A STORY OF TRAVEL.

Hokitika Guardian, 6 October 1923, Page 4

A STORY OF TRAVEL.

ijiE i.icimei; biuc. •'From Gulden Gate to Golden Sun.” by -Mr Hermann Norden, contains a record of a "haphazard journey” u! the sort that can only be undertaken by one who has ample leisure and I'll lids at his disposal. .Mr Norden never intended to si) .so far afield. lie had. read of the mastic charm • rather overrated. we believe; of Tahiti, and had determined to test it himself. Hut the bohemian C’iub in San Franci-cu entertained him at a farewell dinner winch proved a strenuous nlt'air. am! next morning he reached the uhari only to see bis vessel disappearin'.; uv. r the horizon, lie consoled himself v, itii tlie philosophical reflection that laliiti is not li;e only place in the world, and took 'hip for the Philippines. Thence he visited il.e kingdom of Sarawak in North Portico. v. here a de-eendant ol the oriental j’siah Prooke wields a hciK'Volenl despotism over his native prole.; s. In Tarawa!; there are a number oi Chinese. Mr Norden taught ticon the naf tonal American pastime o! ••.•rap-shooting” i i.e., dice-throwing). They took to it as to the manner born, as indeed the ('itine-e do to all gainb--lin g game-. The author prudently withdrew while the going was good. "Fstierieiiee has its hriet hour ol advantage: it should not (liter into prolonged competition with genius." Next .Mr Norden went to Malaya, where la- was distressed to see many Vi invj; Kngli-limen of a line stamp, war Veterans most of them, w lie had been I toj-.loved on the plantations, on the 1 each, as a result ef the slump in rubber. In Malaya he engaged a~ servant :i da oner little ( liincsc. who t old hint in pigouti-Knglh h that he lmd been a barber. An ideal 'pm lilient ion, thought Air Norden, and joyfully submitted lbs chin for treatment. 'When he bad wiped the blood away he made further iiii|uiries. ami discovered from a pantomimic explanation that it was a bar1, uv that his treasure had been. !o ( bines,- ears it sounded the same, foil the teeimioue of the two prnlessions is so different that the author look no t.g more chare es. On leaving America he td hail resolved that lie would do no Intsill" ness on this t rip, but ill Penang he in was sore 1 v tenoned in break his rule, in j niet a rump:! t not who had been a. it- brewer in America, but tinder prohibie : I inn had found his oe.amation gone, ed lie had come rn-t and established a el trade in wild animals. It was highly j to lucrative, and when he ollered to take te Mr Norden into partnership the latter | -- had Mini., diflieulty in steeling his of heart. •it From Malaya Mr Xorbeii proi-eeded | it ! > Siam, where be saw t i;, Klephe.nt s a’ oiling l“ah ■d lit the si|tiidgy. siiudgv creek. | iv and marvelled at their intelligence and! ■y dexterity. Incidentally he paid his : • r respect.; to the celebrated while cle1, pliant s of the Poya! Court. The white ... eh'tib.int. the reader may be di.-.ap-i(. pointed to learn, is not nearly as white a - lie w tts painted. by tlie enterprising n Ifiimmi' on a well-known occasion. r . •Psil." the Smmc-e adject Ive, meins v simple ••light,” "less dark,” in eoinparison to the ordinary elephant . Some tlntt Mr Norden saw were a dirty j. baht grey, but the one that made most v impression on hint was brick red, with v pink spot '. The prestige of tlie-e j. animals u-ed to stand high in the land

anil their coinings and goings were acclaimed by multitude'. Blit now it has sadly waned. The jungle dwelier, who captures one i- mi longer given the King's daughter m marriage as a reward. Tim white elephant himself is no longer consulted on affairs of State nor do the king and court welcome him as he returns from a constitutional. The next place on Mr Xorden’s itinerary was Sumatra. Jle had keen there -it years lie lore, ami was surprised at th«* changes in the interval. Then it was an imp.u;. tra’ile primeval jungle, with a few military and trading po-t----i.-.-re ami tliere. Now it is "civili.-eiP with we'l-mado roads, line hotel-, and i hit eli assure;! him that tim practice oi l.ead-liuni illg anion;.;' tim native- had been ext irputed 'nit Mr Xoritcn sonic specimen- nobm looked .-u--Jiieiotisly Ire-ln Wo have dealt with the lighter side oi the atuhor"s exand id- observation- mi Many matteroi vital c-emoil) in the least -cem nine!: t u the point. !! i ; comment -on ihe Till iho oi ml.mi-.it imi employed hy the British and the Dtittli respectively arc full I ■ iiiicat - 1 . And i. - computes the udutiiiist ration o! tile l-'edcrakx\ Mah-.v St a; alin ■ the otiicials tire ••'Ada a w ■ | some day that the nonf. . 1-ratcd M:dav fate- ia'vc enterc-: i;c l-'rdma i ion wo shad: know jtl.*-' r>sz2{Z2& yzsMrsf'-.r 3 * cr.