Voices from Auckland, New Zealand

First published by Alex. F. Ridgeway and Sons in 1862

Digitised and made available online by the University of Auckland Libraries and Learning Services and Auckland War Memorial Museum.

Epub © 2015 Early New Zealand Books Collection

ISBN 978-0-947487-30-0

[TITLE PAGE]

[Inserted unpaginated illustration]

CITY OF AUCKLAND.

VOICES FROM AUCKLAND,
NEW ZEALAND.

RELIABLE INFORMATION
FOR
INTENDING EMIGRANTS TO THAT PROVINCE;

TO WHICH ARE ADDED THE LATEST
WASTE LAND REGULATIONS,
WITH EXPLANATORY NOTES.

A NEW AND ENLARGED EDITION,

COMPILED BY
ALEX. F. RIDGWAY & SONS,
GENERAL AGENTS TO THE
PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT OF AUCKLAND.

London:
ALEX. F. RIDGWAY & SONS, 40, LEICESTER SQUARE – W.C., LONDON.
1862.
PRICE ONE SHILLING.

LONDON:

Printed by W. J. GOULBOURN, Princes Street, Leicester Square, W.

[Page iv not found]

[INTRODUCTION]

INTRODUCTION.

THE indefatigable industry with which statements prejudicial to the interests of the Province of Auckland, New Zealand, continue to be circulated throughout the United Kingdom, would seem to call imperatively for an exposition of their fallacy from some duly authorised quarter. As the Agents of the Provincial Government in this country, therefore, we have considered it incumbent upon us to undertake this duty, and to collect and publish, in a generally accessible form, from numerous reliable sources, a body of information illustrative of the advantages offered to persons of all conditions of society, who may be desirous of emigrating to the Province of Auckland. These data will, we trust, not only disabuse the public mind of any unfavorable impression which may have been created by such misrepresentations, but establish beyond all controversy the fact that there is no part of Her Majesty's dominions which presents so fair a field for the exercise of the energy and enterprise which are, for the most part, the characteristics of the British Emigrant, as the Province of Auckland, New Zealand.

To the humbler classes of emigrants more especially, who whilst they combine vigour of body with that practical know-

ledge of the useful arts, to which all new countries are mainly indebted for their progress in civilization and prosperity, possess no greater amount of capital than may suffice to furnish them with a modest outfit, and the means of transport to its shores, the Province of Auckland offers peculiar, and, perhaps, unrivalled advantages. But if to these qualifications be super-added the industry, perseverance, and buoyancy of spirit which form the essential elements of prosperity, in every walk of social life, they cannot fail, in due time, to realise a position of comfort and independence which they could hardly have hoped to secure amid the overcrowded and fiercely competitive activity of the mother country. On the other hand, intelligent capitalists – persons of moderate but independent means – will there find safer, more wholesome, and more eligible opportunities of investment than they can meet with elsewhere.

The Province of Auckland contains no fewer than seventeen millions of acres of generally productive and easily convertible land; with the prime advantage of being one of the most salubrious as well as fruitful of Her Majesty's colonial possessions. It enjoys indeed a milder and more equable temperature than is to be found in the most healthy and genial climates of southern Europe; whilst the rapidity of its commercial progress and the steady increase in the value of its lands, when carefully and judiciously selected, offer an earnest of success which is calculated to satisfy any reasonable anticipations that may be formed of its capabilities. To every class of settlers who possess the most ordinary requisites for the performance of the duties that will devolve upon them, the Province of Auckland presents unusual attractions; affording as it does the best possible investment for their capital or labour. The immigrant who has attained the age of eighteen years, may, on his approval, secure a free grant of

forty acres of land, under no more onerous condition than he payment of his passage-money, and a four years' residence in the Province; that is to say, that although the above-mentioned number of acres may be selected, and settled upon, on his arrival with his land order in the Province, his title to the absolute and uncontrolled possession of the property is not confirmed to him until he has been a resident four years in all, out of the five years from the date of his arrival in some part or other of the Province. For every member of his family, of from five to eighteen years of age, or for any such member or servant aged eighteen years and upwards, who may accompany him, at his expense, the option of selecting, on the same conditions, twenty and forty acres respectively, if he has taken the precaution to obtain land orders for himself and dependants previous to his embarkation from England, for without such orders no such selection can be made. These tracts of land may be chosen from any of the General Country Lands open for sale, in various Districts of the Province, of which there are usually from 30,000 to 40,000 acres ready surveyed at the beginning of each month; and if more than the prescribed number of acres to which he is entitled by his land orders be required, any additional quantity may be purchased by him at the rate of ten shillings per acre, or at a comparatively trifling advance upon that valuation which may be created by the competition of two persons. There arc proper offices in Auckland at which authentic information can be obtained of the situation and quality of the respective lots open for sale or selection. Each land order for forty acres is equivalent to twenty pounds sterling, whilst those for twenty acres represent the value of ten pounds, and as such may be taken in payment for General Country Lands. The Waste Lands' Act, passed in the General Assembly of 1858,

by which the Auckland Waste Land Regulations have been continued, has been left by Her Majesty to its operation.

Although few roads have been constructed in the Province, good means of communication, some of them little inferior to an English turnpike road before the era of railways, are not wanting in various districts, others are in course of formation, and abundant facilities for intercourse are accessible by means of rivers and navigable creeks (not to mention extensive coasting traffic) which intersect the entire Province; and as the European population of the Province exceeds 23,000, exclusive of a large military force, it cannot be doubted that the facilities of communication between the city and the outlying locations are increasing in the same ratio. The soil of Auckland is as varied as that of England, and contains abundance of coal, lime-stone, timber, and other valuable products. Gold is also found on native lands. Of the fenced lands, comprising some 95,000 acres, upwards of 60,000 are under crop, exclusive of large tracts of ploughed and pasture land. Provisions and clothing are comparatively cheap.

In the notices which are comprised in the following pages, we have endeavoured to avert any chance of disappointment to the emigrant by describing the country as it really is; "nothing extenuating," but contrasting the advantages and drawbacks presented to the emigrant with rigid and conscientious impartiality.

An experienced Emigrant writes – "The expectations of the emigrant upon leaving home are high, and the distance of the country from his native land raises them still higher. He is disappointed, unless the new country be even in its natural state superior to the fine and cultivated fields which he has left behind him. Like the picture of Hope, the anticipation of the emigrant is too beautiful and bright to be realised;

like the tree transplanted, he must at first pine away, and wither a little, however rich the soil, however vigorous the after-growth may be. Every emigrant who is unfortunate, will, under any circumstances, blame the Colony for it."

Success, and its concomitant, content, are oftener within reach than most people are disposed to believe; but the emigrant to a new country must put his shoulder to the wheel, or he can hardly hope to secure them; nor, setting the best dispositions out of sight – for even industry and perseverance may be misapplied – can he hope to be regarded as a really valuable addition to the labour-wealth of a new community if he has not a practical acquaintance with some one of those useful arts of husbandry or manufacture, which are so essential to colonial prosperity. He must, moreover, be content to turn his back for a time on the conventional refinements of a high state of civilization, and instead of pampering the heart-

"With feelings all too delicate for use,"

must cherish-

"The pride to rear an independent shed,
And give the lips he loves unborrow'd bread;
To see a world from shadowy forests won,
In youthful beauty wedded to the sun;
To skirt his home with harvests widely sown,
And call the blooming prospect all his own!
There jocund in the year's long sunshine roam,
That yields his sickle twice its harvest home!"
. . . . Thomas Campbell.

A few brief suggestions to parties intending to emigrate to New Zealand, will, perhaps, not be considered irrelevant in this place.

It is indispensable for all persons who propose to settle in the Province of Auckland, that they should obtain, before

they embark, the land orders, which entitle them to select locations for themselves and families, as they cannot be procured after the ship in which they are embarked has left her port. On their arrival at Auckland, they are especially enjoined to remain in the ship until the Immigration Agent has been on board and taken official note of their arrival, which it is his duty to do as soon as the ship has cast anchor. From him the emigrant will obtain that practical information with regard to lodgings and other accommodation, which are necessary to his comfort before he sets his foot on shore. If a capitalist, he will learn from him the quality, price, and situation of any lands that are on sale, and such other particulars as will enable him to invest his money to the best advantage; if a mechanic, labourer, or servant, he will learn what situations are accessible, and the rates of wages that will be given.

Rent, Wages, Prices of Provisions, &c., are at times liable to considerable fluctuation; Articles of Clothing are generally abundant, and cheap as in England.

Mechanics and artisans must not expect in any new country to obtain constant employment in their peculiar craft, but be ready and willing to work at whatever they can find to do.

In the following pages will be found the fullest particulars of all it concerns them to know, in order to enable them to enter upon their new life with a freer prospect of success. On landing, other abundant means of obtaining information, which could hardly be comprised within the limits to which we are here restricted, will present themselves.

There are two newspapers published in London, one partially and the other exclusively devoted to New Zealand, from whose columns much practical information may be gleaned. The New Zealand Examiner, published on arrival of the

Mail, by Mr. G. Street, of No. 30, Cornhill; and the Australian and New Zealand Gazette, published weekly, by Mr. F. Algar, No. 11, Clements' Lane, Cornhill; of whom may be obtained a useful Hand-Book of Auckland and its vicinity; whilst the Ship Brokers engaged in the direct Auckland trade have also published Guide Books of Auckland or of New Zealand in general.

It may be proper to add, that persons who may be desirous of taking money with them to New Zealand, can obtain Bank of England Bills of Exchange, or Promissory Notes, for sums of one hundred pounds and upwards; for although drawn in sets, at sixty days' sight, they are readily negociable in New Zealand. The first is retained at the Bank, accepted; and the second is thereby due on arrival at Auckland.

Letters of Credit are also issued by ourselves; the Union Bank of Australia, 38, Old Broad Street; the Oriental Bank, Threadneedle Street; and occasionally by the different Shipping and Mercantile Houses connected with Auckland.

The Bonds, or Debentures of the City of Auckland bear 7 per cent, interest, payable in Auckland or London, at the option of the holder. The general rate of interest is 10 per cent, on the best mortgages, and higher rates, well secured, are readily obtainable.

Persons who think of emigrating to Auckland should, before taking any other step, communicate with the Agents of the Provincial Government, because no person is entitled to a Land Order as a right, but it is never refused to persons of capital, or of a class suited to settle in a new country by being sober and industrious.

A fee of 10s. is charged for each 40 Acre Land Order, and of 5s. for each 20 Acre Land Order.

Every person finds his level in Auckland. Letters of introduction, unless very special, are waste paper, and the bearers of Special Letters must not be too high-minded.

From five to six sheep per acre can be reared on the paddock system in Auckland.

Residents in Auckland can remit money to the Provincial Agents for passage of friends from England free of charge.

Colonists visiting England should furnish their address to the Agents of the Provincial Government, and use their office as the domicile for their letters.

Outfits can be procured in London from Messrs. S. W. Silver and Co., 3, Bishopsgate Street Within; and in Liverpool, from Messrs. Wrenn & Co., 10 & 11, St. George's Crescent, upon a short notice, and of a quality to suit every person.

Mails for New Zealand are made up in London, to be transmitted via Southampton and Sydney, to Auckland, on the morning of the 20th of each Month, except that when the 20th falls on Sunday, the Mail is made up on the evening of the 19th of the Month; and via Marseilles and Sydney, on the evening of the 20th of each Month, except that when the 26th falls on Sunday, the Mails are made up on the evening of the 27th of the Month.

Mails are due in London from New Zealand, via Marseilles,. about the 12th of every Month; and on the 18th of every Month via Southampton.

The time of transit, out and home, is about six months for reply.

The Rates of Postage on Letters are:

Via Southampton.................. 6d. per 1/2 oz. letter.
" Marseilles .................... 9d. " 1/4 "

(Pre-payment compulsory, to the extent, at least, of one single rate.)

Newspapers are:

Via Southampton .......................... 1d. each. '
" Marseilles.............................. 3d.,,

(Pre-payment compulsory.)

VOICES FROM AUCKLAND.

VOICES FROM AUCKLAND.

NEW ZEALAND,

AS A FIELD OF EMIGRATION.

EXTENDING from north to south for upwards of eight hundred miles, and varying in breadth from fifteen to one hundred and fifty miles, the Islands of New Zealand comprise an area somewhat greater than that of the United Kingdom; and, being more generally indented with estuaries and deep bays, they have a sea board exceeding considerably that of the Island of Great Britain. Mountainous in their character, they are irrigated in every direction by fresh water rivers and streams: they are still partially covered with forests of valuable timber; and the open country, with its fern-clad hills and grassy plains, even in its natural state, affords good pasturage for sheep and cattle. From various animals, and venomous reptiles of every kind, the country is entirely free; its climate is famed for its mildness and salubrity; and the soil is suited to the growth of every description of English farm produce. In both the principal islands gold has already been discovered; and though the mineral resources of the country have as yet been but very imperfectly developed, coal, copper ore, manganese, iron, sand, and sulphur, have been found in various localities. Owing to the irregular shape of the islands, their snow-clad mountains, their forest ranges and open plains, the climate of New Zealand is considerably modified by local influences; but, allowing for disturbing

causes, the temperature becomes gradually colder from the North Cape to Stuart's Island, in the South; and the difference between the climate of Auckland and Otago is as great as between that of the Isle of Wight and Aberdeen.

The great demand for every description of farm produce in the Australian colonies, has had the effect of demonstrating the agricultural capabilities of the country, and of stimulating the enterprise of the people: and as a field for the exertions of the industrious poor, New Zealand is probably without a rival. For those, however, who have already failed at home – for decayed tradesmen, for clerks and shopmen, for candidates for Government employment, for young men who have neither capital nor skill, and who are too proud or too weak to earn their bread by the sweat of their brow – New Zealand cannot be recommended as a field of emigration. Hut for the stout agricultural labourer, for the industrious artizan, the domestic servant, the small hardworking farmer, with a thrifty wife and stalwart sons and daughters; for every class of our countrymen who are able and willing to earn their daily bread by means of their daily labour, the country affords a congenial field on which an early independence may with certainty be earned. 1

THE PROVINCE OF AUCKLAND.

OF the Provinces into which New Zealand has been divided, the Province of Auckland is the largest and most important. It comprises about two-thirds of the northern portion of the northern island, nay an European population more than double that of any other Province exclusive of Naval and Military Forces, and more than a half of the whole native race. It is distinguished also for the extent of its coast line, the number of its harbours, and the facilities it affords for inland navigation; and probably no better proof can be given of its attractive-

ness, as a field of emigration, than the fact that while people from various parts of the neighbouring colonies were crowding to the gold fields of Australia in the year 1852, the population of the Province of Auckland, at the end of that year, exceeded by some hundreds the population of the province at the end of the year preceding; and has since continued steadily to increase.

Two of the most valuable natural productions of New Zealand are peculiar to the Province of Auckland: neither kauri gum nor kauri spars being found to the south of its southern boundary. The value of New Zealand spars has long been known in England; but the Report of the French Commission on the comparative strength of timbers of various kinds, has recently been made known abroad – the superior quality for ship masts – of the New Zealand Kauri Pine, and cargoes of valuable spars are from time to time shipped from the northern ports. But, besides valuable timber, the kauri tree produces large quantities of resin or gum, which has recently become an established article of commerce, both in the English and American markets. It is used as a size for glazing calico, as a substitute for gum copal, and for other purposes not yet generally ascertained. Its price in the English market has varied from £20 to £50 a ton. The natives, by whom it is collected, receive from the exporters £10 or £12 a ton. The amount shipped from the province varies considerably from year to year: the largest quantity (1,660 tons) was exported in the year 1854, the declared value in New Zealand being £28,000. Resides timber and kauri gum, the principal articles of export from the Province of Auckland are grain, potatoes, copper ore, wool, and oil. In the course of two years after the discovery of the Australian gold fields, the exports from the province increased three-fold. With its numerous rivers and harbours, the Province of Auckland possesses great advantages for maritime pursuits; and more than a hundred vessels are registered as belonging to the port of Auckland alone, besides upwards of a hundred and fifty licensed small craft under fifteen tons. Seven or eight hundred vessels, of all sizes, foreign and coastwise, enter the port in the course of a year; and English and American whalers still continue, in large numbers, to resort to the northern ports. 2

STATISTICS OF THE PROVINCE OF AUCKLAND, FROM THE GENERAL STATISTICS OF THE COLONY OF NEW ZEALAND, FOR 1859.

The total European Population of Auckland for 1859, exclusive of military, 21,686, with military, about, 23,186, nearly one-third of the total population of the whole Colony.

Wooden houses still form the great majority of the dwellings in New Zealand. Out of the 307 brick and stone buildings, Auckland owned 160, the majority of them really substantial and extensive structures, and the census for 1859 will show a very marked increase in that number in the province where the manufacture of bricks is becoming an important branch of business. (Returns, 1858).

In Auckland there were 12,384 males to 9302 females. The total number of married males, exclusive of military, 2977, females 2845; unmarried males 7049, females 4890; showing a large deficiency in female population; widowers 122, widows 224. (Returns, 1858. )

For Auckland the immigration and emigration stands thus Immigration: adults – 3868 males, 1263 females; children, 565 males, 494 females; total 6190. Emigration: adults – 2264 males, 487 females; children – 187 males, 168 females; total 3106; showing a clear excess of immigration over emigration, in this province, of 3,084.

Out of 274, which forms the total of deaths at Auckland for 1859, no fewer than 74 were children under two years of age.

159 vessels with a tonnage of over 56,000, and crews of over 3400, were entered inwards at Auckland. Outward 167 vessels, tonnage 57,803, crews 3304; so that in both cases more than one-third of the shipping trade of New Zealand falls to the share of Auckland.

Imports. Auckland Province, with its large Maori as well as European population, takes £412,001. Exports, £106628. Auckland exported grain, flour, and bran to the value of £5087; Kauri Gum, £20,776; Oil, £2579; Potatoes, £6568; Timber, £34,376; Wool, £11,706.

171 registered vessels, with a tonnage of 5819, belong to Auckland.

Horses, 3839; Cattle, 31,700; Pigs, 11,461; Goats, 3079. In Sheep Auckland was still behind, but she has been working hard to pull up since then. Number of acres fenced 90,467; under crop 60,201; in sown grass 50,319; acres in potatoes 2508.

Auckland contributed £80,511 7s 10d. to the general revenue. (Returns, 1858),

For the year ending 30th June, I860, the Revenue of the Province was £66,217; expenditure, £34,596; surplus, £31,620.

The Auckland Savings' Bank was established 1847. Depositors: Europeans 487; Maoris 10; total 503. Deposited by Europeans £14,353 3s. 7d.; Maoris £592 13s. 2d.; total £14,946 16s. 9d. Amounts withdrawn by Europeans £6341 9s 9d.; by Maoris £170 8s. 4d.; total £6512 8s. 6d.; from this it would appear that there is in the Auckland Bank a balance to the credit of the depositors of £8434 8s. 8d.

From the New Zealander, May 26th, 1860.

From official Returns, published in the Provincial Government Gazette, we learn that in the month of January last the sales of Waste Lands in this Province amounted to 9842 acres, 1 rood, and 17 perches. That the sum of £1341 16s. 6d. was received in cash, and £1007 10s. in Scrip, and that Land Orders for 7092 acres were exercised. There remained at the close of that month, according to the Returns furnished by the Deputy Waste Land Commissioner at Auckland and Mongonui, 48,607 acres surveyed and open for sale or selection.

In the following month, February, the Return shows that 4795 acres were disposed of, for which were received £1024 16s. 6d. in cash, £1470 7s. 6d. in Scrip, and Land Orders for 3920 acres. On the 29th of February, there remained open for sale or selection, 43,812 acres.

The Land Sales for the month of March, according to the official Returns prepared for publication, and which are now before us, amounted to 9380 acres, 3 roods, and 20 perches. The cash receipts were £1800 3s. 6d.; Scrip £104 10s.; whilst Land Orders for 7464 acres were exercised.

It thus appears that, during the Quarter ending March 31st ult., 24,018 acres, 2 roods, and 37 perches of land were disposed of by the Provincial Government; that £4166 16s. was received in cash; that the sum £2582 7s. 6d. in Scrip of the Land Claims Court, was taken, and that Land Orders for 18,576 acres were exercised. There remained on the 31st March, 55,656 acres, surveyed and open for sale or selection.

It will be evident from these figures that, nothwithstanding the large requirements made upon the Waste Land Department, the supply of surveyed land has been kept, steadily and unceasingly, in excess of the demand. On the 30th April, 1859, the quantity open for selection was but 27,760, and now, after so many months active operation, during which 62,939 acres have been disposed of, the quantity of land remaining ready for sale has been more than doubled.

From these figures it will be also seen that the process of settlement goes steadily on, unaffected by the untoward state of the relations of the Government of the Colony with the Native tribes at Taranaki. Northward from, and in the neighbourhood of, Auckland, where at present the work of forming new settlements is principally carried on, the Natives are perfectly loyal and peaceful. Tamati Waka Nene, and his friends at the Bay of Islands, have even offered to take up arms on behalf of the Queen, if necessary.

POPULATION OF NEW ZEALAND, IN DECEMBER 1859.

The European population of New Zealand at the end of 1859, exclusive of the military and naval forces and their families, was: –

Auckland

21,686

Wellington

13,044

Canterbury

12,784

Nelson and Marlborough

10,178

Otago

9,010

New Plymouth, Taranaki

2,726

Hawke's Bay

2,028

Stewart's Island

52

Total Europeans, exclusive of military and their families

71,508

The Military and their families

1,835

General Total

73,343

Total Natives in all parts of New Zealand

56,049

So that the European population exceeded that of the Natives by

17,294

Of the above numbers the sexes are thus divided: –

European males

41,055

European females

30,453

71,508

Deficiency of females

10,602

The military and their families in New Zealand in December, 1859:

Males

1,397

Females

438

Males in excess of females

959

Which, added to the

10,602

Makes a total of –

Male European population in excess of female

11,561

The sexes of the natives are stated to be: –

Males

31,667

Females

24,303

Sex not stated

79

Total Natives

56,049

So that, reckoning Europeans and Natives, the female population in the islands of New Zealand amounted to 17,868 less than the male population.

1 "New Zealand and its Colonization," by William Swainson, Esq.

2 "New Zealand and its Colonization," by William Swainson, Esq.

TOPOGRAPHY.

TOPOGRAPHY

OF THE

PROVINCE OF AUCKLAND.

From Chapman's New Zealand Almanack. 3

THE Area of the Province of Auckland is 17,000,000 acres; its length is 364 statute miles, greatest breadth 198 miles. A characteristic feature of the province is the very great extent of sea-board it possesses, afforded by numerous deep water harbours and navigable creeks, of great importance in relation to the future wealth of the country and its capability of supporting a vast population. North of the City of Auckland the traveller cannot place himself where he will be twelve miles removed from a navigable creek or the sea.

In this province there are the following first class Ports, all navigable for ships of the largest burthen: – Auckland with its numerous tributary havens, one of the most spacious harbours in the world; Coromandel, in the Frith of Thames; Mahurangi; Swansea, in the Island of Kawau; Nagle Harbour, Great Barrier Island; Wangarei; Bay of Islands; Wangaroa; Monganui; Hokianga; Kaipara; Manukau; and many others of lesser depth of water, both on the east coast and on the west.

The traveller on sailing from the North Cape towards the Thames sees such a confused mass of hills that he wonders where the level land can be. But there is much good inland surface, and the volcanic plains and lower lands of the Bay of Islands, of Wangarei, and Auckland, contain very rich land adapted to profitable cultivation, while behind the broken coast country the valleys of Kaitaia, Monganui, Waima, Wangarei, Waipu, Pakiri, Matakana, and Mahurangi, are both spacious and fertile; and even amongst the hills of the coast smaller valleys and hollows wind inland as at Wangaroa, Warinaki, Ngunguru, Ruakaka, Mangawhia, and Omaha, each fertile and available for settlement, and every one with its small port or haven.

MONGANUI.

Proceeding from the North Cape around Hohora is the Muriwhena Block of Government land, comprising 86,885 acres, and further south is that of Warimaru, of 16,000 acres, on the Rangaunu, with a harbour accessible to large vessels. The Awanui streams flow through one of the most fertile valleys in New Zealand into this harbour, and are navigable by boats for 10 miles up; at Kaitaia in the valley of the Awanui is a Mission Station, a beautiful spot with half-a-dozen farms where there might be a hundred; the Government block of Ahipara, between Kaitaia and the west coast, is of good surface and great fertility.

The Victoria Valley contains some fine land, well wooded, in possession of the natives, who evince a disposition to sell if they can thereby secure the settlement of Europeans in their vicinity. There are several, settlers in the Oruru, a rich valley; a vessel of 20 or 30 tons can enter the river,

The Harbour of Monganui lies on the south-east side of Doubtless Bay, a favourite resort of whaling vessels. It is a port of entry. The Oruaite and Kohomaru Valleys, that lead into the Harbour are fertile, and have been chosen as the seat of a special settlement. Very early potato crops, and the luxuriant bearing of the sweet pea, indicate the mildness of the winter there, and the shortness of its duration.

Five miles to the west of Monganui is Taipa, a small settlement at the ford over the River, which runs from the Oruru Valley into Doubtless Bay, near its outlet. Twenty miles further west is Kaitaia, a missionary station, where there is a very pretty church, and a good many Europeans. This is a lovely place with rich soil. Ten miles to the west of Kaitaia is Ahipara, on the west coast, a place being rapidly located with Europeans; a very pretty country and rich lands. A very neat church, capable of holding 150 persons, has been recently erected at Monganui. Monganui has four stores, where every description of article can be obtained. There is also a very comfortable hotel. There are also here a Post-office, Custom House and Queen's Warehouse, Resident Magistrate's Court, and a Gaol.

Monganui is visited every season, which commences about Christmas and ends about the following April, by about 30 whaling vessels, which come in for the purpose of procuring supplies of potatoes, onions, fresh meat, wood and water. Sometimes as many as 10 or 12 are here together, vessels of from 200 to 500 tons. Imports are principally tobacco and fish oil.

About 12 miles by land to southward of Monganui is the

Harbour of Wangaroa, with a narrow entrance, but deep water anchorage. To the south-west, from head of the Harbour, the Kaio Creek extends into one of the finest Kauri timber districts in New Zealand. Timber cutting here forms employment to a few settlers but might afford the means of wealth to hundreds.

The Government block of Matawherohia contains about 3,200 acres, all of wooded land, but rather remote from the water.

The Taruri and surrounding minor blocks extend over about 7,000 acres, the chief part of which is fine open fern land, interspersed with patches of forest. The soil is volcanic, and appears very fertile.

An overland mail leaves Monganui for Wangaroa Taraire and Russell Bay of Islands every alternate Tuesday, and returns on the following Saturday. On the Monday following the mailman leaves for Kaitaia and Ahipara, and returns on the following Thursday. Mails are sent to Auckland by sailing vessels on every opportunity, seldom more than a week elapses between the mails.

BAY OF ISLANDS.

At the Bay of Islands a great quantity of land will revert to the Government. The chief part of this will be in the vicinity of navigable creeks. It will be of various qualities, embracing probably much poor ground, fit only for grazing-over, or for timber cutting, together with some very choice soil and surface.

Around the Omapere Lake, 10 miles from the Kerikeri, there is some very beautiful land, partly in possession of the Government, some the purchase of which is in negociation. From Omapere to Kaikohe, midway between the Bay and Hokianga, is splendid land; and again from Kaikohe to the Mangakahia mountain is a very fine district. There are well grounded expectations that this will shortly be in the hands of the Government, and when that is the case, some of the most fertile and beautiful districts in New Zealand will at once become productive. The soil is chiefly of a decomposing volcanic ash, and the surface undulating or level about the bases of extinct crater hills, as in the Auckland country.

The cultivation about the Waimate Village, at the Bay, and especially the farm at Pakaraka, the residence of the Venerable Archdeacon Williams, gives evidence of the fertility of the soil and the suitability of the climate for the produc-

tion of European grasses. A large extent of the volcanic hill land about Pakaraka has been surface sown very successfully by the Messieurs Williams; cattle are enclosed on a large area of fern land, portions of which are judiciously burnt off from time to time, and grass seed scattered at fitting periods of the year. The fern becomes broken and weak under the feet of the cattle, and the young shoots are eaten down. Sheep are now to be seen depasturing on European grasses produced in this way at Pakaraka. The settlement of Russell, or Kororarika Beach, consists of about 50 houses, with Office for Customs, Post, Magistrate, and Pilots Departments. There is a Protestant and a Roman Catholic Church, a School, several Hotels, a Mill, and two commodious Jetties or Wharfs. In the summer season whaling ships, chiefly American, come into the Bay for supplies, giving oil or bone in exchange. There are two good wholesale stores for their supply; but with all its natural resources, the vicinity of Russell does not yet afford a sufficiency of agricultural produce for the wants of the shipping, and potatoes and butter have to be brought from Auckland. The traders of the place for a long time obtained from the natives potatoes and other produce for the shipping, but the number of the natives has much declined, and with the diminution of the natives, supply in European enterprise has made up the deficiency. Up the Kawa Kawa River small farming might be profitably conducted with a certainty of finding a market for produce either alongside the shipping or at the stores in the settlement. No settlement in New Zealand so much requires an accession of European population as the Bay district, and no locality offers more natural advantages to the settler.

The Bay district sends a considerable quantity of wool, fat sheep and cattle to the Auckland Market. Two clipper vessels are regular traders between the ports. The geological formation of the Bay is as follows: on the coast to the east of the Kawa Kawa and Keri Keri Rivers, chiefly clay slate; about the Waitangi entrance and higher up the valley are large horizontal masses of an old eruptive rock, over which in one place that stream flows in a beautiful waterfall. About the Waimate Village and the Omapere Lake are numerous volcanic hills with extinct craters, their bases being composed of scoria and loam, and loose volcanic ash, as in the country about Auckland, of which it is the counterpart in availability for agricultural use. These formations appear to stand thus: – The clay slate-the rock decomposing into a fertile mould but surface broken, so that not more than one-twentieth of the land will repay cultivation; the soil rushes down from

the steep hill and accumulates in the hollows where breadth is of course limited. Eruptive rock – where the fiery action has been complete and has reduced the earth to a porous cinder, a principle of great fertility seems to prevail, but where, as in many places, the heat has not been sufficient entirely to calcine the tertiary rock, and portions of unaltered clay rock are found mixed up with fragments of turf and cinder, fertility is very local, the principle only to be developed by working and fallowing. Volcanic districts – decomposed scoria ashes and the red marl resulting from volcanic dust, – very fertile. The subsoil about the Waimate farms does not appear to have been brought to the surface by deep ploughing; – probably from the expense of labour, but as a material for rich mould it appears inexhaustible.

WAGAREI.

From the Bay of Islands to Wangarei Harbour, a distance of about 10 miles, the coast is rugged and of a broken hilly character, with bold high headlands. As the coast is followed further south than Wangarei there occurs more fine land, and about Waranaki and Ngunguru Rivers there are some valuable localities for the agriculturist. The Ngunguru River has some splendid forests on its bank, and is eminently adapted for the site of sawing and squaring stations. Wangarei is a fast rising and promising settlement in the County of Marsden, about 60 miles north of Auckland. The harbour has a fine entrance under Busby Head, in which vessels of a heavier tonnage can safely anchor, and the river is navigable for 14 miles for vessels of 100 tons. At the head of the navigation lies the settlement of Wangarei, where the principal residents of the district have located themselves in a somewhat straggling manner. Not only the upper settlement, but all those now being formed along the river, bid fair to become some of the most prosperous in the province. The great natural advantages of large tracts of alluvial soil with water carriage available at every point largely contribute to this. The climate is one of the healthiest of the many healthy districts in New Zealand, warmer in summer and more bracing in winter than in Auckland. Out of a population of 650 scattered throughout the district only three deaths were last year recorded. Not more than a dozen Europeans have been buried in the settlement since its first formation. Against three deaths the Registrar's returns show 20 births during 1850. These

returns include the respective settlements of Maungapai, Maungataperi and Otaiki, Porirua, the Heads and Wangarei. These different settlements are alike prosperous, and although each has its distinctive characteristics, yet all are equally affording fresh evidence of the telling fact, that a strong arm and a stout heart have been the best capital the majority of colonists in this quarter have started with. The comfortable clean-looking, homesteads, with their patches of wheat, potatoes, and pasture, which stud and enliven the northern shores of the harbour, show their owners to be men of energy and perseverance. They are chiefly immigrants from Nova Scotia who as a class, may, without any undue preference, be said to have proved among the best adapted for this Colony of any who have yet reached our shores. Their chief settlement is at Waipu, about eight miles south of the Heads, where they have literally made the wilderness blossom as the rose; and their location and success there is perhaps the most marked event in the history of the colonization of this province.

At the entrance of the harbour, immediately under the rocky crested hill of Mania, lie the various houses of the settlers. Here also are situated the Custom House and Post Office, and the house of Mr. Aubrey, resident magistrate. A government ferry boat is at all times at the service of the public. Vessels entering or leaving the river anchor here, to get their custom house clearances. A school kept by Mr. A. H. Rowlands, is attended by a large number of children. The Rev. Mr. McLeod of Waipu preaches in the school-room once every month. A mail is made up every Thursday for Waipu; and mails for Auckland and the upriver settlements are forwarded by every vessel.

Limestone island lies about eight miles from the Heads, and opposite its northern end is a point of very fine level land, on which the future township will most probably be built. The river is deep close in shore, where vessels of heavy tonnage could readily discharge and load their cargoes. At this island branches off the Maungapai River, leading to the settlements of the same name, where several families numbering in all about 200 souls have settled within the last two years, and this season some 30 to 40 acres of wheat will be laid under the sickle, and about 20 or 30 acres of potatoes will yield their increase. A Presbyterian church is about to be erected; a few stores are already put up, and a Post Office established. The Otaki river branches off about a mile farther up, in a southerly direction, and capable of bearing vessels of 20 tons into the heart of as fine a country as tiny in New Zealand, for nearly 15 or 20 miles.

Wangarei settlement lies at a distance of about two miles farther up, and forms the chief centre of the business of the district. Roads branch off in every direction, to Maungataupiri and Wairoa, a tributary of Kaipara, Mangapai, Otaiku, Wangaruru, and the Bay of Islands. The cutter Petrel, and schooners Maires and Kate, sail regularly to Auckland. The two first were built in the river, and are known as two of the finest vessels on the coast. The Petrel has run regularly for four years, and generally makes the trip once a week; she is the property of the native chief Tirarau, of Kaipara; mails to and from Auckland are forwarded by every vessel.

An episcopal church was built last autumn; as yet no clergyman has been appointed. A Presbyterian clergyman is expected to arrive shortly, for whom a church is to be built, on a commanding and convenient spot in the present township. Throughout the whole district water is abundant, and it contains many first-rate sites for saw mills. Some hot springs and seltzer springs are also to be found, and there are one or two considerable and beautifully situated waterfalls, which with some very romantic and interesting limestone caves well repay a visit. The climate and fine sheltered position of the settlement make it peculiarly adapted for fruit; and for years that from Wangarei has been greatly sought after in the Auckland market, to which large quantities of peaches, plums, apples, figs, melons, &c., are annually sent in their season. The other exports comprise, potatoes, maize, wheat, wool, gum, bacon, pork, fowls, eggs, butter, fat cattle, sheep and pigs. Firewood is abundant, and great quantities are shipped to Auckland. A cattle market is held on the first Wednesday of every month at Mr. Rust's sale yards adjoining, and he has recently erected a very commodious hotel, – excellently conducted.

Mr. Rust is the agent of the New Zealand Insurance Company, and Registrar of Births, Marriages, and Deaths for the District. Sir S. Osborne Gibbs, a member of the Legislative Assembly, and a Justice of the Peace, has a neat residence in the neighbourhood of the township; Dr. Parston has also fixed his abode close to it. There are several stores in the settlement, all well supplied. Wangarei also possesses its baker, its blacksmith, shoemakers, and carpenters. The population of the various settlements may be set down at about 630 to 650 in all, exclusive of Waipu and other outlying districts.

The land at the Otaiha Creek with a limestone subsoil is very fertile, and the western portion of Maungo Tapiri and Maunga Karamea are covered with the chocolate-colored

soil that elsewhere, at Epsom and West Auckland, is so productive. The Maunu block between Otaika and the settlement, is yet in the hands of the natives, but by whomsoever it may ultimately be possessed, it must, with its large extent of fertile soil, become very productive; and the country between the head waters of Wangarei and the Kaipara streams is rich and valuable, but still native land. The Wairua district to the north is a fine one, and likely soon to become Government land. About 200 European settlers are now located on what is termed Mair's Claim and its vicinity, at the head of the N. W. branch of the harbour; the locality is a beautiful one, but from the high rate of labour and other causes, farming has not made much progress; the settlers have gardens and orchards and abundance of cattle, but do not as yet export potatoes or corn. In the Waipu plain, to the south of Wangarei, is settled a community of Highlanders – immigrants from Nova Scotia. This is a select settlement, as is termed – one in which the right of purchase of land is confined to certain individuals who have, previously to their emigration, intimated to the government their desire to settle together for purposes of mutual assistance and support, then the success of the scheme appears to be complete. With means in starting below the average, the settlers at Waipu have, by sterling industry, formed around them productive farms and a thriving settlement. There are 70 families located in the various branches of the Waipu river – distance to Wangarei 12 miles; to Auckland 60. The Mail goes weekly, Thursday, to and from Wangarei; from thence by sailing vessel to Auckland.

Mangawai – a bar harbour, available with smooth water, for vessels under 50 tons – lies about 10 miles south of Wangarei. Here there is much bad land and some good, but the best land is conveniently situated, and from there being easy communication across to Kaipara on the water side, the place is a favorite one, and will become important as an outlet of the produce of the Kaipara country about Otamatea and Kaiwaka. There is also abundance of room for cattle in the back country – a great desideratum in a new settlement. This is the nearest harbour on the east coast to the head of the Otamatea and the Oruawharo, the two most navigable of the Kaipara rivers, where the township of Kaiwaka is situated amongst very fine fertile land.

About Wangarei the geological formation is a tertiary limestone resting on clay slate, interrupted by igneous or volcanic rocks of two distinct periods. The tertiary form presents in some places a white calcareous sandstone, that in some places

about the north head of Mangawhai harbour appears to be fit for architectural purposes. To the south of Mangawhai the open country of Pakiri extends as far as Point Rodney, where a wall of mountain stretches in a south-west direction almost across the island. Pakiri is chiefly an open district, available for grazing, but with good fertile wooded lands on its southern portion under the mountain range. As at Mangawhai the open country, with convenient bridle paths, extends across the island to Kaipara where on the Oruawharo there is much good land. The river at Pakiri has a very shallow bar, and is only navigable for rafts and boats, but in the prevailing western winds, vessels can lie and load outside within a quarter of a mile of the beach, and in smooth water. There are some timber cutting stations and a steam saw mill at Pakiri, but the place is only in the commencement of its settlement. There are about 12,000 acres of land belonging to Government and available for settlers at Pakiri, and the Oruawharo block adjoining it to the west, is in negociation for purchase from the natives.

HOKIANGA.

Hokianga on the west coast, is a noble river, navigable for large ships for 18 miles; and vessels of 600 tons can go up 25 miles and load with spars or native produce. There are no roads in the district, but nature has allowed the original native tracks to remain; the nearest one, being to the Bay of Island, is 18 miles, by which a mail is carried fortnightly by the natives. The trade of the district is the celebrated Admiralty spars, gum, wheat, maize, bacon, and potatoes. The character of the district is rugged and very hilly, and about 3000 natives, all quiet, peaceable, and very industrious.

KAIPARA.

The Kaipara Estuary is an inland sea, into which the rivers Wairoa, Otamatea, Oruawharo, Hotea and Kaipara emerge, flowing respectively from the north, east, south-east, and southward. There is a clear channel, with 5 1/2 fathoms low water at the entrance of the harbour, and deep water inside the heads, with sheltered space for any number of vessels to lie in at anchor. The Wairoa river is navigable for about 20 miles for vessels of large tonnage; and above that for 30 miles more for coasters. From near Mangawhare, about 40 miles from the Heads, the banks become clothed with

forest until near the source of the stream, which extends in all its windings for about 100 miles. The river is deep and smooth, with the forest rising at once from its margin. Sawing and timber-squaring stations are interspersed along its course, and a very large extent of available land lies in the vicinity of Wairoa river and its branch, the Monganui, along valleys towards the Tangihua range, and in the direction of the east coast.

The harbour and creeks of Kaipara cannot have less than 300 miles of water-board. Along this extent of frontage there is a great extent of poor land, and much that will for a long time be only serviceable for timber-cutting and cattle-grazing purposes. About the entrance of the harbour the cliffs are of a similar geological character-tertiary clay rock-to those near Auckland; but, instead of having a surface covering of rich volcanic soil, exhibit only a white clay, with a thin soil and stunted vegetation. In the hollows, where the soil has accumulated from the washing of the hill sides, the ground is more fertile, but there is not much that is attractive about the lower part of the estuary. Up the arms of the harbour the case is different, and there is much good land on each river.

The best site for a settlement appears to be about Toka Toka, on the Wairoa, and thence, to the eastward, upon the Monganui branch. Up the Arohawa and the Otamatea there is good land; and a fine country extends from the Oruawharo towards the Hotea, and eastward, to Pakiri, on the opposite coast, forming an excellent and extensive cattle country, with some good valleys for cultivation.

There is very hilly and broken land about Kaipara, but the district is so extensive that good land also abounds, and water communication is everywhere available.

Kaipara should be settled, not by occasionally arriving and casual immigrants, but by a body of settlers locating themselves at once at Toka Toka, or some other good situation, and affording to each other the advantages of society and mutual support. Their first supplies should be drawn from Sydney, and arrangements could easily be made to send back the vessel laden with timber from some of the existing stations on the Wairoa. The eventual increase of cattle might be driven overland to Auckland, but for other produce the Australian market should be depended on. There are easy means of communication with Auckland by boating, up the rivers, and by bridle-paths; but the conveyance of produce except by sea is not to be thought of. Kaipara, however, as a district, is quite sufficiently large and attractive to be the seat of an important settlement, independent of the capital.

The following is a list of lands over which the native title has been extinguished, and which are Government property, viz.: -

ACRES.

Toka Toka and Wakahara

6,809

Arapohu

9,500

Matakohe

68,000

Puke Kororo

8,458

Ikaranganui

8,218

Waikiekie

9,000

Tatarariki

11,874

Paparon

15,021

Kalikapakapa

11,010

Kopuru

9,400

Okahu

18,000

Total

175,200

Additional purchases, Feb. 1861: –

ACRES.

Orua-wharo Block

32,605

Waioneki

20,600

Mairetahi

5,950

Kuri

13,220

Oruapo

8,842

Total

81,217

In negociation for purchase: –

ACRES.

Okahu

3,500

Whakapirau

9,400

Marerita... say

20,000

Matawhero

8,000

Piroa

920

Total

41,820

There are also large blocks, amounting to perhaps 207,000 acres, in the hands of private individuals. These, although not available to the immigrant holding a land order, nor frequently to be purchased at auction sales, must yet be taken into account, in reference to the eligibility of the district for general settlement, as they would very soon become improved and producing lands, if a population were located at Kaipara and labour became plentiful.

THAMES DISTRICT.

The character of the land at Kaipara is so variable – as it is, in fact, in all parts of New Zealand – and tracts of bad and good land so intermixed, even over small areas, that no one should think of buying land, however apparently attractive, from a map, or without previous inspection.

The valley of the River Thames has a creek or sea frontage of 170 miles, and its soil is fertile, with an ample sufficiency of wood and fresh water. Boats may ascend round the river for about 60 miles; and the Piako – the smaller river of the valley – for about 80 miles. The Thames Valley may be said to average 14 miles in width, and to be about 60 miles long. In the lower part are large swampy levels, covered with Toitoi grass, flax, raupo, and Kaikatea timber. The experience of the cultivation of the swamp at Nelson shows that this kind of land, if properly drained, yields splendid crops, and is perhaps the most profitable ground for the capitalist to settle upon. Higher up the valley, near the junction of the Waitoa and Piako, the country consists of low fern hills, with wood in the hollows; and in the upper valley, indigenous grass characterizes the surface. Mr. S. Martin, M. D., not inaptly termed this country the great Glen of New Zealand. With the cultivation and settlement of the Thames Valley, the harbour of Coromandel will become important – it being the nearest shipping anchorage to the plains of the Waiho and Piako rivers. At present this harbour and its adjacent coast is occupied by a few boat builders and saw millers, with a native trader located here and there along its extent – good settlers these, developing the resources of the place, but scarcely to be termed agriculturists, nor bearing the proportion of one to a hundred of what the place would support. The natives have, as yet, sold very little land in this district, but with their fast decreasing numbers, the land must shortly fall into the hands of the Europeans.

ISLANDS.

The Coromandel gold district extends from Cabbage Bay to Mc. Caskill's Creek on the Thames, and from the Waipauga stream at Coromandel to the Wamgamarow of Mercury Bay.

The Islands of the Thames Gulf, Waiheki, Ponui, Motutapu, Motuihi, and Rangitoto, stretching along its western shore, form a beautifully sheltered sound for about 20 miles

in length, from near the northern end of which Auckland harbour runs in to the westward with a smooth and sheltered entrance in all weathers. During the existence of the Auckland settlement, about twenty years, no wreck has occurred near the harbour, or if any small vessel has run ashore it has been got off again.

Waiheki Island with about 20,000 acres is chiefly useful on account of the timber with which it is covered, and which is brought up for fuel to Auckland. The more fertile parts of the Island become grass covered where cattle tread down the fern, but very little cultivation is carried on save by the natives, although there are good flats and valleys in it with fertile soil. The Government possesses about 11,000 acres of land on Waiheki, and private individuals hold about 5000 more. There are a few boat building establishments on this island, for which its timbered coast renders it a convenient locality.

Motutapu and Motuiki are fertile in hill and in hollow, with a surface enriched with volcanic scatterings from some adjacent crater, probably that of Rangitoto.

Ponui and Motutapu are respectively the property of two sheep farmers, who, especially in the case of the latter, are improving the pasture by surface sowing and systematic cultivation. Motutapu will soon become entirely grass covered. Rangitoto, the island that immediately shelters the entrance of Auckland harbour, is entirely of volcanic origin, with uniformly sloping sides inclining from the central crater to the sea.

The Islands, Terataroa and Pukatua, are of a character similar to Waiheki. Rakino is of a similar surface and fertility to Motutapu, and is being brought into cultivation. Brown's Island is an extinct crater, surrounded by scoria streams and volcanic soil, on the latter of which fine grass, surface sown, is taking the place of fern.

AUCKLAND DISTRICT.

The country about Auckland to the southward and eastward, and around the pensioner villages of Onehunga, Panmure, and Otahuhu, is cultivated chiefly in small paddocks of rich artificial grasses. Areas of from 5 to 50 acres are enclosed with post, and rail, and quickset, or with scoria walls, and present an emerald green appearance during the greater part of the year, while farms varying from 50 to 1000 acres, lying on the great south road or in the east Tamaki,

and are cultivated with grass, potatoes, and occasionally grain. The main lines of road from Auckland to the pensioner villages are excellent, the scoria forming a capital material for "metalling."

Fortnightly, monthly, and quarterly auctions, and markets for fat cattle and farm produce are held at Newmarket near Auckland, at Otahuhu, and other places, and are attended by the farmers of the respective districts and by the butchers and dealers from Auckland.

The Auckland district is a mere neck of land, connecting the border country to the north with the great mass of the islands southward. From Auckland to Onehunga, the port on the western harbour of Manukau, is only a distance of six miles – at this place the breadth of the harbour. The Whahu, a creek of the Waitemata harbour, approaches to within the distance of a mile and a quarter of the Manukau harbour, close to its shipping channel. It is estimated that a tramway to cross the portage would cost £12,850.

A wharf 1600 feet long extends from the principal street of the City of Auckland towards the channel of the harbour, and ships from 500 to 1500 tons and upwards can lie alongside two or three at a time, and discharge cargo into drays.

The pensioner villages are at short stages from Auckland. Onehunga, the most important, is six miles distant, and is at the termination of the road to the Manukau harbour. Panmure is situated where the Tamaki inlet intersects the eastern road, 8 miles from Auckland. It has good water communication, besides easy road access. Otahuhu is on the natural portage between the head of the Manukau and the head of the Tamaki.

Howick is about 16 miles distant, and lies on the shore of the Thames Gulf, or rather of the Waiku sound. It is pleasantly situated, and with the cultivation of the Tauranga and Mungemungeroa valleys behind, it will grow into importance.

All the land about these settlements, and for a distance, in most directions, of 20 miles from Auckland, has long since been sold and granted, but much of it may be leased for terms of years with purchasing clauses.

To the westward of Auckland, about 20 miles distant, is the Waitakiri district, containing 28,000 acres of Government land. This country is densely wooded, with broken surface, but very rich soil; roads are now being made into it. It is a rough place, but the soil will grow anything, and it lies within a sturdy day's walk of Auckland.

About the upper part of Waitemata harbour the Kauri forests afford a useful extent of timber, and give employment

to large parties of sawyers. The mill of Messrs. Henderson and Mc. Farlane, with both water and steam power, is capable of cutting 100,000 feet per week, and large vessels occasionally leave Auckland loaded with timber from this mill alone.

Great quantities of bricks are made about Auckland, but the materials are not the best, the clay wants a greater admixture of silica; however, near Papakura beds of silicean earth abound.

Limestone exists in abundance about Mahurangi and Matakana, near Auckland, but oyster shells are generally burnt in preference to lime.

WAIKATO DISTRICT.

The great interior naturally of Auckland, is the Waikato district; the river of that name rises at the base of the Tongariro, active volcano, flows through the Taupo lake, and descends by a course of 180 miles in length to the sea about 45 miles from Auckland. About half way down its course it receives the Waipa. The triangle of land between the two rivers is one of the most fair and fertile districts in New Zealand. Along the course of both streams there is much good land, but for the greater part in the hands of the natives, suitable for grain or grass, presenting eligible localities for settlement, with the facility of water carriage for the transport of produce; in all an area estimated at 570,000 acres.

At Mangatawhiri, where the great south road strikes the Waikato, the scenery is strikingly beautiful and will repay the trouble of a journey from Auckland. Native villages are more frequent on the Waipa than on the Waikato, and towards Otawhao the houses of European settlers are met with, and carts and ploughs may be seen at work together with native owned flour mills, driven by water power.

BAY OF PLENTY.

Rounding Cape Colville the first place we come to is Haratounga, a snug little harbour except in easterly winds; the land is good, and occupied by about 50 Natives from the East Cape, who grow potatoes and wheat. A few miles farther on is the small harbour of Wangapo, suited for vessels of 20 to 30 tons; the land here is very hilly and broken, and covered with abundance of kauri and other trees of very great lengths and easily accessible, well suited for masts and spars. At the entrance to the river are the Mercury Islands; the larger one has a fine harbour for vessels of any size, where no

wind can hurt them. Passing round Opito Point, you enter Mercury Bay, in the south-east corner of which is a river where vessels of from 300 to 400 tons may come to anchor in a blue mud bottom; the bay is fringed with some very good land, backed by hills covered with magnificent kauri forests; there is some good land on the river, little of which is cultivated; the annual produce is about 200 bushels of wheat, with some maize, potatoes, and kauri gum. There are about 20 natives here and some sawyers at work cutting timber. The Government have purchased a few patches, but no land of any extent; a few miles farther, between the Shoe and Slipper Islands, we come to the River Tairua, where vessels of 20 to 30 tons can enter in fine weather; there are no natives here, and very little land fit for cultivation, but the kauri forests are very convenient.

Whangamata, about 10 miles farther, is a small harbour for coasters, about 20 natives reside, but the land being light there is not much cultivation, but some well sheltered valleys; the district would suit well for a cattle or sheep run.

Kati Kati, the north-west entrance of Tauranga, is very much encumbered with shoals; a great part of the harbour is dry at low water, and all round there is very fine land sloping down to the water's edge lying waste, although the natives wish to sell; this will make a very pretty settlement, sheltered from north-west and west winds, with plenty of wood and water; from here you can walk over to McCaskill's on the Thames in a day, leading over quartz reefs and flint, and to all appearance a district that will some day turn out plenty of gold; it is well suited for cattle runs. Tauranga, 14 miles from Kati Kati, is the best harbour on the east coast; on rounding the mount, you can anchor in six fathoms, or run up the river by Te Papa Mission Station, where Archdeacon Brown, Messrs. Baker & Clark are engaged in erecting a Native College and Training Establishment, very much required in this district; there are about 30 Europeans and 20 Natives resident, they produce about 10,000 bushels in the season. There are three stores to supply such goods as the natives require, no hotel, but the traveller need not fear for entertainment. Standing at Te Papa you have a sheet of water 20 miles in length by about 5 in breadth, surrounded on all sides by a rich undulating country, sloping gradually to the water side, the wooded hills about 20 miles distant, and in the south-east corner there are a few patches of native cultivation. The distance from Te Ponui, one day's journey, you reach Matarmata on Thames; from this crossing, the head of the Paiko, two days will take you to Auckland, or from Te Papa in two days you reach Roturua, and then by way of

Waikato to Auckland in a week; proceeding southward from Black's stores opposite, Te Papa on the east side of the harbour, four hours will take you to Maketu at low water, along a fine hard sandy beach, either walking or riding is a very pleasant journey.

Maketu, 14 miles from Tauranga, is a harbour for vessels of 20 tons; the natives, numbering about 200, are under the Rev. Thomas Chapman. There is only one other European trader here. Government purchased here lately 60 acres, 10 of which Mr. Chapman got; there is a tract of 10,000 acres of good land, between the rivers Kaituna and Waihi, running back to the Hiapo ranges, which the natives wish to sell, as they feel inclined to go back to Roturua; the journey to Roturua is two days.

Mataka, 20 miles from Maketu; for small vessels it has five to seven feet at high water one and a half miles inside, the river for small vessels, seven to eight feet high water; the entrance rocky and dangerous to strangers, but well liked by those acquainted with it. A valley running 3 miles, with a breadth, in some places, of 20 miles, level and smooth, rich alluvial soil; for agricultural purposes it is unsurpassed. The natives are reduced, numbering now only about 200; before the late war they had 12 small vessels, they are now wrecked or rotten; the produce of the district is wheat and potatoes; they have about 300 cattle and 200 horses of inferior breed; there are three European stores, Ohiwa, 7 miles from Whakatane, has 15 feet high water, a safe harbour, and plenty of room inside until you get 4 or 5 miles up the river; the land is broken and good; there are about 50 natives and 3 traders. Opotiki, 9 miles from Ohiwa, is a shifting bar harbour, has four to six feet high water; there is here a very fine valley of alluvial deposit, growing a large quantity of wheat; no cattle, but plenty of inferior bred horses; natives about 800, and 10 or 12 traders; neither missionary, schoolmaster, nor any attempt to keep the natives from falling back into barbarism. Government have purchased a large block on the west side of the river.

Tunupahore and Pa Kowi, 16 miles from Opotiki, with about 300 natives. The ranges come so close down that a small quantity of land is left for cultivation; the produce is wheat, maize, and kumeras. From this place to Cape Runaway the potatoe will not grow to be profitable; from here to Kaha the annual produce may be 5,000 bushels wheat and 3,000 maize. At Te Kaha the natives are building a flour mill to cost them £600, which they have ready in hand. They have fitted out some shore whaling parties, of two and three boats each, but this season they have been

unsuccessful. Taking this bay from 1846, there is a decrease in the natives of about one half, and those that remain are falling back into their ancient barbarous habits, most miserably neglected by their protectors the Missionaries or the Government.

The Immigration from Europe under the Free Land Order system, has added greatly to the European population and to the Revenue.

3 To be had of Mr. G. STREET, 3O, Cornhill.

[Advice for emigrants]

From the Illustrated London News, May 19, 1860.

CITY OF AUCKLAND.

As many of our countrymen have emigrated to Auckland, New Zealand, taking advantage of a gift of land under certain arrangements which the Provincial Government of that province have held out as a temptation to divert people's attention from the gold-fields, we here present our readers with a View of the City of Auckland, and the new Commercial Embankment called Custom House Street Quay, which is carried right across from its junction with Albert Street at Smale's Point to the foot of Britomart Barracks. This reclamation from the shore will give an extensive additional site for commercial establishments. A sale of leases for ninety-nine years at a nominal rent was advertised to take place there, on the 22nd of December; of lots of building land, ranging in size from 30 to 100 feet to 56 by 75 feet, and 55 by 100 feet. The upset prices for the lots ranged from £300 to £560 per lot. This great embankment and the projecting wharf jutting out from Queen Street have eminently advanced Auckland as a commercial port. It was not till 1840 that Auckland could be said to have had an existence. It was then judiciously chosen for the seat of Government in New Zealand. Strenuous efforts have been and continue to be made to remove the Government establishments to Wellington, and the General Assembly is to hold its next Session there; but, although Wellington is as central as Liverpool for the meeting of the British Parliament, nature has rendered Auckland the only place in New Zealand suitable to be the abode of the representative of majesty. The province of Auckland contains more than double the European population of any other province in New Zealand. Its northern position, placing it nearer to the tropics than the

southern islands, gives it a more genial climate than is to be found in the southern parts of Europe. Persons who visit Auckland on the score of health generally fix their abode there. The remarkable longevity of the pensioners who emigrated twenty years ago affords an evident proof that the change from Great Britain to Auckland has lengthened their days. The European population of the province exceeds 20,000, exclusive of a large military and naval force. About 10,000 Europeans inhabit the city itself, and the trade of the province is rapidly augmenting. There is a great preponderance of the male over the female population. In addition to Europeans, a large body of civilised natives inhabit the province, conforming to European habits of industry; adepts in house-building, agriculture, and other useful occupations. Many of our own people would do well if they could become as well conducted as the Maories of New Zealand. These people are large consumers of English manufactured goods, and contribute to a great extent to the increasing exports from Auckland. Persons who intend to emigrate to New Zealand should not neglect to obtain, if possible, land orders for themselves and for each qualified member of their family. No persons are entitled to a land order as a right, or in respect of the payment of passage-money, but must satisfy the agents of the Provincial Government that they are persons of good character, suitable colonists, either by the judicious use of their capital in the employment of labour, or by their capacity and willingness, prior to their embarkation, to work hard at any occupation they can find in so young a country. The land orders are given to eligible persons to encourage their settlement in the province. There are no free passages to Auckland at the cost of the Government, but land orders are given to wealthier emigrants, who pay the passage of eligible artisans or mechanics, and servants of all kinds, and thus those classes of persons obtain a free passage. Assisted passages are only granted to such persons as may be nominated to the Provincial Government by their friends or relatives in the province, when instructions are given by that Government to their agents in London, Messrs. Ridgway and Sons, 40, Leicester Square, to provide them with a passage. In Auckland, occupations and amusements are similar to those in England. There are churches and chapels for every sect of Christians, synagogues, theatre, temperance halls, Christian associations, horticultural and agricultural associations, public companies, colleges, schools, a corn exchange, a mechanics' institute, literary lounges, musical entertainments, horse racing; and the port of Auckland is frequented by steam and seagoing-ships of very large burden, beside innumerable native craft, in December 1858, when the census was taken, there were

1224 houses or buildings within the city of Auckland, and the number was rapidly on the increase. In the province there were 3,839 horses, and 7 mules and asses, 31,700 head of cattle, 58,792 sheep, 3,079 goats, 11,461 pigs. The fenced lands belonging to Europeans in the province of Auckland comprised 90,447 1/4 acres, and 60,201 3/4 acres under crop, exclusive of large tracts of ploughed land and open pasture land. The lands in the province of Auckland are as varied in quality as in England; there is abundance of coal, lime-stone, timber, and other valuable products. There are no poor people in Auckland, except drunkards and other dissolute persons. Provisions and clothing are as cheap as in England, in many cases cheaper. House-rent is somewhat dearer than in England. The upset price of country lands is 10s. per acre: they are put up in lots of from 40 to 320 acres each. Town lands and suburban lands are put up at prices ranging from £1 up to £100 per acre, according to their position; but the choice lands in the city of Auckland, reserved for special purposes, are put up at reasonable prices from time to time. Lands belonging to proprietors are constantly being sold, or let, as in England; and it is necessary there, as here, for people to see that they deal with honorable persons. Choice suburban land has fetched, at public auction, for building purposes, after the rate of £1200 per acre. Messrs. Ridgway and Sons, of Leicester Square, the agents of the Provincial Government, have in their possession an extensive library of works upon New Zealand, files of newspapers, gazettes, specimens of gold, coal, flax, gum, wood, ferns, native implements, sketches of the natives and country, and everything that can interest persons desirous of emigrating, and those gentlemen are at all times ready to afford trustworthy information for the guidance of such parties. The London ships engaged in the Auckland trade are those of Messrs. Willis, Gann, & Co.; and Messrs. Shaw, Saville, & Co.; and the increasing traffic has induced Messrs. Wilson & Chambers and Messrs. James Baines & Co., of Liverpool, to embark in the trade. Messrs. Pearson & Co., of Hull, have established the Intercolonial Mail Packet Company in New Zealand. Persons of small capital requiring a good sound rate of income can invest their money upon the best securities in Auckland at 10 per cent interest. There are three well-conducted and well-printed English newspapers in Auckland, and everything is indicative of a steady and continuous progress; and, although, as in most new countries, it is rare to meet with persons of conventional rank, the society in Auckland is good.

The harbour of Auckland, the Waitemata, is acknowledged to be one of the finest in the world. Passing numerous head-

lands, promontories, bays, and inlets, with curious islands of every size and form – ships enter between two heads a mile apart, the one on the Island of Rangitoto, and the other forming the cape, which terminates a narrow peninsula, over which the eastern sea is seen from the heights of the city. The haven of the Waitemata, within the heads, is from three to four miles in width; winding onwards to the south-west, and a few miles from Auckland, it is separated from the Manukau harbour by a narrow isthmus, which our young enterprise already proposes to cut through; thus opening a passage for ships from the Western Ocean. The situation of the city is noble and picturesque. The houses nestle in trees and shrubs along the heights of the coast, and then repose in green meadows along the sides, and up to the summits of numerous hills, many of which enjoy a vast and varied view of water and land, spread out into every conceivable variety of form.

NEW ZEALAND.

WHY IT IS A GOOD COUNTRY.

Because, during the shortest days, men can work from seven in the morning till five in the evening by the genial light of Heaven.

Because, during twelve months in the year men can cultivate the soil, neither oppressed by the heat of summer, nor incapacitated by the frosts of winter.

Because, during the twelve months the soil will yield its fruits for the food of man and beast – neither scorched by the sun, nor buried in the snow.

Because, in New Zealand, according to the Government returns, the sickness and mortality among Britons is less by 10 per cent, than in any other British military station in the world.

Because, in New Zealand a man with small capital can easily obtain a good farm, a comfortable homestead, and be contented and independent for the remainder of his life.

Because, the industrious man and woman can obtain a maintenance and save a surplus, without becoming the slaves of their masters.

Because, both the climate and the productions of the country are so adapted to the constitution of Anglo-Saxons, that their posterity are not likely to deteriorate either physically or mentally.

WHY IT DOES NOT SEEM TO BE A GOOD COUNTRY TO IMPROVIDENT PERSONS.

Because they purchase too much land and make use of too little.

Because they embarrass themselves by borrowing money and bills, instead of depending upon their own energy and perseverance.

Because they speculate too much and work too little.

Because they do not steadily remain in one place and devote themselves to one object. "As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that wandereth from his place."

Because they are more the slaves of drink and pleasure than the masters of any handicraft.

Because they depend too much on contingencies, and becoming the dupes of unprincipled men – regard neither the God who made them, nor the Saviour who redeemed them. "Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes. But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant." – Deut. viii.

"New Zealander."

EDUCATION AND PUBLIC WORSHIP.

A glance at some of the Public Schools for European children, in the City and neighbourhood, as well as in the outlying districts, will serve to explain how it is that the proportion of our youth receiving education is so high. In connection with the Church of England, there are the Epsom Grammar school; St. Paul's schools, for boys, girls, and infants; St. Matthew's, for boys and girls; St. Barnabas, for girls; St. John's College has just been re-opened, and there are schools at Remuera, Onehunga, and other places, while four schools will shortly be opened in the Papakura, Drury Hunua, and Wairoa districts. The Wesleyans have Wesley College, the Academy in Victoria Quadrant, and another in Freeman' Bay. The Presbyterians have schools for boys and girls in Symond's Street and Hobson Street; they have also schools at Tamaki, Otahuhu, Mahurangi (to the north), and Drury (to the south). The Roman Catholics have schools for boys and girls in Hobson Street, Freeman's Bay, and Parnell. A large proportion of these schools are in connexion with the Board of Education; and though they may be called denominational schools, there has been in this Province, from the first, a remarkable admixture of children of various denominations at most of the schools referred to. In addition

to these, there are purely Public Schools, immediately in connection with the Board of Education, but not with any particular Church or denomination. There are also in Auckland about thirteen private schools for boys and girls, mostly conducted by very competent teachers, and there are two on the North Shore. When the report of the Board of Education is issued, we shall be able to give a more complete resume of the Educational Machinery of the province. But we have here cited sufficient proof that the Province of Auckland is already provided with schools of a very superior quality, to an extent that could have hardly been expected in so young a country.

In connexion with the Board of Education of this Province, 35 schools have been returned in operation on 30th September, 1859, with 1857 children in attendance. Assuming that children between 5 and 12 are of an educational age, we find, on reference to the General Census of December, 1858, that for the Province of Auckland 2924 children are returned as between 6 and 12, and 3566 as under 6 years; 600 of this number we may fairly assume to be 5 years old: we shall then have 3524 children of educational age. It appears from a return furnished in September, 1858, to the Board of Education by their Secretary, that, in round numbers, 1000 children were in attendance at private schools. Allowing 200 as a fair increase upon this number, we shall then have 1200 in attendance at private schools, and 1557 at public schools; making a total of 2757 under instruction – that is, 1 in 6 1/2 of the whole population. As an indication of the progressive tendency of the Educational interests of this Province, we may add that, in 1857, only 20 schools were in connexion with the Board of Education; while for the year 1859, 35 schools have been returned. A marked increase upon this number is anticipated for 1860.

The assistance afforded by Government is administered through the Board of Education to all schools, on certain specified conditions. The allowance so given is at the rate of £2 per annum for each child in average attendance, except in remote or thinly-populated districts, where the Board, if they think fit, may grant an additional £2 for each child. The patrons or managers of all schools aided by the Board are bound to contribute, by children's payments or otherwise, not less than an equal amount to that granted by the Board.

"Before such aid shall be granted to any school, the Board must be satisfied of the Teacher's moral character and fitness to conduct a school; and they shall cause such teacher to be examined in their presence, either by their Inspector or such other person or persons as they shall appoint for that purpose." – Education Act, sec 17.

"Every teacher, with whose qualification the Board shall he satisfied, shall receive a certificate of the first or second degree, according to the order of merit." – Education Act, Sec. 18.

"The salary granted by the Board to teachers receiving a certificate of the first degree shall not exceed £75 per annum for a master, and £50 per annum for a mistress; and the salary granted to teachers receiving a certificate of the second degree shall not exceed £50 for a master, and £35 per annum for a mistress." – Education Act, sec. 19-

The Provincial Government have guaranteed to Teachers, after a term of five years' employment in connexion with the Board of Education, a free grant of 80 acres of land, which, in the event of death, is secured to the Teacher's legal representative.

In estimating the state of education in this Province we must also remember that many children are also educated at home by tutors and governesses; such education we have reason to believe, is, in many cases, of a superior character.

From statistics furnished to us in reference to Sabbath schools, we have much pleasure in being able to inform our readers that this most important branch of instruction is well attended to. Within the past two years a considerable amount of emulation has been displayed by the different churches in the Province with regard to their Sabbath Schools. The teachers have been placed under able leaders, and thus, acting together, every district is attended to. A great number of young men and young women have devoted themselves to this duty, and the result is that the parents are aroused, the children are cleaner and better dressed on the Sabbath than they used to be, and the teachers themselves have the noble satisfaction of feeling that they have been useful in preparing the heart as well as the mind for the services of the sanctuary.

The above statements must convince our readers that a vast amount of private energy is devoted to the intellectual and religious improvement of the youth of this colony.

Another point to which every parent desirous of emigrating, must attach great importance is, the provision for PUBLIC WORSHIP in the intended new home? In this respect also, Auckland will bear a strict scrutiny. The Church of England has two Churches in Auckland, and a third projected; one at Parnell; one at the North Shore; two at Remuera; one at Epsom; one at each of the Pensioner Settlements and at Tamaki; one at Waiuku; besides arrangements for visits to various outlying districts. The Wesleyans have three chapels in Auckland, chapels at Parnell, Onehunga, and

several preaching stations. The Presbyterians have chapels in Auckland, Otahuhu, Papakura, Drury, Waiuku, Mahurangi, Waipu, &c. The Roman Catholics have churches in Auckland, and in each of the Pensioner Settlements. The Independents have two chapels in Auckland, one in Remuera, and one, we believe, in projection in one of the adjoining districts. The Primitive Methodists and Baptists have each a chapel in Auckland; and the Jews have a synagogue. Whatever, therefore, the denomination or church to which emigrants may belong, they will see that there are numerous places of public worship, both in town ami country. In several other districts we have not named, movements are now on foot for erecting churches or chapels; while there is hardly a district, in which only a few families are settled, where, sinking for the time differences that would be thought of moment in more populous places, they do not meet for the purpose of keeping the Sabbath.

THE LAND GRANTS.

In other countries land is sold, but in this it is given to immigrants. The motive for giving it is to bring population, and convert the wilderness and solitary place into a populous and wealthy nation. This plan is not now necessary in Australia, as the abundance of gold was quite sufficient attraction there; nor in America, for that country was for ages the only known outlet for British emigration. But the remoteness of New Zealand from the mother country, and the competition of the colonial fields of Africa and Australia, with the near attraction of the valleys of the Mississippi, rendered it needful that some striking feature should mark New Zealand colonization. Hence the religious and almost denominational schemes of Canterbury and Otago arose. Hence also arose the broader and more British idea of giving our acres in cultivateable quantities to men adapted by ability and inclination to clear and plant them. The men who struck out that thought, sagely foresaw that it carried with it a light which, in the towns and villages of the home countries, should outshine the waving corn-fields of America, vineyards of South Africa, and the gold of Australia and California. And the ships which have lately brought us 500 souls in a fortnight have even surpassed their expectations. An impression has been current not only throughout the three kingdoms, but in some of the less genial colonies, that the

Province of Auckland is the place for settlers; – and that conviction has taken hold, not of the lighter and wandering portions of the people, but of an upper layer of society – the industrious – the skilled – the men whose ability and worth have in many instances enabled them to save a few hundreds of pounds – the very men whose integrity and uprightness, whose power and perseverance, qualify them both to originate and exalt a nation.

Immigration is, however, always a difficulty – sometimes a hardship – and those who undertake the business of a colonist, counting the cost, do not fail to calculate on drawing heavily upon their patience and endurance. The Pilgrim Fathers who, nearly three centuries ago, landed from the "May-flower" amid the thickets and dense woods of Cape Cod, without a living soul except the savage Indians to receive them – without shelter from the harsh blasts of winter till they had built one – those men had counted the cost; and when lighter minds and inferior men would have grumbled themselves to death, they spent their first Sabbath under the forest trees in singing hymns and in prayer, and on the six days they laboured and did all they had to do. And now that an Empire, second only to Great Britain in vastness and energy, has grown up, the posterity of those noble men celebrate the anniversary of their landing under the honorable distinction of "Forefathers' day."

There are difficulties for us in settling in New Zealand; but there are none which are insurmountable. There are no dangerous Natives – no freezing to death; no gloomy dread of being years without a sail in sight, or the arrival of a single visitor. The work of all colonists is of course up-hill work. But our hill is less steep and rugged than other hills; and like that of all our fellows, our work is free, of our own choosing, and the fruits will be all our own. But staying in the City of Auckland and spending money in self-indulgence, or listening to those who "talk fast" against the country, and the land, and the Government, is not colonising. Gathering up a party of fifty or one hundred persons, and selecting a quantity of land at the entrance of some kindly waters, fifty or one hundred miles from another settlement, and going to live and labour upon it – this is colonizing.

But there appears to be a difficulty in the minds of some of our new friends as to where they shall select their lands. That, of course is their own difficulty. Had there been only one block offered, there had been no hardship of choice between many; but as every man can select his few acres out of some thousands in different parts of the Province, either inland or coast-land, hilly or level, forest or fern, flax or ti-tree; the

advantages of a large choice should not excite a complaint that the variety is perplexing – but satisfaction that the field is so large and varied. "But the Auckland capitalists buy up the best lands." Some of it they do; but even for the very best, the "free-grant men" can compete with them in the lot (and many have thus beaten the capitalist); though they had much better make a selection from the many thousands of acres which are open to them without any competition; and no doubt some of the lands so opened are as good as those for which many compete, for the run for a block does not always arise from a well-founded opinion that it is really superior. The wisest and safest way, perhaps, is for a party to agree to send two or three of their body with the guide which it appears the Provincial Government would provide to accompany them, to inspect and report upon some block open for selection, and let the whole party bear the expense; and then, having made choice, let them go off together, and build their small dwellings, helping each other as Colonial neighbours cordially should do.

And our Auckland patriots, who having grown rich, feel that they should be also conspicuous, could hardly find a work more worthy their wisdom and benevolence, or even more remunerative for their efforts and capital, than that of taking the lead of a large party of persons who should obtain and settle upon a new district of the country, founding another town, and bringing thousands of acres into cultivation, and producing such provisions 4 as are now imported from other countries at an enormous expenditure of capital which might be well retained here, and find beneficial employment in the development of the numerous resources of our own Colony. There is at this moment ample scope for the formation of

settlements which, at some future time, cannot fail to become of the first importance for agriculture, grazing, sheep-farming, and especially for whaling and general commerce, on the rivers, estuaries and ports which give entrance to those large tracts of land, which are already available for the purpose in the interesting littoral districts, situated to the north of Auckland. Here is an object worthy the intelligence, ability, and capital of men who owe their distinction to the country they would serve: an object which would prove a blessing at once to hundreds of men who are not in a position to take the lead in such a movement, but who would be happy indeed to follow those whose character and experience and wealth both qualify and warrant them to lead.

Thus would they fulfil the designs of the Creator, and become the founders of new ports, towns, and groups of farms; would be in a condition to establish the means of education and worship – and thus escape the worst evils and the greatest hardships of colonial life.

"Uncle John."

PARTIES ABOUT TO EMIGRATE.

Persons in the home countries who may in future intend to settle in the Province of Auckland, should be advised by their friends to enter into combinations of fifty or one hundred individuals, or twenty or more families, with the intention of settling on the same block of land. An agent should be sent out from England, or some one already here appointed by them to select the land, and make application to the Provincial Government to have it set apart as "Special Settlement" land for "Immigrants expected to arrive." It would be well for each party to comprise men of some capital, say from £400 to £1000 each, also artisans and farm labourers. They should also bring a School teacher and a Minister of Religion. In order to carry such a plan into effect it would be requisite for the immigrants, before leaving England, or their home country, to obtain the land orders in the form required under the Land Regulations for "Special Settlement." They would thus secure the selection of a location from many tens of thousands of acres, in all varieties of situation; and, in addition to obtaining some of the best land in the most desirable locality for land and water communication, the very fact of a small community being at once grouped upon it, with the prospect of a town, and trade with the capital, and ere long with Australia also, would immediately raise the value of their selection from five to ten-fold, apart from the additional value of the improvements they would

make on their farms. This plan has already been acted upon by a number of persons from "Nova Scotia," and they present every indication of a contented and thriving community. Already some of them have saved money enough from their farm produce to enable them to purchase additional land, which they have selected from the portions remaining unsold in their own neighbourhood. It might occur that, on the party arriving here, some one or more of them, looking over the maps in the Land Office, and seeing vast tracts of 30,000, 50,000, and 60,000 acres, each actually open for selection, and still larger districts in course of transfer from the Natives in various parts of the Province, might be tempted to regret that he was previously limited to one block; but all such temptations should be resisted, for the advantages of the Grouping System, and of the subsequent mutual aid in erecting residences, felling trees, &c. as well as the enhanced value of the land, will be great enough to outweigh all other considerations. Or course care should be taken to send a competent and trustworthy person to examine the country and select the block. All the parties should bring their implements, and the Teacher his books and other school requisites. In conclusion, I would only add the inspired words of King Solomon, "In all thy ways acknowledge God, and He shall direct thy paths."

"Uncle John."

UNITED SETTLEMENT.

It cannot be questioned that united action is of great importance to settlers. To them unity is strength, and indiscriminate dispersion is weakness; but how to constitute and work out a safe plan of co-operation, is by no means so easy to explain. The leading design may be good, but the details of the working drawings may be difficult; yet, if the design be right, and in harmony with the divine rules of equity and order, the details will come out, as earnest and practical men give thought and heart to the subject.

The question to be considered is this: – In what manner can a sufficient number of suitable persons be brought to combine their energies in the formation of a settlement, on land of good quality, well situated in the province of Auckland?

It appears that there is provision in the "Auckland Land Regulations" for the grouping of settlers, but, in order to avail themselves of the "Special Settlement" clauses, im-

migrants must, before leaving their home countries, enter into arrangements with the agents there, for the selection, by some one here on their behalf, of an eligible block: and then, before they leave, obtain from the agents a "Special Settlement" land order, which will entitle them to select their acres within that block.

But it will naturally be demanded how similar advantages can be secured by a number of persons already in Auckland and unassociated? – The first thing is to find a sufficiency of persons disposed to combine in the work, and to exercise their land grants upon one block. Let their names be first recorded at the Newspaper Office, 5 or some other convenient place; when a sufficient number of persons are recorded, let them meet and agree upon a good locality, where forty or fifty thousand acres are open for selection; send off a deputation, with a Government guide, to inspect the land; and having fixed upon the locality, there is nothing more to do than to go to the Land Office and write their names on the pieces selected. No selection should be made until after the party is formed, and then the land should be secured without delay, because the knowledge that a community was about to settle there, might attract some newly arrived speculators to compete with them. I say "newly arrived speculators" because the colonists who are long resident in Auckland, and feel deeply interested in the progress of the country, I hope, on behalf of the new settlers, would on principle abstain from the competition, however great the temptation might be to purchase.

One of the first things after the land is obtained, is to make a road to it from some trunk road or landing place: and this could I believe be done by the settlers giving half the cost, either in money or labour, and the Provincial Government finding the other half. Having thus by combination obtained a site, the settlers would continue their cordial aid to each other, in building their houses, felling large trees, and any other matters in which united action would be for the advantage of all.

If my rough hints should lead some of the earnest and practical minds recently arrived, to work out and carry into life a judicious system of voluntary and united settlement, by which families may be grouped so as, without serious delay and inconvenience, to have roads, houses, schools, and churches for their own use and benefit, I shall rejoice to witness their success.

"Uncle John"

With reference to the Special Settlements, the following Extract from a Letter from the Immigration Agent at Auckland, dated 27th July, 1859, may prove interesting:

"I would also desire to see much of our Immigration conducted on the principle of Special Settlements. People settling down singly and unsupported in the bush, are under great disadvantages. They cannot make roads, and have difficulties that many are unfit to cope with; but a community of a few dozen families would easily overcome all these difficulties. I know places where there is plenty of very good land – and in places that, ere long, must be very important – where I could not advise single families to settle, but where a dozen or two, acting in concert, would do admirably."

To young Unmarried Men, intending to Emigrate, the REV. RICHARD TAYLOR, in his Book on "New Zealand and its Inhabitants," gives the following advice:

"To single men, intending to Emigrate, I would say, marry before you go out; a good wife is a great treasure and stay to a young man. Many have been ruined, because they have not had a bosom friend to sustain them in times of trial, besides the social comfort thus derived; for none can tell how dreary a young settler's home is without a wife, and how many temptations she saves him from. Therefore, to every single man I again say, marry, for wives are not to be had abroad; property is of little consideration, compared with that of a partner."

Letter from Immigration Agent at Auckland to an intending Settler.

Immigration Office, Auckland,
20th September, 1859.

SIR, – The Rev. Mr. Morgan, of Otawhao, having sent your letter to him (dated June 14), to His Honor the Superintendent of this Province, with a request that he would cause such information as you wanted to be forwarded to you, the Superintendent has requested me to write you on the subject.

Mr. Morgan states that he has replied to your letter as far as the Waipa is concerned; so, I presume, he has informed you that the whole of that district is still in the hands of the natives, that in fact very little land to the south of Waikato river has been purchased by the Government, the natives in the southern part of the Province having, for some time back, refused to sell any of their land. This state of things I do not think will last long; even now, there are symptoms of a coming change.

All the land, or nearly all, that is in the hands of the Government, lies to the north of Auckland, – a good deal of it from 40 to 70 miles from Auckland. There are at present several places in the market, or about to come into the market, very suitable for settlement, by small communities of energetic people with a moderate capital. All the surveyors in the Province are at present engaged in making surveys for the Government, and as the surveys are completed, the surveyed blocks are proclaimed as open for sale or selection.

Persons who wish to settle together as a community should advise the Provincial Government here, through their agents some time before coming, of their intention to do so, and should obtain their land orders for "Special Settlement Land." Unless this is done, they might find it difficult to obtain their land contiguous to one another.

North of the Waikato there are no grassy plains, and no natural grass worth mentioning. The land is all covered either with forest shrubs or fern. Generally speaking, the forest land is the best, although there is also very good fern land. Some of the fern land, and almost all the shrubby land, is indifferent. Cattle (a few) often do very well where there is forest, and even in some places chiefly covered with fern; but sheep will not do at all until artificial grass are produced.

Forest land, 40 to 50 miles from Auckland, can be cleared, sown down with grass, and fenced with a rough fence, at about £4 10s. per acre. The trees are cut down in winter, or early spring, i.e., before, or early in October, burnt off in the following March, and the grass seed sown on the ashes as they are cold. One of my sons has now a considerable number of cattle on land of this description, the timber on which was cut down twelve months ago.

Vegetables of most kinds grow here, more or less vigorously, all the year round; potatoes, however, don't do well to be planted earlier than July, or later than the end of this month.

The country, I consider, to be a very healthy one – I do believe one of the healthiest in the world, – and I know no reason why people upwards of 50 years of age might not come along with the younger members of their families. They

would be more likely to lengthen their days than to shorten them by so doing.

I do not think that in ordinary seasons any inconvenience will be felt from the climate. The heat is not greater than it often is in England, and is very rarely sultry; but the warm weather continues longer, say from December till the end of February, and occasionally (twice since I came here 10 years ago) we have had very warm and dry summers.

I honestly believe that for persons who ought to emigrate to any Colony this is an excellent country to settle in; but I would earnestly impress on you that it is not every one who is fitted to be a settler in a new country, and that it is impossible for persons residing in Britain to form any distinct idea of the sort of life they must, for awhile, live in any new Colony.

To be a successful Colonist, a person must either possess considerable Capital, be shrewd, steady and not fastidious in his habits; or he must be possessed of strong arms and a stout heart, be able and willing to work, sober, and hopeful; such men I have not known to fail, nor do I expect I ever shall.

There is a work recently published in England on New Zealand by a Mr. Swainson (late Attorney General here) which I have no doubt will contain reliable information. And Messrs, Ridgway and Sons (40, Leicester Square, London) Agents for this Province, will be ready at all times to give such information as they from time to time receive from this country.

(Signed) R. B. LUSK,
Immigration Agent for the Province of Auckland.

GENERAL INFORMATION FOR INTENDING EMIGRANTS TO AUCKLAND.

We have been favoured with the following extracts from the letters of a settler in the province, of considerable standing and experience: –

No earnest entreaties, no expressed willingness to do any thing, should prevail with the agents to give Land Orders to clerks, shopmen, or persons of that class. Such people only go to Auckland to be miserable, and to be a burden on the public. Some few young and energetic lads of that class do, after a little suffering, manage to get on; but there is the greatest difficulty in getting a chance of doing well for any one not accustomed to energetic manual labour. People with capital, who are, at the same time, willing to rough it for a time; good agricultural labourers, carpenters, brickmakers, bricklayers; and, in genera], men who have a trade such as is wanted in a new country, and who are steady and industrious, may all come, with advantage to themselves and the colony, but no others.

Persons with capital who are about to emigrate might be recommended to bring out servants with them. The value of the Land Order will be more than the expense they will thus incur, so that they need not be very anxious about binding them to serve them for any length of time. If such agreement is made, however, it is advisable that in all cases the agreement should be to give them the current rate of wages of the district, as any other way is almost sure to engender heart-burnings. A person who intends to invest money in the purchase of land will find that to bring out a good class of agricultural labourers and a few respectable female servants, even without any agreement, will be the cheapest and best way of remitting his money to Auckland. He can bring each of them for £16, and if of the right class will receive for them £20 worth of land.

The Immigration Agent, feeling it to be a very important duty, both for the sake of the immigrants and the province, that they should not be discouraged at the outset, and that everything should be done to make matters as smooth for them as possible, has provided himself with a list of houses and furnished apartments to let, and of boarding houses, with their terms; and, on his recommendation, the Superintendent has rented a large building for the purpose of affording temporary accommodation to those whose limited means may make it advisable that they should be saved the expense of lodging until they have time to look about them.

It is well that applicants for Land Orders should exactly understand their position. There is no land belonging to the Government for sale near Auckland, nor, the writer should think, within thirty miles of it; and the best land that is coming into the market – a good deal of it very good – is much further away. To any one who knows this country this will not appear a matter of much consequence, as every part of the province is near water communication, and new settlements are springing up in all directions. The writer has had experience of a farm between twenty and thirty miles from Auckland, abutting on a navigable creek, such as they have almost everywhere, and he was able to send his produce to Auckland at a considerably less cost than if he had been only five or six miles from Auckland, close to one of the main roads. In fact, the most flourishing farmers in the province – Messrs. Williams, Brothers – have the principal part of their land at the Bay of Islands, from whence they send large supplies of sheep, cattle, and horses, to Auckland; and their manager at Auckland informed the writer that it cost them just one shilling a-head to bring sheep there. Many immigrants imagine that they are to be set down on a cultivated farm, or at least on one bearing good grass. They should all be undeceived as to this. The land is naturally covered with fern, shrub, or trees – the last, by far the best of the land – if level, or nearly so. Good bush (forest) land costs about £2 10s. an acre to fell the trees and burn them off – that is, if the labour has to be paid for. The writer's sons have had a quantity cut down last spring, by contract, at 35s. and 37s. 6d. per acre. This will be burnt off in March; and afterwards grass, and even a fair crop of wheat, will grow upon it if sown on the surface among the ashes. Every emigrant should understand that he must calculate upon supporting himself for twelve months in some other way than by the produce of his land.

There are no such things as "Free Grant Lands," as distinguished from any other lands belonging to the province. A Land Order for 40 acres, issued by a duly authorised agent, is just the same to any person wishing to purchase any land belonging to the Government as a £20 note, with this difference, that its possessor must remain in the province to reap the benefit of it, and will not be in a condition to sell his land for five years after he has arrived at Auckland.

The Government is constantly purchasing blocks of land from the natives; and a number of surveyors are then set to work upon them and subdivide them into farms of different sizes. When two or three blocks have been thus divided, the Superintendent advertises that on and after such a day such and such lots of land in such a district will be open for sale; and in applying for these lots, or any unsold lots previously open for sale, the holders of Land Orders are on the same footing as if their Land Orders were money, with the single exception to which the writer referred above. If a person has a 40-acre Land Order, and buys an 85-acre farm – as one did yesterday – he hands in his Land Order and

£26 10s.; or, if he buys so much land as he has orders for, he has nothing to pay.

There is a good deal of work for land surveyors in the colony, and there are a good many land surveyors (not many, however, of a superior class). The Provincial Government does all its surveys by contract, at a fixed price for the different kinds of work. A land surveyor's life in New Zealand is rather a hard one, but they generally make a tolerable income. My private opinion is, that there is a want of a person thoroughly qualified. Everything, however, depends on his ability and industry. If, indeed, well qualified in these respects, he might, very possibly, after a time, be employed by the Government, and, at all events, could not fail to find private employment. This, of course, is only my opinion, formed from observing the very moderate qualifications of some who are employed. You will ere long have correct maps of the province.

Means of education in Auckland, both for boys and girls, are abundant and of good quality.

Families in which there are grown-up daughters, able and willing to take situations as domestic servants, have a great advantage. Female servants are much wanted, and meet with great encouragement. A good carpenter and wheelwright is sure of employment.

The land orders are just equivalent to the price of twenty or forty acres of land, as the case may be, to be selected by the holder from any land that the Provincial government has, or may have, open for sale. New blocks are continually being surveyed, and brought forward for that purpose; thus whether the whole, or only a part, or no part, of any lot selected may be fit for cultivation will depend wholly on the wisdom of the selection. If the immigrant chooses, he will get at the Land-office, without fee, all the information they have as to the quality and nature of the land open for selection in the different blocks, or he can employ a recognised land agent to select for him, or to assist him in making his selection, at an expense, I believe, of 6d. per acre. It would be an easy matter to send home plans from the Survey-office, as the different blocks of land are cut up and ready for sale; but it would only mislead intending emigrants to do so, as on their arrival here they might very likely find the greater part (at all events the best part) of these blocks already taken up, and that in order to get a good choice they must select from still more recent surveys. The surveys are going on rapidly.

Mr. – – - writes chiefly to inquire what would be the effect of servants or children, in respect of whom land orders have been granted to the head of a family, leaving the province before the stipulated five years has expired. It is quite plain by the act, that in such case, a Crown grant could not issue in respect of land held in respect of these orders. Any peculiar circumstances involving hardship, such as having expended money in improving such land, would doubtless receive a fair and equitable consideration from the Government then existing, and the matter would without doubt be arranged as favourably as possible for the holder of the land orders. Every person, however, bringing; out servants should make such arrangements with them as will, as far as possible, secure their remaining in the province, while at the same time there is little fear if the proper class of servants is brought out, that they will have any temptation to leave the province, whether they leave their master's service or not.

There is no difficulty in obtaining employment for good agricultural labourers, or girls willing to go to service. A lot of fine men came by the Harwood from the North of England, chiefly from the county of Durham – shipwrights, carpenters, and blacksmiths. They are all doing well, and are now sending home for their families.

It is the desire of the Provincial Government rather to have five hundred Immigrants arrive here who will feel contented and satisfied, than to have as many thousand grumblers and disappointed persons accusing the Government here and its Agents in England of having deceived them. Many of those who arrive here come with exceedingly incorrect notions about what they are coming to. This, to some extent, is inevitable; the difference between a country such as our mother-country is and any young colony being so many

and so great that nothing one can read or hear will enable them to form a correct idea of it. A good deal, however, may and ought to be done to correct erroneous expectations, and with this object the writer will mention a few particulars. In the first place we have in this Province, at least in that part of it as yet purchased from the natives, no grassy plains. All the land is covered either with forest shrub, or fern. The land in the neighbourhood of volcanic hills, all of them long ago extinct, is generally a light soil and is very easily brought into cultivation, but does far better with grass than anything else – in fact will speedily be well grassed by mere surface sowing. Next to that is the land covered with forest trees; where this is not much broken (the writer means where it is tolerably level), it is the best land generally. In most places the trees can be cut down by contract at from 35s. to 40s per acre – it is even done at 30s. This is done in winter and early spring. The felled trees are allowed to lie over the summer, and in the end of March or early in April they are burnt off: the unburnt remains are then tumbled together in heaps, and upon the ashes grass seed, wheat, or oats are sown, and generally do very well. Fern land can be laid down with grass at about half the cost of forest land probably, but in most cases not so successfully, and in almost all cases it will be a year or two longer, before you can have good grass upon it. It has to be cleared by burning off the fern, very lightly ploughed, and allowed to lie fallow for a good while to sweeten it, before it can be sown to advantage. In newly opened districts, where cattle have not been kept before to any considerable extent, cattle, properly selected, will thrive well in the bush for some years, but such runs deteriorate in place of improving; they, however, enable a settler, who understands what he is about, to get a good herd of cattle while he is by degrees getting land into grass. Bush runs don't do for sheep, but our made pastures are far superior to the natural grass runs in the southern provinces, and sheep farming is rapidly increasing here.

Every person thinking of coming here should distinctly understand that for at least twelve months after his arrival he must expect to support himself from some other source than from the produce of his land. All young men, in fact, all men accustomed to work, the writer advises to take service for a time – by so doing, they save their money and gain the needful experience. Where the men are of the right sort they have not hitherto found much difficulty in getting employment. A considerable number of immigrants of the superior class have selected their land in very good localities, and if rightly directed will, I doubt not, after the struggle which we have all had to go through, do very well. There is no land in the hands of Government, at least, none worth having, at all near Auckland. That, however, the writer considers of much less consequence than it may appear to a stranger. Population is rapidly spreading northwards, roads are being made, settlements are springing up, and such is the nature of the country that every part of it is near some navigable creek or river by which farm produce can be brought to Auckland from even great distances at far less cost than it could be brought a short distance by land. I have had a farm between twenty and thirty miles from Auckland, and brought my produce here at two-thirds of the cost of bringing it five or six miles by one of the best roads.

It will be well for immigrants to make up their minds really to rough it for a while, and not spend their money in building comfortable bouses or furnishing them nicely. When I came to this province, nearly ten years ago, I got two natives to build me a raupo hut – that is a hut with a frame of poles crossed by supple-jacks, to which are tied bundles of a sort of broad reed that grows in the swamps. I got a carpenter to floor it and make doors and windows; altogether it cost me about 20l. It was more comfortable either in summer or winter than a weather-boarded house, and I think looked better; it being, however, dangerous for fire, I had no fire-place in it, but had the cooking carried on in a separate place. We lived there five years; we never were, either before or since, so free from colds, &c. As for furniture I brought scarcely any with me, as I was not sure when I left home where I would settle, and I believe I did not in those five years expend 5l. on furniture, and we did very well without it.

At first they felt it somewhat odd to be without so many things we used to have, but by-and-by we did not mind it. Such, too, is the mildness of the

climate, that I don't think there were more than three or four days in each year that I wished we could have had a fire in our sitting room.

This may perhaps be egotistical, but the writer has said this much about himself thinking it may be useful to others and you. Every one may be assured that a man's respectability here will not in the least suffer by his doing any honest kind of work, or living as roughly as it suits him to do. The writer has seen a retired major of the – – - Regiment without a coat leading his dray laden with manure; and he has himself, when driving his own dray, been repeatedly stopped and spoken to frankly by such ladies as the Bishop's and the Chief Justice's wives. A man's position here depends upon what he is, not on what he has; it is so at least in a degree that is not understood at all in Great Britain. Emigrants may do well to lay this to heart. It would be well too if emigrants who propose to settle on land immediately after arriving would arrange so as to arrive here if possible between the end of August and end of April. The other months are not so suitable for travelling about (although May is occasionally a fine month), and there is generally so much rain, especially in June July, and the beginning of August, as to dishearten strangers who arrive about that time. Agricultural labourers may come at any time, as there is a good deal of work done during winter – only they won't like it much at first.

"Auckland, 28th January, 1860.

"Mr. – – -, a member of the House of Representatives, and one of our largest and most energetic proprietors, told me to-day, that he found it more difficult to obtain agricultural labour now than he did last year. Since Saturday, applications have been made to the immigration agent to procure for settlers, six ploughmen, a drayman, a bullock-driver, ten men to reap, boys to milk and attend to cattle, and several others, and he has only found one ploughman and nothing more.

"I am sorry to say that the ships which have arrived lately have brought a very small proportion of working men of the right sort – not that there are plenty of people seeking employment, for a large number of them appear to have landed here absolutely without money, expecting to find employment next morning; but there are hardly any young men accustomed to agricultural labour among them, and a large number hoping to be employed as storemen, cigar manufacturers, light porters, overseers of labour, land stewards, &c. Quality is the thing not quantity. There are also carpenters, shoemakers, and such like; I dare say, for the most part, very proper immigrants, if they had not come here under the impression that they would not require to support themselves without work for a day. These will all get employed, but they can't be absorbed all at once at all times. It is not what are you willing to do will be asked, but what can you do?

"Some emigrants affect, or really do consider themselves deceived when they find that they are exposed to the competition of others when they apply for land which has not previously been proclaimed as open for sale or collection.

"'When an emigrant tells an Immigration agent he has land orders, he says, Go to the land office with them, taking with you all the persons named in the orders, as they must appear personally; the deputy commission will endorse upon the order that they have been duly presented on such a date, and will also inform you, if you ask him, in what district there is land open for sale or selection; also, where there are lands not yet open, but proclaimed, or about to be proclaimed, open for selection. Go, then, and see these lands first, those already open. If you see any thing to suit you there, on coming back to the land office, if no one has taken it in the meantime, you have only

to fill up a printed application for it, and hand it in along with your land orders, and the application will be granted as a matter of course. In case, however, some other immigrant should have fancied the same land and taken it up while you were looking for it, do not set your heart exclusively on one allotment, but pitch upon two or three if possible, in order that if you fail in getting one you may be sure of the other. There is no competition for land that has once been proclaimed for sale or selection after the day upon which it was open for sale. The first applicant gets it. If, however, you fancy to have the pick of a new block proclaimed to be open, say three weeks hence, then you must give in your application with your land orders before noon on the day fixed by the proclamation. After twelve the applications are all opened by the commissioner in open court. If no other person has applied for the same allotment that you have applied for, it is marked in the office-book and on the plan as granted to you. If another person, however, has also applied for it, unless you shall settle between yourselves which shall have it (as we have not yet discovered any way of giving two or more persons the same piece of land), it is put up to auction between you (the applicants), the Land-orders representing the upset price of 10s. per acre, and the one that bids most above that gets it.' I can see no fairer way of acting than this, and I think that if it were so explained to them before leaving England, no one would think of grumbling at it. The Government keep a person in pay in the district where the most of the land is situated, to point out the land to persons who want to see it, when a party is made up to go and inspect it; and when a party is made up to go and inspect any other district, the Deputy Commissioner is always ready to supply a guide to show it them. Again, the Government don't want people to bid against each other for land, knowing that it is better for the country that settlers should expend their money upon the land than in buying it; but if two are determined to bid against each other, there is no help for it. This does not, however, very often occur, and when it does the opposition is of a very mild kind. It is inexpedient that immigrants should arrive here between the beginning of May and August, to men of capital it is not of so much consequence, winter being the best time for having forest land cleared; but laboring men, unless they are woodmen, or a few good ploughmen, may have to wait longer for employment than at other seasons of the year, and should it happen to be a wet winter, the spirits of newcomers are apt to fall very low for a short time.

"The immigrants chiefly required are, either men having at least £500, if not, men accustomed to work – if working farmers they will do as well with one-third of that sum as the other will with the whole of it – good ploughmen, some agricultural labourers accustomed to hedging, ditching, &c., &c., and a sprinkling of other tradesmen from time to time, as country blacksmiths, wheelwrights, &c,

"My only desire in thus writing to you is to make matters plain, so as, as far as possible, to hinder persons from emigrating who are not likely to prosper; for, assuredly, unless the individual immigrant prospers, he cannot add to the prosperity of the province."

"Auckland, New Zealand, Oct. 24, 1859.

"Dear Sirs, – I arrived here in the Matoaka, on the 24th of September, after a pleasant passage of 106 days, calling at Wellington, which lost about 10 days.

"I lost no time in having my land orders endorsed, and found an allotment of land at the mouth of the Wangurei River, 50 miles north of this city, to be disposed of, applicable to land orders, and to be allotted on the following Monday, Oct. 3. There was just time to make the necessary inquiries, and having got a satisfactory account of it, I put in my claim, and, after some slight competition, was put in possession of 339 acres of good tall fern land

upon the eighth day after setting my foot in the country. It is, as I said before, 50 miles from this by sea, three trading schooners constantly running on the line, which put their passengers and goods on the beach within three miles of the land I have selected. There are roads marked out, but as yet only a cattle track to it. There is a frontage of over a mile to a river navigable for boats, and running into the sea about 10 miles north of the Wangurei River. On the other side it is bounded by a road to be made by the provincial authorities.

"The quality of the soil is good, as tall fern will not grow on inferior; there are 20 or 30 acres of wood, and perhaps 20 or 30 of natural grass. My two sons are now on the spot with oxen, plough, and other implements to break up and fence, the greater part of which I expect to get done by contract. The neighbourhood is well settled, and in a few years I hope to have it in good productive order.

"The system of preferring the purchaser by auction, where more than one claim the same land, is much complained of; but I see no other mode of fairly settling their claims. The lots brought from 4s. to 5s. per acre advance, which is paid in cash, and the unsuccessful party has only to apply for some other parcel, as the Government warrant 40 acres for each of land, worth at least 10s.; mine was laid off in five lots. I overbid competitors, and got the whole in one compact farm. By the old system of lottery I could not have got everyone, and would have only got two or three disjointed lots of 50 to 70 acres each, and, probably, obliged to take the balance in another locality.

"I give you these particulars at the suggestion of my old friend Mr. Lusk, the immigration officer, as it may satisfy parties proceeding on the same route. I have met with several who neglected taking land orders in England, and have been disappointed here, land being as yet refused them.

"A Mr. Ball, who came out in the same ship with me with a special settlement party of 150, got 10,000 acres set apart for him at Mongouni, distant 150 miles by sea with which he declares himself satisfied, and has sailed to enter into possession.

"I shall be glad if this letter serves to encourage others to come to this magnificent climate. Everything in nature is most beautiful. I am told about seven tons of peaches fell from the trees on my grounds last year for the wild pigs to consume, and that some of the trees are large; one in particular took five men to span it.

"Emigrants should arrive here between October and June, after the winter is over. All those in the Matoaka who were willing to work got employment at once at full rates – from 6s. to 10s. a day for men, and 5s. to 8s. and 10s. per week for female servants, and found.

"I am, dear Sirs, your obedient servant,
"JOHN REID.
"Messrs. Ridgway and Sons, London."

4 I have been familiar with some of the first-class manufacturers of cheese and bacon in England, and am of opinion that were any of them to settle in this country they would produce as fine a quality of goods as they do at home, and that the Auckland wholesale price would be fully double what they now obtain in England.

Persons who bring inferior provisions to our markets greatly mistake, as we have no pauper population to consume them. The main demand is for the very best qualities; and any person taking the pains to produce them, will find as sure and remunerative a market in Auckland as can be found anywhere. The standing retail price in Auckland for good New Zealand cheese is about Is. 6d. per lb.; and fresh butter has for some months been about 2s. 6d. – prices which cannot fail to satisfy manufacturers who pay no rent, and whose land and stock of cattle is annually increasing in value. I mention these articles of food because they can be readily produced by new colonists with but limited means, and because they find a constant market both here and in Australia; and perhaps a more safe aim could not be attempted than that of supplying the towns of New Zealand and Australia with such a quality of these goods as should close the door against the present large imports from Europe.

5 See Lawrence and Smythie's Letters, at page 50.

[Advice to settlers on farming]

From the New Zealander, Sept. 10, 1859.

The work of colonization progresses with steady pace in the Province of Auckland, notwithstanding the sundry neat artifices of those who object to the existing Land Regulations, because they interfere with pet plans for the foundation of Earldoms, or with the business of clever agents who purchase for distant clients, blocks of "native land," which, on actual

measurement, turn out to be about one-sixth the quantity for which those clients have paid in hard cash.

That there are some who have lately arrived among us who are temporarily disquieted in their minds, is very possible. It would be strange were this not the case. As in every young colony, so here in Auckland – as we have more than once had to say – we have here an active band of blatant Job's comforters, who are ever ready to warn new comers not to exercise their land-orders, but to buy or lease "improved farms;" while we have also a certain per centage of immigrants arriving per each ship, who would never be satisfied or self-supporting anywhere.

Some new comers are impressionable enough to be led away by this cheap sympathy. They find out their mistake when too late, and the "improved farm," which has done duty with more than one victim, reverts to the owner or mortgagee plus the money deposited, and the labour and time and capital expended upon it. There is more than one land-agent in Auckland who has warned new comers against hasty bargains of this kind, that can bear out our statement.

But while this is the case, the great majority – we think we may say five-sixths of the bona fide immigrants now arriving – are the right stamp. They are prepared, if not capitalists, to rough it; if capitalists, they know that, just as they did at home, they must look before they leap; if working immigrants, they are prepared to do as the first settlers (who had no land orders) did, – take the first employment that comes in their way, and bide their time to settle down upon the land which they have a right to under the Land Regulations.

To the northern portion of the province, more particularly, is the attention of the most energetic and practical of our new fellow-colonists now directed. At Mahurangi, Matakana, Omaha, Pakiri, Mongawai, and sundry adjacent blocks, large accessions are being made to the ranks of our settlers. In the Waipu and Wangarie districts, the same work is going on; and hardly a post reaches us but we receive confirmation of the testimony borne to the steady growth and increasing prosperity of the different settlements in the County of Marsden, so well described by our correspondent, "A Prince Edward Islander."

Looking still further northward, we perceive most gratifying symptoms of a growing tendency on the part of new comers to direct their attention to Mongonui, where the Provincial Government has large blocks of land of the very best description, which will very shortly be open for settlement. But while many are looking to the north, others are looking as earnestly to the south, so far as the land is in the

possession of the Government; and it will not be long before the as yet unoccupied allotments in the Drury, Hunua, and Wairoa blocks are taken up.

Reverting to a suggestion by one of our practical and bona fide settler-correspondents, – that the Government should give a general indication of the location and quality of each block as it is declared open for selection, and afford other reliable information, – we may observe, that the Provincial Government has already made provision of this kind, and has duly notified the fact. But, unfortunately, some of the "sympathizers" with the "poor immigrants," who did their best to prevent those immigrants from ever getting any land orders, and who still aver that the Government has no good land to exchange for the orders, tell the immigrants that they must not trust to anything the Provincial Government says or does. They must only trust to them, and buy "improved farms" at 200 per cent, advance on the original cost and the expenditure since incurred thereon. Happily, we are getting out by each vessel more thoroughly practical agriculturists and more observant labourers, and business men; and so the work of permanent colonization progresses healthfully.

"New-Zealander" Office,
Auckland, October 26, 1859.

IT would be extremely difficult, without entering in greater detail into the history of local politics than our present space will permit, to convey to our more distant readers a picture of Auckland "party," and thereby to render intelligible the opposition which is being made with so much recklessness to the existing system of immigration. Let it suffice to say, that there are two political parties in the Province: – the one, representing a vast majority of the colonists, is styled the Constitutional party; the other, a very small minority, yet active, and having command of a newspaper, names itself, the "Progress" party.

On the question of the disposal of the waste lands, the policy of the two parties are diametrically opposed. The land regulations at present in force, embody the principles of the Constitutionalists. They promote the actual settlement of the country.

Some time since it was stated that the immigrants were

suffering great distress; that some of them were actually starving; that they could not obtain land; that they could not find employment; and it was gravely proposed, that a general rate should be levied without delay for the immediate relief of their necessities. These statements have been copied into some of the journals of the other provinces, and thus, obtaining a wider circulation than they could have obtained by the medium through which they were first made public, may cause much anxiety to the friends in Great Britain of those persons who have already arrived here with land orders, and may affect the future proceedings of many intending emigrants to Auckland.

In recent articles in this journal, and in numerous letters from indignant correspondents, the utter wickedness and falsity of those statements have been conclusively demonstrated. Having premised this much, we leave the following facts to speak for themselves.

From the returns issued by the Deputy Waste Lands Commissioner, from November 30, 1858, to August 31, 1859, it appears that during that period land orders were exercised by immigrants to the extent of 32,525 acres. The first immigrants under the present Auckland Land Regulations arrived on the 4th of November, 1858, and the "Harwood," the vessel in which they came, will probably be out with another party within a little more than a year from the date of her arrival as the pioneer ship under the new system of colonization.

On the 30th of April last, according to the official returns, the quantity of land already surveyed and opened for sale or selection was 27,760 acres; on the 31st May, 31,551 acres; on the 30th June, 34,273 acres; on the 31st July, 35,302 acres; on the 31st August, 31,041 acres. It will thus be seen that, notwithstanding the large demands made for land, the quantity prepared for sale has increased. On the 23rd of August, 8024 acres were gazetted for sale or selection on the 3rd October. On the 19th October, 7989 acres in addition, were gazetted for sale or selection on the 21st day of November next. Some 20,000 acres more are now, as we are informed, surveyed, and will be proclaimed, in a few days.

On the 26th ultimo, two days after the dispatch of our last Month's Summary, the Matoaka (1,092 tons), from London, arrived in our harbour, bringing 170 immigrants, and amongst them Mr. Thomas Ball and his "special-settlement" party. A place called Kohumaru, in the vicinity of the Harbour of Mongonui, in the northern portion of the Province, having been fixed upon, Mr. Ball and his friends and followers have already departed from Auckland to take possession of their new home, and to lay the foundation of a new Colony which

cannot fail to succeed. Mongonui is an excellent harbour, and is the port of resort for a large portion of the whaling fleet of the Pacific. The supplies for these ships have hitherto been furnished from Auckland, but the new settlers will find a market at their doors for the sale of much of their surplus produce for years to come.

The immigrants from Prince Edward's Island are also about to locate themselves at Mongonui. There is already a large extent of land in that neighbourhood at the disposal of the Government. The Natives – who anxiously desire to have settlers near them – have promised to sell the celebrated "Victoria Valley;" and thus, if a good harbour, good land, capital, labour, and a ready market, can make a settlement prosperous, the future of Mongonui is secure.

The "Tornado" (1,075 tons), the first of the Liverpool clippers, with 245 passengers, arrived a few hours after the "Matoaka." Many of her passengers have already selected their land; others are "prospecting;" and of those who desire to labour for hire, not any, so far as we are aware, who are able to work, have failed to find employment.

On the 19th instant, the "Mermaid" (Capt. White, 1,233 tons) – the second vessel of the well-known Liverpool "White Star" line – arrived in harbour, with 322 passengers, all in good health and spirits. The immigrants by this noble vessel will form a highly intelligent and eligible addition to our population; among them are a large party from the Isle of Man; and we are glad to learn that another special settlement will be formed out of their number.

We have now before us a "List of Immigrants in respect of whom land orders have been issued, who arrived in Auckland on the 8th of January, 1859, by the 'William Watson,'" which was the second vessel arriving under the present Regulations; and this list shows how this party, consisting of 130 odd, were located or employed up to nearly the present date. Out of them 8 (a family) have gone to Melbourne; 4 to Sydney; 2 to Otago; 1 to Canterbury; 2 gone back to England; and 2 about to leave. Say that in round numbers 20 have left, there are still remaining 110 in the province, engaged in various occupations either in town or country, many of them, to our certain knowledge, doing well! while, also, to our personal knowledge, some of those who left, did so because of the disheartening reports with which they were greeted on landing, by the loafing old hands to whom we have above alluded. Now, this list affords a fair sample of what would be the result of an investigation into the history of almost every ship-load of immigrants arriving here with land orders. The discontented and incompetent compose but a very small

per-centage – the great mass, the really desirable settlers, remain behind and become permanent residents.

One word of advice to persons about to emigrate. Whenever it is possible to form associations at home, of from one to two hundred individuals, for the purpose of establishing "a special settlement" in this province, that mode of colonization should be adopted; the experience of every day proves its advantages. Capital and labour may be combined in such associations, and with a favourable location, such as may be secured by proper arrangements, success will, under ordinary circumstances, be certain.

The natural tendency of a large immigration is, in the first instance, by increasing the supply of labour, to lower the rate of wages. The Emigration Agents are regularly advised of the current rate of wages, of the price of provisions, and of the sort of labour which is most in demand. Intending immigrants should inform themselves accurately upon those points, and prepare for all that may await them on this side. Here are no gold-diggings, where men grow suddenly rich; hard work, privation, discomfort endured for two or three years, are the inevitable conditions of success. In the struggle with the wild land, those who have patience, courage, strength, conquer; the weaker vessels go to the wall.

To the Editor of the Southern Cross.

SIR, – I have read with much surprise the article headed "The Forty-acre Men," in your issue of yesterday.

You appear to have been informed that a number of labourers among the lately arrived immigrants cannot find employment, and that "some among them have been reduced to begging for food."

As Immigration Agent to this Province it has been my duty to render every assistance in my power to all Immigrants desirous of being employed. I have therefore publicly invited applications – both from labourers and the employers of labour – and I believe that as a general rule, every Immigrant desirous of employment applies to me, so that I can speak pretty confidently as to the real state of the labour market, and I can positively assure you that the information you have received is altogether incorrect.

A very few persons, unfit for labour, or only accustomed to some employment not to be found in a young colony, may be unemployed; but I do not believe there is, among all the

number who have arrived here, one efficient labourer who is not employed, or, at all events, who cannot find employment if he chooses.

I have at present commissions from various settlers to send them ploughmen, ditchers, spadesmen, and married couples fit to take charge of dairies, &c. while I do not know where to find any of them.

In corroboration of what I have stated, I may mention that on Monday, I sent a note to the person in charge of the Immigration Barracks, requesting him to send me any unemployed labouring men in the Barracks, as I could offer employment to some of them, and I received a note from him, in reply, stating that there were none; in fact, that, with the exception of one or two families about to settle on land, and another the head of which was ill, the Barracks were empty.

However strange it may appear, it is a fact, that the Immigrants who have arrived lately have found employment much sooner than those did who came three or four months ago.

R. B. LUSK,
Immigration Agent.
21st September, 1859.

SHEEP FARMING IN THE PROVINCE OF AUCKLAND.

To the Editor of the Southern Cross.

SIR, – It is difficult to conceive why people of easy, tolerable, and comfortable means, cannot settle down contentedly in this province, but are tempted by the representations that fortunes are to be amassed in an incredible short space of time in the South, just merely by getting a lease of extensive sheep runs, as if that were all, and without further consideration precipitately determine upon going there to try their luck, and, as if to make one believe they had effected their object in every sense of the word, some of them return and report of the wonderful extensive runs they have secured – the number of white sheep and not black ones these will keep, and that in a year or two they cannot but be men of independent fortune; while others have entered into a co-partnery with some settlers, who, having already secured extensive runs, are in want of the primum mobile to stock these runs, and thus lay the basis of a rapid fortune. Poor dupes, and that is a significant term, they seem not to dream of the future, but fancy that it must be all gold that glitters, little do they think

of the expense, the hardships, the difficulties and the many disappointments attending and to be contended with, for no person who is not ignorant, no person of experience and real common sense would embark in this wholesale manner in one of the most precarious of all agricultural pursuits, and which must in a very few years darken if not destroy their golden prospects; for that fickle dame Fortune does not always smile on every fair and bold adventurer, and many of these golden dreamers will be found leading a regular Robinson Crusoe life far far back in the wild cold uninhabited dreary regions. If I had space I could easily demonstrate that in a few years time sheep runs in the South will be at a discount, and that sheep will scarcely pay for looking after; this, Sir, was the case in New South Wales prior to the discovery of the gold fields. At present the reason why sheep runs in the South are so profitable is owing to the number of settlers ariving from England and elsewhere, which creates a great demand for sheep to stock their runs with; but this is not to last for ever; bye and bye, when the runs get more numerous and the flocks equally large, that demand will diminish and gradually subside. A re-action will ensue, flockmasters being unable to get rid of their increase their runs will get overstocked, their flocks consequently will be in danger of getting starved; for to boil down poor lean sheep to thus reduce their number would be out of the question, it would not pay; and as a natural consequence the flocks will become diseased, and when scab makes its appearance on a confined run it can only be got radically rid of by destroying the whole Hock, and when once a flock gets infected there is no escape for the neighbouring flocks, for it is a well known fact that the fine wooled sheep are too delicate for the climate of the South. In the Canterbury plains, a stretch of 6O miles, when a storm comes on the sheep are actually driven with the violence of the wind from one end of the plain to the other; and the different flocks get so mixed that one scabby sheep in any one flock will infect the whole; and that scab has already commenced its ravages there can be gathered from what appeared in the public print only the other day, about certain gentlemen being fined for running scabby flocks. This, Sir, is rather a gloomy picture, but were I to paint it in another shade I should not be doing justice to the subject, nor to those for whom it is intended.

The Northern Province, the one from which this is dated, can be painted, I am happy to say, in milder and more substantial colors. The character of the Provinces in the South and that of this is vastly different. The Southern Provinces are decidedly pastoral. There food for sheep or cattle

grows spontaneously. The country seems to be covered with grass, but of a very thin weakly kind, three to five acres being required to graze one sheep, and which, after a few years, in many districts being an annual, and where not allowed to shed its seed becomes thinner and thinner, and ultimately disappears. This Province is an agricultural one; the country is either covered with brush or fern, which can only be got rid of by manual labour. And the plan pursued by the settlers is not to lease extensive runs of country, but to purchase a few hundred acres of land, and after clearing the surface, to plough and lay it down to artificial grasses, and divide and sub-divide into moderate sized paddocks. The beautiful farms around Auckland and its neighbourhood, which can vie with any in old England, are a proof of the great capabilities of the land in this Province. On some of these farms one acre of grass will keep and fatten from five to eight sheep, and two acres of grass will keep and fatten three head of horned cattle; and the land thus managed, when cultivated with potatoes and other crops, give incredible returns.

It is not impossible for new arrivals with comfortable means, to purchase land at ten shillings an acre, and convert it, in a year or two, into as good looking farms as any in this district; but before committing themselves to any particular locality, they ought first to ascertain the nature of the soil they intend selecting, and the facilities of locomotion. By adopting these and other precautionary measures their success and independence is inevitably certain.

FIDES.

BRIEF HINTS TO NEW-COMERS.

Don't be in too great a hurry, either to purchase land, or to exercise your land order, but wait a bit, and look around you.

Don't listen to the croakers and grievance-mongers, for they are only a mischievous and bilious set of men.

Don't spend one shilling which you can avoid for the first twelve months, as you will not find shillings so easy to get back again.

Don't despair, although you may be discouraged at the outset of your new career, but be assured that persevering industry always must and always will succeed in the colony.

Don't frequent taverns, public houses, or billiard-rooms, for they cannot do you any good, and may do you a deal of harm.

Don't think, because you have just arrived from England,

that you are brim-full of wisdom, for you will in all probability find a few here wiser than yourself, having added Colonial to English experience.

Don't be in too great a hurry to set everybody else to rights, but wait patiently and see if you cannot learn something.

Form yourselves into communities to locate in the bush; but don't entangle yourself hastily with partnerships. The former is very good, and the latter frequently very bad. Hasty partnerships and hasty dissolutions show a want of stability or judgment.

Don't grumble if you can only make a living for a year or two; but be sure that "the good time is coming," when your exertions will be crowned with success.

Don't hang about town longer than you can help, for you can gain very little by it, and may lose much.

Don't despise moderate wages at commencement; for, remember, you are not likely to be as valuable as more experienced folks.

Don't locate yourself on bad land at any price, for it must of necessity end in disappointment, if not ruin.

Be civil and courteous to all, and don't think it necessary to be rough in your manners because you see much that is rough around you. Civility is always esteemed, and costs nothing.

Don't imagine that good, honest, upright conduct is not prized here, for, be assured, that a man's good character, when tested, is as valuable to him here as in any part of the world.

Don't talk of how much better off you were at home, for no one will believe you, and you may be apt to be told, "It's a pity you ever left home,"

Don't grumble and talk of not having been used to light your own fire and cook your own dinner, but do such work as you find you have to do here, or it may be suggested that, perhaps, you had no dinner to cook at home; and be thankful that you have one to cook, and a good appetite to eat it. It is almost an invariable rule, that parties (both male and female) who have moved in the best positions in England assume the least here, and that those in the very lowest ranks at home arrogate the most.

Don't call Old Practical a fool forgiving you these hints, for, be assured, they are well meant, and he can have no interest in giving them.

I am, yours, really truly,
OLD PRACTICAL.

A QUERY.

"Will the Forty-acre Men ruin the Country?"

To the Editor of the New Zealander.

SIR, – An attack upon one of the wisest measures of the Provincial Government has been made by an organ of the Auckland Press, whose uniform condemnation of the policy of our Superintendent so clearly emanates from a spirit of opposition, if not animosity, as to cause those who have been long acquainted with its tactics to give a wary and cautious ear to its animadversions.

Anxious to induce the very calamities it pretends to deplore; in contravention of all experience in colonization – in direct opposition to the true facts of the case; a theory, based upon hearsay and misinformation, has been raised – too flimsy, it is true, to pass current with any one at all acquainted with the practical formation of a new colony – but calculated to mislead the more unwary and unsuspicious of the friends of New Zealand at home and abroad.

Whence comes this sudden and uncalled-for burst of amiable philanthropy – this touching sympathy for "men of a coarser mould" – these patriotic fears and lamentations! Truly, the wind has shifted since the never-to-be-forgotten Editorial of this same journal announced to the world that "grass was growing in our streets." "'Tis an ill bird that fouls its own nest nor need we envy the feelings of a man, or of a party, who would precipitate a panic on their country for the purpose of hampering the opposite party when in power.

The baying of the bull dog of the 19th has been followed by the howls and yelps of all the smaller curs who take their key-note from its own. "The forty-acre men will ruin the country!" Doubtless – much in the same way that Free Trade ruined England some few years back – or that Victoria sank into insignificance on the discovery of her gold fields!

Why has New Zealand – with her copper mines, her forests of magnificent timbers, her untried fisheries, her thousands upon thousands of untilled acres ready for the plough – comparitively languished, unless bolstered up by foreign loans or the accidental high prices of 1854 and 1855? Wealth was, and is there; but like the gold in the Robbers' Cave, we wait for that mighty Genii, the surplus labour of England, to give us the "Open Sesame," without which it will lie as hidden and as useless as it has heretofore done.

To believe such notions, we might suppose the "forty-acre man" to be an animal altogether sui generis – useless to himself and to the state – one who can exist without increasing the reve-

nue of the colony. Naturally of an idle and vagabond disposition, he will prefer destitution and poverty to the alternative of hard work and independence! Numbers join in this foolish cry, forgetful that they themselves, though now in far different circumstances, began life in the colony literally without a pound.

Then, again, they put the converse of the proposition, and the "new arrival" is told to his discouragement, that he has no chance of success; that the market is over-stocked; and a volley of abuse is fired off at that great kidnapper, the Superintendent, that political Blunderbore – who has "inveigled" so many "poor new chums" into his enchanted castle! "Min Allah! they laugh at our beards!" Let us take the case and examine it for ourselves.

IMMIGRANTS we may divide into four classes: – 1st. The man with a capital of £150 and upwards. 2nd. Gentlemen, clerks, &c., with smaller means, all unused to menial labour. 3rd. Mechanics. 4th. Unskilled labourers or agricultural servants.

For the first of these four classes we need have no apprehensions. With prudence and economy, and a not too precipitate investment of their capital, they may look for an adequate – nay a liberal return. Their own good sense will tell them that they need not look for fortunes: – ex nihilo, nihil fit. – The man who commences business with only a thousand pounds, may be well satisfied if the interest of his money afford him a comfortable living while his capital is yearly increasing in value, as the district in which his farm is situated is improving. The second of these classes are undoubtedly in the worst position of all. Yet they can blame no one but themselves. Capable of reasoning on the subject, with all means and appliances for gaining correct information, how could any reasonable man come to the conclusion that the services of persons of their description would be at a premium in a comparitively new and as yet thinly populated country! The best advice for such among them as possess some little means, though less than the sum stated above, viz., £150, is for three or more to club together (if they intend farming, and can obtain their 40 acres adjacent to one another) – throw all into the common lot – and, if at last the exchequer run low, one or more by working away from home, could keep "the firm" going. This has been done – and might be done again. Otherwise, if unable to obtain situations as clerks, &c. they must be content to sink to the level of the last two classes, and trust to sobriety and economy to advance their position – a hard, though not necessarily a vain endeavour in a country where working men can obtain 10, 12, and 15 shillings per week besides board and lodging.

And why docs the mechanic emigrate? Partly to increase his daily rate of wages, but mainly because, at home, the increasing numbers of his craft preclude the possibility of anything like a steady and regular employment. Take 5s. as the average daily wages of a mechanic at home (putting war-times out of the question), and I maintain that – let matters come to what the "Progress" (?) party pretend to dread, but secretly wish for – I maintain that he would he better off here with regular employment, and 7 or 8 shillings a day, which, as things now are, is only a little more, and in some trades less than half the present rate of wages. At home, too, the mechanic out of work may pass the time with his hands in his pockets, unable to keep the wolf from the door. How different here! – the unskilled labour market is open to him and (should wages throughout the country drop to 3s. 6d. or 4s. per day), as his worst alternative, as a common labourer, he can earn nearly the same rate as his trade provided for him in England.

These calculations are based upon the supposition of a fall in the rate of wages in consequence of increased immigration – such a fall, as I shall endeavour to show, is necessary for the advancement of the Province, and fair upon the labourer himself. The present high-pressure system must end in stagnation and atrophy. Who can afford to give twenty shillings for labour that reproduces but the same amount or less? Now, under the present system of a mixed-class in emigration, need we fear that these changes will be effected in a too rapid or too startling a manner. A large, a very large proportion of our new arrivals are employers, rather than competitors for employment.

But the unskilled labourer; – this is the man who gains more perhaps than any by the change, The Pariah of civilised England – living in many cases less comfortably than the cattle he tends – worked hard from daylight until dark – badly fed, without the smallest hope of bettering his condition – his only refuge in sickness or old age, the workhouse, – is this the man to be ruined by the free-grant of 40 acres of land, and the advance of his wages from £8 a year to £30, or from 10s. a week to 20s. O, fortunati Agricoli, si sua bona norint!

Away with such cant – such sickly sentimentality. Once let the tide of immigration reduce wages to this point, and where one man is now, there would be ten then employed. Why do we hear the too common exclamation, "Oh, cultivation won't pay – grass is the only thing?" The high price, the uncertain supply, and the inferior quality of the labour cause all this. With wheat and potatoes at the same price – with oats at nearly double the price as at home – without rent

and without taxes – we cannot do what the English farmer can – cultivate our land; and why? Because the exorbitant price of labour more than counterbalances these otherwise advantages. "Eh, mon! but he couldna live on twenty shillings a week!" No? – does he not live on ten – aye, and on less than ten, at home? Meat, tea, sugar, and potatoes, I find, by reference to London and Auckland prices, vary but little either way: wheat has not, except till lately, averaged dearer than at home; house-rent, if engaged on a farm, would cost him nothing here; clothes, I own, are somewhat dearer, and boots too; but the balance would be far, very far on the side of the labourer, to say nothing of the physical and moral improvement of himself and family. Ask any servant if he appreciates the difference between working for a master here and at home – between the feeling of manly independence on the one hand, and the cringing servility on the other; between the toil exacted to the utmost tension of his physical power of endurance, and the fairer amount claimed here by the master, more fitted for the labour of a human being.

No, sir, it is no sincere apprehension of evil results to the country at large which has raised this outcry against the present system of immigration. The cloven foot peeps out. The "forty acres" given away, is the whole gist of the matter. "What! make 'Hodge' a landed proprietor! put him on the same footing as the man whose 'ancestors came in with the Conqueror!'" Oh fie! this is too bad! never mind, though the weekly revenue be nearly doubled, our exports increased, the colony opened up, such a "moving of landmarks" and "opening of flood-gates" must end, as the whole race of Dedlocks declare, in our utter ruin! How much nicer it would have been to have introduced "direct purchase," to have allowed the sale of land only in sections of not less than a square mile – to have kept capital "capital," and labour "labour," – and gradually to have grafted the effete and worn-out institutions of European countries upon this.

I am, Sir, &c.,
A COCKATOO SETTLER.
The Wade, Sept. 25, 1859.

THE NEW-COMERS – WHAT TO DO.

To the Editor of the New Zealander.

SIR, – I have been told by recent arrivals in more than one ship, that hardly have they dropped anchor than certain parties have boarded them, telling them they had been de-

luded, – had made a great mistake, – had better go home again, – would be ruined if they stayed, and so on; endeavouring in fact to fill their minds with all manner of gloomy forebodings. I think this conduct most reprehensible. Under the most favourable circumstances immigrants have enough of discouragement to meet with on their arrival in a new colony, without people doing their best to make the natural difficulties of their position wear the gloomiest of aspects. They miss many of the accommodations to which they have been long accustomed. The absence of the familiar faces of the old house at home is but poorly supplied by the croaking tones and cold shoulders of the Job's comforters they too often meet with here. Is it surprising that they should for a while feel that love of country, call it home sickness if you will, which lays them open to receive impressions unfavourable to the new land of their adoption.

Is it not, then, a shameful and a cruel wrong for any one to take advantage of these and other difficulties natural to an immigrant's position, and make use of them to dishearten, to embarrass, and let me add, to ruin him?

I would fain believe, sir, that the efforts of these parties are the result rather of thoughtlessness than of malice aforethought; were it otherwise they would justly deserve to be branded as traitors to their country and enemies to their Queen.

I have been led to refer to this matter by the announcement that, induced by the land regulations now in force, 1200 people are on their way to this province, and that 4000 or 5000 may be expected during the next six months. If such be the fact, it becomes the duty of every good citizen to. facilitate as far as possible their settlement, or at least to throw no obstacles in their way.

Whatever may be said against the land regulations now in force, it can hardly be denied that they will give us a large direct emigration from home. If they do this – they will do much to settle many of the troublesome questions of the day. Increase the population of this new country and you develope its resources – you add to its strength – you lessen the native difficulty – you counteract and remove much of that wretched politico-personal squabbling too common amongst us. You will – as in the south – give us men capable of helping us to manage our affairs in a manner more creditable to us.

Now to the question – "What are the new-comers to do?" Perhaps this will be well answered by one of themselves. "They tell me, sir," said he, "That I have made a great mistake in coming here – that there is nothing to do. However,

when I found you were importing wheat, maize, beef, cheese, drays, blocks, tubs, and fifty other things besides which might all be produced here – I concluded that instead of there being nothing to do, there was nothing done."

If this observation be true – and in the main I believe it is – the chief difficulty will be found to be the adaptation of every one's particular skill or abilities to the wants of the country. This requires time and patience.

Every new-comer with a useful trade in his fingers need not be long in finding something to do in the way of producing some article at present imported. Others will find various employments, which if not as well paid as they would like, will at least give them time to acquire experience and a knowledge of the ways of the country which will be invaluable to them, and which all that have ever succeeded in a colony have had to purchase – sometimes at a heavy cost – After all, the land which induced them to come out, must be the main stay of the immigrants. By far the larger portion of them must settle upon their land. To do that, they came out. To do it as soon as possible is their wisest policy.

When they reflect that the 20,000 people in this province in 1858 required for home consumption each 6 bushels of wheat per head, whilst they hardly produced more than 1/2-bushel per head, they need not hesitate to turn cultivators – the advantage of doing so is apparent.

The hardships in doing so, great as they may be, are not to be compared with those which an American settler in the Far West has to encounter. Let those who are so ready to discourage new-comers by telling them there are no roads, no houses, no nothing – remember the trackless leagues, the terrible winters, and the miserable fevers and agues of Canada. Making reasonable allowance for the short time this colony has been in the hands of the British Government, and the consequent want of knowledge and experience in handling in the most advantageous manner the qualities and characteristics peculiar to it, I do not think I say too much, when I state my belief, that few countries offer more advantages for settlement to an industrious man than the Province of Auckland.

I shall be told of failures. Granted. Failures and mistakes are the parents of success. The individual who enters upon a new trade has many a little lesson to learn before he achieves success, and the community that undertakes to settle and subdue a new country must be prepared to encounter many unforeseen difficulties, and to make many mistakes, before experience becomes so strengthened that he who runs may read.

The grand point then for the consideration of those who

wish to facilitate the settlement of new-comers on their lands is to ascertain the peculiar difficulties with which they will have to contend – and to point out the means which successful settlers have pursued to overcome them. If trustworthy information of this character can be put into the hands of new-comers – a world of time and toil will be saved them.

Yours, &c.,
J. C. FIRTH.

CHEAP HOUSES FOR NEW-COMERS.

To the Editor of the New Zealander.

MR. EDITOR, – A little practical experience will be worth a deal of theorising. I will therefore give my own case in the building of a "cheap habitation for a family" Although not a new-comer, I am comparatively a new settler in the Bush. I have for two years lived (not existed merely) in a split slab house, which cost me £20, and in this same cottage or hut myself, wife and family – in all six of us – have lived really comfortably; seeing at times not a few visitors, and scarcely a week elapsing without our mustering round a social, cheerful fire of an evening, 15 or 16 friends and neighbours.

Now, how to proceed: – Go into the Bush with your axes, maul, and wedges – Fell a Rimu, Totara, Kaikatea, or Kauri, as the case may be – cross-cut it into lengths of six or seven feet. Then, with your wedges, quarter these lengths, and split them into slabs of about ten or twelve inches wide and two inches in thickness; cut some good posts for the corners, stringers, wall plates, and also ridge pole, rafters, and divisions. This is all the stuff you require, and up to this point, excepting your own labour, has not cost you 1s. If you can get a few thousand shingles split in the neighbourhood at 10s. or 12s. per thousand, do so; and, if not, thatch with nikau and rushes – a good slab chimney, 6 feet wide and 4 deep, is quite desirable; it should be for about 4 feet high inside, piled up with stones. After a bit you can cut slabs, and put them down for a floor.

Now, if you are not able to do this yourself, there are plenty of men who will do it for £15 to £20.

If you are in the neighbourhood of a saw-pit, and get sawn slabs cheap, so much the better. Doors you can make of slabs, or palings, and a window or two can be purchased in Auckland very cheap. A week or ten days will suffice to ensconce you in a snug and comfortable, although not showy or elegant habitation.

My own was originally 20 feet by 12 feet, but has now

sundry additions, making in all, six rooms; and in this house, humble though it be, I shall be contented to live yet a little longer.

Above all I say to the new-comer, "Do not spend your little capital in aiming to put up a fine house, and thus impoverish yourself as many have done before, and perhaps never finished their houses. Build a good house when your farm will afford the means of your doing so; but a grand attempt at a fine house, with little to eat, or no comforts within, is a sorry look-out."

OLD PRACTICAL.

CHEAP FIRST HOMES.

We have already stated that Mr. Bunting – a new-comer – has acted upon our suggestion of the desirability of showing at how cheap a rate "first homes" could be supplied to new-comers and other working settlers, particularly where there is near available land or water carriage. Where such means of carriage are not so ready to hand, or where Natives or friendly settlers are located in a district, there a commodious raupo house could no doubt be erected quite as cheaply and speedily. And where the new-comer and his sons are at all skilful in the use of tools, then they could not do better than act on the hints thrown out for their advantage by our friend "Old Practical," respecting "Slab Houses." But wherever there is fair land or water approach to a settlement, there we are convinced it will be found true economy, both of money and time, for new-comers to provide themselves with such a "first home" as we have suggested.

Holding this conviction strongly, and being fortified in it by the most intelligent of our fellow colonists, we are glad to be able to announce that another kind of "first home" has been designed by Mr. Sanderson, and now lies for inspection at the Waste Lands Office. The house is to be 14 feet by 10 feet – 7 feet walls – the roof sloping up about 3 feet. It will have a door, two windows, and a plate for stove-piping to pass through. It consists of some 196 pieces, all fitted one into another, and so arranged that the whole can be conveniently packed, conveniently humped even through a bush cutting, and easily put up in the course of a day. The total cost to the purchaser, we learn, should not exceed some £14 or £15. Accompanying the plan is an estimate of the exact quantity of material required. A house, built from this plan, will shortly be ready for inspection in some public place.

NEW ZEALANDER.

THE SETTLER'S FIRST SEASON.

To the Editor of the New Zealander.

SIR, – I have noticed several well written letters addressed to new-comers, still I think there is a want of information as to a settler's operations the first season: – To all, but to a man of slender means especially, a very important matter. That want I will endeavour to supply, addressing myself to the man of &c.60 and 40 acres.

First as to choice of Land – carefully inspect the various Plans in the Land Office; do not be led away to make a selection without seeing the Land because others are selecting in the same locality. It is perhaps a case of success or non-success in life; if others err, do not you. – Provide a tracing of the survey and go upon the ground; most likely you will be rewarded with information enabling you to make a good selection. As a general rule wood land is most profitable for the small settler, unless too much broken kauri land excepted, which is generally bad; choose, if possible, dry lying land, with an Eastern or Northern aspect and free soil, all of which are very important matters; volcanic soil above all, if to be obtained.

Be not afraid of distance. I remember the time when Tamaki settlers were considered almost out of the world. Let good land near to available water carriage or land carriage to Auckland be your aim.

I will now suppose your land selected. If a carpenter, or can handle tools, put together a frame of a cottage 24 by 12, studs and rafters 3 by 2; sashes and door you can buy ready made; and get at once on your land. You may be able to get a raupo house of same dimensions erected by Natives, but generally speaking, the man who can handle tools will find the other the best plan. I would by all means recommend new arrivals, if possible, settling in communities; they can thus help and cheer each other on.

Purchase or lay by, first, for 12 months provisions at once, then two good English or half-bred sows in pig, and if in your power two heifers in calf; avoid cows even if in milk, few cows are sold unless for some defect; while with heifers, hand-fed, of which there are plenty, you will have little trouble, and most likely have kindly beasts.

You will now have expended –

One year's rations

£15 0 0

2000 ft. timber, doors, sashes, & nails

17 0 0

Expenses of removal

5 0 0

2 Sows, each 40s.

4 0 0

2 Heifers, each £7 10s.

15 0 0

£56 0 0

Having housed yourself, let your first effort be to provide a good warm sty for your sows. They will get their own living, and what little refuse you have will, with a good bed, make them attached to home, and they will prove of more value to you the two first years than two cows.

Go over your section, select the best piece of land, then lay your section down on paper, plan it out as simply as possible, and lay your selected spot, five chains square. Two and a half acres for your first year's operations: do not attempt more, less cannot be advantageously fenced; let this include your garden for the present; fence it pig-proof.

I would suggest a ditch three feet wide, two deep, with a brush fence upon the bank; this if well done will be secure against pigs or cattle two or three years. Sow furze seed inside your brush fence, and with a little care and trimming you will soon have a substantially fenced piece of land.

If your land is open and you can get it ploughed, do so in dry weather; if unable, or it is wood or heavy brush land, you must go to work with spade or hoe. Bear in mind your first crop is very precarious, and by all means, if to be got, do not attempt to sow or plant anything without a dressing of Peruvian guano, even if you spend your last pound for it. In a first season, on which so much depends, its value cannot be overrated.

If you have bush land, cut down and burn upon the land all you can; it is not so much the ashes, as the ground is benefited by the action of fire.

Do not plant anything until your land is in suitable order, lay it as dry as possible, and get your potatoes in in August or September. Some swede turnips to transplant in November; all the pumkins you can spare time to plant in September or October, in any vacant corner or along your fences, and vegetables generally at odd times. A small patch of each will supply your personal wants, but everything green will be of value for your stock, and any seeds you can raise will sell in Auckland or to new settlers. If you can obtain a little choice wheat, spread it on your table carefully, pick from it every grain unsuitable, to have pure seed of only one kind. Dibble this in six inches asunder each wav, and if your land is good it will be quite thick enough, and five pints will set an acre. You will readily sell it for seed, if good and clean, for two or three years, for more than its value to you for flour.

Above all avoid attempting too much the first season, let whatever you do be done in the very best manner, so as to insure a crop; the mistake of many a new comer is to take too much in hand, and then fail from inexperience or some mishap. Do not lay out one shilling on labour in cultivation the first

year (unless in ploughing). If you have any spare means lay it out in stock. Do what you can with your own hands without outlay.

I will now suppose you settled on your land. A few months will supply you with abundance of vegetables, your sows will have pigged; when their time is nearly up, get them home and shut them up till they have farrowed, for if allowed at this time to go to the bush you will lose them altogether; boil them any wash and green stuff you have, and if you have a bag of sharps so much the better. You may in two days turn out sow and pigs, they will again provide for themselves, and the young pigs will keep fat, and if within reach of a market some of them may soon be sold off; but it is preferable to retain them until twelve months old, when on bush food they will weigh 100 lbs. nett, and be worth 25s., each. Each sow will with care produce nearly two litters in a year. You will thus perceive the great value of the pig to the new settler.

PIONEER.
August 28, 1859.

"PIONEER."

To the Editor of the New Zealander.

I was sorry to see in so generally practical a letter as "Pioneer's," some very palpable fallacies, and I am sure he will not be offended at my correcting them; at least as far as my judgment goes – our objects both being the same, namely, to give as far as we are able our own experience for the benefit of our newly-arriving friends.

I shall take "Pioneer's" case of a man with £60 and 40 acres of land, and my first advice would be, place £20 of your little capital safe, and scarely reckon that you have it; at all events decide not to touch it for the first twelve months, as it will then be doubly or trebly valuable to you. Thus I should say, instead of expending £7 for a house, spend £1 for windows, and nothing more: with two days' labour you can put up a house of stakes, ti-tree, and nikau, which will be very comfortable, and serve you very well for the first few years. I speak knowingly, as myself and another put up such a habitation in two days, in which three of us lived very comfortably for three months in the bush. Do not spend an unnecessary shilling at first. "Pioneer's" advice to bestow all your energy on two or three acres the first year is very good, and also the expenditure of a few pounds on guano, bone-dust, or other manure, for your first crops; but the purchase of two

heifers, before you have any food for them, or anything to entice them to their home, is decidedly bad: – the chances are that they would wander in the bush, and after a short time not be seen again – you cannot afford to fence them in, having no feed for them, and they would thus ramble far away for food, and have no tie to home. Young cattle, like young people, must have something pleasant at home to render it agreeable to them. The two heifers may do very well after the first year, and perhaps part of the saving fund of £20 could not be better expended. – Then again, the two sows are much the same. – If £15 is to cover the cost of rations for the man for twelve months, there is but a sorry look-out for piggy," – they must stray for food, – and be assured it will require something more than bush food to bring young pigs up to 100 lbs. weight each, in twelve months. It might be wise soon to get a couple of young pigs two or three months old, that would take tilled food, and become attached to the place.

I should say, therefore, something like the following scale would be more in order. I should wipe out the £5 for removal, for a newly-arrived immigrant with £60 capital is not likely to have a large dray, or boat-load of furniture, goods, &c. –

One year's Rations

£20

Windows for Hut

1

Grass and Clover seed

2

Two small Pigs

1

Fowls, axes, spades, &c.

2

Cooking utensils, &c.

2

Guano

2

and I should leave £10 to be expended during the year as circumstances may require, and remember that after the first year, your farm is not likely of itself, or without expending much labour, to produce you a living. It is no use you deceiving yourself, or allowing anybody else to deceive you. The land will not give you a living for two or three years, and the selling anything off the farm during the first year is a thorough fallacy. If you have not therefore any capital to live upon at first, you must labour for others part of your time, as nearly all have done before you. And although my account may appear somewhat discouraging, think, is it no encouragement, after two or three years' labour, to find that you have your own little Farm and 40 acres which will actually give you a living, and an independent one too, without harassment and vexation; whereas at Home, in all probability, you never would have possessed a single acre of land of your own, if you lived 100 years, and laboured as hard as a nigger.

I do not like exaggerated or over statements as to what may be expected, for they only disappoint. But still worse are the base and wicked discouragements dinned into the ears of newcomers, so well described in Mr. Firth's sound and sensible letter. And I perfectly agree with that gentleman, that those croakers deserve to be drummed out of the country. If the country is so bad, why do they stay in it? Is it as Victims and Martyrs? The country could do better without them, and would cheer their departure to more congenial shores. I believe there is an organized set of these vipers, who seem to be the only venemous reptiles in our colony.

Yours, &c.,
OLD PRACTICAL.

REDUCTION IN THE COST OF PASSENGER AND GOODS TRAFFIC.

Competition is the soul of business, and decidedly beneficial to the public. Not very long since, if a person wished to visit Papakura or Drury, he had to hire a horse and trap specially, and the road was so bad that he might not unreasonably have made his will before starting. A spring van was next ventured upon, running once or twice a week, and passengers thought 5s. per head was reasonable; but in winter this juvenile mail was laid up in ordinary, so impassable were the roads. This winter there have been two "lines" (Young's and Hunt's) running regularly, so that there has been, we believe, by means of the two, uninterrupted daily communication between Auckland and Drury, via Otahuhu and Papakura. The cost of the conveyance of heavy goods and produce to and fro in the first period spoken of was something fearful to think of, as the early southern settlers found to their sorrow; but they have been gradually relieved in this respect, as the road has been improved and fresh enterprise been imported into the van and dray business. A further improvement in both respects is announced in this day's paper. A new van is building, and when that is completed the Drury line will run daily: meanwhile there is a considerable reduction in the charges both for goods and passenger traffic. A van to Waiuku three times a week, commencing next month, will be a boon to the settlers in that district.

NEW ZEALANDER.

NEW COMERS – AND WHAT CAN BE DONE FOR THEM.

To the Editor of the New-Zealander.

MR. EDITOR, – Without being any approach to a croaker as to the ultimate result of the very large influx of population which is coming upon us, there is of course reason to suppose that there may be in the first instance considerable distress, as there is likely to be from any great and sudden change; at the same time fear preponderates over reason in all such cases, particularly if fanned by bad men, who prophesy, wish for, and then foster, discontent and misery, and simply from bad political motives. But it undoubtedly behoves all sincere well-wishers to the colony, instead of grieving over what may be, to use their best endeavour to ameliorate, as much as in them lies, any distress which might arise from this large and sudden addition to our population, and every one should give out in some way any idea which may suggest itself to him for the mutual good of our newcomers and the colony; although such ideas may at times be crude and perhaps difficult to work out. Now as I am far away in the bush, and not able therefore to converse with my fellow colonists on this point, I take the liberty, with your permission, of using the press, to give out a few rough notions, worthless as they may be.

Well then, sir, an ample supply of food, and at as cheap a rate as possible, will be the first desideratum; and it then behoves us to see what crops may still be put in. Some producers are delighting themselves with the expected high prices of provisions, but there is little good in this for our new friends, who are at present only consumers. How then could they most readily do some good for themselves? Potatoes seem the only article of food which there is now time to plant, and it would be well for every new-comer who can, to direct his attention to supplying himself with a good store of that most useful article of food (although Cobbet did call it the curse of Ireland). I should think there are few landed proprietors who would not lend one, two, or three acres of land for spade husbandry in cropping with potatoes, supplying the seed and allowing half the crop for their labour in attending to it. Thus many a poor man who might only be able to get one or two days' labour in the week, would after a time find himself possessed of a few tons of potatoes. I would gladly lend land and supply seed to any who would thus like to cultivate; but mine is too far away to be of much use in this way; but doubtless many nearer farmers would do the same, as the well turning up of the soil with the spade would be so much benefit to the land.

Then again I am convinced that the manufacture of rough strong farm gates, might be profitably carried on to a considerable extent, if sold at moderate prices, and assist to do away with those abominations – slip rails. Cheap hurdles would also form another article, in which many new-comers might find employment – and many parties I think in various neighbourhoods would let them go into their bush for such purpose.

Thus far I have spoken of labouring men, who, after all, are by far the easiest class to help themselves. But young gentlemen, clerks, shopmen, &c., are decidedly the most difficult of all classes; for although there are amongst them some, and I hope many, who, possessing common sense and vigorous energy, will readily set to work at a new occupation, whatever it may be, there are also many who are perfectly useless, and absolutely not worth their food for labouring purposes. What are these to do, and what can be suggested for them? for really I know not, and only hope there are few such.

I would recommend any gang of labourers, or men willing to labour, to offer to dig land, and plant potatoes by the acre. I should say it would be well worth two or three times the price of ploughing to dig the land for many purposes.

I have simply thrown out but a few hints, and should be delighted, if to any one of our new friends they can be made of the least use.

Yours faithfully,
OLD PRACTICAL.

A VOICE FROM MANGAWAI.

To the Editor of the New-Zealander.

SIR, – "Where are the new-comers?" "Where do they get to?" "And what are they to do?" are questions which I have heard repeatedly put, with too often very damaging rejoinders given by certain parties, both as to the immigrants themselves and the Government that "induced" them to come out.

Now, I will not argue on the abstract question, whether the system of free grants of land is good or bad, politically; but this much is certain – and demonstrated – that a great number of the new-comers have gone to their land so acquired; that very many of them will succeed in turning the wilderness into green pastures, and so produce food for man and beast realising for themselves, in time, comfort, plenty, and independence; thereby not only attaining their main object of

securing a home without paying crushing taxes, and rendering the occupation of the several outlying districts much easier to those who may still follow – and adding to the general wealth of the Province.

It is not the bare possession of so many acres of land, whether good or bad, that will keep the Province of Auckland in her position, – that is, the first in New Zealand, – but energetic men and women who will be content to go into and endure the bush for a season. Very soon they will not exchange their country life for any other. They will thus spread the influence and effects of their labours and lives over whole districts, and lay the foundation of healthy and intelligent society worthy of the land they came from – society that will last when they themselves are gone. These are the settlers who make a colony.

But it is incumbent on the Government to assist the newcomers as much as possible. In the first place, let the actual settler have good land; let the poor land remain in blocks, not going to the expense of surveying it in small pieces: then there will be more money left for the making of bridges and roads. There ought to be a passable road for bullocks into every block: this would facilitate the occupation of the country much; and, where at all practicable, there should be a branch – post or postal communication by some means – only let it be regular, and it would confer an inestimable boon upon the residents of the bush.

The majority of the new-comers are away to the various ports of the North, or preparing to go. There are several in the Mangawai and Te-Ikaranganui blocks – where they have for the most part excellent land, and, moreover, they are satisfied with it. But, then, one of the greatest drawbacks is the want of a Post to that place: a trifling expense would suffice to extend the Matakana mail "through" as far as Waipu or Wangarei, and such an arrangement would include all the settlements on that portion of the N. E. coast. The wants of the country would then be better known; also its resources; and the few would become many – difficulties would vanish before the energy of Anglo-Saxons; and instead of a few settlers ever beseeching Government to help them, the settlers would help the Government, not only to make but keep roads, bridges, and every other thing in order.

There is plenty of land, and good land, if it is looked for. If a man select his land without looking over it, he cannot be pitied if he gets a poor lot. Let Government aid in filling the country as fast as they have good land in their possession, with means to bridge, &c. to enable persons to settle, and there is no fear as to the result. I think the Government

which accomplishes this great work will deserve well of the country, and I have no doubt, notwithstanding all your City croakers, that the public, and our new-comers especially, will notice and appreciate for themselves the importance of the work which the present Provincial Government is carrying out.

I am, &c.,
A MANGAWAI SETTLER.

THE COMING POPULATION.

To the Editor of the New Zealander.

SIR, – There is a terrible outcry in certain quarters as to the "distress in Auckland," and the "distress which must of necessity be caused by so large an influx to our population." But is it ever considered that, in nine cases out of ten, parties emigrate because there was distress in England? and thus would be, or are, no worse off, therefore, if they suffer a little temporary distress here, seeing that they have a moral certainty of their permanently settling their condition, and, within a few years, holding an independent position, which, during their lives, they would probably never have attained to at Home.

There is no doubt there may be some distress or perplexity caused by this sudden change; but it is merely distress removed from one country to another, – the country left being over-populated, and the country come to under-populated. Therefore, this is the country in which they must rise, if they are willing to persevere with energy and industry – while in the old country they are likely to go back rather than forward.

I think it so desirable that parties should locate in communities, or, at all events, that a few families should settle in the same district, that I would strongly recommend some measures being adopted to promote this end. If some room were opened in Auckland (and some of our new agents who have lately started could well do this), wherein newly-arrived Emigrants could meet, and there let notices be fixed in the room thus, – "Parties professing to settle in the – – - Block, will meet here on Monday and Wednesday Evenings, &c., &c.;" thus parties might be brought together to talk over their plans. I am convinced that six families who would strive to act well together, would of themselves form a complete groundwork of a valuable district, and greatly enhance the value of the land.

Yours, &c.,
OLD PRACTICAL
"The Bush" 2nd September, 1859.

HOW TO SETTLE.

To the Editor of the New Zealander.

SIR, – The suggestion of "Old Practical," in your last, that parties should make arrangements to locate in communities (and if I remember rightly, suggested by "Uncle John," in one of his letters) I had an idea of, when I advertised a Registry for "Land Grants" in June last.

I now beg to intimate that I am prepared to enter fully into any suggestions made in furtherance of such an object, and to devote my inner office here, as a room in which immigrants could meet and consult each other; and none but registered order-holders to be admitted.

I will be most happy to receive any suggestion from "Old Practical," or any one else, being quite a "New Practical myself."

I have, &c.,
GEO. R. LAURENCE,
September 8th, 1859. Wyndham-street.

IMMIGRANTS' OFFICE,

ROUT'S BUILDINGS, HIGH STREET.

This Office has been opened for the purpose of assisting Immigrants to settle in the Colony, – of becoming a medium of communication between the employer and the workman – and enabling Settlers in distant parts of the Province to conduct their business in Auckland without the necessity of personal attendance.

For a small subscription the Immigrant will receive information and advice upon all subjects upon which he requires it. He will be assisted in the selection of his land, and in his communication with the Government offices. And to those who require situations, the best means of obtaining them will be pointed out.

Settlers at a distance, both subscribers and others, will, upon application, have such workmen as they require sent out to them. Provisions and other articles purchased and forwarded at a commission of five per cent.; and all communications with the Government attended, smaller matters gratuitously – larger ones at a charge according to circumstances.

A Public Room will be open for the use of subscribers, where shipmasters and acquaintances can meet, and make arrangements for their mutual advantage; and where all general information interesting to New-comers will be daily supplied.

All further particulars can be obtained at the office, upon application to

HENRY SMYTHIES.
Secretary to the Ottahuhu Agricultural Association.

NEW-COMERS & THEIR SETTLEMENT – CAN OLD SETTLERS HELP THEM?

To the Editor of the New Zealander.

SIR, – When the New-comers ask the question – "How are we to select and settle upon our land?" it may be supposed they are not a little confused and bewildered by the various and often conflicting replies they receive.

They hardly know the difference between the volcanic, the semi-volcanic, and the clay soils. They do not know the relative merits of the red, blacky brown, or grey soils. Nor can they understand the advantages peculiar to each.

Again, they are puzzled by what is said about fern-lands and bush-lands. One tells them to select the fern and volcanic – another advises the land covered with very high fern, no matter whether the soil be clay or volcanic; whilst a third tells them not to have fern-land at all, but to secure 40 acres of bush.

Supposing the New-comer, by dint of many questions and much groping about for stray scraps of information, to have at length made up his mind what sort of land he would prefer, the question arises – "How to get to see it? and what the expense of doing so?" The isolated position of many of the blocks of land open for selection, together with their native names, and the difficulty of ascertaining the proper route to them, are sufficiently wearisome to a stranger who knows no one. Simple as it may appear to an old resident, it is no such easy matter for a new-comer to find his way to such blocks as "Ika-a-ranganui," or to know on which "Wairoa" river a particular piece of land may happen to be.

Let him have fought his way through all this, and having seen his land and selected it – then comes the question, "How to settle upon it?"

He looks at his 40 acres of bush, and is puzzled how to get into it, much less clear it. The dense mass of vegetation, varying from a rimu-tree, six feet through, to a supple-jack no thicker than his little finger, with all sizes between, almost alarms him. If he tries to clear it, with no more knowledge of such work than he acquired in England, it might cost him £10 an acre, if he reckons his labour at current day-wages, and yet it is a fact that large quantities of bush have this season been "fallen" by men used to the work at 45s. the acre, every thing cut, lopping included.

He wonders what he shall do for a house. He is advised to take a tent, or a framed house from town – if the latter, at a cost of£12 or £14, exclusive of carriage, to nobody knows where, at an expense of nobody knows what. Why, a "bush-man" would run up a "settler's first home" at a tithe of the expense. He knows that either raupo, ti-tree, tree-ferns, nikau-palms, bark, or slabs, are to be found everywhere, and in double-quick time – his trained and ready hand runs up his hut – "shanty," or whatever else you like to call it. Probably he would prefer a framed house, and, when he has more money and more time, he will have one, but meanwhile the other does very well.

"When to fall his bush? When to burn off? What to sow first, grass-seed or wheat? What to fence or leave unfenced? What cattle to begin with, bullocks for ploughing, or cows and pigs for milk and pork?" These and many other questions are sore puzzles to the new comer.

Now, many of the difficulties I have referred to have been encountered and overcome by many of the earlier settlers. In the midst of much toil and hardship, through a variety of conflicting and confusing theories, there are some amongst us who have worked out the problem for themselves to a satisfactory result.

These instances are, however, to be found in connection with such a variety of soils and circumstances, that as yet, and in their present form, they are not of much practical use to new comers.

This experience, so invaluable, has not yet worn out for itself a plain and beaten track. It must be collected, stereotyped, utilized in some plain and practical form, so that any man of industry can set to work at once.

Until this is done, we shall see labour uselessly expended, and the same mistakes made, which have hitherto done so much to retard the settlement and cultivation of this Province.

Why should the new comers have to fight through the difficulties the early settlers contended with? Why not, as far as possible, put them in possession of our knowledge, and let them begin with the experience we have already gained, instead of each one having to work it out for himself?

I have endeavoured to enumerate some of the "lions in the way" of the new comers. To the old settlers they have become "chained lions!" Ought we not to endeavour to render them so to our new friends?

To assist in doing so, I would suggest, that at the foot of every announcement of new blocks being open for selection, the Government should give a few lines explanatory of the general features of such block – say, whether fern, or bush, or clay, or volcanic soils, adding a few simple instructions as to the readiest way of getting to it, – naming boats, or other means available for reaching it, naming also some well-known block, inn, river, or harbour, nearest to it. If, in addition, the names of one or two well-known settlers near each block could be given, and with whom tracings of the block might be deposited, who would be willing to point out the lands and give such other information to new settlers, as would facilitate their location, I think all parties would be benefited.

With regard to the questions. –

1. How to select the land?

2. How to settle upon it?

I would suggest that a small pamphlet be written, embodying reliable information on the points to which I have alluded, together with estimates of the cost of the articles absolutely required for the first six months' settlement on a 40 acre section; and of how much, or rather how little capital might be made to do, with such other hints as a man who has gone through the same thing would well know how to touch upon.

I think, sir, if a shilling pamphlet of this nature, with its statements well authenticated, could be prepared, much valuable information would become immediately available to new comers, and a great deal of useless suffering and unrequited labour could be prevented.

The Land Regulations which are bringing those people here may be good, or they may be bad. That is not the question. The question for our consideration is, the probability that within six months. 5,000 souls will be added to the European population of this province.

Under any circumstances, so large and sudden an addition to a population of 20,000 would involve considerable difficulty. But if we reflect that the coming thousands are mostly without colonial experience, the difficulty becomes so much the greater. The Government is bound to provide land for them. It must keep the surveys well in advance of all probable demands. Land must be ready for all comers. If not, woe be to the Government.

We must not, however, say that the people have no responsibility.

In the present position of this hitherto feeble and insignificant colony, so large an addition to our population will be either a great blessing or a great curse. Which of the two will depend much on ourselves.

If we stand idly by, and let the whole matter drift as it will, without lending a hand to help or a word to encourage, we must be prepared to expect an amount of suffering, which may well be considered alarming. Then, indeed, the progress of the Province of Auckland, and the interests of every man in it, will suffer a blow from which we shall not easily recover.

This matter has ceased to be a party question. It will not do for any of us to say, "These Land Regulations are not our work, and we will not be responsible for the result." The time for such a protest has gone by. For weal or woe, we are – every man of us – committed to the consequences. There is no escaping them.

The tide of immigration has set in with no measured flow; and if, with firm and steady hand, it be taken "at the flood," will "lead on to fortune: –

Omitted, all the voyage of our life
Is bound in shallows, and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat;
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures."

Interest and duty alike demand that we be ready and willing towards the emergency. That degenerate Roman who could fiddle whilst Rome was burning, ought to have no imitators amongst us. Nelson, when he gave the signal, "England expects every man to do his duty," struck a better chord, a chord to which the heart of every true Briton loyally vibrates all the world over.

At this crisis our countrymen expect us to do our duty. They have a right to expect it. Let them not be disappointed.

Yours, &c., J. C. FIRTH.
Auckland, Sept. 6th, 1859.

FORTY ACRES OF HEAVY BUSH – WHAT USE ARE THEY?

To the Editor of the New Zealander.

What can a man do with forty acres of heavy bush? He can, in five years, almost by his own labour, become the owner of forty acres of excellent grass land – by no means a discouraging prospect.

His first object on arriving upon his ground will be the erection of a suitable house. This, with the timber all around him, is by no means a formidable affair – its size will, of course, be suited to the requirements of his family – its materials to his own judgment or peculiar fancy.

Slabs split from the kauri, totara, rimu, or kahikatea – or palings from the first two – will in either case be the most suitable and most expeditious; let him shingle his roof, avoiding the use of either nikau or grass: time is money, and he will find that to split his own shingles and put them on himself, will be after all a quicker method than using either grass or nikau – certainly a more durable, a neater, and more weather-proof roof. If single-handed, he will for the first month require the assistance of another man in cross-cutting the logs for slabs or shingles, and in putting up the building, The doors and sashes (which he can buy ready-made in Auckland) and nails, will be the only money outlay in the erection of his house.

Allowing then a month for the completion of a moderate-sized house, say, 20 by 24, his next step is the immediate removal of his family from the expensive residence in

Auckland to the scene of their future operations. It is a settled fact, that, leaving aside the largest trees, say all three feet and over three feet through, that a man can fall one acre of hush in a week; and as we give the whole of the five years for the reclaimation of forty acres, and we shall only suppose ten acres to be cleared every year, the clearing these ten acres would take them as many weeks; but making allowances for the want of experience, &c. in a new hand, let us say for the first year fifteen weeks, or even four months.

Now, supposing him to comence on his farm at this present time, January 1st, taking one month for the house and four for the felling ten acres of bush, would bring him to the 1st of June. And then comes his next step – the formation of a good garden. It was quite right for him (as he will see bye-and-bye) to make this secondary to the clearing – for, in fact, it is the very first acre which he cleared which must constitute this garden, for by this time, that will of course be in the fittest condition for burning. He will then, in February, when he commences clearing, begin in such a place as he deems most suited for a garden – a northern aspect is best – a gentle slope better than flat ground; and between this acre and the remaining nine he will be careful to leave a strip of uncut bush, of not less than ten yards in depth, lest when he burns off the acre the fire becomes communicated to the other nine, which would be utter ruin to it. Some prefer a garden round the house, others at some little distance, otherwise the poultry are obliged to be kept away from the house-gardens and poultry being "opposite principles." If our settler is of the former opinion, it would be better to clear one acre at the very first before building his house, as every month gained before burning off, the easier, the cleaner, and the more complete the work, at the same time lopping off the branches of all the trees and cutting the trunks into lengths convenient for rolling, by the aid of levers, into twos and threes, where they will burn one another out, and to which the smaller pieces left after the running fire may be carried and consumed.

He must take the greatest possible care that the fire does not lay hold of the remaining nine acres, which will not be burned until the following March or April, for his whole success depends oti keeping all fire from the fallen timber, until properly and sufficiently dried.

Burning this acre (which will be double the trouble it would have been had it been cut down twelve months sooner) may probably take him a fortnight or three weeks. In cross-cutting the heavy logs, if he cannot afford to hire labour, or if his family is too young to assist him, then it follows that he has a young wife – if one of the working-classes, she will

readily give him a hand at the cross-cut for a few hours in a day – if really a lady, she will be equally willing. And now that the rubbish is all burnt off, this acre he must commence preparing, say half of it, for the immediate growth of vegetables for the house; nor need he fear but that his crops of potatoes, peas, pumkins, cabbages, in fact all garden produce, will be remunerative the very first year. I have seen the very finest vegetables grown in bush land just burnt and dug up. This he will find the most tedious part of the whole work, breaking up the ground with a heavy adze and cutting out the roots as he goes on, which traverse the surface of the soil in every direction. The stumps of course he will not attempt to meddle with – they will remain for years as monuments of his industry. He will find that he can manage to break up the half of the garden in about a month, which brings him to about the end of July, and allows him another month to fence the garden in before he need commence sowing his vegetables. October even will be early enough for potatoes, though I would recommend September as the best month in the year for a general crop.

If he has no neighbours very close, it is likely that it might be profitable for him to fence in his garden, pig and chicken proof (a paling fence is the best, and easily come at in the bush); and as he will have no crops of his own for two years, to purchase two or more cows, a sow, a goat or two, and some poultry at once, giving them the open run of forest outside. Goats will thrive well in the bush, breed fast, and be a very useful substitute for what he cannot get – mutton – provided always they can be kept from annoying himself or neighbours.

"What!" I hear him exclaim, "no crop for two years?" – No, sir, no crop for two years, or you will fall into the common error of too many bush cultivators; for if you attempt to burn off your fallen timber before it is thoroughly dried, you will find that the fire will not properly consume it, but destroy so much of the lighter wood only as will render a second attempt to burn off, if not useless, at least excessively laborious: whereas if the wood is left till well rid of the sap, and thoroughly dry, the fire will clear all before it. Take a walk round most of the clearings in any bush district and see their two or three acre patches that have been burnt too soon but half cleared, and that with double labour – the crop only half what it should have been: – many have given in, in despair, and turned to the occupation of splitting shingles, and sawing their timber for the market, while the land on which they expended so much labour is allowed to relapse into a wild state.

Neither are you of the bush worse off than we are of the fern:

we must wait two years for a crop: certainly we can plough up the ground, say in September, and sow it the next May or July with oats or wheat, as we think best – but what is the result? The crop so obtained will not pay for the expense of seed, reaping and threshing; whereas the same land, if cropped for the first time the year following, would allow a profit on these expenses and the ploughing too. Of what use then is it to crop, if for every twenty shillings worth of produce you must expend thirty? And yet we are told that this is one of the finest agricultural countries in the world! – And so it is; but its soil in most instances possesses this one peculiarity – that overcome, the soil and climate of New Zealand may compete with any in the world.

But not to digress: when the bush-settler has sown the half of his garden, already broken up (the largest portion I should advise with potatoes), he may commence breaking in the other half, which he may plant with maize or Indian corn and pumkins. Time enough if he plant these in November. This done, he must lop and log the nine acres already fallen, and then he can commence falling another ten acres for the next year's work. As a rule, however, the timber should be logged and lopped while green, cutting up more easily when in that state. Nor let him forget to leave a strip of from ten to twenty yards deep of uncut bush between the first and second ten acres, as the first clearing will be burnt off a year before the second ten. Thus every year after the first he will have ten acres ready for the fire. His fencing, which he may procure by splitting the larger logs into posts and rails, he will have all ready, so as to be put up as soon as the piece of ground is burnt off.

The burning off should be driven as late in the season as it is safe to do so – that there may intervene as little time as possible between the burning and sowing, for, otherwise, the weeds, which immediately commence growing, gain the start of the grain, and retain the mastery, the crop is lost, and the land is in a worse plight than before it was cleared, as it must then be broken up by hand for the next crop, a more laborious and costly undertaking than the clearing and burning. I think March a good time for burning off – the wheat may be sown in April: this is early for wheat, but it is unsafe to leave the operation of burning later in the season than the end of March. Supposing then the timber to have been fallen – as we have laid out for our settler – in the present February, March, and April of 1860 (another year he will be forwarder with his work and commence two months earlier), in March, 1861, he commences burning off. Some time in the next month (April) he sows the whole of it with winter wheat broad cast over the ashes,

using no means whatever to cover the seed; and early in the spring sows at the rate of two bushels of mixed grass seed, and eight pounds of clover to the acre over the young wheat – thus every year his farm will produce him ten acres of good wheat, and a fresh ten acres of meadow for the use of his cattle. Oats or barley, I know, are better crops to sow grass with than wheat – but he cannot do it, for the timber must be burnt off in the autumn, and if the ground were not sown till spring, the crop would be choked with weeds. Again, he must sow grass the first year, for to sow a second crop on the same ground would entail the necessity of breaking it up by hand – a piece of madness which would ruin him.

Now if the Bush cultivator pursue any other system, what is the result? instead of quickly getting his farm into good pasture, he remains half his life struggling for a living on a few acres – his first year's clearance – which keep him ever after too busy to take another paddock in hand, and he thus remains a poor man all his life.

I have seen excellent crops of wheat taken off land simply fallen and burned, better indeed than patches alongside, where the additional trouble had been taken of chipping the wheat in. The grass grows luxuriantly. As for the stumps they may be unsightly, but they do no harm to the land beyond the mere loss of the ground they stand upon. And to remove them would be paying very dear indeed for the extra land so gained. If the settler wishes to save a few of the handsomest trees scattered over his farm, either singly or in clumps, and he ought so to wish, he can do so by leaving at least a quarter of an acre of bush uncut around the tree he wishes to save – the fire will scorch and destroy the outside ones but not reach the centre: these may be afterwards removed at leisure: the same will be the case with the strips left between each year's clearing, part will be destroyed and part saved, and the latter should be allowed to remain for shelter and for ornament.

And now that the uninitiated has before him this rough sketch of how to proceed upon a farm, whether of 40 acres or 400, he can almost as well as a more experienced person estimate the necessary outlay and probable returns. He should at once possess himself of at least two milch cows (they will find plenty to eat in the wild bush, though he may stare when told so), according to circumstances, pigs, poultry, and goats – he must have the means of maintaining himself and family for at least two years, unless his land is so situated that his timber can be made available at once as a source of income. His seed the first year, for nine acres of wheat and grass, will not cost less than £14 or

£15, and then there are the many incidental expenses of a family, of which as a single man, I neither know nor wish to know anything. After the second year he will have the produce of ten acres of wheat, perhaps some 150 bushels or thereabout, and his cows, as soon as he has some grass for them, will begin to return some profit in dairy produce. The sooner too, that he commences planting well worked fruit trees of the best sorts (which he can do the first autumn or winter in his garden), the sooner will another available, although much neglected source of income turn in. He can always, after the second year, save his own grass seed by reaping a sufficient quantity of grass for that purpose, which will be a saving of some ten pounds for grass seed every year. Every succeeding year, too, his dairy produce will increase. Thus after the second his garden, orchard, wheat, and dairy produce will afford him a comfortable living; the income from his dairy and orchard increasing every succeeding year, till at the end of the fifth he will receive the title to a farm worth in all probability from £400 to £600.

BAY OF ISLANDS.

To the Editor of the New Zealander.

SIR, – I have extended my travels as far as the valley of the Waima – which empties itself into the Hokianga. I am delighted with the whole of the country between it and the Kiri Kiri: it only requires to be known. A number of small farms might be laid off by the Government within a short distance of the township, which would become the centre of operations – embracing the districts of Kawakawa, Waimate, the Lake, and the districts of Tarairi and Wangaroi, all within about 10 miles.

The survey of the township is going on rapidly; the buildings are likely to be very substantial – as there is no end to the scoria and limestone on the ground, the principal streets are a chain wide leading to the waters' side – but a road connecting the Township with the Suburban and Country districts is very much needed; the distance not more than a mile and a half or two miles; if these were at once completed, the town lots would sell for something like 50 per cent, more than they would without it.

My former conjecture is I believe right – as I have been told that the whole of the seven Claimants have cordially seconded the views of the Government – by offering the whole

of their unoccupied ground adjoining the township – at the Government rate of compensation – each one making a small reserve – to this should be added the lands of the Church Mission at Waimate and Kiri Kiri, in particular. If the road I speak of is opened at once, and some of the best farms ready for selection, the sale of the first Town Lots will in all probability fully realize the expectations of the Government.

A SUBSCRIBER.

NOTES ABOUT THE NOVA SCOTIANS AT WAIPU.

To the Editor of the New-Zealander.

SIR, – Much has been said about the present influx of people to Auckland, and Sir, it is a matter of regret, there are so many who promulgate their childish fears and dark forebodings respecting its result. What does a young sparely-settled colony require but additional population? What has caused the United States' rapid progress in prosperity, or the Canadians', or our sister colony Australia's, but the tide of immigration which has flown to their shores? yet some of these countries do not hold forth as many advantages to the Immigrants as New Zealand does.

I had occasion to hurriedly visit the chief Nova Scotian Settlement, Wangarei and Waipu; and conceiving that some who have lately arrived in Auckland, would take an interest in the affairs of those who only a few years ago settled on these lands, I shall endeavour to bring before them what came under my own inspection.

I do this mainly to allay the ungrounded fears of those who have recently come amongst us, and who find many Job's comforters among certain old hands in Auckland, if they have found little else as yet. I have myself seen strangers arrive in other colonies, and know well the difficulties they had to encounter, both in respect to the labour they had to undergo, and the rigorous climate they had to contend with. Being thus enabled to form a just estimate of the relative advantages and disadvantages of this country and America, I conceive it no more than my duty to assure New-Comers here, however desponding they may now be, that in coming to this country they have made a wise selection.

About 3 p.m., off Auckland Pier, the sails of the Clyde were hoisted to a wind that brought us to Wangarei Heads the following morning at day-break. The general run of the land upon the N.E. is rather broken. The harbour is a good one, although a sand-bar runs out some distance from the

S.W. side. Entering it, only two or three houses are seen scattered along its shore; the land rising to a considerable height behind. The river Wangarei, running E. and W., here empties itself into the sea. As yet no wharf exists, so, landing upon the beach with a Highlander, we directed our steps to the Ferryman's house, as we were anxious to proceed immediately to Waipu. A strong wind not abating we remained there awhile, and after partaking of his hospitality, he accompanied us along the shore in search of an assistant oarsman. In a walk of about half a mile, we passed several farm houses which presented an air of comfort, all the farms showing signs of improvement. The land on the shore is hilly, and of fern description, but to appearance possessing a good quality. The river as far as the eye can range is well settled. The greater number of the farmers about this part commenced with small means and are now comparatively in comfortable circumstances. Fish are numerous in proximity to the shore, and oysters abound on rocks by the banks. The course to Waipu is to follow along the sandy beach to the South. The land we passed in this part is by no means good.

A walk of several miles brought us to the Ruakaka river, where we were obliged to remain till midnight to wait for low water to enable us to ford it. Continuing our walk six or seven miles, we were forced to encamp till day-break, as we were not able to find the road leading from the beach. Ascending an eminence at day-light, we observed several snug houses of the Waipu settlers about a mile inland. The land is of the same description here as along the coast, but it materially improves as you proceed inwards. It is fern land of a level nature, and the broken ranges extend along the back ground. The Waipu river and its several branches run from the most part E. and W. fertilizing the soil and affording convenient water carriage to the settlers. This settlement is chiefly formed of the followers of the Rev. Mr. M'Leod, who accompanied him from America, and settled there some five or six years ago. Mr. M'Leod is an elderly gentleman, possessing a mind of clear perception and great energy, and is looked up to by his people as a patriarch was in the olden time. They have their Church, which also serves for the purpose of a School-house.

I breakfasted at the house of a Mr. M'Lean, and I am certain his table is not surpassed by many of the hotels in Auckland. All are exceeding hospitable, and their housekeepers may be well proud of their cheer. I did not expect to find the farmers in such comfortable circumstances, and I know, had they been located for the same period in any of the British North American Colonies, they would not have been so well to do as fortunately they are. They seem to be satisfied with

the yield of their farms and cattle, and that is a favourable point indeed. I must say I heard less discontentment there than in Auckland. Many cases could be quoted of persons settling there with a mere nothing, while they can now count their goodly number of cattle, and entertain a stranger in a comfortable house.

The crop they chiefly cultivate is wheat, which they are obliged to convey to Auckland to be ground to flour, as they have no grist mill of their own as yet.

I was pleased to observe they had some very nice cattle, which are in good condition.

I asked several of the older farmers if they regretted coming to New Zealand? and they invariably replied in the negative, and that the winters here are both more profitable and pleasant than in North America.

If the Nova Scotians continue advancing as they have hitherto done, they will in a short time prove that New Zealand is an advantageous field for immigration.

PRINCE EDWARD ISLANDER.

RAILWAYS.

To the Editor of the New Zealander.

SIR, – In my former communication I said nothing of the great probable consumption for the Drury Coal by the opening up of the Panama route; nor have I calculated upon its consumption in the manufacture not only of gas, bricks, and salt for home consumption and export, but of articles too numerous to detail in a mere glance at the subject, the beautiful freestone quarries of Mr. Ligar and the limestone quarries of Messrs. Smith and Cooper, would also give their quota of traffic to a railway; and Auckland would then have its freestone footpaths, and reap the benefit of cheaper and more substantial buildings. A Railway from Auckland to the Waikato, would open up a short and speedy route to Ahuriri on the one side, and New Plymouth on the other, by means of flat-bottomed steamers on the Waikato, which is navigable for such class of boats for about eighty miles. Those two Provinces could be reached in little more than a day by making a road from each to the head of the navigation of the Waikato; this would tend to develope the coal of that district, and thus check monopoly. But if a Railway could only be laid down from Auckland to Drury, it would be the commencement of the opening of a channel through which the present dormant wealth of the country would flow, and unlike a comet, would leave a good substantial trail behind, to enrich the producer, the share-

holder, and the country at large. A Railway from Auckland to Drury would only give one mile to 2000 of the present population, whilst go-ahead America has one for every 1000 and upwards of 3000 miles of canals – her commerce exceeding that of every other nation except that of Great Britain. But supposing such a line of Railway to he commenced at once, it would take at least two years to complete and get it into working order; and in that time the increase of population – if it continues at the present ratio – would very much alter the foregoing figures, and the calculation would be nearer one mile of railway for every 3500 of inhabitants. The figures, in accordance with my previous communication, would stand nearly as follows: –

CAPITAL.

Cost of forming and laying down single line, with proper sideways and stations

£150,000

Cost of rolling stock and 4 Engines

50,000

Contingencies

30,000

Interest for half time of construction

20,000

£253,000

INCOME.

From Passenger traffic

£30,000

From Coal at 7s. 6d. per ton

15,000

From Wheat, Potatoes, Flax, and Wool

3,000

From one-fifth of the imports of £120,000 worth of merchandize

4,000

From Miscellaneous

1,500

46,500

Deduct for working expenses 50 per cent.

23,250

£23,250

Thus, leaving a balance sufficient to declare a dividend of 8 per cent, on capital, and a small amount for reserve for laying down another line, and that in the face of sure and certain increase of traffic as the country becomes settled and cultivated. But even supposing the worst – supposing that only half the amount of income is realised as above, at first, although in every instance railways have made their own traffic (just as the four-horse mail-vans between Auckland and Drury are now doing), and the receipts have invariably far exceeded the calculations of the projectors of such undertakings; is there not a sufficient inducement for a beginning to be made? For such a work is not to be done in a day. We have no Ordnance Maps of the country, as they have in England. (It is a pity that this country was not mapped by the Sappers and

Miners years ago; this would have much facilitated its settlement, and lessened the labours of obtaining the best and most practical line for a trunk line of railway.) Still, something should be done in the matter at once, before the land through which a line may run, becomes fenced and cultivated or greatly enhanced in value; and it would much facilitate the projection of a railway if the owners of land meet the promoters in a liberal spirit – in a spirit becoming the age of great undertakings, and fractional profits, in which tens of thousands are invested, and tens of thousands are set afloat with the prospect of being recovered in farthings and fractions of farthings. Never was there a greater faith existing in the force of numbers and the accumulative results of "small profits and quick returns," a faith everywhere discernible in all those departments of commerce which have to do with the hidden resources of a country, and the necessaries and requisites of every-day life; but in none is it more patent than in that of girdling the world with the means of dashing thoughts to thousands of miles with lightning velocity, or piercing tunnels through the hearts of the most obdurate mountains, and spanning the vast prairies of the world with iron roads on which speed along the leviathan engines of commerce and civilization.

It is time, too – high time – that our clay should be made into brown ware, our fine clay into fire-bricks, our coal into gas, tar, or camphine, our iron ore smelted, our dye-woods exported. (Tanaka bark was highly extolled in the Great Exhibition as a valuable dye), – our ochreous earths made into paint, old rags collected, bones ground for manure, and manure made for agriculturists; and what would more facilitate this than a cheap and expeditious mode of transmit? It is time, too, that Auckland capitalists should look for other investments, which would be found quite as profitable and certain, than that of land speculating; for what avails it that we have fertile soil, an equable climate, a genial atmosphere, minerals beneath our feet, vast forests of valuable timber, rivers and harbours not to be excelled, abounding in fish only waiting to be tickled, and labourers flocking to our shores; what avail all these things unless we use the means which science and mechanical art have discovered, to bring them to the world's great mart. Seeing there will be no sacrifice, I call upon the capitalists of Auckland to come forward and fulfil their high mission, and keep Auckland up to the level of her high position, remembering that no man or nation can become or continue great without acting greatly.

Yours, &c. &c.,
LOCOMOTIVE.
Coalbrook, 13th October, 1859.

AN "UNFORTUNATE" FORTY-ACRE MAN.

To the Editor of the New Zealander.

SIR, – I am one of the 40-acre new-comers, settled upon the Maunga Karamea Block about 70 miles north of Auckland, and perhaps the experience of one of this class extending over a period of twelve months may not be uninteresting to you.

Like most of us, when we first arrive I was anxious to get possession of some of the best land and nothing but the best, or at all events such as was considered so, and accordingly made my selection in a block then high in favour, and for every lot of which there were from twenty to thirty competitors, and the consequence was I got none. Made wiser by this experiment, I determined to lose no further time in endeavouring to obtain what had the reputation of being best land only, and fancying that land quite as good might be found which had no reputation at all, I made my selection successfully in the next block which was brought to sale, and have had no reason whatever to be dissatisfied. When I arrived upon my land, now scarcely twelve months back, there was not a single white man to be found within a distance of five miles of me, but the change that has taken place in this short time is scarcely credible, and has been a matter of the greatest astonishment to me. Other settlers have arrived in great numbers, and I am now surrounded by a very considerable and still increasing number of excellent neighbours; from my own land I can get a view of five romantic looking dwelling houses, giving life and picturesque effect to the landscape, while nearly thirty families whose united numbers amount to nearly, if not quite a hundred souls are located within a circle of two or three miles of me. During the whole time I have been here I have never heard any settler complain either of his land or his lot, and believe that every one is perfectly satisfied with both. New and good roads are springing up around us, where there were none before. I have no longer occasion to go half a day's journey for my supplies, as there is an excellent store within easy distance; we have also our own Post Office, through which this letter will reach you, and society quite as agreeable as is to be found in Auckland itself.

As to the land, the general character of the whole block is of first rate quality, but as it consists of many thousand acres, it of course varies; it is generally undulating, but amongst it are some fine low levels, and there is scarcely any of it that will not repay cultivation. I was successful in growing vegetables of every description the first year, potatoes enough for my consumption; cabbages, pumkins, melons, cucumbers, &c. in abundance, as also Indian corn:

apple-melons I have grown, weighing twenty-five pounds each; there is abundant keep for our cattle, and cows and horses selected with judgment, all thrive well. I have several acres cleared ready for cropping next year, grass seed sown for the commencement of a paddock, a substantial and dry roof over my head, and next year I have no doubt my land will be entirely self-supporting, that is, that it will grow sufficient for all my requirements in the way of food of every description for myself and animals, a prospect with which I am, and think I ought to be, perfectly satisfied.

Such are some of the results of twelve months' experience in the Bush, and if you think it will serve any useful purpose you are quite at liberty to publish it.

I am, Sir, yours, &c.,
H. G. JAMES.
Maunga Karamea, 11th May, 1860.

SMALL HOLDINGS.

From the New Zealander, March 2, 1861.

There seems to be a general ignorance on the part of new comers of the fact, that cattle not only live, but thrive exceedingly well, upon such feed as they find growing in a natural state on the unimproved lands of the Province. We mention this particularly, laughable as the idea may appear to old settlers, having so frequently heard new-comers express their opinion on the subject. Nay, having known in one instance a most desirable settler return to the Australias, at the same time stating "that he would not have done so had there been any possibility of his at once commencing a small dairy of ten or a dozen cows, until such time as he could have brought his open land into something like payable order." Very many of the fat cattle sold in our markets never had any other than bush feed. The assertion "that they will stray into the bush, and after a short time not be seen again," is contrary to all experience, or at most but some exceptional case. On one point precaution is necessary, that in purchasing cattle for a bush run, the settler procure only those bred in the bush; for to take cattle from grass paddocks, and place them at once upon a totally different feed, would be attended with unfortunate results in more ways than one. The outlay of a considerable portion of a poor man's capital in breeding stock, at the very first, and before he has been tempted to encroach upon it for other purposes, has always been one of the wisest steps, and one to which he has looked back in after years with satisfaction. Where, then, the capital is small, one hundred pounds, or thereabouts (too small to admit of entering into active farming operations),

at least one-third cannot be better expended than in the purchase of milch cows or heifers in calf.

In all these cases the amount of land to be at first cultivated must be necessarily small, as it will all have to be performed by hand labour. Two acres for the first year is as much as he will be able to till, but if he can let him get this ploughed at once. It must afterwards be broken up with the hoe, the fern roots gathered out and burnt, and if at all wet a good underground drain opened, to carry off the surplus water. Drainage on some soils, particularly heavy clays, is most beneficial – nay, absolutely necessary, for a high state of cultivation. Last year we had an opportunity of observing the force of this remark in a field, part of which had been manured but not drained, and part drained but not manured, the remainder had been neither manured nor drained. The whole was sown with autumn wheat and received in other respects exactly the same tillage. That which was neither manured nor drained was a thin crop, the heads were, however, well filled; the manured but undrained portion was visibly superior; but that which was drained but not manured far surpassed the other two, indeed, during almost the whole time of its growth it could be distinctly pointed out from either of them; while along the line of drains where the yellow clay from beneath had been mixed with the upper soil during the operation of draining, the wheat grew in tall dark green ridges, and yielded an extraordinary increase. Drainage, either natural or artificial, is the foundation of all good farming. Any fertilising properties whatever, with which the soil is enabled to recruit itself, must be derived from the atmosphere and the rains. It stands then to reason that the first object must be to allow both these elements to penetrate and freely circulate in the soil, and in no way can this be accomplished but by deep drainage. The first summer after draining, innumerable cracks and crevices in the clay branch forth laterally from the drains, penetrating in every direction throughout the soil; these become partially filled in wet weather by the lighter and more porous soil which is washed into them, and ever afterwards act in wet weather as conductors from all parts of the surface to the main drain, to which they all converge; while in summer they act in an exactly opposite manner, enabling the heavy clay, by the force of capillary attraction, to draw moisture upwards to the roots of the plants. Well then, if his soil require it, by all means let him not neglect to put in one or two underground drains, and these should not, unless the fall hinder it, be of less than three feet in depth. We have already, in another place, entered more fully into the method of constructing these drains.

In selecting his two or three acres for cultivation he will of course endeavour to pitch upon the best part of his farm, and with regard to the house, with so small a capital the most economical plan must be adopted. With the labour of a week or two he can construct a raupo hut, or if raupo is not convenient, one of stakes, ti tree, and nikau. Indeed, we have seen a very comfortable make-shift built by a forty-acre man, a baker by trade, the walls of which were built of dry fern sods and the roof of rushes, in which with his wife and child he both appeared and professed to be very comfortably settled until he should be able to turn himself round and make the means to build a more elegant and commodious one. Any of these substitutes if neatly put together and properly roofed are comfortable enough, and possess the main requisite, that of being wind and weather proof. To a man of small capital it is absolute madness to lock up one unnecessary shilling in so unproductive an investment as a house. False pride leads many a one to his ruin in this respect, and we have seen settlers afterwards bitterly repent that they had not roughed it at first, and laid out the money so wasted in young stock, which would by that time have been both a source of present income and have afterwards afforded them the means of building a house more suitable to their requirements. Nothing too is more likely than after a year or two, when the settler has become more thoroughly acquainted with his location, he will discover some other more convenient site for his house – and he will then be glad that he did not make himself a fixture in the first instance. In the same locality where we saw the turf house mentioned above, we were shown the house of a substantial settler who with his family had inhabited it for the last four years, and was then building a more commodious wooden one. It was constructed entirely, roof and sides, of cutting grass or tui-tui tied on to poles the same way as raupo. Higher up on the same creek, within a stone's throw of a newly built comfortable weather-board cottage – and standing in the midst of some thirty acres of highly cultivated land – was the original paling hut of the proprietors, two young men who with a comparatively small capital had commenced farming three years back. Five pounds had been about the cost of the palings, nails, &c. They had wisely roughed it at first, and are now reaping the advantage of their self-denial, while some of their neighbours who went upon the opposite plan, and with far larger means, are now too crippled to make the same headway. But to return, the two or three acres we would recommend him to securely fence. The nature of this fence must to some extent depend upon circumstances, but a four-railed pig-proof fence, where timber is near at hand, would be quickest and best.

Otherwise a two-railed fence and a ditch. Let him eschew brush fences on the bank of the ditch, they are neither cattle nor pig proof, though nothing can be better if intended only for sheep. Now, as he can only grow a comparatively small amount of produce on a few acres, it becomes a matter of consideration what kind of crops he had better grow. Potatoes should be the main crop, for these reasons – first, because they are, acre for acre, decidedly the most money returning of the farmer's produce; secondly, because a longer time will be at his disposal for preparing the ground for them, as they need not be planted until September, and again because for the first two or three years there is always in new districts a regular demand for them by new arrivals, both for seed and other purposes. One half of the ground should be devoted to the growth of this plant. Half an acre may be sown with wheat, a portion of another half acre with such garden vegetables as may be thought fit, and the remainder of it with oats to cut green for the cattle. Whatever ground remains over the two acres may most profitably be sown with swede turnips. These will be useful for the cattle, will enable him to keep several pigs, and will be the means of forming a heap of manure for the land in the second year.

During the following autumn as many fruit trees as possible of the best sorts should be planted out, at distances of not less than 16 feet from each other. After the potatoes are taken out, the ground may be sown with oats for green food to be cut for the cattle, and again planted with potatoes in the second year. The piece of wheat ground may likewise be sown with potatoes, as likewise the other half acre, and as soon as the second year's crop of potatoes has been dug, grass seed sown upon the two acres. For this the land will require no other preparation than that caused by the digging the potato crop. The ground on which the swedes were grown the first year may have wheat chipped in with the hoe, in June, for the second crop, and come into potatoes the third year. Meanwhile a fresh piece will have been broken up to supply the place of that laid down to grass. Every year the potato land should be laid down in grass. Not only does the grass come best in New Zealand when sown in March, after the potatoes are dug, than after any other crop, but as no extra amount of labour beyond harrowing or raking in the grass seed is required, the working settler will have the more time to devote towards breaking in a fresh piece of ground, while the increased quantity of butter from the use of the grass will materially assist him.

By this time the settler may expect to have become possessed of a pair, or more, of bullocks from his own stock, and will be in a fair way of getting the remainder of his land into

cultivation, and his cattle will be yearly increasing. The turnips grown the first year, and the small potatoes, will keep few pigs, and will, with the consumption of the green feed by the cattle when stockyarded at night, enable him to manure the potato ground for the second year. Both this year and the first, guano or bonedust should be applied to the soil – for the potatoes and turnips 5 cwt. of bonedust per acre sprinkled in the drills along with the sets. To the wheat at least two cwt. of guano per acre sown broadcast before a shower when the young wheat is about three weeks out of the ground. The best time for sowing swede turnips is October. Much after trouble will be saved by sowing these in regular rows at about two and a-half or three feet from each other, thinning the plants out afterwards to a distance of twelve or fifteen inches apart in the drills.

Wherever he is so situated that there would be no fear of annoyance to his neighbours, or where two or three together would agree to work upon the same system of thoroughly fencing in two or three acres for cultivation, and leaving the land outside as a run for their stock-pigs and goats could be profitably kept, the latter anywhere, the former more especially if contiguous to a sea beach or salt water creek. The cost of such an undertaking for a man and his wife would amount in broad figures to something like one hundred and ten pounds. After the first year his cattle and farm will support himself and family, while after the second he will have a team of his own for more extended operations. The outlay will run somewhat as follows: –

£ s. d.

2 cows at £13 each

26 0 0

4 heifers at £4

16 0 0

2 steers at 4

8 0 0

One year's rations

35 0 0

Windows for hut

1 0 0

Tools, cooking utensils, &c.

4 0 0

Seed potatoes, 1 acre, 14 cwt. at 6s.

4 4 0

Seed wheat 3/4 bushel, oats 2 bushels, and turnip seed

1 0 0

5 cwt. bonedust for potatoes

2 10 0

2 1/2 " " for 1/2 acre Swedes

1 5 0

1 cwt. guano for wheat

1 0 0

40 fruit trees at 1s. 6d.

3 0 0

Carriage of goods from Auckland

3 0 0

Pigs, goats, and poultry

5 0 0

Cash retained in hand

5 0 0

£115 19 0

In all new districts he will find opportunities occurring, whereby he may earn a few pounds in the course of the year – though of course if he can proceed without this drain upon his time, the progress upon his own farm will be so much the greater. We are acquainted with the past history of the settlers of many now flourishing districts, and could point to numbers of individuals whose means at starting were less than the above. But with these narrow means they possessed energy and determination, unceasing industry, and a dogged resolution to undergo any hardship rather than lose the objects for which they started, and which they have now attained – perhaps the most independent situation in which a man can be placed, that of farming his own freehold. By the use of artificial manures, and by their use alone, the land can be depended upon to produce a good crop the first and second years, after that time with proper management the manure made upon the farm will decrease this expenditure to some extent.

One great object with new comers is to curtail as quickly as possible the ruinous waste of time and money consequent on a lengthened stay in Auckland. The future carefully planned out, the cost counted, and the step, when taken, entered upon with energy and perseverance he has little to fear, aye, even though it leave him with but a small margin of cash in pocket; no matter, the way he is setting to work will soon rectify that deficiency, and he stands every chance, nay, may consider it as certain, that in a few years he will be comfortably and independently situated upon his own farm, a result cheaply earned by those hardships and inconveniences which all early settlers in a new colony must expect to pass through, and upon which in after years he will look back with the pleasurable feeling that he had the energy and manliness to overcome them.

EXPERIENCE OF A WORKING SETTLER.

To the Editor of the New Zealander.

SIR, – Ex uno discant omnes – What one man has done hundreds of others may do again. Many newly arrived immigrants when they first land, unused to the ways of the country, perhaps experiencing some little difficulty in selecting or getting upon their land, and depressed by the croakings of those who seem to make it their business, instead of affording useful information and assistance, to discourage him as much as possible – give way in despair, and taking ship for Sydney or Melbourne in all probability travel farther and fare worse. When first I landed in Auckland, a little more than three

years ago, I met with exactly the same disheartening accounts which are, with varying effects, used to the present time. I was advised to give up the idea of attempting to farm, and to turn to anything else in preference.

I listened to all, considered that these were at best but empty words, that I had a more reliable source from whence to obtain information, and in the course of a few days during which I was detained in Auckland, I took long walks into the neighbourhood and arrived at conclusions which I have as yet seen no cause to retract. For miles away I saw homesteads which an English farmer might have envied, I listened to the accounts of the privations which early settlers, who had made these farms what they now are, had been compelled to undergo. I found everywhere men in comparative affluence, who ten or twelve years back were literally pennyless, obliged to leave their farms more than once to earn the means to return and improve them; and what was still more to the point – that in those days, these farms which are now almost suburban, were considered out of the way – and the same difficulties and objections which are now urged against blocks of land up the country, were used in reference to these districts, which are now only a pleasant drive from town. I had made up my mind to become a farmer. I knew that the colony of Victoria, from whence I had come, was, on account of the climate, incapable of ever becoming an agricultural country, at least for those productions to which the English farmer is accustomed, and I decided (as I now think wisely) upon making the attempt in New Zealand, trusting to my own energy, and allowing neither one nor the other to turn me aside from my purpose when once settled upon. I was not one of those fortunate individuals whom the Government have presented with free grants, and therefore did not consider myself so well entitled to "look a gift horse in the mouth," and rail at the difficulties which every new settler must look for, and grumble at the absence of a turnpike road to the very edge of my allotment, but contented myself with purchasing some 220 acres for 10s. per acre, at a distance of more than twenty miles from Auckland, to which there was what I considered tolerable access, feeling confident that as the country became located, roads would be opened up and bridges constructed – nor was I wrong in my calculations.

A party with whom I had been connected on the gold-diggings having joined me from Victoria, we entered at once into partnership, and between us, after the first cost of the land had been defrayed, mustered a capital of exactly, £100. Our first step was the erection of a hut, and as it was out of our power to build a good house, and we had not an acre of bush upon the farm we cast about for the best and cheapest

substitute. Six hundred of palings delivered upon the ground cost us £3; the round stuff for the upright posts, rafters, wall plates, &c., we cut in a neighbouring Government bush, and then cost us £1 for cartage, the nails may have cost us another ten shillings, and a few boards for doors, &c., about as much more. This, besides our own labour in putting it up, was the sole expense. The palings for the roof were sawn in half lengths, and split again. The sides were built of a double course of paling nailed upright. We had a wind and weather tight hut of fourteen feet square, which now that we have built a substantial wooden house and taken unto ourselves wives, still serves the purpose of store and wash-house. Our next purchase was that of a bullock, a plough, and then of two unbroken two year old steers. As these would not make a team, it became necessary to look out for one, and accordingly I entered into an arrangement with a neighbouring settler to work, week and week about, for the use of four broken-in bullocks. We had never been used to bullocks, nevertheless we managed to yoke up the two steers, and (I had held the plough for about a fortnight once before) broke them in, and that summer broke up sixteen acres of land. I may mention by way that we commenced operations in November. By the following June we had, with the assistance of a hired man, fenced in seventeen acres, under-drained seven, and cross-ploughed ten of them and sown them with wheat and oats. The exchequer was by this time run low, and it became necessary that one of us must look out for something to do to replenish it, and keep things going. An offer to make bricks turning up, my partner, who, bye the bye, knew no more than the man in the moon about the work, undertook to learn, turned out in less than a week a first rate moulder, and engaged himself at a high rate of wages for the ensuing season. It was well he did so. The first year's crop was not worth the reaping, the wheat turned out at the rate of two bushels to the acre, the oats about four – a small piece of ground of about one sixth of an acre gave, however, about twenty-three hundred weight of potatoes. The next year we were unable to obtain the four bullocks upon the same terms, and having but three, were glad to take advantage of another neighbour being in the same case – three bullocks each, made a team of six, and we broke up another five acres, working week about on either farm, cross-ploughed the newly broken land, and ploughed up the last year's stubbles. Our neighbour now procured three other bullocks of his own, and we were left to our own resources. We then commenced ploughing with a pair of bullocks, the land was light, and we found them more than equal to the work: the whole of the crop

(some seventeen acres) this second year were put in with a single span or yoke of oxen. This year we again attempted to grow wheat and oats, and there was a marked improvement in the crop. One piece of land one and three quarter acres which had been manured from the straw of the preceding year and about three cwt. of guano, gave over £40 worth of potatoes, and another portion manured with guano produced an excellent crop of turnips. From this we concluded that this description of soil, which is naturally a poor one, was even when manured more adapted for the growth of root crop than of cereals; on this supposition our crops this present harvest consist of about three and a half acres of wheat, five acres of potatoes, two of turnips, two of grass, and the remainder (some twelve or fourteen acres) of oats, a portion remaining uncropped, lying fallow, to sweeten for the succeeding year. The soil is a peaty black loam, in many places three, four, and even five feet, overlying a white clay; it requires underdraining, and if cropped the first year, requires manure to carry a crop. Towards the end of the second year we were enabled to make up our team by the purchase of a fourth bullock, as well as to invest a further sum in the purchase of several head of young breeding stock. This year we have used bonedust as a manure for both potatoes and turnips, and are quite satisfied as to its superiority over either guano or pig and cattle manure.

Numbers of intending settlers are met with the same discouraging information that we were, that the soil would grow nothing, that unless we had heaps of money that it would be useless to attempt farming, and that because we were unaccustomed to farm work, that we should never be able to carry on operations, and a great many other particulars which we have found to be equally false. We have in our own experience given the lie to these foolish – I had almost said wicked – discouragements. It is with the hope that some who read this account may be led to put less faith in the grumblings of those worthless loungers about town, who, themselves too idle to live by their own exertions, would fain bring others to their own level, that I have thus intruded our own particular experience, as an example of what may be done with small means, backed by hard work, hard living, and perseverance. Difficulties we have had to encounter – for nine weeks, during which we were engaged in the hardest and most exhausting work, underdraining, we were compulsory vegetarians – our cattle, few as they were, have all had to be dragged out of waterholes, our garden broken into and pillaged by stray cattle, for nine weeks was one of us laid on a bed of sickness, we have had our share of disagreeables, but

the end for which we were striving has been gained. We have established our position, passed beyond the land of difficulties into one of independence, and would beckon on those who are afraid to pursue the same track.

Scores who read this will at once recognize the farm, nevertheless, though not without thanking you for your staunch advocacy of the cause of Auckland farming, and the earnest and consistent position which your journal has taken in advancing the colonization of the province, I shall, from a natural bashfulness, entrench myself behind the anonymous signature of

AN AUCKLAND FARMER.
Jan. 23rd, 1861.

WHAT HAS BECOME OF THE FORTY-ACRE MEN?

From the New Zealander, May 4, 1861.

What has become of the "forty-acre" men? Where do they go to? are questions which we have frequently heard asked, some few days after the arrival of two or three large vessels from home. For a time we notice, in our streets and elsewhere, strange faces, with their unmistakeably English complexion, and observe a more than usual intermixture of well dressed loungers about the town. A few days more and they are gone. For a solution of these questions we must wend our way to the back settlements of the North, to the valleys and hills which stretch away from the many navigable rivers and harbours which intersect the country: and there, with bearded face and in plain blue shirt, we may recognise our quondam acquaintances, busy in the great work of colonization, subduing the land, that they may enjoy and possess it. Back at the head of the Wangarei – on the furthest boundaries of the Kaurihohore – nine, ten, twelve miles back from the Parahaki – at the foot of the Maungakaramea itself, and up and along every tributary, creek and stream of the Wangarei, houses are springing up, of all shapes and kinds, from the humble Nikau whare, to the substantially built wooden dwelling with its promising honeysuckle or rose just shewing itself about the verandah; the plough is busily putting a new face upon old things, and ever and anon, as we pass through the heavy forest, we come upon the open clearing of some more adventurous backwoodsman.

Experience, in the same manner that science and knowledge have dispelled the mists of superstition, is rapidly proving the character of those bugbears which have so long been held up to terrify the credulous and damp the energies of the less determined amongst us. Lands which have been cried down as worthless are found to be amongst the most productive.

Grass sown upon the ashes in forest land, kauri or otherwise, which had been previously simply cleared and burned, still maintains, in its second and third year, high luxuriance, proving the ignorance of those who so loudly asserted that, sown on these lands and with this preparation only, it would after one or two years die away altogether.

The kauri forest land, with its fabled sterility, is found often to be of the richest quality, and the heaviest crops of wheat and potatoes have, to our own knowledge, been taken from ground, on which little else than this species of timber had recently grown.

It has ever been our object to set before those of our readers who seek for information as to the process of settlement, or the methods and systems of colonial farming, a true but unvarnished account of the expectations which new settlers might reasonably entertain, – of the privations and the difficulties to be encountered, and the profits and advantages to be reaped, – neither concealing nor exaggerating anything, and we have the satisfaction of knowing that our labour has not been without useful results. On a recent visit to one of these out-settlements, we were not a little pleased to find that those reasonable expectations, which we had encouraged, were not only fully realised, but realised with less trouble and in a shorter period than that which our new friends had been led to look for. One great drawback usually described as existing to farming in this Province, is the time that, it is asserted must elapse before any return can be looked for. At Maungakaramea the other day, in the house of Mr. Donaldson, a settler by whom we were hospitably entertained, everything upon the table, potatoes, bread, meat, milk, butter, and vegetables, were the produce of his farm, and that too within fifteen months of his locating upon his land. So much, then, for what can be done by those who put their shoulders resolutely to the wheel. This is no solitary example. But what may be said of these individually, may be applied collectively to a whole settlement – that which lies next upon the coast – Waipu. True these Waipu men have been located there a longer time, but this fact only shows more strongly the stability of the position which industry and perseverance will always attain. We believe, of all those who settled in this district not one has left on account of being unable to weather it out. Of 150 families, there are none who have not succeeded in comfortably establishing themselves, but then they came to work, not to grumble. In Waipu, this present year, when the yield of wheat has been scarcely more than half the usual average, 3000 bushels have been grown.

We have before remarked on one pleasing feature exhibited in all these settlements which owe their present vitality to the new life infused into them by the existing Land Regulations, namely, the desire for places of worship and school accommodation. In the settlement of Mangawai, which has sprung up into vigour under the forty-acre system, two schools are already being established, and the inhabitants are combining for the very necessary purpose of bringing the district within the provisions of the "Roads and Works Ordinance," and thus entitling themselves to Government asisistance in the construction of branch roads, and of the necessary bridges to connect the back settlements of the Hakaru and the recent selections in Te Arai with the harbour. Much of the soil immediately around the harbour at Mangawai is of the same description to which we some time back alluded in an article on the soils of New Zealand, a deep, black, porous soil of a somewhat peaty nature. This soil has been, and very unjustly so, condemned as useless. We have ourselves attempted to raise wheat on this same description of soil, after having thoroughly underdrained and worked it, and failed. Our success however in the growth of potatoes, turnips and grass, with the aid of artificial manure, proved eminently gratifying, where wheat and oats were a complete failure.

At Matakana and Mahurangi the same appearances of advancement and prosperity are observable. A new mill at the head of Matakana is being erected for the sawing of timber and for grinding wheat; it would have been completed ere this but for the delay occasioned by the breaking of a part of the machinery, which can be replaced only from home.

Back in the bush, by the fresh water stream, a band of adventurous settlers have taken possession of a tract of excellent land, and at their own unaided expense have opened a dray road between two and three miles in length into the heart of the forest. Along this line some scores of acres have been already cleared and brought into cultivation.

Finally then, the experience of a tour which embraced the settlements lying between Auckland and the Mongonui district, the present limit of settlement northward, and which was undertaken purposely with the view of ascertaining personally the practical operation of the Auckland Land Regulations, has satisfied us that as a whole the system has proved completely successful; the community has gained a large accession of capital and labour of the right sort, both of which are being turned to good account. In the course of our journeying, we have encountered but a minute per-centage of grumblers, the great majority of the forty-acre men who have settled on their lands appear hopeful, thriving, and contented.

[Prices, customs duties, land orders]

"The New Zealand Customs Duties Act, 1858," repeals all previous duties, and declares the existing tariff to be as follows: –

..s..d.

1.

Ale, Beer, Cider, and Perry, in wood.......the gallon

0 6

Ale, Beer, Cider, and Perry, in bottle....... "

1 0

2.

Cigars and Snuff..............the pound

3 0

3.

Coffee, Chicory, Cocoa, and Chocolate...... "

0 3

4.

Cutlery, Hardware, Hollow-ware, Ironmongery of all sorts, and Candles and Soap of all sorts.........the cwt.

3 0

5.

Fire-arms of every description...........each

5 0

6.

Gunpowder...............the pound

0 3

7.

Manufactures of Silk, Cotton, Linen and Woollen, and all articles manufactured therefrom, Drapery, Haberdashery, Hosiery, Millinery, Furs, Hats, Boots, Shoes, Dried Fruits, Oilman's Stores of all kinds, Plate & Plated Ware (measuring outside the packages), the cubic foot

4 0

8.

Spirits and Strong Waters, of every kind, sweetened or otherwise, of any strength not exceeding the strength of proof by Sykes' Hydrometer, and so on in proportion for any greater strength than the strength of proof.............the gallon

9 0

9.

Sugar, raw & refined, of all kinds, and Treacle & Molasses, the pound

0 1

10.

Tea

0 4

11.

Tobacco

1 6

12.

Wine, in wood and bottle, containing less than 25 per cent, of alcohol, of a specific gravity of °825, at the temperature of 60 degrees, Fahrenheit's thermometer.......the gallon

3 0

Duty Free.

Anchors and Chains, and Rod, Bolt, Bar, Sheet, Hoop and Pig Iron, and Nails, Sailcloth, Cordage, Twine, Cotton Yarn, Bags, Sacks, and Woolpacks, Spirits of Tar and Turpentine, Tobacco for Sheepwash, Huts of all kinds, Powder, fit only for blasting purposes, and all other Goods, Wares, and Merchandise, excepting those above enumerated.

SHIP'S REGULATIONS FOR STEERAGE PASSENGERS.

PROVISIONS, &c.

Provisions, Medical Attendance, Cooking, and Cooking Utensils, are supplied on Board without charge to Passengers. The following is the

DIETARY SCALE FOR EACH ADULT PER WEEK.

Women receive the same Rations as Men; Children between 1 and 12, one-half; Infants under 1 year, no Rations.

The following substitutions may be made, at the option of the Captain, for 1 lb. of Biscuit or Bread, viz: – 5 lbs. Potatoes, or 1/4 lb. Preserved Potatoes, 1 lb. Oatmeal, or 1 lb. Rice. For Children and Infants an equivalent quantity of Sago, Flour, Rice, Raisins, Suet, and Sugar, will be substituted for Salt Meat, if required.

Emigrants would do well to provide themselves, in addition, if they can, with a Ship's Filter, Onions, Bacon, Cheese, Cod Fish Hooks and Lines, a Fiddle, old Newspapers, cheap Books, Needles, Thread, &c.

OUTFIT, &c.

Passengers must find Mattrasses (which should be new, if possible, and of the following dimensions For Men, 6 feet by 20 inches; Women, 5 feet 9 inches by 18 inches; Married Couples, 6 feet by 3 feet; Children, according to size), Bolsters, Blankets, and Counterpanes; Canvas Bags, to contain Linen, &c.; Knives, Forks, Spoons, Metal Plates, Hook Pots, Drinking Mugs, Water Can, &c.; also necessary Clothing, which will be inspected at the Port of Embarkation.

FOR MALES.

6 Shirts.
6 Pair Stockings.
2 Warm Flannel or Guernsey Shirts
2 Pair New Shoes.
2 Complete Suits strong Exterior Clothing.

FOR FEMALES.

6 Shifts.
2 Warm & strong Flannel Petticoats.
6 Pair Stockings.
2 Pair strong Shoes.
2 Strong Gowns, one of which must be warm.

FOR CHILDREN.

7 Shirts or Shifts.
4 Warm Flannel Waistcoats.
1 Warm Cloak, or Outside Coat.
6 Pair Stockings.
2 Pair strong Shoes.
2 Complete Suits Exterior Clothing.

Also 3 Sheets for each Berth, and 4 Towels and 2 lbs. Marine Soap for each person.

Emigrants ought not have less than the above outfit; but the larger the stock of clothing the better for health and comfort during the voyage. It is not necessary that it should be new clothing, but it must be in good order, and cleanliness especially be observed.

Luggage can be put on board in the Docks, on payment of charges, a few days before the sailing of the Ship, when parties having families may find it convenient to prepare for embarking; but they must observe that Rations

are not issued until the day of Embarkation. The whole quantity of Baggage for each Adult, allowed free of charge, is 10 cubic or solid feet measurement, not exceeding 1/4 a ton in weight. Freight must be paid for Extra Luggage, at the rate of about 2s. per cubic foot. All Luggage should be distinctly marked in paint with the name of the Passenger, and the Ship, and whether "wanted" or "not wanted" on the voyage.

The Ship Brokers employ a respectable Licensed Agent at the Docks to take charge of and ship Emigrants' Baggage, and his small Fee and Dock Charges must be paid.

Emigrants can find Lodging with Mr. T. Shelton, 6, Sparrow Corner, Minories (near Tower Hill), and other persons near the Docks.

The Captain of a ship is supreme, and, with the aid of the Surgeon, regulates the comforts of Passengers; and it is the self-interest and duty of them to report to the Captain any acts of impropriety which come under their notice, and to do everything in their power to preserve cleanliness and good order during the voyage.

No class of Passengers can expect to be without occasional discomforts on board of any ship, nor can they reasonably look for a constant weighing or measuring out of "a Shylock pound of flesh."

Current Rate of Wages at Auckland in April 1860, subject to fluctuations.

Bakers from 20s. to 30s. per week, with board and lodging.

Bricklayers, 10s. to 12s. per day.

Blacksmiths, if able to shoe, &c., and do all sorts of country work, 8s. to 9s. per day.

Carpenters (House), Joiners, Wheelwrights, &c., from 7s. to 10s. per day. Farm Servants (single), from £20 to £40 per annum, with board and lodging.

Ditto (married couples), £50 per annum, with board and lodging.

Glaziers and Painters, 8s. to 10s. per day.

Female (domestic) servants, from £20 to £30 per annum.

Labourers, (in town) 5s. per day.

Ditto, (in country) 4s. per day.

Masons, 10s. to 12s. per day.

Sawyers, 6s. to 18s. per 100 superficial feet.

Shoemakers and Tailors earn on an average about 7s. 6d. per day.

Tinsmiths and Plumbers, 9s. to 10s. per day.

Working men in town work only eight hours per day.

Clearing Forest Land, is usually done by contract; cutting down all the undergrowth, and all trees not exceeding three feet in diameter, is generally contracted for, at from 37s, 6d. to 40s. per acre; heavily timbered land – cutting down all trees not exceeding four feet in diameter – 40s. to 45s. per acre; or, cutting all down, 50s. per acre. A man accustomed to such work can fall at least one acre per week. Fern Land about 8s. per acre.

Good Ploughmen, Maid Servants, and Married Couples fit to manage a Dairy, are in demand. Young lads, belonging to families about to emigrate, should learn to milk.

Price of Provisions, &c., at Auckland, in March 1861.

Beef, Pork & Mutton, per lb. 6d. to 7d.
Bacon, per lb., 8d. to 9d.
Butter, fresh, per lb., 1s. 9d.
Bread, per 2 lb. loaf, 6d.
Cheese (Colonial), per lb., 1s. to 1s. 6d.
Cheese (English), per lb. 1s. to 1s. 0 1/2d.
Flour, first quality, 24s. per 100 lbs.
Milk, fresh, per quart, 5d.
Oatmeal, per cwt., 30s., 32s,
Potatoes, per cwt., 5s.

GROCERIES.

£ s. d. £ s. d.

Bees Wax

per lb.

0 1 6 to 0 0 0

Candles – Price's Belmont

"

0 1 5 - 0 1 6

" Neva

ti

0 1 5 - 0 1 6

" Tallow

"

0 0 9 1/2 - 0 0 0

Coffee, Java

"

0 1 1 - 0 1 0

Cocoa

"

0 1 2 - 0 1 8

Chocolate

"

0 1 4 - 0 1 8

Currants, Eleme

>t

0 0 7 1/2 - 0 0 8 1/2

Fruits, Bottled

per doz.

0 18 0 - 0 19 6

Honey

per lb.

0 0 6 - 0 0 8

Jams (1 lb.)

per doz.

0 18 0 - 1 0 0

Mustard (4 lb.)

"

0 9 6 - 0 10 6

Oil – Salad, pints

it

0 14 6 - 0 15 0

" Lamp

per gal.

0 3 0 - 0 5 0

Pickles (pints)

per doz.

0 11 0 - 0 12 0

Rice – Java

per cwt.

1 3 0 - 0 0 0

Raisins, Muscatel

"

0 0 10 - 0 1 0

Sago

"

0 0 3 1/2 - 0 0 4 1/2

Saltpetre

"

0 0 9 - 0 0 0

Salt-Fine

per ton

6 0 0 - 6 10 0

" Coarse

"

4 0 0 - 4 10 0

Soap – Liverpool

"

20 0 0 - 24 0 0

" Sydney

"

42 0 0 - 43 0 0

" Steel's (best)

"

34 0 0 - 37 0 0

" Ditto (common)

"

20 0 0 - 24 0 0

Soda – Carbonate

per lb.

0 0 4 - 0 0 0

" Washing

per ton

12 0 0 - 14 10 0

Sardines (1/4)

per doz.

0 8 6 - 0 10 0

" Sardines (1/2)

"

0 10 0 - 0 15 9

Sugar – Loaf

per lb.

0 0 7 - 0 0 0

" Crushed and Lump

"

0 0 7 - 0 0 0

" Co's. No. 1 Pieces

per ton

56 0 0 - 0 0 0

" No. 2

"

50 0 0 - 0 0 0

Tea – Black Congou

per chest

8 10 0 - 9 0 0

" Green

"

12 0 0 - 0 0 0

Tapioca

per cwt.

5 12 0 - 6 10 0

Vinegar

per gal.

0 2 0 - 0 2 3

Tobacco-Negrohead (in bond)

per lb.

0 2 1 - 0 2 3

" Cavendish

"

0 1 1 - 0 1 4

Cigars-Manilla, No. 2, per M

"

2 7 6 - 2 10 0

" Havannah do.

"

2 10 0 - 3 15 0

GRAIN, &c.

Wheat

per bush. (of 60 lbs.)

0 7 0 - 0 7 6

Maize (N. S. W.)

" "

0 4 0 - 0 5 6

Oats

" "

0 10 0 - 0 0 0

Hay

per ton

6 10 0 - 7 0 0

Straw

"

3 0 0 - 0 0 0

Price of Provisions, &c., at Auckland-continued.

WINES. SPIRITS, &c.

£ s. d. £ s. d.

Port (in wood)

per gal.

0 8 0 to 0 12 6

Sherry (do.)

"

0 10 0 - O 11 0

Champagne

per doz.

1 15 0 - 2 2 0

Brandy (in Bond)

per gal.

0 12 6 - 0 13 0

" "

per doz.

1 14 0 - 1 16 0

Rum "

"

0 4 0 - 0 4 6

Whiskey "

"

0 4 10 - 0 5 6

Geneva "

per case

0 12 0 - 0 16 6

Ditto "

per 1/2 case

0 8 9 - 0 9 6

Old Tom "

per gal.

0 4 0 - 0 4 3

ALE AND BEER, &c. (duty paid).

Ale – Bottled

per doz.

0 10 6 - 0 11 6

" (In Bulk), Bass's No. 3

per hhd.

8 15 0 - 0 0 0

" Ordinary brands

"

7 10 0 - 0 0 0

" Allsopp's

per doz.

0 10 6 - 0 11 6

" Bottled (Barclay and Perkins)

"

0 10 6 - 0 11 0

SUNDRIES.

Coals – English (alongside vessel)

per ton

2 15 0 - 3 0 0

" Australian

"

2 15 0 - 3 0 0

Bricks

per 1000

3 0 0 - 3 10 0

Firewood

"

0 8 6 - 0 0 0

Hides raw

each

0 5 0 - 0 0 0

Iron – English bar

per ton

13 10 0 - 15 0 0

Linseed Oil, raw

per gal.

0 4 6 - 0 5 6

Slates, Countess

per 1000

8 0 0 - 9 0 0

Turpentine

per gal.

0 6 0 - 0 0 0

White Lead

per lb.

0 0 4 1/2 - 0 0 4 3/4

Gunpowder

sale prohibited

Pitch

per barrel

1 15 0 - 0 0 0

Tar (Stockholm)

"

1 10 0 - 1 15 0

" (Coal)

"

1 0 0 - 1 10 0

The price of Milk and Butter vary with the seasons. The prices of Wheat, Maize, Flour, and Potatoes, depend very much on the state of the Markets at Sydney. New Potatoes begin to come into Market in November, and in December there is usually an abundant supply. Wheat harvest begins about the end of January.

Prices of Cattle, (&c., at Auckland, corrected to May, 1861.

Fat Steers, £10 15s. to £14 17s. 6d.
Yearling Heifers, £2 5s. to £3 17s. 6d.
Heifers, £9 17s. 6d. to £10 10s.
Store Cattle, £7 14s.
Dairy Cows, £12 10s. to £14 10s.
Calves, 22s. to 46s.
Fat Sheep, £1 2s. 6d.
Ewes Hoggets, 16s.
Half-bred Ewes, 24s. to 27s. 6d.
Merino Wethers, 14s. 6d.
Fat Lambs, 10s. to 15s.
Pigs, 18s. to 31s. 6d.
Wether Hogs, 17s. to 23s. 6d.
Horses, from £40 to £70

From the COMMERCIAL RECORD in the New Zealander,

May 3rd, 1861.

Messrs. Cheeseman report that their weekly sale of Live Stock, at Newmarket, during the past month, have been well attended by buyers, and all descriptions of Cattle offered changed hands at satisfactory prices. The Fat market is firmer, and both sheep and cattle have slightly advanced. There is still a demand for good Dairy Cows, and high figures are given. The average prices for each description sold are as follow: Fat Steers and Cows, £10 15s.; Store Cattle, £7 14s.; Dairy Cows, £12 10s.; Fat Sheep, 22s. 6d.; Lambs, 21s.; Calves, £2 14s, 6d.

Hunter, Cochrane & Co. report, at a sale of Dairy Cows and young Stock, held on Friday last, at the Farm of Messrs. Henderson and Tuck, Mangarie, a good attendance of buyers, Dairy Cows fetched £11 17s. 6d. to £14 10s., for which there was a very sound competition. A lot of mixed Heifer and Bull Calves sold for 37s. 6d. each. Other lots of Heifers fetched, respectively, £2 7s. 6d. to £3 2s. 6d., £4 12s. 6d., £5 5s., and £6. Bay Horse, £16 10s., Spring Cart, £13 5s., &c.

Hunter, Cochrane & Co. report, at their sale of Horse Stock, held at the Greyhound Yard, on Saturday last, that a fair average number were driven in for sale. A small number only changed hands, at about late value. Owners generally are holding for higher prices.

Hunter, Cochrane & Co. report, at their sale of Live Stock, held at their Yards, Newmarket, on Tuesday last; the market was barely stocked with Fat Cattle; graziers holding the opinion that beef will be dearer, consequently desirous of holding on their stocks. The Fat Cattle sold realized somewhat better prices. Store Stock ruled low; and many were withdrawn, not coming up near their value. A good market of Fat Sheep and Lambs, which realized about late rates. Store Sheep sold fairly; and Fat Pigs sold well.

Mr. Alfred Buckland reports his sale at Newmarket to have been fairly supplied with Fat Cattle; thirty head were sold at an advance of from 20s. to 30s. each over last week's prices, but owing to the inclemency of the weather there were no Store Stock brought forward; a fair market of Fat Sheep numbering 160 also realized an advance of 2s. per head.

LANDED PROPERTY. – At the sale of Real Estate, &c., by Samuel Cochrane, Brother & Co., on Saturday, 27th ult., one of the properties of Mr. George Simpkins, near the junction of the Panmure with the Great South Road, was brought to the hammer.

Lot 1, about 61 acres, rough scoria, was bought by Messrs. D. Nathan & Co. at £4 per acre. Lot 2, seven acres, good cleared scoria land, fenced and with numerous buildings, &c., after spirited competition became the property of W. H. Turner, Esq., Solicitor, for £335. Lot 3, being the interest in a leasehold of the adjoining hospital reserve, and having over ten years to run, at an annual rental of £9, was finally knocked down to Mr. W. Hobson for £220. Lots 4 and 5 were purchased by Mr. George May at the rate of £14 per acre, amounting to the sum of £1041. Two acres in Howick brought £40, and small lots in Dunstown £5 each.

At the sale on the previous Saturday a farm in Manurewa of 92 acres belonging to Mr. T. P. Barber, was sold to Mr. Petingale at £6 17s. 6d. per acre, and a lot of 43 acres in the same neighbourhood was purchased for £100.

WAIUKU versus YORKSHIRE. – We are much pleased to find that at length New Zealand can compete successfully with the old country in the curing and manufacturing of the unclean animal into sightly sides of bacon and tempting hams. S. Cochrane, Brother & Co. sold at auction last Friday, a small lot of scarcely a ton, cured by Mr. H. Robinson of Waiuku, which brought 14d. per lb., while a shipment of York hams some time before could not be cleared out at 1s. 1d.

Cost of Clearing, &c.

All the available land in this Province is covered with fern, brushwood, or forest. It is now generally admitted that good timbered land gives a quicker and better return than the general run of open land.

The cost of clearing and laying down in grass heavily timbered land, allowing all trees above 3-feet diameter to stand, including fencing and the price of grass seed, has been found to be about £4 10s. per acre. The timber should be all felled previous to September, and burnt off in the month of March. In April, or as soon as the ashes are perfectly cooled, the grass seed may be sown upon the ashes; or if a crop of wheat is wanted, seed wheat may be sown in the same manner in June or July.

How to obtain the Land Orders.

First, write to us, to ascertain your eligibility; we will then send you a set of Forms, to enable you to make your application; on the return of these, duly filled up and signed, we will let you know if you are eligible. You may then engage your passage by a ship bound direct to Auckland, on application to either of the undermentioned New Zealand Shipping Firms: –

A. WILLIS, GANN & CO., 3, Crosby Square, Bishopsgate St. (E.C.), London;

SHAW, SAVILL & CO., 34, Leadenhall Street (E.C.), London;

H. T. WILSON & CHAMBERS, 21, Water Street, Liverpool;

JAMES BAINES & CO., Liverpool.

Presuming all your papers to be in due course, you will receive the Land Orders on your attendance, with all the Members of your Party, at our Office, for the purpose of signing the Counterfoils. This can be done when you come up to London for embarkation.

Parties embarking at Liverpool will, in like manner, receive their Land Orders from us, at the Office of Messrs. John Wrenn & Co., 10 & 11, St. George's Crescent, Liverpool.

Persons desirous of seeing Books, the Files of Auckland Newspapers, and Specimens of the Products of the Country, can do so, and receive every reliable information (gratis) on applying to us, between TEN and FOUR o'clock daily, except on Sundays.

ALEX. F. RIDGWAY & SONS,

GENERAL AND EMIGRATION AGENTS

TO THE

PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT OF AUCKLAND,

40, LEICESTER SQUARE, LONDON

Emigration to New Zealand.

FREE GIFT of a 40 ACRE FARM.

Messrs. ALEX. F. RIDGWAY & SONS,

General Agents to the Provincial Government of Auckland,

ARE AUTHORISED TO GIVE THE FOLLOWING NOTICE: –

Every industrious Man or Woman of good character, and not, through age, infirmity, or other cause, unlikely to form a useful Colonist, will, on approval, receive a FREE GIFT of FORTY ACRES of LAND, in the Province of AUCKLAND, New Zealand, together with Forty Acres MORE for each Person 18 years, and Twenty Acres for each Child 5 and under 18 years of age, whom he may take with him to the Colony.

The Order for this Land, which will be chosen by the Emigrant himself, will he delivered to all eligible applicants, by Messrs. ALEX. F. RIDGWAY and SONS, General Agents to the Provincial Government of Auckland, at their Offices, 40, Leicester Square, London, on payment of a Fee of 10s. for each Forty Acre Order, and 5s. for each Twenty Acre Order. The only condition is, that the party shall have engaged to find his own way to the Colony, and this he can do at an expense of about £15 for passage, on applying to some respectable ship Broker engaged in the New Zealand trade. The Emigrant is not required to occupy or cultivate the Land.

The Rev. Richard Taylor's Advice to young unmarried men intending to emigrate, is:

"To single men, intending to emigrate, I would say, marry before you go out; a good wife is a great treasure and stay to a young man. Many have been ruined, because they have not had a bosom friend to sustain them in times of trial, besides the social comfort thus derived; for none can tell how dreary a young settler's home is without a wife, and how many temptations she saves him from. Therefore, to every single man I again say, marry, for wives are not to be had abroad; property is of little consideration, compared with that of a partner."

Persons who contemplate Emigrating to Auckland should, before taking any other step, consult the undersigned respecting the Free Grants of Land which are given to eligible individuals.

ALEXANDER F. RIDGWAY & SONS,

GENERAL AGENTS TO THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT,

40, Leicester Square, W. C., London,

OF WHOM ALL INFORMATION MAY HE OBTAINED.

AUCKLAND WASTE LAND ACT, 1858.

NEW ZEALAND.

FREE GRANTS OF LAND.

EMIGRATION

TO THE

PROVINCE OF AUCKLAND.

"AUCKLAND WASTE LAND ACT,

1858."

IN THE TWENTY-FIRST YEAR OF THE REIGN OF HER MAJESTY QUEEN VICTORIA.

SESSION VIII., No. 2.

Printed for ALEXR. F. RIDGWAY & SONS, 40, Leicester Square, W.C., London,

Emigration Agents for the Province of Auckland,

OF WHOM ALL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED.

[Page 122 is blank]

THE

"AUCKLAND WASTE LAND ACT, 1858,"

ENTITLED

An Act to regulate the Sale, Letting, Disposal and Occupation of Waste Lands of the Crown within the Province of Auckland,

As modified by the "NEW ZEALAND WASTE LANDS ACT, 1858."

General Regulations.

1. In the construction of this Act the term "Waste Lands" shall mean such lands within the Province of Auckland as are already subject to the disposal of the Provincial Government thereof, and all other lands over which his Excellency the Governor shall hereafter notify, by proclamation in the "New Zealand Gazette," that the Native title has been extinguished.

2. All Waste Lands shall, from and after the day on which this Act shall come into operation, be sold, let, and disposed of as in this Act provided, and not otherwise.

3. Whenever the title to any Native land shall have been extinguished, it shall be lawful for the Governor, within one month thereafter, to permit the Native sellers to purchase, at the rate of 10s. an acre, any portion of such land; and the same, when surveyed, may be conveyed by Crown Grant accordingly.

4. It shall also be lawful for the Governor, if he shall think fit, within three months after the extinguishment of the Native title in any land, to sell and dispose of the same, or any part thereof, to the person or persons at whose instance such extinguishment shall have been effected, for a sum not less than after the rate of 10s. an acre, with the addition of the price paid to the Natives for the release of their rights in the land sold, and the cost of surveying thereof.

5. For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this Act there shall be a Waste Land Commissioner (hereinafter called "the Commissioner"), who shall be appointed and be removable by the Superintendent, with the advice and consent of his Executive council.

6. It shall be lawful for the Superintendent, from time to time, to appoint a fit and proper person to act as Deputy for the Commissioner at any place within the Province;

and the person so appointed shall have the same powers and authority as the Commissioner, and all acts done by such Deputy shall be as valid as if done by the Commissioner.

7. The Superintendent shall, from time to time, divide such portions of the Waste Lands as are about to be offered for sale into the following or such of the said classes as he shall think fit, viz.: –

1. Town lands,
2. Suburban lands,
3. General country lands,
4. Credit lands,
5. Land for special settlement;

and may from time to time vary, alter, and annul such division, and make a new division thereof: Provided always, that the total quantity of land which shall be notified as open for sale as Credit Land shall not exceed two hundred thousand acres (200,000) in the whole.

8. No land shall be offered for sale, or disposed of by auction or otherwise, until it shall have been properly surveyed and marked off on the ground, and a map thereof deposited as a record in the office (hereinafter called "the Land Office") of the Commissioner, and no larger quantity of land than 320 acres shall be put up for sale by auction in any one lot.

9. Every Allotment of Country Land shall have a frontage to a road, and the Commissioner shall use all due diligence in causing to be selected the most available lines for Roads, with reference to their practical utility as means of communication, and not as mere boundary lines of allotments; he shall also, as far as practicable, lay off the allotments in such manner as to give to each, in proportion to its extent, equal advantages, as nearly as maybe, in respect to practicable roads and to wood and water.

10. All Reserves, Streets, Roads, Sections, and Allotments, and other divisions of the Land, shall be so marked off on the ground, and distinguished on the Map thereof, by numbers, or otherwise, as to be easily identified.

11. Corrections shall from time to time be made in every such Map, so as to clearly exhibit, at all times, the lands sold, those about to be offered for sale, and those which are open for selection as hereinafter provided, and also any alterations that may at any time be made in the division of the land thereon delineated.

12. Every such map on which shall be delineated any land about to be offered for sale, and any land open for sale, or an authentic copy of such map, shall be kept in the Land Office, or some other convenient place, open for public inspection at all times during office hours.

13. The Superintendent may from time to time, as to him it shall seem meet, reserve portions of the said lands for public roads, or other internal communications, or for the sites of future towns or villages, or for the sites of places of worship, or public buildings, or of common schools in which shall be taught reading and writing, in English, arithmetic, and English grammar, or as endowments for the maintenance of such common schools, or for charitable purposes, or as places for the interment of the dead, or for the recreation and amusement of the inhabitants of any town or village, or as the sites of public quays or landing places on the sea coast, or on shores of navigable streams, or for any other purpose of public utility, convenience, health, or enjoyment.

14. In every town or village set apart, there shall be at least ten allotments, containing as nearly as may be one half of an acre each, reserved in the most eligible situation, as sites for places of worship; and as soon as any allotments in such town or village have been declared open for sale, the Superintendent shall, by notification in the "Provincial Government Gazette," invite the representatives of the several religious bodies recognised as having officiating Ministers residing within the Province, coming within the provisions of the "Marriage Act," who may wish to obtain sites for places of worship, to make to the Commissioner, on or before a day to be named, written application for one of such allotments; and at noon of the Monday following the day appointed for such application, the priority of the right of selection shall be decided by lot by the Commissioner, in the presence of the parties applying, or their representatives, if any shall attend.

15. All such reserved lands, with the exception of such as shall be reserved as sites of Towns and Villages, may, upon the request of the Superintendent, be granted by the Governor to any Body Corporate, or to any person or persons gratuitously to be held in trust for the public uses for which the same were reserved, and no other.

16. Any person who, for a period of five years prior to the Ninth day of March, 1858, had resided on land, over which the Native Title had not been extinguished, shall, at any time within three months after such title shall be extinguished, be entitled to select an allotment of land of such form as the Commissioner shall prescribe, containing any number of acres not exceeding three hundred, including and adjacent to the site on which such person shall have resided.

17. Such allotment shall be sold to the person so selecting the same as aforesaid upon the same terms and conditions

as are hereinafter prescribed in respect of Credit Land, and any improvements at any time made on the land so selected before the selection thereof, shall be deemed and taken as part of the improvements required to be made in respect of Credit Land under this Act.

18. Any person who may have been put in possession of and bona fide occupied land under the Special Occupation clauses of the Auckland Land Regulations, dated February, 1855, shall be entitled to purchase the same at the price of 10s. an acre, at any time before the termination of his lease, and upon payment of the price thereof as aforesaid, and of all rent due up to the date of payment, he shall be entitled to receive a Crown Grant for the same, and shall be relieved from all liabilities entailed upon him by the Special Occupation clauses of the Regulations aforesaid.

Town Lands and Suburban Lands.

19. Town lands and Suburban lands, excepting such as shall be reserved for public purposes, or for any purpose in this Act specified, shall be offered for sale by public auction at an upset price, to be fixed by the said Superintendent, with the advice and consent of the Executive Council.

20. The Superintendent shall, from time to time, notify in the "Government Gazette" of the province of Auckland, and in such newspapers in the Colony of New Zealand or elsewhere as to him shall seem meet, what lands are to be sold at such public sales, and the upset prices thereof respectively; and such lands shall not be so offered for sale until at least two calendar months shall have elapsed after the first publication of such notification.

21. Such public sales shall be held and conducted by such person at such times, and in such places within the said Province, as the Superintendent shall, by notification in the "Government Gazette" for the Province of Auckland, from time to time nominate and appoint.

22. The purchase-money of each allotment of land sold at such sale shall be paid by the purchaser thereof, or his agent, to a Receiver of Land Revenue as follows; namely, one-fourth of the price thereof, at the time of sale, by way of deposit, and the remaining three-fourths at any time within one calendar month, after the sale. In the event of the second payment not being made to such Receiver within the said period of one calendar month, the sale shall be void, and the deposit forfeited.

23. It shall be lawful for any person within twelve calendar months after any such auction, to purchase any land in respect of which the deposit shall have been forfeited as aforesaid, by paying for the same, in cash, the sum for which such land was knocked down at the auction.

24 It shall be lawful for any person within twelve calendar months after any auction, to become the purchaser by private contract of any land so put up for sale as aforesaid and not knocked down to any bidder, on paying for the same, in cash, the upset price at which the same was put up for sale.

25. Provided always, that it shall be lawful for the Superintendent, instead of permitting any land to be purchased, as authorized by the last two clauses, to cause any lands which shall not have been already applied for under the said clauses, to be put up again to auction, giving such notice thereof as is hereinbefore provided in respect of land to be offered at auction.

Country Lands.

26. The Superintendent shall, from time to time, notify a certain day on and after which any Country Land will be open for sale. On and after that day, any person desirous of purchasing any of the same shall send in a written application, during office hours, under a sealed cover, directed to the Commissioner, or to his Deputy, at such place as shall be stated in such notification.

27. Every such application shall state the name of the intending purchaser, the area and situation of the allotment, and the number of the same on the map deposited as aforesaid in the Office of the Commissioner, and shall have legibly endorsed thereon the words "Application for Land," together with the name of the intending purchaser, and the number of acres he proposes to purchase.

28. The purchase-money, after the rate of 10s. per acre, for the quantity of land applied for, shall be paid to a Receiver of Land Revenue, who shall give a receipt in duplicate; and no application shall be entertained unless one of such receipts shall be annexed to the application.

29. The Commissioner or his Deputy shall, on receipt of any such application (and in the presence of the intending purchaser or his agent, if such purchaser or agent should desire the same), enter in a Minute Rook, to be kept for that purpose, a minute of the receipt of such application, and of the endorsement thereon.

30. The minutes to be so entered in such book shall be consecutively numbered, from one upwards, and shall set

forth the date of the reception of every such application, the name of the intending purchaser, the number of acres which he proposes to purchase, and the amount which he shall have so paid as the purchase-money thereof.

31. Such book shall be open to the public for inspection at all times, during office hours, during which time any person may take a copy of, or extract from, any minute entered therein.

32. The applications so received shall not be opened until noon of the first day appointed in manner aforesaid by the Superintendent for the sale of such country land; on which day no further applications shall be receivable.

33. The Commissioner, or his Deputy, together with a Receiver of Land Revenue, shall, on the day so appointed, and in presence of such of the intending purchasers or their agents as may attend for that purpose, proceed to open all such applications so received.

34. Where it shall appear, on opening the said applications, that but one person has in manner aforesaid given notice of his intention to purchase any one allotment, and that he has duly paid the purchase-money thereof, such purchaser shall be deemed the purchaser of such allotment.

35. But if it should at any time appear that two or more intending purchasers have made applications for the same allotment, and that each of them has duly paid the purchase-money thereof, the said allotment shall forthwith be put up by the Commissioner, or his Deputy, for sale by auction at the upset price of ten shillings an acre, at which sale only the applicants, in person, or by their agents, shall be allowed to bid.

36. The Commissioner, or his Deputy, shall immediately after such auction give to each of the unsuccessful parties, or his agent, an order on a Receiver of Land Revenue for the return of the purchase-money so paid by him in respect of such allotment, and the Receiver shall pay the same on demand accordingly.

Subsequent Applications.

37. After the day fixed for opening the applications sent in as aforesaid, all the unsold portions of such Country Lands shall be open for sale to the first applicant for the same.

38. Every application must be made in writing to the Commissioner, or his Deputy, during office hours, and must state the area and situation of the allotment, and the number of the same on the map deposited in the Land Office as aforesaid; and no such application shall

be entertained unless it be accompanied by a receipt for the purchase-money signed by a Receiver of Land Revenue.

39. The Commissioner, or his Deputy, immediately on receipt of such application, shall, in the presence of the intending purchaser or his agent, if such purchaser or agent desire the same, enter in the minute book to be kept for that purpose the day and hour of the receipt of the application, the name of the purchaser, and the area, situation, and number of the allotment, and the amount paid as the purchase-money of the same.

40. As soon as such entry shall have been so made, the land to which the same shall refer shall be deemed to be sold, and the purchaser thereof entitled to a Crown Grant.

Credit Land.

41. No land, after the 1st day of August, 1860, shall be sold upon Credit, except such as may be lawful to set apart for Special Settlement by Immigrants expected to arrive.

Before any Credit Land shall be sold, the Superintendent shall declare by notification in the "Provincial Government Gazette," and in such newspapers in the Colony of New Zealand and elsewhere as he may think fit, that the same will be open for sale at a place, and on and after a day, to be fixed in the notification; which day shall be at least two calendar months after the first publication of such notification.

42. All Credit Land shall be open for sale at the price of 10s. an acre, and shall be disposed of only to persons willing to purchase the same subject to the conditions hereinafter contained, for the occupation and improvement thereof.

43. Any person upwards of sixteen years of age desirous of making a selection of Credit Land shall, on application to the Commissioner or his Deputy in Auckland, or to such other person in the colony of New Zealand, as shall be appointed by the Superintendent to receive the same, be entitled, upon payment of a sum after the rate of 1s. an acre by way of deposit, to receive a Land Order in a form to be, from time to time, prescribed by the Superintendent: Provided always, that no person shall be entitled to any such land order for more than eighty or less than forty acres of land.

44. Every such land order shall authorise the person entitled to the same, or his agent constituted in writing, to make a selection out of any Credit Land which shall be open for selection at the time such person shall desire to make the same: Provided always, that the land so selected shall be either in one allotment or in contiguous allotments.

45. Every right of selection must be exercised within two calendar months from the date of the land order, if such land order has been issued in the Province of Auckland, but if such order has been issued elsewhere, within six months from the date thereof; and the selection under any such land order shall be deemed to be complete whenever the person making the same shall have delivered such order during office hours at the Waste Land Office, together with a description in writing (under a sealed cover, with the words "Description of Credit Land" legibly written thereon), sufficient for the purpose of identifying the land selected.

46. All such sealed covers shall be opened at noon on the next Monday (not being a holiday), by the Commissioner or his Deputy, in the presence of a Receiver of Land Revenue, or such other officer of the Provincial Government as the Superintendent may from time to time appoint for that purpose, and in the presence of any applicants, if they shall attend; and if there be more than one application for the same allotment, the Commissioner, or his Deputy, and such Receiver or other Officer shall at once put up the same for sale by auction at the upset price of ten shillings an acre, at which sale those only who applied for the allotment shall be allowed to bid, and the highest bidder amongst them shall be declared the purchaser thereof, and the amount bid shall be deemed to be the price of the said allotment.

47. Provided always, that when the person so receiving a land order does not make a selection within two months or six months respectively after the date thereof, it shall be lawful for such person to return to the Waste Land Office such land order and to receive back the amount paid for the same: Provided also, that if any such order be not returned within seven days from the time within which the selection in respect of the same should have been made, such order shall be held to have lapsed, and the amount paid for the same forfeited.

48. Any person whose application shall be granted, shall be entitled to have immediate occupation of the land selected, and shall be entitled to a lease of the same for five years, in a form to be, from time to time, prescribed by the Superintendent, at a yearly rent, after the rate of sixpence an acre, payable yearly; and the payment hereinbefore required by the way of deposit, shall be deemed to be in payment of the first two years' rent.

49. After five years' bona fide occupation, and the payment of the rent reserved by the lease, the lessee shall be entitled to a Grant from the Crown in fee simple of the land contained in such lease, on payment of the price thereof, as

aforesaid: Provided always, that if the purchase-money, and all the rent due, be not paid within six calendar months after the expiration of the lease, the land therein comprised, together with all improvements thereon, shall be sold by auction, by order of the Superintendent, after two months' notice given in the "Provincial Government Gazette," and in two of the newspapers published in Auckland; and the proceeds, after deducting all sums due in respect of the said land, and all expenses incident to the sale thereof, shall be paid over to the lessee forfeiting the claim, or to his appointee or representative: Provided that in default of such sale by direction of the Superintendent within twelve calendar months after the expiration of the lease, the Governor may direct the sale of such land upon not less than two months' notice, given in such wise as he may think fit.

50. Every person shall be deemed to have bona fide occupied any Credit Land under lease as aforesaid, who shall have erected a habitable dwelling-house thereon during the first year, and made improvements thereon, or any part thereof, after the rate of one acre in ten of open land, and one acre in twenty of forest land, for every year, after the first year, during such occupation. Such improvements to consist of tillage, or clearing of forest, or laying down to grass; and a residence during the whole term of five years by the lessee on any such land, shall be deemed and taken to be equivalent to such improvements.

51. Any lessee of Credit Land who shall, at any time during the term of his lease, have completed all the improvements which he is by this Act required to make during the whole term of five years, and who shall pay the price thereof, and also all rent accrued due, shall be forthwith entitled to a grant of the land included in such lease.

52. If any lessee, or any other person, shall continue in possession of land which shall have become forfeited under the provisions of this Act (unless an appeal as hereinafter provided be pending), he shall be deemed to be in the unlawful occupation of Waste Lands of the Crown, and shall forfeit and pay for every day during which he shall so continue in possession, the sum of 40s., to be recovered before any Justice of the Peace in a summary way.

53. Every lessee of Credit Land shall forward to the Commissioner on the last day of the second year, and on the last day of every subsequent year of the term of his lease, or within fifteen days after such days respectively, a return in writing, in a form to be from time to time prescribed by the Superintendent, of the land improved by him during the preceding year, and the nature of such improvements, which return shall be certified by two house-

holders, and all such returns shall forthwith he published in the "Provincial Government Gazette" for general information.

54. Any lessee or his assign will be permitted to assign and transfer any Credit Land, subject to the terms and conditions prescribed in the original lease, and subject also to the approval of the Superintendent, on the recommendation of the Commissioner.

55. If any person holding under such lease as aforesaid, shall not within six months enter into bona fide occupation of the land thereby leased, or if he shall not pay the yearly rent of 6d. per acre at the end of the second and every subsequent year, or if he shall cease to bona fide occupy, or if he shall omit for one month after notice, to make the return in writing required as aforesaid, the Commissioner shall forthwith, by a notification to be published in the "Provincial Government Gazette," declare that the right and interest of such lessee in such land has become forfeited; and the Superintendent may let, or sell, or otherwise dispose of it under this Act, in the same manner as if the land had never been let to such lessee.

56. If any question shall at any time arise as to whether a forfeiture has been incurred or sufficient improvements made, as required by this Act, it shall be lawful for the lessee, within one month after such question shall have arisen, to prefer an appeal, in writing, to the Superintendent, which appeal shall be referred, at the expense of the party requiring the same, to two arbitrators and an umpire, to be appointed in the usual way, whose decision shall be final and conclusive.

57. If any lessee or any other person shall, after the time for appealing to the Superintendent against the decision of the Commissioner shall have elapsed, continue in possession of land which shall have become forfeited under the provisions of this Act, he shall be deemed to be in the unlawful occupation of Waste Lands of the Crown, and shall forfeit and pay for every day during which he shall so continue in possession the sum of forty shillings, to be recovered before any Justice of the Peace in a summary way.

Land for Special Settlement.

58. It shall be lawful for the Superintendent, from time to time, to declare by Proclamation that a certain Block of Land therein described shall be set apart and reserved for certain Immigrants expected to arrive from the United Kingdom or elsewhere, other than the Australian Colonies.

59. Such land so set apart and reserved shall be sold exclusively to such Immigrants upon the terms and conditions hereinbefore prescribed respectively in reference to

Town and Suburban Land and to General Country Land and Credit Land, as the Superintendent may from time to time think fit.

60. It shall be lawful for the Superintendent at any time to revoke any such Proclamation, and the land therein comprised shall thereafter be open to be classified and dealt with as though the same had not been set apart and reserved as aforesaid: Provided always that the validity of any act which shall have been done under such proclamation before the revocation thereof, shall not be affected by such revocation.

Mineral Lands.

61. Any person applying for a Lease of Waste Land (other than Town or Suburban Land) whether surveyed or unsurveyed, for the purpose of winning and working the Minerals (other than Gold) therein contained, shall be entitled to the same upon the following terms and conditions: –

1. The Lease shall comprise so much Land as shall, in the opinion of the Commissioner, be necessary for the efficient working of the Minerals, not being less than 20, or more than 80 acres.

2. The term to be granted shall be any number of years, at the option of the Lessee, not exceeding 21.

3. There shall be reserved a Royalty or rent of one-fifteenth of the Minerals to be raised.

4. The Lease shall contain clauses in the usual form introduced into Mining Leases, – 1. For securing the payment of the Royalty or rent. 2. For enabling some person on the part of the Lessor from time to time to enter and examine the Mine. 3. For securing the regular, proper, and efficient winning and working of the Minerals. 4. For making void the Lease on breach of the stipulations, on the part of the Lessee, therein contained. 5. For delivering up the property at the termination of the Lease in good tenantable repair. 6. For enabling the Lessee to abandon the working of the Minerals, whenever he shall find the same unprofitable to work, and surrender the Lease.

62. All applications for Leases shall be sent in by the applicant, and dealt with in the same manner as applications for General Country Land.

63. Every applicant for a Mineral Lease shall furnish to the Commissioner, within a time to be fixed by him after the application shall have been granted, a plan and description of the land to be leased; which plan and description shall be made and prepared by a surveyor to be approved of by the Commissioner.

64. The Land comprised in any Mining Lease shall, at the request of the Lessee, at any time after an occupation of three years, be put up to auction at an upset price of 10s. an acre, subject to the Lease thereof already granted.

Auriferous Land.

65. It shall be lawful for the Superintendent, with the advice of his Executive Council, from time to time to make Rules and Regulations, as hereinafter provided, for regulating Gold Mining in the Province of Auckland, and such Rules and Regulations from time to time to alter, amend, and revoke: Provided always, that all such Rules and Regulations and every right and interest created thereunder, except Leases, shall cease and determine at the end of the next Session of the Provincial Council after the same shall have been made.

66. Such Rules and Regulations may be made for all or any of the following purposes: –

1. For regulating the use and occupation of the Waste Lands for the purposes of Gold Mining.

2. For authorising the occupation of Waste Lands for the purpose of Residence with the object of Mining, or carrying on a business for furnishing supplies to miners.

3. For regulating the granting, transfer, and cancelling of Licenses to Mine for Gold on the Waste Lands, and fixing the Fees payable for such Licences.

4. For regulating the granting of Leases for Mining purposes, of portions of Auriferous Quartz veins, and the terms and conditions for and on which such Leases shall be granted, and for fixing the amount to be paid by way of rent, whether as a Royalty or otherwise.

67. For the purpose of giving effect to the Rules and Regulations hereby authorized to be made, it shall be lawful for the Superintendent, with the advice of his Executive Council, to impose any Penalty not exceeding £20 for any offence against the same, and such penalty shall be recoverable in a summary way.

68. It shall also be lawful for the Superintendent to appoint Officers for carrying out the provisions of this Act, and of the Rules and Regulations to be made in pursuance thereof, and with power and authority to determine disputes and differences as to the extent, position, and boundaries of the claims of persons holding Licences or Leases under this Act.

Immigration.

60. As it is expedient that persons emigrating at their own cost from the United Kingdom and elsewhere, other than the Australian Colonies, should be permitted to acquire land free of cost in proportion to their expenditure on Emigration, it shall be lawful for the Superintendent, from time to time, to appoint Emigration Agents in the United Kingdom or elsewhere, with authority to grant Land Orders to persons intending to emigrate and settle in the Province of Auckland; and any such Agent at any time to remove: Provided always, that no person shall be entitled to demand any such Land Order as a right, or be entitled to receive any land whatever free of cost, in respect of any such expenditure, unless he shall have obtained, previously to his emigrating, from some one of such Agents of the said Province, a Land Order as herein provided.

70. Such Land Orders shall be granted according to the following scale, namely, for any person eighteen years of age and upwards, forty acres; and for any person upwards of five years, and under eighteen years of age, twenty acres: Provided always, that in any case in which a child under eighteen years of age shall accompany a parent, the order shall be granted to the parent, and not to the child; and in any case in which a servant shall be brought into the Province at the sole expense of a master, the allowance shall be made to the master, and not to the servant.

71. No such Land Order shall be transferable; but in the event of the death, before the expiration of the five years as hereinafter mentioned, of any person to whom any Land Order shall have been granted in respect of his own emigration, all his right and interest under such order shall vest in his appointee constituted in writing, or, in default of such an appointee, in his legal representative, who shall be at once entitled to a grant of the land, in case all the terms and conditions to which such deceased person was subject have been fulfilled up to the time of his death.

72. In the event of the death, before the expiration of the period of five years as hereinafter mentioned, of any child or servant in respect of whom any Land Order shall have been granted to any parent or master, such parent or master shall, if all the terms and conditions in respect of such deceased child or servant shall have been fulfilled up to the time of his death, be entitled at once to a Crown Grant of the land which, in respect of such order, he may have selected or be entitled to select.

73. Every such order shall be null and void unless the person in respect of whom the same shall have been granted shall present the same in person to the Commissioner, or his Deputy within the said Province, within twelve calendar months from the date of the order being granted.

74. On presentation thereof to the Commissioner or his Deputy, such officer, on being satisfied that the person presenting the same is the person in respect of whom the Land Order was granted, shall make a note thereon, stating the fact of such presentation, and of the day of the arrival in the Province of the person presenting the same, and shall date and sign such note.

75. Every such Land Order, when so signed, shall authorise the person entitled to the same, or his agent constituted in writing, to select the number of acres mentioned therein out of the Special Settlement Land, if any, specified in such Order, or out of any General Country Land, subject in all cases to the provisions of this Act in reference to the selection of Special Settlement Land and General Country Land respectively.

76. Provided always that it shall be lawful for the Commissioner, if he shall think fit, to divide any allotment for the purpose of enabling any person to obtain the exact number of acres to which any such Land Order may entitle him; Provided also, that the land selected by any one person shall either be one allotment or contiguous allotments.

77. Every such Land Order, when so signed as aforesaid, shall be in force for five years from the day of the arrival stated in such note, and if no selection

be made within that time, such Land Order shall be null and void.

78. When any person, in respect of whom any such Land Order shall have been granted, shall within the said five years have been absent from the Province of Auckland more than twelve calendar months in the whole, such Land Order shall be null and void, and all right to land selected under the same shall cease and determine.

79. At the expiration of five years from the day of arrival stated in such note as aforesaid, the person entitled to any land, selected under any such Order, shall be entitled to a Crown Grant thereof, on proving, to the satisfaction of the Commissioner or his Deputy, that the person in respect of whom such Land Order shall have been granted is then resident within the said Province, and has resided therein not less altogether than forty-eight calendar months out of the said five years.

Naval and Military Settlers.

80. Every Naval and Military Officer, whether on full or half-pay, and every Non-commissioned Officer and Private, Marine, and Seaman, whether belonging to Her Majesty's Service or to the Service of the East India Company, who may retire or obtain his discharge from the service to which he may belong, or who, having retired or obtained his discharge for the purpose of settling in the Province of Auckland, has not selected Land under any former Law or Regulation enabling Naval and Military Settlers to select land free of cost, shall be entitled (in lieu of an allowance in respect of money expended in passages, as hereinbefore provided, in respect of Settlers emigrating from the United Kingdom and elsewhere) to receive from the Commissioner a Land Order, enabling him to acquire Land free of cost after the following rate: –

Commissioned Officer 400 acres.
Non-commissioned and Warrant Officer 80 acres.
Private Soldier, Marine, and Seaman 60 acres.

81. Provided always, that any such Officer, Noncommissioned Officer and Private, and any Marine and Seaman, before he shall be entitled to receive any such Land Order, shall prove to the satisfaction of the Commissioner, by certificate or otherwise, that he retired or obtained his discharge for the purpose of settling in the Province of Auckland; and any Noncommissioned Officer or Private, Marine, or Seaman shall, at the same time, produce to the Commissioner a certificate from the Officer under whom he may have served, of having during his period of service been of a good character: Provided also, that any such Land Order shall be applied for within twelve calendar months next after such retirement or discharge as aforesaid, or shall have been applied for before the Ninth day of June, 1858, by those who have retired or been discharged.

82. Every such Land Order shall be granted by the Commissioner, or his Deputy in New Zealand, and shall be to the same purport, and shall have the same effect, and shall entitle the person in whose favour the same is granted to the same rights and privileges as a Land Order granted by an agent in England, to a person emigrating therefrom after such last-mentioned order shall have been presented to, and had a note made thereon by, the Commissioner, or his Deputy, as hereinbefore provided.

School Teachers and Common Schools.

83. For the purpose of encouraging persons qualified to teach in Common Schools to settle in the Province of Auckland, every such person who shall produce to the Superintendent a certificate signed by the Chairman of the Board of Education of the said Province, established under the provisions of the Education Act, 1857, that such person is qualified to teach Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, and English Grammar, such person shall be entitled to receive a Land Order for the selection of 80 acres of General Country Land.

84. No such Land Order shall be transferable, but the Teacher to whom the same shall be granted shall be entitled to a Crown Grant of the Land selected by him under such Land Order at the expiration of five years from the date of such Order, upon proof to the satisfaction of the Superintendent that such Teacher has been engaged during the whole period of such five years in teaching youth within the said Province in a Common School in connection with the said Board of Education.

85. Provided always, that in the event of the death of any such Teacher at any time within the said term of five years, his appointee constituted in writing, or in default of such appointee his legal representative, shall be entitled at once to a Crown Grant of the Land selected or to be then selected under such Land Order.

Occupation of Waste Lands.

86. The Rules and Regulations set forth in the Schedule hereunto annexed, shall remain and be in force for regulating the issue of Pasture and Timber Licences for the occupation of Waste Lands of the Crown outside Hundreds.

87. Any Commissioner appointed under this Act shall have, exercise, and perform all the rights, powers, and duties which the Commissioner of Crown Lands mentioned in the said Rules and Regulations had or could exercise and perform under the said Rules and Regulations.

Miscellaneous.

88. It shall be lawful for the Commissioner, within three months after notice shall have been given in the "Government Gazette" for the Province of Auckland, to cause to be surveyed, at the applicant's cost (which shall be paid by such applicant before the Crown Grant shall be issued), all lands remaining unsurveyed, which shall have been applied for, and the application granted, under any Regulations relating to Unsurveyed Lands in force within the Province of Auckland, prior to the Ninth day of March, 1858.

89. Any Commissioner appointed under this Act shall possess, exercise, and perform all the rights, powers, acts, and duties which the Waste Land Board, under the Waste Lands Regulations published in the "New Zealand Government Gazette," dated the ninth day of February, 1855, and the

Waste Lands Commissioner under the Waste Land Regulations published in the "New Zealand Government Gazette," dated the fourteenth day of May, 1856, and also the Waste Land Commissioner appointed under the said "Auckland Waste Land Acts 1858," respectively possessed, or could exercise and perform, so far as may be necessary to complete, carry out, or compel the performance of any contract, agreement, or other matter whatsoever, which may have been lawfully made, entered into, or commenced, but not completed, under the said Waste Land Regulations and Act respectively, before the commencement of this Act.

90. Throughout this Act, in the construction thereof, the word "Governor" shall mean the person for the time being lawfully administering the Government of the Colony of New Zealand; and unless there be something in the subject or context repugnant to such construction, words importing the singular number only shall include the plural, and words importing the plural number only shall include the singular, and words importing the masculine gender only shall include females.

91. This Act may be cited for all purposes as the "Auckland Waste Land Act, 1858."

SCHEDULE.

OCCUPATION OF CROWN LANDS.

1. All persons requiring Licences for Runs on unoccupied portions of the Crown Lands, or for portions of the same which they now occupy, shall lodge a description of such Run (as near as may be in the form B hereunto annexed) with the Waste Land Commissioner.

2. If no objection exists to the applicant being allowed to occupy such Run, the Commissioner shall thereupon publicly notify that it has been claimed as a Run, and shall at the same time publish in the "Government Gazette" the name of the person claiming the Run, and the description thereof.

3. No person shall be allowed to dispute the claim of another person to any Run applied for under these Regulations unless he shall do so within three months subsequently to the date of the publication above mentioned.

4. After the expiration of three months from the date of the said publication, the applicant shall be required to pay rent for the Run at the rate and in the manner after mentioned, and to distinguish by marked trees or posts, or in such manner as shall be satisfactory to the Commissioner, such boundaries of the Run as are not distinctly defined by streams or natural boundaries.

5. Any person who shall have a Run or any considerable part thereof unoccupied by the requisite amount of stock for a period of six months after he shall have claimed the same, shall be liable to be regarded as having abandoned such Run or part thereof, and if the Commissioner shall find it necessary publicly to notify that such Run or part thereof has been so abandoned, it shall thereupon be given into the occupation of the first applicant for it.

6. In estimating the sufficiency of Stock for any Run applied for, the Commissioner shall not allow for natural increase in any proportions, with respect to the amount of stock on the Run, greater than those set forth in the following scale: –

For any number of sheep up to 500 inclusive, run to be granted for any number not exceeding 5000 sheep.

For every additional 100 between

500 and 1000

500

1000 and 4000

400

additional sheep

4000 and 5000

200

5000 and 10,000

100

And in no case shall a Run be granted capable of containing more than 25,000 sheep. In estimating Runs for great cattle, one head of such cattle shall be rated as six sheep.

7. In case of any questions arising as to attempts to evade the foregoing Regulations, or to obtain unduly the benefits thereof, the Commissioner shall have full power to decide such questions in such manner as may most effectually carry out the true spirit and meaning of such Regulations.

8. So soon after the time at which rent for a Run may have become payable under these Regulations as the occupant may, in the opinion of the Commissioner, have sufficiently stocked the same, he will be entitled to a licence to depasture stock upon it for fourteen years, in the form A, hereunto annexed, and subject to the following conditions: –

1. If at any time during the currency of such licence the land comprised therein, or any part thereof, shall be included within the boundaries of any Hundred, the said licence shall cease and determine as to so much of the land as shall be included within such boundaries from and after the day of the date of the Proclamation by which such Hundred shall be constituted.

2. If at any time during the currency of such licence the land comprised therein, or any part thereof, shall be sold under the provisions of these Regulations, then and in that case also the said licence shall cease and determine as to so much of the land as shall be sold as aforesaid from and after the day of the date of the "Provincial Government Gazette" in which notice of such sales shall be published.

3. The annual licence fee shall be in all cases at least £5; and each person who occupies a Run shall pay annually in addition a further licence fee at the rate of £1 sterling for every thousand sheep above five thousand, which the Run so occupied shall be estimated to be capable of containing, and in the same proportion for great cattle, six sheep being rated as one head of great cattle.

4. If at any time during the currency of such licence such annual fees and the said annual assessment shall not be paid by the holder of it, in the manner and at the time required by these Regulations, then and in that case the said licence shall cease and determine, and the Commissioner shall thereupon be empowered to notify publicly the forfeiture of such licence, and to let the Run to which it relates by public auction to the highest bidder for a term of fourteen years, subject to the conditions of these Regulations.

0. No such licence for fourteen years will be granted to any applicant for a Run until he shall have paid all arrears of rent and assessments which may be owing by him for such Run.

10. In the event of any dispute arising between two or more claimants regarding the boundaries of their respective Runs, it shall

be in the power of the Commissioner to make such alterations in the boundaries of their runs, or of any of them, as he may upon enquiry judge to be just and expedient.

ISSUE OF TIMBER LICENCES.

11. Persons occupying Waste Land of the Crown for the purpose of cutting timber, will be required to pay a fee of £5 yearly upon the issue of the licence.

12. The Commissioner shall determine the extent of land to which such licence shall give a right of occupancy, and the licences shall only have effect within the district specified in them.

13. No fresh applicant for a licence will be permitted injuriously to interfere with a portion of forest upon which any other person may have expended capital and labour.

14. In the event of any occupant of a portion of forest upon which he may have expended any considerable sum in the formation of roads, or improvements to facilitate the removal of timber, wishing to resign his licence, he shall, if in the consideration of the Commissioner he should be regarded as having established a claim to this indulgence, be permitted to transfer his licence and right of pre-occupancy to such person as he may select.

15. All applicants for timber licences must address their applications to the Waste Lands Commissioner, stating their names and residences in full.

16. When the application has been approved, it shall be forwarded to the Receiver of Land Revenue, by whom, upon payment of the required fee, the licence shall be issued.

17. No person will be allowed to cut or remove timber on or from the Crown Lands, which have been reserved by Government for the public use.

18. The form of Timber Licences will be according to Form C hereunto annexed.

GENERAL.

19. All annual licences to be drawn so as to expire simultaneously on the last day of each year.

20. Licences applied for after the 1st of June in each year, will only be chargeable with half the usual fee.

21. No licence shall preclude the Government from including within a Hundred, or selling, or shall in any way affect the rights of the Crown to land occupied in virtue of such licence.

22. All disputes between holders of licences having reference to depasturing stock or cutting timber, shall be heard and decided by the Commissioner, who is hereby authorised to charge at his discretion to the party against whom his decision shall be made, a fee of £5.

23. Licences for depasturing purposes may be transferred from one person to another, by the Commissioner, with the approval of the Superintendent.

A.

FORM OF LICENCE.

Whereas . . . . . of . . . . . has made application for a licence to depasture stock upon the Waste Lands of the Crown within the district of [boundaries], and has this day paid into my hands the sum of £ s. d., I, do hereby licence the said to [depasture stock] upon the said land for the term of fourteen years from the date hereof; subject, nevertheless, to be sooner determined, pursuant to the provisions of the "Waste Land Regulations 1859," under which this licence is issued, and to be cancelled as by law is provided.

Dated this . . . . . day of . . . . .

Signed . . . . .

B.

Description of a Run on the Waste Lands of the Crown

Claimed by
Situation
Boundaries
Estimated extent
Number and description of stock left upon the run
(Signature)

C.

Timber Licence to . . . . . at . . . . . permission to cut, saw, split, and remove timber on and from the Waste Crown Lands at within such limits as may at any time be assigned by the Commissioner subject to the provisions of the "Waste Land Regulations, 1859."

Receiver of Land Revenue.

N.B. – If the holder of the above licence shall contravene or violate any order or regulation made with respect to any of the purposes for which this licence is granted, the Government reserves to itself the power of declaring the licence of any such person so offending to be cancelled, and such licence shall thereupon become null and void, and shall not be pleaded in justification of any offence committed against the provisions of any ordinance relating thereto.

NOTES.

The foregoing is in fact the "Auckland Waste Lands Act, 1858, with the modifications rendered necessary by the "Waste Lands Act, 1858," passed in the last session of the General Assembly, and referred to in the following letter from the Colonial Office: –

Downing Street,
19th October, 1859.

GENTLEMEN,

With reference to the correspondence noted in the margin, which has passed between you and this Department, upon the subject of the "Waste Lands Act" of New Zealand, No. 75 of 1858, I am directed by the Duke of Newcastle to inform you that in consequence of a despatch which has been received from the Governor of that Colony, His Grace has felt himself enabled to submit the Act to her Majesty, and that it will be left to its operation.

[in the margin]
Messrs. Ridgway, 10 Dec., 1858.
Colonial Office 22 " "
Messrs. Ridgway, 21 " "
" " 23 " "
Colonial Office 24 " "
Messrs. Ridgway, 29 " "
Colonial Office 5 Jan., 1859.

I am,
Gentlemen,
Your obedient Servant,
(Signed) HERMAN MERIVALE.
MESSRS. RIDGWAY & SONS,
40, Leicester Square, London – W.C.

GENERAL REGULATIONS.

Before Land in the Province can be disposed of to Europeans, the title of the Aboriginal Natives must be extinguished, and clauses 3, 4, and 16, have reference to and are intended to faciliate purchases of land by the Government from the native owners, by granting to the natives themselves a Crown title to portions of Land sold by them, and also by providing that Europeans who have lived on Native Lands and acquired influence with them, should be secured in possession of their homesteads, difficulty having been experienced in acquiring land, owing to the opposition of such persons to its sale by the Natives. The remaining clauses of the section relate to the division of the land, its mode of survey and sale.

TOWN LANDS & SUBURBAN LANDS.

Town and Suburban Lands are always, in the first instance to be offered for sale by auction at such place within the Province as may be fixed.

COUNTRY LANDS.

Country Land is to be sold at the fixed price of 10s. per acre, subject to the conditions of clauses 35 and 30. The best Land may be had at that rate, and for convenience of selection, Land will be surveyed when practicable in sections of 80 acres each.

LAND FOR SPECIAL SETTLEMENT.

This is a mode of (special) settlement which might be carried out very successfully in the Province of Auckland, and in the promotion of which, Capital might be profitably employed. The Provincial Government regarding the scheme with favor, as having experience of its advantages, would endeavor to provide Good Land and Advantageous Locations for such settlements. It would be indispensably necessary, that, should a project of this kind be entertained and realized, an Agent connected with, or authorised by the intending Immigrants, should be sent in advance, in order that he might make choice of a Location. He should be empowered to go to some expense in providing temporary houses on the Land for the Immigrants, and also, to make other necessary arrangements for their reception. The individual Immigrants would be entitled to a selection according to age, of 40 or 20 acres of Land each in such settlement in lieu of the cost of their passage. The Land would bo surveyed and ready, sufficient notice having been given beforehand, to bo given over to the Immigrants, who might be landed in or near the spot from the vessels in which they arrive, and the little Colony, supposing it to be properly organised and to possess the necessary Capital, and provided with the necessary agricultural implements, might then at once commence operations, and avoid the delay, expense and difficulties which persons too often experience in settling in the Colony. A settlement of this nature should comprise at least from three to five hundred individuals, but under favorable circumstances special settlements of one hundred persons might be successfully established.

IMMIGRATION.

The clauses in this section provide for the granting of land, in lieu of the cost of passage to the Province. The proviso to clause 65, reserves to the Emigration Agents a discretion in granting land orders, secures to them, in fact, the power of selecting suitable persons, and of rejecting the claims for such orders, of persons who from age, infirmity, or other cause, might not be considered desirable immigrants. As the success of the present scheme depends mainly upon the exercise of this discretion, it is proposed, to indicate the classes of persons who are most likely to succeed as settlers in this Province, without meaning absolutely to limit the Agents choice to such classes, viz.; Agricultural Labourers and Servants, Mechanics of various kinds, Domestic Servants male and female,

and Farmers with small Capital. The high price of money, ten per cent, being easily obtainable at Auckland, upon the very best security, will be an inducement to Capitalists who merely seek investment. Unless as being the head, or a member of a family about to emigrate, no land order should be granted to any person above the age of 60 years. Young men in the rank of gentlemen, who have not been brought up to any profession or business, or who are without sufficient capital to establish themselves in the Province and to employ labour, are not generally desirable as Emigrants. The opportunity of employment for such persons in offices under Government, as Merchants' Clerks, or otherwise, is extremely limited. In the other Colonies to which persons of the description above mentioned have flocked, they have as a class suffered disappointment, and endured great distress, from which they have been relieved, in most instances, by accepting menial offices, or by betaking themselves to manual labour, for which their previous habits have not qualified them.

By the Waste Land Regulations, the Cabin passenger will receive no greater quantity of land than the Steerage passenger, the abundant supply of labour being the primary object sought to be obtained.

The intending settler who brings out servants at his own expense, will himself be entitled to receive the Land Order for their passage, and not the servant.

Persons who immigrate together in numbers, for the purpose of forming a special settlement, will be entitled to make their selection from "Special Settlement Lands;" all other persons must select from "General Country Lands," and it is necessary that this should be carefully noted in the Land Orders.

A Land Order for General Country Land, when it has been presented and noted by the Waste Lands Commissioner in Auckland, practically represents a debenture or money order, of the Value of £20 or £10, as the case may he, and will be available, under the special conditions of the Regulations, for the purchase by the individual in whose favour it is granted, of 40 or 20 acres of Country Land, in any part of the province in which General Country Land may be open for sale. Such Land Order is in force for five years; and the holder may exercise his right of selection under it, at any date within that period, and he is not tied by any conditions as to occupation or improvement, &c.

Persons who contemplate EMIGRATING to AUCKLAND should, before taking any other step, consult the undersigned respecting the Free Grants of Land which are given to eligible individuals.

ALEXANDER F. RIDGWAY & SONS,

GENERAL AGENTS to the PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT,

40, Leicester Square, W.C., London,

OF WHOM ALL INFORMATION MAY 1315 OBTAINED.

SHAW, SAVILL & Co.,

34, LEADENHALL STREET, LONDON.

THE PASSENGERS' LINE OF PACKETS
FOR AUCKLAND DIRECT,

List of Fares (Provisions included).

CHIEF CABIN – For One Person, the whole Cabin - - £60
For Two Persons in the same Cabin - - £40 each.
Poop and Stern Cabins by special agreement.
SECOND CABIN – Enclosed Cabins - - £25 each.
INTERMEDIATE – Cabins for Married Couples and families - - £18 each.
STEERAGE - - £15 each.

Children under 12 years to pay one-half Passage Money. Infants under one year no charge.

SHAW, SAVILL & Co., New Zealand Packet Office,
34, LEADENHALL STREET, E. C., LONDON.

WILLIS & Co.'s

AUCKLAND REGULAR LINE OF PACKETS.
3, CROSBY SQUARE, LONDON.

LIST OF FARES (Provisions Included).

CHIEF CABIN – For Two Persons in the same Cabin - - £40 each. Sleeping Cabins in Lower Deck.
For One Person occupying the whole Cabin - - £60 [Sleeping Cabins in Lower Deck.]
Poop Cabins by special agreement.
SECOND CABIN – Enclosed Cabin - - £25 each.
THIRD CABIN – Enclosed Berths, separate Cabins for married couples - - £18 each.
STEERAGE – Open Berths - - £16 each.

Children under 12 years to pay one-half Passage Money. Infants under one year no charge.

WILLIS, GANN & Co,

NEW ZEALAND OFFICES,
3, Crosby Square, Bishopsgate Street, E.C., London.

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