been imported from New South Wales and Van Dieman's Land, and they have thriven well. I learn that some New Zealand wool has already been sold in London at prices about equal to those of Australian wool."

which they meander, hills clothed with forests of the finest timber, a soil fertile with natural productions without the labour of the spade or plough and without manure,—a climate mild and salubrious; these are its general characteristics.

Joseph Banks, who was the first discoverer of this staple, observes, that a plant which,|| with such advantages, might be applied to so many useful and important purposes, would certainly be a great acquisition in England. It has been grown with great success in France The country is happily void of reptiles or for nearly half a century past. From Mr. noxious animals, a few harmless lizards only Petre we find that great efforts are now being having been seen. Of snakes or serpents there made by the colonists to prepare this material are none. It is also rich in fishes, insects, for exportation. It can be prepared in any fossils, and minerals, to a degree beyond most required quantity, at a price which would other countries. Coal has been found, which command a ready sale, and at the same time burns well, in several places, and probably leave a large profit to those engaged in the exists in most parts of the islands. Its mountrade of preparing it. A considerable sub-tains are numerous and magnificent; and it scription has been entered into, as a reward abounds in rivers, and hot and cold springs. for the person who shall invent an instrument We must also observe, that the seas round for preparing the flax for exportation. its coasts are the resort of the black whale; and Many flowering shrubs which require the perhaps of all the South Sea Islands, that shelter of the greenhouse in England, here of New Zealand is the most favourable for are not affected by exposure to the open air carrying on this lucrative and important trade. throughout the year. The sweet-briar, china This is beginning to be felt, and whalingand other roses, wall-flowers, become, with establishments are rising up in all parts of very little care, perfectly acclimated to the the colony. soil. Kitchen herbs likewise thrive equally Such are the climate and productions of well. Ferns, the tea-plant, fungi, many species New Zealand. As a recent writer in the of laurel, samphire, nightshade, speed well, and Quarterly Review well observes, a great minor herbaceous vegetation, supposed to be number of excellent harbours, noble rivers indigenous to New Zealand, abound through-flowing into them, beautiful valleys through out the country, all of which has the same undying appearance in winter as the forests. The birds of New Zealand are numerous, but generally of small size, and their music is inferior to that of English songsters. Their plumage is well known to be superior to our own. Of these, the tui, so called from its note The appearance of the inhabitants (descendresembling that sound, is best known. It is ants from the colonies originally emigrating in size similar to a thrush, with a plumage of from Asia) of this delightful region is quite jetty black; under its throat are pendent two in keeping with its natural advantages. Mr. tufts of pure white feathers; the flesh is deli- || Earle tells us, that happening to see several cate, and is considered a luxury. There are natives of New Zealand while at Port Jackson, various kinds of parrots, some with green, he was so much struck with their physical brown, and purple feathered heads, and bodies strength and symmetry, that he resolved clothed in black and brown feathers. Paro- to ascertain, by ocular inspection, whether quets, wood-pigeons, cuckoos, fan-tailed fly- they were selected specimens of size and catcher, great-headed titmouse, king-fisher, beauty, or belonged to a nation decidedly swallow of a small size, wattle-bird, ducks, and greatly superior in such qualifications to hawks, the uia (a bird resembling the night- his own countrymen. He found them geneingale), a species of crow, and the bat, are rally taller and larger than ourselves, broadvery common. The albatross, the capture of shouldered and muscular, and their limbs which is accounted a great prize, and whose as sinewy as though they had occupied all feathers are used to decorate the canoe, cor- their lives in laborious employments. morants, storm-birds, and many other birds colour of the people in general is from the supposed to be no longer in existence, are olive tinge of the Spanish peninsula to a found there. brown-black. In the higher classes the hair Cattle and sheep also fatten very well here. is glossy, black, and curly, and the features Mr. Petre observes, "the weight of some oxen approaching to the European. In this class has reached 900lbs. I have not the least doubt the women are generally very beautiful. No that the feeding of stock will become a profit-wonder, therefore, that the children of Euroable occupation in New Zealand. Prepara- peans by natives are a beautiful race-light tions are already being made for some esta- brown, like the French of the south; not, howblishments of the kind. One gentleman from ever, sallow in complexion, but with a healthy Sydney is about to commence an establishment red on the cheeks; in features like the mother, in Watt's Peninsula, at the entrance of Port with beautiful black eyes and hair. Deformed Nicholson. A great number of sheep has also persons are rarely seen among them.

The

The bodies of the males are tattooed, i. e. advantages of climate and physical organisamarked with the stains and incisions of the tion, the inhabitants are generally sunk in the mako, or tattoo; the females are marked but lowest state of sensuality, and the most revoltrarely, with the exception of the lips, over ing crime and barbarism. Polygamy, with and under which horizontal lines are made, || all its attendant evils, is permitted. Their and stained blue. The process is very painful; || treachery and cunning are very great, and their but, as it is considered a great ornament, not revenge insatiable. Murders of the most feroa mark of rank, for it is common to all classes, cious kind are committed by wholesale; infanit is borne patiently. It would appear to have ticide is of ordinary occurrence; and, more been used among the ancient nations of Asia; revolting than all, cannibalism is even yet to prepare men, by bearing these incisions in practised to a considerable extent. the tenderest parts of the face, for enduring the tortures of their enemies.

The costume of either sex is the same. It is ordinarily of the flax so plentifully produced in the country; not woven, but knitted in a peculiar manner. This garment is nearly square, being five feet in length, and generally

four in breadth. It is fastened round the shoulders by the two corners, and round the middle by a girdle. Over this many wear a large mantle, extending from the shoulders to the heels. These garments are frequently covered with dog-skins, and ornamented with large feathers. A more simple covering, and one which is not uncommon, consists of a kind of plant, woven in a particular way, tied round the neck with a string, and suffered to fall || down to the middle of the thigh. The ornaments of either sex are feathers upon the head, || with combs and pearl-shells. The ears are almost universally bored, and adorned with beads, pieces of jaspar, and sometimes with pieces of cloth. The females adorn their necks with strings of shark's teeth, or of a peculiar kind of berry.

This state of things is only the natural result of their dreadful superstition. Like some of the heretics of old, what is misnamed the deity they consider the source of all evil; and nothing of pain or evil happens which is not assigned to his agency. They have numberless atuas, or gods. The Taniwoa is the name of the whole race of aquatic divinities. The Ruatárá, or lizard, is accounted a very virulent deity. They have a kind of priesthood, which is possessed of great power. Upon the priest depends whether war shall commence, and when it shall cease; and they eat alone of the first body slain in battle. They are supposed to possess the gift of foretelling future events. În incantations the priests are entirely denuded of dress.

In accordance with these horrible practices is their rite of baptism; for it is remarkable, that nations, however barbarous, bear witness in some way or other to this ceremony. The infant is carried by an old priest to the banks of a river, in which the child is dipped, the priest praying to various gods that his charge may commit abomination; that he may every be equally prone to villany as his ancestors; that he may devour his enemies, and escape being devoured by them.

Their habitations are constructed of frames of wood bound together, and covered with bark, and such other materials as are most easily procured. They are of different di- Under such appalling circumstances, it is mensions, according to the number to be not surprising that religiously and devoutly accommodated; and of different degrees of disposed Englishmen should feel great andurability, according to the time during which xiety about those of their countrymen who, the inhabitants propose to remain in one spot. by emigrating to this colony, were exposed to Besides those habitations which serve for or- the snares of such abominable superstitions as dinary use, the New Zealanders have more these. Accordingly, we find that various relisubstantial abodes, upon such situations as gious societies, some composed of dissenters, and are elevated and difficult of access, and which || others of those professing themselves Churchare always fortified. The fortifications com- men, made from time to time efforts to spread monly consist of a ditch, a mound, and pali- the pure faith of the Gospel among these besades. These abodes are called hippahs; but || nighted heathens. In these efforts, however, they seem to be inhabited only when the peo- they were unfortunate, in some measure perple consider themselves in danger of being at-haps from the unhappy selection of the pertacked; at other times they reside in the level country on the coasts, where the chief part of their subsistence is procured.

sons engaged in the missionary enterprise. They were generally anything but exemplars of that holy creed which they professed to teach; The language of the natives is radically that and so thoroughly did they disgust the inhamade use of by the oceanic islanders, or de- bitants by their avarice and selfishness, in getscendants of the Malayan race, who inhabit anting the best lands into their possession, and extensive space, comprising nearly a fourth part of the globe. It is exceedingly soft to the ear, even in the boisterous war-speech, and very copious.

It is lamentable to know that, amid all these

cultivating them rather than the morals of the people, that a very natural antipathy was raised against them. This is a melancholy subject to dwell upon, and we would much rather refer our readers to the pages of Mr.

Earle and Mr. Polack, for the very suspicious G. F. Churton has been appointed chaplain. and heartless conduct of the first Church mis- || Rather more than 2707., besides a present of sionaries, as they were called, than pain our-communion-service plate, had been collected, selves with transferring them to our own pages.

when application was made to the society for assistance," which, it scarcely need be said, was most readily rendered, as well as to an infant-school, which was being built and endowed by a pious English lady in the colony. Still, it was found that no real progress of divine truth could be made until a bishop was appointed, who of right would preside over and direct the "new-born church,". cherishing and protecting it by those powers which belong only to a successor of the holy apostles. This important truth was fully acknowledged by the Bishop of London, in his admirable letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury on the very subject of endowing colonial bishoprics, and among these a bishopric of New Zealand.

"I speak with some knowledge of the circumstances (observes his lordship) which shew how desirable it is that a bishop should be placed in some of those places; having references continually made to me, of great importance to the cause of religion and the Church, from English clergymen and congre

But, after all, it was not so much the misconduct of the agents of the system as the unsoundness of the system itself, which has hitherto rendered the efforts of the persons alluded to all but abortive as regards evangelising the New Zealanders; though it must be allowed that their services have been of some use in civilising that people, by shewing them in what manner lands may be best cultivated, and how all the peculiarities of the climate before described turned to the advantage of the industrious possessor. The truth is, that as the Church of Christ alone is the engine of conversion, there is no wonder that in cases either where the Church was never acknowledged at all, or only partially so, the result should be most unsatisfactory. Such has ever been the case; and a still more remarkable instance have we in the venerable Swartz, who, with all his personal piety and indomitable zeal, did nothing lasting for India -all his efforts proving like water spilt upon the ground. For if the Church of Christ begations in foreign parts, which I am obliged the only converter of the heathen, and a bishop be essential to the existence of a church in any locality, it is plain that all missionary operations, except under immediate episcopal superintendence, must be abortive. Till the establishment of the sees in the neighbouring colonies,' therefore, little way was made in the real conversion of the New Zealanders. Then it was that New Zealand, though not within the limits of any diocese, was not quite removed from the fostering influence of the bishop's presence, who occasionally visited it. The venerable Society for the Propagation of the Gospel sent last year a missionary of approved zeal and piety; and the beneficial result is obvious in the commencement of church-building, and the erection of a school. In aid of this good work, the parent Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge rendered every assistance; and in the last Report of that Society we find the following gratifying minute:"A church is in the course of erection in this new colony; to which the Rev.

At the beginning of the present century, England, possessing colonies in every part of the world, had, as is well known, no more than two episcopal sees in her foreign

to settle as well as I can, without any legitimate jurisdiction over the parties, and without any means of inquiring personally into the facts which form the subject of their appeals to me."

This letter was written on the 24th of April, 1840; and within little more than a year a bishop has been appointed to New Zealand, and has just (December 4,) sailed to his extensive diocese. It is unnecessary to observe, that in Bishop Selwyn there is a rare combination of every excellence most suited to his holy office. Learned in every branch of science and literature, to a degree which won for him the highest honours of the University of which he is so great an ornament, profoundly versed in catholic theology, conversant with all the more active duties of a parish priest, and not less distinguished for personal piety and holiness of life, what may not be expected, under the Divine blessing, from the exercise of episcopal powers backed by such great individual excellence! Church of New Zealand may indeed be expected to become "like a tree planted by the Water-side, which shall bring forth its fruits in its season." Great as has been the increase of clergymen, catechists, schools, and churches, in the dioceses of Upper Canada, Newfound

The

dependencies-the sees of Nova Scotia and Quebec. To these was added, in the year 1814, the see of Calcutta. The West Indian bishoprics were established in the year 1824, and the five remaining colonial dioceses (those, viz. of Australia, Madras, Bombay, Toronto, and Newfoundland, and Toronto, we anticipate a still greater land) have been committed to the charge of their respective prelates subsequently to the year 1836. Hence the important provinces of New Brunswick, Van Dieman's Land, Ceylon, the Cape of Good Hope, Mauritius, together with the newly formed settlement in South Australia, are either still altogether destitute of episcopal government, or are parts only of large dioceses, receiving occasional visits of inspection from prelates who reside in other churches.

increase in the colony now under consideration, to which such a bishop has gone forth, accompanied by a band of presbyters, deacons, and catechists, one of whom, at least, is scarcely inferior

1 New Zealand is computed at 95,000 square miles while England and Wales are only 58,000.

to himself in his endowments of mind and heart. As every thing connected with this important mission is interesting, we would observe that, knowing the importance of carrying out the Church, both materially, if we may so speak, and spiritually, in its integrity, the bishop has been unceasing in obtaining plans for churches. best characteristic of Christian worship, and the usual ornaments belonging to the same. This statement is borne out by the following extract from the Ecclesiologist, a little publication just started by the Cambridge Camden Society :

:

"The lord bishop of New Zealand having requested the Cambridge Camden Society to furnish him with designs and models for the cathedral church of the new diocese, and for the parishchurches which will be first erected, it cannot but be deeply interesting to members of that society to be made acquainted with the steps which his lordship proposes to take with respect to the erection of temples for the worship of Almighty God, on his arrival in his diocese.

"As soon as possible after setting foot in New Zealand, it is his intention to use as a temporary church, a tent which he carries with him for that purpose; an altar, with its necessary appurtenances, being erected in its eastern end. Here the daily service of our Church will be commenced on the first morning after the bishop's arrival, never thenceforth to be silenced till the end of all things. "A piece of ground will next be marked out and consecrated for the site of the future cathedral; not with any intention of erecting hastily a building, which might by courtesy bear that name, but that the remains of those who depart in the true faith may be interred in consecrated ground; and, if need be, that a temporary wooden edifice may serve at present for the offices of prayer and praise. In a country where labour is worth three times as much as it is in England, the erection of a choir is to the most sanguine mind as much as, perhaps more than, can be hoped for during the present generation. But whatever is built will be built solidly and substantially, and as our ancestors built.

"The ingenuity of the natives in carving is well known; and it is the bishop's design to convert this faculty to the glory of God. For this purpose the Cambridge Camden Society will furnish working models of the actual size, of Norman capitals, sections of mouldings, ornamented pier, door, and window arches; and these, it is hoped, it may be easy for the natives to imitate in the stone of their own country, which is said to be well adapted for building.

"One model of a parish-church will at present be sufficient; because the churches will be, at

first, two hundred miles apart. Norman is the style adopted; because, as the work will be chiefly done by native artists, it seems natural to teach them first that style which first prevailed in our own country; while its rudeness and massiveness, and the grotesque character of its sculpture, will probably render it easier to be understood and appreciated by them. These churches will, like the cathedral, be built slowly-divine service being carried on in consecrated ground, under temporary sheds erected within the rising church-walls;

and to every church there will be a distinct and spacious chancel."

It

taken, for the bishop, of a beautiful Norman may also be added, that plans have been church lately erected at Bramley, in the parish of Leeds.

the heart of every true Churchman, it must be All this is cheering; and while it gladdens known with a peculiar joy to those who are already located in, or are about to emigrate to, that colony. Now the English colonist may worship the God of his fathers, after the custom of his fathers, and enjoy the invaluable blessing of the profession of a sound Church-of-England faith. And the extensive machinery of the Church Missionary Society may now, if placed, as it doubtless will be, under episcopal control, be brought into more wholesome and useful operation.

As to colonisation--for perhaps this is a suitable opportunity for saying a few words on the subject-none can doubt the desirableness, both to the individual and to the nation at large, of giving it every encouragement and facility. The colonies are obviously a most important source of national greatness, and much of the prosperity of England depends upon them. Indeed, wherever they have fered from the neglect. Hence it is that both been neglected, the mother country has sufSpain and Portugal have with their colonies lost their ships, their commerce—in a word, every thing in which national glory consists. To individuals they are equally advantageous. And especially is this the case at the present time. From a redundant population, and the fluctuation of commercial pursuits-the general introduction of machinery, and various other causes which we have not space to enter uponthousands of Englishmen are reduced to a state vided they unite virtue and sobriety to industry almost of starvation. To such, therefore, proand ordinary skill, what a field of enterprise and prosperity is opened in our colonies! There are, no doubt, many who, if remaining in England, would have been doomed to all the privations, and, which is still worse, the temptations of an unemployed life, but who have risen, and are now rising, in our colonies, to comfort, to independence, and even to affluence.

For accomplishing these honourable ends, world than New Zealand. True it is, that no fairer field appears opened in the whole experiments have of late been made there by very questionable means, under the name of the New Zealand Company,' which, like an

1 See Quarterly Review, No. cxxxv. - What is called the first colony of New Zealand, consisting of 1200 persons, emigrated from England, under the direction of this company, in the September of 1839. The main body sailed in five large ships. These had been preceded by two large vessels in the months of May and September; the former of which, the Tory, carried out the company's principal agent, Mr. Wakefield, with other servants of the company, who were charged to select the seat of the intended settlement, to purchase lands there from the natives, and to

other Dragon of Wantley, seems to be swallowing up the whole country with a voraciousness which no doubt the present government will check, if it do not call upon the company to disgorge some of its possessions. But still is there ample scope for laborious, enterprising, and honest men of all grades; and to clever and steady mechanics especially, who would find wages high, and work abundant. The people also, black as is their natural character, are found to be very sensible of kind treatment, and will doubtless, ere long, feel the humanising effects of the Gospel. This hope is confirmed by the following testimony of Mr. Petre, with which we shall conclude our remarks: —

"The principal danger to which it was imagined in this country we were exposed, was the hostility of the natives. Most of us had made anxious inquiries on this subject before we embarked, and our conviction was, that we should be received as friends by the natives, if our conduct towards them was just and friendly. Our most sanguine expectations were completely realised. Our numbers, indeed, astonished them; and they used frequently to ask whether our whole tribe, meaning thereby all the people of England, had not come to Port Nicholson. It is probable, also, that they were overawed by our obvious superiority to any physical force that could have been brought against us in case of disputes. But, however this may be, they received us in the most friendly manner. Their services for all sorts of purposes were always at our command for a moderate remuneration. We employed them chiefly in shooting, fishing, hunting, cutting firewood, and building houses. In this sort of work they are very expert. It must be confessed that the huts built by them were very much superior to those of our own handiwork. Many of the original huts, built by them after our first landing, deserved, indeed, to be called houses, and were, when I quitted Port Nicholson, still used by emigrants of all classes, none of whom, it may be safely said, suffered any serious inconvenience from the want of more comely dwellings. At first, the New Zealanders were content to be paid with food only. By degrees their wants increased, and they required various goods, such as tobacco, clothing, and hardware. All this took place at our first squatting settlement on the banks of the Hutt; latterly, after the bulk of the settlers were established at Wellington, the natives had begun to require money-wages in return for their labour. A similar change took place with regard to trade. At first, all our exchanges with the natives were made by barter only; but long before my departure, they had begun to comprehend the use and value of money. This knowledge at last extended in some cases to make other preliminary arrangements. The second vessel, the Cuba, conveyed the surveying staff of the company, with a great number of labourers. The colonists settled in Port Nicholson. It must in fairness be stated that this company has come forward most nobly in aid of the new bishopric. It has offered to advance 5000. by way of lean, for promoting the education of native families. A further sum of 50007. is to be assigned to the support of the church at Nelson; 20001. for a like purpose at Wellington; and 500l. at New Plymouth. The company is also ready to provide for the establishment of a college at Nelson, the cost of which is estimated at 15,0007.

the regular employment of our currency. One native resident at Wellington purchased a horse which had been imported from New South Wales, and used to let it out for hire; and another had

an account with the bank. Great numbers were

It

in possession of money, which they usually carried about with them in a handkerchief tied round the neck. During the first months of our intercourse with the natives, they generally carried muskets, but apparently from mere habit, and not on account of any fear of violence from us. We never carried arms; and the custom has now been quite || abandoned by the natives of Port Nicholson. The best proof, however, of their own feeling of security is, that they are gradually destroying the stockade defences of their villages. Not that they feared, probably, that we should attack them, but they feel that our presence is a perfect security against aggression from distant and hostile tribes. seemed to me that the whole character of this people was undergoing a rapid change; that they had sufficient intelligence to perceive the advantages of conciliating the settlers by orderly conprobability the next generation will to a great duct, and of adopting our usages; and that in all extent amalgamate with the colonists. It is a pleasure to be able to state that the behaviour of the colonists generally towards the natives has been signally praiseworthy. The native mode of rudeness, their crops are large. They have no cultivation is very rude; and yet, in spite of such idea of sowing only the eye of the potato; but when they dig their potatoes, they simply leave some in for the next crop. In many cases, the crop is left on the ground, the natives merely opening the earth about the roots, taking up enough to supply their immediate wants, and covering the root again with earth. But as the New Zealanders imitate closely and improve rapidly, they will soon adopt more economical modes of cultivation. I may here mention that they exhibit great skill in their mode of clearing wood. Their America, the stumps of the trees which had been cut down at some feet from the ground being left to rot. In burning the brushwood and branches, they first scatter them over the ground equally, so that every part of the soil is equally improved by the ashes. This is much better than burning in heaps, according to the American practice, as the latter plan fertilises unequally."

clearances reminded me of what I had seen in

Mr. Petre concludes his narrative in these words: "The best proof I can give of the sincerity of my opinion as to the bright prospects of New Zealand as a colony, is the fact of my being a sojourner here (England), preparing to return to the place of my former residence in New Zealand.”

THE SCHOOLmaster at home.

CHAP. VI.-The New Boy. As soon as Mr. Wilkins had taken his departure, leaving his son under the charge of Mr. Primer, the good-natured schoolmaster, seeing a tear gathering in the poor boy's eyes, thought it best to divert his thoughts by in