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At a town in Hawke's Bay the annual game with a rival city in another part of the country was being played. It was the day of the year and excitement was intense. Farmers had poUred in from their stations from miles around, the visiting side had brought a large number of supporters, business had ceased, the shops were shut, and only the " hotels " were open. They were full. At the same time the assizes happened to be on, and even a Rugger match could not interfere with the conduct of the Law, 'though the presiding judge (himself once a player Of repute) had determined, if necessary, to forgo the lun- cheon adjournment. But when the last case was called just before luncheon, it looked like being a long affair: it was a serious case of robbery with violence and the defence had a string of witnesses. Judge and jury, Counsel, witnesses and court officials, therefore, resigned themselves to a gloomy afternoon in a stuffy court while great things were toward outside, though someone had had the foresight to detail a messenger to bring down the latest news periodically from the ground. The Clerk called the case, the jury were sworn, and the prisoner at the bar was asked : " How do you plead, Guilty or Not Guilty ? " The prisoner scratched his head' for a moment or two and then, smiling rather diffidently, replied : " Oh, well, I suppose you all want to get up to the match. I pleads guilty." That public-spirited gesture may have had the effect of shortening his sentence by a couple of years—we may be almost certain that it did. That afternoon, while the judge sat in his accus- tomed seat in the committee box, all the warders except One cheered from the shilling stand.
New Zealand visitors to this country have been beaten only once and that was by Wales in 1905, when the score was a try to nil. At least so the records say, but to any true New Zealander, his side has never been defeated over here : everyone, greybeards and youngsters at school know that it wasn't a try—it was bad luck—after all, referees are only human, especially in Wales. It is well for the outsider in the Dominion, when this match crops up in conversation—and it is still discussed as if it had been played only yesterday—to maintain a discreet silence if he holds a contrary view.
• New Zealand is a land where all life, animal as well as vegetable, thrives to excess. Deer have multiplied until they are vermin, violets grow to the size of sunflowers, marrows are like zeppelins and the trout like young whales. It is not surprising, therefore, that the country should also produce giants who can run like hares and handle a ball like Cinquevallis to make terrific forwards. Our visitors, the statisticians tell us, weigh in the aggregate an incredible number of tons and can all do the hundred in even time. The forwards are fighting fit, the backs are all penetrating, resourceful and slippery. But more important than individual prowess, this team comes over with the performances of their predecessors to look back on, and they will not, if they know, it, lose a single match while they are here. Woe betide them on their return if they did 1 Observing all this, I cannot for the life of me see myself being able to say, rather sorely, on their departure, other than ; " Well, anyhow, we taught thorn the game in the first place."
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