Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING GISBORNE, MONDAY, APRIL 14, 1930. ADVENTURE

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17234, 14 April 1930, Page 6

Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING GISBORNE, MONDAY, APRIL 14, 1930. ADVENTURE

The increase of knowledge has greatly stimulated the spirit of adventure and at the same .time-has eliminated many of its dangers. In the earliest limes human imagination kept closely ahead of what was known and could lie seen. When the earth's surface was thought to lie flat and that when mountains were ' crossed there was an edge somewhere, it might have been considered to be too inconvenient to be adventurous. As vision expanded and mechanical devices improved, discoveries were made of oceans, continents, and islands. When men first proved that they could sail round the world and approach its unknown poles imagination widened, hope abounded, and Arctic adventure, which had buried its heroes, ran the risk of becoming merged in the commonplace. Greater safety in adventure may have robbed it of the zest with which it was formerly undertaken. An expedition to the Antarctic is now undertaken with the accompaniments of every branch of applied science which were not available 2:1 years ago. It is hardly an exaggeration to say that whispers in New York can be heard at the Poles. A modern expedition sets out to face considerable hardsnip, but fully prepared for the obstacles it has measured up by the experience of its predecessors. Very little more thought is given to it than is given to a commercial undertaking, upon an insurable basis, to obtain sperm oil. in the nineteenth century Gumming, the. lion hunter, attained great, fame for his daring and adventure in the unknown forests of Africa. Xow, the Prince of Wales, for a holiday pastime with no thought of danger, will lie allowed to approach a herd of lionn in a motor car. With even les.s murderous intent the student of wild animal nature will go to the forests with his camera and take pictures of lions as easily as he might photograph deer in Richmond Park. Adventure in wild game hunting, inspired by the risk run, except the shooting of tigers from the backs of elephants, may be ruled out. We do not undcr-valuc Admiral Byrd's eflicient services to America and to science when we say that his own modest statements of his journey and his generous tributes to the pioneer work of the British explorers proves that the adventure of yesterday is the commonplace of 10-day. The magnel which in the past drew men to adventure was principally its danger. Knowledge, precision of weapons for attack and defence, and the security and luxury of transport over land, on the sea, or in the air, have eliminated very greatly that danger which to many had formerly been its attraction. Danger is not and cannot be wholly avoided. Even a railway level crossing may destroy many valuable lives —a crossing at which an accident that should have been impossible has happened, and which we are assured by the authorities presented no danger. The risk of adventure is perhaps reduced to the limit of the weakness of the human element which no training or education can indefinitely extend. The migration of the Maoris from some far distant lands to New Zealand is the root and crown of Pacific adventure. The men who navigated and stocked those canoes must have possessed some instinctive sense, in place of knowledge, sexlnnts, and compasses, which we find to be the property of the birds that go to a Siberian summer to escape a New Zealand winter. This curious annual exodus from Xew Zealand suggests, incidentally, that in earlier days the New Zealand winter was a much more severe season than it is now. The Maori canoe could not have drifted awav or been driven from the original home land of the people. No poople accidentally adrift could have had the provisions and water required for such au expedition. There must have been

concerted thought and planning, not only in the catering for so many, but also in the selection of those who were to go. This sense of'se'eing'into tilings unseen and knowing what is beyond knowledge, has been, made use of in friction, but the adventure of the first Maoris to settle in New Zealand exceeds the wildest effort of the modern best-seller. The loss of risk as a stimulant to adventure need not be a matter for regret if it is replaced by the more potential force of a notable objective. It would be unfair to suggest that the heroes of earlier days were not actuated by high motives and an intense desire to benefit the world of their day. Richard Coeur de Lion and King Louis of France were so animated, as were their followers, in their efforts to free the Holy City from tl)3 cruelties and superstitions of the Turks. Yet with this full admission, the risk faced under some of the greatest tasks of adventure and the glory of success were the predominant motives which accompanied and sustained the efforts made. If extraordinary efforts made by men and women, in the face of some unexpected danger, are considered it will be seen what force a great immediate object has in stimulating action. Men who constantly risk their lives to rescue fellow laborers from destruction in some pit disaster or other tragedy, a panic in a crowded building, or a railway accident, are not influenced by the hope of notoriety for the risk they accept. Their whole action is determined by the great object of saving life, even though they are prepared to give their own. So when the sons of the Empire heard the call to defend their country the risk to be undertaken when they would be pitted against, unknown forces of modern destruction in the field was not the determining motive. They volunteered because they could not help it. The object of defending their country overcame natural timidity, the dislocation of private life, and even the renunciation of family ties. In medicine, surgery, and scientific research, unconscious heroes are to be found in fields of adventure, in which the risks undertaken can never be compensated by the plaudits of the multitude. These men dare death daily, not because they are honored for the risks they run by constant contact with danger, but for the service to humanity to which .they have devoted their lives. The role of the prophet would be required to foretell in what fields modern adventure will find scope. At present, the air is most in the public mind. In aerial flight the risk beingtaken is still a very dominant factor. It is glorious to be the recipient of the cheers of many thousands when arriving after a flight requiring an unusual amount of courage and endurance. When risk merges in object to ameliorate the condition's of mankind in backward nations, and to improve the conditions of humanity everywhere, the results achieved will be the true rewards of those who at present are, attempting to make the aerial road as safe as the ocean or the land for transport. The spirit of adventure can never die out of a virile race. To take the highest form its object must be the dominant motive. "To the self-absorbed vision is impossible."