A NEW ZEALAND CHRISTMAS ANNUAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11787, 17 October 1901, Page 3

A NEW ZEALAND CHRISTMAS ANNUAL.

A SUPERB PRODUCTION.

THE COLONY PICTORIALLY

POkTRAYED.

BEAUTIFUL ILLUSTRATIONS

There is probably no Christmas annual produced anywhere in the colonies whose appearance is so eagerly anticipated or so cordially welcomed as that of the Christmas Number of the Auckland Weekly News. Nor is the reason for this far to seek. These Numbers have won for themselves a reputation for high-class literary workmanship and artistic excellence which, no other colonial production has been able to attain, and which can be claimed by only a few of the English and American periodicals. Indeed, we question whether from an art point of view anything finer than the illustrations which appear in these Numbers is to be found in any country. They have a clearness, a sharpness, and a delicacy which Ave have never seen excelled and but rarely equalled.

This year's Number, which has just made its appearance, worthily maintains the high character of its predecessors by the variety and interest of its contents and the excellence and wealth of its illustrations. It opens with a graphically-written historical sketch of the growth of New Zealand, which will be found not only eminently readable, but valuable and informing. We doubt whether ever before so many interesting facts relating to the rise and progress of the colony have been brought within so brief a compass, or set forth in a more attractive style. The stories which follow the introductory article are fresh, original, and racy of the soil. " Tuhukarani.t. s Dilemma," by H. J. Priestly, is a capital tale of missionary influence among the Maoris. "The Trader's Wooing," by " Viking," is a spirited glimpse of the perils of Island trading in the earlj days, and the hopes and fears which came to those whose husbands and lovers were engaged in the dangerous calling. "Two little Girls" is the simple title of a charming little story, full of interest and pathos, by William Sholto Douglas, who also contributes a very fine poetic gem in the form of an acrostic on New Zealand. " Shooting and Fishing in New Zealand" is dealt with in a highly-interest-ing manner. The prize competitions and the children's section are as usual pleasing features of the Number, while the miscellaneous articles include an admirablywritten sketch of the " Pioneers of New Zealand," by " Mahara." It is impossible to speak in too high praise of the illustrations with which the Number teems. Nothing better has ever been produced. Each picture is a work of art. and the wnole collection forms a splendid and fascinating album of picturesque New Zealand. The subjects dealt with are exceedingly diversified, and range over a wide field, embracing almost everything that is typical of the life and scenery of the colony. Every page is profusely illustrated, and to give some idea of the nature of the pictures, we quote a few of their titles : —"Squaring a Kauri Log in the New Zealand Bush," " Kauri Logs Being Rafted Down the Mangonui River," " A Timber Ship on the Northern Wairoa," " A New Zealand Gumdigger Starting out to Work," "A Typical Gumdiggers' Camp," " New Zealand's Great Gold Mine," "Preparing a Gold Dredge to Work," " Shipping Wool from an East Coast Station," "New Zealand Clematis and Arum Lilies," " A Study of the New Zealand Flax Bush," " Capturing a Whale with the Aid of a Net;" " Tena Koe, a Typical Young Maori;" " After the Day's Work, a Pastoral Scene in the Wairarapa;" "~ Scene on Lake Waikare," " A Typical New Zealand Christmas Scene," " Station Life in the North Island," " A Summer Scene in the North Island," " A South Island Summer Scene," " Mount Egmont," " Picturesque New Zealand Coastal Scenery," "The Kea Parrot Destroying Sheep." "The Start of a New Zealand Bush Farm" (a very striking full-page picture), "A Maori Belle of To-day," "The Famous Hochstetter Icefall," " Maoris Washing Their Clothes in a Boiling Spring," " A Study of New Zealand Tree Ferns," " A Summer Holiday on the Mokau River," a fine series of pictures, representing exciting scenes in connection with pig hunting, deer stalking, trout fishing, pheasant shooting, and wild cattle hunting, " The Picturesque Pelorous River," " A Summer Morning on the Waikato River," and many others, the illustrations numbering over 100.

The Presentation Plate this year is a very beautiful picture, entitled " A Daughter of the Sunny South," and has been painted by an eminent English artist. Its artistic excellence renders it worthy of being framed, and it alone is well worth the price charged for the entire publication.