SCHOOL BOYS' VISIT

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21449, 24 March 1933, Page 9

SCHOOL BOYS' VISIT

DOMINION TOUR ENDS

IMPRESSIONS OF COUNTRY

LAST DAY IN AUCKLAND

DEPARTURE FOR AUSTRALIA

"3 he party of 28 English public school boys, who for the past six weeks have been touring the Dominion under the care of Colonel N. Iv. Charteris, took their departure for Sydney by the Monowai last evening. They appear to have thoroughly appreciated the opportunities they have enjoyed during their stay here and the hospitality that has everywhere been extended to them.

They were favoured with ideal weather yesterday for their last day in this country. In the morning the party was taken from the Monowai to St. John's College, where the boys were received by the warden, the Rev. Canon E. H. Strong, and entertained at mornjjng tea. They were shown over the old building, which dates back to the earliest days of white settlement in New Zealand.

Later in the 1 morning they were motored to King's College, Mangere, where after inspecting the college buildings and equipment they were entertained to lunch in the dining hall with the boarders. Owing to the indisposition of the headmaster, the Rev. 11. K. Archdall, the visitors were welcomed and shown round by Mr. J. U. Collins.

A visit to St. Stephen's Maori College at Bombay had been planned for the afternoon, but it was decided to leavo the boys somo free time instead, in order that they might have opportunity to do some necessary shopping prior to their

departure. Before leaving Colonel Charters said he wished on behalf of the party to express their gratitude to the GovernorGeneral, Lord Bledisloe, who had entertained them, to the Prime Minister, the Right Hon. G. W. Forbes, who welcomed them at Wellington; to all the public bodies in the various centres who had shown them kindness, and especially to all the kind hosts and hostesses who had so hospitably entertained them. There were many others besides who had done much to make their stay in New Zealand a pleasant one. "A Very Similing Land" Speaking of general impre'ssions Colonel Charteris said that the Dominion undoubtedly had wonderful scenery all over the country. "Nature has been very kind to you," he said. "You have coal in abundance, and gold to be dug out of your rivers, and a climate!' which will apparently grow anything. I see lupins which I have to cultivate with great care in my garden growing in great masses like weeds. Indeed, any English plant that I have seen growing out here seems to grow twice as fast in yjaur country. It is indeed a very smiling land. I have travelled very widely, and until I came here I thought South Africa had the most delightful climate- Now 1 think you have. Your climate is more equable." Referring to the basic purpose of the whole tour Colonel Charteris said that certainly the boys' interest in this great dominion had been thoroughly awakened, and he hoped that the general knowledge of New Zealand in England would gain thereby. The boys' impressions had been most favourable. In the secondary schools they had visited they had been delighted to find the English traditions being so thoroughly carried out. They had been impressed by the Maoris as a very great race. A Comprehensive Tour Since their arrival here six weeks ago the boys have had a most comprehensive tour, and it is safe to say that they have seen in that brief time considerably more ot the country than most native born New Zf'alanders have had opportunity to do. They have ranged in their travels from Lakes Manapouri and Te Anau to the Chateau Tongariro and Rotorua, and have included most of the main centres as well as Mount Cook and Nelson in their travels. It is not surprising that their impressions have left them a little bieathless, and that they do not find it easy to comment on what they have seen. "We have been lucky. I should like to come out again," was the only unpremediated remark allowed to escape from any of them in the hearing of pressmen yesterday, and it seems to sum up the general feeling quite effectively. As a matter of fact, one boy has obtained leave to remain for a further two months in the country, where he has had such a. happy time, and others sincerely look forward to returning at some future date. The wealth and variety of beautiful s.cenery clearly has been a dominating impression among the boys. "We realise more than ever what a wonderful Empire we belong to," 6aid one of them, B. N. Waley-Cohen. "Another thing with which we have been very much impressed is the great hospitality which has been offered to us wherever we have been. The fact that people are managing to entertain us so very well in these hard times makes us feel that we are nearir.g the end of them. The schools we have visited seem to be following in the steps of the great English public schools, and the boys are of the same type as those that are turned out in England term after term."

Mistaken Ideas Some prevalent misconceptions about this country were confessed to by WaleyCohen. "We had all read about New Zealand," he said, "but none of us had imagined that it was as advanced as it is. Less than 100 years seems a very short time for what has been accomplished. Some of us expected to be in the wilds miles from anywhere, without communications; so that it has been very interesting to see what completely wrong ideas most of us had of your country."

One of the boys' most cherished memories will be the week-end at Mount Cook. Near the summit of Dome Peak (9300 ft.) one of the boys had a sufficiently narrow escape from death. After unroping he slipped down a crevasse until he caught on a ledge some oOft. down. Below him there was a drop of 500 ft., but ho managed to '«s;eep his position on the ledge, and after a few minutes was hauled to safety with ropes lowered from above. The Maoris with whom they came in contact, at Rotorua evidently roused tho interest and the admiration of the boys.

Impressions of Maoris "They are very well educated and intelligent, possessed of much personality and enterprise," said one boy, "and it was very interesting to hear their outlook on life and some of their --news on tlie present situation." The Maori music greatly captivated the boys, and many of them are taking away gramophone records of it.

Their visit to the Cawthron Institute and to the Massey Agricultural Collego gave them a favourable impression of scientific development in this country, and several days spent on farms in South Canterbury offered them an intimate insight into quite another aspect of Dominion life.

The tour is essentially a New Zealand one, and the homeward journey will not be broken by any visits to other lands. The boys are, however, keenly looking forward to having glimpses en "route of such a variety of centres as Sydney, Melbourne, Hobartj Adelaide, FremantJe, Colombo, Cairo, Naples, Toulon and Gibraltar. They are due back at Soucnampton on May 11.