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TIIE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.— SUPPLEMENT. 



Occasionally, however, the original nature asserts 

 itself, and at one of these very farms the native 

 agriculturist deliberately burned the whole of his 

 straw because he experienced some trouble in 

 obtaining what he considered to be its proper 

 price. Another distinguished chief had some 

 turkeys to dispose of, and, as the first person to 

 whom they were offered for sale objected to the 

 exorbitant sum asked, he gave them all away to 

 a Pakeha friend. When the Polynesian is ac- 

 cused of being idle and thriftless, of having very 

 lax notions as to female virtue, and a weakness 

 for intoxicating liquors, the case against him has 

 been pretty nearly summed up, and it can only 

 be added that his failings are injurious to him- 

 self rather than to others. That those who can 

 speak the language of Maoris or Kanakas, and 

 who are in constant association with them, either 

 officially or socially, like them well enough to tell 

 many stories in their favor and few to their dis- 

 credit, is a fact with which a passing traveler 

 can hardly fail to be impressed, and my own ex- 

 perience, as far as it went, confirmed the favor- 

 able views of those better qualified to speak 

 upon the subject. 



A ride of a few days through a district so 

 little frequented by Europeans that we only met 

 one white man — a trooper of the armed constab- 

 ulary — afforded an opportunity of realizing the 

 kindly disposition and honesty of the more un- 

 sophisticated among the New-Zealanders. They 

 could not do much for us, certainly, and one chief 

 apologized for apparent remissness by asking, 

 "How can I show you kindness when I have only 

 potatoes and cabbage ? " They did what they 

 could, however, with a friendly politeness which 

 was very gratifying. On one occasion I arrived 

 with my guide at a Hau-hau village after dark, 

 and found it deserted for the time being by all 

 its inhabitants, except one very aged crone, too 

 feeble to travel. Following the custom in such 

 cases, we selected the most comfortable whare, 

 and made ourselves at home. This whare was a 

 hut built of reeds, fern-stalks and native flax, 

 closely interwoven and perfectly weather-tight. 

 Clean mats were the only furniture, but so great 

 was the confidence reposed by the owner in his 

 countrymen and visitors, that he had left in this 

 open hut his most precious possession — a pair of 

 double-barreled guns, which had probably in 

 their day done service against the British troops. 

 It is illegal to sell fire-arms to the natives in New 

 Zealand, and even a revolver and a few car- 

 tridges cannot be landed without purchasing a 

 permit to introduce " arms, ammunition, and 



warlike stores," so that these two old fowling- 

 pieces were of priceless value to the owner ; yet 

 he evidently entertained no fears for their safety. 

 They were tapu (sacred), no doubt, to all good 

 Hau-haus, and our absent host was justified in 

 his apparent carelessness. We could makp him 

 no return for his hospitality, beyond fetching 

 water for the poor old lady and giving her a few 

 of our provisions. My guide was well known 

 and popular with the natives, which insured us 

 a welcome anywhere; but an unlucky white pe- 

 destrian who preceded us paid the penalty of the 

 misconduct of others. Arriving at a small vil- 

 lage, weary and foot-sore, he asked for shelter ; 

 but the men were absent, and the women did not 

 like his looks, so one of them advised him to 

 push on a mile or two for an imaginary settle- 

 ment. There are no habitations for the next 

 twenty-five miles, and as my experienced guide 

 lost his way upon the trackless plain, there was 

 some reason to apprehend that the poor " sun- 

 downer " never succeeded in making his way 

 across. If he really did come to an untimely 

 end, his was a hard case ; but the behavior of 

 mean whites under similar circumstances was the 

 cause, if not the excuse, for the falsehood told 

 by the unprotected wahine (woman) of Tirau. 

 She evidently felt compunction in confessing to 

 us this breach of hospitality, in order that we 

 might look out for him, and the incident ap- 

 peared to me at least as unfavorable to the char- 

 acter of white men in general as to that of this 

 native woman in particular. Had the rangatira 

 been at home, nothing of the sort would have 

 occurred. 



In Polynesia, as is usually the case where 

 women are in a minority, they are treated with 

 some consideration, and take part in nearly all 

 amusements and occupations along with men. 

 They are very fond of riding, many Maori ladies 

 using side-saddles and riding-habits, while those 

 of Hawaii invariably ride d la Duchcsse dc Bcrri 

 on Spanish saddles ; and most picturesque objects 

 they are on horseback, in their brilliant, flowing 

 robes, adorned with coronets and garlands of 

 flowers. Tattooing is no longer in fashion with 

 the youths and maidens ; but in New Zealand the 

 senior chiefs are decorated with most elaborate 

 patterns of spirals and volutes, and the elder 

 women have their lips and chins tattooed like 

 the Maronites of the Lebanon. As usual among 

 uncivilized races, the women are not so good- 

 looking as the men, and in New Zealand they do 

 not scorn a short clay pipe, even when dressed 

 in complete European fashion — a practice not 



