1838 - Polack, J. S. New Zealand [Vol.II] [Capper reprint, 1974] - Chapter V

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CHAPTER V.

The establishment of a missionary settlement, for converting the heathen natives from the error of their superstitions, was commenced in the Bay of Islands, at a village called Rangioua, on the north side of the harbour, in 1814.

The persons deputed to the onerous task had been sent out under the auspices of the Directors of the Church Missionary Society, who have

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EARLY MISSIONARIES.

never relaxed in their endeavours to further and promote the laudable work which they originally undertook at the solicitation of the Reverend Samuel Marsden, senior chaplain of New South Wales. This mission, as it might be also said of those in the South Seas, undertaken by the parent body, viz., the London Missionary Society, could scarcely have been entered upon, with probable success, but for the previous establishment of the colony of New South Wales.

The early missionaries, in New Zealand kept their ground with great difficulty. They, at first, were placed under the protection of a chief, named Tuatara, (lizard,) who died shortly after. They afterwards divided their strength by establishing a settlement at the head of the Keri keri river, some few miles to the westward of the first settlement. In this place they were under the protection of E'Ongi, an uncle of the deceased Juatara. The new settlement, under a chief of the same family, which ultimately proved judicious, caused much jealously among the surrounding chiefs, especially Korokoro, chief of Paroa, a wily political native and Pomare a chief residing at the Kouakoua, an insatiate cannibal, but equally as sagacious and politic as his rivals. The principal cause of fear, on the part of the

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EARLY MISSIONARIES.

missionaries, was the continual absence of E'Ongi, who was constantly bent on war, and that his enemies might take advantage of his absence. They had innumerable trials to undergo, in which every commercial settler has had fully to participate, singly and alone who has hitherto resided in the country.

The missionaries, for many years, were barely tolerated by the natives, in consequence of their determination not to supply European ammunition to the natives.

It must here be remarked that, at this early period, the Directors of the Society in England had not the means of choosing labourers for the work of converting a people whom the accounts of all travellers agreed in representing in the most repulsive terms. Such persons as could be obtained were sent out, without the Society being sufficiently enabled to ascertain the individual character of each of their missionaries; the consequence was, that a number of worldly-minded men arrived at the seat of labour, and from their general conduct were detrimental to the well devised intentions of the Society at home. Partly from the reprehensible conduct of some of these men, many collisions occurred between them and the commercial traders, who were stigmatized by the appellation

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EARLY MISSIONARIES.

of devils, (pronounced by the natives Tawara,) by which name every person is still distinguished who is not attached to the honourable society which the early missionaries disgraced, and were afterwards ejected from, as early as their infamous conduct with the females of the land was made known. I readily admit the intelligent portion of the society's labourers, at present located in New Zealand, would have deprecated so silly an appellation for their commercial countrymen, who needed more the assistance than the enmity of the missionary body; but the name had gone forth, and nick-names once given cannot be recalled from the natives.

To these early missionaries and their misconduct, the present body composing the Society's missionaries, may in some measure attribute having often found the minds of the natives exasperated against them, as also by the vicious untameable conduct of many prisoners who have escaped from the colony of New South Wales, and like wild beasts, roam where they list, poisoning the native feelings, equally against all classes of respectable Europeans, hitherto undeterred by fear of punishment.

Many of the missionaries have been faulty in hastily repudiating the testimony of respectable Europeans in exculpation of themselves,

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PRESENT MISSIONARIES.

and listening to the plausible inventions of the natives, of whom the principal chiefs of the land, it is well known, are unworthy of being trusted on their most solemn affirmation, and once excited, they will not scruple to slander their dearest and nearest relatives by tales of wild inventions--the effects of bitter hatred and passion.

As an individual residing in the country, in my transactions with a minor portion of the brethren, I have met with kindness, hospitality and politeness. These remarks particularly refer to Messrs. Henry and W. Williams, Clarke, Humblin, Fairburn, Chapman, etc. who have conciliated esteem by the usefulness of their lives. There are doubtless others of equally pleasing character, removed in distant stations.

Many observations animadverting on the conduct of the missionaries of the Church Missionary Society in New Zealand have been penned by transient travellers of our own country. Without alluding to any particular writer, it must be observed, the general conduct of many such visitors to New Zealand has not been sufficiently guarded, to say the least, to permit a missionary extending towards them a hospitable reception, or even intercourse; it is a well

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VOCATION OF A MISSIONARY.

known axiom, that persons prodigal of their time are prone to dissipation of almost every kind; such has often been the case with occasional residents, and by such persons the designs of the brethren would naturally be misrepresented. The vocation of a missionary is the most worthy pursuit to which a human being can devote his talents; and as the earliest of these self-denying teachers has said, "let nothing be done in strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind; let each esteem others better than himself; look not every man on his own things, but every man on the things of others. Do all things without murmurings and disputings, that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God without rebuke." That a contrary conduct has been enacted by some few members has been too true. A single associate belonging to a missionary family has the power to injure the cause, to the aid of which all have combined together, to an extent more serious, than can be described; such has been the case of a late missionary, on whom the most onerous duties of the mission were assigned, and who had for many years privately conducted himself in so defective a manner, not only as to disgrace the cause to which he was attached, but humanity itself. This behaviour was reported to the brethren

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CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

for several years by the natives, but not only no enquiry was instituted, but the subject was even forbidden to be mentioned, until about two years since, a quarrel ensuing in Port Jackson, between the person alluded to, and two of his pathics, the man was disgraced; on enquiry being instituted, a mass of information was furnished by the New Zealanders, of sufficient weight to crush a host. To the enquiry put by the brethren to the natives, "why did you withhold this account from us hitherto?" the ready answer was given;"you forbade us to speak against any one of your body, for if we offend any of you, we offend all." This subject is not mentioned to furnish data against this mission; far from it, but it is absolutely necessary that the cause should be given, why comparatively, so little has been done by this body of missionaries within the quarter of a century, they have been established in the country.

Many of the present missionaries are men truly devout, enterprising, and fully eligible for the sacred enterprise on which they have embarked, but whose best exertions have been rendered nugatory, hitherto, by the misconduct of these "tares among the wheat." It is but justice to add, the Society at home have invariably made strict enquiry into the early and pre-

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ON MISSIONS.

sent conduct of their labourers; and have never patronised any person in their employ, who has, by his misconduct, drawn down their displeasure.

A talented friend to missions in the United States, observes, "that the character of a missionary, is the common property of Christendom. Acting as they do, under the perpetual inspection of immense multitudes of the children of God, including in their number many of the wisest and best of mankind, any defection in character brings reproach on the general cause, clothing in sackcloth the friends of missions throughout the globe; and as the pages of the missionary annals are perused by thousands, in climes remote from their sphere of action, of various nations and language, the conduct of a fallen member fills with sorrow the heart of the poor peasant, as he sits down after his daily toil, to solace his friends and himself by the evening fireside, and reads the disastrous story; even the converted native stands confounded when he hears the tale, and fervent missionaries in various distant regions feel the loss of a brother, and are paralysed, exclaiming mournfully, 'tell it not in Gath.'

The society had established, up to January 1838, several settlements, four of which are

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PROCEEDINGS OF MISSIONARIES

in or within a few miles of the Bay of Islands; one to the northward on the river Rangounou, another at the river Thames, and also one at Touranga in the Bay of Plenty, and others farther. The South Society in England have, with great liberality tempered by prudence, benevolently applied themselves to the civilizing, and consequently evangelizing the natives of the land; and to the even conduct of many of the present missionaries, despite of the drawbacks I have fully stated among the defective members of their corps, must be entirely attributed, the marked improvement in the rising generation of the people, who reside at some distance from the vicinity of reckless, runaway sailors who have broken engagements with their employers, and prisoners escaped from the penal colonies.

The mission chapel-houses, &c. are built of timber, brick, and a few of stone, in the erection of which the missionaries have been assisted by the natives in their employ, many of whom are really proficient in the trade of house-carpentry, joiner's work, shingling, sawing, &c. The struggles of the early missionaries, many of whom are now comfortably located in the country, were sorely distressing; nor are these difficulties less felt at the present day in the new formed stations, where few of the members have

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OF THE CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

settled themselves, but at the extreme hazard of their lives.

In 1830 a small vessel called the "Herald," was built for the use of this mission; but after making a few voyages, it was wrecked; another small vessel, called the Kareri or Messenger, was also laid down; this craft is still in being.

In 1835 a handsome schooner was purchased, built at New South Wales, called the "Columbine;" this is admirably adapted for the coast, from its beautiful model, in working off a lee shore; the brethren are now enabled to visit the natives of either island.

The missionaries have made many boat expeditions and journeys by land, either to establish peace between hostile tribes, or in search of suitable spots for settlements among distant tribes. These travels have been principally undertaken by Messrs. Fairburn, Chapman, H. and W. Williams, Hamblin, and are given at large in the interesting "Records" of the Church Missionary Society. The Waimate establishment, fifteen miles to the westward of the Bay of Islands may be regarded as the agricultural settlement of the society in New Zealand. The formation of this farm in 1830, called forth the torpid mechanical genius of the native youth, in the making of thousands of bricks, excavating wells,

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CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

felling and sawing timber, building stalls for horses, cottages, shops for different mechanical works; forming agricultural implements, such as ploughs, harrows, waggons, carts, and "last not least," the erection of a mill for grinding corn, which was certainly an era in the country, in the progress of mechanism.

There are several schools for teaching the natives the aboriginal language; they are further instructed in writing and arithmetic. Many of the natives display much tact and ability in all these branches.

Several parts of the scriptures have been translated into the national tongue, but the only dictionary published, has been the work of Professor Lee, aided by some natives, many years back.

Agriculture has been principally attended to at the Waimate.

This mission has done more towards making the natives acquainted with improvements in their farms, and setting examples of comfort and domestic felicity, than all the commercial Europeans added together; and but for the previous establishment of this society, commercial men would have found it wholly unsafe to reside in the country.

Secular persons in the employ of the Society

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RITES OF MARRIAGE.

originally sent to teach the people the value of European industry, no longer pursue the different trades they originally proposed to teach; but have aided the brethren as catechists. Much praise is due to the married females of the mission, whose attentions are directed to the schools; their conduct has been most exemplary, either as wives, mothers or fast friends to the improvement of the natives, whose estrangement from their former ferocity of manners, is to be attributed much to the moral deportment of our fair countrywomen attached to the Church Missionary Society.

The ceremony of marriage has been introduced into the country by the missionaries, who very properly wholly discountenance any European workmen they may be necessitated to employ, cohabiting with native females. A variety of opinions have been expressed on the fitness of the unbaptized native female to enter into the obligations of this civil and religious rite with a European, but one opinion only can be entertained of its moral intention. Few of the native men, however, regard the compact as more binding with their daughters and sisters than if they were living in concubinage, and on trivial pretences forcibly take them away from their husbands, hurry them on board the ships, and for a

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MARRIAGE BETWEEN EUROPEAN

gratuity consign them to prostitution, from which fate the female has no power to withhold herself, however abhorrent to her feelings and repugnant to those affections she may entertain for her husband.

Many facts bearing on this point could be adduced, but the opposite grades of a chief female, who prided herself greatly upon her rank, and a slave wife will be sufficient.

In 1833, I first employed a Genoese carpenter, named Dominic Ferrari, whom I retained in my employ till I left the country. He was remarkably temperate and well behaved, and had cohabited with a chief female for two years previously to entering my service. The parents of the woman had fallen in the casualties of native warfare, leaving with her an elder sister and two brothers, with somewhat diminished dignity and means. Dominic, less from his abilities than his good conduct, gave me much satisfaction; and with the enthusiasm of his nation, was submissively attached to the lady. Without any pretensions to canonization, as an apostle of morality, I could not, consistently with feelings of self respect, tacitly permit an illicit intercourse on the settlement. As it was impossible to avoid the knowledge of the fact, I spoke to the man on the subject; however untenable the

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MEN AND NATIVE WOMEN.

promiscuous marriages of the natives were, and contrary to my own wishes, I should feel dictated by duty to dispense with his services, unless he felt inclined to return the female to her friends, or would marry her, according to the customs of Europeans who felt affection to the object of their choice. He stated he would be happy to comply with my wishes whenever his means permitted him, as the lady was "nothing loth," but that the elder brother required a quantity of ammunition, blankets, etc. for himself, and the patronizing chief of the tribe demanded a few hard dollars for his permission to be had and obtained. I readily advanced the necessary money and articles of trade required to surmount the obstacles to wedlock, obtained a marriage document of approval and consent, which was signed, sealed, and delivered; the marriage ceremony was duly performed by a member of the Church Missionary Society, and the lady made a wahine pakeha, or wife of a European. A decided improvement accordingly took place in the female; her cleanly appearance, correct conduct, and continual attendance every evening and twice each ra tapu, or holy day (Sunday) to the ware karakia maori, or native house of (Christian) prayer, and the exemplary manner Te Riri, (her

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BRUTALITY OF A CHIEF.

name) was instrumental in correcting the levity and thoughtlessness hitherto displayed by many of her female companions.

It has been stated that the missionaries derive a small perquisite from their performance of the ceremony of marriage; I beg distinctly to observe, that they have ever expressed a willingness to join any couple in marriage, exhibiting any prospects of living happily together and not disgracing the compact; but they neither demand or receive any present or fee for their performing this portion of their duty.

This pleasing state of things lasted but a few months. The elder brother, notwithstanding his expressions of satisfaction at the payment that had been given to him, demanded additional presents for a continuation of his friendship or permission for his sister to reside with her husband. This bad conduct I opposed for some time, but during a short absence I made from the settlement, the poor woman was forcibly taken away from her home, and miscarriage was the consequence of the brutal treatment she then experienced. The husband attended at Paihia, the missionary station; the gentlemen expressed their willingness to exert any influence they possessed, but it was found to be unavailing.

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MIXED MARRIAGES.

Fresh presents only, re-united her to her husband, who has been obliged to continue the system, as at any time his shewing any refractory disposition to avoid the imposition, plans have been undertaken to abduct her from her home, which at last obliged the unhappy couple, on my leaving the country, to repair to Wangaroa about forty miles distant from my settlement, to seek the protection of other tribes.

In the war at the Bay of Islands, in 1837, an able shipwright, residing on the banks of the Waikeri, had been married to a native woman full sixteen years, and had a numerous family by her. The children, even in England would have been regarded as handsome. The eldest sons were serviceable to their father in his employment, yet during the quarrel of the tribes this man was obliged to send away his wife, children, servants, and every article of furniture in his house or workshop, as the adverse party to the tribe he belonged, would have stripped the place and taken prisoners as slaves the wife and children; --such is New Zealand law.

A blacksmith, named Grey, formerly employed by the gentlemen composing the New Zealand Association, in 1827, was married by a missionary to a female slave of the Napui tribe. This man has met with much annoyance from the people

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WESLEYAN MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

to whom the woman originally belonged and the children are accounted as slaves, and regarded as appertaining less to the Englishman than to the tribe, originally possessors of the mother. No blame can be attached to the missionaries; but even the existence of a despotic government, is more essential to the well being of a community, than lawless aggression, and the reign of brute force and terror at present predominant.

The Wesleyan mission was first established at Wangaroa, thirty-five miles N. W. of the Bay of Islands, in the year 1823, by the directors etc., of the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society, after mature deliberation.

The tribes then residing in that beautiful harbour were the Na-te huru, amounting to about two hundred persons; the Na-te po occupied the adjacent valleys to the number of seven hundred persons. The missionaries were well received on their arrival, but they had to undergo privations, insults, thefts, of the most exasperating nature, daily and hourly demanding from the isolated band, boundless patience and fortitude, and from the females of the station an heroic courage that is scarcely supposed to exist in the female bosom, until circumstances arouse feelings of love and devotion to the interests of their husbands and children.

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ESTABLISHMENT AND EJECTION.

The brethren had already made considerable progress in the language, and had formed schools, when E'Ongi, who had been almost driven to desperation by recent domestic occurrences, resolved to leave the villages he had hitherto inhabited, which reminded him of his shame and misfortunes.

In January 1827 the restless chief arrived in the harbour of Wangaroa, accompanied by a fleet of canoes. On receipt of this news, Te Puhi, chief of the Na-te huru tribe, took to flight with most of his people, nor rested until he arrived at Hokianga, on the west coast. The Na-te po, the rival tribe, occupied the Pa, situated on the summit of the steep hill Taratara, deemed almost impregnable, at which spot some skirmishing took place.

The Wesleyan brethren deserted by their native friends, were left to the tender mercies of the enemy. The Na-te po fled from their Pa, and when E'Ongi's people (the Napui) entered into possession, they only found the aged mother of Te Puhi, the chief who took to flight, and an old servant woman, both of whom were quickly dispatched and devoured. Scattered portions of the enemy shortly after appeared before Wesley Dale, the mission station, and on being asked what they required, answered: "To take away

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THE MISSION BROKEN UP.

your things, burn down your house, for your place is deserted, and you are ka wati," (a broken people).

On the following day a large party of marauders appeared before the mission premises and broke open the doors and windows; they stole every article of apparel, food and furniture, leaving the hapless brethren with scarce enough of bodily clothing. The members of the Church Missionary Society, as early as they became acquainted with the misfortunes of their fellow labourers in the same cause, hastened towards Wangaroa, anxious to render every assistance in their power. The Wesleyan families driven away from their settlement, were met with on the road by their friends, and the most unremitting kindness was shewn to them until they left the country for Port Jackson. The Napuis' exercised their usual cruelties in the vicinity of Wesley Dale. Some of the robbers, not contented with what they found above ground, had the barbarity to exhume the body of an infant child of Mr. Turner, the principal of the mission, which had been interred but a few months before, for the sake of the blanket in which they supposed the body to have been enveloped, and wantonly left the corpse to moulder above ground.

Undeterred by their recent misfortunes, the

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EDUCATION OF CHILDREN

Wesleyan friends returned to New Zealand, and established themselves at their settlement on the banks of the Hokianga, at the latter end of the same year. A more choice locality could not have been fixed upon.

The members of the Wesleyan denomination have been very few hitherto; nevertheless their labours have not been exerted in vain among a portion of people, as barbarous as the civilized imagination can conceive. Real converts in the heart are few and far between; but the very hypocrisy of the elder neophites, in aping religious feelings and observances, is of the most essential importance, as a useful example of sedateness and reverential feeling to the rising generation; these will take the place of the boisterous war-song and dance, and their abominable accompanying gesticulations and obscenities that were, but a few years since, the tuition inseparable to the education of a native child in Hokianga.

A more imitative being does not exist than the New Zealander, and the missionaries of either of the above highly respectable societies may regard their labours hitherto, as amply satisfactory in having been able to repress, in some degree, the savage barbarity formerly inseparable in the habits and manners of the elder people, who in physical

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MODERN NEOPHITES.

strength are certainly men; but in mental ability are very children.

I resided on the banks of the Hokianga during twelve months, in the years 1831 and 1832, and on a recent visit, (in 1837,) was much surprised at the evident improvement of the natives of that district, solely attributable to the influence of the Wesleyan brethren.

At that period, Mr. Turner conducted the mission, assisted by some indefatigable friends, who, together with the sisters of the station, appeared happy in being placed in a situation of usefulness.

On this visit I recognised some chiefs with whom I had formerly been intimately acquainted, and well remembered as having been real rascals. These native gentlemen had doffed their characters as warriors, and had put on the garb of humility. In the course of some interesting conversation, they gave me to understand that the Taniwoa and the whole native theology was "no good," and felt much satisfaction in being able to add, they had become Na tamariki no te Atua nui, (children of the Great Spirit); that many of them had been admitted to the rites of baptism. My acquaintance merely wanted the expressive abilities of pronunciation to inform me who they now were, since their regeneration. A

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IMPORTANT CHANGES.

new friend with an old face, formerly known as Matanghi, only answered to the name of Himeni Peta (Simon Peter.) The valiant Nene, figured under the commercial name of Thomas Walker; others had assumed the sainted names of Mohihi, (Moses,) Aprahama, (Abraham,) Ruki, (Luke,) Akopi, (Jacob,) Rawiti, (David,) E'Honi, (John,) Timati, (Timothy,) and other cognomens still less resembling the original sounds, and several natives whom I had formerly known as especial cavaliers, were now metamorphosed into puritanical roundheads. The national dress had also undergone a change; instead of the loose single blanket, which perhaps best becomes the native figure in a picturesque point of view, the duck frock and trowsers were added, which no person, in search of the moral, will be disposed to cavil with. In justice to the missionaries, I must add they were not deceived by this show of humility, but sensibly concluded it would soften down the natural asperity and hasty conduct of the parents, and be the means, in the course of time, of enlightening the children.

The females, whose acquaintance I had not forgotten, professed their usual politeness. I felt much annoyed in having forgotten most of their names, as the natives of either sex feel much gratified in these being remembered by their English

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NATIVE IMPROVEMENTS.

visitors; but this forgetfulness, on my part, gave no offence, for Parre was now Hana, (Anna,) Wirpata, was Pekka, (Rebecca;) Puhihi was Hane, (Jane;) Redi answered to Uria, (Julia;) and for Haupatu, I was corrected and desired to read Ko Hara, (Sarah.) They had all evidently improved under the auspices of the missionary sisters, except in countenance, which did look rather the worst for wear.

Mungugnu the missionary station, is prettily situated, about twenty-five miles from the heads of Hokianga, with deep water for large ships opposite the settlement. The mission houses have been built with the strictest regard to economy; they have a pleasing effect from the river. The schools appeared well attended, and the native karakia, performed daily by the neophytes of either mission, are conducted in as orderly a manner as is observable in any country village in England.

My visit to Hokianga was ill-timed; native wars had broken out among some of the tribes, which caused universal confusion throughout the families resident on the river. The influence of the brethren was exerted to quell the raging enmity that was actuating the hostile tribes against each other.

During the period occupied by the Wesleyan

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LOSS OF THE "BOYD."

missionaries at Wangaroa, they were frequently obliged to witness the barbarous conduct of the natives. The outrage on the brig, "Mercury," of London, Edwards, master, on the 5th of May, 1825, and also a similar depredation nearly committed on the "Enterprise" in the previous July 1824, were only excelled by the barbarous massacre of the crew of the ship "Boyd," Captain Thompson that sailed from Port Jackson for London in 1809.

This ship had seventy Europeans on board and four natives of Wangaroa; one of them, son to an influential chief of that place, called by the sailors George, but whose native name was Tara, were to be conveyed to their native country in the "Boyd," as the vessel was chartered to take in a cargo of spars, for the Cape of Good Hope. According to the published account, it would appear, the master had caused George to be flogged at various times, for refusing to help to work the ship. The writers on this catastrophe, among whom the most creditable is Alex. Berry Esq., at present member of the legislative Council at Port Jackson, who visited the scene of the calamity, shortly after its perpetration, agree in ascribing the cruel conduct of the master to George, as the cause of the destruction of the crew and ship in

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PROPOSALS TO TAKE THE SHIP.

the sequel. A different cause is now assigned by the natives to the English residents, that the ship was not cut off from any misconduct of the master to George; but on the return of the latter from Port Jackson, he found some of his nearest relations dead through sickness, which was solely attributed to the influence or bewildering of Europeans. Thus much is due to the memory of the unfortunate man, who must have been insane, to place himself and a ship of five hundred tons, in the power of one whom he had injured, and risk his vessel in the narrow channel of an unknown river, which had never been previously visited, even by small craft.

On the arrival of the "Boyd" in the harbour, George went on shore, and arrangements were entered into by himself and his tribe for decoying the Englishmen on shore, that by dividing their force, the vessel and cargo might become an easier prey. In furtherance of this purpose, George again returned on board, and requested Captain Thompson to accompany him on shore, to show him the place where the most valuable spars abounded. An Otaheitean, one of the survivors of the ship, states that the master had three boats manned, and accompanied by his chief officer, George, and a number of na-

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EUROPEANS MURDERED.

tives following in their canoes, took their course up the Kaio river. The wily chief had the boat steered to some distance from the ship, out of sight, and then invited the Europeans to land.

The master and crew did so, and were purposely separated by the natives from each other, and led about in different directions of the forest, until the tide which had by this time turned, would leave the boats high and dry on the mud bank, so as to prevent the escape of their victims. On this part of their plan being accomplished, they threw off the mask, insulted the people, and pointed to decayed pieces of timber lying rotting on the ground, enquiring of the master if such would suit his purposes. George then told him in broken English, he might help himself to timber, but he should have none from Nu Tilani man. Captain Thomson appeared careless, and gave orders to his people to man the boats, and was himself in the act of looking up a tall fine spar, (George ironically enquiring if that would suit him) when the relentless savage cut him down with his tomahawk; this was a signal for the murder of the Europeans which was almost instantly accomplished, and so sudden was the perpetration of the deed, that not a musket could be levelled in self-defence.

The bodies were carried into the canoes and

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SEIZURE OF THE SHIP,

devoured in the village where they were conveyed.

At dusk the treacherous natives clothed themselves in the garments of the unfortunate slain, and arrived at the ship in the boats, which were hailed by the second officer; George answered him that the captain had determined to sleep on shore, and that the lateness of their arrival alongside was occasioned by the boats towing some spars. This was too readily believed, and the natives, hastily ascending the ship's side, speedily despatched the officer on deck at the time. One of the savages, who had been a passenger on board, entered the cabin below, and requested the passengers to go on deck and view the spars. One female in ascending the stairs to do so was killed on the steps; those persons who were in bed ran on deck in great confusion, and were murdered, except five, who made their escape into the rigging, where they remained all night.

Te Pahi, (Tippahee) a chief of the Bay of Islands, who had accidentally arrived at Wangaroa on a fishing excursion, was sitting in his canoe the next morning alongside the Boyd. The people in the rigging recognizing him, implored his assistance, which he readily promised. They made their way to his canoe with difficulty, and

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ITS DESTRUCTION.

were hastily paddled on shore; but they were as quickly pursued by the blood thirsty savages, forcibly taken from the old man, and murdered in his presence.

A female passenger, now residing in Sydney, two children, and the cabin boy, were the only Europeans saved; they were carried on shore. The ship was plundered of everything valuable; the salt provisions and spirits were thrown overboard as unpalatable, but the muskets and ammunition were invaluable, and the father of George, in his eagerness to ascertain the quality of the lock of a musket that had fallen to his share, burst in the head of a cask of powder, and filling the pan of the piece snapped it directly over the cask, which exploded, killing the insatiate savage, together with thirteen other persons, and set fire to the ill-fated ship, which burnt to the water's edge.

Mr. Berry, supercargo of the City of Edinburgh, who presented to the public an interesting narrative of the transaction, and Captain Pattison master of the vessel, were employed at the period taking in spars at the Bay of Islands. They soon heard the disastrous tale, and immediately set out in a whale boat to Wangaroa, with the humane determination of saving the survivors, if possible. By decisive conduct and presence of

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A SURVIVOR

mind, they were enabled to obtain possession of the four persons who had alone remained unsacrificed. Mr. Berry observes, that one of the children, a little girl belonging to a Mr. Broughton of Sydney, was in the possession of one of the chiefs. When presented to Mr. Berry it was tolerably clean and ornamented with the white feathers of the country. She was clothed in a linen shirt, which, from the marks on it, had belonged to the unfortunate captain. When brought to the gentlemen, she cried out, struck with their different complexion to those of her captors: "My mamma, my mamma." Mr. Berry remarks, that some months after, when in South America, the question was put to the child, "what the New Zealanders did to her mamma?quot; she would draw her small hand across her throat, and with the most melancholy expression, added, "they afterwards cut her up, and ate her like victuals."

George was a ruthless barbarian; he never repented the act, though the destruction of "the Boyd" only hastened the fate of his tribe, partly from the cupidity of those native tribes residing in the vicinity, who did not share in the plunder, having settled their hatred on these people. The hull of the "Boyd" broke from its moorings at the time the powder exploded, and the ship drifted

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THE "DROMEDARY."

into shallow water at the head of the bay. In 1835, I saw the ribs of part of the wreck at the spring ebb tide. In 1825, sixteen years after the loss of the "Boyd", the Wesleyan missionaries placed themselves under the protection of George. They met but little kindness from him, or even assistance; he lived long enough to see the probable destruction of his tribe, which was effected shortly after his death by E'Ongi.

The conduct of George towards the Europeans ever after, was marked by mistrust and continual suspicion. In 1820, he supplied spars to the government store ship "Dromedary;" and though attentive to the officers of that vessel, yet was he continually harassing them with the perplexities and apprehensions under which he was continually labouring, telling them the many inventions purposely put forth by his enemies, as to his destruction and that of his tribe by the British soldiery. He could not trust himself on board the ship without distrust and alarm as he always felt assured the white men would punish him for his conduct in the affair of the "Boyd." Though he had been to Port Jackson, he yet felt inclined to return, as he was always apprehensive the colonial government would hang him.

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DEATH OF GEORGE.

His countrymen felt, or pretended to feel, a great dislike to him for his successful villany, and he was obliged to put up with many insults from superior chiefs, whom his haughty spirit dared not offend. Previously to his death, finding his end approaching, he sent for Mr. Stack, at that period one of the Wesleyan brethren, who in consequence visited him, and found the chief and everything around him under a strict tapu. The scrupulous villain felt some feelings of compunction in not having demanded an utu for the accidental death of his father, by the explosion of gunpowder, which also set fire to the "Boyd," and he commanded his brother Te Puhi, on whom devolved the command of the tribe, to execute his last legacy, either to murder the missionaries and their families, or at least to strip them of everything they possessed; and with this pious codicil to his will, the sanctimonious chief departed in April 1825. On his death being made known by the continual discharge of ammunition and the usual weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth, the missionaries were in great suspense and perturbation for a long time as to the result of the deliberations of the natives, who were for a long time canvassing for and against the putting into execution the last will of George,

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THE "ENDEAVOUR."

but were contented in killing a fowl, belonging to the missionaries, the blood of which was accounted payment.

In July, 1824, the "Endeavour" schooner was forced into Wangaroa by stress of weather. Messrs. Tyerman and Bennet, deputies of the London Missionary Society to their stations at the South Seas, were passengers on board. On anchoring, the natives soon crowded themselves on board the small vessel. They commenced hostilities by acts of theft; and the accidental falling overboard of one of their number caused them to make an immediate attack on the crew and passengers, arming themselves with billets of wood, axes, and every convenient weapon, they could grasp. They rushed on their prey, whose resistance would have been the signal for their death. None of the Europeans at the time expected to escape.

While kept in this suspense, a ray of hope appeared in the approach of the missionary boat, which was brought to alongside. In this boat was one of the brethren and the chief George, who immediately exerted his power to restore tranquillity. In this case he made some amends for his former treachery--as to his exertions must be attributed the saving of the schooner and probably the people on board of her.

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CAPTURE OF THE "MERCURY."

The vessel was immediately got under weigh, and arrived shortly after at Port Jackson.

On the 5th of March, 1835, the whaling brig, "Mercury," of London after leaving Port Jackson, put into Wangaroa. The vessel anchored close to the Pa of the Taratara. The decks were quickly thronged with natives, who behaved with great insolence, insulting the master and crew by the most exasperating expressions and conduct. The next day the natives commenced a quarrel, on which Captain Edwards had the anchor weighed the sails unfurled, and yards hoisted; a baffling wind canted her towards the rocks; a boat was lowered to veer the head of the vessel round, when the natives commenced a furious scuffle, and several of them were thrown overboard. The vessel might have escaped, had not the wind baffled the crew by blowing into the port, and driving the stern of the brig on the rocks, close to the shore. On this, the natives, who had assembled in numbers, got hold of ropes, tore away the dead lights, and by that opening got into the cabin; a general plunder followed, in which the stores, boxes, chests, casks of oil, and every moveable article, were thrown over the sides; the sails, rigging, &c., were cut away and underwent the same appropriation. The captain and crew made their

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CARGO DAMAGED.

escape in two whale-boats. One of the Wesleyan brethren, who resided in the vicinity, hastened to the scene, and employed himself most usefully at this distressing time. He advised the master and crew to return to the vessel, as one of the natives in his boat said, the savages were satisfied with the plunder they had already obtained; but they could not be induced to do so. The scene on board was truly lamentable. The sails torn and damaged, the standing and running rigging cut away, hatches broken in pieces lying strewed about, the decks covered with oil, that composed the cargo, in which the plunderers had bathed their heads and bodies most copiously. The missionary told them, that the captain and men had gone to the Bay of Islands for assistance. On hearing this the plunder ceased, and the natives quitted the vessel, giving three cheers as they pushed off in their canoes. The missionary then proceeded to his settlement for a quadrant, as every thing had been stolen from the ship, during which absence, the natives again entered the vessel and plundered every article on board; on his return, he had to recommence insisting on their quitting the brig, on which the "Mercury" again put to sea, intending to make for the Bay of Islands; but the wind blew from the southward, which

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THE SHIP WRECKED.

was a head wind, and it soon became a heavy gale; the sky gathered, the sea rose, and the prospect of making any part of the coast was remote. The vessel was now without quadrant, compass, or chart; neither hatches or deadlights were in her, the remains of her cargo adrift in the hold, and the brig damaged in the hull, having canted on the rocks. The most unpleasant night conceivable was experienced on board. The captain and crew had left for the Bay of Islands, and four Europeans, consisting of the missionary and three of the sailors only had the management of the brig, which, next day, drifted bodily from the land, on which she was abandoned.

On reaching the shore the Europeans narrowly escaped with their lives among the natives they fell in with, and were robbed of all they possessed. Their deliverance was effected by the accidental arrival of a friendly chief. The "Mercury" drifted near the North Cape, where she became a total wreck.

This additional outrage, conducted by the natives of Wangaroa, drew upon them the ill-will of the surrounding natives, who felt, if such proceedings were continued, it would be the means of driving from the coast, any vessels for the future willing to put in for refreshments.

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TRIBE DISPERSED.

War was accordingly declared. The tribe was dispersed and broken by E'Ongi, in 1827, who entirely dispossessed them of the land they had proved themselves unworthy to occupy.