They were received there and at Paihia with brotherly welcome by men who
felt that their own turn might soon come. "It is not easy," writes
Bishop Williams, "to describe this breach which had been made upon the
mission body." As soon as the news became known in Australia, Marsden
flew to the scene in a warship, but he found the missionaries facing the
prospect with quiet courage. "It gives me great pleasure," he wrote, "to
find the missionaries so comfortable, living in unity and godly love,
devoting themselves to the work." They were well aware, of course, that
so far as their tenure depended upon human protection the outlook was
not bright. Hongi sent to them a message advising them to stay as long
as he should live, but to fly to their own country as soon as he should
die. They determined to stay at their posts as long as possible, but
they shipped some tons of goods to Sydney, in case of a _taua_ or
stripping-party which might be expected to visit them as soon as their
protector should have died. Such a proceeding would have been strictly
in accordance with Maori law of _muru_, and would be understood as a
complimentary testimonial to the dead man's dignity. But it would have
meant to the white men the loss of all their possessions, and the being
left naked and destitute in a savage country.

Early in the year 1828 the long-expected death of the great warrior took
place. He died as a heathen, his last words being, "Be courageous, be
courageous!" But he had drawn closer to the missionaries during the last
year of his life, and their estimates of him are nearly all favourable.
"His conduct towards us," writes Clarke, "was kind, and his last moments
were employed in requesting his survivors to treat us well." "He was
ever the missionaries' friend," says Davis, "a shrewd, thoughtful man,
very superior to any other native I have yet seen; the greatest man who
has ever lived in these islands." Bishop Williams' estimate is less
favourable, but the Committee of the C.M.S. (relying perhaps on Yate's
unqualified encomium) considered that he had been specially raised up by
God to be the protector and helper of the Gospel.

However beneficial his life may have been, the historian cannot help a
sigh of relief when he comes to his death. For it marks the time when
the mission began to stand on its own feet. So far from being
"stripped," the missionaries actually rose in the estimation of the
Maoris. A quarrel arose out of Hongi'