§ 14. Completion of Printing the New Testament.

The printing of the New Testament, consisting of 356 pages, being at last accomplished by the middle of December, 1837,—a page 20 cause of great rejoicing with me! (and also many others who were in eager expectation of receiving a copy;)—the next step was to get the books bound. By dint of steady persevering labour I was enabled to finish binding a few copies in calf on the 30th December, for distribution to the Missionaries on the approaching 1st January, 1838, as a New Year's Gift; which was heartily welcomed with many thanks and correspondingly valued by them. Now the demand for copies became great beyond expression, from all parts of New Zealand where the Missionaries were known, or to which Christianity had extended' finding it impossible for only myself—unassisted—to get then bound fast enough, (and there were plenty of other useful and needful works awaiting publication,) the Committee of Missionaries met, and I was instructed to send a quantity to Sydney, in lots of 500 at a time, to be bound there; having first arranged with a Sydney firm as to price, &c. These were all bound in cloth, but were not so strongly and carefully bound as those which I also bound in linen cloth at Paihia. And as it was well-known, that the Maoris valued more highly an article they had paid for, than one given to them, it was also decided that the book should be sold, and the price fixed for it was 4/-,—a rather large sum in those days for the Maoris to raise, (as they received but a very low price for all their articles of barter, which, as a matter of course, was very rarely ever paid in coin,) at the same time many copies were given away. The 1000 copies in sheets were soon handed over, as promised, to the Wesleyan Missionaries residing at Hokianga, who sent them to England to be bound.