favour with
which he had himself been treated could not make him forget the fate of
his companions, or the warning which it afforded him to how sudden or
slight an accident his own life might at any time fall a sacrifice. But
it is certain that, where no such sense of constraint is felt, not only
the notion, but even the reality, of savage life has a strong charm for
many minds. The insecurity and privation which attend upon it are deemed
but a slight counterbalance to the independence, the exemption from
regular labour, and above all the variety of adventure, which it
promises to ardent and reckless spirits.

Generally, however, the Europeans that have adopted the life of the
savage have been men driven out from civilization, or disinclined to
systematic industry. They have not chosen the imaginary freedom and
security of barbarians, in contempt of the artificial restraints and
legal oppressions of a refined state of society, in the way that the
Greek did, whom Priscus found in the camp of Attila, declaring that he
lived more happily amongst the wild Scythians than ever he did under the
Roman government.

But if those who have been accustomed to the comforts of civilization
have not infrequently felt the influence of the seductions which a
barbarous condition offers to an excited imagination, it may well be
conceived that, to the man who has been born a savage, and nurtured in
all the feelings and habits of that state of society, they must address
themselves with still more irresistible effect.

We have many examples, accordingly, of how difficult it is to
extinguish, by any culture, either in an old or a young savage, his
innate passion for the wild life of his fathers.

Tippahee's son, Matara, on his return from England, strove to regain an
acquaintance with his native customs. Moyhanger, Savage's friend, might
be quoted as another instance, in whom all the wonders and attractions
of London would appear not to have excited a wish to see it again. Nor
does any great preference for civilized life seem to have been produced
in other cases, by even a much longer experience of its accommodations.

When Nicholas and Marsden visited New Zealand in 1815, they met at the
North Cape, where they first put on shore, a native of Otaheite, who had
been brought from his own country to Port Jackson when a boy of about
eleven or twelve years old. Here he had lived for some years in the
family of Mr. McArthur, where he had been t