This letter by my Great Grandfather David Harvey and is a family taonga (treasure/possession) over which I have no personal claim. John Calloway was the father of Tai Tai aka Elizabeth (David’s wife) and hence my Great Great Grandfather. I descend on a purely female line from John Calloway’s wife Huihana (Susannah) Hopa te Arawaere.
Opotiki
Feb 20th, 1887
My Dear Brother,
I don’t know how to begin to write you. When I was at home you were such a little chap and now I suppose I must consider you a man, and if you are not, I bet that you think you are. Do you cultivate a mustachio and walk the Dona (young women) home from Church? Maybe you have a weakness for both. Be careful in the latter business and ‘never marry a Wider’ as Old Waller advised his son Samuel ( read Pickwick Papers).
I was very glad to get your letter Jack. It wakened me up a bit. I was going to answer straight away but I put it off. Just like me with all my how-do-you-do correspondence. It is about six months since I last wrote home but I shall be extra good this time. I closed my last letter rather abruptly. I am glad that you made heads and tails of it. It was not
without some reason for that night on which I closed my letter the shaking was something cruel. The shocks were a deal heavier than on the night of the eruption. Everybody was walking about with their blankets…
