OLD NEW ZEALAND.

Evening Post, Volume XCVI, Issue 42, 17 August 1918, Page 11

OLD NEW ZEALAND.

"Maoriana." By Elan' Westorwood. Whitcombe and Tombs, Wellington. Much Maori lore is utilised in the making of this book. The m&in object of the author, according to the editor, David S. Westerwood, is "to place_ in poetic setting an account of ancient, Maori, customs, traditions, mythology, and history, and a descriptive account of the far-famed wonderfland of New Zealand, the hot lakes region of the North Island." The object is fully achieved, and that with distinction. Those 'who are interested in the Maori and all connected, with his customs will no doubt wish that the book under notice had been written in prose .instead of verse. But it is evidently a work of love, and shows a thorough knowledge of the Maori and a ' grateful recognition of all that was brave and noble in the race. One E"van lands in the Bay of Plenty, between 1845 and 1855, and he falls in with the Ngatiawa, then at war with the Tauyo. The quarrel was about the abduction of two .maids, a very frequent cause of strife, it seems. Evan unwittingly profanes a tapu burial ground, but the ban upon him being removed, he joins the Ngatiawa expedition to rescue the abducted maidens. Evan's friends are defeated, and lie is made a sjave. His adventures among the Maoris become very thrilling, especially when he escapes. These should be read, if only for the insight their narration affords into the daily life and customs of the Maori of _ some sixty years or more ago. Rhyme is a strong feature of the work, but it is not always slavish- | ly adhered to, as the following lines I testify:—

Sirius and sister Pleiades

With many a constellation blaze,

"MaoriaJia" is a most interesting woi'k,