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dered necessary when the choice of Waimate for a mission station had been determined upon, from the inland situation of that spot, and the desirableness of facilitating land carriage between it and the sea, through the nearest station, which is that at the Keri Keri whence all supplies from external sources are procured; indeed, many years must be suffered to elapse before any thing like a road for the conveyance of goods can be made between it and Paihia. The importance of roads to a country, and to that country especially, the society of which is in its infancy, where there is any thing worthy of the name; or where it is rent and torn into "a thing of shreds and patches," by a multitude of petty tribes, wanting every bond of union, needs not a word of comment from my pen. The attention which has recently been paid in our own country to the subject generally, and the altered aspect of many a highland district since the practice of road-making has been extended to them, the increased facilities of communication between remote parts which have followed the application of modern improvements in this art, the diminution of expense in almost every necessary of life, and above all the union effected by it between every part of the same island, and the consequent interchange of mutual good offices between all the inhabitants of the same country, render it superfluous for me to say more on the subject, so far as it regards my English readers; but inasmuch as the welfare of New Zealand may be affected by it, I would just hint, to those most interested in the missions established there, at the desirableness of multi-
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plying roads in that country, more particularly between the respective stations and the friendly villages in their different vicinities; and in order to their doing so upon the best principles, which at the same time are the most economical, would suggest the expediency of adding to the libraries of the missionaries a few such treatises as that of Sir H. Parnell's --they might be perused with profit by the missionaries themselves, and now that, "the printing press" is at work in that country, it would not perhaps be altogether a needless outlay of some portion of their time to abridge, translate, and print, for the benefit of the native chiefs, the practical directions for road-making contained in such treatises. The "road" to Keri Keri, striking off from the bridge, penetrates a dense forest, in which the stately pines of the country have attained to their greatest height. As we travelled through this forest, the voices of natives were audible, but their persons concealed. They were hailed by Yate, and responded to his call, yet did not approach near enough to be seen. A few minutes served its for emerging from the thicket, and to gain, by a gentle acclivity, the top of a hill, overlooking the valley, and the woods by which it is fringed, and enabling us to take a last fond look at the mission settlement on the opposite height, and bid a long, it may be a last farewell, to that blessed, that thrice blessed spot, whence, as springs of water from a well-spring in the desert or the wilderness, the gospel of peace, and the living water of the Holy Spirit of our God, are conveyed in every
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direction by "good men," (to appropriate the language of a Scottish historian, while describing the process by which our own ancestors, when as low in morality, and as degraded among the then nations of the earth, as the New Zealanders of our day, were translated from the thick darkness of paganism into the marvellous light of the gospel of Christ,) "to whom life and the pleasures of the world were as nothing, so they could call souls to Christianity." To all and to each of the dear brethren who dwell there, the writer would address, at parting, the language in which the priests of the Most High were wont to bless the children of Israel: --"The Lord bless thee and keep thee! The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee! The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace!" May they and their fellow-labourers put the name of Jehovah Jesus, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, upon the children of New Zealand; and may he bless all the inhabitants of the land, in turning away every one of them from his iniquities!
Proceeding on our way, it was found to sweep round the side of the hill, opening up to view a deep ravine on the right hand, and at length conducting us to an extensive heath or plain, over which the traveller may journey for miles, and, if diverted out of the broad road, and unacquainted with the native foot-tracks, lose himself at last in the wilderness of fern by which it is covered. The paucity of objects at this stage of the ride, was more than compensated for by suffering an undi-
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vided attention to be given to the conversation of our friend.
About three miles from Keri Keri, the surface of the country, as it approaches the estuary at the head of which that settlement has been fixed, resumes its undulating appearance, and occasional glimpses of a noble waterfall at some distance to the left, adds greatly to the effect of the shifting panorama, until, occupying a small and hilly peninsula, round the base of which, like a moat dug for its defence, the river from which the settlement takes its name, twines its last fold, before taking its final leap over a causeway of rocks, to mingle its waters with the briny waves of the sea; the mission station and church of Keri Keri, or Kidi Kidi, as it is indifferently pronounced, bursts in beauty on the eye of the spectator who approaches it from the land, and is the more delighted because of the suddenness with which the picture starts up to arrest his onward progress, and command his entire admiration.
There are three missionaries settled here, one of whom was from home, itinerating among the villages at a distance, at the time of our visit. The two others were apparently humble, unpretending men; both, catechists in the church, and mechanics in the world. To their persevering industry it is owing that this settlement wears an air of so much neatness, order, and comfort, as at once to transport the imagination from New Zealand to England, in which last, more than in any land, order, and neatness, and comfort, preside over town and coun-
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try alike. Besides taking part in the labours of the forge and the bench, they superintend the business of gardening and husbandry, and preach more or less every day throughout the year. Excursions are taken periodically to remote districts, and from hence the Gospel is carried to Toharangi, Tapuetahi, Takou, Matauri, and Wangaroa. From Tapuetahi and Takou the natives frequently visit this settlement, for the professed purpose of attending divine service.
There are three schools here, as at the other stations, one for male adults, another for females, and a third for European children. Fifty-three natives reside on the spot, and attend the former, of whom seventeen are women, twenty-seven men and boys, and nine are children. The missionaries' wives, as elsewhere, instructing the women and children.
Of the spiritual state of this settlement I am not qualified to speak, none of the particulars thereof having fallen under my own observation. But of its temporal condition I may venture to affirm, that it could not have become what it is, within the brief period of time since its first formation, but by a judicious division of labour, and as wise and constant an employment of the same. For, besides a bridge admitting boats to pass to and fro under its wooden arches, roomy storehouses, and an extensive quay, pier, boat-house; and roads, the missionaries have erected three commodious dwelling-houses and a beautiful chapel; fenced-in a sheepfold and cattle pen; and raised good vegetable gardens
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around them; to say nothing of whole fields redeemed from barrenness, and brought into cultivation by the plough and the spade; or yielding abundant and excellent pasturage to the flocks and herds which, from insignificantly small beginnings, have, under the Divine blessing, multiplied, in these wilds, to no inconsiderable number.
Much of all this must have been the work of native labourers, or a perpetual miracle must have been wrought for the whole to have been accomplished by three or four missionaries, even supposing them to have employed all their time in the work. Admitting, as I conceive it must be admitted, that very many natives have had a share in the several tasks of building, planting, &c; &c. it will be obvious that, in addition to the wholesome habits of industry inculcated by their employment in such occupations, they must have been further benefited by the acquisition of much and varied knowledge, to which they were previously strangers; knowledge too, of practical application to the improvement of their own social condition. And thus has it come to pass, that, from among the natives, stone-masons, bricklayers, carpenters, smiths, and other artizans, have been raised up through the instrumentality of these mechanic-missionaries, as they have been somewhat contemptuously designated, who, had they been disposed, as is calumniously insinuated by some of those who have brought railing accusations against them, to eat the bread of idleness, need not to have put their hand
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to any of those things, secure as they were of all the necessaries, and some at least of the comforts of life, being supplied to them through the love of the church, whose invitation they had followed in giving themselves to the heathen.
Adverting to the foregoing, and such like signs of worldly prosperity, at this and other settlements, the enemies of the mission have invidiously commented upon those signs, as though it were criminal for the ministers of the Gospel and the disciples of Jesus, to be in any degree removed from circumstances of want and privation; and as though godliness possessed not the promise of the life that now is, as well as of that which is to come. But in so doing, their very envy and jealousy bear testimony in favour of the missionaries, who might appeal, and that on no less an authority than the Bible, to those signs of prosperity, in proof that their God, whom, through evil report and through good report, they have served, and still endeavour to serve, has blessed them in the city and blessed them in the field; has blessed the fruit of their body and the fruit of their ground, and the fruit of their cattle, the increase of their kine, and the flocks of their sheep; has blessed their basket and their store; and, finally, has blessed them in their incomings and in their outgoings. Although the mission has been planted these twenty years, and numbers among its members, at this date, upwards of fifty persons, including women and children, death has not approached the dwellings of the
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missionaries, nor been suffered to smite so much as one of their number. God hath blessed them, yea! and they shall be blessed!
It was nearly four, P.M. when, we set off on our return to the Alligator, her boat having landed the Captain but a little before; and I was gratified at finding, when left alone with my young messmate, that he had participated with me in much of the enjoyment I had derived from the scenes witnessed by us during our three days absence from the ship. The sail down the estuary was agreeable, and would have been more so, but for the lowness of the tide and the shallowness of the water, in consequence of which the boat took the ground repeatedly, before reaching the Bay. And it was nearly four hours before we got back to Kororarika, where the frigate had taken up her old moorings. The distance from Keri Keri to Kororarika is calculated at about sixteen miles, as the crow flies; the pull across admitted of our seeing the whole Bay; and as the sun sank behind the far off hills on the one hand, and the swell from the ocean came in upon us on the other, I could not but mentally pray for the speedy arrival of that day, when the knowledge of God and the glory of God shall enlighten the world, and cover the earth as the waters cover the great deep.
March 20th, 1835. --The British Government having determined on presenting the New Zealanders with a national flag, three different ensigns were brought hither in the Alligator, for the chiefs to select one, and to-day was fixed for the occasion.
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A considerable number of natives were met at the Residency, including about thirty of the Tangata Mauri, or heads of tribes, and the spectacle might have been rendered an imposing one, but for the attempt made to separate between the noblesse and the canaille of New Zealand, by confining the choice of the flag to the former, and excluding altogether the voice of the latter from taking part in the affair. As it was, the great body of the chiefs assembled in a large oblong-square tent, screened in on one side by canvass, and canopied by different flags; this was divided into two lesser squares by a barricade across the centre, and the Tangata Mauri were called out of the one square into the other, according to their respective ranks, and to the no small discontent of the excluded. After a speech had been read to them by Mr. Busby, explanatory of the object proposed in offering them a flag, and of the advantages to accrue to them from possessing one, the three pattern flags were displayed, and the votes of the electors taken down in writing by 'Hongi. My friend 'Hau came to me to consult as to which he should vote for, and having discovered how my taste lay, paid me the compliment of adopting it, and canvassed others for their votes also; it was the one finally chosen, a white flag, with a St. George's cross, and in the upper corner on the left hand, a blue field with a red cross, and four white stars. Twelve votes having been obtained for it, ten for the next, and six only for the third: two of the head men declined voting, apparently apprehensive
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lest under this ceremony lay hid some sinister design on our parts, and, had any thing like freedom of debate been encouraged, instead of suppressed, before proceeding with the election, I have little doubt but that the real sentiments of those present would have been elicited; and, assuredly, an opportunity might have been afforded of answering any objections as they arose, and, in that way, more completely satisfying the minds of the people as to the objects contemplated by our Government. I have in vain attempted to procure a copy of Mr. Busby's address on this occasion, and cannot, therefore speak with any certainty as to its contents.
The election over, the rejected flags were close furled, and the future ensign of New Zealand flung forth to float upon the breeze, alongside the blood-red banner of Old England; and saluted with a discharge of twenty-one guns from H.M.S. Alligator, and three hearty cheers from the crowd of Englishmen present, of whom there were more than enough, including missionaries and settlers, the officers of the Alligator and the masters and mates of several whaling vessels then at anchor in the Bay; after which all sat down to a cold collation prepared for them in the house of the Resident, while the chiefs and their attendants were regaled outside with a feast(!!!) of pigs, potatoes, and Korori, this last being only a thin paste made of flour and water. The natives divided themselves into small companies, and took up their seats in a circle, with the iron pots containing the Korori in their centre, and there
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they feasted away at their leisure, employing their fingers as forks, and drinking their flour potations out of the Cynic's cup. Twelve months ago, Mr. Busby addressed to the chiefs, words like these: --"All good Englishmen are desirous that the New Zealanders should be a rich and happy people; and it is my wish, when I shall have erected my house, that all the chiefs shall come and visit me, and be my friends. We shall then consult together by what means they can make their country a flourishing country, and their people a rich and a wise people, like the people of Great Britain." Would it not have been more in keeping with the spirit of that declaration -- more conciliatory--and more condescendingly kind--had the arrangements of this meeting provided seats for the chiefs at the same table with the Resident and his "pale-faced" guests?
While, however, some were feasting, others were occupied in an opposite way. A number of these had taken their seats under the tent, without respect of persons, to listen to the disputes brought forward by individuals, according to the immemorial custom of every public assembly. And here, the scene would have been as amusing as it was novel, but for the strong workings of the fiercer passions, visible in the expressive countenances of the combatants who successively entered upon the arena of disputation; and were all, in their turns, heartily laughed at by the surrounding multitude of their countrymen, who, as they sat upon the ground, described the figure of a horse shoe in the hollow of which the disputants
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moved to and fro, now advancing--now receding; -- this moment casting furtive glances at their opponents, the next turning their backs upon them in scorn, and thrusting out their tongues to express contempt, stamping angrily with their feet, and occasionally flourishing the merai or the tomahawk over their heads, as if about to avenge themselves on the spot--and keeping up all the while an incessant fire of words, now abusive, now contemptuous; now in raillery, and now in a frenzy of passion; to the reality of which the accompanying fire-flash from the rolling eye, spoke too truly. The debates, wordy as they were, and warlike as well as wordy, ended, happily, in words alone. The disputants rubbed noses at the close of their debate, and separated as friends.
At the termination of one of these discussions, it was reported that Pomare had just landed at the head of a large party, armed with muskets; and taken up a position at a short distance off, from which he refused to move, or be moved. Some apprehension of violence on his part being entertained, the Rev. William Williams was requested to go to the barbarian, and discover his intentions; on reaching the spot he espied the chief seated in the midst of from 50 to 60 of his followers, they being ranged in four parallel lines, and every individual carrying a musket; on interrogating him why his tribe had come thus armed to a peaceful assembly, he very promptly replied, "It is New Zealand custom"--then added "The Rangatira from the warship have their swords, and we ought not for shame
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to 'be without our guns!" This, of course, was a reply, to which there could be no rejoinder. Upon further conversation, it was ascertained that he was indulging himself in a mood of sulkiness, deeming himself degraded by not having received an invitation to the meeting before the other chiefs, over whom he affects to feel a superiority which yet he does not venture to assert; and is at the same time a great stickler for precedency, and exceedingly ambitious of the highest place. A little soothing on the part of the missionary, soon restored him to his good humour, and nothing further occurred to interrupt the harmony of the meeting. I regret, however, to be obliged to state here, that Pomare; whose visits to the ship have been frequent of late, has sunk greatly in the general estimation by repeatedly discovering the worst propensities of the savage, covetousness and beastly sensuality.
Messrs. White and Woon, of the Wesleyan Mission at 'Hokianga, were at this meeting; and for the purpose of enjoying an evening in their company, I was glad to avail myself of Mr. Clindon's kind invitation to return with them to his house, where a few hours were profitably spent in conversation upon different topics connected with the welfare of our fellow men. In mentioning the names of the Wesleyan Missionaries, I cannot but add an expression of regret that it was not in my power to visit the settlement they have effected on the western coast; and of hope, that the separate existence of distinct missions, differing but little, if at all, in doctrinal matters, but having many
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though unimportant differences in the discipline of their respective bodies, may not prove a source of disquiet to either party, nor give occasion to the enemies of the cross to blaspheme the common cause of both. The Wesleyan Methodist connexion, hitherto, both at home and abroad, has proved itself any thing but hostile to that branch of the church from which its venerable founder sprung. And a little more gentleness and a little more kindness on the part of the mother, is justly due to a child, who, notwithstanding much untender and even harsh treatment, has never withdrawn a filial affection from its parent, even after its filial obedience, which had been dutifully proffered, was contemptuously refused. Nor ought it to be forgotten that Methodism did not separate itself, but was separated. And perhaps, few bodies of Christians ever exhibited more of the meekness of wisdom, since their separation, than the Methodists, in their demeanour towards the Anglican Church, from which, had she not proved unfaithful to herself, they would never, even as they never ought to, have been cut off. And having premised thus much, in justice to that "Connection," I proceed to touch, and I would do so with all delicacy and tenderness, upon a circumstance which has given pain to more than one of its ministers out of New Zealand. The Church Missionaries have a resolution to the effect, that their pulpits are not to be occupied by strangers, if those strangers belong to another communion, the consequence of which is, that all the missionaries in the South Seas are excluded therefrom, except Church Missionaries.
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Might I, as a very sincere friend to them all, as one who would on no account remove a single stone of that spiritual building which they have been privileged to erect; might I, as a brother, beseech them by a brother's love, it would be, to abrogate and for ever annul a resolution which can do no good, but may be instrumental of much harm. Christianity is not sectarian, but catholic in its spirit; and concessions timely yielded, come always with a better grace than when they have been extorted by public outcry. It is the right of all Christian men who speak as the oracles of God, to be heard by their fellow Christians, of whatever denomination or party in the general church. It is a perilous undertaking to judge of any man's fitness or unfitness for the public ministry of the gospel, by either admitting or forbidding him to preach in situations of which we may hold the trust. But the peril is increased a hundred fold, when, by a general rule, we bind ourselves and those who communicate with us, to limit, so far as we are able, that ministry to members of a particular religious communion, without at the same time having either claim or pretension to infallibility of judgment, by pointedly excluding the ministers of other communions, accredited or unaccredited, holy or unholy, from the exercise of such ministry, in all those places which belong to us, or are subjected to our controul. And, although devotedly, attached to my mother church, established in England, and bringing many sons to glory in New Zealand, I will not be partaker of her evil deeds or curse with her those whom God
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hath not cursed, or bless with her those whom God hath not blessed. I believe her to be verily guilty in this matter of breaking the royal law of love, of offending the weak brethren of my Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, and doing despite to the Spirit of his grace, by quenching that Holy Spirit when he has come burning with zeal and glowing with love, in the person of a disciple of the same Lord, and a son of the same God; and by resisting that Holy Spirit of grace and truth, in refusing to send those whom he hath manifestly commanded to be sent, and in hindering those from yielding themselves unreservedly to God's free service, who were, beyond all question, inwardly moved thereto by God the Holy Ghost working in them to will and to do according to his good pleasure. And oh! bow grievously has my mother suffered for this her sin. Even her own ministering sons are forbidden by her to step out of their peculiar pulpits for the purpose of winning souls to Christ, and when they have loved the souls of men too passionately to be restricted from seeking the salvation of such souls, either in a conventicle or the open air, she has--"tell it not in Gath! publish it not in the streets of Askelon! lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice; lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph!" she has, by her own act and deed, stripped them of their priest's clothing, put the seal of her interdict upon their lips, denying them to preach and prohibiting them from the public exercise of their ministry, whom she herself, on the credit of their being inwardly moved thereto by the Holy Ghost, had
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first separated to that ministry and all this wrong and robbery she has perpetrated, for none other reason than their excess of charity, thereby thinning her own ranks, and swelling the hosts of her adversaries by the most fearless of her sons and the most valiant of her champions, as Saul banished David, and forced him into the cities of the Amalekites, and an alliance with the Philistines. If this most grievous yoke and intolerable burthen must still crush and grind the poor church in England, where it is established by law, let her not be brought into any such miserable bondage in New Zealand, where her only existing law is, or ought to, and may still be, the royal law of liberty and love. Yet, if the brethren suffer themselves to be betrayed into the adoption of a rule, excluding ministers not of their communion from ministering in their churches, let them not refuse the admonition, and the warning of a brother, who loves them not the less truly because he espies their infirmity and tells them of their danger. If they exclude others, they may look to be excluded themselves. If they forbid those whom God hath not forbidden, they may yet themselves be forbidden when God would not forbid. Love begets love, and, contrariwise, uncharitableness begets uncharitableness. 1
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I returned from Mr. Clindon's hospitable home to Paihia, where the Williams's, always kind, prepared me a lodging for the night; and many pleasing reflections suggested themselves to one's mind; at the close of a day like this, on which the New Zealanders may be said to have received a name, and to
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have been enrolled among the nations of the earth. The occasion was one well calculated to shadow forth that full period in the history of the church, when, in the sight and hearing of an assembled universe, the banner, which God hath given unto them that fear him, to be displayed because of the truth, shall wave over the ruins of empires, and form a rallying point for all the tribes of the whole earth; the elect saints and angels of the Most High be gathered together by the four winds of heaven from the four quarters of the globe; and the everlasting doors lift up their gates for the King of Glory to enter in and take possession of his everlasting inheritance, at the head of that palm-bearing multitude, who have come through great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, "the righteous nation that keepeth the truth." And when it shall be seen of all, and acknowledged of all, that the banner over us is love. And when the altar of the whole human race shall be built, and the sacrifice of an entire world's thanksgiving shall be offered up to Jehovah Jesus, as, Jehovah Nissi, THE LORD OUR BANNER.
March 23, 1835. --The ship was got under weigh this morning, from the Bay of Islands, and entered the romantic harbour of Wangaroa, in the evening. Her visit to the former place had been productive of much gratification, and furnished considerable additions to our previous stock of information respecting the Islanders. Some miscellaneous particulars have escaped record in the preceding pages, but ought not to go unnoticed altogether.
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TO NEW ZEALAND. 119
By the traffic carried on between the natives and the resident and other European traders, the latter are great gainers. For although the former have acquired the art of discriminating between the comparative value of different articles of their own produce, as also of the respective goods offered them in exchange, they have but inadequate conceptions of the actual worth of either their own or other men's goods. As a natural consequence they frequently barter away what is truly valuable for that which would be utterly valueless, but for the undue price set upon its acquisition by themselves. I have before said, they have neither coin nor currency, but they have three articles in general use, and still more general estimation, which are to them, what gold, silver, and copper, are to other nations. These are, I. Tobacco; --which almost every man and woman either chews or smokes, or both--a filthy habit taught them by the numerous visits of the South Sea whalers, II. Blankets; --which from the warmth they afford, and the labour they spare, are fast coming into use, as a substitute for the elegant but more costly mat of native manufacture, and bid fair to destroy all vestiges of the picturesque in their attire, which was formerly, and in a proportion of cases still is very handsome and even elegant. Would it not be conferring a benefit upon this people, to introduce the Tartan kilt and plaid of our own highlands among them as articles of dress, equally beautiful and useful? III. Muskets, and their deadly appurtenances--powder and shot. These last are in most esteem, on account of the constant wars in
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which the tribes are engaged, but, it is hoped, will cease to be in request, as those tribes learn to judge rightly respecting their true interests, and cease from war, as alike criminal and a curse.
Accustomed to distinguish between the characters of their different visitors, by judging every man according to his works, they frequently pass sentence upon them in a single word, and fasten epithets to their names, which at once betray their simplicity, and set at nought the refinements of men more civilized but not more just than themselves. Kei hea a 'Hamiora, enquired an Englishman of his native servant, "Where is Samuel?" Kua riro kite uwera ki te hoko paura! was the reply, "He is gone to the devil," meaning a reprobate settler in the neighbourhood, "to buy powder!" European devils, in the emphatic vocabulary of the natives, signifying those men, whose conduct and behaviour are a disgrace to their native land, and doubly disgraceful to the name of Christian; which they are not ashamed to bear long after every trace of the Christian character has been obliterated by sensuality and vice. From the contrast between such men's lives and those of Christian missionaries, every addition to the number of the latter, becomes immediately an object of curious and scrutinizing enquiry, on the part of the natives: who will hover about the path of a missionary for some time after his arrival, acquaint themselves with his domestic habits and private behaviour, weigh the words that fall from his lips, and cast many a searching glance at his countenance, to read in his looks the in-
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telligence these furnish as to what passes in his mind; and after days, weeks, perhaps months have elapsed, and satisfied them, that there is not only a general resemblance, but also a special and particular likeness between the newly arrived missionaries, and their old and long-tried predecessors, the enquiries are started, Where do you come from? Did you know so and so before? Are you related to them? Were you born in the same family? Did you live in the same house? and fifty other such questions and cross questions to elucidate the causes of the resemblance which each missionary bears to his fellow. And failing to account for the family likeness running through the whole, by a reference to natural causes, they arrive, by the philosophy of induction, at the conclusion, that they must all be taught by one God to agree upon matters of doctrine as they do; that they must all be dwelt in by one Spirit, to live as they do the same life of righteousness in private as well as in public; and furthermore, that they must all serve one master, to be all engaged about the same work. "Hereby shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another!" This declaration of our blessed Redeemer, made in Judea, has found an apt illustration in New Zealand. Would to God that the prayer of the same Lord Jesus, when he prayed not for his apostles alone, but also for them which shall believe on Him through their word, might be universally accomplished throughout the world, "That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that
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the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them: that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one: and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me, " John xvii. 20,21,22,23.
Slavery, and redemption therefrom, are common usages. All prisoners of war, and their offspring, and the offspring of all captives, are slaves, liable to be bought and sold, liable to be smitten and to be slain, at their master's uncontrolled option and pleasure. Their redemption may be effected for a mere trifle, the price of a couple of blankets being esteemed the full value of any slave. Many have had their freedom purchased for them by the missionaries, and all whom the truth as it is in Jesus may have set free from the law of sin and death, have, if previously in bondage to earthly masters, been released by purchase from compulsory servitude. There is a curious custom holding in this country, which from its analogy to one prevailing among the Israelites of old, I cannot refrain from mentioning. When persons taken prisoners in battle have been condemned to die, they have occasionally sought for protection to others of the tribe, or that protection has been afforded them unsought, and their deliverance effected by the mat or garment of their redeemer being flung over them. A female belonging to New South Wales, fell into the hands of a tribe to the westward, and was about to be murdered, when one of the chiefs threw his
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mat over her, claimed her for his slave, and thus redeemed her life from destruction. Whether this practice originated in the Jewish one of redeeming the widow with the inheritance of a deceased kinsman, I will not attempt to decide, but it will be conceded to me as a somewhat singular coincidence, when it is remembered that Ruth, after she had performed the office of a menial, by uncovering the feet of her kinsman, besought him to spread his skirt over her. "And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of corn: and she came softly: and uncovered his feet, and laid her down. And it came to pass at midnight, that the man was afraid, and turned himself; and, behold, a woman lay at his feet, and he said, Who art thou? and she answered, I am Ruth thine handmaid; spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid; for thou art a near kinsman. " Ruth iii. 7,8,9. And an allusion even more direct still, and still further explanatory of the custom, is made to this practice in the history of the favour shewn to Jerusalem by the Divine Being, as recorded by Ezekiel, ch. xvi. v. 3 to 9, &c. "Thus saith the Lord God unto Jerusalem, thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father, an Amorite; and thy mother, an Hittite. And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee: thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all; none eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast
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out in the open field, to the loathing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born. And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee in thy blood, Live! yea, I said unto thee in thy blood, Live! I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments; thy breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown, whereas thou wast naked and bare. Now, when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time, the time of love! and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest mine!" &c. &c.
Slavery itself is a practice coeval with the existence of man ever since his expulsion from paradise. It began by being spiritual and voluntary, and has ended by becoming corporeal and compulsory. When Adam partook with his wife of the forbidden fruit, he was not deceived, we are told, as she had been, and the bondage into which he came, he and his seed in him, was chosen by him with his eyes open to the terrible consequences. He sold himself under sin, to Satan, the great ante-typical slave-holder, and the first, being who traded in human flesh. The Spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience, wrought in Cain to exercise the art and part of a master over his brother, by slaying him, and from the birth of Seth, the successor of Abel in righteousness and in the favour of God, there has been a perpetual struggle between
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man, the slave, and Satan the slave-holder, the one to recover possession of his freedom, the other to maintain inviolate his infernal mastery over, and property in the enslaved. And, his dominion would have been a righteous dominion, his claim to a property in man, a just and substantial claim, had not a ransom been provided for the whole race, had not a Redeemer been found for the entire family. That Redeemer was the Son of God, made the Son of man, that he might be man's kinsman, and therefore entitled to redeem his kinsfolk, on payment of the price forfeited; and the wages of sin being death, he "tasted death for every man," or as it reads in the original "for each particular person," that he might purchase "eternal redemption" for us, and shed his heart's blood upon the cross; his blood, because in it is the life, that in him we might have redemption, through his blood, --the forgiveness of sins. The Second Adam achieved the redemption of the first. And all right of the devil to rule the children of men, or reign over them, was then for ever destroyed when Christ died, the just for the unjust, to bring us to God. But Satan had tasted the sweets of sovereignty, and what cared he that for man there was nothing but dregs and bitterness in slavery. He had sought the ruin of our race by dividing the wife from the husband in Eden, but the love of Adam for Eve, though fallen, would not consent to the divorce, deeming death preferable to division. In their union, there was still strength, for from that union a deliverer was to spring. Disappointed of his prey, and that, too, at the moment
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when he appeared to have it in his grasp, the arch enemy still adhered to his plan of attack, only changing its object. The parents were safe, and he turned to their children, if haply he might wreak on them the vengeance he had prepared for their progenitors. As I have said, he sought to divide those whom he would conquer, and entering into the heart of Cain, set up a particular interest to destroy the general good; and maintained that interest by force and by fraud, one while by intimidation, another while by seduction, until "the earth was corrupt before God," and "filled with violence;" until "all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth;" and the Lord said unto Noah, "Come thou and all thy house into the ark, for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation." The controversy between Christ, and anti-christ, between the second man and the second man's adversary, seemed to be brought to a close in the waters of the deluge, and to have its termination in the destruction of all the ungodly and the salvation of only righteous Noah and his family, eight persons saved from the wreck of a world that had foundered. But the waters of the deluge had scarcely subsided from the face of the earth, before the gates of wickedness were thrown open in order to the letting in of a flood of ungodliness, again to divide the hearts, if haply it might at length succeed in destroying the glorious liberty of the Sons of God. The blessing wherewith God blessed Noah and his sons, was still audible to the ear; and the bow of promise wherewith God guaranteed the earth and
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its inhabitants freedom from fear of a second deluge by water, was still visible to the eye; when the adversary, taking occasion by Noah's drunkenness and Ham's profligacy, put it into the heart of the son, to expose the folly of the father, "and Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him; and he said, cursed be Canaan! a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren! and he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant! God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant!" The curse of Noah had not been causeless, and it fell not to the ground. The history of slavery exhibiting that curse in the light of a prophecy, by showing its exact fulfilment in every particular. It is foreign to my purpose to trace the progress of "this accursed thing." I think I have shown that the devil was its parent, Cain and his progeny those who assisted at the birth, drunkenness its cradle, disobedience its strength, and a father's curse its breath of life. And I have only further to say upon the subject generally, that as a Christian I disclaim in my own name, and in the name of my Father, the Lord God Almighty, and in the name of my elder Brother, Jesus, the alone rightful possessor of heaven and earth, and in the name of the Holy Church universal throughout the whole world, my mother and my brethren being they that hear the will of God and do it, all participation in the guilt of enslaving my fellow men. While as an Englishman, I give thanks to my heavenly Father,
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the Father of all men, that he has put it into the hearts of the people of my country, to loose at last this load of criminality from their shoulders; and honestly, honourably, righteously, and godlily, to buy back the freedom of the slave, and render equitable, though tardy justice, to the meet dignity of human nature, and the inalienable birth-right of every human being, by the positive and everlasting abolition of slavery throughout all the dominions of the British Empire.
But the duty of the Englishman, and much more so the duty of the Christian, ends not with the abolition of slavery in the empire of Great Britain. It must be up-rooted from every soil in which it grows, and the way that has succeeded in England to sway public opinion, till by it, as by a lever, the colossal fabric of our domestic and colonial slavery has been torn from its foundations, and levelled with the dust to which it chained millions and millions of our oppressed and afflicted fellow subjects; that way continues open, by which to apply the same lever with a like irresistible energy to all similar towers of pride under which the earth groans in foreign countries, and far distant lands. The knowledge of Christ and him crucified, and him raised again from the dead, as it is contained in the gospel of the grace of God, which the disciples of Jesus have it in command to preach to every creature, it is the fulcrum whereon to rest the lever of public opinion which shall move the world; it is the way by which the world is to be liberated, even as in it is contained the charter of freedom, written by the finger
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of God, and in the blood of his Son, and sealed with the Holy Spirit of God, the charter, I say, of freedom, temporal--spiritual--and eternal, not only of the great family of man as a family; but of every individual member thereof personally and particularly, no matter to what country he may belong, or in what clime he may draw his breath; no matter what the colour of his skin; or whether his hair be straight, or woolly; and no matter whether he be the dweller in a land which Christianity has enlightened, or the occupant of a territory which still lieth in the wicked one. When the curse of the first Adam's transgression was laid upon the second Adam, liberty was declared to his brethren of mankind, by the very earthquake that announced the death of the Son of God; it was written upon the forehead of the sun as that luminary looked with affright upon the bloody tragedy acted at Calvary; and in demonstration of the right of their Redeemer to unloose, and of the impotence of their enslaver to continue to bind any that are willing to be loosed, the very graves were opened when Jesus died, and "many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city of Jerusalem and appeared unto many."
What hinders that this charter be read aloud ia the universal ear of all mankind?--What hinders that this good news of salvation unto all people-- that these glad tidings of great joy be preached upon the tops of the mountains, and proclaimed with trumpet tongues to all the nations of the earth, till they not only reach the ear but also move the
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heart of every creature? What hinders that the birthright of the human race, restored by him who took it not away, be forthwith put into the possession of every individual of that race? What hinders that the title-deeds of man's inheritance, redeemed by the voluntary sacrifice of the innocent Lamb of God, and opened by the availing righteousness, and kept open by the prevailing intercession of the Lion of the tribe of Judah, what hinders that they be no longer withheld from any one of the multitude without number, whom they concern, and to whom they belong? Let Christians not relax their efforts for the spiritual illumination of the world, and Englishmen, whose native air is freedom, will not slacken their exertions, until the globe they inhabit be suspended in a new and pure atmosphere, which slavery shall not be able to breathe in and live, but where all shall be free from the least to the greatest; and the law of the strongest ceasing to be the law of any land, the law of liberty and love shall become in its stead, the arbiter of kings, and the protector of nations.
For New Zealand, along whose coast my readers may suppose me to be sailing during the foregoing digression, and in the sight of its hundreds of thousands of slaves, I implore from my heavenly Father with weeping eyes and outstretched hands, more of that freedom -wherewith the truth makes men free. And, from the saints and faithful in Christ Jesus, who are God's almoners for the benefit of a starved and starving world of immortal spirits I entreat more help--more schools--more mission-
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aries, that the slavery of the New Zealanders' body may disappear with the slavery of the New Zealanders' soul; and that, the work of this salvation being the Lord's, and the means of its accomplishment being the means of his appointment, the, glory, and honor, and praise, and power of the achievement may all be ascribed, as is most due, to Him only, who gave himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
Before the close of this part of my narrative, I shall have occasion to make mention of a lamentable fact, which renders it imperative upon British Christians to extirpate by all lawful means the curse of slavery from New Zealand, as an act of justice as well as of mercy.
Wangaroa, 24th March, 1834. Landed in the afternoon on the right hand side of the harbour in company with two messmates, and scrambled over the rocks along shore until we came to a small village, composed of a few straggling huts, much more rudely constructed than their fellows in other parts of the island. Rounding a point beyond the scite of this village, a long sandy beach conducted our feet to a lovely bay, from the shores of which richly-wooded hills fall back on every side, to inclose a valley, well, watered by a running stream that passes through it. In the centre of this vale, there was a plantation of Indian corn, ripe and yellow; adjoining it a large and flourishing bed of melons. Near these sat half a dozen natives on a green grass plat, eating Kumera, Fern Root, and
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Indian Corn. The well known words Haere-mai, and tane-rake-koe, "come hither," and "how do you do? invited us to approach them. One old chief with a grey head and long white beard, sat in the midst; a solitary white feather, plucked from the wing of the gannet, adorned his head, and declared him to be of the aristocracy of his country. Observing a fence of green withies twisted round a circular inclosure, laid with dried grass and straw, we were curious to ascertain its use, upon which the poor old man placed his hand under his head, closed his eyes, and lay down, giving us in this way to understand, either that it was a burial-place for the dead, or a dormitory for the living.
Two of the above natives afterwards became our guides to the top of the principal hill, which, from its great altitude and a remarkable rock, not unlike a cupola, on its summit, has acquired the somewhat fanciful name of St. Peter's. The thickness of the fern to be waded through, and which frequently grew to the height of five, six, and even seven feet, rendered the ascent a task of difficulty and labour. And when at length we stood upon the top, a pitiless shower of rain came pelting down, and for some time hid in impenetrable mist the magnificent panorama, at other times visible from where we stood. But, the rain once over, and the mist gone, the toil of the climb, and the comfortlessness of garments wet through, were more than repaid by the glorious painting stretched forth on every hand "wide as the eye could reach," from the scarce visible horizon "far, far at sea," so faintly lined and
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dimly seen, that it might almost seem as though this world had no boundary there, but was become one with the o'er-arching firmament!--to where the river at the head of the harbour, after winding its tortuous course through wood and dale, appears in distant perspective to contract its dimensions, until it creeps out of sight altogether under the cloak thrown over it by the broad shadows of a dark blue table mountain, behind which its waters take their rise. The intermediate space between the extremes of sea and land, being like a sea of glass strewed with islands, "glittering in their green array," and set in a frame-work of lofty hills, overlooking innumerable coves and harbours, with here and there the villages of the natives skirting the shore, and their canoes plying upon the water, and breaking its polished surface into a gentle ripple, which the beams of the setting sun gild into a transient glory, while bringing the day to a close with their own decline. A lovelier picture than that seen from the summit of St. Peter's I have rarely gazed upon in any quarter of the globe.
March 28th, and the anniversary of our Lord's crucifixion. -- Paid a second and solitary visit to the shore, landing where several of the crew were employed cutting timber, on the south side of the harbour, and thence had to thread my way through a dense thicket, rendered scarcely passable by the fern and flax plants, and broken branches of trees matting the ground in every direction, and entangling the feet at every step, while the ever running, never ending Supple Jack, traversing
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every tree, and tying them all together, added further opposition to one's progress. Extricating myself from this maze, I succeeded at length in reaching a height which commands a fine view of the entrance to the outer harbour, as well as of the multiplication of little bays into which the two inner harbours divaricate like the figure of a fern leaf. A few paces further on, led into a narrow foot track, running along the dorsum of a hilly peninsula, by which this inner harbour is itself subdivided. While following this track, I had au opportunity of observing the singular contrast produced by the different aspects of the surrounding country, as they look either northward or southward. The latter presenting an uniformly-smooth and lawn-like surface, having none other drapery than what is afforded them by the several varieties of the Adiantum; while the former, which struck me at the same time as inviting to the cultivation of the grape, from the striking resemblance they bear to the vine-clad hills embanking the waters of the Alto Douro in "beautiful Portugal," nourish and sustain a continuous forest of trees, from their summits to the water's edge.
The above path afterwards turning off at a right angle, descends the bill on the side opposite to that at which I had landed, and perviating another wood, conducts the feet of the pedestrian to the native town of Kai-Monga, situated very pleasantly, but somewhat stragglingly built upon the brow of a small promontory, its suburbs stretching like wings along the margins of two small bays which
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that promontory comes between and separates. The chief's house, and some dozen others, occupy the loftier scite; white a multitude of detached huts lie scattered in a valley to the right, and are surrounded with large vegetable gardens. All these huts were very small, and to judge from their exterior, as comfortless also; the merest loophole serving for an entrance, and the door to this, when shut, excluding all light.
It was about mid-day when I reached this rural scene, and therefore the time when most of the inhabitants were at home, preparing for, or actually eating, their noon-tide meal: here, as every where else that I have yet had an opportunity of seeing in New Zealand, simply consisting of a few boiled potatoes and kumeras, --these vegetables constituting the general diet of the New Zealander; flesh, whether of man or beast, being preserved for festival occasions; and even fish, with which their harbours and rivers abound, not appearing to be commonly eaten, if indeed it be generally relished. In what first originated the dreadful custom of feeding upon human bodies, which unquestionably is still prevalent among this people, I pretend not to say; it has been conjectured to have arisen from the extremity of hunger to which they must frequently have been reduced, when hunted like wild beasts from place to place by victorious and blood-thirsty enemies. And it has been thought that, afterwards, an appetite for this unnatural kind of food, which shocks, at its first mention, the very commonest feelings of humanity,
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continued with those whose necessities first drove them to resort to it as an only alternative under the apprehension of horrible death, made more horrible by the prospect of starvation. However this may be, the practice, with other kindred abominations is fast ceasing, and will, it may be hoped, speedily disappear altogether, as the light of Christianity spreads over the land, and warms into life the kindlier affections and tenderer sympathies of our common nature in the persons of these poor, and blind, and miserable, and naked savages, who, however low their present estate, however degraded their present condition, however vitiated their present habits, are not below the love of Christ, that it cannot stoop to the profoundest depth of their wretchedness, to raise them up from poverty to riches, from darkness to light, from the misery of devils to the joy of angels, and from the nakedness of utter destitution to the glorious apparelling of righteousness, salvation, and praise. What has been, may be; and the following beautiful passage from the pen of an esteemed American divine, the Christian will not think out of place by being transferred to the present page; --"The love of Christ," says the eloquent Dwight, "extends through all lands and ages. It reaches persons in every condition of life. The monarch is not above--the beggar is not below it. The infant, expiring in the cradle, is not without its grasp; nor the hoary sinner tottering on the brink of the tomb. It descended like the dew of Eden, upon our first parents, speedily after their apostacy. It travelled
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down through the antediluvian ages, until it entered the ark with Noah and his family, and accompanied them over the ocean of destruction to the mountains of Ararat. It wandered as a pilgrim with Abraham, and followed him from Chaldea to the land of promise. It went down with Jacob and Joseph into Egypt, and returned again with Moses through the Red Sea, and the Wilderness, to the same sequestered ground. It dwelt with the church in the Shechinah, until the Babylonish captivity. With Daniel it entered the lion's den; and to Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego in the caverns of the burning fiery furnace, appeared with celestial splendour, in the form of the Son of God. With the apostles, it preached through the Roman world, the glad tidings of great joy which were announced to all people; and proclaimed glory to God in the highest, peace on earth, and good-will towards men. From Asia it travelled into Europe; and even in the ages of darkness and superstition, found the cottage of piety and the cell of devotion, and sanctified them for its residence amid a world of corruptions. At the Reformation it lighted the flame of virtue on a thousand hills, and awakened hymns of transport and praise in all the valleys beneath them. From Europe it crossed the Atlantic with the little flock which sought and found a refuge for piety in this immense wilderness, (America) and smiled upon every sanctuary which they built, every church which they planted, and every sacrifice of prayer and praise which they offered up to God. With the
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missionaries who run to and fro to increase knowledge, it is now sailing back to Asia, again to shower its blessings upon regions long accursed with drought and sterility. In these vast regions of the globe, and during this immense progress of time, it has never failed to visit a house where it was welcomed, nor a heart in which it could find a residence. To the feeble it has regularly imparted strength, and to the doubtful, confidence. To the solitary, it has been the most delightful companion, and to the forsaken, the best of friends. The eye of despondency it has illumined with hope, and caused the heart of sorrow to sing with joy. Wherever it has appeared, life and immortality have sprung to light; and faith, repentance, and holiness, have become inmates of the breast. The heralds of salvation have proclaimed pardon, peace, and reconciliation with God; and the soul, lifting up its eyes, has, like the seer of Patmos, seen the New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, prepared and adorned, as a bride for her husband." May that love of Christ, shed abroad in the hearts of all true believers, constrain us all to the good work of communicating it to every inhabitant of New Zealand, to all the isles of the sea, and to every part of the habitable globe; that men beholding this and other good works wrought by the Church of Christ, may glorify our Father, who is in heaven. Amen and Amen.
At Kai-Monga, one of the chief's wives was seen seated apart from the rest of the community, and industriously preparing the staple commodity of her
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country for sale, by scraping with the edge of a muscle shell, the dried flax plant of its peel, so as to separate its fibres, and in this very simple manner is the New Zealand flax prepared.
The house originally built for the chief, whose name is Epuna, was tapu, or rendered sacred to his service alone, and about three times as large as any of the others. Three grotesque figures, rudely carved, ornamented the porch, which projects sufficiently to admit of a dozen persons sitting under its shelter. It has recently been hired by a couple of Englishmen, who have a saw-pit adjoining, and from whom I learnt that the price of native labour is so low, that a day's work may be bought for two figs of tobacco. The instability of the native character, frequently, however, it was added, rendering their labour of no value at all, and always making it, as to productiveness, precarious, and not to be depended on.
From this spot, I proceeded up a mountain which, from its situation and appearance, has been called St. Paul's. Like St. Peter's hill, already described, a huge cone of rock crowns its summit;: and this, rising precipitously and almost perpendicularly to an immense height, presents to view, on all sides but one, an inaccessible cliff. On a nearer approach, the face of this time-worn rock shows many a scar, the joint effects of storm and tempest, wind and rain; and from these clefts and fissures, trees of stateliest growth have sprung up, and spread out their wide and leafy branches in fine contrast with the strong and barren ground in which their
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trunks are imbedded. The earth, in one of these rents, has been disturbed by the uprooting of a gigantic tree which once occupied it, but now lies fallen, a signal trophy of the tempest's strength, and serving only to fill up in part, the fearful chasm from which it once grew, and to make the way of ascent more facile to the top; thither accordingly a man may now scramble, but not without peril of broken bones, or, perhaps, a dislocated neck.
The space on which this mighty mass of rock was based is broad, and hewn into a series of flat terraces, rising over one another, and in many places covered with the exsiccated shells of the cockle, the muscle, and other fish, demonstrative of this having been once the scite of a Pa, or fortress, though neither hut nor fence remain. The Wangaroa tribes, under the chieftainship and during the lifetime of George, who avenged his own wrongs by the massacre of the crew of the Boyd, were populous and powerful. Since his death, however, they have been thinned greatly by the ravages of war, and the effects of prostitution, which their seafaring visitors have fatally encouraged among them. The banks of the rivers are nearly deserted of inhabitants, and the shores of the harbour so bare of native dwellings, as almost to woo the inhabitants of another land to locate them.
While ascending St. Paul's, the native guide exhibited the wonted indisposition of his countrymen to toil, by repeatedly reminding me that the hill was steep and the path rugged; until, finding I was determined to proceed, he threw himself down on
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a small mound, and left me to prosecute the remainder of the journey alone. On descending it again, two natives advanced to meet me, one of whom, a very old man, appearing particularly anxious that I should not lose my way, I gave myself up to his guidance, and, after about six hours' absence, reached Kai-Monga a second time, and was met by the chief, who very readily summoned a crew to take me on board, but the crew themselves seemed by no means inclined for the job. The hesitation they evinced to man their canoe, was explained by the two Englishmen to have arisen out of a transaction on some previous evening, when two of the officers hired four men to put them on board, but afterwards had some dispute about the payment, and sent the natives away extremely dissatisfied. The circumstance was subsequently explained to me by those gentlemen, but the impression remained on the minds of the natives, that they had been cheated by the strangers, and hence this distrust. One of the former, on being remonstrated with upon the injustice, as well as groundlessness of his suspicions, answered pointedly enough, "How can I tell that he is not one of the same sort." This trifling incident shows the necessity of extreme caution in every business transaction with savages, who have a strong sense of natural justice, and in general adhere strictly to the terms of any contract into which they enter.
In their canoes, which I had now an opportunity of examining at my leisure, I noticed little deserving of particular notice, unless exception be made
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in favour of the carving at the sterns and prows, which, after all, is only curious as the performance of a barbarous people, possessed of few and inadequate tools. This mode of ornamenting their boats admits of great variety, and in consequence, hardly two of their boats are ornamented exactly alike. A head is the favourite device, more or less hideous, according to the taste or skill of the workman. The canoe itself is exceedingly simple, being formed of the trunk of the Cowry, hollowed out with a stone adze, and tapered off by the same tool towards the ends. A thick broad plank on each side, in some cases carved exteriorly with a bas relief of human figures, serves as a gunwhale plank, and at the same time deepens the hollow of the canoe, to the top of which, along its entire length, these planks are spliced, somewhat after the fashion of a Masoolah boat, the intermediate seam being caulked with a sort of coir rope. The interior fittings are more simple than the exterior decorations, consisting of a strong grating laid along the bottom of the canoe, and forming a place of stowage for their provisions when required to proceed on a voyage; a few cross sticks, in the better sort, carved and smoothed, serve for thwarts. But these are more commonly wanting, the paddle being plied with equal facility when those who handle it are seated at the bottom of the canoe, us when they occupy the more elevated seats, and, it may not be amiss to add, with equal dexterity by men and women; one of the latter I once observed at the end of a little boat plying her paddle with indefatigable industry,
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although a mother and a nurse; her infant being occasionally transferred from the breast to a mat at her feet, and vice versa, as circumstances required.
March 31, 1834. --At daybreak, yesterday morning, the Alligator again weighed and stood out of Wangaroa Bay, bidding a present farewell to this interesting island; on leaving which, truth and humanity require that mention be made of two melancholy facts connected with its history since the visit of Captain Cook, and the account of his voyages, paved the way to its becoming a place of resort for vessels trading in the South Seas; and more particularly, since the formation of British colonies in New Holland and Van Dieman's Land, has led to a free and unrestrained intercourse between the native population and our colonial and other seamen. In the immediate neighbourhood of the Bay of Islands, where whaling and other vessels have principally resorted, the presence of young children is far from a common sight--the sterility of the women notorious and undeniable. The melancholy cause of this sterility and of this childlessness, is the frightful extent to which native prostitution is carried under the immediate sanction of the masters of ships belonging to England and her colonies. And this judgment is corroborated by the following testimony borne to a corresponding fact in a neighbouring island, by the Wesleyan Missionary Society, in their report for 1834. -- "In the Island of Tonga the progress of the gospel is not without opposition. The island is a place of considerable resort for merchant and whaling ves-
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sels; and in a great number of instances the character and conduct of British seamen, both visitors and residents, have proved distressing hindrances to the advancement of religion. A happy contrast to this fact has, however, been presented to the natives by the visits of several of the vessels of His Majesty's navy. The strict discipline maintained amongst the men, and the kindness, liberality, and countenance of their respective officers, have been productive of the most beneficial results. " (p. 36.)
The unhappy females subject to such degradation, are, for the most part, slaves; and the miserable hire of their prostitution is given up to their masters. Occasionally the wages of their iniquity is deemed too small, and they often have to receive another kind of payment from their enraged proprietors, in blows, kicks, and even death itself.
Another deplorable circumstance in the present condition of the natives, is the great prevalence of scrophula, combined with as terrible a disease of much less doubtful origin, and wofully aggravated by the combination. I was called to attend upon several frightful cases, and, among others, one of a woman, whose chest was completely denuded of its flesh by the spreading ulceration, which had laid bare the ribs and breast bone.
The above diseases are also common in their simple and unconnected forms, and one, fatally so, along the villages by the sea-side; many infants, while hanging on their mothers' breasts, imbibing the virus with their mothers' milk, and being carried off by it, dreadful sufferers for their parents' sin!
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And such were the gifts bestowed on New Zealand by their maritime visitors! such among the first beneficial results to New Zealand of its discovery by a people in Christendom, who are not also ashamed to boast of their religion, as though it were the religion of God's holy child Jesus! And such, as our intercourse with its natives shall increase, and it is increasing every day, will continue to be the effects produced by the visits of our shipping to its coasts and harbours, unless the Church of God bestir herself to do the work of her Lord, who was manifested that the works of the devil might be destroyed; and unless a timely effort be made by British Christians to counteract the pernicious influence of British seamen, by inundating the Isles of the Sea with a flood of light: the marvellous light of the glorious gospel which teaches, and effectually teaches all who believe it, that, "denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, they should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, LOOKING FOR THAT BLESSED HOPE, THE GLORIOUS APPEARING OF THE GREAT GOD AND OUR SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST, WHO GAVE HIMSELF FOR US, THAT HE MIGHT REDEEM US FROM ALL INIQUITY, AND PURIFY UNTO HIMSELF A PECULIAR PEOPLE, ZEALOUS OF GOOD WORKS!"
