18S5..1 WAIMATE. 409 



were employed on the farm. They were dressed in a shirt, jacket, 

 and trousers, and had a respectable appearance. Judging from 

 one trifling anecdote, I should think they must be honest. When 

 walking in the fields, a young labourer came up to Mr. Davies, and 

 gave him a knife and gimlet, saying that he had found them on 

 the road, and did not know to whom they belonged ! These young 

 men and boys appeared very merry and good-humoured. In tho 

 evening I saw a parly of them at cricket : when I thought of the 

 austerity of which the missionaries have been accused, I was 

 amused by observing one of their own sons taking an active part 

 in the game. A more decided and pleasing change was manifested 

 in the young women, who acted as servants within the houses. 

 Their clean, tidy, and healthy appearance, like that of dairy-maids 

 in England, formed a wonderful contrast with the women of the 

 filthy hovels in Kororadika. The wives of the missionaries tried 

 to persuade them not to be tattooed ; but a famous operator having 

 arrived from the south, they said, " We really must just have a few 

 lines on our lips ; else when we grow old, our lips will shrivel, and 

 we shall lie so very ugly." There is not nearly so much tattooing 

 as formerly ; but as it is a badge of distinction between the chief 

 and the slave, it will probably long be practised. So soon does any 

 train of ideas become habitual, that the missionaries told me that 

 even in their eyes a plain face looked mean, and not like that of a 

 New Zealand gentleman. 



Late in the evening I went to Mr. Williams's house, where I 

 passed the night. I found there a large party of children, collected 

 together for Christmas Day, and all sitting round a table at tea. I 

 never saw a nicer or more merry group ; and to think that this was 

 in the centre of the land of cannibalism, murder, and all atrocious 

 crimes ! The cordiality and happiness so plainly pictured in the 

 faces of the little circle, appeared equally felt by the older persons 

 of the mission. 



December IMli. In the morning, prayers were read in the native 

 tongue to the whole family. After breakfast I rambled about tho 

 gardens and farm. This was a market-day, when the natives of 

 the surrounding hamlets bring their potatoes, Indian corn, or pigs, 

 to exchange for blankets, tobacco, and sometimes, through the per- 

 suasions of the missionaries, for soap. Mr. Davies's eldest son, who 

 manages a farm of his own, is the man of business in the market. 

 The children of the missionaries, who came while young to the 



