EPISODES IN THE LIFE OF AN OLD MISSIONARY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 9401, 6 January 1894, Page 1 (Supplement)

EPISODES IN THE LIFE OF AN OLD MISSIONARY.

[BY THE REV. GIDEON SMILES.] ~. , NO. VII. ' , In the year 1823, the Rev. N. Turner and , Mr. Hobbs were passengers in the Brampton, for New Zealand. Three days after they landed, they went overland to Whangaroa. They returned to the Bay, chartered a small J schooner, the . Schnapper, to convey, them and their luggage round, and Mr. Marsden went with them. It was winter ; the station was in its embryo state. They climbed up clay bank to: their first New Zealand home. The house was unfinished. Mrs. Leigh being the only lady in the place, was glad to meet Mrs. Turner. > Mr. Marsden was welcomed by all. The Maoris ran to pay their respects to him, and kepb the station *in. an uproar all the day. Mr. Leigh's health having suffered, Mr. Marsden urged and persuaded him and Mrs. Leigh to go with him to Sydney, for the sake of medical advice.

' The mission staff at Whangaroa was now made up of Mr. and Mrs. Turner, Messrs. White, Hobbs, and Stack, Luke Wade, an artisan, and a nurse girl that Mrs. Turner brought with her from Sydney. Of these Mr. Stack alone could speak the language. The little party felt,their position; their work was before them, and . they set themselves to do ib. Mr. Turner had only been a short time at Whangaroa, when, going one morning over the hill, he came upon a small tribe who were preparing to eat the body of a slave. With much ado, he was allowed to bury the unconsumed remains. At this period scenes of plunder and turbulence | were common both on the Church Mission stations and on those of the Wesleyan Church. It is said , that a chief of the name of Te Ara Toui levelled his musket to shoot Mr. Turner. In the end the party had to flee for their lives; and then ib was that Patuone and his brother Nene appeared on the scene for their defence. They were conducted to the Church Station, Kirikiri, from thence to Paihia, and they left New Zealand for Sydney on January 31, 1827. Six months afterwards Mr. Stack returned at the invitation of Patuone and Nene to the Hokianga, and he was joined by Mr. and Mrs. Hobbs. Mr. Turner had gone to the Friendly -Islands, but returned again to New Zealand some years after. • The two chiefs became Christians and were baptised, Erucra Maihi Patuone (Edward Marsh Patuone) and Tomati Waka None (Thomas Walker Nene), and they stood faithful to the Government, to the colonists, and to the welfare of the natives to the end of their days, which were many. Mr. Turner laboured successfully until the end of 1839 ; when from the requirements of his family he returned to Hobart Town and spent the remainder of his days in the colonies, labouring with great zeal until he was compelled to retire in 1853, and died in the midst of . his family in Brisbane in 1864. ■ The missionaries continued to arrive at different periods from the time that the first stations were formed at Rangihou and Whangaroa, by the Rev. Samuel Marsden and the Rev. Samuel Leigh and their coadjutors, and embraced clergymen, catechiats, or lay teachers, and mechanics, and, I may add, that from what I have seen and known, iwith one or two exceptions, as a body of Christian men they have been a most industrious, self-denying, and enterprising class of men, who were worthy of the undertaking they came to accomplish. , Passing over the particulars concerning the introduction of many of the early missionaries, I arrive at a period with which I was more particularly acquainted. With respect to the original pioneers of the settlement of New Zealand, I may state: That the ship James, Captain Todd, master, , loft > Gravesend, bound for Hobart Town and New Zealand, on the 20th of September, 1838, and amongst her passengers were,the Rev. John Waberhouse, with a large family of sons and daughters, as Wesleyan general-superintendent, or bishop of the Wesleyan Mission in the South Seas, embracing Sydney, Hobart Town, New Zealand, and the Paoific Islands. His family were . located at Hobarb Town, and the Hon. George Vv'aterhouse, M.L.A., of New 1 Zealand, was then one of his younger sons. Accompanying the Rev. J. Waterhouse, there were the Rev. J. H. Bumby and his sister; the i Rev. Samuel Ironside and Mrs. Ironside ; and the Rev. Charles Creed and Mrs. Creed; the Rev. John Warren and Mr. Warren, as missionaries for New Zealand (Mr. and Mrs. Warren, however, were detained on their voyage for some months in Hobart Town, before they came forward to New Zealand). There were also two other gentlemen and a lady, who were passengers for New Zealand, Mr. Thomas S. Forsaith and Mrs. Forsaith, and Mr. William Stones. Mr. Forsaith spent many years in New Zealand, and held various important offices in this country, and is now an Independantor Congregational minister in New South Wales. He lately visited and lectured in Auckland, Mr. Stones, after a year or two's residence in this country, returned to England. He was a kind, intelligent, and beneficent young man. He published an interesting little book, principally on New Zealand, entitled, "My First Voyage." He was elected a Fellow of the Society of Arts, England, and ho obtained a prize offered by that society for "An Essay on New Zealand," which was published, and was very acceptable and useful at the time. He married a sister of Sir Sydney Waterlow, late Lord Mayor of London, and lived many happy years at Blackheath, London, in the midsb of his family and pleasant connections. But his end was painful to his friends, for whilst crossing the British Channel, on his return from a trip to France, he unfortunately fell over the side of the steamer and was drowned.

After a favourable voyage, Mr. Waterhouse and his party landed ab Hobart Town on January 30, 1839. Here they were received with open arras, and were entertained at Government House by His Excellency the Lieut.-Governor and his lady, Sir John and Lady Franklin. Mr. Bumby was specially called upon to preach on several occasions, in his eloqueub style, to crowded congregations, and he was much pressed to remain in Hobart Town, and the Governor and his lady book special iuteresb in both Mr. Bumby and his sister. On the 7th of March, 1839, Mr. Bumby, his sister, and the whole of the party for New Zealand, crossed the Hokianga Bar in" the James, land were safely anchored in the river; and then most heartily welcomed by their brethren and friends on their arrival— for to them especially " it was a joyful and important event." Mr. Bumby, though a comparatively young man/was, on account of his special gifts and qualifications, appointed by the Wesleyan authorities in ICngland, as chairman of the New Zealand district. He remained actively engaged for a short time at the Hokianga and the adjacent circuits, and then entered on an enterprise to the south, taking with him the Rev. J. Hobbs and about twenty nativei, chiefly Southern natives, who had been taken in war, and whom the gospel had liberated. They chartered a small vessel at the Bay of Islands, and after a stormy passage, they reached Port Nicholson. 1 will give a quotation from a letter of Mr. Bumby's, which will give a good idea of things at Wellington at that time. " Upon, arriving,'! he says, "at Whanganuiatera, or Port Nicholson, we wen on shore near a kainga, or village, and were met on the beach by a grotesque party of natives, some bedaubed with red ochre and oil, and others disfigured about the cheeks and eyebrows with , congealed blood. They, however, were delighted to see us, and gave us a hearty welcome. t Here some of our lads met with their relatives and friends, whom they had' nob aeon for ten or twelve years. Ib was truly affecting to witness their mutual joy, though expressed after the manner of sorrow, according to the favourite tangi of the country. After the excitement had a little subsided we erected our tents, and partook of some refreshment; potatoes and Indian corn were the best) viands the village afforded, f Some of our lads having drunk water from a tapued stream, one of the chiefs came to us and demanded satisfaction. After a little korero, or 'conversation,' he agreed to remove the tapu, and listen to the Gospel. In the evening we held public service, on which* occasion many speeches were delivered, both by out own lads and the natives ; the former briefly stating their' history since their separation from their friends, together with some par-

ticulars connected with their conversion to Christianity, and the latter asserting their ignorance, and great desire to be taught the truth as ib is in Jesus. The people, either from what they have heard of missionary operations in other parts of the island, or a special influence from God, are evidently prepared for the reception of bhe Gospel. I trust the time is nob far distant when New Zealand, beautiful for situation, salubrious in climate, and exuberant in soil, having a population fearing God and working righteousness, will become an eternal excellency, the joy of many generations." ' '

; I will introduce another extract from Mr. Bumby*B letter, for but few in i;his day have read ib; and it is a history of a large slice of land in the very centre of the Empire City, which was to all intents and purposes tapued (made sacred) for the benefib of the Wesleyan Mission. The whole, however, was afterwards conceded to the company, under considerable pressure, and only a amall piece returned to the mission, where there is now a large Wesleyan church occupied and held by the Europeans. "On the Sabbath," Mr. Burnby writes, "we converted the sea beach, opposite to one of the principal settlements, into a sanctuary; erected the boat-sail as a break-wind to shelter the preacher, and collected the entire population of the place, with the exception of a few sick people, as a congregation. Mr. Hobbs had nob proceeded far in the service before the rain came down in sufficient torrents to have dispersed any English audience ; but the poor New Zealanders, unmoved by the pelting of the pitiless shower, seemed only intent on hearing the word of truth, the Gospel of our salvation. We met with Wharepouri, a superior chief. His person is tall and majestic; and having his hair tastefully tied on the top of his head, and falling back all round like a diadem, and decorated with feathers, ho had a savage and commanding appearance. He expressed himself as very anxious to have a missionary, and was delighted to accept a copy of the New Testament. Wherever we went the people said if we would only come and. settle among them the land should be ours, and they would carry wood and water, and do all in their power for us. Thinking the place suitable for a station, and presuming that the committee would sanction such a step, we tapued a piece of land of the proprietors, two respectable chiefs, for some blankets and fishhooks. . The tapu secures bo us the privilege of purchase if we should fix upon the place for a missionary settlement. Having spent a week amongst these interesting barbarians, and furnished the lads we were about to leave as teachers with books, slates, pencils, etc., for schools, we prepared to take our departure. The people showed us greab kindness, bringing abundance of pigs and potatoes, as a mark of their respect and gratitude. One of the chiefs of whom we tapued the land wa9 anxious to rub noses, and I was obliged, with as much grace as possible, to submit to the disagreeable ceremony. Such was the love of the lads to their missionaries that they were almost broken-hearted ab parting. They appear to be sincerely pious, and exceedingly anxious to be useful to their heathen relatives and friends. I trust they will be as lights shining in a dark place, and as showers that water the earth."