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Maximum Population.
Most of the present Maori tribes trace their origin from the great heke or Polynesian migration which occured some five hundred years ago; but there is abundant evidence that the country was already occupied by a numerous population, with whom sooner or later the Polynesian immigrants came into collision. These original inhabitants seem to have been of a peaceable disposition, and tradition states that they were often the victims of a wholesale slaughter. As is usual in such cases, once the strength of the beaten party was sufficiently broken the remnant of the able-bodied men would be taken for slaves and the women for wives, when the aboriginals would be absorbed in the invaders, who increased and multiplied until they
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practically occupied all the open fertile land of the North Island, as well as a considerable portion of the South.
At what period this mixed race—to which the present inquiry is confined—reached its maximum it is quite impossible to say, nor can we even approximately guess the number they may have reached. Doubtless the population was at all times a fluctuating one; and as the tribes grew in strength, a natural desire for expansion, a dispute over territory, or some other cause would bring them into collision, and the quarrel once started would often develop into a war of extermination. In these disputes allies would be sought on either side, combinations of adjacent tribes would be formed, and the fight would go on to a finish, or until both sides were exhausted, and by the time the final battle was fought, or a truce arrived at, a whole district would be almost depopulated. By degrees, however, the tribes that were not wholly extinguished would be nursed up again: new alliances would be formed, and in time, under favourable conditions, the population would be brought up to, or might even exceed, its former numbers.
Captain Cook estimated the Maori population at the time of his visits to New Zealand (A.D. 1769–74) at about a hundred thousands; but his estimate is no more than a rough guess based on very imperfect data. It must be recollected that his observations extended only to a very partial acquaintance with the coast-line, that he never penetrated inland, and that even on the coast he entirely missed some of the most populous districts. Waikato, the Hot Lake country, the Auckland Isthmus, Kaipara, Hokianga, and many other places teeming with population had for him no existence, and any information he might have acquired from Native sources would be too vague to form the basis of an opinion.
There is abundant evidence to prove that Captain Cook's estimate was far too low. This evidence lies chiefly in the marks of occupation which the Maoris have left in the multitude of fortified positions and in the immense area of land bearing traces of former cultivation. The number and size of the pas throughout the length and breadth of the North Island is amazing. Judge Maning states* that from the top of one pa he had counted twenty others within a range of fifteen or twenty miles, and along the Oruru Valley a range of hills four or five miles long has nearly every summit scarped and terraced, some of the works being so extensive that it would take a thousand men to hold the position and probably a far greater number to construct the works. In regard to the area of land formerly
[Footnote] * “Old New Zealand,” Chap. xiii.
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under cultivation, practically all the open fertile country of the North Island shows unmistakable signs of agricultural operations. The clay hill-sides of the north are covered with surface drains, the volcanic plains of Taranaki are perforated with the ruas or storage-pits, all over the Waikato delta the pumice land has been excavated for sand to spread over the kumara plantations: every narrow river-valley, every little shingle patch along the coast, and every sheltered nook under the sea-cliffs has been utilised; even on the rocky scoria flats the loose stones have been laboriously gathered into heaps to clear the ground for the early crops.
It is not, of course, to be supposed that anything like the total number of the pas or the entire area of cultivated land were occupied at any one time. Tribes would be driven off, and whole tracts of land would be deserted, perhaps, for a long period; and, even where the inhabitants were unmolested, the land would be temporarily worn out and new pieces brought under cultivation. Many of the pas, moreover, were built only to serve some temporary purpose, while many more would be deserted for a new site to suit the varying fortunes of the occupants. If the fighting strength of a pa was much reduced, a large fortification would be untenable, and a new one of more modest dimensions would be constructed on another spot; while if the numbers greatly increased, a more roomy situation would have to be found. Still, taking all this into consideration—and even allowing that many of the pas may have been of pre-Hawaikian origin—the traces of occupation are so extensive that it is safe to estimate the population before the decay commenced, not at one, but at many hundreds of thousands.