Evening star., 1901-08-24
HOW WOMAN STANDS
Position of the Weaker Sex in New
Zealand.
fHE SOCIAL LIFE IN AUSTRALIA
Well Equipped for the Develop
ment of the Country.
AORI HOUS EKEEPING

Written for The Evening Star by Mary H. Krout
AS in Hawaii, the first civilized women
who visited New Zealand We're the wives of
missionaries sent out from New South
Wales, and subsequently from England
| But these pioneer women endured hard
ships from which those who spent their
| lives in Hawaii were spared.
The Maoris or aborigines among whom
they lived were a warlike people, and from
| 1914 until their final submission, and even
after this, hostilites were always immi-
nent, massacres occurring in which neither
age nor sex was spared. The climate was
cold, few ships touched upon those remote
shores and there were no fish in the
streams and no game in the forests. The
sea, however, abounded in fish, and oys-
ters were abundant, and in the course of
time the land was cultivated, and sufficient
crops produced.
The Maoris were considered the best of
the Polynesian races. They were tall, well
formed, the men strkingly handsome until
they were hideously disfigured by tattooing
"a practice long since abandoned. The
| women resembled those of Samoa and Ha-
wall, having long, lustrous black hair,
slightly waving; straight features, the same
large dark eyes and perfect teeth. While
men were tattooed from head to foot wo-
men escaped with few perpendicular lines
on the chin and small arabesque figure
at each corner of the mouth. While the
male Maori has relinquished the custom,
the women still submit to 1T, and numbers
may be seen any day In Napier and other
southern towns thus disfigured, seated
along the curbstone, wearing European
dress and, almost without an exception,
putting at a brierwood pipe.
During the early days the various tribes
were constantly at war with each other,
| and they were very clever in the construc-
tion of pahs, or fortifications which were
| frequently perched upon the peak of an
almost inaccessible mountain. Women as
well men, were endowed with superb
courage and often took an active part In
| resisting their assailants.
AS elsewhere in Polynesia, the tabu, or
many of the enjoyments of life, although,
| as people, they were practically without
religion.
The Domestic Arts.
The women showed great skill in the
preparation of the native flax, bleaching
the fiber to a snowy whiteness-an art
that has defied the ingenuity of the En-
glsh settlers. From this they wove beau
tiful mats and mantles, the latter deco
rated In pretty patterns with vegetable
dyes or covered with short, pendent cords
or the soft feathers of fowls over the en-
tire surface. But this art, like that of
their beautiful wood carving, in which the
men excelled, is being rapidly forgotten.
A few of the chiefs still preserve the man
ties which are heirlooms, and nothing can
induce them to part with them. ezs.s -
Most Of the women of the present genera
tion can read and write, and their house
keeping is of the simplest. They take al
most naturally to the arts of civilization.
The English have been very just to the
Maors in the requirement Of lands, which
have been purchased where they have been
willing to part with them; as consequence
how CT
the most valuable land In the colony. The
famous thermal region at Rotarua is held
by the Maoris, all fees charged at the va
riouS geysers being paid over to them, as
well as the ground rentals from the sani-
tariums and hotels in the vicinity. The
cares of the Maori housewife in this geyser
country, which resembles our own Yellow
stone Park, are reduced to a minimum; the
scalding steam issues from innumerable
crevices in the pumice, and the bread, NUT
ton and potatoes are put into vessels, coy-
cred and set over Granny to cook with
out further attention. The Incidence which
this has engendered has induced what
Froude has called one of the most melan-
choly examples of the degeneration of a
noble race that has ever been recorded.
A Splendid Guide.
One of the best-known characters at Ro-
| tarua was Sophia, the famous guide, whom.
Froude has immortalized in his rather un-
fattering "Oceanica." She was a sturdy,
powerful woman, witty and clever, famil-
lar with every myth and tradition Of the
region, andf, by industry and thrift. had
amassed comfortable fortune Her less
energetic sisters spent much of their time
simmering in the hot pools, blue as indigo,
where they basked amid clouds of yapor
like dusky nymphs.
One of the most distinguished Of the Eng
lish women residents of New Zealand was
Lady Barker, now Lady Frederick Broome,
whose second husband was appointed gov
ernor of Trinidad. She has recorded her
experiences in one of the most delightful
books yet written on Australasian life,
Station Life in New Zealand" Among
other incidents and advent ures, she de-
scribes being showed in during the absence
of her husband in Christchurch house and
all being buried in one of the rare snow
storms that visit the Middle Island about
rapidly as they fall. The day following
the storm she stood waist deep in icy wa
ter, ana with the assistance of two guests
dug out and saved hundreds of sheep and
iaiaps that otherwise would have perished.
AS it was a long VOYAGE from England
only the most enterprising women had the
courage to emigrate, and this, undoubtedly,
had It's erect upon the present British pop
ulatlon, VINO, men and women BOTH are
the very flower of the British cClonists.
Ihey are surprisingly TALL athletic, with
1resh, rosy complexions, and this notwith-
standing the enormous quantities of tea
morning, noon and night
Have CO-EducatiOn.
Because of their fewness, the women OF
New Zealand were treated with distin-
guished favor and their children and
grandchildren have reaped the benefits
Inc universities have been co-educational
Tor many years, awarding women degrees
with Justice that Oxford and Cambridge
might well emulate. There are several
clever young women employed upon the
colonial newspapers, while others are MAX
Ing their way in other professions-notably
that of medicine
In 1888. after several years OF persevering
work, In which the women were aided by
such men as the late Sir George Grey; the
former premier, Sir Robert Start, now chief
justice. the bill legalizing universal suf-
1rage was passed A franchise league, Of
which Mrs. Daddy of Auckland was presi-
dent and Mrs. Kitson secretary, was the
medium through which the preliminary
work was carried on: and In discussing It,
Mrs. kitson, charming little woman,