In this work, a "pakeha Maori" trader looks back to "the good old times before Governors were invented, and law, and justice, and all that". It is a construction of Maori life and customs, most notibly of "tapu" (taboo). There is also a selection of Maning's unpublished letters.

In this work, a "pakeha Maori" trader looks back to "the good old times before Governors were invented, and law, and justice, and all that". It is a construction of Maori life and customs, most notibly of "tapu" (taboo). There is also a selection of Maning's unpublished letters.