Teddy We ekes. 193 



certain man with him, replied, * I have brought him.' * But,' 

 said the barrister, looking in vain round the court, * I don't 

 see him. Where is he ? ' ' He is here] chuckled the Maori 

 proudly, stroking his own well-filled abdomen. According 

 to Mr Stevens, who is one of the greatest authorities on all 

 Maori questions, these dusky islanders imagine that they can 

 absorb into themselves all the good qualities of those whom 

 they eat No doubt it was this general idea that prompted 

 his postman, on one occasion, to chew and swallow the news- 

 paper which it was his duty to fetch from a distant post 

 office. The man, not having any conception of the operation 

 of reading, could not imagine how his master became ac- 

 quainted with its contents, except on the supposition that Mr 

 Stevens ate it ; so he accordingly transferred it from his bag 

 to his stomach. When he arrived with an empty post bag 

 and a full stomach, Mr Stevens asked him where was the 

 paper. The Maori explained that he had eaten it, and that 

 he would tell him all the news as soon as he had digested it. 



The greatest ' character ' among all the shippers, was 

 Teddy Weekes, who died a few years ago. He had an 

 extraordinary number of failings, which are luckily buried 

 with him. His ' language ' was loud, copious and foul, and 

 his habits were horrible ; but he had the redeeming point of 

 being a thorough sportsman. He was not necessarily one, 

 because he lived only for horses and gambling, or because the 

 dearest spot on earth to him was a racecourse ; but he well 

 merited that name for the stoical manner in which he met 

 reverses of fortune in the backing of horses. His losses 

 seemed to act like a powerful tonic on the little, fat, bloated 

 man. One night about five years ago he took a plunge to 

 the amount of 1200, and lost it in the following afternoon 

 by the horse which he had backed getting beaten. It is only 

 fair to him to say that he would not have risked losing a sum 

 he was unable to pay, had he not dined too well. Instead of 

 being cast down or attempting to shirk his liabilities, he 

 brightened himself up, returned to Australia, worked like a 



N 



