Page:A New Zealand verse (1906).pdf/291

To One in England (p. 2).—Ngaio: a handsome native shrub or small tree, with glossy leaves and pink spotted flowers.

The Night-watch of the “Charlotte Jane” (p. 4).—The Charlotte Jane was one of the four ships which brought the first emigrants to Canterbury. The author of the poem was the first Superintendent of the Province, and virtually the first Premier of New Zealand.

The Battle of the Free (p. 8).—These spirited verses, which have since proved prophetic, were written at the time of the Crimean war.

Emigravit (p. 14).—Ratas: there-are several species of rata, some of them being climbers, and others erect trees. Several of the varieties are remarkable for their brilliant scarlet blossoms.—Kohwai (yellow): an acacia-like tree whose profusion of pendulent golden flowers gives it a striking beauty. There is also a scarlet kowhai.

For Love of Appin (p. 17).—The people of Appin, evicted and deported to America in the eighteenth century, wailed and sang “Lochaber no more” long after they put out to sea. It is said that the elder men never smiled again, lest they should be thought disloyal to Scotland.

The Dwellings of our Dead (p. 19).—Tui: the tui, sometimes called the mocking-bird, and also known as the parson bird from the little tuft of white feathers that sticks out from its throat, contrasting with its dark plumage, is a bird larger and more shapely than the blackbird. “Its plumage,” says one vivid writer, “is lustrous black, irradiated with green hues, and pencilled with silver grey, and it displays a white throat-tuft for its clerical bands. It can sing, but seldom