NEWEST NEW ENGLAND.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXV, Issue 199, 20 August 1904, Page 9

NEWEST NEW ENGLAND.

(By Rev. FRANCIS E. CLARK, D.D.) (Copyright 1904.) \ new worid for the American tourist to conquer is New Zealand, and were it known how co_par.ttivi-ly short is the journey; how commodious ,uvJ comiortable tiie steamer.-, that bring y.'.i hither: how fascinating tl.e voyage through tropic seas: and how extraordinary the scenes winch await one on his arrival in this Britain of the South Seas —the journey. 1 :::n confident, would be undertaken by t!u.u«aiuis of enterprising American tour U.s. Switzerland is tat old story to many Americans: the fjords of Norway aie \exed by the keels of their frequent ships; Egypt's dry aud dusty highways ure worn smooth by them, while all the show places in England, Ireland. Scotland and Wales are overrun by the "undenatioi—Used Americans;" but here are fresh fields and pastures new; here is a great country stretching through twelve degrees of latitude, embracing all the products of the sub-tropical and temperate zones —a country as big as all Great Britain, and occupying the same relatiou to the Orient that Britain does to the Occident. Here are all the contents of Pandora's box emptied out on these two islands. Lofty alps as high as Mount Blanc, fjords deeper and gloomier aud more awe-inspiring than anything iv Norway or Iceland; boiling lakes such as can be found nowhere else in all the world; geysers that outdo the Yellowstone wonders ten to one; smiling, fertile fields of level agricultural land like our own prairies; trout fishing that would be the envy of any angler in the world who would not demand more than the '20-pound trout: upw flora ior the botanist, new fauna for the naturalist; in fact, whatever a man desires to find he would be indeed hard to please if he could not discover it in New Zealand.

Moreover the statesman and politi;-..! i economist wiil find much to interest him here; almtst every experir.i'jiU in the way of economic reform wh'.eh tiie in venmc mind unhampered by tradition - or any undue reverence for the past can formulate is hire being tried. Women s suffrage, old age pc-n-ioir:. courts oi" arbitration and conciliation. "-Hate ownership of railway-.. .u;j public w.-rks. Stale fire and !i!'c insurance. State ».'.v ins-, banks. Government nd:;:inis:ratio-i of wills and estates—all those p'aus are being wrought out in this newest of aii New Englands. I Hut about the success or uidierwi-." of Ihfiso plans I siiail write in ).>..<•;■ a:tj( [th. 'ibis one t.. i!.i with N.-w Zealand and the way of g:.!:iii.,' there. Tne highway from America is. o: om-e, the Pacific Uecan. and it is net a te.iiou , journey if one can make an,.' claim to being a good sailor. As Stevenson ■•-.ihl, concerning his home in Samoa. "\o,i start from San Eraitcirf". take the straight road for Honolulu. i\m\ on arriving there take the liis'.. turn to the right." So. iv coining to New Zealand, you follow .Stevenson's direction until you get to Samoa, then take one more turning to the right, and here you arc in the beautiful crater-encircled harbour of Auckland. The steamers cf the line that briugs you from San Francisco are exeeedir.j_.iy comfortable, modern boats of more than COCKJ tons burden, with comfortable state-rooms, good table service, attentive stewards, and the most genial and kindly officers that I have seen ou any steamers iv any part of the world after many years of frequent travel. It was my good fortune to eoine on the sierra, and nothing was left undone by Caplain Houdlette, by Chicj-Oflk-er Trask. by Purser Fulcher. or by Chief-Engineer Nieman for the comfort of the passengers. The chief ollicer even went so far as to organise a Sandow class for ; the gentlemen in their pyjamas every morning on the deck before breakfast, after which a plunge in the big canvas tub on the forward deck made one feel fresh and "Tit." One great beauty of this voyage is that it is broken in jusi tbe right

I piueci.. It naturally divides itself into | three parts: from San l-'raucl.-.eo to | li.Mohi! '. something over 20;)i> iiuies, j iilior.l n M.\-day>' journey: then after 12 j hours on s':io;v. another -">'!o iv.ibs j 1 -Lugs ore to i'ago L-'ago iv Tutuila; |ti;-;i another -treich (.•<' sea anJ you [ '.".leii Aiirklanh tne breaks in the jour-j ! nsy coming in je.se lhe right places, for a i landsman to stretch hi; sea-legs o?i dry j j ground end get lhe uncomfortable kinks : j Con id i!i'm\- L? a m;.v charmin.: half- ■ w:.y )•., -,;-,- .!_..._„ Honolulu, though on ibis veyaue it mi.T'ii more properly be '-.'lied .-; "third-way house!" Here is all tropic luv'.inaue ■ - - rvcm;/-- n\ voVill p_.ii._-. nraviro* ay.d leni. i:s. fruits " of iv ry koid and prnfu-ioii. irorgeous fio\vit*. waving their wr:i!!:i uf colour over - eery heme. A people h<v.piiHbl» to the b' '. degree, greeting you with their charming "Alohas." and enveri.tg you with their fragrant garlands, when, i-i'ier 12 hours on shore, you b.d thevn :-.,'.hu. feeling as though you had known , them and experienced their boundless .hospitality for half a life-time. : When We reach Pago Pago six days i later, we find that we have not yet got I out of Cm-le Sam's dominion:-: the j starry llag still floa's over us. end 2 ■ cent po>u-ge stamps will carry a letter j 10.000 iiiie-s lo Cape .Nome. Alaska, or to Bangor. Maine. Ii Hawaii i-. tropi--1 till. Samoa is more intensely tropical. | No tree or shrub that you ever saw j growing before, my friend of temperate I climes, will you ?ee here, but a thick. ] hnpene-rable jungle, made up of huge I frees, creepers mid pararUe.-'. gorgeous ! flowered bushes, and .-very form of vegeAation that a fertile soil, a hot sun, and il.'ilv showers the year around can pro- ! di'.ce. j In the partitions of the Samoan Is- | lands our Government was indeed fori tunate iv obtaining the gem of them ! all. Tiie harbour erf Pago Pago, though j Miinll. is perfect in its way. The enI trance is deep and well defined, and it | is surrounded on every hand by great • conical hiils rising sheer from tlie sea nearly 301)0 feet. The town itself consists of a line of picturesque native huts, strangling for more than two miles along the edge of the harbour —huts built on

poles, with a substantial roof and no side walls, wh.-re the contented inhabitants lay sprawled out ail day, satisfied with having enough eoeoanuts. bread fruit and bananas to .satisfy their easily contented souls. [hit that they enjoy the rule of Inclo i Sam is proved by the fact that, thousands oi them come over to his domain | irom German Samoa, and the population ,of I'ago Pago has been fully doubled j within a half dozen years. .Most fa- - 'filiating wa-: the picture as the steamer •■ ploughed its wr.y into I lie little hayI hour; forty native boat;: eiime out to Impel it. loaded with oranges and lem- : nn:;, bread fruit and hannuas, pink and : white coral that looked like baskets ef i delicate flowers at a little distance, and .! many eohured fish that rival the coral .: and the fruit in their brilliant beauty. j Every little boat is a clug-out, scooped ! : from a single log. with an outrigger to 'keep it right-side up. but even that does i ' not always oecomplisli its purpose. f>w i' nut infrequently they tip over, and bread • ■ fruit and bananas, cotoannts aud | oranges, a.id their owner, go bobbing i; around on the surface of the waves unj til. with the help of neighbours. The !! canoe is righted once more, baled out : | and loaded up again, no one being worse j for the due-king. '! Hoys dive for coins with the greatest j intrepidity and success, almost invariably beating the coin in it,-, zig-zag 'Journey toward the bottom, and coming '! up to the surface in good time with a I broad grin on their iac-ps and another 'clime stowed away iii their capacious ; cheeks, which in the course of an hour bullies cat with their contents like well tilled coin purses, as, indeed, they are. But our steamer only stopped six ! hours in Pago Pago, and we must not j linger longer, for >>ew Zealand, with I all its unique and wonderful attraction?, (awaits i:~ only rive days further on. I One bright morning we woke up. and I there were its conical craters in which ! the fires were long since extinguished. ' crowding thick around the lovely harbour : and pleasant little city of Auckland. ■Few exasperating Custom-house regula- | tions detained us, and we were soon j ashore with minds alert and eyes wide j