Charles Philippe Hippolyte de Thierry lead a storied life, and many of those stories are ones he made up. His family was associated with the French court, though there is doubt to his claims of noble lineage. In England, he met
two Maori chiefs and an English missionary from New Zealand, and attempted to purchase a northern portion of New Zealand in 1820. He then sought to turn this land into a colony first for Britain in 1822, then the Dutch government in 1824 when the English offer fell through. The Dutch, too, turned him down, so in 1825 de Thierry made the same offer to the French government, and was similarly refused. Fleeing creditors, he left for America. In 1834, he traveled south, where he was granted concession for cutting the Panama Canal. That, too, fell through, and he sailed west, reaching Tahiti in June 1835, where he elected himself king of Nuka Hiva. The kingdom was never his, and so he continued west and south, arriving at his plot in New Zealand in 1837, where again he offered land up to France for a colony. His efforts to claim a colony and a kingdom came to an end in 1840, with the signing of
the Treaty of Waitangi, sealing a deal between the British Crown and the Māori.
[more inside]
posted by filthy light thief
on Aug 16, 2012 -
7 comments
Bowerbirds, a family of 20 species in eight genera, are a fascinating bunch of birds who range from New Guinea and Australia.
Some are flashy, others drab, but all are named for the "bowers" (
avenues, huts, or towers of sticks;
source) that the
males craft and decorate to attract a mate.
There are regional styles (PDF) in the design of the bowers, and
the male Greater Bowerbirds even employ optical illusions. Some, like
the Vogelkop Bowerbird, add mimicry vocal to their repertoire of courting methods.
Add accidental cultivation to the list of fascinating features of the bowerbirds.
[more inside]
posted by filthy light thief
on Apr 26, 2012 -
44 comments
Legends from New Zealand held that there was a large predator bird, known as
pouakai, that was big enough to carry human beings off to its nest or den. Some people associated stories of Pouakai with the
giant flightless Moa,
extinct in 1773. Others thought it might be another extinct giant bird on the
South Island,
Haast's Eagle (
Harpagornis moorei). The eagle, locally known as Te Hokioi, has been extinct for 500 years,
overlapping with the early settlers by some 200 years. There was some speculation that the giant eagle was a scavenger
due to partially protected nasal openings, which are benefit to protect nasal cavities when digging into carcasses, analogous to features found on
accipitrid vultures. Recent studies have provide
there is proof that the Haast's Eagle was a fearsome predator, with
talons like tigers and the ability to dive on prey at 80 kilometers per hour (50 mph).
[more inside]
posted by filthy light thief
on Sep 16, 2009 -
22 comments
As a belated tribute (of sorts) to
Victoria Day, may you find interest in a variety of
Victorina era literature, short and long. In the short category, there is
Chit-Chat of Humor, Wit, and Anecdote (Edited by Pierce Pungent; New York: Stringer & Townsend (1857), who has written
quite a bit of such work)
[via mefi projects], and
Conundrums New and Old (Collected by John Ray Frederick; J. Drake & Company Publishers Chicago, 1902)
[via mefi projects] This publishing house also published
The Art of Characturing, copyright 1941. If you prefer your antiquated humor with a twist, take a gander at
bizarro version of Conundrums New and Old [via mefi projects]. In the category of longer works, behold the
The Lost Novels of Victorian New Zealand [via an older mefi projects].
[more inside]
posted by filthy light thief
on May 29, 2009 -
4 comments
