74 A Sketch of New Zealand. [ February, 
é 
‘moco” or tattoo that in former days was characteristic of the 
people, is now seen only on 
the older faces; the younger 
generations having abandoned 
the custom through the influ- 
ence of the missionaries. 
Not only has New Zealand 
presented us with a new and 
extremely interesting picture 
of man yet in the stone age, 
but its flora and fauna have 
been found to be eqyally in- 
structive. 
The traveler who enters for 
the first time a New Zealand 
forest, no matter from what 
land he may have wandered, 
will find everything new and 
strange to him. What espe- 
cially attracts the attention is 
the great profusion of cryptog- 
amous or flowerless plants, 
in which these islands are 
= richer than any other country 
The Chief’s Son. in the world. The ferns alone 
number about a hundred and twenty species, and form the 
the most characteristic feature in the landscape. Thousands of 
these beautiful plants cover the ground with their low and deli- 
cate fronds, as in some portions of our own country ; others entwine 
the trunks of trees for support; still others attain the size of 
forest trees and rear their great crowns of feathery fronds to a 
height of forty or fifty feet in the air, rivaling in their grace and 
elegance the date-palm of Arabia. As there are but a few birds 
of song in New Zealand, and a scarcity of insect life, the woods 
are always silent. This, together with the strange weird forms of 
the vegetation around, makes a deep impression on the visitor to 
whom such scenes are new. Despite the luxuriance of the ferns, 
we miss the numerous sweet flowers that in our own minds are 
so closely associated with the deep shade of the forest. In New 
Zealand the blossoms are, for the most part, small and inconspic- 
uous, and lacking in sweetness. 
egy — =a c 
Sni Han 
