1851 - Hursthouse, C. New Zealand: the Emigration Field of 1851. - Letters and Miscellaneous Information, p 125-152

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LETTERS,

AND

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.

FOUR Letters are now submitted for the perusal of my readers. They are not chosen as being more flattering than many others out of the large number open to my choice, but as giving the impressions, embodying the views, of different grades or classes of emigrants.

Now, as there is reason to fear that emigrants' letters (both those in mourning and those in couleur de rose), are sometimes manufactured at home, I beg to present mine with the following credentials as to their parentage and respectability; and, I daresay, the parties alluded to would so far oblige me, as to satisfy any intending emigrant, of a sceptical turn, that he may safely eat of the good fruit set before him. The first two of these letters derive great additional weight and authority from the circumstance of the respective writers having left England without breaking up their establishment. They went to look at New Plymouth, to satisfy themselves by ocular demonstration that it was a good emigration field--a place in which they might create happy prosperous homes. If Major Lloyd or Mr. Richardson had not been fully satisfied with New Plymouth on seeing it, there was nothing whatever to prevent them from at once returning to their families in England, and abandoning the idea of emigration altogether. Being quite free and unfettered to go north, south, east, or west they saw New Plymouth--decided to make it their home, to bring over their families, and to become regular settlers.

No. I.

The writer of this--Major J. Y. Lloyd, late of the 73d Regiment--is a gentleman who, some two years since,

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went out to have a look at New Zealand, and judge for himself, before he decided on settling in the colony. He made choice of the New Plymouth settlement, purchased a fine estate there, remained about six months to put things in train, and then returned for his lady and family.

FROM THE "ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS."

"Every accession to our acquaintance with the characteristics of New Zealand tends to increase our admiration of this beautiful country. The settlement of New Plymouth, or Taranaki, affords abundant evidence of this assertion, which we are fortunately enabled to illustrate by the favour of Major Lloyd, to whom we are indebted for the following communication:--

"To the Editor of the Illustrated London News.

"SIR,

"The following extracts from a letter addressed to me by Mr. Richard Brown, of New Plymouth, with the accompanying sketches from the pencil of Mr. Good, may perhaps be acceptable to such of your readers as may be interested in New Zealand.

"Mr. Brown's experience of many years, his thorough knowledge of the country, of the natives, and their language, proved most beneficial to me during my late sojourn of six months in New Plymouth; and from this gentleman (indeed, I may say, from all our countrymen in that settlement), the new settler will meet with kind and ready help. If it be asked--why did I leave the 'happy home'? my answer is, that I have purchased near New Plymouth a considerable property, to which it is my intention, as soon as possible, to take back my family.

"Yours, truly,

"J. Y. LLOYD.

"Exmouth."

NEW PLYMOUTH, 9th April, 1850.

"* * * Your sections abound with most beautiful fern trees, and offer every imaginable tint of foliage to the view; the Tui (the mocking bird), and other singing birds, are numerous; and altogether these sections are picturesque and park-like. The views from them are

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beautiful beyond conception, embracing Tengahoro Pah (the picturesque old native fortification), the Sugar Loaf Islands, the ocean, and the white cliffs of Mimi, distant forty miles; the mountain range of the Patura and Puakai, rising 4,500 feet above the level of the sea, without concealing the graceful and majestic peak of Mount Egmont, towering fully as many feet above. Tengahoro Pah overlooks the snow-capped mountain of Tongariro, distant about 100 miles, and an unlimited extent of country. In England such views are never seen; my description therefore may appear to be exaggerated: the sketches in your possession give but a faint resemblance of the natural beauties they are intended to pourtray.

"The Tapuae block, adjoining the Omata, containing several thousand acres of unchosen land, of the most desirable description, is extremely picturesque, and beyond that there is a vast extent of fertile level land, not yet purchased from the natives, but which, as the country beyond has been already sold by them, will, in all probability, be ere long alienated to the Europeans. I am, as you are aware, as well acquainted with the district and the country down to Wanganui as any resident here, and I confidently assert that that district would, in addition to supporting the present small native population residing on it, graze 100,000 head of cattle, and provide food for more than a million human beings. The flax alone growing on it would provide employment for many thousand individuals. In fact, only capital, enterprise, and industry are required to render the district the granary of the Australasian colonies.

"I have made these few notes, thinking that my nine years' experience might possibly be useful to you, in describing the resources of the New Plymouth settlement. This is not a California; although, by the bye, our millions of tons of iron sand will, I imagine, be turned to account, at some future period, when New Plymouth will become the Sheffield or Birmingham of New Zealand.

"Here, children, far from being a burden, are a decided advantage: at seven, the boys drive the oxen; at nine, they plough; at twelve, engage in all sorts of farm-work; and at fifteen, take to the axe, and clear the

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forest. Where every one works, no farm labour is considered degrading. Idlers alone are exposed to ridicule, and excite pity.

"As for domestic servants, parties who want them must bring married people from England.

"You will, no doubt, be questioned as to the safety of living amongst the natives. In the most troubled times we never even had or required any other protection than the moral influence of the well disposed portion over the others. You have seen them work for you and your neighbours, engage in all sorts of farm work, and employed as domestic servants. You are aware that hundreds of them can read and write; are shrewd at making a bargain; that they understand the value of a written contract, and are, in fact, less savage than thousands of our own countrymen. You are also aware how truly useful their labour is at present in this settlement, and that in a very short time the Omata district will not have a native residing in it unless employed by the European residents.

"Many persons object to this settlement because it does not possess a good harbour; they are not aware that the roadstead is a safe one; that vessels are loaded and unladen far quicker than in any port; and that no life has been lost by boating since the first establishment of the settlement. In many other settlements possessing a harbour, people have embarked their capital in the township, to the detriment of the country: here, the former is an inconsiderable village, and the farmer flourishing.

"Truly, yours,

"RICHARD BROWN.

"To Major J. Y. LLOYD,

"Exmouth, Devonshire."

No. II.

THE writer of this--Mr. Richardson--is a gentleman who went out to New Plymouth last year. Mrs. Richardson, and the ladies of the family, taking with them several servants, are now preparing for their departure, and will probably be ready to sail by one of the

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August ships. 1 This lady's present residence is 3, Saville Place, Clifton, near Bristol.

"NEW PLYMOUTH, July 14, 1850.

"You ask me how I like New Plymouth. I like it--I love it--I thank God for it. Every one who sees it is delighted. Every ship which comes here leaves many who meant to go elsewhere. The Poictiers brought about twelve for New Plymouth--upwards of twenty will stay here. The Berkshire left thirty who never contemplated settling here. The next ship will bring about thirty; and they are expecting thirty women will be sent here by Mr. S. Herbert's committee, who (if well selected), will be a blessing to the country.

"Did Mr. Hursthouse in his book or lecture say anything too good of this place? No; on the contrary, he did not say so much as it deserves.

"The country five miles out of the town is beautiful. No soil in the world so rich, productive, and easily worked, and the climate matchless. The weather, now our mid-winter, is something like the finest English March, without easterly winds. Morning and evening cold, requiring warm clothing, and a good fire; mid-day delightful. Such weather will continue for three weeks at a time; then you may expect a gale for three days, or heavy rain for three days, and then the fine, healthy, invigorating atmosphere renewed. The summer scarcely ever sultry--always a breeze, and the very look of the lovely foliage of the forest is enough to cure sore eyes.

"No vermin of any kind--the rats have been extirpated; gnats and flies rather troublesome in summer; they abound in some spots only, and annoy only new comers.

"I like the people as far as I have seen or heard; the settlers are honest and industrious, and quite respectful in their demeanour. No New South Wales convictism, and no Americanism. All that you can say in their dispraise is, that many of the small settlers-- paupers when they came out--live in a very dirty comfortless manner, although well to do, and even wealthy.

"The natives I like much--they are of great value to us--we could do nothing at all without them. They

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will come to work for any one they like for 2s. per day. They appear to be a good tempered happy race, and go about very nicely dressed, either in scarlet blankets, or their own mats. You see nothing naked but their face and feet. Au reste, you live and move about in perfect safety, and really need not a lock to your door.

"Now, for the drawback. What you were told about getting servants for £16 a-year was not true. But in a year or so they will be obtainable, if the plan of female emigration is well carried out. At any rate you have a remedy by bringing two or more families--of what description, I will send you word hereafter.

"Now, what are the prospects of New Zealand? Decidedly good. It is steadily on the rise. For money, you get 10 per cent. of the best security; 16 per cent. on fair security; and sometimes the merchants will gladly give 20 or 25 per cent., when they see a chance of making a good bargain.

"Of New Zealand generally, New Plymouth is indisputably the garden; as to earthquakes, we have no more than you have in England. We have the most delicious mutton at 6d. per lb.; ditto beef, 5d.; English fed pork, 4d.; Maori pork, 3d.; butter, 1s.; fowls, 1s. 6d. per couple; turkeys, ducks, and geese in abundance. All the root vegetables wonderfully prolific; green peas you may have (with attention and care) all the year round; but alas! no fruit, the settlers cannot find time--other things pay better. I do not mean to say there are no gardens and no fruit trees; there are some, but the trees are not yet come into bearing. I wish to have a garden of the choicest fruit, and an orchard.

"My headaches were dreadful on board sometimes, but I hope they will be mitigated, if not quite cured, in this fine country.

"Be looking out for good, honest, skilful people--a farming man and wife who can brew, bake, and manage a dairy, &c. A good gardener, a maid servant or two, and a couple of useful little girls, if you approve of it.

"Plenty of good steady horses to be had, and bridle roads in every direction. * * * *"

No. III.

THIS well-written and very interesting letter appeared in

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the Liverpool Mercury, and other provincial journals. It is too long to be inserted here at full length, and the first part, describing the voyage, &c., has been left out, as not having any particular relation to New Plymouth matters. I understand that the writer--Mr. Batkin--was formerly a clerk to Messrs. Besemere, a London Out-fitting House. The letter is addressed to his father-in-law, Mr. Keet, 7, Gloucester Terrace, Kensington, two of whose daughters have since gone to join the Batkin family.

NEW PLYMOUTH, May 19, 1850.

"MY DEAR SIR,

"* * * * We sighted New Zealand on the afternoon of Wednesday the 15th of August, and, indistinct as it was, it created a general rush on deck; but darkness soon obscured all again, and we went to bed. In the morning, we found ourselves off Rocky Point, about three miles from shore, and by the evening were abreast of Cape Farewell, the western entrance to Cook's Straits. We continued beating about for the next two days, waiting, as the saying is, for the wind, which complaisantly came at last, and carried us into the roadstead of New Plymouth, where we anchored about four o'clock on Sunday morning. Having sometime previously determined on landing at this place--a determination on which I have abundant reason to congratulate myself--and having packed up our things, we bade adieu to the Cornwall, on Sunday afternoon, and heartily we rejoiced to find ourselves ashore.

"I must not forget to mention the kindness we experienced from Mr. Charles Brown, the gentleman we mentioned in our letter from the Cape de Verds, as a friend of Leigh Hunt. He was returning to New Plymouth, after a short visit to England. His kindness saved us much trouble on board, and he having left the ship some hours before us, kindly sought us our present dwelling. He carted all our goods up from the beach, and has placed us under many other obligations. We were not, therefore, utterly friendless on our first arrival, and, indeed, we afterwards found that, although in a place where we were totally unknown, there were many ready to assist the strangers.

"On first landing, I was struck with the appearance

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of the sand on the beach. It is much like fine gunpowder, and is strongly impregnated, with iron--about 75 per cent. It has been sold at Sydney at £3 per ton, and is said to produce iron of as good quality as the Swedish. Our next look was towards the country and settlement--the latter was a curious looking place we thought then, but it has much improved on acquaintance. We found Mr. Brown waiting to receive us, and he having warmly welcomed us to New Zealand, introduced us to our landlord, who took us to look at our house. We found it to be a four-roomed wooden tenement, situated on the top of a hill immediately above the town; the garden attached to it includes about three-fourths of an acre of ground, bounded on one side by the river Huatoki, and on the other by the high road. The sea lies before us, immediately beyond the town. We have a well of excellent water, pigstyes, &c. &c. Having come to terms for all this--3s. a-week--we accepted our guide's invitation to tea (this man is a journeyman carpenter.) We found him to be owner of a snug little house, some acres of ground, a cow, pigs, &c., a nice little wife, four sturdy boys and a girl. They produced, for tea, ham, eggs, home-made bread, and fresh butter, cream, fruit pies, cakes, &c. &c. All these (our first meal ashore), we punished, as you may imagine.

"As it was now getting dark, we returned home to arrange our beds, &c. &c. for the night. While thus occupied, our friend the carpenter sent us some firewood and a lamp, and a rosy little woman next stepped in with a quart of new milk for breakfast. We received this thankfully, but refused extensive proffers of pots, kettles, &c. &c. After some labour, and many makeshifts, we went to bed in what looked not unlike a 'curiosity shop.'

"In the morning, while at breakfast, another good Samaritan arrived, who, having deposited on the floor a sack of potatoes, said--'he had brought us a few potatoes, if we would accept them'--and I had barely time to utter a word, before he was gone. We proceeded to unpack amid a levee of natives, who were delighted to see us, and watched us with great interest. We were visited by them for the first week, and did nothing but shake hands with them from morning to night.

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"I dug and planted the whole of the garden, in which we have had almost every vegetable you can name. We have peas now, though nearly mid-winter. Beans here grow for seven or eight years without being replanted. Some melon and cucumber seed I brought has produced beautiful fruit. I have grown vegetable marrows, from William Bayley's seed, 2 feet 6 inches long, and I have one now in the garden, 27 inches in circumference. We have had 'enormous radishes,' 'stupendous carrots,' and all sorts of vegetable wonders. A gentleman here, a cousin of Sir William Molesworth's by the bye, tells me, that on what is called the 'bush land', he has grown sixty-six bushels of wheat to the acre.

"The grandeur of the 'bush,' as the forest is called, is beyond my powers of description. The trees are large, and all bear some kind of flower. The hands and supple-jacks add much to the beauty of the scenery. They are twined round and round, up and down, from the tops of the loftiest trees and down again in the most fantastic form, binding, as it were, the whole forest together. The size of the 'fuschia tree' is no fable. I have seen hundreds of them thirty feet high, and fourteen inches in diameter.

"The climate is delightful. We have none of the long rains you have. The longest lasts perhaps three or four days, with frequent intervals of dry, warm weather. In summer, a good shower once a week, or so. In the hottest weather there is always a cool breeze from the sea. Mount Egmont is a magnificent object, covered at its summit with perpetual snow, and the admiration of every one.

"I can hardly persuade myself sometimes that we are not living in some English village, only that poverty is unknown. All mechanics have their cow or cows; my opposite neighbour, a blacksmith, has his one hundred acres of land, and four cows. He bought some iron brought out in our vessel, £50, cash down; and all are, as I said before, independent. We feed on the best; meat is eaten at every meal. The prices of provisions are about as follows:--Flour was 10s. per 100 lbs., when we came; it is now, owing to large exports to Auckland, 14s.; potatoes, in winter, 1s. for 60 lbs., in summer, 6d. for the same quantity, of the natives; fowls, 1s. per pair; ducks, 1s. 6d.; eggs, 6d. per doz.;

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SETTLERS LOOK RAINBOWS, AND TALK THUNDER.

beef, 4d, per lb.; mutton, 6d. (as cattle increase, these will be still cheaper); butter, best fresh (there is no other), 1s.; sugar, 4d. and 6d.; tobacco, 2s.; tea, 1s. 4d. to 2s. 6d. All imported goods are dear; the storekeepers get their two hundred and three hundred per cent., and people can afford to pay it. Drapery goods, except calico, are exorbitantly high; so are tin and earthenware. The storekeepers are making money fast; they say the farmers make more, and the farmers say the mechanics and labourers do best. Everybody looks happy, and all talk in a round bold tone of voice.

We have, like all other communities, our politics and gossip, and though we hear that Europe is in an uproar, we care nothing about it. We have our red letter days too, our parties, and our pic-nics, our races, ploughing matches, rural sports, Cornish wrestling, &c.

Now, I will tell you something of the natives. They are in stature from five feet ten to six feet; all are immensely muscular, and are, as a race, the finest men I ever saw. I have only seen one, out of some thousands, in any way deformed, and that was a woman, who appeared as though her back had been injured while young; she was, however, as active as the rest. Strange as it may appear, they nearly all seem to be in the prime of life, save now and then you see an old chief, with a long white or grizzled beard; but old as he is, his activity seems no whit diminished.

"A stranger is never allowed to pass them while eating, without being invited to partake with them. Many of them will run on errands, and make purchases in town, cut firewood, draw water, and perform any little task you may assign them. They are generally very much attached to settlers, and are very useful to us. They are excellent axemen, and good labourers, reaping and clearing land as well as white men. They are not bad sawyers; and, in fact, we could hardly do without them. They are very fond of copying us, and are great fops.

"At Christmas last, there were numbers of them who purchased beef, plums, and currants, in order to have roast beef and plum pudding, 'all the same as the white man.' They have bullocks, cows, carts, harrows, and horses. A schooner trading regularly between here

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and Auckland, belongs to, and is manned by, natives. The mails to and from this place (Wellington and Auckland) are carried by natives on foot; the road is inaccessible on horseback. All are civil, most are polite, and I have seen some of them offer their hand with all the grace of a finished courtier. They enjoy a joke, and laugh and sing as gaily as boys. They can, many of them, read and write their own language, and some of them talk the English, tolerably. They all here go to church or chapel two or three times on Sunday. They live commonly on bread and potatoes; of the former, they never seem to have enough. They will sit down by the roadside, and demolish a four pound loaf, without the aid of water or any other adjunct!

"We live on the best, breathe the purest air, have the most glorious days, and the most heavenly nights. We can command all the comforts, and as for the luxuries of life--we burn mould candles. What more can I say, but come and join us. We have now been here nine months, and are therefore, in some measure, experienced settlers. A Mr. Hursthouse (whose brother here I know well, and whose father and sisters, brothers-in-law, &c. arrived here by the Pekin, in January last) has written and published a work on New Plymouth. I have read it, and believe it to be a straightforward account. Read it, and you will be able to form some idea of us. We have had the Governor and his lady here; they are very much attached to this place, and he (Sir George Grey is his name) has bought a very pretty house here. We have had three vessels here from England, since we came--the Kelso, Berkshire, and Pekin. The Berkshire made the passage in 102 days. We were four months exactly. Hoping soon to hear from you,

"I remain, yours, truly,

"J. BATKIN."

No. IV.

The writer of this letter--John French--is personally known to me. He was one of the best and most industrious Devonshire labourers ever sent out by the New

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Zealand Company. He has now risen into the small farmer class, and, in the natural order of things, his children will probably rise a grade higher, and become substantial yeomen, farming their own estates:--

(From the Plymouth Weekly Journal.)

"We have been favoured by C. B. Calmady, Esq., Langdon, with an extract from a letter written by a man named John French, whom Mr Calmady advised some time since to emigrate, and who was well known to him. French was a native of Holme, and the statements made by the writer may, in these hard times, induce other men to better their condition, by emigration. The letter was written to Mrs Joane Pearse, at Holme, near Ashburton:--

"'There are many of you that could do well in this part. If emigration goes on again to New Zealand, as I believe it will, I would advise some of you to start for New Plymouth; such a man as John Rowland and other good lusty fellows are sure to do well. You would soon be able to get into some land, to grow all you want and to sell. There is Anne's brother at Lake-more, in that starve-gut old place, where it will not produce two grains for one. A man can do nothing for himself nor family, digging and delving all the days of his life for nothing. There are men that when they landed were not possessed of a single shilling, who are now independent of any one. There is no tax to pay; the land appears to be very good; I have known sixty bushels of wheat grown to the acre, without any manure, and it will carry wheat for many years without manure. The worst of the land will carry good crops by giving it a summer fallowing now and then; it is like every other country, some places better than others; but it appears that it will produce almost anything. Hops answer well; grapes seem to thrive wonderfully, and many sorts of apples and peaches, gooseberries, cherries, and vegetables of all kinds. I have grown as good a kidney bean as ever you saw, only by making a hole in the ground with my finger to put the bean in; cabbages the same. I am very glad of leaving England when I did. Since I wrote to you last, the natives have sold several thousand acres of land, and are still selling.

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"'Frost we get but little; I never saw ice thicker than a shilling, some winters we don't get that, only a little white frost toward the spring. Snow we never see, on the ground, although we can see it any clear day on Mount Egmont, which is about 10,000 feet high. There is always snow on the top of this mountain in the height of summer; it is about fifteen miles from us. I have not seen any snow elsewhere; so that you see we are not pinched up with the cold here as you are. The cold here is not worth saying anything about, nor do I find our summer hotter than yours; and rain I do not think we get more than you do, or so much. It has never been known that a crop has been lost through dry weather--generally good weather for harvesting. New Zealand is as good a climate as any in the South Seas, and well supplied with water everywhere, and good--I refer to Taranaki. Our days are two hours shorter in the summer than yours, and two longer in the winter.

"'I don't know what I can say about ploughing, sowing, reaping, or mowing--there is not a single stone in the soil of Taranaki; when brought into cultivation it will be fine land to plough. Barley here is used for malting, not to make bread. Potatoes are used as they are in England. Sheep do well, they are of a different breed from yours; they are chiefly the breed from New South Wales, or the Spanish breed; they do not shear above three pounds of wool each--the wool is very fine and short. I cannot say anything about the price, as there has not been much here yet; in England it is sold at 2s. or 2s. 6d. per pound. This breed averages about twenty-five pounds the quarter, and I am quite certain that we can fatten sheep with half the keep that you can.

"'There certainly is more nutriment in the grass here than in England. I never saw sheep, bullocks, or horses in England that would keep themselves in so good a condition with so little grass as they do here. It appears that it will be a fine country for grass; everything seems to thrive well. You want to know whether we grow corn enough for our own use--yes, and export scores of tons of flour each year for three years past; this year we shall export above 200 tons, besides oats and potatoes.

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Goats are not worth saying anything about. Poultry and pigs do well; it's next to France for poultry.

"'Well, I say to you, this is the country for a poor man. I am sure that the poor in England during the dearth must have been in a perishing state--what is it the best of times? a man working with a half belly of victuals, this of the coarsest fare. Every man here has an opportunity of getting land--little or much, and here he can grow for his own consumption; there is no pinching the belly in Taranaki; a man can sit down to a meal, and rise up satisfied.

"'Corn is 4s. the bushel; barley, 5s.; oats the same; butter, 1s. per pound; pork, 3d. per pound; mutton and beef, 4d. and 5d. per pound; eggs, 6d. the dozen; fowls, 1s. per pair, (very cheap); men's boots, 15s. to 20s. a pair; 2 men's wages, 2s. 6d. per day; a good stiff lad gets 1s. a-day, meat, drink, and lodgings, or a-week; clothing is very reasonable now. I should like to see some of you come out. A man has a chance here, and there are many of you who would do well by coming.

"'JOHN FRENCH."'

The following testimony as to the merits of the New Plymouth District will show the reader that I am only one of many who entertain a high opinion of it:--

1. "No one can speak of the soil or scenery of New Zealand till he has seen both the natural beauties and the ripening harvest of Taranaki (New Plymouth.)"--The Bishop of New Zealand's Journal, 1848, p. 43.

2. "I have never, in any part of the world, seen such extensive tracts of fertile and unoccupied land as at Taranaki (New Plymouth)."--Sir George Grey, the present Governor of New Zealand.

3. "But the finest district in the Company's territories, and which is surpassed, perhaps, by none in New Zealand, is that which surrounds the base of Taranaki, or Mount Egmont; much of the soil in this district, consisting of decomposed lava, is of an extremely fertile

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description."--R. G. Jameson, Esq., New Zealand, p. 214.

4. "In fact, the country is so level round the base of Mount Egmont, that the latter seems almost to rise immediately from the plain. The coast forms a cliff of moderate height, and consists of a yellowish sandy loam--an excellent substratum for a rich mould which covers the top, and which increases in depth towards the foot of the mountain. The whole district of Taranaki, as far as I have yet seen, rivals any in the world in fertility, beauty, and fitness for becoming the dwelling-place of civilized European communities."--Dr. Dieffenbach's Travels, 1843, vol. i., pp. 139, 150.

5. "In future times this picturesque valley, (Waiwakaio), as well as Mount Egmont and the smiling open land at its base, will become as celebrated for their beauty as the Bay of Naples, and will attract travellers from all parts of the globe."--Ibid, vol i., p. 161.

6. "The soil of New Plymouth is, perhaps, more uniformly good, and therefore more suitable for an extensive agricultural settlement, than that of any other. The substratum is generally a yellowish sandy loam. The surface is a rich volcanic mould, of the most fertile character."--Handbook of New Zealand, by a late Magistrate, 1848.

7. "The New Plymouth district has, from its great productiveness, the beauty of its climate, and the facility which it presents for easy cultivation, been termed 'the garden of New Zealand.' By the natives themselves, it is spoken of as a kind of terrestrial paradise. The Wellington natives, the former inhabitants of this district, from which they were driven, become pathetic in their regrets and affectionate remembrance of their former country; and it is an object of ambition with many of them to get on board a vessel bound for New Plymouth, to gaze once more upon the lovely outlines of its scenery."--Earp's New Zealand, pp. 73, 74.

8. "New Plymouth, though a small settlement in comparison with others, was the first in New Zealand, not only to feed itself, but to export its own produce. While the commercial settlements of Wellington and Auckland were importing corn from Sydney and the West Coast of South America, New Plymouth was ex-

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porting corn to both. Like Nelson, New Plymouth owed nothing to the expenditure caused by the troops, which have been so extensively employed in the other settlements; it was isolated from the disturbed districts, and not a single soldier was necessary for its defence. The inhabitants having no resources of this nature, and but few of a commercial kind beyond the export of their surplus produce, steadily applied themselves to agriculture and sheep-farming, and with such success that a poor or a disappointed man is scarcely to be found amongst them,--every man literally living 'under his own vine and fig-tree.' The New Plymouth people are well aware of the productive powers of their own settlement. When the Canterbury settlement was first projected, it was the recommendation of the bishop that it, should be located at New Plymouth, but the committee of the Canterbury Association decided otherwise. On this a New Plymouth settler shrewdly remarked--'It is no matter, wherever they may settle, we shall have the pleasure and the profit of feeding them till they can run alone, and thus find another market for our rapidly-increasing surplus produce.' And it is a fact that this, the least of the older settlements, has for many years past fed the larger, there being no limit to its productiveness, but want of small capitalists to reclaim new lands."--Earp, 3d Edition, p. 123.

The following letter has been much admired for the simple beauty and pathos of its style; whilst the strong testimony it furnishes, as to the high tone of the settlement in "things spiritual" is very gratifying--coming, as it does, from so high and disinterested an authority as the admirable Bishop of New Zealand, Dr Selwyn. The letter is one of a series, published in a little work called the "Bishop's Journal." This work, and the third, edition of Earp's excellent Hand-book, should be consulted by every intending emigrant. The one is a very interesting and graphically-written description of natural scenery, missionary adventures, and native life and scenes; the other is a work which, in style of execution and real practical utility, stands out in happy

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relief to the various "Pen and Pencil Sketches," "Keys to Colonies" (innocent of opening any Colonial lock), "Emigrants' Oracles," &c., id genus omne, of which New Zealand, in common with all colonies, has unfortunately been the victim:--

"The Bishop on New Plymouth: Taranaki.

"Our voyage round the North Cape, including one day at the Bay of Islands, had occupied sixteen days, when we anchored at Taranaki, early in the morning of Sunday, the 9th of April (1848.)

"If I may confess a partiality, such as a father may feel for one particular child, without injustice to the rest, this is my favourite settlement in New Zealand. On the present occasion it was invested with a deeper and more solemn interest by the recent death of my dear friend and child in the ministry, the Rev. W. Bolland. I had spent a few hours at New Plymouth in August, 1847, and had heard in that short time such words of unfeigned sorrow and respect from his parishioners as I could scarcely have hoped to hear from a congregation so recently formed under so young a minister. On that occasion the church was filled on a week-day evening with his bereaved people, who seemed to drink in with open hearts every word that I spoke of their departed pastor; and when I gave them hopes that a new clergyman would speedily arrive, their joy seemed to be damped by the thought, 'that they could not look to see again the like of him whom they had lost.' I think I can never forget the peculiar solemnity of that evening service, when I was obliged, by fear of an approaching storm, to go at once from the church, and embark at midnight, leaving the mourning widow and the desolate congregation to lament a loss which seemed as if it could never be repaired.

"The lapse of seven months to the time of my second visit, in April, 1848, had lightened the burden of public and private sorrow. The Rev. H. Govett, Mr. Bolland's associate in their first work as settlers on the Tamaki, seemed to be marked out as the fittest successor to his departed friend; and thus it has pleased God already, in the short space of six years, to carry

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down the spiritual line of succession in the New Zealand Church to the third degree.

"My dear Chaplain, the Rev. T. Whytehead, looked forward with comfort to the arrival of his affianced brother-in-law Mr. Bolland, as trusting that he would be moved by his letters to fill the gap in the ministry which his own death would cause; and Mr. Bolland was not taken away till he had seen the effect of his own advice and example, in inducing his companion, Mr. Govett, to relinquish every other care for that work of Christ, in which he now follows the footsteps of his friend.

"My arrival on the Sunday morning was opportune, as Mr. Govett was absent at the native villages on the coast, which Mr. Bolland was accustomed to visit once in two months. Mr Govett keeps up the practice, having himself learned the duties of a missionary clergyman in his temporary occupation of Mr. Hadfield's late station at Waikanae. The duties of the parish, therefore, devolved upon me; and a great pleasure it was to spend the whole of the Lord's-day among this friendly and earnest people. The beautiful stone chapel was well filled in the morning, at very short notice, and crowded at the evening service. It is indeed a refreshing sight in a new country to see such a building, with walls which seem fitted to withstand an earthquake, and a beautiful open roof of the red pine (Rimu) of the country, which, when oiled and polished, has a rich colour, well adapted to the interior of a church. Everything was in character and in order; the books, the seats, the communion cloth, the lamps, all directed by Mr. Bolland's judgment and taste, and not procured without much effort and self-denial. The same may be said of the parishioners, who subscribed most liberally, and incurred heavy responsibility to carry out the full plan of their architect, Mr. Thatcher, and to complete a work which might express their own zeal for religion, and form an imperishable monument for ages to come.

"CHAPEL OF HENUI.

"Besides the congregations in the parish church, I had the pleasure of assembling a small body of our people at the rustic chapel of the Henui, two miles from the church. The building is formed only of

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rough logs of timber, but its appearance indicates the uses to which it is applied; and, without assenting to the common approbation of cheap churches, it is a satisfaction to know that a village population, to the number of seventy or eighty, have been provided with a temporary chapel of pleasing appearance, at an expense of £50. The parish church will continue to uphold the other principle, of giving to God, even in the 'goodly stones and timbers of His house, that honour which is due unto His name.' In that 'the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it,' to tell to future generations, that the first clergyman, and the first settlers in Taranaki, offered this worthy thank-offering to Him who had guided them in safety from their native country to this distant land; where the many still live to worship Him, but where one has gone to his rest.

"Close to the eastern end of the church is the resting-place of the mortal remains of that one. There, in a small enclosure the green turf, carefully weeded, covers the graves of the father and of an infant child, who lived only to be baptized. 3 There, may be seen, before the services of the day begin, the kind-hearted peasant of this simple village, reviving the memory of his friend and pastor by gazing upon his burial place; and there too, I felt, as it has been my lot to feel in every settlement of my diocese, how much this new land has acquired the character of a mother country, in which I can be content to live and die, by the number of dear friends and holy servants of Christ who sleep within its bosom.

"The few days which I spent at Taranaki were occupied in visiting many of my old friends, and in examining the candidates for confirmation, in whose preparation Mrs. Bolland had interested herself, to her own comfort, and their great benefit. On the appointed day, a body of fifteen young women and five young men were admitted to confirmation, and many of the number, I have since learned, have been added to the list of the communicants. For these small beginnings, as they

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will seem to you in England, I have reason to be thankful, remembering that this is the first colony in which any function of my office has been performed from its first foundation. But beyond this, the personal examination of the candidates, their appearance in church--the young women neatly dressed in white--and the fact of their desiring to come to the Holy Communion, all combine with that duty of charity which believeth all things and hopeth all things, to make me trust that a work of grace will be begun in these early days, which will spring up in multiplied blessings to these children's children.

"If I could send you 4 a true picture of the parsonage of Taranaki, it would make you leave the noise of Pall-Mall, and apply for institution as pastor to the English settlers. Mr. Govett would find ample employment among the natives, as the greater part of the Ngatiawa tribe, to whom he formerly ministered at Waikanae, are now returning to their old homes, a few miles from New Plymouth. Picture to yourself an irregular stone building, roofed with genuine thatch, with shady verandahs overrun with creepers, and a grassy bank in front sloping down to the sparkling stream of the Henui, fed most plentifully when it most needs supply, by the snows of Mount Egmont, which towers in solitary grandeur behind the forest. You would not wonder that I love New Zealand if you knew as much of it as I do."

Extracts from the Official Report of WILLIAM FOX, Esq., on the New Plymouth Settlement.

WELLINGTON, May 22, 1849.

"I found the settlement of New Plymouth very prosperous. All classes seemed well off and contented. Of the capabilities of the district, in an agricultural point of view, it would be difficult to speak too highly; while it displays in its career an instance of self-reliance, unsupported by Government expenditure or the aid of

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MR. FOX ON NEW PLYMOUTH.

British, money, forming an agreeable contrast to the settlement of Auckland which I had just left, where no true colonizing enterprise exists, and nearly the whole population (cooped up in the town) lives solely on the proceeds of the British Treasury. The want of immigration, however, begins to be seriously felt at New Plymouth, so large a portion of the labouring class having become independent of employment for hire, 5 that had not the natives been induced to work, there would have been great difficulty in securing the last harvest.

"I was glad to find a mechanic of the name of Perry engaged in erecting a blast-furnace for the purpose of smelting the iron-sand, of which millions of tons lie scattered along the sea beach, north and south of the settlement. Perry is using the fire-bricks which were sent out by the Court, and is very sanguine of success; experiments on a small scale, and with imperfect apparatus, having been satisfactory. He also shipped eight or ten tons of the sand on board the vessel which I sailed in, which will be forwarded to Sydney by one of the merchants here, Mr. Fitzherbert, where, if it answers expectation, a considerable demand may be expected.

"Three excellent flour-mills and two breweries were in full operation. One of the former uses a pair of stones hewn out of granite blocks found in the settlement, and which appear to answer every purpose as well as French burrs, except that they are rather more difficult to dress. Forty tons of flour left for the Auckland market when I was there, and much more will be exported during the season.

"I was much struck with the extreme fertility of the soil. Some idea of it may be formed from the fact that thirty-five acres of grass and white clover, during last year, carried nearly 300 sheep for a twelvemonth in excellent condition. This is accounted for in a great degree by the mildness of the winter, which promotes the free growth of herbage during that season, while the proximity of the sea, and westerly breezes, ensure abundant moisture during the summer.

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"I thought the tone of the settlement very good; the churches and chapels well frequented, and sectarian differences little thought of--the church congregation mustering Anglicans, Romanists, Unitarians, and other denominations, within the same walls. Schooling seems as much attended to as it is likely to be in a rural and somewhat scattered population. An excellent school for girls of the upper class is in course of establishment by three ladies, whose accomplishments are likely to make it an attraction even to the other distant settlements. A well-conducted book-club, with an entrance-fee of £1 1s., and the same annual subscription, has been formed, and includes nearly all the higher class as members. An institution for the education of the natives has been founded by the Wesleyan Society, and, in the charge of the Rev. Mr. Turton, is likely to promote greatly the welfare of the race.

(Signed) "WILLIAM FOX,

"Acting Principal Agent.

"The Secretary of the New Zealand Company."

The following are extracts from a letter lately received from some members of my family, including my father, who, at the ripe age of 70, emigrated to New Plymouth.

The entire letter would be given, but as it was not written for publication, the greater portion of it relates to mere private matters, of no possible interest or importance to the general reader:--

"This New Plymouth is indeed a noble country, both for the steady, industrious poor man, and for the gentleman with a few thousands; for his capital may be safely invested at 10 per cent. at least, and on an income of a couple of hundreds a-year, he might live like a prince.

"The climate, too, is certainly very fine. This is now our winter, but I have only once seen ice on the pools, about as thick as a shilling. This morning there is quite a rhyme frost, yet the scarlet geraniums, scioenthus, scarlet myrtle, and beautiful mimosa, are all

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in full flower. My sons take credit for bringing the latter from the Cape of Good Hope, when they touched, or rather struck there, on their way out in 1843.

"Our vegetables are really wonderful; and a Mr. Nairn, one of the old settlers here, and I think the only one who has paid the least attention to horticultural matters, tells me that in 1848 he had at least 500 dozen of fine marketable peaches from six or seven standard trees.

"We are now high busy improving and ornamenting our new home. The place formerly belonged to a Captain Creagh; it has been much neglected, but is capable of being converted into a very beautiful spot. I am busily employed superintending the putting up of some homely but useful out-buildings. I have also just completed a rose arbour, larger than the one at Tydd, with a beautiful fern tree for a centre part.

"Our farm consists of about one hundred acres, only two miles from the town. It is fine level land, the yet uncleared parts covered with fern ten to fifteen feet high, the soil a fine black mould, and so like my rich garden soil at Tydd.

"Our mountain (Mt. Egmont) is certainly worth a journey of some thousand miles to see. It is now covered with snow nearly half-way down, and dazzling white; the rock and snow having the appearance of immense longitudinal purple stripes; then bright green forest. It is nearly 10,000 feet high, of a regular massive, cone-like shape. Such is its size, and the purity and clearness of the atmosphere, that although it is sixteen miles from us, its base actually seems to be in our garden. We have made a cut through our wood so as to command a view of this snow-capped giant beauty from our windows.

"The Poictiers has just arrived, bringing us several new settlers and such excellent news, as to the numbers who may be expected by the following ships, that the price of what we term the "compensation lands," rose in one week from 8s. to 21s. per acre; and a neighbour of ours (a relation of Lord Berners, by the bye), has refused £300 for a little property which a month ago he offered at £180.

"A gentleman who came out in the ship before us

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has just returned to England. He originally intended, I believe, settling in Nelson, but on seeing New Plymouth, was so charmed with it, that he purchased an estate of 300 acres, and expended about £1,000 on it, and has now gone back to fetch his family; I expect he will also induce several half-pay officers to return with him." * * *

"NORTHAMPTON, June 20, 1851.

"MY DEAR SIR,

"Since my last letter to you, I have resumed my experiments upon the iron sand of New Plymouth, and you will be pleased to know that my success is greater than any of my former researches. This rich ore is indeed a mine of immense wealth, and I trust the day is not far distant when its high value will be the means of improving a colony of already acknowledged importance, and of rendering this country independent of foreign aid, for the supply of the finest steel--an article in constant and growing demand, and which this iron ore contains in such abundance and excellence.

"I have, during this week, carefully noted the assay, and find the lowest yield of steel-iron 38 1/2 per cent. and the highest, 59. I have forwarded to Mr. Carrington a piece, one side of which is polished, and exhibits a white silvery brilliancy, equal to the finest steel; though only just smelted in the crucible, this piece was of a yield equal to precisely 50 per cent.

"There is no difficulty in producing steel-iron from this ore, except the difficulty of obtaining the means required for the erection of the necessary works in New Zealand.

"I am, DEAR SIR,

"Yours, respectfully,

"J. STENSON.

"Mr. C. HURSTHOUSE, Jun."

BREES' PANORAMA.

In justice to New Plymouth, a few remarks are necessary on Mr. Brees' Panorama of New Zealand.

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When this gentleman's Exhibition first appeared, it was confined principally to views of the Wellington district. The Times (it would seem in a rare fit of benevolent weakness) pronounced the thing good; and the New Zealand Panorama flaunted its posters and planted itself in Leicester Square--sub magni nominis umbra.

After such dictum, certain carping critics, with more temerity than wit, ventured to assert that the Panorama was quite as remarkable for many things as for correctness--no one heeded them though. If it was objected that the houses were much too small, it could be urged that as the natives (six to the ton) were much too large, the general average, the gross size and weight of the whole thing, was about correct. And, if the Panorama did puzzle the intending emigrant, or terrify the "unprotected female," still, as an improving study of comic perspective, a la Hogarth, it was a treasure of art, and a cheap sight at a shilling.

More lately, however, the Panorama has become cosmopolitan; several additions have been made, and one of them, unluckily, is New Plymouth. Now, I venture to assert, that however faithful may be Mr. Brees' views and descriptions of the Wellington district, he has been signally unfortunate in New Plymouth.

Mount Egmont, a remarkably broad, massive mountain, carrying its substance well up to the summit, is depicted as a slim, meagre-looking, sugar-loaf. The river Waitera, ten miles distant from the town, is described as running through the town (I wish it did). The district is rich in forest timber, and wooded dells, of exquisite beauty, are interspersed throughout the cultivation. Yet in the Panorama, scarcely a tree is seen, and the country is made more to resemble the naked plains of Canterbury.

These remarks are dictated in no spirit of hostility to Mr. Brees, whose efforts to promote New Zealand emigration are worthy of great praise. I gladly admit that a visit to his Panorama would convey to every one a far more vivid idea of the general features of the country than could be attained by mere book-reading, and I would strongly urge every intending emigrant to see it. But I know that the exaggerated size and

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ferocious aspect of the natives in the Wellington view, so different to reality, the misrepresentation of New Plymouth, &c. &c. have really done considerable harm, and I point these things out, not to damage the Panorama, but in order that every one who goes to see it may bear these errors in mind, and thus derive full benefit from his visit.

Having now, I hope, pretty well disposed of the business matters, practical details, and sober realities of New Plymouth life; and, by a description of what the intending emigrant may expect to realise, raised his spirits to an attuning pitch, it is meet that I should present him with a Song, composed by my brother, in special honour of the "Garden of New Zealand."

In brotherly justice to the composer, I feel bound to state, however, that he is not a minor poet, and would rather turn a straight furrow than a smooth couplet, rather produce a prize pig than a prize poem.

The song--a maiden effort--written during the gloomy times of 1844, was presented to his fellow-members of the Taranaki Farmers' Club, probably as a kind of lyric antidote to the saddening effects of Governor Fitzroy's strokes of policy. Like the "Marseillaise," "Jim Crow," "Rule Britannia," and "Lucy Neal," it instantly became famous, and is now held to be as much an integral part of the New Plymouth Settlement as Paritutu or Mount Egmont itself. The juvenile populace are especially noisy in it; whilst at great feasts, on high-days and holidays, it always follows "Non Nobis" and "God Save the Queen." Here it is:--

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