THE MAORIES. 463 



fathers and sons-in-law, mothers and daughters-in-law, and 

 brothers and sisters-in-law, are severally forbidden to speak 

 to each other, or to eat from the same dish/'* Yet amid so 

 much that is horrible, there is still something in the Fijian 

 which redeems his character from utter atrocity. If he hates 

 deeply, he also loves truly; if his revenge never dies, his 

 fidelity and loyalty are strong and enduring. Thakombau 

 was a thorough Fijian. Almost to the last he opposed the 

 missionaries. He was not only heathen, but an ti- Christian. 

 At length being converted, he called his people together, and, 

 says Mr. Calvert, " What a congregation he had ! husbands 

 whose wives he had dishonoured ! widows whose husbands he 

 had slain ! sisters whose relatives had been strangled by his 

 orders ! relatives whose friends he had eaten ! and children, 

 the descendants of those he had murdered, and who had vowed 

 to avenge the wrongs inflicted on their fathers !"( Yet even 

 this man an adulterer, a parricide, and a cannibal, whose 

 hands were stained with a hundred murders had still some- 

 thing noble and lovable about him ; so much so, indeed, that, 

 in spite of his crimes, he secured the affection, the friendship, 

 even the respect, of a man so excellent as Mr. Calvert. 



The Maories. 



The New Zealanders are the southernmost representatives 

 of the great Polynesian family. Their principal food consisted 

 of fern roots, which they scorched over the fire, and then beat 

 with a stick, till the bark and dry outside fell off; the re- 

 mainder being a soft substance, rather clammy and sweet, not 

 unpleasant to the taste, but mixed with numerous stringy 

 fibres which are very disagreeable. J In the northern districts 

 were large plantations of yams and sweet potatoes. They also 

 cultivated gourds, which were used for vessels, as they had no 



* 1. c. p. 136. f Figi and the Figians, vol. ii. p. 357. 



J Dieffenbacli's New Zealand, vol. ii. p. 11. 



