THE COLONIAL GIRL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9316, 17 August 1908, Page 3

THE COLONIAL GIRL.

A contributoi* to " Pearson's Weekly," who describes himself as a "susceptible subaltern" who has met every type of colonial girl " from Montreal to Melbourne, horn Ohristchurch to Capetown," has been, discussing in that journal the rival merits and charms of the various types of colonial girls. I have (he says) skated and tobogganed with her of Canada ; have hunted and sat on the stoep with her of South Africa; have ridden and danced the night long through with her of Australia; and I have wandered (nervously) amidst the geysers with her of New Zealand. Each was peerless in her way, each commanded (and, alas, contemned) the entire devotion of a. susceptibe heart. But, of course, if all colonial girls are knit togetlied by the common bond of Imperial sisterhood, they have their individual traits and characteristics, and I shall endeavour first of all to do justice to the particular and manifold charms of Canada's fair (or dark) daughters. Seldom is it that a British regiment goes to Canada without its officers' mess being decimated by marriage. And it is easy to understand why. For the Canadian girl combines in herself well-nigh everything that makes woman lovable. But her fascination is ,as difficult to describe as it is deadly to masculine hearts. It is as real yet elusive as the indefinable charm of the well-bred Frenchwoman. And, indeed, it is the strain of French blood that flows in so many Canadian families that makes their daughters eo captivating. The Canadian girl has the ohic of a Parisienne, combined with the blushing healthiness of an English rose and the winsorneness and housewifely qualities of the Scots lassies whom, so many of them count amongst their ancestresses. And the Canadian girl is an ideal comrade. She is good at sports and games of all kinds, but she ie never "mannish."

On the other hand, if essentially and delightfully womanly, she is never " womanish." She strikes the happy mean between the rather aggressive athleticism of the modern English girl apd the hysterical foolishness of the Early Victorian young lady. Physically, she is usually short, plump, mobile of feature, bright of eye. The Natal girl d iff ere little from her English sister, except that like all colonial girls Bhe is freer and casifcr in speech and demeanour. But the typioal South African girl (Cape Colony) takes after her Dutch ancestors, arid therefore is built on generous lines, and is a born housewife, but in her changed environment has become far more of a sportswoman than her great-great-great-grandmother ever was. A miserable misogynist once said of the Australian girl that her chief characteristics were a bad complexion and a Cockney accent. Well, it is true that a natural pink-and-white complexion is something of a rarity under the Southern Cross. And there ie some foundation for the story that an Australian girl once said to a startled A.D.G., who was hesitating between the rival claims of home-made cake and grapes, " Oh, Captain Sabretasche, "Won't you try my cike and have the fripes afterwards t" But on the whole he Australian girl, secure in her particular charm oT pliant, lissome figure delightful vivacity, and peerless horsemanship, can afford to laugh at Buch libels on her attractive and bracing personality. The New Zealand girl is perhaps the finest specimen of womanhood under the British flag— the "All Blacks" showed us what the New Zealand mother must be-;— and every girl in New Zealand is a princess and is treated as such. Nowhere, not even in America, have women such respect paid to them as in New Zealand, for if in America woman is treated more or letis an a goddess she has to remain on her pedestal, but in New Zealand woman, though still a goddess, ie encouraged to share to the full her mankind's life and work. And the New Zealand girl ia usually good-looking and attractive beyond the ordinary, and exacts from her mankind the highest standard of mental, physical and moral soundness. Speaking in general terms, th© chief characteristics of the colonial girl are a complete absence of affectation and artificiality, a charming spirit of camaraderie, a usually most attractive person, splendid health, and if not a very intellectual, at all events, an eminently sane and wholesome outlook on life, with a corresponding influence for good upon her men folk. And 6O hats off to tho future mothers of the Empire!