board, was there taken ill on the second day, and died toward the end of April of last year. Towreea, the other Chief, was seized with the Small-Pox, five days after they left the Cape, in the beginning of May; and died at sea, a few days after the ship left St. Helena. Towrow was brought up for a Priest. Towreea had been instructed in dressing flax and spinning twine.

Mayree, the Young Native already mentioned as accompanying Mr. Cowell, was brought to England, in June, by Captain Graham, of the Catherine Whaler. He had lived with Mr. William Hall about two years; and received several wounds, while attempting to save Mr. Hall's property at Wytanghee, when attacked by some marauders from a distant quarter. Mayree manifested a very affectionate and docile disposition, while in this country.

Ranghee-Hoo, in New Zealand.

Mr. Marsden has watched over this Mission with the most anxious zeal; and has endeavoured, by wise and faithful counsels, to remedy such evils as have arisen, and to suggest such measures as circumstances seemed to require. Nor has this labour been lost.

Difficulties have, indeed, (he says,) been very great and many; but they have not prevented the work from going on. Every thing has succeeded better than the most sanguine hopes could have warranted us to expect, in such a new and important undertaking.

Of the general state of the Settlement, Mr. Marsden writes

I am happy to learn from the Settlers that they will have wheat for their support, and will only want a little seed-wheat this year. When Agriculture comes to flourish among them, Schools may then be maintained at very little expense. The Children will provide their own clothing. Bread will be the principal article which they will require; but rice, as yet, is the cheapest. This will not be the case when they get plenty of wheat.

An unpleasant circumstance has occurred, which,

however, Mr. Marsden would endeavour to turn to some advantage:

The Natives have killed two of the Horses, for trespassing in their gardens. The Horses were very fond of Sweet Potatoes; and rooted them up very much, as they ran at large. These are the chief food which the Natives value; and I am not surprized that the Horses were killed. They have been suffered to run where they pleased for four years. Had the Settlers fenced off a point of land for them, they would then have done no injury, and the Natives would not have molested them. The Young Natives who are now with me at Parramatta are much distressed at this circumstance, as they are very fond of Horses. Since they have been with me, they have learned their value in all agricultural purposes. I have promised to send them some more, and to give them into their own charge, and then I shall be sure that they will take care of them.

Of the character of the Natives and the prospects of the Mission, Mr. Marsden writes

You will see from the four Young Men-Tooi, Teeterree, Towrow, and Towreea-what their National character is, what are their abilities, and what their disposition: for all that I have seen are very similar, in most respects, to these Young Men. Their reasoning faculties are strong and clear, and their comprehension quick. When once they attain a true knowledge of the Scriptures, they will improve very fast, and may then be ranked with civilized nations. Their improvement is not doubtful, but certain. The Society is not labouring in vain.

The influence of the Mission on the Natives is manifested in the increased security of the shipping engaged in the Whale Fishery; no injury having happened to any European, from the North Cape to the River Thames, since the formation of the Settlement.

It was Mr. Marsden's purpose to make the Bay of Islands the station of the Active; from which, when the weather would permit, she was to put to sea, on the whale fishing, in order to lighten her expenses. By this plan Mr. Marsden hopes to increase the influence of the Mission all along the coast, and gradually to open a way for its extension.

A most beneficial influence, in a Settlement among uncivilized Heathens, may be expected from the indus

try described in the following passage of a Letter from Mr. W. Hall :

The Natives under my direction and instructions work very well, almost beyond my expectation. I have taught six pair of Sawyers to saw Timber, and have frequently four or five pair at work at once. I have sawed upwards of a thousand feet with them myself. We are making strong paling-fences round our houses, yards, and gardens, all of sawed timber; and I have sent about 4000 feet of three-inch plank, twelve inches deep, to Port Jackson, to be disposed of by Mr. Marsden, in order to assist in defraying the expenses of the Active, all sawed by the Natives under my instructions.

We have built three Smiths' Shops in the Settlement; and have two Natives among us, who are taught the Blacksmith's business, to a certain degree. One was taught here by the Blacksmith that we had; and the other was taught at Port Jackson, under the direction of Mr. Marsden. I have also built a Smith's Shop that I work in myself occasionally, with the tools which you kindly sent out with me. I can make small adzes, nails, and many other useful things which serve to purchase potatoes, and pay labour with. I victual my working Natives three times a day regularly, with potatoes and pork, and Mrs. Hall cooks for them.

I have also a quantity of land in cultivation, more than sufficient to support my family the year round with wheat; and I mean to distribute wheat among the Natives, with suitable encouragement and instructions how to cultivate it; and I hope it will be attended with the blessing of God, both for their present and future good. We keep increasing gradually, by making more improvements and cultivation every year.

The Committee will close the account of this Mission, with Mr. Kendall's view of the character and circumstances of the Natives :-

It has pleased Almighty God, of His goodness, to preserve me and my Colleagues, with our Families, in safety at this place, during the past four years. We are under no fears respecting our personal safety; the Natives, making due allowance for their wild habits, being reconciled to us, and we to them. On their part, there is no apparent obstacle in the way of our usefulness, except, as must be expected, their unsettled turn of mind; and we have every encouragement to indulge the hope, that, by a patient perseverance in the path of duty, with a single eye to the glory of God and their benefit, a blessing will attend our exertions.

I am now anxiously expecting some person of talent to assist me in fixing the New-Zealand Language. One friend of a kindred spirit, possessing greater abilities than I do, would be very useful to me, and I could be useful to him. As soon as the Holy Scriptures are in print, or those parts of them the knowledge of which is essential to salvation, and the Natives are taught to read them, a general blessing, in dependence upon the Divine promises, may then, and perhaps not before then, be expected.

Although the New Zealanders are exceedingly superstitious, and what religion they profess is constituted of Rites the most horrible and offensive to an Englishman and a Christian, yet it is a very encouraging circumstance, that Parents do not at all object to their children being instructed by us. They rather wish it: and the children themselves have always been ready to repeat their lessons when called on; and have been kept in a state of discipline far superior to my expectations, when we have had it in our power to give them a handful of victuals.

When numbers of Natives are about us, they are often very troublesome; it being a difficult matter for the Chiefs most friendly to our interests to keep their people under restraint.

Our trials, I apprehend, will be much heavier for some years to come, than they have hitherto been. The Native Spirit has been roused, by the long intercourse of the Natives with Europeans; but none of them having been yet converted to Christianity, the Native Heart with its blind attachment to its barbarous customs remains unchanged, and inclines its possessor to pursue them with additional vigour.

In the first year after our arrival, many New Zealanders died. They had not food sufficient to preserve life; and, in this weak condition, we could discern little of the Native Mind. Since then, the Natives in general at the Bay of Islands, and in the adjacent country, eager to procure implements of war and of husbandry, have exerted themselves so much in cultivating land for potatoes, Indian corn, &c. that they have not only obtained such articles as they wanted, but have lived much better themselves, and there has been but little mortality. Their Native Disposition has, of course, been greatly revived; and, being Heathens still, they follow the customs and traditions of their forefathers with avidity. War is all their glory. They travel to the South, and kill great numbers. Almost the whole of the men belonging to this Bay are now gone to battle. Although the Natives in general shew no disposition to injure us; yet, being so unsettled and unsteady, our situation among them is more trying.

We have hitherto been strictly neutral. We have made it

our constant practice to be kind to strangers; and while we continue to be quiet, I am under no fears whatever respecting our personal safety: but we require, at this time, not only the assistance of our Heavenly Master, but support and encouragement from our Christian Employers.

The constant sailing to and fro of the Active, and steady supplies for the Settlement, are essential to our comfort and to our progress in duty. It is the ultimate object of the Society that must be our chief aim. Without a regular intercourse between this country and Port Jackson, and steady supplies for the Settlement, I should contemplate nearly the same disastrous events taking place, as formerly occurred with the Missionaries at Otaheite.

Until the Word of God is graciously revealed to this people, a firm footing among them will not be obtained. They may be conciliated by kindness; but nothing can secure them permanently to our interests, but a participation with us in the blessings of the Gospel.

- On the Sunday after Easter, I had an opportunity to examine some Otaheitean Sailors, belonging to the Ship King George. They read the works of their Missionaríes, both in print and manuscript, very readily. It would have rejoiced your heart to have been with us on that day. The New Zealanders fell on their knees; and continued to behave with decency and listen with attention, while they heard prayer in their own tongue, and while the Otaheitean Sailors in the Evening were reading in my house and singing the praises of their Redeemer. These Christian Islanders would not take a mouthful of victuals until they had implored the Divine Blessing; nor would they leave the table until they had given thanks. They slept in one of our barns, and spent part of the night in singing and prayer.

I bless God that my Wife and seven Children are well. I have had my health ever since the day I landed here. My father lived until he was 93. I have not yet attained to half that period, yet I am covered with grey hairs. If it pleases the Lord to spare me, I pray to Him that I may be usefully employed in promoting the Kingdom of His Dear Son.

WEST INDIES MISSION.

The Committee are happy to state, that opportunities of benefiting the descendents of the captive Children of Africa are continually increasing: they are taking measures, in consequence, for the adoption of an en