Abstract
IN this interesting volume Mr. Nicholls describes a good stroke of exploring work. The King Country, with which his volume is largely concerned, is that district of the North Island of New Zealand which is still under the sway—not entirely nominal—of the King Tawhiao, who has only recently left our shores. It occupies a very large area between the west coast and the Lake Taupo region, having on its north-eastern border that wonderland with which the late Baron Hochstetter has made us familiar. The additional details of the sub-volcanic action of this region, its boiling springs and glistering terraces, are welcome. From Rotomahana Mr. Nicholls travelled southwards in a zigzag to Lake Taupo, and geologists will be specially interested in the observations regarding the great volcanic plateau on the south of Lake Taupo, and Mr. Nicholls's account of his ascent of Mounts Tongariro and Ruapchu, the former still in a state of volcanic activity. In fact there is abounding evidence that at no very remote period volcanic action must have been widespread and copious over a very large area of the North Island. Though not to be compared with the Southern Alps, which Mr. Green and his companions scaled last year, still Mr. Nicholls's feat was formidable and trying enough. In the King Country the natives have retained many of their original characteristics and customs almost unchanged, and therefore such narratives as that of Mr. Nicholls is of considerable value to the ethnologist. The region is richly wooded, the scenery in many places magnificent, and the geological features well worth minute investigation. In an appendix we find a list of the New Zealand tribes with their localities, and careful lists of the flora and fauna met with during Mr. Nicholls's journey. Altogether the narrative is interesting, and contains a good deal of fresh information. There is an excellent map and many attractive illustrations.
The King Country; or Explorations in New Zealand.
By J. Kerry-Nicholls. (London: Sampson Low and Co., 1884.)
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Our Book Shelf . Nature 30, 535 (1884). https://doi.org/10.1038/030535a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/030535a0