Narrative of the surveying voyages of his majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle (vol.2): between the years 1826 and 1836 : describing their examination of the southern shores of South America, and the Beagles's circumnavigation of the globe

578 COOKING — CHURCH—KOnORARKKA. . DeC. down to a fair surface ; but I am inclined to think that the wood is of a kind that splits easily into plank, like the alerse of southern Chile.* Being the evening meal time, some wo- men, and male slaves, were removing the cinders from holes in the earth, whence steam was issuing profusely, under a shed, near the house I was examining. The shed was a light roof, upon upright poles, covering the cooking place — a few square yards of cinder-covered ground. Out of each hole dirty looking bunches of fish and leaves were raked with fingers and sticks. Hot stones were at the bottom of the hole, placed in the usual Polynesian and Chilote method. The fish had been wrapped in the leaves, but taking it out of the oven in such a manner had displaced the leaves, and substituted a coatino- of ashes and cinders. Potatoes, raked out of ano- ther hot hole, looked more eatable : but leaving the natives to their dirty food, we walked to the new church. A slightly built edifice of bricks, and light frame work, with an abun- dance of bad glass windows, gave me the idea of a small methodist meeting-house, or an anabaptist chapel, rather than an episcopal church. A good deal of money having been sub- scribed by residents, and visitors, specially for this church, it might be wished that a portion of it had been employed in obtaining a better design, and better materials, as it stands in a very conspicuous situation. To place a church in a strong- hold of iniquity, such as Kororareka, the resort of the worst disposed inhabitants of New Zealand, native and foreign, was a daring experiment : yet notwithstanding the ill-will enter- tained towards the missionaries, by their ' spirit-selling ' coun- trymen ; by native chiefs, whose pandering trade was yearly les- sened ; and by the evil disposed of every description, no molestation had been offered, and not a plane of glass had been broken ! neither had the church service been performed in vain to inattentive hearers. Returning to the beach, we saw some of the fine canoes I have already mentioned : we then paid a formal visit to one of the chiefs ;. and for another, who was not at home, I * Kauri ? or some other pine ?