ll ever
see them again, but I always like to please them, because it is right
to consider their desires. Is that not what is meant in "Blessed is he
that considereth the poor"? There is a great deal of good in these
poor people. In cases of _milando_ they rely on the most distant
relations and connections to plead their cause, and seldom are they
disappointed, though time at certain seasons, as for instance at
present, is felt by all to be precious. Every man appears with hoe or
axe on shoulder, and the people often only sit down as we pass and
gaze at us till we are out of sight.

[Illustration: Women's Teeth hollowed.]

Many of the men have large slits in the lobe of the ear, and they have
their distinctive tribal tattoo. The women indulge in this painful
luxury more than the men, probably because they have very few
ornaments. The two central front teeth are hollowed at the cutting
edge. Many have quite the Grecian facial angle. Mapuio has thin legs
and quite a European face. Delicate features and limbs are common, and
the spur-heel is as scarce as among Europeans; small feet and hands
are the rule.

Clapping the hands in various ways is the polite way of saying "Allow
me," "I beg pardon," "Permit me to pass," "Thanks," it is resorted to
in respectful introduction and leave-taking, and also is equivalent to
"Hear hear." When inferiors are called they respond by two brisk claps
of the hands, meaning "I am coming." They are very punctilious amongst
each other. A large ivory bracelet marks the headman of a village;
there is nothing else to show differences of rank.

_28th October, 1866._--We spent Sunday at Mapuio's and had a long talk
with him; his country is in a poor state from the continual incursions
of the Mazitu, who are wholly unchecked.

_29th October, 1866._--We marched westwards to Makosa's village, and
could not go further, as the next stage is long and through an
ill-peopled country. The morning was lovely, the whole country bathed
in bright sunlight, and not a breath of air disturbed the smoke as it
slowly curled up from the heaps of burning weeds, which the native
agriculturist wisely destroys. The people generally were busy hoeing
in the cool of the day. One old man in a village where we rested had
trained the little hair he had left into a tail, which, well plastered
with fat, he had bent on itself and laid flat on his crown; another
was carefully paring a stick for stirring the porridge, and other