"There is a great variety of tree-ferns, some of them reaching a height of forty feet, and a diameter of twelve inches or more. The most tropical of all the trees of New Zealand is the Nikau, which is the only representative of the palm family. The ferns are more tropical than the trees, and add very much to the beauty of the forest, though they impede locomotion in many places. As for fruit-trees, there are very few indigenous to the country, but nearly everything that grows in the United States or England flourishes, and they have many things here that are strangers to us at home. Peaches, apples, apricots, figs, oranges, strawberries, pears, and other fruits are abundant in their seasons, and some of them reach a luxuriance and perfection surpassing that of the countries whence they came.
"Near the Kauri forest we were shown a Maori pah, or fort, that is said to have been the scene of severe fighting in the early days of the colony. While we were looking at it a man joined our group, and our guide told us he was a pakeha Maori. You will wonder, as we did, what a pakeha Maori is.
A PAKEHA MAORI.
"Well, he's a white man who lives among the Maoris, and in former times, before the colonization, there was a goodly number of them, for the simple reason that unless a man was a missionary he couldn't easily stay in the country without living among the natives. Pakeha means stranger, and is applied to any white man, and a pakeha Maori is a white man living among the natives. The tribes were very desirous of having pakehas among them, for the reason that they could learn useful matters from them, but more particularly they could buy muskets, gun-powder, tools, and other trade goods, of which they were in great need. A pakeha who had trade goods was always welcome, but a man who had nothing was of little consequence, and sometimes had a hard struggle to keep his head on his shoulders.
"With a judicious present of a few shillings we got on the right side of this man, and induced him to talk about what he had seen or knew among the Maoris. I have written down some of the things he said. I can't vouch that they are all absolutely correct; but his statements are corroborated by intelligent white men who have long lived in the country."
Here we will close Frank's journal for a few minutes and listen to the pakeha Maori.
