.11.0 AVOYAGETO 



^>777- in the water, tie a rop6 to it, and dra? it to the fliore, to 



February. » t" ' & 



which they faflen it, and it afterward becomes flone. As 

 •they all agree, that it is fiflied out of a large lake, or col- 

 le6lion of waters, the mod probable conje6ture is, that it 

 is brought from the motintains, and depofited in the water, 

 by the torrents. This lake is called by the natives Tavai 

 ■Poeuammoo ; that is, the water of Green Talc ; and it is only 

 the adjoining part of the country, and not the whole Southern 

 ifland of New Zealand, that is known to them by the name 

 /which hath been given to it on my chart *. 



Polygamy is allowed amongfl: thefe people ; and it is not 

 uncommon for a man to have two or three wives. The 

 women are marriageable at a very early age; and it fliould 

 leem, that one who is unmarried, is but in a forlorn ftate. 

 She can with difficulty get a fubfiftence ; at leaft, fhe is, in 

 a great meafure, without a protedor, though in conllant 

 want of a powerful one. 



The New Zealanders feem to be a people perfe6lly fatif- 

 fied with the little knowledge they are mafters of, without 

 attempting, in the leaft, to improve it. Nor are they re- 

 markably curious, either in their obfervations, or their in- 

 quiries. New objed:s do not ftrike them with fuch a degree 

 of furprize as one would naturally expect ; nor do they 

 even fix their attention for a moment. Omai, indeed, who 

 was a great favourite with them, would fometimes attract a 

 circle about him ; but they feemed to liflen to his fpeeches, 

 like perfons who neither underftood, nor wifhed to under- 

 lland, what they heard. 



One day, on our inquiring of Taweiharooa, how many 

 ihips, fuch as ours, had ever arrived in Queen Charlotte's 



* See Captain Cook's rhart of New Zealand, in HawkeC Coll. vol. ii. p. 281. 



7 Sound, 



