The Maoris of New Zealand are numerically the most important branch of the Polynesian race which inhabits the islands of the Pacific Ocean. There is no doubt that the race has been greatly influenced by contact with Aryans, and its language, customs, and beliefs all show strong traces of this influence. Tradition states that the race was living in Fiji about a.d. 450. In the year a.d. 650, Ui-te-rangiora, starting from Fiji, made many long adventurous voyages of discovery. Tradition speaks of a visit to New Zealand by a certain Maku in a.d. 850. New Zealand was visited in a.d. 1150, and later by Kupe and other seafarers during a period from a.d. 1250 to 1325. These people are Polynesians, descendants of those left by the first voyages. This book, "Maori - Encountering Change", chronicles the visits of Europeans such as Abel Tasman, James Cook, Frans Jacobszoon Visscher, Anthony van Diemen and other explorers, and the inevitable changes brought about among all the Pacific Islanders, including the Maoris of New Zealand.