ledge.
Outside of New Zealand I have to acknowledge help from Mrs. Hobhouse, of
Wells, and the Ven. Archdeacon Hobhouse, of Birmingham, the widow and
son of the first Bishop of Nelson.

Many clergy have kindly acceded to my application for photographs of
their churches. A fair number of these I have been able to use, and to
all the senders I desire to express my thanks. For the view of the
ruined church at Tamaki I am indebted to Miss Brookfield, of Auckland,
and for the excellent representation of the scene at the signing of the
Treaty of Waitangi to Mr. A. F. McDonnell, of Dunedin. In the
preparation of the MS. for the press I have been greatly assisted by the
Rev. H. East, Vicar of Leithfield.

But the greatest help of all remains to be told. To the aged and
venerable Bishop Leonard Williams this book owes more than I can
estimate. Not only has he furnished me with abundant information from
the stores of his own unique and first-hand knowledge, but, on many
points, he has engaged in fresh and laborious research. Every chapter
has been sent to him as soon as written, and has benefited immensely by
his careful and judicial criticism. Without this thorough testing my
book would be far more imperfect than it is.

It is due, however, to the bishop, as well as to my readers, to state
emphatically that he is in no way responsible for the views expressed in
this book. There are, in fact, a few points on which we do not quite
agree. The intricacies of high policy or of mingled motive will never
appeal in exactly the same way to different minds. My aim throughout has
been to arrive at the simple truth, and I have often been driven to
abandon long-cherished ideas by its imperative demand.

In the spelling of Maori names Bishop Williams' authority has always
been followed except when a place is looked at from the pakeha or
colonial point of view. Then it is spelt in the colonial manner. Readers
may be glad to be warned against confusing Turanga (Poverty Bay) with
Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty. Similarly, it may be well to call
attention to the wide difference between Tamihana Te Waharoa and
Tamihana Te Rauparaha. Both were notable men, but their characters were
not alike, and they took opposite sides in the great war.

The scope of this book has not permitted me to trace the history of the
Melanesian Mission, nor to deal with the island dependencies of our
Dominion. Even within the limits of New Zealand itself the treatment