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Sierra Club Bulletin 



under the greenwood tree," the long nooning under the shadow of a 

 fir in the green meadows of Naches Pass — every incident of camp and 

 trail has for him unfailing charm. Less sympathetic is his attitude 

 toward his Indian guides and acquaintances. He found them drunken, 

 debased, treacherous creatures, it is true, but in his ridicule of their 

 forlorn condition there is both unconscious cruelty and a hint of the 

 underlying hostility between white men and red that several years 

 later broke out into open warfare. The book is interesting alike to 

 the mountaineer and to the lover of the early history of the Pacific 

 Coast. M. R. P. 



"Picturesque For him who likes to travel, there cannot be a 



New Zealand"* more delightful journey than the one taken in 

 company with Mr. Paul Gooding in his book en- 

 titled "Picturesque New Zealand." 



Through an interpretation of a government, we can often better 

 understand a people. Hence at the beginning we are shown the pro- 

 gressiveness of the democratic government, the reformatory laws, the 

 excellent pension system of widows and old people in this Utopia of 

 modern governments. One learns of the climate that it closely resem- 

 bles that of Italy, that it rains only in the night, that the tides are 

 the highest and the death-rate the lowest of any country in the world. 



One can guess some of the interest contained in the chapters on the 

 flora and fauna, when I say that there are one thousand four hun- 

 dred different flowering plants, of which two-thirds are not seen 

 outside of New Zealand. In one acre of forest land there are often 

 forty or fifty different species of trees and shrubs. And the account is 

 as remarkable zoologically as botanically, only in a negative sense. 

 There are but few mammalia. The birds are most weird creatures, 

 which cannot fly. There are absolutely no snakes, and but one species 

 of spider. Mystery surrounds all attempts to decide why there are no 

 kangaroos and other representatives of Australasia, since fossils and 

 shells prove that long ago the islands were very closely connected. 



By far the most fascinating parts of the book are those which describe 

 the hot rivers, springs and geysers of the North Island and the fjords, 

 glaciers and snow-capped peaks of the South Island. 



Interspersed with descriptions and adventures are everywhere myths 

 of the early Maori civilization. From the photographs of Maori build- 

 ings and carvings, one is reminded of the Alaskan Indians and their 

 totem poles. Among the natives, many of the primitive customs yet 

 remain, not the least amazing of which is the hongi or nose salutation, 

 by means of which two natives greet or console each other in times of 

 joy or sadness. L. M. R. 



* Picturesque New Zealand. By Paul Gooding. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 

 Cambridge, 1913. 332 pages, maps and photographs by Muir and Moodie and 

 Josiah Martin. Price, $3.50 net. 



