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Evening Post, Volume XCVI, Issue 139, 9 December 1918, Page 2

A well-printed brochure entitled "The Discovery and Rediscovery of Wellington Harbour," which was compiled and written by Mr. Elsdpn Best, the authority on Maori history,, has been issued; by the Wellington Harbour Board. The facts of history are well set out and authenticated, and all doubts as to who discovered Port Nicholson set at rest, while several stories which have been regarded* as reliable, referring to the same matter, are clearly disproved. A notable instance of this is the tale that Captain Cook entered the harbour over submerged sands, which are now Lyall Bay beach. Very interesting charts, made by the early navigators of several nations are included, as well as descriptions of the Wellington hills and of the Maoris living on the harbour shores, as seen by Cook and his ship's company as they lay at anchor' off Barrett's Reef. The booklet is a distinct; addition to historical literature, and those who have read it have expressed the hope that further i publications may be prepared by Mr. Best relating to Maori settlements in the bays of Port Nicholson. The ''military party which journeyed overland to Big Bay, on the West Coast, and arrested two military deserters, Boy and Reg. Bradley,, of Christchurch, found them quartered jn a comfortable hut', and, to all appearances happy in , their solitude, and thriving on fresh air, the products of a well-kept garden, and on game. The potato shawg were about 2 feet above the ground, and the onions were far from backward in growth. The brothers (sajb the Press) apparently obtained milk from a settler's cows. Circumspect in their advances,' the party resorted to strategy, and the statement that they wore tourists was readily accepted by. the Bradleys in good faith. The party ; partook of the deserters' hospitality for a night, and on the morrow, when informed that they were under arrest, the Bradleys took tha matter philosophically. They gave no trouble when they were being brought back to Queenstown, although they could ha"ye escaped had they been determined to do so. One of the men is over 6 feet in height, and both are splendid types" of nuHjhood. Handcuffs, of course, were <mt of the question, as the fighs back to civilisation even to unshackled men way fraught with great risk and hardship. Tbo trip home was undertaken in snow* storms and in rain and galea of wind, and. occupied Kveral days..