It is doubtful whether in prehistoric times the New Zealand Maori had a general name for the North Island, South Island, and contiguous coastal islands of New Zealand. An old Maori of Queen Charlotte Sound at the time of Cook's first visit in 1770 used a name rendered phonetically by Cook as “Aeheino mouwe” while pointing to the North Island, and a name rendered by Cook as “Tovy-poenammu” for two lands south of Cook Strait, probably derived from “te wai pounamu”, meaning literally “the water greenstone”, the greenstone of the South Island being valued and sought by the Maoris of the North as well as of the South Island. Indirect evidence that some Maoris of Cook's time used the name Aotea for a substantial portion of the North Island is given by J. Andia y Varela, the captain of one of the ships of a Spanish expedition which visited Tahiti at about the time of Cook's second voyage in the Pacific. In the years 1773–74 Cook, accompanied by two Tahitians, made a round trip in the course of which he visited Tongatabu, in the Tonga Group, New Zealand, and Vaitahu, in the Marquesas Group. Shortly after Cook's departure from Tahiti, where he left one of the Tahitians who had accompanied him on this round trip, Andia gathered the names of a number of islands known to the Tahitians, including “Tonetapu”, “Guaytaho”, “Ponamu”, and “Iaotea”. The first three of these names echo Tongatabu, Vaitahu, and “Tovy-poenammu”. The fourth is evidently the name Aotea. In 1773–74 Cook had followed the south-east coast of the North Island and had visited Queen Charlotte Sound. The name Aotea may have been obtained either at that time or on Cook's first voyage, when his expedition had contacts with numbers of Maoris on the east coast of the North Island and at Queen Charlotte Sound. The fact that both Ponamu, echoing Cook's “Tovy-poenammu” as a name for part or all of the South Island, and Iaotea appear in Andia's list creates the presumption that the name Aotea had been obtained in the North Island. In the mid-nineteenth century Sir George Grey collected Maori traditions in which Aotea is given as the destination of Maori traditional canoes in terms implying that the name embraced at least a considerable portion of the North Island. The name Aotearoa also appears in Grey's collection. In a version of the tradition of Kupe's discovery of New Zealand given late in the nineteenth century by the Maori priest Te Matorohanga, Kupe was described as naming his discovery “Aotearoa” (q.v.). This name was translated by S. Percy Smith as “long white cloud”. Henry Williams, however, commented that the name “Aotearoa” was incomprehensible to some nineteenth-century Maoris to whom it was given by Te Matorohanga, and that the words “long white cloud” were not an equivalent. It is possible that the components of “Aotea”, whatever their original meaning, had lost this meaning when “roa”, signifying “long”, was tacked on, in which case Aotearoa would mean simply “Long Aotea”. A general Maori name for the main islands of New Zealand was no doubt essential in later times, and continues so today. Aotearoa fills the need.

The administrative area of New Zealand as defined in the New Zealand Official Yearbook (see especially the edition of 1961) comprises the groups of islands classified as follows:

In addition New Zealand also administers the Ross Dependency which is a sector of Antarctica between 160°E longitude and 150w longitude, and south of 60°s latitude. The land area within this sector is estimated to be 160,000 sq. miles.

Within the area of the main North and South Islands are included such islands as lie immediately offshore; for example, the Great Barrier and D'Urville Islands. Surrounding the main islands is an extensive submarine platform on which the various minor islands stand. New Zealand proper (that is, excluding the Island Territories and the Ross Dependency) may then be said to lie approximately between 30° and 53°s latitude, and 162°E longitude and 173°w longitude.

by George Jobberns, C.B.E., M.A., D.SC., Emeritus Professor of Geography, University of Canterbury.

New Plymouth is situated on the northern edge of the uplifted coastal plain of Taranaki, on the western extremity of the North Island. Twenty miles east of the city the land rises to the dissected uplands of the interior, while to the south lies the extinct volcanic cone of Mount Egmont. The suburbs are Fitzroy, Strandon, Merrilands, Brooklands, Welbourn, Vogeltown, Westown, Frankleigh Park, Lynmouth, Spotswood, and Moturoa. The railway line from Wellington (251 miles south-east) terminates in New Plymouth, as does the line from Auckland (286 miles north-east). By road the city is 102 miles north-west of Wanganui (107 miles by rail), and 110 miles south-west of Te Kuiti (175 miles by rail). New Plymouth has no natural harbour, but a breakwater built seawards (begun in 1881) has been progressively extended and affords good shelter for large vessels which formerly had to be tended in the open roadstead. Westwards of the breakwater a tiny archipelago of islets called the Sugar Loaves helps to protect the artificial harbour. Tonnage handled in 1964 was 599,018 tons, the main imports being cement, motor spirits, and manures. Cheese, frozen meat, and butter are exported. The airport is at Bell Block, 5 miles north-east of the city.

New Plymouth is the centre and seaport for a fertile and highly productive agricultural and pastoral district, the most important rural activity being dairy farming. Although butter factories are more common around New Plymouth, most of the milk produced in Taranaki is made into cheese. The countryside is dotted with little settlements clustering around a cheese or butter factory. This close distribution of cheese factories dates from the days of horse transport, when whole milk was too bulky to carry over long distances. A variety of industrial activities is carried on in and about New Plymouth and these include the making of aerated waters, bacon and ham factories, the manufacture of soap, beer, bricks, and confectionery, flourmilling, dairy factories, marine engineering, brass extrusion, timber dressing, meat freezing, a plant nursery, chemicals and fertilisers, and the treatment of hides and skins. The beautiful Pukekura Park, with its view of Mount Egmont, lies in the centre of the city.

The first Europeans to settle in the district were whalers, Barrett, Love, and others, who established themselves at Ngamotu Beach in 1828. In 1832 an invading force of about 4,000 Waikato Maoris laid siege to Ngamotu Pa and the whalers joined the defenders, who numbered less than 400. The attackers were eventually obliged to withdraw. In 1841 the chief surveyor of the Plymouth Company commenced laying out the town and, in March, the first settlers arrived in the William Bryan. In spite of ample signs of Maori cultivation, only 20 natives were living in the neighbourhood at this time. The natural fertility and gentle surface of the land were primary factors considered in deciding the location of the new settlement. After the rivers of Taranaki were found unsuitable as ports, the naturally protected beach near the Sugar Loaf Islands was finally decided upon. For New Plymouth, the period from 1841 to 1860 was one of urban and agricultural settlement and arable farming. Land troubles, however, beset the Taranaki settlement almost from its beginning, the climax being reached in 1860 when the Taranaki War broke out. New Plymouth became a military encampment and many settlers, in despair, left the district.

Once peace was firmly established, New Plymouth began to prosper and soon assumed the characteristics of a market town and transport terminus for the tributary areas which were now being rapidly cleared of forest. Butter was a trade commodity and the advent of refrigeration in 1882 hastened the transformation of the lowlands into pastoral land. In 1881 the railway reached Hawera and four years later the butter and timber of Taranaki could be railed to Wanganui. New Plymouth was constituted a borough in 1876 and became a city on 27 January 1949. It is named after Plymouth, in Devon.

POPULATION: 1951 census, 24,923; 1956 census, 28,292; 1961 census, 32,387.

by Susan Bailey, B.A., Research Officer, Department of Industries and Commerce, Wellington.

(1905– ).

Rugby footballer.

A new biography of Nepia, George appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

H. George M. Nepia (the H and M are assumed, and are without significance) was born at Wairoa on 25 April 1905 and educated at the Maori Agricultural College, Hastings, where he was playing rugby with distinction in 1922. He represented Hawke's Bay in 1923 and was the only fullback selected to tour with the 1924 All Blacks (“The Invincibles”). George Nepia also played in the All Black teams of 1929 and 1930. In 1935 he captained the New Zealand Maori team which toured Australia. His record as a New Zealand representative was 46 matches, in which he scored 99 points. He represented Hawke's Bay in 1925–26 and East Coast in 1929–30 and created a New Zealand record by playing 38 consecutive matches for the country. For two seasons he played professional rugby league football in England and has since been farming in the Gisborne district. After his retirement from international play, he took part in local games and often acted as a referee. His best single score was the 17 points he made for the North Island team in 1924. In 1963 Nepia (with T. P. McLean) published I, George Nepia – which contains his personal reminiscences of a period which many consider the golden years of New Zealand rugby.

(N. arboreum), Five Finger.

In lowland forests throughout the country this is probably the most common small tree, though in some places it is tending to disappear because it is relished by introduced deer. A rapidly growing shrub or tree seldom exceeding 25 ft in height, it is much branched and round-headed and frequently grows as an epiphyte on tree ferns. The leaves are divided into five to seven leaflets, each of which is separately stalked and 3–7 in. long, obovate, and sharply toothed. The male and female flowers are on separate trees, and although small are borne in large compound umbels. The fruit is small and black.

Although Neopanax is found only in New Zealand, the family to which it belongs, the Araliaceae, is a widespread and mainly tropical one. Neopanax itself has five species, one of which is closely related to N. arboreum. This is N. colensoi which could be considered the mountain form of N. arboreum. It is similar in many respects except that it is lower growing and the leaflets are three-to five-foliate.

by Alec Lindsay Poole, M.SC., B.FOR.SC., F.R.S.N.Z., Director-General of Forests, Wellington.

(c. 1780–1871).

Ngapuhi chief.

A new biography of Nene, Tamati Waka appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

Nene was the son of Tapua, a noted warrior of the Ngati-Hao hapu of the Ngapuhi tribe of North Auckland. He was also the brother of Patuone. Although in his earlier years Nene achieved fame as a warrior under Hongi Hika in the raids which took him as far as Cook Strait, he early befriended the Pakeha and lent his support to the establishment and enforcement of law and order. His intervention to protect the missionaries made him an important figure in the history of the New Zealand missions. He was one of the first chiefs to be baptised, and took the names “Thomas Walker”.

In 1840 Nene's speech urging the Ngapuhi chiefs to sign the Treaty of Waitangi proved decisive. WhenGovernor Hobson moved the seat of government from the Bay of Islands to Auckland, the consequent decline in trade led to unrest among certain of the younger Ngapuhi chiefs. When two of these, Hone Heke and Kawiti, took up arms against the Europeans, Nene promptly offered to stand surety against further outbreak. This involved him in warfare against Heke and several engagements were fought. Nene's warriors supported Lieutenant-Colonel Hulme's men in their ill-conceived attack on Heke's position at Lake Omapere and, afterwards, without British support, he engaged Heke until Colonel Despard's troops were in a position to attack Ohaeawai. Here he sought to restrain Despard's impetuousness and advised against the “forlorn hope” in which one-sixth of the storming party were killed. At the siege of Ruapekapeka Nene and Patuone reconnoitred the pa and then, finding it unguarded, led a mixed party of warriors and Imperial troops to capture it. Heke and Kawiti promptly sued for peace and Nene interceded with Governor Grey to secure clemency on their behalf.

After Te Rauparaha's arrest, Nene and Potatau Te Wherowhero stood surety for his good behaviour and, in January 1848, they accompanied Grey to Wellington to reassure themselves that the Ngati Toa chief had indeed been released. In December 1848 Grey appointed Nene to be one of his squires at his investiture as a Knight. Nene's services were recognised by the British authorities and he was granted an annual pension of £100. With his characteristic generosity Nene devoted his first year's pension towards erecting a flour mill as a peace offering to his former enemies. When Grey returned for his second term as Governor, he brought Nene a chased silver goblet as a gift from Queen Victoria. In later years the Ngapuhi chief often attended the levees at Government House, Auckland. In the 1860s Nene held aloof from the “King” movement because he was one of the few chiefs who saw that the Maoris' only hope lay in their cooperating with the Europeans. He also realised that for many years to come the Maoris' future as a race would be a most uncertain one. Nene's stand on this prevented his Ngapuhi from joining in the costly wars which followed.

Tamati Waka Nene died on 4 August 1871 and was buried, at his own request, in the churchyard in the Bay of Islands. His wife, Ihapera, had died in 1837, leaving two daughters.

by Walter Hugh Ross, Journalist, Taupo.

• The New Zealand Wars, Cowan, J. (1955)
• Hone Heke's Rebellion, Rutherford, J. (1947)
• Early New Zealand, Sherrin, R. A. A., and Wallace, J. H. (1890).

This abortive attempt to establish industry was a recognition of the need to widen the basis of the region's economy. 26·58 per cent of the labour force are engaged in primary industries (cf., New Zealand, 16·05), and 1791 per cent are engaged in manufacturing industries (cf., New Zealand, 26·04). In the secondary sector, food-processing industries constitute the principal source of employment, with the sawmills, joiners, boxmakers, and the vehicle repair and associated industries taking second and third places. In the period April 1953 to April 1961 the numbers engaged in manufacturing increased by 14·8 per cent, compared with the national average of 24·14 per cent, and the total labour force increased by only 7·45 per cent, compared with the national figure of 18·42 per cent. These figures, and others which are available, lead to the conclusion that the Nelson area has fallen behind the industrial development of New Zealand as a whole, but an investigation of alternative or additional industries is not encouraging. The most favoured scheme at present is the establishment of a pulp and paper industry based upon the 68,000 acres of exotic forests in Waimea county, and certainly the increasing shortage of timber supplies in the Wellington Province ought to provide the Nelson timber-milling industry with a favourable market. A 35-per-cent increase in the region's population is forecast by 1981. During the past 50 years the region has been intermittently one of out migration and in migration. Whether it will be able to sustain the projected increase depends largely on the success obtained in diversifying its economy.

In a New Zealand context the Nelson region stands out because of its specialised cropping areas. Nevertheless, its economy is a simple one based largely upon agricultural or pastoral pursuits, which provide the basis for most of its industrial activities, added to which mining, quarrying, and forestry make some minor contribution. Despite the emphasis upon primary activities the population is overwhelmingly concentrated in one centre, the principal functions being tertiary, rather than secondary. That there is further scope for increased agricultural production is unquestioned, but the factors strongly influencing these prospects are not to be found within the region but arise externally and are associated largely with market prospects. Thus, while there is a need to create jobs for the growing population, the disadvantages of Nelson's isolation will weigh heavily against the area in its attempt to attract new industries.

by Samuel Harvey Franklin, B.COM.GEOG., M.A.(BIRMINGHAM), Senior Lecturer, Geography Department, Victoria University of Wellington.

• The Moutere Gravels – Waimea County Nelson, Nelson Catchment Board (1952)
• N.Z. Journal of Agriculture, Vol. 91, Jul 1958, “Land Development in the Nelson District”, Scott, R. H.
• N.Z. Geographer, Vol. 6, Oct 1950, “The Takaka Valley – North-west Nelson”, Rose, A. J.

Other concentrations of population are located in the valleys of the Takaka and the Aorere Rivers, which flow into Golden Bay. These are principally dairying areas and their history follows a well-established pattern of development. The first pioneers arrived in the Takaka area in 1845, three years after the initial settlement of Nelson. The stimulus to the development of the Aorere Valley arose from the discovery of gold in 1857, and Collingwood experienced a brief period of growth and prominence as the principal outlet of the region. The interest in the potentialities of the area's mineral resources has persisted throughout the decades. Deposits of alluvial and lode gold were worked intermittently in the West Haven (Whanganui Inlet) area throughout the latter part of the last century; and small coalfields were exploited at Puponga and North Cape. Perhaps the greatest hopes were placed upon the development of the Onekaka iron ores, but the most substantial development has been achieved with the expansion of the cement works at Tarakohe to a capacity of 300,000 tons, only half of which is used at present. The cement is distributed by a fast motor vessel to installations at Wellington, Wanganui, and New Plymouth. The exploitation of the timber resources was a useful source of income during the early period of settlement, but at present the economy rests substantially upon sheep farming and particularly dairying, as is borne out by the ratio of cows in milk per hundred sheep shorn for Golden Bay county, 12·42. The trend displayed by the population figures for Golden Bay county indicates the restricted basis of economic activity in the valleys to which difficulties of access are a contributing factor. In 1926 the population totalled 3,049. By 1951 it had risen to 3,819 and, at the next census, 1956, rose to 4,057. Following the completion of the Cobb Dam and the expansion of the limeworks the population in 1961 had declined to 3,672. Nevertheless, the number of cows in milk has increased by 8·77 per cent and the Department of Agriculture estimates a further 40-per-cent increase by 1980. Significantly, in the period 1951–52 to 1959–60, the increase in sheep shorn and lambs shorn was below the regional level of increase, which itself was below the national level.

The population of the region as a whole has continued to increase. It numbered 25,564 in 1926, 44,153 in 1956, and 48,538 in 1961. During the last decade (1951–61), however, the rate of increase, 19·98 per cent, has been well below the national rate of increase and the increase has been concentrated in the urban areas which grew by 44·65 per cent, whereas the rural population declined by 7·35 per cent. Furthermore, it is striking how the proportion of the total population contained in the Nelson urban area and in the boroughs of Richmond and Motueka has continued to increase, from 57 per cent in 1926 to 66 per cent in 1961.

Two recent controversies have emphasised the long-term problems of the region. For communications the region is dependent upon its road connections with Picton and Blenheim and the rather difficult route of the Buller Gorge via Murchison to the West Coast. Regular steamer services with Wellington were discontinued in 1953, although coastal and overseas vessels call at Nelson. From that date travel to Wellington was restricted to the airlines or by road to Picton and thence by ferry. The railroad between Nelson and Glenhope, owing to an insufficient volume of traffic, was finally closed in 1955 and the faint hope of its ever being connected by rail to the West Coast was destroyed. The Labour administration of 1957–60 promised the construction of a rail link between Picton and Nelson at a cost of approximately £1 million. Although the route was surveyed, the ensuing controversy and a change of government led to the demise of the scheme. The action of the same Labour Government in selecting Nelson as the site for a large modern cotton-spinning mill again aroused considerable controversy, which resulted in the abandonment of the scheme.

These special-crop areas are responsible for the most original landscapes of the region, the principal elements being the tobacco-curing houses, the fields of tobacco themselves, the trellises of the hop vines, the hipped roofs of the hop kilns, and the wire-mesh appearance of the orchards seen from the air. These landscapes, combined with the more usual landscapes of sheep and dairying areas, create a sense of intense cultivation and productivity. Approximately 11,000 acres are devoted to specialised crops, two-thirds of this area lying in the Motueka-Moutere district and a little less than one-third in the vicinity of the lower Wai-iti Valley. A very small acreage of specialised crops, about 150 acres, lies in the middle reaches of the Motueka Valley near Tapawera. Tobacco and pip fruits, apples especially, occupy the greatest area, with vegetables and peas, hops, stone fruits, and small fruits following in that order of importance. In 1960, 4,151 acres were devoted to the production of tobacco, the growers being protected by a regulation which obliges tobacco manufacturers in New Zealand to use a minimum proportion of New Zealand grown leaf; 3,500 acres were under apple and pear trees, the region containing 28 per cent of all New Zealand apple trees and 37 per cent of all pear trees. In the period 1950–60 the number of cases of apples and pears exported has risen from 676,518 to 1,120,257. A remarkable increase has occurred recently in the production of vegetables for marketing and processing. In 1951–52 only 412 acres were under vegetables, but by 1960–61 this figure had risen to 3,097 acres. The principal crops are peas, followed by tomatoes, which are grown also in the numerous glasshouses extending over an area of approximately one and a half million square feet. All of the Dominion's commercial hop gardens are now located in Waimea county and, in 1960, 589 acres were under cultivation for hops. Much of the region's industrial activity is associated with the initial processing and packaging of these products, but the cigarette-manufacturing plants and breweries are located largely outside the region. The seasonal inflow of temporary labour, over 2,000 persons each summer, copes with the heavy demands for labour during the harvest period. These special-crop economies are very favoured by the climate of the region. Nelson records one of the highest number of hours of sunshine per year, 2,430. The average annual rainfall is 35·9 in. spread over 152 days. The mean daily maximum temperature in January is 70·4°F and in July 53·3°F.

The economy of the region is shown by the bill of cargoes for Nelson's port. Two principal items are listed: 44,855 tons of fresh fruit, 24,363 tons of timber. For the port of Motueka, which engages only in coastal traffic, the pattern is the same: 11,787 tons of fresh fruit, 5,310 tons of timber. By comparison the exports of wool, frozen meat, butter, and milk products are negligible. The list of inwards cargo for Nelson is dominated by motor spirits and oils. In 1964 the port of Nelson handled 292,677 tons of goods.