INTERESTING PICTURE STAMPS

That the picture stamps reposing in our collections are highly instructive as well as interesting needs little argument. We can sit in an armchair and learn the geography of half the world by means of the stamps bearing maps; we may wander, mentally, as far as the Antipodes, thanks to the stamps bearing views; we may learn about the birds of the air and the beasts of the forests from the stamps bearing animals. Matters of architecture, heraldry, local customs, mythology, and history, are other subjects which we may become acquainted with from our postage adhesives.

Perhaps the most interesting labels are those which portray the natural wonders of the wide-world. Let us turn first of all to the specimens from New Zealand. What delightful views the 1898 stamps give of Mount Cook, Lake Wakatipu, Mount Ruapehu, Lake Taupo, the Pink Terrace of Rotomahana and Milford Sound—names which to many of us are mere places mentioned in dry geography manuals, but here revealed in all their glory!

From New Zealand let us wander to Tasmania. On these pages of our album we find interesting pictures of Lake Marion, Mount Wellington, the town of Hobart, Russell Falls, Lake St. Clair, and the waterfalls of Dilston.

Curious though it may seem, waterfalls are favourite subjects for stamp ornamentation. We have Niagara on the 5 cents United States value of 1901; the Llandovery Falls on the 1d. 1900, Jamaica; the Kaieteur Falls on the 10 cents 1898 of British Guiana; the Stanley Falls and the Inkissi Falls on the 1894 Congo issue; also the Victoria Falls on the 1905 issue of British South Africa. Were we to place these picture stamps and others representing similar subjects side by side on a page by themselves in our collection, we should have quite a fine array of the world's most noted waterfalls.

Perhaps next to waterfalls, mountain views claim most popularity on postage labels. Besides those mentioned already, we have Mount Kini Balou on the 18 cents 1894, North Borneo; Table Mountain on the 1d. 1900, Cape of Good Hope; the Leon mountains on various Nicaraguan issues; Popocatepetl on the 1 peso 1899, Mexico; Mount Konaluanui on the 2 cent 1894, Hawaii, and others.

Historic buildings are, as one would expect, frequently represented in our collections. A most interesting stamp is the Chinese label bearing a view of the Temple of Heaven, a sacred edifice erected to the memory of Confucius, to which the Emperor repairs periodically and prays for the favour of Heaven. The Kremlin and Winter Palace, both well-known Russian buildings, figure on the stamps of the Tsar. The Grecian adhesives reveal pictures of the Acropolis, including the Parthenon and Stadium; the Egyptian adhesives show a sphinx and the Pyramids; a Dominican adhesive bears a picture representing the Mausoleum of Columbus; whilst a recent issue from Turkey, celebrating the recapture of Adrianople, bears a fine view of the Mosque of Selim.

Of curious things our stamps provide us in plenty. A Newfoundland adhesive shows an iceberg; a Toga stamp, a breadfruit-tree; a Tasmanian stamp, Tasman's Arch; a Kedah stamp, a sheaf of rice; a North Borneo stamp, a sago palm; a Columbian stamp, an American execution; a Bahamas stamp, a staircase; another Toga stamp, a prehistoric trilith; a Canadian stamp, a map of the British possessions; a Roumanian stamp, a picture of the Queen nursing a wounded soldier; a Portuguese stamp, the vision of St. Anthony; a Liberian stamp, a coffee plantation; a United States stamp, an aeroplane; and a Peruvian stamp, a suspension bridge.

The Toga trilith, it may be well to explain, is an erection composed of three large blocks of stone placed together like door-posts and a lintel, and standing by themselves. It may be compared with the monuments at Stonehenge, or the Druidical monoliths to be seen at Carnac, in Brittany.

If mythology be of interest, the stamps of Greece will prove attractive. This country offers some capital pictures of gladiators, disc-throwers, wrestlers; of Hermes, Apollo, Atlas, Iris, Pallas Athene; of ancient chariots, vases; as well as tableaux representing such incidents as "Atlas offering the apples of Hesperides to Hercules," and "The struggle between Hercules and AntÆus."

Ships, some noted and others merely curious, figure on many labels. We have an Atlantic schooner on a Newfoundland stamp; a native canoe on a Papuan stamp; a Nile steamboat on an Egyptian stamp; a dhow on a Borneo stamp; the flagship of Columbus on a Grenada stamp; Cabot's ship, the Matthew, leaving the Avon, and Guy's ship, the Endeavour, on Newfoundland stamps; and the Hohenzollern, the German Emperor's yacht, on the unattractive stamps of the German colonies.

Of animals there are far too many for individual mention, but the following are some of those depicted in our "philatelic zoo": A kangaroo, zebra, dromedary, camel, platypus, elephant, hippopotamus, lizard, giraffe, dog, gnu, codfish, springbok, seal, egret, parrot, wryneck, emu, lyre bird, ptarmigan, chimpanzee, boar, rhinoceros, honey bear, ourang-outang, stag, argus pheasant, panther, crocodile, and kiwi.

Some entire issues of stamps are particularly interesting if they be considered solely from the pictorial standpoint. Probably the Bosnian issue of 1906 is the finest in this matter. The scenes represented in this attractive collection are—

1 heller: View of Deboj.

2 heller: View of Mostar.

3 heller: Plima Tower at Jaice.

5 heller: Pass of Narenta, with view of the Prenj.

6 heller: Ramatae.

10 heller: Road in the Valley of Vrba.

20 heller: Old bridge at Mostar.

25 heller: Sarajevo.

30 heller: Animal carrying letters on passes.

35 heller: Pavilion at Jezero.

40 heller: Mail waggon with horses.

45 heller: Market at Sarajevo.

50 heller: Mail motor-waggon.

1 kreutzer: The Carsija at Sarajevo.

2 kreutzer: The Lucas Tower at Jaice.

Sarajevo, it will be remembered, was the scene of the assassination of the Austrian Archduke, in 1914, whilst other places shown in the above pictures have come to our notice through the despatches bearing on the great European War.

How can we make the most of all these interesting and beautiful picture stamps? Quite a good plan is to build up a collection devoted to these attractive labels alone, arranging them not according to their countries, but according to the subject represented by them. For instance, there are sufficient stamps portraying animals to permit of a zoological section, arranged in scientific groups—mammals, birds, reptiles, etc. Of course, a good deal of written explanations should be provided with each adhesive. The Greek stamp representing Atlas might be followed by a brief account of the arduous duties imposed upon this unfortunate hero; the Toga stamp with the trilith might be accompanied by the short note given a few paragraphs above; whilst the stamps bearing geographical features might have little sketch-maps placed underneath them so that their exact positions may be learnt. If this plan be followed, the picture stamps will become extremely fascinating, and our store of general knowledge enhanced considerably.