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Poverty Bay Standard, Volume I, Issue 1, 27 October 1883, Page 4

A critique in the “Sydney Morning Herald" on Mr G. W. Rusden’s “History of New Zealand ’’ ends as follows :—“ Indeed the conviction is forced upon anybody really conversant with the Colony, the Natives, aad the settlers, that Mr Rusden has not the intimate knowledge of the country and the two races which alone would justify him in posing before the world as the historian of New Zealand. He will have to take his place among the literary pretenders of the century. His quotations, repetitions, and imputations will become a by-word. His name will come to represent in literature almost everything which history is not. He will possibly achieve immortality by means of his book, but it will be of the melancholy sort that makes literary aspirants shudder to think of.”

Here in New Zealand we have not yet commenced in earnest to develope our fish supplies, but there can be no doubt that when the present apathy gives place to well organised and systematic activity in that direction, the results will make most people marved that so profitable a source of income, a-d so valuable a field of industry, should have remained neglected for such a length of time. A return recently issued by order of the House of Commons shows what a gigantic trade is being done at home in the exportation of fish. The return gives the quantity of fish annually exported from ports of the United Kingdom during the ten years from 1883 to 1882 inclusive. The return refers principally to salmon, cod, herrings, oysters, and pilchards. The total value of fish of all kinds exported in 1873 was £1,205,896, and in the year 1882 it reached the highest amount for the decade, namely, £1,619,702. The lowest year was 1876, when the value of fish exported fell to £952,804. The aggregate value of fish exported in ten years was £14,148,104. Herrings formed the largest item among the various kinds of fish specified.