io8 My New Zealand Garden 



wear elastic-side boots without stockings, and a 

 shawl over a gaudy-coloured skirt, and they are 

 equally fond of a really bright-coloured blanket. 

 These articles of clothing are made in startling 

 colours and patterns expressly to suit their taste. 

 Occasionally some may be seen dressed quite 

 correctly, but many old ones adhere to their native 

 fashions. We found them rather amusing cus- 

 tomers at a bazaar on one occasion, for they 

 bought bright-coloured antimacassars and arranged 

 them on each other's shoulders, and most of their 

 purchases were put to the wrong use. 



As an instance of their hospitality, I have 

 known them to insist upon walking tourists 

 eating their ready-prepared dinner, to which 

 they themselves were on the verge of sitting 

 down, and, furthermore, providing them with 

 new blankets at night, kept especially for the 

 accommodation of strangers, and they would feel 

 quite hurt at any remuneration being offered them 

 in return. It is difficult to associate such good 

 feeling with the cannibalism of a few generations 

 back. I privately suspect them of having eaten 

 up the great moas, whose eggs and bones are in 

 all museums, which bones, when fitted together, 

 look almost as tall as a giraffe, and the eggs as big 

 as pint jugs. I am sure they must have preferred 

 eating those giant fowls to dining off their friends 

 and neighbours ; they seem too pleasant and gentle 



