settlement, as Captain Cook had also recommended, the attention of the House of Commons was called to New Zealand, as a country adapted for that purpose, but the dread in which it was then held for its cannibalism, overpowered every argument that could be adduced in its favour.

In the year 1814, that benevolent individual, the late Rev. Samuel Marsden, senior chaplain of Australia, though suffering from age and infirmity, forsook the comforts of his home, and sailed from Sydney to New Zealand, with a few followers or missionaries, and laid the foundation of the Church of England Mission at the Bay of Islands, and they thus became the first European settlers in that country, with the exception of two convicts who had fled from New South Wales, and were found in a wretched state, as the captain having told the New Zealanders that they were thieves, they declared that if they did not work neither should they eat. The object of this first mission however, was evidently not so much for the purpose of instructing the cannibals in the sublime doctrines of Christianity, as of introducing amongst them the useful arts, and, in time, if they succeeded, and were not devoured, of relieving them perhaps of some of their land, a very laudable object no doubt. These missionaries accordingly, and those who afterwards joined them, consisted chiefly of carpenters, boat-builders, blacksmiths, &c. who, in fact, seem to have had no other object in view but to make as much money, in their different callings, as they possibly could; and so indefatigable were they in this their favourite pursuit, that they contrived in a short time to monopolize almost all the land in that part of New Zealand that was worth having; so that

their earthly mission, at all events, was a very successful one.

When the Rev. Dr. Lang of Sydney, landed at the Bay of Islands in 1839, on his way to this country, he was so much struck with the rapacity of these missionaries, that during his short stay there of only eight days, he contrived to collect so much information, both in regard to them, and the country in general, that he was enabled to publish a work on New Zealand shortly after his arrival in England; wherein he records the melancholy fact, that in their zeal for worldly aggrandizement, they had absolutely lost sight of their heavenly mission altogether. I should be sorry, however, to reflect so harshly on their conduct as he has done, as great allowance ought to be made for them, considering the difficulties and dangers they had to encounter; and, during the first years of the mission, their time was most successfully occupied in preventing the murderous conflicts among the different tribes-then of almost daily occurrence. While enriching themselves, moreover, they did good to the country in general; so that, while I feel disposed to give them credit for their usefulness, our reverend friend looks only to their rapacity. Captain Fitzroy of the Royal Navy, the present Governor of New Zealand, in his evidence before the House of Lords, says, "that they had the respect not only of the chiefs, but of all the settlers whose respect was worth having."

Their settlement of Paihia, near Kororarika, at the Bay of Islands, presents the aspect of a beautiful English village; their houses being elegant and substantial, and the church large and well built, with a fine toned organ. They have another establishment

at the

Waimate" or sick water, about thirteen

miles in the interior, between the Bay of Islands and the great river Hokianga; where their numbers, including an unusual number of children, now amount to a 1000, including natives. The country all round that quarter is in their hands; their fields of corn and potatoes are very extensive, though chiefly cultivated for their own consumption; their rich pasture lands are covered with sheep and cattle, and a neat church, with a spire, adorns that favoured spot. At the head of the river Kerikeri, which empties itself into the Bay of Islands, they have a third station, where their principal storehouse is built a strong mansion of two stories, with iron bars, in which all their merchandise is safely deposited.

The contrast betwixt the Church of England and the Wesleyan Missionaries is very striking, as the latter have neither land nor cattle, but devote themselves exclusively to the duties of their office. The first of the Wesleyan Mission stations was erected on the river Hokianga, on the west coast of New Zealand, and may be considered one of the most successful that perhaps ever emanated from that Christian and patriotic body. In a work, published in Sydney by an Englishman who had resided fourteen years in Hokianga, entitled "Important Information Relative to New Zealand," the author says, "in this district may be traced the progress of man from his savage to his civilized state. It is a common sight to see, on the Saturday evening, thirty or forty canoes approaching the mission station, each manned with from ten to thirty natives, nearly all clad in European costume, and quietly encamping on the beach to await the approaching Sabbath; and their numbers frequently amount to 500, attending the ordinances

of religion, and conducting themselves with the utmost decorum. The change in their habits is not the less surprising; for whilst those who have not embraced Christianity, are found in their native costumes-the mat or the blanket, with their provision grounds cultivated in the most slovenly manner, and their overruling passion war; the native christians, on the contrary, are seen betaking themselves to those useful and profitable employments which the wants of civilized life create; so that you may every day see the Christian native chief of the highest rank, on a sawpit with one of his people, working at this laborious employment." Some of our Highland chieftains, with whom these New Zealand chieftains are sometimes compared, would perhaps be surprised at finding their distinguished allies working in a saw-pit; but a chieftain who can saw a good log of Kauri pine must be considered a most useful member of society; and though no great adepts, like some of our chieftains, in that elegant accomplishment fox-hunting, yet that sensible cunning animal the fox, would probably rather meet them at the saw-pit than on the turf.

These Wesleyan missionaries are fully as zealous in their heavenly mission as the Church of England missionaries are in their earthly mission, and a greater compliment than that it is impossible to pay them. The late Rev. Mr. Waterhouse, Superintendent-General of the Wesleyan Missionary Church in Australia and Polynesia, made an excursion in 1841, through the greater part of his territories, which lasted eleven months. After visiting Sydney and Parramatta, he sailed to New Zealand; and from thence to the Friendly Islands, lying about a thousand miles to the north,

so called by Captain Cook, in consequence of the friendship he found subsisting among themselves, as well as their hospitality to strangers. He next proceeded to the Sandwich Islands, in one of which, viz. Owyhee, that illustrious navigator was killed by the natives in 1779,-and in these islands the greater part of the inhabitants have now embraced Christianity. But the greatest change of all he found had taken place in a cluster of islands called the Feejee or Fijee Islands, the natives of which were the greatest cannibals in the known world, infinitely worse than the New Zealanders, but are gradually becoming changed by the force of religious instruction. In one of them Mr. Waterhouse met a king, who was also a giant, standing seven feet and a half in height, and well proportioned. Amongst his various other qualifications he seems to have been an ardent admirer of female charms, having a seraglio of no less than thirty women, an establishment which, even in that remote part of the world, must be considered no contemptible rival of that of the Grand Sultan at Constantinople. In some of these islands, and particularly in the celebrated island of Otaheite, the black queen of which has taken a great fancy to be placed under the protection of her cousin the white queen of England, long nails on the fingers are reckoned a mark of distinction, as they imply that none but those who have no occasion to work could allow them to grow to that length. In some of them also, the unmarried women have the privilege of paying their addresses to the men,—an admirable custom, well worthy of being introduced here.

When it was found that the Church of England missionaries were permitted to live in perfect security, and were not devoured, other Europeans soon began

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