Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 15.djvu/374

360 merely suggesting that he would like to drink his Excellency's health. Far the most comical feature of the dance was a naked little imp who stood in front of the first row, exactly opposite the Governor, and imitated playing the fiddle with his little thin arms, all the while thrusting out his tongue, rolling his eyes nearly out of his head, and making the most fearful faces and contortions. A little girl who tried to do the same had not nearly the same real genius for making herself hideous and grotesque. At last a liberal supply of beer was promised them; the dance came to an end, and the Governor departed amid an uproar if possible more awful than before. The natives were very well-grown, friendly, and cheery, with a perfectly childish delight in making a noise. Their noses are too wide and their mouths too big for them to be good-looking; but, with large bright eyes and white teeth, many of them are very pleasant-looking.

Later in the evening two chiefs of another tribe sought an interview with the Governor to invite him to visit Wairoa, the village nearest to Rotomahana, the gem of the hot-lake country. They were very jealous that he should visit Rotorua and not pay them a visit. I never knew two men less willing to take "No" for an answer, or much readier in meeting all objections; but the Governor was obdurate, and they had to be content with the Commodore, whom they called "the king of the sea," and apparently regarded as very small beer compared to "the king of the land." One of the chiefs was called Major Kemp, having been given the title for services rendered to us during the last Maori war. He was an intelligent, courteous man, of splendid physique, certainly over six feet high, and strong and active as a tiger.

Next morning we rode over to Major Kemp's village of Wairoa with the Commodore, Mr. F(the member of the Ministry in attendance on the Governor), and Captain Mair, the resident magistrate, who, from his knowledge of the country and language, proved himself an invaluable cicerone. On our Way we passed through a lovely piece of bush, in which we found a specimen of the curious natural phenomenon "the vegetable caterpillar." It appears that the caterpillar, when it buries itself in the ground preparatory to changing into a chrysalis, is attacked by a fungus, which kills it, and sends out one or two shoots, something like the seed-bearing fronds of some ferns, several inches in length, from the head of the unfortunate caterpillar. Farther south we came across a tract of bush where they are by no means uncommon. The caterpillar is a large one, and, as far as I could judge, of the goat-moth species. At Wairoa we presented some gaudy-colored rugs to Major Kemp's wife and one or two other important ladies. They gathered together by the roadside trying on their new things, inside and out, and seeming immensely pleased with their finery. We visited a pretty waterfall and cascade, and then embarked in a boat, rowed by four stout young Maories, to cross Lake Tarawera. The lake is very beautiful; the shores are well wooded, in many places