in one place there are "vast caldrons of black mud boiling furiously;" in another, the pools of mud are blue, grey, green, red, or yellow, and "the very emblem of laziness," says Bishop Selwyn. "A faint steam rises from them, and ever and anon a solitary bubble of gas disengages itself slowly from the surface, which then returns to its usual dulness." Close by the side of this lazy, slowly-simmering mud, there are clear pools of boiling water of a bright blue-colour, and very deep, and from these warm streams flow down into natural baths, and fill up all the hollows of the rock. But the most beautiful of the Rotorua springs are the boiling fountains, whose waters leap high into the air like "clouds of silvery foam." The New Zealanders like to sit up to their necks in the hot water when the weather is not very warm; and they prepare their food there, for it can be cooked without trouble at the springs. Slabs of stone laid over the water form steam ovens, and the small holes in the rock are ready-made kettles, always boiling and fit for use. In the midst of all the boiling pools and mud caldrons, there rushes down a strong rapid stream of cold water. The whole of New Zealand is remarkable for its fresh bright verdure: most of the forest trees are always green, and innumerable streams and rivulets flow from the hills, and water all the country. Some of the trees are adorned with handsome blossoms: there is one with deep-green leaves, which in December (the Midsummer of New Zealand) puts forth bright crimson flowers, as large as a rose. There are no wild beasts, no serpents or venomous reptiles, lurking in the forests, but they are enlivened by wild. pigeons and parrots, and by numerous song-birds, whose notes form a delightful concert in the early morning, for they do not sing after sunrise. The uncultivated land is covered with ferns; wild flax also grows plentifully about the country, and supplies the people with excellent ropes, mats, nets, and baskets. New Zealand was unknown to Europeans until the year 1642, when Tasman, a Dutch navigator, discovered the country, and he gave it the name which it now bears. It was not seen again until the year 1769, when our great English navigator, Captain Cook, visited it in his first voyage. He spent nearly six months there, and sailed quite round the islands, surveying the coasts carefully. His first approach was on the north-east; but the inhabitants there were so fierce and ill disposed to welcome strangers, that he would not trust his people amongst them. In the narrow waters which separate the Northern from the Middle Island, and which are called from him Cook's Straits, he found a more friendly race of savages. He anchored in a fine harbour, which he named Queen Charlotte's Sound, while the crew took in wood and water; and to this place he frequently returned, in his second and third voyages. Cook thought the New Zealanders more clever and active than most men of savage race: they cultivated the batata and other native plants for food: they were well clothed in garments of mats; some of which were very silky and handsome, and their houses were neatly put together of wood and bark or rushes: they had canoes eighty feet long, beautifully carved and ornamented, although their only tools were stone axes and hatchets. Their weapons were made of green jasper stone; they tattooed their faces, and large slits were made in the ears, in which they hung ornaments of stone, shark's teeth, or great tufts of down from the breast of the sea-birds; sometimes a small bird was worn as an ear-ring, its head being pushed through the hole in the ear. The women disfigured themselves with a thick coat of oil and red ochre. Most of the people were tall and strong, and Captain Cook thought they would have been a noble-looking race if they had been less ferocious. But he soon found out that they feasted on human flesh. They were divided into a number of small tribes, who were perpetually quarrelling and making war, and they ate the bodies of those who fell in battle, and sometimes even killed and ate their prisoners; but in general these were reserved for slaves. Many of the hills were crowned with pahs, villages that is, defended by trenches and fortified with poles and stakes. When the people of one tribe were afraid that the men of another were coming to attack them, they retreated to their pah, and kept their ground there as well as they could. Cook tried to enrich the New Zealanders by planting potatoes and other vegetables, and by giving them sheep, pigs, and goats, for he found no quadrupeds in the islands, excepting rats, and a few wild dogs, like the Australian dingoes; but most of these useful gifts perished, the potato and the pigs alone survived. He and his people were always on friendly terms with the natives: other ships were not so fortunate. One, which visited them in 1773, lost ten of her crew, who were murdered and eaten by the savages; and a French captain, with twenty-seven of his men, met the same horrible fate. From these circumstances the New Zealanders acquired a terrible character as fierce and dangerous cannibals, and few Europeans were disposed to trust themselves in the country. But after the English had taken possession of New South Wales, ships from that colony often visited New Zealand, to catch the whales and seals which abounded on the coasts; and, in time, a few sailors, engaged in the fisheries, settled along the shore. The habits of the natives were not improved by the new comers; on the contrary, they now obtained firearms, and as these new weapons were more destructive than any they had possessed before, their continual wars occasioned such loss of life that whole tribes were swept away. "Their feet" were indeed "swift to shed blood." The time came, at last, when the good seed of the Gospel was to be sown in this beautiful land, and to spring up and blossom, and bear fruits of peace and goodwill towards men. LESSON 95.. TO A LOVELY INFANT, ON THE DAY OF ITS SWEET babe! when first thy form we view'd, With every infant charm endued, While, bending on thee looks of love, This day, by covenant divine, The Christian's heritage is thine; Bright are thy hopes, thy claims are high, Dear infant! innocent as fair, To what may I thy lot compare? Might shadow out thy destiny! LESSON 96. THE NEW ZEALAND MISSION.-PART II. SOME New Zealand chiefs visited Port Jackson, and became known to Mr. Marsden, the senior chaplain of |