184 NEW-ZEALAND WELCOME. have him say. This generally leads to a conversation, which gradually brings the whole company about me. They ask a variety of strange questions, as, for instance, "Is not a woman the monarch of your country? Are the officers of Government also women? Is it the woman who in marriage carries home' the man, and not the man the woman, as here?" These ideas have arisen, I imagine, from their having heard of our Queen, and also seeing the respect with which the Missionaries' wives are treated by their husbands, so very different from their own conduct in this particular. The distance of my "honourable country," and its productions, are also topics of inquiry. In the midst of these, and such like questions, some one is sure to ask whether we have the Boosah in my country-the term used here to designate their gods. This offers an opening to me, which I generally try to take advantage of, and endeavour to lay before them, in as concise and clear a manner as I can, the folly of idolatry, the existence of only one living and true God, man's duty toward Him, his inability to perform this duty, the need of a substitute, this substitute the Son of God, who, freely given by the Father, has freely come to work out a righteousness for man which he never could do for himself, as also to offer Himself in sacrifice for the guilt which man has already contracted. "This substitute, this Son of God, is the Jesus we preach unto you." The mere mention of the name of Jesus I think it desirable to keep from them until toward the close of the address, as numbers of them frequently will go away at the mere mention of His blessed Name, feeling it is the old story, which they know all about. A great variety of strange notions prevail amongst them as to whom Jesus is or was. Some ask if He is not, or was not, a King in our country of great merit, or at least one of the high officers of Government; some, if He was not a sage, similar to Confucius, perhaps the most prevalent notion: some have even asked whether He was a man or woman. Alas! when will they know that this Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords, Confucius's Maker and God? May the Lord hasten the time when the millions of this great nation shall be converted unto Him! NEW-ZEALAND WELCOME. IN Sept. 1839 a vessel left the Bay of Islands, New Zealand, on an important and interesting expedition. There were on board Archdeacon Henry Williams and the Rev. O. Hadfield, proceeding to Cook's Straits, a part of the island where no Missionary had previously been, for the purpose of forming there a Station; Messrs. Wilson and Stack, about to be stationed at Tauranga; and Mr. G. Clarke, with four families of Christian Natives, bound for the East Cape. Some months previously, two Native Teachers had been placed at Waiapu, to the south of East Cape; but the cry for instruction was urgent along the whole line of coast, and it became necessary to occupy as many points as possible with Native Teachersand that, too, without delay, as the Romish Priests were on the alert, and would not fail to avail themselves of any neglected opening. In the beginning of 1843, the Rev. G. A. Kissling was placed as NEW-ZEALAND WELCOME. 185 Missionary at the East Cape, and remained there until April 1846, when failure of health rendered it necessary for him to remove to the neighbourhood of Auckland. He was succeeded, in the beginning of 1847, by the late Rev. C. L. Reay, whose death in March 1848 left the Station without a Missionary; in which state it continued until the end of last year, the work being sustained by the Native Teachers, with such superintendence as the Missionaries in the nearest Districts were capable of exercising amidst their own pressure of employment. The Rev. R. Barker having reached New Zealand in November 1850, was appointed to the East Cape. These introductory remarks will place our readers in a position to peruse with interest the following extract of a Letter from Mr. Kissling Being requested to introduce the Rev. Ralph Barker to my former field of Missionary labours, we closed our Native-Girls'-school at Auckland for a few months, and, with those girls who belonged to Waiapu and Te Kauakaua, accompanied Mr. and Mrs. Barker to the sphere of their recent appointment. We formed a large cargo on board the "Sisters"a Missionary family amounting to sixteen. On the 30th of Dec. 1849 we sighted Te Kauakaua, and great was the joy of all on board in the near prospect of landing again on that peaceful place, which had become endeared to us by many ties of relation, friendship, and affection. Joy preponderated over prudence, and, had it not been for a merciful Providence, would have prepared for us a watery grave. Fifteen of our number ventured to go ashore in the "Sisters"" Teaky boat, believing that the water was smooth on the beach. Drawing near the land, we discovered both our error and danger. The raging surf had already seized our boat before the order to retreat could be carried into effect. The happy faces now turned pale. We feared to pull back to the vessel, in the leaky state of the boat; and a high rock being pointed out as approachable, toward it we steered, and one by one clambered to its summit. The practised eyes of the whalers on shore espied our position, and they immediately came to our relief. Even their buoyant whale-boat, however, was in danger of being shattered to atoms by the terrific rollers which rushed in rapid succession to the pebbled shore. Long were we kept in anxious suspense outside the surf; but at last the command was given to pull, when the fragile boat flew over the angry waves like a petrel, dipping her wings into the white foam, till we felt the ground. As soon as the ground was touched, the rowers leaped into the water, leaving their oars to the waves, and snatched us from our seats with such rapidity that we scarcely knew where we were, or what we were about, when a host of people surrounded us, and welcomed our arrival. Evening Service was just over, and the whole Congregation met us in an extasy of joy and delight. I cannot describe the scene. To meet again at the first moment of our arrival an affectionate flock; to hear their calls of welcome; to see the deep sigh heaving from their breasts; to shake hardy hands, and at times rub noses, which the old men and women still would do; to mark their willingness to help in carrying our children and the few articles which we had brought with us; to experience their attention to our wants, by supplying us with milk, butter, 186 NEW-ZEALAND WELCOME. flour, potatos, kumeras, &c.; to see one running to make a fire, another bringing a calabash of water, and a third gathering fern for our beds— in fact, all striving together how they could best show their affection and care, and by their various services please our hearts and eyes; completely overwhelmed my feelings: it was more than my frame was calculated to bear. No doubt the excitement of seeing again their former Minister, and the novelty of a strong and active fellow-labourer for them by his side, produced at the moment great interest and activity among the people. Still, it would be the height of ingratitude in me were I not openly to acknowledge their strong and enduring affection. Mr. Kissling then proceeds to state his conviction that a considerable improvement had taken place amongst the people since he had been there before, notwithstanding all the disadvantages under which the Station had been placed. Parents were more anxious to have instruction for their children. The young men, who used to be often rude and stubborn, came forward, entreating to be employed by Mr. Barker on his journeys through the district, that, as they travelled with him, they might be benefited by his instructions. After mentioning other points, Mr. Kissling says— The principle of doing something toward the support of Schools, and erecting substantial buildings for Divine Service among themselves, begins to develope itself. At Rangitukia a quantity of timber has been sawn by the Natives, and they expressed not only their willingness, but even their anxiety, to receive the plan of a Church, and to be told the requisite dimensions of the timber, that they might go in a body to the forest, and prepare the materials with their own hands. Several other settlements are ready to follow this example. Another pleasing sign of their improvement is the extensive cultivation of wheat. Seven years ago, when I first laboured in that District, not a grain of wheat was grown. Mr. Stack took thither two stockingfuls of wheat. This was carefully sown at Waiapu and Te Kauakaua on nicely-prepared soil. This small quantity of seed yielded in the first year -1843-a crop beyond our expectation. It was distributed amongst the best of our converts, on condition that its produce should be distributed again, and used for seed only. From this small beginning large and rich fields of wheat now cheer the eyes of the visitor; the Natives being everywhere supplied with wholesome food, beside the many thousand bushels-last year 10,000-which they sell to traders for excellent breeds of horses and cattle. The latter yield them a large quantity of milk, which serves for the support of their young children, for their sick, for regaling visitors and strangers among them, as well as for themselves on their return from their peaceful plantations. In this we have a beautiful emblem of the manner in which Christian truth has spread throughout the District. It was at first as a handful of corn, and was sown in a few hearts; but it wonderfully multiplied; and now there are fields white unto the harvest, and the only fear is that there may not be labourers enough to reap them in. Our readers are aware that Archdeacon W. Williams, the first Missionary ever stationed in the Eastern District of New Zealand, ABBEOKUTA AND ITS PEOPLE. 187 is now in England. Let us pray that his visit home may be productive of much good, and that several devoted labourers may go back with him to assist in gathering in the precious harvest. ABBEOKUTA AND ITS PEOPLE. THERE is little doubt that both the climate and people of Africa have been generally misrepresented by the slave-traders. The climate has been described as pestilential, in order to fright the lawful trader from its shores. Now we are inclined to think that the African climate is not, on the whole, as unhealthy to the European as many other parts of the world which might be mentioned. There are, of course, unhealthy spots and unhealthy seasons there as elsewhere; but we do not find that the loss of Missionary life is greater at Abbeokuta than in India or Ceylon. The Negro tribes have been branded with dulness and stupidity, and a position the lowest in the scale of humanity has been assigned them. Indeed, they have been treated as if they did not belong to the human family, and have been dealt with by the slave-dealers as if they were included amongst those inferior creatures over whom man was given dominion. They have been shamefully and inhumanly bought and sold, as if they had no rights of their own. Thankful we are in being enabled to state that this wicked traffic, at the present moment, is being rigorously dealt with, as it deserves; and as the clouds which have for ages overshadowed Africa with gloom clear away, we are enabled to perceive how cruelly its people have been misrepresented. We find the educated African mind as comprehensive as our own; and as we learn more of the interior of the country we find much in the internal economy of their great towns to convince us that the African people are not the stupid savages they were once supposed to be, fitted only for beasts of burden, and possessing no suitableness for social, moral, or intellectual advancement. Our Missionaries have happily dispelled so selfish a view of African capabilities, and from them we obtain the true state of the case. From Abbeokuta we learn that the native population there, although bound up in many degrading superstitions, yet possess social, political, and commercial institutions, which exhibit them in a far more elevated position than the slave-dealer would have us believe they occupy. Abbeokuta possesses a government, administered by a head Chief, who is advised by lesser Chiefs and warriors. Their domestic system is on the patriarchal plan, and they are eminently a trading people. Their daily and periodical markets are supplied abundantly with all the necessaries of life, consisting of fowls, vegetables, the flesh of wild animals, dried fish, medicines, herbs, roots, native ironmongery, beads, clothing of all descriptions, gunpowder, earthenware, sweetmeats, and cooked provisions of various kinds. The markets are arranged with the strictest regard to order, each variety of goods being found in its appropriate place. 188 ABBEOKUTA AND ITS PEOPLE. The scene depicted below is common in the streets of Abbeokuta. Our This is the ordinary morning meal of the inhabitants-a sort of hot gruel, composed of Indian-corn meal, prepared by women whose business it is to sell it. She has dipped it out of the earthen pot with a wooden spoon, and is pouring it into a small calabash, the buyer paying a cowry or two in proportion to his wants and means. own early coffee-stalls afford similar examples of a street breakfast. The Yorubans do not take their meals together in families, as in our country. The husband eats apart from his wife, or in company with his male children, while the mother provides for the younger children or daughters; and the dressed provisions, as already described, are frequently made use of instead of their own cookery. May the work of the Lord, which has been so successfully prosecuted in Abbeokuta, yet go on and increase, so that souls may be daily added to the Redeemer's kingdom! |