PREFACE. 



So vast and so rapid have been the alterations which have occurred 

 in New Zealand during the past forty years, that even those who, like 

 myself, have noted them day by day, find it difficult to connect past 

 and present the pleasant past so completely obliterated, the changeful 

 present so full of possibility. These alterations are not traceable merely 

 in the fauna, avifauna, and flora of the Dominion, nor are they only to 

 be noted on the physical surface of the countryside : more profound, 

 they permeate the whole outlook in regard to agriculture, stock-raising, 

 and land tenure. 



The story of Tutira is the record of such change noted on one 

 sheep-station in one province. Should its pages be found to contain 

 matter of any permanent interest, it will be owing to the fact that the 

 life portrayed has for ever vanished, the conditions sketched passed 

 away beyond recall. A virgin countryside cannot be restocked ; the 

 vicissitudes of its pioneers cannot be re-enacted ; its invasion by alien 

 plants, animals, and birds cannot be repeated ; its ancient vegetation 

 cannot be resuscitated, the words "terra incognita" have been 

 expunged from the map of little New Zealand. 



In regard to the construction of the volume, when the writer 

 first found himself in the family way as authors wish to be who 

 love their books his intention was only to have attempted the natural 

 history of the run. As, however, he proceeded, chapters on physio- 

 graphy, native life, pioneer work, and surface alterations have been added, 

 and the volume thus increased to its present bulk. Every subject 



