Then it occurred to a wise old chief, named Rauru, that, if something permanent could be devised, much time and trouble would be saved. Remembering a visit he had paid to an island where tattooing was in force, he called a council and vigorously advocated the adoption of the practice. The suggestion was accepted and, as the process of _moko_ is decidedly painful, there must have been many wry faces while it was being carried into effect. No doubt, when their faces had been rendered sufficiently terrifying, this particular tribe had things all their own way for a time. But there is a sincere form of flattery known as imitation and, once the secret leaked out, matters took a turn. Before Te Ika A Maui was many moons older, every able-bodied man on the Island had tricked out his face in the new style, and was ready to meet the inventors upon equal terms. NOTE.--Tattoo is a Polynesian word, not in use among the Maori. A skilful professor of the art of _moko_ and _whakairo_ (face and body decoration) was held in rare esteem. Instances are on record of slaves having vastly improved their status by the artistic use of the lancet and mallet employed in tattooing. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 19: White man. Literally, "stranger," as opposed to Maori, "native."] [Footnote 20: Really, _He mea hi no Maui_, "A thing fished up by Maui."] [Footnote 21: Mount Egmont.] [Footnote 22: _Metrosideros robusta._ It belongs to the myrtle order, and is one of the most ornamental trees in the New Zealand bush.] [Footnote 23: _Clianthus puniceus._ New Zealand pea.] [Footnote 24: A variety of clematis. In the flowering season the effect of the white stars amid the dark green of the overhead foliage is most beautiful.] [Footnote 25: This was done with a pair of cockle-shells, which in Maoriland represented the _volsellae_ of the Romans, and our modern tweezers.] CHAPTER III THE LAND TO WHICH THEY CAME Where Nature is constantly in a tempestuous mood, where volcanoes spout and earthquakes convulse, and where, on the other hand, "Man comes in with his strife" against Nature herself, comparatively few years may suffice to bring about great changes and to alter the face of a country almost beyond recognition. Thus, the New Zealand on whose shores the Maori landed differed materially from the New Zealand of to-day. Not only has Nature cruelly destroyed some of the most beautiful of the vestiges of creation, but the white man has cleared off scrubs, eradicated forests, said with effect to the sea, "thus far and no farther," and, by radically altering the original features of the country, has actually influenced the climate.