hia, and, on the 15th ult., we arrived here dripping wet. We found that the natives had a large meeting a few days before to erect a flag-staff at the South Head. There the colours, or flag, of the Maori King have been flying ever since. On our arrival the natives had just returned to their plantations, and, the weather being wet and stormy, we had but a small congregation on the Sabbath, the 17th of April. On the 13th, we saw some of the leading men at the Mahoe. Both here and on the station the day before, the people listened attentively to Mr. Buddle's preaching. They admitted the truth of all his assertions, and the force of his arguments. The Chief Anatipa said he would be content with one wife, though his concubine showed no inclination to depart. She impudently demanded £100 of us as the price and condition of separation. A young Chief also bid us go and take Mr. from his concubine to his lawful wife. The Leaders promised that they would try to meet the classes, the parents said they would send their children to school, and all agreed to do something for the support of their Minister. I should have been glad if Mr. Buddle could have visited Te Maeka and Rakaunui; but on Tuesday, the 19th, we crossed the harbour to Kawhia (proper). We have a small chapel here, and I had written to the natives to meet us, but they did not come. I have seen them since. Some of them said, "We could not come because we were far away inland, and only received your note one day before the appointed meeting.' Some told me, "We would not come because you Ministers oppose our Maori King." Good Friday about one hundred and fifty attended Divine service in the chapel on the station; two adults, five European children, two from Kawhia, three from Te Maeka, eight from Rakaunui, three from Marokopa, and the rest from our immediate neighbourhood. The Sunday following, I gave the Lord's Supper to about fifty, to whom I had given instruction, warning, and encouragement on the preceding days. I was wholly engaged from morning to night, and again on Monday whilst any remained. MAORI KING MOVEMENT. Sunday, May 1st, I spent at Te Maeka, and stayed all night. Three of the leading Chiefs there still refuse to part with their concubines. They are each married to a free woman, but have taken slave girls besides. Another young Chief, INTOXICATION OF THE NATIVES INDUCED BY EUROPEAN TRADERS. I was also grieved to find that some of the young men obtain secretly intoxicating drinks, for which they pay six and seven shillings a bottle. In this manner the most intelligent, healthy, and active young men (for these alone can pay) get a taste for these wealthhealth- life- and soul- destroying liquors. Gambling and fornication go hand in hand with the vice of intemperance. What can be done to save the youngto stop the mad expenditure of almost their only incomes-to show Europeans the sinfulness of supplying the article, which, to the Maories at least, is nothing less than hellish poison? With God's help, I am trying to do something. Monday morning I met portions of three classes. Matiu, one of the Leaders, and Mata, I was much pleased with. On leaving, four boys came with me for our school. Matiu and others have brought thirteen more. DANGEROUS TRAVELLING. Saturday, the 7th instant, I was prevented crossing the harbour. Sunday morning appeared fine. I left in the large boat; but when I got about two miles a terrible squall overtook us. There was thunder, lightning, and hail too, I hear; though I dreaded and saw nothing but wind and waves. One of the sails split from top to bottom, the other shook out the spreet overboard. Had the tide been ebbing, the boat would have filled; but wind and tide running both one way, we were driven inland with terrible fury and swiftness, though we had no sail set. As we drew near the land, I cast the anchor overboard to see what could be done to keep clear of the rocks at Rakaunui. We took down the two masts, made everything snug in the boat, then took the anchor up again, and, with the help of one spreet and the oars, we managed to get into a little bay behind the rocks, where we anchored the boat; and, getting ashore, returned home by land and canoe. Monday we returned to the boat with another sail, crossed the water to Mangaota, and spent that evening, night, and following morning, with the natives. Tuesday I married an European to a native woman. One of the King's" officers was present. He remarked, "You marry and Rupatia (of H.M. Customs) does also marry." And afterwards he asked me to request the Kaumatuas (Elders) to give him also authority to inarry and baptize. Tuesday I remained windbound, but on Wednesday I got home. It is hard work and a great waste of time to contend against the elements, and follow the people into every creek in the harbour. The station must be made as attractive as possible; for there the most work can be done, and it is the only place where the work can be done well. And the station is fast improving. Mission-house and chapel have been mended and painted, the schoolhouse is being done, some of the ground is being ploughed, dug, and fenced, and twenty-five half-castes and natives are being taught in the school. FRIENDLY ISLANDS. Extract of a Letter from the Rev. John Thomas, dated Nukualofa, Tonga, April 28th, 1859. You have gladdened our hearts by setting us down (on the Stations) two men for this District. We shall be much obliged if you can find us one for Samoa, as I fear lest Mr. Dyson should be discouraged in that vast field. I send you a parcel for England (namely, translations). I hope you will get them safely, and that some early opportunity will offer for you to send them to England. Fearing that we should be too late, I have been working almost, if not quite, beyond my strength, in order to get the other untranslated books ready for this vessel, not knowing of any other vessel for a few months at least. I bless my God I have succeeded, and now send the First and Second of Chronicles, and from Ezra to Esther. I got them copied by a friend, and have heard the whole read over, and have corrected the copies. The Lord has blessed us in every part of these three Circuits. Many souls have been quickened and saved, and the good work is going on. We hope to have a considerable increase. At Tonga we have had a great demand for books. All our New Testaments are now gone, and we could part with hundreds more if we had them. Should you, therefore, have any on hand at Sydney, you will do us good service by sending them. I gave the sacrament at this place last Sunday afternoon. We had three hundred communicants. It was a laborious task; but a most blessed, soul-reviving time. So many broke out in prayer at the close, one after another, that some could not tell when it was to end. It was very disorderly in the view of some, but to others it was glorious confusion. People came from several places within a few miles where God has been and still is blessing them very abundantly. Those who had been led away by the Priests of Rome are returning to God and to us. One head Teacher of a small village a few miles from us, told me yesterday that eleven who had been led away, returned in the course of last week, and in other places souls are being brought to the great Shepherd. Our Assistant Missionary here is a fine young fellow, and God is with him. We had a little host proposed at our Quarterly Meeting, men whose hearts God has touched; their hearts are warm ; but they want human training. If Mr. Adams or some such brother could but take Nukualofa, and open an Institution for the training of young men, there is a blessed opening. FIJI. Extract of a Letter from the Rev. Joseph Waterhouse, dated Lythville, By the good providence of the God of Missions, we arrived safely on April 28th, after a seventeen days' passage. During the voyage, I recruited my strength, and landed, tolerably free from the rheumatic pains in my limbs. The first news we heard, was the intelligence of Mrs. Collis's serious ill ness. This was very distressing; but we were soon cheered by a communication to the effect that she was recovering. Mr. and Mrs. Collis have gone to Rotumah, with the hope that the voyage will establish the health of the latter. Mr. Collis will also be useful to the Rev. J. Carey, as interpreter. Then they told us of the desecration, by the Heathen, of the grave of our dear sister, Mrs. Samuel Waterhouse! The iron tomb is completely demolished. But she is beyond the reach of Fijian hatred, and her disturbed ashes will but increase the fervency of your prayers and ours, on behalf of these pitiable idolaters. "He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall have them in derision." Just as we were despatching the "John Wesley' to Rotumah, we received a letter from the Rev. William Wilson, beseeching some of us to go to his assistance, as Mrs. Wilson was dangerously ill, and he feared he would be a widower before we could arrive. Our highly-esteemed friend, Mrs. Binner, who had been attending to Mrs. Collis, immediately volunteered her services, and we started for Bua. Our medical brother, the Rev. J. S. Fordham, who has ever proved himself a friend in need, joined us at Ovalau, and fortyeight hours after we had received Mr. Wilson's letter, we were in his house at Bua We found Mrs. Wilson somewhat improved; but she was not out of danger. Her illness had originated in excessive fatigue, caused by her laborious attention to her young family, and to the native population, amongst whom a Severe influenza was raging. She took. cold, and was also much alarmed by a report that a large army was on its way to destroy the town in which she lived. The adult men were away, and she knew that herself, her husband, and family, would probably soon be at the mercy of a mob of these ferocious cannibals. She ever possessed great natural courage, and strong faith in God; but the excitement, in connexion with the influenza, and the fatigue, seems to have produced fever, and she soon became very ill. For ten days after our arrival, we hoped against hope. We besought the Lord to undertake for us, and to spare our sister, if consi tent with his will. Mrs. Wilson was in an enviably triumphant state of mind, and perfectly resigned to the will of God. She told the Teachers to preach "Jesus alone; " urged us to "be watchful;" told us not to "choose," but to leave her in the hands of the God of Missions. We glorified God in her. But the Lord's ways are not as our ways, and he called her to rest from her labours. On the 14th instant, Mrs. Wilson, the youngest, and the tenderly-beloved daughter of the Rev. Peter M'Owan, slept in Jesus. "O may I triumph so, When all my warfare's past!" Her dear husband manifests resignation as becomes a man of God. His partner has left three children in his care, the eldest being but four years of age. Little did I think that sixteen days after my arrival, I should be engaged in assisting to make a coffin for one who appeared to be of the strongest of our number. What an admonitory lesson! May the Lord help us to do his work with all our might. I have only just returned from Bua in time to write these few lines. We are carrying out your instructions with reference to unusual dispatch of the Mission vessel. Many thanks to you for all your kindnesses. Mr. Baker is at Bau, and does not know of this opportunity, and so cannot perhaps write. He and his are well. Extract of a Letter from the Rev. William Moore. I HAVE just returned from Kadam, and have left Mr. and Mrs. Royce in their vast field of labour. I have no doubt they are in their right path; for the work was suffering from the want of a Missionary to superintend and instruct their Teachers. Paul Vea has laboured hard and done good service; but still the best of our native agents need the watchful eye of a Missionary, and, as he himself acknowledges, the place had become too difficult for him. I find a few of the Teachers in earnest, hut many cold and indifferent. They do not seem to have moral power to stand against the mass of iniquity; and thus have followed, in some few instances, the wish of the people, rather than declaring boldly, "Thus saith the Lord." I have no doubt they will now take fresh courage, and, with one at hand to direct, will bear manfully the cross of Christ, and declare with boldness, that, except men repent, they shall perish." Our Teachers are something like British soldiers, they fight well with a good General. But, after all, what can good soldiers and good Generals do when they are but a mere handful in comparison with the vast multitude of the enemy? Die like men? Well, to die in a Christian cause is not the worst part of Mission-work; but this killing, killing sight of seeing men die for the "lack of knowledge," is what is so trying to the Missionary. While at Kadam Teacher after Teacher came in with his burdened heart to tell of the difficulties of his people, and the want of more help, of the fear that war was near, and his joy that a Missionary had come to reside among them. On returning home we find a letter asking for twenty Teachers from one corner of our Circuit, and other parts need more, and other Circuits quite as many. These things lead us to say, "Help, Lord; for vain is the help of man." We shall live in hope, and expect a good supply of men by the return of the Wesley." Mr. Amos will be able to tell you something of the wants of Fiji, and our Chairman will make your ears ring with the cries of perishing Fiji, until many will feel uneasy about their subscriptions to Missions, and others that they have not offered themselves to help in this glorious cause. You will remember us at a throne of grace, and the Conference would do well to propose, "Who of us will go?" Extract of a Letter from the Rev. John S. Fordham, dated Huntsville, Bau, February 25th, 1859. I HAVE great pleasure in informing you that our new chapel at Bau was opened for Divine worship on Wednesday, the 12th of January last, under the most favourable circumstances. The Rev. William Moore preached on the occasion, from Psalm xxvii. 4. The chapel was crowded. Some of the Chiefs and principal men from most of the surrounding towns and tribes were present. It was a glorious scene; and especially so, as contrasted with scenes which have been enacted in Bau in former years. Sermons were preached on the Sunday following by the Rev. John Polglase and the Rev. William Moore. The chapel is really a beautiful building; but it must be seen to be appreciated. It is one hundred feet long by forty feet wide, and the ridge pole is forty-six feet from the ground. The shoulders of the posts, the wall-plates, the cross-beams, and the doorways are ornamented with sinnet-work. Three splendid mats cover the entire floor. The chapel is built on a raised foundation, surrounded by immense flat stones set upright in the ground. The design and execution of the whole evidences the good taste and skill and industry of those engaged in its construction. I calculate that the entire building is worth about £2,000; that is, if such a buiding were required and paid for, it would cost at least that sum. I send you a pen-and-ink sketch of it. Maafu, the Tonga Chief, is here, with about one thousand people, including the women and children. He came at the request of the Vunivalu, to assist in subduing the rebellion in the Bau dominions. Nothing definite, however, has been done as yet. Some of the natives have recently had the opportunity of purchasing ardent spirits from vessels trading in the group, and many have been intoxicated. The Vunivalu has ordered that no more is to be sold; but I fear he has not the power effectually to suppress this evil. Many of the foreigners and the half-castes set the natives a most pernicious example in this respect, and in others equally bad. Still our blessed work progresses. We want more Missionaries to superintend the Native Helpers, and instruct them more fully in their work, and to counteract the baneful influence which the conduct of the white men is exerting over our people. SOUTH AFRICA. CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. Extract of a Letter from the Rev. Edward Edwards, dated Stellenbosch, PESTILENCE AVERTED. I AM sure it will afford the Committee pleasure to hear of our welfare, and that myself and family are in tolerable health. Providentially we have hitherto escaped the epidemic, which carried off so many of the labouring poor in Cape-Town and other parts of the colony. Soon after the small-pox broke out, vaccination was generally recommended by the authorities and medical men: hence, Teachers and others were not only allowed, but requested, to perform this simple operation. I commenced with my own family and domestics in connexion with our Mission. We then vaccinated our own day and Sunday school children, both at Stellenbosch and Raithby, and also some of the adult members of our congregations. My labours were not long confined to our own people: a number of individuals belonging to another church wished me to vaccinate them. In one instance, a phaeton was sent to convey me to a neighbouring farm, where I vaccinated about eighteen individuals, including children and the proprietor of the farm and his family. During the spread of the epidemic, we vaccinated some hundreds of poor coloured persons, including adults and children, without fee or reward. This is one way of doing good to the bodies of people, and may prove a means also of doing their souls good. Little acts of kindness very often leave a deep impression upon the minds of our fellow-creatures. I would observe, before I close this part of my letter, that, although I made no charge for my labour, I did not omit sending our collectors for the Missions with a list, to afford the parties an opportunity of subscribing to our Missions. HAPPY DEATHS. We Sunday, January 23d.-I preached this forenoon and afternoon to attentive congregations. After the close of the afternoon service we improved the death of a child of one of our members. then went to a neighbouring farm, for the purpose of performing the last duty to the mortal remains of the beloved wife of our day-school Teacher, Mr. C. W. Hendrikse. She was a very good young woman, and we believe truly pious and devoted to God. I visited her occasionally during her illness, and found her in a very happy state of mind. On one occasion she said, in Dutch, Ik heb vrede met de Heere Jesus, "I have peace with the Lord Jesus." She continued to exhort, warn, and admonish all her friends, especially her young friends, who visited her during her illness. Her end was not only peaceful, but triumphant. She was generally esteemed for her meek and quiet spirit, and, like a flower in the field, was cut down and removed from the evil to come before she had reached the twentieth year of her age. The attendance at her funeral was very large, consisting not only of hundreds of co loured persons belonging to other churches, but also a number of respectable Dutch farmers and their families, all of whom seemed to be impressed with the happy death of our young friend. When the people came together, they formed a dense mass of individuals such as I never before witnessed in this part of the colony on a similar occasion. I took my stand upon the stoop in front of the dwelling-house, with the coffin and congregation before me. Having sung a hymn and prayed, I read the text, "Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord," &c. (Rev. xiv. 13.) The sermon was listened to with very great attention, and some present wept, and others were deeply affected. After the close of this very solemn service, the mortal remains of our beloved sister in Christ were conveyed to the grave-the house appointed for all living. Our Teacher, Mr. Hendrikse, has lost in her a valuable companion, and one who promised much future usefulness. After the close of this service, I returned home in time to commence our evening service. At the close of this Sabbath-day's labour, I hope I felt thankful that I had been enabled to do so much work without feeling distressed or over-fatigued. The funeral sermon was preached on the farm of Mr. D. Roux, sen. I February --I visited a young man, member of our Society, residing about a mile or two from Stellenbosch. found him very ill, and his body much reduced by disease, but remarkably happy in the Lord. Death appeared to have lost its sting; and he appeared to be looking forward to the change with a bright prospect before him. He seemed to be filled with joy and peace through believing. He prayed that the Lord would "deepen and widen the fountain of his heart." This he said in his own simple language, which appears so much more impressive than a translation into English. A few days after this visit, he died happy in the Lord. Our Sunday evening, February 13th.-I endeavoured to improve the death of this young man to a very attentive congregation. Within a few years some of our best and most useful members have been removed by death to their reward. ranks in this respect have been thinned; but, notwithstanding these, our losses and bereavements, we are assured that, although the Lord may see fit to bury his workmen, he is able to carry on his own work, and raise up suitable instruments in order that this great object may be accomplished, |