Oceana : or, England and her colonies . clean, and noflying or crawling insect disturbed our slumbers. When weopened our windows in the morning, the landscape washalf-hidden by the steam from the springs, which, for somereason, are generally hottest at night. The Maori, maleand female, were lazily coming out of their huts, black-haired, large-headed, and large-boned, in their red andyellow blankets. Pipes were in the mouths of the men,who stood about and loafed. The women drew round theboiling holes with their pots and kettles. Children straggledalong the sands, or paddled in the. shallow wate
Oceana : or, England and her colonies . clean, and noflying or crawling insect disturbed our slumbers. When weopened our windows in the morning, the landscape washalf-hidden by the steam from the springs, which, for somereason, are generally hottest at night. The Maori, maleand female, were lazily coming out of their huts, black-haired, large-headed, and large-boned, in their red andyellow blankets. Pipes were in the mouths of the men,who stood about and loafed. The women drew round theboiling holes with their pots and kettles. Children straggledalong the sands, or paddled in the. shallow water of thelake. The island which I have already mentioned stoodfour miles outside our window. It is called Mokoia, iscelebrated in legend, and has besides a remarkable legend is a Hero and Leander story, where the lady,however, and not Leander, was the swimmer. Hinemoia,a chiefs daughter on the mainland, was adored by ayouth whose home was on the island. She returned hispassion; and when her father, not finding the connection. MO KOI A AND ITS HISTORY 273 grand enough, forbade her to think of him, she wentto the nearest promontory, swam the three miles whichdivided her from her lover, and hid herself in his own warmsulphur pond, where he found her smiling and waiting forhim when he came down in the morning. The pool iscalled, after the lady, Hinemoias bath, and the adventureis the subject of many a Maori ballad and love-song. Thehistory connected with Mokoia is more tragic. In the earlydays of the missionaries, some sixty years ago, there wasa famous warrior in these parts named Hangi. He was aman of some intellect, and wishing to know somethingmore about the white men who were coming into NewZealand, he went under the missionaries auspices toEngland, was introduced, I believe, to Exeter Hall—at anyrate was made much of, and was presented with a goodsum of money to be used in civilising and Christianising hiscountrymen. This money he laid out secretly in guns andpow
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectgreatbritaincolonies
