1851 - Burton, J. H. The Emigrant's Manual. New Zealand, Cape of Good Hope and Port Natal [NZ sections only] - The Canterbury Settlement, p 58-73

'Selection of Colonists. --So far as practicable, measures will be taken to send individuals of every class and profession, in those proportions in which they ought to exist in a prosperous colonial community. The association retain, and will carefully exercise, a power of selection among all those who may apply for permission to emigrate to their settlement, either as purchasers, or as immigrants requiring assistance. They will do so with the view of insuring, as far as possible, that none but persons of good character, as well as

members of the Church of England, shall form part of the population, at least in its first stage; so that the settlement may begin its existence in a healthy moral atmosphere.

'Mode of Selecting Land. -- The peculiarity of the method of the selection of land adopted in this settlement, consists in allowing every purchaser of an order for rural land to select the quantity mentioned in his land-order, in whatever part of the surveyed territory he may please, assisted by an accurate chart, which will be made as rapidly as circumstances will permit, representing the natural features, the quality of the soil, and the main lines of road. Certain rules as to position and figure, embodied in the terms of purchase, and framed with a view to prevent individuals from monopolising more than a certain proportion of road or river frontage, must be observed in each selection. But it is not the intention of the association to divide the whole or any portion of the territory to be colonised (except the sites of the capital and other towns) into sections of uniform size and figure, which has been the system generally pursued in other settlements. Every selection will be effected by the owner of the land-order communicating to the chief surveyor a description of the spot on which he wishes his section to be marked out. If this selection shall not violate the regulations as to position and figure, and if the area included shall be equal to the amount of land stated in the land-order, the section will be immediately marked on the chart, and a surveyor will be sent as soon as possible to mark it on the ground.'

'The block of land on the east coast of the Middle Island, from which the million of acres for the site of the Canterbury Settlement is to be selected, contains over two millions of acres, extending coastwise to the north and south-west, and bounded inland by a range of hills whose distance from the coast varies from forty to fifty miles. This country is perfectly level, watered by numerous rivers and streams, and covered with grass. Like all extensive districts, portions of it are found of inferior quality--a very small part is swampy, indeed so trifling, that a dray may be driven over almost every part of it: the surface in some parts is stony, but on examination we found it confined to the surface alone, the soil consisting of

a light loam, resting on gravel and a substratum of blue clay; much of it well adapted for agricultural purposes, and capable of yielding excellent crops of all kinds of grain, potatoes, and European fruits and vegetables. The whole of this extensive and almost uninhabited tract of plain country affords excellent natural pasturage, and is particularly well adapted for the depasturing of cattle and horses. The produce of a very extensive country, extending along the sea-coast for 200 or 300 miles, will have Port Cooper as its market and harbour. Banks's Peninsula contains no less than four good harbours--namely, Akaroa, Pigeon Bay, Port Levy, and Port Cooper. The country is hilly, and well wooded; and the three former harbours are separated from the plain country, excepting by forming long and expensive hill roads: thus Port Cooper alone is of any value with reference to the plains adjoining. The harbour of Port Cooper, situated in the north-west angle of Banks's Peninsula, though open to the eastward, affords good and safe anchorage. Large ships anchor about four miles up, whilst brigs and large schooners lie off the port town of Lyttelton. It has no bar, is easy of access and egress, and has been frequented by whalers of all nations for the last twenty years, and no accident is on record; and with a lighthouse on Godley Head (which I should most strongly recommend), might be entered with safety in the darkest night. The districts Lincoln, Stratford, Mandeville, Ashley, Oxford, and Buccleuch, are for the most part grassy, or partially covered with flax, and can be brought into cultivation at a very moderate expense; and I recommend these districts to be first occupied, not only on account of the quality of the land, but the first three with regard to the relative position of the harbour, as also of their possessing in many instances the advantages of water-communication for the transport of their produce, and supplying them with timber and firewood from Banks's Peninsula; and the last two with reference to the large extent of forest-land adjoining. We were agreeably surprised to find that mosquitoes, which are common in many parts of New Zealand during the summer season, were seldom found on the plain; and we attributed their absence to the very small extent of swampy land.'

'The site of the settlement is a territory on the east coast of the Middle Island of New Zealand, containing about 2,500,000 acres in one block, consisting mainly of three grassy plains or prairies, named Sumner, Whately, and Wilberforce, and intersected by several rivers, with their numerous tributaries, running to the sea from an Alpine chain of snow-capped mountains. All along the spurs and foot of this range, the forest, of which the plains seem to have been stripped by fire, extends in primeval grandeur. Near the middle of the coast-line, Banks's Peninsula, which comprises about 250,000 acres of mountain-land, the greater part of it being still covered by the forest, contains two lake-like harbours, with several

smaller ones. The capital of the settlement is Lyttelton, in Victoria Harbour (formerly Port Cooper.) The latitude of this place is 43 deg. 35' south, which, as respects temperature, corresponds with about 47 deg. in the northern hemisphere, being that of the most pleasant spots in the south of France. The climate exactly resembles that of Tasmania, being chiefly remarkable for warmth without sultriness, freshness without cold, and a clear brightness without aridity. Both the grape, for which England is too cold, and the gooseberry, for which the south of Italy is too hot, come to high perfection. In consequence of the scale of the natural features of the country, the scenery is very beautiful, and in some places magnificent. The fertility of the soil has been abundantly proved by the experience of successful squatters. The prairie character of the main part of the territory, together with the dryness of the atmosphere and the mildness of the winter, indicates that the most suitable occupation for capitalists will be pastoral husbandry--the breeding of cattle, horses, and sheep; but the absence of timber, the absence of drought, and the natural richness which produces grass in abundance without man's labour, explain why the arable lands of the squatters have yielded large returns, and shew that the plough and the flail will be plied successfully by those who may prefer tilling the earth to the management of live-stock. Drought is unknown. As respects flowers, kitchen vegetables, and all the English fruits, with the addition of melons and grapes, the gardens of the French settlers at Akaroa, and of the squatters on Sumner Plain, are described as teeming with produce of the finest quality and most beautiful appearance. Sea-fish is abundant, various, and of excellent quality. The only wild quadruped is swine; they are numerous, are very good to eat, and afford plenty of hard sport. The plains abound with quail, and a variety of wild-fowl. There are no snakes, wild dogs, or other indigenous vermin.'

'You know, of course, that the general feature of the country is a succession of abrupt and lofty hills, with corresponding deep and secluded valleys, either thickly wooded, or clothed with a thick fern and long grass, offering all kinds of obstacles both for pastoral and

agricultural purposes; indeed it is often heartbreaking to see the land that people have settled down on, and the struggle and privation that must be endured before it can be turned to account. But here we have a plain extending from north to south 100 latitude miles, with an average width of at least thirty miles, intersected by numerous rivers; not the water holes of Australia, but rather rushing torrents, which have managed to excavate beds for themselves some 200 or 300 and 400 feet in a perpendicular drop, on the western side of the plains: these rivers will, I anticipate, on a detailed examination of their entrances being made, offer but few obstacles to boat navigation for some half-dozen miles from the sea-board, which will render their passage at all times secure: this great plain may be called almost a dead level for as far as the eye can trace from any point. From the sea-shore to the Backbone ridge, not a rise of twenty feet meets the view; but judging from the excavated bed of the rivers and other circumstances, I think there will be found a gradual rise of the land from the coast to the base of the mountain-range, where I judge it may be some 500 feet above the level of the sea.'

'After inspecting the works at the port and in the immediate neighbourhood, I rode with Mr Thomas over the hill to Mr Dean's farm on the plain. The tract which we were obliged to follow is exceedingly steep--so much so, as to be only just practicable for horses, and no heavy baggage could be transported by it. I cannot better describe my impression of the country beyond the hill, than by saying that it precisely corresponded to the idea which I had formed of it from the map which was sent home last year. It may be said that to the eye there are but two features--a range of mountains, apparently thirty or forty miles distant; and a vast grassy plain (the colour of which, as seen from a distance, is not green, but rather that of hay) stretching from the sea towards them as far as the eye can reach, without any inequality, and almost without any variety of surface; for streams, though numerous, are not large, and they are sunk between very steep banks, and the patches of wood are unfortunately both rare and small. The grass on the plain is intermixed with fern and flax. To an eye unaccustomed to new countries it does not appear luxuriant; but I am informed on the most undoubted authority, that the district in question is equal, if not superior, in this respect to any part of New Zealand, and that the improvement of the grass, after its being grazed over for some time, will be almost incalculable. In Mr Dean's garden I saw excellent crops of fruit and vegetables, and he gives a very good account of his own crops.'

'Assuming, by way of hypothesis, that out of the territory of one million acres to be allotted to this settlement, two hundred thousand will be sold in the first year or two, and the remainder appropriated to pasturage, the association will have at its disposal two funds, each a little exceeding £200,000: one appropriated to immigration purposes, the other to ecclesiastical and educational establishments and endowments. The former funds, under the system of partial contributions to passages, instead of defraying the whole cost of them, which the association intends to adopt, will probably enable the association to forward 15,000 persons to the settlement. The association, considering the large surface over which the population will be distributed, calculates that twenty clergymen, and as many schoolmasters, will not be more than are requisite to establish and maintain that high religious and educational character which the association hopes, with the Divine blessing, that this settlement will possess. Assuming that the churches, parsonage-houses, and schools, will be constructed of wood, upon foundations of stone, carried to a height of three or four feet above the ground, the following will be an approximate estimate of their cost:--

20 Churches, at £1000 each, - - - £20,000
20 Parsonage-houses and Glebes, at £500 each, - - - 10,000
20 Schools, at £100 each, - - - 2,000
A College and Chapel, - - - - 6,000
Residences for a Bishop, the Principal of the College, and an Archdeacon, - - - 3,000
Total, - - - - - - -£41,000

'Deducting this sum from the original fund of £200,000, £159,000 will remain. The interest derived from this sum will probably have to defray the following stipends:--

To a Bishop, - - - - - £1,000
To an Archdeacon, - - - - - 600
20 Clergymen, £200 each, - - 4,000
20 Schoolmasters, £70 each, - - 1,400
Total per annum, - - - - £7,000'

'With respect to the erection of schools, the committee leave you to consult with the bishop designate. You will together consider the question of making the best provision for this object, having regard to disposable means. On the subject of the college, the bishop designate has made all necessary arrangements for beginning the work. Some of the clergy who sailed by the last ships, together with masters and teachers in various departments (several of whom will accompany the bishop designate), will form an ample staff for commencing an educational system of a high order, embracing all the departments of literature and science, and including instruction in the arts most useful in the colony. The committee have provided an ample supply of books (selected by the bishop designate), both as the foundation of a college library, and for instruction in the college and schools. The bishop designate will hand you a list of these books, and of other articles designed for the use of the college and schools. The whole of this department will be under his direction, except so far as concerns matters of expenditure, upon which he will consult you, and obtain your sanction, previous to any outlay being incurred. You will, however, assist him in his objects to the utmost extent which prudence and the present limited amount of disposable funds will permit.'

'As regards the college buildings, you will together consult as to the best temporary provision to be made. It would, in the opinion of the committee, be inexpedient (even were there ample funds at command) to undertake at once buildings of a costly and permanent kind. It must, for a little time at all events, be matter of uncertainty as to the best locality to select for a site, and a hasty decision on such a point may involve consequences extremely injurious. Besides this, to commence a great work of this kind, involving the employment of a large quantity of labour, in the first infancy of the settlement, would be, as the committee think, an unwise measure in point of economy in every way; both as rendering the work itself unnecessarily expensive, from the excessive price of labour, and at the same time enhancing the price of labour in the colony, by taking up a large portion of the available supply. In all works of a public nature which you may consider necessary--whether churches, colleges, or schools--the committee wish you to bear this in mind, considering, as they do, that every addition at the present moment to the demand

for labour beyond what strict necessity requires, must operate injuriously to the colonists, whose first wants ought to be supplied before anything not strictly necessary is undertaken. Subject to these remarks, and governed, as you will be, by the amount of funds at your disposal, the committee desire that you will, in concert with the bishop designate, provide temporary buildings sufficient for carrying on the work of education. The committee cannot doubt that all parties concerned in this work will, for a time, cheerfully submit to slight inconveniences, having regard to the necessity of circumstances, and looking forward to a speedy completion of the edifice and buildings of the college upon a suitable scale.'

'The first expedition of colonists, 800 in number, sailed from Plymouth on the 7th September, in the ships Randolph, Sir George Seymour, Cressy, and Charlotte Jane, which have been succeeded by the Castle Eden and Isabella Hercus, each of them carrying about 200 passengers; so that the whole number of colonists who have sailed is just 1200. Of these 307 were cabin passengers; a much larger proportion, it is believed, of that class than ever occurred before in the same number of emigrant ships proceeding at the same time to the same colony, and one, therefore, which shews that the desire of the association to render their settlement attractive to the richer order of colonists has thus far been fully realised. Other vessels are now preparing for sea, and will be continually succeeded by ships of the same class, and despatched in the same manner.'

'You will doubtless have been disappointed at the non-fulfilment

of the expectations at first entertained as to the extent of land-sales, and the consequent amount of funds available for the service of the colony. Such expectations appear to have been founded in too sanguine a confidence in the immediate effect which would be produced in the public mind by the first promulgation of the plan of the colony. It has, in fact, been a work of time to impress upon the public its real merits. However, to a great extent this effect has been accomplished, partly through the medium of public meetings, and the strenuous exertions of individuals, and partly through the agency of the "Canterbury Papers," of which the circulation is rapidly increasing. The progress, however, has been gradual. The committee hope and believe that this very circumstance is in itself an omen of more sure and certain success eventually. But in a financial point of view, the amount of land-sales (small, as compared with previous anticipations) is attended with inconvenience. In particular, it does not enable the committee at once to place at your command the full amount which you estimate as required to complete all the works in progress in the colony. At the same time, with the means that they will place at your disposal, and upon which I shall address you by a separate communication, they are confident that you will be able to effect all which may be considered essential to the general wellbeing of the colony.

'I send you a statement, shewing the account and particulars of land-sales, with the names and descriptions of purchasers. In the aggregate, including the sales both for the first and second opening of applications, there have been sold about 151 allotments, containing 13,150 acres of rural land; 264 allotments of town-land, extending to 132 acres; 151 allotments of pasturage, with pre-emptive right of purchase, containing 65,750 acres. The aggregate of purchase-moneys will be (when the full purchase-money upon the second lot of sales shall be paid) £39,300. I need not stop to calculate for you the proportions in which these amounts will be applicable to the respective funds.'

'In order to render the state of society in the colony similar to that which exists at home (except, of course, as regards the evil of competition amongst the members of every class, in which respect the colony cannot too much differ from the mother country), it has been deemed sufficient to guard against the occurrence of four common drawbacks to colonial life. The first is the appropriation of more waste land than can be occupied, and the consequent dispersion of the settlers over a wide space of ground, whereby the productive powers of industry are weakened, and social intercourse is impeded: the second is that want in colonies which most renders them unsuitable abodes for emigrants of the higher classes--namely, the want

of labourers for hire and domestic servants: the third is the want of a systematic, organized preparation of the wilderness for occupation by settlers: and the fourth-- a circumstance very repulsive to heads of families, and especially to thoughtful mothers--is the want of religious provisions, and of the means of school and college training similar to those which exist in England. In the Canterbury Settlement, moderation in the appropriation of land will be enforced by the prime cost of all land, which is the fixed uniform price of £3 per acre. It is believed that one effect of this price will be to occasion such a proportion between the number of inhabitants and the quantity of appropriated land, as to secure the occupation and use of all the land when it becomes private property. If so, no part of the waste will be treated as the hay was by the dog in the manger; and the colonists will not be mischievously scattered. But in order that the price of freehold land may not operate as a restriction on the use of those extensive natural pastures from which the wealth of the settlement must, for a long while, be mainly derived, it has been provided that every buyer of land, amongst the purchasers of the first 100,000 acres, shall be entitled to occupy pastoral runs, for an almost nominal rent, at the rate of five acres of pasture for one of freehold. One-sixth of the purchase-money, or 10s. per acre, is paid to the government for public purposes. Another sixth, which, when the whole plan shall be carried out, will amount to £1,250,000, is to be expended in surveying, road-making, and the general administration of the plan. A third, or £1 per acre, being £2,500,000 in the whole, is to be an emigration fund, devoted to the purpose of paying for the passage of the land-buyers with their families, their servants, and other persons of the labouring-class. And the remaining third is exclusively appropriated to religious and educational objects--such as churches and common schools, a parochial clergy, a bishopric, a school of the highest class, and a college fit to supply New Zealand, and the other colonies of England in the South Pacific, with a local Cambridge or Oxford.'

'1. With the exception of such land as has already been or may hereafter be selected by the agent of the association for the site of the capital town, and of harbour and port towns, and of such land as may be reserved by the association for works of public utility under the present or any other terms of purchase, all the lands shall be open for purchase as rural land. The association has resolved not to exercise the right of selecting the sites of towns beyond the site of the capital; and in case Port Lyttelton should not be selected as the capital, then of one port town.

'2. Any quantity of land may be purchased as a rural allotment

not being less than fifty acres. Any person desirous of purchasing land in distinct allotments, may do so by separate forms of application, each allotment not to be less than fifty acres. The extent of a town allotment shall be one-half acre; and in the port town, if any, one-quarter of an acre.

'3. The rural land shall be sold at £3 per acre, including the sums contributed for special purposes.

'Town allotments may be sold in the colony in the following manner:--An allotment of half an acre in the capital at £24, and an allotment of a quarter of an acre in the port town, if any, at £12; but no such allotments shall be sold upon the foregoing terms without being first put up for sale by auction, at upset prices of those amounts respectively.

'4. All land for the time being remaining unsold shall be open, under licence, for pasturage purposes, at the rate of 20s. per annum for every hundred acres. And until 100,000 acres, being the quantity of land originally appropriated to the first body of colonists, shall be sold, every purchaser of rural land, and no other person, will be entitled to a transferable licence for pasturage, renewable by such purchaser from year to year, in the proportion of five acres of pasturage to one acre of land purchased.

'5. Holders of pasturage-licences under the last condition will be entitled to a pre-emptive right of purchase of the lands comprised in such licences, subject to the conditions herein contained, applicable to the purchase of rural land; except that, instead of applications for purchase being made to the secretary of the association, and the purchase-money being paid to the bankers of the association, such applications may be made to the principal agent of the association at the land office in the colony, and payment of the purchase-money may be made to him.

'6. Lands held under pasturage-licences may not be purchased by any persons other than the licensees until after one month's notice, in writing, given by an intending purchaser at the land office in the colony, stating the intention to purchase, and specifying the lands proposed to be purchased; the intending purchaser being required at the time of such notice to deposit his full purchase-money at the land office. Pasturage-licences will confer no right to the soil.

'7. Subject to the foregoing conditions, all lands included in such pasturage-licences will be open for purchase in like manner as other unappropriated lands.

'8. Applications for the purchase of rural land must be made according to a printed form, which may be obtained at the office of the association, 9 Adelphi Terrace. Before any application can be received, one-half of the purchase-money must be paid to the bankers of the association, Messrs Cocks, Biddulph, & Co. Charing-Cross, and their receipt produced. Land-orders will not be issued until the purchase-money shall be paid in full.

'9. The selection of land in the colony will be made according to the order in which land-orders shall be presented at the land office

of the association in the colony. But if it should ever so happen that two or more persons should apply at the same time for the same allotment, the preference of selection between them shall be determined by lot.

'10. Every allotment of rural land must be selected of a rectangular form, so far as circumstances and the natural features of the country will admit.

'11. Every allotment fronting upon a river, road, lake, lagoon, or coast, must be of a depth from the front of at least half a mile.

'12. Every allotment not fronting upon a river, road, lake, lagoon, or coast, must be not less than 300 yards in width, and not less than half a mile distant from a river, road, lake, lagoon, or coast.

'13. Each section under a pasturage-licence must be in one block, and of a rectangular form, as far as possible.

'14. The intended application of purchase-money is as follows:-- one-sixth part is to be paid for the land; one-sixth part for miscellaneous expenses, including surveys, roads, &c.; one-third part for religious and educational purposes; and one-third part for emigration. Subject to the regulations of the association with respect to the selection of the emigrants, every purchaser will be entitled to recommend emigrants, proportioned in number to the amount of his contribution to the emigration fund; but not more than ten shillings per acre will be allowed towards the passage of the purchaser and his family.

'15. The association reserves to itself the right of selecting, and appropriating, and obtaining a conveyance to itself, for public use only, of all such lands as may be required for streets, squares, roads, sites of churches, churchyards, schools, parsonage-house, wharfs, landing-places, jetties, or other objects of public utility and convenience.

'16. The association reserves to itself the right of making such modifications in these terms as experience may prove hereafter to be expedient or desirable for the general benefit of the settlement, and as may be consistent with the conditions under which the land has been reserved to the association.

'No rural land will be sold in the colony until after due notice to that effect. Subject to the engagements which the association has made by previous terms of purchase, town land may be sold in the colony at any time after the date of these terms of purchase. And the foregoing conditions shall (so far as they properly can) apply to such town lands, except that, instead of applications for purchase being made to the secretary of the association, they may be made to the principal agent of the association at the land office in the colony; and instead of the purchase-money being paid to the bankers of the association, the same must be paid to such agent.'

'Nothing I have ever seen out of England comes up to our surveys; and all the surveyors employed on it, whether on the staff or by contract, are delighted with it. The trigonometrical survey is completely successful, and the filling in of the intermediate features by the system of contract is also most satisfactory. We have completed 230,000 acres, and in a couple of months more shall have 200,000 more trigged; and before the winter, we shall complete the districts of Lincoln, Christchurch, and Mandeville; so that I shall fulfil my promise of having at least 300,000 acres ready the first twelve months. The next year I hope, our facilities of movement are so increased, that we may complete it all. The cost of the trigonometrical survey, without the topographical, is, up to the present, about three farthings per acre. I shall, when further advanced, send you a great deal of information on the formation of these settlements, by giving all the expenditure, and classifying it under the various heads of surveys, towns, roads, and public buildings.

'The experiment of bringing down natives from one part of the island to work in another, is also successful, and was the only one I could adopt, in the absence of police and protection, to form the roads. As yet we have not made much progress, for it is a very arduous undertaking to get a road from here to Sumner--distance four miles. We are, however, getting through the worst of it; and should we have funds, I hope to have the whole line to Christchurch (10 1/2 miles) open in the course of a twelvemonth.

'As I wrote you, I contracted for Hobart Town timber, as the only way of obtaining a sufficient supply in a limited time, and at a reasonable price. A fortnight since it arrived, and is all now stacked in the timber-yard, or in the hands of the carpenters, who are putting up the emigration barracks. Sixteen carpenters also arrived from Hobart Town, and they are a very passable lot, and as yet work well. Altogether, this plan has completely succeeded, by keeping down prices, and compelling the vagabonds that pack to all new settlements, to work and accept reasonable terms. The vessels that brought the Hobart Town carpenters and timber have now been at anchor here three weeks. The captains speak well of the place..... The improvements I have made in this place will make it a very pretty town, and it will have an excellent road to Christchurch. I am quite satisfied we have made no mistake in fixing the sites of these towns.'

'For the present, accordingly, all our operations are at a standstill, and must remain so until fresh remittances shall arrive from England. This is very mortifying, as not only is there necessarily a considerable amount of loss accruing on such a suspension of extensive works, and a risk of considerable damage to the works them-

selves, but Mr Thomas and myself are in the disagreeable position of remaining idle for want of means to do any work. I shall remain here, and endeavour to employ my time as usefully as I can in acquiring general information; and he will remain at Lyttelton, after winding up his operations, until he shall receive from me instructions to resume them. The work actually done consists of the buildings which I have enumerated, of a road partially made, but which (including a bridge and sea-wall, which are necessary to complete the connection between the port and chief town) will require at least £7000 to finish; of the trigonometrical survey of about 600,000 acres, the topography of about half of which will be completed (as Mr Thomas informs me) within the period at which he will be compelled to stop; and finally, of the materials for emigration houses at the chief town, which will hardly, I fear, be erected within that period. I consider, however, that, with the exception of the road, nothing will then be left unfinished which is absolutely necessary for the reception of settlers.'

'The harbour is very fine, both in a picturesque and a utilitarian point of view. The captain and all the nautical men on board were delighted with it. It consists in a regularly-shaped inlet, about seven miles long from the entrance to the end, and varying from a mile to a mile and a half in width. It is open to one wind (east-north-east), but everybody agrees that it never blows hard from that quarter, and also that the swell is lost before it reaches the harbour. There is a good anchorage outside in seven fathoms, and from thence it gradually shoals to three fathoms, about five miles up. There are two small bays, in which, if it should be found necessary, shelter for ships may be found from the only wind to which the rest of the harbour is exposed. No pilot is required, as there is literally nothing to avoid except the hills on each side; and there is width enough to beat in or out in fine weather. Half-way up the harbour we passed a whale-boat, which informed us that we might go up and anchor opposite "the town." At that time we had seen no sign of civilisation, except the line of a road in process of formation along the face and over the top of the hill on the northern shore, and no human habitation except some Maori huts close to the beach; but we held on, and presently another whale-boat, with Captain Thomas, the chief surveyor of the association, on board, shot from behind a bluff on the northern shore, and boarded us. Immediately afterwards we let go our anchor, though "the town" was not yet, visible, and my wife and I went off with Thomas. On rounding the bluff aforesaid again, I was perfectly astounded with what I saw. One might have supposed that the country had been colonised for years, so settled and busy was the look of its port. In the first place, there is what the Yankees would call a "splendid" jetty; from thence a wide, beaten-looking road leads up the hill, and turns off through a deep

cutting to the eastward. On each side of the road there are houses scattered to the number of about twenty-five, including two "hotels" and a custom-house (in the shape of a small weather-boarded hut certainly, but still a custom-house.) In a square, railed off close to the jetty, are four excellent houses, intended for emigrants' barracks, with a cook-house in the centre. Next to this square comes a small house, which Thomas now inhabits himself, and which he destined for an agent's office. Behind this, divided from it by a plot of ground intended for a garden, stands a stately edifice, which was introduced in due form to us as "our house." It is weather-boarded, has six very good-sized rooms, and a veranda; in short, after seeing it, we could not help laughing at our own anticipations of a shed on the bare beach, with a fire at the door.'