GULLY’S NEW ZEALAND SCENERY.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5134, 6 September 1877, Page 2

GULLY’S NEW ZEALAND SCENERY.

We have received a bound volume, contain* ing a selection of very beautiful chromo-litho-graphs of Mr. John Gully’s views of New Zealand scenery, with descriptive letter-press by Dr. Von. Haast, which have been published by Messrs. Henry Wise and Co., of Dunedin, and of which subscribers can obtain copies at Mr. Hughes’, Lambton-quay. We have before spoken of the original pictures, some of which were recently on view in Wellington, and attracted very general notice and admiration. The sketches before us are fifteen in number, and comprise some of the gems of scenery for which New Zealand is famous, viz.;—“Bradshaw’s Sound,” the “ Valley of the Wilkin,” “ Waterfall in Thompson’s Sound,” “Nutu Rock” (Milford Sound), “Mount .Cook, with the Hooker Glacier,” “Mount Cook and Mount Tasman from the West,” the “ VVairau Gorge,” the “Waimea Plains,” the “ Valley of the Awatere and the Inland Kaikouras,” “ New Zealand Vegetation —Open Country ” (a sketch taken near Blind Bay), the “ Manawatu Gorge,” “ An Up-river Scene near Wanganui,” “Mount Egmont,” “ Ruapehu and Tongariro Mountains from Lake Taupo,” “ Bush Vegetation ” (a scene in a New Zealand forest). Of these charming scenes it is difficult for human skill to paint them as they are traced by Nature’s hand, but the views before us come as near perfection as perhaps it is possible to attain. There is nut one of them that is not worthy of being handsomely framed and hung up in any draw-ing-room. Where all are so excellent it is not easy to single out any particular sketches as being especially worthy of praise ; but certainly the picture of Mount Cook, with its snow-capped summit, tinged with the rays of the setting sun, whilst the valley in the foreground is deepened in tone by the advancing twilight, has a very striking and beautiful effect. The view of the “ Manawatu Gorge” is a faithful representation of one of the most romantic pieces of scenery in the North Island, and will be familiar to the traveller overland from Wellington to Napier ; and the “ Wairau Gorge ” is another exquisite representation. The view from Lake Taupo, looking towards the active volcanic mountain, Tongariro, and its neighbor, Ruapehu, is remarkably well executed. “ Mount Egmont,” standing out in the clear blue sky, is a beautiful object, and so are “ Mount Cook" and “Tasman” as viewed from the sea. It is not an easy thing to reproduce on paper or canvas New Zealand bush vegetation, but Mr. Gully has succeeded admirably in this difficult task, and has truthfully pourtrayed the varieties of trees and undergrowth, the speargrass, the flax, the toitoi, and other indigenous productions of the soil. The printing of these chromos has been most skilfully executed by one of the best houses in London (M. Ward and Co.), and a copy of the work is one which ought to be in every household in the colony. Nor could a more appropriate gift be sent to friends in the Home country, as the views give a more correct idea of the grand and beautiful scenery of the colony than could be conveyed in any other way. The work as it reaches us is published in a bound volume, but the separate views can be obtained loose in a portfolio for those who prefer to have them in that shape. To give some idea of the labor which Jiaa been employed on the undertaking, we may mention that each picture had to be partially drawn on 17 stones, making 255 drawings for the set, before the printing could be commenced. As these chromos get circulated, as they are sure to do in England and in various other

parts of the world, a more extended knowledge of the romantic gorges, fertile plains, dense forests, and snow-capped mountains of New Zealand, will be diffused amongst tourists of all descriptions, many of whom will probably be tempted to visit the colony in search of the grand and beautiful in Nature with which she is so highly gifted. To artists such as Mr. Gully and some of his predecessors the country will have been indebted for having rendered familiar scenes which might otherwise have remained almost as unnoticed and unknown as they were before they were penetrated by the white man.