484 Transactions.— Miscellaneous. 
Further, and lastly, Mr. Stack says (same page),—‘‘ Most persons have 
had an opportunity of observing the incongruous colours in which a Maori 
belle arrays herself when seeking to attract admiration in our streets. Her 
mode of adornment proves that her sense of colour is still very defective. 
She knows each colour by name* but she has an imperfect mental concep- _ 
tion of it, and therefore cannot realize what a fright she makes herself by 
wearing colours that will not harmonize.” Mr. Stack might more justly 
have applied these words to a fashionably dressed European female, such as 
I not unfrequently meet with here in Napier. Take out the word Maori and | 
insert European or Colonial—and the sentence is complete. Such, almost 
word for word, I have last year frequently seen in our more respectable | 
papers, English and Colonial, when writing on the horried deformities of ) 
the fashionable and bizarre female dress of the day. In my estimation, the 
Maori woman of to-day has been so far vitiated and debased in taste as to 
run after and adopt those ultra European fashions. ‘ 
I have thought it necessary thus freely to criticize Mr. Stack’s paper in the | 
interests of our English and European philological and physiological writers 
(as Max Miiller, Herbert Spencer, Darwin, Tylor, Lubbock, ete.), who, in 
the prosecution of their studies and researches, naturally look to such @ 
volume as our New Zealand Institute “ Transactions” for correct informa- 
tion re the Maoris: and to allow such erroneous notions and statements, 
however innocently made, to remain unchecked, would never do. 
I wish to add, that I do not believe that Mr. Stack has erred wilfully ; ag 
and, further, that if, even now, he were to travel leisurely among the Maoris 
in the interior of the North Island, he would himself soon discover many of 
his errors, and abandon them. 
* I suppose that some of those colours of dress, she is said now to know by name, are 
such as the following, e.g. :— 
plum-colour rose-colour 
lavender-colour orange-colour 
-colour elaret-colour 
sage-green-colour pea-green-colour 
fawn-colour mouse-colour 
dove-colour salmon-colour 
ete., efe., etc. 
Now where is the very great difference in expression, or rather, say, the su 
prpbabeed egret trey eaten by vor 
the exact aghadea of h 
di 
Po 
