An Old New Zealander; or, Te Rauparaha, the Napoleon of the South.

Transcriber's Note:
Discrepancies between the detail of the list of illustrations, and the text accompanying the illustrations themselves, have been retained.
The list also omits the table of Te Rauparaha's wives and children, that has been inserted at the end of the book before the map of his and Te Puoho's raids. It is reproduced in this version.
Apparent typographical errors have been corrected. Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been retained.
AN OLD NEW ZEALANDER
TE RAUPARAHA. After a drawing in the Hocken Collection, Dunedin.
Frontispiece.
BY T. LINDSAY BUICK AUTHOR OF OLD MARLBOROUGH, OLD MANAWATU
WHITCOMBE & TOMBS, LIMITED LONDON MELBOURNE CHRISTCHURCH, WELLINGTON AND DUNEDIN, N.Z. 1911
A WELL-DESERVING PILLAR IN THE TEMPLE OF POLYNESIAN LEARNING, I GRATEFULLY DEDICATE THIS BOOK
I have been constrained to write the story of An Old New Zealander largely to gratify the frequently expressed desire for a more comprehensive sketch of Te Rauparaha's career on the part of many readers of my former books, in which fitful glimpses of the old chief were given. These references have apparently awakened some considerable interest in the life and times of the great Ngatitoan, and although this period of New Zealand's history is by no means barren of literature, I am hopeful that there is still room for a volume in which much heterogeneous matter has been grouped and consolidated. There may be some amongst the reading public who will question the need, or the wisdom, of recording the savage and sanguinary past of the Maori; but history is always history, and if this contribution serves no other useful purpose, it may at least help to emphasise the marvellous transformation which has been worked in the natives of New Zealand since Te Rauparaha's time—a transformation which can be accounted one of the world's greatest triumphs for missionary enterprise. It may be, too, that some critics will not subscribe to my estimate of the chief's character, because it has been the conventional view that he who refused to part with his own and his people's heritage was destitute of a redeeming feature. Owing to the misrepresentation of the early settlers and traders he has been greatly misunderstood by their successors; and they have further added to the injustice by sometimes seeking to measure one who was steeped in heathen darkness by the holy standard which was raised by the Founder of Christianity. As in the careers of most conquerors, there is much in the life of Te Rauparaha that will not bear condonation; but in every British community there is a wholesome admiration for resourcefulness, indomitable will, and splendid courage; and, if the succeeding pages serve to balance these high qualities of the chief against his failings, they may assist in setting up a more equitable standard whereby future generations will be able to judge him.