Obituary. xiii 
STEPHENSON PERCY SMITH, 1840-1922. 
THE late Stephenson Percy Smith was born at Beecles, Suffolk, in June, 
1840. He was the eldest son of John Stephenson Smith, member of an 
old East Anglian family, who brought his family out to New Zealand in 
the ship “ Pekin," which arrived at New Plymouth on the 7th February, 
1850. Here the family settled and took part in the opening-up of what 
was for many years an almost isolated district. Mr. Smith joined the 
Survey Department at New Plymouth in 1855, and later became an 
assistant surveyor. He followed up his profession until his retirement 
from the service in 1900. 
In 1857-58 Mr. Smith, together with several young companions, under- 
took an extended walking-tour across the Island from Taranaki to the 
Bay of Plenty by way of Mokau, Taupo, and Rotorua, returning by the 
Whanganui route. That trip was marked by the careful noting of much 
interesting data concerning the Maori and the natural productions of the 
districts traversed, a habit that Mr. Smith cultivated throughout his long 
life 
During the years 1859-63 Mr. Smith was connected with the Native - 
Land Purchase Department in the Auckland District. The year 1865 found 
him back at Taranaki, where he pursued his profession for years under 
difficult and often extremely dangerous conditions. He spent the year 
1868 in the triangulation and subdivision of the Chatham Islands. In the 
following year he returned to Taranaki, and for about six years he was 
engaged in the major triangulation of the North Island. In 1877 he was 
appointed Chief Surveyor of the Auckland District, and in 1882 he became 
Assistant Surveyor- General. In 1889 he was appointed to the highly 
in 1900 after forty-five years of service. That long period of service € 
marked by unusual ability and devotion to duty, and by the confidence o 
sueceeding Governments. pan 
The еви qualities possessed by Mr. Smith led to his being entrusted 
with various missions and tasks outside his professional activities. сех 
we have his interesting work on the eruption of Tarawera of 1886, re 
shows that, had he devoted himself to geology, that science would hr 
gained an able interpreter. In 1887 he was sent to the Kermadec i 
in order to take possession of that group, and in the latter " nineties ted 
appointed Chairman of the Urewera Commission. In 1902 he was reques 
by the Governor of New Zealand to proceed to Niue in order to institute a 
d . 
i i i ble work in 
Mr. Smith will probably be best remembered by his remarkabl i 
Polynesian ө заг ыз: He had an peus eru of eR 
lif 1 d customs of our native folk, ав азо - 
M ea e QA ot ihe various far-scattered divisions of the 
Polynesian race in northern isles. He collected a great mass of data con- 
