Chapter IV: Part 4

Those lakes, so sweet, at mountain's feet,
Where weary strangers, strangers meet.

The waters blue, with swift canoe,
We skim, for glimpses weird and new.

We lift the eye to mountain high,
To where the snow-peaks kiss the sky.

O'er gorges deep, where shadows creep,
dark clouds cluster, pause and weep.

In dreamy mood, we pause and brood,
'Midst awe-inspiring solitude.

We list--a roar, that cometh o'er,
From danger scenes we would explore.

For ah! the spell! the geyser's well,
That hurls the sulphurous fumes from hell;

That flings on high, with thund'rous sigh,
Huge rocks, that smite the cloud-flecked sky.

But list, ye bands from other lands,
This monument of splendor stands,

In South Seas hurled, with flag unfurled,
"The scenic wonder of the world."

* * * * *

As here we scan old Nature's plan,
We seek her last, best work--a man.

Lo! he appears! nor hopes nor fears
Have vexed his soul through all the years.

With haughty pride--nor priest nor guide--
He ruled the land, as warrior tried.

Here chieftain brave, here King and slave,
Their lives to war and foray gave.

Here, dusky maid was ne'er afraid
To join the fray, in copse or glade.

With waving hair, and beauty rare,
Brave hearts these maidens did ensnare.

When beauty wild a chief beguiled,
He gazed in liquid eyes, and smiled.

Love makes amends, and often blends,
Wild warring factions into friends.

But strong the will, with tribesmen's skill,
The Maori was unconquered still.

* * * * *

Where Nature, kind, unfolds the mind,
Man is to nobler thoughts inclined.

Though brave, he's meek; he aids the weak,
And high companionship doth seek.

In social train, by hand and brain,
He wins and holds a vast domain.

He builds a State; 'tis weak or great,
As based on love, or fosters hate.

If Wisdom's eyes survey the skies,
Before their magic touch arise

Industrial arts, where loyal hearts
May rear and fill commercial marts.

If strong and just, and true to trust,
The coin of Truth can never rust;

And wise men see that none are free,
Save where there's large equality--

Where Law commands, that sturdy hands,
Shall freely cultivate the lands;

No coward slave, but free and brave,
Shall ever ready be to save.

Thus honest worth, o'er all the earth,
Conditions make, e'en more than birth.

* * * * *

'Twas said by Fate, these Isles must wait,
The builders of an ideal State.

Then with the breeze, 'cross Southern seas,
The Briton came, with high decrees.

New scenes arose, old wounds they close,
And friendship reigns 'mong ancient foes.

For Maori hate, by skill and--"fate"--
Was merged into the British "State."

United, free, they now agree
To dwell in peace,--"So mote it be."

* * * * *

Then of this man, and if we can,
We'll follow out his mystic plan.

For wise it seems, e'en in our dreams,
To build, with care, prophetic themes.

Then let us gauge the Seer and Sage,
As pass they o'er Life's mystic stage.

First, of the dead, it may be said,
While warm of heart and cool of head,

They saw the new, and though but few,
They laid foundations, strong and true,

On which to rear, without a fear,
This temple,--so imposing here.

By words sublime, in prose and rhyme,
They taught, for all-enduring time.

* * * * *

Then Seddon came, without whose name
This temple were unfinished frame.

But in his care, with graceful air,
The structure rose, with finish fair.

His sturdy stroke the times awoke,
As from Tradition's rules he broke.

Upon the land he scattered bands,
With willing hearts and sturdy hands.

To those once rent with discontent,
He even-handed Justice sent.

Now o'er the State, nor fear nor hate
Could find companion, small or great.

Look o'er the land, from peak to strand,
There's happiness on every hand.

* * * * *

Here Cities rare, exceeding fair,
Zealania boasts, with modest air.

At eve or dawn, we gaze upon
The busy, "blowy" Wellington.

Here, products great for ships await,
And here repose the powers of State.

Here, founding laws, for mighty cause,
The statesman long the session draws.

Here modest worth and homely mirth
Find more respect than rank or birth.

* * * * *

There's Auckland, too--'twixt me and you--
A beauty spot, excelled by few.

Round this fair cove, old Nature strove
To show the fickle feats of Jove.

Volcanic smoke in fury broke,
Until the heavens all awoke.

When cleared the skies, there did arise
A seat for earthly Paradise.

At mountains' feet, where lavas meet,
There Auckland sits, serene and sweet.

With seas afore, just off her door,
Where proud ships ride for evermore.

* * * * *

We note with care, with Christchurch, there
Are few that safely may compare.

For pride of race, for social grace,
She holds a high and honored place.

'Mid fertile plain of waving grain,
We search for lovelier spot, in vain.

Here, soul and brain; here, maid and swain,
A pure companionship maintain.

* * * * *

Dunedin stands, on favored lands,
'Twixt mountains high and ocean sands.

On beauty's spot, the "Canny Scot"
Has cast his ever happy lot.

With taste and skill, from rock to rill,
Dunedin reaches 'long the hill.

With vision free--upon the lee--
Dunedin gazes o'er the sea.

* * * * *

Full many more, 'tween hill and shore,
Are worthy of the poet's lore.

Though hard I seek, the words are weak,
Of nobler beauties now to speak.

While cities were, with beauty rare,
Contrived by man, with studied care,

The vale, the glen, the lake, the fen,
Were made by Him who maketh men.

The fields of grain, where honest swain
Earns honest bread, wave not in vain.

For West and East, both man and beast
Await to join Zealania's feast.

And from all lands, by skilful hands,
White sails are bent for Austral strands.

Here, finest wheat, by many a fleet
Is sent, the foreign marts to meet.

And finest fleece--in war or peace--
They shear, that wealth they may increase.

With choicest meat, both rare and sweet,
In "Merry England," they compete.

In farm or mine, with food or wine,
To lead the leaders they incline.

* * * * *

By skill they coil the threads of toil
Around the riches of the soil.

And, for the sake of gain to make,
Great enterprise they undertake.

* * * * *

Well, far and near, we've gathered here,
And all in all it doth appear

That higher goals and nobler souls
Are here, than elsewhere 'tween the poles.

* * * * *

Now wake, my Muse, do not refuse
To pay "my hostess" honest dues.

For ladies fair, with beauty rare,
Zealania boasts, beyond compare.

And smiles more sweet we'll never meet
Until we bow at Peter's feet.

Awake again and listen, when
Beholding strong Zealania's men.

'Tis writ by Fate, men only great
Could constitute this noble State.

Then sing for all, both great and small,
Each in fit place, that none may fall.

The dreams of seers, the hopes and fears,
Have gathered 'long the silent years,

And on these Isles, with radiant smiles,
Were cast the hoarded "afterwhiles."

* * * * *

Zealania fair, thou art the heir
Of all the cries of ancient prayer.

Here sturdy bands, with gen'rous hands,
Are guardians of these favored lands.

Then hail thee thrice--let this suffice,
Thou art Creation's Paradise.

* * * * *

Oh! float away--like mist in May,
Or rainbow tints 'mid ocean spray.

"I wake to sense--please, no offence,--
Forgive my drowsy indolence."

Well, indeed that is pretty; but let us down from Leo's fancies to Mr. Oseba's facts, and while I shall strive to retain a seasoning of Mr. Oseba's richness, time and the love of ease whisper persuasively of the virtues of the blue pencil.

With more animated eloquence, Mr. Oseba resumed his oration. "The audience," says Leo Bergin, "gave the most profound attention."

"Knowledge," said Mr. Oseba, "is a priceless treasure, but," with a smile he continued, "many a good story has been spoiled by over-inquisitiveness. Poetic fancy suffers from flirtations with cause and conscience. Unless inquiry has been thorough, my children, it is wiser, in most cases, to note impressions than to assume to record facts, so I shall give you but a 'bird's-eye' view of these enchanting isles, with the characters as they appeared before the visual camera when I made my observations.

"Had I gone fossicking among the weary ones of Zelania, I should doubtless have found many excellent people who, in some phase of the inquiry, would have questioned the correctness of my conclusions. I might have heard some sighs, amid the almost universal joy--some smiles with the general congratulations, and some discordant groans mingled with the generous applause--but where there is not sufficient diversity of interest to produce mental friction, there is more danger from decomposition than from revolution.

"Yes, I incline to think had I stood on the corner and listened I would have met some well-to-do gentlemen who disliked the land tax; some business men who disliked the labor laws; some farmers, who wanted a free ride and no rent; some patriotic men who failed to admire many of 'Richard's' taking ways. I might also have found healthy gentlemen from 'Home' who, though their conditions were bettered by coming, have little love for 'the colonials,' and who, by virtue of their unwillingness to grasp the true situation, regard every statement of a fact as an extravagance, and every forward movement as a revolution. Then, I should have felt it necessary to inquire how much of such criticism was due to private interest, to defeated ambition, to party or factional prejudice, or to differences in opinion as to who would best grace the conspicuous chair.

"For this I had neither time nor inclination. Man can equivocate, can even lie, 'tis said, but visible conditions never deceive an observing stranger, and when I considered the brief history of that country and compared its early social and political policy with the present free, happy and prosperous situation, I had little care to banquet with private grievance or public criticism.

"I was concerned, not in the salaries of the public servants, but in the character of the public conscience; not in who, for the time being, guided the ship of state, but how the passengers and the crew were being brought to their destination.

"On a lonely elevation, far removed from the murmuring crowd, I levelled my glass, and, without sampling the fluids from which the stage actors drew their inspiration, I noted my 'impressions.' They were favorable, and if I'm guilty of nothing worse than failing to note the faults of those chosen by themselves as ringmasters of the performance, I feel that the Zelanians will not regret my having 'discovered them.'

"As the beauties of Zelania so far transcend the powers of the painter's brush and the poet's metaphor, I pay her homage of my admiration, in modest speech."

IN SILENT WONDER.

"In scenic wonders, these playful Isles present a peculiar series of thrilling charms, which seem to satisfy best the yearnings of those who have visited other lands.

"In geography, Zelania is beautifully isolated, as every beach is washed by more than a thousand miles of sea. Its borders are so erratic, so indented by bays, harbors, and inlets, that its shore-lines are over 4,000 miles in extent, and, in altitude, it reaches from the sea-shore to the clouds.

"Configuratively, it is milder than a dream, and topographically, it presents a most romantic and pleasing aspect. In scenic beauty, the Isles of Greece, the Lakes of Ireland, or the 'Vales of Cashmere' do not surpass it, and in the awe-inspiring wildness of its mountain grandeur, it rivals the noblest of Norway or Alaskan scenes.

"In bold magnificence, the glacial glories of the Swiss Alps are tame comparisons, and its geysers, its boiling lakes, its roaring vents from subterranean fires, its hundreds of spouting caldrons, its grottos and waterfalls, could not be surpassed, if all the rest of Oliffa's wonders were brought together and placed on exhibition--such a congerie of curiosities has Nature thrown in young Zelania's lap.

"When Nature made Oliffa, my children, she nourished a sly intent to show her skill when in the flower of training. With this in view, as she deftly moulded other lands and tempered them from her laboratory, she tossed aside the choice bits of material, and took notes on 'effect.' Then, after finishing the rest, and 'behold it was very good,' with a glance to the gallery gods, she said, 'Now look at me!'

"Then, like the sculptor who has many models for one figure--one from which to copy the most perfect arm, one the hand, another the knee, and still another for the foot--so, she, selecting from the most perfect of all her former works, improved on each, and in her happiest mood she fashioned Zelania, and anchored it in these southern seas. Then she smiled, and--took a _siesta_."

"Geologically," said Oseba, "Zelania is an ancient pile of dirt, but here all the games that frisky Nature played in her boisterous youth, before 'Atlantus' sank from the Ocean bosom, before the Mediterranean burst through the Pillars of Hercules, before the sun and winds drank the waters from the Sahara, and possibly before great Chimborazo was, she still keeps on the stage for the edification or the terror of gods and men."

"At Rotorua, that trysting place of fairies and fiends, man may play with Nature as did the deities of old with the daughters of men; while at Waimangu, the mightiest geyser on the globe, one may safely stand within a few yards' distance and behold a scene of thrilling awe that banishes all consciousness--save that of dread and power.

"To stand near the verge and behold this acre of dark world as it is hurled a thousand feet into the air, is worth a trip round this little globe. Language gives but a faint gleam of human passion, and every effort to describe this scene brings but a pathetic consciousness of human frailty. Beholding this mighty convulsion, even the thoughtless stand motionless and mute, and as Milton is dead, Waimangu will never be described in words.

"The countless mountain lakes, the wild fiords--from whose deep recesses one but rarely sees the sun--the shady solitudes, so painfully still that one shudders with a chilling sense of loneliness, and the easily-approached glaciers and waterfalls--many with a plunge of over a thousand feet, that amaze the Alpine traveller--thrill and fill the beholder with astonishment.

"But for one who enjoys the gun and the rod, there are such tempting opportunities for the diversion of the attention, that the imagination finds ready relaxation, and thus the body and mind gain vigor as the scenes and the days pass by.

"Then, Zelania's wonders may be visited with ease, comfort, and perfect safety. Her furies are on their good behaviour, and save on the borders of her terrors, her aspects are as serene as heaven's azure sky. Her mountains are rarely disturbed by the ravings of Pluto, her great geysers are forcible, but not dangerously erratic, and her boiling springs are so amiable that they may be studied and safely observed at short range.

"Zelania, thou art by far the most beauteous land,
E'er dreamed of fate, or reared by Nature's cunning hand.
You've heaven-piercing peaks, crowned with eternal snow,
A thousand boiling caldrons--heated from below.
You've glaciers dwarfing Alpine scenes, and fiords more wild
Than Norway boasts. When fashioned, God beheld and smiled.

"That Nature rather recklessly managed this country in early geological times is abundantly evident, but save the activity of the geysers and boiling lakes--which play for the amusement of visitors--and the occasional listing when some great personage steps too close to the edge, _terra_ has been satisfactorily _firma_ ever since the present managers were commissioned in the early '90's.

"In every natural feature, this is a country of boundless variety. In climate, it varies from Finland to Italy; and in production, by intelligent transplanting, most of the necessities of civilised life are here."

Here the notes say the poetess Vauline inquired whether Mr. Oseba had not minutely described some of these marvellous scenes in his report. With reverential mien, the sage replied:--

"No, my children, to attempt this, were to profane the gift and the giver of speech. Only one who beholds these wonders can appreciate them. When confronted, the grandeur of the infinite may be felt by a sensitive soul, but through an interpreter all attempts fail. Beholding one scene, I uncovered and bowed my head in silence.[A] Words! they were meaningless."

Yes, and I will help Mr. Oseba out, for I have observed these things, and I have read somewhere how some sort "rush in" where even the angels incline to hesitate.

_The Painter came!_

Folding his arms, he raised his drooping head, and gazed in awful
thought.
He stood in rapturous dream; "Oh God, if I could grasp that scene,
the noblest fame e'er bought
By toil were mine!" With eager hand he clutched the brush. With
anxious eye
He gazed. Lo! the eye dimmed, the brain reeled, the hand fell, and
with a sigh
He dropped the brush. In deep despair he turned and said, "Alas,
good-bye!
'Tis an unpainted picture. Ye gods of solitude, good-bye!"

_The Poet came!_

With streaming hair, pale brow, and nervous tread he hither came
to brood
O'er Nature's vastest works, to wrench the beauties from this
solitude,
And weave in mystic rhyme these wond'rous scenes for common
mortals' gaze.
Entranced, he seized his pen. Anon he wrote--methinks he wrote
in praise.
Then pensively he stood, and mutt'ring said: "Words suit well the
minstrel's lays,
But, 'tis an unwritten poem, to tempt the soul through endless
days."

_The Fool came!_

He smiled. On good terms with himself he seemed, as one who owned
the world.
In jocund speech he cried, "'Tis ours!" and in mock haste his flag
unfurled.
On ancient log he rests. He laughs, he jokes, and chats. Behold
him look!
'Tis for a match; he faggots brings, he lights a fire--a meal to
cook.
Says he: "Extr'ordinary! Ar'nt this grand? By gol! old fel, I'll
write a book."
Then words like snow-flakes fall--like snow-flakes in a brook.

A DIGRESSION.

"Now, my children," said Oseba, "permit me to make a few observations based upon my study among the Outeroos, which will apply to the country under review.

"Remember, all terms expressing quality--such as good and evil, right and wrong, truth and error--are relative, and, as affecting men, the definition to each individual depends upon his environment. As a fact, the rules expressing these ideas are largely fictions established by society for its own purpose, but, in their general application, they must be allowed considerable latitude.

"A country is good or bad, as it offers or withholds opportunity for earning a livelihood, and for the development of the mental faculties by the application of reasonable efforts; and a government is good or bad, as it withholds or encourages such opportunities and aspirations. 'When the wise rule, the people rejoice'--even in the barren districts. It is a matter--well, it is a matter--largely of 'grey matter.' As a rule, Nature has not been niggard in the distribution of her blessings. And, as a rule, the term good or bad, when applied to a country, applies less to the soil than to the society. It is college _versus_ cannon, or inquiry _versus_ credulity. Under a reign of benign justice, from a barren soil may arise an earthly paradise, while bigotry, war, and oppression will make a hell of the fairest valley.

'The gods wondered, and Viehnu said to Bel,
"With seven wise men shalt thou enter hell,
Or with five fools, pass into paradise."
"Give me," said Bel, "hell with the wise,
For that is heaven, where they do dwell,
While fools would make of Heaven itself a hell."'

"The subject, my children, always bears the image of the law, the expression of custom, and customs are established by cunning for the rule of credulity. By custom, one is born the owner of many broad acres; and by custom, ten thousand toil without enjoying, that one may enjoy without toil. But Nature usually lends herself freely to man's designs. In a vast monotonous country, despotism is a usual system of government, Nature suggesting no change; the leader becomes the chief, the chief becomes the monarch, the monarch becomes a despot, and the despot a god.

"On the contrary, in a smaller country with diversified aspects, indented shore-lines and water-front, scaleable mountains and erratic climate, Nature suggests--change. A holy discontent appears, the despot becomes a constitutional monarch, a parliament serves the people, a cabinet advises the king; and then, as mountains suggest liberty and seas adventure, distant colonies, in which custom and precedent are ignored, are established on lines in harmony with environing conditions.

"Human liberty, my children, rarely gains a victory in an old, wealthy, populous and well-established country or government. Society, under such conditions, becomes conservative; the rulers love power, the cunning want no change, the wealthy are satisfied, and the people, being adjusted to the changeless conditions, are 'loyal' and contented.

"Further, every defeat of despotism, every entrenchment upon the 'divine' territory, every victory of human liberty, has been due to the restless inhabitants of the water-front; and remember, for all the progressive movements of all the ages, and for what the centuries call modern civilisation, the world is indebted to colonial enterprise, conspicuously led by Phoenicia, Greece, and modern Britain."

BACK TO ZELANIA.

"But let us, my children," Oseba continued, "return to Zelania, Nature's choicest, last, and most successful effort, and to where these principles apply. In her geographical situation, her configuration, her soil and climate, she offers man everything to toughen the fibre, to quicken the perception, and to strengthen the imagination.

"She has the climate, the fertility, the production, the picturesqueness of Greece, and all in greater variety."

Oseba here led his audience into a most interesting inquiry regarding climatic influence in the development of a people. He said man was a part of, and strongly allied to, Nature, and that he could not escape the influence of his environment.

In interior tropical regions Nature puts a black skin and black hair on her people, and, as a joke, she usually flattens the nose. In vast interior and warm regions, the complexion are tawny, with black or tawny hair and oblique eyes, that shunt the direct rays of light.

"Then, too," he says, "island or sea-shore people are lighter in color than those of the interior, and not only is the complexion of man, but his physical proportions, stature and temperament, modified by climatic conditions. In interior countries men gradually assume a type--they are lithe, and rather small of stature, and so alike that they seem cast in the same mould; while those living on islands along the water-front, or among the mountains, are more sturdy, they vary more in build, size and deftness, and they are mentally more inquisitive, venturesome, impetuous and brave."

He said that by far the most sturdy, virile, impulsive and enterprising people on Oliffa inhabited the British Isles. Of course, the race had much to do with modern movements, but the earlier climatic conditions of the country produced the racial distinctions.

"By the rule of Nature, then," he continued, "Zelania, with the proper stock to begin with, in complexion, form, feature, temperament, and mental endowments, should produce the finest type of man and womanhood on the planet."

He compared the Maoris with the aboriginals of interior Australia, and said both were modified by their environment.

Here Leo Bergin remarked that Mr. Oseba was certainly greatly taken and impressed by his "colonial" experience. However, it is not improbable that while travelling in New Zealand Mr. Oseba received sufficient courtesies to impress him deeply with the matchless hospitality of the people.

"But, enough," says Leo Bergin, "my master is worthy of my whole attention," and the notes run:--

"But let me return, my children, and pick up the theme of Zelania, for in her--with my tours over her romantic islands--I found balm for all my earlier disappointments.

"Zelania has certainly not worried her soul in life-producing efforts. In botany, she is not rich in species; in mammals she is more allied to South America, over six thousand miles distant, than to Australia, but twelve hundred miles, justifying my conviction that this paragon of beauty was an after-thought of the creative power.

"In mammals she has but a little rat--a poor little weakling that has not yet been tamed or learned to board with the people--and two little half-developed bats. Of reptiles, there are a few lazy lizards, but whether some 'Patrick' or 'Denis' had banished them, I could not say; but snakes, there are none."

He said there were some land birds, but as there were no animals to "make them afraid," the more indolent of them had lost their wings and their natural characteristics had changed.

The moa was probably--some time ago--a pretty respectable bird, but there being no danger from which to "flee" and no long flights to procure food, it cast off its wings and strutted about until its bones became as heavy as those of a reindeer, and it stretched up its head until it stood twelve feet high. But having no cares nor anxieties, no fears nor ambition, it failed to develop "grey matter," so when the Maori came it "surrendered," and, having taken off its flesh as well as its wings, it is now resting in the museums. Without the rod or the bun, there seems to be no effort, and without effort there seems to be little progress with any created thing.

THE MAORIS "DISCOVERED."

"And the great god Morduch heaved the earth from its watery bed,
and peopled its shores according to his will."

As Oseba evidently meant to proceed upon his discourse in some predesigned order, he here gave some interesting attention to the Maoris, the natives--or, so-called, aboriginals--of New Zealand.

The orator, in his inimitable manner, described the Maoris with amusing detail. He calls them a fine race of romantic savages, whose physique had undoubtedly been greatly improved by the winning smiles of Zelania's climate and general aspects; for 'tis said they have been loafing around there for 500 years. "A large, heavy, dark brown people are these Maoris, who, in their own picturesque costume, often looked gracefully noble. Brave and ferocious while untamed, they are usually amiable and indolent when subjected to civilising influences."

Many of the young women were very pretty, and the children were quick in wit and movement. He did not think that tattooing the under lips of the women had really improved their beauty. Many of the half-castes were very intelligent, and not a few had made excellent reputations, in politics and other "professions." Many of them, too, had a sublime gift of "gab," and this trait is shared--even by the men.

Intellectually the Maoris were, Oseba thought, superior to any other tamed savage; but, like other barbarians, when touched by civilisation, they learned and accepted the vices more readily than the virtues. This was noticeable in all civilising movements. Oseba remarked that it was often observed among the Outeroos when speaking of such people, that the "Christian vices" killed them.

"This," he says, "was natural, for while it takes time to teach the 'brethren' the real advantages to be derived from the practices of Christian virtue, the 'Christian vices' yield 'immediate returns.' 'Thou shalt not steal' to a savage produces a peculiarly disagreeable confusion of ideas, and the advantages are not readily apparent, but two drinks of whisky rarely failed to impress. This is a custom peculiar to 'Christian culture' that is 'taking.'

"To judge by the conspicuous exhibitions of artistic effort and the countless displays by the photo fiend in many of Zelania's towns, a stranger would conclude that the Maoris were the 'superior' and dominant race, though there are but a little over 43,000 in the whole country, mostly on the north or warmer island, and it is said they are about stationary in numbers and in morals."

He told his audience that these Maoris, when originally discovered, were a stalwart, brave and rather superior race of savages; that war was the only argument that appealed to their perverted consciences, and he quoted an admiring New Zealand poet to prove the "amiable" heroism of the Maori "ladies."

"E'en woman, formed for sweetness, for love, and tender art
Here showed the tiger instinct, the hard and ruthless heart;
Her's was the task in battle, the wounded braves to slay,
And cook the reeking corpses for the feast that closed the fray."

"Yes, the Maori women were brave, very brave, but, my children, in all Zelania there was not a mouse.

"Of these Maoris, there are several tribes," he says, "who, when free from the meddlesome 'white man's yoke,' are usually engaged in slaying and stewing each other, and, besides carving with their greenstone cleavers their cooked brethren and their own faces, they practised much in wood-carving. In this, while the workmanship is fair, there is a manifest lack of a sense of proportion, that amuses the connoisseur as it delighted the amateur in art.

"Like the more common, or at least more numerous and more pretentious white fellow-citizen, these Maoris go to church some, and to school, and to the drink-shop and to jail, but as the Maoris have a little creed of their own, they don't go to church very much. But if the Maori goes less to church, to school, and to Parliament, he also goes less to jail and to the hotel than his more pretentious white British fellow-citizen.

"The Maoris are picturesque, especially at the more popular tourist resorts, where their presence lends a particularly charming romance to the occasion. The emotional tourist--especially if a young gentleman from 'Home'--who is safely piloted by the alert, polite, and loquacious 'Maggie' among the roaring and exploding geysers of that charming compromise between awe-inspiring beauty and terror, that unpreached sermon, that unsung song, that unwritten poem, that section of hell in an earthly paradise, Rotorua, in whose weird precincts are seen and heard and smelled, at close range, the seething fires of 'Pluto's dread abode,' he will cherish a generous respect for Maori hospitality forever. Under Maggie's watchful guidance, the most unsophisticated tourist could safely approach the yawning mouth of these boiling caldrons without endangering life or health or appetite; though, unless one heeds the cautious guide, the boot soles are in danger of shrinking, and in these sulphurous regions 'kuss words' flow from pious lips.

"Nature," Oseba argued, "was a unity and is consistent. She ignores individuals, and strives, oblivious to time, for universals. No created thing ever escapes the influence of environment. But Nature carries out her works with the instruments at hand. Whence came these Maoris is a guess, but as in character, stature, proportion, personal bearing, and mental possibilities, no other savage on the globe compares with them, they must have been sufficiently long in Zelania to have become modified by, and made to conform to, the luring conditions of that wonderful country."

But I must continue:--

As there were no indigenous grains or tameable animals, and as no people ever worked out a civilisation without the assistance of tameable animals, the Maori could only remain a savage, but the climate and general aspect of Nature, the peculiar environing conditions, gave him the noblest soul and most fertile intellect ever housed in the brain of a barbarian. The conduct of the Maoris in defence of their country, considering the relative conditions of the contending forces, found no parallel in history or romance.

They had all the cunning and duplicity of the Greek, the stubborn courage of the ancient Briton, and the stoical disdain for death of the North American Indian. While in the whirligig of the great world's doings a contest between the most skilful of all warriors and a few small tribes of savages, in so remote a country, could excite no very great interest among the far-away nations, to the watchful student of events there were few pages of history more interesting than the Maori wars in Zelania.

Socially, the Maori was of a peculiar mould. A communist in property, he was an aristocrat by nature, and in his soul there was a haughty exuberance of spirit that rendered tribal discipline difficult, and domestic peace precarious. In war, the Maori was brave; in diplomacy, shrewd; in council, a born orator.

The Maori remained a savage in Zelania because there was nothing to tame him, but in his nature there was the diamond, and, by a little grinding, its brilliancy always burst forth. His native environment had given him everything of a superior mould but the final touch. I quote:--

"Already from the grim huts of these late savages have come forth the orator, the lawyer, the statesman, and the successful business man. 'From the cannibal feast to the Cabinet,' is almost true of the Maori.

"The fate of the Maoris?

"Well, my children, I don't know, but the grafting of civilisation on such a stock may work wonders, and to study these most picturesque of all the sons of Nature, is worth a journey around this little world.

"It is most interesting," continued Oseba, "to study the aboriginals of any country, and it is pathetic to observe their gradual retirement from the earth's fair face; but the Maori--the handsome, haughty, aristocratic and eloquent Maori--is as different from all other uncivilised races as his enchanting island home is different from all other countries on the surface of Oliffa.

"If bare-handed Nature in Zelania, with no animals for the chase, none for herds or for servants of industry, and practically no grain or fruit, could spank the savage, common to other lands into this shape, what may it not do for civilised man, who brings with him all the aids of all the ages?"

Oseba explained that before he called on Zelania he had visited every other country on Oliffa, and had studied the "inferior" races carefully, but the Maoris stood solitary and alone. All others lacked physical fibre and mental stamina, and for them to remain in contact with the superior races meant many generations for doubtful growth, or a few generations for extinction.

But the Maoris had now attained full manhood. They were "different" from the whites, and this was more proper than to say they were very much "inferior." They had enjoyed none of the advantages of outside communication, no aid from tameable animals, no experiences by the chase, no traditions of industrial art, during probably more than five hundred years. Yet the Maori seems to have attained to a surprising degree a fairly full mental and physical stature. He has eloquence, perception, inquisitiveness and acquisitiveness. He has everything but--civilisation. He has the soul, but it needs tuning; the material, but it needs shaking-up and seasoning. The magic touch of a newer, a higher inspiration is needed, and that is being injected into his awakening consciousness by a benign social sentiment.

"To-day," said Oseba, "the Zelania Maori, as seen in his grotesque works of art, in his struggle for wild independence, in his weird religious ceremony, in his common avocations as toiler, professional man or politician, is the most picturesque human being on the planet, and his presence in Zelania gives a seasoning of romance to be studied and enjoyed in no other land."

_SCENE VIII.--Act II._

APPROPRIATING A WORLD.

All being in readiness, a number of very perfect maps were thrown on the canvas, showing the plains, valleys, mountains, lakes, and rivers of Zelania, with the nature of the production of each island; and a careful and detailed description as to location and resources was given by the orator.

Then, calling the attention of his audience, Oseba notified the people that he was now reaching the closing chapter of his report, or in our refined phrase he was on "the home stretch." He said:--

"Now, my children, at this stage of our inquiry, I desire to remind you again how closely man is allied to Nature; how he is adjusted to all the environing conditions; how the fresh breezes of a temperate zone give him a fair skin; how a varied and pleasing aspect gives him a cheerful temperament; how the mountains suggest to him freedom, and the seas adventure; how climate depresses or exhilarates; how pastoral pursuits awaken the romantic in his nature; agriculture, patience and sturdy industry; and the search for precious metals, a careless independence and intelligence.

"Then, for this last, let the Titans wrest from Nature all that conspired to make the Phoenician, the Greek, the Norse, and the Briton, and mould them artistically into the most pleasing form, and lo! Zelania would appear in her pristine glory to--fashion a man."

Here he briefly described the workings of the government of Zelania, how it had adopted the parliamentary system of Britain, and that, while it acknowledged a proud allegiance to the British crown, it was probably the most unmitigated democracy the world had ever beheld.

"As a member of a compact," Oseba said, "Zelania owes but a loose allegiance to the Motherland, for she is at liberty to part the cable at any time and float away with the parental blessings. But, as a fact, she is held by a sentiment stronger than bands of steel; and by the voluntary sacrifice of many of her noblest sons on distant fields, she has proven, not only her loyalty to the Crown, but her love for the Empire and her devotion to British aspiration. Theirs is not merely the loyalty of the subject--'tis the tender regard of children for the generous kindred of homeland.

"Now, my children," continued the orator, "I am going to show you another series of views, some the works of man, and some the works of Nature, that have influenced my actions. Glance through the album I have given you, and you will see the style of men, who, on the lines so strongly suggested by the inviting environment, have fashioned the social creeds of the country.

"It is a grand thing to behold men strong enough and brave enough to lead the people up, not to where they may 'see the promised land,' but to secure for them and their children a nobler heritage than Joshua ever saw or Moses ever dreamed of."

The orator claimed that though the mightiest imagination could not reach a comprehension of these enchanting scenes, he felt that the views presented would justify his claim that of all lands Zelania was the most wonderful on the globe.

And now he proceeded to call attention to the human side--how the denizens of this most favored country were using their peerless opportunities, and this was even more wonderful, for Nature followed rules and precedents, while these people broke them.

"A man may famish," said Oseba, "surrounded by the most dazzling splendor; he may starve, amid the most wild, weird and stupendous beauty; but when erratic Nature has strewn in the same garden that which most elevates the soul and administers most to the nourishment of the body, man should tender the tribute of his admiration and gratitude, and--'go to work.'"

In Zelania, as I interpret the orator's meaning, the gods have conspired to do all this, and to make the lot of man a happy one. But in a life so frail and so full of wants, the practical side deserves consideration, for while the Deity may furnish the paddock, he will not throw blood oranges on fern trees, or grow "A No. 1" cauliflower on ground not subdued by the spade or the plough.

After having made so fine an exhibition of the choice spots of Zelania, Oseba commented upon the peculiar notions of the Outeroos regarding their visits to other lands. He said by the Outeroos' measure, he himself had been the world's greatest "discoverer," for he had found and charted the whole outer surface. He had "discovered" China, Japan, Russia, and other countries; he had discovered Africa, America, Australia, and finally the "Paradise of Oliffa"--Zelania.

Many people on Oliffa did not care to be "discovered"--in fact, would rather not have been, and, among these, were not improbably, those fading Maoris of Zelania. The "discoverer" had been the bane of many a people--remember the color-line!

Oseba told his people that "Zelania was once discovered by Tasman in 1642, and that it was not discovered again for more than a hundred years, when Cook found it in 1769. Later, to the temporary joy and final regret of the Maoris, the French also 'discovered' the country, and soon some gentlemen from Sydney called, and in 1814 the 'parsons' found it, since which time the collections have been regular. I," said he, "am Zelania's last 'discoverer,' and my report shall be a modest one.

"In 1840 the Union Jack was permanently nailed up in queenly Auckland, Zelania being made a province of New South Wales, and the next year the country was erected into a colony, with a good billet for the favorite of a British Premier.

"In 1865 the capital was removed to Wellington, a very breezy city, with fine 'sloping' hills at no great distance from the water-front.

"As in other British colonies, government here meant liberty, and, as in all habitable countries liberty means progress, Zelania has had a full measure of prosperity, practically from the beginning.

"If," proceeded Oseba, "the Outeroos ever evolve a generation of thinking men, the mystery of mysteries to them will be how a people as educated and business-like as the generation, who discovered and developed steam and electricity, and the modern commercial systems could be stupid enough to give away or sell to a few of the people the land upon--and from--which all the people must necessarily live. Further, it will be interesting to inquire by what course of reasoning the temporary custodians of the public domain arrived at a conclusion that they could rightfully alienate it, ignoring the will and the right of all who might come by the next train.

"As broad, as almost limitless, as is the meaning of supreme authority among the Outeroos, by no compromise with expediency, by no stretch of the imagination, can any human power consign the future generation to a madhouse, or to homelessness, or to a condition of serfdom under the heirs of the more fortunate few; but to grant the lands to a small number of persons is to pawn the cage in which the animals are eternally locked.

"Unfortunately, before the 'rulers' of Zelania had been broadened by the pure air of this wonderland, they had parcelled out much of the better lands to a comparatively few persons. But the grapes fed by the early rulers to the parents of the colonials, set the teeth of the children on edge.

"The area of Zelania is 104,000 square miles, as against 124,000 for the United Kingdom; and the population is 800,000, as against 40,000,000 for the United Kingdom.

"But, behold the growing wisdom of the generations! In the United Kingdom, by inheritance, by the crimes of authority, a few hundred families, or less than one out of every 2,000 of the population, 'own' nearly one-half of the whole country; while in this new world, the smaller follies of earlier rulers are already being corrected, and the lands are being rescued from baronial control and held for 'the people,' regardless of the time of the arrival of their train.

"As the Outeroos are mostly land animals, my children, and as we have learned how important the land is to human happiness, I will give you briefly this phase of the social situation of Zelania as being developed by its present leaders."

Then he reminded his audience that Zelania embraced 104,000 square miles or about 66,000,000 acres of land.

Mr. Oseba claimed that the British Isles, with 79,000,000 acres, with a considerable area of waste, support nearly 40,000,000 people; Italy with about 70,000,000 acres, with much waste, supports 30,000,000 people; Prussia, with about 90,000,000 acres, large areas of waste, supports 31,000,000 people; France, with about 125,000,000 acres, with extensive mountain regions, supports nearly 40,000,000 people; and that Belgium and Holland, with about 18,000,000 acres, and much waste, support over 10,000,000 people.

He argued that if the estimates were approximately correct, this most favored of all lands on the surface of Oliffa would support, on a like plane of living of the Italians, 22,000,000 of people; on a like plane of the French, 12,000,000 people; and on a like plane of the British Isles, at least 10,000,000 of people.

But he explained that with a like population of these countries a like plane of living would be inevitable; so, for the happiness of Zelania, he thought, it was fortunate that many splendid obstacles stood in the way of a rapid increase in population. The cry for population was the most delusive mockery that ever lured a people to the verge of misery.

Here I quote the intrepid discoverer:--

"B-i-g does not spell 'great.' China has what most of the new countries of Oliffa are screaming for--'population.' Yet China is not considered 'great.' India, even with British rule, as a people or a race is not 'great.' The true greatness of a nation consists in the greatness of the individual units composing the nation, and not in their numbers. America is great as a nation, but the real average 'greatness' of the individual American has been declining for many years. Better travel comfortably with a select party than rush to ruin in a crowded train.

"There is no relation between size and value. Even the most ambitious Outeroo would hardly claim Lambert, who weighed forty stone, to have been 'greater' than little Pope, who looked like an interrogation point and weighed but eight. So, as there is no virtue in avoirdupois, there is no 'greatness' in mere numbers. Better flirt with one healthy girl, than take a dozen sour old maids to the pantomime."

Mr. Oseba might have mentioned, had he known the facts, that Phoenicia, that gave to the world the ship and the alphabet, and anticipated modern commercial methods, occupied but a small strip of country--mostly sterile--from eight to twenty-five miles wide, and less than a hundred and eighty miles long; that Attica, at the feet of whose philosophers we still sit, from whose artists we still copy, and to whose orators we still listen, embraced but seven hundred square miles; and that the population of Sparta, while in her glory, probably never exceeded ten thousand souls.

"No, my children," said Oseba, "b-i-g, does not spell 'great,' and any Zelanian who is caught howling for 'population' should be compelled to 'shout' for the whole crowd until he goes 'broke,' and has to hunt a billet to enable him to buy a beer and a bun. The desirable cannot be bribed--others should not be wanted."

Did you ever see Maggie of Rotoru'?
You would never imagine what she can do
For the mouths of hell,
With a magic spell,
This little brown maid--
As I have said--
Will lead you over, and under and through.

This little brown damsel of Rotoru'
Will laugh at the fates, and smile at you.
Like a fairy dream,
Through the caldron's steam,
In gleeful wit.
She'll gaily flit--
Yet careful, stranger, how you pursue.

With this little brown maid of Rotoru'
You scramble and gaze and wonder, too.
You stand appalled,
Your soul's enthralled,
For scenes so weird,
Have here appeared--
You wonder if h---- isn't bursting through.

* * * * *

While much of this danger, my friends, is sham
God tempers the winds to the little shorn lamb.
But wild Nature raves
In dark hidden caves,
And 'tis romance, you know,
To Roto' you go,
So leave some "memory" in Maggie's palm.]

Here, Leo Bergin, with a deep love for Zelania, "pimples out into poetry"--"on his own," as follows:--

ZELANIA'S GREETING.

Zelania's stores are rich in wine,
Zelania's air is sweet with flowers,
Zelania's sons are rich in kine,
Zelania's maidens wile the hours,
'Mid scenes of matchless beauty.
Zelania's valleys waive with grain,
Zelania's hills are white with sheep,
Zelania's sons are skilled in gain,
Zelania's maidens ever keep
The path that leads to duty.

Zelania's crown is rich and rare,
Zelania's laws are wise and free,
Zelania's sons and daughters care,
Zelania's door to ever see
Swung open wide, and then--
Zelania speaks across the seas,
Zelania calls in welcome voice,
Zelania sends by every breeze
Zelania's greeting to the choice--
Of earth's deserving men.

Well, that is as refreshing as it is novel. Mr. Oseba and Leo are both right, and I say, "Well done!" for a popular gentleman of old said: "He that provideth not for his own household has denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel," and if this was Paul, he was not far "beside" himself on this occasion.

It is very pleasing mental recreation to talk about the "brotherhood of man" and the equal rights of "all the children of God" to play anywhere on the surface of His "footstool," but Nature suggests that "every living creature" shall hold down its claim or it will be crowded out, and this same cruel, relentless, unsympathising "Nature"--that always "barracks" for her longest-clawed children--helps to shovel the weak into the compost heap.

With the achievements of modern times, with industrial progress, specialised effort and rapid transit, the many-hued people of the earth may enjoy the fruits of all lands without practising at the same bar or sitting at the same table.

That "God made all men equal" is pretty--it is very pretty; but it lacks the merit of scientific truth, and while it may be desirable--profitable--to deal with the outside "barbarian," and to aid, educate, and elevate him, none but a fool or a fanatic would bring a hoard of park loafers into his dining-room and seat them at his table, to the exclusion of his own children--or his wife's relations.

We may do justice by a "brother" man without boarding him or converting him into a brother-in-law.

Mr. Oseba said:--

"Zelania's needed population will arrive in due season, for, besides her own resistless attractions, Oliffa must be more densely covered; but in 'filling up the country' from abroad, the heads should be weighed and not counted. Zelania may select her own coming population, for whether for health, for profit, for pleasure, for curiosity, or to study lessons of the highest social and political wisdom, she is curiosity's magnetic pole, and with prudent management on the part of her 'rulers' she will soon become the happy loitering place for the leisure-loving, wealthy, and well-to-do of all lands. Then, thousands of those who 'call' will be so charmed with her faultless climate, her romantic scenery, her hospitable people, and her splendid opportunities for domestic happiness and private gain, that they will cast their lots in this ever-enchanting land.

"Nature points to Zelania and says to all her children:--

"'Come and see what I did when I had my hand in.' Then, my children, let me anticipate, for I desire that you may now have a glimpse of the goal to which I am leading you.

"Well, I may tell you these British people to whom I have briefly referred, composed almost exclusively in this case of English, Irish and Scotch, being far removed from central authority, so strongly tempted by new opportunities, and so resistlessly influenced by new and pressing demands, have amazed the world by the boldness of their political conceptions and by their marvellous achievements in social experiments."

From Mr. Oseba's oration one would conclude that never did a colony of loyal people more readily depart from traditional usages, never did a community enter into the possession of a new country who so readily adjusted themselves by their customs, their laws, and their rules of action to the requirements of a novel environment as did the settlers of this peerless land.

He claimed that, in little more than half a century, before they were three-quarters of a million souls, by their achievements in social evolution the Zelanians had excited the interest and won the admiration of the civilised world.

"Selfishness," he argued, "is the mainspring of human action, and the actuating motive of every human being is to secure the greatest possible happiness with the least possible expenditure of physical toil.

"Though the social instincts of man help to tame him, all social and political systems in the world are based upon very human traits. The savage, for his own happiness, by force appropriates whatever he wants or can get. The half-civilised man cunningly appropriates the land, that its fruit may ripen in his granary, that himself and family may be happy, while the really civilised man would divide the opportunities among all, and his happiness is found in the general joy. The Zelanians are being civilised by evolution and parliamentary enactments.

"And they allotted the land as each had need."

Oseba reaffirmed his conclusions that no people ever took possession of a new country who shaped the land laws with a due regard to those who came later--with rights just as holy--save the Zelanians. In this they were more nearly complying with the rational demands of justice than any other people.