NATURE—AND MAN

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXVI, 23 December 1933, Page 4

NATURE —AND MAN

WONDERLAND OF NEW ZEALAND A FEW GLIMPSES (Edited by Leo Fanning) Well, friends, here we are again, dose up to another Christmas which, we all fondly hope, should he the last of the dismal slump period. However, for a few days. Jet us east care aside and trv to see the world with the. bright.' trustful eyes of childhood. Despite the dirges of dreary pessimists, the world is really quite a good place. It is always ready to produce more than man needs for all purposes of lite. When humanity, in the mass, gets some more sense and learns how to make the best use of the gifts of Nature, the millennium will he practically here.

But this is not a time for heavy homilies or eludings. Serious lessons about various affairs can wait until the New Year blows the whistles and rings the bells for a stern return to life’s routine. Therefore this week's article will be mainly for the entertainment of children and for older folk who wish to be young again for a little while. Here are some jingles from a book which I wrote some years ago:

CHARM OF THE FOREST The fairies of the forest dells Have palaces of ferns and moss; No wicked witches cast their spells To cause the pixies pain or loss. The woods are ever gay and green; Xo snake lurks there for careless feet; Xo terror spoils the sylvan scene Of Xatlire’s joy and peace complete During the midsummer holidays many thousands of Xew Zoalandci'4 will see some of the marvellous beauty of their forests. May they resolve to do whatever they can to keep that sylvan splendour free from harm by lire or other nuisance. CALL OF THE WAXGAXUI JHVER The Wanganui river winds through miles of verdant banks Where tree-ferns stand like sentinels in splendid serried ranks: Aiid through the leafy isles you see tlie crests of noble hills, ' And hear the roar of waterfalls and songs of birds and rills.

Jf the Wanganui river is to retain its present scenic majesty, there must be no more destruction of forest on the watersheds above its banks. THE PREHISTORIC TUATARA The Lady Tuatara will never tell her age; She’s very very wrinkled, but very very sage: She’s very very proud of her ancient ancestry— This Tuatara knows she lias the oldest family-tree. She links up with the dragons of prehistoric days, When monstrous ugly reptiles flew about the swamps and bays. So let us be thankful she is innocent and small: If she wasn’t she would cat us—flesh and bones and clothes and all. Xew Zealand’s, unique Tuatara, a harmless dwarf 'survival of the prehistoric suarian family (which included various winged monsters), is only about two feet in length when fullgrown. It is a link between reptiles 'and birds: ft is a distinct cousin of the crocodile, but it Has bird-like ribs, a rudimentary third eye, and other peculiarities.

MARVELS OF MILFORD SOUND A million yeahTbr so ago, A giant wandered to and fro About the Southland Sounds. His height was fourteen'miles or more, And heavy were the shoes he wore; He made tremendous bounds. He couldn't get enough to eat; So when he’d finished all the meat, Except a lion friend, He slowly starved to death, ’tis said. He sank into the Milford bed, And more than filled one end. And when he lay thero all alone His cap and lion turned to stone, And there they arc to-day. The lion seems to guard the cap — A very faithful kind of chap, Who never runs away. The Giant’s Cap in Milford Sound, Southland, is known officially as Mitre Beak (which is more than a mile high), but the Giant was not a Bishop. Compared with “The Lion,” crouched near the Mitre, the lion body of the Sphinx would look like a mouse. MAORI MYTHS OF MOUNTAINS There were hot times in New Zealand When lie-mountains used to tight By the sea-land and the tree-land . For the dear she-mountains bright.

There were awful roars and hisses, And much hurling of big rocks, For those lovely mountain misses, Who survived volcanic shocks. When a rival was well battered, He would flee far, far away. If he lingered, he’d be shattered; So he didn’t like to stay. A Maori myth states ‘ that when Taranaki’s conical Mount Egmont. was an active volcano it stood near the fiery Tongariro. They quarrelled for the love of Pihanga, a delightful greenmantled mountain above Roto-a-Ira Lake. Egmont was vanquished, after much spluttering and fuming, and fled .west until his tired feet found rest near the .sea's edge. MURDER OF PELORUS JACK Pelorus Jack, a wise sea-scout, A dolphin, old and gray, In Cook Strait kept a. keen look-out For ships which sped that way.

He met them by a narrow pass. And seemed to guide them through: lie knew his pilot task first-class, ' Surprising any crew. He leaped in glee above the wave, And dived beneath the keel; For Jack was strong, and lithe, and lira vo, And quicker than an eel. Pelorus Jack, a bright-lined Risso's dolphin (Grampus griseus), protected by New Zealand Government Order-in-Couneil. has not been seen since the visit, of some foreign whalers to Cook Strait about 11)14. It is believed that these persons harpooned “Jack" in ignorance of his legal right to kindness. His loss was very deeply regretted.