Introduction
When Britain finally decided to make a colony of New Zealand, she sent Captain William Hobson (1792-1842) of the Royal Navy to North Island, as Lieutenant to the Governor of New South Wales in Australia. He landed at Kororareka (now Russell) in the Bay of Islands on January 29th, 1840.
SO little was known or thought of the South Island that sovereignty was not proclaimed over it until four months after the Governor’s arrival in the North, and even then the royal flag was not hoisted there. The consequence was a narrow escape from an attempt by the French to plant a colony at Akaroa in Banks Peninsula.*
The French frigate ‘L’Aube’ put in at the Bay of Islands in July, 1840, bound for the south.* Her captain, hospitably entertained by Hobson, let fall some incautious words about the object of his voyage. Hobson took the alarm and promptly dispatched the ‘Britomart’ to hoist the English flag at Akaroa.* Thanks to bad weather, the ‘Britomart’ only reached the threatened port a few days before the Frenchmen.
The captain of ‘L’Aube’ finding himself forestalled good-humouredly made the best of it. A number of the immigrants did indeed land. There around a bay, still called French Bay, they planted vineyards and built cottages in a fashion having some pathetic* reminiscences of rural France.
Abridged
See Google Maps. Banks Peninsula is named after the botanist Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820).
L’Aube means ‘the dawn’ in French.
A monument now marks the spot: see Wikimedia Commons. ‘Britomart’ has become something of a New Zealand brand: the Britomart Transport Hub is a busy railway station at the heart of Auckland’s Britomart Central Business District. The name has nothing to do with Britain or markets: it derives from Britomartis, a Cretan goddess of hunting and nets. She was associated with Mount Dikte, the birthplace of Zeus, and also with the island of Aegina.
‘Pathetic’ does not have to be pejorative, though today it usually is; in the Nineteenth century, it could still carry its older meaning of poignant or emotional. “The separation between her and her family” said Jane Austen of Lydia Bennet going to Brighton “was rather noisy than pathetic” (Pride and Prejudice, 1813).
Archive
Word Games
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Good. Let. Thank.
2 Best. Prompt. Then.
3 Captain. Not. Think.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Opposites Find in Think and Speak
Suggest words or phrases that seem opposite in meaning to each of the words below. We have suggested some possible answers; see if you can find any others.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
Variations: 1.instead of opposites, suggest words of similar meaning (synonyms). 2.use a word and its opposite in the same sentence. 3.suggest any 5 opposites formed by adding dis-.
Subject and Object Find in Think and Speak
Use each word below in two sentences, first as the subject of a verb, and then as the object of a verb. It doesn’t have to be the same verb: some verbs can’t be paired with an object (e.g. arrive, happen), so watch out for these.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1. South. 2. Land. 3. North. 4. Number. 5. Attempt. 6. Thanks. 7. Alarm. 8. Make. 9. Bank.
Variations: 1.use your noun in the plural (e.g. cat → cats), if possible. 2.give one of your sentences a future aspect (e.g. will, going to). 3.write sentences using negatives such as not, neither, nobody and never.
Add Vowels Find in Think and Speak
Make words by adding vowels to each group of consonants below. You may add as many vowels as you like before, between or after the consonants, but you may not add any consonants or change the order of those you have been given. See if you can beat our target of common words.
gls (8+3)
eagles. galas. gales. gaols. gels. glues. goals. ogles.
gals. goalies. igloos.
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