EPIC STORY OF EARLY MISSIONARY'S THRILLING ADVENTUR[?]

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 408, 17 December 1932, Page 10

EPIC STORY OF EARLY MISSIONARY'S THRILLING ADVENTUR[?]

AMONG THE MAORIS ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO HOW THE LIGHT OF CHRISTIANITY PENETRATED THE DARKNESS OF CANNIBALISM TERRIFYING EXPER1ENCES CALMLY FACED Uopyright — All Rights Reserved. With this special issue, the "Morning- Post" is privileged to introduce to its readers, the first instalment of an epic story and one which has a definite historical importance, not only to Rotorua and the other adjacent districts in which its scene is placed, but to the early pioneer history of this Dominion. The document is the hitherto unpublished account of the experiences of the Rev. H. Morgan, who was one of the first of the intrepid band of missionaries who ventured -into the territory of the Waikato and Arawa tribws in the very early days of this colony. These men, defended by no more than the armour oi a , ,',nd u -teadfast fait-h, experienced dangers and hardships which to us, living less than oue nuuvtred years ui'i oi* u«ui, sfc«m almost incredible.

Almost on the site of the present town of Rotorua, Mr. Morgian relates violence, the looting of the xnission station at Te Ngae, 011 the borders of the late, and the sanetuary which the missionaries found on Mokoia Isliand, patiently enduring hardship and dan- ■ ger while they worked to eombat the forces of di.sension aua inter-aToal antipathies which convuls^J the Maori people about thom. Wo ar.i indebied fcr ihe right to publish this histurk document to Mr. E. Earle Yailo, of Waiotapu. So far Stis he can aseertam, the origmal account was „-ent by the Rev. Mr. Morgan to the late Mrs. George Vaile, Mr. Yaile's grandmoth .>r, and was tnanseribed by her as a record. The late Mrs. Vaile, who was al'so among the very early pioneers, was herself a worker among the nativi people and had assi.-ted Mr. Morgan in missionary work. At one time she was enu gaged in religious instruction at Rangiwahia, near Pirongia. To reach this station, she paddled across the Maunkau in a canoe and thmce travelled over the portage to the Waikato River and up the Waipa River, where she was carried overland by Maoris. At this pliace, she met the Rev. Mr. Morgan and the late Sir John Gorst, but they were forced to flee when war broke out among the tribes. Realising its historical value Mrs. Vaile apparently took a faithful copy of Mr. Morgian's manuseript and this had been preserved among a number of old papers, where it was recjntly . scovered by Mr. Earle Vaile. .v ritten on faded stiff parchment paper, ; but" in a clear and very legible hand, ; the old doument covers 80 closely j written foolscap sheet. In its clear j and precise prose, it unfolus a chro- j nicle fit to ranlc with the pioneer ; epics of any land. It is not unique, for similar experiences befel the ma- ; jority of the Pakeha who first adventured among the Maori tribes, but it has special interest in the shrewd obsorviation which the writer gave to his task. Beginning amid scenes of the most unenlightened savagery, ; J

grim with the tale of the fearful doings of cannibal battles and tfeastings, the record almost insensibly traces the gradual civilising influence of Christianity among the Maoris. It shows the gradual falling away in the size of the war parties, the revulsion against cannibalism until the Tauranga, Rotorua and Waikato tribes, iVr so long warring against each other, reconciled their differences and >allowed peace to isettle upon a war-torn land. Preoccupied with their troubles of uie present day, New Zealanders are perhaps prone to forget the dark days i'rom which their country has emerg- • d. Casting back to the yeaxs beI tween 1832 and 1865, this chronicle, j by its very contrast, reads the moral , that even against the most overwhelming obstacles, faith and courage will prevail. The writer of this chronicle arrived at the Bay of Islands frofm England j in 1832 and in the following year set 1 ,ut with three other missionaries to j extend their teachings into the Thames distriet. Here they established a station at Puriri, on the Waihou River, but shortly after their advent, savtage war broke out with the neighbouring tribes. This war was to discurb the whole of the Thames, Rotorua, Tauranga and Waikato country for more than ten yeaxs, during which the missionaries lived in diaily fear of their lives and sometimes amid scenes of the more fearful danger and oarbarity. Mr. Morgan died in 1865 after 33 years spent in the service of the Church Missionary Society. The Armour of Faith. Before proceeding to trace the first extension of the early New Zealand missions from the mission station at the Bay of Islands to the interior country further south, the Rev. Mr. Morgan prefaced his account by a passage which very eloquently reflects the devout faith which' enabled these early pioneers of the Church to brave the bardships and perils of life in a wild and unknown country among

a people, hospitable in friendship, but capable of the most barbarous excesses of savagery dn the heat of anger and passion. "Feeling that I have neglected sending you from time to time an account of the trials and dangers to which the early missionaries were exposed in prosecuting their labourisi among the New Zealanders, I will now endeavour in some measure to redeem xny neglect and give you a very brief outline of our labours during a period of a few years — a season during which the missionaries of this distriet were exposed to the greatest trials, iarising from wars among the native tribes. "From this account, you will be able to form an idea of what nearly all the old missionaries in this island have witnessed and the peculiar trials to which the messenger® of the Gospel are in general exposed in planting the religion of Christ in heathen and savage countries. "When you conrpare the past with the present state of the aborigines of these islands, you will be able to judge of the progress made in the mission; you will be encouraged when you hear of their reverses, to hope even against hope, and when you hear of their success, to repoice with them. 1 You will admire with us the loving kindnes5 of our God in keeping His servants from harm, even in the midst of cannibalism, and not suffering a hair of the head of any of them to perish; you will hear testimony to the assertion of St. Paul that the ' Gospel is the power unto salvation j when accompanied with the hlessing j of Him who has said : 'So shall My j word be that goeth forth out of My { mouth. It shall not raturn to Me j void, but it shall aecomplish that f j which I please, and it shall prosper ! in the thing to which I sent it'." j The fact that the story was ■ ' written a number of years after the 1 i writer has passed through the scenes ! ; of peril and hardship which he nar- ; rates, is proved by the following passage: j

"You will bear in mind that nearly everything- which I ara ^ "nmmunicate will be written from men>ory, the dates will he few and far between. As I did not keep any journal of the events, you must consequently expect only a general outline.' Numerous circumstances wMch then tended to darken our path, many of the scenes we witnessed, >as well a® many of the reports brought to us from day to day of cruel and savage murders, and of men drinking the blood and fe,asting upon the bodies of their fellow men, many seasons of danger to ounselves, distant or close at band, and which at the time so much increased our fears and clouded our prospects have long 'ere this passed away from my mind," Extension of Ministry. The writer had a gift for narrative and his account proper, upon which' he embarks at this stage, disi hest told in his own clear and precise prose: "The New Zealand mission," he proceeds, "was for the first ninieteen years confined to the Bay of Islands and its neighbourhood. In the year 1833, a few months after my arrival in New ,Zeialand, the senior missionaries considered that th'e time had arrived when it became our duty to extend the mission to .the southern parts of the island, and it was determined that an expedition should be isent to explore the River Thames and its neighbourhood with the view of . selecting (a suitable situation for a mission station. "In October, 1833, accordingly, th'e Reverends H. Williams and A. N. Brown, Mr. Fairburn and myself left the Bay of Islands in two boats and landed at various p'laces in the Firth of Thames and reeeived invitations at every place to settle among the na,tives. "We proceeded up into the interior and visited Matamata, at which place we reeeived a pressing invitation from the celebrated chief, Waharoa, to form a station among his people. I "At this place we remained iseveral days, receiving every attention from the chiefs, who kill'ed several pigs in honour of our visit. "Returning down the Thames, we finally fixed upon a place called Puriri as a site for our proposed settlement, it heing eentral for general visiting. At this place we were surprised and delighted to find a small party gathered together for daily prayers under ia native who had formerly lived with the Rev. A. N. Brown at the Bay of Islands. "With this exception, the voice of the Gospel had never been heard south of Point Rodney exeept on a few occasions, when one or more of the missionaries had accompanied war expeditions from the Bay of Islands to Tauranga in order to endeavonr to act as peacemakers between the contending tribes. The Prince of Darkness ruled in every heart and these dark regions of Satan were filled with the habitations of cruelty.

"Puriri having been selected for the station, the natives reeeived directions to erect three rush houses and wie returned to the Bay of Islands at the expiration of six weeks. Every preparation was now made .for the formation of the new station, and about December 20, 1833, Mr. land Mrs. Preece and myself embarked upon the "Fortitude" and arrived in the Thames on December 24." Building of Mission. The Rev. Mr. Williams, who also apparently accompanied the party tas far as the mouth of the Thames from this point, proceeded to the East Capj'e, where he 'established native teachers, before returning to the Bay of Islands. When Mr. Morgan arrived with' Mr. and Mrs. Preece at Puriri, they found that the "rush' houses' which they had given instructions were to he built, were still uncompleted. However, the party made the best of a bad job and divided one of the buildings into three sections, with temporary partitions. In one of these, Mr. kmd Mrs. Preece were established, in another, Mr. Morgan, and in a third, Mr. Preece's native servants. The dimensions of this first home in the wilderness are not given, but the chronieler records naively that "when it rained we sat still beneath our umbrellas." The dwelling had neither bo'arded floor nor windows, and th'e middle space was filled with the furnituire of the missijonariesj, (their stores and supplies. First Hints of Trouble. The missionaries had scarcely set about getting their house in order, however, before "fears filled the hearts of those among whom they sojourned" by reason of reports of an impending lattack by the Waikaro tribes under their chief Waharoa. "Week after week passed away, and we could not discover anything in reference to the movements of the exp'ected foe, and ,as everything was nncertain, we secretly buried underground a change of clothing for ourselve's, and a few valuable," says the narrator, describing those days of suspense. As time wore on, however, and the expected attack did not materialis'e, the "temporal work" of erecting the mission buildings proceeded. The houses were floored and , chimneys built, but as the natiyes were entirely unacquainted with chimneys in any shape or form, the missionaries were compelled to build these themselves. At this stjage, however, rumours of impending attack by the Waikatos revived, and the Thames tribes prepared for war. In the meantime, the Rev. A. N. Brown and two other missionaries, Messrs. Fairburn and Wilson, hiad arrived at the station and as it was now considered established, it was decicled to proceed with the formation of a new station in the Waikato. The decision itself must have entailed faith and courage in view of the rumours of approaching war, but strong

in their faith, and with the addition|al objective of acting ;as peacemakers between the tribes, the Revs. Williams and Brown accordingly proceeded down the Thames to Wakahiwai,, where they struek inland and Mr. Morgan some time later proceeded by way of Piako and Maunga Road to join them. ; Apparently he endeavoured to persuade a party of Thames natives to accompany him as bearers, but owing to th'e rumours of war, they would not do so and he was only able to proceed when he was informed of a young man, a son of a Waikato chief, who was also in the distriet and apparently quite as anxious to leave it as the Thames natives were to remain at home. With" this youth ahd another young man named Wahataup'oki who had been living with him, Mr. Morgan accordingly set out and leaving his boat at the Piako, struck overland. The journey in those days of roadless swamp and bush must have been a rigorous experience. and some hint of the hardships which were ,'encountered creeps into the narrator's account. "The nights were cold and frosty (August, 1834)," he says, "and having only two boys. with me, I found on leaving the boat that they .were unable to carry the tent, food, and clothes and bedding and I th'erefore sent back the latter in the boat to Puriri. Thus I was obliged to sleep for some nights in my tent without a blanket, after being wet to my middle all day from walking through the swamp s. "In two days we reached Maungakawa, but my natives were now unequal to the task of carrying th'eir burdens and I consequently voluntcered to carry the tent and a basket of potatoes. In this manner we proceeded onward, crossed th'e Maungakawa, and erossed the swamps. Our food being expended, we searched for potatoes in an old plantation near the banks of the Waikato, which river we expected to croiss on a raft made of raupo (rush). "Having filled my basket with potatoes, we continued our way toward the Waikato, when, unexpectedly, we nret a party of natives. They immediately seized us and took possession of all my luggage, etc. A parley took place and we demanded the reason of this unprovoked attack. Our only offence wa3 that we had come from the Thames. Finding, however, that I was a missionary, and that I was journeying to join Messrs. Williams and- Brown, they invited us to accompany them to their canoe, which we did, and their old chief, Pake, restored to me iall my luggage. They felt themselves under an obligation to my brethren for their kindness to one of their young chiefs, who had accompanied them from the Bay of Islands, and who on landing at the Thames had been stripped of all his property; he would probably have lost his life had they not interfered on his behalf.

"We emb arked in their a the evening I addreSSej held prayers with them Wahataupoki became muHe said that they had hee? whether they should kill u They inquired what tri[J to ,and he informad them tv from the Bay of ISW disbelieved his as.serti0ns in my tent and was in Co. during the night. The party were on tfe Maungatautari, and .hiavim few days there during J had frequent opportuniti^, known the Gospel, I was k brethren. "Our stock of provisior; nearly expended. All 0nr contained in ia stocking articles were aqually 10^ "From Maungatautari \ the country at Matamau place we separated, iW liams and Brown proceeit ranga to select the site; station at that placs, while to Puriri to procure jf stores for our new station; pouri (?) on the Waipa! "After my journey to it was necessary for me ij various duties and somelj engaged in trying ta atts knowledge of carpenteij. abundance of tools, buthl to use any of them. much labour I got somai by the natives, and ance of my native % whom I endeavoured to ia advanced in knowledge} made a giate, several do« dow fram'ss, and laidthei house built for the kev.l liams, after which I patui ef a house for myself," , During this time the! and the week day servicesi were regularly conductei! ever, was the ruling proii the natiYes, and several 1 tions were undertaken ers the Waikato tribes, eitheri 01* to other distant placegenerally returned triump ing slaves with them, s upon human flesh. About this time a wid» tuai door was openedfori ing of the Gospel and s stations werq planned. T: N. Brown and Mr. Wife pointed to form & stafe mata, and Mr. Chapmam The Rev. Mr. William's •: alteredef rom Maungati: proceeded to Tauranga;! Maunsell, and Messrs, l Stock were apointed t My own station e with Mr. Wade. I was a Tauranga in July, 1835. (To he continK