Our Storylands.

People from overseas often display more interest in the history and romance of this country than most New Zealanders themselves exhibit. I have frequently found that the residents of a district know very little of the great and stirring story that belongs to the very ground from which they draw their living. Intelligent tourists, once they gain an inkling of such adventurous associations, are eager to learn more; the historic background gives added interest to the landscape. Sometimes we have visitors from other lands whose forebears were pioneers in New Zealand or fought here in the Maori wars.

The Von Tempsky family who lately spent several weeks in touring the Dominion, combining scenery-viewing with a kind of ancestor-worship, are people with a special concern in the country's history, for they were following up the war-paths of the most celebrated member of the clan, the Major who fell in a bush battle in Taranaki sixty-eight years ago. There was an added interest in that tour through the old fighting grounds in the search for Major Von Tempsky's sword.