t would entirely alienate the
rest of the islanders, and he therefore determined at once to prove that
he came not as the ally of one party, but as the friend of both. He
therefore determined to prove to the Wangaroans his confidence in them by
not only landing among them unarmed, but actually spending the night
among them. His friend Mr. Nicholas accompanied him in this, one of the
most intrepid actions ever performed, when it is remembered that this
tribe consisted of the cannibals who had eaten his own countrymen, and
had of late been freshly provoked. The two gentlemen supped in Hunghi's
hut on potatoes and fish, and then quietly walked over to the hostile
camp, where they met with a friendly welcome. One of the natives who had
sailed in an English vessel was able to interpret, and with his
assistance Mr. Marsden explained the purpose of the missionaries, and the
desirableness of peace. Maories appreciate being spoken to at length and
with due respect, and they listened politely, making speeches in their
own fashion in return, until towards eleven, when most had gone to rest.
The two Englishmen wrapped themselves in their great coats and lay down,
the interpreter bidding them lie near him. It was a clear night,
countless stars shining above, the sea in front smooth, all around a
forest of spears stuck upright in the earth, and on the ground the
multitude of human beings in their scanty loose garb of tapa cloth lying
fast asleep, while the man who had come as an apostle to them spent the
night in thought and prayer. Such a scene can never be forgotten!

In the morning the ship's boat came to fetch him off, and he took the
chiefs back with him to the ship to receive presents and be introduced to
those who were to live among them. There was also a formal
reconciliation with Duaterra and his tribe, and the wondering Maories
took their travelled brother into high estimation when they really beheld
the animals they had imagined to be mere creations of his fancy, and were
specially amazed at the sight of Mr. Marsden mounted on horseback.

Duaterra, meantime, of his own accord, was making preparations for the
first Sunday service held in New Zealand. It was likewise the Christmas
Day of 1815, and Mr. Marsden felt it a most appropriate moment for his
first proclamation of the good tidings of great joy among this most
distant of the nations. Duaterra's ideas of a church consisted in
enclosing about half an acre of l