476 Transactions . — Miscellaneous. 



was so slightly marked that it was all but elided, approach- 

 ing in this respect so many Samoan words, where a lost 

 consonant is represented by an apostrophe, which, as 

 R. L. Stevenson so well put it, "is the tombstone of a 

 buried consonant." I had the good fortune to be taught 

 the true sounding of these words more than twenty years 

 ago by that thorough Maori scholar Archdeacon Maun sell, 

 whilst we were travelling together through the classic ground 

 of the Bay of Islands, and, as is incumbent upon me, I pass 

 on the knowledge to the younger portion of the audience, 

 who, in turn, will again hand it on. I am not forgetful in 

 rehearsing these pronunciations that there were dialects 

 amongst the Maoris as with ourselves, and that they were 

 as strongly marked. 



For years the whole literature of New Zealand was solely 

 represented by these two books. No steps had been taken 

 towards translating even portions of the Scripture, important 

 as the work was. It seemed as though the very existence of 

 the mission trembled in the balance and was threatened with 

 extinction, and this not only through Hongi's devastating 

 wars and the restlessness and turbulence of the natives, but 

 by dissension amongst the lay settlers themselves. Such a 

 disaster was alone averted by Mr. Marsden's energy, sound 

 sense, and zealous exhortations to the settlers, to whom he 

 paid three visits, in the years 1820, 1823, and 1827. In those 

 days a journey from New South Wales to New Zealand 

 meant hardship and peril, especially to one who, like 

 Mr. Marsden, was advanced in years. But his visits were 

 always productive of the greatest good ; he was a great 

 favourite with the natives, and was always welcomed by 

 them, and alone he travelled under their friendly escort for 

 weeks together. Thus he insured the safety and security 

 of those in whose lot and duties he was so deeply interested. 

 In 1823 he brought with him from Sydney one who was a 

 very important accession to the strength of the mission — the 

 Rev. Henry Williams, who had been sent out by the Church 

 Missionary Society, and who was joined three years later by 

 his younger brother, the Rev. William Williams, well known 

 in after years as the first Bishop of Waiapu. William Wil- 

 liams was an Oxford graduate and a good scholar, and to 

 his scholarship and untiring industry, aided by the labours 

 of others presently to be named, we are indebted for the 

 Maori version of the Holy Scriptures. Little by little was 

 this great work accomplished, and it was not until 1868 that 

 the completed Old and New Testaments — " Te Paipera 

 Tapu " — were bound and issued. This date marks the long 

 period of forty-one years, for it was so far back as 1827 that 

 the first instalment of the Scriptures saw the light. 



