1853 - New Zealand and its Six Colonies Historically and Geographically Described. - Chapter VI, p 51-56

[Image of page 51]

CHAPTER VI.

6. CANTERBURY. --We come now to the last, and certainly the most important colony in New Zealand; one which promises to exceed any of the others in its social attractions, and probably in its wealth. It is situated at Port Cooper, on the eastern shore of the middle island, very nearly in its centre; a locality which the Nelson settlers would fain have chosen, but they could not get the consent of the governor to take possession of that district. Prom nearly the middle of the east coast, but nearer to the northern than to the southern extremity, Banks' Peninsula, containing about 250,000 acres

[Image of page 52]

of mountain land, juts out into the sea, forming a somewhat bold promontory. In this peninsula there are four good harbours; Akaroa at the south eastern extremity; Port Cooper (now called Port Victoria); Port Levy and Pigeon Bay, on the north. Port Levy and Port Victoria are separated from each other merely by a headland, forming a sort of angle; they run up till they nearly meet; Port Cooper is the largest and most sheltered. There had been, for some time, a small settlement formed at Akaroa, of which Governor Sir George Grey, in a despatch of March 17, 1848, thus speaks:-- "This is a very interesting district, containing a population of about 300 Europeans [chiefly French], and 400 natives. The inhabitants are all now in a state of great comfort, producing for themselves all the necessaries of life, and exporting their surplus produce to other settlements. The harbour is one of the best in this country, so celebrated for fine harbours; the soil and climate are excellent, and it would form an admirable site for a large colony."

The settlement of Canterbury comprises Banks' Peninsula, with the adjacent plains upon the main land containing about 2,500,000 acres in one block; and consisting mainly of three grassy plains or prairies, named Sumner, Whately, and Wilberforce. This tract extends on the north nearly as for as Nelson, and on the south to Otago. It is intersected by several rivers, with their numerous tributaries, running to the sea from an Alpine chain of snowcapped mountains. Along the spurs and foot of this range, the forest, of which the plains seem to have been stripped by fire, extends in primeval grandeur. The whole of the plain country affords excellent natural pasturage, and is well adapted for grazing purposes. Much of it is, also, capable of being converted into arable, and will yield crops of excellent grain, potatoes, European fruits, and vegetables. "It is on the whole," says Mr. Fox, "as fine a tract as has ever been colonized." It has only one drawback--timber is not conveniently scattered over it. The immense plains are bare of wood, which grows about twenty miles from their centre, on each side. But as there are facilities for conveying timber for several miles into the plains by water, when the settlement is fully formed, and employment is properly organized, there is little doubt the supply of wood

[Image of page 53]

from Banks' Peninsula and the hills will form a regular trade; and the price become reasonably moderate."

The climate is chiefly remarkable for warmth, without sultriness, but the nights are very frequently bitterly cold; and in winter frost and snow prevail. It is, however, very healthy. Fruits--like the grape, the melon, and the gooseberry, the produce of different countries--are here brought to perfection; and the colonists had proofs of the fertility of the soil, from the experience of the French settlers in Akaroa bay, and some "squatters" on the plains. Their gardens teemed with flowers, kitchen vegetables, and all the English fruits. Sea fish is abundant, and of excellent quality; the plains abound with wild swine, which are excellent food; quails and wild fowl; there are no snakes, wild dogs, or other indigenous vermin. About fourteen miles from Port Victoria is a station called Riccarton, in a most lovely spot, where two brothers named Deans, have now been settled nearly ten years. A visitor to these squatters, in March 1849, says. "The garden is luxuriantly stocked with fruits and vegetables of every description; and I particularly remarked the apple-trees, every limb of which had to be propped up from the immense crop of fruit, with which they are burdened." Some of the Messrs. Deans' land yielded sixty bushels per acre, when first cropped with wheat. The Messrs. Deans themselves, addressing Captain Thomas, the agent and chief surveyor of the Canterbury Association, says, "After having traversed the country from Port Nicholson to Taranaki, and the whole of the east coast of this island, and after considerable experience in England as farmers, and for the last nine years in New Zealand, we can, with some confidence, congratulate you on being able to secure the district as the site for the Canterbury settlement."

Port Victoria is the principal harbour, and at its head is situated Lyttelton, in latitude 43 deg. 35 sec. south, which, as respects temperature, corresponds with about 47 deg. in the northern hemisphere. The most recent visitor, who has given us any account of this colony, C. Warren Adams, esq., who visited it in 1851-52, says, -- "There are few prettier places than Lyttelton, seen from the sea. Situated in a small but picturesque bay, it is, as it were, framed in the bold and rugged hills by which it is on three sides surrounded; and whose wild and uncultivated

[Image of page 54]

aspect contrasts very effectively with the neat houses and busy streets of the town. The most striking object is the jetty; it is well-built and convenient, running into the sea for about 100 yards, and is, I believe, the best in New Zealand. On landing there a wide street leads directly up the hill towards the police court and the upper part of the town. The emigration barracks are neat and commodious buildings, standing in a spacious area, immediately on the right wing of the jetty. One of them is at present [Oct. 1851] used as a church, another is converted into schoolrooms." The Esplanade is the best street in the town; it extends from the jetty to Canterbury-street, in which is the Mitre hotel, said to be the best in New Zealand. A bridle path, inaccessible for carts, leads over the range of hills at the back of the town, to the ferry across the Heathcote, on the way to Christchurch, the other town in the colony. This, Mr. Adams tells us, is "by no means so pretty a town as Lyttelton; in fact it is decidedly ugly. It is larger; but the houses being scattered over a wide space of ground, have a straggling and irregular appearance. The site is also unfavourable to beauty, as it is situated on the vast plain, which forms the principal portion of the Canterbury blocks. It is, however, a good situation in point of utility." The river Heathcote runs through Christchurch, which is the capital, and the seat of the Bishop of Canterbury.

Mr. Adams dined and slept at the Steadfast coffee-rooms, in Lyttelton, and, for 5s., had an excellent dinner of good pea-soup, beef, roast and boiled, with puddings, cheese, and dessert. "And when we drew round the flaming wood fires," he says, "and began to discuss a bottle of excellent sherry, it was difficult to believe that we were, as an Irish friend expressed it, 'on the other side of the world.'" At night their "room was a small loft in the roof of the house, barely six feet high in the centre. Eight wooden beds were ranged along the sides of the room, with feet towards the outer wall, and adorned with gay blankets of red and blue. At the head of each bedstead hung a towel, for the private use of each occupant, whilst at each end of the room was a ricketty wash handstand, and cracked looking-glass, for public accommodation. The narrow path along the middle of the room was filled with sleepers who had failed in gaining the accommodation of beds. The room measured

[Image of page 55]

twenty feet by twelve, and contained twelve or thirteen sleepers, but there was no want of ventilation." The travellers were better lodged at Christchurch.

A church was built at Christchurch when Mr. Adams was there; and the foundation of one was laid at Lyttelton, in May, 1852, towards the building of which 1,000l. had been subscribed. The expenses of the colony, in making roads, for surveys, buildings, &c, were 11,010l. 14l., in excess of the proportion allowed by the charter; the net expenditure of the emigration fund was also in excess 10,911l 16l. 11l. The accumulated funds for ecclesiastical and educational purposes, were applied towards this surplus expenditure, and land appropriated to church purposes. This was the reason why more church and school accommodation had not been provided: it is to be hoped that the engagements of the Association, in this respect, will yet be carried out. A colonist, writing from Christchurch, in May, 1852, says, that the attendance on divine worship "on Sundays, both here and at the port, is enormous, but, I am sorry to say, it consists principally of the lower classes."

Mr. Adams was of opinion that sheep-pasturage would succeed better than tillage in Canterbury, and this appears to have been the opinion of many of the colonists; and though the charter discourages sheep-pasturage, it is very generally practised. There are many sheep-farmers in the plains, and the colonist we have just quoted, advises a friend, who had some thoughts of investing capital in sheep, to do it at home, "as all the country," he says, "is being taken up. There is not now a desirable station to be had in Canterbury block, and those outside are being taken up with alarming rapidity; and since an overland passage has been made out to Nelson and Otawa, it is very probable that the whole of the east coast of the middle island will be stocked, and stations formed, connecting the settlements of Nelson, Canterbury, and Otago with each other. An investment in sheep will, I feel certain, yield a high interest, and redeem the capital sooner than any other capital in the world." This writer speaks of several balls given in the colony; at one of them, he says, "we mustered about a hundred, which was pretty well, for a private ball, in a newly established colony. You may fancy how civilized

[Image of page 56]

we were, when I tell you we danced everything that is danced in England, including Mazurkas, &c."

Another colonist, writing on September 9, 1852, says:-- "Farming is now, and I think will be likely to continue for some time at least, a profitable pursuit." "There is nothing like want of labour here yet, and, at the same time, good wages can be obtained by an honest, industrious man. From all I can hear or read of in colonization, the Canterbury settlement has been founded with less difficulty, and at once placed in a more prosperous condition, than any other colony ever founded by ourselves or any other people. I feel myself quite at home here, everything is so truly English, save the restraint which, I believe, most of us wish never to resume."

There is an Athenaeum at Christchurch; and a newspaper, called the Lyttelton Times, is printed at Lyttelton. The population of the colony is now nearly 4,000,