352 Notes 011 Sport and Travel m 



the ' Man from New Caledonia,' in Cook's Voyages, 

 a thing which has puzzled many). In fact, he was 

 never a good spear -thrower — (how awfully the 

 people who posted Homer up in the subject must 

 have lied !) — using his stick more bayonet -fashion, 

 ever loving close quarters. 



' Thors short-hafted hammer is half a yard long, 

 And Freya's own sword but an ell. 

 Never fear, grapple close, seize thy foe by the throat, 

 And a dagger shall serve thee as well.' 



He saw at once the advantage of the musket, 

 and civilised himself and showed himself at Exeter 

 Hall in order to procure the means of getting them 

 from the saints ; but he only once tried to make 

 gunpowder, and then the manufacturer, who was a 

 coloured missionary, blew himself nearer heaven 

 than he was ever likely to get in any other way. 

 He certainly did in the last war cut off the tops of 

 wax matches, and stick them on the nipple of his 

 gun, when caps were scarce ; but I have every reason 

 to believe that he learnt the art from some knavish 

 beach-coomber. In fact, in that form of invention 

 he was nowhere ; hit — and the Maori is, or was, full 

 of buts — this queer Antipodean bundle of contrarie- 

 ties, who could not get beyond the very simplest and 

 savage forms of the art of attacking, developed the 

 art of defence in a manner worthy of Todleben him- 

 self, or the man he stole from, James Fergusson. 

 At once, on being faced by shot and shell (the last 

 of which he bitterly complained of as unfairly keep- 



