NEW ZEALAND 



whose forlorn condition awakened his sympathy. Sick 

 and weak and nicked with a violent cough, the poor man 

 seemed to have but a short time to live. Marsden did his 

 utmost to care for him, and through his kindness and lielp 

 the man recovered with a life-long gratitude in his heart to 

 the loving missionary. This brown man was young 

 Ruatora, a Maori of high rank and a relative of two famous 

 chiefs, Te Paki and Hongi, He was returning from a five 

 year's cruise in which he had been badly treated by 

 whalers and shipmasters. He stayed six months in 

 Marsden's house in Sydney, when he went back to 

 New Zealand with some seed wheat and a considerable 

 knowledge of agriculture. The wheat, which was given to 

 the chiefs by Ruatora and .sown, converted into bread and 

 eaten before the chaplain put his foot on the soil, was a 

 great factor in preparing the savage mind to listen to the 

 missionary. The missionaries took with them a horse and 

 some cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and poultry. From the 

 missionaries the Maoris learned better methods of 

 agriculture, and various simple arts and handicrafts, and 

 .schools were opened for their instruction. A little later, 

 with the aid of philologists in Kngland, the missionaries 

 reduced the Maori tongue to a writteti language which the 

 natives had not before possessed, and translated the 

 scriptures and other works into Maori. 



By the year 1840 about one-fourth of the Maoris were 

 converted to Christianity, and the conversion was so true 

 that they earnestly opposed cannibalism, slavery and tribal 

 warfare, although these institutions were all deeply 

 embedded in the habits and traditions of their race. The 

 progress of missionary work since 1840 has been very" great. 

 During a period of fifty years no missionary lost his life by 

 the hand of a Maori, and during that time the race was 

 changed from cannibalistic savages to Christians. They 

 voluntarily liberated their slaves without compensation or 

 reward. Before their conversion to Christianity, in spite 



