"WHITE WINGS."

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 177, 28 July 1928, Page 10

"WHITE WINGS."

SIR HENRY BRETT'S BOOK. SECOND VOLUME PUBLISHED. j FOUNDING OF PROVINCES. f STuR\ OF PICTt RESQI K | I'KRIOD. The second volume of "White Wings," by the late Sir Henry Brett, now fresh from the printing presses, 1- a review of romantic adventures by sea and land which are intimately bound Up vvil.h the earlie.-t ties of New Zealand and t iie Motherland. The book rekindles memories of the bravo old pioneering days and places on record a valuable chronicle for future generations. Those who knew the author will agree that it was a notable achievement in the closing years of a remarkably active lii'e for one so well qualified to gather up the fruitage of the years for the benefit of surviving pioneer* and tho.-e who will follow aw or. In the preface to Ihe second volume Mr. W. ('ceil Leys slates that after the publication of the lirst. volume of "White Wings, - ' the late. Sir Henry Urott received so many inquiries cjinccrning vessels that he had not referred to, that he lell compelled to delve still further into (lie records of the past, and deal as comprehensively as possible with 1 he. sailing -hips up to the year ISS.">, which was about the time that people forsook sail for steam when voyaging to and from the colonies. I Birth of the Provinces. This further volume is more than a mere record of shipping. When gathering information about tin: very early ships. >i r Henry was -truck by liie fact that hitherto the shipping history ■of the founding of t!i<• province- of New Zealajid had never been dealt with in a comprehensive way. It. therefore comes about that the first part of the new volume tolls a. fascinating story of the earliest incidents of colonisation in the young country, which was distant by months of sailing from Britain.

How many people know that more than a hundred years have passed since the lirst colonising company was formed tor the yetting tip »>f a factory to fashion ships' spats and manufacture flax in New Zealand? Such a company was formed in 18:!.~>, and the ship I!osauita was despatched to this country, but the \cnltire was not ;i success, ait<l the company lost about £20,001). Many of the promoters, however, retained (heir faith til the. possibilities of such a vent ui e. and eight of the directors were oil the directorate of the successful company which was formed u few years later. "If it had not been for t itc enterprise and spirit of adventure shown by tinmen who ill Is.'iit founded the New Zealand Company." the iiarr;»ti\e runs, "New Zealand's hi-tory might. have been very different. for it was the whoiiy unauthorised expedition sent out by 'hem that forced the hands of the liritish < !ovcrnment. and compelled if to lake t!'e steps that, ended ill Britain assuming possession of the islands There were some very determined ir.-u en the directorate of the company, many of thrm being <|uit e important per-on-nirc.i, pud lief used (o having their wishes ignored in the way Ihe (•overnmcnt per-i-ted in doing. While tlie an! horit ie.s were humming and hn-ing. tin- dire-'-foi-_ ~f i-tc comiiiiiiy liticd <ntt an <'\- >i'•<li; i> «ii and mailed a\\a\ for New '/e.i land."

Coming of Captain Hobson. That was liov>* (in" boundaries of New Smith Wale- < •;: 111«• to In* e\t elided 1m include Ni'W Zealand. and why < aptain "W'illinul Hobson, UN., was dispatched a-; Lieuteriant-(;<>vcruor "ul any territory which is or may In- a • julrod in sovereign! y by Her Majesty" in New Zealand. Then follows in "White Winds' 11 connected story of Ihe ships that brought (he first settlors to Well in"', on. fleet sailors whose memories liave boon perpetual ed by the of their names to streets i.i the now cat iral oily— Aurora, Oriental. Tory, (una, Adelaide, Bolton, and other-. And so tiie story run-, on to the founding of I lie several ]iro\ inees. to the eomiiiL; of the "lir.-t ship-" and those that followed in all endl".-- and ever lengthening line he', ween the years and (It will he renenihered tiia'' the lir-' xo'ume of "Whit" \\ i:' - • inal--wit li lift y \ea r - of sa '' in the \ ev. Zealand trade, from 1 s.Mi in I'.tutl.) With a wealth of in formal i>u :.:at'i ored from various sources. the hirtli of each province is t raced --Wclliiij;f on. AniK'land. Taranaki, Nelson, t'anterImry and ()fa<|o. and a special chapter is devoted to the development 'if t lie I'ort of Napier. For mue'n of this information Iho Author was indebted <o most helpful correspondents. notably Mr. Horace Tildes. of Wellington, Mr. r. <). Wheat lev. of 1)i I U"d i it. Mr. litissell Duncan, of Napier. and others. Songs of Long Ago. Perhaps llie most ehannim: in the new volume are tluw which recount the personal c\ptviences of pioneers, both on Ihe lon'/ Yoviv's from I'riiain and in choir earliest days in the nowcountry. The diaries from which quotations are nia (It* 1"I| of datieiuy and other fornix, of entertainment at sen. of the solls 11.at. were .-unu' and the time that was uiven to intellectual development. Tlcy tell ot terrilvincr storms and of calms in tropical /one-, of food that never of the host, and that sometimes was revoltiii". They toll of mutiny and shipwreck, of eourai»e lit fa.-o of dan»er. and of platitude in times of deliverance. In brief. they t"l] of the steadfast, h ipe and the matiuiticent. courage of the pioneers, who, i;i lay mi: the foundations of this ;xrow'n7 ' !omi"ioti, "Imilded better th-an they knew.'' Hefore the new hook was readv. Sir lleiirv passed awav, hut. .as is' remarked •„ 1],,, |,; s Tnanv readers .win join with his friends in refjrrttiiiK that iie did not live to see the issue of the second volume of a work that makes a. unique record of a picturesque period of New Zealand's historv.