Bay of Plenty Times. WEDNESDAY, FEB. 22nd., 1933. MAYOR ISLAND.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LX, Issue 11047, 22 February 1933, Page 2

Bay of Plenty Times. WEDNESDAY, FEB. 22nd., 1933. MAYOR ISLAND.

. The account of his recent visit to Mayor Island by Mr E. Phillips Turner, F.R.G.S., formerly the Head of the Forestry Department, will be read with interest by all who desire the preservation of those monuments of nature 'which alone give a distinctive beauty and interest to our land. Mr Turner points out in detail the natural advantages which the island possesses. To-day it is of little use to the Maori owners and it should not be a difficult matter for the Government to arrange for the exchange of Mayor Island for a suitable area on the mainland. Apart from the attractions mentioned by Mr Phillips Turner Mayor Island has rich historical associations, and are told that some fierce encounters between Maori factions were fought there. The numerous • pohutukawa trees growing on the island give it an added value. The deep-sea fishing sport provided by the waters in the neighbourhood make the area one of the most distinctive for big game fish in the world, and bear out the prognostications of the gentleman; the late Colonel Calthrop, who, it is believed, was the first angler to catch swordfish in the vicinity of Mayor Island. The Government is now moving in the direction of acquiring the Alderman Islands, northward of Mayor Island, as a game sanctuary, and we trust that negotiations for the acquisition of the whole of Mayor Island will be commenced and finalised. There is no time like the present and as there

are no Maoris now living on the island there should be no serious stacle in the way of the nation securing a good national asset and placing it under the control of a responsible department, f ;