Old New Zealand: A Tale of the Good Old Times / And a History of the War in the North against the Chief Heke, in the Year 1845

The narrator, a European who lives among Māori, recalls first encounters, everyday life, and conflicts in early colonial New Zealand through anecdote and reflection. He describes ceremonies, social customs, hospitality, wrestling contests, tribal laws such as muru and tapu, priestly oracles and ritual practices, land titles and disputes, household arrangements, and episodes of violence during the northern war led by the Māori chief Heke. The account mixes humor, legal and cultural explanation, eyewitness sketches of raids, pa defenses, and funerary rites, presenting both practical details of indigenous institutions and personal impressions of cross-cultural interaction and changing relations between settlers and Māori.