Summary: Although a good deal of information is available about the Maoris of New Zealand, concerning their origin, customs, and culture, yet statistical data regarding their actual numbers at any time before 1857 are comparatively rare. It is a fact that the Maori population in any given locality was a fluctuating one and that their distribution in general was very variable and this constitutes a formidable difficulty in making any estimate of their numbers before the first cenus. A second obstacle is the difficulty of travel which faced the early European explorers. For example, when Cook visited New Zealand, he made an estimate of the population but it was largely conjectural as Cook saw the natives at only those places he touched around the coast, and had in fact no means of estimating what proportion of the total population those communities formed. Actually the Maoris were not confined to the coastline, and therefore Cook�s estimate cannot be regarded as based on adequate data. An evaluation of his estimate will be made later--Chapter 1.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/266518 |
| Date | January 1929 |
| Creators | Durward, Elizabeth Wallace, n/a |
| Publisher | University of Otago. Department of History |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | http://policy01.otago.ac.nz/policies/FMPro?-db=policies.fm&-format=viewpolicy.html&-lay=viewpolicy&-sortfield=Title&Type=Academic&-recid=33025&-find), Copyright Elizabeth Wallace Durward |
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