THE BRITISH COLONIST.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LX, Issue 143768, 17 April 1912, Page 2

THE BRITISH COLONIST.

WHY HE SUCCEEDS. NOTES BY A NOVELIST. (By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, April 16. Mr. Ralph Durand, the novelist at present on the staff of the Encyclopaedia, was entertained at one of the New Zealand Club’s luncheons to-day, and talked in an interesting manner about the Anglo-Saxon as a coloniser. Mr. Durand drew largely upon his own experiences in Eastern Africa, and put the idea that, while the Englishman was not so hard-working as the Italian, not so thoroughly educated as the German, and not so polite as the Spaniard, he succeeded as a coloniser by his possession of those two very valuable qualities, grit and common sense. The British, in the out-of-the-way parts of the world, had a way of “getting there” in spite of their inexperience, and in the face of tremendous difficulties. As an instance of this, he. mentioned the conveying of two steamers overland to Lake Nyassa, one British and one German. The contract for the conveyance of the British one was taken by a colonist who knew nothing about engineering, but triumphed over the difficulties by practical though primitive methods. The’ Germans went to work in a precise manner with engineers under a semi-military system. In the end both steamers reached the lake, but the British steamer was got there at about a fourth of the cost of the transport of the German one. During the course of his remarks, Mr. Durand had a sly dig at New Zealand. It was, he said, so like England in many ways, that he could sometimes scarcely imagine himself away from the Mother Country. But when he came to Taumarunui and thought he would like a glass of beer, he soon realised that he was not in England. —(Laughter.) He also made passing reference to the light-hearted manner in which New Zealanders undertook the making of new laws. With quite a sporting spirit, the Dominion had entered upon the lead in legislation where Englishmen might hesitate in introducing new and far-reaching legislation, because of doubts of the ultimate result! Now Zealand, in the true sporting spirit, said: “Let’s have a shot at it, —(Laughter.)

Mr. Durand, who has enjoyed his stay in New Zealand very much, and has made many friends here, returns to England via Suez in a few weeks’ time. He is already engaged on a new novel, a sequel to “Jphn Temple.” Temple, by the way, is jj, family name on his wife’s side, and a cousin of Mrs. Durand’s, Captain Temple (a well-known name in New Zealand), resides at Timaru.