Colonial evolution was clearly not amongst his studies.
[Illustration: CARVED GATEWAY OF MAORI VILLAGE _From a Sketch by_ GENERAL ROBLEY.] Colonists as a rule shrug their shoulders when questioned as to the depth of Maori religious feeling.

It is enough to point out that a Christianity which induced barbarian masters to release their slaves without payment or condition must have had a reality in it at which the kindred of Anglo-Saxon sugar-planters have no right to sneer.

Odd were the absurdities of Maori lay preachers, and knavery was sometimes added to absurdity.

Yet these dark-skinned teachers carried Christianity into a hundred nooks and corners.

Most of them were honest enthusiasts.