James Belich argues that many of the high-profile events of this early contact period were 'exaggerated and misinterpreted'. Attacks on property (muru) were more common and contributed to a sense of lawlessness. He flippantly described Stewart as being 'no more than Te Rauparaha's taxi driver', maintaining that the level of Pakeha–Maori violence was dwarfed by the sum total of contact. 'There were perhaps one or two score of violent clashes, as against one or two thousand ship visits, and one or two hundred whaling, trading and mission stations ... while the ruthless armies of the Musket Wars ranged the land, very few European stations were plundered, and virtually no Europeans seem to have been killed. As with Maori religious conversion, we have to invert our question. We have less to explain why was there so much Maori–European violence than wonder why there was so little' (James Belich, Making peoples, Penguin, Auckland, 1996, page 171). In short, most of the time Maori had no real interest in harming Europeans.
It is late 1834. Imagine that you are James Busby. Alarmed at the lack of support you are receiving from the Governor of New South Wales you have decided to write directly to James Stephen at the Colonial Office in London. Concerned with events in New Zealand as highlighted by the recent Harriet affair you want to explain to the Colonial Office what you mean by your description of 'frontier chaos' in New Zealand. More importantly you want to outline what you believe needs to happen in New Zealand to improve this situation.
You have 350 words to describe the situation in New Zealand as you see it and what you believe should be done to improve the situation.
