NEW ZEALANDERS. 
351 
ary station at Wesleydale, established in 1823, 
has been, through the alarming and violent con¬ 
duct of the inhabitants, abandoned by the Mis¬ 
sionaries, and utterly destroyed by the natives. 
Several canoes, with three or four men in each, 
approached our vessel at a very early hour, with 
fish, fishing-lines, hooks, and a few curiosities for 
sale. Their canoes were all single, generally 
between twenty and thirty feet long, formed 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 fea¬ 
tures frequently well formed, their hair black and 
bushy, and their faces much tataued, and orna¬ 
mented, 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 captain refused to admit them into 
the ship, and, after bartering with them for some of 
their fish, we proceeded on our voyage. 
On reaching the Bay of Islands we were cor¬ 
dially welcomed by our Christian brethren, the 
Missionaries of the Church Missionary Society, 
who had been about two years engaged in pro¬ 
moting instruction and civilization among the New 
Zealanders. They were the first Missionaries we 
had seen on heathen ground, and it afforded us 
pleasure 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, 
