New Zealand as a Tourist Resort.

Manawatu Herald, 15 September 1904, Page 3

New Zealand as a Tourist Resort.

HOW THE YANKEES SEE US. [By Edmund Mitchell.] (Continued.) ' ' New Zealand Is not rich in indigenous fauna —there was not a quad- ' ruped in the land before the coming of the white man. But her birds are most interesting and curious. .Here, for instance, is the kea, a species or of parrot that fastens on the back of a sheep, and picks out the fat surrounding the kidneys, leaving the victim to die a lingering death, and disdaining the rest of the carcass. No one can explain how one special tribe of birds came to develop such an epicurean taste, and also the automatical knowledge necessary for its gratification. The vicious habit is not a hereditary one, for, as we have seen, sheep are comparative new-comers to New Zealand. Another strange, but this time inoffensive creature, is the kiwi, or apteryx, tailless and wingless, for all the world like a half-plucked and disreputable looking barn-door-rooster. But the most extraordinary bird of all is the hula. There are several stuffed specimens, and if the visitor carefully inspects these he will find that, while all are exactly alike in plumage, the beak in some instances is straight and strong like a brad-awl, while in others it is more slender and curved like a surgeon’s needle. What Is the explanation of this peculiarity? The one bird is the male, and it is his task to perforate the hard outer treebark ; the other is the female, and she inserts her longer and more curved beak into the hole made by her mate, threby reaching the larva on which both subsist. 'The Maoris call the birds “ the faithful ones,” for the one cannot live without the other. In nature there are numerous interdependent hosts and parasities, also many cases of symbiosis, or the.mutual helpfulness of animals quite different from each Other, such as the tiney fish that takes refuge in the oyster’s shell and attracts food for its protector. But is there any other example besides this huia of New Zealand, where the male and female mates are so indissolubly one 1 The bird is held in veneration by the Maoiies, and only the leading chiefs may wear its plumes as a headdress or in the form of a robe. Some of these beautiful, and very costly, feather robes are to be seen m the cabinet beneath the stuffed birds. Close by are show-cases filled with kauri gum, closely resembling amber, and used for the making of the finest grade of varnishes, for which it is largely imported into America. There is a romance attaching to this seemingly commonplace commercial pro- , duct. The kauri, a kind of pine, still flourishes in New Zealand, and forms one of her most valuable timbers. But the gum is obtained on the old sites of primeval forests, where not a free has stood probably for many centuries. It is sought for and dug exactly like placer gold, on flats the kauri gum value of which has been proved by Pr There in is' a beautiful specimen of native wood carving—the framework of the door of a Maori council chamber—that will attract attention.- Careful study should also be given to the fine oil painting by Glendauer, showing the really terrible operation involved by the old Maori custom of tattooing. The picture is exact to the minutest detail, the striking slick, the ctiisel, the flax around the small finger of the lefth and for wiping away the bloood after each cut, and the black paste or dye held between the right hand thumb and finger of the operator, all being in evidence. Portraits ot several tatooed Maoris also show these r former cannibals in all their fearsomeness. Why did the Maori subjec himself to such an ordeal ? Was it from ideas of personal decoration, or to render his aspect terrible to his enemies, or simply to give visible proot of his powers of physical endurance . -Authorities differ-all three explatiations find adherents, but let it not be forgotten that tfce tatopec] Maori is

passing away. The modern Maori chief is a cultured gentleman, a mail of high education.,often A bally great orator-. At this day four sit in the hous'of Representatives, two in the Senate, and one is a Cabinet Minister. So democracy has been triuraphArit in New Zealand; even to the regeneration and elevation of black-fellows who at one time had all the appearance of being hopeless savages. This success is complete, for even the perpetuation of the race is now assured. For years the Maori population, a remnaht of barbarism, was dwindling aiVay beforfe the white man's steady invasion. But for the last ten years now the civilised Maoris have been steadily increasing in numbers as well as advancing in wealth, education, and participation in the good goveinmet of their country. [This article is an interesting one, coming as it does from the United States of America, but New Zealandeth will agree that it is too highly coloured to be true, the writer can scarcely be personally acquainted with the colony, or he would find many things that would call for criticism as well as praise.— Ed. M.H]