18. The Boyd Massacre of 1809 led to European ships avoiding New Zealand for a time
The straight grained wood of the kauri trees of New Zealand made them highly desirable for use as replacement spars and masts on the ships plying the South Pacific in the days of sail. In 1809, a brigantine named Boyd arrived at Whangaroa, commanded by John Thompson, and carrying about 70 people (accounts vary) including a Maori named Te Ara, whom the crew called George. George was supposed to pay for his passage by working with the crew, and when he refused to do so he was disciplined in the manner of the sea at the time, placed on reduced rations and flogged. Other accounts state that he was flogged for theft.
When the local Maori chief learned of the flogging, he and his men lured several of the crew away from the ship with a promise of helping them locate suitable kauri trees. The working party was killed, the bodies taken to the Maori village for consumption. The Maori then attacked Boyd, killing all but five of the remaining crew and passengers. In all between 66 and 70 of the Europeans were killed and eaten by the Maori cannibals, the last being the second mate of the ship, who was spared in the initial massacre to be used as a maker of fishing nets for the tribe. Once his usefulness was spent he too was killed and eaten. Pacific whaling ships attacked the Maori village in the aftermath, freeing the four remaining prisoners. It was the largest single reported incident of cannibalism by the Maori against Europeans. It also led to many ships avoiding the waters around New Zealand.