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36
RAMBLES IN NEW ZEALAND.

getting your clothes daubed all over with the red dirt which has saturated their mats.

We embarked on Towpo about five in the morning, in a very large Ti-wai (Tee-why) or canoe, hollowed out of a single log of wood, without top sides; those with top sides, of which they have none on this lake, are called Wa-kaw, or in common pronunciation "Walkers." This canoe was the largest of the kind I had seen; there were seventeen paddlers and about ten idlers, besides a great quantity of potatoes and my luggage. We had plenty of room, and for the first few miles went on very well. We had to cross a large bay, the only dangerous portion of our journey, and till that was done I had nothing to complain of in their pulling. After that they fell off sadly. As the wind almost always blows off the east shore, we kept close under it in case of accidents; the morning was, however, very calm, and the lake as smooth as glass. When we got about half-way through the lake, we had a glimpse of the Peak of Tongadido before us, and appearing to rise immediately out of the lake. As we approached the south end, it became again hid by the clouds, which rested on the summits of the lower mountains forming the range. About eleven o'clock we arrived at a village, where we landed to eat. I had not been long there before I was joined by a native called Peter, who had been left by Mr. Chapman to superintend the building of a house, which the natives are putting up for him, and which he will use as an out-station to visit every two or three months, just as the clergymen do in England with their distant flocks. This Peter was a very good native, and quite imbued with a missionary spirit. It was really edifying to hear him read prayers and expound; it was impossible to doubt his sincerity: but I am afraid there are not many such as he—the greater part of the so-called Christian natives being only attracted to become converts by the love of