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New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VI, Issue 444, 3 November 1849, Page 2

We have much pleasure in publishing the i following letter from the Rev. J. F Lloyd, a cleryman who has recently arrived in this colony from Armagh, and feel assured that this ac ccunt of the impressions produced on his mind by his recent visit to Otaki will be perused with considerable interest not only in this colony but also in the mother-country; To the Editor of the "JNew Zealand Spectator.'' The Parsonage, Wellington, Nov. 1, 1849. Sir, — There are so many and such contradictory opinions among the English settlers in | this country concerning the natives, that a ! stranger, on first arriving in New Zealand, must be quite at a loss to know what to.think | of this highly interesting people. By some, even by persons long resident in the country, i they are represented as destitute of natural , affection, ungrateful, treacherous, and mercenary. By others, on the contrary, they are described as a very superior race, endowed j with many high natural qualities, which give great promise for the future, when their minds j and affections shall be properly developed. It | may not be uninteresting, then, to some of your r<*ade s to know the first impressions regarding this people of one who has just arrived in this country, and who has been spending a few weeks in the midst of them. On my voyage out, and on my first arrival J in New Zealand, I heard so many things to the disadvantage of the natives, from so many persons apparently well informed, that I was I almost tempted for a time to think that the accounts I bad been reading of them at home j were highly coloured, and not altogether to be j depended upon. 1 gladly, however, availed ! myself of the first good opportunity of judging ! for myself, and accompanied Mr. Hadfiek! in his late visit toOtaki. As we proceeded on our j journey the disagreeable impressions left on •my mind by the unfavourable reports I had j received gradually disappeared. The cordi- j ahty and affection with which the natives everywhere along the road welcomed back Mr. | Hadfield, after his long illness, spoke highly ! in their favour. The marks of genuine feeling depicted on their countenances could not be mistaken by the most ordinary observer of human nature ; and I cannot say whether I was most delighted with the amiable dispositions everywhere manifested by the natives, or with the beauty and magnificence of the country through which we passed. With a climate highly favourable to vegetation and to the health of man, — with noble harbours and a rich soil well watered, — with magnificent forests containing inexhaustible supplies of timber, and scenery scarcely inferior in picturesque effect to that of the most favoured parts of Europe, — with an atmosphere as clear and bright, and a sky as blue, as those of Italy, but possessing this advantage, that while the air of Italy is enervating to an English constitution, that of New Zealand, on the contrary, is bracing and invigorating, — with so many advantages combined, New Zealand can scarcely fail to become, when her resources are properly developed, one of the most prosperous and most delightful countries in the world, and her people one of the healthiest and most vigorous of the human race. At Porirua we were joined by Rauparaba's son, dressed in European costume, and mounted on an excellent horse, and apparently in no re- | spect differing from one of ourselves, excepting in the colour of his skin. Our road now lay through a magnificent forest, diversified by almost every variety of foliage of which New Zealand can boast, hut which, no doubt, i will one day give place to a thriving and industrious population. Here and there small patches were cleared in the midst of the surrounding wilderness, and were clothed with green grass, presenting a most pleasing and grateful variety to the eye. The road itself was an excellent one, and it is hard to say whether Captain Russell has benefited the country most by the excellence of the roads which have been constructed under his superintendence, or by the respect with which he has inspired the natives for the character of the British officer. On issuing from the forest we descended by a steep mountain to the sea shore. The character of the scenery here changed, and we now travelled along a long line of rich coast land, which stretches from Wainui to Otaki, and from thence far away to the north ; being bounded on the east by a range of fine mountains clothed with forest to their very summits, and on the west by the sea. This is a rich and sunny district, and must one day, when brought into proper culJ tivation, rival in luxuriance the most fertile parts of the south of Europe. On arriving at Waikanae we found the natives employed in clearing away some drift sand which had gathered against their church, blocking up the windows on one side, and threatening to burst in the side wall. The church at Waikinae, although badly situated in the midst of sandhills, yet does great credit to the nntives by whose voluntary labours it was built. It is seventy-one feet long by thirty-five wide, and is entirely of native workmanship. In the evening the whole population of the place was assembled for service

within its walls. Here and elsewhere along the coast the natives are remarkable for the regularity of their attendance at the daily morning and evening services. Almost all tie inhabitants of the pa assemble every morning in the church at an early hour, .before they begin their work, and again in the evening towards sunset, when the labours of the day are over. In the absence of the clergyman some of the native teachers officiate ; and such is the proper feeling and respect of these people for their religious services, that the church", on such occasions, is as well attended, and the congregation as decorous, as when the clergyman himself is present. On the following morning we started for Otaki, in company with Major Durie, the resident magistrate of this district, who seems to be much respected by the natives along this coast. On reaching Otaki we found the inhahitants, to the number of about six hundred, assembled in an open space adjoining the east end of their church ; — a very appropriate spot on which to meet their pastor, through whose zeal and labours they were first brought to a knowledge of that blessed gospel which has made such a wonderful change in their condition. Some of the natives were standing, the greater part were seated on the ground in their usual posture. As we approached, the men shook their garments, crying out, " Haere mail" their well-known form of welcome. We were not, however, favoured with the tangi, the natives justly believing this mode of reception to be offensive to the English. But as we remained for ten minutes or 3 quarter of an hour, according to the native custom of greeting their long absent friends, about thirty yards apart from the assembled multitude, the women gave vent to their feelings by sobs and moans, expressive rather of deep sorrow than of joy, while the tears rolled down the cheeks also of many a tattooed and manly face. And as we stood here, with the large church on one side, the assembled natives before us, and the tokens of advancing civilization everywhere visible around us, I could not but thank and praise God, who had so mercifully visited this fine race of men, rescuing them from their heathen and savage state, and making them partakers with us of the blessings of the gospel of Christ. When the first greetings were over we entered the church, — a noble building, when we consider by whom it was erected. It is eighty feet long by thirty-six wide, and forty high, and is entirely of native workmanship. The walls are built of huge pieces of totara wood, coloured red, of about ihree feet in breadth, and nineteen feet in height, and of great strength and thickness. These are let firmly into the ground, and are placed upright at intervals of about three feet, the spaces between being filled up with that peculiar network that is sometimes to be seen in the better description of native dwellings ; but which is executed in Otaki church in a manner superior to any I have met with elsewhere. The ridge piece of the roof, which runs the whole length of the building, and is formed of one magnificent piece of totara wood, is supported by three huge pillars of the same timber, running up the centre of the building. The interior would undoubtedly look much better, if the roof had been supported by two rows of pillars, instead of one, thus forming a centre and two side aisles; but a roof constructed in this manner, would have required a degree of skill which the natives are not yet masters of, and they naturally wished to have the gratification of building the church entirely by their own bands, without any assistance from strangers. The church is to be lighted by six lancet-shaped windows on each side, eleven feet in height, by about twenty inches or two feet in width, and by four of the same shape, but of larger dimensions, at the east end. When the whole building is completed, it will, 1 believe, be a standing proof in the country of this fact, that the natives have quite as much natural capacity for the arts as ourselves ; and that in a very few years, if they advance as they are now doing, they will furnish as skilful mechanics as are to be found even amongst our own peeple. The village — or town as the natives call it — of Otaki, is not yet finished. Two private houses have been built, which would be comfortable residences for any Europeans, but most of the natives are at present residing in temporary huts, as they very properly wish to complete the church before they commence their own dwellings. The town, however, has been laid out according to a regular plan, and will be intersected by wide streets, which are to be adorned by rows of trees. A good site also has been chosen, and the machinery already provided, for a mill, which will be commenced immediately. The church and the two private dwellings already finished give some idea of what the town will be when it is completed. And I have no doubt that Otaki will' yet afford one of the most interesting proofs that the world has ever exhibited, of the power of the Christian religion in elevating the mind and heart of man out of the i depths of degradation into which they are

sunk by ignorance and sin, and in refining and civilizing mankind. In the evening there was a congregation of about six hundred in the church, which was Jarger thau usual, many natives having come in for the occasion from the neighbouring pas. I was delighted with the alacrity and regularity with which the natives here and elsewhere along the coast attended the daily morning and evening services of their church. It was quite manifest that they did not regard iheir religious- services as an irksome duty which it was necessary to fulfil, and which they had a superstitious fear of neglecting, but rather as a happy privilege from which they would not absent themselves unless compelled by sickness, or by some other urgent cause. And as the mothers on such occasions have no one to leave at home in charge of their infant children, they carry them upon their backs to church, closely wrapped up in their blankets or shawls, according to the raaori fashion. Morning service commences at Otaki, in winter, as soon as it is light, in summer about five o'clock, and evening service about sunset, when the work of the day is over. Every morning, as soon as the service is concluded, school commences, which is attended by almost the whole congregation, consisting of old and young, women and children. The adults are formed into classes in the church, as there is no other building large enough to contain them all; or, if the weather be sufficiently fine, they assemble upon the grass outside. The young are drafted off to the school-house. In the daily morning school, which continues about one hour, some classes are instructed in the catechism which has been drawn up for the use of the natives ; others, who have learned their catechism, are taught to read and write on alternate days. The majority of the adults can both read and write well. Some classes write from dictation, and seldom are any of these known to make a mistake in spelling. They seem to have a peculiar facility in learning to write. And I have no hesitation in saying, that I have never witnessed in any school for the poorer classes in England, Ireland, or Scotland, better writing, on the whole, than that which I have seen at Otaki. Some few individuals in the larger schools at home, no doubt, excel the natives of Otaki in penmanship, but then the latter labour under great, disadvantages, they have neither desks nor paper, they sit upon the ground and write upon slates with pencils. From this remarkable facility in learning to write, and from the accuracy with which they can draw straight lines in their cultivations by the unassisted eye, as well as from many other circumstances, I conclude that they would make superior draughtsmen. It is a singular as well as most interesting sight to see the old tatooed natives, from the highest chief down to the lowest member of society, sitting promiscuously in their respective classes, and catechised perhaps by some younger member of the congregation, who has been chosen for the office of monitor on account of his consistent conduct and superior attainments. There I saw, every morning, amongst other men of note, the old and once powerful chief Rauparaha, who, notwithstanding his great age, of more than eighty years, is seldom missed frem his class, and who, after a long life of perpetual turmoil, spent jn all the savage excitement of cruel and bloody wars, is now to be seen every morning, in his accustomed place, repeating those blessed truths which teach him to love the Lord with all his heart, and -mind, and soul, and strength, and his neighbour as himself. It was amusing to see many of the chief men and older members of the tribe in the lowest classes in the school, for they, having more to give up, were naturally slower in embracing Christianity, and consequently have not in general made so much progress as the younger members of the tribe. The morning school breaks up about half-past seven, and such is the good training into which these people have been brought, and the proper feeling which they show, that there seems to be little or no difficulty now in keeping up a regular attendance at this school. Besides, one of the most promising and encouraging features in the native character, is their extraordinary thirst for information. At ten o'clock the children and young people are again assembled at the daily school, and are instructed until twelve o'clock in reading, writing, arithmetic, catechism, and English. The average attendance at this school is one hundred and forty, which, in fact, includes all the young people of the place. The school is conducted by native teachers, with the exception of the English department, for which an English master has been provided. The native teachers give their services gratuitously; for although it is the intention, if possible, to provide funds for their remuneration, yet up to this time they have received none, nor do they expect any. An excellent piece of rich land, of about thirty acres, in the immediate neighbourhood of the village, has been set apart by the natives for the use and support

of the school, and the school children and native teachers are employed, after school hours, in the cultivation of this land. By this means the school will be made (o support itself should funds from other quarters fail, while at the same time important instructions in agriculture are thus communicated" to the young, and, through them, to the rest of the inhabitants. On the Sunday which was appointed for the administration of the Lord's Supper, the 7th ofOctober, there wasa congregation at each of the three services of between seven and eight hundred. The large church was filled to overflowing. Most of the vast assembly sat upon the ground in the usual native posture, and were closely packed together, presenting a dense mass of human faces. Those who have adopted the European costume sat upon benches at the east end, and along the sides of the church. Never have I seen in any English congregation ( more reverence or devotion than I witnessed upon this occasion. And 1 may safely say the same of all the public services that I attended at Otaki and the other villages along the coast. The responses of our beautiful service were given with a fervour and unanimity such as I have, never heard in any church in our own more favoured country. The hymns that have been printed at the end of the maori version of our prayer book were sung by the whole multitude with a heartiness which rendered them much more grateful to the ear than better performances which are confined to a few individuals in the congregation. And as I looked along the dense mass of human faces, and saw the eagernesss with which they drank in every word of the discourse that was delivered to them, I could not but wonder at the marvellous change which, by the grace of God, has been effected in so short a time, in this people, once notorious through the world for their savage ferocity. After the mid-day service was concluded, one hundred and thirty individuals were admitted to the Lord's Supper. These were the choice and most approved members of the flock, and the solemnity, devotion, and intelligence, with which they joined in the sacred service was most impressive and affecting. There is one thing which will be noticed by every stranger on first entering a congregation of natives in New Zealand, namely, the remarkable precision with which the voices of the whole congregation keep together in singing and in repeating the responses. The voices of the whole multitude, no matter how large the congregation may be, keep such perfect time, that they seem like one voice, — no one is heard lagging behind or going before the rest, but every tongue strikes, not only the same word, but the same syllable of the word, and leaves it at the same instant of time. The Germans are generally reputed to be the best timeists in Europe, but what the Germans acquire by much labour and after long practice, the New Zealanders accomplish naturally and without effort. This extraordinary faculty for time would, I have no doubt, cause them to take great delight in the practice of choral music, and they possess, I am persuaded, natural : musical powers, quite equal, if not superior, to those of any nation in Europe. Their native tunes, which strongly resemble the most ancient chants of the western churches, and which are by no means the easiest style of music, were sung by the whole congregation at Otaki, from the oldest man down to the youngest child, in perfect tune, as well as in perfect time. The change that has been effected in the , social and religious condition of the natives at Otaki hus not been confined to that one locality, I found the same great work going on, though not perhaps with the same rapidity, in all the villages that I visited in the surrounding district. We spent a few days at Moutoa, on the Manawatu river, about thirty miles from Otaki. Here, at the Sunday services, there was a congregation of about six hundred assembled in the church, all apparently eager to adopt the same improvements that have been effected at Otaki. For such is the inquiring spirit of the natives, that whenever any change for good is effected in one place, it is almost sure to be carried to all the villages in the neighbouring country. Which fact shows how much more good might be done if the clergy could concentrate their labours more than they are at present able to do. But unfortunately, although England, Ireland, and Scotland, are literally swarming with young men having no occupation or profession, and who are frittering away their time and talents in frivolous pursuits, because they do not know how to employ them, yet in this interesting and noble field for work such is the paucity of labourers that the clergy are obliged to scatter their energies over a country, varying in most cases from fifty to one hundred miles in extent. During our stay at Otaki we made several visits to Rangihaeata, a heathen chief of great renown as a warrior amongst his own people, and well-known to the English ds one of the boldest and most determined savages in New Zealand. He is at present residing at Poro-

tawhao, about fourteen miles from Otaki. On our first visit, we found him, his wife, and his followers, sitting in a little circular patch of ground which they had just cleared in the midst of a dense mass of luxuriant flax. The old chief received us very graciously. In his costume there was nothing to distinguish him from the rest of his party. His head was bare, and seemed as if it had never submitted to any kind of covering ; the left si le of it was adorned winb a large bundle of short feathers, which seemed to be a fixture there, for it was quite obvious that both his head and face were entire strangers to water, and to every kind t>f cleansing operation. His face, neck, arms, hands, and legs, and the rest of his body so far as I could see, were smeared with red oxide of iron, which the natives sometimes use to protect the skin from the bites of flies, and of other troublesome animals. But although there was nothing in his costume to distinguish him from the rest of his followers, yet his air and manner at once betrayed the chief and would have marked him out amongst a thousand to the eye of the most casual observer, He is a tall and powerful man, about six feet high, and well proportioned; his head is large, his forehead high, and well developed ; his nose straight, and the rest of his features well formed ; and there is an expression in his eye which fully justifies the common report of him, that when his passions are roused, he is distinguished for his ferocious courage, even amongst a people who are naturally brave and fierce. He began by apologising to Mr. Hadfleld for not being able to give him a better reception ; and after a few minutes conversation, he delivered a speech, of which the .substance was, that it was useless for the missionaries to give themselves the trouble of preaching the Gospel to the maories; that they (the maories) were by nature bad ; that they had brought the evil spirit with them from the far country from which they had originally come ; that the evil spirit was still in them ; and that they could not therefore be reformed. He then instanced the conduct of some chiefs who had acted in a manner unbecoming their Christian profession, as a proof that those who embraced Christianity were no better than others. In the meantime his wife busied herself in making preparations for our entertainment, screaming all the while to her attendants, and seeming to think the more noise she made the more honour she did to her guests. She was a coarse, dirty, and illfavoured woman ; round her neck she wore a large ornament of greenstone ; her body, like her husband's, was besmeared with red oxide of iron ; her coarse and matted hair had evidently never known the use of a comb, nor undergone any kind of cleansing process, aud her only garment was a sort of loose gown, which served for chemise, gown, and all, and was so filthy that I could not guess at its original colour. The result of her preparations were some roasted potatoes, of which we eat heartily, and a small wild bird cooked in the flames, together with some tea made in an iron saucepan and served up in tin mugs, with dark brown or rather black sugar. When we had been sitting here for about half an hour, intelligence was suddenly brought to Rangihaeata that five men of his party, who had been absent for several months, and who were said to have been murdered at the East Cape, were at that moment coming up the pathway, and were close at hand. I had now an opportunity of witnessing the tangi in perfection. The women ranged themselves on one side, and kneeling upon the ground with their heads bent down, commenced howling in a piteous manner as soon as the new comers made their appearance, they knelt upon ona knee, bending their eyes and heads to the ground, with the exception of one dignified and fine looking man, who was the chief of the party, and who stood in front of the rest with his arms folded and his head drooping on his chest. The women now continued to howl until the tears streamed down their faces, and the saliva hung in long strings from their mouths, the men from time to time responding to the howls of the women by a low moan expressive of the deepest affliction. When this singular mode of reception continued for about half an hour, it was concluded by rubbing noses, according to the maori manner of salutation. It cannot be wondered at that Rangihaeata and the few other chiefs who still stand out should be strongly prejudiced against Christianity, for in proportion as it advances their influence diminishes. Their followers are rapidly melting away, insomuch that Rangihaeata, who was once so powerful, cannot now command fifty fighting men, and in a few years more nothing of his power will be left excepting the name. From what I have seen at Otaki, and in the surrounding country, I do not think there is much reason to apprehend any retrogade movement there. It has been Mr. Hadfield's aim, in all his instructions, to supply the natives with broad principles of action for the

regulation of their conduct, and to teach them to apply these principles for themselves to all the practical details of life. Consequently the natives of Otaki, in place of being guided by narrow and contracted rules', taken up without reason and followed blindly, into which an ignorant ppople just emerging from heathenism are so likely to fall, have now acquired the habit of thinking and judging for themselves ; their faculties have been awakened and developed, aad their faith has become with them an intelligent faith, a part of their being, which cannot be shaken off without such a moral convulsion as we can have no reason to apprehend. The judiciousness of this mode of teaching became apparent, when by the providence of God, Mr. Hadfield was withdrawn ftom his labours by a long and painful illness of five years' duration; for the natives were then in great measure thrown upon their own resources, and forced to- think and act for themselves. But they stood the trial well, and came out of it, as I am told, unharmed.For the last eighteen months, however, the extensive district of Otaki has been worked with much judgment and energy by Mr. Williams, son of Archdeacon Henry Williams of Paihia, one of tbe foremost and most energetic among those honored men who first made known the gospel in this country, subjecting their own lives, and those of others still dearer to them, to all the dangers to be apprehended from an unknown and savage race. I trust, Mr. Editor, that I shall not be considered presumptuous in offering to your readers these results of my observations on a subject with which so many of them must be far better acquainted than I am. Of course the remarks which I have made derive their principal value, if they have any, from being the first impressions of one who is as yet a stranger in this country, and who cannot therefore be supposed to be under the influence of any bias. It is still questioned by many, whether the natives of New Zealand are capable of being civilized, or of being brought to apprehend aright the spiritual truths of Christianity. But I conceive that what has taken place at Otaki, and no doubt in other parts of the country also that I have not visited, demonstrates the fact, that tbe New Zealanders are capable of as high a degree of civilization, and of as spiritual an apprehension of the sublime truths of our holy faith, as any other people, and that within a short time, if they advance as they are now doing, they will take their place among the most civilised and the most enlightened nations in the world. I have the honor to be, Sir, Your obedient Servant, John Fkederic Lloyd.