'Auckland', 1923. The isthmus was first settled around 1350 and was valued for its rich and fertile land. The Maori population in the area is estimated to have peaked at 20,000 before the arrival of Europeans. After a British colony was established in 1840, William Hobson, then Lieutenant-Governor of New Zealand, chose the area as his new capital. From "Australia, New Zealand and Oceania in Pictures", by H. Clive Barnard, M.A., Blitt. [A. & C. Black, Limited, London, 1923]