3-017-195 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The New Zealand Chief, William Thompson, negotiating with Brigadier-General Carey, 1865. Engraving of a sketch by Major Tupper. 'William Thompson, or, as the Maoris pronounce his name, Wiremu Tamihana...is by far the most enlightened of the Maori chiefs...previous to the outbreak of the present war, he did all that he possibly could to avert a struggle between the two races [ie British and Maori], and tried to introduce the arts of civilisation and peace among the tribes of the Waikato. He established schools and supported missionaries...The great object of his life was to save the Maori race from destruction, and he believed that this could only be effected by organising them into a distinct people under the government of a native king. He knew that in the course of twenty years their numbers had been reduced from 100,000 to 50,000, and that there were causes at work which would lead to their speedy extinction...There is no reason to believe that he intended at first to cast off his allegiance to the British Crown; his idea seems to have been to set up a "Maori king" as the medium of communication on all native questions with the Colonial Government, and as a magistrate for the preservation of peace and good order'. From "Illustrated London News", 1865.