ght and
lank. The disposition of the New Zealander appears to be full of fun and
gaiety, while the Indian is dull, shy, and suspicious.

I have known Indians in America from the north to the south--the
miserable, idiotic Botecooda of Brazil, the fierce warrior of Canada, and
the gentle and civilised Peruvian, yet in their features and complexions
they are all much alike. I observed their statures altered with their
different latitudes; the Chilians and the Canadians being nearly the
same, in figure tall, thin, and active, their climate being nearly the
same, although at the two extremes of America; while those living between
the equinoxes are short, fat, and lazy. I am persuaded that these South
Sea Islanders, though so nearly of the same complexion, still are not of
the same race, laziness being the characteristic of the American Indian
from north to south, while the New Zealanders are laborious in the
extreme, as their astonishing and minute carvings prove. The moment the
Indian tasted intoxicating spirits his valour left him, he became an
idiot and a tool in the hands of the white man. Here they have the utmost
aversion to every kind of "wine or strong drink," and very often severely
take us to task for indulging in such an extraordinary and debasing
propensity, or, as they call it, "of making ourselves mad;" but both
nations are equally fond of tobacco.

The first thing which struck me forcibly was, that each of these savages
was armed with a good musket, and most of them had also a cartouch box
buckled round their waists, filled with ball cartridges, and those who
had fired their pieces from the canoes carefully cleaned the pans,
covered the locks over with a piece of dry rag, and put them in a secure
place in their canoes. Every person who has read Captain Cook's account
of the natives of New Zealand would be astonished at the change which has
taken place since his time, when the firing of a single musket would have
terrified a whole village.

As we sailed up the river very slowly, the throng of savages increased to
such a degree that we could scarcely move, and, to add to our confusion,
they gave us "a dance of welcome," standing on one spot, and stamping so
furiously that I really feared they would have stove in the decks, which
our lady passengers were obliged to leave, as when the dance began each
man proceeded to strip himself naked, a custom indispensable among
themselves.

We came to an anchor off a nat