A LITERARY CORNER

New Zealand Times, Volume LI, Issue 11736, 25 January 1924, Page 4

A LITERARY CORNER

i (R.A.L.) “THE WAIKATO WAR” “TE KOOTI EXPEDITIONS.” J. Featon. (Brett Publishing Co., Auckland.) This simple, unvarnished, interesting account of the Waikato wars by John Featon was published in the Auckland “Star” ip 1911 and 1912. The publication in book form is a welcome addition to our history of a troubled time, how troubled few men now living in New Zealand can remember. The work was written by the author from the dispatches of the commanding general aud from his own observations. His object was to tell the story of the colonial forces engaged, as well as of the Imperial troops who had up to tile time ot hie taking up the work, got most of the limelight from the writers of history and memoirs. His work is a valuable record, the more so to-day as it wa® thoroughly revised and edited by the late Captain Gilbert Mair, one of the bravest, mo6t accomplished, most distinguished soldiers in the colonial service, shortly before his death. Mr Featon’s story of the long pursuit of Te Kooti. under Captains Mair and Preece, published’ in this volume, was edited and entirely rewritten by Captain Mair, from the information supplied by him and Captain Preece, which was out of Mr Featon’s reach when he wrote the story. It is a fine narrative, interesting tq every New Zealander.

“REMINISCENCES AND MAORI STORIES”

Captain Gilbert Mair. (Brett Publishing Co., Auckland.) The preface to this fine hook of reminiscences and stories is a brief summary of the life story of Captain Mair. “As pioneer, surveyor, explorer, soldier. Government official, and farmer,” says the writer, Mr Henry Brett, “Captain Mair did more than most men to make this land of ours fit for settlement.” Reading, this brief biography we learn with deep regret that Captain Mair some years ago when in Wellington loot in a fire the vast collection of manuscript notes he hod acquired from the very best native sources during his long life of rare opportunities. He had intended to embody this information in hook form. The extent of this loss it is almost impassible to measure. Out of what escaped the fire these reminiscences and stories were written. The misfortune of them is that they give us glimpses of what might have been, in books of good style and vast information that, unhappily, can never be replaced as the depositories are all dead. The short biography of the preface strikes another note. One regrets its brevity by reason of the rare and splendid personality therein portrayed vividly with a few touches. But regret does not prevent our asking for a full biography from the writer of that biographic preface. It is easy to see that he wrote with restraint, chafing against the limitation of a preface, for stuff that ought to make a book. If ho will restrain himself no more and set to work on the late Captain Madr’s biography he will get a great welcome from the public.

The stories and reminiscences are various. One of them throws light on the large Maori population of Captain Cook’s time, on the smaller hut still large populations of certain ; parts of the North Island in the days preceding civilisation. The extraordinary diminution of these people has yet to be accounted for. Some dreadful epidemio or series of epidemics may be the causes, but much research is "necessary before the mystery can be cleared up. The late captain had probably some information about the loss of hundreds of thousands of these people in his burnt collection. It might have thrown light on a great historic problem.

Another of the stories tells of the visit to New Zealand of the schooner Albatross with “The Earl and the Doctor” of “South Sea Bubbles” fame, on board. It was _ a fame prodigious in the early ’seventies. When the vessel was at Tauranga, Mair, who had waited on the pair at the request of the Government would, but for a very awkward happening, have gone with them on their famous cruise to the - South Sea Islands. The happening was this: Mair had introduced several of the leading chiefs of the Bay of Plenty, whom he knew very well, to his hosts. These on coming aboard the yacht had with the usual formalities of welcome presented their new pakeha friends—great rangatiras as Mair had told them—with priceless presents of fine mats, choice weapons, and" “tikis” of rare beauty and ancestral prestige. In return the pakelia rangatiras, after consulting Mair on the etiquette of the matter, determined to present their new friends with some valuable rare rugs, and when the decision was announced to them the chiefs were well pleased. At this point, Mair being absent for a few days on business, some mean-souled pakeha persuaded the Earl and the Doctor that Hair’s advice was all wrong, declaring that a few peacock feathers—the peacock was plentiful in the locality in those day® as the result of some early acclimatisation policy and a pound of tobacco per man would do well as a return to these ignorant savages. And so was it done. Some peacock feathers were bought from a local barber at a shilling apiece with a few pounds of cheap tobacco, and duly presented to the dignified Maoris in supercilious casual fashion. Mair, hearing of this grossly insulting return for priceless gifts presented with the stately dignity of noblemen meeting noblemen, promptly spurned the yacht’s deck with indignant foot, and his hosts saw him no more. Before the yacht left for the Islands, the Earl wrote Mair a letter in the course of which he took occasion to describe various sorts of fools, the worst being “he who persistently and defiantly proclaim® his asininity on every occasion,” concluding with “1 claim to be of the last class.” Mair adds that he took this to be “a proud Englishman’s apology for a most grievous error in the courtesie® of life.” It is not strange that the Earl of Pembroke, who was very young and inexeperienced and wae travelling with a “hear leader,” should havo been deceived by the cad who suggested the insulting return for the fine welcome of the chiefs, though even this is very difficult to realise. But that the author of “Geoffry Hamlin” and “Ravenshoe,” Dr. Henry Kingsley, brother of Charles Kingsley of untarnished fame, should have acquiesced—he .was the “bear leader”. — is simply too amazing for words. Life is full of surprises. It is of course possihlo that the Earl meant in his letter to Mair to take tlio whole blame, virtually explaining that he had in a headstrong moment overruled the pootor and sided blatantly with the pakeha cad of the “damned nigger” class. Let us leavo it at that with Home sorrow.

The last chapter, probably written by the writer of the preface we presume, gives details of the gallant soldier’s last, illness and death, anotes his

farewell message to hi® comrades of the Arawa, and describes his obsequieß with all the ceremonial due to a chief, a rank conferred by the Arawa an the brave soldier who had so often led them in battle and done so much for their benefit in peace, and proudly accepted by him. “WANDERINGS IN ECUADOR” Blair Niles. (John Long, London). “We chose to go to Ecuador,” writes the charming lady author, “because of the great company of Andean snow peaks assembled there, and because almost everybody advised us against it.” And going she produced a delightful hook of travel in which the past mingles with the present in a manner truly wonderful. Pizarro and his ruffians, the gentle Atahualpa. they murdered so foully after he had trustfully paid the enormous ransom- demanded bo exorbitantly, they and hosts ot others, Spanish and Indian are with us in sight of Chimborazo, and other mighty peaks. We journey among the people still stunned by the enslavement of the ruthless conquest, over the barren uplands and the gorgeous tropical valleys, we smile at their present attempts at Democracy, with list of revolmtljns shod murdered presidents, and wo enjoy every hit of the journey including the hardships of bed and hoard so graphically and cheerily described, and we ruminate over their possible future with the aid of the sympathetic author. The fascination is increased by the excellent photographs from the cameras of the lady’s lxueband. These show inter alia, descendants of the ill-fated Inca Atahualpa—with pedigree well vouched for by a man learned in history ami familiar with the methods of histori cal research. These think nothing rf their origin, keeping all their pride for the pig, the donkey, the few fowls, and the miserable cottage constituting tboir worldly wealth, making them leading lights ot their little village. “BRIGHTER INTERVALS” Gordon Phillips. (Nisbe-t and Co , London). The author is “Lucio” of the “Manchester Guardian,” .who maintains an amusing and interesting column of prose and verse, comments on the happenings of the day. Some of these are reproduced in this book, and a failproportion are lightly worthy of their rescue from oblivion of the bound newspaper file. “UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS” Horaoe 'Leaf. (Cecil Palmer, 49, Chandos street, Covent Garden, London). As a book of travel this is of the ordinary tourist ' variety hastily gossiping. It does not pretend, however, to be a book of travel. The travel is merely the setting of the record of a spiritualist’s journey undertaken with the object of forwarding the cause which brought Sir Conan Doyle to the Antipodes; and of course there 1; a foreword by that enterprising supporter of the spiritualist cult. Mr Leaf writes as one possessing psychic gifts of a high and rare order, duly cultivated. He did much as a lecturer and medium, aud has much to say of his pilgrimage and of the people of his cult he met by the way, about whom he relates some apparently wonderful things. Emphatic he is always. Whether he is convincing readers will declare after their manner. “MAJAM CROWL’S GHOST” Sheridan Le Fanu. (Bell and Sons, London). The title is first of a series of stories of this famous and facile writer .which saw the light first in early Victorian days, and have been collected and edited by Mr M. R. James, the famous writer of ghost stories. Vivid they are, and full of quaint knowledge of Irish folk-tradition and beliefs in banshees, fairies, and so forth. ' The reader who does .not find tlje stories “creepy”—only a few pretend to that distinction—will greatly enjoy the clever literary handling. “CROSS CURRENTS” Katherine H. Taylor. .’Methuen and 00., London). This is a great love etery centred round the manner in which a brainy woman of charaoter converted a great surgeon to less ruthless views than those which somewhat marred his pror fessionil success. “THE PASSION FLOWER” Lady Troubridge. (Methuen and Co., London). Honourable men sometimes get carried away by sudden temptation. How one such was saved from dishonour by a faithful friend is well told in this story. “NOT ALL THY TEARS” O. Nina Boyle. (G. Allen and Unwin, London). A grim legend of Brittany gets itself mixed up with the stormj- life cf a woman. Old scandals are revived after years of dormancy, and things long hidden are painfully brought to light. The story ia strong, somewhat morbid and well done. “THE JOYOUS ADVENTURER” Ada A. Barnett. (G. Allen and Unwin, London). The “Joyous Adventurer” begins life a foundling lying in a Sussex forest, and is brought up by a very unconventional philosopher who adopts him and lets him run wild among the birds, the trees, the flowers, and running brooks between hanks of bracken. The youth never growing like ordinaryfolk has a wonderful- poetic sort of lbvo affair. His is a fairy existence which cannot last on the chosen 1 ines and does not. The end is inevitable, but the story is charmingly told, the mingling of something delicately near to a fairy tale being managed with a fine light touch. The said tale leads to the “eternal triangle” beloved by the modem npvelist, and the tangle is very interesting in character development.