HANDBOOK FOR NEW ZEALAND.* NEW ZEALAND is fortunate in being
the first Colony to secure a place amongst Mr. Murray's well-known guide-books. Nor will her neighbours, the Australians and Tasmanians, grudge her the honour she has received. On the contrary, many of them will frankly say that the honour is well deserved. For native come- liness, New Zealand is the Cinderella of the Antipodes. She has long been the play-ground for Australasians who are only too glad to escape from their monotonous surroundings and revelin the natural beauties and wonders of fair New Zealand. And Dr. Pennefather's book will be welcome to them and to all English- men, not merely because it is the latest book written from the tourist point of view, but because it combines features which are not found in any other book. Keeping strictly in mind the wants of an ordinary traveller, we have here not only the newest and beat routes most carefully described, but such brief accounts of the geology, flora, and fauna of the country as will save the reader the consultation of many other books. The salient points of the history of each settle- ment are also given, and in their proper connection references are made to Maori legends and Maori encounters with each other or with our own troops. It is remarkable that in so young a country, whose proper and proud boast is that it is making history, has nevertheless already many stirring episodes which are matters of history. The tourist will not enjoy the many beautiful or the many magnificent views which everywhere meet and greet him the less, but rather the more, because these natural " pictures " are mingled, after a true artist's fashion, with the "personal element" of Maori romance or of English heroism. On the edge of Lake Rotorua, for instance, in front of the island of Mokoia, such visitor can read for himself in Murray's pages (p. 20) Sir George Grey's version of the beautiful legend of Hine-Moa, which has in some respects a parallel in Scott's "Lady of the Lake." Those who have seen Ellen's Isle on Loch Katrine will note its correspondence also with Rotorua's island. Then at Tauranga the story of the Gate Pa disaster will be told again for the hundredth time. There, if anywhere, the English learned to respect the skill and courage of the Maoris. There two hundred natives were more than a match for seventeen hundred of our men, who were, moreover, armed with artillery. By the simple device of placing the defiant flag one hundred yards above the actual stockade, the Maoris caused the misdirection of the English fire for over two hours. When at length a breach was made, the storming-party entered what seemed an empty pa, but only to receive a tremendous volley from a concealed entrenchment of the enemy. Soon after,— " A panic seized the English troops. Their officers (who stood firm) attempted in vain to rally them. They turned and fled, leaving a score of their comrades dead or wounded behind them. In the darkness of the night the Maoris stealthily escaped, creep- ing away in small bodies. Next morning the English entered the deserted pa. There they found lying the dead and the wounded of the night before,—not a single English soldier stripped or muti- lated, and by the side of one who was still living was placed a vessel of water, which the Maoris had penetrated through the English lines at the risk of their lives to procure." (p. 14.) Although the unique and marvellous Pink and White Ter- races were destroyed in the Tarawera eruption in 1886, there is still a weird and truly wonderful "region " near Lake Taupe, called the Geyser Valley. Here mud volcanoes and hot springs are found together in the strangest manner. Kipling said this district must be the very gates of Hades itself. Here is a specimen geyser :— "On the banks of the lakelet, at regular intervals, the thud of a Titanic forge at work is heard, followed at intervals by heavy reverberations which make the earth tremble ; at each explosion the visitor looks round in surprise, not unmixed with alarm, to discover the cause. Nothing is to be seen, however, but numerous jets of steam issuing from the banks of the stream." (p. 30.) While putting the expectant tourist on the proper track, and bringing him face to face with scenes of natural loveliness, the writer does not play showman too much. The following gives in a nutshell the main features of the Otira Gorge :— "In other parts of the world there are higher snow mountains, larger glaciers, and deeper gorges, but in few places is such grand mountain scenery found in combination with luxuriant vegetation,
as in this valley. The mountains tower above the forest-line (about 4,000 ft. above the sea) in fine, bold, rocky shapes, culminating in Mount Rolleston (8,00) ft.), which over- hangs the Otira Gorge. At first, the most prominent object
4, Handbook for New Zealand, By F. W. Ponnefather, LL.D. London : John Murray. 1893.
before the traveller is Mount Alexander, with its snow-covered. summit, rising to a height of 6,460 ft. Through the lovely bush, with its undergrowth of tree-ferns, a succession of mountain views unfold in ever-varying combination." (p. 90.)
As the author invites corrections, his attention is called to the following :—" Manuka " (scrub) is spelt with "k" and " o,"— the former is correct ; Dr. Stuart appears, also, as Stewart ; " Waikanei " should be " Waikanae." The writer blames persons for using " bush " for forest ; yet, strange to say, he often uses the same word himself. It is singular, too, to note in the account of every Bishop's See there is some notice of the Bishop ; there is not a word about ex-Primate Had- field, who, although just resigned, has been for fifty-four years a conspicuous figure in New Zealand church and educational matters. These are but trifles in a book which is now easily first as a trustworthy guide to the fairest, if the most distant, of the Colonies of the Empire.
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