ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a hitherto unpublished account in the Maori newspaper Te Waka Maori by this well-known tribal leader. It concerns the critical analysis of travel as a cultural and historical phenomenon in the nineteenth century, a period when new technologies, such as photography and steam, accompanied trade and colonial expansion. In May 1874 a Maori traveller from New Zealand walked into an art gallery in Sydney, Australia. Ropata Wahawaha's first letter from his journey to Australia, which appeared in April 1874, describes his journey across the Tasman Sea and his arrival in Sydney. There are a number of fascinating accounts of Maori going to museums, exhibitions, theatres, and other attractions while travelling abroad. The study of travel in the nineteenth century is limited if scholars only examine narratives in major European languages.
