Piccaninnies | Page 2

of paper was a page out of a fashion book, and there were
pictures on it of horrid little smug-faced boys in sky-blue suits bowling
hoops in a way no real little boy ever bowled a hoop in his life, and
simpering little girls in lace frocks holding dolls or sun-shades in
un-natural attitudes.
But the Piccaninnies were delighted. To be sure they were looking at
the pictures upside down, but that made no real difference.
They decided they must have clothes too.
Of course the boys said pooh they wouldn't! It's much easier to slide
down a fern-leaf, or jump off the end of a branch if you haven't any
clothes--everyone knows that.
But when the girls, after being absent for hours, came back all in
darling little crimson kilts made out of blossoms from the Christmas
tree, the boys simply couldn't bear to think the girls had something they
hadn't got. You know what boys are!
After laughing at the girls in the hopes they'd throw away their pretty
little frocks, the boys went off together. They simply had to think of
something, and it would never do to copy the girls. They came back
later with the quaintest little breeches, made out of broad flax leaves,
stitched together with the points downwards. It was clever of the boys!
They had also stuck some of the red-brown flowers in their hair. The
girls were vexed that they hadn't thought of that, but they went one
better. They made strings of the scarlet nikau berries and hung them
round their necks. (Trust the girls!)
And that was how Fashions came to be started in the Bush.
[Illustration]

CLEMATIS.
Of course fashions change, and no one need be surprised to find that
crimson kilts were soon "out," while the Piccaninny girls were to be
seen walking about in pretty little white, frilly petticoats made out of
clematis blossoms, and sun hats of the same flowers.
The hats were rather silly, because the Piccaninnies lived so deep in the
Bush that the sun couldn't hurt them, but then fashions are absurd.
(Look at the ladies who wear fur coats in hot climates!)
The boys made no change because their kind of fashion doesn't change,
except sometimes you take great pains to iron the crease out of them,
and other times you iron it in most carefull-ee.
For some reason the boys didn't like the girls' change of frocks. Of
course, they said, the girls would never play with them now, but the
girls said oh yes, they would. The boys said:
"You'd be scared to play berry fights like we used to."
But the girls said, as brave as could be:
"Would we?"
And the boys answered:
"Let's see you then!"
So they all ran off and collected puriri berries, big purply red ones,
rather squashy. Then the boys all yelled in chorus:
Ka mate! Ka mate! Ka ora! Ka ora! Tenei te tangata puhuru huru Na
na nei i tiki mai-- whaka whiti te ra! Upane! Upane! Upane! kaupani
whiti te ra!
which means something very warlike, and the girls answered shrilly:
Ka whawhai tonu! Ake! Ake! Ake!

They said that because they had heard that someone had said that
sometime about something, and it means "we will fight for ever and
ever."
But they didn't! At the very first volley the berries stained their dainty
frocks, and the girls fled, screaming angrily:
"You horrid things! You've ruined our frocks!"
And the boys grinning delightedly, and rolling their black eyes,
thumped their little brown heels on the ground, and beat their little bare,
brown knees and chanted all together:
"Akarana Mototapu Rangitoto Ra!"
And of course you all know what that means! You don't? Well, I'm not
quite sure myself, because I couldn't find it in the dictionary (so
careless of Mr. Webster!) but it really doesn't matter.
[Illustration]

CABBAGE PALM.
(Pickled Cabbages).
Little Swanki, the Piccaninny girl, and Tiki, the Piccaninny boy, were
up in a karaka tree eating the pulp of the ripe berries. When I was
young I was told I would die if I ate the karaka berries, but I suppose
Piccaninny tummies are different.
Anyhow, there they were, skinning the soft yellow pulp, which does
took nice, off the hard inside of the berry with their sharp little white
teeth, and throwing the hard part at a kiwi wandering about below their
tree, and thinking it great fun to watch his surprised face as he tried to
dodge the berries.
Swanki had just eaten her fourteenth berry and was reaching for the

fifteenth, when she sighed discontentedly.
"Oh, Tiki," she said, "aren't you sick and tired of eating the same old
foods for ever and ever? Berries--berries--berries! Roots--roots--roots!
And only a few leaves that are worth eating."