance afterwards. On
the morning of the i2th the Princes each planted a
tree in front of the house. I was doing office-work
all the morning, trying to make up for lost time, and
they played billiards and lawn-tennis. In the after-
342 A FANCY-DRESS BALL
noon we visited the ' lions ' ; the Botanical Gardens,
and Fort Channing, in order to see the view. In
the evening we had a fancy-dress ball, which was a
huge success. The Siamese envoys came, as usual,
a mass of gold embroidery, the Maharajah of Johore
in black velvet with diamonds, and many of the
Malay chiefs in their national dress. Besides this
we had Chinese in gorgeous array, some Arabs,
officers in naval and military uniforms, and the rest
in every character under the sun. Mena and I alone
did not dress up. Chrissy wore a Watteau frock,
and Cecily appeared as Lady Rowena a very
pretty and becoming fancy-dress. There were about
four hundred people present, no crowding, and lots
of room for everybody to see everybody else. The
Rajah Dris, the Mahometan Chief Justice of Perak,
who came as representative of that State and had
never seen a ball before, was immensely struck by
the performance. He told some one afterwards
that he supposed half the ladies were the Governor's
wives ! The illuminations of the house and grounds
were a very pretty sight. There were about five
thousand Chinese lanterns hung in festoons among
the trees, and the effect of the lines of lights
standing out against the heavy foliaged trees was
quite fairylike, and in keeping with the scene within.
11 On the 1 3th the whole house-party started to
spend a day and night at Johore. The ladies in the
Maharajah's yacht, and I driving the four-in-hand,
with two other carriages for the rest of the party
went to Bukit Timah, crossed the straits (about a
mile and a half wide there) in long Malay boats,
manned by about eleven sailors. The Maharajah
met us at the jetty ; addresses were read, to which,
as they were unexpected, I had to reply on behalf of
the Princes. There was a regatta and boat-races,
and some lawn-tennis, followed by a dinner at which
seventy-four guests were present. The evening con-
cluded with juggling tricks. The Maharajah is a
charming host, and I think the Princes were pleased
with their reception. On the i4th we had a Malay
sailing regatta, a very pretty sight, and after a late
breakfast or early luncheon we recrossed the
straits, and I drove Prince Edward to the races,
DEPARTURE OF SQUADRON 343
Prince George following in the Maharajah's four-in-
hand. I had a long and serious talk with the Prince
on this occasion, and was very much struck] by the
good sense he showed in our discussion of "various
subjects. He asked me many questions about my
career and future plans, and so forth. I never met
any youth of his age who showed more thought for
the feelings and convenience of other people. He
has charming manners, and although rather shy has
a good deal of dignity. In appearance he resembles
the Princess of Wales ; Prince George is very like
the pictures of George the Third, and is full of life
and good-humour. I believe they were quite sorry
when the time came for their departure. The
Duke of Clarence repeated more than once that he
would have enjoyed so much spending another week
quietly with us. In the evening there were fireworks,
and the town was illuminated. The squadron left
at an early hour the next morning."
CHAPTER XV
" The camel-driver has his thoughts : and the camel he has his."
ARAB SAYING,
BOUNDARY disputes seem to have taken up a great
deal of the Governor's time and been the subject
of much correspondence during the course of the
year 1882; for in spite of the chiefs of Rembau having
in the previous year accepted his award, they returned
once more to the charge. Sir Frederick Weld's diary
records that on i4th February :
" The Datoh Perba of Rembau came with Swetten-
ham about the Malacca boundary at the giant's grave,
but made out no case. Indu Ismail, one of the
Maharajah's people, came with him, and admitted that
the view I took was the reasonable one. I told him
that the decision must stand, but that if he had got
hold of any real evidence I should be ready to listen
to it. I also pointed out that the maintenance intact
of the treaty was for his benefit as well as ours ; and
that when in the Johol Treaty we found that we
had by mistake claimed more than we had a right
to, I had acquainted the Datoh of Johol with the
fact, and given up some land, in the interest of
justice."
In May, the Governor and his family having
moved up to their summer quarters at the Hill
Bungalow, Penang, Sir Frederick made it a basis
for expeditions to different parts of the Peninsula.
On the 8th of June he left Penang with Mr. Low in
the s.s. Kinta after dinner, and arrived at an early
hour the next day at the mouth of the Krian River.
344
BOTANICAL NOTES 345
" We reached," he writes in his journal, " Parit
Buntar just after sunrise, Mr. Pemberton, the
surveyor, and Mr. Landes, a cadet, met us here.
I inspected police quarters and hospital, and at
about 2.30 p.m. we entered the steam-launch, and
started up the river. We landed at the spot where
a canal is being made which will connect the road
by water with the sea, and inspected a new sugar
plantation. Then ascended Sungei Semagoja to
Senambu ; all the country is a rich flat about here,
an immense deal having been done lately in sugar
clearing. The river very deep and about thirty
yards wide at Semaba.
" June loth. Started at 6 a.m., and continued our
journey up the river. I was much pleased to see
the rapid progress this part of the country is making.
The survey department is doing good work. Passed
Kuala Semagoja, and continued up the Krian River ;
dense vegetation here ; I noticed a very handsome
tree with mauve-coloured flowers, called by natives
Bunya Bunas. 1 Also the Alpinea, a plant belonging
to the ginger tribe white and orange, with chocolate
spotted flowers, as nearly as I could see in passing,
something like an orchid. The river was so full of
snags at this point that we decided on sending the
launch back to await us, and going on in small
canoes. The stream was now pretty strong, the
country flat and wooded, but only a few fine forest
trees here and there. Our boat with luggage being
left a good way behind, we decided to camp at
Dusun Timan, a deserted clearing on the Kedah
side. Made a fire, and dined by its light ; a fine
Rembrandt-like effect, which would have made a
very effective sketch. I noticed a large caladian
standing alone and growing out of the mud bank.
' nth. Up early, and reached Salama at about
9 a.m., where Mr. Brewster (the officer in charge)
and Che Karrim, with about 1800 Malays and Chinese
miners, received us with a tom-tom band, flags flying,
arches, and so forth ; a singular sight in such a
remote spot, and one in which Europeans have so
lately set foot. In the afternoon I visited the
mines ; some of the tin is found in disintegrated
1 Lagerstroemia regia.
346 LAND DEVELOPMENT
granite, and some in pipe-clay. The mines are of
different character, I should say, to those at Larut,
and not so rich in ore.
" 1 2th. Up at daybreak, and went off to get a shot
at pigs. Saw none, but bagged seven large brown
and yellow pigeons. Low got a hornbill. More
discussions re boundary ; the Kedah people making
absurd claims, and in order to support them falsified
names of rivers ; but resulted in failure, as the
witnesses, after being coached, broke down in con-
versation and unguardedly used the right names.
" i$th. Started early, and shot pigeons on the
way down, one very fine one lost. We heard a wild
elephant in the jungle, but could not find him ;
rejoined steam-launch and reached Parit Bunt or
at 3 p.m., about 30 miles by river, 14 as the crow
flies. Memo. : there should be more police in this
district, and Mr. Brewster (who seems the right
sort of young fellow, very hard working) ought to
have a pony, and Mr. Leech one too.
" i4th. Up at 4.30, a good many letters to
write before starting at six. Low, Tunnard, Leech,
and I leaving the ' boundary ditch ' by a fairly good
road onTpomes. The country nearly all cultivated.
Crossed the canal three miles farther, and got to
F. Hab's colony (rich land), then into forests where
elephants and rhinoceros are still plentiful ; a she
rhinoceros killed a man on the road a short time
ago, and elephants do much damage to crops. The
rapid development of this country is quite astonishing.
In the last three years about 6000 acres have been
taken into cultivation : sugar-cane 1300 acres, padi
about 4000 acres, and the rest fruit and garden
produce. Reached village of Bagan Serai on Kurau
River about 9 p.m. Steamed about fourteen miles
up the river, and landed at a place where Mr. Dew
had a camp. The forest here exceedingly dense, but
no very heavy timber ; returned to B. Serai, and
continued journey down-stream, passing a large
sugar clearing (2000 acres concession, Jim Hwee)
and fishing village of Kuda Kurau ; very dirty and
evil-smelling. The Kurau is a very fine river, deep
and rather sluggish. Rich and fertile district from
B. Serai to Kuala about fourteen miles by river,
MORE JOURNEYS BY WATER 347
eight by road. The proposed road from F. Hab's
colony is also a coast road from K. Krian through
large padi-fields chiefly. Got on board Kinta at
7 p.m., and slept there. Boat went on to Port
Weld, and anchored there.
" i$th. Got under way early from anchorage.
Port Weld is a lake-like expanse of water with inlets
stretching in every direction. There is water and
plenty of room for vessels drawing 15 feet, at high
tide. A Penghulu who owns some houses close to the
future town has got a tame crocodile ; i.e. the brute
comes to be fed with fish when he is called ! Steamed
up to crossing of new Krian and Thaipeng road all
this mangrove flat country will grow sugar, etc.,
magnificently when cleared. Steamed to Teluk
Kiotang, and landed there. After luncheon inspected
the police-station and two hospitals. Beri-beri
raging amongst the coolie miners ; 500 cases in
hospitals.
" i6th. Captain McCallum, R.E., arrived from
Penang to look over the works at the Fort with me.
He entirely agrees with the objections I have made
to what had been done under the direction of Lieut.
Rhodes, R.E., and in the principle of the remedies I
wish to see applied. With his usual quickness he at
once grasped the situation and the lines to work upon.
We then went to the prison, saw the carpenters', stone-
cutters' sheds, and so forth. The prisoners looked
well and contented ; afterwards to the gaol, which
was in excellent order, no beri-beri here, or any
sickness ; this is attributed to plenty of nitrogenous
food being given. From the prison we went part of
the way in gharies, and part on foot to the cascade
and new waterworks. Left Thaipeng and got back
later to the Kinta, and steamed back to Penang, where
we arrived early next day."
Sir Frederick's sojourn at the Hill Bungalow (it
could hardly be called a holiday, as he worked nearly
as hard there as in Singapore) was interrupted this
summer by a disturbance in the Chinese camps.
Though both European and Malay welcomed the
presence of the Chinese in the colony, it was not
348 A CHINESE PLOT
unattended with drawbacks. One of these was the
constant state of internecine bickering in which they
lived. So continual were these disputes owing to
almost every Chinaman being a member of a secret
society, or belonging in his own country to a tribe which
was at enmity with another that it was frequently
only the presence of the armed representative of
British law and order which prevented their flying
at each other's throats. On this occasion a deep-
laid plot had been concocted by one faction to get
its opponent into disgrace by giving information
about a supposed conspiracy to murder and plunder
the European rulers. The plotters were fortunately
outwitted, and the accused liberated owing to informa-
tion given by a Government officer of the name of
Pickering, who filled the post of protector to the Chinese
in the Peninsula. Weld's reference to this embroglio
in his diary is as follows :
" /(>; 7th. A deputation of Chinese arrived
this morning, introduced by Mr. Pickering. One of the
men spoke who had been accused, and afterwards
acquitted, in the late got-up conspiracy affair. I
answered, and gave them my opinion very frankly,
and did not mince matters. I told them that by
placing a single gunboat off the port I could starve
them all out of the country in a week. That they
were indebted to the British Government for all they
had, the protection they enjoyed, and the money they
were making. And that as the Chinese had always
lived happily under our rule, neither I nor the Resident
took them for such fools as to believe they would
et up conspiracies against us. But ignorant
inkheys 1 might easily be led away by designing
Eeople, and men on the look-out for plunder also
ilse accusations were often caused by jealousy. It
was the duty of government to punish the guilty and
protect the innocent, even when the guilty occupied
high places. But as we were strong we did nothing
in haste, or through fear ; accordingly those who had
1 Coolies who are still in their indentures.
PERAK RIVER 349
been accused were acquitted, and now the informers
were going to be tried, and this would be a good
occasion for all who knew the truth to come out with
it. Pickering told me this interview would do good."
A fortnight later Sir Frederick Weld started
with two of his daughters on an expedition up the
Perak River. He gives the following account of it in
his diary :
" July nth. We got off early this morning in nine
boats, and poled up the river to the kampong near
Toh Sri Lela, which is a pretty place. The road, or
track, which I shall take next week in going to Selak
and Kinta starts from here.
" 1 2th. Breakfasted at our old camp on the island
above Chiga Gala. An Axis deer was tracked to a
cover, and we beat for it, but it broke back. We
found it again in a small clump, from whence it
bolted for the river about forty yards from where
Minnie and I were placed. She had a shot at it, with
a pea-rifle, but missed, this being her first running
shot, so I fired and put a bullet through its shoulder,
which dropped it dead instantly.
" i^th. Left Passir Sudu early in a thick fog. As
we got higher up the river we came on to some slight
rapids, which, however, presented little difficulty,
the banks always thickly wooded with secondary
jungle, and kampongs and cottages here and there.
Stopped at an island, where we shot two plovers,
and I noticed some very flourishing tobacco of the
kind we used to call ' Virginian ' in New Zealand
about half an acre of it. Hills on either side, about
2000 feet in height.
1 1 4th. Started early, and arrived at Kota
Tempan at 8 a.m. River here is 150 yards wide, and
about 3 feet deep being very low. After breakfast
Low and I went half a mile up it to rapids, which we
ascended and descended in a small canoe. They
are more than a mile long ; the river is very rocky
here, and when it is higher must appear a sheet of
foam. They cannot compare in difficulty to the
Wanganui rapids or many other New Zealand ones,
25
350 THE KINTA
which I used to navigate in my canoe. On our way
back I rode with Minnie on Sri Kaga, the little elephant
we caught last year ; then embarked back to K.
Tampan.
11 i$th. Up at early dawn, and off to the island,
but did not see anything. I took Cicely and Edie
to shoot larks along the open space by the shore ;
Edie got two larks and a beautiful bee-eater."
After returning to Kuala Kangsa, and spending
three or four days there in transacting business,
and writing for the English mail, Sir Frederick started
again eastward to visit the Kinta district.
" 2$rd. Started early from Kepayang ; very
slow at getting off, owing to our having 23 elephants.
Track through a forest ; some very fine trees. Passed
a deserted Malay smelting shed ; an offering to the
spirits was hanging up ; i.e. a neat kind of little cradle,
with wooden models of all the tools used by miners
attached to it. The forest we passed through is
supposed to be haunted by a peculiarly malignant
race of demons. Entered the plain of Chemar before
dusk ; a very pretty view of distant hills seen from
this spot. Datoh Panglina Kinta came to meet us
here a nice old fellow, very lively and intelligent.
" 24th. Left early on elephants ; passing through
forest a great game was started everybody pelting
each other with wild fruit. I confined myself to
collecting ammunition from off my elephant which
led the procession, and giving it to the Alang Lampa,
who with her companion was on the second elephant.
She had quite lost her shyness, and was in high
spirits, having reached her own country and people.
Passed a tin mine at Kinding, and not long after-
wards got to the Kinta (a stream like the Hodder, only
smaller). We followed some way down its banks
through open jungle and woods very pretty country
then stopped, and all hands set to work to fish.
I got six or eight large ' klah/ which are like carp
only reddish, of from 8 to 12 Ib. weight. Passed
Gunong Timrank, one of the remarkable limestone
hills common in the Peninsula, and arrived at Tanjong
FISH-SPEARING 351
Kinkong. Here we put up at the Batch's house, a
large Malay hut, raised high on posts amongst fruit
trees and close to the river.
" 2$th. We went fishing, some on elephants, some
in boats, I in a canoe. All the village turned out,
and it was great fun. I speared six great klah, and
a roach. Twenty big fish were caught weighing
from 10 to 15 Ib. ; one of them was a sebarah. I
was surprised to find that this fish, which takes a
minnow, is leather-mouthed and barbed. It is darker
and bluer than the klah, and like it has very large
scales, and is toothless. Another fish called the
tapa l was caught, but unluckily I did not see it ;
according to the Datoh, it grows to a great size, and
is excellent eating. I went head .over heels into the
water over-balancing myself in the canoe in a
moment of excitement and loud were the shouts
when the Tuan Governor Besar disappeared under
the water, and great the rush to the rescue. How-
ever, I was not out of my depth, so I soon came to the
surface amidst sympathetic yells from the spectators.
" 26th. Heavy rain in the night and flood on the
river, which carried away bathing-house and the
canoe in which I was to have descended it. Started
down river, and frequently crossed it, on elephants ;
the country fertile, and open with isolated limestone
hills on each side of the valley ; reached Ipoh, which
is a large straggling village, at about noon. The two
head-men, Datoh Muda and Datoh Husin, met me a
short way from the village ; and the people were
assembled outside the joss-house with bands of
music, flags, and the usual demonstrations. The
Datoh 's head wife received me at the foot of the
staircase, and took me up to the room which had
been prepared for me a very pretty one hung in
silk, carpeted, and with lovely embroidered cushions.
I gave a buffalo to be killed for the people to feast
upon, and a goat for the Sikhs. Went to see the
new road we are making to Kuala Kangsa ; it is
eight feet and a half wide, and eleven miles of it are
already finished. Also saw the Sungei Raja road
on the opposite side of the village, which has just
been commenced. This road will cost 250 dollars a
1 A kind of fresh-water shark,
352 A CHINESE SETTLEMENT
mile, owing to heavy stumps ; over the open padi-
land it will only cost 160 more, of course, in swamp.
" 27th. Took leave of the Che Utih, who was very
pleased when I told her she must come and see my
wife and daughters when she goes to Singapore.
Maxwell l and I rode on elephants, following the
course of the new road, which is finished almost up
to S. Raja. The country is flat and very fertile,
and in places the scenery pretty, particularly on
approaching S. Raja. We were met there by Toh
Dombu and Mr. Crawford. The former took me to
his house, which was prettily decorated, his wife
and every one most friendly. I hear he is considered
a first-rate man. I had a good deal of talk with
Hewitt yesterday, and with Maxwell to-day, about
forced labour, pensions to the lesser officers in native
states, and other matters. Continued our journey
eastward through a more hilly country till we reached
Gopeng, in the centre of a large mining district.
About fifteen hundred Chinese here ; we were met
by a great crowd, and the usual accompaniment of
crackers. Received deputation, and inspected tin
mines, which extend to a great distance in all directions.
" 2%th. Made an early start on elephants, and
travelled through undulating country, chiefly
secondary jungle, and some clearings. Reached
the banks of the Kinta about 7 a,m., and embarked
in canoes. Arrived at Batu Gaja at noon, landed,
and went to Mr. Hewitt's bungalow, where we lunched
with his wife and sister-in-law. Inspected his new
line of road which is to go to K. Kangsa, and then
mounted our elephants again, and after a rather hot
ride on a good road reached Papan, where we were
met by a crowd of miners, and volcanoes of crackers.
Slept in a balek 2 ; a little boy, son of Rajah Bilah,
insisted on giving me a tame black monkey.
" 2()th. Six hours through dense forest (fine trees)
took us to Blanja on the Perak. Rajah Hadgi,
Penghulu of Blanja, who had accompanied us
during the journey, took me to his house, and intro-
1 Afterwards Sir William Maxwell, K.C.M.G. At that time Assist-
ant Resident of Perak. He became Governor of the Gold Coast
Colony, and died in 1908.
2 Court-house,
DEBT-BONDAGE 353
duced his wife to me. We went afterwards to the
balek, where all the chiefs assembled, at my invita-
tion. I spoke to them and wished them good-bye.
(N.B. My parting with the Datoh Panglina Kinta
was quite affectionate.) Embarked on the river,
slept on board, reaching K. Kangsa next morning.
" $oth. Rajah Muda came to call upon me. We
had a long talk about debt-slavery ; he wishes to
have it settled at once, to which I willingly assented.
Started in the afternoon for Penang, which I reached
the following day."
Debt-bondage was the crying sin of the Malays as
a nation ; and as it was bound up with all their
habits and tastes, and had existed for untold genera-
tions, and, moreover, was one of the " customs "
which the Government in taking over the protection
of the native States had agreed to tolerate, no forcible
measures could be used for its extirpation. The
traveller's tales told of the horrors inflicted not only
on debtors, but on their wives and children, and their
descendants (for till the debt was repaid these also
were forfeit), almost exceed belief. No doubt in
some cases they were exaggerated the Malays,
unless roused to fury by wrongs, real or imaginary,
being a kindly and peaceable race. Unfortunately
for both the slave and the owner, this custom ap-
pealed to all the worst and weakest points of the
Datoh or Rajah. It enabled him to live at ease,
whilst his slave laboured in the padi-field, or rowed
his barge of state, or performed the menial tasks of
his house. Even more important, slaves swelled the
number of his followers when he went to war, added
to his importance, and ministered to his vanity or
his lust. Forbearance and the greatest tact had to be
exercised to persuade the rulers that so valuable a
national institution must in time give way before
what probably they called European prejudice, and
we, enlightenment. No greater testimony to the
354 RANEE MAHDI
efficiency of the Residential system can be given than
that before it had been ten years at work the native
chiefs should not only have agreed to the abolition
of this custom but have petitioned for it.
An entry in Sir Frederick's diary on his return
to Singapore shows that the women of the East are
not quite such puppets and sinecures as they are
ranked in the estimation of their sisters of the
Western hemisphere.
" October $th. Ranee Mahdi called about her
house and allowance, and pressed to see me. I was
very busy with the Colonial Secretary (the following
being mail-day), but I consented to let her have a
five minutes' interview. She began by throwing
herself at my feet, and as she is very fat and no
light weight I had considerable difficulty in dragging
her up and getting her into a chair. She then talked
volubly rolling her big black eyes the while. She
is the cleverest woman I believe in the Malay peninsula,
and a great political plotter. I fancy she must have
given the old warrior enough to do to manage her.
Her object this morning was to complain about her
house, which was letting in water, roof gone, and so
on. I said I would have it put right. She argued
with vivacity and many gestures, but with a pleasing
modulated voice, like a lady."
The end of this year brought a great sorrow to Sir
Frederick the prospect of the approaching death of
his cousin and the friend of his youth, Sir Henry
Clifford. 1 He mentions it thus in his diary :
" Got up early and wrote to Henry Clifford. I fear
this closes my lifelong friendship with dear Henry, and
will be my last communication with him till we meet
in the next world. Though we have passed most of
our lives, since manhood, apart, his life has always
seemed a part of mine, and now he has gone to die of
a painful disease at dear old Ugbrooke, where we used
to play as boys together. God's will be done."
1 Major-General the Hon. Sir Henry Clifford, V.C., K.C.B.
A MALAY SQUIRE 355
In a letter from Weld to his brother and sister-in-
law to whom he wishes a happy New Year he
reviews his work in pacifying the native States, a
subject which, apart from private joys and sorrows,
seems to have been the principal object of his thoughts
and interests at this time :
" I am glad to say that my interview with the
chiefs at Bukit Putus a year and a half ago has borne
fruit ; all goes on there as quietly as possible. I was
up in that country just before Christmas, and an
old fellow called Bongsu came to see me who is a
kind of ' squire ' of his village, or parish. He is
hideously ugly, decidedly violent and cantankerous
with his neighbours, but very popular with his own
people. He loves me and the late Resident of our
Protected State with enthusiasm, and expresses it
with ' effusion ' ! His heart's desire is that we
should assume the protectorate over the group of
States to which he belongs. About eight years ago
they attacked us and were beaten at B. Putus, and
we occupied all their country, and the old man was
wounded whilst fighting against us, and delights in
showing his wound. ' I didn't know you then/ he
told me, ' I didn't know the kind of people you were,
or I would never have fought against you. Why did
you go away ? it would have been much better for us
if you had stayed.' The fact is, after we had beaten
them, an officer, Captain Murray, was sent there as
Resident, who was much loved by the Malays. Then
after a year we gave up the country, and a chief or
overlord of the Heptarchy was elected, and acknow-
ledged by us. He has not been a success, and there
had been much disputing till I went up and lectured
them at B. Putus last year the Yam Tuan on ad-
ministering with justice and clemency, and keeping
good order in his States, and his subjects on the duties
of submission to him. I don't know how long it will
last, but it shows what can be done with these people
by tact and kindness. Old Bongsu brought me some
rice, and said he could not possibly swallow a grain
of his new crop till I had eaten some. He said the
Yam Tuan had never troubled him since I had spoken,
356 OPIUM SMUGGLING
but when I asked him if they were friends he opened
a mouth like a cavern, and made a face of disgust
which was quite inimitable, and said that he and the
Yam Tuan had met in the street and that he the
Rajah had cut him ! JJ
Though Sir Frederick Weld constantly testifies
how his efforts to ameliorate the lives of the people
under his sway were backed up by his subordinates,
how loyal they were to him, and anxious to carry out
his views, it would be foolish to deny that he did not
encounter now and then disillusionment. Thus on
one occasion he met with nothing but annoyance on
a visit to Kuala Lumpor. The hospital was in a
11 disgraceful state, dirty, the patients neglected,
and for want of a little care and attention the
water was pouring in through the roof on to one of
the wards." Inquiries elicited the fact that the
doctor was continually drunk. He was got rid of.
The Resident also had been slack. Weld remarks in
his diary :
" Half the orders I gave on my last visit here have
not been carried out, and those that have been carried
out, not properly, or to my satisfaction. It is a
singular fact that I have had to dismiss two-thirds of
the staff of officials here, since I came, for inefficiency."
The Chinese population also gave much trouble
during the early months of the year 1883. A smuggling
conspiracy was discovered which had, through a
system of terrorism peculiar to that nation, defied
even the knowledge and experience of the " Protec-
tor of the Chinese," Mr. Pickering, to run to ground.
When it was finally brought home to the delinquents,
a great effort was made to get them off, some of them
holding high positions in the colony. A petition was
addressed to Lord Derby (Secretary of State for the
Colonies) to have their sentence of banishment from
A GREAT DURBAR 357
the country commuted. The Governor also sent his
views on the case, and received the message in reply
that Lord Derby left the decision with him. Weld's
comment in his diary is as follows :
" February 2%th. Meeting of Legislative Council.
I made a very outspoken statement re my policy and
action on the opium conspiracy. I hit straight from
the shoulder, and quite carried the House. Ex. Council
decided to send both banished men back to China."
The affairs of Rembau, which had long been in an
unsatisfactory state owing to the deserved unpopu-
larity of the Datoh Penghulu, reached a crisis in the
March of this year owing to a murder which was un-
mistakably traced to that chieftain. It was time to
take strong measures ; accordingly the Governor
summoned the peccant ruler with the other members
of his family and heads of tribes to meet him at a
grand durbar at Malacca to hear his fate. Sir
Frederick left Singapore on the 26th of March, accom-
panied by Lord Clifford, who was on a visit to him
at Government House, his secretary, Mr. Browne,
and his A.D.C's., Capt. Tunnard and Lieut. Hugh
Cholmondeley.
The Governor on landing at Malacca was received
by a salute of seventeen guns. He was met by the
Hon. Dudley Hervey, Resident Councillor; Mr. Paul,
H.M.'s Resident at Sungei Ujong ; Mr. Swetten-
ham, H.M.'s Resident at Selangor ; His Highness
Rajah Dris, Chief Judge of Perak ; Tungku Antar,
the Yam Tuan of Sri Menanti ; Kahar, son of the
Sultan of Selangor ; Dolah, son of the late Sultan of
Selangor ; Lela Stia, the Datoh Klana of Sungei
Ujong ; Ahmed, the Datoh Bandar of Sungei Ujong ;
the Datoh Muda of Linggi ; and all the principal
Government officials. A large number of the Rem-
bau people was also present, a guard of honour of
Sikh Police being drawn up on the quay.
358 A STRONG CASE
The object of the Governor's visit to Malacca
was to endeavour to finally settle the differences
which have existed in the State of Rembau for a
lengthened period, and with that object in view
His Excellency appointed the Hon. Dudley Hervey,
Mr. Swettenham, and His Highness Rajah Dris,
Commissioners to collect information, take evidence
of witnesses, and report to him on arrival. Accord-
ingly, in the afternoon of Friday, the 3Oth of March,
the Commissioners having concluded their labours,
and carried out the various points of inquiry directed
by the Governor, His Excellency summoned Hadji
Sahil, Syed Hamed, and their respective followers,
to meet him at the Stadt Haus that evening. At the
appointed hour, the Governor, who was accompanied
by Lord Clifford and the officers of His Excellency's
personal staff, the Resident Councillor of Malacca
the Residents of Sungei Ujong and Selangor, and His
Highness Rajah Dris, entered the Audience Chamber
at 8.30 p.m. A large number of the Rembau men
was assembled, and Hadji Sahil and Syed Hamed
were both present. After the Governor and suit
had taken their places on the dais, His Excellency
proceeded to explain to those assembled the object
of calling them together, and then ascertained who
amongst those present had a right to vote on the
election or deposition of a Datoh Penghulu of Rembau ;
the voters being almost without exception in the
Hall. Mr. Swettenham, who acted as interpreter, then
read over to Datoh Hadji Sahil the charges which
had been laid against him by the people of Rembau
of misgovernment exemplified by fourteen cases of
murder, in which justice had not been done, and which
were inquired into seriatim. The evidence of Karim,
the assassin of Laksamana Budin, was next read ;
it was most precise and full of detail, and directly
implicated the Datoh Penghulu. To some of the
RULER DEPOSED 359
charges he pleaded forgetfulness, and to others he
gave a flat denial. The voters, namely, the four
Orang Besar, the eight Suku Datohs, and the twelve
Sukus, then remained to deliberate, and the rest of
the assembly were requested to withdraw.
A large part of those present, chiefly those who
had been supporters of Hadji Sahil, the Datoh
Penghulu, stated that they had by letter offered
the country to the Governor, and had asked for the
Residential system, and that they left the decision
to His Excellency. The Governor replied that he had
good reason to believe that the letter in question
had been signed with very imperfect knowledge of
its real import and consequences ; the prosperity of
the native States under the Residential system could
only be attained by the introduction of taxation, and
of other institutions with which they were unfamiliar ;
that later, after knowing us better, and profiting
by our advice, if they should really wish for the
Residential system and ask for it, then it might be
considered, but that at present they were not ripe
for it. Many chiefs, most friendly to our Govern-
ment, were opposed to the introduction of the Resi-
dential system at present, and it was not the real wish
of the country that it should be introduced now.
He also informed them that the question of appoint-
ing a Rajah Muda or Yam Tuan Besar l could not
then be considered, as clearly a very large part of the
voters and country were opposed to it ; the question
therefore was the appointment of a Datoh Penghulu.
The Governor was strongly pressed to decide
whether Hadji Sahil should be deposed, and either a
new Datoh Penghulu elected or the rival Penghulu,
Hadji Mustapha, recognised, receiving the assurance
that the electors would unanimously assent to His
Excellency's decision. The Governor told them that
1 Rajah Muda, i.e. heir to the Yam Tuan, or paramount chief.
360 ELECTION OF SUCCESSOR
from what they had heard and seen that evening,
it was perfectly certain that Hadji Sahil had grossly
misgoverned the country, even if any doubted his
complicity in grave crimes ; that Hadji Mustapha
was strongly opposed by large numbers, and had
never been recognised by the British Government,
and that therefore they must elect a new Datoh
Penghulu whom all must support, and who, if
accepted, would be assisted and supported, and on
occasions of difficulty advised, by the Governor,
and who could at any time communicate with the
Resident Councillor at Malacca. They all willingly
bound themselves to this, and shook hands as a
token that former enmities were ended. They then
urgently begged the Governor to suggest a name,
and, in answer to repeated requests, His Excellency
indicated Mahomed Hasan, the Maharajah Mantri
Lela Perkasa, as an apparently sensible and moderate
man, who appeared to be on good terms with both
parties. The voters were then left alone to consult
together. After a long interval, His Excellency
re-entered the Hall, when it appeared that a constitu-
tional point had been raised as to whether the
Maharajah Mantri was eligible for election, as he
was of the Jakun tribe, that of the deposed Datoh
Penghulu ; it was admitted that if a Datoh Penghulu
is deposed, one of his own tribe succeeds ; but if two
depositions take place, it was argued that they were
equivalent to a death, and that consequently accord-
ing to law the succession would pass to the other
tribe, the " Jawa." This point was put to the vote,
and held to be good by a large majority. The Datoh
Mangkabuni Abdul Samat, a young chief, was then pre-
sented to the Governor to be elected, but he modestly
declined the honour. Finally, Serun Bin Syed, the
Shahbandar, was elected by a large majority, and all
signed their names to an undertaking to support him,
A PRONOUNCEMENT 361
Hadji Sahil, the ex-Penghulu, having been called
into the room and informed by the Governor that he
had been deposed, and that he could not be per-
mitted, for the present, to return to Rembau, the
proceedings closed shortly after 4 a.m.
At 4 o'clock in the afternoon of Saturday, the
3ist March, His Excellency held a General Meeting
in the courtyard of the Stadt Haus, which was decor-
ated with flags and flowers on the occasion, for the
purpose of announcing the decision at which he had
arrived. Punctually at the hour named, the Gover-
nor, who appeared in full uniform, and was accom-
panied by the Officers of the Staff, ascended the dais,
on which seats were reserved for the Rajahs and others
of high rank, and made the following address :
" ' Rajahs, Datohs, and all here assembled
" ' I meet you now to announce my decision upon
the subjects which have been brought before me in
regard to the troubles in Rembau.
" ' I have been asked to take over Rembau and to
place a Resident there, but that is not the wish of the
whole people, and it is not my desire to come here to
arrange difficulties at the request of many of the
people of Rembau, and then to take over the govern-
ment of the country to myself. Later, when the
minds of the people of Rembau are calmer, it will be
time enough for them to express such wishes, and for
the Governor to consider them.
" ' I have been asked to give to Rembau a Rajah,
but this is not at present the desire of the whole
people of Rembau, nor is it necessary, for they have
the Governor to appeal to if they wish ; I have not
thought that it is desirable to give them a Rajah
now.
<( ' But with regard to a Datoh Penghulu, it was
necessary that action should be taken, to prevent
discord and to secure better government. It was im-
possible that Rembau should be allowed to remain
without right or justice or observance of good rule,
and it is an evil thing to see a country divided in
362 THE CUSTOMS OF REMBAU
itself, and a trouble to its neighbours, and its ruler
gravely accused, and incapable of uniting his people
and governing wisely.
" ' For these reasons, I have agreed that Haji Sahil
be deposed ; nor should Haji Mustapha, his rival,
succeed him, for trouble will ensue, and the people
will be divided in either case.
11 ' But I willingly elect Serun Bin Saidin, who has
been elected by the free votes of the proper electors
the four Orang Besar, the eight Datohs Sukus,
and the twelve Sukus of Rembau.
" l I warn him to respect the good customs of Rem-
bau, and to consult his proper advisers and Datohs,
and to do justice, and to remember that the head-men
of Rembau are now united and have shaken hands.
He is not to favour one party above another, but to
show equal justice and friendship to all, and if he has
difficulties he will ask advice from the Governor, and
thus he will be helped and supported, and establish
peace and prosperity in his country.
" l And now I thank the Rajah and chiefs, who
from Perak, Selangor, Sungei Ujong, Sri Menanti, and
elsewhere, have come to meet me and who will
witness the arrangement that we now make in testi-
mony of the desire of Malay States to help one another
and repress evil under the shield of the Government
of Her Majesty the Queen and Empres-."
" The following treaty was then signed.
" l i. Whereas difficulties have arisen in Rembau,
and the people of Rembau have repeatedly com-
plained to the Government of the Straits Settlements
that their old customs were not being followed, that
injustice was done, crimes committed without due
punishment of the guilty, and generally that they were
not satisfied with present arrangements and all the
chiefs concerned having now assembled at Malacca
on this date, and it having been made evident that
the Penghulu of Rembau, Haji Sahil, disregards the
established customs and laws of Rembau, and has
committed many unjustifiable acts, and that many
of his head-men and chiefs are determined no longer
to follow his rule, they do now, with the consent
FAVOURABLE RESULTS 363
of the Government, depose Haji Sahil, and he is no
longer the Penghulu of Rembau.
"' 2. The elective chiefs and people of Rembau
do now unanimously select Serun bin Saidin to be
the Penghulu of Rembau, and His Excellency the
Governor, on behalf of the British Government, hereby
acknowledges Serun bin Saidin to be the Penghulu of
Rembau.
"'3. In all cases of difficulty or difference, the
Signatories to this engagement agree to refer to the
Governor of the Straits Settlements, and to abide by
his decision.
'"4. It is hereby agreed by all whose seals or
signatures are affixed to this document, that they will
abide by the terms of this engagement, and will
mutually assist in maintaining its provisions and in
punishing any one who contravenes any of the afore-
said articles.
" ' I approve.
(Signed) " ' FRED. A. WELD,
" Governor and Commander-in-Chief, S.S.'
" To this document were appended the signatures
or marks of the ten principal Datohs of Rembau and
of the Rajahs representing Sri Menanti, Perak, Selan-
gor, and Sungei Ujong."'
'' i
An immediate result of this treaty was that the
new Datoh Penghulu and his chiefs invited the Resident
Councillor to make arrangements with the opium
farmers with regard to the Rembau dues, a measure
which served at once to check the smuggling in that
and the surrounding districts. The people of Rembau
gave further proof of goodwill by volunteering to show
the Government officials the landmarks of our posses-
sions on the Naning frontier, about which there had
been much dispute, and by which we now by their
own admission gained an accession of territory.
The Malay States at this time seem to have been
attacked with what might almost be termed an
1 Taken from the Straits Times, April 1883.
364 JELABU
epidemic of attachment to the British Crown. A
fortnight later the following entry occurs in Weld's
diary :
" April 1 2th. I had a long interview this morning
with the Datoh Penghulu of Jelabu and his waris.
They earnestly invited me to undertake the govern-
ment of that little State, and settle their difficulties.
I explained to them that as the representative of the
British Government I could not accept their offer to
take over their country, but that I would do what I
could to help them and get them out of their diffi-
culties."
b&. [ ~_ : <
i
Later on in the month the Governor made an
expedition to Perak to see how certain works that he
had set in hand were progressing.
He writes on 29th April. "Arrived at 5 a.m. at
Teluk Anson, and found the place immensely im-
proved ; walked round and inspected barracks,
police-station, and hospital. Walked across the
isthmus to the site of the old D. Sabatang, and back
by the side of the canal (flood-gates not up yet).
Very much pleased with the progress of the new town
wide streets and some good buildings.
" April $oth. Low arrived early in the Kinta ;
after a talk with him went to breakfast with Denison,
who has a charming house and collection of swords,
krisses and other curios, also some interesting old
books. A great number of Rajahs and Penghulus
came to be presented to me. Rajah Dris was pre-
vented by illness. The emancipation of slaves is
going on splendidly. I have been struck by the
apparent good feeling which exists between the head-
men and their slaves. What is very remarkable is
that many have set them free ' for the love of God/
and have refused all payment from Government,
saying, ' Can we sell those we love for money like
buffaloes ? ' The slaves also almost universally
refuse to leave their masters ; it is quite common, I
am told, for the slave-children to call their mistress
mother when they have lost their own, and to look
COLONIAL PROSPECTS 365
upon them in all respects as such. Still the system
was unquestionably a bad one, and in many cases it
led to gross abuses."
This summer was in many respects a sad one for
Sir Frederick Weld. In the spring he heard of the
dangerous illness of his youngest sister, to whom he
was tenderly attached, and shortly afterwards the
news of her death. His greatest and earliest friend,
Sir Henry Clifford, died in April. His own health
was also bad. There are constant references in his
diary to severe attacks of gout and neuralgia. More
than once a very new thing for him he complains
of overwork ; and remarks that the doctor has
threatened him with a complete breakdown unless
he curtails his six or seven daily hours of office work.
After repeated warnings of this kind he wrote to the
Secretary of State for the Colonies, and having repre-
sented to him that he had been fifteen years Governor
without a break he requested a year's leave to return
to England and recruit. He received a very kind
and complimentary letter from Lord Derby in reply,
coupled with the permission to take a year's leave
from the spring of 1884.
The prospects of the Colony and of the protected
States were never brighter than this year, and at the
July meeting of the Legislative Council, when the
Governor summed up the proceedings of the past
year and produced his estimates for the coming one,
there was nothing to be noted but progress in every
department. After the usual preamble he remarks :
" I can look forward with increased confidence to
the future a confidence based on the sustained
improvement of all branches of revenue ; the general
increase of trade and means of communication ;
the influx of foreign capital and machinery, and also
by more intimate and friendly relations with the
smaller Malay States and closer co-operation for
26
366 OVER-CENTRALISATION
peace and good order in the Peninsula of the ' pro-
tected ' ones.
" I next propose with your assistance and the
sanction of Her Majesty's Secretary of State to take
steps towards bringing the native races in our country
districts into closer contact with the Government by
means of local officers, acting where possible in co-
operation with native head-men Malay or Chinese.
At present they know us (amongst the mass of the
people at least) chiefly as tax-gatherers and as
police ; it is my policy to let them also know us as
taking an interest in their general welfare, as arbiters
in their petty disputes, as their friends and advisers.
This has been done to a considerable extent in pro-
tected States. In the Straits Settlements we have
not had resident Government Agents, and the Peng-
hulu system has been neglected. The process will
be necessarily slow and tentative, but with the races
with which we have to deal (who, properly treated,
are very amenable) it can be accomplished ; thus
our in some respects over-centralised administra-
tion may be to a certain extent at least rendered
more local and more congenial to the habits and
feelings of the native races. I shall also ask you to
vote a moderate sum of money to enable me to
assist independent native States to make roads, to
open mineral and agricultural country, and afford
communication with our territories and between
territories under our influence ; for the promotion, in
short, of commerce and order. Since the settlement
of the Rembau difficulty, and the election of a Baton
willing to take our advice and that of his chiefs in
accordance with the customs of his country, and who
appears desirous of keeping order and improving the
condition of his people, a great change for the better
has taken place in the adjoining territories. Many
small States have applied to me for advice, more
especially in regard to raising a settled revenue, to
suppressing robberies and murder, to opening mines
and making roads, and I have lately held conversa-
tions on the subject with Tunku Antar the Yam
Tuan of Sri Menanti, with the Yam Tuan of Jelabu,
with Syed Hamed of Tampin, with the Datohs of
Inas and Gemincheh, the Datoh Jenang of Johol ; and
FRONTIER DISPUTES 367
many others. I propose meeting the Datoh Serun
of Rembau and his chiefs in Rembau very shortly,
and to walk across his territory to Linggi by the line
of a road which is intended to unite Lubok China in
Malacca with Linggi in Sungei Ujong. Besides this,
Tunku Antar and Syed Hamed are also not only
willing but anxious that a road should be made from
our Malacca boundary through Tampin Teratchi and
Sri Menanti to the Bukit Putus pass. From that
pass a road now leads to the Residency in Sungei
Ujong. I need not dilate on the great advantage
these roads would be to the Colony. In the same
way Jelabu wants assistance, and as it is exceedingly
rich in minerals it would soon be able, and is per-
fectly willing, to repay advances. But the increased
trade to Sungei Ujong and thence would in itself
repay any small help that might be given to these
people.
"4. The condition of the protected States is good.
The progress of Perak is unprecedented ; a slight
difficulty lately arose in one district (owing perhaps
to its containing many of the relations and former
dependents of the murderers of Mr. Birch, the first
Resident, and to want of intercourse with European
officers) when armed resistance was threatened to a
tax imposed by the State Council. I mention this
incident that I may bear testimony to the judicious
firmness and moderation of Sir Hugh Low, backed
by his officers and his military police, which resulted
not only in the submission of the tribe, but in the
establishment of friendly relations.
" 5 . I have, with the sanction of the Home Govern-
ment, entered, through Her Majesty's Agency at
Bangkok, into negotiations with the King of Siam
regarding the upper portion of Perak valley, which has,
for some time, been encroached upon by Siamese
authorities, to the great detriment of order, and of
the State of Perak, to which it properly belongs.
Her Majesty's Acting Agent's representations have
been received in the best spirit, and I have every
hope that the friendly disposition and sense of
justice of His Majesty the King of Siam will enable
the Commission which has been appointed, to make
arrangements which will be not only satisfactory
368 RAILWAY SURVEYS
to Perak, but to the inhabitants of the district
themselves.
" 6. The first short section of railway connecting
Port Weld with Thaipeng will soon be opened, and
will be the first line running in the Malay Peninsula.
The Perak railway will thence be gradually extended
in northerly and south-easterly directions, opening
extremely valuable tracts of agricultural and mineral
country.
"7. Selangor is making a very marked advance,
and preliminary surveys for a railway, which is most
essentially necessary to the proper development of
its resources, are in progress.
" 8. Sungei Ujong has less mineral resources, but
its roads now reach within a few miles of Jelabu, and if
the Jelabu mines are opened, both States will make
an immediate advance in revenue and in population.
" I have already had occasion to congratulate you
and the Colony on the decision regarding Indian
immigration arrived at by H.E. the Governor-
General. I am glad to be able to inform you that Mr.
Buck, on the part of the Government of India, and
Major Fischer, on the part of that of Madras, have
been deputed to visit this Colony and confer with
me on the question. I have directed that every
facility should be given them to acquire full infor-
mation ; and I entertain no doubt but that the
interests of the Indians themselves no less than
those of our planters will best be consulted by an
increased and free immigration under proper safe-
guards. It does not affect our planting interests
only, much as it affects them. It goes beyond
that ; it is the question whether we shall facilitate
or impede the exodus of a race which, overcrowded
and starved in their own country, is seeking a natural
outlet by establishing them in a country where
they would be enabled by the fruits of their industry
to live in comfort and prosperity under favourable
conditions, and in a congenial climate. I doubt not
that a satisfactory solution of the question will
shortly be arrived at."
The Governor then proceeded to lay before the
Council the estimates for the following year. He
A FORECAST 369
sums up his message by recapitulating the various
works which were to be begun or completed during
the course of the year. Amongst these the most
important were the new general hospital at Singapore
at the Sepoy lines ; landing-place and boat accommo-
dation, and extension at Fort Fullerton ; extension of
the Raffles' girls' school; new European and native
hospitals in Penang and Province Wellesley ; telephone
communication throughout the Province and Penang,
including Muka Head Lighthouse and Pula Jerajah ;
the leper asylum ; and a duplicate cable laid across
the Straits between the island and the Province ;
and the construction of Muka Head Lighthouse.
The Governor also gave a list of works which were
approaching completion.
In the month of August, Sir Frederick carried
out his intention of visiting the interior of the
peninsula. An account of this journey was given
by an eye-witness, and appeared in The Times of
28th August 1884, from which the following extracts
are taken :
" The chief credit of the astonishing progress
made by the protected States must be given to the
Governor, Sir Frederick Weld. Unlike the majority
of our colonial rulers, he is not satisfied with the mere
perusal of reports, or even with the cheap labour of
occasional visits paid to the headquarters of district
officers. During the summer of 1883 he made a three
months' journey up the interior of the peninsula from
Malacca to Perak, keeping the central range of
mountains on his right, and crossing the rivers at their
upper waters. This tract had never been previously
traversed in its entirety by one man, and the results
likely to follow from such a rapid general view can-
not fail to afford valuable material for the future
connecting together of the various States. The
Governor's journey, though it was not marked by any
very startling incidents, and though the density of
the jungle prevented him at times from obtaining a
370 RIVER- WAYS
good view of the country, has yet demonstrated that
no difficulty exists to making a good inland road.
This would run along the base of the mountain chain
which divides the east from the west of the peninsula.
There is no serious obstacle existing even to the con-
struction of a railway from the southern Malacca
boundary on the Kessang to the northern frontier of
Perak on the Muda River. Thus would be con-
structed a very considerable section of the railway
which the Singapore people hope will some day
connect them with Burmah, possibly with India,
and not at all improbably with Siam and China. As
a matter of fact another year will see a bridle path
running the entire length of Sir Frederick's route.
Tin districts lie all along the line, and these will be
thus connected with one another, while millions of
acres of excellent agricultural low-lying land, as well
as plantation country on the uplands, will be made
accessible. At present the population is very thin,
and, as is invariably the custom in Eastern countries,
is established only on the rivers, many of which only
require a little clearing and straightening to make
them easily navigable by native boats. Not a few
are even now open to craft of ten tons to distances
of from 50 to 80 miles. The Perak and Bernam rivers
will float sea-going ships to a very considerable way
into the interior. Natural routes for trade, therefore,
already exist, and the riding paths and roads being
pushed forward everywhere will rapidly open up new
districts to commercial enterprise. One railway-
that from Port Weld to the great Chinese tin mines
at Thaipeng in Larut, the northern annexe of Perak
is already all but finished, and within the last six
months another from Selangor to the tin centre at
Kuala Lumpor has been commenced. But the riches
of these native States do not exist only in tin. Almost
every kind of tropical produce does well coffee,
cinchona, sago, tapioca, tea, cacao, sugar, indigo,
rice, only require to be cultivated to grow luxuriantly.
The tobacco which thrives so well on the other side
of the Straits at Deli and other places in Sumatra,
is found to do equally well in Perak. Not far from
Kuala Lumpor, the proposed terminus of the railway
just begun," Sir Frederick Weld passed through an ex-
A DISMAL SWAMP 371
tensive forest of camphor trees, many of which were
over 200 feet high. As this forest must become of
enormous value, the Governor gave directions that it
should be reserved to the State and that only single
trees should be sold as they were required. Cinchona
and Arabian coffee are found to do particularly well
on the inland and other mountains, while Siberian
coffee thrives more especially in the lowlands. No
better idea of the future of the native States can be
given than by pointing out what has happened in our
possessions on the mainland. Province Wellesley has
been in our hands so long that the contrast is almost
too strong. Well-made roads, far better than most
country roads in England, extend from end to end.
Almost the entire area is under cultivation. It
seems almost beyond belief that at the beginning of
the century this wealthy and prosperous province
was part mangrove swamp, part impenetrable jungle.
But in the strip of land immediately to the south of
it we can see this transformation actually going on
under our eyes. Ten years ago the Krian district,
ceded to us by the Treaty of Pangkor, was a dismal
marsh, where the Nipah palm sprang out of the salt
swamp, and molluscs grew on the slimy roots of the
mangrove, and little clumps of them occasionally
broke hold and went drifting up and down with the
tide. Not a living thing was to be seen except alli-
gators and sea-snakes, with sometimes a troop of
monkeys who came down to feed on the sea shells
left behind at low water. A little farther inland,
where the ground was firmer, came the casuarina, the
wild cotton-tree, palms of all kinds, feathery bamboo
clumps, wait-a-bit thorns the whole bound into an
impenetrable mass by the wealth of creepers, so
that nothing but the elephant or the rhinoceros
could force a way through. This dense jungle
has within five years been suddenly transformed
into a highly cultivated and populous plain, traversed
by broad drains, and embankments, which them-
selves are in process of conversion into canals and
roads.
' There is no reason why what is possible in our
territory should not be equally possible in the native
States. The only difficulty is that capitalists are not
372 THE CHINESE QUESTION
so ready to embark their money in a country where
there is not the stability of British rule. Just now
everything is going well, but it is possible that at
some future time things might not go on so pleasantly.
Fortunately the Malay is very easy to rule. The
popular opinion of him as an individual addicted to
piracy and ' running amok ' is even more wrong than
is usually the case with popular notions. He is a
grave and dignified personage who cannot understand
a joke ; he requires to be dealt with very patiently,
and must not on any account be hurried when he has
a story to tell you. Probably a personal knowledge
of their ruler has more influence with the Malays than
with any other nation, and Sir Frederick Weld's
excursions through the native States have therefore
a particular value. Nevertheless everything seems
to indicate that the whole of the western half of the
peninsula will in time become our territory. The
possible conflict between the native ruler and his
adviser is the great danger of the Straits system, and
it is one that can never be finally got rid of. Another
circumstance which points inevitably to annexation
is the sparse population of the Malay States. This
has been brought about by debt slavery, and by the
poverty of the people, caused by the grinding rule
of the Rajahs and subordinate chiefs. If we had to
trust to the Malays themselves it would be many a
year before the country was cultivated. But there
is no lack of immigrants. The Chinaman, of course,
as everywhere else in the East, flocks there in ship-
loads and makes himself thoroughly at home. Sir
Frederick Weld is very anxious for Indian immigra-
tion, and has encouraged settlement in the native
States as much as possible. In the Straits the
Indians find everything congenial to them. The
character of the country does not differ greatly from
that of their own, and they get on very well with the
Malays, It is also particularly to be desired that the
country should not become exclusively Chinese, as it
undoubtedly would in time if we were to withdraw.
It would be bad enough if the Chinamen were all from
one province of the Celestial empire. But as a matter
of fact they belong to a great variety of clans, and
the enmity between the Cantonese and the Amoy
TRIBAL DISPUTES 373
men, the Macaos and the Fuhkinese, is quite incredible
to those who have not witnessed it. ... It is there-
fore obvious that it is not by any means desirable to
let the Chinamen obtain too exclusive a possession
of the peninsula."
CHAPTER XVI
" Thou who of Thy free grace didst build up this Brittanick
Empire to a glorious and enviable Height, with all her Daughter
Islands about Her, stay us in this Felicitie." MILTON.
THE last three months before Sir Frederick Weld's
departure were busily occupied by him in gathering-
together the strings of the many works in which he
was engaged before handing them over to Mr. C.
dementi Smith, upon whom, as Colonial Secretary,
devolved the post of Acting Governor in his absence.
His health at this time made him physically unfit for
these, or any, exertions, and the result was that he
more than once broke down under them. Early in
January 1884, when he was slowly recovering from
a severe attack of gout, his doctor having advised
him to try change of air, he started for Pangkor with
his daughter Maud and Mr. Hugh Clifford 1 a young
cadet who had lately joined the service, and the
eldest son of his old friend, Sir Henry Clifford. He
was met there by Sir Hugh Low, who came by appoint-
ment to discuss Siamese affairs with him, Dutch
intrigues in that country having given cause for
grave anxiety. Weld notes in his diary :
" Low persuaded me that it was best both for my
health and for the public service that I should take a
few days of rest and fresh air on his hill. I agreed,
and accordingly we steamed on the same day to Teluk
Kertang, and after landing there drove on with Mr.
Wynne to the Residency at Thaipeng. Felt very
weak and tired after the journey.
*Now Sir Hugh Clifford, K.C.M.G., Governor of the Gold Coast
Colony.
374
THE HILL RESIDENCY 375
" January 4th. Still weak but better, but did
not go out. Maud went for two and a half miles
down the new railway line on a truck with Mr. Creagh.
" $th. Better. We left Thaipeng and drove to
' Lady Weld's ' rest-house. Met Hugh Clifford there,
and Mr. Bozzolo. Maud * rode with Hugh on an
elephant to see the men get some fish, with dynamite,
for specimens for the museum. They secured a con-
siderable number of various kinds some curious and
interesting ones. Maud's elephant took fright at the
noise of the explosion and bolted, and could not be
stopped till he had crossed the stream a good bit
farther down. Maud was very brave, and lay quite still
on his back, and did what she was told. Luckily he ran
away down the same jungle track that they had passed
in coming up, which the driver had already cleared
of overhanging branches, so she was none the worse."
The next four or five days were spent at Sir
Hugh's hill Residency, with great benefit to the
Governor's health. He notes as follows :
" January gth. Much better. At work all day
at dispatches and other business.
" loth. Started early to go down the hill and
reached K. Kangsa at noon. Went to the opening
of the State Council, at which H.H. the Regent of
Perak made a really excellent impromptu speech,
very kind and cordial ; it was well delivered, and with
dignity. I wished every one good-bye, and received
many friendly wishes for voyage and safe return.
" nth. Left early after long talk with Low.
Arrived at Thaipeng at midday ; inspected Sikh
recruits, the horses, cavalry, and men, afterwards had
lance-drill at the barracks. Drove to Teluk Kertang ;
wished good-bye to Creagh, Mr. Wynne, Mr. Welman
Caulfield, etc., and embarked with Maud and little
Rajah Chulan, ex-Sultan Abdullah's son, and started
for Malacca and Singapore."
On Weld's return he found Captain Jekyll, R.E.,
awaiting him, who had been sent by the Home Govern-
ment to inspect and report on the fortifications of
1 Mtat. ten or eleven.
376 TYERSALL
Singapore. This was a subject in which he was
keenly interested, accordingly we find more than one
allusion to it in his diary. The time for the Governor's
departure was now drawing near, and we find mention
of many farewell dinners, a last ball given at Govern-
ment House at which he was unable to be present
through ill-health, and a leave-taking of the Johore
family of which he writes as follows :
" March \$th. In the evening drove with Mena
and Edie to Tyersall, found the Maharajah out, but
were invited to go upstairs to look at the curios which
he had brought back from his recent visit to Japan,
and which are very fine and valuable. To my great
surprise the Maharanee appeared and showed us over
her rooms, which are filled with all sorts of beautiful
objects. I had never seen her before ; she is half-
Chinese and half-Malay, coarse-featured and square-
built ; in fact, very homely in appearance, but pleas-
ing in manner and quite unaffected. She had bare
feet, and was dressed in a loose cape, which was secured
under the chin with a single diamond. "
Dutch intrigues and conspiracies occupied his
attention up to the moment before he sailed ; thus
he notes in his diary :
11 March 2&th. My last act was to telegraph as
well as write to the Dutch Governor-General protest-
ing in the name of the British Government (having
been authorised to do so) against the proposed murder
of Rajah Imam Muda by Nja Hadgi. I had already
taken every possible means to prevent it, and Mr.
Maxwell, my envoy, had protested in my name. The
Dutch Governor of Acheen had said that he dis-
approved, but I have since heard that it was a very
lame disapproval. I have now done all I can.
" We embarked this afternoon at Tanjong Pagar,
a guard of honour of the Inniskilling Fusiliers, and a
great crowd of natives, all the officials and principal
people, the Maharajah, Mr. and Mrs. C. C. Smith,
and A.D.C.'s coming to see us off, and wish us a good
HOMEWARD BOUND 377
journey and safe return. We sailed in the s.s. Laertes
at 5.30."
The sea voyage, which was not signalised by any
event of special interest, lasted a little less than five
weeks, and on the ist of May, Sir Frederick notes
that when daylight came they found themselves off
the Start.
" We reached Portland about 10 a.m. Hum-
phrey, Everard, and Freddy, with their uncle Edwin
de Lisle, came off in a steamer to us a very happy
meeting. At the pier we found Mary, who had just
arrived by train from Chideock ; Charles, I am sorry
to say, was not well enough to accompany her. Mrs.
de Lisle arrived at 4, another happy meeting ; also
Charlie and Henry Weld-Blundell from Lulworth.
We sat down a party of eighteen at lunch.
" May 2nd. Went to Lulworth. A large party.
Charlie Weld-Blundell came to meet us at the station
with his four-in-hand and drove us up to the Castle.
In the afternoon we walked to the lake and back,
and then drove to Wool and reached Weymouth that
night, where we slept. A most delightful day.
" May ?>rd. The next day we went to Bridport,
and drove from there to Chideock. A large crowd
met us on the top of Chideock hill, where an arch
had been put up. When we got to the village the
men took the horses out of the carriage and dragged
us up to the house. The village was decorated with
evergreens, and flags flying in all directions. Every-
body most cordial, and I think pleased to see us
back."
The summer and autumn that ensued were very
happy ones for Sir Frederick Weld, and not less so
for his wife and children. There was, in the first
place, the great gap of fifteen years' absence to be
bridged over, and to all that meant much. To the
younger members of the family, England, home, had
existed hitherto only in the imagination. To the
elder ones these names were but as the " figments of
378 IMPERIAL DEFENCES
a dream." How much, therefore, was there for each
one to see, to do, and to experience ! Old haunts to
revisit, old friends to renew acquaintance w r ith, fresh
ones to make and all seen through the glamour of
those magical words : Home and England.
On the loth of June, Weld went up to London to
dine with the Committee of the Royal Institute.
The dinner was followed by a meeting, in which the
Rt. Hon. W. E. Forster was in the chair, when, at the
request of the secretary, Mr. Frederick Young, Weld
read a paper on British Malaya.
This paper an exceedingly interesting one con-
cluded, a discussion followed in which Sir Hugh Low,
Mr. Bulkeley Johnson, and Captain Colomb, R.E.,
took part. The point of most general interest taken
up by the speakers was the defences of Singapore.
Sir Frederick had remarked in his paper that they
were receiving the attention of Government, to which
Mr. Johnson answered : " That, sir, is a very con-
venient phrase for Her Majesty's Government. The
question has been nominally receiving attention for
years and no result has come, and no result will come
until the constituencies bring pressure to bear on the
proper quarter. The late Lord Beaconsfield some
years ago called attention to the chain of fortresses
which unites the British Empire in the East with
these islands. . . . But Aden is not capable of
resisting modern artillery. Trincomalee and Colombo
and Penang are open roadsteads. On the so-called
batteries of Singapore and Hong Kong there is not
mounted a single armour-piercing gun ! I hope
public attention will be called to this question. I
trust we shall never be involved in war, especially
with a first-class naval power ; but if unhappily we
are, I believe we should be found unprepared, and
that on that eve of some calamitous disaster the
nation will wake up with an exceeding bitter cry and
BRITISH SEA-POWER 379
say that it has been betrayed by its politicians and
deceived by its press."
Captain Colomb, R.E., having been invited to
speak on a subject in which he had expert knowledge,
continued the discussion. He said : " I would
draw attention to the figures Governor Weld has
given as to the entrances and clearances at the single
port of Singapore, which exceed 4,000,000 tons, being
about equal to the Clyde. He also reminds us that
Singapore is the centre of a sea area over which passes
some 250 millions sterling in British goods in one
year, being nearly equivalent to a quarter of the
British annual sea trade, which is over 1000 million.
He has also told us that there are some 300,000 tons
of coal there. I could name many other places
where we store British coal ; and unless that coal is
secured, not merely for men-of-war but for the
merchant fleet, by means of local defence, we must
acquiesce at its being lost if not damaged in war. . . .
I say without fear of contradiction, that if we con-
tinue to neglect and to leave defenceless these keys
of the Empire, we must expect to lose suddenly our
empire of the sea. We happen for good or for evil
to be possessed of the greatest centres of the trade
of the world. When we are involved in war those
ports will be ports of a belligerent, not of a neutral
power, and our merchant vessels will find no place
of safety in unprotected Singapore, but will merely
be rushing together to meet one common destruction
unless that place is defended." Captain Colomb
concluded by an earnest entreaty to the party in
power to establish Imperial defence on a surer basis.
The autumn following on Sir Frederick Weld's
return to England was spent either at his Dorset-
shire home or in its neighbourhood, or at shooting
parties with various friends and relations.
The beginning of the year 1885 brought Weld a
38o 'THE OLD ORDER CHANGETH '
great sorrow in the death, on the 28th of January,
of Charles, his only surviving brother. As he died
childless the property of Chideock devolved upon
Sir Frederick. Shortly afterwards he was officially
informed by the Colonial Office that he had been
given two years' extension of his term of Governor-
ship of the Straits Settlements, coupled with the
intimation that he would be expected to return to
Singapore in the October of the same year. The
manor-house having been left to the widow for her
life, he and his family remained on in the Warren,
a small house in the village of Chideock which they
had made their headquarters during their stay in
England. 1
The following summer, Sir Frederick and Lady
Weld rented a house in Bryanston Square, and they
and their daughters took part in various gay doings
during the London season. In June we find mention
in his diary of an official announcement that the
Queen had promoted him to the dignity of a Knight
Grand Cross of the Order of St. Michael and St.
George, and on the 4th of July he went down to
Windsor to receive the insignia from the hands of
Her Majesty.
Perhaps few of the acquaintances made by Sir
Frederick Weld during his stay in England on
this occasion must have given him greater pleasure
than that of the poet Tennyson. He mentions in
his diary that he was asked by Dean Stanley, with
whom Tennyson was staying, to meet him at the
Westminster Deanery.
11 After luncheon, Lord Tennyson read me his ode
on the death of the Duke of Wellington very impres-
sively. He considers it, as I do, one of his finest
works. I afterwards read it to him, and he said I read
1 Two years later, on Sir Frederick's retirement from active service,
Mrs. Charles Weld made over the manor-house to him.
LEAVE-TAKINGS 381
it better than ninety-nine men out of a hundred ; he
pointed out one or two defects on minor points in the
way I rendered it. He said of himself that he read
it more " ponderously."
The early part of the autumn was passed in leave-
takings, one a very sad one, for they were leaving
a much-loved daughter, Minnie, at the Convent of
Newton Abbot where she had become a nun. His
six sons also were left in England to continue their
education, the four eldest at Stonyhurst, and the
two younger ones at the Benedictine College of
Fort Augustus. Other changes in the family circle
were imminent, as Sir Frederick's second daughter,
Cicely, was engaged to be married to Jasper Mayne
of the Inniskillings.
The last days of their stay in England were spent
in Lancashire at Ince Blundell, and on loth October
they embarked on the Titan, at Liverpool, for
Singapore.
The first few months of the Governor's return to
Singapore were taken up with the usual routine
work, varied by journeys to the native States. In a
letter to an old friend, 1 dated the 22nd of February,
after mentioning with pardonable pride that the
result of the policy he had adopted with regard to
the protected States was beginning to tell in the
friendly attitude taken up by the rulers of the
Independent provinces, showing itself in their desire
to refer their disputes to him and ask his advice in
their difficulties, he remarks :
" I was staying with a chief some weeks ago in the
interior, where Europeans had hardly ever penetrated
before, and at night I said to him, ' My Sikhs are tired/
I had only half a dozen and one European with me,
' they have done a hard day's work, I will not keep
1 Mr. Scrope of Danby.
27
382 THE PACIFIC SQUADRON
a sentry at my door. If you like you may put one
of your own men on guard.' Of course he was much
flattered. A day or two later I was sleeping in a
native hut, and it had been prepared with hangings,
embroidered cushions, and so forth for the occasion ;
and when I went to bed they displayed the insignia
of office, state umbrella, sword, and krisses against
my door in token of homage. This was done in the
centre of the Rembau district, which has been re-
nowned for its turbulence ever since the days of the
Portuguese, and till quite recently was not sup-
posed to be safe for travellers unless armed and with
a large escort. I found also the greatest apprecia-
tion on the part of the people for what had been
done for them. Lately, I was coming down from the
mountain ranges through the woods on to the culti-
vated rice-lands walking at the head of my party
and the natives in the first village I reached had
drawn up in two lines to salute and salaam me as I
passed down the street ; when I had done so I shook
hands with the man who appeared to be the village
chief, whereupon the whole mob rushed to shake
hands, quite pleased, apparently, to give expression
to their friendly feelings. It was the same wher-
ever we went ; the people coming to make us little
presents of fruit, or curry prepared by their wives,
and the chiefs offering goats, and on one or two
occasions killing a buffalo to make a feast to celebrate
the occasion.
" Since I got back to Singapore we have had a
visit from my old New Zealand friend, Admiral Vesey
Hamilton, who commands the squadron. He had
the Audacious as his flagship, that will neither steam
nor sail, and with both combined can hardly do
7 knots an hour, and the Agamemnon, which won't
steer ; and it is to these we have to trust to defend
this part of the world. We have, however, just got
a good cruiser, the Leander."
A little later he writes to the same correspondent :
" We have two Japanese ironclads of a very
superior type, built at Newcastle, stopping here.
They are boats of about 3000 tons, and can
SIAMESE INTRIGUES 383
steam 18 or 19 knots, carry a great quantity of
coal, and can keep up 10 knots with one engine
(they have, I think, 4 engines) at a very small con-
sumption of coal. They carry two 26-ton guns,
and 8 or 10 other powerful broadside guns, very
superior torpedo apparatus, an improved torpedo
netting that can be lowered in a remarkably short
time, iron tortoise-back decks, electric lights, and
have officers trained in the British navy. Nothing
in these parts could look at them. One of our
naval men who went over them said either was worth
all our fleet in these seas which is made up of the
greatest rubbish put together, if it came to a fight.
However we are not likely to have a row with Japan.
We are getting on very fast with our fortifications ;
and two officers, an engineer and an artillery man,
sent out specially to report say that we are well
ahead of any others both in quality of work and
speed of execution, only they are slow in England
about sending out the guns. The work has been
carried out by our colonial engineer, an R.E., at the
cost of the Colony, England supplying the guns only.
The town itself is but ill-defended, and the Admiralty
is very slow in making a move with regard to the
big dock."
Sir Frederick Weld's diary and letter-book are
full of allusion in the spring and summer of the year
1886 to unrest on the Siamese frontier. The dis-
turbances arising there were due to several causes ;
one was the Siamese encroachments on the frontier
of Upper Perak, another their interference with
the trade and internal affairs of the native States of
Raman and Trengganu, over which the kingdom of
Siam claimed suzerainty. Weld in a dispatch to
the Secretary of State for the Colonies explains
his views on the question as follows :
" The territory in question belongs to Perak, and
we have engaged by treaty to prevent the occup-
ation of Perak territory by the Siamese. Hitherto,
as the land encroached upon was in the possession of
384 A FORECAST
the Rajah of Raman and Malay, we have treated it
as a domestic quarrel between Malays and not inter-
fered ; but Perak through her Regent and State
Council is now appealing to us to maintain and
uphold her rights.
' It has been objected that if we do our duty to
our friends and fulfil our obligations to our protected
State of Perak we may lose, or fail to regain, in-
fluence at the Court of Siam, and thus throw that
country into the hands of the French. This would
be to repeat what was done in the days of the East
India Company, when they weakly I might almost
say treacherously delivered our friend and ally
the Sultan of Kedah into the hands of his enemy
the King of Siam, allowing the Siamese to take
the whole of his territory, except that which he had
given us as the price of our friendship : a policy
which has never been forgotten, and tells against
us even to this day. I ask that we may not repeat
that error with consequences which I fear might be
even more far-reaching. It is quite possible that
we may at some future time be pressed by Russia on
one frontier and France on the other. We should
then be in the position of the continental Powers,
forced to be armed to the teeth in order to repel
possible aggression. We are within measurable
distance of such a condition of affairs now, and every
weak step taken by us whereby we alienate or dis-
courage our friends, and lead neutrals to undervalue
our alliance, brings that step nearer. Three years
ago I unofficially drew attention to the fact that
frequent visits of French and Russian squadrons to
Siam, and certain mysterious movements of Russian
ships between Russia and British Burmah, pointed
to a desire on the part of those nations to impress
the Siamese with their power ; and I know that
those demonstrations had a considerable effect on the
public mind, coupled as they were with the absence
of any considerable British force. Recent events
have strengthened the conclusions I then came to,
and I believe our true policy is to extend our influence
over all the Malay States of the Peninsula up to
British Burmah, so that in the event of Siam
falling under French influence, we should be in
SIAMESE POLITICS 385
the position of demonstrating that interference with
the Malay States would be equivalent to a breach
with us.
" It may be said : admitting all this, would it not
be safer to back up Siam ? To do so would be to
bolster up the weakest, and, in its outlying Malay
provinces at any rate, one of the most corrupt,
tyrannical, and profligate governments in the world,
a government which, in spite of some superficial
varnish of civilisation at Bangkok and a well-
meaning king, contains every element of disintegra-
tion, and which would crumble at the touch of a
strong hand, unless supported by a foreign Power.
Again, by yielding to the Siamese on a point in which
we have right on our side, and weakly deserting our
friends in order to curry favour with their oppressors,
we should not only lose prestige with the Malays, but
with the Siamese government as well. Nothing is
more futile than to expect to gain the goodwill of a
semi-civilised race by yielding to them in such a
way as to forfeit their respect, and their confidence
in your word and determination to uphold treaty
engagements. The Malay States are looking on this
boundary question as a test of our willingness and
our power to protect them against Siamese aggres-
sion. The Siamese will view it in much the same
light, and they will unquestionably contrast any sign
of surrender on our part with the forward and aggres-
sive policy of other nations."
A correspondence with Mr. Satow, 1 British Minis-
ter at the Court of Siam, shows that Sir Frederick
was pushing his views with our representative there
as well as with the authorities at home. He writes
on the i Qth of May 1886 as follows :
" I have this moment received your official letter
of 1 3th May. Reading between the lines, I see in the
answer of H.R.H. the Siamese Minister strong
confirmation of my suspicion that he is trying to
hoodwink us, and that Siamese troops are going to
occupy the country whilst we are being amused
1 Afterwards Sir Ernest Satow, K.C.M.G.
386 FRONTIER ENCROACHMENTS
with negotiations. I have not hitherto moved a
man or a gun, even into our acknowledged territory,
but he may easily render it necessary for us to do
both. I do not object to his moving his men into
Petani, and he cannot object to me moving mine up
to our acknowledged boundary ; but if his men
advance into the territory under dispute by one foot
it will be at his own risk, and I shall then hold myself
at liberty to move men and guns forward also into
disputed territory. Do not think there is any in-
tention on my part to do this unless I am ordered to
do so by the Home Government, or unless sudden
action on the part of the Siamese renders sudden
action on my part imperative. You may give any
assurances you like in accordance with what I have
written ; I have no intention of moving my force
even to our acknowledged frontier, unless Siamese
action obliges me to do so, and I shall defer it as long
as I can. The remark made by His Royal Highness
that ' if any signs of encroachment were observed, he
could not guarantee that the people of Raman
would not protect their frontier ' is dishonest and
absurd. I have no complaint to make against the
action of the people of Raman. They would welcome
us with open arms, and if we advance H.R.H. would
soon see whose side they would take. All that these
poor people desire is to be relieved from Siamese
tyranny. What I alluded to was the preparations
being made for a body of troops, foreign to the district,
who, it is said, are to be moved in to Upper Perak
by the Siamese Governor of Senggora, to occupy our
old forts in order to coerce the people, and oblige them
to submit to Siamese oppression."
Sir Frederick's next letter to Mr. Satow displays
a much less belligerent spirit the Siamese having
apparently climbed down. He writes on the 3Oth of
May in the following terms :
" Yours of the 25th May reached me yesterday.
The intention, whatever it was, regarding movement
of troops by the Siamese has, I believe, now been
abandoned. A good number came with the Chokoon
A PEACEFUL SETTLEMENT 387
of Senggora, and I hear they have been making in-
quiries about the Perak force, and are much impressed
by what they have learnt. They must also have
quite satisfied^ themselves that we are not contemplat-
ing any use of force unless they provoke it. The men
who came with the Chokoon (who also brought a
hundred elephants) returned with him after a friendly
conference which was held by the Bangkok Com-
missioner, the Rajah of Raman, the Chokoon, and
Mr. Bozzolo, our Perak officer, who knows the people
and country well and who went to meet them. The
latter travelled quietly with only a few men and
elephants, so this must have conveyed the impression
to the Chokoon that he had no desire to bully ; it also
implied confidence. The cases I complained of were
gone into, and all concurred in admitting that they
were perfectly clear. Apart from the Perak ques-
tion, it is we who to a great extent keep the native
States quiet ; for if a Malay wants to rise against his
ruler he sends to me and asks if he may do so, and I
say : No. I may tell you in strict confidence that
the Rajah of Raman has asked our officer to take
over his revenue farms ; moreover, the Siamese am-
bassador in London asked us if we would administer
some of the King of Siam's outlying Malay States
and advance money to develop them. Now, if we did
this by degrees, and on terms that would not affect
the king's claims, or his suzerainty, would it not
reconcile our rival interests, give peace to the country,
put money into the pockets of both rajahs and king,
in short, settle all difficulties, and keep out our rivals
which last is my main object."
In the June of 1886, Sir Frederick Weld, accom-
panied by Sir Hugh Low, Mr. Rodger, 1 Acting Resident
of Selangor, Mr. Martin Lister, Mr. Hugh Clifford, the
latter acting as the Governor's interpreter, paid a
visit in the Seabelle to the independent native States
of Pahang, Trengganu, and Kelantan on the east
coast of the Peninsula. This was the first journey of
1 Afterwards Sir John Rodger, K.C.M.G., Governor of the Gold
Coast. He died in 1910.
388 A FAMILY WEDDING
the kind undertaken by the Governor of the Straits
for many years.
On the 2nd of August of this year Sir Frederick
Weld's second daughter, Cicely, was married in the
Catholic Cathedral, Singapore, to Lieut. Jasper Mayne
of the Inniskilling Fusiliers. In his journal, after
recording the event, he notes :
11 We had early Mass at Government House, and
all went to Communion. The whole affair went off
splendidly. The Cathedral was crowded, but all so
orderly and devotional. The Bishop gave the Pope's
special blessing afterwards most impressively. There
were about 250 guests at the wedding breakfast."
The Ma}nies, after a week's honeymoon at a
bungalow which had been lent to them in the country,
started for a journey to Japan. They returned six
weeks later to Singapore, when Mayne took up the
duties of A.D.C. to Sir Frederick Weld . There were
many changes in the Governor's staff about this time.
Mr. Dickson 1 took Sir Cecil C. Smith's place as
colonial secretary, the latter having been sent to
Ceylon, and the Hon. Gerard Wallop became private
secretary.
The end of the month of August found the Welds
on a visit to Sir Hugh and Lady Low at Thaipeng.
We read in the diary :
" August 26th. Landed in the Mena (Sir Hugh's
steam launch) at 9 a.m. Went by rail to Thaipeng.
Mena and Edie went on to Thaipeng with Lady Low,
Chrissy and I stayed at the Creaghs. Inspected the
fort and magazine and hospital. The Sikhs did
some very fine brigade drill.
" 2 7th. Up before daylight and had a sham
fight near the rifle range. Chrissy and I went with
the troops over very rough ground, swamps, and
brooks, Sir Hugh with us. It was a very pretty
1 Afterwards Sir Frederick Dickson, K.C.M.G.
THE PERAK VALLEY 389
sight and exceedingly well done. I addressed the
troops afterwards on the parade ground when it
was over."
A few days later Sir Frederick rode up the country
to inspect some new roads that had been made up
the valley, between Blanja and Batu Gajah in Perak
territory. He also inspected mines in the same neigh-
bourhood one belonging to a French Company, * de
Morgan ' on the road to Gopeng. On 7th September
he writes in his diary :
" Left Ipoh, crossed the Kinta and Perak rivers and
rode up the dividing range between the valleys (of the
same name) by a capital bridle road to a stopping place
where Mr. Rathbone had put up a nice temporary
shelter ; beautiful mountain scenery, and fine forests :
height about 1500 feet above sea-level.
" 8th. Rode on this morning to the top of the pass ;
fine forest and rock scenery. About 1800 feet at
the summit. Rode down into the Perak valley
through steep dells, a clear mountain torrent breaking
into numerous waterfalls by the side of the road.
Rained heavily when we reached the valley ; we
arrived at the Residency drenched to the skin."
A few days later the Welds left Thaipeng in the
steam launch and reached the Government yacht
Seabelle, which was at anchor outside the bar, and
steamed to the Bindings. On the i4th they started
for Selangor, where a great event no less than the
opening of the new railway was impending. Weld
notes :
" Got under way at about 6 a.m., arrived at
Klang Straits, and anchored at 5 in the afternoon.
Mr. Rodger, acting Resident of Selangor, with Lister,
Magistrate of Ulu;Selangor, anchored by us in thefState
steamer Abdul Samat, and came on board and dined.
" 1 5 th. We left the Seabelle at 6 a.m., went up the
river in the Abdul Samat, and landed at Klang. I
found the town much improved. We took the Sultan
390 SELANGOR AFFAIRS
on board here with his suite all in great state. He
was splendidly got up in Malay fashion, and was
accompanied by chiefs carrying the Royal insignia.
We landed at Bukit Kuda and got into the railway,
reaching K. Lumpor in an hour and a half. We had
to go rather slowly in places, the line being new, and
not all metalled yet. The distance is 20 miles.
Great preparations had been made at K. Lumpor,
and addresses were read from Malay and Chinese.
' \6th. Business all the morning. In the even-
ing I invested the Sultan, by Her Majesty's command,
with the K.C.M.G., a rather elaborate ceremonial.
The troops were drawn up, and a salute fired ; a
great crowd of spectators filling the hall which was
very handsomely decorated. H.H. was evidently
much gratified by the honours paid to him. When
the ceremony was over, the Malay chiefs of Royal
blood were brought up and presented to me. The
Sultan and I sat on two chairs of state ; Mena and
Chrissy and Edie sat near us."
A letter written by the Governor soon after his
return to Singapore gives proof of the care he exer-
cised in choosing his instruments for the peaceful
subjugation of the Peninsula. It is addressed to
Mr. Rodger, the Acting Resident of Selangor, and
after expressing his regrets at asking a sacrifice of
him, he says :
" I want you to let me have Lister. 1 If
I had a man in the Straits service who would
undertake this job I would not ask for him, but I
find that it is too much to expect from young officers
of the Cadet S.S. class to manage affairs such as
those of Sri Menanti and Johol. They have neither
the experience nor do they carry weight enough,
and no amount of cramming, or success at com-
petitive examinations, will teach a man how to
manage natives and win their confidence. Matters
1 These letters have a special interest, referring as they do to a
young man of singular promise, Hon. Martin Lister, who died at an
early age at Aden on his way home, invalided ; a victim of tropical
climates and devotion to the service of his country.
NEGRI ZEMBILAN 391
in those States require firm and gentle handling.
Action has been taken there without my sanction,
in fact, in a manner opposed to my policy ; some
chiefs that I wished to conciliate have been alienated,
and an impression has gone abroad that we are back-
ing, right or wrong, the Yam Tuan. As to the people,
when I was there they appeared friendly and well-
disposed, like all the Malays in the inland States.
I think Datoh Beginda Tona Mas, the Johol Prime
Minister, a capital man to work with, and he is
by far the most influential man in the country. The
Yam Tuan is full of good professions and possibly
intentions, but he is flighty and unreliable. He has
no following to speak of. I fear Lister would not
be so comfortable as he is at Ulu Selangor, but I
might possibly be able to let him go back before the
end of the year. He would go to Sri Menanti as a
Commissioner, to advise and organise, as well as to
act as Magistrate and Collector. I have no time to
write to Lister, so I have put everything into this
letter, which I will ask you to forward to him."
A month later this letter was followed up by one
to Mr. Lister, in which the Governor writes :
" I have read your letter carefully, and with very
great interest. Your estimate of Tungku Antar is
correct add flighty. I approve of your going to
Rembau, and have made a minute to that effect. . . .
As to Johol's relations with the Yam Tuan, that is very
delicate ground, and you will have to get the con-
fidence of both the Yam Tuan and Datoh Beginda
Mas first. I think Johol is perhaps the stronger ;
it is premature to judge, and events must develop
themselves. The Yam Tuan was given his present
position by the Home Government after the war.
When he opposed us and was driven out, I think
the proper course would have been to have relied on
the Penghulus, and not to have re-established any
Yam Tuan, and to have placed an officer in the
district ; now we are bound to him ; but we are
also bound to respect and preserve the liberties of
the States, of which Johol is first in rank. You will
remark one thing in Rembau, and in all these States,
392 WILDERNESS COTTAGE
and that is their extreme sensitiveness about "Con-
stitutional n questions and rights. That feeling,
based though it may be on self-interest, is worthy
of respect, and should be turned to good and not
discouraged. I see you are taking the right line
and grasping the situation. I like a full journal
giving information on all points, if you have time to
write it. I read every journal of every Resident or
District Officer in the Peninsula that reaches me,
so don't be afraid of boring me by long letters."
In December, Sir Frederick Weld returned to
Thaipeng and spent three weeks at " Wilderness
Cottage," a bungalow on the top of one of the high
hills in that neighbourhood. This spot, which was
about 4400 feet above the sea, must have been an
ideal one for what in these days would be called a
rest-cure. The Governor's time, when not taken
up with the correspondence and business which
followed him there, was spent in laying out the
grounds and gardening. He mentions the following
as his occupation of one day :
" December gth. Up before breakfast, reading
and working in the garden. Sowed some yellow
primrose seeds. After lunch I planted the first oats
that I imagine have ever been sown in the Peninsula.
At this height they ought to do well."
On the last day of his stay there he writes :
" i Sth. We leave the hill this afternoon. My stay
here has done me a wonderful amount of good. Most
of the time we have been here it has been like English
April weather, without the harsh winds. We had fires
every evening, and I have had one to go to bed with,
not that the cold made it necessary, but because it
looked bright and cheery. I took a last look at my
oats and wheat, which appear very promising."
A severe attack of ophthalmia interfered with Sir
Frederick Weld's plans for some weeks in the early
spring of the year 1887, and condemned him to a dark
PAHANG 393
room and an invalid's life. He was beginning to
recover in the month of April, when Mr. Hugh
Clifford, whom he had dispatched overland to
Pahang in the middle of January, returned by sea to
Singapore, bearing a letter from the Sultan asking
that a treaty might be concluded with him whereby
a European officer would be permanently stationed
at his court to assist him in the administration of
his country. He announces the fact to the Finance
Committee in the following memo. :
" The successful issue of Mr. Clifford's mission to
Pahang opens up a State richer and larger than Perak,
possessing great mineral and agricultural wealth, and
offering a great field for commercial enterprise. At
present there is no settled administration in Pahang ;
and as European and other miners are flocking into
the country troubles have arisen, and, in at least one
case, a collision has been narrowly averted. The
Rajah, with whom I have been long in communica-
tion, has at last become alive to the gravity of the
situation, and has applied to me for assistance, asking
for a treaty like that with Johor, and a British Agent.
This, with the recent arrangements made in regard
to Sri Menanti, Rembau, and Jelebu, has consolidated
British influence over the whole Peninsula east and
west, south of the States in which Siam claims a
right of interference."
Sir Frederick follows up this announcement with
suggestions in considerable detail of roads which
might be made to open up the rich mining districts
of Ulu (or upper) Pahang so as to connect them with
Perak and Selangor. He continues :
" It is of great importance to have good overland
communication with Pahang, as the east coast is closed
by the monsoon for six months in the year ; moreover,
all our experience in the native States goes to prove
that population is attracted, and agricultural and
mining enterprise encouraged, directly roads are made,
and security given for life and property. To do this a
394 A SUCCESSFUL POLICY
large expenditure will be required ; more will be
needed should H.H. the Rajah of Pahang ask the
Agent's advice with regard to police, collection of
revenue, its distribution, land and mining administra-
tion, and other branches of the service. Mr. Clifford,
pending the appointment of a permanent Agent,
will be sent back to Pahang. Two Malay chiefs
belonging to the native States will be attached to
Mr. Clifford."
Sir Frederick Weld then enters into the question
of the sums required for carrying out these projects,
and submits them to the consideration of the Finance
Committee. In a letter to a friend he enlarges on the
satisfaction which this event has caused him :
" I have lately scored a great success as a result
of my policy in this country ; the rich and powerful
State of Pahang on the east coast has asked for a
treaty and a government agent. This is the seventh
State that has voluntarily put itself under British
protection, and asked me to undertake its affairs.
All the southern part of the Peninsula is now under
British influence, and one may add open to com-
merce, peace, and civilisation. The task of introduc-
ing these elements into Pahang, which is utterly
disorganised, is one that will require much tact,
prudence, and firmness. Young Clifford was the
instrument of bringing this about, and he has shown
all these qualities, and great physical powers of
endurance in arduous and even to some extent
dangerous journeys, often living on native food for
weeks together. He is now stationed as my emissary
in the palace of the Rajah of Pahang, a mild-mannered
and amiable old gentleman, who having got into
serious trouble with his own people, who are in a
state of anarchy, and with the Europeans to whom
he foolishly gave concessions of tin and gold mines,
is asking our help to get him out of his difficulties.
His only idea of government is to order some one to be
fined or assassinated, and of pleasure to smoke opium,
shoot a little, and amuse himself with his numerous
wives. The people are terribly oppressed, and look
to us to save them; they are being plundered, and
A MISSION FROM THE F.O. 395
their wives and daughters are at the mercy of their
chiefs. And yet the position of the chiefs is so
precarious that even they welcome our coming. I
cannot help regretting that I shall have left the
country before my plans for its reorganisation can be
fully carried out. It will take time, as we shall have
to gain the confidence of the Rajah and of his chiefs,
and make them see where their interest lies. I am
going shortly to Borneo on a mission from the F.O.,
to settle some disputes in that quarter. I expect
my instructions next week. It is in reference to
difficulties which have risen between the Sultan of
Brunei and Rajah Brooke of Sarawak, and the
N. Borneo Company. Also the little colony of
Labuan is mixed up in it. I shall probably offend
all these parties but one, and the chances are that I
shall satisfy none of them.' 1
The expedition foreshadowed in Sir Frederick
Weld's letter started on the i3th of May for Borneo.
The Governor took with him Mr. Paul, Resident of
Sungei Ujong, to interpret and conduct negotiations,
Mr. Kynnersley, first magistrate of Penang, and his
private secretary, Hon. Gerard Wallop. He sailed
in the Government yacht Seabelle, and on his arrival
at Labuan on the i;th was joined by H.M. s.s. the
Wanderer and Espoir. The following two days were
taken up with " parleys " with Governor Leys and
Rajah Brooke the former being Governor of Labuan.
On the 2oth of May, Sir Frederick started for
Brunei. He gives the following account of his
journey there in his diary :
" Under way at 4 or 5 a.m. The Espoir being
slower, the Seabelle preceded us, and we found her
at anchor off the Maura under the lee of Sapo Point.
We led over the bar and up the intricate channel,
having barely water, though we were in light trim,
as it was not high tide by nearly an hour. The
channel is winding and narrow. The Brunei River,
or inlet, is easier navigation. It is about half a mile
396 BRUNEI
wide ; green hills rise on either side, partly wooded
and partly cultivated."
Sir Frederick describes the town of Brunei in a
letter to Lady Weld, dated 2 5th May :
' The river opens out into a kind of lake as one
approaches Brunei. The houses are all raised high on
piles, so that when the tide is up the town looks as if
it was sitting on the water. There are said to be about
15,000 inhabitants. We are anchored in what would
be called the * Grand Canal ' if we were at Venice, or if
we were on land the High Street ; the Espoir near us,
and the Sultan's Istana, 1 which is a very poor affair,
opposite. The town is very interesting, the streets
all water-ways ; the market is held on boats on the
water. All the land visible are two or three small
islets a few yards square, in which there are half a
dozen palms or coco-nut trees. The children seem
extraordinarily numerous, and almost live in the
water, swimming and paddling about in little canoes ;
a baby of about two came up to the ship sitting
gravely in a tiny canoe, and paddled by a small
brother very little bigger than himself. They come
in dozens to examine the figure-head, which seems to
amuse them very much, as they go into fits of laughter
over it. They appear to be a very cheerful people;
they sing a good deal in their boats. I like to hear it,
as it reminds me of the Maori songs, which these
resemble somewhat. It is certainly a very picturesque
town like a Venice on stilts. The first morning
after our arrival I visited the Sultan in state, self and
suite in full uniform. The Sultan though very un-
well came to the door to meet me, accompanied by
sword and kris bearers, also the betel-nut gold box
bearer. He gave us tea and monster cigarettes, the
tobacco enclosed in a reed or palm leaf rather
neat and clean it looked, and wasn't half bad to
smoke. The interview went off very well, and he
seemed pleased to hear that I was going to take time,
and do nothing in a hurry. Next day the Sultan
returned my visit, and two of the principal magnates
at the court called also. Paul's time has been fully
1 Palace.
THE REBELS 397
employed since we arrived in interviewing people
and taking down evidence ; my occupation will come
later. After two days spent in this way I started
with Paul at 5.30 a.m. to meet the ' rebels ' up the
Limbang river at a place called Donan. We passed
what the Sultan called a fort, the said fort con-
sisting of a shed stuck up on poles in the middle of
the river, surrounded with a weak fence, like stakes for
fishing nets. The river banks are covered with rich
vegetation and thickets of bamboo. We passed the
Sultan's fleet of boats, or prahus, all of which are
thatched over, and protected, with their crews, by
bamboo shielding which is pierced to enable the men
to fire at the enemy without exposing themselves.
The ships carried about fifty guns, and were moored
under a bank. I would have undertaken, had I com-
manded the rebels, to have set fire to and routed the
whole lot ; there was not even a proper look-out kept.
We were on board a large steam launch lent us by
the N. Borneo Co., as the Seabelle and Espoir could
not go up the river, and when we got opposite the
rebel outpost we took some of them on with us. At
i p.m. we arrived at Donan, where the rebels had
been summoned to meet us. It was the queerest
sight imaginable. The men, about a hundred and
fifty in number, were all armed to the teeth, with
muskets, rifles, spears, shields, and krises of every
imaginable shape some of the latter very beautiful.
No two were dressed alike ; the only recognised
national distinction being an absence of trousers.
One man wore a flat square tail made of deer's skin,
others had long feathers, and wonderful head-gears ;
skins and tags were very much the fashion, and some
of the costumes were very warlike and impressive.
They did not exhibit any of the 108 human heads
that they are said to have taken from the Sultan's
people. On being invited to come on board (there
being no proper shelter from the scorching midday
sun ashore), they responded so heartily to the invita-
tion that there was hardly standing room left. We
managed just to keep a small space clear where I
reclined in a (deck) chair of state. They seemed
hugely pleased at being allowed to air their grievances,
and asked at once for a white man to govern them
28
398 A CONFERENCE
any white man. If the Queen would send one, all
would be well ; and if the Governor of Singapore would
come and see how things were getting on now and then,
he might bring all the ships and men-of-war he liked,
but they would never allow the smallest boat belong-
ing to the Sultan to come up the river. Rajah
Brooke would do just as well, he might govern them ;
he was a white man, and had nothing to do with the
Sultan. As for the Sultan, never would they submit
to him again ; he had oppressed them beyond endur-
ance, and if his men left their boats and went into the
jungle they would kill them all.
" This was the substance of their talk. They
wereT quite amused when I said the Sultan wanted
compensation for the lives and property of his sub-
jects which they had made away with ; in fact they
laughed pleasantly, as if quite tickled with the idea,
and evidently expected me to see it, too, in the light
of a joke. They then said that the Sultan had (figura-
tively speaking) made the water in the river shallow
by his exactions choking it with their goods and
their dead bodies. After this they consulted me
about a murder, which they said had been committed
by a party of * wild men ' in the interior of the island.
This was getting on to very delicate ground.
" When the conference was over we started once
more down the river, and after some delay, owing to
the intricate nature of the channel, reached the Sea-
belle at i a.m. On the 25th (yesterday) we did
business, and this morning came to Muara on Brunei
Bay. We go next to Labuan, then on the 28th to
Padas, where there are some land claims to be
decided, after that we return to Brunei.
" May 27 th y Muara Bay. I shall finish my letter
now, as I shall have no time at Labuan. We are
taking in coal here. We reached this place yesterday,
but as it was a very wet evening I did not go ashore.
I was up at 4.30 a.m. and spent the morning ex-
amining the coal mines. I walked through a tunnel
2000 feet long of solid coal ; there must have been
millions of tons of coal in that one seam. We went
afterwards about three miles into the country to
examine another coal mine which is of equal extent.
It was very hot when we got back to the ship, but as
L ABU AN 399
I wore a helmet and goggles my eyes are none the
worse.
" May soth. At sea amongst the islands in the
passage north of Borneo.
" I wrote to you last from Labuan. We left it
at 3.30 and made the fastest passage on record to
Kudat in Maruda Bay, passing the north cape of
Borneo about sunrise and anchoring at Kudat about
8 a.m. Kudat is a pretty spot, with a Residency
bungalow on a promontory in a beautiful situation.
The rest of the houses consist of a collector's and
doctor's bungalow, a hospital and police quarters,
and a row of attap and tiled houses. The bay is
a very fine one. The Resident, or what we should
call district officer, is away ; a Dutch Java planter
and his wife, who are establishing a tobacco factory
here, were staying at the Residency. They came on
board, and seemed rather pleasant people. After
lunch we went up the river on a shooting expedition
in boats towed by one small steam launch ; we saw a
number of long-nosed monkeys. The ground where
we were supposed to shoot was hilly, and covered
with long grass and scrub. I got a long quick shot
at a deer running away from me over the brow of a
hill, distant about 200 yards. I thought I hit him,
and he stopped galloping ; but it is hard to kill a beast
dead when he is going away from you, so he managed
to get on through the bushes ; and though we were
twice quite close to him he crawled away, and having,
of course, no dog we never got him. I was very
sorry for the poor beast. He was nearly black, and
so big when we first saw him we took him for one of
the native cattle. We got back to the Seabelle at
8 p.m. and were under way early this morning. At
sunrise we had a grand view of Kina Balu, which is
13,700 feet high.
' June loth. Seabelle off Labuan.
" We arrived here from Padas (and Brunei) .this
morning and anchored at sunrise. I went ashore
and up to Government House, and asked the Governor
and Mrs. Leys to lunch on board. Then I took Lt.
Dudgeon, who is a very nice lad, with me, and we
had a good walk round by Sir Hugh Low's old place,
which is exceedingly pretty, with some fine flower-
400 A TREATY WITH BRUNEI
ing bushes and trees. I last wrote from Sandakan,
and I think you will get that letter at the same time
as this one. We had a very pleasant voyage back,
landing at the northernmost cape of Borneo, and
looking in at the settlement at Gaza Bay. The
scenery there is very grand ; it is only about twenty-
five miles distant from the great mountain Kina Balu.
On 3rd June we looked in at Labuan for a few hours,
and I got your letter and a telegram from Lord
Salisbury. The latter a satisfactory one for it told
me to carry out a policy that I had already taken on
myself to decide upon with regard to a somewhat
doubtful point. On the 8th we anchored once more
on our old ground in the ' High Street ' of Brunei.
The Court here has been a hotbed of intrigues, and
I have had difficulties of all sorts to contend with.
On my arrival I got a letter from the Sultan which
boded ill for the success of my mission. I wrote a
very stiff answer, insisting on a definite reply to my
demands, and threatening to leave next day if I did
not get it. This produced a satisfactory letter from
the Sultan, promising an answer on the following
day. The day came, but no answer (I heard after-
wards the delay was from no fault of his), so I dropped
down the river and anchored a mile below the town,
partly on account of the horrible stench from the
low tides, and partly to show him that I was pre-
pared to carry out my threat. The next day the
letter I was waiting for arrived, so we steamed back
again at high tide to the town, and I went to wish
the Sultan good-bye. He was very gracious, and
I presented him at parting with a diamond ring. I
also gave another, a smaller one, to his Prime
Minister. The upshot of our negotiations is that he
refuses to cede land, as was proposed by the Home
Government, either to Rajah Brooke or anybody
else. This point I did not press, as I saw no pressure
short of using actual force would have availed ; also
I think he w r as quite within his rights. He asks for a
treaty, and the protection of the British Govern-
ment. He has consented to hand over the manage-
ment of Limbang to the Resident, and he has at once
recalled his fleet from Limbang. I have settled also
the Padas claim to everybody's satisfaction. The
SARAWAK 401
only person who I fear will not be pleased is the
Rajah of Sarawak, but he was quite prepared for a
decision adverse to his claims. I am going to Sara-
wak on leaving this and shall be back at Singapore
on the 2Oth or 2ist of the month."
An entry in Sir Frederick Weld's diary a few days
before (3Oth May) notes the following :
" I had a long talk last night with Rajah Brooke,
and showed him my letters to the Sultan. He wants
Limbang and Labuan ; but he saw the force of my
arguments, and is quite reasonable about the whole
question, which time, possibly, will solve in a direction
favourable to his wishes." x
On leaving Brunei the Seabelle put in at Muara to
coal, then after calling at Padas and Labuan, where
Sir Frederick Weld landed and took leave of Governor
Leys and Mrs. Leys, steered her course to Sarawak.
The diary mentions the arrival as follows :
" June i2th. Made the Sarawak light about 4 p.m.,
or rather the headland on which it stands. Anchored
inside the heads about 6 p.m. A beautiful sunset ;
very fine effects of light and shade on the distant
mountains ; the river is broad, with nipah palms,
like many Malay rivers.
" June \$th. Got under way about 9 a.m. and
steamed up the river to Kuching, the capital. Much
struck with our first view of the town. Was met on
landing by the Rajah and by the Ranee on the door-
step of their house, which is a very nice roomy one.
' i4th. Made a tour of inspection with R. Brooke
of dispensary, prison, government offices, court-house
(with a fine collection of Lelas 2 ), and museum. I
visited the convent school with Paul in the afternoon,
and on our return painted scenes for theatricals . Called
on the Bishop with R. Brooke, and saw his school and
hospital.
' 15 th. Went to Mission very early for Mass.
1 The annexation of Limbang by the Rajah of Sarawak took place
in 1890.
* Malayan swivel-guns.
402 JUBILEE DAY
Painted scenes all the morning. In the afternoon
the Rajah took me to the Fort, where there was a re-
view of his troops, and gun practice in the battery.
Very smart and well done. Men principally Dyaks.
In the evening we had a play, Box and Cox, admir-
ably acted by the Rajah's three sons, followed by
Tableaux Vivants and supper. Got to bed very late.
" 1 5 th. Visited Malay school with the Ranee ;
the schoolmaster had composed a song, set to music,
in my honour. A long drive afterwards with the
Rajah and Ranee.
" 1 6th. A delightful walk in the grounds, which
are exceedingly pretty and well laid out, with the
Rajah and Ranee. After dinner I took my leave
and embarked for Singapore. My visit here was a
very pleasant one, nothing could have been kinder
than the Brookes. "
Queen Victoria's jubilee was kept at Singapore in
a manner worthy of the occasion and of the loyalty
of the Colony and its Governor. The event was
celebrated on the 2/th of June, and is recorded thus
in Weld's diary.
" June 2?th. Jubilee Day. Parade of Royal
Navy, ^Marines, Artillery, and Lancashire Regiment;
total of 717 officers and men. The statue of Sir
Stamford Raffles was unveiled ; a very fine one by
Woolner. Assisted afterwards at High Mass at the
Cathedral, and walked in procession with the Bishop,
after laying foundation-stone of Cathedral extension.
The Bishop preached a very loyal and impressive
sermon (or address) afterwards. Loyal addresses of
every kind from the planters, the Chinese, and from
various races and peoples poured in during the after-
noon, and 2800 children were entertained at a tea and
cake feast. In the evening, Government House and
grounds were illuminated, and the day ended with a
great display of fireworks."
In July, Sir Frederick Weld made an expedition in
the Government yacht to Pahang with a view of con-
cluding the treaty which had been asked for by its
Sultan some months previously. After many dis-
FAREWELLS 403
cussions between the Sultan and the Governor
(with Mr. Hugh Clifford acting as intermediary),
in which the former stood out for impossible
conditions, negotiations were broken off, and Sir
Frederick Weld continued his journey to Treng-
ganu. The impasse was only a temporary one,
and on October 8th, 1887, a fortnight before Sir
Frederick Weld left the Malay States, a treaty
entirely favourable both to British interests and to
those of civilisation and commerce was concluded
with Pahang. A similar treaty, negotiated by Mr.
Martin Lister, with the rulers of the little States
of Negri Sembilan was secured to his great satis-
faction, before he relinquished the Governorship of
the Straits Settlements. In a last journey to Kuala
Lumpor he records in his journal the improvement
visible everywhere in roads and buildings, as well as
in the aspect of the people. From K. Lumpor he
drove to Seramban, Sunjei Ujong, and on the i2th of
September he cut the first sod of the railway " an
epoch," he remarks in his diary, " in the history of the
State."
Many of his old friends amongst the chiefs of the
various States came to visit him here, to bid him fare-
well; and on his return to Singapore again we read
of more visits and of more farewells.
The keynote of all the regrets at the Governor's
approaching departure could not have been better
struck than it was in a speech by Sir Frederick Dick-
son, at the entertainment given by the Council and
Judges to him a few days before he sailed for England.
' There was not one there present," he said, " who
did not feel that in losing His Excellency he was losing
a friend. There was not one there who did not feel
that he was losing a bright example of English honour,
that he was losing a high-minded English gentleman ;
one who never shrank from responsibility, and never
404 FEDERATION OF MALAY STATES
deserted his subordinates ; who never took to himself
credit for anything any one else had done ; who was
unmoved by obloquy, and fearless in the performance
of his duty."
On 1 7th October, amidst a great concourse of
people, salutes, and cheering, Sir Frederick and Lady
Weld and their family embarked in the s.s. Orestes
for England. Sir Frederick was succeeded in the
Governorship of Singapore by his former colonial
secretary, Sir Cecil dementi Smith.
The work of breaking in the native States of the
Malay Peninsula to civilisation, and to a higher
position in the scale of humanity and of civic life,
which was begun by Sir Andrew Clark in 1873,
carried on by Sir Frederick Weld from the year 1880
to 1887, was perfected on the lines laid down by him
by his successors. It culminated in 1896. In July
of that year a Federation of all the Malay States was
effected ; this was placed under the supreme charge of
a Resident General who was responsible to the High
Commissioner, an office which was invested in the
Governor of the Straits Settlements.
CHAPTER XVII
" Catholicism and patriotism complete each other ; both
present the individual with an absolutely certain foundation for
action ; both command imperatively action in the name of
intangible, irrational principles, laid down d priori and inde-
pendently of all individual verification." CHATTERTON-HILL,
The Nineteenth Century and After, July 1913.
THE public life of Sir Frederick Weld ended with
the last chapter ; another life now began for him.
It was, as far as we can glean from the somewhat
meagre record left of it, a peaceful and a happy one.
He had earned his rest, and there is no reason to
suppose that he did not enjoy it, for it was shared
with a charming and devoted wife, and a singularly
united family.
To assume that he did not at times miss the
more stirring incidents, the large interests and
keenly-enjoyed adventures which had hitherto
marked every stage of his career, would be to say
that he was more than human. No doubt he did
miss them, but like a wise man he bowed to the inevit-
able, and fell back on the consolations which were still
his to be thankful for and to enjoy. His journal,
though it was now kept very irregularly, with long
pauses between the entries, shows that he and his
wife and family settled down to a quiet country life
at Chideock, which was not without a charm for all.
The present manor-house of Chideock has no
pretensions of any kind. It was built, like so many
semi-modern English country- houses, on a site not far
removed from that of an older fortified building, of
405
406 CHIDEOCK
which, in this case, some grass-grown remains are
preserved, giving a faint touch of antiquity to the
modern house, such as the smell of lavender gives to
the empty chest to one of an imaginative tempera-
ment. The Chidioc of old days is set down in
Domesday Book as a King's manor, and was owned
for several centuries by the descendants of Gervase
de Brideport. From them it passed into the posses-
sion of the De Mandevilles, and later on, in the time
of Henry in., into that of a family who took their
name of de Chideocke from their heritage. The last
of the race was Sir John de Chideocke. He left two
daughters co-heiresses, Margaret and Katherine : the
elder married William, second Lord Stourton ; the
younger, Katherine, 1 Sir John Arundell of Wardour.
The property of Chideock fell to the share of the
latter, and it was in the possession of her descendant
Henry, Lord Arundell, when Thomas Weld of Lul-
worth bought it for his third son in the beginning of
the nineteenth century. By a singular coincidence,
Sir Frederick Weld was directly descended through
his mother from both the co-heiresses of Sir John de
Chideocke.
The sense of past times the smell of lavender-
clings even more strongly to the quiet little village of
Chideock, set in hawthorns and apple orchards,
than it does to the modern manor-house. For, three
centuries ago, it was the scene of the hurried flight
of Charles n., who, accompanied by his faithful fol-
lowers Lord Wilmot and Colonel Wyndham, after
narrowly escaping capture at Charnworth, dashed
through it on his flight northwards.
There are other legendary spots in this old-time
village and country-side ; a path hemmed in by
laurels and rhododendrons, by which, in the days of
the penal laws, the score or two who were still faithful
1 Her settlement was drawn up on 5th March 1451.
SOUVENIRS 407
to the " old religion " found their way from the village
to the priest's house, where Mass (at great risk to
life and liberty) was still occasionally celebrated.
Besides these memories of the past, Sir Frederick
Weld was surrounded at Chideock, both inside the
house and out of it, by souvenirs, relics, gathered
from all parts of the world. Amongst these were
skins of the apteryx, and arms of all kinds from New
Zealand, garments made of mulberry bark from
the Pitcairn Island, the " execution " kris from New
Guinea, and other murderous weapons presented
to him by the Sultan of Brunei ; ancient match-
locks, guns from Java, a stuffed " tree-tiger " from the
Binding Islands, and various trophies of the chase,
amongst others the horns of the Bos Gaurus. The
mild Dorsetshire climate enabled him to experiment
with success at growing the New Zealand Tarata,
and the Cryptomeria Japonica, and the Cupressus
Macrocarpa ; and many [subtropical plants flourished
there as if native to the soil. Magnolias and myrtles
were as much at home at Chideock as on the Riviera.
Interests and occupations of many kinds grew up
around Sir Frederick Weld. He became a member
of the County Council, a magistrate, and the presi-
dent of the Bridport Conservative Club. His eldest
son had decided on the Bar as a profession, and we
read, in the diary, of his having gone up to London
to " eat his dinners " at the Temple. Frederick, his
second son, had passed into the Civil Service, and
returned, with Mr. Lister, to Singapore in the spring
of 1888. His eldest daughter was engaged to be
married in the same year to Captain Edward Druitt,
R.E.; the event was celebrated in the private chapel
of Chideock in February 1889.
Almost the last public occasion at which Weld
took a prominent part, was one which he must have
hailed as full of promise for the future, as it was in
408 ANTICIPATIONS
furtherance of an object for which he had never
ceased working in the past.
The occasion was an important meeting of some
of the most influential supporters of Imperial Federa-
tion, with the President, Lord Rosebery, in the
chair, to consider what steps could be taken with
a view of promoting closer relations between the
Colonies and the Mother Country.
The year 1889 was marked by a very considerable
advance in public opinion on the subject of Imperial
Federation, both abroad and at home. A speech
of Principal Grant's at Kingston, in Canada (as
reported in the Toronto Daily Mail), had made a
great impression in the Dominion. His theme was
the attainment of " political manhood " by Canadians,
and the question was how it was to be attained.
Another question was : " What is the cure for our
political ailments ? " The answer in both cases was
the same (< Full citizenship ; partnership with the
Old Land ; a share in its responsibilities, risks, and
dangers." He ended by saying that it would take
time to develop the Federation of the Empire, and
with that end in view he advised the cultivation of
friendship and trade with Australia, New Zealand,
West Indies and England. The great object of all
Canadians should be the preservation and strengthen-
ing of the bonds of unity now existing between Great
Britain and her Colonies.
Equally striking was a speech made by Mr. James
Bull, a delegate from the N. Staffordshire Chamber,
at the London Chamber of Commerce, which was
given as follows in the Journal of the Imperial Federa-
tion League. Mr. Bull began by observing that there
were dangerous separatist tendencies observable in
colonial politics.
' This direction of events," Mr. Bull continued,
" could be changed by drawing together the bonds
THE IMPERIAL LEAGUE 409
of union which united the Mother Country to the
Colonies, Ivy enlisting them in the ranks of defence,
by giving them a voice in Imperial deliberations, and
conceding them advantages over the rest of the uni-
verse in their commercial dealings with this country."
In these words we read the substance or at least
foreshadowing of Mr. Chamberlain's celebrated pro-
nouncement delivered fifteen years later.
Imperialism was undoubtedly in the air, and Lord
Rosebery, when addressing the meeting which was
held at his house in Charles Street on May 29th, 1889,
to which we have alluded, chimed in with the views
and aspirations of all present when he said that
he looked " to the absolute predominance of the
Anglo-Saxon race throughout the world, which
could only be secured on the lines which this League
had always followed. "
He was succeeded by Lord Carnarvon, who re-
marked that three principal notes had been touched
upon : first, the question of joint military defence ;
secondly, that of trade influence ; and, thirdly, of
" how far it is possible to draw our relations closer
with our kinsmen across the sea." With regard to
the first point he observed :
" If there are any shortcomings in this matter it
is rather, I am afraid, in England that those short-
comings will be found than it is in many of our Colonies.
Further, I said there was trade influence. There are
many modes, and many degrees and proportions, in
which Federation may be accomplished, but perhaps
trade is the most potent ; for, after all, trade means this
it is that by which men live, and therefore is associ-
ated with their nearest and dearest interests. I do
not hesitate for myself to say that I regret that
in this vast self-contained Empire, where all things
abound, we have never yet been able to agree upon
any common fiscal system of trade. . . . Practically,
the different parts of this Empire, for trade purposes,
are nearly as much divided from each other as if they
410 FEDERATION
were strangers and aliens. What is the result ? It is
that the foreigner steps in and takes what he can, to
the loss of the English manufacturer and workman."
Lord Carnarvon was followed by Sir John Colomb,
who explained the objects of the League " as not
being so much to formulate a scheme for solving the
difficulties that are ahead of us, as to spread that wide
knowledge which is essential to their ultimate and true
solution. We are all one, here, in our object and aim.
We know of no party politics and no factions, and
therefore we can go through the length and breadth
of the land, and ask those who now believe in the
abstract doctrine of Imperial Federation to do some-
thing more to join the League, and to increase its
power and influence as an educating process in this
country, and so we shall be doing that work which
we have set ourselves to do, and some of us may live
to see it carried out."
The President then called upon Sir Frederick
Weld to move the next resolution.
Sir Frederick Weld then moved :
" That this meeting regards with great satisfaction
the practical advance which has been made during the
fast year towards the Federation of the Empire, by
i ) the prompt action of the Legislatures of the majority
of the Australian Colonies giving effect to the agreement
arrived at by the Conference of 1 887 to provide for the
joint defence of the Empire's sea-borne commerce in
the South Pacific ; (2) the important proposals made by
the Dominion of Canada to the Australasian Colonies
for a Conference upon the development of their trade
relations and the advancement of their mutual in-
terests ; and it congratulates the League at large upon
the remarkable growth of interest in the future
relations of the countries of the Empire which has
resulted from its exertions."
He began by saying that he could have wished that
it had fallen to some one to speak on this resolution
ADVANCE AUSTRALIA 411
who, by having taken an active part in the proceedings
of the League at home, would have been more capable
of doing so than one whose life had been chiefly spent
abroad ; at the same time, he felt there was a certain
fitness that a colonist like himself should speak on
this question, whose life he could certainly say in his
case had been not only an aspiration, but a working
aspiration, for the unity of the Empire.
Like many others who had gone out almost as
boys to the Colonies, he had always felt he was
helping in a humble way to build up countries which
would be inseparably united to England, and whose
union with her would serve to increase her influence,
her power, and her commerce. As regards this League,
of which he had been a member from its very com-
mencement, he expressed himself as perfectly satisfied
with the success it had attained. It could not be
expected to attain to success at once. Many diffi-
culties, obstacles of all kinds, ignorance on both sides,
especially, stood in the way. But now there was the
noble example of Australia sending troops to the
Soudan, " a great, practical step, emphasising a
desire for union with this country, and proving that
' blood is thicker than water.' '
Another great step forward had been made in
the direction of defence and commerce. The great
Canadian lines of railway have joined, and steam-
boats connect Australia with Canada ; the hand of
friendship has been held out, and all that each wants
to know is to know each other better." He ended
by saying :
" I entirely agree with what has been said, that
we are not going to effect Federation by a system,
one springing, like Minerva, fully armed out of the
brain of an Abbe Si eyes or some other student. . . .
The British Constitution is not built up on paper,
but by this want and that measure being brought
412 PALESTINE
forward until all is blended into a harmonious
whole. I remember an anecdote that was told of
Charles James Fox. After the peace of Amiens
he went to Paris, where Napoleon made much
of him, and on one occasion when they were con-
versing in his study Napoleon, pointing to a map
which hung on the wall, said jeeringly : ' There is
your little Island.' Fox answered : ' Yes, that is
our little Island, and in that little Island we were
born, and in it all Englishmen would like to die, but
our life embraces the world.' That is the feeling I
should like to see in all that we are working for
England. I hope the lives of Englishmen, wherever
the flag floats, will still continue to cover the world,
and that we shall by the unity of the Empire build
up a power such as will ensure its welfare and peace.
Providence offers it to us, and the question for us to
answer is : Shall we be worthy of the grace that is
offered us, or shall we refuse it to our ruin, and, as I
believe, to the great injury of the world ? "
The resolution was seconded by Mr. H. Arnold-
Forster. His speech was followed by one from Lord
Charles Beresford and Mr. H. Lawson, M.P., after
which the proceedings terminated.
In April 1890, Sir Frederick Weld and his two
sons, Humphrey and Joseph, left England on a
pilgrimage to the Holy Land. This pilgrimage,
which was both a Catholic and a National one, was
interesting from more than one point of view being
the first British pilgrimage on a large scale which had
left these shores for Palestine since the Reformation.
It was headed by Bishops Clifford and Mostyn and
other distinguished prelates, and organised by the
Duke of Norfolk, and numbered over two hundred
souls. The pilgrims reached Jaffa on the i8th of
April, and traversed the distance which separates the
seaport from Jerusalem the following day. When
they came in sight of the holy city they dismounted
and, kneeling on the ground, recited (as how many of
THE QUEEN'S MESSAGE 413
their predecessors have done before them) the
1 2 2nd Psalm : Lcetatus sum in his quce dicta sunt
mihi, in domum Domini ibimus. Then passing down
the " Sorrowful Way " they visited in turn the spots
which tradition has associated with the Passion and
death of Christ, and as they lay down to rest at night
(to quote Sir Frederick's subsequent account of it),
" under the hospitable roof of the Casa Nuova, we
must all have felt that a great grace had been vouch-
safed to us, to fructify to the end we may hope
of our lives. An interesting function signalised our
stay at Jerusalem, which was the pontifical High
Mass sung on St. George's Day, when we sang the
Domine salvam fac Reginam nostram Victoriam with
great enthusiasm. No Latin pilgrimage had ever
before enjoyed this privilege, and we owed it to the
almost unhoped-for courtesy of the Greeks, who have
a great devotion to St. George, and whose consent was
necessary for the celebration."
As the Duke of Norfolk wrote to Sir Henry Ponsonby:
" It is the first time that such an event has taken
place in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and as I
am sure that it will be pleasing to the Queen to hear
of such heartfelt prayers being offered up for her in
this most Holy Sanctuary by her subjects, I write
to tell you of the fact, and beg you to lay this letter
before Her Majesty, with my humble duty."
The Queen sent a gracious message in return, saying
that she was much gratified by the account given her
of the British pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and
desiring Sir Henry Ponsonby to ask the Duke to thank
the members of the pilgrimage for their kind and loyal
wishes in her behalf.
After spending a week in Jerusalem the pilgrims
visited Mount Carmel, Nazareth, and Thabor, and
the shores of Tiberias, and embarked on their return
journey on the 8th of May.
29
414 FINANCIAL SCHEMES
Sir Frederick Weld's thoughts and interests were
a good deal occupied during the summer and autumn
after his return from Palestine with schemes for the
development of the protected native States of the
Malay Peninsula. He had ever been a sanguine
believer in the great possibilities of that country, and
now that his hands were no longer tied by his official
position he found leisure which he was free to use to
attend to those and kindred subjects.
Early in the year 1891 a proposal was made to
him to go out to the Malay States in the interests of
the Pahang Exploration and Development Company,
of which he was a Director, to examine the means
that could be taken to open out the vast mineral and
lumber wealth in the interior of the country. Nothing
could have been more congenial to his tastes than
such an expedition. Accordingly, in spite of his
health having given for some little time previously
cause for anxiety, he started off in the middle of
February for Singapore. He arrived there on the
5th of March . He had benefited by the sea journey, and
was apparently in the best of health, and delighted
to see so many familiar faces. To more than one old
friend he said he felt he was like a schoolboy coming
back to his old haunts. Unfortunately this happy
state of things did not last. He started off for
Pahang, and before he had been exposed long to the
heat and the unhealthy air of the jungle he was taken
ill with a very severe attack of gastric fever, followed
by jaundice. He was brought back in an extremely
critical state of health to Singapore, where under
the hospitable roof of his old friends, Justice Goldney
and his wife, he rallied sufficiently to undertake
(under medical advice) the journey home. His son
Frederick, who was in the Perak Civil Service,
accompanied him as far as Aden, and some kind
friends, Mr. and Mrs. Neaves, nursed him with
A HAPPY DEATH 415
unremitting attention in his passage through the
Red Sea, and never left him till he reached London,
where he was anxiously awaited by Lady Weld.
He rallied slightly on his return to England ; but
from the beginning of his illness there was no doubt
on the part of those who had attended him of the
gravity of the disease from which he suffered, or its
speedy termination.
After spending some weeks in London in order to
consult his own doctor and specialists called in by
him, he was taken down to Chideock. It was the
month of June. For six weeks more he lingered on ;
everything that was possible was done to alleviate
his sufferings and bring consolation to his heart by
his devoted wife, who never left his side, and shared
with no one the privilege of nursing him to the end.
Those who have followed him so far through this
narrative will not require to be told that the faith
and confidence in God which marked every action
of his life stood him in good stead in these its con-
cluding trials. The consolation the Stoic is said to
find in suppression of outward demonstration of woe
and perhaps inward self-pity whilst bowing to
the decrees of Fate, Sir Frederick Weld found from
a deeper source : from a loving obedience to the
Divine Will. The means of grace which the Catholic
Church places at the disposal of her children were his
during every stage of his last illness ; and the Blessed
Sacrament reserved in the private chapel, the frequent
Communion, and, finally, the Sacrament of Extreme
Unction and the Viaticum, soothed his last moments.
His children surrounded him ; to each he had a
special message of loving counsel and farewell, and
when the moment for the supreme parting came it
found him ready to depart. He died on the 2Oth of
July 1891, and was buried on the 25th in the family
graveyard of Chideock, amidst a great concourse of
4i 6 AN APPRECIATION
sorrowing relations and neighbours. His widow
survived him twelve years. She continued for some
time to live at Chideock ; eventually, her daughters
having found homes of their own -three were
married, 1 and three had become nuns she dedicated
the last years of her life to God and became an
Oblate of the Order of St. Benedict at Fort Augustus,
where her fourth daughter was Prioress. She died
a saintly death, profoundly mourned by her children,
on April 9th, 1903.
It has been chiefly as a public man a man of
action that we have endeavoured to make Frederick
Aloysius Weld known to our readers ; but there was
also another side to his life, one known to the inner
circle of his friends only, of which something must
be said before we conclude. It needs but a few
words, for his was no complex character. Its beauty
lay in its simplicity, and its leading feature might
be condensed into one word : Loyalty, to his God
and his religion, to all he loved, to his country and
his sovereign.
So strong was this innate instinct that, when
death was approaching, and his voice and memory
almost failing him he told his wife to take a pencil
and write his last thoughts to his children, his
message for his eldest son was :
" ' Let all the ends thou aim'st at be thy country's,
Thy God's, and' you know the rest."
This deep-seated loyalty made him proof against
temptation to swerve from principles which he held
on good and sufficient grounds, even when such
adherence clashed with his personal interest and
ambitions. Thus he twice threatened to resign when
the Ministry to which he belonged in New Zealand
1 Maud was married on ist February 1893 to Philip Radcliffe,R.E.,
third son of Sir Joseph and Lady Radcliffe of Rudding Park, Yorkshire.
A WELL-FILLED LIFE 417
proposed bringing forward a Divorce Bill similar to
the one passed in the Mother Country, and on both
occasions his influence caused it to be temporarily
shelved. His religion may be said to have been the
paramount motive-power of his life ; but so far
from being bitter or prejudiced in its exercise, he had
the happy faculty of making it attractive, even in
the sight of those who were ignorant of, or indifferent
to, its dogmas. On one occasion only, on his first
appointment as Governor of Western Australia, he
ran counter to the views of his parish priest by ask-
ing the Anglican Bishop of Perth to say grace at
Government House. Both took their story to Rome,
the too-zealous priest to denounce, and the Governor
to justify his action. The answer was entirely
favourable to Weld, and Pope Pius ix. shortly after-
wards conferred upon him the dignity of knighthood
to the Order of St. Pius in acknowledgment of his
services to religion.
A dispute of this, or of any kind, was not only
exceptional in Sir Frederick Weld's life, but utterly
foreign to his nature. His house was ever open to
all servants of his Divine Master ; and as in his early
days there were none who shared his confidence more
than Father Freudenfeldt, so in his later days, in
Tasmania and afterwards in the Straits Settlements,
he found an intimate friend in the learned and holy
Father Julian Tennyson Wood. The practices of re-
ligion with him were no empty observances. Mass,
the Sacraments, and the offices of the Church were
the great realities of his existence, to be duly pre-
pared for, devoutly assisted at, and used, as they are
intended to be, for the building up of the spiritual
life. His innate loyalty showed itself amongst other
ways in the touching remembrance which he pre-
served all though his busy and chequered career of
those he had lost in death. As year by year the
41 8 A GOVERNOR'S DUTY
same dates recurred, they are noted thus in his
diary : " My dear Father's anniversary," or, " My
dear Mother's " or that of some other friend or
relation, followed by the remark (when circum-
stances made it possible) : " Mass was said for him
(or her), and Mena and I went to Holy Communion."
The anniversary of the little girl whom the Welds
had lost in New Zealand, and who, though she had
only lived six months, had been deeply mourned by
them, was never passed without this loving com-
memoration. His dependence on prayer has been
already noticed in the course of this Life ; it was un-
failing, and no occasion but served to bring it out.
He had a particular devotion to the Holy Ghost,
and he was accustomed to say that he never sat
down to write upon any subject of importance with-
out invoking the " Spirit of Truth."
Equally striking was his love for the poor, and it
might be said of him without exaggeration that his
purse was ever open to those in distress. Touching
testimony was borne after his death to his great and
manifold charities. Priests from Western Australia
and Tasmania wrote to his widow giving her her
truest consolation by telling of the memory he had
left behind in some of the remotest spots of those
Colonies by the example of his piety and his generosity
to the poor.
It was a source of no surprise to Sir Frederick
Weld's friends that he died a comparatively poor
man. Neither he nor his wife were of a saving dis-
position. Not only was he open-handed by instinct,
but he held very decided views on a Governor's duty
of spending the emoluments of office in doing good
and dispensing hospitality; and, in the case of his
Tasmanian Governorship, the pay being quite in-
sufficient for the position he had to keep up, he
had to supplement it largely from the somewhat pre-
MESSAGES OF SYMPATHY 419
carious returns made to him from his New Zealand
property.
His affection for his children, profound and tender
as it was, never made him deviate from this course
of action ; and on one occasion when a near relation
remonstrated with him for not exerting himself more
to provide for his younger children, his answer was
that he considered his first duty was to God and his
country, and that being the case he had perfect
confidence in his heavenly Father's care of them.
Before he died, Weld had the consolation of seeing
his elder sons embarked on honourable professions,
with every prospect of carving out careers for them-
selves in the same w r ay as their father had done before
them. His four eldest daughters were also happily
settled in life. If Sir Frederick Weld left his children
small store of worldly possessions, on the other hand
they inherited from him an untarnished name and an
example such as few could boast of. In the chorus
of love and praise paid to his memory after death,
both of a public and private nature, there was not one
jarring note. A very touching letter from Lady Gore
Browne to Lady Weld mentions that when she and
her husband went to New Zealand she had heard so
much in praise of Sir Frederick that she was prepared
for disappointment, but that before she had known him
long she found he was in truth the chevalier sans peur
et sans reproche he had been made out to be. It would
be tedious to go through the many tributes to his
personal charm and worth which were addressed to his
widow and family after his death, though doubtless
each carried its message of sympathy and comfort to the
house of mourning. The public expression of respect
for his memory in all the Colonies with which he was
connected was equally striking. In Perth and in
the Straits Settlements as well as in New Zealand,
the flags were hoisted half-mast high, and the minutes
420 NEW ZEALAND
of the Councils recorded the high estimation in which
his services were held in those countries.
One of the most touching tributes to his memory
was that given in the General Assembly in New
Zealand by Sir George Grey, who said of him that,
<l having lived on terms of great friendship with
him, I could truly say that he was not only able, but
also noble in action, wise in counsel, a true friend,
the best of husbands and fathers, in fact, distinguished
in every relation in life. I have known him in many
capacities, and have never seen him fail to distinguish
himself in whatever position of life he was placed,
though he was often placed in positions of extreme
difficulty."
Similar remarks of no less weight were made by
his friends in the Legislative Council. The Hon. Mr.
Bowen said that " Sir Frederick Weld's public life
is very well known to all of us, and most of us re-
member the sympathy which his chivalrous conduct
of public affairs elicited even from his opponents.
I will not add to what others have said on the subject
except that though he was separated for many years,
and by his various duties, from the land of his early
efforts and affections, he never lost touch with New
Zealand. The affection between Sir Frederick Weld
and this colony has been shown, I think, in this last
day or two to be reciprocal, and it is gratifying to see
that both branches of the Legislature have thought
it right to pay a tribute to the memory of a man of
whom New Zealand is justly proud. Especially is it
gratifying in these days, when success and ability
irrespective of character are too much worshipped,
that a man like Sir Frederick Weld is remembered
with so much honour. And, sir, his character was,
as my honourable friend said just now, such that no
one ever could have suspected him of being con-
nected with any unworthy cause. He was a man
A POET'S VOICE 421
of whom it might truly be said, ' He reverenced his
conscience as his king.' I do not believe it was
possible for him to be swayed by an ignoble motive,
far less to be capable of any ignoble action. And
from his youth from his high-minded, chivalrous
youth and throughout his active and public-spirited
manhood, down to his too early death, he was
honoured and trusted by every one who came into
relation with him, and he was loved by all who knew
him well."
It is of such, of men like Frederick Weld, who have
devoted their lives to the service of their country,
and served her in a spirit of purest patriotism, that
a great poet, Francis Thompson, wrote :
"They passed, they passed, but cannot pass away,
For England feels them in her blood like wine."
INDEX
ABDULLAH, Sultan, 269-70, 276.
Aborigines, W. Australian, 164-5 ;
mission to, 170-4 ; difficulties
with, 207-10 ; success with,
213-14 ; Tasmanian, 234-6 ;
Malayan, 278, 301, 332.
Adelaide, 152, 199, 229.
Alarm, The, 4, 53, 77, 87.
Albany, W.A., 153-4, 2OI 22 7
229.
Albuquerque, 265, 279.
Anson, General, 272, 305.
Arthur, Colonel, 234-6.
Artillery, Launceston, 252, 258,
261.
Arundell, Lord, 127, 150, 406.
Atkinson, Major, 163.
Auckland, N.Z., 46/121, 123, 125,
132, 137-
Augusta, W.A., 203.
Australia, 108, no, 162, 165, 188,
201, 237-8, 250, 255, 258-9,
408, 410-11.
Balclutha, breakdown of, 152-3.
Bangkok, 367, 385-7.
Barlee, 156, 175, 178, 190.
Barrington, Dr., 288-9.
Bass, 233.
Batu, S.S., 287, 289.
Beaconsfield, Earl of, 263, 335.
Bendaharaof Pahang, 302, 317-21,
394. 403.
Benedictines. See N. Norcia.
Benkulen, 268.
Birch, 270, 301-2.
Birnam River, S.S., 287, 292, 370.
Blackwood district, W.A., 179.
Blanja, S.S., 301, 352, 389.
Bongsu, Ungku, 334, 355.
Borneo, 395, 402.
Bowen, Sir George, 224.
Bozzolo, Mr., 375, 387.
Brandy Creek, 238 ; re-christened,
263.
Brooke, Rajah, 395, 400-2.
Brunei, 395, 400, 407.
Bukit Putus, S.S., 333.
Bull, Mr. James, 408.
Bunbury, Major, 36 ; town of,
179,229.
Cameron, General Sir Donald,
K.C.B., 116, 121, 128-9.
Campbell Town, 239.
Canada, 408-11.
Canterbury Association, 86 ; dis-
trict of, 119.
Capitan China, 289, 295, 300, 333.
Card well, Mr., 128, 142.
Carnarvon, Earl of, K.G., 223, 226,
409.
Champion Bay, W.A., 163, 178-9,
185, 213, 216.
Chideock,^ i, 25, 82, 89, 377, 380,
405-7, 415.
Chinese population in \ Malay
States, 330 ; intrigues, 348 ;
smuggling conspiracy, 356-7 ;
disputes, 372-3.
Chokoon of Senggora, 386-7.
Chute, General, 137, 145.
Clarence, H.R.H. The Duke of,
338-43-
Clarke, Sir Andrew, K.C.M.G.,
269-70, 404.
Clio, H.M.S., 208-9.
Clifford, Sir Charles, Bart., 12, 19,
21, 30, 44, 48-9, 53-61, 72-3,
80, 86-7, 90, 217-21.
Clifford, General Sir Henry, V.C.,
K.C.B., 6, 8, ii, 150, 354, 365.
Clifford of Chudleigh, Lord, I,
150, 357-
Clifford, Sir Hugh, K.C.M.G., 374,
387, 393-4-
Cloudy Bay, N.Z., 38, 73.
Colonib, Sir John, K.C.B., 379,
410.
Cook, Captain, 33, 70, 233.
Cook's Straits, 19, 41, 113, 115,
200.
Creagh, Mr., 375, 388.
Crimean War, 93, 255.
423
424
INDEX
Dale, the explorer, 163.
Damansara, S.S., 291.
Dampier, George, 162, 294.
Darling Range, W.A., 154, 184,
216.
de Lisle Phillip ps, Mr., 104, 153.
de Lisle, Frank, 152, 209.
de Lisle, Edwin, M.P., 320-1, 331.
Derby, Earl of, K.G., 249, 356,
365-
Derwent (Tasmania), 233, 239,
242, 245.
Dillon-Bell, Sir Francis, K.C.M.G.,
19, 91, 113, 143.
Bindings, S.S., 292-3, 300, 389.
Donan, 397.
Dongarra, W.A., 176, 216.
Douglas, Captain, 284, 286-7, 289.
Dris, H.H. Sultan, G.C.M.G., 314,
357-8, 364-
Durian Sabatang, S.S., 302-3, 364.
East India Co., 266, 268.
Egmont, Mt., N.Z., 17, 114.
Emancipation, Catholic, 4.
Eucla, Port, 187.
Exeter Hall, 34, 53, 210.
Federation, Imperial, 258-9, 408-
12.
Ferguson, Sir James, K.C.M.G.,
152-3, 199, 221.
Fitzgerald, James, C.M.G., 91-2,
108, 118, 125-7.
Fitzherbert, Mr., 125, 138, 222.
Fitzroy, Captain, R.N., 18, 42-3,
53, 64.
Flaxbourne, 72-3, 77-9, 119.
Forrest, Sir John,K.C.M.G., 186-8.
Fox, Sir W., K.C.M.G., 46, 88,
108, 112-13, 120 i, 127-8.
Franklin, Sir John, K.C.M.G., 236.
Fremantle, 155, 186, 188, 190,
197.
Freudenfeldt, Fr., S.J., 6-10, 417.
Friburg, University of, 6-10.
George of Wales, H.R.H. Prince,
338-43.
Geraldine, W.A., 106, 178-9, 184.
Geraldton, W.A., 176-8, 215-6,
226.
Godley, John Robert, 12, 38, 86.
Gore " Browne, Sir Thomas,
K.C.M.G., 47, 92, 106-7, II2 -
Gore Browne, Lady, 419.
Gorst, Mr., 115.
Granville, Earl of, K.G., 147,
150, 156.
Grey, Sir George, K.C.M.G., 47,
64-6, 69, 83-6, 90, 109, 112-17,
121-33, J 36, T 5, 420.
Hau Hau fanaticism, 120-1.
Heki, 43, 63.
Hobart-town, 239, 241-2, 255, 257,
261.
Hobson, Captain, 35-6.
Howick, Lord, 41-2.
Hutt Valley Campaign, 43, 64-6,
no.
Irving, Mr., 274-5, 329.
Irwin, W.A., 175-6.
Ipoh, S.S., 389.
Jelabu, S.S., 364, 366, 368, 393.
Jerningham, Mr. Frederick, 12,
14, J 9, 49-
Johol, S.S., 317, 366, 390-1.
Johore, Maharajah (subsequently
Sultan of), 264, 268, 316, 318-
22.
Jugra, S.S., 285.
Kalgoorlie, 232.
Kamunting, S.S., 295, 297.
Kangsa, Kuala, S.S., 295, 297-8,
3oi-3, 351-
Kedah, Rajah of, 266, 302, 306-8.
Kilauea (Sandwich Islands), 100-1.
Kimberley, Earl of, K.G., 201,
213, 223, 328.
Kingi, Wirimu, 107, in.
Kinta, S.S., 349-5, 352, 389.
Klang, S.S., 285-6, 290-1, 389.
Klings, 277, 311.
Kohimarama Conference, 36.
Kota Star, S.S., 306-8 ; K. Tern-
pan, 349.
Krian River, S.S., 310, 345, 347.
Kuran River, S.S., 346.
Larut, S.S., 294, 370.
Lasak, S.S., 330-1 .
Linggi River, S.S., 333> 335,
367-
Lister, Hon. Martin, 283, 333-4,
387, 390-1, 403.
Low, Sir Hugh, K.C.M.G., 294,
304, 311, 313, 329, 331-2, 346,
349, 367, 394, 378, 388, 399-
Lukut, S.S., 284, 294.
Lulworth Castle, i, 2, 6, 13, 87,
377-
INDEX
425
Lumpur, Kuala, S.S., 285, 290,
370. 390, 43-
Lyell, Sir Charles, 100.
MacCallum, Sir Henry, G.C.M.G.,
321, 336-8, 347.
Mackinnon, Dr., 291, 300, 304.
Mahdi, Rajah, 278, 285, 292,
319-20.
Makitupah, 95.
Malacca, 265-7, 2 7 2 7 2 > 274-80,
324, 336-7, 369-70.
Malay States, 265-71 ; race, 277,
281, 288-9 ; deputation, 290,
295 ; people, 299, 306, 312-6 ;
Land Acts, 322-5 ; labour
difficulty, 329-30 ; origin of
Malay race, 232 ; improved
relations with, 365-8 ; progress
of, 369-73 ; relations with
Siam, 384-7 ; Federation, 404.
Maori ferrymen, 22 ; race, 34-5 ;
opinions, 36-7 ; attack on
surveyors, 38 ; defeat of settlers,
39-40 ; passion for war, 43-7 ;
characteristics, 51-61 ; dis-
putes with, 62-8 ; experiences
with, 94-9 ; impatience of
British rule, 105-8 ; attack on
Taranaki, in ; war, 115-21,
128-30 ; last native war, 145-
50.
Maude, Colonel, 194.
Mauna Loa, ascent of, 100-3.
Militia, N.Z., 63, 66, no-n, 129-
30, 148-9.
Missionaries, 33, 41, 61.
Monsell, Rt. Hon. J., M.P., i, 143,
153. 196, 200.
Negri Zembilan, 270, 317, 403.
Nelson, N.Z., 18-9.
Newcastle, Duke of, 88, 113,
117.
New Norcia, W.A., 165, 171-4,
213-4, 228.
New Zealand Co., 13, 18, 33-4,
37-8, 41-2, 88.
New Zealand, early experiences
in, 17-21 ; colonisation of, 32-
47 ; sheep-farming in, 4862 ;
adventures in, 65-8 ; boating
in, 77-8 ; sport in, 79-81 ;
explorations in, 86-7 ; hot
springs of, 94-9 ; critical times
for, 105-9 ; financial and
other difficulties in, 118-23 ;
adoption of self-reliant policy
in, 125-33 I r6sume of political
situation in, 139-43 ; renewal
of war in, 145-50 ; Weld's
reception in, 220-3 ; tribute to
him, 419-21.
Ngatiporo, 45, 65.
Ngatiruani tribe, 114-25.
Norfolk, Duke of, E.M., K.G.,
4 I2 ~3-
Ohinemutu, N.Z., 95-6.
Ophir, Mount, S.S., 275 ; ascent
of, 337-8.
Pahang, State of, 282, 317, 393-4,
43-
Pakeha, 17, 106, 114.
Parris, Mr., 107, 137.
Petre, Lord, 34 ; Hon. Henry,
12, 19, 21, 77.
Pratt, General, in.
Province Wellesley, 269, 270, 306,
3 2 3, 369, 37i-
Raffles, Sir Stamford, K.C.M.G.,
266-9 ; unveiling statue - of,
402.
Raman, Rajah of, 384, 386-7.
Ranghiaiata, 38-41, 42-5, 64.
Rauperha, 38-41, 42-5, 53, 64-5.
Rembau, S.S., 272, 277, 357~63
367, 382, 391.
Robinson, Sir Hercules, K.C.M.G.,
219.
Robinson, Sir William, K.C.M.G.,
164-5, 191, 295, 313, 316.
Robinson, G. A., 235-6.
Roto Iti, N.Z., 95.
Sakeis, S.S., 287, 301, 332.
Salmon - fishing in Tasmania,
2 45-7-
Salvado, Bishop. See N. Norcia.
Scrope of Danby, Mr., 6, n, 87-8,
91, 381.
Selangor, 270, 282, 284 ; Sultan
of, 285 ; River, 292, 357, 362,
368, 389-90.
1 Sewell, Mr., 91, 125.
Siam, 265 ; plenipotentiary of,
272 ; kingdom of, 308-9 ;
royalties, 338-42 ; intrigues,
383-7.
Sikhs, 293, 295-6, 375, 381, 388.
Singapore, 263-4, 3 I2 > 3 20 3 2 3 >
census of, 330, 335, 370 ;
fortifications of, 376, 378, 381;
388, 402-4, 414.
426
INDEX
Sri Menanti, 317, 357, 362-3,
366-7, 390, 393.
Stafford, Mr., K.C.M.G. (after-
wards Sir W.), 109, 112-3,
127, 133, 135-8, 145, 149.
Stonyhurst College, i, 4, 7, 8 ;
sheep- station, N.Z., 99.
Straits Settlements, 263, 269-71 ;
future policy considered, 3127 ;
land tenure in, 3228 ; progress
of, 365-72 ; federation of States
under the Governor of, 404.
Sunjei Ujong, 270-4, 335, 357-8,
363, 367-8-
Swettenham, Sir Frank, K.C.M.G.,
273, 275, 278-80, 283, 286-7,
291, 293, 301-2, 308-9, 311,
329, 357-8-
Tamihana (W. Thompson), 47,
104, in, 120.
Tangi, The, 57.
Taranaki, N.Z., 106-8, in, 114,
128, 130.
Tasmania, Weld's appointment
to Governorship of, 2234 >
discoverers of, 233 ; troubles
in, 234-6 ; constitution given
to, 237-8 ; progress of, 238-9 ;
sport in, 245-7 ; defence of,
2509 ; Weld's journeys over,
261 ; leave-takings of, 263.
Tataraimaka, N.Z., 114-5.
Te Keepa (Major Kemp), 149.
Te Kooti, 148, 150.
Te Koro, 54-60.
Thaipeng, S.S., 294-6, 347, 374-5,
388, 392.
Thompson, Mr., 18, 38-40.
Titokowaru, 146, 148-9.
Tunnard, Captain, A.D.C., 338,
346, 357-
Ugbrooke/2, 4, 6, 13, 87, 354.
Uriwera tribe, 148-9.
Vavasour, Mr. (afterwards Sir
William), 12, 19, 29, 48-59, 80.
Victoria, Queen, 36, 262, 290,
362, 367, 378, 380, 390, 402,
4 J 3-
Victoria Plains, W.A., 163, 213,
216, 226.
Waikato tribe, 45-6, 108, 114-5,
120, 129, 148-9.
Wairarapa, N.Z., 21, 24, 28, 31,
52, 62, 64, 66, 68, 71, 74, 108.
Wairau, massacre of, 18, 37, 39,
40, 41, 43, 1 06 ; the plains of,
70-1, 73, 87, 90.
Waitangi, treaty of, 35-7.
Waitara River, in ; district of,
115-6.
Wakefield, E. Gibbon, 38, 92,
159, 160.
Wakefield, Captain, R.N., 18, 38,
4. 7 1 -
Ward-homa, N.Z., 54, 59-60.
Ware-kaka, N.Z., 23-31, 48-9,
61, 69, 71-2, 74.
Weld, Sir Frederick, G.C.M.G.*,
childhood, 1-5 ; college life,
5-7 ; university experiences,
8-10 ; choice of profession, n-
13 ; starts for N. Zealand, 14-
17; joins friends on his arrival
and starts for pioneer sheep-
station, 20-2 ; life at Ware-
kaka, 23-31; pastoral life
varied by explorations, 48-65 ;
adventures with natives, 65-9 ;
starts new station, Flaxbourne,
71-3 ; his views on politics,
826 ; explorations, 867 ;
return to England, 87 ; death
of his father, 88 ; return to
N.Z., 89 ; is invited to join
Government, 91 ; ministry
resigns, 92 ; he starts for
expedition to hot springs and
interior of N. Island, 949 ;
makes the ascent of the Mauna
Loa, 100-3 ; marries, 104 ;
returns to N.Z., 104 ; is re-
elected for Wairau and ap-
pointed Minister for Native
Affairs, 109-12 ; sent for by
the Governor and invited to
form ministry, 123; he agrees,
after formulating conditions,
123-5 ; successful inaugura-
tion of self-reliant policy, 127-
30 ; he resigns after adverse
vote on financial question,
132-3 ; breaks down in health,
136 ; summing up of career in
N.Z., 139-43 returns to Eng-
land, 144 ; he is appointed
to Governorship of W.
Australia, 147 ; dinner given
to him, 150 ; starts for W.A.,
152 ; voyage and arrival at
Perth, 152-6 ; impressions of
the country, 156-8 ; he visits
the N.E. districts, 166-78 ;
INDEX
427
speech at Bunbury, 179-83 ;
describes Colony to Colonial
Secretary, 183-6 ; dispatches
Mr. J. Forrest to explore
Southern Coast, 186-8 ; passes
Bill giving Representative
Government to W.A., 188-91 ;
passes Education Bill, 196-9 ;
visits S.E. of Colony, 201-3,
and N.W., 203-8 ; he stands
up for the native race, 209-11 ;
makes a tour in the rural
districts W. of Champion Bay,
213-7 5 business takes him to
N.Z., 217-22 ; reception there,
222-3 ; he is appointed to
Tasmania, 223 ; summing up
of his work in W.A., 224-
32 ; arrival in Tasmania, 239 ;
anxiety about his wife, 2415 ;
he is made C.M.G. ; fishing
experiences, 245-7 ; encourage-
ment of the Volunteer move-
ment, 249-50 ; Memo, to
ministers on defences of the
island, 251 ; speech to Volun-
teer corps, 252-7 ; travels
in Tasmania, 261 ; appoint-
ment to Governorship of the
Straits Settlements, arrives at
Singapore, 263 ; the task which
awaited him there, 271 ; he is
made K.C.M.G., 272 ; visit of
Prince Henry of Prussia, 272-3 ;
starts on tour of inspection in
the Pluto, 274 ; Malacca, 274-
80 ; Residency Seremban, 282-
84 ; Selangor, 284-92 ; the
Bindings, 293 ; Perak, 294 ;
Residency Thaipeng, 294-300 ;
Durian Sabatang, 302-3 ;
Panang, 305-6; Kedah, 306-9;
a dispatch on policy to be
pursued in the peninsula, 312-
18 ; visit to Johore, 320-2 ;
a paper on the land-question,
322 8 ; encouragement of
Indian immigration, 329-31 ;
a journey up the Plus, 331-2 ;
a conference with the chiefs
of Rembau, 333-4 ; ascent of
Mt. Ophir, 336-8 ; visit of the
Duke of Clarence and Prince
George of Wales to Government
House, 339-43 ; more journeys
to Perak, 346-7 ; deputation
from Chinese, 348-9 ; a shoot-
ing expedition, 349-53 ; he
summons durbar to depose the
Chief of Rembau, 357-9 ;
presides at it, 360-3 ; good
results of policy in native
States, 363-4 ; progress of S.S.,
365-73 ; he starts for England
on sick leave, 376 ; arrives on
ist May 1884, 377 ; reads
paper to the Royal Institute on
British Malaya, 378-9 ; his
eldest brother dies, 380 ; he
is made G.C.M.G. ; returns to
Singapore, 381 ; is much
occupied with Siamese in-
trigues, 383-7 ; marriage of
his daughter, 388 ; records
success of Mr. Hugh Clifford's
mission to Pahang, 393-5 ; is
sent on a mission to Brunei to
settle dispute between its
Sultan, Rajah Brooke, and the
N. Borneo Co., 3957 ; con-
cludes treaty with Sultan, 400 ;
visits Sarawak, 401, 402 ; con-
cludes treaty with Pahang
and the Negri Zembilan, 403 ;
takes leave of S.S., 404 ;
settles down at Chideock, 405 ;
life there, 407-8 ; moves resolu-
tion at a meeting of the League
for Imperial Federation, 410-2 ;
makes a pilgrimage to the
Holy Land, 412-3 ; he starts
for Singapore and falls ill soon
after arrival, 414 ; returns to
England in a critical con-
dition, 415 ; dies at Chideock
on 2oth July 1891, 415.
Weld - Blundell, H., 152, 219,
239-
Wellington, N.Z., 13, 19, 21, 30-1,
49, 52 ; races, 76-8, 87, 99,
125, 132, 221-3.
Western Australia, land laws of,
157-61 ; discovery of, 162 ;
expansion of, 163 ; made a
penal settlement, 164 ; abor-
igines of, 165 ; isolation of, 166
(for description of natural
features, mineral riches, etc., see
pp. 166-231) ; progress after gold
discoveries, 232.
Wortley, Hon. James Stuart,
94-101.
Wynyard, Colonel, 90-1.
Young, Sir Frederick, K.C.M.G.,
258, 378-
Printed by
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ALICE, LADY LOVAT
The life of Sir
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ALICE, LADY LOVAT
The life of Sir
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