430 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



Two mistakes were made at the first establishment of the Mission ; the 

 site chosen, and the mode of support. Ohi, close to Kahigihoua pa, was 

 the beach from which all Ngapuhi war-parties setting forth southwards took 

 their departure, and to which after their expedition they returned. On 

 these occasions many hundred natives from various parts of the north were 

 congregated together in a state of excitement and frenzy, subject to no con- 

 trol ; even the people of the place itself at such seasons became utterly 

 wild. 



I have already said that the Church Missionary Society only voted £500 

 a year for the maintenance of its youngest child. This obviously was too 

 small a sum for maintaining three families, and for also providing means of 

 communication with Sydney. To supplement the manifest deficiency, trade 

 was to be resorted to. This would have been well enough had it been con- 

 fined to merely purchasing for nails, fish-hooks, axes, blankets, etc., such 

 pork and potatoes as were needful for local consumption ; but Mr. Marsden's 

 scheme went further : the missionaries were to employ their blacksmith in 

 making implements as barter for flax and for pine logs, which the sawyers 

 were to cut up. After the settlers' own requirements had been satisfied, 

 the remainder was to be shipped for sale, the profit made to go to the 

 Mission funds. This procedure on the part of our friends rendered them 

 obnoxious to masters of trading vessels bent upon a similar errand, who 

 did their best or worst to depreciate them in the esteem of the Maoris, 

 whilst the Maoris themselves, more eager to procure arms and ammunition 

 than more useful goods, could not understand why people trading in one 

 article would not deal in another. This class of trade had been expressly 

 prohibited by instructions from home. The profits made by this sort of 

 business were so large that one of our three first settlers was tempted to 

 enter into it surreptitiously on his own account, and being detected, was 

 expelled from the Mission. Another cause tended after a time to make the 

 party unpopular — their very properly inveighing against the immoralities 

 practised by the crews of vessels frequenting the bay. Many of the chiefs 

 derived large gains from this nefarious business. 



Although at first and for some months our settlers suffered no further 

 annoyance than was caused by the inquisitiveness and filth of their visitors 

 — their dwellings being thronged from daylight to dark by guests who left 

 too much insect life behind them — yet matters soon grew worse. Natives 

 coveted some of the pahelm's possessions, and when begging failed, occa- 

 sionally force was resorted to, though sometimes successfully resisted. 

 Then their place was made tcvpu, and no one could deal with them, so 

 that they were nearly starved out ; once being rescued from this fate by the 

 accidental arrival of a ship. Mr. King has been obliged to barricade his 



