108 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. IV. 
at more civilized or more Christianized settlements. My 
wishes seemed a law to them ; and they were always 
making voluntary efforts to procure me any food or 
amusement which they thought would )je agreeable. 
The only exceptions to this rule were invariably among 
the few missionary families, who seemed to take pride 
in being less courteous than the others, and more over- 
reaching in their barter for the different little things, 
such as shallots, craw-fish, duck's eggs, which they 
brought in exchange for pipes or tobacco. 
Close to my house was a warm spring, so shallow that 
you could lie down on the sandy bottom, holding your 
head out of water. In this bath all the natives assem- 
bled, morning and evening ; and, indeed, I never found 
a time, late or early, that there were not some in the 
water. I soon learned to join them ; and used to re- 
main there for hours, smoking and playing at draughts, 
at which game all the natives have learned to be 
extremely expert. To their frequent use of these baths 
I attribute the cleanliness and good health of the 
natives of this part of the country ; who are totally 
free from the cutaneous diseases so universal among 
the coast tribes, and generally a cleaner and hand- 
somer race. ' . 
While at Taupo, I had several opportunities of no- 
ticing the legal proceedings for damages, as customarily 
gone into by the natives. Pakau, the brother of E 
Kuru, complained at each settlement which we visited 
of his wife having been formerly stolen by a Taupo 
man, who was now dead. He in consequence claimed 
before the assembled population utu, or " compensa- 
tion," from all the relations of the offender, and by 
this means collected large damages. No objection was 
ever raised to his claim, though some of the mulcted 
relations wept, as they parted with a favourite musket 
