SIGHT-SEEING IN NEW ZEALAND. 315 



of both the albatross and the penguin are fed so long and kept 

 so fat by the parent birds that they grow to an enormous size, 

 and will not attempt to shift for themselves until they are 

 deserted by the old ones and actually starved into flight and 

 seeking their own food. 



At Wellington, a city of 20,000 inhabitants, situated on Cook's 

 Strait which divides New Zealand about in the middle, are 

 located the Parliament and Government House, said to be the 

 largest wooden building in the world. In this city resides the 

 Governor, who is usually some titled Englishman ; and the finest 

 mansion in the land is built and provided for his use. 



But that which interested me most in Wellington was its well 

 kept and most entertaining museum. Its specialties are Maori 

 curiosities ; and chief among them is a Carved House, or Ru- 

 nanga, the most perfect one ever constructed by the natives. It 

 was bought for $500, and has been removed and set up here 

 entire. Its carvings, which literally cover all parts, ceilings, 

 sides and front, are exceedingly elaborate, and a marvel of skill 

 and perseverance, considering that they were all executed with 

 stone implements. Each plank took a tree to make it, and the 

 flint axes are shown that hewed and carved it out. The figures 

 of the carving are elegant traceries and embossings, interspersed 

 with hideous images, like Japanese idols, with wide open mouths 

 and three cleft tongues protruding, which the Maoris will tell 

 you represent their ancestors. Of their and our Darwinian 

 theories, I think I prefer the monkey forefathers. 



Within the Carved House are innumerable trophies of the art 

 and workmanship of the natives ; the mere, or killing weapon, a 

 double-edged cleaver worked out of greenstone, the toughest of 

 all rare minerals ; ear pendants and other ornaments, made of 

 this same hard stone ; elaborately carved prows of their great 

 war canoes ; mats and robes of feathers ; cloths and blankets 

 made from the native flax-plant; and a thousand other things 

 showing the great ingenuity of this remarkable people. 



Christ Church, half way down the east coast of South Island, 

 is an interesting city of 30,000 inhabitants. It is called the City 

 of the Plains, and is the only one in the islands built on level 



