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TWENTY-FIVE YEARS
OF
EMIGRANT LIFE IN THE SOUTH OF NEW ZEALAND.
BY JAMES ADAM,
LATE MEMBER OF THE PROVINCIAL AND EXECUTIVE COUNCILS, OTAGO.
EDINBURGH:
BELL AND BRADFUTE, BANK STREET.
LONDON: GEORGE STREET, 30 CORNHILL.
1874.
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PRINTED BY T. AND A. CONSTABLE, PRINTERS TO HER MAJESTY, AT THE EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY PRESS.
[PREFACE]
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PREFACE.
SINCE I landed in this country, a short time ago, a great many strange questions have been put to me, such as--Why did you emigrate to New Zealand? Is not the voyage dreadfully monotonous? How did you get on when you landed? Is the climate good? etc.
In the following pages I have endeavoured to answer such questions as these, and others too numerous to mention. The chapters are connected together by the writer's experience of what he has seen passing around him during the last quarter of a century. This part, I am afraid, has not been accomplished in a very artistic manner, but I have only done so for the purpose of uniting the subjects without bringing myself too prominently forward. The pamphlet has been written for the benefit of that large class of persons who annually leave the shores of Great Britain for other lands, in search of a new home.
JAMES ADAM.
9 FISH STREET, ABERDEEN.
[CONTENTS]
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CONTENTS.
I. WHY I EMIGRATED TO NEW ZEALAND....5
II. FIRST DIFFICULTIES.........6
III. AT SEA--INCIDENTS OF THE VOYAGE......7
First Impressions--Length of Voyage--A sister's gift--Trial by Judge and Jury--Scene in the Court.
IV. INCIDENTS OF THE VOYAGE--Continued,......10
A case of catalepsy--Cure--An apology--Learned disquisition-- Disease common to New Zealand.
V. LAND HO!..........13
Pilot Boat--Revolutions in Europe--Square the yards--Child overboard--A cannibal chief--Port Chalmers.
VI. MURMURINGS.........15
The Scot and the Jew--Points of resemblance--Aaron stills the people--A day's shooting--Gamekeepers from home--Wild Pigeons.
VII. LOST IN THE BUSH........17
Sensation, of being lost--Remedy--Appointment of guide-- Footprint in the sand--Runaway sailors--Crossing Pelichet Bay.
VIII. ORIGIN OF OTAGO.........21
Canterbury rejected--Purchase of Otago--Site of Dunedin-- Captain Cargill.
IX. HOUSE-BUILDING.........23
Poor folks turned into Lairds--My Cottage--A Pic-nic.
X. THE CONDAMINE STORE.......25
Mischievous properties of Gravitation.
XI. TRADE...........27
Servants turned into masters--Retail-dealers become importers-- A Kelso man--Trade of Otago.
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XII. SECOND DIFFICULTIES.......34
Home-sickness--Cure--A Birth--Large Families--A Farmer wants a wife.
XIII. DISCREPANCY OF SEXES........36
Marriage profitable--Twenty thousand marriages--Jeanie's marriage-- Needle-women--Dairy-maids.
XIV. REMARKABLE COLONISTS......39
Lowe--Childers--Vogel--An Aberdeen clerk.
XV. POLITICS, ..........44
The Long Parliament--Revenue.
XVI. GOLD............48
Discovery--Chinese Worship and Pride--Blue Spur.
XVII. AGRICULTURE, .........53
Founder--Oamaru--Fertility of soil.
XVIII. LAND ON DEFERRED PAYMENTS......56
Land for emigrants and small farmers--An Otago farm.
XIX. MY NEIGHBOURS........61
The Aberdeen Brothers--Energy rewarded--A Dundee Apprentice.
XX. CLIMATE..........63
Temperature--Prevalent Winds --Rain-fall--Thunder--Birthrate--Death-rate--Pulmonary Disease--Mountains.
XXI. EDUCATION......70
Churches--University--High School--Ladies' School--Primary and Grammar Schools--Proselytism--Industrial School-- Libraries--Newspapers--Criminal Education--Dr. Begg.
XXII. SHEEP FARMING.........79
Runs--Value of wool--A New Zealand Duke--Number of sheep --Broadcast Turnips-- Fencing.
XXIII. INDUSTRIES.........S2
Woollen-mills--Breweries -- Sawmills -- Steam-Plough--Banking--Railways--Debt and Assets.
XXIV. THE ABORIGINES.........91
Discovery of New Zealand--Columbus and Kupe--Original Home of Maori--Records--Moa--Education--Progress-- Hongi, a Maori chief--Wars--Decay of the race.
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XXV. BUSH........... 95
Fern Tree--Pines--Turnip Trees--Blue Gum--Birds--A Lark--Beasts and reptiles--Area of Forests.
XXVI. TO EMIGRANTS........100
Who should emigrate--Hours of labour--Wages.
XXVII. SOCIAL CONDITION.......102
Class settlement--Convict labour--A digger becomes a lord --Volunteers--Humane Institutions--Needle-women.
XXVIII. STEWART'S ISLAND....... 108
Land--Timber-- Fish.
XXIX. WAGES AND PROVISIONS.......110
ILLUSTRATIONS.
MAP OF OTAGO.........Frontispiece.
HOLMES' STATION AND WIAMEA PLAIN.....facing page 54
UPPER MATAURA PLAINS AND RIVER.......58
FARM OF SMITH BROTHERS, CLUTHA,... 59
FARM OF STRAIN & SONS, TOKOMAIRIRO PLAIN.........62
