New Zealand Map Historical
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Maori legend tells us that Maui the demi-god fished New Zealand out of the ocean depths, using the jawbone of his grandfather as a hook. His followers named the legend "Te Ika a Maui" (the fish of Maui).
Although some authorities place migration as early as 700 AD, the first known voyager to these shores was Kupe, about 950 AD, and the great Maori migration is believed to have been about 1350. The Maoris named the land Aotearoa (Land of the Long White Cloud). However, authentic history commenced when Dutch navigator, Abel Tasman, first sighted New Zealand's western shores on December 13th 1642. But the warlike and hostile bearing of the natives apparently paralysed this Dutch enterprise and Tasman sailed away after only a short stay during which attempts to both befriend the natives and obtain fresh water and provisions proved equally futile. Just 127 years later, on 16 December 1769, Captain James Cook landed at Gisborne in Poverty Bay and hoisted the Union Jack, taking possession of the country in the name of King George 111 of England. In 1827 the first white settlement was established at Russell and the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, in 1840, marked the commencement of a period of systematic colonisation. This was not achieved, however, without a number of clashes with Maori Tribes, which in many places developed into local wars. Today New Zealand's population is 98 percent European and numbers about 2 million people.* They enjoy one of the highest living standards in the world. Although essentially primary producing, depending for its prosperity on exports of wool, meat and butter, New Zealand has now many thriving secondary industries which are producing an increasingly varied list of articles and commodities to a high standard of quality. In this story of New Zealand - the birth, the growth, the prosperity of the Nation - New Zealand Breweries Limited is proud to be a part......It has contributed to New Zealand's prosperity and shared in it. Through the years it has built up an enviable reputation for brewing ales of the finest quality......It serves the people by brewing locally to a local taste.....And it looks confidently to the future believing ale is the beverage that belongs - to good living and to sensible moderation. E. whakamiharo ana matou ki te iwi Maori mo to ratou manawanui i tw wa o te panga o te rangimarie hoki i tenei to tatou Motu o Aoteartoa. * Reference is made at the time this map was produced, approximately mid 1960's. |
