December 8 Sunday – In Wanganui, a small earthquake took place, a usual occurrence for this area. Since no trains ran in Australia or N.Z., Sundays were usually one of rest, or sightseeing. Sam wrote of this day in FE:

A couple of curious war-monuments here at Wanganui. One is in honor of white men “who fell in defence of law and order against fanaticism and barbarism.”…Patriotism is Patriotism. Calling it Fanaticism cannot degrade it; nothing can degrade it. Even though it be a political mistake, and a thousand times a political mistake, that does not affect it; it is honorable — always honorable, always noble — and privileged to hold its head up and look the nations in the face. It is right to praise these brave white men who fell in the Maori war — they deserve it; but the presence of that word detracts from the dignity of their cause and their deeds, and makes them appear to have spilt their blood in a conflict with ignoble men, men not worthy of that costly sacrifice. But the men were worthy. It was no shame to them. They fought for their homes, they fought for their country…the Maori patriots [ch XXXV 321-2].

Shillingsburg lists a riverboat excursion in Wanganui with a woman whose lap-dogs Sam called “slimy muddy half-caste pugs.” It was during this excursion that Sam visited the monument to the dead from the Maori wars he wrote of (above) [Shillingsburg, “Down Under” 29].