VETERAN TRAVELLER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20924, 14 July 1931, Page 9

VETERAN TRAVELLER.

THIRTY-THIRD WORLD TOUR. AUTHOR AND EXPLORER. Completing his 33rd trip round the world, comprising a distance of 1,250,000 miles, Mr. Alexander Macdonnld, F.R.G.S., of Queensland, arrived in Auckland by the Port Frernantle yesterday after five months in England. Mr. Macdonald is accompanied by Mrs. Macdonald and his small daughter and they continued their journey to Sydney by the Monowai last evening. Mr. Macdonald, who is a mining engineer, explorer and author, has travelled in the remoter parts of practically every country in the world, and was one of the pioneers in the Klondvke goldfiekls. He has led various exploring and geological expeditions into the interior of Australia, and enjoys a considerable reputation in world mining circles for his investigations into the mineral wealth of Queensland.

Mrs. Macdonakl, who has accompanied her husband on his travels since their marriage in 1915, has completed her eighth trip round the world. She has assisted her husband in the making of moving pictures in different portions of the world, and is herself a film actress of some note, having appeared in several travel and geographies! pictures under the screen name of Wendy Osbourne. Two of her most recent films were "The Unsleeping Eye'' v ~injjl "The Ivingdorrf of Twilight," which were produced in New Guinea and in the Northern Territory of Australia respectively. During their travels in New Guinea, Mrs. Macdonald's daughter, Laurel, theu aged three years, travelled with her parents through the jungles and back.-counf.ry, wearing a special grass cloak to protect her from the fierceness of the sun. Mr. Macdonakl has written numerous books of travel and adventure. Among the books are "The Island Traders," "The White Trail," "The Lost Explorers," '-'The Pearl Seekers," "Through the Heart of Tibet," "The Quest of the Black Opals," and "The Pilgrim Shadow." Commenting on the impressions gained on his travels, Mr. Macdonald expressed the need for greater interest in each other on- the part of the countries of the British Empire. "We are too much in the grip of a mass intelligence which thinks in narrow circles, and of such stuff empires are not madp, or kept," Mr. Macdonald added. "The British Empire to me as a traveller has meant the mainstay of the world, but the British Isles would fall to the level of a Balkan State if its possessions overseas were shorn away."'