The Land We Love.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21224, 2 July 1932, Page 4 (Supplement)

The Land We Love.

By MARIE BLOMFTELD. M.8.G.. Cliff Eoad t . St. Heliers. (Ago 13.) PRIZE ESSAY. Breathes thure the man with noul so dead Who nfivor to himself hntli B»id, " This is n.y own—my native land ?" Land! Land! Land! A long line of gleaming, snow-capped mountains like a cloud on the horizon. To those wild-eved savages in the canoes no sight had ever been mote beautiful. Here wis tlu; land of delight lor which they had enduwd hardship., hunger snd death, the land ihey had sought i'or and found—Ao-tea-Roa. They found' it in its most beautiful state, untouched by civilisation, they gloried in its wild loveliness And then came the white man ! The crash of falling trees, the crackling of bush-fires, the smoke of blackening

'actory-chimneys and behold New Zealand is we know it.

Much bushland has been destroyed, man with liis puny little machines have burrowed and tunnelled through the everlasting hills and he has even altered for rivers the courses that nature planned for them, but still this is the same New Zealand that the Maoris knew, the same Ao-tea-Roa that they sought in days gone by and we love it with just such a love as they (I.id. Snowfields, thermal districts, lovely bush and: glorious scenery of every kind all help 1.0 make of New Zealand a veritable paradise. The cool green bush has a beauty all i.s own. There is a fairylike loveliness in the soft light that penetrates through the trees and lights the damp mosses and creepers underfoot, while always an unseen host of songbirds choirs glad musiic to the passer-by. And then there are the beautiful nips with their dazzling peaks and blue shadows and lovely alpine flower-gardens; and the geysers that toss steaming water high into the air to f ill in a shower of sparkling spray; and the firm, hard-packed sands of t!io seashore beaten by the white-crested breakers thai roll in from the deep to lash wildly at th ■ rocky cliffs, where pohutukawas shower red needles from among their dark green leaves; and a thousand other wonders of nature that every true New Zealander sees and appreciates. Kighleen years ago there were many who proved their loyalty and gave their lives for this country and other lands across the sc i that ever finds a warm spot in every heart. We too would rlo something biff to help New Zealand, but what can we do ? The li'ltle patches of virgin bush up among the bills cry out to our sense of beauty. " Save us from axe and fire and ugly hoardings that mar the beauty of the hillside!'' The wild birds that serenade us as we pass along •ountrv roads trill into our music-loving ears, " Protect us. Love us. Save us from guns and traps." And the beautiful curves of untouched hills call to us, " Save us from the scars that, quarries inflict."

Tf we can do all (his to save our jountrv's scenic beaulv we shall have done something worth while for iho hind we love.