Christchurch, Wellington, Dunedin, N. And to Mr. Captain Cook, from an original sketch in the possession of Dr. Mackay Macdonald. Some I do not attempt. The name as written by white men according to their defective hearing is uncorrected, because there are sometimes no resident Maoris alive. In other cases I have corrected the spelling. You can rely on my spelling so far as the word is really known. List of Illustrations. The N. International Exhibition. Once upon a time the Queen Consort of His Majesty the South Wind, a very lovely lady of variable moods but decided opinions, declared that she must have a domain of her own, wherein she might be absolute ruler.
Of course the Queen Consorts of the other three brothers immediately followed her example, and to each of them was granted an island empire. But Her Majesty was so hard to please in regard to a site for her residence that all her sisters-in-law were settled for ages before she had decided which of her islands suited her health and requirements. One was too small, another too big; one had no mountains, another no forests; one was too warm, another too cold.
Prince Subterranean was a very retiring man and a great student. He seldom left his own dominions, but he was always astonishing the world with some fresh phenomena, and the results of his scientific experiments were generally such as to strike awe into even the most learned savants.
But in spite of his reclusive habits he was very susceptible to beauty, and the Queen was looking unusually well that day. I should like to breakfast in the mild and beautifying atmosphere that gives to my sister of Erin so lovely a complexion; perform my matutinal duties in the brisk, invigorating chilliness of Siberia; prepare for the afternoon by a shower-bath of warm rain; and for the rest of the day enjoy the languorous temperature of the tropics, with its soft, balmy air, sweet scents, luscious fruits, gay flowers, and then be braced at night by the sharp air of Northern climes.
Life is nothing without varietyβeven a cabbage sometimes wears a paler or a darker shade of green. But I had no means of ascertaining in what you were lacking, nor could I imagine anything, for it seemed to me that so lovely and so gifted a lady must naturally have the world at her disposal. And so I am more than glad to find that there is a way in which I can prove my devotion. You shall have a country literally made to order,βyour wishes shall be obeyed and your vision materialised. It shall have the culture of Europe, the wealth of Asia, the plains of Africa, the mountains of America.
