PART IV. WITH BISHOP WILLIAMS AT POVERTY BAY 1859-60.
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PART IV
WITH BISHOP WILLIAMS AT POVERTY BAY 1859-60
[In the preceding Memoir introductory to Mrs. Stack's Journals, reference is made to her extensive journeys, occupying a period of about four months when, subsequent to her visit to the Waikato just recorded in Part III, she visited Tauranga, Maketu, the Hot Lakes district and--for the second time--the Waikato River. Following that, in the earlier part of 1859, came the visit to Wellington and Nelson. The whole of this large section of the Journals is of exceptional interest, but being a complete story in itself and too lengthy to be incorporated in this volume, it is held over for another occasion. Both for the sake of variety in interest, and in order that a complete section of the Journal may be given, there now follows Mrs. Stack's account of her memorable visit to Bishop William Williams at Poverty Bay in 1859-1860.]
FROM AUCKLAND TO TURANGA BY SCHOONER
One of the first friends to greet me after our arrival in Auckland from Wellington and Nelson was Mrs. Leonard Williams, 1 who renewed the invitation given me by the Bishop and his wife, when I saw them in Wellington, to pay a visit to Poverty Bay and make a long stay with them. As it was rather an out-of-the-way place.
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and could only be reached by sea, which necessitated a voyage occupying several days in a small coaster, I decided not to miss the opportunity of going there under the Williamses' escort and accepted the invitation to go back with them.
I had less than a week to prepare for a long stay on the East Coast, but by dint of hard work I got everything ready and down at the wharf before the 2nd July, when the schooner Dolphin was advertised to sail.
The morning she was to have taken her departure I went down to the wharf with Humphrey, and met the Williamses ready to embark. But, as usual in this country, the departure was put off in spite of the inconvenience caused by doing so to the passengers, and we were told that the vessel would not sail till Monday. I returned with Humphrey, not really sorry that I was to spend a quiet Sunday on shore.
Monday, 4th July, 1859. We were down on the wharf again by nine o'clock in the morning, and went off in a boat to the vessel, where we were told there was no chance of her sailing until two o'clock. Well it was for me that the delay occurred, for on Humphrey's going to look for my luggage he discovered that it was not on board, and started off at once in search of it.
On coming to me for my keys I looked in my handbag, but no keys were there. I searched my pockets, but without success, and could not imagine what had become of them. I was in despair. There was just time to get once again to Carlton Gore and back. Kate Williams
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kindly offered to go with me, and away we hurried all the way up hill, for nearly three miles. On reaching the house, hot and flurried, I searched everywhere I could think of without finding them. At last it struck both Emma 2 and myself that they might have been put away with her keys in the cash box, and there, sure enough, on opening it, was lying snugly my bunch of keys.
I said my third good-bye to Emma and rushed off, fearing I might be too late. On getting back to the vessel Humphrey met me with good news about my lost luggage, which he had found covered up with tarpaulins on the wharf, and fortunately nothing had been stolen. I felt greatly relieved, but sorry that Humphrey should have been put to so much trouble about my things.
When two o'clock arrived a further delay was announced by the captain, who informed us that he would not sail until four. Emma came down during the afternoon and, finding I had not sailed, came on board to see my cabin. It was very superior in size and fittings to the cabin of the Hope which had been my home at this very time last year. 3 A curtain separated my berth from that of Miss Williams, and also the captain's from those of Mr. and Mrs. Leonard. We were all, however, very close neighbours, and as the cabin was sitting, dining and sleeping room for all the party, we never thought of undressing at night, and took any favourable time during the day for making any necessary change in our dress, etc.
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We passed Rangitoto and crossed the Hauraki Gulf with a fair wind, against which we battled for many hours, but as it increased to a gale, the captain took shelter on Tuesday evening in one of the Great Barrier harbours. The cliffs and wooded heights which surrounded the sheltered waters of the harbour looked very lovely in the moonlight.
We had not been anchored many minutes before Mr. Williams called out to me that the vessel we had noticed following us for some time past had just come alongside, and was the cutter Hope. I thought he was joking, for during the afternoon a good deal of chaffing had gone on between us about my experiences in the Hope, and I fancied he was just continuing the fun. But when I went up on deck there she was, and I distinctly heard Captain Black's voice, which I had heard too often to mistake for anyone else's. I was very thankful I was not on board his vessel; one voyage in her in a lifetime was quite enough. Two other small vessels were driven in for refuge, so we were quite a little fleet in the harbour.
Wednesday, 6th. Early in the morning we got the boat, and as we pulled ashore we greatly admired the beautiful little sheltered harbour in which our vessel was anchored. It had but one narrow entrance, which little Freddy Williams called the gate. Some of the hills around it were clothed with forest, while others looked bare in their garment of fern. Pretty little coves with nice sandy beaches were to be seen in every direction, and looked most inviting to the fern-hunter.
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The sight of a bonnet in a boat, which came towards us as we neared the shore, made us feel that we were not quite yet in the wilds. When we got within speaking distance we were greeted by the occupants of the boat, a lady and gentleman, who invited us to land in their bay, and promised to come back soon to entertain us. We landed, and very shortly they returned and welcomed us in hospitable bush style to a cottage, not in "a bower of roses" but in a bower of passion flower, which covered everything. It was a very lovely spot close to the beautiful sandy beach and rocks, yet quite concealed by the surrounding hills and woods, and very snug and sheltered.
Our entertainers were Mr. and Mrs. Malcolm. I discovered that they had been near neighbours of ours, though unknown to us, when we occupied Mr. Blackett's house in St. George's Bay. The children here remembered Mrs. Jones giving them flowers over the gate. There are four nice little girls, the eldest seven, so shy and simple in their manners. I thought how surprised my English nieces would be to see them in this wild looking place. They were wearing shoes made by their mother, who had been waiting in vain for months for a new supply of shoes from England. They showed me bits, almost imperceptibly small, of something which they used instead of slate pencil, their store of which was exhausted. Their little faces brightened when I promised to send them some real slate pencils, and I thought English children would value and take care of their books better if they could have seen how these little girls prized the few they possessed.
Mr. Williams wandered off into the woods and brought back with him some ferns, one of which he thought was
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Pteris comans, which we know grows on this island. We were regaled on New Zealand wood pigeons and potatoes, and enjoyed our meal exceedingly. The Malcolms gave us a supply of milk, and we returned on board to tea, and to write letters to our friends in Auckland, as one of the little vessels sheltering in the bay was on its way there.
Thursday, 7th. We went ashore again early in the morning and met Mr. Malcolm, who took us a lovely walk over hill and dale and through beautiful woods. Each peep we got through the trees of the harbour and the little fleet, and the hills on the other side, seemed more lovely than the last. In one of the little coves we picked up a perfect gem of a Nautilus shell, though not larger than a shilling. Mr. Malcolm showed us later two of the largest specimens ever seen, which he picked up on the same beach. I hoped I might be fortunate enough to find such treasures, and searched diligently along the shore, but without success. We turned into the woods again, and soon I heard Mr. Williams shouting, "Pteris comans! Pteris comans!" Hastening in his direction I found myself in a complete grove of the coveted fern. A very fine, handsome one it is too, and we took back a large supply of it to our Dolphin home. At Pteris Grove, as we named the place, we rested in the shade and lunched on gingerbread and apples. To finish our repast, Mr. Malcolm took us to a spot covered with wild, but delicious, Cape gooseberries.
We retraced our steps to the Malcolms' hospitable abode, where I made my little friends of the previous
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day half frantic with delight by gifts of some small books and picture cards I had brought on shore for them. Parting with much regret from the little people and their hospitable parents, and loaded with good wishes and a fresh supply of milk, we left the pretty cove and went on board again, where we spent the evening pressing and arranging our ferns.
Friday, 8th. About ten o'clock we got under way again and sailed out of the harbour, waving our adieus to the Malcolms as we passed them fishing in their boat. We soon saw in the distance my old friends the Mercury Islands, and the Alderman Rock, and the cutter Hope wending its weary way just as it did last year, when it was my misfortune to be a passenger in her to Tauranga.
We sailed briskly on, and during the night rather too briskly to be pleasant, for we had a terrible tossing, and the wind blew a complete gale all night, but, being in our favour, we did not complain.
The sight of the captain and Mr. Williams enjoying a hearty breakfast of steak and fried onions did not tend to alleviate our feelings of nausea. They considerately tried, by pulling the curtains down, to conceal their doings from us; but they could not conceal the smell of fried onions, which, however appetising on shore, has the opposite effect on delicate stomachs at sea. I could not help laughing at my own helplessness between my fits of sea-sickness. Certainly, I have had my full share since I came to the colony, and speaking from experience, I find sea-sickness much more bearable in a small sailing coaster than in the noisy screw steamer. I would ten
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times rather go round New Zealand in the Dolphin than in the Lord Ashley or White Swan.
I managed to eat a potato boiled in its jacket about one o'clock, and then it got so much calmer that I managed to crawl up on deck. The wind was still very high, but during the afternoon it suddenly dropped to a light breeze, and we feared a calm. About eight o'clock it freshened up again, and when we woke next morning we found ourselves in Poverty Bay, about to cast anchor.
EARLY IMPRESSIONS OF POVERTY BAY
The Maori name of the Bay is Turanga nui a Rua, which means the chief anchorage of Rua, who was captain of one of the canoes which came from Hawaiki. It was called Poverty Bay by Captain Cook, who landed here hoping to procure fresh provisions, but found the natives so hostile that he could get nothing from them. We anchored close to the place where Cook landed.
There is no shelter for vessels, as the roadstead is exposed to the prevailing south-easterly gales, which often drive the coasters ashore. A heavy surf beats right round the bay, making landing at all times very dangerous. We had to wait until the boat had twice gone ashore before being allowed to land, and as each trip occupied a considerable time, our patience was sorely tried. Though Kate and I read the Church Service together, it did not feel a bit like Sunday, but we were grateful for a quick and safe voyage, and wished to give outward expression to our feelings of thankfulness.
When our turn came to get into the boat we realised
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for the first time how high the sea was in the bay. We were nearly half an hour pulling to the shore, and as we neared it the curling white rollers looked so huge and our boat so small, I thought we must be swamped.
I cannot say that my first impressions were at all pleasing. Everything about the landing place was uninviting. The roaring, angry surf along the beach did not suggest a welcome; the foreshore was very flat and bleak-looking; the hills in the distance appeared cold and bare. I did not wonder that the first Englishman who ever came here called the place Poverty Bay. There was a native village close by the landing place, and there Mr. Leonard Williams held service in a miserable whare with some of the most wretched, poverty-stricken Maoris I have yet seen.
A messenger was sent to the mission station, 4 several miles away, for horses to be sent to meet us. About two o'clock we started walking, and met the horses. We had to cross a deep river in the smallest canoe I ever got into.
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It seemed as if the least movement of our bodies would have capsized it, so we all sat perfectly still and hardly dared to breathe. Fortunately the river was not very broad, and we got safely across. Soon after passing the river we were met by Arthur Kempthorne, 5 who had brought each of us a horse. He was accompanied by a party of mounted schoolboys and men, some of them riding double.
The roads, or rather the narrow tracks, through the flax which covered much of the rich, swampy land we were passing over, were in a wretched condition. There was no mistake that we were in the wilds of New Zealand. We had to make our way as best we could through the scrub and flax, winding our way in and out to avoid obstructions. Suddenly my horse would sink in a bog hole up to his knees, and struggle so violently to get out of the mess as to make it difficult for me to retain my seat. No sooner had we emerged from one bog-hole than we encountered another, and so we went on slipping and plunging for two whole hours before we got on to firm ground.
It was now getting dark, and I could just distinguish we were in a large valley surrounded by very pretty hills, varying in distance from two to ten miles. Ti palms, kowhai trees and grass covered the flat land.
Mr. Williams pointed out to me a number of Maori buildings, alongside of which stood two weatherboard
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houses with verandas. The whole assemblage of buildings, with the cultivated land about them, looked just like an English farm homestead. One of the weatherboard houses was, he said, the Bishop's "palace," the other belonged to him. Just as he finished telling me this a loud shout of welcome from the native school people greeted us, and the dear old Bishop was at my side and helped me to dismount, taking me indoors, introduced me to his household, which consisted of about a hundred persons. Besides his wife and daughters and grandchildren, there were Maoris young and old crowded into the large dining-room, and I went the round, not rubbing noses according to Maori custom, but shaking hands.
We travellers were very ready for tea, having eaten nothing but a little gingerbread since our morning meal on board the Dolphin. The homelike tea spread out for our refreshment looked most inviting. Beautiful fresh eggs, brown bread, Devonshire cream, butter, and Cape gooseberry preserve formed a most delicious meal. Mrs. Leonard brought over her three little ones to greet their papa, and they, with Mrs. Williams and Maria and Kate, formed the family party. After prayers, and a chat about Auckland friends, we retired to rest, and I much enjoyed sleeping again in a comfortable bed on shore.
A WALK ROUND THE MISSION STATION
Monday, 11th. Mrs. Williams took me for a walk round the Mission premises. We visited each of the whares occupied by the fourteen married couples who attend the school. They varied in neatness and order,
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but most of them were well kept. The floors were covered with clean flax mats, made by the native women; the beds were made up according to European fashion, and looked comfortable. A small table, with a looking-glass on it, and brushes and combs beside it, gave a civilised look to the room.
We then went to see the washing, which was being done by the women and elder girls, under the superintendence of Mrs. Leonard Williams. I was surprised to find a washing machine in use. and to hear that the girls liked working it. After seeing the kitchen and bedrooms we strolled through the garden, where plenty of flowers were blooming, and where I saw the Bishop's large apiary filled with the hives of busy bees. The kitchen garden and orchard were both large and well kept. The produce supplies the school with vegetables and fruit for the immense quantity of jam required.
The Bishop took me to see the farm buildings, where I saw the threshing machine at work, and a sledge loaded with firewood drawn by a team of eight bullocks. There being no roads anywhere about here, carts cannot be used, and these sledges are indispensable. The bullocks are very tractable, and the Maori drivers very skilful.
The poultry yard is very productive. I was told that in four days no less than one hundred eggs were brought in. A large number of cows are milked, and everyone gets milk and butter at breakfast and tea.
There is a fine, large schoolroom, very lofty, for the men and boys. One half is at present used as a carpenter's shop, where an excellent English carpenter is always employed teaching the natives his useful trade. He acts
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as general overseer of the men's and boys' work in the absence of the Bishop or Mr. Leonard. He also superintends the butchering department, cuts up and salts the meat, dispenses it, manages the store department, and sees that no provisions are running short.
The baking for such a large number of people occupies a good deal of time, and is going on pretty well all the week. The oven is never allowed to cool. In it Mrs. Leonard sees baked weekly twelve hundred pounds of bread. The dough for the daily baking fills two large tubs. The work of kneading it is taken in turn every day by a man and boy, till it has gone round the school.
In an adjoining room is kept the flour after being ground, and there boys are employed to sift it. So the scholars grow their own wheat, grind it, sift it, bake it-- and eat it. Every Saturday the boys all come to this room for their weekly bath, and to be dressed in their clean garments for Sunday. Mr. Kempthorne attends to this, and generally superintends the boys.
The inmates of the school number over one hundred all told. There are fourteen married couples and eighteen children under four years of age, eighteen young men, forty boys, and sixteen girls. The girls sleep in the Williamses' house, and require constant looking after. Most of Mrs. Leonard's time is taken up with them. Although we breakfast at six o'clock she is often busily occupied before that hour, and very often up in bitterly cold weather at half-past four.
Every Monday before breakfast she wrings out of cold water all their own family washing, sheets, table-cloths, etc., and sees that they are really boiled for half an hour
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before being put through cold water again, then rinsed in blue water, and by eight o'clock all hung out on lines to dry. Bread making follows the washing, something else follows that, and so on till dinner time.
On Tuesday, an equally busy day, she had to look after the schoolboys' washing. The first thing was to see whether the fire was lighted under the boiler and sufficient wood chopped to keep it going during the day. The clothes, which were soaking all Monday, were washed in the machine, and four boys were employed to work it. After leaving the machine the clothes were passed through three different waters and then hung out to dry.
On one afternoon as many hands as can possibly be got together are employed mending the rents of the week, and patching wherever required. Every three months materials for new sets of garments are given out for the women and tiny children. Judging by the great noise and clatter that they make outside the door, the women seem to regard this distribution as a very important matter. They seem to delight in perplexing Mrs. Leonard with their demands for needles and thread and instruction about the cutting out and disposal of the materials given to them.
On Saturday night, while calling on Mrs. Leonard, I found that she had constantly to go to the door to attend to the wants of somebody connected with the school. I thought it very hard upon her that she who had been so busily employed all day long could not rest quietly in the evenings but was being constantly summoned by importunate knocks to go to the door and attend to somebody's wants. When the next summons came I volun-
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teered to go in her stead. Standing at the door I found a Maori girl who said, "He heru." Not knowing what she meant I had to trouble Mrs. Leonard after all for an explanation, and found the girl was asking for a small tooth-comb. The request was repeated so often that evening by other girls and women that I imagined the annual outlay for small tooth-combs must be very large. But the fact was that Mrs. Leonard had brought from Auckland a fresh supply of those most indispensable articles of the Maori schoolgirl's toilet, which they had all been wanting for many weeks, their old ones being toothless from long use.
I was quite perplexed by one woman who came asking for Te wiki. It sounded just like "wiggie," and I wondered what on earth she could want a wig for, as she was supplied with a good natural mop of hair which certainly served the purpose well enough. I had again to trouble Mrs. Leonard for an explanation, and discovered to my amusement that the woman was trying to speak English, and wanted a wick for her lamp. I long to know Maori, when I shall be of more use to my friends, and saved from making such mistakes.
A sad accident happened to a poor deaf and dumb boy a few days after our arrival. He had not understood the warning given to the schoolchildren not to touch the cogwheels of any of the machinery on the premises, and placed his hand on a wheel as it was going round, when in a moment the tips of two of his fingers were nipped off. Fortunately the Bishop, who was in the medical profession before he became a missionary, was able to deal with the case and to do all that could be done for the
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poor lad. The fact that the Bishop's services as medical adviser are in constant requisition shows what an advantage it is to the missionary's flock when he is qualified to minister to the needs of their bodies as well as their souls.
I BEGIN TO TEACH THE GIRLS
August 30th. I have been three weeks now at the Bishop's, and it is time I put down in my Journal how it has been arranged that I shall employ myself day by day during my stay here.
I have had the girls placed under my charge, and every morning except Sunday, after they have scraped a sufficient quantity of potatoes for the day's meals, I have to see that they wash themselves and are neatly clad for school. Then I am to tidy my own room, and read Maori till ten o'clock. From ten to twelve I am to teach the girls to read and write English, and cypher. From twelve till one I am to take them out for a walk.
On Monday and Tuesday afternoons I am to teach them sewing for two hours. I have amused and delighted my pupils by proposing that they should begin by hemming coloured pocket-handkerchiefs for their own use, for I do not like seeing them using their pinafores for the purpose.
I have been busy for some time past getting the girls' frocks in order. They are all dressed alike. On Sunday they wear sun bonnets and capes, and look very neat and tidy. After the clothes are washed and dried I arrange them for each according to the numbers, and
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put them away in the school wardrobe, of which I have the key. On Saturday, after they are washed in their tub, I give the children their clean garments, and send away the dirty ones to be soaked in readiness for the Monday washing. Arranging their daily work and keeping their clothes mended occupies part of my time.
Twice a week for two hours I teach the English carpenter's two little boys. This completes the round of duties allotted to me for the present.
Maria Williams has school with the married women for two hours every afternoon, except Tuesday, when Mrs. Leonard teaches them to fix and make their own clothes.
I have hitherto found it very difficult to get sufficient exercise either for the girls or for myself, as the difficulty of walking is very great, owing to the absence of roads. The tracks are everywhere wet and muddy, and I cannot keep dry, even with goloshes on. When I do take a constitutional in company with the children after school, they have often to run before me to make some sort of a bridge or stepping stone to enable me to get over a pool or muddy hole.
For the last week there has been a great improvement in the weather, enabling me to accomplish a walk outside the school grounds and reach the pretty woods I have longed to enter ever since I came. It only took us twenty minutes to walk to the woods. There were several streams to cross, which required all the help the children could give me. Just as we seemed to have reached the forest we came to a swamp, twenty yards
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wide, separating us from it. But the Maori girls were not easily thwarted. Leaving me to rest on the grass they darted off, and in less than half an hour had beaten down the raupo and toe-toe and put branches of trees down all the way across from side to side. With the strong help of the new, rough-looking girl, Rahera, I got over. We had time only for a few minutes in the wood, and then had to hasten back to be in time for our meal.
August 16th. Mr. Kempthorne left for Auckland, taking with him a large budget of letters, which we have been busy writing for some days past. Mine were written with a very sad heart, for while all the others were rejoicing last week over the letters they had got by the Planet, no letters came by it for me, either from Auckland or England.
August 30th. Another disappointment for me. Mr. Baker 6 arrived from the Port with two saddle-bags bulging out (which is always a good sign of letters when coming from that quarter). Strange to say he appeared just at the very moment Mrs. Leonard and I were saying "This is a good wind for letters," and Mr. Leonard told us that he had dreamt we had got them.
I was at tea with Mrs. Leonard, and holding baby so she very kindly, with Ellie in her arms, went off to the Bishop's house for my treasures. Mr. Baker himself came in soon after and said he had only got one
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letter for me. I felt sure others would be enclosed, but was struck dumb when only a thin little note in Mrs. Montressor Smith's handwriting was given to me. I ran off to be a few minutes alone, for I felt this second disappointment very hard to bear. Mrs. Smith wrote from Humphrey's house, and I feel quite mystified that no letter has come from either himself or Emma. I fear my letters have all gone astray. I try to be patient, and wait for time to unravel the mystery. Humphrey and Emma would never be so unkind as not to forward on my dear, dear English letters, even if they could not write themselves. Mr. Leonard Williams very kindly sent a special messenger to the Port, ten miles away, who rode off, in pouring rain, to inquire again.
I spent a busy afternoon with my Maori exercises, and mending the boys' clothes, full of expectation all the time the messenger was away that he would bring back what I longed for, but alas! when he got back it was only to say no letters had come. I was inclined to rush off and spend the evening alone, but thought better of it, and soon recovered enough to teach Rebecca a little, and to sing a hymn, and read aloud one of the reviews from The Times to Mrs. Williams.
The new girl, Rahera, is, I am glad to say, getting a little more civilized. She is quick and very persevering, but very rough in her ways, and still looks like a boy in petticoats.
A new little child, called Patty, about five, who has only been here a month, can already put little words
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together and write them down on her slate. Maori children certainly are very quick learners.
November 10th. Since the last entry in my Journal a strange thing has happened. A hat box belonging to the Bishop was opened by chance, and there inside it was my long-lost packet of English letters. The box came from Auckland by the vessel which brought the mail, but no one thought it contained anything but the Bishop's hat, and so it remained unopened till the hat was wanted.
Mr. Leonard examined my girls last week, and expressed himself pleased with their progress. The wild Rahera is much improved and is the most good-tempered girl in the school. One still rougher, Lucy by name, came six weeks ago, but she too is softening, and is not quite so uncouth as when she arrived.
I was much amused the other day by Cooper, the carpenter, coming in and saying with a long face, "Well, I suppose the patience of Job was something great, but he never had a set of Maori boys to deal with, or there is no saying but that even he would have gone cranky."
Certainly patience, good nature and firmness are in hourly requisition, and also strong nerves are very needful to bear all the startling kinds of noises and outcries which the Maoris are continually making. Nevertheless, I like the life, and now that the garden flowers look so pretty all round the house, and I have had several enjoyable rides into the country, and been able to get into the woods, I have become reconciled to my surroundings here.
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A few days ago when I was in the woods with some of the girls, they found a very handsome white flower, like a huge magnolia, which they called kiekie. They told me to eat it, which I did, and found the flavour very agreeable. The leaves look like those of a short species of New Zealand flax, and grow in good-sized tufts on the trunks of forest trees, up which the parasitic kiekie climbs. It was most amusing to watch the girls scrambling like kittens up the trees, and to hear their cries of delight when they secured a ripe flower. The leaves of the kiekie are used to make the best kinds of floor mats and baskets.
On our way back the girls marched in regular order, singing a song which I had taught them. They wore wreaths of flowers on their heads, and carried bundles of kiekie leaves on their shoulders, and looked quite picturesque.
THE BISHOP'S DINNER PARTY
The great event of the past week was the dinner given by the Bishop to the natives of the pa, who were invited by him to join in the school hakari, or breaking up feast, on the fourteenth of November.
All the previous day everyone on the school premises was busy making preparations, and the abilities of the cooking department were taxed to their utmost extent. Mrs. Leonard was busy superintending the making of thirty huge Cape gooseberry pies with most substantial paste, which was mixed in great tubs by the men. The women picked and brought in buckets full of gooseberries.
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The decorations on the top of some of the pies looked most ridiculous. One represented a horse so large that its head had to be bent in a most uncomfortable position to allow of its being got into the oven at all. A huge quantity of meat and vegetables had to be prepared and cooked outside the school kitchen, and to do this in time every method of cooking known to the people had to be resorted to.
About one o'clock on the fourteenth we were summoned to attend the feast, and found in the room adjoining the schoolroom two great tubs filled with large joints of fat pork, and other tubs filled with four hundred pounds of kumaras and potatoes. The waiters and waitresses of the feast were nicely dressed. Three of them were selected from the elder schoolgirls, and three from the school-men.
Three long tables covered with white cloths were ranged down the room, with tin plates and spoons for twenty persons set out on each. Before any guests were admitted to the room the waiters gathered up all the plates and brought them to the three butlers who were carving, or rather pulling to pieces with hands and knives, the joints of pork. Each tin plate was soon loaded up, but many and many a plate had no lean upon it, only large lumps of the fat meat, so highly esteemed by the Maoris. With the meat a liberal supply of vegetables was provided.
When all the plates were filled and sent round, the Bishop called each guest by name to take his or her place at the table, those of highest rank being the first called
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It was quite curious to watch the solemn step and eager eye of the first guest to enter the room, who appeared at one glance to measure the contents of the plate assigned to him. The satisfied grunt, as he pulled his dirty red blanket together around his body when taking his seat, showed that he was pleased with the look of things. At last all were in their places, and presented a most extraordinary looking collection of people. A greater variety of features, expression and costume could scarcely be met with among an assembly of sixty persons. On two points, however, all were pretty much alike. All were equally dirty, and all were equally ready for the important business for which they came. No sooner had the Bishop said grace, and scarcely had the last echo of the loud "Amen!" passed away than very different sounds filled the room. Everyone was pulling and tearing at the meat, or stuffing whole potatoes or kumaras into his mouth. None but a Maori's mouth could extend wide enough to admit such lumps of food as were put in. The sight was at once amusing, amazing and disgusting.
Wherever I turned I met scenes such as the following being enacted. An old, well-tattooed man had on his lap a very small child, not a year old, and quite naked. His wife sat next to him. covered up in a very dirty, red blanket. The first of the trio to partake of the feast was the infant. Greatly to my surprise the old man picked from his plate the largest piece of fat pork, about two inches square, and presented it to the infant, who began to pull and suck and eat the dainty morsel with every sign of satisfaction. When the plates of both man
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and wife had been twice replenished, the woman's red blanket was carefully spread on their knees, and the last supply on their plates was emptied into it, to be carried home, in accordance with Maori custom, to help their next meal.
The next thing that attracted my attention was a young, well-dressed man, who, with both hands, was holding a huge piece of fat pork up to his mouth, and with most of his face concealed by it, was voraciously biting into it, till at last he crammed it as if by magic into his capacious mouth. That difficulty overcome, and finding no more pork reached his plate again, he seemed perplexed as to where he should wipe his very greasy hands and face. After looking about for a while he wiped his face with his coat sleeve, and then, evidently not wishing to soil his trousers, which had once been white, with considerable dexterity he wiped his hands on the back of his coat.
The first course being ended the waiters brought round the second course, consisting of Cape gooseberry pies. A heaped plate was given to each guest. How the bright, glistening eyes watched the disposal of each supply of pies brought into the room, until they got their own share, and with what evident pleasure they consumed it. I watched the couple who had first attracted my notice, to see what they would do with the surplus portion of their second course. I could hardly believe that they would add it to what they had already wrapped up in the blanket, but they did, and a most disgusting looking mess they carried off with them.
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When all had finished they retired, and the Bishop called in a fresh relay of guests, who were served in the same liberal fashion as the first partakers of the feast. They in turn retired, and were succeeded by others, until one hundred and eighty persons, the entire number of invited guests, were perfectly satisfied. On going outside we saw several good-sized baskets being carried off by the departing guests, full of what they had brought away from the dinner table.
In the evening, on going over to Mrs. Leonard's house, I found her on the veranda with a number of boys around her looking rather guilty, and lying about on the ground a quantity of their clothes. The little fellows had disobeyed her order to wear their old clothes during the holidays, and to leave their best ones behind them. They were caught leaving for home in their best things, and were brought back by one of the native teachers. We had specially mended the clothes to be worn during the holidays, feeling sure that old or new would be brought back to the school equally unwearable and unmendable. The little chaps retired behind a small projection of the house, where they changed into their old garments and brought back the forbidden new ones.
While this was going on at the house Mr. Leonard was engaged in the garden settling a quarrel between two other little boys. One complained that the other had struck him and was howling as loudly as he could. For a long time Mr. Leonard could get nothing out of the accused boy who would not answer any of his questions. At last he found his tongue and confessed that he did
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strike his companion--with a gooseberry. As the only gooseberry he could have done it with was a stewed one got out of his share of pie at dinner, it was clear that the complaint was frivolous, and that it was rage and not pain that troubled the urchin who made it, so he was warned not to magnify trifling assaults in future.
There was a terrible noise and fuss all over the premises before the departure of the men, women and children for the holidays. Some went in drays, some on horseback, some walked off with their baggage on their backs. Some were bathed in tears, other full of glee. By dinner time on Wednesday most were gone, and we were free to amuse ourselves. Mr. Leonard took me for a beautiful ride several miles up the valley, which I very much enjoyed.
MAORI COURTSHIP UNDER DIFFICULTIES
November 19th. The Bishop told me at breakfast this morning the romantic history of the courtship of little Harata's parents. Andrew, her father, had for many years been the Bishop's head teacher, a very trustworthy and good man. He at first fancied a young woman named Charlotte, who had been a long time with Mrs. Williams. Charlotte's friends objecting, for tribal reasons, to the marriage, he transferred his affections to a nice-looking young widow named Selina who, Maori fashion, was paying him attention which, he gave her to understand, was acceptable. But that the chief parties concerned are pleased with each other, and desire to be united, is not enough among the Maoris. The relations
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must all be consenting parties to the marriage, for without their approval it cannot take place; hence it often happens that a poor girl is forbidden to marry the person she loves and forced to marry someone she hates.
Selina was determined not to submit tamely to the opposition of her family, and twice she swam the wide river to get to Andrew. Her relations offered to give Andrew one of their prized greenstone meres if he would give her up, but their bribe was of no avail. They recaptured Selina, but found that she and Andrew remained as devoted as ever to one another. At length they announced that if she swam the river again they would withdraw their opposition, and the Bishop might publish the banns. Though they kept a very strict watch over her movements she succeeded one dark night in slipping unperceived into the water, getting a good start before anyone followed in pursuit. The pursuers had nearly reached her, and her capture appeared certain, when she escaped by diving. So long was she under water that she was quite exhausted when she at last reached the bank. Fortunately she was seen by a friend of Andrew's who went to her assistance and took her to his house.
Relying upon the promise made by Selina's relations, Andrew asked the Bishop to call his banns on the following Sunday, which he promised to do. Members of the woman's family came over, however, saying they retracted their promise, and dared him to publish the banns. The Bishop tried unsuccessfully to induce them to withdraw their opposition, and parted with them affirming that he, at all events, would keep his word.
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Sunday came, and the church was crowded to excess both parties being evidently prepared for a riot. One side looked triumphant, trusting of course to the Bishop's promise, while their opponents looked angry and defiant. The Bishop found the position one of great difficulty, but was equal to the occasion. A wave of excitement spread through the congregation as the time drew near when the important announcement was to be made. Great was the delight and triumphant were the looks and gestures of the one party, and astonished and crestfallen were the looks of the other party when the Bishop calmly continued the service without giving out the banns. But after his sermon, and just before singing the hymn with which the service closed, he gave the usual notice of the approaching marriage of Andrew and Selina. In this way he prevented a scene in church, for in the noise of getting up, and loud singing, the fierce words which accompanied the angry looks of Selina's relations were unheard until repeated outside the church after the service was over. As the Bishop expected, the opposition gradually subsided after the publication of the banns had actually taken place, and no further objection was offered to the marriage.
The Bishop and Mrs. Williams have gone for a visit to Auckland, and I miss them very much, and shall do so still more when the school reassembles and I have to manage the girls without their assistance and support. My ignorance of the language places me at a great disadvantage, for I do not understand all that is said to me, and am unable to make my orders fully understood by the children. But I must hope for the best.
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I have had two delightful excursions since the holidays began, one with Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Williams, and the other with Miss Thorne and Mr. Wardell. I had a very pleasant ride with the latter along the coast. We started about seven in the morning, and by turns walked and cantered along the beautiful hard sands for about three hours. I very much enjoyed getting this peep at the sea after being for five months too far away even to hear its roar.
While at our gypsy dinner the White Swan passed quite close, and as we hoped that she carried a mail bag for us, we became reconciled to the thought of returning home. Mr. Wardell, who was an artist, and had an eye for a beautiful landscape, took me to the top of a headland, from which was obtained a most charming view of the coast. We reached the Wardells' house by bright moonlight, and as it was half past nine before we had finished tea, it was useless to think of returning to the mission station, that being the hour there for retiring to rest. Besides, after a ride of twenty-seven miles I did not feel quite equal to another ten miles of particularly rough riding.
THE SCHOOL REASSEMBLES
December 17th. The people began to return to-day, and noise and bustle were exchanged for the stillness and quiet which has prevailed during their absence. I was walking alone in one of the fields when loud cries of "Haeremai" (Welcome!) proclaimed the arrival of a fresh party of scholars.
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Sunday was an intensely hot day, and the whare karakia (church) was crowded; but though the atmosphere inside the building was decidedly oppressive, the sight of so many worshippers was much more inspiriting, and made the services far more enjoyable than they had been during the previous four Sundays in the half-empty church.
Monday, December 19th. My work began to-day, and no easy task it proved. The girls were wild and rebellious of all control, and I felt rather puzzled to know how I was to manage them all alone. I soon found out that my only course was to begin with great strictness and in school hours to check at once the first appearance of frivolity and insubordination.
I began my duties in fear and trembling, but with a sincere prayer for wisdom and patience. Lucy was more trying than all the rest, though they were bad enough. She openly defied me. At last when I said that school would stop till she obeyed, she turned her back upon me, and muttered bad words. I then told her she must go to the next room till she became good. This she thought fit to do, but kept opening the door and looking in and laughing and making faces. I brought her in, and put her at the further end of the room, when she utterly rebelled, rushed downstairs, and went right off to the pa. There was a great commotion. The rest of the girls became sulky, but they obeyed me, and so the first struggle for the maintenance of my authority was over, and I hoped it would be the last.
In the afternoon Lucy returned, and Mr. Leonard gave
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her a good talking to. Before putting the girls to bed I had learned a softening Maori speech to make to the culprit, and I found I was right in thinking that treating her kindly would be the best way to cure her spirit of insubordination. She eagerly took my hand after I had spoken to her, and made friends with me, promising better conduct in future.
Little Harata, who returned on Saturday, ran away on Monday morning before school began. She had been most rebellious all Saturday and Sunday, less with me than with Mrs. Leonard. She insisted on sleeping with some married natives outside, and not in the house with the other girls. Indeed, she did everything she was told not to do. The little puss had stirred up the same spirit of insubordination in her brother and cousin, and the three all made their escape together. She had put up all her clothes in a bundle, had been quite systematic in her plans, and got off without any difficulty. As she had made such good progress at school last term we fancy that when she got home she was praised and petted too much, and that she did not relish finding her level again at school. Andrew, her father, saw Mr. Leonard next day, and told him how vexed he was that his child had behaved so badly, and promised to send her back at once.
Two new Marys have come, so that I now have three Marys, two Maraeas, and two Raheras. One of the new Marys--a great tall girl who does not possess an open countenance--seems very much disgusted not to get a set of new garments on entering the school, and does not relish the idea of having to wait till they are made for
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her. She seems disposed to be saucy and disobedient, and evidently dislikes school. It strikes me that her only object in coming to us was to get clothes! but I hope she will remain, poor girl, for she is very ignorant, and cannot read or write.
It is most difficult to keep my unruly pupils in any sort of order out of school. If told, for instance, to work in their gardens while we are at tea, I have discovered on coming out to them afterwards that they have been playing outside the fence, making a great noise, with the men and boys all round them. I feel sure that the only way to do real good with a girls' school is to have it like Mrs. Chapman's, 7 as far away from a pa as possible, and without any boys' school in the neighbourhood.
Monday 26th. Heard in the morning that the Volkners 8 have arrived at Turanganui, and may be expected here immediately, as horses were sent to meet them. We were all delighted to hear of their safe arrival. After dinner I went with the girls to the outer fence to meet them. The girls perched themselves on the top of the fence to keep watch, while I sat beneath in the shade. It was not long before they gave a loud cry of "Haeremai," and when I reached them I found my old friends close to me, looking very hot and tired and dusty, as they fancied they had lost their way. They only left Auckland the
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previous Saturday, and had a famous run down the coast in the White Swan. I soon heard from them all the Tauranga news, the best part of which was that Celia's 9 marriage had taken place on 15th December. I found the Volkners a very pleasant addition to our mission party.
Saturday, 31st. One of my most agreeable tasks is taking the girls down to the river to bathe. It is quite a sight watching them disporting themselves in the water. To-day was very hot, so we all went down to the usual place for bathing, but the bigger girls thought it too public and we all got into a canoe and went a little way down the river until we came to a place where they could bathe unseen. What delighted them most was jumping from the high river bank into the deep water. They always went feet first, and kept on diving in this way for a long time. After watching their movements and listening to their joyous exclamations, I seated myself under a neighbouring willow tree, where I heard the distant sound of the girls' laughter. On returning to them I realised how long they had been in the water, for the canoe was hard and fast on the shore, the tide having ebbed away from it. The girls had the greatest difficulty in getting it afloat again, but by dint of hard pushing, encouraged by the loud vociferations and gesticulations of the older girls, the floating was accomplished, and we got home safely, but rather late. All the girls were wear-
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ing wreaths of white calceolaria, gathered on the banks of the river, and looked very pretty and becoming.
January 2nd, 1860. The girls are going on a degree better, but they are a difficult set to manage. Mary Anki, when I gave her a sum to do last week, burst into a fit of crying, roaring at the top of her voice. On my insisting that she should give a reason for her loud lamentations she showed me a large sore on her leg, the top crust of which she had rubbed off. I told her if it pained her so much to sit quiet instead of doing her sum. To-day she refused to obey me when I told her to look at me instead of playing with her fingers while repeating her lesson. As she persisted in her disobedience I ordered her into the next room, when she set up her usual bellowing, which of course prevented my calling her back. Mrs. Leonard, hearing the noise while passing the schoolroom, came in, and told the child to be quiet, and as she took no notice, administered a sound slap, which stopped the crying at once. After a time, as she professed penitence, I called her back, and gave her some writing to do.
A VISIT FROM GOVERNOR BROWNE
January 11th. We heard this morning that the Governor has arrived on board a man-of-war for the purpose of seeing the native chiefs of this district. Mr. Leonard has gone down with horses to meet His Excellency. Mrs. Leonard and Kate and I, and all the school party are bustling to get the place as tidy as possible before the visitors arrive. The girls and I got the front
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of the house tidy--windows cleaned, veranda washed, and weeds and grass raked off the paths. I arranged the flowers in the sitting-room vases.
After dinner I saw the girls washed and dressed in their Sunday clothes. The men have been busy all day making imitations of greenstone meres by covering pieces of wood with green flax leaves, and then practising the gesticulations of the grand "Haeremai." About six in the evening a band of wild-looking Maori outriders appeared, escorting the Governor, 10 who rode in the rear of them, with his suite consisting of Colonel Mould and Captain Steward.
The "Haeremai" with which the school welcomed the Queen's representative was very imposing. All the people, old and young, were ranged up in line near the gate, and before the Governor spoke to any of us, he had numerous speeches to receive and reply to from the senior scholars and local native chiefs.
Unfortunately Mr. Dillon Bell, 11 who had been down the East Coast settling the Government land claims, left behind him a legacy of ill-will, and the Maoris had been told by ill-disposed Europeans that the Governor had come down to enforce Mr. Bell's demands. This irritated the Maoris, and prevented their reception of the Governor being as cordial as it otherwise would have been. Consequently, while welcoming the Governor, our Maoris told him that they hoped he would do what was right
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about their lands. The Governor put rather a wrong construction upon these words, owing to a note from Mr. Bell, which he received on his arrival, in which that gentleman complained of the behaviour of the East Coast Maoris who, he said, were the most insolent people he had ever met with in New Zealand.
The coldness of his reception on landing at Turanganui, where he expected to be met and welcomed by a large concourse of natives, also misled the Governor. When he saw only a few Europeans to greet him at the landing-place, and not a single native chief, he was very angry, and sent a message to Captain Cracroft that he would return to the man-of-war early the next morning, as there was no business to transact.
As it happened, the poor reception given to the Governor was owing to a misunderstanding and not to any ill-feeling on the part of the Maoris. The chiefs had sent a letter to the Resident Magistrate, Mr. Wardell, 12 to ask whether it was true that the Niger had come in with the Governor on board, and asking him to let them know when and how they ought to receive the Governor. This letter reached Mr. Wardell's house after he had started to meet the Governor, and was not seen until late at night on his return from escorting the Governor to the mission station. Mr. Wardell wrote to tell the Maoris of the mistake, and of the Governor's intention to embark early in the morning. He advised
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that as many as could come should be at the landing place, as he had no doubt His Excellency, when he heard of the mistake, would see them.
A number of chiefs acted on the magistrate's advice, and appeared in the morning, as arranged. The Governor, on his arrival, agreed to see them, but not being in an amiable mood, and resenting some disagreeable things said by one of the chiefs, he in turn gave offence by his replies, and the audience ended worse than it began, doing more harm than good. His final remark, which of course was not literally interpreted, was that they might go to the devil and mind their own affairs in future. 13
Everything the Governor says tends to strengthen the general impression that he has no liking for the native race. Had he but spoken kindly, and explained away their false impressions regarding the object of his visit, and told them it was his resolve to do justly by all, the Maoris would have been quite satisfied. As it was, his unfriendly bearing and threatening language roused their ill feelings, and will do much to increase the growing suspicion amongst the Maoris that the Government intends to deprive them of their lands by force.
On his way back from seeing the Governor off Mr. Leonard had a bad fall from his horse, which might have been very serious, as he fell upon his head. Fortunately he escaped with a few scratches on his face.
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A WEEK OF ACCIDENTS
January 16th. The past has been a most eventful week, and very unlucky. It began with the Governor's visit, which was a decided failure. Then one of the schoolboys, who had left his pen-knife open on the ground with an upturned blade, forgetting it was there put his foot upon it. The blade ran two inches into the foot and broke off, and not a vestige of it can be seen, so that in the absence of a surgeon there is no possibility of extracting it. 14 Following this, another boy ran a pitchfork into his hand. Then Mr. Leonard, who had hardly got over his fall, was called to see a sick cow; while he was examining her she got up suddenly and rushed at him, putting one of her forelegs down with such force upon his foot that he nearly fainted with pain. He had to keep his foot in hot water for many hours, and was very lame for some days. Fortunately the cow had no horns or he would certainly have been gored.
But the most terrible of our mishaps was the accidental death of a little boy ten years of age, who was killed in the harvest field by a heavy dray passing over him. The dray was laden with wheat-sheaves, and Cooper had only ten minutes before warned the little fellow not to ride on top of them. He and another lad had, however, disobediently crept up again, and stretched themselves out on top of the load. A sudden jerk had caused them to fall off, and before Cooper could stop the bullocks the wheel had passed over one of the boys and broken his
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back. Cooper reached him in time to hear one deep groan and to meet the piteous look in his eyes before they closed. He was carried directly into the wash-house where Mrs. Leonard had scarcely time to sprinkle a little cold water on his face when he sighed twice and died. Poor little lad, I hope his sad end will teach the other children the necessity of obedience.
January 16th. English letters came to-day. Thank God for good news from all my loved ones at home.
January 23rd. At dinner Mr. Leonard told us that the Maoris here are becoming more and more unsettled. The quarrel now going on between the Government and the Taranaki natives about a piece of land at Waitara is causing great dissatisfaction, and a section of natives here have summoned a meeting to discuss the advisability of expelling all Europeans from the East Coast, including even the Bishop and his family. 15 The advocates of this hostile policy say, "If no Europeans had been here the Governor would not have come; it was their presence which gave him an excuse for doing so, and an opportunity to spy out the land. If the Europeans remain the Governor will soon return, and seize all the land belonging to the Maoris, as he has done at. Taranaki."
January 25th. The girls told me this morning that the Maoris in all the villages round us are talking about the
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approaching expulsion of all pakehas, including the missionaries. They expressed great indignation against all such doings, and quite took our part, as they consider themselves identified with us. The Volkners are as much surprised as I am to hear that Maoris are talking so much against those whom they acknowledge are their oldest and best friends. We hope it is only talk, but it is nevertheless very sad and very disgusting.
The Volkners brought a fine sheep dog with them, but are forced to send it away because the Maoris threaten to kill it, as it bites their pigs when they invade the school grounds. The pigs are great pests. They are always getting into the garden and rooting up something of value, and we have no redress against their depredations. Only last night they broke into the kumara ground, and did great damage. Not long before they were continually in the wheat field, damaging the crop. After fattening these creatures on our farm and garden produce, the owners have the face to offer them for sale, at a high price, to the Bishop who, for the sake of peace, submits to the injustice.
SWAMP FIRE
A large fire has been burning for three days in the swamp between us and the sea, and is now rapidly approaching us. To-night the wind blew the flames alarmingly near the fence. The blazing front of the fire was about a mile in length, and rose up like a wall of flame raging and crackling, and sending forth furnace heat. The red flames lighted up the whole of our premises
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with a strange glare, and the entire scene was grand in the extreme. The wooden fences were often in danger, but fields of green grass protected our houses, preventing the fire from reaching them.
After prayers the men were sent with lighted torches to fire the ground all round the fences, and so stop the advancing tide of flames from reaching and destroying them. Fortunately heavy rain fell during the night and extinguished the fires on either side of us.
NATIVE INGRATITUDE
We had a rather distressing proof the other day of the unreasonableness of the natives, and the difficulty of living at peace with them when they are close neighbours.
Amongst other residents at the pa who have permitted their pigs to trespass inside the school fences and damage the growing crops, was a teacher named Paul, who paid as little heed as the rest to the warnings repeatedly given that the pigs would be impounded if they continued their depredations.
One day the school-men caught three, found rooting amongst the sweet potatoes. No one knew to whom they belonged. They were put into a sty, and notice was sent to the pa requesting the owners to come and fetch them. One of the pigs was found to belong to Paul, who refused to come for it.
"No," he said, "let those who put it into the sty put it out again. I will not speak to Mr. Williams until they do."
Mrs. Williams, who had for some days past been
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doctoring his wife's foot, went as usual in the evening to dress it, and put a fresh poultice on. She spoke to Paul and advised him to go and see her husband about the pig, but he refused, and was quite rude to her. What makes it worse is that for nine months Paul's wife and child have been fed entirely each meal from the Williamses' table, and during the last fortnight Mrs. Williams has been three times a day to dress and poultice the wife's foot; yet her husband has the ingratitude to resent the impounding of his pig, caught in the very act of destroying the property of the people who have been so kind to him.
The more I see of the ingratitude of the Maoris and their lawless ways, the more I marvel at the patience and endurance of the missionaries, who bore with them during that awful period when they were cannibals. If they are so difficult to live amongst now they have become Christians, what must it have been to live amongst them when they were heathens.
February 8th. The growing dislike to the English Government, openly shown by the natives in their conversation with one another, is beginning to infect our scholars, and increase their habitual unwillingness to obey our orders.
The first thing I saw from my schoolroom window this morning was a band of little boys running away towards the pa. Just what I suspected had happened-- they had openly rebelled. For a long time past the boys have been most troublesome about milking, bringing in again and again no more than enough milk to fill two
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pans from sixteen or eighteen cows. Of course, the milk is for the school children, and the more brought in the more they get. But though it was for their own benefit, that did not check the idleness of the milkers, who were further encouraged to shirk their work by some of the school-men, who spoke of milking as a disgusting operation, and so set the boys against doing it.
It has hitherto been the rule to give sugar for the porridge, when sufficient milk for all could not be got but it was never meant to be continued when the scarcity of milk was intentionally created.
Eight newly calved cows were lately got in with great difficulty from the bush and put into the stock-yard for the night. Next morning they were missing. No one knew how they got out, though someone must have taken the rails down to let them escape. This occurred several times, and it was evidently done to avoid the trouble of milking them. One evening Mrs. Leonard Williams stopped the sugar, saying that since they would not milk, they must do without sugar as the supply was running short, owing to the unnecessary demand made upon it. She reminded them that the greatest sufferers were the tiny children and sick babies of the very men who had cut off the supply of milk.
Next morning the men were all in a sulky mood, and no one came for the bread for breakfast. After prayers, when Mr. Leonard was arranging the work for the day, the men said they could not work without food, and did not choose to live on bread alone for breakfast, without sugar or milk. Shortly after this, eighteen of the boys
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ran away, and the whole place was in a state of commotion. However, by night they came to a better mind, and one of the men came for bread for their evening meal as usual. They are just like great children--fickle, and without any apparent sense of responsibility.
February 13th. Things are going on more smoothly. Nothing more is said about sugar, but no more milk comes in, though a particularly good milker has just calved.
Paul's pig is still in the sty, and is growing quite fat. When he complains that it is killed, Mr. Leonard refers him to the sty where he will find it, but he is still so surly that he will not himself come inside the school premises, and had the impudence to bribe one of the schoolgirls to bring his child some food after dark. Of course that was against all rules, but Mrs. Leonard took good care that both his wife and child got their usual supply of milk and bread. I cannot understand how any man can allow his wife and child to be daily fed by the very persons he shows such temper against.
Two messages have just come from natives who live a mile off, telling us that some of the school cattle have got into their kumara grounds, and giving a hint that they will be killed, as they hear the pigs were which got into the kumara cultivation belonging to the school.
It is a sad fact that the Maoris about here are not to be trusted. They all--Paul included--promised the Bishop before he came from Whakato that they would keep no pigs, otherwise he would not have commenced the school farm here; but finding that pigs can profitably be grown in
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the neighbourhood of the school, the Maoris have broken their word. Not long ago all the people of the pa went away to some distance for several weeks, leaving their pigs to shift for themselves. They knew where the pigs would find plenty to eat during their absence, and that was when they did so much damage amongst our crops.
The insolence of the women is on a par with that of the men, and one never knows what is going to happen from day to day. Yesterday was the day for washing the boys' clothes. Two women alternately undertake this weekly job, till it comes round to their turn again. One of those whose turn it was this week, being too ill to take it, Mrs. Williams called the next woman on the list, but she said she did not want to wash. She was told that she must unless she were ill. Then she coolly asked Mrs. Williams,
"Why do you not do it yourself?"
"Because I have other work to do for the school," was the reply, "your part is the washing, and I expect you to do it."
But she did not, and the husband of the woman she ought to have helped with the machine came to tell Mrs. Leonard that he could not allow his wife to work it alone, and there was no end of trouble before the matter in dispute could be settled.
I cannot put down in writing half the trials of temper that each day brings to us all; but I do hope and think that the girls under my charge are in decidedly better order than they were. The system of giving good and
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bad marks for conduct has proved very beneficial to them.
Lucy's banns were called yesterday. She has behaved better since her engagement. Betty is engaged also, but her banns will not be called until her brother's banns are put up. There is some delay about that, caused by the opposition of the girl's relations. A man kept standing up in church during morning service last Sunday, ready to forbid the banns whenever they were called.
On Sunday evening we were startled by Betty rushing in to say that the leading man of the party who favoured her marriage had just tried to hang himself. It was the second attempt at suicide made by him that day. Mr. Volkner went to reason with him on the sin and folly of his conduct, and found the man beside himself with rage at the opposition shown to the marriage, which he said was offered by persons who were altogether beneath him in rank, and whose opposition he considered a great insult. Mr. Volkner left the poor man in a better frame of mind. He is the last person I should have thought capable of acting as he has done. He is a very quiet and respectable-looking man, and always on the most friendly terms with the Bishop.
The man whom Mr. Williams sent to report upon the damage done by the school cattle has come back to say that there was no fence of any kind round the cultivation, and that out of the mob of cattle said to have damaged the crops, only two belonged to the school, the rest to the Maoris themselves. As to the injury done to the crop, it was most trivial, only two or three kumara
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plants having been trod upon. Maori-like, the whole thing had been greatly exaggerated, and if the schoolman had not been sent to find out the truth, one of the bullocks would probably have been killed as payment for the imaginary damage done by it.
February 15th. Paul gave further evidence to-day of his ill-temper and spitefulness. As it was raining heavily when he came for food for his wife and child, he gave the jug he brought to one of the girls, and told her to bring it to his house. When she did not appear he came again, and when it was given to him he said, "You had better tell Mr. Leonard that his cattle are impounded for trespassing." He looked rather taken aback when Mrs. Leonard said, "Oh, yes, we know all about that; we sent a man last night to see the damage, and he found it was nothing to speak of."
Paul came again this morning to ask Mrs. Leonard for the loan of a preserving pan to boil his plum jam in. He had to go to the other house for it, and took a very long way round to escape meeting Mr. Leonard, so great is his obstinacy, having said that he would not speak to him until the pig is let out. Yet when it suits him he can forget his pride, and ask, not only for the loan of a preserving pan, but jars to put his jam into when made. He was caught at last to-day, for on going to Mr. Leonard's house for the jam jars, the door was opened by Mr. Leonard himself, who asked him why he had of late so studiously avoided meeting him. Paul looked very cross, but at last said that he knew he had been in the wrong, and wished to be friends again. So the pig
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was released, and he was pleased to find it in better condition than when he last saw it.
February 21st. Mr. Volkner, who spent Sunday at Whakato, has just returned, and brings a sad report of the H's. He could hold no English service at their house as Mrs. H. had been drinking hard all last week. She tried to destroy herself with laudanum, after which her husband, in a fit of depression, began drinking too, and then seized the laudanum bottle and swallowed the remains of its contents. When he recovered from the effects he tried to cut his throat. What a fearful example for the Maoris amongst whom these English people are living. No wonder the natives begin to doubt the truth of what the missionaries have taught them about Christianity and its requirements, when they see people born and brought up as Christians guilty of doing worse things than they themselves did when they were heathens.
February 23rd. The Bishop and Mrs. Williams returned from Auckland; we were all delighted to see them again. The natives gave them a very hearty welcome. There is no doubt they have a sincere affection for the Bishop, in spite of their want of consideration for his wishes, and their occasional acts of ingratitude.
LUCY'S WEDDING
February 29th. Lucy's wedding day. Her bridegroom came last evening to stay here and be in readiness for the ceremony. While all the other school-girls went to meet him, Lucy rushed upstairs to her room to look at
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him through the window. Nor did she see him again until they met in church the next day.
After breakfast she came with me to my room, where I dressed her in a nicely trimmed buff muslin I had worn only once or twice. I also gave her boots and stockings, of which she was very proud, and a new black ribbon for her hair, which made it look more tidy than usual. If not very bridal looking in her new attire she was at least clean, and not quite so ugly as usual. Mrs. Volkner completed her dress with a pretty handkerchief for her neck, and she was evidently very pleased with herself, and with us for what we had done for her. Unfortunately, when she was met by the other girls she was told that her bridal attire was not complete without a tippet, as the last bride married from the school wore one, and so set the local fashion. Lucy then burst into tears, and disgusted me by begging for a shawl in addition to what I had already given her. I had no shawl for her, but to quiet her outcries, one of the women brought the black cape she herself was married in. It rather destroyed the bridal effect of my dressing, and did not restore her cheerfulness.
All the time she was being married she looked as ugly and cross as she could, and I felt sorry for the man who was uniting himself to such an ill-tempered creature. After the ceremony she signed her name neatly in the register, having practised the signing of it very often in school. But her husband looked much perplexed when told to sign his name, and took a long time about
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it. Mr. Lot, 16 the native clergyman, placed Lucy's arm in the bridegroom's as they left the church, but as soon as they got outside she dropped it and ran off to join her school-fellows and walk back with them.
The newly married couple stayed with a brother-in-law, who is one of our people, till next day. Lucy came at night to say her prayers to me as usual, and appeared again at half-past-five in the morning to join in prayer with us. She went off soon after breakfast, carrying a large kit full of her belongings on her back, and walking, while her husband rode on horseback. This is the usual practice, but Lucy told her school friends, who escorted her along the road for some distance, that she was soon to have a horse of her own, and then she would ride too.
March 2nd. While sitting at breakfast I felt the floor moving under my feet, and had not time to ask the cause before Mr. Leonard turned to me and said, "Miss Jones, an earthquake." It was over in a few seconds, and I felt so glad that I had at last felt one that I could not help clapping my hands. I felt a little more serious on looking up and seeing the map and pictures on the wall moving and everyone looking rather pale.
March 10th. Took the girls in the direction of the
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church, and on the way they bathed in the river. A kind old woman gave us some delicious peaches. After she left us, and as we passed the pa, some bad men came out, and two, who seemed to be tipsy, ran after us, using very bad language. We ran away as hard as we could nearly all the way home, and were very frightened. The next day, when we went to church, a woman told us that the men who pursued us were not tipsy, but purposely tried to frighten us, and would have done more to annoy us if an influential chief had not forced them to desist.
The rumour of war between the English and Maoris at Taranaki is increasing the spirit of lawlessness amongst the natives, and encouraging the worst of them to behave in an insolent way to any white people they come across. A native neighbour of one of the English settlers near here had a small pig, not worth more than ten shillings, which he said was bitten on the ear by the settler's dog, though no proof of the fact was given, but the dog was carried off as payment for the injury. Soon after the little pig disappeared, and its disappearance was, the owner said, owing to its having been killed by another dog belonging to the same settler, so a fine mare and foal of his were carried off as payment. Shortly afterwards the Pig was found; it had only strayed away, but the mare and foal were never returned. This kind of thing is of daily occurrence; the English can get no redress, and find that they must just grin and bear it.
The Bishop reminded us at breakfast this morning that, bad as things are, they are not so bad as they were forty years ago, and told us one or two amusing stories to prove it. A blanket was seen by him one day gradually dis-
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appearing out of his bedroom window. On going to investigate he found that a Maori, who had shortly before been in the bedroom, had attached a fish-hook and line to it, and was drawing it towards himself.
On another occasion a native came to consult him about one of his eyes, which was very diseased. While the Bishop was using both his own for the benefit of the man, his patient was using one eye and both hands to possess himself of the contents of the Bishop's waistcoat pockets, and would doubtless have emptied them had his depredations not been noticed by his benefactor.
BETTY'S WEDDING
About the middle of the month Betty came back quite unexpectedly, after being away some time, and told me that it was her wedding day, and that she wanted a new frock in which to be married. Mrs. Leonard told her it was impossible to provide a new dress at such short notice, and that she ought to have applied to her before.
When I went into the room Betty was sitting in great distress with the skirt of her working dress on, and saying that she had nothing else to wear, and no jacket even to put over her shoulders. I took compassion at last, although determined, after Lucy's ingratitude, never to dress a Maori bride again. After searching amongst my things I found a very neat, white checked muslin jacket, and gave it to her, only bargaining that she should return the trimming, which was very pretty. I gave her a bow to suit her frock, and a comb and ribbons and pins for her hair.
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On going into the bedroom soon after, to see if she was ready, I found she had changed her skirt for a pretty print, and as the bow I gave her did not suit it, I gave her another. I again left her, returning a few minutes later to tell her the Bishop was going to the church and that it was time to be moving. Imagine my surprise to see her wearing on the top of the neat print an old short blue muslin skirt, with three very crushed flounces and bows of blue, green, and purple ribbon, with long ends. Someone had furnished a long blue sash, quite different from my blue bow. And thus attired she marched off.
Her brother's bride looked much better, but how far she is to be congratulated upon her marriage it is hard to say at present, after what took place yesterday, when I am told she and her bridesmaids had to pursue Betty's brother on horseback, when he was in full flight, endeavouring to fulfil his father's wishes and marry another lady, who was to give his father a horse if he could persuade his son to change his mind and marry her, and forsake the handsome young widow who had wooed him under such difficulties. I thought the young widow looked very triumphant during the service, and now I know the reason why.
An immense feast followed in the pa. Eighteen pigs were consumed, and a proportionate quantity of potatoes and kumaras and all sorts of Maori delicacies. I was very sorry the schoolgirls were allowed to attend the feast, as they seem at once to revert to the objectionable ways of their people, and it takes weeks, after quite a short period of such licence, to restore school discipline amongst them.
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AN EARTHQUAKE, AND RUMBLINGS OF WAR: AN ENGLISH BOX
April 17th. What is happening just now amongst the Poverty Bay Maoris shows that in spite of their many lapses and wrongdoings, they are in the main on the side of righteousness, and in spite of their vapourings they are not really disloyal to the Queen's Government.
The natives are now so disgusted with themselves for being unable to resist the temptation to buy the strong drink sold in all the stores here, that they have made a law forbidding purchases of any kind to be made at a store where intoxicating drinks are sold. They have stationed policemen at these stores, armed with muskets to prevent any person entering them. The consequence is that they are just now, in this cold weather, very badly off for blankets and warm clothing. The Bishop has agreed to allow one of our school-men to go and buy thirty pounds worth of woollen goods, and sell them to those who want them. At the same time he told the chiefs that it would be wiser to forbid the sale of intoxicating drinks only, and not to stop all trade.
After hearing so much talk against the English Government, and so many threats regarding the expulsion of all Europeans from this district, it is a great and pleasant surprise to hear that there is a movement on foot amongst the pa natives to send a contingent to help the Governor against the Taranaki natives. Great indignation is expressed by many of the leading chiefs here at the hostility shown to Europeans by the Taranaki people.
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April 23rd. Just before going into the school I felt an earthquake, and saw the pictures swaying about on the walls. The whole house moved as if rollers were passing under it, and the Maoris were all crying out, "He Ru!"--an earthquake.
April 24th. Mrs. Williams and Maria arrived in a little sailing vessel called the Satellite, from Auckland, after a long passage of eighteen days, during which they encountered very bad weather. They bring sad news from Taranaki, where three Europeans have been murdered in cold blood. Humphrey and Emma are both at the seat of war, so I am thankful to be here quietly at work.
April 27th. My English box has come, and thanks to the care taken in packing it, and having it lined with tin, I am spared the vexation and sorrow of seeing its contents spoilt, in the same way that the contents of Mrs. Williams's are, with salt water. While landing the boxes the careless natives left them on the beach too near to the advancing tide, and they got thoroughly soaked. It was sad to see all the new dresses Mrs. Williams had bought for herself and her daughters having to be steeped in fresh water and hung up to dry. The whole of the clothes lines and pegs were called into requisition, and every clothes horse we could get hold of. Five hundred hymn books and Testaments had all to be carefully opened out and dried. Two beautiful coloured pictures were quite destroyed.
When we had finished spreading out the contents of all Mrs. Williams's boxes to dry, I proceeded to open
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mine. The girls were all in a great state of excitement about its contents, knowing as they did, from what I had told them, that there were many presents in it for them. "What kind friends Miss Jones has in England; their riches must be very great when they can send her such a variety of things to give away."
They looked a little disappointed at first when they found that other schools were to share the contents of the box with them, but on each getting a nice bag, and a gay coloured handkerchief, they went off full of glee to discuss their presents with one another. What a pleasure an English box gives when, like this, it is full of gifts from dear friends, who seem very near as one handles the things they have sent; and still more so when, as in dear Cassie's 17 case, the gifts are accompanied by photographs of the donors. The likenesses seem to bring one into actual touch with them.
Mrs. Williams's return relieved me from my self-imposed task of managing her girls' school during her absence, and I began soon after to prepare for my own departure for Auckland. No suitable opportunity occurred until the middle of June, so meantime I continued to carry on all the duties I had undertaken in connection with the school.
TO AUCKLAND IN THE WHITE SWAN
On the morning of Tuesday, 26th June, I was seated as usual at half-past ten, teaching my girls in the schoolroom, when Maria Williams came in to tell me that
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the White Swan was at Turanganui, and would only wait about an hour, till they could collect the chiefs belonging to this part of the East Coast, who were going to attend Governor Grey's conference at Kohimarama.
It seemed at the moment an impossibility to pack, and catch the steamer, which was anchored ten miles away, at such short notice, but we made a desperate effort to do so. Fortunately most of my things were already packed in readiness for a sudden flight, so I quickly filled my portmanteau and tiny bonnet box for one of the natives to carry down on his back, and then Mr. Leonard Williams and I mounted our horses and started off as hard as we could go, splashing the mud over one another as we tore through the swamps and bogs that lay between us and the harbour.
We reached the coast just in time; the steam was up, the whistle blowing, and the last boat ready to leave the beach. I hastened behind a clump of bushes to change my skirt, which was wet and muddy to the waist, for a travelling dress I had brought with me in a Maori basket.
We found fifteen Maori chiefs on board, all of whom behaved as well as could be. Several of them spoke English, and all were well dressed. They occupied the ladies' cabin and the saloon. I was the only woman on board, and occupied the nice little cabin which Humphrey and Emma had when we went to Wellington last year. I hoped to enjoy a comfortable passage, but my hopes were doomed to disappointment, as it turned out to be about the most wretched I had experienced, not excepting even the Hope.
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To begin with, we had high contrary winds and rough seas the whole time. I suffered from incessant sea-sickness, and found no relief during the twenty-four hours we were anchored in Hicks Bay, where I would gladly have gone on deck for a breath of fresh air, but was too much in terror of a tipsy steward, who the previous evening had fallen through my open door on to the floor of my cabin. To protect myself from any repetition of the same sort of thing, and from any attention to my wants by him, I fastened my door, and never opened it till I reached Auckland four days afterwards. I had nothing to eat or drink all that time but a loaf of bread and the water in the bottle on the rack in my cabin.
I was sorry not to see Hicks Bay from the deck, as what I could see of it through my little porthole window showed me that it was a pretty place, and I was still more sorry because, being one of the old homes of the Kisslings and Stacks, I should like to have been able to tell them that I had seen it.
Crossing the Bay of Plenty we lost our bowsprit, and entered Auckland Harbour on Saturday evening in a very dilapidated condition. The few hours rest I hoped to get before dawn was destroyed by the horrid noise made outside my cabin by the tipsy steward, who was swearing and tumbling about in the saloon all night long. I dressed at daybreak, and then, for the first time since embarking, saw Mr. Williams, who said he was too ill to come to me before.
We left the ship together, and began our long walk to Mrs. Kissling's to breakfast; how ever I managed to walk the two miles up and down hill in my exhausted
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state I do not know. I felt as if I must fall at every step I took, but managed to reach the Kisslings before collapsing. A little food soon restored me, and dear, kind Mrs. Kissling was so thoughtful and sympathetic. She and the Archdeacon and Sarah and Mary Ashwell gave me a very warm welcome. I heard much about the war from them, and began to see how wrong Governor Browne and his advisers were in hurrying on the seizure of the Waitara land.
Humphrey and Emma are still at Taranaki, in the midst of all the strife, but quite safe from the hostile natives. I found kind letters from them awaiting me here, in which they beg me to go to them, but I have decided to stay with Mrs. Kissling till they return to Auckland.
July 2nd. Sent early for such letters as were at the Post Office directed to Poverty Bay. I was walking up the Parnell hill with Mrs. Kissling when I opened one from Christchurch. She was the first to recognise the hand. Its contents surprised me very much. I tried to be a good deal alone that day, and earnestly sought Divine direction about it.
LAST DAYS IN AUCKLAND
Monday, July 9th. Answered my Christchurch letter. That I may be directed by God and do His will was my heart's real prayer while doing so.
I hear that the conference of native chiefs being held at Kohimarama is giving great satisfaction. Burning questions are being discussed in a very sensible manner,
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with dignity and self-restraint. But the principal men in it think that little can be done now to allay the suspicion which has taken root in the native mind that the English intend to dispossess them of their lands. It is a thousand pities that such a conference as this was not summoned long ago, and proof given to the Maoris that their interests were as much an object of solicitude to the Government as the interests of the white people. As a matter of fact the interests of the Maoris have been completely ignored, and it is only now that an attempt is being made to legislate for their benefit.
August 7th. Emma arrived quite unexpectedly while I was at breakfast. I was very glad to see her and to hear all her news about Humphrey. We have decided not to go out of an evening, or to attend any sort of amusements, as it seems more suitable to keep as quiet as possible during this sad time of anxiety and sorrow. We find the days go quickly enough reading together, and working and writing and practising our music.
Friday, 18th. Fully expected the White Swan and letters from the south, but there are no signs of her appearing, and I try to be patient.
Monday, 21st. The Persia, with my English "Christmas Tree" box on board has just come in. I long for my box, but even more for that White Swan. When will she arrive? Six weeks yesterday since I wrote.
Tuesday, 22nd. The White Swan came in first thing this morning. No letters could be got until the afternoon. Emma and I walked to Parnell and paid some calls. Met Macey taking Mrs. Selwyn's letters. Longed to ask for
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mine, and quite expected to find them awaiting me on my return, but was much disappointed. None came. Heard the door bell at dusk, and fancied J. S. perhaps had come himself--but it was only the bell for candles.
Wednesday, 23rd. Went to see Mrs. Kissling, and met Bishop Selwyn on the way. He told me that the English mail had come, and had brought news that our mutual friend, Judge Martin, is knighted--a well-deserved honour.
Sarah Ashwell sent me a very interesting letter from her father. By his influence he was the means of preventing several of the Waikato chiefs from joining Wiremu Kingi at Taranaki. This war might have been prevented had it not been rushed into at the instigation of interested persons who coveted the Maoris' land, and wanted them to be forced to sell to Europeans.
Monday, September 3rd. At last letters from the south. All is well. I feel very thankful and happy. The letters had been brought by a small sailing vessel which had to contend against baffling winds all the way.
September 16th. The announcement of my engagement to Mr. Stack has given great pleasure to all my friends, and especially to the Montressor Smiths, Kisslings. and Bishop and Mrs. Selwyn, and the Martins, from all of whom I have received hearty congratulations. Our marriage will not take place until after J's. ordination, which takes place at the end of December. I have promised to make J's. first surplice and bands, and if he is to get them in time for his ordination they must be ready to be forwarded early in November, as the communication
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between this place and Christchurch is so very irregular and it is impossible to tell how long a letter or parcel will take to get there. The only regular communication between Wellington and Lyttelton at present is kept up by a top-sail schooner.
December 18th. The ordination will take place on the 23rd, and J. will leave by the first opportunity after that, for Wellington, where he hopes to join the Robert Lowe, a troop ship just arrived from England with reinforcements, which will sail for Taranaki about the middle of January. Bishop Abraham is coming by the same vessel to take part in the consecration of Mr. Patteson, the Bishop-elect of Melanesia.
January 25th. The bazaar for which we have all been working so hard took place to-day in Mr. Matson's paddock. While I was helping Mrs. Selwyn at her stall and had a little black marble tray in my hand, which I was endeavouring to dispose of, Mr. Burrows 18 came up to me with the glad news that the Robert Lowe was in, and that he had just come from seeing J., who wants to know where I can meet him. Mrs. Selwyn, who overheard the news, at once said, "At the Deanery." I asked her what I should do with the little tray. "Keep it, my dear, as a memento." Off I went, and found Mrs. Selwyn's old nurse alone in the house. I told her what I had come for, which interested her very much. In a few minutes a knock at the door was followed by the entry of my long expected visitor. Needless to say, we
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were very happy to be together at last. We went to the Government Domain, where we found a retired spot, from which we had a beautiful view of the harbour, from our seat beneath the shade of a puriri tree.
OUR WEDDING
Monday, January 28th. Our wedding took place at eleven o'clock to-day, at St. Stephen's, Taurarua. On reaching the church I was taken aback not to find my bridegroom there. Mr. Swainson, his best man, could give me no information about him. Bishop Selwyn advised me to sit down, and I tried to keep calm. I had not many minutes to wait before a stir at the entrance of the chapel told me that he had come. The service proceeded, and we were soon happily united in the bonds of holy matrimony.
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