How His Father Lost the Blanket.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 6753, 6 February 1892, Page 2

How His Father Lost the Blanket.

Mr Hamlin, is a man of many good tales, one of the best telling how his father lost a blanket. The Bev. James Hamlin was one of the earliest missionaries to New Zealand. He was a big man, of great muscular development, and his feats of strength no doubt aided him to acquire influence over the Maoris, One powerful chief regarded Mr Hamlin as bis special pakeha. 'the chief owned a number of slaves. One day a little bably Hamlin was disporting himself on a blanket in the kitchen, when a slave entered and stole the blanket. The alarm was raised, and Mr Hamlin rushing out, caught the thief in the garden. By way of punishment he lifted the slave bodily and threw him over tho garden fence, which was about seven feet high. The missionary returned to his studies, satisfied that ho had saved his blanket. But he reckoned without his chief. That august personage was very wroth when he heard of the attempted robbery from his pakeha, and decreed that the slave should be killed and eaten. The slave, hearing of this, took refuge in Mr Hamlin’s house. There he was sought by the irate rangatira, who stoutly maintained (hat the slave had forfeited hie life, and he must be sacrificed unless vtu (or compensation) was paid The end of it was that Mr Hamlin bad to give the identical blanket which the slave had tried to steal to pave the wou'd-bo thief’s life.