334 NEW ZEALAND FLAX. 1788 points were also dwelt upon in the Heads of a Plan. But asept nothing was said in those documents about the native flax and timber of Norfolk Island. Prom Sir George Young^s petition for a grant of that island, it might be inferred that the idea of occupying it with a view to those particular industries originated with him — in other words, that he had suggested the matter to the Government. It deserves Ooionisatioii to be noted that, notwithstanding the importance attached zeaii^. to the products in question, no proposal was made for the colonisation of New Zealand, although Captain Cook had pointed put its advantages for the purpose.* As soon as the rains permitted the getting the provisions on shore from the two remaining store-ships they were cleared, except The ships ^^ *^® Spirits, which are on board of one of them, and which will in port yQ landed the end of this month. It was my intention to send the two store-ships away together, and expected they would be ready to sail the first week in October ; and the Sirius was ordered to be ready to sail about the same time to the northward, in order to procure live stock ; but it was now found that very little of the English wheat had vegetated, and a very considerable quantity of
- <* If the settling of this country should ever he thought an ohject worthy
the attention of Great Britain, the best place for establishing a colony would be either on the banks of the Thames or in the country bordering npon the Bay of Islands. In either place there would be the advantage of an excellent harbour ; and by means of the river, settlements might be extended and a communication established with the inland parts of the country. Vessels might be built of the fine timber which abounds in these parts, at very little trouble and expence, fit for such a navigation as would answer the purpose." — ^Hawkesworth, vol. iii, p^ 444. As the cultivation of the New Zealand flax-plant continued to be an object of importance with the Government for some years, and the description of it in Cook's Voyage was the means of directing attention to it in the first instance, it is worth while to quote the passage : — "There is, however, a plant that serves the inhabitants instead of hemp and flax, which excels all that are put to the same purpose in other countries. Of this plant there are two*sorts. The leaves of both resemble those of flags, but the flowers are smaller and their clusters more numerous ; in one kind they are yellow, and in the other a deep red. Of the leaves of these plants, with very little preparation, they make all their common apparel ; and of these they make also their strings, lines and cordage for every purpose, which are so much stronger than anything we can make with hemp, that they will not bear a comparison. From the same plant, by another preparation, they draw long slender fibres which shine like silk, and are as white as snow. Of these, which are also surprisingly strong, the finer clothes are made ; and of the leaves, without any other preparation than splitting them into proper breadths and tying the strips together, they make their fishing-nets, some of which, as I have before remarked, are of an enormous size.'* — ^Ib,, p. 443. Digitized by Google
