Show TRAVELS LETTER NO having spent a short but pro fital time at Ro new zealand E I 1 joseph W linford and I 1 started on return northward by rail on jan jam aoth 1896 while brother linford linued to auckland to return to his 6 of labor on the south island I 1 stop at hamilton a european town of 4 inhabitants situated on the ai ato ri river ver eighty six miles from ro 0 rua visit a family by the name of johnso johns who are members of the church T next day I 1 traveled twelve miles by i to where I 1 was mit met b elder jens K nelson president ot lot asp tsp 1 waikato district who took me a across the waipa river and introduced me ty brother caora hofere who presides over the branch and whose house I 1 was made t for several days while I 1 perused the re reig am of the district and its respect respects tr va branches and attended to my usual bul labors I 1 also spent the folio follon ing sunday with the saints and attend a number of meetings with them the waikato district was once 1 largest district in the new zealand mis mid A sion both in poi point nt ot of area and mem member shio shin it was here that the first series maori baptisms took place at the cl da of 1882 and the beginning of 1883 a ax though the first sixty odd persons W wl were baptized did not continue in t ohp covenant and the first branch organ organize tion lion affected did not prove a suc s the gospel seed tell lell in goo good d arc about tw years later when elder liam gardner and charles 0 andar I 1 son after laboring about one year 1 out apparent success found their labors blessed with most precious fruit I 1 about six months the latter half of I 1 Z nearly four hundred maoris laoris were adde 41 to the church by baptism beside 13 i children under eight years of age ww were blessed by the elders when tm the boundaries ot of the waikato mission missionary alf district were first defined in 1885 it itt eluded nearly the entire north half of tak north island of new zealand but in 1887 the district was organized 00 out C of ahe southeastern portion of the nal waikato district and in 1887 the rl remainder was again divided into three parts called respectively the waikato Wai kato haurani and bay of islands districts the waikato district since that div division is i on has consisted of that part of the north island which extends from the manutau manukau Manu kau 4 harbor near auckland southward along 7 the west coast to the north line of tar C 1 anaki eastward it extends to t abes raki gulf and to a small river which into said gulf and which separates efrom m the haurani district the ris s are very numerous in this part of country and the district consisted arding to the statistical report of ember aist 1895 ot of nine branches ed as follows karaka a kawhia kashia puketapu Puke tapu lapu whangape Whan gape aroa roal Hur iwai nui and roa aroa the membership of the dis was or souls including iren ren all maoris laoris two elders irom from i jens K nelson and parley A ers are the missionaries in the dis at the present time se e branch comprises ly all the inhabitants residing in a ari rl village lying on the left bank of waipa river opposite the european lement which is a way ay town situated immediately e the junction of the waikato and waipa rivers and in the fork the two stream is fourteen s by rail southeast of auckland branch was organized in 1892 by r thomas C stanford and the late ir r otto L chipman with caora ere as president the elders laborin the district make the hospitable ie of caora hofere their present quarters ie Kara karika branch consists of the je saints residing in a number of 11 II villages but mostly in one called lawa which is situated on the left k of the waipa river about six miles ve e or one mile below a arika karika on the waipa river the ch was first organized december 1885 by elder william gardner I 1 a missionary companion fhe e kashia kawhia branch organized by el henry J manning august 7 consists of the saints residing in i n village of kawhia kashia situated on the th ith side of the bay or harbor of that e this is on the west coast of the th ih island about seventy miles by road southwest of ahia ia ahe e puketapu Puke tapu branch the largest is p waikato district consists of the apts ts residing in the villages of etapa and surrounding villages ng ing which may be mentioned ing ang manga where elder otto L chip died august aist 1892 and e the village of puketapu Puke tapu is situ on the left bank of the waikato opposite the european town of atley and distant from that town but t half a mile it is also ten miles wn n the river from ja branch was raised up tip by elder liliam liam gardner and organized by him gust ath 1885 as the first successful anch ach of the church in the waikato atry the he whangape Whan gape branch consists of the tits ts residing near the whangape Whan gape lake at different points on the left bank the waikato river most ot of the t aam bets bers reside at a place called te i on the south side of the e about five miles west 4 f church haill W or about thirty by winding minding road ot of the branch jaws organized by william and er elders july sand 1889 ap the branch consists of the e saints residing in the villages of Iter roa aroa and manawaru Mana waru the former is abed about five miles inland from the agett coast about twenty miles south of mouth of the waikato river and about twenty five miles due west of church hill manamara Ma is about five miles east of most of the saints live in aroa which is the largest vi lage of the two the branch was organized by elders william gardner and alfred W harper december loth 1885 the branch consists of saints living in the villages of and huarau huarac mostly in the latter which is is situated near the west coast of the north island or about five miles south of port waikato Wai kato huarau huarac is situated about three miles north of port waikato on he opposite side of the waikato river meetings are held at both villages but sunday school only at Hur iwai the branch dates back to december irth 1885 1895 when it was organized by elders william gardner and alfred W harper the nui branch was organized by elders alfred W harper and francis H wright september ath 1886 and consists of the native saints living in the village of and neighborhood is situated on the left bank of the waikato river about two miles above port waikato Wai kato a european town situated at the mouth of the waikato river about thirty miles northwest of church hill or sixty miles from the branch only partly organized as yet consists of the saints residing in a district of country bordering on the haurani gulf most of the saints reside in the village of Mare pana which is situated about five miles northeast of on the right bank of the W aaroa river near its mouth on thursday january irth I 1 took leave of the good saints at and traveled seventy four miles by rail to auckland where I 1 now spent several days busily engaged in finishing up my h historical st orical labors in connection witti with the new zealand part ot of the australasian mission mission I 1 have now visited every district and nearly all the principal branches of the mission and I 1 have learned to love the maori people who notwithstanding kheiri peculiarities and possess characteristics which any saint might be proud of bleir devotion to god and their religion and their love for the brethren who as the saints of bcd have brought them the true gospel is so practical in its nature that a great many members of the church in zion could learn very important lessons in that regard and in a great many other respects from their dark skinned brethren ana and sisters in Maon dom the maoris laoris are natu natural raly y a praying people usually where there is is an organized branch of the church all the members of the branch meet together morning and night for prayer and they also attend their public meetings both on sundays and week day jaswith da a regularity which would put the members in many american and european branches to shame in my travels in new zealand I 1 have met all the elders from zion laboring there except one elder ashby and my opinion is that they are all good young men and worthy representatives of the cause they have espoused though some are more diligent and successful in their labors than others M my associations with them have been of tl the most pleasant kind most of those who are laboring among the europeans have a hard time of it as the whites as a rule reject the message the elders bear without investigating it the brethren laboring among the maoris laoris are generally provided with enough food to eat though not always alway of the most agreeable kind but they are generally always treated to the best the natives have to gire aie sometimes they eat by tables in regular white roans mans style at other times they sit on mats and eat with their fingers unless they bring knives and forks along with them some times their meals are served to them on the green grass out of doors on which occasions they often have to wage a general warfare with pigs canines and fowls which generally roam about at pleasure seeking what food they can find around the houses bouses and especially when meals are served out of doors on such occasions it is no uncommon occurrence for some member of the quadruped family to steal up to the dish intended for the human party of the household and lay hold of some delicious joint or eat up tip the food altogether in a moment when it is not properly guarded A story is told of a good maori sister who had cooked for herself an extraordinarily nice fowl which she was preparing to eat on the green she closed her eyes and asked a good long blessing but what was her astonishment when she had finished her prayer to discover her pet dog standing some distance away with her favorite fowl half eaten often one elder has to watch and keep pigs away while the other prays or asks the blessing I 1 am not referring to these things in the light of ridicule but simply to show some of the little odd experiences which some ot or the elders laboring among the semi civilized people of the pacific islands have to pass through As for new zealand taking its many different features into consideration I 1 may say that I 1 rather like it the pir present besent government however seems to be ve very ry unpopular with the masses and the colony is heavily in debt in many respects the country tries to pattern after the united states of america from whence most of the machinery and farming implements used in the colony are imported when the colonists learn to introduce good sensible four wheeled american farm wagons to take the place of the heavy clumsy and ugly two wheeled drag carts now in use that will be another step in the direction of improvements the colonial government own nearly all the railways in the colony and manipulate them on a common basis which does away with competition the people complain that the fare are is too high but it is claimed to be placed on merely a paying basis the government telegraph system is the best I 1 have ever become acquainted with and though the rates for sending messages are very low it is said to be the best paying institution in the colony for one shilling an ordinary message is sent to any part of the country irrespective of distance and for a so called delayed telegram which is not delivered till the next morning after it is sent sixpence only is charged this enables all the i eople bo h rich and poor to use the telegraph which is more than we can say of the american systems where the rates are very high and only the more wealthy can afford to use the telegraph except on very urgent cases I 1 am now bound for for the society islands and a rid sail this afternoon for papette Pa peete tahiti ANDREW JENSON AUCKLAND new zealand january aard |