sights in the district. On an average, there are fifteen hundred visitors in Rotorua, and a resident population of 2,500. The great watering-places in Europe are insignificant compared with this place, because of the variety of natural baths procurable here. The government has spent $200,000 on a bathhouse, and surrounded it with a very beautiful garden in which sweet peas are now in bloom. This is also the home of the gladioli; I see these flowers everywhere in splendid profusion. In the park surrounding the government bathhouse are several spouting geysers, steam whistlers, sulphur springs, etc. Outside the park grounds may be seen many sanitariums, with invalids on the porches. There is nothing as effective in restoring health as natural hot springs, and the variety is so great here that I wonder the visiting population is not much larger than fifteen hundred.
Thursday, January 16.—The Maoris, or native
inhabitants of New Zealand, look very much like our
Indians, and have most of their characteristics. They
are lazy and shiftless, but good fighters, which will be
generally recognized as a trait of the North-American
Indians. At the photograph galleries we see pictures
of beautiful Maori girls, but none are to be seen in the
native villages, two of which are located near Rotorua.
In both of these are hot springs, and the natives use
them for cooking, heating their houses, and for bathing.
In the hot springs are placed pots containing
meat and vegetables, and the springs are then covered
over with old gunny-sacks until the cooking is complete.
