wandering as I please. I consider that I have been spoiled by being my
own master too young. I think it is bad for a young man to start in life
with a competence; but when it comes to one in middle age, when one has
learned to spend it rationally, it is undoubtedly a very great comfort
and advantage. I suppose, however, that the time will come when I shall
settle down. I am thirty-five, and I ought to 'range myself,' as the
French say."

Mr. Atherton had not been long upon the voyage when he discovered that
the chances of success of the Renshaw party as settlers would be small
indeed if they depended upon the exertions of the head of the family. He
had not been more than a day or two on board before Mr. Renshaw began to
discuss his favourite hobby with him, and confided to him that he
intended thoroughly to investigate the history, customs, and religion of
the Maoris, and to produce an exhaustive work on the subject. "An
excellent idea, very," the stout man said encouragingly, "but one
demanding great time and investigation; and perhaps," he added
doubtfully, "one more suited to a single man, who can go and live among
the natives and speak their language, than for a married man with a
family to look after."

Mr. Renshaw waved the remark aside lightly. "I shall, of course, set to
work immediately I arrive to acquire a thorough knowledge of the
language, and indeed have already begun with a small dictionary and a
New Testament in the Maori language, brought out by the Missionary
Society. As to my family, my exertions in the farming way will be of no
use whatever to them. My wife and daughter will look after the house,
and Wilfrid will undertake the management of the men out of doors. The
whole scheme is theirs, and I should be of no assistance to them
whatever. My bent lies entirely in the direction of archaeology, and
there can be little doubt that my thorough acquaintance with all
relating to the habits, and, so far as is known, of the language of the
ancient Britons, Saxons, Danes, and the natives of the northern part of
the island, will be of inestimable advantage in enabling me to carry out
the subject I have resolved to take up. There are analogies and
similarities between the habits of all primitive peoples, and one
accustomed to the study of the early races of Europe can form a general
opinion of the habits and mode of living of a tribe merely from the
inspection of an ancient weapon or two, a bracelet, and a pot