1814-1853 - The Missionary Register [Sections relating to New Zealand.] - 1849 - Church Missionary Society, Northern District, Middle District, p 437-444

She was brought to our Settlement two months previous to her death, so that we had a full opportunity of visiting her. She proved to be a most unpleasant personage to visit. She had been an extraordinary character in her day. Being the eldest daughter of the oldest branch of the Rarawa Chiefs, she was rich in slaves and landed possessions, and had great influence. From our first coming here she had been a sore scourge to her meek husband, from the pride and other bad tempers which she would at times manifest. This evil likewise extended to those tribes in more immediate connection with her. But she was, nevertheless, a most kind and industrious woman--kind to strangers, both European and native. You may judge of her native character when I relate that, a little before we arrived here, she took a gun and shot a handsome young

woman, whom her husband, fresh returned from victory at Taranake, had taken as a second wife. She moreover did this black deed in the presence of her husband! She died at the age of "half her days," and almost, if not quite, upon the very spot where she had shed the blood of another. In her illness she clung to life, and her will greatly rebelled against the Most High. She was that kind of person, that she always told her thoughts, whether good or bad. She read, prayed, and strove to repent; and sometimes talked affectingly, and seemed very glad to be talked with, and to have suitable portions of Scripture pointed out. She appears to have been blessed with resignation and comfort during the few remaining days of her life. I found the account of that venerable minister the Rev. C. Simeon, as given in the "Record" Newspaper, to be one of the best things to relate to her. Both she and her husband were astonished at the humility Mr. Simeon manifested. I shall with this Letter give you a few extracts from my Journal, in which Ereanora's case will be spoken of.

March 12, 1848: Lord's Day --I went up the valley to see Noble's wife, who is fast declining. After talking with her a long time I held Evening Service out of doors with a large party of Natives. I found the poor sick woman a very unpleasant person to talk with. She said many hard things of her husband, and he very gently reproved her by saying, "It is your disease which makes you talk so." I felt very sorry for both of them. Her husband seemed to think it hard that her cough should so afflict her. He had to attend to her night and day. I said all I could by way of consolation, and also exhorted to submission to the Divine Will. I told them that all we could suffer was but a trifle compared with what Christ suffered for us.

I went once in the week to see the poor dying woman. Light and darkness again in her case. Well might our Lord say, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The rich, it seems, cleave to their portion in this world. Ereanora, however, expressed a wish to be released, and some things she said were of an encouraging nature.

March 22 --This was the day for the burial of Noble's wife, and early in the morning Noble sent a messenger on horseback, with a note to invite me and Mr. Puckey to the funeral. There was something truly Christian and cheerful in Noble's note. He said, "Come and bury Ereanora. I shall not lay it too much to heart, for before she died she repeated the words, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" He added, "The place where she died, and where she shall be buried, shall be called, "Victory." I felt thankful to find that the Lord had blessed the bereaved man with this happy feeling. It seemed to throw a little halo of light around the darkness of the tomb. In giving the account of her state of mind I have, as is my custom, dealt truly; and knowing that the poor woman was a most diligent reader of the Scriptures, I would hope that the Lord was merciful to her in her last moments. Who shall limit the Holy One of Israel? Mr. Puckey and I, with our four boys, went up the valley to inter the deceased. There was a large party of Natives present, and every thing was conducted with the utmost decorum. Noble left it to me when the bell should be rung, &c Mr. Puckey read the lesson, and I the prayers, and afterward I addressed the assembly on the solemn occasion. The grave was handsomely dug, and made into a vault. The lady's Prayer-book was on her breast in her coffin, which was entirely their own idea. After the funeral was over, we talked a little with Noble, who seemed to be full of grief: he wept much, and seemed glad to be talked to. May God grant him mercy, and prepare us all for our departure! The Natives waited till we set off for home before they fired their muskets. They consumed, on her death and burial, nearly two casks of powder, which was her exclusive property. She was always in the habit of having her separate store of food, a separate farm to grow food, and a separate store of other things.

Oct. 10, 1847: Lord's Day --I went to the Poutahi, a village eight miles off, near the harbour. On my arrival at the village, Henry Johi, a Native Teacher of another village, met me, and said, in a serious tone, "Death has come among us: we have had a large battle." A

canoe containing eleven people had upset in a very rough sea, and eight of them were drowned. The three who swam to shore were, one old, and two young women. One of the lost was a young man of considerable respectability, who had lately built a fine Chapel, of which he was the Teacher. We had much rejoiced at the revival which had taken place in this village; and the sight of the Chapel in the midst of a plain is cheering. This young man's body was found, and the friends and relatives were mourning and crying over it. His wife was one of the three who were saved. She told me all about the melancholy affair. I had prayers with the poor people, asking them to cease crying for a time. In the evening I went to another village, where the principal Chief of this party lives, and there were his son, and another fine young man, lying dead. A large party of Natives had met together to condole with this Chief. I spoke to them of the flower of the grass withering. After I had come away, the afflicted parent asked Hopepa, a Teacher, what this meant: he was well able to tell him, for lately he had lost a son by consumption.

Oct. 13--I went to Poniki and the Poutahi to see and converse with the friends of the young people who were drowned. They all seemed much affected; but I was very thankful to find little or no murmuring among them. I had almost feared that there would be much murmuring on the occasion. One of the young Chiefs said, "These people were chosen," or singled out by death, "or they would not have died."

A calamity has befallen us, hitherto unparalleled in my Missionary Life. On last Sunday, the 2d instant, while I was engaged in performing Divine Service at Orake, and just as Mrs. Kissling and Mrs. Kempthorne had returned home from the English Church, our houses at Kohi-marama were consumed by fire, with all our earthly possessions, except one tin box and my letters testimonial, which Mrs. Kissling snatched from the devouring element. Mrs. Kempthorne was enabled to save a few of her things, principally clothing; but her loss also is very heavy. The cause of this truly distressing event is still hidden, and will probably remain so. On Mrs. Kissling's return from Church there was no fire in the house, and the very place--the storeroom--where the calamity commenced, was only ten minutes previously in its ordinary state. About half-past three o'clock in the afternoon Mrs. Kissling and Mrs. Kempthorne, with two native girls, discovered in the eaves of the roof in the store-room a round spot of fire, and, a high wind blowing from that direction, our dwelling-house was, within ten minutes from the first discovery, in a mass of flame; and within half an hour the

houses in which we, our school-children, and Mrs. Kempthorne resided, presented nothing more than a black heap of smouldering ashes. Our furniture, clothing, bedding, stores, provisions, earthenware, and stationery; my library, in collection for twenty-five years; my Sermons and correspondence during a Missionary Life of twenty years, intended as a family remembrance to my children; my accounts; some mathematical instruments; in one word, as I have said above, all our possessions in this world, except the clothes we wore, and a single tin box, became a prey to the devouring flames; and we were thus, within half an hour, stripped and destitute. How frail is man! How precarious all things here!

My situation is trying: pressed by difficulties of various kinds; in the dark about the Girls' School under our care; homeless, and stripped of earthly sources of comfort; with scarcely a book to beguile an evening hour; yet blessed in our labours, and with an affectionate Native Congregation by our side, I must not complain. Out of darkness will yet spring light, and our trials will yet lead us to raise a song of praise.

In surveying the labours of the past year, the Missionaries of the Waikato District are forcibly reminded of the well-known Missionary text, He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. Two of our little number have been called to weep this year--one having lost his only son, a child of many hopes and prayers; the other having been called to pass through severe trials, in the loss of two children, and in the protracted and dangerous illness of his partner. Still, much is found to divert our thoughts, and cheer our spirits, in the blessed work that is advancing around us. We contemplate our spheres of labour as a field in which the seed has been sown; and look with interest on the different appearances it assumes in various places. In some we can only watch and hope. In others we witness, with thankfulness, a steady attendance on the Means of Grace. In others, we are cheered by strong cases of individual piety. In other places, again, we are gratified with the more palpable evidence of progress in civilization.

In this particular we should have been glad if the advance of our people had been more rapid. That they have made great progress in an improvement in their external demeanour and circumstances is evident to all who saw them in their early years. Still, that progress is very unequal in different places, and in all cases seems too much subject to the influence of trivial circumstances. There are two influences which we trust will now be brought to bear with more weight upon their present condition--

First, The past year has witnessed an improvement in their mode of cultivation, that will, we hope, much benefit them. We allude to the cultivation of wheat, chiefly as supplying them with a better article of diet for their children than the potato, and as having a tendency to attach them more to our localities. The very best effects have followed from the culture of this grain in the neighbourhood of Otawao. The erection of a mill, and the prospect of thus rendering available their exhausted potato-grounds, arrested them in their preparations for migration, and induced them to remain congregated in the neighbourhood of the Settlement; thus bringing them more directly within the reach of instruction.

Secondly, Of all aids the Native Teacher is the most efficient. A steady, sensible, well-instructed Teacher, has a wonderful effect upon his people. The contrary is sure to have a corresponding effect. We have long regretted that we have been unable to bestow more attention than we have on this most important class of the population; but trust, the means of instruction having been now opened at Waikato Heads, that we shall secure in future a better-instructed class of assistants.

In parts of our District disturbances arose during the year, connected entirely with disputes about land. We trust, however, that they will be amicably adjusted. On the whole, our field of labour presents us with fresh objects of interest and exertion. Many of our young men are desirous of attaining knowledge, particularly a knowledge of the English Language. In no part of our District have we lost ground. The attendance on the Means of Grace is as regular as usual. The aid of Government is now likely to be obtained in our efforts to establish Schools, and we trust we shall yet see Schools more generally established, not only in this District, but also through the whole island.

Baptisms in 1847-- Adults, 110; children, 134. Communicants-- Waikato Heads, 122; Kaitotehe, 134; Otawao, 134; total, 388.

The beginning of the past year found me on my journey to Matamata, to attend Committees. From thence I proceeded to visit the Otawao and Kaitotehe District. Exactly one-third of the year was spent in travelling through my District, with the exception of six weeks, in which I was engaged with Archdeacon W. Williams in revising the translation of the Acts of the Apostles. I paid a second visit to the Districts up the river in August. The two-thirds of the year that I spent on the Station were occupied in translation and revision, and in attendance on my School. Tranquillity is, I trust, now established in my District. The people are still steady in their attendance on religious duties, but have been lately much dispersed, from scarcity of food.

The late war here caused a considerable breaking-up of the population in the immediate vicinity of this Station. This dispersion compels me to spend the larger number of the Lord's Days in the Out-Stations. Our Boarding School, for the education of aboriginal children, is, I am thankful to report, steadily progressing. We began with 12, and have now 20. The branches of instruction are Geography, Beading, English, Writing, Arithmetic, the Scriptures, and Church Catechisms.

The dearth of food during the past year, almost approaching to a famine, occasioned by the dry weather and the improvident waste at the numerous Nga Huihuinga (feasts, literally, gatherings together) in this District, have much scattered the Natives, which, with the constant resort to Auckland, has lessened the average number of attendants on Public Worship at the outposts. The Congregation at the Station remains steady. I was present at the Nga Huihuinga which assembled at Kirikiriroa, Watawata, Waki, Tukopoto, and Kaumatuku, and had Congregations of from 500 to 1000 Natives. The reading classes at these feasts have been well attended--from 200 to 600 Natives; and I am thankful to say that no native superstition has been allowed, and only in one instance was the native war-dance performed. Two Christian Natives of this District have been called into eternity during the past year: they had

hope in their death, as they died trusting simply and entirely upon the Saviour.

Great and manifold have been the mercies granted unto us while passing through the deep waters of affliction during the first half of the present year. It has pleased the Lord, in His wisdom, to remove by death two of our dear children; and He has also, in His mercy, raised up Mrs. Morgan and three of our children from the verge of the grave. Sickness among the Natives has also been very severe, and the deaths numerous. The want of food, occasioned by the late dry summer, so weakened the constitution of the young, that they soon fell under the prevailing sickness. It is, however, a privilege to remember, that these afflictions have added, not only children, but also several adult Natives, from this District, to the Church triumphant in glory.

The general state of the Natives in the District, as to their outward attendance upon the Means of Grace, is satisfactory. We must, however, still regret the want of spiritual life among our people: the fruits of the Spirit do not abound to the glory of God. A few of the young men have also been drawn away by temptation, and submitted themselves to the heathen practice of tattooing; following, in this respect, the example of the Papists, who do not forbid it among their Converts. On the other hand we have the satisfaction of stating, that we have received, at Ngauhuruhuru, an increase of about 50 Natives from the Heathen and Roman-Catholic Party. Popery in that quarter is on the decline. During the past year, 66 adults and 70 children have been admitted into the Church by Baptism. The Communicants at the Lord's Table have been 134. There are now about 50 Candidates for Baptism, and several for the Lord's Table.

My visiting, during the first half of the year, was much interrupted by the sickness in my family; but during the latter half of the year the usual journeys have been made to the outposts.

In reference to Schools, I am happy to report that more has been done than during the previous year. Adult and Children's Schools have been opened at Ngauhuruhuru under a European Master, and the progress made in them is satisfactory. A weather-boarded School-house, 18 feet by 30, with a loft as a sleeping-room, is in the course of erection on the Station, toward which the Society will subscribe less than one-third of the estimated cost, the balance being raised by local subscriptions.

Civilization continues to advance in the District. The flour-mill at Ngauhuruhuru has been completed, at a cost of 215l. The mill at Otawao is in course of erection, at the estimated cost of 115l. On its completion, the proposed mill at Maungatautari will be proceeded with, the timber for it having been already sawn. The cost will be the same as the mill at Otawao. An European Miller has been engaged to take charge of the three mills. On the payment of the last instalment for the Ngauhuruhuru mill, finding that there was still money on hand, I proposed to the Chiefs that it should be expended in making bricks and building ovens. My proposal being agreed to, an European was engaged, and a small kiln of bricks has just been burnt. The wheat belonging to the Natives within four miles of the Station is now nearly ripe, and may be estimated at 300 acres.

July 27, 1848 --This afternoon I received the sad tidings of the death of Wiremu Karamu Ngatuhi (William Cranmer Ngatuhi), at Ruakotare. He

was in the act of fixing a rope to the leg of a pig, when he fell down and immediately expired. Wiremu was the son of one of the leading Chiefs. He was a very clever and intelligent Native, consistent in his conduct, much respected in his Tribe, and one of my Teachers at Ngauhuruhuru. His loss will be severely felt by the Congregation at that place; but I trust that it may please the Lord, who has thus suddenly and unexpectedly removed to His heavenly kingdom a Native Labourer of so much promise, to raise up other Labourers to supply his place. When the Lord speaks the word, the preachers will be found. The same Almighty power which raised up a Paul to supply the place of His martyr Stephen, can send forth other labourers into His harvest.

My first acquaintance with Wiremu commenced about six years ago. He was at that time professedly a Roman Catholic. I met him one afternoon in the Rarowera Pa. He was dressed in European clothing, and appeared pleasing in his manners. I exhorted him to forsake the service of idols, and to embrace the true faith of Christ. He listened attentively, but made no promise. After a few weeks he visited his friends at Kawia (the Wesleyan Station), and they pressed him to forsake the errors of Popery, and join the Protestant Faith. He resolved to do so, being convinced of the errors of the Church of Rome. On his return to Ngauhuruhuru he openly professed the true faith, and joined my Congregation at that place. There was a decision in the way in which he acted, and an earnestness in his manner, which pleased me. He immediately began to draw his friends around him, teaching the ignorant to read the Scriptures and repeat the Catechisms, and holding daily prayers with them. After a short time I admitted him into the class of Candidates for Baptism, and after proper instruction he was baptized by the Rev. R. Maunsell. Having put his hand to the plough he never looked back, but pressed forward in his Christian Course, and raised his voice against the errors of the Church of Rome. He ran steadily in the heavenly race, and has, I have no doubt, received the crown of glory which fadeth not away.

He was confirmed by the Bishop of New Zealand in December 1844, and admitted to the Lord's Table. After Confirmation his Lordship selected him, together with one of my other Teachers from the same place, as Students for the Native Boys' School at St. John's College, Auckland. The buildings not being ready, his departure for St. John's was delayed for a year, during which time he acted as Assistant Teacher at Ngauhuruhuru. Having received a note from the Bishop, requesting me to send Wiremu, together with Matenga, to the College, they went down at the appointed time, and continued there until the vacation last year, when they returned home to remain until fresh buildings were erected, the Bishop finding at that time his establishment too small to accommodate married Natives with their families.

On their return home, Matenga and Wiremu Karamu resumed their duties as Native Teachers at Ngauhuruhuru. I found them both much improved. About five days ago, Wiremu proposed to the Congregation at Ngauhuruhuru that they should unite together, and saw timber for a new Chapel. To this they all agreed, and Wiremu came down and informed me of their plans. He afterward sat down and wrote a letter to the Bishop, offering to provide timber for a Chapel if his Lordship would promise to find a carpenter to put up the building. Yesterday evening he again came down to see me, and at sunset was in my yard, in full health, talking with much pleasure on the prospect of their soon having a new Chapel. He left me, and little did I think that he was so near his end. He has now entered into rest, and blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. After his death, a letter was found in his box, directed to his brother, from which it would appear that he thought himself near to the kingdom of heaven. After speaking of the things of God he said, "I have twice heard the voice of God calling me to depart, and to go to Him. At the first call I felt to object, but at the second call I felt myself ready to depart."

Having omitted to mention in proper order the death of Paratene te Aopouri, of Puehunui, I will briefly allude to it here, as another proof that the labours of the Society in New Zealand have not been in vain. Te Aopouri was baptized by the name of Paratene (Broughton) by the Rev. R. Maunsell many years ago. He was the first-fruits of his native village to Christ. Being regular in his conduct, and steady in his attention to the Means of Grace, he was appointed Native Teacher to his own and another vil-

lage, three miles distant. He laboured faithfully at his post; and on my removal to Otawao I soon found him to be a Native on whom I could depend, and strongly attached to his Teachers. He was not a Native of extensive knowledge, but he knew and taught the truth as it is in Jesus. He lived to see nearly all the inhabitants--about seventy souls--of the two villages over which he presided, admitted by Baptism into the Church of Christ, and many joined him at the Lord's Table. He was confirmed by the Bishop of New Zealand. During the latter part of his long sickness I had no opportunity of seeing him, as he was removed by his friends to one of their other Settlements, at Aotea, thirty or forty miles beyond my District. He died in the faith of Christ, and rests from his labours. His memory is much respected by those who knew him.