Christianity spread rapidly among Māori communities from the late 1830s. These two sketches were made by George Augustus Selwyn, the Anglican Bishop of New Zealand, in 1843. One shows a service of Holy Communion at Orona, Lake Taupō. Two missionaries each stand in front of a small tent, with the communion table placed on a waka (Māori canoe) behind them. The second sketch shows a church service at the Whakapapa River in the Tongariro district. Three missionaries each stand in front of a small tent, while their Māori congregration sits under temporary shelters around a fire.
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Alexander Turnbull Library, George Augustus Selwyn Papers
Reference: qMS-1774-287
by George Augustus Selwyn
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.