1867 - Williams, William. Christianity among the New Zealanders - CHAPTER XII: 1835, 1836.

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CHAPTER XII.

1835, 1836.

AFTER the Committee of Missionaries had well considered the relative claims of Matamata and Tauranga, it was decided to give the preference to the former place; and the Rev. A. N. Brown undertook the formation of this station, in which he was to be assisted by Mr. Morgan, who for this purpose was to leave Mangapouri. Mr. Brown arrived at Matamata in April, 1835. There were many difficulties to he encountered here also; hut it was found that a quiet and firm course of treatment generally sufficed to remove them.

These troubles often arose out of the every-day occurrences of life. Mr. Brown having purchased a large supply of potatoes for a winter stock of provision, Paharakeke, the principal chief engaged about the erection of the house, was angry because the potatoes were not all purchased from his tribe, and,

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perceiving a heavy rain coming on, he tapued the house in order that the potatoes might not be put under shelter. Mr. Brown felt that if this conduct were not checked, he might some day or other take it into his head to tapu him also. He therefore went to the old man, and told him that though the missionaries would not violate their sacred places, they could not allow the natives to tapu theirs. He then went into the house, and, much to the astonishment of the natives who were collected around, he took down the dirty mats which Paharakeke had tied up to the posts of the house as a sign of its being sacred, and took them outside; after which the natives, who had before refused to carry in the potatoes, went in without hesitation.

A few days afterwards, Paharakeke tried to have his potatoes purchased at a different price from that agreed for with other natives; but as he found begging and scolding equally unavailing, he at last good-humouredly gave up the point.

As there were no natives at work at the house the next day, Mr. Brown inquired the reason, and found that Paharakeke had desired them all to leave off work. On this he told the chiefs present that he could not bring his family till a house had been built for their reception; and as Paharakeke had, without any reason, refused to allow the men to continue their work, he should return to Puriri, and remain there till they sent him word that the house was finished. This intention was at once communicated to the old chief

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who very soon made his appearance, and requested to make peace, promising that the house should he proceeded with immediately. He stated also that he had not been angry with him, but with one of the natives who had sold the potatoes. Mr. Brown, therefore, recommended him to he reconciled with the person who had given him this annoyance. To this he consented, and, in English fashion, they shook hands, instead of rubbing noses.

Matamata was quite in the interior, and communication with friends at other places was dependent wholly on the will of the natives. One day Mr. Brown had the mortification of hearing that messengers from Puriri, with letters, had been detained on the road, in consequence of a tapu, a usual custom at the commencement of the eel-catching season. The natives, however, promised that the tapu should be taken off, and the road re-opened in two days. At the time fixed, the lads from Puriri arrived; but they had been plundered, and the box containing the supplies and letters taken from them. This conduct was trying, for the natives had broken their promise. Mr. Brown sent, therefore, for Waharoa, and complained that he had been deceived respecting the tapu, and stated also that it was absolutely necessary for him to go over the sacred ground. The old man said that, if he persisted in passing, the people would perhaps be very troublesome, as the eels would not go into the nets if the tapu were violated. Mr. Brown thought, however, that it was desirable to go

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to the confines of the sacred spot, and have an interview with the chief who had the box. He therefore left Matamata, and parted on excellent terms with the natives; and with no one more so than with his troublesome friend Paharakeke, who urged him to make haste and return with Mrs. Brown, and he would become a believer as soon as he went back again. In a few hours he reached the sacred spot, and the box was soon placed at the tent door, without any observation. The chief who had plundered the lads then made his appearance, and took to himself very great merit for not having kept anything belonging to Mr. Brown, and asked if he would not make peace with him. To give him some idea of the rights of property, Mr. Brown told him that the white man's property was not more sacred than that of the natives', a doctrine which he seemed quite incapable of comprehending. Mr. Brown promised, at his request, not to proceed on his journey till the morning, as he wished to take off the tapu during the night; and he then went on to argue, in a way most convincing to himself, that as they sat still on Sunday, because they were told to do so, it was the duty of the missionaries, in return, not to pass over tapued ground which had been made sacred for a season only.

One morning after Mr. Brown's return from Puriri, there was a disturbance made by three natives scaling the fence, one of whom commenced chopping the end of the house with his hatchet. It turned out that

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this man was one of those who had been engaged in the erection of the house, and having left his work unfinished, Ngakuku, who had completed it, proposed that the payment should be given to him; and they took this mode of showing their annoyance. The aggressors received a good scolding for their conduct; and at last the ringleader, feeling ashamed of himself, jumped back over the fence, and ran off to his home. The next day the work was paid for without any expression of dissatisfaction, and the native who had made the assault on the preceding day sent a letter of apology, and requested that he might be allowed to bring a pig as a peace-offering.

In this unsettled country, there was frequent occasion to feel how true is the declaration, "Thou knowest not what a day may bring forth." While Mr. Brown was at breakfast one morning, Te Waharoa entered the house, his countenance betraying the anger which was working within. He said that the natives of Maungatautari were on their way to Tauranga, with flax for a trader who had engaged to place a white man with them, and that he was determined to fire upon them, if they attempted to pass through Matamata. This was evidently a political movement on his part to prevent guns and ammunition passing into the hands of those who, though nominally his friends, might perhaps at a future time turn their force against him. Mr. Brown could not enter into the cause of their present quarrel, but earnestly urged him not to go to war with a tribe so

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nearly related to him as Ngatikoroki. In the evening a messenger, who had been sent by Waharoa to tell them that if they persisted in coming on he would fire upon them, returned with the tidings that Ngatikoroki would not regard his threat, and had sent back to Maungatautari for their guns. Looking to the Prince of Peace for a blessing, Mr. Brown determined to visit Ngatikoroki in the morning, and endeavour to prevail upon them to return to their homes, and Ngakuku consented to accompany him. This chief was nephew to Waharoa, and had formerly been, according to his own account, a very desperate character; but he was now making an open profession of religion before his countrymen.

Ngatihaua, the tribe of Waharoa, now left off scraping flax in order to make ball cartridge; Waharoa, however, gave his consent that Mr. Brown should go to Ngatikoroki. On the road they met a second messenger who had been charged by Ngatikoroki to tell Ngatihaua, that they had thrown away their flax, and had armed themselves, intending to proceed to Matamata. Some distance from the encampment of Ngatikoroki they met a few scouts, who ran back with the intelligence that a white man was coming. On reaching the spot they found about one hundred armed men, and about the same number of women and children. Mr. Brown took up a position about twenty yards from them, and, according to native custom, sat for some time in silence. At length one of the chiefs got up and made a speech; which he

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commenced by saying that he supposed the missionary was come to send them hack to their homes; but they were too brave to listen to him. He was followed by others, some of whom were very much inclined to be insolent, but the older men spoke more reasonably; one of them observing, that it was not right to be angry, till they had heard what Mr. Brown had to say. He told them he was not a messenger from Waharoa, but a messenger from Jesus Christ, who commanded all men to love one another. They listened with a good deal of attention, and finally consented to go back in the morning. Wishing to show how very brave they should have been, had they proceeded to Matamata, they commenced their hideous war dance. After a time the principal chiefs adjourned to Mr. Brown's tent, of which they took quiet possession, and kept on talking till after midnight, often requesting him to leave Waharoa's tribe, which they designated as a very bad one, and to go and reside with their tribe, which was composed altogether of men with "very good hearts and very quiet spirits."

Although Waharoa had allowed Mr. Brown to try and effect a reconciliation, he started off with his people by another road in pursuit of Ngatikoroki, and the next day they returned in a very sullen mood, because they had been deprived of the pleasure of shooting some of their relatives, Ngatikoroki having gone home.

Paringaringa, a chief of some note, died about this-

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time. When his relatives found that he was near his end, they wished to remove him from the settlement, but he objected, and desired his wife not to dispose of his corpse according to the native custom. As soon as he was dead they made the house tapu, and nailed it up. They refused to allow him to be buried in a coffin as being contrary to their practice, but afterwards they so far overcame their prejudices that the body was placed in a large box, which they buried in a grave. "When the earth was being pressed down, the widow said, "Let it rest lightly on him, that he may he able to rise again." Paringaringa's friends entertained the idea that he had died a believer, and had gone to heaven; but so blind were they to everything of a spiritual nature that they took two small loaves of bread, and placed them in the box, in order that he might have something to eat on his way to heaven.

While Mr. Brown was commencing his work at Matamata, Mr. Chapman was preparing to take some steps at Rotorua, and for this purpose he left Paihia in the month of February, in an open boat, proceeding first to Puriri in the Thames, and from thence overland to Rotorua, which he reached on the 19th of March, accompanied by a carpenter. A beginning was also made at Tauranga, and it was hoped that now all the principal tribes in this part of the country would be at once brought under Christian instruction, and that an end might be put to those feuds which had for generations back torn their

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people asunder. But whereas these operations had been long deferred by intestine wars, so now, as soon as an entrance had been effected into this part of Satan's dominions, he again stirred up evil, for the purpose of delaying that conquest which he knew would be certain in the end. The missionaries had but just taken possession of their new habitations, and the well-disposed natives were beginning to gather around them, and were listening to instruction which they had not yet made up their minds to receive, when a native of high rank belonging to Matamata was murdered at Rotorua. Retaliation was the necessary consequence, while the incipient station at Tauranga, the natives of which place were in alliance with those of Matamata, was bound to share with them all the evils of war. The treacherous act which led to this state of confusion is thus related by Mr. Chapman: --

"We were just beginning to feel some little ease from the burdens which for four months had pressed heavily upon us, when on Christmas morning of 1835, just as I was preparing to assemble the natives for service, intelligence was brought me that a chief, named Huka, had that morning murdered, in a most barbarous manner, Hunga, a near relative of Waharoa, and that the body had been taken to Huka's Pa, on the other side of the lake, to be eaten. I immediately had the boat launched, and, favoured with a fair wind, landed in little more than an hour. The natives received me in sullen silence, no doubt guessing my

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errand. They made no answer to my inquiries, and Huka himself, I found, was then at the great Pa, having gone there, as I afterwards learnt, to hang up the poor man's heart in a sacred place, in order to avert any danger from himself. I called upon them to give up to me the body of the murdered man; upon which a young man rose, and said that they had not the body, but that it had been quartered, and sent away in different directions; --that they had the head, which they were willing to give me, but were afraid of Huka's anger. I told them that I would take the responsibility upon myself. He then walked a short distance, and with the utmost unconcern brought me the head, wrapped up in a bloody mat. Placing it in the boat I brought it away, and on the following morning delivered it to some of the poor man's relations."

As soon as the tidings were carried to Matamata, it was apparent that Waharoa would not rest until ample revenge had been taken. This chief was a consummate warrior, possessing much military tact, and, like Hongi in the north, he was extremely cautious in disclosing his plans, lest information should be carried to the enemy.

The murderer of Waharoa's relative lived at a village on the banks of Rotorua lake, in the interior, and the Rotorua people naturally supposed that his vengeance would be directed against that quarter; but the crafty chief preferred a different course. According to native custom, Huka's relatives might

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be attacked with as much propriety as Huka himself. He decided therefore upon a movement against Maketu, 1 a Pa on the sea-coast, fifteen miles beyond Tauranga. At the same time, the more effectually to throw the natives off their guard, he refused to allow Mr. Brown to go to Rotorua to hold communication with Mr. Chapman, but directed him to go to Maketu and send for Mr. Chapman from thence, stating also that most of the Rotorua natives had consented to leave that place and reside at Maketu, so that he might have only the tribe of the murderer to engage with. After waiting about two months he assembled his forces at Matamata, with the avowed object of going to Rotorua, and then, making a rapid movement to Tauranga, where he was joined by the natives of that place, came unexpectedly upon Maketu.

The Rev. Messrs. Brown and Maunsell, the latter having lately joined the mission, had wished to go over from Matamata to Tauranga, but were not allowed to move until the army had taken its departure, but they followed quickly after, and on the night of their arrival they were aroused by a report that the army was close at hand on its return from Maketu. Among the foremost of the party was Waharoa; and as the great body of the natives purposed sleeping in the neighbourhood of the mission station, he came and lay down before Mr. Wilson's house, as a guard for the property. The number of natives killed in the

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Pa was about sixty-five. They brought away one hundred and fifty as slaves, and entirely destroyed the Pa. The premises of Mr. Tapsell, a flax trader, were burnt to the ground, and all his property either destroyed or carried away. So completely indeed was the place ransacked that the natives dug up the body of Mr. Tapsell's child, which had been deeply buried in his garden, in the hope of finding treasure in the coffin. This body of natives was made up from various tribes, many of them from the distant parts of Waikato; and being flushed with victory, and having tasted the sweets of plunder, there was reason for apprehension lest they should be turbulent towards the missionaries. They were, however, restrained from mischief, but the horrors of the scene were dreadful. Dead to all feeling, they shook the heads of their vanquished foes in the view of the missionaries, and displayed the hands and feet from the baskets of flesh which they were carrying on their backs. A young child was seen dandling upon his knees and making faces at the head of a Rotorua chief who had been slain, showing how readily human nature is reconciled to these scenes of cruelty. Moreover, the feeling of horror excited in the minds of the missionaries was much enhanced by the fact, that it was the anniversary of the day on which the blessed Saviour agonized on the cross for wretched fallen man, that he might save him from sin and the dominion of the prince of darkness.

It was in company with these natives, about 1,000

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in number, that Mr. Brown and Mr. Maunsell had to return to Matamata, while the smell of their garments, and the baskets of human flesh, which some were carrying as presents to chiefs at a distance, quite tainted the atmosphere. One of the natives told Mr. Brown that he only went to fight in order to seize some female slaves for Mrs. Brown; while Waharoa asked, in bravado, if he would not have some flesh to eat. And on replying to him that he would find that eternal death is the wages of iniquity, he said, "If you are angry with me for what we have been doing, I will kill and eat you and all the missionaries."

The work at the mission station at Matamata was now brought to a stand. It was expected that the natives of Rotorua would make reprisals upon Waharoa's stronghold, so the schoolboys always left their houses at night, and either went to the Pa to sleep or secreted themselves in the bush. Waharoa, too, advised that the wives of the missionaries should be removed to a place of safety, before an attack should be made. It was an anxious time, spent within the sound of savage yells, the firing of guns and all the signals of war. An alarm being given that the enemy was approaching, all was immediately in commotion. The school lads and the girls fled to the Pa; the women, carrying provisions, crowded the paths, and the men seized their guns and prepared for fight. That night was passed in no small anxiety. The patrols that hitherto had traversed the woods,

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crying, "Whakaara" (rise up), were now silent, not a gun was heard, and the "pahu," the native alarm bell, had ceased to be sounded. The very silence, which had of late been unusual, was alarming.

The Sabbath dawned without any further tidings, and it was considered expedient to remove the wives of the missionaries to Puriri. The school natives were accordingly summoned, and twenty gave their names as willing to convey them. The distance to the boat was only a few miles, but the deep swamps made the road heavy. Provisions were hastily prepared, clothes were packed up, and litters for the females were got ready. Suddenly, however, a report was raised that the enemy was near at hand, and had fired guns just in the path by which they were to travel. No alternative was now left, and the movement was suspended. The report had its origin in a great measure from the prediction of a priest on the night previous. He said that Whiro had told him that the enemy would divide their forces; that one party of two hundred would advance to the Pa on the Thames side; and that the Pa forces having been drawn out to meet them, another party of three hundred would rush forward from their ambush, and take possession of the Pa, the women and children being left without protection.

But the Rotorua natives had no intention of coming to Matamata at this time. There was a weak point which promised them success with much less difficulty. On the road to Tauranga, about two miles

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from Maketu, was the village of Tumu, occupied by a portion of the Tauranga natives. The position of this village was most insecure, --built upon a sandhill which rose from the sea-beach. It had no natural advantages on any side, and the irregular nature of the ground afforded abundant shelter to an attacking party. The only reason for occupying this place was, that it had the advantage of an extensive flax swamp at the back, from which large quantities of this material had been prepared for sale to the traders. As timber of every kind was at a great distance, the artificial fences of the Pa were unusually weak. The Rotorua natives planned the destruction of this place immediately after Maketu was taken; and it was a singular infatuation on the part of Ngatiawa that they should continue to occupy a post which was far in advance of their remaining strongholds. All the country at the back of Tumu was in the hands of their enemies, and was in the direct road to Rotorua. A little before daylight on the 5th of May, the Rotorua natives, mustering about 800 men, attacked the place from two points in the rear, having made their approach through the swampy land unperceived, while, as soon as the firing commenced, a division from Maketu rushed by the beach, and came upon the Pa on the eastern side. A brave resistance was made for some time, but the force within was not sufficient to keep off superior numbers coming upon them from different points of attack. Many were killed on both sides during the assault, but at length the outer fence

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was gained, and then the only safety that remained was in flight. The women and children all fell into the hands of the victors, and were either killed or retained as slaves, and of the men but a small proportion escaped to carry the tidings to Tauranga.

Waharoa at once set out to take counsel with the chiefs at Tauranga respecting their future movements against Rotorua, and he gave out that he would leave Matamata with all his people, and live at Tumu until he had destroyed the Rotorua tribes. It was an empty threat to be made by an old man, standing on the borders of eternity; and he ought to have known from past experience, that while it was in his power to inflict a heavy blow upon his enemies, he must reckon, from the nature of native warfare, upon suffering as severely in return.

Affairs continued in a state of uncertainty until July, when Waharoa began to assemble a force at Patetere, a village lying far up on the banks of the Thames, half way between Matamata and Rotorua, and in the early part of August he appeared before Ohinemutu, the principal Pa on the lake Rotorua, adjoining which was the mission station. Mr. Chapman was absent at Matamata, but had left the premises in charge of his assistants, Knight and Pilley. Waharoa's forces were not numerous, but he was a good general, and placing a strong division of his men in a sheltered position, he sent a smaller force towards the Pa, which soon retreated, and drew the enemy forward, until they were assailed on all sides

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by the concealed party, and put to the rout. Unfortunately they fled by the mission premises, and thus the enemy was brought within reach of a temptation they were unable to resist. It was to little purpose that the house was locked. The doors and windows quickly yielded to a moderate force, and all the moveables in a moment disappeared, and were distributed among the assailants. Others again flew upon the two young men, and deprived them of nearly everything that was upon them; and one of them making a vigorous resistance, was very roughly treated, and threatened with the loss of his life. It was the time of war, and according to the native usage, the white man might have lost his life in common with the natives who had fallen into their hands. The usual horrors of a New Zealand conflict were all enacted over again, and they had a strong motive to influence them; they felt that they were taking revenge for their friends who had fallen at Te Tumu. As Waharoa had said a little before, "How sweet will the flesh of the Rotorua natives taste along with their new kumara!"

It was now clear that no mission property in these disturbed districts could be considered safe. It was expedient, therefore, to save what remained, and with this design that which was most valuable at Matamata was put together in convenient packages, in order that it might be carried to the banks of the river Waihou, and conveyed by canoe to Puriri. Waharoa and most of the people of influence were

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still absent, but there were some ill-disposed persons not brave enough to meet their enemies in open fight, but ready to commit acts of depredation upon those whom they ought to have protected. As soon as the property had been sent away, they followed the bearers to the place of embarkation, and blacking their faces for the purpose of concealment, they carried off the whole. Some young men, headed by Tarapipipi, the son of Waharoa, at once set off in pursuit, followed by Mr. Morgan and Mr. Knight from the station. The latter had reached the neighbourhood of Waiharakeke, when they heard the voices of some of the school girls calling them to return, as a party was coming through the wood dressed in English clothes. They accordingly retraced their steps, and soon came in sight of these people. They had a most novel appearance as seen issuing from the wood, dressed principally in white shirts, and armed some with axes and others with muskets. There was also something ludicrous in the scene, for one man was marching before the rest, with the utmost consequence, his head and olive-coloured face being enveloped in a black silk bonnet belonging to Mrs. Chapman, while a strip of cotton print, tied round his neck, formed the remainder of his apparel, he having left his own clothes at home, in order to his being lighter for fighting, or anything else he might have to do. It was found, however, that they were not the robbers, but the party under Tarapipipi, who had fallen in with the robbers, and had stripped them of

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the things they had just stolen. On the way to the Pa, a young man was seen in a white shirt proceeding thither also. In an instant Tarapipipi and his brother rushed upon him, and the shirt changed owners in a moment.

The work of evangelization among the natives of Matamata was only in its infancy. Satan, indeed, had been but too successful in distracting the attention of the people from all that was good. But there were a few, principally sons of leading chiefs, who had refused, from motives of conscience, to join the party which went to Rotorua, and among them was Ngakuku, nephew to Waharoa. The line of communication between Matamata and Tauranga had been always open, and frequent intercourse was kept up between the two places. In the middle of October a party consisting of twenty-one natives and one Englishman set out for Tauranga. Ngakuku was the head of the party, having with him his two children, a boy and a girl. They brought up for the night in a romantic spot at the foot of the steep ascent of Wairere, where a magnificent cascade, falling from the high forest land above, gives the name to the place. The Englishman pitched his tent, and the natives occupied a small temporary house which was often the resting-place of travelling parties. They cooked their evening meal, and then, under the guidance of Ngakuku, they commended themselves to the protection of that God whom he was now beginning to know. But the glimmering light of their evening

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fire had been noticed by a Rotorua party far up the valley, and they naturally concluded that there were natives resting there for the night, belonging either to Tauranga or Matamata. Under cover of the darkness, they crept stealthily along the mountain's side, and came upon the encampment a little before break of day. Happily they were attracted first by the Englishman's tent. They thought it would contain something worth having, and at once rushed upon it, each eager to secure some article of clothing for himself. They left the poor man but a vestige of what he had had the night before, but they did him no bodily injury. This momentary interruption was the preservation of nearly the whole party. The noise which was made, together with the barking of a dog, aroused those who were in the hut, and they rushed out towards the rising ground, and were soon in a position of safety. Ngakuku snatched up his boy by one arm, and swung him upon his back, and tried to arouse little Tarore his daughter, but she was heavy with sleep, and the enemy were already rushing in at one end of the hut, so the poor child was left behind. As the daylight came on, Ngakuku, who was hovering on the higher ground in dreadful anxiety for his child, called out to the natives below, telling them who he was, and inquiring after the child. They told him she was safe, and that if he would go down to them they would, give her up. But Ngakuku was too well practised in native treachery to trust them. He waited, therefore, in his lurking place until he saw the enemy

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depart; then, descending to the hut, he found the mangled corpse of his little child, and returned to Matamata to carry the sad tidings to his friends. The Rev. A. N. Brown wrote: --"While talking to poor Ngakuku this afternoon, and endeavouring to administer consolation to him, he remarked, 'The only reason why my heart is sad, is, that I do not know whether my child has gone to heaven, or to the Reinga. She has heard the Gospel with her ears and read it to Mrs. Brown, hut I do not know whether she has received it into her heart.' After evening prayers at the chapel, Ngakuku arose and spoke to the natives from John xiv. 1."

The next day poor Tarore was buried. Those who had so narrowly escaped a like death, followed the corpse to the grave, around which were arranged various groups, from the different native residences. After Mr. Brown had addressed the assembled party, Ngakuku expressed a wish to speak a few words, and said with deep solemnity of feeling, "There lies my child; she has been murdered as a payment for your bad conduct. But do not you rise up to obtain satisfaction for her. God will do that. Let this be the conclusion of the war with Rotorua. Let peace be now made. My heart is not sad for Tarore, but for you. You wished for teachers to come to you; they came, and now you are driving them away. You are weeping for my daughter, but I am weeping for you--for myself--for all of us. Perhaps this murder is a sign of God's anger towards us for

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our sins. Turn to Him; believe, or you will all perish."

It is a remarkable circumstance in connexion with the murder of this child, that in an attack made upon Matamata some weeks afterwards, out of five Rotorua natives who were killed, four were concerned in this sad tragedy; and that after the lapse of a few years, Uita, the man who led the attack, having a desire to embrace Christianity, first sought for reconciliation with Ngakuku.

This destructive war continued until the year 1840, without much actual fighting, but the adverse tribes were in continual fear of each other, and always watchful of opportunities to cut off any stragglers who might fall in their way. The missionaries were advised to remove with their families for a time to the Bay of Islands, but in the year 1839 Tauranga and Rotorua were again occupied, the head-quarters of the latter being on the island Mokoia, in the middle of Rotorua lake, out of the reach of hostile attacks. Like the walls of Jerusalem which were built in troublous times, but still were not the less firmly built, so was a church being raised up in the midst of conflicts; and the little band being often sorely tried by the taunts and opposition of the heathen party, were the more likely to cling with faith to that better master whom they had chosen to serve. The leaven was working, and the sons of some of the leading chiefs were at the head of the movement. Waharoa complained that his sons would

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not accompany him to fight, and he was annoyed because they urged a reconciliation with his enemies. But the old man's race was run. Long before the conclusion of the war he was smitten by sickness, the effects of which he tried in vain to ward off by resorting to his old superstitions. He retained the reputation of a great warrior, but he died without one ray of light from that Gospel which had been placed before him. His favourite son Tarapipipi was soon after admitted into the Church by baptism, receiving the name, of Wiremu Tamihana.

Soon after Waharoa's death the tribe was urgent with Tamihana to forsake his profession and join them, in order, as they said, that the spirit of Waharoa might be appeased, and his name kept alive; but he firmly resisted their overtures. He was naturally brave, but there was another influence at work within him, which led him to adopt a course that many of his people could not understand. An instance of this soon occurred. A party of 400 had passed Tauranga, with the intention of making another attack upon Maketu. They encamped at Mangamana and remained quiet during the Sunday, when the missionaries from Tauranga went to remonstrate with them. In the evening they held a council of war, and many recommended a vigorous course. Tamihana Tarapipipi at length rose with his Testament in his hand, and in a bold yet pleasing manner witnessed a good confession before his countrymen, whom with Christian courage he re-

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proved, rebuked, exhorted. Only one man attempted a reply, and that was done with so much rage, and withal so much foolishness, that not one of his companions in fight took part with him. Indeed, the next speaker, a venerable old man, said that Tarapipipi's speech was very good, and recommended that they should listen to him and return.

Tamihana continued to pursue a steady course, and encouraged to the utmost of his power the extension of Christianity among his people; but meeting with much annoyance from the heathen part of his tribe, he determined to build a separate Pa for the Christian community, at a little distance from his heathen relatives, and when it was completed there were nearly four hundred, including children, to inhabit it; who all, nominally at least, forsook heathenism, and joined in worshipping the true God. He drew up a simple code of laws for their guidance, and a paper was attached to one of the posts of the chapel in Tamihana's handwriting, to indicate that any persons who wilfully transgressed these regulations should no longer continue an inmate of the Pa.