MAORI MISSIONARIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2842, 2 September 1908, Page 34

MAORI MISSIONARIES.

AUCKLAND, August 28.

At the Archdiaconal Conference at Cambridge the Rev. W. H. Hawkins, of the Maoii mission station at Tc Awamutu, delivered an excellent discourse on the Maori mission generally, and he showed that of late a great advance had been made. He stated that he had been visiting the Melanesian and Polynesian Islands with a view to ascertaining if Maoris would make suitable missionaries to work in that part of the world. He found tint nearly everywhere, and particularly in the Polynesian Islands, the inhabitants could understand him when he addressed them in Maori, and h-s could understand their language through its similarity to the Maori one. He consulted the Bishop of Melanesia on the matter, and it had now bean decided to send two Maori married men and one single man to act as missionaries. The marriod men would take up their residence in thickly-populated districts, and the single man would travel over the ground where there were fewer inhabitants. Mr Hawkins stated that he had mentioned the matter to the Maoris up north, and they were most enthusiastic over it. There were fully 50 will- j ing to go as missionaries to the South Sea Islands, and the difficulty would be to choose from that number.

The Alexandra Herald observer that on some of the adjacent run*? young lambs have already made tbeii appearance. The lambing season dees not come in. for a month yet, and in consequence of the severe snowstorms the percentage may chow a falling oft.