Ghap. XIV. STRAGGLING NEWS FROM THE NORTH. 393 
New Zealand had been included in the Bishopric of 
Australia, for spiritual purposes. 
. 1 Those of us who had known the Rev. Mr. Bumby 
were sincerely grieved to hear of his death by drowning, 
in the Frith of the Thames. While engaged in the 
prosecution of his missionary labours, he had been 
upset in a native canoe, and shared the fate of several 
of the crew. We had been led by our short but inti- 
mate acquaintance with this gentleman to form a high 
opinion of his benevolent and extended views as to the 
welfare of the native population, and to indulge in the 
hope that he would have been enabled, by his station at 
the head of the Wesleyan mission, to carry out the 
really statesman-like process of their gradual and agree- 
able amalgamation with the settlers, in the means to 
which he had so cordially agreed with Colonel Wake- 
field. Moreover, the manners of an educated gentle- 
man and the qualities of a true Christian had endeared 
him to us as a private friend. 
Dr. Dieflfenbach had returned from a trip to explore 
the valley of the Hutt, which produced no great result. 
He had traced it nearly to its source, and ascended to a 
spot on the Tararua range, from which he obtained a 
view of Kapiti and the adjacent part of the Strait. 
It was proved, however, beyond a doubt, that no ex- 
tension of this valley led to the plains North of the 
range ; and also, that the valley contained a consider- 
able quantity of very rich alluvial land and luxuriant 
timber. 
The colonists had been busily engaged in removing 
to Thorndon and the flat near Te Aro pa, where sub- 
stantial wooden buildings were fast assuming the ap- 
pearance of a town. General consent had established 
its future name as "Britannia;" and the newspaper, 
which had stopped its weekly issue once in order to 
