 As early as the 1830s and 1840s , merchants , including Gilbert Mair and Logan Campbell , were buying gum from local Māori for £ 5 ( $ 8 @.@ 25 ) a ton , or trading it for goods . The majority of the gum was exported to America and London ( from whence it was distributed throughout Europe ) , although smaller amounts were sent to Australia , Hong Kong , Japan and Russia . 
