night was cold, Mr. Kendall and myself were compelled to quit our
habitation. I crept out, and walked in the village, to see if I could
meet with a shed to keep me from the damp air till the morning. I found
one empty, into which I entered. I had not been long under my present
cover before I observed a chief, who came with us from the last village,
come out of the hut which I had left, perfectly naked. The moon shone
very bright. I saw him run from hut to hut, till at last he found me
under my shed, and urged me to return. I told him I could not bear the
heat, and requested him to allow me to remain where I was; to which he
at length consented with reluctance. I was surprised at the little
effect that heat or cold seemed to have upon him. He had come out of the
hut smoking like a hot loaf drawn from the oven, walked about to find
me, and then sat down, conversed some time, without any clothing, though
the night was cold. Mr. Kendall remained sitting under his mat, in the
open air, till morning."

The New Zealanders make only two meals in the day, one in the morning
and another at sunset; but their voracity when they do eat is often very
great. Nicholas remarks that the chiefs and their followers, with whom
he made the voyage from Port Jackson, used, while in the ship, to seize
upon every thing they could lay their hands upon in the shape of food.
In consequence of this habit of consuming an extraordinary quantity of
food, a New Zealander, with all his powers of endurance in other
respects, suffers dreadfully when he has not the usual means of
satisfying his hunger.

The huts of the common people are described as very wretched, and little
better than sheds; but Nicholas mentions that those which he saw in the
northern part of the country had uniformly well-cultivated gardens
attached to them, which were stocked with turnips, and sweet and common