4M ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XVII. 
in which five little naked urchins pushed along, scream- 
ing and yelling with delight whenever the pakeha ad- 
mired their efforts, and laughing at the upsets which 
attended them at nearly every rapid. Good-humour 
prevailed among the throng; merry jokes and jeers 
passed from canoe to canoe ; and the thoughts of all 
seemed to be brightened by the delicious weather, which 
continued sunny and fine, without any great heat. 
Nothing more pleasant than such a journey. Re- 
clining on a platform covered with soft mats just for- 
ward of my steersman, under the shade of a broad- 
brimmed Panama hat, now smoking, now sketching, 
now noting some name, or legend, or genealogy of 
a tribe as related by Konatu, who always held the 
steering-paddle ; now handing my pipe to be filled by 
one of the other boys, and then seizing a paddle or a 
pole and raising a canoe-song to encourage my crew, as 
some old acquaintance came up alongside and chal- 
lenged me for a race, I entered heartily into the spirit 
of our expedition. The Maori himself is all excitement 
when in action, and enjoys nothing better than to see a 
pakeha in the same high spirits as himself On such 
occasions, the loudest laugh, the sharpest repartee, the 
wildest cheer, the most skilful use of the paddle, may 
be said to win their hearts ; and accordingly, whenever 
my canoe got puzzled by a severe rapid, a dozen of those 
who had passed it would leave theirs above, and jump 
screaming into the water to lend a hand. The old 
chiefs even, however calm and dignified at a korero, or 
discussion, make it a point to relax during a journey. 
The only chill cast on the innocent gaiety of the 
throng was the cold and untimely gravity of Mr. Ma- 
son, the head missionary, whose large canoe kept up 
with the rest. I was surprised to see him maintiiin a 
face of which not a feature moved, a posture in which 
