nesian loveliness, those who married a Maori girl whose bare feet had never trod a carpet. Major Smith Hampshire was one. He had done just this some eighteen years previously, at a time when many of the good people of Wanganui had yet to discover the finer things of life, after he had bought an upriver farm. The Major, who was heading for forty and considered to be a confirmed bachelor, created some dissonance in Wanganui society although the girl was beautiful by the standards set by Mother Nature and was the daughter of a Chief descended from a long line of Chiefs. Naturally, the sour note was pedalled that the well-to-do Major had been blinded by savage beauty, which of course was nonsense since true loveliness is the constant reflection of inner beauty, of largeness of heart, of generosity of spirit, which draws all men regardless of colour, age, or social position. Actually what finally prompted the Major to take to wife the lovely barefooted Noti (Naughty) was a weakness. A weakness for the aristocracy, for aristocratic people: and Noti, a natural aristocrat descended from a line of aristocrats, was a sublime example of Mother Nature's creative powers, and as different from a money-made aristocrat as is a glorious garden rose from its artificial imitation. Without being deterred the Major did also give some thought to Noti's obvious weaknesses—her clinging to the belief in Io the Supreme Being known only to Maori aristocracy and her failure to conform to the teachings of the Anglican Church in spite of the years at an Anglican School. The Major also realised that the lovely child of nature would never understand the Pakeha idea of the family; an island of warmth plenty and comfort established in a bleak sea of struggling humanity, as in the Victorian days; that her very nature in addition to her wider tribal outlook would extend her charity and love to every child and adult within cooee. The Major broke the news of his taking a Maori girl to wife, to his mother in England, in a letter which read: ‘Dearest Mother, I know this will be something of a shock to you and many of our friends, since I was regarded as a confirmed bachelor, but I am married to the most beautiful girl in the world. Noti is my wife's name. She is the daughter of a Chief. The Chief of the big Maori Pa which straddles the headland above the big rapid at Okopai close to the landing. Noti is just eighteen and I cannot hope to describe her to you, Mother Dear, but of one thing I am certain: the spirit of all beauty touched Noti with his wand when her spirit was speeding earthwards to add loveliness to a lovely land. And truly, Mother, never have I known such beauty, intelligence and pride combined with such humility in a person, for although Noti is the proud descendant of a long line of Chiefs she will do any menial thing for those in need, especially children and the aged.’ When Mrs Smith Hampshire had read this far and the cat was out of the bag she dropped the letter and called faintly for her younger son, a solicitor, to bring the smelling salts, the