1814-1853 - The Missionary Register [Sections relating to New Zealand.] - 1836 - Australasia--New Zealand, p 514-520

April 9, 1835 -- Arrived in peace at Matamata.

April 10 -- About 200 Natives assembled around my tent early this morning; with whom I held Service, and endeavoured to explain to them the object which we had in view in settling among them. Found my house in a very unfinished state. Engaged in removing the principal posts, &c. Attended a native child, who had been most severely bruised by falling from a high tree. I could do but little, however, for the child, in consequence of their having made him sacred, and objecting to my remaining with him.

April 11--Commenced school: thirty attended. Putting up a carpenter's bench; staking out yard for the fencers; purchasing potatoes, &c. Called to visit a sick blind Chief, who had received a gun-shot wound; which the Natives had rendered much worse, by plastering it closely up with red-ochre. They objected, in the first instance, to wash off the ochre, because it was connected with some of their superstitious rites; but they finally consented to the necessary measure.

April 12: Lord's Day -- Held Service this morning: about 250 Natives present. In the afternoon, walked to a village about two miles from this place; and addressed about 100 Natives, who were very attentive. On my return, I found our lads just finishing school. About 150 had been engaged in learning the Catechisms. In the evening, a still larger number assembled than in the morning; but they proved to be a very turbulent congregation; and at least fifty of them manifested the native independence of their character, as well as the enmity of the natural heart to the reception of the Gospel, by getting up in a very rude manner and walking out of the place. This breaking-up the fallow ground is hard work; but it will yet be refreshed by the early and the latter rain; and then shall it be fruitful and blessed, as the garden of the Lord.

April 13 -- Upward of ninety Natives at school this morning, distributed into four classes: twenty-four of them were girls. In the evening, fifty attended Prayers. During the day, the Natives busily engaged at my raupo-house, in digging a potatoe-house, sawing, planing boards, &c.

April 14--Purchased upward of 500 baskets of potatoes, for our winter stock of provision. Paharakeke, the principal Chief engaged about our house, was angry because the potatoes were not all purchased of his tribe: and perceiving a heavy rain coming on, he went and tapued my house, in order that the potatoes might not be put under shelter. I felt that if this conduct were not checked, he might some day or other take it into his head to tapu me. I therefore went to the old man; and told him, that though the Missionaries would not violate their sacred places, we could not allow the Natives to tapu ours. I then went into the house, and, much to the astonishment of the Natives, who were collected around, I took down the dirty mats which Paharakeke had tied up to the posts of the house, as a signal of its being sacred, and took them outside: after which, the Natives, who had before refused to carry in the potatoes, went in without hesitation.

April 15--Lining and measuring timber, and removing the potatoes from the house to the potatoe-store, which I have just got completed. Paharakeke teazing, throughout the day, to have his potatoes purchased at a different price from that agreed for with the other Natives; but as he found begging and scolding equally unavailing, he at last good humouredly gave up his point.

April 16 -- Sixty Natives attended school this morning although the weather is very cold, and we are obliged to hold it in the open air. As there were no Natives at work at the house to-day, I inquired the reason; and found that Paharakeke had desired them all to leave off work. On this, I told the Chiefs present, that as I could not bring tip my family till a house was built for their reception, and as Paharakeke had, without any reason, refused to allow the men to continue their work, I should return to Puriri, and remain there till they sent me word that the house was finished. My intentions were at once communicated to the old Chief; who very soon made his appearance, and requested me

to make peace with him; promising, that if I would do so, the house should be proceeded with immediately. He stated, also, that he had not been angry with me, but with one of the Chiefs who had sold me the potatoes. I told him, that the proper way was to make peace with that Chief, or else he would soon break again the peace which he was desirous to make with me. To this he consented, as well as the Chief against whom his anger had been directed: so, in English fashion, we shook hands all round, instead of rubbing noses; and the Natives now seem to be all in good humour. These squabbles are most painful to the flesh; but the present one seems to be mercifully overruled, to the reconciliation of two principal Chiefs.

April 17, 18, 1835--Upward of seventy at school. Engaged with the Natives, who are splitting, fencing, sawing, planing boards, building the house, &c.

April 19: Lord's Day-- Two hundred Natives attended Divine Service this morning, and between seventy and eighty in the evening. They were pretty attentive, as was evident by the many interruptions I experienced from one Chief or other, putting questions, and asking explanations. In the afternoon, I visited the sick wife of one of the leading Chiefs at this place, at his request. It was a melancholy sight: the poor woman was on the very borders of eternity; and fixed on me such a vacant stare during the time I was speaking to her, as painfully convinced me that not a single ray of light had penetrated her benighted soul. Around her were assembled a number of women, who, with "mockery of woe," were cutting large gashes in their arms and breasts with shells; and who, like her, were without God and without hope; while at the feet of the dying woman sat her husband, fixing on me an imploring look, which told, as plainly as words could do, the distress he felt at her being about to enter upon a world which his own conscience had invested with darkness and despair, and from the horrors of which he vainly hoped that I could, by some charm or other, afford her relief.

May 1 -- The Natives seem much inclined to dispute about the small portion of land which they resigned for the Station; but the boundary has been made so distinct, to-day, by Waharoa and the principal Chiefs, that I trust we shall not experience any more trouble on the subject.

May 2 -- My expectations of yesterday were disappointed this morning. One Chief commenced building a house on part of the ground allotted for the Settlement; and another, in great anger, rooted up and threw away the sticks which Waharoa had set up yesterday to mark the boundary. The matter was at last amicably adjusted, and the house removed. I was requested to visit a sick child, with the assurance that it was close at hand; but instead of being so, it occupied me two hours to walk to the spot and return. The house is proceeding but slowly; the Natives requiring tobacco in addition to the payment for which they undertook to build it; but were I to comply with this demand, others, I fear, would grow so fast, that the house would not be completed at all.

Had the mortification of hearing, this evening, that a messenger from Puriri, with letters for me, was detained by the Natives on the road, in consequence of their having made it "tapu": a usual custom with them, at the commencement of the eel-catching season. The Natives, however, promise that the tapu shall be taken off, and the road rendered free to pass over on Monday.

May 5--The lads from Puriri arrived; having, however, been stripped by the Natives, who took away my box, containing linen, supplies, and letters. This conduct is trying; for the Natives have broken their promise, that they would take the tapu off the road.

May 6--We sent for Waharoa this morning, and complained that the Natives had deceived us respecting the removal of the tapu; and stated, also, the absolute necessity which there was for our going over the sacred ground. He said, that if we persisted in passing, the Natives would perhaps be very "tutu," as the eels would not go into the nets if the tapu were violated. We thought, however, that it was desirable to go to the confines of the sacred spot, and have an interview with the Chief, who had taken possession of my box; and therefore, packing up our things, and striking our tents, we proceeded on our journey. We parted on excellent terms with the Natives; and with no one more so than

my troublesome friend Paharakeke, who urged me to make haste, and return with Mrs. Brown; and he would "believe" as soon as I came back again. Soon after noon, we arrived at the sacred spot, and the box was soon placed at our tent-door, without an observation. I was glad to find that they had not purloined any of the articles from it. The Chief, who had stripped our lads, soon afterward made his appearance. He took to himself very great merit for not having kept any thing belonging to me, and asked me if I would not make peace with him. To give him some idea of the rights of property, I told him that my things were not more sacred than those of my lads, and that it was equally sinful to steal from a slave as from me--a doctrine which he seemed quite incapable of comprehending. We promised, at his request, not to proceed on our journey till the morning, as he wished to take off the tapu during the night: and he then went on to argue, in a way most convincing to himself, that as they sat still on our sacred day, because we told them to do so, it was our duty, in return, to sit still on their sacred day, and not to pass over grounds which, for a season only, they had made sacred.

May 7, 1835--The tapu being taken off the road, we pursued our journey early this morning; and arrived at Puriri, in peace and safety, soon after midnight; where I had the pleasure of finding my family much improved in health.

June 5 -- Fifty boys at school today, and fifty girls. Engaged in door-hanging, &c. My friend Paharakeke did me the honour to call this morning; and informed me that he meant double blankets, not single ones, when he agreed about the payment for our house. He is certainly a very troublesome Native; but I have no doubt he would become much more so, if I submitted in any measure to his exorbitant demands.

June 6 -- Shortly after I had finished school this morning, we were interrupted by three Natives scaling our fence; one of whom commenced chopping the end of our house with his hatchet-- not, as I found on going out to them, in consequence of any angry feeling toward me, but because a Chief, named Ngakaka, was reported to have advised me not to give the payment for our house to those who had built it, but to let him have it for finishing the work which they had left undone. I had to give the aggressors a good scolding for their conduct: and at last the ringleader seemed so much ashamed, that he jumped over the fence, and ran off to his kainga (residence).

June 9--Glazing and cramping a door to put up to our bed room, our present substitute being a blanket. Mrs. Brown commenced a Morning Infant School.

June 10--Slaking lime. Settled for our house with the Natives, without any grumbling, on their part, as to the payment. The Native who began chopping at our house on the 6th instant sent me a letter to-day, stating that his heart was very dark for his bad conduct; that his love for me was very great; and inquiring if I would make peace with him, if he brought a pig to me, as a payment for what he had done; which I consented to receive.

June 12--Waharoa arrived this morning; and came immediately to the school, to speak to me respecting a curse which he said had been uttered against him, in his absence, by a European, resident in this neighbourhood. By native law, this crime, as well as adultery, is visited by a very heavy penalty. From some expressions that the old Chief dropped, he appeared to have made up his mind to proceed to extremities, unless some recompence were made to him; and as his object in calling on me was to request that I would accompany him to the European's house, I thought it the path of duty to comply with his wish. The charge was not denied by the man, who felt it expedient to give Waharoa a payment, and by this means appease his anger. Engaged the remainder of the day in chimney-building. The whole process of burning the shells, slaking the lime, mixing the mortar, &c., has attracted much attention on the part of the Natives, to whom every thing approaching to civilization is new and strange.

June 14: Lord's Day -- Before daybreak this morning, I was called out of bed, in consequence of the wife of Taiki, one of my Natives, attempting to commit suicide. She had been quarrelling with

her husband; and seems to have adopted this dreadful course more for the purpose of vexing him, than for any other reason. I spoke to her on the enormity of her crime, and of the dreadful punishment which would have awaited her had she succeeded in executing her wishes; but she was in such a temper, that my words, I fear, were but as water spilt on the ground.

July 3, 1835 --Much interrupted by Waharoa, about his land. Among other things, he wants forty dollars and ten blankets as part payment for his twelve or fourteen acres. The arguments he used, to get a large price for his land, shewed that he possessed more judgment than we usually attribute to an illiterate savage. The land, he observed, would remain for ever, to produce food; and after we had cut down the old trees to build our houses with, the saplings would continue growing, and in after-years would become large trees; while the payment he asked for would soon come to an end; the blankets would wear out, the axes be broken after cutting down a few trees, and the iron-pots be cracked by the heat of the fire.

July 18 -- A party of Natives called from a distant part, two days' journey from this place, for the professed object of being instructed in the things concerning Jesus.

For the purpose of taking the boundary fence of the Settlement in a straight line, I requested the Natives to part with a small patch of ground; which they consented to do, on condition that I would root up the fern myself. The reason of their refusing to allow the Settlement Natives to go on the land, in order to clear it, was, that it was a tapued spot. My work afforded the Natives more amusement than it did me; for the fern, from its height and strength, was very difficult to root up.

July 19: Lord's Day--In the morning, had Service with the Natives in the Settlement. In the afternoon, visited the Natives; at the Ropi--100 at each Service, besides fifty-six in the Infant School, and forty-eight in the Girls'. In going to the Ropi, I heard the sound of an axe in the woods; and, as I could not find a path leading to the spot, I climbed up the stump of a tree, from whence I called out to the man that it was wrong for him to work on the Lord's Day. He made no reply; but desisted from his work. A little farther on, I saw an old Chief and his wife industriously engaged in setting fire to some brushwood, in order to clear a wood before planting his potatoes. After talking a little to the old man, he not only left off work, but, at my request, extinguished the fire which he had lighted.

July 22 -- Made an arrangement today to hold an English Service on the Lord's Day with the three European flax collectors in this neighbourhood, who all promise to attend. I feel this to be a matter of great importance; for if the Natives find those observing the sacred day who have hitherto been uninfluenced by the Divine obligation of the Sabbath, it will, I trust, act as a check to flax-scraping on the Day of Rest.

Aug. 3--In this unsettled land, we often feel how emphatic is the declaration, Thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. While sitting at breakfast this morning, laying out my work for the week --a plan which I find to be of great service, although I am often compelled by circumstances to depart widely from it-- Waharoa came in, his countenance betraying the anger of his heart. He said that the Natives of Maungatautari were on their way to Tauranga with flax for Peter Dillon, who had engaged to place a "white man" with them; and that he was determined to fire upon them if they attempted to pass through Matamata. This is evidently a political movement on the part of Waharoa, to prevent guns and ammunition passing into the hands of those who, though nominally his friends at this time, might hereafter, perhaps, turn their force against him. I could not enter into the cause of their present quarrel; but earnestly urged him not to go to war with a tribe so nearly related to him as the Na-ti-koroki were. In the evening, a messenger, who had been sent by Waharoa to the Na-ti-koroki--to state, that if they persisted in coming on, his tribe would fire on them when they reached our Settlement--returned with the news, that the Na-ti-koroki would not listen, and had sent back to Maungatautari for their arms and ammunition. Looking to the Prince of Peace for a blessing, I made up my mind to visit the

Na-ti-koroki in the morning, and endeavour to prevail upon them to return to their homes. Ngakuku consented to accompany me.

It may not be out of place here, to say a few words respecting Ngakuku. This Chief, who is a nephew of Waharoa, was formerly, even according to his own account, a very desperate character; but during the time of my first long visit, and ever since I have been settled at this place, he has regularly attended Divine Service, as well as the daily school, except for a short period during his severe illness, alluded to in a former part of this Journal. His progress in the school has been very satisfactory; and he has made an open profession of Religion before his countrymen. True, his apprehension of divine things is at present feeble, and he sees as through a glass darkly; yet he manifests frank sincerity, from which I augur most favourably. May the hopes I have formed respecting him not end in disappointment!

Aug, 4, 1835--The Na-ti-haua left off scraping flax yesterday, in order to make ball-cartridge--an employment in which I found them busily engaged, when I went to Waharoa's residence early this morning, in order to obtain his consent to go to the Na-ti-koroki, which he gave me. The case being an urgent one, I left my dear wife alone in the Settlement; and proceeded toward the encampment of the Na-ti-koroki, about twelve miles hence. We met Waharoa's second messenger on the road. He was charged with a message to the Na-ti-haua, that they (the Na-ti-koroki) had thrown away their flax, and had armed themselves, with the determination to proceed to Matamata. Some distance from the encampment of the Na-ti-koroki, we met a few scouts, who ran back with the intelligence that a pakeha (a white man) was coming. On reaching the spot, we found about 100 armed men, and about the same number of women and children. We took up a position about twenty yards from them, and, according to native custom, sat for some time in silence. At length one of the Chiefs got up and made a speech; which he commenced by saying that he supposed a Missionary was come to send them back to their homes, but they were too brave to listen to him. He was followed by some other Chiefs, some of whom seemed very much inclined to be saucy; but the older Chiefs spoke much more reasonably; one of them observing, that it was not right to be angry with me, till they had heard what I had got to say. They then called upon me to stand up and speak--a summons which I obeyed, with feeble knees and stammering tongue. I told them, that I was not what they had been calling me, "a messenger from Waharoa," but a Messenger from Jesus Christ, who commanded all men to love one another. They listened with a good deal of attention to what I had to say; and finally consented to go back in the morning. The work was God's-- be His the praise! They then wished me to see how very brave they should have been, had they proceeded to Matamata; and commenced their hideous war-dance. After a time, the principal Chief adjourned to my tent; of which they took quiet possession; and kept on talking till midnight, often requesting me to leave Waharoa's tribe, which they designated a very "tutu" one, in order to reside with their tribe, which was composed altogether of men with "very good hearts and very quiet spirits."

Aug. 5 -- I read Romans xii. to the Natives; and when we left, the Na-ti-koroki fired a parting salute, and returned homewards. On reaching Matamata, we found that Waharoa and his party had left this morning, and, by a different road from that by which we returned, had gone in pursuit of the Na-ti-koroki. I felt severely this treacherous conduct of the Na-ti-haua, after giving their consent to my going to the Na-ti-koroki; for had not the hearts of the latter been influenced by our dear Redeemer, so that they consented to return, my own life might have been placed in considerable jeopardy.

Aug. 6--The Na-ti-haua returned in a very sullen humour, because they had been deprived of the pleasure of shooting some of their relatives and friends: they seemed also, I am thankful to add, rather ashamed of their conduct; for they did not come into our yard, according to their usual custom, but sat down outside for a few minutes, and then passed on to their residences.

Sept. 12--Purchased a small plat of

ground--about two acres--for the Society. It adjoins the former purchase, and leads to the water--price, three hatchets. A great number of Natives are absent at this time, planting potatoes, at Waiharakeke. The greater part of the road lies through swamps, which are now very deep; but Ngakuku came through them this evening, as he did also last Saturday, in order to engage in our Lord's-Day Services.