THE END OF THE HARBOUR

Te Ao Hou, July 1969, Page 60

THE END OF THE HARBOUR by Elsie Locke Longman Paul Ltd., $1.95 reviewed by Geoff Lawson Elsie Locke has made a good show of turning the history books' pages into real people whose words and actions will catch the imagination of youthful readers. The story is seen through the eyes of a young English lad, David Learwood, whose father and mother have come from England to work in the hotel in Waiuku, at that time a British Trading Post on the fringe of the Pakeha settlement in the Manakau Harbour. The book is about the growing pains of the new settlement and their effect on Pakeha and Maori. The Pakehas' wish to extend their holding is balanced by the Maoris' fear that their land will be taken by force as rumours of fighting in Taranaki cause mounting tension throughout the colony. Matters are brought more to a head when Eriata is found, shot dead. Evidence points to a British settler and it is only after a display of reason and oratory by an elder that the young Maoris are restrained from seeking their own revenge. The Maoris pin their hopes on the British law which they accepted with the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi and they are sadly disillusioned by it. As the book closes, the Waikato people and the British are headed towards an inevitable war. The author is unobtrusive, allowing the story to unfold itself through the happenings witnessed by David Learwood. For example, the narrator does not directly describe the effects of European diseases on the Maori population; we see for ourselves as David does when he goes out in the middle of the night to help the doctor tending the sick. More subtly revealed are the ideas and attitudes of the people amongst whom David lives. These are mostly brought to our understanding through snatches of conversation overheard by David, and a good deal of the Maori viewpoint becomes increasingly clear as we follow the adventures of his friend Hona. Attitudes are also brought out by such things as the Pakeha reluctance to allow the Maori congregation into their church, the uncomprehending feeling of hurt this produces and the Maoris' gradual realisation that some ostensibly religious people are in fact hypocritical. We see the ignorance and fear of a section of the Pakeha community through the reactions of David's mother who won't go outside the hotel because she is scared of the natives and doesn't like her son to mix with them. We learn of Maori social values and customs when the compassionate Maori-speaking Dr Topp talks to David of his medical practice among Maoris and Pakehas and when the patient old Ahipene thinks aloud to David.

The vocabulary and sentence structure of this short novel are bright, clear, and easy to read. The characters are clearly outlined and if they are a little uncomplicated to be identifiable with living people as we know them, it is all in the interests of simplicity. Besides, this sort of presentation has the advantage of allowing the characters to stand for groups in the community which is the world of the story, instead of standing alone as individuals who represent only themselves. I have some doubts about the pace of the novel. It may move a little slowly for the younger readers who will take events and words at face value without seeing how they reflect the thoughts and anxieties of the people concerned. On the other hand it may be that such a reader would be led on by the nose to the end of the book as Elsie Locke makes him curiouser and curiouser to see just what does lie around the corner as the story takes another twist or turn. I cannot hope to appraise the historical accuracy of The End of the Harbour but the author's grounding in writing for the Department of Education's School Publications Branch will, I am sure, have made it instinctive for her to check her facts. It is evident from the author's acknowledgements that she has spent a good deal of time in research in libraries in several parts of the country and in talking to descendants of the people she writes about in this book. She spent her own childhood in Waiuku. There is a ring of authenticity about the story's portrayal of Maori life as it was then without degrading it to the level of a tourist attraction for overseas readers to gawk at. A good Christmas present if you want to show a younger reader that New Zealand's colonial history is about people and not just dates and documents.