There is also no doubt among medical men that a partial adoption of European habits and customs, accompanied by a retention of various features in their barbarous mode of living, is the cause of much sickness and even mortality. Dr Newman points out one very characteristic fact: formerly, when the natives entered their _whares_ with their wet mats on, they flung them aside; now, when they get wet in their European clothing, they keep it on, thus laying the foundation of many diseases. On the other hand, civilisation has introduced undoubted benefits. For example, the Maoris formerly subsisted on fern-root and such hard fare, and found that difficult to get at times. Now, they have an abundance of wholesome food, and can live in comfort on the revenue derived from their lands, if they do not spend their money in debauchery. As the result of the labours of the West Coast Royal Commission, for instance, every native in the confiscated territory in the North Island who has any right to be there, now has an interest in some reserve or other which will provide him with a settled homestead and the means of maintenance, and in many cases a considerable pecuniary income besides. Naturally, in not a few instances these material advantages are demoralising to the Maoris, who, when able to live in independence and luxury, will not work. Many of them, however, especially on the east coast and in the north, are devoting themselves industriously to such occupations as sheep-farming, maize-planting, tobacco-growing, &c. I read, in the Reports of the native officers, that one tribe started farming with a flock of four thousand sheep, and divided the year’s profits, which actually amounted to seven hundred pounds. Another party of natives did better still at whale-fishing, securing spoil from the deep to the extent of two thousand six hundred pounds.