LIFE OF JAMES DWIGHT DANA 



Chief Pomare was frequently visited in his pa, or strong- 

 hold near the anchorage, and he occasionally visited the 

 scientific corps at their lodgings. On one occasion, by 

 request, the natives favored the explorers with an exhibi- 

 tion of a war-dance, in which three or four hundred men 

 took part, in the presence of their wives and children. 

 A more grotesque group, says Wilkes, cannot well be 

 imagined, dressed, half dressed, or entirely naked. 

 This was followed by a feast-dance, and that with a colla- 

 tion of rice and sugar prepared by the American visitors. 

 Notwithstanding these diversions, no person in the 

 squadron felt any regret at leaving New Zealand (April 

 6th), for there was a want of all means of amusement, 

 says Wilkes, " as well as of any objects in whose ob- 

 servation we were interested." I can only account for 

 this remark of Captain Wilkes, and for his speedy depart- 

 ure from New Zealand, by remembering that his enthu- 

 siasm had been cooled by a visit to the icy fringe of an 

 antarctic coast. His interest in the lands and vegeta- 

 tion, and even in primitive humanity, seems to have 

 reached its lowest point. What a contrast the observa- 

 tion of Froude, fifty years later, when English civilization 

 was completely established! 



" In New Zealand there are mountain ranges grander 

 than the giant bergs of Norway ; there are sheep-walks 

 for the future Melibceus or Shepherd of Salisbury Plain ; 

 there are the rich farm-lands for the peasant yeomen ; 

 and the coasts, with their inlets and infinite varieties, are 

 a nursery for seamen who will carry forward the traditions 

 of the old land. No Arden ever saw such forests, and no 

 lover ever carved his mistress's name on such trees as are 

 scattered over the northern island, while the dullest in- 

 tellect quickens into awe and reverence amidst volcanoes 

 and boiling springs and the mighty forces of nature, which 

 seem as if any day they might break their chains. Even 

 the Maoris, a mere colony of Polynesian savages, grow to 

 a stature of mind and body in New Zealand which no 



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