place to another usually have their couches spread; as, were they to
choose to recline inside the house, it would be necessary to leave them
to die of want.

Nicholas, in the course of an excursion which he made in the
neighbourhood of the Bay of Islands, was once not a little annoyed and
put out of humour by this absurd superstition. It rained heavily when he
and Marsden arrived very hungry at a village belonging to a chief of
their acquaintance, where, although the chief was not at home, they were
very hospitably received, their friends proceeding immediately to dress
some potatoes to make them a dinner. But after they had prepared the
meal, they insisted, as usual, that it should be eaten in the open air.

This condition, Nicholas, in the circumstances, naturally thought a
somewhat hard one; but it was absolutely necessary either to comply with
it, or to go without potatoes. To make matters worse, the dining-room
had not even a shed. So they had no course left but to take shelter in
the best way they could, under a projection from the roof of the house,
extending about three feet; and here they contrived to take their
repast, without being very much drenched. However, they were not allowed
this indulgence without many anxious scruples on the part of their
friends, who considered even their venturing so near to the house on
such an occasion as an act of daring impiety. As they had got possession
of the potatoes, their entertainers, though very much shocked and
alarmed, did not proceed to such rudeness as to take these from them
again; but whenever they wanted to drink out of the calabash that had
been brought to them, they obliged them to thrust out their heads for it
from under the covering, although the rain continued to fall in
torrents.