THE BROWN FRONTIER

Te Ao Hou, December 1967, Page 60

THE BROWN FRONTIER by C. W. Vennell A. H. & A. W. Reed, $2.95 reviewed by Sheila Natusch Most of us feel, nowadays, that it is better to read about ‘old unhappy far-off things, and battles long ago’ than to be actively engaged in swiping people with intent to do harm; indeed, the well-meaning efforts of the modern peace-loving human often recall the fight in ‘Old New Zealand’, where the Pakeha wanted to disarm the Maori, but the Maori only wanted to kill the Pakeha. Really sensitive peace-lovers may shrink, even, from reading about past conflicts; boys, fresh from play ground battles (‘Bang ! ! You're dead—go on, lie down!’), will tackle them more as real-life adventure yarns. It is reasonable to expect, in this country and at this stage, that none of us are likely to bear old grudges, or nurse old grievances. C. W. Vennell's stories, well-written and finely-illustrated, are a record of man's inhumanity to man in this country between the years 1806–1877. Lack of communication across the cultures was perhaps inevitable; people acted according to their lights, such as they were. To the worst of the early traders and whalers, the native inhabitants were there to be handled in the way some human beings (regrettably) still handle their animals; to those so shamefully exploited, utu was plain duty. Savagery and heroism appear side by side. Mr Vennell has the good journalist's gift of conveying actuality: the feel of the time, place and action. The conversations ring true; there is no cheap attempt at modernising. If we are told the morning was fine, or the captain spoke testily, we feel the writer knows enough about the climate and circumstances to be justified in using his historical imagination to put a bit of meat on the bare bones of history. It must be said that these true tales are of northern New Zealand only; localities are clearly shown on end-paper maps. The illustrations include engravings, early photographs and documents, and line drawings; the book is attractively produced, and pleasant to handle. And it bears the stamp of patient scholarship and careful research as well as considerable literary skill.