OCEANIA; OR ENGLAND AND HER COLONIES.

Lyell Times and Central Buller Gazette, Volume VI, Issue 271, 1 May 1886, Page 4

OCEANIA; OR ENGLAND AND HER COLONIES.

Mr J. A. Fronde's now book, under i the above title, has just been published. | From the review published in the j 44 Times " we take the following passage with reference to New Zealand : | If Mr Froude was delighted with j Australia, he goes into raptures over, New Zealand. 44 Even the Maorie-«, a ; mere colony of Polynesian savages, j grew to a stature of mind and body in New Zealand, which 110 branch oi that race lias approached elsewhere. If it lies written in the book of destiny that the English nation has still witlnn it great men who will take a place among j the demi gods, I can well believe tint it will be in the unexhausted soil and spiritual capabilities of New Zealand that the great English poets, arti. ts, philosophers, statesman, and soldiers of the future will be born and nurtured. 1 There are magnificent mountain ranges and unlimited sheep-walks, and there are stupendous glaciers and waterfalls, with unrivalled resources in the lores-ts. Above all, in the way of picturesque novelties to fascinate the visitor, there are marvels resulting from the freaks 1 of volcanic forces, and the wonderful j baths and boiling springs, said to be so j many Pools of liethesda. Mr Froude found that communications were slow and uncertain, and the coasting distances immense. So he had to bring his ambitious plans within the time ut his disposal; but he saw much of all that was best worth seeing, and we j only wish we had space to follow him. He was struck by the enormity of the j Ltate and municipal debts, under j which the youthful community begins j to stagger. He remarked that some ; of the most thriving industries are| destructive, such as the felling of the i famous kauri pines, said to be the best: timber in the world, but which takes: 800 years to attain maturity. He; spent an enjoyable time with Sir George j (irey in his island, where Sir George i Grey lords it in a benevolent feudalism,! among devoted dependants, who arej handsomely remunerated. And owing to the failure of arrangements for an interview with the Maori ex-Monarch, lie was detained longer than he had intended in the volcanic districts among the boiling springs. Not that the days hung heavy on his hands, and in clever drawings by himself and Lord Elphinstone, who was his travelling companion, he has given us an excellent idea of some of these phenomena — notably a natural giants' staircase in crystal " glittering and stainless as if it were ice, spreading out like an open fan from a point above us 011 the hillside, and projecting at the bottom into a lake, where it was perhaps 200 yards wide." 111 fact, the book is as full of picturesquely-diversified interest as of sagacious political thought; and though it deserves and should command the most careful study, the reader is carried lightly forward from chapter to chapter by the sparkle of the incidents and the brightness of the style.