414 THE NEW ZEALANDERS. [chap, xviri. 



Mr. Marsden ; their conduct was civil to each other ; but 

 Shoiii^i told him that when again in New Zealand he 

 would never cease to carry war into his country. The 

 challenge was accepted ; and Shongi on his return fulfilled 

 the threat to the utmost letter. The tribe on the Thames 

 River was utterly overthrown, and the chief, to whom the 

 challenge had been given, was himself killed. Shongi, 

 although harbouring such deep feelings of hatred and 

 revenge, is described as having been a good-natured 

 person. 



In the evening I went with Captain Fitz Roy and Mr. 

 Baker, one of the missionaries, to pay a visit to Korora- 

 dika : we wandered about the village, and saw and 

 conversed with many of the people, both men, women, and 

 children. Looking at the New Zealander, one naturally 

 compares him with the Tahitian ; both belonging to the 

 same family of mankind. The comparison, however, 

 tells heavily against the New Zealander. He may, 

 perhaps, be superior in energy, but in every other respect 

 his character is of a much lower order. One glance at 

 their respective expressions, brings conviction to the 

 mind that one is a savage, the other a civilised man. It 

 would be vain to seek in the whole of New Zealand a 

 person with the face and mien of the old Tahitian chief 

 Utamme. No doubt the extraordinary manner in which 

 tattooing is here practised, gives a disagreeable expres- 

 sion to their countenances. The complicated but sym- 

 metrical figures covering the whole face, puzzle and 

 mislead an unaccustomed eye: it is moreover probable, that 

 the deep incisions, by destroying the play of the superficial 

 muscles, give an air of rigid inflexibility. But, besides 

 this, there is a twinkling in the eye which cannot indicate 

 anything but cunning and ferocity. Their figures are 

 tall and bulky ; but not comparable in elegance with those 

 of the working-classes in Tahiti. 



Both their persons and houses are filthy dirty and 

 offensive ; the idea of washing either their bodies or their 

 clothes never seems to enter their heads. I saw a chief, 

 who was wearing a shirt black and matted with filth, and 

 when asked how It came to be so dirty, he replied, 

 with surprise, " Do not you see it is an old one ? " . Some 

 of the men have shirts ; but the common dress is one 

 or two large blankets, generally black with dirt, which are 

 thrown over their shoulders in a very inconvenient and 



