New Zealand is favoured
by one great natural advantage; namely, that the inhabitants can
never perish from famine. The whole country abounds with fern: and
the roots of this plant, if not very palatable, yet contain much
nutriment. A native can always subsist on these, and on the
shell-fish which are abundant on all parts of the sea-coast. The
villages are chiefly conspicuous by the platforms which are raised
on four posts ten or twelve feet above the ground, and on which the
produce of the fields is kept secure from all accidents.
On coming near one of the huts I was much amused by seeing in due
form the ceremony of rubbing, or, as it ought to be called,
pressing noses. The women, on our first approach, began uttering
something in a most dolorous voice; they then squatted themselves
down and held up their faces; my companion standing over them, one
after another, placed the bridge of his nose at right angles to
theirs, and commenced pressing. This lasted rather longer than a
cordial shake of the hand with us, and as we vary the force of the
grasp of the hand in shaking, so do they in pressing. During the
process they uttered comfortable little grunts, very much in the
same manner as two pigs do, when rubbing against each other.
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