NEW ZEALAND LITERATURE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20958, 22 February 1930, Page 3

NEW ZEALAND LITERATURE.

SOME NOTABLE BOOKS. Written for the Otago Daily Times, By the Rev. H. J, Fletcher, IX. “The Aryan Maori,” by Edward Tregear, is a small octavo volume of 107 pages, printed at the Government Printing Office, Wellington, in 1885. It is an attempt to trace the Maori by language, customs, and traditions back to the Aryan people of India, A very ingenious comparison was made with some Sanscrit roots which the writer traced through a number of Maori words with a root meaning similar to the Sanscrit. , In the traditions he is oh much firmer ground. He compares some of the old taniwha stories with Indian legends and identifies the “ Killing of Hotupuku” with the “Slaying of the Dragon” by St, George. Versions of this. story are tha common property of widely separated people, but how they got the story is quite another thing. They may nave got it in many different ways, but the mere possession of a similar story does not imply a common ancestry. The book is not to be ignored in any discussion on the whence of tjie Maori, ' , “ Bryce v. Rusden," is the printed account of the famous trial for libel before Baron Huddleston in tlhe Royal Courts of Justice, in March, 1886, which resulted in a verdict for the plaintiff and the award of £SOOO damages. This account Tpas printed and published without the knowledge of Rusden. It contains a number -of press notices vilifying Rusden and lauding Bryce, but, as other sections of 1 the Londbn press exactly reversed that position; ■ ft is quite evident that every body was not satisfied with the Judge’s decision. The passing; years may enable Hie future reader of New Zealand history to Judge, of the events around which the trial centred even better than' the, judge and Jury which tried the case. \

A small volume of only 68 pages, parts of a.dairy kept by the Rev. R. Burrows, throws a great deal of light ■ on Heke’s war in the north, Mr Burrows was • one of the early missionaries living in the north at the time oi the out break, and was present at Kororareka during the flagpole indidetit as well os at Ohaewai and Okaihau. The dairy was written at the time but not published until 1886.

7. “ Glimpses of, Maori Land,” by Annie R. Butler, .is the story of travel through a portion of, New. Zealand by a visitor jfrom England. The . lady was interested in Christian work and took the opportunity of visiting places ‘"here she heard of special Work being carried on. There are interesting references to mission work at St. Stephen’s Auckland, and Hukarere and Te Aute, ns well as to mission work in such widely scattered places as Wairoa, Hawke’s Bay and the Waikato. It Is well -written and the illustrations, mostly Maori faces, are good. . A book by the great historian, Proude, on New Zealand is called i “ Oceana, or England and her Colonies,” by James Anthony Proude. Fronde travelled over a portion of the Auckland Province, visiting all the main'sites in the , Hot Luke district, including ! the pink and white terraces, only a:short time before the Tarawera eruption. He gives a fine account of his visit to “The Knight of Kawau ” and his -island. It was the policy of Sir George shown .through the account of Fronde’s visit that occasioned a bitter criticism of 'the book by Mr, E. Wakefield, M.H.R. About, 90 pages of the book are devoted!to New Zealand and eight out of the nine illustrations. '

“The, Picturesque Atlas of Australasia/’ edited by. the Hon. Andrew 1 Garran, LL.D,, M.L.C., is a large, ambi tious. work covering the whole of, Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand. It is illustrated with over 800 engravings, many of them not published elsewhere. The New Zealand portion is well illustrated. The work 'got a Dad name from the start, not because of anything in the work itself, but' be- ; cause of the way it was sold. Agents travelled over Australia and New. Zealand obtaining orders, and there was a lot of misunderstanding about the liability involved. The work was in three parts, the subscription price being £ls 15s. Many persons ordered the portion they were interested in—Nejv Zealanders the portion containing the information relating to New Zealand—but when the work was delivered they found to their dismay that they were bound to take the whole at £ls 15s instead of a portion at £5 Els.' For some time afterwards book agents In some parts of New' Zealand were liable to meet with the contents of a shot-gun. I remember some years being shown a room which the o'- - said had cost him £ls ! 16s to paper. The “ paper ’’ was the illustrated sheets of the ' Picturesque Atlas. Dr Hocken says of it: “A magnificent volume, with splendid illustrations and rare portraits.” His estimation of this book is just. “New Zealand Rulers and Statesmen 1840-1885,” by William Gisborne, is a collection of biographical sketches of the more prominent statesmen who ruled the destinies of New Zealand during the period under review, with criticisms of the; different policies, written of course from the writer’s own political standpoint. The first edition has 292 pages and 33 portraits, and was published In London by Sampson, Low, and Co. in 1886. A second edition, revised and enlarged, with 323 pages and 51 portraits, bringing the sketches up to 1807, was published at the same office iu 1897.

An interesting hook is “ A Catalogue of Books on or relating to New Zealand,” by C. R. Carter, J.P. It is in several parts, and tha whole embraces the Tist of books in “ The Carter Collection” in the New Zealand Institute Library, Wellington. Mr Carter had the same ideas in the way of the desirability of collecting as complete a collection as possible of New Zealand books and papers, as the founders of the Turnbull Library, the Hocken Library, and the M‘Nab Collection had. - He describes some of the difficulties in the way of collecting, especially the opposition from dealers when he bid against them in the open markets. He found it much easier and cheaper to arrange with the recognised dealers to obtain the books be wanted instead of bidding for them himself. Mr Carter was one of the early pioneers to whom New Zealand owes so much. • The town of Carterton was named after him, and he left £IO,OOO for astronomical purposes in Wellington in addition to his library. We have noticed several times in these how books seem to liavs been publißhed m pairs. Even New Zealand Bibliographies have not escaped. Mr Carters book was published in 1887. During the same year another collection ,7, ”• “* Davies, of Auckland, was published by Lyon and Blair, of Wellington. It is a small collection, containing over 600 items.

The Defenders of New Zealand,” by Thomas Waytb Gudgeon, is a large volume of 620 pages. There are several portions in the one volume. The first is made up of short biographies of most of the officers who took part in the Maori wars. With yiese there are many incidents of the various engagements in which-the different parties took part. It is by no means a complete account of all the officers. Some are not mentioned. The next part is a Maon account of the wars, contributed by Lieutenant-colonel M'DonnelJ. It gives a Maori version of the wars, and N gutu Kaka.” Colonel M Donnell is also responsible for incidents of the war and a number of tales of the Maori. The book was printed and published by H, Brett Auckland, in 1887. *

Volume XX of the Transaction# has an article from the pen of Dr T. M, Hooken on * The Derelict Ship in Facile Harbour, Dusky Sound.” It solves the mystery which surrounded this wreck. It is clear from the article that a ship called the Endeavour, Captain Hampton, was beached there in a leaky condition. Some of the crew sailed for Sydney in a small boat which had besn built by a sealing party three years before. The rest were eventually transferred to Sydney by other ships. The name " Endeavour ” has led a number of' people to connect the wreck with Captain Cook’s ship. <( “Our New Zealand Cousins,” by “Maori” (the Hon, James Inglis) is a good description of a visit to the chief towns and places of interest in both islands of New Zealand in 1885. It was a visit, after 20 years’ absence, and the writer notes the wonderful signs of progress during that period. It is most interesting now to read the book through land note the still more wonderful changes since the book was published in 1887. Mr Inglis gives special attention to the sawmilling trade and the then recent Tarawera Eruption. A small volume compiled by A. D. Willis, of Whanganui, contains some “ Interesting Chapters from the Early History of Whanganui and Whanganui In 1866.” It is a compilation from Srevious worjcs, the chief item being the filfillan Massacre from the unpublished Journal of Dr Wilson.