NEW ZEALAND A FAIRYLAND.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIII, Issue 96, 21 April 1909, Page 6

NEW ZEALAND A FAIRYLAND.

.AMERICAN IMPRESSIONS

THE WELCOME TO THE FLEET

''Hawaii was dreamland, New Zealand a fairyland," writes Mr Franklin Matthews, one of the journalists who accompanied the American fleet, in an article in an American paper on the welcome given to the fleet here during the memorable week in August last.

"The Americans," he proceeds, "were, astonished to find this little land, which has an area of oneseventh less than Great Britain and Ireland together, was a combined Norway, a Switzerland, an Italy, a California, a Yellowstone in seenio beauty, and that it was an lowa and Eastern Kansas in soil fertility, and an .Upper Michigan and Oregon in its.grand forests and timber industries. -As to its governmental experiments, it would be presumption for one who was there less than a ■week, ajid those six days one mad dash to try to catch up with the various phases of hospitality, to write about either in criticism or commendation, to say nothing of endeavouring to give a mere narrative of what these experiments have been and are.

"Perhaps tho most significant fact that can be mentioned in respect to this is that a government has been established here where millionaires us Americans know them do not exist, but where the wealth of the people reaches the tremendous total of nearly £300 a head, the highest in the world; where there is no poverty; where, as nowhere else in the world, the good old democratic doctrine of the ' greatest good for the greatest number ' is exemolified.

" Presumptuous as it would be to point out where the semi-socialistic scheme of government has succeeded or failed, this much may be said in sober truth, after much conversation and careful ..observation, that if healthier, happier, more prosperous human beings than the residents oiJ New Zealand exist anywhere in the world, the writer of this does not know where to find them." Then Mr Matthews comes to the story of the welcome to the fleet. Ussays:— " From the first sight oi: Auckland Harbour The American fleet seemed at home. Far out came ail sorts of vessels, with flags and banners, and cheering multitudes to shout welcome. The ships were greeted with sor;,a\s as well a,s with shouts. Warm as was the greeting at San Pedro in California, it did not reach tho dimensions o): this at Auckland. Tho harbour itself had a look of welcome. One could almost

imagine himself sailing into a Boston suburb. Although it was in the dead of winter, so propitious is the climate that the earth was covered with green. As hill after hill stood out one could see with glasses that it was black with, people. Soon the redroofed houses, built largely in the fashion of New England homes, filled the landscape with a glow. Then the city came into view—a warm, friendly-looking place, sloping away on hillsides and into valleys, with suburbs that spoke of contentment and prosperity. The water-front was thronged. The water was covered with small craft. Great signs of welcome were strung on bluffs and buildings. Flags were everywhere, and the people seemed crazed with delight.

THE ROTORUA VISIT

"The great feature of the Dominion welcome was the visit to the famous Rotorua thermal springs, and a peep into the geyser country. It was on the Rotorua trip that the Americans got some idea of what the ancient Maoris must have been as a race and as warriors. One could fill columns with the details of their v/elcome. It was the most thrilling and savage exhibition any of the party had ever witnessed, and at the same time it was the heartiest greeting of goodwill that they received.

"The main party arrived at Roto-

rua late at night. It is almost in the heart of the North Island. The sulphur fumes filled the air, and in the bright light of the full moon one could see the clouds of steam pouring from the earth in great fog banks all over the district. In the morning the visitors went to the Maori village, v.'alkcd among the boiling mud pools, saw the natives doing their cooking in them, put one hancf in a stream of cold water and, only a foot away, held their fingers over a boiling pool. The earth crust seemed too frail to step upon. On all sides jets of steam spurted into faces. You could paw away the sand in places, and at a depth of from three to four inches it would become too hot to handle. It was a gruesome, uncanny place in which to live."

After describing the Maori welcome, he goes on to speak of thethermal phenomena :—" The Admiral threw a bar of soap into Wairoa geyser, n forbidding hole where the waters were growling and rumbling. In a few minutes an upheaval began. It lumped itself above the surface once or twice, and then it shot dear up with a series of spouts 120 ft high, and the wind caught the spray and made rainbows almost arching over the assembled party—fine omens for the visitors. The rest of the day was given up to bathing in the wonderful health-giving waters of the baths, in visiting Maggie's house or pa, in talking with the natives and exploring about the dangerous pools of bubbling mud and watching the steam clouds pouring for acres and acres from the ground. And this was only a glimpse into Geyserland. For miles and miles around it continues, and there is a picture of one of the geysers —there are scores of them — spouting no less than 1500 ft in the air. Talk about the Yellowstone after that! BEAUTIFUL WOMEN. " Interesting as was the Maori welcome, the visitors found the natives themselves much more interesting. The beauty of the women astonished them. They are chocolate in colour, and the younger ones are lithe. Their features are almost typically Grecian. Their eyes are wonderfully bright, and they carry themselves with the air of nobility. The men have long given up the practice of tattooing their faces. It was marvellous how they worked out those patterns. Some' of the women still tattoo their lips and chins. It now indicates a marriage mark, but it mars the beauty of their faces woefully. They are gradually giving up the custom, and are beginning to see that they are more beautiful if they forego tins painful operation of staining their skins with a shell and the indelible ink they make from a root.

"The writer went to Rotorua in a car where there was a young Maori matron of high rank. Like hundreds of the women, she was a graduate of the Maori College. She had as regular features as any Grecian maiden of old, but her chili was stained. You forgot it when she smiled and her face lighted up with merriment. She was the life of the car. "When she spoke it was with as soft a voice as was ever given to one of her sex. Her English was delightful in its pronunciation, and the diction was absolutely free from slang.

" She wore a Paris hat, and it was tied down with an automobile veil. She had some of the native embroidery on her gown, and she wore diamonds on her fingers. She told of the legends of her people. She entered into delightful repartee from time to time, but never a touch of the colloquial in her large vocabulary—why, it was enough to make almost any man fall in love with her at first sight, tattoed chin and all, and you could understand to some extent why the whites had intermarried with these people. She was a glorious creature, refined, educated, vivacious, a born aristocrat! One could then understand why these people hold themselves above ordinary folk. You can never get one for a servant. They are now a petted race, and they have come to presume that due honour will be paid to them simply because they are the proud people they are. They feel they have the right to be proud.

"The English had to compromise with them. They are the aristocrats. And if you ever wish to hear speech spoken in the softest, richest, sweetest tones in the world, spend an hour in cpnversation with one of these educated chieftainesses of the Maoris, and you'll never forget it. You can also understand the patriotism of the men, whose proudest saying is: 'The death of the warrior is to die for the land!'

"It used to be said, 'See Paris and die!'" says Mr Matthews, in conclusion. " Paraphrasing the saying, ridiculous in these days, one may say in truth to those who seek nature's glory in its richest beauty, 'See New 'Zealand and live!'"