This is the first full English translation of the surviving Mangakahia journals and letters of French Marist priest Father Antoine Garin. Frank, open-minded and often humorous, Garin's diary is a major contribution to the early history of European settlement in Aotearoa and a compelling insight into Maori customs, values and beliefs of the time.
Father Antoine Garin was sent to run the remote Mangakahia mission station on the Wairoa River. This is Garin's diary recording his experiences from 1844 to 1846 as he gets to know the Maori in the region. This is the first full English translation of Garin's surviving Mangakahia journals and letters.