Seven Legs Across the Seas Part 17

Half a dozen lakes are linked together, each from five to twelve miles in length, the sides heavily verdured with an evergreen growth, and high hills rising in every direction, making the trip through the lakes very interesting. One of these, Rotomahana, is a boiling body of water. Launches travel through this steam-laden lake with as apparent safety and comfort as through normal waters. The sh.o.r.es contain numerous and deep fissures, steam coming from these openings in great clouds. Both lake and sh.o.r.es present a scene like that after a big fire, when nothing but smoke remains.

A small Pompeii is among the attractions of this thermal district. The place is known as Te Wairoa, and was overwhelmed in 1886 by heavy showers of mud and volcanic ash ejected from the volcano Tarawera.

Over a hundred natives and four Europeans were buried under the mud and lava. The ruins of the settlement--buildings, wagons and other evidences of habitation--are yet to be seen. Ashes and cinders ejected from the volcano at that time were carried for a distance of 60 miles.

At Whakarewarewa, a short distance from Rotorua, is where the greatest subterranean disturbance takes place. Quite a number of geysers are located at that center, but none of the high-spouters were "working."

The "crack" or "show" geyser of that basin is Wairo. It seems to have imbibed the easy-going spirit of the Maoris, for it will "work" only on State occasions. For instance, if the governor-general of New Zealand were to visit Rotorua, and later "Whaka," as that long name is called for short, Wairo would be set to "working." The geyser is coaxed into action by throwing quant.i.ties of soap into the well.

Visitors would willingly contribute money to buy soap to set Wairo working, but as the geyser is covered with heavy planks, a prison cell would be the reward of a person tampering with the pet "spouter." It is said that water is forced to a height of 100 feet when Wairo gets into harness.

Vegetation suffers when coming in contact with the outpourings of the Yellowstone geysers, while about Rotorua the steam and sulphuric atmosphere from the steaming wells does not seem to interfere with the growth of flora. Jewelry and silver and gold coins become black while visiting that district, the sulphur in the air having this effect on metal.

Guides showing visitors about that district are Maori women, the price for their services being fixed by the government, together with launch charges for sails on the lakes. It is a good system, for one then knows beforehand how much money a trip will cost.

New Zealand, unlike Australia, is rife with battle cries, war songs and narratives of native bravery. Most of the trouble had its inception from land-grabbing by white men, and they have succeeded well, although the natives' domain is still large. Like most natives, the Maori is not blessed with a great amount of ambition, and his needs are common and small, being favored with a good climate, as the weather in the North Island is moderate the year round.

The Maori is not a native of New Zealand, but what race of people inhabited that country previous to his settlement history does not record. It is safe to presume he killed off the aborigines, as he would not brook much interference from an inferior race. The Maori is the Polynesian, and in 1350 he paddled and rowed in canoes across a stretch of sea for a distance of 1,700 miles--from the island of Raratonga, one of the Cook group, to New Zealand. From that time until New Zealand's gradual settlement he held undisputed sway. In color he is similar to an American Indian, and is inclined to fleshiness.

New Zealanders are very proud of the Maori. While of a warring race, he is not a criminal. He can be made a friend--can be trusted.

Intermarriages take place frequently, and it is said the white party to the transaction meets with no social discrimination. Civilization has proved detrimental to them, as with most natives, however, and is diminishing their numbers from time to time. Consumption is decimating them fast.

It was interesting to watch Maori women, with their babes on their backs, cooking food and baking bread by the heat from boiling springs, so numerous about the sh.o.r.es of Lake Rotorua. A board box, large enough to admit a kettle, is placed in a well, and an iron grating put at the bottom to rest it on. Meat, fish, vegetables or anything to be cooked is put in the kettle. A blanket is placed over this to keep the steam from escaping. When the food is cooked, the kettle is taken out and the meal served. Dough is placed in them also, and the bread is well baked. Dried shark meat is much eaten by Maoris.

Like all South Sea Islanders, he is fond of the water, indulging in bathing, swimming and aquatic sports. The Maori still maintains the skill with large canoes that enabled his forefathers to paddle 1,700 miles over the Pacific, from Raratonga to New Zealand.

Tattooing is a very noticeable custom of these people. Women are tattooed more generally than men. It used to be the other way. When the custom began to die out with the men, the women took it up, and it is they who keep it alive. The marks are made by a dark blue liquid--the sap of a certain tree. The forehead and chin are the places where the marks are mostly made. Tattooing does not improve the women's looks, but they will not allow old fashions to die out. The woman is generally the man's master.

Maoris are a proud and independent race, considering themselves on an equal with the white man. In order that their "equality" may be maintained, they will not act as servants of the white race. One could not induce a Maori girl to do housework for a European for any wage, neither would a Maori boy black a white man's shoes. They have a vote on any measure affecting their interest, but Dominion suffrage ends there. Four Maoris represent their race in Parliament. The immigration laws of this country practically prohibiting, by a high tax, Asiatic and all other black and colored races from entering, the Maori is the only colored inhabitant in New Zealand.

Any land Maoris sell must be sold to the government and disposed of as it sees fit. The government forwards to the natives the interest on the princ.i.p.al from these sales when they are in need of funds. They prefer to work in the sheep-shearing period, which lasts a month to six weeks, during which they can earn from $8 to $10 a day. As a rule, they do not want a steady job.

Native women wear a charm, called tiki--a flat, green stone, one to three inches in width and from two to four inches in length. It is a weird image, carved in the stone, having a big, lop-sided head and unevenly shaped body. This ornament is worn on their chest. A small hole is bored in the top of the tiki, through which a string is pa.s.sed, and, when the ends are tied, the loop is placed around the neck.

Many Maori women smoke pipes. They are a religious race, and before entering a church they lift the pipes from their mouths and place them on a railing or a step outside. When the service is finished, each one, on leaving the building, stoops and picks up her pipe, lights it, and heads for her home.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MAORI WOMEN'S SALUTE--RUBBING NOSES AND SHAKING HANDS.

NEW ZEALAND.

See page 195.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: MAORI WOMEN COOKING BY BOILING SPRINGS.

NEW ZEALAND.

See page 193.]

Homeless white babies and children need not be a charge on a munic.i.p.ality where there is a Maori settlement. Natives will take all the white foundlings that are offered them. As they are an honest race, white children are not only well looked after, but are taught good principles also.

Rubbing noses and shaking hands is the mode of greeting when Maori meets Maori, and their offspring learn that custom early. As a mother, carrying her child on her back, bends to "burnish" noses with a friend, the children seem to lean to one side and watch their mammas carry out this old Maori mode of greeting.

Pakeha is the native word for white people, and when white persons speak of native and white, pakeha and native are the distinguishing terms used.

Visitors to Rotorua are afforded much amus.e.m.e.nt by native dances and hakas. Women engage in the poi dance, which is a series of motions, gone through to the accompaniment of a concertina. In the hands of each woman is a ball of gra.s.s as large as a peach, with a gra.s.s string attached. Time is kept with these as they come in contact with the other hand, and when a dozen strike in unison a shuffling sound results. The gra.s.s or flax ball is termed the poi. Men only take part in the haka, which is a war dance, and a good one, too. An extended account of the Maori and his customs would make interesting reading.

They number less than 50,000.

Kaikai is the name they give to food in New Zealand. Grub, scoff, tucker, and kaikai is the collection of food names to this point.

We now take leave of this pretty place, where crutches, walking-sticks, and invalid chairs are converted into kindling wood; where pain evaporates with the sulphurous odors, and men are made anew by bathing in that far-off pool of Siloam--where, as Langhorne so beautifully puts it,

"Affliction flies, and hope returns,"

and start for Auckland.

Auckland is the largest city in New Zealand, having a population of 85,000, and was the busiest we had visited. This is another leg-straining place, but not so hilly as Dunedin or Wellington. Ships from the South Sea Islands are arriving and departing continually, as Auckland has a big trade with these groups. Most of the shipping between Australia and New Zealand pa.s.ses through Auckland; many large steamships from Europe also head for this port.

The rosy-cheeked women and children and the healthy appearance of New Zealanders generally is a feature one cannot fail to observe. Besides, there are few poor people--none wearing ragged clothes, certainly--every one tidy in appearance and well dressed. Few foreign-speaking people live in Auckland--90 per cent, are Britishers--and all have a fair education. Schooling advantages are good.

The city is well supplied with parks; also a splendid museum and an art gallery are among the a.s.sets of that busy, far-off place.

Auckland's street car system is the only one privately owned in New Zealand. Unlike Melbourne's, though, it is fast and modern.

The winter climate of Auckland proves a magnet to those living in colder parts of the Dominion. It is semi-tropical and has an invigorating atmosphere.

The dwellings are mostly frame-built, two stories high, and from $15 to $20 a month rent is charged. Wages do not exceed $3 a day for mechanics and $2 a day for laborers. Meat, on the other hand, is reasonable, ranging in price from 6 to 12 cents a pound.

Servant girls have a union in New Zealand, and their wages run from $4 to $5 a week. After quitting time, the lady of the house must finish any work that has not been completed. A smart New Zealand girl does the work of three African house servants.

The degrading occupation of barmaid was noticeable in New Zealand, as in most British colonies. But that kind of work for women will gradually come to an end in the Island Dominion, as an act was pa.s.sed forbidding saloonkeepers hiring barmaids. Those that were engaged at that work when the act was pa.s.sed were allowed to remain, but when a barmaid leaves the proprietor must fill the vacancy with a man. As temperance has gained a strong foothold, it is not likely that, in the near future, there will be work of that sort for either women or men.

Punishment by lashes for certain offenses committed by men is a law of New Zealand, the number administered being from one to fifty.

All the inhabitants of Australasia are tea drinkers--tea for breakfast, tea for luncheon, and tea for dinner. Mutton and lamb chops are the meat standbys.

The government has sadly neglected Auckland in public buildings. For a lively business place, and the largest city in the Dominion, the railway station was a disgrace; it was little better than the one at Wellington, but this comparison adds nothing to the Auckland Station.

When the American fleet visited New Zealand, the sailors took a fancy to blankets made in that country, and before they left the hospitable sh.o.r.es of the Dominion every blanket in stock had been bought. The visit of the United States battleships here some years ago proved an epoch-making event.

New Zealanders are very patriotic, but often, when they have visited Australian cities and rested their eyes on the splendid buildings and grand parks there, and quaffed a few draughts of metropolitan air that pervades some centers of that country, they are in no hurry to return.

New Zealand is the best place in the world until the New Zealander visits Australia.

Coastwise shipping, both in New Zealand and in Australia, is conducted on a similar basis to that of the United States. A steamer leaving New Zealand for Africa or Europe, or any foreign port, and stopping at an Australian port to take on oversea cargo, is not allowed to carry either freight or pa.s.sengers from New Zealand to Australia. The same rule applies to vessels coming from foreign ports that stop at Australian ports with their destination a New Zealand port. Sailors and firemen employed on coastwise ships are paid double the wages of sailors on oversea ships, the same as paid sailors employed on American ships--$40 and $45 a month.

One steamship company has cornered almost all the shipping there is in that part of the world. It is a four days' sail from Auckland to Sydney, and the first-cla.s.s fare is $37. If a pa.s.senger received first-cla.s.s accommodation there would be less fault to find with the high charge. A cabin contains six berths, and these are nearly always occupied, as travel is heavy between the two centers. What would any one paying first-cla.s.s fare on a steamship plying between the United States and Europe think if shown a cabin containing six berths, all of them taken? One has no choice in Australasia. Second-cla.s.s accommodation on the ships of that line is not so good as third-cla.s.s on the European liners.

The duty on some American exports--grain binders, motor cars, manufactured and raw material for various uses--is 25 to 60 per cent.

The duty on tobacco, most of it shipped from America, is 84 cents a pound.

Auckland is very attractive by reason of her good harbor and the elevated character of land, on which the greater portion of the city is built.

Gold is profitably mined in both the North and South Islands.

The newspaper industry is well represented in Auckland, and fully measures up to the place. One will find more news from the United States printed in Auckland papers than in any other newspapers in Australasia.

New Zealanders are to be commended for their fair treatment of strangers. Travelers, particularly those from foreign lands, pay no more for hotel accommodation and articles bought than is charged local tourists. Every one seems to be interested in a stranger's welfare, not for what money they can extort from him, but from a purely Christian spirit. No petty overcharges were imposed--no one seemed bent on getting more out of a visitor than was just. We wish them well.