"We Have Now Two Streets, If Four Rows Of The Most Miserable Huts You Can
Possibly Conceive Deserve That Name.
Windows they have none as from the
Governor's house (now nearly finished) no glass could be spared, so that
lattices of twigs are made by our people to supply their places.
At the
extremity of the lines where since our arrival the dead are buried there
is a place called the churchyard..." and then, telling of the only food
obtainable there, in addition to the hard fare provided by the
Government, the writer continues, "Our kangaroo cats are like mutton but
much leaner and there is a kind of chickweed so much in taste like
spinach that no difference can be discerned. Something like ground ivy is
used for tea but a scarcity of salt and sugar makes our best meals
insipid...Everyone is so taken up with their own misfortunes that they
have no pity to bestow on others."* (* To-day Sydney is the seventh city
of the Empire.) What was written of Sydney may be said to have been true
of all the settlements. Everywhere hardships were encountered, and
everywhere they were surmounted.
The Lady Nelson's log will show how in 1806 she paid a second and perhaps
a more important visit to New Zealand. Her commander was instructed by
Governor King to convey Tippahee, a New Zealand Chief of the Bay of
Islands on the north-east coast, back from Sydney to his own dominions.
At some time previously a son of this Chief had been brought to Port
Jackson in a whaling vessel. The Governor had shown him kindness and had
ordered some pigs to be sent from Norfolk Island to New Zealand for his
father, and Tippahee, on receiving the present, had himself resolved to
pay a visit to Governor King. He embarked with his four sons in a small
colonial whaling vessel bound for Norfolk Island. The voyage was hardly a
success, for on his arrival there he complained to the authorities that
the master of the ship had treated them badly and had detained his
youngest son. Captain Piper, the Commandant, gave them a very kind
reception, and it is said rescued the youngest son from the master of the
whaler. Shortly afterwards, H.M.S. Buffalo called at Norfolk Island, when
Tippahee, with his sons, was received on board by Captain Houston, and
after the Buffalo had visited Tasmania, the New Zealanders were brought
to Sydney, where, dressed in the costume of a Chief of his country,
Tippahee did homage to Governor King. We are told that this meant laying
a mat at Governor King's feet and performing the ceremony of "joining
noses." The Governor seems to have developed a great admiration for
Tippahee. He allowed the Maori Chief to remain, along with his eldest
son, as a guest at Government House, and provided his other sons with
suitable lodgings. The Chief is described as being 5 feet 11 1/2 inches
high, stout and athletic looking, and about forty-six years of age.
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