NATURE—AND MAN.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume LIX, Issue 6187, 10 March 1936, Page 4

NATURE—AND MAN.

TRADER EOIRIN'S ■ WISDOM. ■ a "Civilisation" v. "Savagery." (Edited by Leo. Fanning) What a charming 1 old philosopher Trader Horn is! In. his shrewd observation of man (civilised and savage) and nature he has the basic wisdom of "Old Gorgon Graham." Ponder on this passage from the veteran adventurer's first book "Trader Horn" :—> "When, I'm near to sleep or on the edge: of waking up I see those creatures again, bright and moving as when we passed them. Africa, Ma'am, as 1 Nature; moulded it. A'nd believe me, when Man has destroyed nature then its his turn to go. Sure. The . barren world will swallow- him 1 up. 'Tis a lucky thing the cannibal tribes have kept the, elephants safe so long from these so-called ■big-game hunters. An equatorial' gang of cut-throats, wasting wild life to make what they call 1 a bag. While the cannibals are there, there'll be no lack of elephants. They never kill wanton. O'n'lty to eat. They'd never be so childish as' these dukes and colonels who have to count the head they kill same as we counted our marbles l ini Lancanshire. The cannibal lives as nature taught him I —ki'l only to eat, keep your women moral, hold no man as slave, be content with your side o' the river and- cast no , eyes across the water., " 'Tis when a tribe keeps slaves -nil marries 'em that it begins to go down. The cannibals know that clean morals make a strong fighting race. 'Tis no different with white men. Rome never went down til 1!) she was pulled down by slaves and fancy women. Marble baths and so on, 'stead of a good fetch in the; river at dawn." The old-time Maoris had that same sane attitude to wild- life. They regarded bird's as natural capital, which coiilld be increased while it provided them 1 with an income of food. The Maoris also had a veneration of the forests of their God' Tane. No tree was taken unless there was a tribal need of it, and there were, incai> tations of tohungas for the propitiation of the forest god. In another chapter Trader Horn remarks:—■ "I had made it a strict custom during my many trips through this stretch of water (a river in Africa) not to shoot, so that the

bird's and monkeys, etc., were getting used to me, and as they were an essential part of this grand scenery, I left them undisturbed for the benefit of future visitors.," Influence of Places.. Trad'er Horn, a native of Lancashire, had an enduring warm love of his native land. Here are words for people of all countries; :—■ "Aye! London Whenever I've turned up at home I've had to go first and see if Lancashire was still there. I had to get me fill of it for a few days before I took London at leisure. Have a I'ook at Gill;moss and so on. Hear the chuets and' the gulls!. Sit on the edge of the old marl pond at Frea for old time's sake. A good setting for fishes, marl. Some of those! old bulMoses were as old as myself. I knew the marks on 'em., We'd poked 'em out from under the rocks often enough, as lads. Aye, the place welcomed me, if, not always the people. Pfeces—they know you. Which is what the people don't always do. An old tree, or a bend of the river'll hang out a flag for you even if you find a few doors inclined to be shut. Aye! in the ultimate we'll! not turn to flesh and 'blood but to soil and running water. It bred our fathers. And that's as near as we can get to 'em."

Persistence of Blue-Birds, In "Nature Magazine" R. P. Emerson shows' that American blue-birds have the persistence of starlings in making their homes in unexpected places. B'liue-birdis know their own mind, he wrote. At least this was true of a pair that, early in June, picked! as their home, a clothes-pin l bag hanging on 8 post in a backyard at Villa Nova, Pennsylvania. Their first step was to throw out the dozen clothes-pins and! half fill the bag with hay. The maid, wondering what the children had been up to reversed the process. The, bluebirds not fo be out'done, again threw out the.. clsthes-.pins and replaced the hay.' - For three days the battle continued' before the maid realised' the situation. She then hung the bag on the back porch to discourage them, Even then they proceeded! tc builld their nest, meanwhile: giv ing the family a round scolding. This determination was too much.. The birds won. Back to the post went the bag with the blessing of the* entire family, who had juisilg learned of the battle. Soon t|p nest contained five blue eggs; The blue-birds strutted in victory: When the children took—down the bag to inspect the nest, father ami mother bird sat with pride on the telephone wire. They even watched with interest when a photograph was taken from a step-ladder with the aidi of reflected) sunlight. When it wa" over Father Blue-bird sang a most justifiable song of triumph.

Progress. There was 1 peace in the vale; and the stream swam by, With a murmurous dash and a 'bubbling sigh O'er the smooth-worn rocks, thru' the eddying- bay, Where waters of time had carved tbe|r way From 1 the Earth There was peace, that .day. There was "peace in the bush where the tui sang-, In the sweet-dank depths; in the sunny tangOf manuku blooming on the dry, steep hilL There was peace in the blue of the sky, in the still Hot air.... And the fern-bird's

trill.. There, is clamour and bustle in thev al'ley now, And feverish haste; and the high-pitched sough Of the saw in wood, and the axe's ring. But ask the. hewn bough, the broken wing What gold.. .And man can bring.

I see a city where a valley stood, Where the bird) once sang, where grew a wood Of restful green, its top splashed red With rata bloom. Beneath man's 1 tread; That past, that peace, are dead* T. E. Woodward; In "'New : Zealand Railways Magazine."