A mai napot tartják a lovak Új-Zélandra érkezésének 200. évfordulójának. Samuel Marsden, a keresztény misszionárius egy csődörrel és két kancával szállt partra Ausztáliából érkező hajójával 1814 december 22-én.
Today marks the 200th anniversary of the arrival of the first horses in New Zealand.
The Christian missionary, Samuel Marsden, unloaded a stallion and two mares brought by ship from Australia on December 22, 1814.
They arrived at Rangihoua, in the Bay of Islands, aboard the Active. There were several Maori chiefs aboard the vessel returning to New Zealand, including the Ngāpuhi leader Ruatara. He had been gifted one of the mares by the governor of New South Wales.
The Active arrived after three weeks at sea, and boats ferried those on board ashore.
Soon after, the horses and several cattle which were also on board were brought ashore.
The animals caused a sensation among local Māori, which quickly turned to temporary panic when one of the cows charged into the onlookers.
One of Marsden’s companions on the journey, John Nicholas, reported that the local Māori, who had never seen a horse, “appeared perfectly bewildered with amazement, not knowing what to conclude respecting such extraordinary looking animals”. They regarded them as “stupendous prodigies”, he said.
Marsden mounted one of the horses and “rode up and down the beach, exciting their wonder in a tenfold degree”.
Nicholas believed the settlers would benefit greatly from “so serviceable and necessary an animal as the horse”.
Horse imports, mainly from Australia, leapt considerably in the 1840s.
By 1900 there were more than 260,000 horses in New Zealand. At its peak in 1911 the horse population reached 404,284 – about one horse for every three people. By 2004, those numbers had reduced to 76,918.
Māori quickly grasped the importance and potential of the horse, and began acquiring them in the 1840s, using them mainly for transport. They were extensively employed during the 1860s land wars.
The horse was ultimately to prove crucial to the rapid economic development of New Zealand.
2014.12.22. Magyar Dorottya
Forrás: Horsetalk.co.nz
Kép: Canva
Frissítve: 2023.02.10.
