1851 - Hursthouse, C. New Zealand: the Emigration Field of 1851. - [New Zealand, the Emigration Field of 1851], p 1-44

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LECTURE ON NEW ZEALAND,

AS AN EMIGRATION FIELD.

As there is scarcely any human step so vitally important in its consequences as Emigration--as, indeed, it may well be said, that if a man's birth, marriage, and death, be the three great features, or cardinal events of his pilgrimage on earth, his Emigration is certainly the fourth--it appears to me, that every one who speaks or writes on this subject is morally bound to use such language of moderation, that the emigrant shall actually realize in practice what he may hear in the lecture-room, or read by his fireside. This language of moderation I shall certainly endeavour to use, and not only because it is right to do so, but because it is expedient. For, in aiming to attract capital and labour to any new colony, I hold it to be an egregious mistake even to exaggerate the merits and advantages of the country. On his arrival, the emigrant is at once undeceived; and, frequently in the very bitterness of his first disappointment, he not unnaturally represents the country to his friends at home as worse than it really is, perhaps as one barely habitable. Thus, two or three deceived and disappointed individuals may prevent twenty families from following their steps. On the contrary, if we use the language of moderation--if we rather understate than overstate--if we plainly tell the emigrant that, although a colony does give him a clear stage, he will not win the battle unless he fights--that labour, energy, perseverance, qualities essential to success in an old country, are also essential to success in a new country--we shall, at

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least, have the satisfaction of knowing that we don't deceive him; whilst it is highly probable that emigrants going out on the strength of such representations, will be the means of inducing others to follow. And thus it is, that in seeking to direct a stream of emigration to any particular locality, not only common honesty, but common good policy, true self-interest, should lead us to paint our picture in such sober colours that the emigrant shall recognise and acknowledge the truthfulness of the sketch, when brought face to face with the actual original.

On my return to this country, after an absence of several years, nothing has more forcibly struck me than the progress made on the great question of Colonization. It is now a common topic with our admirable Press; with the most influential of our reviews and magazines. It is, in fact, a question which is coming home to the masses; and, with but few exceptions, leading men of all political parties appear to be arriving at the conclusion, that the fearful pressure of population upon subsistence here existing, is only to be removed by a measure of "systematic colonization," on a scale worthy of the nation.

It is said that four to five millions of human beings are here precariously maintained by low wages, by alms, or pittances from the poor's rate. Every epidemic disease, every rise in the cost of the necessaries of life, every reduction in wages, almost threatens this mass with decimation.

Thousands of the upper and middle classes here seek in vain an opening for their energies. The professions, commerce, both in its wholesale and retail branches, farming, the mechanical trades, in short, every occupation or walk of life, is here crowded to excess.

On the other hand, our colonies, from the Cape of Good Hope to Australia and New Zealand, with millions of acres of unoccupied fertile land, offering inexhaustible fields for the industry and enterprise of our pent-up thousands, are continually crying out for more capital and labour; whilst we know that more than 4,000 years ago, the mandate went forth, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it." This blessing, first pronounced on man, would seem indeed to have been peculiarly inherited by the British people. None

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of the tribes of men have ever possessed colonial dominions, and kindred affinities, such as ours, throughout the globe. Our especial mission has been to go forth and colonize; and a few more ages to come, marked by the same expansion of our race, will secure the accomplishment of the great boast of all who speak the Anglo-Saxon tongue--the spreading of the language of Shakespeare, and Milton, and Scott, over half the world.

And we are winning new worlds, planting our banners over new and fruitful lands, not as in days of old, by the blighting march of armies, by fire, sword, and desolation, but by the gentle force of peace, by the prowess of the good knight, industry--by agriculture and commerce, the plough, and the loom; and there is more glory to the hero in laying such foundations of a mighty state, though no trumpets resound with his victory, though no laurels shall shadow his tomb, than in forcing the onward progress of his race over burning cities and hecatombs of men.

It would be out of place here, however, and would far exceed the compass of the present lecture, to discuss the question of Colonization as a remedy for national distress; to attempt to show (despite Mr. Cobden and the Manchester School) how vitally important to the integrity, and development, and prosperity of the mother country, is the retention and good-management of her noble foreign possessions. I would aim at something more practically useful; and, as in every neighbourhood which I visit, I find there are various families who, having determined on emigrating, are only undecided as to the particular colony to choose; as some such may be here--some who are anxious to secure a fair field for the employment of their capital or labour, their energies and talents--I would devote the next hour to a plain description of a country which offers them such a field; the one in which, of all others, the emigrant may plant out a family, and create a happy home; the youngest, but now one of the most flourishing of our colonies--the magnificent Islands of New Zealand.

First, however, I would say a very few words respecting myself; not, believe me, from the least desire to obtrude on you any trumpery personal details, but simply with a view of explaining on what grounds I

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venture to address you, and of assisting my hearers to decide themselves as to what degree of weight and credit may fairly be given to my statements.

To show that I am not a mere "talking theorist" in emigration matters, permit me to state, that, whilst I have relatives settled in almost every colony of the empire, I have myself visited the Canadas and the United States, South Africa, and New South Wales; and have resided in New Zealand five years, where, as a working settler, I have had to pay close attention to the general business of the colony, and where, with my own hands, I have assisted to perform every agricultural operation, from the first clearing of the wild land, to the gradual formation of the complete well-stocked farm.

I may, perhaps, further remark, that I visited this country chiefly to induce some dozen members of my family, including my father, at the age of 70, to emigrate to the New Plymouth settlement in New Zealand. They have all gone; and now write, inviting others to follow; and I am only awaiting the determination of certain other relatives (just back, disappointed, from Port Natal, and who think of joining us too), to return myself, to New Zealand, and there finally settle down for good.

I appear before you, therefore, not as Agent for any Government Company, or Association, nor as one having any manner of connection with any Colonization Bodies or Emigration Companies whatever, but simply in the plain capacity of a "New Zealand Settler," anxious to employ the brief remainder of a farewell visit to the mother country (usefully, I trust, to the public, and not unprofitably to myself), by drawing the attention of intending emigrants to what I can but regard as the very finest Emigration Field now open to their choice.

New Zealand was discovered in the year 1642, by the Dutch navigator, Tasman. It consists of two great islands, lying between the parallels of 34 and 48 south latitude; and the meridians of 166 and 179 east longitude. Thus, in length, it extends nearly 1,000 miles,

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having an average breadth of 120; and, containing about 80,000,000 of acres of land, is rather larger than Great Britain.

The geographical position of the country is one of the most commanding in the world. Planted midway between the continent of Australia (now the seat of flourishing colonies), and the numerous clusters of the rich Polynesian Islands to the north; within a few weeks' sail of the South American countries and California on the one side, and China, with our Indian possessions on the other, its very position stamps it as the Queen of the Pacific: whilst its coast line, embracing 3,000 miles, indented with the finest harbours, marks New Zealand as a "central seat" of naval power and commercial importance--the future Britain of the South.

Although New Zealand was discovered by Tasman in the year 1642, it remained an "unknown country" until it was explored just eighty years ago, by our distinguished countryman, Captain Cook.

This great circumnavigator accomplished an excellent survey of a portion of the coasts; visited several parts of the islands; and introduced cattle, pigs, poultry, and all our most useful vegetables. With his usual sound judgment, he formed a high opinion of the country; and such was the interest his reports excited, even in those days, that a proposal, originating with the American philosopher, Dr. Franklin, was made for opening a trade with the natives, which, had it been carried into execution, would probably have then led to the partial colonization of the country.

About forty years after Cook's time, a kind of rude trade had gradually sprung up between New South Wales and New Zealand; and scattered parties of white men, intermarrying with the natives, were found to have settled along its coasts.

In 1815, the Church of England Mission was established; and shortly afterwards the Wesleyans arrived in the country. The philanthropic labours of these bodies were soon apparent in the improved condition of the natives. The country became better known, confidence was established, and several Europeans were attracted over from the neighbouring colonies. Small,

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irregular settlements were founded; a trade arose in flax, oil, timber, and provisions; and the islands became the great "recruiting-station" for the large fleet engaged in the Southern Whale Fishery.

During all this time, however, no regular government had been established. The population of the Bay of Islands (the chief settlement and port frequented by the whaling ships), consisted, for the most part, of Sydney slop sellers and tavern keepers, and certain wild rovers and the like, banded with the rude crews of the whalers; and, about 1835, such a state of lawlessness and disorder was found to have sprung up, that, on the representation of the missionaries, our Government sent out a kind of consul, in the person of a Mr. Busby, to protect British interests, and to act as some sort of check on the many ill-doers and violators of the law.

Such, in brief, was the history and condition of the country until the year, 1838, when the increasing importance of New Zealand, and the glowing accounts brought home by every one who had visited it, caused a general desire that some effectual steps should be taken for securing its formal possession by the British Crown; and for promoting its regular colonization from the mother country.

With these views, a large body of influential public men, including the late Lord Durham, the Hon. Francis Baring, Edward Gibbon Wakefield, several members of Parliament, with many of our leading merchants, established the late New Zealand Company.

This Association commenced proceedings with great vigour; organizing a regular staff of officers; sending out preliminary exploring expeditions; purchasing, or rather attempting to purchase, large tracts of land from the natives; and founding various, now flourishing, settlements.

Unfortunately, however, from the outset, unhappy differences arose between the New Zealand Company and the Colonial-office. Blame may have been attributable to both parties; but as the mere history of the hapless past, it is unnecessary here to detail the various acts of gross mismanagement, the various squabbles, quarrels, and disputes, by which the early fortunes of New Zealand were so severely blighted.

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Suffice it to say, that, about three years ago, the country was reduced to a deplorable condition. The "Land Question"--that is, the validity of the large purchases of land, made from the natives, by the Company's Agents--was so tampered with, and mismanaged, that some few of the tribes were prompted, if not actually driven, to take up arms in defence of what they were falsely taught to regard as their rights. As the natural consequence of this, many of the early settlers--the pioneers of civilization--unable to obtain possession of the lands which they had purchased of the Company, were compelled to live on their capital, instead of on the produce of the soil, and were thus completely ruined; whilst, to crown all, further emigration from the mother country was all but entirely stopped.

Fortunately, however, at this crisis, after a long period of gloom, and disaster, and depression, brighter days did at last begin to dawn, ushered in by the appointment of an excellent Governor, in the person of Sir George Grey, he who had formerly retrieved the fortunes of South Australia.

The usual effects of good government were soon apparent. Since this period, the long-vexed Land Question has been effectually settled; the New Zealand Company has ceased to exist; and now (except in the settlements of Canterbury and Otago) the emigrant, in buying land, purchases direct of the Crown, and receives his "Crown Title" at once on the spot. The Canterbury and Otago Associations, powerful bodies, appealing directly to two great religious communities of the State, are indirectly working much good to the colony generally. Emigration recommenced, and steadily on the increase, is proceeding at the rate of two to three large ships every month; the natives, rapidly advancing in civilization, are becoming the best friends of the settlers, excellent labourers, and great consumers of our manufactures; imports and exports are largely increasing; and it may now most truly be said of New Zealand, that there is no country in the world which holds out to the intending emigrant, promise of a longer and happier life, a better chance of prosperity and success.

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The natural features of the country are on the grandest scale. An intelligent writer has justly said, that New Zealand presents scenes of almost every clime, and exhibits a world in miniature. It would seem as if nature, isolating the country from the great continents, had chosen to concentrate within it all the varied features and resources which lie so widely apart in the more extensive surfaces of the earth.

It has its Alpine districts, snow-clad and bristling with glaciers, and its lower ranges crowned with lofty woods. Its table lands and grassy plains, sometimes flat or undulated by rounded hills; its dells and valleys, overspread with the richest verdure; its mountain streams and ship-receiving rivers; its coasts glittering with bays and harbours.

In a country larger than Great Britain, there are, of course, various descriptions of soil. The poorer clay of the northern tracts, the light volcanic soil of the interior, the rich loam of the Taranaki districts, the deep alluvial of the valleys; but even on the poorest soil, the genial nature of the climate covers every spot with a luxuriant vegetation, and gives the land an aspect of unequalled freshness and fertility.

It is a remarkable fact in the natural history of New Zealand, that it does not possess a single wild animal. In fact, save a small rat, there is no quadruped whatever, indigenous to the country--a deficiency well balanced by the entire absence of all reptiles. With the exception of a rare kind of fly, there is not even a single stinging insect; and, although mosquitos and sand flies are troublesome at first, yet even these seem to partake of the mild nature of the climate, and are harmless as compared with those of America and New South Wales.

New Zealand, like the Emerald Isle, has thus had St. Patrick's blessing; and this utter absence of all savage animals, cunning serpents, and venomous reptiles, is no small point in its favour. The New Zealand emigrant, unlike our friends in South Africa and Port Natal, will incur no risk of having his house knocked over by some blundering elephant, nor of meeting a settler, in the shape of some tawny lion, nor of finding a puff-adder in his nightcap, nor of seeing little Billy, his

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mother's darling, carried off captive to the mountains by some enterprising ape or marauding baboon. On the contrary, he may walk both field and forest in perfect safety, without the fear of bite or sting.

Birds are rather numerous, and as they are generally of active habits, as some are fine songsters, and others seem rivals in making the greatest possible noise, they give an air of pleasing liveliness and animation to the woods. One of the most delightful songsters is the mako-mako. It is heard about sunrise, near the edges of the forest, when several sing together, and the effect can only be compared to the soft tinkling of innumerable little bells. The moa, a gigantic bird, which, from the skeletons found, appears to have stood nearly ten feet high, is now quite extinct; although a smaller species, a curious bird without wings, still exists.

There are two or three varieties of parrots, a splendid pigeon, a few quail and wildfowl. It should, however, be remarked, that New Zealand is the worst country in the world for shooting; although, from climate, soil, cover, and productions, it is well adapted for the introduction of game. The wooded dells, and fern-clad districts around the settlements, are well suited to the hare, partridge, and pheasant; whilst the forest ranges and grassy plains of the interior would afford ample scope for the red deer.

The numerous lakes and streams afford but four varieties of fish, of which the principal is the common eel, attaining a large size, and of fine flavour. The coasts, however, abound with fish, many of which are of excellent quality.

It appears rather strange that in a country so rich in vegetable growth as New Zealand, there should be no wild fruit. Many trees yield berries in profusion, but the best of these cannot, fairly, be ranked as fruit. In this respect, however, New Zealand is pre-eminently a country for introductions. All English varieties will soon be most abundant; whilst in the warm and sheltered valleys of the interior it is not improbable that such fruits as the fig, olive, loquat, orange, and citron, would ripen in perfection. All our familiar garden flowers too bloom there in increased size and beauty; whilst no words can describe the rich luxuriance of the forest.

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I have frequently seen the white and red pine nearly 100 feet high without a branch, straight and round as a gun barrel, and 15 to 20 feet in circumference. The rata though is perhaps one of the most ornamental trees. It is often found in groves, on hill sides, and bears a profusion of bright red flowers. On passing a rata grove in a brilliant sunny day, the effect is almost startling; the hillside is one blaze of scarlet, contrasting beautifully with the lustrous greenness of the surrounding foliage.

Many of the native shrubs are also very beautiful. Among them is the fern tree, occasionally attaining a height of even 60 feet. The elegant nikau, the laurel-like karaka, with its clusters of golden coloured berries, the myrtle, climbing 30 to 50 feet high, and the fuschia, quite a tree. In fact, it would be difficult to imagine anything more exquisitely beautiful around a settler's house, than the shrubbery which could be made by a judicious selection of these beautiful evergreens. For in New Zealand all vegetation is evergreen, and the country is fresh and verdant throughout the year.

The native inhabitants of New Zealand constitute one of its most interesting features. Unfortunately in the history of our Anglo-Saxon colonization, we see that the aboriginal races have ever been swept away or beaten down before the monopolising progress or hostility of the white man. Their extermination or degradation seems ever to have followed on the occupation of their country. But, in our colonization of New Zealand, it happily seems that we may at last be free from this great stain, and that the New Zealanders will neither be exterminated nor subdued into mere hewers of wood and drawers of water.

Their numbers are estimated at about 100,000, the greater part dwelling in the northern island. In personal appearance, they are a very superior race, especially the men, having fine powerfully-built figures, intelligent features, and well-formed heads. In complexion, they are somewhat darker than gipsies, rather taller than Europeans, and, perhaps, stronger, though

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it may be questioned whether they possess equal powers of endurance. The women are of small stature, and by no means so good looking as the men. Young girls, however, domesticated in European families, soon gain habits of cleanliness and order, and improve surprisingly in appearance: although rarely beautiful, they are good tempered, lively, and obliging. They are very kind and affectionate in their intercourse with each other; and, in former times, on meeting each other after a short absence, would testify their joy and delight by rubbing noses, scarifying themselves with mussel shells, and giving utterance to a kind of subdued howling call, a "tangi." The young surveyors, however, who, when laying out the various settlements, had to mix a great deal with the natives, introduced shaking hands and kissing as more agreeable modes of salutation. It is, perhaps, needless to remark that (amongst the ladies at least), kissing was voted a decided improvement over rubbing noses, and was at once enthusiastically adopted. In fact, now you cannot well meet any natives without their coming up to have a long shaking of hands, and to give you their friendly greeting of "tanakoe, pakeha, tanakoe"--welcome, white man, welcome.

Before the establishment of the missionary influence and the colonization of the country, the numerous tribes into which they are divided appear constantly to have been at war. They dwelt in fortified pas or villages, subsisted chiefly on fish and fern root, went clothed in mats, and practised many barbarous rites and customs. For a long time, however, a great change has been going on in their character and habits, and such has been their progress in civilization during the last two or three years, that they may now almost be regarded as a different people. This happy change has been owing to the admirable labours of the missionaries; to the general kindness with which they have been treated by the European Colonists; and to their own penetrating intelligent nature.

Now, with few exceptions, they all profess Christianity, and pay a most edifying respect to all the outward forms of worship. In fact, rather a laughable tale is told, indicative of the attention which even in early days they were in the habit of paying to the requests

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and admonitions of their missionary advisers. Several years ago, one of the missionaries was located amongst the natives of an inland tribe, who, having but little intercourse with the European settlements on the coasts, still followed many of their old ways and customs--one of which was to go very lightly clad. The missionary, anxious to win over his flock by degrees to more civilized habits, requested, that on the Sabbath at least, when they came to prayers, they would pay a little more attention to dress. In consequence of this, on the following Sunday, there was a marked alteration in the externals of his congregation--one-legged trowsers were seen here, tail-less coats there; and one couple in particular had striven hard to meet the good man's wishes, they had donned their all, and turned out in full costume, the gentleman coming in a shirt collar, the lady in top boots--and nothing else. Times have much altered since then, however; and now, on "great occasions," in such settlements as Auckland and Wellington, some of the young chiefs, except in colour, might almost pass for Regent Street swells.

The education of the rising generation has been so well attended to, and they learn so quickly, that it is believed three out of four can both read and write. Most fortunately too as a people they dislike spirits, rather preferring sweet wines or beer; but they are all most inveterate smokers.

They carry on a brisk retail trade with the inhabitants of the different towns and settlements; and formerly, before there was much European cultivation, almost entirely supplied us with potatoes and other vegetables. Now, however, the chief article of sale is pigs, of which they possess great numbers, self-fed, principally on fern root.

These they drive from house to house, and sell with great judgment and acuteness. They also carry round bundles of firewood, baskets of potatoes, wheat, maize, and melons; occasionally pigeons, parrots, and fish; floor-mats, excellent fishing lines, straw hats, and useful flax baskets.

The proceeds of these various articles are now chiefly invested in blankets, prints, clothing, and tobacco. They are good judges of what they buy, examining

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everything very minutely. The purchase of a coat or blanket is undertaken as a grave business, requiring the advice of sagacious friends; even a pipe is not to be lightly bought, and the patience of storekeepers is often sorely tried in effecting the sale of one.

A few familiar instances may now be given to show the character of these people, and their remarkable fitness for civilization.

In the first place, they are fast acquiring real property; increasing their cultivations, improving their houses, and owning and sailing several coasting vessels.

On some parts of the coast, small wayside inns have been opened by them, and they make excellent hosts, having a never failing budget of news at the service of any traveller who may present himself. In fact, the son of the late Rauperah--that fierce and turbulent chief, whose whole life was one continuous scene of war and bloodshed, plot and intrigue--the son of such a father, is the quiet civil host of one of the best conducted of these inns to be found in the whole island. At Wellington, some of the natives have accounts at the bank, and appear in tradesmen's books, just as Europeans, settling their bills with great exactitude and punctuality.

Government, for the last two years, has employed a large body of them in road making. At Auckland, many have been engaged as masons, in building the substantial stone barracks of that place, and several are employed as policemen. In all these capacities they have given the greatest satisfaction.

Many years ago, when three fat but ill-starred pigs were sent to a remote part of the Northern Island, the natives, taking them for horses, rode two to death, and killed No. 3, for walking into a burial ground. They know better now, having large herds of swine of their own, and a considerable quantity of cattle and horses. They are, in fact, becoming good judges of stock, and treat all animals with great gentleness, particularly horses. The girls make pets of all young things, and it is by no means uncommon to see a native belle walking out with a following of two or three little pigs, a four-legged puppy or two, and perhaps a foal.

In the agricultural settlement of New Plymouth, such was the luxuriance of the late harvest, and such

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the scarcity of European labour, that it was almost feared a portion of the crop would actually be lost. Our native friends, however, came to the rescue. They posted a public notice, offering their services, and most of the corn was cut by them in excellent style, our few European labourers having ample employment as leaders and directors of the work.

From their skill in using the American axe, clever management of fire, and knowledge of what is termed "burning off," they are found to be capital hands in the clearing and cultivation of bush or timber land; for the performance of which work they now frequently contract with the settlers at so much per acre. At the large Native Industrial School, lately founded at New Plymouth, there are some native lads, pupils, who, for quickness of driving, and straightness of furrow, are almost a match for the best English ploughmen in the place.

Nor is it in the labour field alone, that we are beginning to find them such staunch allies. They share in the sports and amusements of the settlers with equal ardour and success. Quick of eye, strong of arm, swift of foot, supple of limb; for pulling an oar, running a match, or accompanying an exploring party, they have no superiors. They are bold riders too. At the New Plymouth anniversary, they subscribed for a race plate, and won it on their own horses; whilst they quite took the honours at the rustic sports, catching the greased pig before he had well started, and throwing the best of our Cornish wrestlers in a manner patent to themselves.

On the establishment of this settlement, it was frequently visited by natives of the Taranaki tribe, residing some distance off, for the purpose of bartering their pigs and potatoes for clothing and tobacco.

These gentry soon discovered that we had something much better to eat than potatoes, namely bread, and that bread was procured from wheat. They at once purchased seed, and sowed a few acres, and, after some laughable complaints as to the labour of harvesting and threshing, the precious grain was at last obtained.

The next step was the grinding, but this appeared such an insurmountable difficulty that, for some time, they ate the wheat boiled. Fresh visits to the settlement,

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however, excited fresh longings for bread--the very children began to disdain potatoes--and the result was that handmills were procured. As the cultivation of wheat extended, these were found to be inefficient, and they eventually contracted with the millwrights of the settlement to put them up three water-mills, to be paid for entirely in pigs.

This rather singular bargain has since been completed to the entire satisfaction of both parties; and now, in a district where, but a few years since, wheat was a thing unknown, good bread is found in every native house.

It appears to me that such traits as these indicate a race that may be entirely civilized, and raised to a state of social equality with ourselves. It is true that, since our colonization of the country, some two or three of the tribes have taken up arms, but they were led to do this, let us remember, only in defence and maintenance of what they regarded as their rights; it was a transient political quarrel, not a war of races; whilst, as regards individual private acts of violence and cruelty, of which they have been guilty, we have also to recollect that all races of men alike produce their great criminals, and that as no one would judge our national character by a Rush or a Manning, or a Sloane, so should we err in judging the New Zealanders by a Hongi, a Rauperah, or a Rangihaeta.

It has been remarked that New Zealand would be a noble country for colonization if the aborigines were extinct--that as they do not work steadily for hire, they will not have much effect in supplying that great desideratum in all colonies--Labour; and that, therefore, they are to be held cheap, and as of little account. To me, such opinions appear both selfish and superficial. Does the white man work because he loves labour, or because he has pressing wants which only the fruits of that labour will supply? The native in his wild state wants but a shed and potatoes, tobacco, and a blanket. But civilization comes, and creates new wants. He tastes bread, and works that he may have it to eat; sees a coat, and works that he may wear one; enters a white man's house, and works that he may have the means of improving his own; and thus, slowly,

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if you will, but by sure degrees, this idle blanketed savage is changed into an industrious well clothed workman; and we are not, I think, to grumble because the maori will not, as yet, work every day in the week, but to rejoice, inasmuch as he may be willing to work one or two days.

In short, experience is fast proving to us all, that the existence of 100,000 intelligent natives in the country, will be found one of the most important elements of its prosperity; for they every year afford a better supply of labour, and are great and increasing consumers of our manufactures. And whilst the New Zealand Colonist is subduing the land, and covering it with the solid marks of his industry, it will be a proud satisfaction to him to reflect that, unlike his fellows in America and Australia, he is not exterminating his brother man, but is raising him in the scale of creation, by endowing him with the peaceful blessings of civilization.

Various towns and settlements have been founded on different parts of the islands. First, in the north, we find Auckland, the seat of the Government; a thriving town, containing about 6,000 inhabitants, with an excellent harbour, and extensive water communication.

One hundred and twenty miles south of this, we come to the agricultural settlement of New Plymouth, situated in the undulating plains of Taranaki. From the teeming fertility of the soil, and the exquisite beauty of the scenery, this district is called the "Garden of New Zealand."

Further south is Wellington, the first settlement planted by the Company, a place of great commercial importance, containing about 7,000 people, and occupying a most commanding position on Cook's Strait.

On the Southern Island, about midway between New Plymouth and Wellington, on the opposite coast, stands Nelson; a settlement of great pastoral capabilities, containing between 3,000 and 4,000 inhabitants.

On the South East Coast of the Southern Island, about 150 miles south of Nelson, is Canterbury, the

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Church of England Settlement. This also is a place of great pastoral capabilities, and one in which the merits of the "Wakefield" system of colonization will, for the first time, be fairly tried.

About 200 miles still further south, we reach the Scotch settlement, Otago; possessing an excellent harbour, with extensive grazing tracks, and, although an infant settlement, numbering already about 1,200 settlers.

There are several other places of rising importance; but they do not call for any special notice here, inasmuch as they are not directly connected with emigration from this country. Except in the Canterbury and Otago Associations, land is now purchased at the Government sales, by auction--the upset price being £1 per acre.

The general character of this land would be that of great fertility. The expense of clearing and bringing it into cultivation would vary from two to five pounds per acre; and it would all be accessible from good roads, and within an easy distance of a town or shipping place.

Regulations for the purchase of land in the Canterbury and Otago settlements, showing the apportionment of the proceeds, will be found in the article on the Canterbury settlement.

As to the particular settlement to be chosen, the emigrant should be guided in some measure by his business or occupation, by his particular tastes or habits. If, for instance, he desired to embark in commercial pursuits, or preferred a busy town life, he should choose Auckland or Wellington. If acquainted with the management of stock, or fond of the pastoral life, he might select Nelson or Otago. If a High Churchman, anxious to avoid everything savouring of dissent, he might pitch his tent, tend his flocks and herds, and be exclusive, in Canterbury. But if, preferring agriculture, he wished to cultivate land, to create a snug estate; if an admirer of exquisitely beautiful scenery, stream and forest, dell and valley, he should undoubtedly choose New Plymouth.

Mechanics and labourers are so much wanted everywhere, that it is quite impossible they should go wrong. The present rate of wages for mechanics, such as sawyers, carpenters, cabinetmakers, shipwrights, mill-

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wrights, wheelwrights, coopers, masons, and blacksmiths, is from 5s. to 6s. per day. For labourers, working shorter hours than in England, about 2s. 6d.

The retail prices of the chief articles of domestic consumption are about as follows:--Fine bread, l 1/2d. to 2d. per pound; potatoes, 2s. to 2s. 6d. per cwt.; pork, 3d. to 4d. per pound; beef and mutton, 4d. to 6d. Fine poultry and fish, cheap and plentiful; fresh butter, 1s. to 1s. 3d. per pound; tea, 2s. 0d.; sugar, 4d. to 6d.; soap, 6d; tobacco, 2s.; spirits, 12s. to 16s. per gallon. Firing is cheap; and rent cannot be quoted, as almost every man lives in his own house.

It is an excellent plan for two or three families of neighbours to emigrate and settle together. Mutual and ready assistance is thus obtained in preparing for the voyage, and in all subsequent operations; whilst pleasant society is ensured at first landing in the new country, where the "old familiar faces" seem doubly dear.

Intending emigrants frequently ask what capital must I have to go to New Zealand? This is a difficult question to answer with any degree of precision; for much more will depend on the man himself, than on the purse which he may carry. As a general rule, however, it may be said that any one with about £1,000 might advantageously embark in any of the mercantile pursuits of the colony. £200 to £300 would serve to start a tradesman, or a farmer on his fifty-acre freehold, whilst the steady mechanic or labourer might safely land without a shilling; for, unlike the emigrant to America, set down in some crowded port, with a toilsome journey to encounter before getting regular work, the emigrant to New Zealand would receive instant employment on setting foot ashore.

I may here observe, too, that in new colonies married men invariably succeed best; and I would strongly advise any emigrating bachelor to try hard before his departure to induce some kind creature to take pity on his miserable condition, and become his wife. A good wife will be found to be infinitely the most valuable part of his outfit, and will go far to insure success from the commencement.

It may also be remarked, that, in new countries,

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steadiness and industry are far more conducive to success than the mere knowledge of any particular business or occupation. For instance, in stock breeding, sheep farming, or in the cultivation of the soil, he who possessed these qualifications, but who scarcely knew cattle from sheep, or wheat from barley, would succeed far better than another who, without steadiness and industry, might be a practical judge of stock, and conversant with all the details of agriculture.

The Government of New Zealand is at present vested in a Governor-in-Chief, Sir George Grey, assisted by two Legislative Councils and a Lieutenant-Governor; but a representative form of Government, framed on liberal and enlightened principles, will probably be introduced in the course of another year or two.

There are two Judges, who hold circuits and administer the laws precisely as here; and, in each town, monthly Courts of Request are held, for the recovery of debts as high as £20 between two Europeans, and £100 between a native and an European.

There are no tithes, rates, or taxes; the revenue of the country being chiefly derived from moderate customs duties, land sales, &c.

Communication is kept up between the various towns by means of coasting vessels; but "steamers" will soon begin to ply between Sydney--the splendid capital of New South Wales, the London, in fact, of the South Pacific--and the different towns and settlements in New Zealand, a measure which will give an immense impetus to the general trade of the colony, and quickly develop the resources of each particular district.

In balancing the respective advantages offered by different fields for emigration, the three great prominent considerations should, I think, be these:--

I.--The climate of the country.

II.--The state of society. The religious and educational institutions.

III.--The natural resources of the country; or its power of producing valuable exports.

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The first consideration should undoubtedly be the Climate; for on this will depend the emigrant's health, and on the enjoyment of health will mainly depend both his happiness and success.

Now, whatever may be the relative advantages of New Zealand in other respects, it is undeniably true, that as regards climate, it is without a rival. Here it is as superior to Australia as that country may be to Canada and the United States; for, although Australia may be said to possess a fine climate, blighting hot winds are everywhere experienced--the summer heats are everywhere excessive. And this, if not the cause of disease, would nevertheless prevent the enjoyment of that robust health experienced in New Zealand; where it may be said that Europeans would be more capable of performing hard labour with comparative ease, than in any part of the world.

In New Zealand, too, droughts are quite unknown; and though not of very frequent occurrence in Australia, the distress and ruin caused when they have occurred, show the vast superiority of a climate never subject to these terrible scourges.

From the remarkable equality of the climate, it is not easy to define the seasons with accuracy; but as New Zealand is just at the antipodes, they are of course reversed--the coldest and wettest months being June, July, and August; the warmest and driest, January, February, and March. The great difference between the climate of New Zealand and that of England is, that while it is but little hotter in summer, it is by no means so cold in winter. For instance, the summer of New Zealand is only four degrees warmer than that of England; whereas the winter of England is fourteen degrees colder than that of New Zealand.

In the Northern Island, snow is never seen except around the high mountain tops. A film of ice is occasionally observed on pools early in the July mornings, but soon disappears under a brilliant sun, like that of an English September.

The warmest weather is refreshed by sea breezes, and the nights are invariably cool. Fogs and mists are almost unknown; there are no hurricanes; and thunder-storms are neither so frequent nor severe as even in England.

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Vibrations or tremblings of the earth are occasionally experienced; but, except in one instance at Wellington, have never, in the memory of the oldest natives, caused the least damage; and there the damage was much less owing to any severity of shock than to the slight and flimsy manner in which the walls had been put together with mud, rather than with lime mortar.

The climate of New Zealand is found to be as healthy as it is agreeable. The children born there are considered, especially by their mothers, to be remarkably fine; and, making all due allowance for "mother's partiality," they certainly promise to be rather a giantly race.

A remarkable proof of the salubrity and prolific nature of the climate is obtained in comparing the deaths with the births. In this country, the annual amount of deaths is about one in every forty-four of the population. In New Zealand, it is only one in every 120. And whilst in England the annual number of births is one in every thirty-two, it is in New Zealand actually found to be upwards of one and a-half in every thirty-two.

This comparison does not, of course, prove New Zealand to be superior in salubrity to England, to the enormous extent indicated by these figures; for it is to be remembered that most of the emigrants to New Zealand have been young couples, in the prime of life. On the other hand, however, recollecting that the pioneers or first settlers in a wild country experience considerable comparative hardships, and that these returns are for the first years of the colony, it will probably be admitted that the small proportion of deaths to births, which they exhibit, is undoubtedly owing, in a great measure, to the excellence of the climate.

The following passage from one of the Bishop's letters is very descriptive of the climate:--

"You would not wonder that I love New Zealand, if you knew as much of it as I do. No one can speak of its soil or scenery till he has seen both the natural beauties and the ripening harvests of New Plymouth, and watched the play of light and shade upon the noble mountain and the woods at its base. And no one knows what the climate of New Zealand is till he has

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basked in the almost perpetual sunshine on the shores of Nelson, with a frame braced and invigorated to the full enjoyment of heat by the wholesome frost or cool snowy breeze of the night before. And no one can speak of the healthfulness of New Zealand till he has been ventilated by the breezes of Wellington, where malaria is no more to be feared than on the top of 'Chimborazo'--where active habits of industry and enterprise are evidently favoured by the elastic tone and perpetual motion of the atmosphere--and where no fog can even linger long to deaden the intellectual faculties of the inhabitants."

With respect to the second great point for consideration in the choice of a new country, viz., the State of Society, Religious and Educational Institutions, New Zealand is a colony which offers singular advantages.

Emigrants to a colony may be divided into two classes: those who pay their own passage out, and those who are assisted out. As regards the first, or capitalist class, it is well known that a much greater per centage of men of good, family and standing, of capital and high respectability, have gone to New Zealand than to any other colony. As regards the second, the men who build, and forge, and plough, and sow--the pith, bone, and sinew of all countries--the working men in fact, great care, almost fastidious care, has been exercised in choosing, for assisted passages, only families of acknowledged good repute; and the consequence of all this is, that every one who visits New Zealand is agreeably surprised at the high tone of society, and forcibly struck with the steady industrious character of all classes of the community. Moreover, it is to be remembered that New Zealand is happily free from that penal taint which has spread its demoralizing influence over the greater portion of the Australian colonies.

As some proof of the enterprising energetic character of the British population in New Zealand, I may state that, although their numbers do not exceed 30,000,

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(that of a medium-size English town), yet already there are seven weekly newspapers in full career, besides one in the Maori language, supported by the natives. Almost every settlement, too, has its agricultural and horticultural shows, its races, regattas, cricket clubs, its mechanics' literary institutions, where, from time to time, ball, concert, or lecture comes off, as it may be here.

In fact, nothing can be more preposterously absurd than to picture the life of the New Zealand emigrant of the present day as one dull round of dreary toil, without a gleam of sunny pleasure; as all chop, chop, dig, dig, for the men; all wash, wash, mend, mend, for the women. Why should it be so? It is quite true that the emigrant must work; but is equally true that a comparatively moderate working, either of head or hands, will give him plenty and to spare. Now, he who has this is just the man who can afford to laugh and enjoy himself a little; and it is frequently remarked, and with great truth, that colonists, as compared to the old country folk, are a very merry set of people.

The honest man who creeps along your streets under the burden of a large family and the income-tax, whose life is one continued struggle against the fierce competition of his neighbours, whose to-day closes in anxiety, and whose to-morrow dawns without hope, does not laugh much, and would almost as soon commit petty larceny as a joke. But literally transplant him to laughing plenty in New Zealand, or in some other good colony, and he will joke fast enough; perhaps, in due time, do something worthy of Punch.

Let intending emigrants remember, then, especially the younger portion of them, that if they will only work, they certainly may also play. The sports and pastimes, the social pleasures and amusements, of their Fatherland will still be theirs in New Zealand; a little shorn, perhaps, of the polished lacquer of high refinement, but gaining in hearty homeliness and honest sincerity.

With respect to Religious and Educational Institutions, there is little to desire.

In the North, an excellent College, on a scale that

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would do credit to a colony 50 years older than New Zealand, has been founded by our admirable Bishop, Dr. Selwyn.

One of the chief features of the Otago and Canterbury Associations, is the large provision made for the endowment and support of school and church. A large body of zealous and active missionaries, Church of England and Wesleyan, spread over the islands, are working infinite good in the spiritual training and education of both races.

Good schools exist in every settlement; and no man going to New Zealand will be left without the means of giving his children that best of gifts--a sound practical education.

As regards the third great essential--the natural resources of the country, its power of producing valuable exports--New Zealand is a colony second to none.

In the first place, it is pre-eminently an agricultural country; experience proving that our English grain and root crops, seeds, vegetables, and fruits, are easily produced of excellent quality.

The land is of great fertility and easy of cultivation; and surprising as it may seem, it is literally true, that the yield of grain crops is nearly double that of New South Wales. Blights, rust, and mildew are unknown. Neither droughts nor wet harvests ever occur; water and water-power are most abundant, and no winter provision is necessary for stock. Except the rat and parroquet, there is no destructive animal or bird--these, comparatively, are harmless; and no insects are found so injurious as the locust, wire-worm, turnip-fly, and others, which occasionally commit such ravages in various parts of the world. In short, when the agricultural resources of New Zealand are fairly developed, it will undoubtedly become the "granary of the South Pacific;" finding, when, in the course of a generation or two, its own home markets are filled up, excellent customers for its surplus agricultural produce, in pastoral New South Wales and the ports of South America; in the Sandwich Islands; in the new and wonderful country

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opening to us in California, and probably in some of the numerous Polynesian Islands just to the north (rich in tropical products, but not agricultural), which English enterprise and steam communication may soon enliven with the busy hum of commerce.

The pastoral capabilities of New Zealand are equal to its agricultural. It certainly does not possess so large an extent of grazing surface as New South Wales; but its pasturage is very superior in nutritious qualities. In fact, it has passed into a saying, that in New South Wales four acres are required to feed one sheep, but in New Zealand one acre will feed four sheep. And not only do sheep, like all other animals, breed faster in the latter country, but they are not subject to the "fly" or other maladies; and never perish by thousands as they do in Australia, from drought, disease, or a deficiency of food.

Wool of superior quality is already becoming an export of considerable importance. The result of the late London sales of New Zealand wool was most encouraging; and flocks are so fast increasing that, in a few years, wool must inevitably become a source of great wealth to the country.

Cattle succeed equally well as sheep, and the "Provision trade"--namely, the curing of beef and pork for shipment--will be a lucrative and extensive business. The rich and succulent pasturage of New Zealand is most favourable to the production of fine, well-fed beef, and its climate is well adapted to the "curing" process.

Some idea may be formed of the extent to which the "Provision Trade" might be carried in New Zealand, when we consider that already upwards of 40,000 tons of shipping annually enter its ports; and that even this market will be surpassed by that afforded by the fleets of the Indian and China seas, and the large and rapidly increasing mercantile marine of Australia.

Next, perhaps, in present importance to the great variety of valuable products included in "Agricultural and Pastoral Exports," would rank the whale fishery. New Zealand, with the Auckland Islands, is the natural entrepot and recruiting station for the large fleet engaged in this important branch of industry. Its

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coasts are the favourite resort of the black whale; and the mere "shore fishery," carried on by boat parties, already yields an annual export of the value of many thousand pounds.

Large tracts of country are covered with the Phormium tenax, or New Zealand flax; an article which, by cultivation, might be so improved as to furnish a great staple export. There are nearly a dozen varieties of this plant, of various degrees of fineness. It is probably the strongest vegetable fibre known, and is remarkably useful to the settler, even in its green unmanufactured state, answering every purpose of cord and string.

The natives fabricate large fishing-nets of it, and excellent mats of great beauty and richness, useful baskets, snares for birds, tethers for animals, and ropes for their canoes; whilst civilized industry proves that it may be converted into cambric and linen, duck, canvas, rope, twine, and paper.

Some capital and a little enterprise are alone required to develop the real value of this article.

The finer sorts should be selected and improved by cultivation, and some simple machinery is required for its preparation; when the manufacture of it in the country, and the shipping home of the raw article, would find profitable employment for an army of cultivators, machinists, manufacturers, and artizans; and "flax" would become to New Zealand what timber is to Canada, sugar to the West Indies, and wool to Australia.

The forests furnish a supply of valuable timber, which the profusion of ages would not be able to exhaust. The Kauri Pine affords the most valuable spars for the navy, and there is plenty of timber admirably adapted for ship-building; a fact which, coupled with the fine commercial position of New Zealand, and the abundance of its bays and harbours, may fairly lead us to conclude that it will eventually become, like England, a maritime power of the first importance.

Coal of excellent quality is found in great plenty; and when we consider the relation of coal to the steam-engine, and reflect for a moment on what this mighty agent of human progress so triumphantly effects both on land and sea, we must admit that an abundance of

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coal is one of the most important advantages which a country can possess.

Building materials--stone, granite, marble, and limestone--abound; and the country is rich in mineral wealth.

Two copper mines are now being worked. Manganese and nickel have been found in three or four places; quicksilver, and sulphur, nearly pure in one; lead and silver in three; whilst, at New Plymouth, magnetic iron ore--the richest iron sand--actually covers the beach for miles.

It should be observed that these minerals have been almost accidentally discovered, and may be regarded as "earnest" of what will be found when proper researches are made by qualified persons.

Valuable tanning barks, and dyes of great beauty and richness, are yielded by the forests; and from the profusion of timber, potash, as in Canada, may become a large export, and pay, in part, for the clearing of the land.

The coasts of New Zealand abound with fish, the catching and curing of which would afford profitable employment for thousands, and be a source of considerable wealth; for an excellent market would be found in the Catholic countries of South America, in Bourbon, the Mauritius, and Singapore.

Tobacco grows luxuriantly, and its cultivation would be a branch of industry so well suited to the natives, that, in a few years, the country might in part supply itself with this important article of commerce.

From the nature of the climate, the abundance of soft pure water, the fine quality of barley, and the success of the hop plant, brewing is becoming a business of considerable importance; and, ere long, the pale ale of New Zealand will refresh many a thirsty throat in India and Australia.

Other sources of wealth and profitable fields for industry might be enumerated; but I trust enough has been said to show that New Zealand is naturally a very rich country, and possesses resources--agricultural, pastoral, mineral, and manufacturing--slumbering, it may be, at present, and long kept down and suppressed by the past troubles and gross mismanagement of which

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New Zealand has been the victim, but resources which need only the continuance of common fair government, and the "magic touch" of capital and labour, to spring into vigorous life and activity.

Having thus, I hope, shown that in the "three great essentials," New Zealand is pre-eminently a good colony, I would now briefly contrast it with the other chief fields for emigration,--namely, Canada with the United States, the Cape Colony with Port Natal, and the Australian Colonies.

The shortness of the voyage, the low price of wild land, vague notions of liberty to be realized under republican government, are the inducements which lead thousands to America.

As regards the voyage, an emigrant to America has to break up the ties of home, has to undergo the same trouble in getting ready, has to journey to the seaport to embark, has to settle down to sea life, just the same as the emigrant to New Zealand. It will be shown, hereafter, that the real expense of going to America is about the same as going to New Zealand; whilst of the two, the latter voyage is generally the most comfortable.

But even if the passage to New Zealand were rather more expensive and disagreeable than that to America, this, alone, should have but little weight. A hungry "diner-out," having invitations from two equally agreeable friends, might wisely choose the nearest table, that where the soup would be hot, and the sherry cold, rather than that where the soup would be cold, and the sherry hot; but a man who, in emigrating, takes a step irretrievable, and fraught with misery or happiness to himself and family, should, I think, be solicitous to choose the best colony--not the nearest, or the one most cheaply reached.

Wild land in Canada and America, at 5s. and 10s. per acre, may at first appear very tempting; but we have to remember that mere wild land in itself has no value. It is not bread that we can eat it, nor a coat that we can wear it, nor a house that we can live in it. The real value of wild land depends partly on its

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fertility, and on the easiness of clearing it; but chiefly on a supply of labour to cultivate it, and on the facility of conveying its produce to good markets. Land, without labour to cultivate it, and remote from any market, might, of course, be dear at 1s. per acre. Archibald Prentice, in his admirable "Tour in the United States," declares that land at £10 per acre, near a good market, might be as cheap as land at 5s. per acre without this advantage. He also says that he was forcibly struck with the excessive poorness of the crops, in Ohio, for instance, one of the finest states, twenty bushels of wheat being considered the maximum crop, six the minimum.

Land in New Zealand, at £1 per acre--about the general price, or even at £3 per acre, as in the Canterbury settlement--might be cheaper than much of that in the Canadas and Western States at 5s. and 10s.; for it would be a richer soil, at least as easy of cultivation; the greater part of the price paid for it would go to supply labour to cultivate it; to form roads and bridges, and to found schools, and other public institutions, all for the direct benefit of the purchaser; and, lying near or contiguous to some town or shipping place, its produce would command an easy transit to good markets.

As to those blessings of liberty, political freedom, moonshine, and other delusions, in which the emigrant to the United States is to revel and luxuriate, just let him remember the homely fact, that life and property are nowhere more secure than in a British colony.

His enjoyment of the franchise may enable him to assist some vociferous patriot to seize another's place, but in exercising this, or other of his political privileges, he will find it prudent to act on the significant advice given to Mr. Pickwick--always to shout with the biggest mob. The American "Cap of Liberty" is not, I take it, an "extinguisher" in mere form alone; and that freedom, which holds the slave lash in one hand, oft a bowie knife in the other, would seem to border on a "sham."

It appears to me, therefore, that the three great inducements which lead the emigrant to the Canadas and United States are rather delusive; whilst, as regards

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"fineness of climate," that first great essential in choosing a new country, the mild and bracing uniformity of temperature in New Zealand stands out in delightful contrast to the fervent summer heats, the bitter severity of the long and dismal winters, of America and the Canadas.

The following pertinent remarks on this point, and on the superior "quickness of location" in New Zealand, are from Mr. Earp's late excellent work.

"The emigrant to New Zealand, of all colonists, has the least occasion to be on a hurry on his arrival, possessing, as he does, an advantage unknown to the occupant of other emigration fields, viz., the advantage of being placed at once on the site of his future operations. He can, therefore, afford to spend a few days or weeks in looking about him, before he finally decides on his future course. This advantage should not be underrated; nor will it be so, if compared with the disadvantages of emigrating to some other of our colonies; from which comparison it will appear that New Zealand, though the most distant in space of all our colonial possessions, is among the nearest in the time requisite for the location of the emigrant. Take Canada for example, the nearest of all our colonies. In ease of emigration thither, the emigrant, after a voyage of two or even three months, in ships for the most part badly found, and wretchedly provisioned, finds himself under the necessity of travelling many hundred miles in a region in which frost and snow prevail for two-thirds of the year. Hence, the expenditure of time, notwithstanding the vicinity of the colony, makes the New Zealand voyage of four months short in comparison with the time requisite for getting located in British North America; whilst the expenditure of money, without return, which, in the case of emigration to Canada, is unavoidable, amounts to a sum which, in New Zealand, would have put him in possession of an excellent cottage and garden, almost as soon as he had landed from the ship. Even after the toilsome journey through the back settlements of Canada has been performed, the emigrant has still to look for his location; and if he arrive at any other period than the commencement of the short summer of the Canadian climate, he must wait for many months, living all the

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time on his capital, till the advent of the following spring melts the snows which lie many feet deep on the ground, before he can plant a single vegetable for the use of his table. In New Zealand, on the contrary, he can sow or plant during any month of the year; and such is the rapidity of vegetable growth, and the fertility of the soil, that a comparatively short time will suffice for a plentiful supply of vegetables at any season."

In contrasting New Zealand with the Cape colonies and Australia, it would be ridiculous to claim for it that superiority which I sincerely believe it to possess over Canada and the United States.

The Cape colonies, and particularly the Australian, are noble fields for colonization, and afford ample scope for the enterprise of thousands. In moving at all, however, we should aim at moving to the best. place, not merely to a very good one; and I should prefer New Zealand to the Cape and Port Natal, chiefly because of its finer climate, its greater natural riches in articles of export, its freedom from noxious reptiles, and destructive animals, including Kaffirs. And, for the the same reason, (substituting Convicts for destructive animals), I should very much prefer New Zealand even to New South Wales and Van Dieman's Land.

Considering, therefore, that New Zealand is a colony which offers the emigrant every chance of happiness and success, when he gets there, it is necessary now to say a few words as to the voyage.

Viewed as a great field for Emigration, New Zealand, like the Australian colonies, when compared with America, may at first appear too distant. A little consideration, however, will show that an emigrant to New Zealand would reach the scene of his future operations with much less trouble than the emigrant to many parts of America, whilst there would be no great difference in the expense.

A person now going to New Zealand has a comfortable passage in a picked first-class ship for £21, and is landed at the exact place where he intends to settle.

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An emigrant to Upper Canada, or the Western States of America, would certainly have to pay half this sum for an equally comfortable passage; and as, after landing, he would have 1,000 or 1,500 miles farther to travel by land, he would as certainly have to spend £5 or £10 more before he arrived at his final destination.

Moreover, it should be well remembered that, partly owing to the great superiority of the ships employed,--partly owing to the more tranquil character of the seas--the voyage to New Zealand is safer than the voyage to America. There has never been an emigrant ship lost in going to New Zealand; and, I believe, but one or two, out of the many hundreds which have made the similar voyage to the Australian colonies; whilst it is notorious that fearful shipwrecks are of no unfrequent. occurrence in going to the Canadas and United States.

Preparing for the voyage, and the voyage itself, are commonly regarded with some dislike. A little determination, however, will soon smooth the way, and remove all these apparent difficulties.

The mere voyage itself is much more distasteful in apprehension than in reality. Sea sickness is decidedly unpleasant; but, in most cases, it really does you good; you feel not only lighter, but better after it, and fall to eating like an ogre. 100 days or so at sea afford an excellent opportunity for a course of useful reading, for improvement in any particular science or study. The emigrant might procure Archdeacon Williams' little work, and learn the native language, an acquirement which would be of the greatest service to him. Schools and newspapers are frequently established, or an interesting journal may be kept, to send home to friends. Then you have a quiet rubber, chess, or backgammon, with an occasional dance on deck in the fine evenings. The sporting part of the company amuse themselves with gymnastics, albatros-shooting, rifle practice, shark-catching, &c.; whilst the young ladies, in the mornings prosecuting (or persecuting), crochet work, and fashioning divers coloured little bags and nets, as elegant as useless, would find the soft moonlight nights in the tropics most favourable to love-making,

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and to the construction of certain other nets, in which are captured the larger animals. In fact, in a well-regulated ship, with good officers and pleasant society, such is the variety of amusement, such the absence of monotony, that I have known passengers get so comfortable on board, become so much at home, as almost to appear sorry when the voyage was ended.

There are now two great main lines of New Zealand packets, or emigrant vessels, despatched from London-- one by the Canterbury Association, the other by the eminent firm of Henry Willis & Co. These are all picked, first-class, A 1 ships, making the run in about 100 days, commanded by experienced captains, generally carrying a clergyman and schoolmaster, and always a respectable surgeon. The passengers in these vessels are amply supplied with the best provisions, and their comfort is in everyway carefully provided for. The lowest cost of passage, per Messrs Willis' line, is 30 guineas chief cabin, 20 second cabin, and 15 guineas steerage. The Canterbury line is not so cheap, but these vessels sail with greater punctuality--in fact, to the very day--an excellent system, which Messrs Willis are about to introduce in their line.

Full particulars as to the various ships of both lines, the time of sailing, &c., may always be obtained by writing to Messrs H. Willis & Co., Crosby Square, London; or to the Secretary of the Canterbury Association, London. (See Messrs. Willis' Advertisement.)

One of the most puzzling matters with which the emigrant has to deal is the "outfit." Scarcely two of his advisers agree on this point: one recommends him to carry out a kind of Noah's ark, with every article of domestic use, from a rolling pin up to a mangle, and a stock of clothing suitable for a four years' Polar expedition; another counsels him to land with only a walking stick and a wallet. Having taken an active part in assisting off a large number of friends and acquaintances, for New Plymouth, I have had to pay considerable attention to matters of outfit, and have frequently been amused at the incongruous assortment of articles

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occasionally set down as first necessaries. One lady insisted that 285 towels, with soap in proportion, were essential to her happiness--and she took them too. Another "lady bountiful," of still more riotous imagination, sketched an outfit, (chiefly of dresses, clothing, and such light matters, as she called them), which was computed to measure several tons extra freight; she was summarily cut down, and went out inclined to pout.

In fact, outfits are much oftener too large than too small, and the first fault is the worst. To take out as few things and as much money as possible, may be regarded as a golden maxim for the emigrant, although this virtue may be carried to excess.

The emigrant's capital, the projected scale of his future operations, the nature of his proposed pursuits, the particular settlement to which he is going, must all guide and regulate the scale and nature of his outfit.

It is self-evident that the young gentleman who goes out "on trial" would require a much smaller outfit than the married capitalist, who goes to invest his money and live on his income; and that such capitalist would require a very different outfit to that requisite for the family who go with the settled view of combining arable farming and grazing on a large scale; that these again would require a different outfit to that suited for the small yeoman, who aims at creating only a little 25 acre farm; and that any emigrant going to a comparatively new settlement, like Canterbury, in the "first formation state," would require to take more things than if going to one of the older, more finished settlements, such as Nelson or New Plymouth.

No minute general directions can be given on this important subject. What articles to avoid taking, what articles to take, and what quantity of each, are questions which can be fully and satisfactorily answered only when the emigrant has stated what are his views and intentions, where he thinks of settling, and what he thinks of doing.

For such information, he is respectfully referred to the notice in a subsequent page; to which I would beg leave to add that, on a very moderate calculation, three emigrants out of four who spend only £50 in the whole

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entire outfit, fool away, if I may use the expression, at least £5 in buying useless or unsuitable articles--a sum which, I am confident, I could save them by a single letter.

It must, I think, be evident that nature has been lavish in her gifts to the beautiful country which we have had under consideration.

The salubrity of the climate is proved by a ratio of births to deaths, to which it would be difficult to find a parallel. Here no Canadian winter locks up the land in ice; no Australian "hot winds" scorch and blight; and here, unlike the Cape colony, there are no noxious reptiles or animals of prey.

The state of society, religious and educational institutions, are all that can be desired.

The country is pre-eminently both agricultural and pastoral; rich in valuable articles of export; abounds in the most charming scenery; and possesses a chain of the finest harbours in the world; whilst its relative position to countries rich in tropical productions is an important addition to these great natural capabilities.

There is, moreover, another advantage, possessed by New Zealand, which is seldom or ever brought so prominently forward as it deserves to be. I allude to its close proximity to the Australian colonies. Both for trading intercourse, and in an emigration point of view--this is a good thing. For instance, if the emigrant, on seeing New Zealand--on using his own eyes and ears a little, and judging for himself, before he finally settles down--is not fully satisfied with the country, a four or five days' trip, on the coming introduction of steam, will land him at Sydney, New South Wales, or at Port Philip--the latter decidedly the best emigration field after New Zealand.

In no part of the world are there two countries so near in distance, yet so wide apart in all natural features, as New Zealand and Australia. No two countries offer the emigrant such a variety of choice; and, most undoubtedly, the man who can find nothing to suit him in either New Zealand or in Port Philip, will

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be some idle ne'er-do-well, or some fastidious grumbler, for whom an Arcadian El Dorado must be specially invented.

It is not unfrequently charged, on descriptions of new countries, that the "promised land" is drawn in colours far too glowing. The charge, however, should, I think, rather be that far too little care is taken to impress the emigrant with the stern fact that, in order "to reap the fruits," industry is as requisite in a new as in an old country. In this respect, the chief difference between them is, that in the old country labour, industry, and enterprise, go frequently unrewarded--in the new, never; but labour, industry, and enterprise, are necessary in both.

Numerous cases have occurred in which the extravagant ideas formed of a colony, by a person of sanguine temperament, on the perusal of some seductive book, have caused his utter failure. He reads of a delightful climate, with the richest soil; of fruits, flowers, and brilliant skies; of noble rivers teeming with fish, and the forest alive with game--and all this may be true-- but he will not so frequently read of the axe, the saw, the plough, the first roughness of bush life, and the numerous petty discomforts to which, for a time, all must submit. Bitterly disappointed, he soon becomes the idle grumbler, damping the energy of others; then, perhaps the confirmed drunkard; and finally, quite ruined, returns home to damn the scene of his folly, and picture the colony as the abode of misery and desolation.

There is a charm, a romance, about emigration, and its pictured life of forest freedom, to which weak and excitable natures fall easy victims. But there are the hard realities of an emigrant's life, under which such soft natures, especially cockneyfied people of fastidious gentility, bend and break. And thus it is that, from time to time, from all colonies alike, we hear of a family of returned emigrants, who, in disgust perhaps at the partial absence of carpets or dress coats, the presence of sand flies, or short pipes, have been driven back to fatherland.

All must pity the self-delusions which led such people to undertake what they were unable for; still, as

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warning beacons, they do good service to others; for, although, the clamorous recital of their petty troubles and disappointments may provoke only a smile in those who are really fit for emigration, it is sufficient to alarm those of their own stamp, and thus the list of victims is prevented from becoming larger. For a most amusing delineation of this class, and for a forcible and graphic contrast between vegetation in the old world, and life in a colony, the reader should turn to Sidney Smith's felicitous remarks at the end of the book.

People in this country contemplating emigration, or about to make choice of some particular colony, are apt to be far too much elevated or depressed by the good or bad reports, in the shape of "first letters," which earlier emigrants may send home. For instance, a family of rather enthusiastic temperament, warm lovers of fine scenery perchance, arrive, say in New Zealand, during the harvest month of January; and forgetting, in the glorious beauty of the country, the little troubles and discomforts of their "first settling down," write home at once and say they are in paradise--whereupon certain hesitating friends pack up directly, and start to join them. On the other hand, a family to whom silver forks, slippers, and soft-beds have ever been things of serious import, are so struck down and turned over by these same little troubles and discomforts, that they at once write home and describe the country as the antipodes of paradise,--whereupon certain hesitating friends, thankful for the warning, decide to stay where they are. Now, here, both parties writing hastily, on first, impressions, are equally mistaken. After the short experience of twelve months, they would probably agree in representing the country neither as a paradise nor the utter reverse; but as a very fair country, in which, with common industry and activity, moderate success, at least, was certain.

Intending emigrants, too, not unfrequently suffer themselves to be alarmed because late reports from some old experienced colonists may not be quite so cheerful as former ones. But here it is necessary to remember that all colonies, in common with all parent states, are alike subject to periods of depression; that prosperity has its ebbs and flows in young communities the same

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as in old; and that letters from colonial farmers, merchants, and capitalists, written when wheat was only 5s. per bushel, trading profits only £20 per cent., and interest on the best securities only £10, will perhaps naturally be less cheerful than when wheat was 7s. 6d. per bushel, trading profits £30 per cent., and interest on the best securities £15.

Again, we occasionally meet with an "emigrant's letter," in the newspapers, written from America, or Natal, or Australia, or New Zealand, by no means satisfactory to such of us as may happen to cherish the thought of trying our fortunes in the very self-same colony from which the disappointed emigrant may have written. But here we have to bear in mind that, although due weight is to be given to bad accounts, as well as to good accounts, undue weight is to be given to neither.

By the old saying, "what is one man's meat is another man's poison." Colonel Sibthorpe anathematizes the Exhibition, and wont even look at the Crystal Palace. Curious people of the "fossil order" are still found, who mourn over the good old times when the jolter-headed pottle-quaffing Baron bitted his vassals with the gallows right, and the droit de cuissage. The diversity of taste is as great as the diversity of feature. William Howitt left even Port Philip in disgust; and only the other day a letter appeared in one of the provincial papers, from a New Zealand emigrant in Nelson--a Scotch emigrant too 1--actually complaining of the climate!--of that climate which the statistical returns and thermometrical observations prove to be about as near perfection as possible, and of which the Bishop writes--"No one knows what the climate of New Zealand really is till he has basked in the almost perpetual sunshine on the shores of Nelson, with a frame braced and invigorated to the full enjoyment of heat, by the cool snowy breeze or wholesome frost of the night before."

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In considering these points, we have also to recollect this very important and significant fact--that emigrants, as a body, are those who have been unsuccessful in this country, many of them in spite of their best efforts and most strenuous exertions, but many in consequence of the want of effort and exertion--people lacking perseverance and industry, fond of change and variety, hard to please, and easily daunted. And when we recollect this, the wonder will be, I think, not that we do occasionally see a complaining emigrant's letter, but that we don't see a hundred where we see one.

The intending emigrant, be he peer or peasant, be it in Canada, the United States, Australia, or New Zealand, should never forget that his first settling down in the new country must ever be, in the very nature of things, a season of some trouble, anxiety, and discomfort. His first year will ever be comparatively a rough year, and he who cannot endure this seasoning, for the sake of winning the "after fruits," should be content to remain, in want, or in genteel poverty, at home.

I would conclude by offering a few remarks as to who should emigrate.

It may, indeed, truly be said, that New Zealand is a country of such great and varied resources, as to offer a pleasant and profitable field of employment for all grades and classes--for all ranks and conditions of men whose circumstances may wisely induce them to seek another home.

It is a great mistake to suppose that a knowledge of some particular business or occupation is necessary to insure success in such a colony as New Zealand; that emigration should be restricted to the merchant, trader, farmer, mechanic, or labourer.

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For instance, it offers a noble field for the enterprise of that large class--"younger sons"--who here fritter away life in the chase of trifles. Assume that one of these unfortunates inherits £5,000 to £6,000; his capital is not large enough to support him in idleness; his interest not sufficient to place him in that frequent refuge for the destitute, a "public office;" the professions are crowded to excess. He wastes prime years in fruitless efforts to secure a position; and then, perhaps, sinks into the "hanger-on" of some greater favourite of fortune; his ambition confined to amusing his patron, to the cut of a coat, or the tie of a neckcloth; and at fifty, we find a pithless, valetudinarian, old bachelor, forcibly feeble in whist and twaddle; a kind of subdued vegetable, or neuter negative, rather than a man.

But let such younger son follow the Petres, Vavasours, Molesworths, Dillons, Mandervilles, and Cliffords, to New Zealand; lead out a band of his father's tenantry, and engage in the glorious work of colonization, like the nobles who planted Virginia, Delaware, and Maryland.

Then, a long and happy life of honourable enterprise would create him an estate which might vie with the old family one at home; and he would bequeath his children not only wealth, but a name honourable in the land as one of its greatest benefactors.

Again, there is a large class of respectable English families living on incomes of about £200; the interest of their whole capital of £4,000 or £5,000. The head of such a family may be a man of energy, in the prime of life, having several children to provide for--sons to settle, daughters to marry. He is deterred, however, from attempting to better his circumstances by engaging in any kind of business, from the fear of losing his whole property in the excessive competition here existing for the profitable investment of capital; and he retires to vegetate on the Continent, or buries himself in the Channel Isles, for the sake of cheap living.

The capital of such a family is comparatively dead; and so are the energies of the capitalist. For instead of occupying that important and influential place in

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society, which his abilities and education, combined with his pecuniary means, would, in other and more favourable circumstances, enable him to attain, his time is drivelled away in poring over newspapers--in speculating on the chance of making one son a briefless lawyer, another an ill-paid curate; whilst mama laments that, though all admire Miss Lucy's beauty and goodness, yet none propose.

The life of such a one is a life of shifts and expedients, a constant weary struggle to maintain that position in society, from which he sees, with bitterness, that his children must descend; and he is a restless, anxious, care-worn man.

Now, let such a man remove his family to New-Zealand, or to any other good colony; one-third of his capital invested on good security would produce him the whole of his English income; and the other two-thirds enable him to purchase 500 acres of fertile land, to clear and improve it, to build an excellent house, and eventually, with common care and exertion, to create a beautiful home, replete with every comfort. He would now become a man of great social influence, a kind of "personage," leading opinion, and giving a tone to society. Miss Lucy would now exercise her very proper prerogative of choosing from a host of suitors--it would now be, "Take your time, Miss Lucy"--and his sons embark in any of the numerous channels to independence which his now liberal means and high standing would open to their enterprise.

There are too, in this country, many excellent persons with still smaller incomes of from £60 to £100 a-year, who, from increasing families, the growing pressure of the times, and the difficulty of keeping up what are termed appearances, have come to the determination of trying their fortunes in New Zealand; but who, having no particular business or occupation, or having been brought up to some particular line, in which they fancy there is no opening in a colony, are perplexed with doubts and fears as to what they shall do when they arrive.

Now, to such I would observe, that colonial life is not a narrow circumscribed routine life, closely hedged in, and squared by tyrant forms and customs.

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In colonies there is none of that minute subdivision of labour, under the operation of which a pin is made by twenty hands, and no man ventures beyond his trade. In colonies there is greater power of expansion, greater freedom of action; there the "ne sutor ultra crepidam" does not obtain. With equal promptitude and success, the soldier converts his sword into a ploughshare--the sailor steers a harrow--the merchant turns farmer--the farmer turns merchant--the lawyer acquires an estate by deed of axe, not by "deed of pen"--and the doctor makes paying patients of his flocks and herds.

Let such intending emigrants follow but these simple rules, and all will go well. Let them avoid purchasing land here, and take out as small an outfit and as much money as possible. On arriving in the colony, get into cheap quarters and just look about a little before settling down; if not fully satisfied, say with New Plymouth, see Nelson or Canterbury, and then when the pursuit has been decided on, and the location chosen, just let them do the best they can, and quietly leave the rest to fortune.

New Zealand is also a country admirably suited to retired military and naval officers; the necessaries of life are cheap--the luxuries not dear. I well remember when in Upper Canada, remarking that this class not only produced excellent working settlers, but gave an intellectual tone and polish to society in charming contrast to the "plough and axe" roughness of the United States.

Indian invalids, or persons in delicate health, with small incomes, might advantageously plant themselves in New Zealand, and take a fresh lease of life. By sailing any time between May and October, a fine summer passage is ensured. The mere voyage, from what I have observed at sea, would, I think, generally have a most beneficial effect; and once in New Zealand, the invalid would surely find that the Rev. Mr. Yates was not more graphic than correct, in saying that there "the sickly become healthy, the healthy become robust, and the robust become fat."

Let such a man with his little capital go to New Plymouth or Nelson. Invest a portion of his money so as to yield him a modest income. Then purchase a few

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acres in some sheltered dell or valley near the sea; have a snug, thatched, rose-covered cottage, keep his cow and pony, cultivate his garden, tend his bees and flowers, fatten his own poultry, brew his own beer, and discuss a pipe with a friend under his own vine or fig tree. He shall enjoy strong health, be surrounded with the most beautiful scenery, have every domestic comfort, with pleasant society, and shall haply reach a green old age.

As to the "workers," or more active members of society, I trust enough has been said to show that New Zealand offers ample scope for their enterprise; a profitable field of employment for their capital, skill, or labour.

The merchant or trader may embark, with every chance of success, in any of the numerous branches of the large and growing "import and export trade."

The sheep farmer or stock breeder would find a country possessing every qualification for the rapid increase of flocks and herds.

The agriculturist, or tenant farmer (who, if he lingers on at home may live to see his sons become hired labourers on the farm he once rented), would insure a soil of easy cultivation and great fertility, certain harvests, and good markets--would escape high rent, tax, and tithe, and soon rise to be the independent proprietor.

The steady mechanic would escape the crushing competition existing in old countries, and find constant employment, with good wages and cheap living; the half-starved labourer revel in rude plenty, build his house on his own land, and soon raise himself to comfort and prosperity.

But to all and to every one I would say this;--To those who may be doing tolerably well, or who may see a fair chance of providing for their children, let no love of change, no spirit of adventure, induce them to break up the ties of home. Emigration is, indeed, a serious step--one which requires the gravest consideration.

But I would also say to those whose prospects are less bright--to those, to whom the present is a state of corroding anxiety, of ill-requited toil; the future, without a seeming prospect of "better things"--to all such I would say--Drop the burden and go whilst there is

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time. Let no weak love of home, no idle fears of success, prevent their at once forming a manly determination to achieve in another land that happiness and independence which may be denied them here. Only let them go prepared to work, prepared to exert themselves, prepared to laugh at some little first "roughnesses," and rely upon it they will never repent the step which they have taken.

Let them remember that by becoming colonists they do not cease to be British; that the glorious page of British history--Cressy, Poietiers, the smitten Armada, Trafalgar, Waterloo--is still their history. Let them remember that colonies are infant countries in a state of rapid growth and transition; and that in the natural course of things, before their sons shall have attained majority, or their daughters bloomed into full beauty, their first rude dwellings in the bush, and the privations of the earlier settler's life, will have been exchanged for the well-built edifice, in the midst of cultivations, and for all the necessaries and most of the luxuries of old country civilization.

They go, be it remembered, to create a happy home for their declining years--a heritage for children. They will look with pride and satisfaction on the rich fields, the orchards and gardens, which their industry and enterprise may have planted. And, as they count their flocks and herds, survey their busy homesteads, or glance at the other fruits of their success (remembering that had they lingered on in England from want of energy to break their bonds, they might have become careworn anxious men, with poverty staring them in the face, and families destined to struggle on in difficulties) they will bless Heaven which kindly guided their steps, and gave them sense and resolution to become "New Zealand Colonists."

FINIS.