Chap. XVII. PROGRESS INCREASING INPLXJENCE. 443 
" round the Bay of Islands, than there was in 1814, 
'* M'^hen the settlement was first formed. This im- 
" provement in cultivation is wholly owing to the 
" tools of agriculture which have been sent out from 
" time to time by the Society." 
Even two years later, on the 10th October 1821, 
the Rev. R. Butler writes, that " the natives are a 
" proud, savage, obstinate, and cruel race of cannibals ; 
" and therefore every missionary has a great deal of 
" heavy labour to perform, and many privations to 
" undergo, before he does anything according to the 
" ideas of the religious world." 
The worthy missionaries, however, persevered in 
their laudable efforts ; and soon enlisted the great 
engine of civilization, printing, in their favour. In 
1820, Mr. Kendall returned to England, taking with 
him the two chiefs Hongi and TVaikato. They went 
together to Cambridge ; where Professor Lee, from 
their pronunciation, reduced the Maori language into 
a written one, and composed a Grammar and Dic- 
tionary. This afforded the means of translating the 
Catechism, Prayer-book, and Bible, into the native lan- 
guage. The demand for these books gradually in- 
creased ; and some years later, presses were introduced 
into the island. 
In the meanwhile, the missionaries were steadily 
gaining a considerable influence over the minds of the 
natives ; and this influence received some support 
against the lawless White adventurers who attempted 
to overthrow it, by the occasional appointment of a 
Magistrate among their body. 
The following is an extract from the officially pub- 
lished voyage of the French ship " La Favorite," com- 
manded by Capttiin Laplace, who touched at the Bay 
of Islands in 1830. I am sorry to remark, that while 
