The Loveliest Land Of pictured Christmas and New Year's greetings
from many parts of the empire the most intimate was a photograph of a wagtail nesting in a great naturalist's verandah in Cape Town ; and the most spacious a Christmas and centenary number of two New Zealand papers, the Otago Daily Times and the always admirable New Zealand Illustrated. What seems to me entirely remarkable about both these is that they consist, almost without exception, of pictures of what I may call straight scenic beauty, mostly wilder scenes of lake and hill, though one of the best is of sheep in a flowery orchard, and the most brightly coloured contains hydrangeas and (as I think) a flamboyant tree in full red flower. Art and sport and humanity in general surrender to nature. The tribute is almost compelled by the native virtue of the place. There may be lovelier scenes in other lands, and "the pink terraces," which were one of the wonders of the world, have vanished in earthquake, but in variety New Zealand can hardly" be paralleled to those who travel from the woods of immense trees in the north past the hot lakes and over the straits to Mount Cook and the glorious farms below it.
W. BEACH THOMAS.
Previous page
