FRESH AND SALT
RISING FISH, by R. Dickinson; Whitcombe and Tombs, Ltd., 13/6. CREATURES OF THE DEEP SEA, by Klaus Gunther and Kurt Deckert (translated by E. W. Dickes); Allen and Unwin, English price 18/-. ETWEEN the fish with which Mr, Dickinson is primarily concerned and those described by Messrs. Gunther and Deckert there is a great gulf fixed, but it is possible to discern an element (other than water) common to both books. Mr, Dickinson, assiduously fishing his way from Taupo to the Bay of Plenty (with a perfunctory glance at the Bay of Islands), the other two peering through the quartz ports of Beebe’s bathysphere or following the Challenger and the Dana as they dredge the deeps, are in their diverse ways responding to the same impulse. It’s true that Mr. Dickinson may simply be looking for a trout that will wipe all eyes, but like the others he is responding to the attraction of the unknown. He sounds a pleasant fellow-a little behind the times, perhaps (the solunar theory must be at least 20 years old), and sometimes scarcely orthodox (his description of Ohau Channel tactics would cause an epidemic of apoplexy in the Fly Fishers’ Club)-but it is a pity he did not spend more time and space on the Bay of Plenty rivers and less on the TaupoRotorua area. Q Mr. Dickinson has a theory that the deepest lakes produce the biggest fish. It doesn’t seem to work in salt water, as readers of Creatures of the Deep Sea will discover, Most of those horrifying swollen-bellied abyssal monsters (continued on next page)
(continued from previous page) which we find illustrated here are no bigger than cockabullies-four of them ere shown, at nearly life-size, on the dust-jacket, Inside that dust-jacket is to be found a remarkably full account of the fauna and flora of. the deeps, the material being drawn from the records of most of the great expeditions, from that of the Challenger onward. This is an exceedingly interesting, book, for the enthusiast or the student-liberally illustrated in black and white, with some most illuminating anatomical drawings and a useful index. The text is equally
instructive, but the general reader may find the scientific. vocabulary a little beyond his powers of assimilation.
J.
M.
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 35, Issue 897, 12 October 1956, Page 13
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379FRESH AND SALT New Zealand Listener, Volume 35, Issue 897, 12 October 1956, Page 13
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Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
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