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sind stimmberechtigt.” 109 Naturally, this is all information that Reuleaux could not have obtained
from his short and less travelled experiences.
What have not changed for the worse, however, are the guarantee of a free education, 110
and the predominantly lively and charming character of the cities and towns throughout the
country, which have everything you would expect to find in Europe, and in some cases more so,
including an array of banks, museums, theatres, hospitals, public libraries, schoolhouses,
newspapers and various higher institutions. 111 One can, for example, enjoy the high life in the
esteemed company of the Governor, ministers, leading officials and businessmen with the
frequent formal balls that take place during the winter season in the capital (which Finsch is only
able to attend himself through the help of the local German Consul, Friedrich Krull, who “sich
der allgemeinsten Hochachtung erfreut und, beiläufig bemerkt, ein engerer Landsmann Fritz
Reuter’s ist”). 112 Then there is the general enjoyment of partaking in New Zealand’s sporting
lifestyle, which perhaps also offers a more telling insight into today’s obsession with sporting
success on the world stage:
Als charakteristisch für die Kolonie muß auch der großen Leidenschaft ihrer Bewohner für Sport
aller Art gedacht werden. Wettrennen, Wettrudern, Fußball, Cricket, Crocket und wie alle die
specifisch englischen Spiele heißen, gehören zu den am meisten interessirenden Ereignissen und
bilden das Tagegespräch. Bei den jährlichen Wettrennen in Wanganui sind Preise zu gewinnen, so
hoch als bei irgend einem englischen und sein Ruderclub besitzt eine Reihe der elegantesten und
besten Boote, wie sie ein ähnliches Institut einer großen Stadt wohl schwerlich aufzuweisen hat. 113
Due to his museum affiliation, he is naturally most impressed with the state of New Zealand
museums, which are generally open every day and frequented by the public, “da sonst kaum
andere Sehenwürdigkeiten existiren”. 114 His counterpart in Christchurch, Julius von Haast, whose
name, he believes, will remain “unvergänglich in den Annalen der Wissenschaft und vielleicht
dauernder, als durch die Erhebung in den Adelstand, mit welcher ihn der Kaiser von Oesterreich
ehrte”, 115 gives the best example of what Germany’s exported talent can do in foreign colonies. 116
109
Ibid., (Morgen) 9 Nov (1881): 2.
110
Ibid., (Abend) 9 Nov (1881): 1.
111
Ibid., 4 Nov (1881): 1; (Morgen) 9 Nov (1881): 1f.; (Abend) 9 Nov (1881): 1.
112
Ibid., (Morgen) 9 Nov (1881): 2.
113
Ibid., (Abend) 9 Nov (1881): 1. Buchner, likewise, notices the early signs of a possible obsession with sport when
he reads the Greymouth Argus, the first newspaper he had seen in four months at sea, and is disappointed to find it
contains more news on the latest sports results than on current political issues in Europe (Buchner, Reise durch den
Stillen Ozean, 69f.).
114
Finsch, “Aus dem Pacific. X. Neu-Seeland”, (Abend) 9 Nov (1881): 1.
115
Ibid., 4 Nov (1881): 1.
311