resolved to have his revenge when the vessel should come to anchor in the neighbourhood of his tribe. He first attacked the captain and a party of men in the woods, whither they had gone to cut timber, and with the aid of his associates murdered them all. Elated with their success, the infuriated savages next proceeded to the Boyd. It was now dusk, and as they went alongside in the boats belonging to the ship, dressed in the clothes of the seamen whom they had slain, they were hailed by the second officer, who, in reply, was informed by them that the captain, intending to remain on shore all night, had ordered them to take on board the spars which were already cut down. Under this pretext, they were allowed to go on deck, when they instantly commenced an indiscriminate slaughter of men, women, and children, leaving none alive except one female, two children, and the cabin-boy.*

66

*See "Particulars of the Destruction of a British Vessel on the Coast of New Zealand."-Constable's Miscellany, vol. iv. p. 323. The author of these "Particulars," Captain Berry of the ship City of Edinburgh, says, we found the wreck of the Boyd in shoal water at the top of the harbour, a most melancholy picture of wanton mischief. The natives had cut her cables, and towed her up the harbour till she had grounded, and then set her on fire and burnt her to the water's edge." Mr Berry's statement differs from that more commonly given as to the proximate cause of the massacre. Tippahee, he observes, who happened to be at Wangaroa, went into the cabin, and after paying his respects to the captain, begged a little bread for his men; but the other received him very slightingly, and desired him to go away, and not trouble him at present, as he was busy. The proud old savage, who had been a constant guest at the governor's table at Port Jackson, being highly offended at this treatment, immediately left the cabin, and after stamping a few minutes on the deck, went into his canoe. But as soon as the captain left the ship, Tippahee, who remained alongside in his canoe, came again on board, soon after which the massacre began. In short, Mr Berry ascribes the catastrophe to the resentment of this chief; whereas other authors trace it, with greater probability, to the vindictive feelings of George, the native sailor. His narrative, however, is extremely interesting.

The account given in the Library of Entertaining Knowledge (New Zealanders) corresponds, we are assured, with that which first appeared in the Sydney Gazette of 1st September 1810,

The fearful atrocity now described had the effect of reviving the impression, already beginning to subside among navigators, as to the ferocious character of the natives. Vessels, no doubt, continued occasionally to visit the islands, and to engage in the wonted traffic, but confidence had in a great measure ceased, and the hope that they would soon ascend to a respectable place among civilized nations, was not any where cherished with the same ardour. Even the means which had been devised by certain benevolent individuals to accomplish that good end were for a time suspended. The Church Missionary Society, moved by the representations made to them by Mr Marsden, senior chaplain of Australia, had resolved to send some christian labourers into those islands, to infuse into the minds of the inhabitants the elements of true religion, to wean them from their sanguinary habits, and to teach them the arts of social life, more especially agriculture with its kindred pursuits. The committee in London sent out three individuals, whom they placed under the direction of Mr Marsden; assigning, at the same time, the annual sum of five hundred pounds, to supply them with the means of establishing a mission. But the alarm occasioned by the horrible massacre at Wangaroa deterred them from proceeding farther than Port Jackson; nor was it till the latter end of the year 1814 that they reached the scene of their important enterprise, in the northern island of New Zealand.

It was at Rangihoua, a native village near the Bay of Islands, that they planted their first station; and notwithstanding a very powerful opposition, as well from false friends as from open enemies, the gospel has never since been entirely driven away from that place. Privations of every kind were to be endured, want of food, want of clothing, and want of society; added to which were the menaces of the barbarians whom they were

and which has been reprinted in the Journal of Captain Cruise. It was derived originally from the report of a native of Otaheite, who was on the spot at the time.

endeavouring to instruct, which, on some occasions, were so frightful as must have compelled them to withdraw had they been able fully to comprehend their meaning. Ignorance of the language concealed from them the extent of their danger. It is painful to learn, too, that the worst enemies of the mission at a later period were some of their own household. The number of teachers was increased; "and some, influenced by the spirit of the wicked one, early crept in among the faithful few. So far, indeed, did some of them dishonour the self-denying doctrines of the Cross, which they had been sent here to teach, that no less painful a plan could be adopted than an ignominious erasure of their names from the Society's labourers."*

The main obstacle at the commencement was unquestionably the ignorance under which the missionaries laboured of the peculiar dialect in use among the natives, because so delicate are its idioms, that the slightest departure from the wonted arrangement of words in a sentence, might convey either an insult or a ludicrous association of ideas. Nor did the rude audience consider it necessary to conceal their impressions. On the contrary, sometimes in the middle of the service they would suddenly start up, with the cry of "that's a lie! that's a lie! who will stay to hear what that man has to say? Let us all go, all go." But as soon as they were able to converse with the inhabitants, and could in some degree make themselves intelligible, the clouds began to pass away, and light dawned upon their future course.†

About the period to which we now allude, two chiefs, Hongi and Waikato, paid a visit to England, where they were introduced to the prince regent, who loaded them at once with gifts and civilities. At length, after having seen some of the wonders of art and of cultivated

* An Account of New Zealand, and of the Formation and Progress of the Church Missionary Society's Mission in the Northern Island. By the Rev. William Yate, Missionary (small 8vo, Lond. 1835), p. 168.

+ Ibid. p. 169.

mind in various parts of the country, they returned to their own land with a large supply of every thing on which the people of New Zealand set the highest value. From this epoch the missionaries rose in the estimation of the natives at large, and enjoyed, more especially, the protection of the two favoured leaders. To the friendship of Hongi, in particular, may be attributed, under God, the safety of their small establishment. On several occasions he threw himself between them and death, prevented attacks upon their property, and, at all hazards to his own interests, he was ever ready to defend theirs.

It is remarked by an intelligent author, as a disadvantage in New Zealand, that there is no king over the whole group, nor even over one of the larger islands. The people are governed by a number of chieftains, each indeed a sovereign over his own narrow territory. A desire to enlarge their domains, increase their power, or gratify revenge, leads to frequent wars, strengthens jealousy, keeps them from forming any common bond of union, and precludes the adoption of a general or consistent plan for spreading among them the benefits of civilisation. In the Society and Sandwich clusters, on the other hand, the missionaries found great advantage from the circumstance that each island had its chief, and that, in some instances, several adjacent ones were under the government of a ruler whose authority was supreme, and whose influence predisposed them, as a nation, to receive the instruction imparted by individuals whom he had been pleased at once to countenance and protect.*

Finding the original station at Rangihoua no longer suited to their more extended views, the missionaries purchased or otherwise obtained permission to settle at Tepuna, Kerikeri, Paihia, and finally, at the Waimate,

* Ellis, Polynesian Researches, vol. iii. p. 360. He remarks, notwithstanding, "that to the eye of a missionary, New Zealand is an interesting country, inhabited by a people of no ordinary powers, could they be brought under the influence of right principles."

whence they had a more easy intercourse with the interior of the island. A narrative of the proceedings at Paihia, from August 1823 to June 1831, which was sent to England by desire of the committee of the Church Missionary Society, presents several interesting details relative to the progress of religious knowledge among the natives in that quarter. Two preachers with their families settled in the wilderness, in the midst of tribes who occupied the land on each side to a considerable distance. A house, composed chiefly of rushes, was soon erected for them, in which they spent the first year, using every means in their power to induce the young people to accept instruction, and become the objects of their kindness. Their habitation was continually beset from daylight till dark by their simple neighbours, who were attracted by the novelty of the things they beheld. A few boys and girls were permitted to live with the missionaries; but a single word from any of the chiefs sent them all off in an instant. Frequently, too, when particularly wanted, they all ran away into the bush, thinking thereby to show to their new countrymen how necessary they were to their proceedings. This conduct continued, in a greater or less degree, about two years; afterwards, the members increased, and their demeanour became much more orderly.

At the date of the Report, the buildings at Paihia were a chapel, two dwelling-houses, several workshops, and sheds for the cattle. The number of native baptisms was thirty, including ten children, and the behaviour of the converts, generally speaking, was not unworthy of the vocation to which they had listened. The Sunday services are conducted as follows:-At eight in the morning the inhabitants of the vicinity are assembled together with the mission families at the station, and such foreign residents in different parts of the adjoining bay as are disposed to attend. The prayers of the church and one of the lessons are read in the New Zealand language, and the natives are also addressed in the same tongue on their faith and duties. The remainder of the