NOTES TO THE MAPS. [N.B. no map found]
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NOTES TO THE MAPS.
In the annexed Map of New Zealand, the existing Settlements are marked red, and as nearly as possible in proportion to the quantity of land allotted to each of them.
With the exception of Auckland in the north, they are in Cook's Strait, which separates the two principal Islands--namely, Wellington on the east, which has a splendid harbour--and to the north-west of it, in succession, Manatu, and Wanganui or Petre, with harbours for small craft only, and lastly, New Plymouth, with a good roadstead, but no harbour. On the opposite side of the Strait is Nelson, with both harbour and good anchorage.
Nelson on Cook's Strait, and Akaroa on Banks's Peninsula (a small French Colony, about sixty in number, who have succeeded in the culture of the vine there), are the only settlements on the Middle Island. This Island contains 40,126,080 acres, and is nearly as large as England and Scotland, exclusive of Wales, and, with its fertile soil and superb climate, is inhabited by only about 1000 natives in all, and these chiefly at Cook's Strait. To the south the native race, which had been numerous, is nearly extinct. The entire eastern and southern coasts of this Island were, by authority of the Governor, very carefully surveyed in 1844 by the Company's Surveyors, for the special purpose of ascertaining the most eligible site for the Scotch Colony. The result was the selection of Otago in the south-east, marked blue on the Map.
The Second Map (of the Otago District) presents a well defined block of 400,000 acres, stretching along the coast nearly north and south, and bounded inland by a range of hills, and which is conveyed by the Crown to the New Zealand Company for the Scotch Settlement. Out of this block the Surveyors are engaged in selecting, and marking off in distinct properties, from the rich alluvial soil (generally marked red on the Map), the lands required for the Settlement, whilst the hill pastures (marked green in the Map), also very rich, will remain available for the general use of early Settlers, until ultimately disposed of under the agreement between the Company and the Association. Stretching inland and abutting upon this block is a vast extent of undulating and fertile land, untrodden by the foot of man, and reaching to the base of the Snowy Mountains, a distance of upwards of 150 miles (as indicated on the Map of New Zealand), over which the grazing of flocks and herds may, for generations to come, be carried to almost any extent.
