File:CHILDREN ON THE BANKS OF THE WAIPA. CHILDREN AT THE BOILING SPRINGS, NEAR TAUPO LAKE, The New Zealanders Illustrated, 1847.jpg

English: CHILDREN ON THE BANKS OF THE WAIPA.

CHILDREN AT THE BOILING SPRINGS, NEAR TAUPO LAKE.

[Image of page 55]

PLATE XXII.

CHILDREN ON THE BANKS OF THE WAIPA.

THE fertile banks of this beautiful river are thickly scattered with native inhabitants; and the numerous kaingas or villages, together with the abundance of cultivated land on both sides of the river, attest the industry and peaceful habits of the Maori population. The accompanying sketch represents three children, with a portion of a Kopupa, or river canoe, the bottom of which is laid with fern for the comfort of travellers; the scene lies at Hopetui, one day's journey from the junction of the Waipa with the Waikato.

CHILDREN AT THE BOILING SPRINGS, NEAR TAUPO LAKE.

IN the very heart of the interior, light or golden coloured hair may occasionally be observed, though it is by no means a circumstance of common occurrence; the boy whose portrait is given in the centre figure of the annexed group, is the son of one of the chiefs of Tukanu, a settlement close to the boiling springs near Taupo Lake, where no mixture with European races could have taken place; the natives regard the boy with considerable pride, and he is known by the appellation of "Ko Tiki," which means an heirloom or treasure.

The sitting figure is Papuka, a lame boy, nephew to the great chief Te Heuheu of Taupo; and the girl to the right is Tao, one of the children at the settlement of Tukanu. They all belong to the Nga-ti-tuaretoa tribe, which inhabits the district of the Taupo Lakes.

Near the children is a calabash for water, the orifice of which is tattoed in a similar manner to the lips of a woman; in the background the boiling springs are introduced, at which the natives of the vicinity cook their food.