New Zealand Centennial 1840 - 1940 - Softcover, 56 pages - Published by New Zealand Government of Tourist (January 1, 1938) - Used condition, odd marks inside, slight page damage New Zealand's First Hundred Years - One hundred years ago New Zealand was just commencing to emerge from the state of savagery in which the great navigators, Tasman and Cook found it during the course of their first memorable voyages into the South Pacific. - Tasman's visit, marred by the loss of a boat's crew during an attack by the Maoris, was a brief one, and it remained for Captain Cook during his first and subsequent voyages, to survey and chart much of the wild and beautiful coastline of the country, and to carry back to the old world the first authentic story of life and conditions in this new land under the Southern Cross. - Following in the wake of Cook came the rough whalers and traders, and the stout-hearted missionaries who were enabled to secure a more of less precarious foothold on the shores of New Zealand, but real settlement was not commenced until the formation of the New Zealand Company in London, and the arrival of the pioneers in 1840. From that date onward the history of the Dominion becomes a fascinating story of high adventure and endeavor. - Frontier life, with its inevitable hardships, its savage clashes with the warrior Maori race, and the difficulties attendant upon its long drawn communications with far-off England, were factors sufficient to deter all save the hardiest spirits from continuing their labors. - How they triumphed in the end is already a matter of history, and it is hoped that the record contained in these pages will serve in some small measure to show something of what has been accomplished, and to prove that the pioneers have indeed left behind them a rich legacy for the benefit of future generations of New-Zealanders.