ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 8235, 21 April 1890, Page 6

ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON.

i OmuY-two or three people in Auckland were j aware of the fact that on Friday night there ! came into the harbour on board the wellknown old Auckland boat the Janet Nicoll, no less air eminent literary character than Robert Louis Stevenson, one of the foremost geniuses that old Scotland has produced., Mr. Stevenson has been in a delicate state of health for many year?. Ho finds that ho -can only live with any comfort in climates where the sun keeps the air continually boiled up to his living point, and so he has determined to spend the greater portion of his days in sunny Samoa, and where he is now building himself a local habitation, the " name" has already been built up by successive blocks of such rich and rare material as "Treasure Island," "Kidnapped," "Prince Otto," "The New Arabian Nights," "The Black Arrow," "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," "Underwood," "The Dynamiters," "The Silverado Squatters," "The Blackamoor," "The Master of Ballantrae," "In the Wrong Box," " Story of the '45 Rebellion," " Virginibus I'uerisque," and many another sample of exquisite workmanship. Mr. Stevenson enjoyed the luxury of a sleep on shore at the famous hostelry, the Star, on Friday night, and on Saturday morning paid a visit to our local "Mullen's," Mr. Wildman, who instantly identified his weird visitor from a likeness which appeared in an American literary publication a few months ago, and placed himself at the service of his distinguished customer for the rest of his vist. Mr. Stevenson had looked forward for years to ' a meeting with Sir George Grey, but even the exertion of an hour's shopping and looking round the city so prostrated him that he had to seek the friendly shelter of his bunk on the lively Janet for the rest of his vist. From here he sent his regards to our veteran Maecenas, along with a copy of one of his best known books, and a proof copy of a stinging pamphlet he is about to issue in reply to the attack on Father Damien by a Presbyterian missionary in Honolulu. We shall give our readers a taste of some portions of this remarkable vindication of the character of such an unselfish philanthropist as soon as we are advised that the little book has been published in England. Sir George Grey, who is also not able to be out of doors at present was very sorry that he could not pay a visit to Mr. Stevenson, bub he sent him his heartiest sympathy and good wishes with copies of several of his best, known works, his photograph, and several rare pamphlets relating to the dialects of Polynesia, a subject in which his brother author takes great interest. Mr. Stevenson is accompanied by his wife and step-son, who with a merry party of adventurous spirits are going to pay a round of visits to some of the lesserknown islands of the western Pacific. The piercing eye of the "story teller" of the party will doubtless seize on every bit of material that can possibly be woven into some wonderful talc of adventure and mystery. Mr. Stevenson is the only son of the celebrated lighthouse engineer, and has written a memoir of his father. He spent some time in his father's profession, after taking his degree of M.A., of Edinburgh, then he qualified as a barrister, but. his first and only brief satisfied him that the law was not his vocation, and since then he has been a wanderer on the face of the earth, seeking the will o'wisp " health" with but scant success, but making for himself the reputation of being the most wonderful story-teller of his time. His style is said to be the envy of all his fellow-littera-teurs. Mr. Stevenson is still young and it is devoutly to bo hoped that his residence in the tropics will work the wonders that he expects, and preserve for many years the life of such a remarkable and lovable man.