Ancient Auckland

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 225, 21 September 1940, Page 4 (Supplement)

Ancient Auckland

THE special value of "Revenge: X A Love Tale of the Mount Eden Tribe," by John White (A. H. and A. W. Reed), lies in the authentic character of the descriptions of Maori'life and customs, conversations and all details of the pre-pakeha existence in the country that is now Auckland. John White, who wrote, or rather compiled, "The Ancient History of the Maori" more than half a century ago, left the manuscript of this novel when he died in Auckland in 1891, and it has remained for the energetic publishers, 'the Reeds, to give it printed form. The story itself i-. a looeely-knit tale: it was evidently co for the purpose of

illustrating all manner of customs and all the varied phases of life in the' ancient pa at a period when the outside world was unknown and "time went by the other way." Nobody could interpret the era of Aotearoa more accurately, true to'the.-people and the. country, than John White. The content of his rather discursive chapters is the real thing. The .landscape, the descriptions and -.Original names of familiar places, our. fortified hills in the olden time, the fishing.in the Waitemata, the cultivations on the country that is now Auckland city and its far-stretching suburbs —all these features make "Revenge" a book of peculiar interest to Auckland people. But general readers will like the pictures of a life in peace .and war that reconstruct the society that perished under the white man's tread. Mr. A. W. Reed has competently edited the original and supplied i eyolanatojy notes.