composed of dried fern-leaves, sometimes raised a
few inches above the level of the earth floor; but quite as often
nothing but the fern-leaves intervene between the body and the ground.
The _wharry_, or cabin, is always the same, and contains but one
apartment, with a low doorway and an overhanging thatch of dried ti-tree
interwoven with long grasses. There is no matting or flooring of any
sort upon the ground within the cabin. Ohinemutu is built over a region
so heated by internal fires that the earth is dry and warm,--too warm we
thought. There is one compensation, however, for the risk of thus
building one's home over burning sulphurous regions,--no insects or
vermin can exist in these ground-floor huts, which the uncleanly habits
of their occupants would otherwise tend to make swarm with such
parasites. In these cabins there is sometimes seen a rude attempt at
ornamentation in carving, but the images are grotesque, and to us were
quite unmeaning,--consisting generally of hideous heads with blood-red
lolling tongues and dwarf-shaped bodies. The natives have very little
idea of decoration, except tattooing and the wearing of a few personal
ornaments.

There is a green stone--nephrite--native to New Zealand, which is prized
by the women for personal wear, and which admits of a high degree of
polish. This stone in various shapes is worn as ear-rings, amulets tied
about the neck, or made into beads; it is sometimes worn
bracelet-fashion about the wrists or ankles. There is another and less
common ornament worn by the Maori women; namely, a small pink or white
feather thrust through the cartilage of the nose, the ends hanging down
on either side, shading the upper lip like a moustache. This recalled
the brass and silver rings worn through nose and lips, as seen in South
Africa and the Straits Settlements. The young women of the tribes that
are brought most in contact with the whites are giving up the tattooing
process upon their faces; but those of middle age, or older, are defaced
by blue lines about the lower lip and the chin. The pride of the women
is to wear a short skirt of some high-colored material, and to wrap
themselves in a blanket of the "loudest" pattern,--flaming red or yellow
being preferred. The men affect more the dress of Europeans.

The Maoris differ in many essential particulars from most savage races
with whom we have chanced to meet. Unlike the American Indian, the Maori
is neither treacherous nor