Sharpened by hunger, his wit was equal to the emergency, and his answer, "the true church," gained him supper and a bed.

Too much stress has been laid on the spectacle of missionaries engaging in public controversies, and of semi-savage converts wrangling over rites and ceremonies and discussing points of theology which might well puzzle a Greek metaphysician.

Such incidents were but an efflorescence on the surface of what for a number of years was a true and general earnestness.
The missionaries, aided by Professor Lee, of Cambridge, gave the Maori a written language.

Into this the Scriptures were translated, chiefly by William Williams, who became Bishop of Waiapu, and by Archdeacon Maunsell.

Many years of toil went to the work, and it was not completed until 1853.