ON DEPARTURE, OR RETURN. JQl 
a tear begins to glisten in the eye ; a wry face is 
drawn ; then they will shuffle nearer to the indivi- 
dual, and at length cling round his neck. They 
then begin to cry outright, and to use the flint 
about the face and arms ; and, at last, to roar most 
outrageously, and almost to smother with kisses, 
tears, and blood, the poor fellow who is anxious 
to escape all this. On the return of friends, or 
when visited by them from a distance, the same 
scene, only more universally, is gone through ; 
and it is difficult to keep your own tears from 
falling at the melancholy sight they present, and 
the miserable bowlings and discordant noises 
which they make. There is much of the cant of 
affection in all this ; for they can keep within a 
short distance of the person over whom they know 
they must weep, till they have prepared them- 
selves by thinking, and have worked themselves up 
to the proper pitch; when, with a rush of pretended 
eagerness, they grasp their victim (for that is the 
best term to use), and commence at once to ope- 
rate upon their own bodies, and upon his patience. 
There is one thing worthy of observation, that, 
as they can command tears to appear, upon all 
occasions, at a moment's warning, so they can 
cease crying when told to do so, or when it be- 
comes inconvenient to continue it longer. I was 
once much amused at a scene of this kind, which 
happened at a village called Kaikohi, about ten 
miles from the Waimate. Half-a-dozen of their 
friends and relations had returned, after an 
