DERIVATIONS OF THE LATIN NAMES OF PLANTS. 181 



to remove the fair prize a hundred yards. If she breaks away she instantly 

 hastens from her antagonist, and he has his labours to commence again. Some- 

 times she secures her retreat in her father's house, and her lover loses all chance 

 of obtaining her ; but if he carry her into his own house she immediately be- 

 comes his wife. 



The women have a decided dislike to marriage, which scarcely can be wondered 

 at, when we consider how they are circumstanced; whilst single they can enjoy 

 all the privileges of the other sex ; they can rove where they please ; they are 

 entirely beyond restraint and control, and are at liberty to bestow their favours 

 on whom they please ; but when married their freedom is all at an end ; they 

 are then no better than slaves, but must submit themselves to labour and 

 drudgery to their husbands, who have the power of life and death over them. 

 In a group of New Zealanders you may easily recognize the slaves, who look 

 both dejected and miserable, and are often maimed from the ill-treatment of their 

 masters ; and it not unfrequently happens that at the death of a chief most of 

 his slaves are sacrificed. A male slave is not allowed to have connection with a 

 female on pain of death. 



I made several excursions into the interior of the country, all of which tended 

 to confirm my good opinion of the natives. The next paper will contain a 

 description of their mode of warfare, and their funeral ceremonies. Some of your 

 readers may consider that I am filling your pages with useless trash ; but I am so 

 interested in the people and country that I have more to say if you find me room 

 in your valuable pages. When you think any of my papers are without interest, 

 I trust you will not fail to intimate the same, and I will desist. 



Martin Hall, near Bawtry, 

 January 28, 1838. 



[To the sequel of Mr. Short's series we — in common, doubtless, with our 

 readers — look forward with pleasure for a rich store of interesting and valuable 

 information relative to New Zealand. — Ed.]] 



DERIVATIONS OF THE LATIN NAMES OF BRITISH PLANTS. 



By T. B. Hall. 



(Continued from page 63.) 



Agrostis. — From aypos, a field, because common therein ; certain species being 

 worthy of cultivation. 



Agrostis spica-venti, Silky Bent-grass. — It is liable to be smutted. Horses 

 and Goats eat it, Sheep refuse it. After the spring-sown corn has vegetated, 



