Sir George Grey was one of the most striking personalities among the men who have helped to make and mould our colonies. The son of a distinguished soldier he was brought up a soldier himself and saw much service before he became an Australian explorer. In 18it he was appointed Governor of South Australia, and was afterwards Governor of New Zealand, an. of Cape Colony, and afterwards Prime Minister of New Zealand, an almost if not altogether unique position for a man to hold who had been formerly Governor of the Colony. Sir George Grey was a man of extraordinary mental activity and resource and he brought the aid of his varied experiences as soldier and explorer to carry him through the difficult tasks with which he had been entrusted. In every place which he held he had to contend with the most serious troubles, risings of native races, incursions of hostile tribes, the perils of a critical situation, sometimes absolutely new and allowing of no instruction from historical precedent, and sometimes the distrust or the ignorance or lack of spirit of the authorities at home. The part he had to perform was often like that of some old world conqueror who found himself in conditions entirely novel and had nothing
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