Some weeks since a woman brought two fatherless children to me, wishing me to take and support them. I proposed taking one on a future day; and, for the present, to give her a small weekly sum toward their support. On Friday last, when the Mother came for the week's money, I chose to take the Boy, and proposed to call him by the name of my youngest Brother who died some months since, my friends having informed me that they subscribe to support a child of that name. The Mother seemed pleased with this; feeling the more confidence, probably, that he will be taken care of. I feel happy in thus making a beginning toward fulfilling the wishes of the Society in taking Native Children; and hope, when my friends arrive from Trincomalee, that I shall be better able to carry the plan into effect. The people are now occupied in sweeping and adorning their streets and lanes, as they did two years ago. They begin again to make little booths at the entrance of the houses and corners of the streets; with a little offering underneath, consisting of an earthen pot, cocoa-nut, flowers, &c. to appease the angry deities and de mons. They talk of devils going about the streets, in companies of thousands and tens of thousands at a time! Such is Heathenism !—even in its best state; for this is said to be taught in their Sacred Books, which the poor deluded devotees implicitly follow. How great will be the change, when they shall be freed from their slavery and bondage by the Gospel! Hasten, O Lord, the happy day! Dec 31, 1821. On the last day of the year, I had the pleasure to attend at the formation of a Branch Bible Society; that which has hitherto subsisted here having been known by the name of the Jaffna Sub-Committee to the Colombo Auxiliary Society. The Meeting was conducted with great propriety and spirit, and appeared to give much satisfaction to all present: C. E. Layard, Esq. Provincial Judge, was in the Chair. The subscriptions promise a considerable improvement of the funds. APPENDIX XVI. (See Pages 194 & 197.) COMMUNICATIONS RELATIVE TO THE NEW-2BALAND MISSION. SINCE the Note was printed, which, at p. 197, refers to this Appendix as containing Mr. Marsden's Journal, at large, of his Third Visit to New. Zealand, it has been considered, that the copious digest and extracts of this Journal, which have been printed in the Missionary Register for September and October, will have given the Members such a satisfactory and interesting view of this Visit as to render the printing of the whole here unnecessary. The Committee will, however, subjoin some remarks with which Mr. Marsden concludes his Journal, and which have not before appeared; and they may, probably, through the medium of the Missionary Register, hereafter give a few other extracts. Instructions to Mr. James Shepherd, on his proceeding from New South Wales to New Zealand. YOUR practical skill, in Gardening to introduce into cultivation, by and Agriculture, will enable you the New-Zealanders, wheat, barley, maize, and otherg rains; vines, fruittrees, and useful vegetables. You will instruct them in the dibbling of wheat, by which two-fifths of the seed, required in the broad-cast way, suffices. In the pursuit of these objects, no opportunity should be lost of impressing on the minds of the Chiefs, a sense of the Society's solicitude to make the New-Zealanders acquainted with every art and production, fitted to minister to their wants and increase their comforts. You may make them to understand, that it is not one benevolent person in England, but many that feel deeply interested in their welfare: and that when death removes one English Chief who may be their friend, another immediately occupies his place, and pursues the object with equal ardour. nax. The Society having it in view not merely to establish a Rope Work in New Zealand, but to promote the exportation of the Material for the supply of Rope and other Works at home, you will direct a steady attention to the plant common in the country, termed by Botanists Phormium TeMr. Marsden's late travels in New Zealand have brought to light the existence of seven varieties of that plant, and further research will no doubt add to the number. One of them is distinguished by the convenient peculiarity of its boon, or useless vegetable matter, being easily separable from the fibres required for mechanical purposes. The others most probably possess distinctive properties, which may render them fit objects of attention; as while one variety may be superior for cordage, another may answer better for linen, and a third for the use of the paper maker: you should, therefore, have at least an acre of suitable land prepared, and plant in it roots of the different varieties. Specimens of fibre, of a silky lustre, and softness, are brought from the southward: you should endeavour to ascertain the place of its growth, and obtain one or more roots from which to propa, gate it. The Society being desirous of a quantity of the raw material being sent home, you may encourage the Natives to bring it for sale, and draw on the store-keeper for articles to barter for it. It is intended that Mr. John Cowell, who has been sent out by the Society, for the establishment of a Rope Work in New Zealand, shall shortly proceed thither, in order to the discovery of a proper situation for his business. You are already in tolerable posses sion of his ideas on the advantages to be desired in such a situation, and his time and labour may be economized, by your having attended to the object previous to his arrival. Your travels or inquiries relative to it need not extend beyond the Bay of Islands, the inlet of the Ocean at Shukeangha, and the mouth of the Thames, You will persevere in your attention to the New-Zealand Language, and its various dialects; and endeavour to contribute your share toward tion of Phrases, which the Society is a complete Vocabulary and Collecdesirous of forming. By itinerating among the Natives, you will have greatly increased means of adding to your knowledge of them and of the country, and of gaining their affections. For many reasons, the Committee recommend your moving from place to place, and visiting the various Chiefs. The Natives frequently making distant excursions, for war, traffic, or the gratification of a curious and roving disposition, and their memories being tenacious and correct, you have thus the means presented you of extending your acquaintance with the geography, localities, and physical and moral circumstances of the country, far beyond the limits of your own travels. By persevering in your researches, and carefully reducing the informa tion to writing as soon as obtained, you will, in a moderate time, accumulate a mass of materials, which, with the contributions of others, may put the Society in complete possession of facts, with the views and opinions of its experienced Servants in regard to its objects. Those objects should be constantly in your view; and, though your time will not be mis-spent in obtaining such information as may have no apparent utility beyond the gratification of a liberal curiosity, your principal attention should be directed to the acquisition of facts, calculated to throw light on the means of civilizing the people among whom you go to reside, and of introducing among them the Gospel of Salvation. You may not witness any spiritual fruit from your labour; but it is not the less a labour of love, and of a Missionary nature. You engage in a preliminary work, which appears to be a necessary prelude to the proclamation of the glad tidings of peace, through the blood of a crucified Saviour, to the benighted inhabitants of New Zealand. Remarks, by Mr. Marsden, on the Authority possessed by the New-Zealand Chief's. THERE are Chiefs who hold large tracts in New Zealand, as their hereditary right: yet their authority, over the persons and property of those who live within their jurisdiction, is very circumscribed. Over their own families, domestics, and slaves, they have the most absolute power. Upon their lands, a number of In ferior Chiefs generally reside by permission; who may be allied, in some way or other, to the Principal Chief, by family connections, intermarriages, or friendship. Each of these Chiefs carries on his own cultivation; and has his own domestics and slaves, over whom the Principal Chief has no authority. Besides these, there are Free Person's who are poor and possess neither land nor slaves; whose families have been reduced by other calamities. Over these also, the Chief has no authority: they go whither they please, and live where they please, without interruption from any one. As the Chief is generally a military character, those who live within his jurisdiction look up to him, in times of common danger, for protection; and range themselves under his banner, from motives of personal safety. He. on his part, conciliates their esteem and ensures their obedience, more by courtesy and kindness, than by command; knowing that he has no authority to constrain them. Many of the Inferior Chiefs, with their domestics and slaves, as well as the Poor Freemen, will readily join the Principal Chief in his wars; in order to indulge their natural disposition for fighting, and in hopes of sharing the spoils. Was the Principal Chief to call upon any class of Free People within his jurisdiction to labour, they would pay little attention to his commands. He has no authority over them in this respect, nor any means to enforce obedience. The Principal Chiefs, as well as the Inferiors, are extremely jealous of the authority which they possess ; though, individually, it is very small. Most of the Chiefs with whom I have conversed on the moral and political state of their country, are convinced that they want a Government: but there is no one Chief possessed of sufficient information, power, and influence, to enable him to establish himself as King over the rest; and the Chiefs are too proud and jealous, to invest their authority in the hands of any individual of their own country. The Chiefs at the River Thames requested that some European Soldiers might be sent to them, to assist them in protecting themselves from the more powerful Tribes at the Bay of Islands, who have greatly the advantage over them from their fire arins. It is necessity, not choice, which induces them to solicit this assistance; and, perhaps, this pecessity may open the way and lay the foundation for the establishment of a regular government, in time. Though the Chiefs know that they want a Government, and are sensible that their country would be greatly benefitted thereby, from what they have seen, heard, and learned by their intercourse with Europeans; yet they never can accomplish such an important object, without the assistance of some civilized nation. If they lived under the authority of One Chief, he might form some regular government; but, under their feudal system, this can never be done. Though one Tribe, or whole districts, would willingly receive foreign assistance, to protect them from their more powerful enemies; yet, I think it very probable, that the body of the Chiefs would hesitate before they placed their country under the power and government of a foreign nation: they will never wish to be commanded, if they can possibly avoid it. Temmarangha is a man of very sound sense and deep reflection. He laments the state of his country, much more than any Chief whom I have ever seen; and is better acquainted with its miseries. He is a Chief of great consequence, and has been a powerful warrior; but is now anxious to put a stop to their destructive wars: during three months that he travelled with me, he used every argument with the Chiefs whom we meet, to induce them to live in peace. He has often told me, that nothing but the high hand of authority can restrain some of the Chiefs from spoil and murder; and has observed, that, if he were King and had the power, he would take their heads off immediately, if they would not be quiet; and seemed to think that nothing short of that would put a stop to their cruelties. He is very anxious that Capt. Downie's recommendation to the British Government, to send a man-of-war to New Zealand, should be attended to; as he hopes that his country will derive many benefits from such a measure; and, particularly, that it would prevent those Tribes, which are possessed of fire-arms, from ranging the seacoast, and murdering those who are not able to resist them. I am strongly inclined to think that the Chiefs at the Thames, at Wyecoto, and further to the southward, who have no means to procure arms and ammunition, will be driven, from mere necessity, to place themselves under the protection of some Civil Government, should they have it in their power to do so. Should such an event ever take place, and security be given to persons and property, New Zealand will then become a Civilized Nation in a short time; and Agriculture and the Simple Arts will flourish. The climate and other local circumstances are so favourable for the production of all the comforts of civil life, that it will rapidly rise in importance, and its inhabitants abound with plenty. Mr. Marsden's Remarks on the River Thames. AMONG other things which I have noticed, it may not be uninteresting to state my sentiments of the River Thames, and of the land on its banks and in its neighbourhood, as an Agricultural Settlement. river. I should call Rowpah the head of the Thames. The residence of the Arekee, or Head Chief, is situated about one hundred miles, or perhaps more, from Point Rodney, the entrance of the Here the river divides into two branches, nearly of equal size; the one comes from the right, the other from the left. At Rowpah, there is sufficient water for small vessels, drawing not more than six or seven feet. The tide runs up a few miles above this Settlement. I went ten or twelve miles up the western branch in a canoe; when the water became shallow, and the river opened into an extensive plain. I have little doubt but that this branch of the river has its source in natural springs, which rise in this plain. The eastern branch I traced much farther by land; and found, after tracing it up through deep glens and craggy rocks, that it had its source in natural springs, rising in a similar plain, extending to the borders of Mercury Bay. On or near the banks, both of the main river and of the branches, there are large forests of various kinds of trees, generally of the cypress kind, and very lofty. They extend, with very little interruption, forty or fifty miles. I also observed several small navigable branches which run from the interior, as I passed along the main river. There is every kind of timber that could be wanted for building and agricultural purposes. : The land, in general, is very rich; and would produce the heaviest crops of grain and there are hundreds of acres on its banks, which might, with little trouble, be cultivated with the plough, as the whole is of a light rich soil, completely free from stones. In many places, I observed that the river overflowed its banks in heavy rains; but the water cannot remain long on the ground, from the free outlet which it has into the sea; nor did it appear to rise very high. The river is nearly eight or ten miles wide, where the fresh water falls into the salt. I inquired of the Natives, if the river ever overflowed its banks. They informed me that it did in the rainy season; but that the water never remained one day upon the land: I was inclined to credit this account, as they planted the banks with potatoes in various places, which I observed were not destroyed; and, in some places, I noticed the native-huts standing near the edge of the water, and not swept away. As the land, in general, is very level, as well as the banks of the river (something similar to the Thames in England, and the low land in Kent and Essex), there are many swamps; which would require to be drained, before the ground could be converted to use. There is at present, however, abundance of land, sufficiently dry, to support a large population. As an eligible situation for a large Agricultural Settlement, the Thames commands many other local advantages; such as fire-wood, plenty of thatch for houses, and native flax without end for ropes and lines, and shell and other fish in the greatest abundance. There is a considerable population, which would, by their labour, when furnished with proper tools, contribute to the general good. I have no doubt but that the Chiefs would be very ready to locate portions of their lands to any Europeans, who would settle among them. The Natives have not the means to cultivate their land: they have neither tools, nor seed to put in the ground: the most that they can produce is a potatoe or cabbage; and they never can extend their operations of agriculture further without the proper means. These observations apply only to the fresh-water river, and the land on its banks. The banks of the salt-water river are very high; and only small portions of land, in the coves, can be conveniently cultivated. The river is also so wide and open to the sea, though more than thirty miles from it, that ships cannot anchor with perfect safety, in the winter season. There is a good harbour on the eastern side of the river, about twenty miles from the fresh water, where any ships may lie in perfect safety, and where I left H.M. Ship Coromaudel. Upon the whole, I have seen no situation in New Zealand comparable to the River Thames, on the banks of the fresh water, for an extensive and advantageous Agricultural Settlement. On the western side of the Thames, at a Settlement called Mogoeah, up the river Wyeroa which discharges |