near, it may be as well to call; although we may gain
nothing by the visit, for it is a sterile spot inhabited by
demi-savages, who worship small wooden deities. They tattoo
themselves so as to have the appearance of wearing breeches. Most of
them go naked; some few wear a _maro_ which is made either of fine
Indian cloth of a reddish color, of a wild kind of parsley, or of a
species of sea-weed."

GEORGE. "There are more small islands before we go to New Zealand or
Australia, and I have an account of one,--viz., New Caledonia, lying
south-west of the New Hebrides. It is rather a large island, rocky
for the most part; and there not being much food for animals, very
few are found there. One, however, must be mentioned. It is a spider
called a 'nookee,' which spins a thread so strong, as to offer a
sensible resistance before breaking. This animal (for I have
discovered that a spider is not an insect) constitutes part of the
people's food. The inhabitants are cannibals from _taste_. They eat
with an air of luxurious pleasure the muscular parts of the human
body, and a slice of a child is esteemed a great dainty. Horrible
wretches! They wear no clothes; the women just have a girdle of
fibrous bark, and the men sometimes encircle their heads with a
fillet of sewed net-work or leaves, and the hair of the vampire
bat. Their houses are in the form of beehives, and the door-posts
are of carved planks."

DORA. "New Zealand, almost the antipodes of England, lies in the
South Pacific, and consists of two large islands, the extreme points
of which are called North and South Cape. Near North Cape is Norfolk
Island, where the English, at one time, had a flourishing colony,
now removed to Van Diemen's Land. We must all help to work our ship
round these larger islands, for no individual can be responsible for
the entire management."

MRS. WILTON. "I will set the example. New Zealand was discovered by
Tasman in 1642; but its extent and character were ascertained by
Cook in his voyage of 1774. It is now a regularly established colony
belonging to the British crown. There is a bishop, several clergymen
of the Church of England, and many other missionaries resident
there. It is a fertile group, but contains several active volcanoes.
In the north island, or New Ulster, are various cavities, which
appear to be extinct craters; and in their vicinity numerous hot
springs are to be met with; some of them, as they rise to boiling
point, the n