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as a rule was scrupulous to repay, however long it may have taken him, but he never recognised his liability for more than the principal. Interest he never could or would understand.
They were very loyal to one another. For example, when they took a contract, the total proceeds were equally divided amongst the gang, whether or not from sickness or incapacity some one or more of them had only worked a portion of the time. I can never remember their falling out over the division of their money.
The Maoris worked for us as late as the end of the “seventies,” so that they were under my observation, and in my employment (or my father’s) for over thirty years, so I have had ample opportunity to form an estimate of their character and ability. They were very fond of their children, to whom they were rather too indulgent. They liked flattery, and were always keen to be held in esteem by the white man. They had a strong sense of justice, as the following incident will demonstrate:—When my father arrived in New Zealand, he was for a time at the Hutt, near Wellington.
One day, having occasion to visit the
