EARLY NEW ZEALAND

Northern Advocate, 24 October 1936, Page 2

EARLY NEW ZEALAND

FURTHER ADVENTURES OF J. W. STACK. , -■ . ♦ . Another valuable contribution to {he series of books descriptive of the early history of New Zealand has come from the publishing house of Messrs A. H. and A. W. Reed, of Dunedin and Wellington. It is the second volume of the autobiography of James West Stack, the celebrated authority on the South Island Maori, and, like the first volume, “Early Maoriland Adventures,” it is intensely interesting to all who are desirous of acquaintanceship With the .pioneering days in their native or adopted country. Mr A. H. Reed has again proved himself a careful and able editor, and he has presented a host of facts in a fascinating irianher. “It has been, it must be confessed,” says Mr Reed in a preface* “a difficult matter to know where to draw the line, without overloading, in the inatter of annotation. Some may be of opinion that reasonable limits have been exceeded. It has to be remembered, however, that. Stack’s recollections take us back to a very early period in the history of our country, and that they sometimes refer to half-forgotten people, places and events. To elucidate some of these references has involved a great expenditure of time and much research," besides the generous co-oper-ation of many friends.” In this volume Sstack tells the story of his voyage from Sydney to London in 1848; of his meeting with Tamihana Te Raupariaha in London; of his return from England to New Zealand in 1852, and his experiences in 1 the Waikato and later among the Maoris in Banks Peninsula Kaiapoi, extending ever a period of some seven years? Stack was a vivid writer, and his descriptions of adventures ashore and afloat make great reading. Dunedin, Wellington and Auckland, as they were in the days .of which Stack writes, were very small and primitive settlements, and it is most interesting to read of the men and women who laid the foundations for their present day greatness. Especially interesting are the storied told of Maoris whose names are famous in history. A wonderfully realistic picture is painted of the period under review, and the reader will find it difficult to put the book down before the last page has bpen read.