Corzxso.—On the Maori Races of New Zealand. 365 
not apparent, they repeatedly exorcised, to the double misery and expense of 
the sufferer. Recent wounds were generally left to themselves, and, like 
their fractures, they mostly healed quickly and well; owing, no doubt, to 
their non-stimulating diet, temperate living, and low pulse. Old obstinate 
ulcers (often arising from scrofula, or from some fragment of bone or foreign 
substance remaining in the flesh, or from fungoid flesh) they sometimes 
adroitly managed, by weaving a little wicker boss, or shield, which they 
strapped on to protect the sore. They were also clever at boils, in courage- 
ously bearing the extraction of the core by pressure, only they did it too 
early. Painful excoriations of the hands by poling or paddling, they eased 
by the actual cautery, burning the same with live embers. In midwifery 
cases they were also very expert, in severe cases extracting the foetus piece- 
meal, when the husband was generally the operator. They were always 
extraordinarily solicitous about the retention of the afterbirth. In cases of 
children being poisoned by eating the seeds of the tupakihi or tutu (Coriaria 
ruscifolia), they generally smoked them over a heap of green bushes, having a 
little fire underneath, shaking them about at the same time ; Sometimes they 
also ducked them roughly in the sea or river. In cases of poisoning through 
eating the unprepared kernels of the karaka (Corynocarpus laevigata), they 
dug a deep pit as fast as possible, in which they placed the unhappy sufferer 
standing, with his arms lashed to his sides, his legs tied together, and a gag in. 
his mouth, filling in the earth or sand to his neck. If this treatment was well 
and expeditiously performed, the patient not only recovered, but had again 
the proper use of his limbs. The convulsions and rigidities during the action 
of the poison were dreadfully severe. 
22. They had several acquired habits, some of which were notably good, 
others peculiar. Their great industry has been already mentioned. They 
usually carried their heavy loads strapped on their backs, where they also 
carried their children. They were fond of sitting squatting on their haunches, 
both on land and in their canoes. They often used their toes to pick up any 
small article with. They endured their smoky houses without inconvenience, 
and always ate their food out of doors in all weathers. They saluted each 
other on meeting by placing their noses in contact, rubbing and pressing 
them ; in this way chiefs saluted chiefs and slaves slaves. They often signi- 
fied their assent to anything by a slight elevation of the head or of the 
eyebrows. Silence was the understood sign of dissent. They measured 
length, especially cordage, &c., with expanded arms, or by stretching them- 
selves on the ground or surface to be measured. Lice of two kinds (Pedicu- 
lus hum. capitis, and P. hum. éorporis), with which their heads and clothing 
formerly abounded, they uniformly caught and cracked with their. teeth. 
They had a peculiar gait, turning in their toes, and planting the sole flat on 
