236 NETHER LOCHABER. 



vacant. The late Bishop, Dr. Ewing, with whom we had the 

 honour of being on most intimate and friendly terms, was an 

 unostentatiously pious, thoroughly good, and really very able 

 man, whom nine-tenths of the clergy of his own Church would not 

 or could not understand. Thank God that in the enumeration of 

 the good men whom we have known, the fingers of both hands do 

 not suffice ; and of the really good men whom we have been 

 privileged to know and honour with affectionate regard was the 

 late Bishop Ewing. 



Some months ago we wrote to an old college chum, now farming 

 in New Zealand, advising him, as some occupation for his idle 

 hours, to pick up and send us such scraps of songs and poems as 

 he might find among the Maori race around him. No uncivilised 

 people that we had read or heard of seemed to us, in many respects, 

 so like our ancient Highlanders the Fingalians, so called, of our 

 older ballad poetry and we thought that so much of their poetry 

 and folk-lore as could be gathered could not fail to be interesting. 

 Our correspondent says : " The Maoris, as you so shrewdly 

 guessed, have a good deal of poetry among them; short songs, 

 however, for the most part, and rhymed proverbs, and "wisdom 

 words," as they call them, very much like the Welsh " Triads" for 

 they generally teach some three particular doctrines, or state 

 historically some three particular facts. A few weeks ago I got 

 an old man who came this way to sing me some aboriginal songs, 

 and the one that most struck my fancy I now send to you. It 

 is perfectly literal, for I know the native language well, and as 

 you are fond of rhyming, you may put it into verse if you like. 

 I can only send a true translation, line for line. 



MAORI SONG. (Translation.) 

 Fish in the pool ? No fish in the pool ; 

 And the women are sad because of it. 

 The men, too, are sad ; but to-morrow 

 The fish will be big, and fat, and many. 



