On the reception of Leigh's report, Marsden wrote a hopeful letter to
London. "The place," he said, "will now be changed, and I trust we shall
be able to lay down such rules and keep those who are employed in the
work to their proper duty, so as to prevent the existence of any great
differences among them." But he himself must initiate the changes, and
by August of that same year (1819) he was again at the Bay of Islands.
The meeting between himself and his catechists was marked by
satisfaction on both sides. Kendall and King could report hopefully of
their recent reception on the Hokianga River, which they were the first
white men to see; Hall could relate how he had found and forgiven the
people who had assaulted him at Waitangi, and how prosperous had been
his tour until he reached a _pa_ where the demand for iron was so great
that the inhabitants stole the rudder-hangings of his boat, and left the
poor missionary to find his way back as best he might in stormy weather
to the shelter of Rangihoua. Marsden, on his part, could introduce a
party of new helpers whom he had brought from Sydney--the Rev. John
Butler and his wife, Francis Hall, a schoolmaster, and James Kemp, a
smith.

New plans were at once formed for an extension of the work. An offer
from Hongi of a site opposite to his own _pa_ was accepted, and Marsden
bought for four dozen axes a large piece of ground on the Kerikeri
River, at the extreme north-west of the Bay. Here, in a sheltered vale
and amid the sound of waterfalls, the new mission station was
established. To it the fresh workers were assigned, Butler taking the
chief place. Marsden himself pushed on across the island to the mouth of
the Hokianga, and on his return was surprised to see much of the new
ground broken up, maize growing upon it, and vines in leaf.

Agriculture formed indeed an important feature in Marsden's plans for
the mission. Seeing Hongi's blind wife working hard in a potato field,
he was much affected by the miserable condition of many of the Maoris:
"Their temporal situation must be improved by agriculture and the simple
arts, in order to lay a permanent foundation for the introduction of
Christianity." No spiritual results were as yet visible, but the chiefs
attended Marsden's services and "behaved with great decorum." On the
evening of September 5 he administered the Holy Communion to the
settlers at Rangihoua. The service was held in a "shed," but "the
solemnity of the occ