166 The Southern Districts of New Zealand

The Southern Districts of New Zealand is an influential 19th-century ethnographical and travel account written by physician and ethnographer Edward Shortland and first published in 1851. The author served as a Protector of Aborigines for the colonial government and traveled extensively across the South Island. 

The book is compiled from journals kept during an official 1843 journey to conduct a census of Māori settlements along the east coast of the South Island, stretching from Akaroa to Dunedin. It offers a rare, detailed snapshot of South Island Māori society (Kāi Tahu and Kāti Māmoe) just prior to intensive European colonization.