AMONG THE MAORIS 97 



On our way to town we passed through the Maori 

 village, thus having a chance to see what the people 

 were like and how they lived. Many of them were 

 rather good-looking, especially the younger women. 

 The old men were so ornamented (?) with tattoo as to 

 present an appearance anything but prepossessing. 

 Some of their buildings were very homelike, and many 

 were decorated with carvings. 



We left for Auckland the next day, and, after deliver- 

 ing two courses of lectures there, proceeded to the 

 Thames gold fields, where we remained two weeks. 

 During our stay here it rained most of the time, and 

 the houses were so cold and comfortless that we had 

 often to go to bed in the daytime, to get warm. My 

 feelings were not enviable, for I was afflicted with that 

 distressing disease, homesickness. Life for a time 

 ceased to be a pleasure, and seemed little better than 

 a nightmare. It is with feelings of disgust I recall the 

 low, dark, shabby houses ; the dirty, crooked streets ; 

 with the incessant downpour of rain, leaving chill 

 and discomfort everywhere. 



After we returned to Auckland, father and Shelley 

 went to the Hot Lake district, a place of great interest, 

 known the world over for its water-made pink and 

 white terraces, which now no longer exist, as they were 

 destroyed in the recent terrible volcanic disturbances 

 in that neighborhood. 



Although I very much desired to see the place, the 



