OUR MOUNTAIN LAND.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 334, 16 January 1889, Page 6

OUR MOUNTAIN LAND.

New Zealand's mountains bold and grand In majesty appear, Crowned with the everlasting snows Of many a vanished year. Towering alo t in regal state Their glories far are seen, From their broad shoulders, forest-clad, Flow robes of fadeless groen. Bra ve rugged heights, dark. stern and wild, Those awe-inspiring forms Have through long ages stood the blust Of tempest and of storms, Adown whose riven and rugged sides Have rushed red lava streams, And lurid fires shed baleful lights Where cold snow crystal gleams, In billowy grandour, crag o'er crag And peak o cr peak ascend, i While spread between in virgin pride Vales, glens and lakes extend. Weird halls those mountain regions hold, Where (Maori sages say) Tradition's warrior chiefs arc seen When flickering moonbeams play. As giant guardians of our isle. In serried ranks they stand, Their castellated heights and domes Enchain the pleasant land. From their full chalice flashing falls In many a cascade down The crystal streams that cheer the tribes In city, vale and town. Now those grand heights renowned afar Our country's glory stand ; ■ The wonders ot her fairy,realms Are framed through every land ; Where oft red carnage reeking stood, And ruin's ploughshare sped, < Blooms the fair olive, plant ot peace, And round doth fragrance shod. But late dark Tarawova rose,' Wrathful with burning breath, And furiously poured histhundor down, Filling the land with death ; But for the dire destruction wrought, As if with demon hand, A new creation stands revealed 'Mid wonders weird and grand. I love thee, mount-environed isle, , Fair are thy scenes to view ! , Enchantments, chosen gem, thou seem'st, Set in the ocean's blue ; The breeze that fans thy summer s suns. The surf that laves thy strand Clear streams and blossom-scented air All bless the pleasant land. Thomas Scott.

The prevalence of iog in England ]ms caused a number of railway and shipping fatalities.