24 
POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES, 
out of one tree^ and nearly destitute of every kind of 
ornament. 
The men^ almost naked_, were rather above the middle 
stature^ of a dark copper colour, their features frequently 
well formed, their hair black and bushy, and their faces 
much tataued, and ornamented, or rather disfigured, by 
the unsparing application of a kind of white clay and red 
ochre mixed with oil. Their appearance and conduct, 
during our first interview, was by no means adapted to 
inspire us with prepossessions in their favour. Our cap¬ 
tain refused to admit them into the ship, and after bar¬ 
tering with them for some of their fish, we proceeded on 
our voyage. 
On reaching the Bay of Islands we were cordially wel¬ 
comed by our Christian brethren, the Missionaries of the 
Church Missionary Society, who had been about two years 
engaged in promoting instruction and civilization among 
the New Zealanders. They were the first Missionaries 
we had seen on heathen ground, and it afforded us plea¬ 
sure to become acquainted with those who were in some 
respects to be our future fellow-labourers. Having been 
kindly invited to spend on shore the next day, which was 
the Sabbath, we left the ship soon after breakfast, on the 
morning of the 22nd. When we reached the landing 
place, crowds of natives thronged around us, with an idle 
but by no means ceremonious curiosity, and some time 
elapsed before we could proceed from the beach to the 
houses of our friends. 
The Missionaries had on the preceding day invited me 
to officiate for them, and I was happy to have an op¬ 
portunity of preaching the gospel on the shores of New 
Zealand. Several of the natives appeared in our little 
congregation, influenced probably by curiosity, as the 
