THE LATE MR S. PERCY SMITH

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 2423, 2 May 1922, Page 4

THE LATE MR S. PERCY SMITH

AN APPRECIATION

A contributor, who was well acquainted with the late S. Percy Smith , F.R.G.S., F.R.11.5., F.N.Z. Inst., editor of the Polynesian Society’s Journal, and president of that Society from 1904 to 1922, who died at New Plymouth a few days ago, writes in the following appreciative terms of the deceased gentleman : “The last number of the Polynesian Society’s Journal informed members that there was but slight hope for the recovery of their well loved president, and editor. Now the dreaded news has been (lashed round the globe that Stephenson Percy Smith, the brilliant scholar and world-wide known ethnologist, has passed away, having breathed his last on .April 19. “Born in 1840, as a boy 1 Percy Smith landed at New Plymouth with his parents, and in 1885, when only a lad of 15, he joined the Survey Department, and from that time till now his love, skill, and energy have gone out in an unstinted measure to this his adopted country. “Even as a boy (the writer's father was his boyhood's friend, and that friendship has developed in the son) lie possessed a strong physique unusual ability, a spirit iljai did m>i understand what defeat meant, a brave heart, and a philosophical turn of mind, while his utter selfishness, industry, and kindly disposition made lasting friends of all whom he came into contact with. “A pioneer surveyor (hs the writer. well knows), he encountered hardships that few town dwellers have any idea of, hut in all his years of work and exploration Mr Smith found time and pleasure in studying the flora and fauna of the uninhabited and unknown parts of the country, and his contact with his native Imshmen gradually opened up an unoccupied field of exploration that bo found fascinating in the extreme. So much so that on his retirement from' office as SurveyorGeneral, he gave the rest of his time and life with his great gifts almost entirely to the study ol Polynesian ethnology, and in that particular branch of science he has made a name that, is world-wide, and will be remembered through the coming ages. “His best known works are: “ Eruption of Tarnwera, 1886,” “Savage Island and its People, Ilawaiki,” “Maori History of the Taranaki Coast,” “The Lore of the Wlmre Wananga,” besides which there are hundreds of articles and translations scattered through (lie pages of the Transactions of the N.Z. Institute, The" Polynesian Journal, and other scientific papers. “He leaves behind a noble record. His friends mourn him, for they loved him, his charming, unassuming manner and sterling character; but it is such lives as his that spur others on to achieve.

‘Well done, good and faithful servant.”