[Extracts from the diary of the missionary.]

Numbered: 23, 25, 26, 27, 28. Holograph manuscript in ink, on paper watermarked "Joseph Coles 1825." Folio. Some toning, old folds, a few tears from opening, interspersed with ms. editorial marks, but very good. 12pp (roughly 6000 words). 20 October - December, 1827, & 12 January, "Anxious to give you information of our state. I have made the following extracts from my journal . I am happy to inform you that all is well amongst us or at least as well as can be expected ."   An exceedingly rare and substantial group of manuscripts written by the missionary John Hobbs (1800-1883) to the Wesleyan Missionary Society, having established a station at Hokianga in 1827. Hobbs interacted with Maori rangatira Eruera Maihi Patuone, who was one of the last surviving people to have met James Cook, along with Tamati Waka Nene and Makoare Te Taonui, both signers of the 1835 Declaration of Independence and the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi, as well as numerous other missionaries and Maori residents during the early days of British settlement of New Zealand. Unusually for a missionary of such significance, he did not publish an account of his time in the Pacific. These extracts from his diary, hand-copied by Hobbs and seemingly otherwise unpublished, connect us to the earliest days of contact between Europeans and the Maori.   The extracts numbered are 23, 25, 26, 27, 28. With a short prefatory note dated January 12, 1828, the journal ranges from October 20, 1827, through December of that year, with journal extract 24 lacking (removed and sold separately by an auctioneer), which would cover November 9th to 14th. Editorial marks interspersed throughout text, likely demarcating passages that were not suitable for sharing or publication.   The first extract, dated 20 October, narrates his departure for New Zealand. Having spent some months recuperating in Sydney after his initial post "Wesleydale" was destroyed, Hobbs now enjoyed the protection of Ngati Hao leader, Patuone, and bought land for the mission at Mangungu, Hokianga Harbour. Hobbs notes that "the Sydney Preachers having made arrangements with Captain Kent of the Governor Macquarie Brig of 140 Tons to take us and our goods ." On reaching New Zealand, he records that he was "soon recognized . as one of the persons who was plundered at our former station." Having expressed their intention to see Patuone, they were met by Kahi, a chief, who warned them that "we should not proceed further up without some trouble." Indeed, the danger was emphasised at dinner that evening when a man was murdered for allowing some pigs to escape.   They also learned that "Muriwai [chief of the Popoto tribe of Hokianga, d.1828], who is looked up to by almost every person in the River as a father, had as yet got no white people to settle with him while Patuone had several (referring to some Europeans employed by Browne & Raine of Sydney to collect flax pork, and timber, and to five Scotchmen who came out in the New Zealand Company's ship Roseanna, who have since that concern was broken up returned to try their fortune here.)" Ties with Sydney were emphasised as there were several Europeans hoping to make a living by "buying flax, pork and timber, and selling it to ships or merchants in New South Wales."   The close relationship between missionaries and settlers on New Zealand and Sydney is evident throughout, with references to Browne and Raine of Sydney who had already established a timber station at Hokianga Harbour. Hobbs visited their base "about 25 or 27 miles from the Heads. They have a few rush houses built and have employed men in building a vessel.  The River is sufficiently deep so as to admit a vessel of 2 or 3 hundred Tons and runs from one to three miles wide."   The next morning they visited Patuone. "We were conducted to him by one of the Wangarao natives, who is now a refugee with him and were receive with every mark of respect. I was much pleased with the distance which all the natives manifested and.…