THE LATE MURDERS AT NUKAPU.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VI, Issue 296, 15 December 1871, Page 2

THE LATE MURDERS AT NUKAPU.

The following is an unfinished letter addressed by the Rev. J. Atkin to his mother after receiving tbe wound which eventually proved fatal to him : — 2lst September, 1871. My dear Mother, — We have had a terrible loss ; such a blow that we cannot at all realize it. Our Bishop is dead : killed by the natives at Nukapu yesterday. We got the body, and buried it this morning. He was alone on shore, and none of us saw it done. We were attacked iu the boat too, and Stephen so badly wounded lhat I am afraid there is small hope of his recovery. John and I have arrow wounds, but not severe. Our poor boys seem quite awe-stricken. Captain Jacobs is very much cut up. Brooke, although uot very .'veil, has quite devoted^ himself to tlie wounded, and so has less time to think about it all. It would only be Bel fish to wish him back. He has gone to his rest, dying, as he lived, in Lis Master's service. It seems a shocking way to die; but I can say from experience that it is far more to hear of than to suffer. In whatever way so peaceful a life as his is ended, his end is peace. There was no sign of fear or pain on his face — -just the look that he used to have wpen asleep, patient And a little wearied. Wihat a stroke his death will be to hundreds ! What his Mission will doV^wifchout him, God only knows, who has taken him away. His ways are not our ways. Seeing people taken away when, as we think, they aro

almost necessary to do God's work od earth, makes one think, that we often think and talk too much abont Christian work. What -God requires is Christian men. He does not need the work, only gives it to form or perfect the character of the men whom He sends to do it. Stephen is in great pain at times tonight ; one of the arrows seems to have entered his lungs, and it is broken in, too deep to be got out. John is wounded ia the right shoulder — I in the left. We are both maimed for tbe time ; but, if it were not for the fear of poison, the wounds would not be worth noticing. Ido not expect, any bad consequences, but they are possible. What would make me cling to life more than anything else, is the thought of you at home : but if it be God's will that I am to die, I know he will enable you to bear it and bring good for you out of it. Saturday 23rd. — We are all doing well. Stephen keeps up his strength, sleeps well, and has no long attacks of pain. We have had good breezes yesterday and today — very welcome it is, but the motion makes writing too much labor. Brooke and Edward Wogale are both unwell — ague, I believe, with both of them ; and Brooke's nerves are upset. He has slept most of to-day, and will probably be tha better for it. * * * « * For remainder of news see fourth page.

A Bazaar, in aid of the funds of the Presbyterian Church, was recently held at Taranaki, when the sum of £197 was realised. There is a growiDg feeling among Presbyterians in England in favor of instrumental music in public worship. The Bath magistrates, have sent a young man, son of a clergyman, to prison for seven days, for wrenching off a door knocker. Sir Lawrence Palk has constructed a new harbor at Torquay (England) at a personal cost, of £70,000.