Correspondence



31



NOTES ON NEW ZEALAND BIRDS


In regard to the letter of Mr. Alex. R. Strang in the December issue

of the Magazine, in which he refers to my description of the destruction of the

native forests as nonsense, I would ask Mr. Strang, or any one else interested

in the matter, to look up the maps issued by the New Zealand Government,

showing the areas of forest before the settlement of the country and the

areas existing at the present time, and possibly after perusing them they will

agree that my remarks are justified. I still maintain that outside of the

Government reserves the forest areas are infinitesimal compared to the

barren ones.


All the New Zealanders I spoke to agreed that the forest-burning in the

past had been both wanton and in many cases unjustifiable. In regard to

having no sense of proportion, I think that often a stranger sees things in

a better perspective than many of the inhabitants. One has only to read

the reports of the various societies for the protection of the native flora and

fauna in New Zealand to find that I only echo their sentiments. Why

has the Company referred to in Mr. Strang’s letter purchased the 7,000

acres, except to destroy it ?


It is only by criticism that one helps to right defects or wrongs. Surely

one is tired of the type of person who visits a country and says “ How

handsome your men are and how beautifully your women dress ”. It is

much more helpful, but not quite so pleasant, if they point out some defect

in the drainage system !


I spoke to many eminent botanists and they all agreed that the New

Zealand forest can never be replanted and attain its former splendour.


I regret very much if I have given offence to my friends in New Zealand

by implying that the colonial farmer is a blackguard. This is far from the

truth; the ones I met proved to be most charming and hospitable, typical

only of the rest of New Zealanders I met.


Economic circumstances force us to do many things which in the eyes

of other people are wrong, and I do not blame the farmers for destroying

the forest, for every extra acre cleared means more pasturage for so many

more sheep and cows and a few more shillings in the farmer’s pocket. But

does the economic struggle justify the destruction and extermination of all

natural products, whether they be kauri trees, Egrets, Birds of Paradise,

sables, whales, or such like products of Nature, which have been made the

object of commercial exploitation ? It is not the fault of the farmer but of

the social system.


All I can say is, that after spending nearly six months travelling about

over many parts of New Zealand my chief impression was of the absence of

native vegetation compared to the amount of “ exotics ”, and of the wanton

and unnecessary destruction of the forests, especially on the mountain ranges.


I suppose that, owing to my observations being so misleading, Mr. Strang

would have us believe that the native birds are plentiful as well, that the

native Robin visits the door-steps of the farmhouses for crumbs, that the

Saddlebacks and the native Thrushes sing on the orchard boughs, and the

Huia and the Stitch-bird can be heard on every hand, and the Moa is still

to be found in the recesses of the vast tracts of forest !



Sydney Porter.



