of 1820 and 1840 that Canterbury in particular became almost depopulated. Up till that time, it is true, there had been constant warfare amongst the native tribes, but it was the use of firearms supplied by European whalers and traders which enabled Te Rauparaha, in successive raids, almost to exterminate the Ngaitahu of Kaiapoi, and other Southern tribes. The absence of native difficulties, brought about in this deplorable way, has had an important bearing on the history of the city and province, for not only has Canterbury been spared the native wars which figure so largely in early North Island history, but it has also been practically free from the troubles incidental to native land titles, with all their intricacies and complications.
The first systematic colonisation of New Zealand was undertaken by the New Zealand Land Company, as it was at first called when incorporated in 1839. (It was afterwards known as the New Zealand Company.) The foundation of this institution was mainly due to the efforts of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who previously had been associated with the formation of a similar undertaking in South Australia. Mr. Wakefield was the author of “The Art of Colonisation,” and was one of the first Englishmen to realise the possibilities of a vast colonial Empire, safeguarded by Great Britain’s command of the sea.
The object of the New Zealand Company was to acquire land from the Maoris, and establish colonies with British settlers, and one of the first effects of its appearance was to spur the British Government into action. In June, 1839, Letters Patent were issued authorising the Governor of New South Wales to include within the limits of that colony any territory which might be acquired in sovereignty by Her Majesty the Queen in New Zealand. In the previous month Colonel William Wakefield, the Company’s Agent, sailed in the “Tory” for Port Nicholson (Wellington) to found the first settlement.
