ew Zealand was brought into contact with the mission
through the prevailing winds which blow from that quarter. In the year
1833 there arrived in the Bay of Islands a ship which, while lying
becalmed off the East Cape, had received on board a party of some dozen
Maoris from the shore. Before they could be landed, the wind had sprung
up, and thus they were carried into the territory of their enemies, who
immediately proceeded to allot them as slaves. But the wind was not an
altogether unkind one, for it had brought them within reach of Christian
influences. The missionaries rescued the men and sent them eastwards
again. Before they could land, however, they were again blown away by a
sudden gale, and once more found themselves at the Bay. Here they were
kept at Paihia for the winter, and in the summer of 1834 were at last
successfully restored to their friends. They were accompanied on this
occasion by Mr. William Williams, who found a warm welcome among the
kinsfolk of the returned refugees. He even marked out a spot in the
Waiapu valley for a future mission station. Nothing more, however, was
done for some years; the incident, though deeply interesting, was
well-nigh forgotten, and "it was hardly thought that any good results
would follow."

Neither might any good results have followed had the matter lain with
the twelve men who had passed through the adventures just described. Of
course, they spread a favourable report of their kind rescuers, and this
was not to be despised. But there was not a sufficiently definite
Christianity among them to qualify them to be teachers of their people.
The nine days' wonder of their deliverance would soon have given place
to the all-engrossing thoughts of war and vengeance.

But they did not come back alone. With them came some slaves who had
been carried to the Bay in earlier days by one of Hongi's raiding
parties, and had now been set free by their Christian masters. One of
these, Taumatakura, had attended school at Waimate, and though he had
shown little interest in religion, he had at least learned to read. This
man, on finding himself now among a people who were hungering for
knowledge, began to teach and to preach. He wrote out verses and hymns
on strips of paper, and these were cherished by his tribesmen with a
superstitious veneration. His reputation increased to such a degree that
when a military expedition was set on foot he was asked to accompany it.
The armament was a gr