Fine Tribute to the Womenfolk.

“They were stirring times,” said Mr. Goldsmith, in conclusion, “and they were wonderful in some ways. Thoughts occasionally come to me of the days spent under the stars, waiting, breathlessly, at the sound of Native voices, to discover whether they wore those of friend or of foe. Life seemed of very little consequence and we thought little more of shooting down a Hau-Hau than a farmer does now of killing a fat sheep to supply his household. But one can only hope that New Zealand will never see such a state of things again. The greatest burden of it all was borne by the women, our wives and daughters, who sat by the fireside and thought of the absent ones who even then might have passed to death amidst the fern and shrub of some desolate hill-side.”

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