A glimpse of the isles of the Pacific (1907) (14783740085)

"Our steamer on Wanganui river, at Pipiriki, new zealand"
Identifier: glimpseofislesof00whee (find matches)
Title: A glimpse of the isles of the Pacific
Year: 1907 (1900s)
Authors: Wheeler, William Webb, 1845- (from old catalog)
Subjects:
Publisher: (St. Joseph, Mo., Hardman press)
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: The Library of Congress



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d their leaves at any season; this gives the country alook of perpetual spring or summer. There are sometrees imported from England or America which shedtheir leaves here the same as they do in their native land.The Eucalyptus trees grow their leaves edgewise, but allother trees grow their leaves flat surface up, same as ours. Commerce and trade of all kinds is in the hands of theEnglish or Scotch. We saw very few other people intrade. There is absolutely no poverty in New Zealand;at least none that could be seen by a casual traveler, andwe often heard the remark, There is no poverty in NewZealand. We believe they are the most reliable and trust-worthy people on the face of the earth today—at least, sofar as our knowledge, experience and acquaintance goes.We have at all times heretofore made it a rule to lock ourroom doors in hotels at night, when asleep or in day time,when away, but here it is not so. We traveled the wholelength of the two Islands and never locked our room doors 65
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at any time, clay or night, after the first day, when we wereinformed that it was not customary to do so; even a hack-man win very seldom overcharge in New Zealand. The money used in New Zealand is the Englishcoinage, both gold and silver, but their banks issue theirown notes; one sees very seldom a Bank of England notehere. If one gets any New Zealand bills while here, it isbetter to dispose of them before leaving, as they will notpass at par elsewhere. Wild animals and fish are numerous in the Islands now,but they have nearly all been brought here from Englandor the United States. Originally, there was almost nogame or fish here. The Duck-billed Platipus is a native,though not very plenty; it is a kind of duck but has noWINGS. There are no snakes or serpents of any kind onthese Islands. The Fish Commissioner of New Zealandcame down on the same steamer with us. He had been inthe United States for several months and secured quite acargo of fish eggs, which are to be distributed in var