THE FAR SOUTH

New Zealand Listener, Volume 26, Issue 651, 21 December 1951, Page 10

THE FAR SOUTH

WILD LIFE IN THE SUBANTARCTIC, by J. H. Sorensen; Whitcombe and Tombs; 12/6. ANY Listener readers will know much of the materia] in Mr. Sorensen’s book, for most of it appeared as articles in this journal in 1946. Those who read them then will be glad to have them in book form, with some additional material, including comment on recent newspaper articles about Campbell Island tragedies and a very useful background chapter describing the subantarctic islands and giving a brief account of their discovery, Those who shaven’t read them before (whether specially interested in wild life or not) will find in them all the appeal of the

(comparatively) far south. Many will be surprised to know that there is colour, sound and movement that suggest the tropics on some of these islands. Before Mr. Sorensen and others visited the area, when the islands were occupied as a wartime safety measure, most visits by scientific parties were very short; so that in a total of five years which Mr. Sorensen spent on Campbell Island, with visits to other islands, he was able to do much valuable work. This book, Dr. R. A. Falla says in a foreword, is the first good account of the birds and mammals of New Zealand’s subantarctic. Mr. Sorensen has the naturalist’s enthusiasm for his subject (he describes himself, for instance, as "particularly fortunate" in being "permitted" to spend more than one term on Campbell Island), and he presents his material in @ very interesting, non-specialist way. The book is illustrated with several maps and some excellent photographs.

F.A.

J.