Waimangu Geyser SemiquiescentWaimangu Geyser.—Semiquiescent.
Waimangu Geyser.—Semiquiescent.
“Then, like the sculptor who has many models for one figure—one from which to copythe 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 asiesta.”
Waimangu Geyser playingWaimangu Geyser playing to a height of 1500ft. The second wonder of the world.
Waimangu Geyser playing to a height of 1500ft. The second wonder of the world.
“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 wildThan Norway boasts. When fashioned, God beheld and smiled.
“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 wildThan Norway boasts. When fashioned, God beheld and smiled.
“That Nature rather recklessly managed this country in early geological times is abundantlyevident, 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,terrahas been satisfactorilyfirmaever 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 boughtBy toil were mine!” With eager hand he clutched the brush. With anxious eyeHe gazed. Lo! the eye dimmed, the brain reeled, the hand fell, and with a sighHe 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 broodO’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.
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 boughtBy toil were mine!” With eager hand he clutched the brush. With anxious eyeHe gazed. Lo! the eye dimmed, the brain reeled, the hand fell, and with a sighHe 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 broodO’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.
“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 collegeversuscannon, or inquiryversuscredulity. 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 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 Phœnicia, Greece, and modern Britain.”
“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.
The MoaThe Moa of Maoriland. The skeleton of this particular Moa stands about 12ft. high, and is a curious but substantial fact, but as the Moa, the dinornis—as the learned folks call it—permanently retired from New Zealand, possibly before the Maoris came, the plumage and plumpness are the works of the artistic naturalist.
The Moa of Maoriland. The skeleton of this particular Moa stands about 12ft. high, and is a curious but substantial fact, but as the Moa, the dinornis—as the learned folks call it—permanently retired from New Zealand, possibly before the Maoris came, the plumage and plumpness are the works of the artistic naturalist.
The Moa of Maoriland. The skeleton of this particular Moa stands about 12ft. high, and is a curious but substantial fact, but as the Moa, the dinornis—as the learned folks call it—permanently retired from New Zealand, possibly before the Maoris came, the plumage and plumpness are the works of the artistic naturalist.
“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 aswell 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.
“And the great god Morduch heaved the earth from its watery bed, and peopled its shores according to his will.”
“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, inpolitics 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 andrather 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 artHere 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.”
“E’en woman, formed for sweetness, for love, and tender artHere 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 theirpresence 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 littlegrinding, 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.
Tattooed Maori chiefTattooed Maori Chief.—“Maori Carving.”
Tattooed Maori Chief.—“Maori Carving.”
“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.”
Allbeing 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 Phœnician, the Greek, the Norse, andthe 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 peopleup, 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 Phœnicia, 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.”
The Maori Maid of RotoruaTHE MAORI MAID OF ROTORUA.Did you ever see Maggie of Rotoru’?You would never imagine what she can doFor 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 shamGod tempers the winds to the little shorn lamb.But wild Nature ravesIn dark hidden caves,And ’tis romance, you know,To Roto’ you go,So leave some “memory” in Maggie’s palm.
THE MAORI MAID OF ROTORUA.
Did you ever see Maggie of Rotoru’?You would never imagine what she can doFor 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 shamGod tempers the winds to the little shorn lamb.But wild Nature ravesIn dark hidden caves,And ’tis romance, you know,To Roto’ you go,So leave some “memory” in Maggie’s palm.
Did you ever see Maggie of Rotoru’?You would never imagine what she can doFor 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 shamGod tempers the winds to the little shorn lamb.But wild Nature ravesIn 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 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 keepThe 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 seeSwung open wide, and then—Zelania speaks across the seas,Zelania calls in welcome voice,Zelania sends by every breezeZelania’s greeting to the choice—Of earth’s deserving men.
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 keepThe 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 seeSwung open wide, and then—Zelania speaks across the seas,Zelania calls in welcome voice,Zelania sends by every breezeZelania’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 crowdedout, 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 becomethe 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.
“I will give you,” said he, “a glimpse of the policy now in vogue, and how it seems to satisfy the hopes of its sponsors, for this will deeply interest you.”
The orator here began a review of the land system of Zelania, and, with a view to brevity, the notes will be “boiled down” to the lowest possible comprehensive space.
As the country was originally divided into some nine provinces with as many governing bodies, each vested with authority to deal with and dispose of the public domain, there naturally arose a system that resulted in great inequality, as well as in great confusion. Then as all the provinces were in need of roads, bridges, schools, and other public improvements, they vied with each other in offering inducements for immigration or new population, and with a hand exceedingly lavish, the lands were alienated—often in large tracts.
When the Colonial Parliament took over the public property—by an abolition of provincial authority—the land question at once assumed a new importance. This came about at the most intense stage of the modern transitionary period. “Industrial progress” had ushered in the most resistless spirit of commercial expansion in all countries. Then population became a “necessity” and railway construction became almost a mania everywhere.
The contagion struck Zelania. Public improvements were an absolute necessity, and the lands were the chief assets and “capital.”For a time the lands were recklessly sold, but the mania for internal improvements became so unconquerable that foreign capital was called, and by a resort to the seemingly most reckless borrowing policy ever indulged in by a sane people, the lands were partially saved for a better future.
I quote:—
“Of the 66,000,000 acres there are said to be 35,500,000 ‘occupied,’ and of this, 16,000,000 acres are ‘freehold,’ 11,000,000 are held under various crown leases, while the rest is leased from private owners, or from the natives—who own, as a people, several million acres. As the Maoris are usually tired, these lands are mostly leased to the ‘superior race,’ who do the work.
“The number of holdings is 115,713, with an improved value of £120,981,599. This is good. It shows an unparalleled proportion of land-holders, but it is not enough, and the ‘Government’ is making strenuous efforts to increase proportionately the population of rural districts, and of ‘land holders,’ if not of land ‘owners.’
“Under an old system, the lands were so recklessly disposed of that even yet fully one-fourth of those ‘occupied’ are ‘owned’ by comparatively few people; but the Government has applied a strong ‘persuader’—graduated land tax—and the great inequality will gradually disappear. The issue now is, ‘customversusjustice,’ and with the face turned to the new, the old loses its potency. The burden should be more on the land and less on the laundry.
“The laws and rules applied to the land of Zelania of late years, not only take into consideration the desires and requirements of would-be occupiers, but also the class of the land—the holdings for the better to be smaller in area than those for the poorer tracts. Of good or first-class land, under certain tenures, 640 acres only may be taken or held, and of second-class, 2,000 acres.
“There are several tenures under which ‘crown lands’ in Zelania may be acquired—one by purchase for cash; one with lease and right to purchase, rent to be 5 per cent. on unimproved value; and one, an eternal lease (999 years) with a rent of 4 per cent. during this period on original capital value—unimproved. Compulsory residence of the holder is enjoined during the currency of the lease in leasehold tenures.
“Under theægisof the law, if wise and just, people are encouraged and assisted by the Government in forming small agricultural communities of not less than twelve heads of families—for the Outeroos have families—and this group may have set apart for them a suitable block of land upon which to settle. This secures educational advantages, for in every community the Government not only establishes schools, but compels parents to send their children for instruction.
“But when conscience was thoroughly aroused, it became evident to the most casual observer, that the great estates not only stood in the way of social progress, but that holding vast areas out of cultivation was a menace to the future liberties of the people. And further, that though there were considerable Crown lands suitable for occupation, the conditions for ‘closer settlement’ on them were not over favorable; and, further still, that every successful effort to settle these lands not only vastly increased the value of the great estates, but increased the temptation of the large owner to further extend his domain.
“Under the earlierrégimethe follies of the old rapidly spread over the new world, and by 1890 most of the better lands in Zelania were parcelled out in lordly estates and owned by a few persons.
“Almost before the people were aware of the tendencies of the times, a gigantic land monopoly threatened to overshadow the country. But being 14,000 miles from central authority, the affections of the people for hoary customs had weakened, and vested rights in ancient wrongs soon began to find earnest protestation.
“The rights of imminent domain were understood, the people had no notion of erecting a landed aristocracy, and a few bold souls, who, by the force of inherent genius had arisen from the industrial ranks, conceived the idea of writing another chapter in the history of human progress.