Chapter 41 - New Zealand and Her Rulers / 第四十一章 - 新西兰及其统治者

The United States美国/juˈnaɪtɪd steɪts/ had annexed吞并，兼并/əˈnekst/ (taken for itself) land土地/lænd/ that had once belonged to France法国/fræns/, Spain西班牙/speɪn/, and Mexico墨西哥/ˈmeksɪkoʊ/. While Mexican and United States soldiers士兵/ˈsoʊldʒərz/ were fighting战斗/ˈfaɪtɪŋ/ over this land, another annexation was taking place on the other side of the world世界/wɜːrld/.

The two islands岛屿/ˈaɪləndz/ of New Zealand新西兰/nuː ˈziːlənd/ are about as far away from the United States as you can get. Even today, it takes over twenty二十/ˈtwenti/ hours小时/ˈaʊərz/ of flying time to take a plane飞机/pleɪn/ from Washington D.C. to New Zealand.

Not too many Americans美国人/əˈmerɪkənz/ had ever seen New Zealand. But more and more British英国的/ˈbrɪtɪʃ/ citizens公民/ˈsɪtɪzənz/ had settled定居/ˈsetld/ on these two little islands. Whaling捕鲸/ˈweɪlɪŋ/ ships船只/ʃɪps/ from Australia澳大利亚/ɔːˈstreɪljə/ fished in the waters水域/ˈwɔːtərz/ off New Zealand's coasts. English convicts罪犯/ˈkɑːnvɪkts/ who had finished serving their prison监狱/ˈprɪzən/ terms and now wanted to leave Australia came to New Zealand and built houses房子/ˈhaʊzɪz/ there.

The natives原住民/ˈneɪtɪvz/ of New Zealand were friendly友好的/ˈfrendli/ to the newcomers新来者/ˈnjuːkʌmərz/. "They are a friendly humane人道的/hjuːˈmeɪn/ people人民/ˈpiːpl/," wrote one English visitor访客/ˈvɪzɪtər/ to the islands. "For fine turned Limbs & well made persons I think they cannot be excelled. The Children孩子们/ˈtʃɪldrən/ are in general exceeding beautiful美丽的/ˈbjuːtɪfl/….I have slept all Night in their houses 8 miles up the Country, without any attempt being made on me." As English colonists began to settle on their shores, the natives traded贸易/ˈtreɪdɪd/ with them. They called the English pakeha帕克哈（毛利语：白人）/ˈpɑːkehɑː/, "white strangers," and called themselves maori毛利人/ˈmaʊri/, "ordinary people."

The settlers定居者/ˈsetlərz/ thought that maori was the proper name名字/neɪm/ for the natives. But the "Maori" weren't just one people. They were a whole collection集合/kəˈlekʃən/ of different tribes部落/traɪbz/, each with its own name and its own customs习俗/ˈkʌstəmz/. Often, these Maori tribes fought with each other, using spears长矛/spɪrz/ and stone axes斧头/ˈæksɪz/.

But now the tribes could trade game野味/ɡeɪm/, sweet potatoes土豆/pəˈteɪtoʊz/, and other food食物/fuːd/ to the pakehas in exchange for guns枪支/ɡʌnz/. The tribal battlefields战场/ˈbætlfiːldz/ rang with the sound of musket火枪/ˈmʌskɪt/ fire. The smell of powder火药/ˈpaʊdər/ and smoke烟雾/smoʊk/ filled the air. More Maori warriors战士/ˈwɔːriərz/ died in the battles than ever before. Wounded warriors suffered from infections感染/ɪnˈfekʃənz/ caused by the musket balls—infections that traditional Maori medicine医学/ˈmedɪsən/ could do nothing to heal.

And the Maori also caught new diseases疾病/dɪˈziːzɪz/ from the pakehas: smallpox天花/ˈsmɔːlpɑːks/, measles麻疹/ˈmiːzəlz/, influenza流感/ˌɪnfluˈenzə/. Thousands成千上万/ˈθaʊzəndz/ died. In less than forty四十/ˈfɔːrti/ years, half the Maori were dead.

The Maori fought with each other—but so did the English settlers. New Zealand had no laws法律/lɔːz/. Farmers农民/ˈfɑːrmərz/ quarreled over the boundaries边界/ˈbaʊndəriz/ of their land and over the right to use water水/ˈwɔːtər/. Missionaries传教士/ˈmɪʃəneriz/ who came to New Zealand to teach the Maori about Christianity基督教/ˌkrɪstiˈænəti/ saw that more and more Maori land was being stolen. And they worried about the Maori trade with the settlers. The Maori were handing over food in exchange for English alcohol酒精/ˈælkəhɔːl/ and drinking themselves into illness疾病/ˈɪlnəs/.

Missionaries and English settlers both begged the British英国人/ˈbrɪtɪʃ/ to come to New Zealand and make it a law-abiding place. Great Britain大不列颠/ɡreɪt ˈbrɪtən/ refused to come and lay down the law. New Zealand wasn't a British colony殖民地/ˈkɑːləni/. The British had no right to make rules for all of its people, Maori and pakeha, to follow.

But the British suggested a solution解决方案/səˈluːʃən/. If the Maori would give New Zealand to the British, the British could make laws that would protect保护/prəˈtekt/ them from white invasion入侵/ɪnˈveɪʒən/. The British promised承诺/ˈprɑːməst/ that the Maori could keep all of their land and that British soldiers士兵/ˈsoʊldʒərz/ would make sure that no settlers took it away.

On February 6th, 1840, a British navy captain named Captain William Hobson威廉·霍布森/ˈwɪljəm ˈhɑːbsən/ met with a group of Maori leaders领导者/ˈliːdərz/. Together, Hobson and the Maori signed a treaty条约/ˈtriːti/ between the Maori and Great Britain. This "Treaty of Waitangi"怀唐伊条约/ˈwaɪtɑːŋi/ said that Britain would protect the property财产/ˈprɑːpərti/ and the rights权利/raɪts/ of the Maori against the British settlers. In return, the Maori would recognize England英格兰/ˈɪŋɡlənd/ as their ruler统治者/ˈruːlər/. Hobson became the governor总督/ˈɡʌvərnər/ of New Zealand and declared it to be a British colony!

As soon as New Zealand was declared British, more settlers arrived. Most of them decided to live on the South Island南岛/saʊθ ˈaɪlənd/ of the colony, which had plenty of grazing放牧/ˈɡreɪzɪŋ/ land for animals动物/ˈænəməlz/ and good farmland农田/ˈfɑːrmlænd/ for crops农作物/krɑːps/. In 1844, a ship brought two flocks of sheep羊/ʃiːp/ to New Zealand from Australia. No sheep had ever been seen on the islands before. But they liked to eat the rough grass草/ɡræs/ on the hillsides.

Soon the two flocks had grown to hundreds数百/ˈhʌndrədz/ of sheep. Settlers sent the wool羊毛/wʊl/ to European ports. Many grew rich富有/rɪtʃ/ from the wool. Farmers who had claimed huge amounts of South Island land sold some of their pastures牧场/ˈpæstʃərz/ for high sums of money金钱/ˈmʌni/ to newcomers—and grew even richer.

Some of the Maori decided that they too would sell their land for money. But the British governor called them to his headquarters总部/ˈhedkwɔːrtərz/ and told them, "The treaty says that you can only sell land to the British government政府/ˈɡʌvərnmənt/ itself—to me. Then I can resell it to settlers."

The Maori were puzzled困惑的/ˈpʌzəld/. They didn't know that the treaty said any such thing! The governor was offering them a low price价格/praɪs/ for their land, and they could see that Britain would make a great deal of money buying Maori land for a small amount and then reselling it to settlers for much more. But the governor showed them his copy of the treaty. "There," he said. "You agreed同意/əˈɡriːd/ to this condition!"

Soon the Maori realized that the Treaty of Waitangi had set many conditions that they were not aware意识到/əˈwer/ of. There had been two versions版本/ˈvɜːrʒənz/ of the treaty: an English version and a Maori one. The Maori version of the treaty had used different words from the English version. In Maori, the treaty only gave the British the right to govern治理/ˈɡʌvərn/ the lands—to rule them as long as the Maori agreed with their actions. But in English the treaty said that the British had sovereignty主权/ˈsɑːvrənti/, or complete control over the Maori lands. The British had annexed New Zealand—and the Maori hadn't even known!

On the North Island北岛/nɔːrθ ˈaɪlənd/ of New Zealand, a Maori chief named Hone Heke霍内·黑克/ˈhoʊneɪ ˈhekeɪ/ decided to take his country国家/ˈkʌntri/ back.

By this time, British settlement定居/ˈsetəlmənt/ had spread across the South Island. Most of the Maori had retreated撤退/rɪˈtriːtəd/ to the North Island to live. But now the English wanted to buy land on the North Island too.

The Maori people were afraid that they wouldn't be able to keep any of the land for themselves. Many complained that the Treaty of Waitangi should be thrown out altogether. They argued that the chiefs酋长/tʃiːfs/ who had signed it didn't have the authority权威/əˈθɔːrəti/ to make decisions for all of the Maori people.

Hone Heke himself had been the first chief to sign the treaty. But now, as he looked toward the settlement of Kororareka科罗拉雷卡/koʊˌroʊrəˈrekə/, where the governor's house stood, he saw only one flag旗帜/flæɡ/ flying: the Union Jack英国国旗/ˈjuːnjən dʒæk/ of Great Britain.

Hone Heke sent men to cut down the flagpole旗杆/ˈflæɡpoʊl/ at Kororareka. The British put the flagpole back up. The Maori cut it down again. The British put it back up. The Maori cut it down a third time. This time, when the British put the flag back up, they stationed soldiers in front of it.

So Hone Heke sent one of his men to make a fuss骚动/fʌs/ on the outskirts郊区/ˈaʊtskɜːrts/ of the town. The soldiers, hearing shouts and confusion混乱/kənˈfjuːʒən/, went to see what was happening. Another one of Hone Heke's warriors ran and chopped the pole down again!

Now the governor began to worry. Would the Maori attack攻击/əˈtæk/? He decided that, to be on the safe side, the town's British settlers should leave until he could be sure that the town was safe安全的/seɪf/. So he packed the settlers onto ships anchored off New Zealand's coast.

When the Maori saw that the town lay nearly empty空的/ˈempti/, they ran through it, setting it on fire火/faɪər/. The British capital首都/ˈkæpətəl/ of New Zealand had been sacked洗劫/sækt/! The ships pulled up anchor and sailed to another settlement, Auckland奥克兰/ˈɔːklənd/, further down the island. Some of the settlers armed themselves and waited for Auckland to be attacked. Others decided to head for Australia and wait until the conflict冲突/ˈkɑːnflɪkt/ was over!

British soldiers armed themselves and marched toward Hone Heke's tribal grounds. But Hone Heke had been joined by another Maori chief named Kawiti卡维蒂/kəˈwiːti/. Kawiti was seventy years old. He had seen many battles fought in his day! Together, the two chiefs planned out a defense防御/dɪˈfens/ for their lands. They dug trenches战壕/ˈtrentʃɪz/ so that the Maori could shoot at the British from safety. At the first big battle between the Maori and the British, 114 British soldiers were killed!

The British governor, George Grey乔治·格雷/dʒɔːrdʒ ɡreɪ/, tried to make peace和平/piːs/ with Hone Heke. At first Heke refused. "God made this country for us," he wrote to Governor Grey. "If it were a whale鲸鱼/weɪl/, we might slice it in half. But it cannot be sliced. We will have to fight for the land that lies between us."

Governor Grey brought in more troops军队/truːps/ from Australia. The British kept on fighting. The Maori fought back. The battles raged back and forth with no clear winners胜利者/ˈwɪnərz/. At last, Grey persuaded Hone Heke to make peace. The first Maori war, the Flagstaff War旗杆战争/ˈflæɡstæf wɔːr/, had ended, but nothing had been settled. The Maori still resented the British presence; the British still insisted that the Treaty of Waitangi bound the Maori to obey the British governor.

Great Britain had annexed New Zealand, but their new colony wasn't firmly in their hands yet. In the next thirty years, the Maori and the British would fight a whole series of wars. Eventually, the Maori would have to give up most of their land to the British.

But they would never give up protesting抗议/prəˈtestɪŋ/. Today, the country of New Zealand is still a member of the British Commonwealth英联邦/ˈbrɪtɪʃ ˈkɑːmənwelθ/, a group of nations that once belonged to Great Britain and are still friends and allies盟友/ˈælaɪz/ of the British. And even today, descendents of the Maori people gather at the flagpole that Hone Heke once cut down to protest the loss of their lands.