DR. BELL'S RETURN.

Grey River Argus, Volume 07, 7 January 1908, Page 4

DR. BELL'S RETURN.

HOLIDAY AND WORK. Dr J. M. Bell, Director of the Geological Survey, who returned to Wellington by the Moeraki on Wednesday evening, gave a reporter of the "New Zealand JTimes" s om c interesting "par ticulars of his holiday visit to Canada and England.

In the course of a iwo months' visit to Caridad, his native cauirfcry Dr. Bell did some climbing- in the ißookits, megobi ating, amongst otihor peaks, Mount Hood, in Oregon, which is about 13,000 feet high. Be also .revisited the stenes of his ie.arl.ier" explorations in the service of the Canadian Government, making a canoe trip in the direction of Hudson's Bay. He visited some of 'the mining fields of the Dominion, and was particularly interested in the Cobalt silver field", in Northern Ontario, ' now the largest silver field in the world. Although on holiday, Dr. Bell had provided himself with a number of lantern slides of •New Zealand scenery, and the lectures which he 'gave on the beauties and resources of tSis Dominion made his trip .at times a rather .arduous one. He gave a series of lectures in Canada, including- one at Queen's University, .and, crossing th c frontier, passed the. month ..of October in .a similar manner an* 'the" United States. 'The lectures in the Republic included some

paßAJtejj c &ib^ jo sapisjOAiun atjq. ■■■■& and Princeton. There were very good audiences at every lecture, and Dr. Bell was delighted with the. great interest which was taken' in the beauties of New Zealand by the educated classes of North America. Many persons waited behind after the lectures to ge* further, information and make nqoii-ries as to the means of: getting •to New Zealand. They, .seemed astonjshed that they had heard so little of a country poissessmg such great natural attractions and such a diversity of scenery. The interest taken by the educated classes was a most gratifying feature of the lectures. Travelling from town to town on" this selfimposed mission, Dr. Bell for weeks on, end spent most of his nights, in Pullman cans, or at best had single nights In hotels.

"The change in Canada since I was there." said Dr. Bell, "is absolutely stupendous. I could hardly believe that this was the same country that I Geft only three . yars ago. I have never seen such a change in my life-. Winnipeg does not seem like the same city,- "and the same chang c is visible all over Canada, . especially in the west." ' ■.'-..-

to England in the. first: week of Novemiber, Dr. Bell lectured before v the Royal Geographical Sotoiety and before the Royal Colonial Institute, large- and thoroughly interested audiences being again the reward. .He had in'teidded to lecture at

Oxford and Cambridge, but pressure of time fonbade. The nwes of Sir James Hector's death, which was referred to at the latter lecture", gave Ibe .deceased's scientist's" s' <icessar an opporunity of eulogising the invaluable pioneering work done by Sir James in the geology, of New .Zealand. ' : At a dinner in London Dr. Bell sat next to Dr. Nansen, the famous Arctic explorer, who was particularly interested in : the fiords of the West Coast, and wag anxious to . compare them with thos c of his own country, Norway In both England and Ameri ca the interest taken-by the educated classes in N-ow. Zealand gave Dr. Bell an excellent opportunity of advertis-. ing this Dominion.