WANGANUI RIVER

Dominion, Volume 27, Issue 70, 15 December 1933, Page 27 (Supplement)

WANGANUI RIVER

An Eternal Glory There is little need, if any, to expatiate on the glory of the Wanganui River. Its traditions are inextricably wound round the very roots of New Zealand’s history. It is one of the water wonders of the world—a water miracle, the scenic beauty of w’hich has prostrated the imagination of many a foreign tourist. The Wanganui River is New Zealand’s surprise packet for the visitor, whose specialty is the delight of vievvIng the phenomena of Nature’s treasures; as a waterway of scenic splendour it has few rivals in the world, and certainly it is unparalleled in the southern hemisphere. The beautiful bush-fringed hillsides and valleys, with their green foliage of varying hues, the graceful tree ferns, the canopies of flowering vines, and the carpets of mosses and lichens have a charm that is singular and inspiring. Many Maori' pas and settlements are spread along the river banks, and most of them are redolent of the stirring

times when the Maori fought back the invading pakeha. One of the most historic spots of the river’ is Moutoa Island, w’hich was the scene in other days of many hand-to-hand combats. Again, throughout the length and breadth of the river the traveller in his passing comes upon places that will remain immortal in the history of the Dominion's colonisation; there is not a place of interest without its romance —without its individual history; without its tale, tragic and otherwise, of other days. And so the river steamer courses through the pages of history in its passage and unfolds the while on the screen of the visitor’s imagination the triumph of the w’hite man over the Maori, who defended the shores of this glorious river with his life’s blood. And the scenery to-day is the scenery of those other days; its magic passes through the vision of the traveller like the pages of a giant picture-book—a memory that will never be forgotten. The New Zealander who has not seen the Wanganui River falls far short of a full knowledge of his wonderful country; he is dull-to a glory that is intrinsically his, for the river in its scenic magnificence is a glory effervescent and eternal.