HE anchored in Golden Bay;* but luck was against him. First of all the natives of the bay paddled out to view his ships, and, falling on a boat’s crew, clubbed four out of seven of the men. He says that he took no vengeance, but sailed away further into the strait. Next morning a strong gale had sprung up. Tasman, therefore, turned and ran on northward, merely catching glimpses, through scud and cloud, of the North Island.*
Finally, at what is now North Cape,* he discerned to his joy a free passage to the east. He made one attempt to land, in search of water, on a little group of islands hard by, which, as it was Christmastide, he called Three Kings.* But a throng of natives, shaking spears and shouting with hoarse voices, terrified his boat’s crew. He gave up the attempt and sailed away, glad, no doubt, to leave this vague realm of storm and savages.*
Abridged
A large, curved natural harbour on the northwest tip of South Island.
The Cook Strait between North and South Islands turns and narrows suddenly at the eastern end, where North Island’s Wellington looks across to South Island’s Blenheim. Tasman had no way of knowing that where the Strait dog-legs at this point there lay a passage through to the east, so he let the ill-timed gale drive him back the way he had come.
North Cape is the northernmost tip of North island, a few miles to the east of Cape Reinga (Te Rerenga Wairua).
Manawatawhi, a group of 13 uninhabited islands about 34 miles northwest of Cape Reinga, New Zealand. Tasman named the islands on January 6th, 1643, the Feast of the Epiphany.
The author of this account, William Pember Reeves (1857-1932), was born in Lyttelton, Canterbury region, New Zealand, and served as Minister of Labour from 1891 to 1896. He subsequently became Director of the London School of Economics (1908–19) and chairman of the board of the National Bank of New Zealand (1917-1931). A keen social reformer, he was President of the Anglo-Hellenic League (1913–25), founded to reply to anti-Greek propaganda in Britain following the Balkan Wars of 1912-13, and headed the committee organising the First Universal Races Congress in London in 1911, an early initiative to combat racism.
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Word Games
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Club. Ere. Lofty.
2 Against. Terrify. Upon.
3 Begin. Continent. Morning.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Opposites Find in Think and Speak
Suggest words or phrases that seem opposite in meaning to each of the words below. We have suggested some possible answers; see if you can find any others.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
Variations: 1.instead of opposites, suggest words of similar meaning (synonyms). 2.use a word and its opposite in the same sentence. 3.suggest any 5 opposites formed by adding -less.
Statements, Questions and Commands Find in Think and Speak
Use each word below in a sentence. Try to include at least one statement, one question and one command among your sentences. Note that some verbs make awkward or meaningless words of command, e.g. need, happen.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Cloud. 2 Look. 3 Attempt. 4 Strike. 5 Doubt. 6 Return. 7 Voice. 8 Range. 9 Shake.
Variations: 1. use a minimum of seven words for each sentence 2. include negatives, e.g. isn’t, don’t, never 3. use the words ‘must’ to make commands 4. compose a short dialogue containing all three kinds of sentence: one statement, one question and one command
High Tiles Find in Think and Speak
Make words (three letters or more) from the seven letters showing below, using any letter once only. Each letter carries a score. What is the highest-scoring word you can make?
Your Words ()
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