NATURE—AND MAN

Grey River Argus, 17 June 1933, Page 8

NATURE—AND MAN

Romance of the Wild — THE MAKING OF FAIRIES. (Edited by Leo Eanuiug). -Modern writers have traced the. marvels of old-time travellers’ tales about , mermaids and other strange spectacles to imperfect visions of seals, seai-cows aud other peculiar creatures far beyond the ken of stay-at-home fulk long ago. Supposing one of those ancient voyagers had been able to descend ihto the dark depths of the ocean, that region of perpetual night which scientists have traversed in marvellous equipment during recent years! If they had beheld the grotesque forms of fish, carrying their own magic lanterns to guide them through the dense gloom and to attract food, what would they have said when they returned home? They would have told their credulous hearers that they had ■visited a realm of evil spirits. PHANTOMS OF MOONLIGHT. i “Nature in the Moonlight” is the I title of a. charming article by Archi-1 bald Rutledge in “American Forests.”! “The world of nature that awakens at. twilight,” he writes “is another world—a dewy domain, a starlight country; and in it I have discovered fairies. Creation is of darkness as well as of light. To me, since earliest boyhood days, there has been a magic and a mystery about the life of nature at night that has always had a deeper charm than what we observe in the obvious daytime. Then it is that fragrant shadows form a glamorous background, and arc as veils marginal to sidereal loveliness. Then starlight spangles earth’s beauty; then it is that far musical voices haunt the purple night. And it is then that many of the warier and more beautiful wild things come forth to roam the velvet lands of darkness.” “Watching creatures such as these deer at night I have come to believe that the ancients created their mythology out of matters more substantial than mere imagination. Tn the evening and morning twilights, and by the light of the moon, did they not see ) wild children of nature, and thus have suggested the nymphs and the dryads, the gnomes and the sprites, the elves' and the fairies? Perhaps they took I these dimly discerned creatures and | made of them a whole system of to- ' mantic legend.’’ UPLIFT OF BEAUTY. The world has countless unions, asso-, ciations, institutes, leagues ami other! organisations for the uplifting of man-1 kind, and innumerable articles, essays and other writings arc published for the betterment of humanity. Perhaps the average man does not give much heed to those ceaseless homilies, but he will admit gladly that beauty of nature can help him on his way—beauty of Hie birds, beauty of the trees, beauty of gardens, beauty of the| mountains, ami beauty of the sea. The influence and power of beauty to | brighten the lives of men, women and children are brightly told by Professor O. M. Trevelyan, of London, in his hook. “The Call and Claims of Natural Beauty.” “As the centuries pass, the mystery of the universe deepens,” the author remarks. “The thoughts of civilised man accumulate like snowflakes ou the summit of Everest, or the leaves of many years in winter woods, burying one past system after another, one fashion after another in religion, science, poetry and art. Knowing that so much lies buried beneath, which but now was so hot and certain, it becomes over more difficult to trust as implicitly as of old whatever still for the moment lies on the surface of human thought, the still surviving dogma, or the latest fashion in opinion. At least it becomes difficult to trust to either dogma or thought alone. Man looks round for some other encouragement, some other source of spiritual emotion that will not lie either a dogma or a fashion, something ‘That will be for ever That was from of old.’

And then he sees the sunset, or the mountains, the flowing river, and grass and trees and birds on its banks. Tn the reality of these he cannot fail to believe, and in these he finds, at moments, the comfort that his heart seeks. By the side of religion, by the side of science, by the side of poetry and art, stands Natural Beauty, not as a. rival to these, but as the common inspiror and nourisher of them all, and with a secret of her own beside.” BELL-BIRDS OF MARLBOROUGH : SOUNDS. A well-informed writer on the plea-.* sure of gardening is likely to follow l the example of many others in quoting Bacon’s remark: “God Almighty first planted a garden; g.nd, indeed, it is the purest of human pleasures; it is the greatest refreshment to the spirits of man.” Similarly, writers on the charm of New Zealand’s birds are usually glad to mention Ca-ptain Cook’s tribute to the bell-birds’ chorus “This wild melody was infinitely superior to any that we had heard of the same kind; it seemed to be like small bells most exquisitely tuned.” Captain Cook’s words were warmly supported by the famous Russian explorer, Thaddaus Bellingshausen, who called at Ship Cove in 1820. “On our entry into iho bay,” he wrote, “we were struck by the song of the birds, which resembled the sounds of a piano and a. flute; it enraptured our ear, long disused to such pleasure.” One iwouders whether native crows gave the flute-like accompaniment to the bell-birds’ music. Another notable comment ou those old-time songsters of Marlborough Sounds is made by Mr. C. A. Mac Do- . aid in his new book, “Pages Past, ’ ’ •wh.ieh gives some thrilling chronicles of the period when To Ran

paialia, the {c Maori Napoleon,’’ was at the height of his ferocious power. The author mentions how John Guard’s little schooner was tossed by ft storm through the entrance to Tory Channel and was gently beached in a, sheltered bay. 1 ‘ln tho background,” the story goes, “where tho flat humped itself to join tho high hills, was a gorgeous fringe of trcc-fcrned bush, through which, here and there, towered forest giants, among which a hidden chorus of thousands of birds made such melody that even tho hardbitten old sea dogs of tho crew stood entranced, while it may bo imagined that tho girl, not so long from tranquil England, am] fresh from the peril of shipwreck, found tears in her eyes as she surveyed the peaceful scene and listened to the deep notes of the tui and tin mounting chorus of the other songsters.” Marlborough Sounds still have bellbirds and tuis—not as many as in the days of Captain Cook, but enough to inspire a hope that the numbers will increase greatly, if the people give the right encouragement. GUILT OF THE CAT. “Jumping at conclusions’’ is a. popular pastime the world over. It is easy to make tho spring, and still easier to fall into error. For example, gunmen in the United States of I America, raised a loud outcry against i hawks which were accused of devouring large numbers of game-birds—a heinous offence against the rights of sportsmen. Eventually a commission comprising scientists and conservation experts, was appointed to inquire into the general question of vermin. The main purpose was to ascertain what was the most destructive animal, apart from man, in attacks on game birds. It was known, of course, that the championship was held by man. After much research and the shooting of a. thousand hawks, the committee formed the opinion that, next to man, the common cat was the worst enemy of game birds. Examination of the stomachs of the thousand hawks showed the remains of two quail Internal inspection of the rats proved that they were particularly fund of quail eggs. Therefore, the commission found that the feeding-habits of the thousand hawks would have been much more beneficial than harmful to game birds.