THE WHITE ROSE

The Lammershagen was enroute for three monthes, with numerous storms which came up when they were at sea. Mette Marie was ill, the entire trip. Ten days away from New Zealand, as the Ship Lammershagen was passing near Tasmania, the tiny infant they were expecting, a son, was born prematurely aboard ship, weighing 3 lbs or less. He had to be carried around on a pillow. George (Georgie) Detric/Dietrich was born on July 1, 1875. His place of birth is listed as "Tasmania," giving rise to the theory that the ship must have come around the tip of Africa enroute to New Zealand.

When the Lammershagen docked, it's reported that there was scarcely one who could speak a word of English, and there was great difficulty, almost amounting to an impossibility, for the Immigration Officer in making foreigners comprehend the nature of his instructions. FOOD RATIONS FOR PASSENGERS TRAVELING IN STEERAGE

Preserved Meats.........................Two
pound...........................1pound
Soup & Bouilli.............................half pound.............................-
York Ham......................................half pound.............................-
Fish................................................quarter pound.......................-
Prime India Beef.........................one pound..............................One & a quarter pound
Irish Mess Pork...........................One & a half pound..............One pound
Biscuit...........................................Four & a quarter pound......Three & a half pound
Flour..............................................Four & a quarter pound......Three pound
Rice................................................One pound.............................Half pound
Barley............................................Half pound..............................-
Peas...............................................Half pint...................................Half pint
Oatmeal.........................................Half pint...................................One pint
Sugar, raw....................................One pound..............................One pound
Lime Juice....................................Six ounces..............................Six ounces
Tea..................................................One & a half ounces............One & a half ounces
Coffee.............................................Three ounces........................Two ounces
Butter..............................................Half pound..............................Six ounces
Cheese...........................................Quarter pound.........................-
Currants.........................................Quarter pound.........................-
Raisins, Valencia..........................Half pound..............................Half pound
Suet..................................................Six ounces..............................Six ounces
Pickles.............................................Quarter pint............................Quarter pint
Mustard...........................................Half ounce...............................Half ounce
Pepper.............................................Quarter ounce........................Quarter ounce
Salt...................................................Two ounces............................Two ounces
Potatoes fresh..............................Three & a half pounds..........Two pounds
Potatoes preserved.....................Half pound................................Half pound
Water...............................................21 quarts...................................21 quarts

Chief Cabin Passengers supplied with an unlimited table, including livestock.

For children (all)an equivalent quantity of sago, flour, rice, raisins, suet & sugar will be substituted for salt meat if required.

Enough provisions for 22 weeks are put aboard, together with medical supplies etc.

Back in Denmark, Anders and Mette Marie had worked for a childless married couple by the last name of Deitrich, that owned an estate in Taps, called Foslegor. When the Dietrich's learned of the expected baby, the husband requested that the child be named after him, since he had no children of his own. Anders and Mette Marie thought this was a splendid idea, since they had enjoyed an long-term relationship with these people, and thought highly of them.

There was a typhoid fever outbreak on board, and the Christen's saw at least one passenger's child buried at sea. But nevertheless, by the providence of God, the family arrived safely at their destination, which was Wellington, in July 1875.

A Surgeon Superintendent (usually a fully qualified doctor) was appointed to attend the emigrants and other passengers on each voyage. While the Captain was responsible for his ship and its crew, the Surgeon held governance over the conduct, morals, behaviour, nutrition and health of hundreds of souls. To aid him in this awsome responsibility the Surgeon appointed a Matron to govern the single women and two or three Constables to keep order, distribute food and other supplies and to ensure that all on board were equally provided for. At the end of the voyage, on the consideration that all duties had been performed adequately, gratuitues were apportioned out. It was here too that the greater responsibilities of the Surgeon were recognised. While the Captain, First Officer, Constables and Matron each received some compensation for service, the Surgeon was often given a fixed amount (determined at the time he was hired) plus an added bonus for each and every healthy immigrant landed safely.

Travelers were informed that upon the ship's arrival in port at Wellington, the New Zealand authorities would board the ship, together with a Medical Officer who would be notified by the ships captain of any passengers who died on board during the voyage. The officer would take note of infants born on board, and cases of typhoid fever, and other infectious diseases, ordering a quarantine of the ship, till further notice. Only when the quarantine was lifted, would passengers be allowed to disembark.

ARRIVAL IN THREE MILE BUSH IN THE YEAR OF 1875

The term "bush" carries the connotation of that of isolated, heavily forested countryside, as opposed to the open coastal plains and tussock-covered high country. Bush always refers to areas of native trees rather than exotic forests.

The New Zealand usage of bush probably comes from the word bosch, used by Dutch settlers in South Africa, where it meant uncultivated country.

In the North Island, the largest areas of bush cover the main ranges stretching north-northeast from Wellington towards East Cape, notably including the Urewera Ranges, and the catchment of the Whanganui River. Significant stands remain in Northland and the ranges running south from the Coromandel Peninsula towards Ruapehu, and isolated remnants cap various volcanoes in Taranaki, the Waikato, the Bay of Plenty and the Hauraki Gulf.

The Three Mile Bush lies in the center of the Wairarapa Valley in the Tararu District of New Zealand. The Taararu Range forms the western boundary. The district's Northeast boundary runs along the top of the Ruahine Range, with the southeastern boundary as the Pacific Ocean.

The Three Mile Bush was established in 1857 to house the workers who built the road from Greytown (to the South) to Masterton (to the North). When the road was finished, workers turned to bush cutting. The cleared land was converted to dairying and cropping. Along with timber milling, these provided Carterton economic base. In 1887 the town was made a borough. By 1900 it was Wairarapa's second largest town.

Later renamed "Carterton," the town was named after Charles Rooking Carter, a generous benefactor and ambassador to the town. Carter was involved in various projects such as assisting in the establishment of the first public school and building Black Bridge over the Waiohine River. He also gave money to build a home for men who had come to the end of their working lives and had nowhere to live.

In 1875 the procedure for immigrant ships was as follows. Upon arrival the ship would signal and the Immigration Officer would be placed at notice. The Immigration Officer together with the Health Officer would go down to the vessel and if necessary tow the vessel up to anchorage. The Immigration and Health officers would proceed aboard in the ship's life boat. The officers would be greeted with cheers and as the tow rope was run out, satisfaction beamed on every face, and salutations such as "Thank goodness we shall soon be ashore." Those who died envoyage were frequently children of a tender young age and this was reported. A farewell lecture was given passengers telling them to dischange their duties faithfully toward God and manand if this were done, they would be both happy and successful in the land of their adoption.

Each Sunday throughout the voyage, a religious service would be conducted, the service read two to three times in each compartment. There would be a great portion of agricultural laborers and miners, a moderate share of carpenters, fitters, machinists, single women, most of whom were domestics and well adapted for life in the colony. The immigrants would unite in testifying to the kindness of the ships captain and the surgeon superintendant, returning grateful thanks and best wishes and trusting that God would reward him for his zeal in promoting their happiness both morally and physically during the voyage.

In 1875 the ships records state concerning the voyage of the vessel SS Lammershagen, that the Anders Christensen family arrived in Wellington, New Zealand after stopping off at the intermediate port of Tongatabu. The name given to this place by explorer Abel Tasman was Amsterdam Island. He came here as the first European to visit the island on 21 January 1643. Tongatapu is the main island of Tonga. Carterton is a small town in the Wellington region of New Zealand, it lies in a farming area of the Wairarapa in New Zealand's North Island. Carterton has traditionally been a stopping off place.

THE BEAMS & RAFTERS OF PARADISE

Originally known as Three Mile Bush, the town now known as Carterton was founded in 1857 to house men working on the road between Greytown and Masterton. Sheltered from the prevaling westerly winds by the Rimutaka and Tararua ranges in the south-east of the North Island of New Zealand, the Wairarapa region has a warm dry climate. It was one of the first areas that the settlers of Wellington explored for farmland. Carterton, known as Three Mile Bush, is located in the very center of the Wairarapa Valley. The Three Mile Bush District stretches from the Tararua Range. The Wairarapa River separates Three Mile Bush, (Now Carterton) from the Masterton District.

Wairarapa, which takes its name from Lake Wairarapa ("glistening waters"), the eye in the fish that is the North Island, according to Maori legend. In the south, the Waiohene River forms part of the boundary with South Wairarapa. The district has craggy mountains, tumbling rivers with dramatic gorges rollinghills, lush forests, coastal plain and a long sweeping coastline. Wairarapa's open country was soon being grazed by an ever-increasing number of flocks and by 1847 there were said to be 15 different sheep runs, mainly in the south. There were 13,000 sheep and 1300 cattle in Wairarapa - and about 90 pakeha involved in farming them.

The dagger-shaped North Island is 680 miles long from Cape Reinga, in the far north, to Wellington, New Zealand's capital city, at the southern tip. By the 1850s there was an increasing call for land to be made available to more people to establish themselves as small farm owners.

The immigrant ship carrying the Christensen family landed at Wellington, on May 14, 1875, which was the Christensen toddler, Annie Marie Margarethe's second birthday. Anders and Metta Marie's 2 year old daughter was so ill with Typhoid Fever that she had to be carried in arms from the ship. By God's providence, the infant boy whom they named George Dietrich that was born envoyage had also survived. The family was taken to a government owned housing project, where they lived in 2 rooms, while working to earn money to purchase their own land. It was a humble dwelling, without closets, or shelves. Cooking was done outdoors.

Wellington was the first official settlement set up by The New Zealand Company for recently arrived immigrants. Most of those first settlers who arrived were timber workers, bullock drivers, shopkeepers, rope makers and artisans. This posed a problem as Wellington was an agricultural settlement but there were few people with the skills to farm the land. It was clear that neither the occupational or social composition of this early settlement was varied and as a result this assisted in giving Wellington a shaky beginning as a developing settlement.

The following is an example of the type of advertisement colonists such as Anders and Mette Marie Christensen may have read, prior to purchasing land of their own. The New Zealander published the following land allottments for immigrants on January 8, 1859.

"Each capitalist immigrant is entitled to 40 acres of land for each over 18 year old member of his family and for each servant or laborer he may take out. Children between five years and 18 years count as a half and receive 20 acres each. Extra land can be purchased, in addition to the above, at 10/-an acre. The above is conditional upon residents residing within the province of Auckland for four out of five years after their arrival in New Zealand.

The immigrant families would build a slab hut, called a "whare," and camp was set up, using a "camp oven" consisting of a large 3 legged pot for cooking. Daily there was fire wood to collect, and clothing to wash for the large family. These conditions lasted till land was cleared and they could build their home, on their own land, but with no roads, logs had to be hauled from tremendous distances, and clearing land, which was densely forested or swampy, was extremely dangerous work. Bringing supplies in was equally difficult.

THE GREAT TREES

• KAURI

  Kauri reaches 30-60 metres tall, has a massive girth, and can live as long as 2,000 years. Tane Mahuta in Waipoua Forest is the largest living specimen. Kauri grows naturally in the north of the North Island, its southern limit crossing the country from Raglan harbour, through Hamilton to just south of Tauranga. The timber was ideal for canoe hulls. The replica double-hulled canoe Te Aurere, made by Hekenukumai Busby of Muriwhenua, has kauri hulls.

  The Coromandel Peninsula is a stronghold of kauri. The size of lost kauri giants can be seen above the Kauaeranga Valley east of Thames. A number of massive stumps, preserved by the durability of kauri, are 6 metres (20 ft) across.

  The largest kauri was measured in 1850 at Mill Creek, Mercury Bay on the east coast of the Coromandel Peninsula. It had a girth of 23.4 metres (77 ft), which is a diameter of 7.45 metres (24.5 ft). The first branches were 22 metres above the ground.

• RIMU

  Rimu had a number of uses. The red cap that holds the seed is edible. The inner bark and leaves were pulped and applied to burns and other wounds. The resinous heartwood was split into slivers and tied in bundles for torches. Kahikatea

  New Zealand's tallest tree, kahikatea, grows up to 60 metres. It bears edible berries, known as koroī.

• MATAI AND MIRO

  The matai, or black pine, tree (Prumnopitys taxifolia) is found in both the North and the South Islands of New Zealand; it grows up to 30 meters in height and has a wide trunk. The matai tree has thick, gray colored bark, long, yellow spikes of both male and female flowers and flat leaves. Miro produce fruit all year round, and were a favourite of wood pigeons brown parrots in autumn and winter. Snares were set to catch the birds.

• MANUKA AND KANUKA

  is in the myrtle family of botanical plants. The oil comes from New Zealand where it has had a long history of use by the Maori people. The essential oil is extracted by steam distillation from the leaves of the plant. Manuka plants are bushy shrubs that grow wild. The best Manuka oil comes from plants growing at high altitudes. Manuka is one of three tea trees indigenous to both Australia and New Zealand. Manuka essential oil is from The East Cape region of New Zealand and has been confirmed as having the highest antimicrobial activity. There is evidence indicating that it is up to 20 times more potent than Australian tea tree oil (Melaleuca alternifolia). Traditionally the Maori used manuka for bronchitis, rheumatism and similar conditions.

  Manuka and kannuka were versatile. Their bark provided a waterproof layer for roofs. Poles were used as battens and rafters, and for spears or paddle shafts. The leaves were used to scent hair oil, and flexible saplings and new branches were made into snares and traps.

• TOTARA

  The totara tree (Podocarpus totara) is of particular importance to the Maori people of New Zealand; the Maori use it to make war canoes due to its soft wood. The totara tree lives for up to 1000 years or more; it produces both male and female cones (on separate trees) and long, pointy leaves.

  Found throughout New Zealand and growing up to 40 metres high, their strong, straight trunks were ideal for building waka taua (war canoes). The bark was used to make roofs, splints for broken limbs, and food and water containers called papa totara.

  The largest known living totara, the Pouakani Tree, near Pureora in the central north island is over 35 meters tall and nearly 4 meters in trunk diameter at breast height. Other large trees are known in this area, while Whirinaki forest, to the East, but also on deep recent volcanc soils, has groves of very tall totora (40m in height).

  The saying kua hinga te tottara (a totara has fallen) described the death of an important person or chief.

• BEECH TREES

  Beech trees were known as tawhai or tawai. They grew mainly on the Volcanic Plateau and along the mountain chains of the North and South islands. Three varieties were recognised: tawhai (silver beech), tawhairauriki (black beech and mountain beech) and tawhairaunui (red beech and hard beech).

LIVING OFF THE LAND IN THE EARLY YEARS

Maori and later Captain Cook originated the traditional wild food of New Zealand when they released pigs into New Zealand. Settlers later brought deer, goats, trout, salmon, rabbits, hares and game birds. Maori also ate the roots of ferns, which they pulverised with wooden pounders. Other food included various berries and puha (a spinach-like vegetable). New Zealand spinich was made famous by Captain Cook's when he discovered it on the coasts of New Zealand. It was cooked and eaten against scurvy. The well-known plant explorer Joseph Banks considered it a good salad green and took seeds to Kew Gardens in London. By the 1880's New Zealand spinach was promoted in seed catalogues and it spread to Europe and the North America. 'Ulu or breadfruit was also eaten. This new plant must be moved with great care to the hole into which it is to be planted. If pulled out of the earth and the roots freed from soil it will die. Breadfruit trees thrive in dark or red soil, never in sand or cinders.

The banana plant (mai'a) a local fruit tree grows from underground root stalks (mole) to heights of 20 feet or more in some varieties. Each plant bears one stalk of fruit.
The meat from the coconut is also eaten and the coconut used for various purposes.

Maori also chewed gum resin from the giant kauri tree. Woven flax baskets and bags were used to carry food, which was often stored in a pataka, a storehouse raised on stilts.

The Maori had an ingenious way of cooking food, still in use today! The hangi, or umu, is an earth oven built in a large pit. Special stones are placed over a fire of wooden sticks. A layer of green flax is laid above the stones, and then layers of meat and vegetables are placed between more layers of flax. A mat covers the oven. Water is then placed on the hot stones, which steams the food. Slow cooking makes the food extremely tender, while the wood and the flax infuse the food with a beautiful delicate and smoky flavour.

Settlers learned a great deal about eating off the land. Puha (Watercress) grew on the edge of fresh water rivers and creeks around New Zealand and was eaten raw or cooked. The taste was slightly like that of mustard. The following is a recipe for Watercress Soup.

1 tablespoon butter 3 leeks (white part only), chopped 1 1/2 pound zucchini, peeled and diced 4 cups chicken stock 1 bunch of watercress, tough stems removed 1/3 cup heavy cream (it says optional, but I don't see why you couldn't substitute milk for a lower fat version) salt and freshly ground pepper.

In a large heavy saucepan, melt the butter over moderately low heat. Add the leeks and cook until softened but not browned, 5 to 7 minutes.

Add the zucchini, increase the heat to moderately hight and saute for 2 minutes without browning. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to moverate and simmer until the zucchini is just tender, about 5 minutes. Add the watercress and simmer for 1 minutes longer.

Using a food processor or blender, puree the soup, in batches, until smooth. Add the cream, if desired and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Korengo is seaweed which is either used in its raw state or dried and used to season various dishes. Shellfish such as Koura were also utilized as food. These fresh water crayfish which are approximately the size a prawn. In addition to many traditional foods that Scandinavian settlers might recognize, they were also able to incorporate into their diets the foods eaten by the Maori who were expert hunters and fishermen. In the late 1800s temperatures in the area were more extreme. The sweltering heat of summer was intense while in winter the rivers were known to have chunks of ice floating down them, or they would freeze over. As mostly coastal dwellers, fishing was vitally important to them. It also played a part in their mythology - the god, Maui, was believed to have 'fished up' the North Island. Maori wove fishing nets from harakeke (flax), and carved fishhooks from bone and stone. Maori considered whales as kaitiaki (guardians), and used their flesh for food and their hard, strong bones for weapons. A Maori tradition that remains today is to throw back the first fish caught. This is a way of thanking Tangaroa, god of the sea, for his bounty.

Maori hunted native birds, including moa, the world's largest bird, with a range of ingenious traps and snares. The moa is an extinct New Zealand bird. There were about ten species of moa. The smallest was about the size of a turkey, while the largest, Dinornis maximus, was up to three metres in height. The giant moa must have been one of the most spectacular sights in early Aotearoa.

From the time of the first Maori settlements, the moa provided a plentiful supply of food. But excessive exploitation led to the birds extinction. Recent research suggests that all moa were exterminated by Mori within about fifty years of their colonisation of New Zealand.

The birds on the right are pied shags. Many different species of bird, including kereru and tui, were eaten. However, the now-extinct huia (shown on left) was considered tapu (sacred) and was never eaten; though its feathers were highly prized, and worn in the heads of rangatira (chiefs). Penguins and seals were hunted and used as food by Maori, especially in the South Island. Mutton birds were popular in the far south of the country, and are still a prized food today. They were stored in large bags of bull kelp, and could be preserved for many months.

Maori ate native vegetables including the kumara (sweet potato). "This sweet potato was of tropical origin, a member of the plant family Convolvulaceae, which was the major cultivated food crop of the pre-European Maori. The kumara grew successfully only on sheltered north-facing gardens in the north of the North Island. Some of the varieties grown today are believed to have been introduced by 19th century whalers and sealers, but Maori tradition claims the origin of the kumara as Hawaiki, the legendary homeland. The Kumara is most certainly a Central American plant. Vegetables were planted and harvested with a variety of tools. Maori also ate the roots of ferns, which they pulverised with wooden pounders. Other food included various berries and puha (a spinach-like vegetable). They chewed gum - resin from the giant kauri tree. Weaved flax basket and bags were used to carry food, which was often stored in a pataka - a storehouse raised on stilts.

THE CHALLENGE OF LEARNING THE MAORI LANGUAGE

Into the 1870s, missionaries and European settlers and their children learned to speak Maori, with the children becoming more fluent than the adults. This all began to change, however, as the twentieth century approached. Maori quickly became less used, and indigenous people were taught English. By the early twentieth century, speaking Maori was a punishable offense.

Maori parents encouraged their children to learn English, as it was fast becoming the language of New Zealand industry. In order to succeed in an increasingly Euro-centric society, Maori children needed to be fluent in English. However, at home, the people continued to speak their native tongue. Maori remained the first language of Maori children, and the language was used exclusively in religious ceremonies.

THE MAORI TA MOKO OR FACIAL TATTOO

The practice of Ta Moko or tatooing is the permanent body and face marking of the indigenous Maori people. While Polynesian tatoos were used primarily for denotation of communal and family rank, the Maori escalated this practice to a fine art. Traditional ta moko is distinct from tattoo because the skin is carved using uhi or chisels rather than punctured with needles, leaving the skin with grooves rather than a smooth surface. Originally tohunga-ta-moko (moko specialists) used a range of uhi made from albatross bone which were grafted onto a handle, and struck with a mallet.

Pigments were made from the awheto (vegetable caterpillar) for the body colour, and ngarehu (burnt timbers) for the black face colour.

Soot from burnt kauri gum was mixed with fat to make pigment which was stored in ornate vessels named oko, often buried when not in use. Oko were handed on to successive generations.

In 1910 noted moko historian James Cowan wrote the term for a face devoid of moko is papa-tea, which may be interpreted as bare-boards, In other words a face with no decoration. Westerners have been aware of the importance of moko to the Maori culture since first recorded by Sydney Parkinson, artist for James Cook on his first voyage in 1769. Parkinson brought back no less than three recorded examples of moko tatooing. These examples extolled both linear, and curvilinear elements.

Tattooing was practiced in nearly all Pacific Island cultures. The origin may go back as far as the initial migration and colonization of the Pacific. Although tattooing is as old and widely distributed as any other Pacific decorative art, it has gone largely unrecognized as a fine art. In traditional Polynesian cultures, the tattoo flourished over any other means of body modification or decoration, including clothing. The warmth of the tropics was the perfect climate for the development of the art of tattoo. In cooler climates, where protection from the elements was necessary, mode of dress was often the marker of status, age or gender. In Polynesia, elaborate tattoos served this purpose. Tattooing was a natural part of life in Polynesia; islanders had the time, the temperament and the skill to bring it to a high degree of perfection.

THE MAORI KING

The desire of the Maori to elect a king was a response to the increasing threat to the Maori land. In 1857 several tribes of the Waikato area of North Island elected as king Te Wherowhero, who reigned as Potatau I. In addition to electing a king, they established a council of state, a judicial system, and a police organization, all of which were intended to support Maori resolve to retain their land and to stop the intertribal warfare over the issue. Not all Maori accepted the authority of the king, but the majority shared with the King Movement the resolve not to sell the land.

Potatau I, Maori King (Potatau Te Wherowhero) (circa 1800 June 25, 1860) was a Maori warrior, leader of the Waikato tribes, the first Maori King and founder of the Te Wherowhero royal dynasty. He was first known as simply Te Wherowhero and later took the name Potatau, becoming known as Potatau I after he became king.

THE CORONATATION

Potatau Te Wherowhero was selected as King by a meeting of chiefs of the Maori tribes held at Pakawa on the south-eastern shore of Lake Taupo in 1857. Potatau, in his old age, expressed initial reluctance but accepted at the wish of his own tribe Ngati Maniapoto. He was 'erected' as king at Pakawa in 1857 and installed as king during elaborate ceremonies held at his marae in Ngaruawahia in 1858.

General Cameron crossed the Mangatwhiri stream on 12 July 1863, effectively declaring war on the King Movement. As this document shows his 4000 imperial soldiers were not enough to counter the effective guerilla offensive launched against the British by the King Movement. A specialist unit formed out of colonial volunteers was thus formed to take the war to the Maori in the bush.

Te Wherowhero refused to sign the Treaty of Waitangi, but he did deal with the colonial government. He sold land to the Crown and, in 1849, signed an agreement to provide military protection for Auckland. He advised Governor George Grey and Governor Thomas Gore Browne, but he also strongly protested against a British Colonial Office plan to put all uncultivated land into Crown ownership.

Potatau himself wished to continue to work in co-operation with the British Government but many of his followers adopted a much more independent position. Gradually the two sides polarised and grew apart, culminating some five years later in warfare (see Invasion of the Waikato and New Zealand Land Wars) THE PASSING OF POTATAU Potatau died in Ngaruawahia on June 25, 1860. He is buried on Mount Taupiri, a mountain close to his royal residence in Ngaruawahia. His son, Matutaera Tawhiao, succeeded him.

Until 1860 the Maori still owned most of the land of North Island, but a large increase in the number of immigrants in the 1850s led to demands for greatly increased land purchase by the government. Many Maori were determined not to sell. In 1859 Te Teira, a Maori of the Taranaki area, sold his Waitara River land to the colonial government without the consent of his tribe, precipitating the First Taranaki War (1860). Only the extremist wing of the King Movement joined in the First Taranaki War.

Prior to the Europeans arrival in New Zealand, the Maori did not think of themselves as one nation but as members of various tribes. After they arrived they began to refer to themselves as normal or Maori and the newcomers as Pakeha. They also noticed that the Europeans, mainly the British and French because they were the main settlers, were ruled by a King or Queen. This seemed to give them unity and Maori developed the idea that they should also have a king.

A meeting was called at Ngaruawahia in June 1858, in order to elect a Maori king. Te Wherowhero was invited to return to the Waikato and become the first Maori king. He took the name Potatau. At the meeting he was crowned king. The King was supported by the tribes of the central North island, Waikato, Ngati Haua and Ngati Maniapoto, the Ngati Tuwharetoa tribe from Taupo and later the Taranaki tribes and some East Coast tribes. King Potatau had his own councilors, soldiers, constables, a surveyor and a magistrate. The movement also had a newspaper called Te Hokioi and a code of laws drawn up.

The European settlers and the Governor resented the King movement because they regarded it as disloyal to the British Queen. It was also a serious set back for further land purchases. Eventually Governor Grey ordered General Cameron to invade the Waikato area in 1863 to break the power of the Maori King.

NGA PAKANGA NU NUI O AOTEARAOA:
THE NEW ZEALAND LAND WARS: 1845-1881

The Anders Christensen family lived on the North Island of Aotearoa during the last 6 years or so of the Maori Wars, which were a series of armed conflicts that took place in New Zealand between 1845 and 1881. The wars were fought over a number of issues, the most prominent concerning Maori land being sold to the settler (white) population.

Until 1860 the Maori still owned most of the land of North Island, but a large increase in the number of immigrants in the 1850s led to demands for greatly increased land purchase by the government. Many Maori were determined not to sell. In 1859 Te Teira, a Maori of the Taranaki area, sold his Waitara River land to the colonial government without the consent of his tribe, precipitating the First Taranaki War (1860�61). Only the extremist wing of the King Movement joined in the First Taranaki War.

There had been a great deal of speculation in land sales, and many Maori were beginning to realise that the land was being sold for as much as 20 times what they had been paid for it. There was an election of a Maori "king" by tribes in the centre of the North Island in 1858. Never had such a title been conferred upon a Maori leader among the people, who owned their allegiance to a tribe or sub-tribe, but it was hoped that the mana of a king, uniting many tribes, would help protect their land against purchase by the Pakehas. Sadly this did not occur. To the west of the king's domain, the Taranaki, another group of tribes rose up against the government in June 1860 following the fraudulent purchase of land by the colonial administration. British regular troops, hastily assembling to meet the insurrection, were virtually annihilated south of Waitara.

Resolution of the conflict did not quickly occur and the North Island clashes between Maori and Pakeha continued for many years. The "Second Maori War," as military historians term it (remembering the outbreaks in 1840), was marked by extraordinary courage on both sides. the conflicts were frequently indecisive, but they were bloody when they occurred. On the Pakeha side, the brunt of the early fighting, until 1865, was borne by British regular troops, 14 of whom received Britain's highest battle honour, the Victoria Cross. Between 1865 and 1872 (which was the "official" end of the war, though there was sporadic fighting until the formal surrender of the Maori king in 1881), locally raised militia and constabulary forces played an important role - assisted, perhaps surprisingly, by a large role - assisted, perhaps surprisingly by a large number of Maori tribes that had decided not to join the king's confederation. A little known sidelight of the New Zealand Wars was the institution of the New Zealand Cross, a unique and extremely rare medal awarded for gallantry.

Under the terms of the New Zealand Settlements Act 1863 the government confiscated 1.2 million acres (486,000 hectares) of Maori land in late 1864. This included most of the lower Waikato district, including some of the lands of neutral tribes and a third of the lands of Ngati Haua. Maori called this the Raupatu.

Despite war, the prospects of the country continued to improve. The discovery of gold in the South island led to a new influx of migrants in the early 1860s; the capital was moved from Auckland to Wellington in 1865; and the pursuit of pasture was opening up vast tracts of the country.

It was not until 1881 that King Tawhaio (the successor of Te Wherowhero) formally made peace and began to open up the area to settlers. There were also deep divisions between the tribes, some of whom had remained neutral or fought on the Pakeha side. In many ways the land wars were civil wars between Maori tribes and much of the rivalry and bitterness remained long after the battles were over.

PARIHAKA-1881

Parihaka is a small community in Taranaki, a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island and is the 10th largest region of New Zealand by population. It is named for the region's main geographical feature, Mount Taranaki. The 2518-metre-high mountain is one of the most symmetrical volcanic and the Tasman Sea is the large body of water between Australia and New Zealand, approximately 2000 kilometres across. It extends 2800 km from north to south. It is a south-western segment of the South Pacific Ocean.

In the 1870s and 1880s the settlement, then reputed to be the largest Maori settlement. The village was founded in 1867 by Maori prophets Te Whiti o Rongomai, (the Prophet of the Mountain) a Maori spiritual leader and founder of the village of Parihaka, in New Zealand's Taranaki region and Tohu Kakahi on land seized by the Government during the post-war land confiscations of the 1860s.

Recognising the destructive effects of war, Te Whiti and Tohu declared they would use spiritual powers rather than weapons to claim their right to live on land they had occupied for centuries. The population of the village grew to more than 2000, impressing European visitors with its cleanliness and industry, and its extensive cultivations producing cash crops as well as food sufficient to feed its inhabitants.

When an influx of European settlers in Taranaki created a demand for farmland that outstripped the availability, the Grey Government stepped up efforts to secure title to land it had confiscated but subsequently abandoned. Maori near Parihaka and the Waimate Plains rejected their payments, however, and the Government responded by drawing up plans to take the land by force. In late 1878 the Government began surveying the land and offering it for sale.

Te Whiti's followers began to resist the European occupation of the confiscated land. The fences which were cut by the Government surveyors were regularly repaired by Te Whiti, Tohu and the Parihaka community, seriously hampering the road construction plans. Losing patience, the Native Minister Bryce, accompanied by 1600 Volunteers and Armed Constabulary members entered Parihaka on 5th November 1881. They pulled out survey pegs and ploughed up nearby European farms in a peaceful protest. In late 1878 the Government began surveying the land and offering it for sale.

Te Whiti and Tohu responded with a series of non-violent campaigns in which they first ploughed settlers' farmland and later erected fences across roadways to impress upon the Government their right to occupy their own land. The campaigns sparked a series of arrests, resulting in more than 400 Maori being jailed in the South Island, where they remained without trial for as long as 16 months.

THE DANISH WORK ETHIC

Kauri is the most famous of New Zealand native trees and one of the largest trees found anywhere in the world. This magnificent tree native only to New Zealand, once covered much of the area of North Auckland and the Coromandel Peninsula.

The largest Kauri on record, known as the "Father of the Forests", grew at Mill Creek, Mercury Bay. It's height was 72ft to the first branch, with a girth of 77ft. Tane Mahuta, the famous tree in Waipoua Forest, Northland, is 167ft high, with a girth of 55ft, and has been calculated to be over 2,100 years old.

Settlers that arrived in New Zealand with some cash became more quickly established. Anders worked for others at first, eventually clearing land for a home and family farm. After the necessary trees were cut down, the flax, numerous species of ferns, and a poisonous shrub called "toot," which was poisonous for sheep and cattle, was set fire to, in clearing the land. Anders was a hard worker, who taught his family to work. A visitor to New Zealand once noted that the Scandinavians who cleared the Bush were noted for their strong work ethic. Residents lit fires so they could work all night. They would eat dinner standing up and within a quarter of an hour were back at work. Norwegians and Swedes were skilled at clearing forests, but the Danes were not, and could be seen doggedly working on with hands wrapped in blood stained bandanges.

In New Zealand although there were no convicts, most settlement from 1840 on was organised by various colonizing companies. Having seen propaganda pictures circulated by the companies, the settlers arrived believing their land was already surveyed and allotted and expecting a minimum of hardship. If they were too poor to buy land, they thought there would be ample paid work.

But in the North Island things were not at all like this. It was soon discovered that most of the land the New Zealand Company claimed to have bought from The Maoris had not been bought at all, and if it had, the Maoris did not understand that they had sold it and refused to accept white occupation. Settlers and their wives had a difficult 30 years.

The settlers had been sent to New Zealand, to colonize "the Wairarapa," at the southern end of North Island. Immigration conditions required settlers to work 4 days per week on government road construction. Danish immigrants found the language barrier difficult. Wages paid for road building barely covered the costs of day to day living. When the government required settlers to repay their fares prior to purchasing their own land, many settlers became deeply discouraged, and left and returned to Denmark, or sailed to North America.

SETTLERS SCHOOL

In the beginning, before public education was available, families taught their own children, lessons in spelling, math, and geography. In time, school was provided for the children of settlers, although many left school to help on the family farm, when they were 12-14. A man named Thomas Wakelin built the first school house for 40 pounds. A single teacher school was erected in 1902 which was a one room school with wood burning stove. Grades were first to eighth grade and the lessons were taught by one teacher in 10 minute increments. Children, no matter how poor, did not attend school barefoot, and it was considered inappropriate to allow ones children to go about without shoes and stockings. Girls wore long dark dresses with a white pinafore. Boys wore trousers. By age 18, young ladies were expected to dress their hair on top of their head and to wear long skirts. Children were discouraged from speaking in their native tongue in school.

THE CHRISTENSEN DAIRY FARM ON BELVEDERE ROAD

The cattle brought to New Zealand by the early European settlers seem to have included many Shorthorns, originating in England, but some came through Australia. They were probably of mixed strains, some more suited to milk production, others to beef, and others intermediate. The developing trade in dairy produce demanded specialised dairy breeds; and the numbers of Ayrshires, Friesians, and Jerseys increased. Most of the change in the dairy cattle which occurred was brought about by using purebred bulls of the dairy breeds as sires in commercial herds. Their progeny were reared and used as replacements until, at the present time, many of the non-purebred cattle differ very little from those of one or other of the pure breeds.

Within 12 years of arriving in Aoteara, nders and Mette Marie were able to buy a farm on Belvedere Road. With the purchase of this farm in Wairarapa, there were cows to herd, and cows all had to be milked by hand, and milk to hauled in their wooden cart to sell six miles away. There was butter to churn, and cheese to make and sell. Extracting the milk from animals was one all done by hand, a time-consuming process that usually saw milk used by the families that owned the cows and sometimes sold if a farmer was looking to make extra money. This method was used until the late 1800s, when milking machines were developed. The traditional variety of milk is produced by female mammals for their young, however many humans in western society continue to drink it well into adulthood.

A cow is capable of producing as much as 9000 kilograms of milk when lactating for as long as 305 days. Since calves need about 1000 kilograms of the fluid to grow properly, the remainder can be extracted. The peak time for milk production is two to three months after birthing calves, when a cow's milk can yield up to 40 to 50 liters of milk each day. Once this peak period is reach, a cow is often inseminated again. Two months prior to birthing again, a cow is "dried off" - that is, no milk is taken during this time to prepare the cow for the next birth and to prepare the udder for the next milking cycle. While every species is different, milk typically contains saturated fat, protein, calcium and vitamin C. While the type of animal milk consumed by humans usually comes from a cow, milk from species such as goats and sheep are also used.

Prior to the opening of the first factory, thought to be in the latter end of 1891, butter was churned on the farms and sold to the storekeepers for about three or four cents per pound, the settler apparently being supposed to take it out in goods not cash. There were no cream separators, nor refrigerators for women settlers. Work was extremely heavy and the women's hands were almost as callused as the men's.

During the years that the Christensen's resided in Wairarapa, and Carterton where they owned their own dairy farm, several of the children were born. The family farmed for several years, with the children attending school in Belvedere, and the family attending the Weslayan Church.

Like many Danish women, Mette Marie was well trained in various domestic arts. Her skills of weaving and sewing were an invaluable resource, both for employment in the new land, as well as for producing the clothing needed for her entire family. In addition to this, she taught her daughters these basic skills, including tatting, crocheting, and knitting, which were used to embellish clothing and create warm and useful garments, for her family to wear.

Anders and Mette Marie Christensen's daughter, Boelleta, (Aunt Lettie) Christensen, was born on December 24, 1877, in New Zealand after the family emigrated there. She was born at Greytown, Wairarpa West. An hour from Wellington on the other side of the Rimutaka Hills is the small town of Greytown.

Greytown owes its existence to the energy and initiative of early settlers in Wellington who were looking for small affordable portions of land to farm and to the assistance of the Governor, Sir George Grey. This was acknowledged by the settlers who named the town Greytown in his honour. The Small Farms Association was set up in 1853.

Boelleta (Aunt Lettie) married Joseph Jeppe Larsen on October 18, 1900 in Logan, Utah. He was the son of Christian Hansen Larsen and Mary Ann Jorgensen. Joseph Jeppe Larsen was born September 27, 1873. (He died: 2 April 1967, Newton, Utah) Boelleta Christensen Larsen died: July 5, 1968.

PAPAWAI

Papawai was the centre of the Maori Parliament. In the last years of the nineteenth century, and the first years of the twentieth, Papawai marae, near Greytown, became the focus of Kotahitanga, the Maori Parliament movement, and hosted many important meetings to discuss issues of importance to Maori.

Papawai was in decline during the 1860s and 1870s, but by the 1880's it was starting to assume a more dominant role in Maori society, perhaps reflecting a shift in power among the chiefs.

Manihera had been the main chief of the township during its establishment years. His date of birth is not known but he was a young married man when the Wairarapa Maori returned home from Nukutaurua in the early 1840's. He was the son of Rangitakaiwaho, and, although descended from both Rangitane and Ngati Kahungunu, was primarily thought of as of the Ngati Moe hapu.

He was a keen supporter of leasing land to sheep owners, and is recorded on many of the first leases. His enthusiasm for leasing was not always appreciated, and he was inclined to ignore the rights of other owners, leading to a number of arguments. On one occasion he was forced to flee into the Tararuas to avoid his own relatives, who were said to be so upset they were talking of killing him. Over the years he became one of the most frequent witnesses at the Maori Land Court, arguing for the land rights of his people. As he aged he looked for a successor to take over the leadership at Papawai, and to develop his vision of the township assuming leadership for Wairarapa Maori.

He chose Tamahau Mahupuku to deal with issues relating to the people, and selected the scribe Hoani Te Whatahoro Jury to take care of land matters and negotiations with the Government.

Under Tamahau's leadership an extensive building programme was undertaken at Papawai. The house Hikurangi was opened in 1888, and three others quickly followed - Waipounamu, named for the people of the South Island; Aotea, for the Taranaki people, and Potaka, after a famed Wairarapa marae.

THE BIRTH OF EMMA AMELIA CHRISTENSEN

Amy, (Emma Amelia) Christensen the fair haired daughter of Anders and Mette Marie Christensen, was the Christensen's eight child. She was born on April 24, 1880 at Wairarapa, on the North Island of New Zealand's archipelago in the South Pacific. Her parents had resided in the new land for five years at this time. The Wairarapa was named "Glistening Waters" by the Maori explorer Huanui who first saw it's rivers and lake from mountains to the west. Wairarapa, pronounced "Why-ra-rap-a," occupies the south-eastern corner of North Island, at the foot of the rugged Tararua Range. It's located east of Wellington, and south of Hawkes Bay. A large volcanic plateau forms the center of North Island. Small shrubs called manuka,grow in the plateau's volcanic soil.

New Zealand is considered part of the group of islands belonging to Polynesia, and Taratahi, in the region where Amy Christensen was born is today a rural community to the east and north east of Carterton. Some record simply list Amy Christensen's place of birth as "The South Pacific." Today, Taratahi, named for Chief Taratahi, is an olive and grape growing region.

THE ERUPTION OF MOUNT TARAWERA-A VOLCANO ON NORTH ISLAND

The Maori referred to Mount Terawera as to three distinct peaks Wahanga (bursting open), Ruawahia (the split cave or hole) and Tarawera (burnt cliffs or peaks); names which could indicate that the first Polynesian settlers of the Rotorua area arrived before the eruption which blew out the western side of the mountain in about AD. 1150. Eleven years after the Anders Christensen family arrived in the bush, Mount Tarawera-a erupted, spewing an ash cloud over the North Island.

Mount Tarawera lies in the middle of the volcanic belt stretching from White Island off the Coast of the Bay of Plenty to Ruapehu and Ngaruhoe in the center of North Island. The Maori called it's three peaks Wahanga (which means: bursting open) Ruawahia (the split cave or hole) and Tarawera (meaning: burnt cliffs) AT the foot of Tarawera were two lakes, Tarawera-a and Rotomahana, with pink and white terraces formed from the build-up of centuries of geysers at their summits. The Pink and White Terraces, considered by many to be the Eighth Wonder of the World, had been completely destroyed, broken or buried under tons of lava. When the lake filled up again seven years later, the lost and lamented Pink and White Terraces lay 150 meters below the surface.

The eruption occurred shortly after midnight on the morning of 10 June 1886, when a series of more than 30 increasingly strong earthquakes were felt in the Rotorua area and an unusual sheet lightning display was observed from the direction of Tarawera-a. At around 2:00 am a larger earthquake was felt and followed by the sound of an explosion. By 2:30 am Mount Tarawera-a's three peaks had erupted, blasting three distinct columns of smoke and ash thousands of metres into the sky. At around 3.30 the largest phase of the eruption commenced with a large quantity of ejecta from Rotomahana, in the form of a pyroclastic surge obliterating the Pink and White Terraces and several villages within a 6 kilometre radius.

The eruption was heard clearly as far away as Blenheim and the effects of the ash in the air were observed as far south as Christchurch, over 800 km south. In Auckland the sound of the eruption and the flashing sky was thought by some to be an attack by Russian warships.

Although the official contemporary death toll was 153, exhaustive research by physicist Ron Keam only identified 108 people killed by the eruption (including seven Europeans). Much of the discrepancy was due to misspelt names and other duplications. Allowing for some unnamed and unknown victims, he estimated that the true death toll was 120 at most. Some people claim that many more people died. The eruption also destroyed the world famous Pink and White Terraces and buried many Maori villages, including Te Wairoa. Approximately 2 cubic kilometres of tephra was erupted, more than Mount St. Helens ejected in 1980. Many of the lakes surrounding the mountain had their shapes and areas dramatically altered, especially the eventual enlargement of Lake Rotomahana, the largest crater involved in the eruption, as it re-filled with water. The rift created during the eruption extends 17 km across the mountain, Lake Rotomahana and through the Waimangu Volcanic Rift Valley.

In 1150 AD, in the middle of the North Island, Mount Tarawera-a exploded, spewing volcanic ash over the entire North Island - it was a huge explosion. In the explosion seven hundred years earlier, which was like the 1886 one, it is estimated that ash settled down over most of the North Island forming a mantle that was subsequently slowly covered by ensuing centuries of growth and decay.

When the mountain erupted in 1886, ash was thrown into the atmosphere, only this time human beings recorded the effects. Villages were buried in the ash. A steamer 122 miles off the coast was covered in ash. Over an area of 82 square miles it was three feet deep, and an estimate put the volume of ash spewed forth as 200 million cubic feet.

THE EFFECTS OF TARAWERA-A VOLCANIC ASH-AGRICULTURE & LIVESTOCK & WEATHER

Support came from within the community, to arrange housing and emergency accommodation at nearby homes, maraes and mission houses, but a lack of financial aid meant that the destroyed crops and livestock affected the entire region. There were food shortages, job cuts, declining tourism income and sickness.

The volcanic ash which rained down on pastureland at the time of the Mt Tarawera-a eruption would have destroyed pastures, and livestock would have had to receive other types of feed in order to survive. This supply of dry feed must be maintained until the livestock are either evacuated or slaughtered, or pasture is re-established.

Even very slight ash falls that do not destroy existing pastures, necessitate animals being provided with uncontaminated feed. Ash can contains a high level of fluorine adsorbed onto the tiny particles and when livestock consume both ash and fluorine, there is a risk of fluorosis.

Sheep and lamb deathes occureed after eating ash-contaminated pasture. The first sheep deaths began nine days after 1-3 mmof ash fall, and continued for 7-10 more days.

Where there is a significant ash fall, clean water is in short supply. Natural water sources and man-made ponds can be temporarily contaminated by ash, and water-pumping equipment can be damaged by the abrasive rock particles. Restoring animals with quality water supplies is a high priority when livestock remain on land affected by ash fall.

In the case of the Tarawera-a eruption, large quantities of ash fell on the valleys, killing the crops and food became scarce. The weather was abnormal during the decade following the eruption and was associated with barren landscape which no longer provided shelter from frost or protected against erosion, rising water and mud slips. In 1892 and 1904, major floods wiped out the newly established crops and stock. Extremely cold frosts in 1897, 1898, and 1900 destroyed crops - soon followed by famine, sickness, and death. The list of European deathes from the Tarawera eruption is as follows:

• BAINBRIDGE Edwin Armstrong 21 Te Wairoa English Tourist
• BROWN Samuel 29/30 Waingongongo Married to Mere Peka Poia
• HASZARD Adolphus Charles Edward (son) 10 Te Wairoa Schoolteacher's son
• HASZARD Charles Albert 47 Te Wairoa Schoolteacher
• HASZARD Charles Sutherland (nephew) 5 Te Wairoa Schoolteacher's nephew
• HASZARD Edna Winifred (daughter) 6 Te Wairoa Schoolteacher's daughter
• HASZARD Mona Vera (daughter) 4 Te Wairoa Schoolteacher's daughter

The number of Maori fatalities is too extensive to list here, but was nonetheless a devastating loss to the community. But here was a record of those who survived from the Te Wairoa Village. These names have been taken from various books on the Tarawera Eruption and may not be complete.