1853 - Collinson, T. B. Remarks on the Military Operations in New Zealand - PART II. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF NEW ZEALAND, p 9-43

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GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF NEW ZEALAND.

SECT. I. --GENERAL PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION.

The colony of New Zealand 1 (according to the charter of 1840), includes that group of islands lying together in the South Pacific, about 1000 miles east of Australia, and consisting of two large islands and one small one, being called New Ulster, or North Island; New Munster, or Middle Island; and New Leinster, or Stewart's or South Island: and of the small group lying about 200 miles east of them, called the Chatham Islands. The two large islands lie about north and south, and are both long and narrow islands; New Ulster being about 500 miles long, and 100 average breadth; and New Munster, about 550 miles long, and 150 average breadth; New Leinster is in the shape of a triangle, of about forty miles side. The whole containing together about 123,500 square miles, 2 or 78,000,000 acres, 3 being nearly the same area as Great Britain and Ireland together.

The boundaries of the Colony, according to the Act of Parliament, 1852, are from 33° to 50° south latitude, and 162° to 173° west longitude.

In New Ulster, or North Island, the northernmost point is called North Cape; one-third of the way southward, at the narrowest isthmus of the island, is Auckland; at the extreme point in Cook's Straits is Wellington; between Auckland and Wellington the most projecting cape on the west coast is called Cape Egmont; and the most projecting cape on the east coast is called East Cape. Cook's Straits divides the north island from the middle island; Foveaux Straits divides the middle and south islands. In New Munster, or Middle Island, at the extreme south-west point, is Dusky Bay; and on the east coast, at about one-third down from Cook's Straits is Banks' Peninsula (Canterbury); and two-thirds down the same coast is Otago.

The physical features of the islands are generally speaking mountainous, the mountains being high and volcanic, and not running in long regular ranges as in England, but in very steep abrupt ridges, running in all irregular directions, and frequently ending in conical mountains of 5000 to 10,000 feet, between which ridges are long flat valleys, more or less narrow; the hills being generally covered with forest, and the flat valleys grass and fern land. This is the general character of the country in all New Zealand.

From the North Cape there is a range of these hills running through the centre of the island to Auckland, and filling by its branch ranges almost the whole space to the coast on each side, and generally covered with thick forest of Kauri pine, with few flat valleys, and little level or open country.

About Auckland the country is lower and more open; and the whole of the valleys of the rivers Thames and Waikato, from Auckland to Taupo Lake in the centre, consist of fine open country, tolerably level, and covered with grass or fern, with a range of hills on each coast.

From Taupo Lake there is a range 5000 to 10,000 feet high, running to Wellington, and another similar range running to East Cape, and filling almost the whole of that projecting land with wooded mountains. Between East Cape and

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Wellington is Hawke's Bay, and about this bay are large level grassy plains, and, going southward, there is a broad, level, grassy valley extending to the sea in Palliser Bay, east of Wellington.

From Taupo Lake another range of steep wooded mountains runs towards Cape Egmont, falling as it approaches the coast, but ending in the volcanic cone of Mount Egmont, 9000 feet high. All round Cape Egmont and down the shore of Cook's Straits to Wellington, between the hills and the coast, is a belt of flat grassy and wooded land.

The south shore of Cook's Straits is filled from sea to sea with the same steep wooded ridges, 2000 to 5000 feet high, with long, narrow, flat grassy valleys between; and the range continues down the Middle Island, near to the west coast, as far as Dusky Bay. Between it and the East coast are broad valleys and plains of level grassy land.

There are no very large navigable rivers in New Zealand, but a great number of small rivers like the Tyne in Northumberland, into which small vessels can enter; and a considerable number of harbours round the coast, some of which are very good. It is a peculiar advantage of New Zealand, that being long, narrow, mountainous islands, there are great means of access to the interior through the number of small harbours and rivers on its great extent of coast line.

SECT. II. --NATIVE POPULATION.

The natives are of the same race that inhabit the other islands in the Pacific, being a perfectly different and much superior race to those in Australia. The Polynesian native is supposed to be descended from the Malay; the Australian native is of the negro race.

According to their own traditions, and to the best accounts that have been made out concerning them by the missionaries, their ancestors came from some of the Pacific islands to the north-east of New Zealand in canoes, about 500 years ago; settled in the northern island, and spread over it and populated it as far south as Cook's Straits, and even to the extreme south. Their manner of life, which has been handed down to them from their ancestors, has been that of cultivation of the soil, and very different from the roving savage of Australia, or the hunter of North America. It has no doubt originated from there being no space to hunt over, and no game to kill. Their peculiar mode of life is important to be recollected, in considering the causes of disputes between the British and the natives. They live in small villages, 100 to 500 in each, along the sea-coast and up the principal rivers; each family having its hut railed off in the village, and the whole being inclosed in a strong palisade arranged for defence. The cultivations are cleared out among the woods in the neighbourhood, being a few acres to each family; and the huts and cultivations descend from generation to generation, both by male and female line. Every man and woman inheriting such a property is a free independent person in the tribe; but those who are more lineally descended from their ancient leaders form a kind of hereditary aristocracy, and generally have some family dependants, or slaves taken in battle, to work for them. And the people of one village, and of several villages in one district, are generally descendants of one original family, and look up to some one head branch of the family as their leader, forming a tribe, with whom this representative of the elder branch has the chief voice, each man having also his independent voice and independent right to his property.

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The husband has a right over the inheritance of his wife; hence the intermarriages in the tribe or between two tribes create constant disputes about land, neither the boundaries nor the rights of property being very clearly defined.

Their huts consist of little more than a common ridge roof, about 20 feet long and 10 broad, standing on the ground; the walls being only a few inches high. They are made of rough poles thatched with long grass, or bark, and neatly lined inside with plaited reeds or grass. But there is only one opening, and the fire (of wood) is on the floor in the centre. The chief's house being generally the largest, the village crowds in on winter nights to sleep all together for warmth.

They wear nothing but mats made of flax, which the women dress and weave into a coarse cloth: they wear them hanging from the shoulders to the ground, both men and women, with generally a smaller mat tied round the waist. No head dress, and nothing on the feet. The men tattoo all the face, and sometimes the posteriors, and the women tattoo the lips and chin.

They live chiefly on potatoes (the originals of which were left by Captain Cook), and sweet potatoes, and taro and pumpkin, and fish, and sometimes on the wild pigs (which, having been left by Captain Cook, have become wild in the woods). All the vegetables they cultivate themselves, --to which they have lately added wheat and maize. Thus their principal occupation is cultivating their little gardens in the woods, and fishing; the women taking part in the former, and also doing the cooking and other drudgery of the village. They are a very dirty race; scarcely ever washing. They wear the same mats day and night for years--just squatting on the ground in front of the hut to eat, and lying on mats (made of raw flax leaf plaited) to sleep. They use pumpkins for drinking bottles and dishes; shells for knives; and (since they became acquainted with Europeans) both men and women have taken to smoke tobacco constantly--but very little to drink spirits.

They are, even now, sometimes so hard put to it for food, as to eat fern root prepared in cakes; probably this want of food originated the practice of cannibalism amongst them. They are of ordinary stature, well built, and active (for savages).

These are the habits of the New Zealander as they were before British colonisation; now, European customs, clothes, houses, and food, are springing up amongst them, not only in the neighbourhood of the settlements, but all over the country. The amount of civilisation which is being produced among them, is a disputed question; 4 but there is no doubt that there has been a great and very general change made in their habits. They have very generally learned to read and write, to build better huts, to cultivate wheat and other European fruits, to attend a place of divine worship and schools. They have left off much of their fighting propensities and the practice of cannibalism. Now this improvement is due partly to the colonisation by the British Government, but chiefly to the missionaries.

The missionaries commenced in 1815, 5 when there were only a few English whalers about the islands, and when they were a few men among hosts of cannibals, and they gradually spread over the whole islands, living alone with their wives and families in different parts among the natives: since the colonisation, they have been countenanced and supported by the British Government, and have increased their operations with still more effect, and the Government have

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granted money for educating the natives, and built hospitals for them at the settlements, and established magistrates, both European and native, for administering British law among them, modified to suit their character. On the other hand, the natives will cheat and rob when inclination and opportunity offer; they are very indolent and very prone to fall back from civilisation; easily excited, and when excited, not to be controlled even by their own wants, much less by their reason; but not capable of persevering for any length of time in anything.

In short, they are still savages, and are therefore to be treated as all savages should be--with a strong hand and with kindness. 6 And being perhaps the most intelligent savages in the world, are to be treated with more consideration than any others.

The missionaries have all along endeavoured to prop up the natives into the civilised ranks. 7 Before the colonisation they desired to make them an independent nation, as their fellow-missionaries had done in Tahiti and the Sandwich Islands; since that they have always tried to place them on the same level with the European colonists; but it is impossible, the natives are not capable of being fully civilised; the proof of it is that they are decreasing still. In fifty years there will scarcely be one New Zealand native alive. 8 All that can be done is to let them die out as quietly as possible.

Dr. Shortland (1851) thinks the natives are not decreasing, but that they will continue to exist as a race; but considering the great disproportion of the sexes, I have followed the opinion of Bishop Selwyn, which is the general one in New Zealand. There are about 90,000 natives in the islands; of these, all but 3000 are in the North Island.

The following estimate of the native population has been supplied to me by Mr. W. Servantes (late 6th Regiment, and interpreter to the forces in New Zealand), who also marked the localities of the tribes on Arrowsmith's map, p. 5.

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APPROXIMATE CENSUS

Of the Native Population of New Zealand, by W. SERVANTES, Esq., late Interpreter to the Forces.

N. B. --The great subdivisions and greatest chiefs are printed in Roman capitals. The divisions and chiefs of next importance are printed in italics.

Tribe.	Locality.	Chiefs.	Population.
Te Rarawa,	North Cape, Kaitaia	Papahia, Nopera	2800
NGAPUHI	Bay of I. and Hokianga
Ngati Tautahi	Kaikohe	Pairama	800
Ngatimanu	Tokerau	Pomare	400
Ngatihine	Kawakawa	Kawiti	300
Uriongaonga	Do.	Pukututu	700
Te Mahurehure	Hokianga	Moses Tawhai	700
Ngatihao	Hokianga	Waka Nene, Patuone	400
Other sub-tribes	-- --	Rewa, Moka, Hongi, Moehau, Rangatira	6200
		Total Ngapuhi.	9500
Ngatiwhatua	Auckland, Kaipara	Kawau, Paikea, Te Tinana	1200
WAIKATO	Waikato River
Ngati Mahuta	Lower Waikato and Manukau	TE WHEROWHERO	400
Ngatihaua	Matamata and Upper Waikato	William Thompson	800
Ngatimaniapoto	Kawia, Mokau	Taonui, Waru, Pungarehu, Wetere, Pakaru, Poutama	5500
Ngatipaoa	Hauraki, R. Thames	Taraia, Hauauru, Kahukote, Ruinga, Hou	2700
Other sub-tribes	-- --	Kiwi, Katipa, Mokorou, Awaitaia (Wm. Naylor), Uira	6600
		Total Waikato	15000
Ngatiawa (No. 1)	Tauranga	Tupaea, Taipari	2400
Ngatiwakauae	Rotorua	Tohi, Tongoroa	8000

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Tribe.	Locality.	Chiefs.	Population.
Ngatiawa (No. 2)	Opotiki	Hikaro, Punu, Rangimatanuku	7000
NGATIKAHUHUNU	Hawke's Bay and Wairarapa
Ngatiporou	East Cape and Turanga	KANI A TAKERAU, Ratau	10,000
Ngatikahuhunu	Hawke's Bay and Wairarapa	Hapuku, Apatu o te rangi	2,000
		Total Ngatikahuhunu	12,000
Taupo	Taupo	HEUHEU (Iwikau) Herekeikei	1500
Ngatiawa (No. 3)	New Plymouth, Port Nicholson, Q. Charlotte Sound, Blind Bay	Reretawangawanga (dead), Wm. King	7000
Taranaki	Taranaki and Port Nicholson		2000
Ngatiruanui	Cape Egmont	Anataua	3000
Wanganui	R. Wanganui up to its source	Turoa, Mamaku, Hori King	7000
Ngatiraukawa Including remnants of original tribes	R. Manewatu (originally from Waikato)	Te Rauparaha (dead), Watanui, Matia, Puke, Ahu, Hakaraia, Taratoa	3500
Ngatitoa	Porirua and Cloudy Bay (originally from Waikato)	Puaha, Kanae (sons of Pehi) Rangihaiata, Moses	1000
Ngaitahu	Middle Island	Taiaroa	3700
		Total population, about	90,000 1
1   Sir G. Grey (18-19) estimates the total population at 120,000, in which estimate Dr. Shortland (S. Districts of New Zealand, 1851) agrees. These are two good authorities; but the Bishop's estimate was about 60,000.

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The natives in each of these districts may be considered as allied among each other, and likely to join together in case of war against another district; but still divided into small tribes frequently at variance with each other, and frequently joining those of other districts. There are many chiefs in each district, and some whose names are a tower of strength throughout the whole country; as Te Wherowhero in the Waikato district; Ranghiheata in the Cook's Straits district; Hapuku in the Hawke'a Bay district; Kawiti in the north.

The celebrated Heki (now dead) was a chief in the north district, but not of great importance.

Te Heu Heu (now dead) was a chief of Taupo, and the greatest in all New Zealand.

Te Rauperaha (now dead) was a chief of Cook's Straits district, and of third rank in New Zealand after Heu Heu and Wherowhero.

In Captain Cook's time, his estimate of the population was double the above estimate. 9 They have decreased partly by war, and partly by their savage customs and habits, and partly by the semi-transition into civilisation. In 1825, the northern tribes, under Hongi, obtained firearms, and made an inroad upon the Auckland and Waikato tribes, who in their turn made inroad upon Cape Egmont natives, who in their turn made inroad upon the Cook's Straits natives, who were driven into the Middle Island, and some even to the Chatham Islands. This tide of conquest has very much complicated the question of property, as, since the Colonisation, some of the exiles have returned to their original districts, and set up a counter claim to that of the conquerors, which their own customs obliged them to acknowledge.

All the natives in New Zealand fight with fire-arms now, having been supplied with them by traders previous to the Colonisation; they have been supplied with arms and ammunition since that by private traders, notwithstanding the laws to the contrary. They take considerable care of their arms, and keep their ammunition in bottles and kegs underground. They make cartridges of a large size, and wear small leather pouches, which they also get from traders.

10 Their ancient religion was the worship of nature, deifying various animals and celebrated heroes; they had hereditary priests, but no images or temples. They were very superstitious about the dead, and afraid of the dark. Now they are nominally converted to Christianity; chiefly Protestants, very few Roman Catholics.

Their language, like that of all the Pacific islands, is supposed to be derived from the Malay. 11 They use more consonants than the Tahitian or Sandwich islander. They pronounce the letters r and h, instead of l and s.

The missionaries have reduced the language to an alphabet and a grammar, which are now used by all the natives; so that the ancient language has been altered, and is not understood by the rising generation. It is a simple language and easily learnt. They are teaching the natives English, but the difficulty is so great, that the native language will still be the medium of communication for some years at least. In the Missionaries' alphabet the vowels are pronounced not according to the English, but according to the Continental pronunciation, which should be borne in mind in reading Maori, which is their term for their own nation, in contradistinction to Pakeha the foreigner. The native words to be so pronounced are printed in italics.

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Taua ia their term for a war party. Ware is their term for a house.

I strongly recommend it to every officer, likely to remain several years in the colony, to learn the language. A little knowledge of it gives a very great influence among them.

The character of the New Zealander for intelligence has not been at all overrated in my opinion. They have a wonderful quickness of apprehension, and good memory, and a ready wit not easily put down. They are more energetic than the soft savage of Tahiti; and probably from their being reduced to cultivation for food, they are most remarkably given to commerce and trading of all kinds.

This character docs not agree very well with that of a warlike cannibal; and I think that their character for war has been rather exaggerated. Their own native wars show much more of strategy--the long-watching ambush, the occasional skirmish, and the frequent truces--than the incessant, unrelenting pursuit of the true savage warrior. And in their wars with the British, as we shall find, they owe their escapes to the character of their country rather than to their own defence; and they did not make the most of the peculiar character of their country.

SECT. III. --BRITISH POPULATION, AND DESCRIPTION OF THE SIX SETTLEMENTS.

The present position of the British population is this:--

There are first the Missionaries, who commenced in 1815, and are now scattered all over the islands, living among the natives.

Then the Whalers who commenced, before the Missionaries, to frequent the coast in ships, and gradually established parties on shore, who lived permanently among the natives, marrying native women, holding their own by the force of union, and employing themselves in whaling in boats from the shore. They were all round the islands, but chiefly at the Bay of Islands, and in Cook's Straits, and Foveaux Straits. Their occupation of whaling is now nearly gone, but they are still living there upon the produce of the land, which the natives allow them to cultivate in right of their wives. There were about 1000 of them in 1839. 12

Then there are Six separate British Settlements, 13 all on the coast: namely,

1. Auckland. Founded 1840.

2. Wellington (including Wanganui). 1840.

3. Nelson. 1842.

4. New Plymouth. 1841.

5. Otago. 1848.

6. Canterbury. 1850.

Auckland was founded by the British Government In 1840, Captain Hobson was sent out to obtain possession of the islands. He first of all founded his capital at the Bay of Islands, but changed it the same year to Auckland; and purchased land there from the natives, and from Englishmen who had bought it from the natives previously, and resold it to settlers from Australia and England. There are about 100,000 acres near Auckland, thus in possession of British colonists. The town is on the Waitemata river, which runs into Houraki Gulf on the east coast; one of the great advantages of this situation is the easy access of the harbour; 14 vessels can anchor in the gulf waiting to go in. The harbour is rather an estuary than a river, and is about three-quarters 15 of a mile wide, deep enough for any

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vessels; a strong tide and perpetual strong winds up and down the river. The banks are clay cliffs 50 feet high, at the back of which is a bare undulating country like a moor; the town is in a little valley on the south bank, about three miles from the mouth, and has the appearance of an English fishing town; it contains about 1000 British inhabitants. 16 Their occupation is exporting copper ore, which is worked at Kawau in the Houraki Gulf; and pine timber, which is obtained from all the neighbouring coast, and some wool and native flax, and vegetables; but they are chiefly supported by the expenditure of the Government. The Governor-in-Chief and Commander of H. M. troops resided there up till 1851, and up to that time there were 500 troops in barracks. The houses are chiefly built of wood, but bricks are made on the spot. There is a public wharf building, without which the landing is very bad. The soil about Auckland is tolerably fertile, clay covered with small shrub and fern; not expensive to bring under cultivation. Several thousand acres have now been brought under cultivation; but there is not much stock farming. Living is cheaper than in England, and wages higher. There is very excellent water communication by means of numerous branches of the Estuary to the neighbouring country; and across the isthmus seven miles, is the harbour of Manukau 17 on the west coast, into which all vessels can enter, though it is not very accessible, but which will be an excellent point of communication for steamers from Australia. 18 There are great facilities for establishing water communication between Auckland and Manukau harbour and the Waikato river, which would open water communication with the whole valley of the Thames and Waikato rivers; which valley contains a great extent of level fertile land. There are tolerable cart-roads for a few miles out of the town in various directions. Natives live near the town; for the Government in purchasing land have always reserved the villages and cultivations of the natives for themselves, besides paying them for the remainder. There are some off-shoot settlements from Auckland.

Kororarika in the Bay of Islands, established by the Missionaries, who have purchased the land from the natives; but it has been nearly deserted since the war with the natives in 1845, when it was burnt.

There are also settlers established in different parts by themselves among the natives; at the rivers Hokianga and Kaipara on the west coast, and in Houraki Gulf, chiefly for cutting timber. They have either bought land from the natives before the Colonisation, or from the Government since.

WELLINGTON 19 was founded in 1840 by the New Zealand Company, who sent out an expedition in 1839 under Colonel Wakefield, who purchased large tracts of land from the natives about Cook's Straits. But the purchase was not properly made, and some of the natives repudiated the sale, and the disputes and wars went on till 1848, when they were fairly settled, and the Company got peaceable and legal possession of several blocks of land; among which was one about Wellington of 280,000 acres. 20 The Company is now defunct, and all their possessions have reverted to the Crown by agreement; so that the circumstances of all the Company's settlements (as far as land is concerned) are the same as those of Auckland.

21 The harbour of Wellington is called Port Nicholson; it is in the narrows of Cook's Straits on the north side; it is difficult of access, owing to the narrow

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entrance running parallel to the Straits, and the constant strong winds that blow up and down the Straits. It was selected from being the only harbour in the north island south of Hawke's Bay. There are fine harbours on the other side of Cook's Straits, especially Queen Charlotte's Sound, where Captain Cook always lay, and which, in my opinion, would have been a better site for the first and great settlement of the Company. Colonel Wakefield visited it, but it was thought at the time that there was more available land about Port Nicholson; 22 this was not proved to be the case; the whole country on the Wellington side, from Palliser Bay to Kaputi Island in Cook's Straits, is filled with a mass of wooded mountains, rising to a height of 1000 feet. Port Nicholson is a basin surrounded by these hills, through which roads must be made to reach available land in any direction: nevertheless, as the town has been placed here, it will probably be the capital of New Zealand for many years; as it is evident, from its central position in Cook's Straits between all the settlements in both islands, that it is more suited for the seat of central government than Auckland, or any other present settlement. The harbour is safe when you get in, and deep enough for any vessels; it is about five miles square. The town is in a cove in the southwest corner, a very good site, tolerably level land, backed by the steep hills, some grassy, but most of them covered with thick impenetrable forest. It contains about 4000 inhabitants, 23 being about equal to Auckland, but they are nearly all real English settlers who came out direct under the Company's auspices, but from the disturbances were never able to occupy their land, and were compelled to stay in the town; and would have gone away altogether, but for the great expenditure of the British Government consequent on the wars, which has given them capital, and which capital they are now able to expend upon the land. The Company sold a great deal of land among the hills about Port Nicholson, and the settlers have cleared and cultivated in some of the wooded valleys; the Hutt valley is the largest of these, and is at the head of Port Nicholson; but it only contains about 10,000 acres of good land, and that is all forest. The chief business of Wellington is the export of wool to England. In Wairarapa valley to Hawke's Ray, and on the north-west coast to Cape Egmont, are open grassy tracts good for grazing, and the Colonists are occupying these with cattle and sheep brought from Australia, leasing the land from the Government, or from the natives; this latter practice is illegal, and is very dangerous.

The houses are chiefly built of wood, and although bricks are made in abundance, they are still built partially of wood in consequence of the slight shocks of earthquakes which sometimes occur.

The Lieutenant-Governor of the Southern Provinces resides in Wellington; and there are 500 troops in the town and neighbourhood, in barracks, but there are no defences either against external or internal enemies; only a few armed police and no militia, not even pensioners; and no additional military works have been ordered up to 1852.

Two cart-roads are making by the Government from Wellington through the hills; one towards Wairarapa valley, and one towards the north-west coast and Wanganui; each will be about forty miles long before it reaches the pasture land; the former is now about half finished, the latter completely finished. There is no passage off these roads for man, animal, or carriage, except by a few short by-roads

Natives live in and about Wellington upon the reserves which were made for them by the Company and Government at the time of concluding the purchase.

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The offshoot settlements from Wellington are Wanganui and Rangltiki, both together, at about 100 miles along the northwest coast towards Cape Egmont. Wanganui (or Petre as it is called by the English) was established by the Company at the same time as Wellington, as a part of it; and by the same bad management of the purchase, and ill conduct of the natives, the settlers were prevented from occupying their lands, and obliged to live in the little town, till 1848. The town is four miles from the mouth of the Wanganui river, which is navigable to that distance for all craft not drawing more than 14 feet of water; and is on the right bank. The country lies in plateaus at different levels above the sea. These table-lands extend all along the coast, between the mountains and the sea from near Wellington to round Cape Egmont. From Cape Egmont to Wanganui they are 200 to 300 feet above the sea; at Wanganui they turn inland; and a lower plateau begins about 20 feet above the sea. Their character is the same everywhere, covered with fern, flax, and grass, with clumps of thick pine brush here and there, and intersected by streams in all directions; in the high plateaus the streams form deep ravines; the valley of the Wanganui is a plateau half a mile broad, and about 30 feet above the sea, backed by the higher plateaus which end in steep scarps as if they had been cut by the action of water. I have described this country more fully because this plateau prairie character is common to all the large valleys and plains in New Zealand. Twenty miles up the Wanganui the country becomes broken into high narrow ridges covered with timber; but in fact the plateaus are with difficulty passable for man and horse, and impracticable for regular troops except by the footpaths.

There are about 1000 British colonists at Wanganui and Rangitiki, occupied in stock farming. There is a strong military post at the town garrisoned by 200 men: and the natives live in their villages all about the rivers. The land purchased by the Company at these two places is altogether about 200,000 acres.

The communication with Wellington is either by water in decked vessels of about thirty tons, common all round the New Zealand coast; or by land along the coast, which is hard sand the whole way to opposite Kaputi Island, where the cart-road from Wellington comes out; the only difficulty being the numerous small tidal rivers.

There are whalers squatted all down the coast, and settlers keeping stock on the native land, paying rent to the natives. In the Wairarapa valley there are some 100 English, with many thousand sheep and cattle thus squatting on native lands. 24

The Government are continuing to extend their territory by purchasing land from the natives, on the west coast and at Hawke's Bay: and these districts are gradually filling with settlers and their cattle and sheep, intermixed with the few natives residing on the reserves always made for them at the time of purchasing the land.

25 NEW PLYMOUTH was founded in 1841 by a Company from Plymouth in England under the auspices of the New Zealand Company. But there were just the same mistakes and disputes about the land, and the Company got possession of only 4000 or 5000 acres of their original block; they afterwards purchased a separate block of 30,000 acres to the south of the other.

26 There is no harbour, only a roadstead, where vessels cannot anchor in northerly weather. There is only a small river, the Waitera, into which small craft drawing not more than 12 feet of water can enter.

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The country is a continuation of the fern and grass plateaus, watered by many streams, and backed by broken forest country: it is sheltered from the south by Mount Egmont, and the soil is very rich. Indeed the fertility of the level fern plains of Taranaki have caused it to be called "The Garden of New Zealand," by the natives themselves. There are about 1200 English settlers, 27 chiefly farmers, cultivating the soil close about the town, which is on the coast They already export wheat and flour. There are numerous natives all about the settlement, but there have never been any troops there, as there has never been any open hostility on the part of the natives: though they have always been disposed to be quarrelsome.

NELSON was founded by the New Zealand Company in 1842. 28 It is situated at the head of Blind Bay, on the south side of Cook's Straits. The original purchase included the whole of the north end of the island above a line drawn across somewhere about Lookers-on Bay; but from the disputes with the same tribe of natives as disputed at Wellington, they only got possession of the land round the shores of Blind Bay, until 1848, when they obtained legal and peaceable possession of all the remainder of the block. The settlers therefore have chiefly occupied the country about Blind Bay, and as the hostile natives never came to that part, they have been able to make greater progress in cultivation than any other settlement. They got the advantages of the war expenditure without so much of the misfortunes.

The whole of the north end of the middle island, from Cape Foulwind to Lookers-on Bay is traversed by long narrow ranges of mountains running to every promontory, and from 1000 to 5000 feet high; but there is not so much forest on them; many of the lower ranges are covered with grass, and make good pasture land; and there are numerous long flat valleys containing good agricultural land. One of the largest of these valleys is The Wairau, running into Cloudy Bay; this valley and the adjacent country is now occupied by some hundred settlers from Nelson with thousands of sheep and cattle; their port is a harbour at the head of Queen Charlotte's Sound; the disadvantage of this Sound is its great depth, being sixty fathoms in the centre; but it is safe and very accessible. It only requires ten miles of road (which is in course of construction I believe) to communicate with the great valleys above mentioned, and which, in my opinion, will make it one of the most advantageous, as it is one of the most central, settlements in all New Zealand.

At the head of Blind Bay is another good large valley called The Waimea, and four miles east of it is a little harbour where the town of Nelson is placed. The harbour is formed by a natural breakwater, and is very small with a narrow entrance. A man-of-war corvette, and steamer, have both been in it. There are 4000 29 English settlers in Nelson, and about Blind Bay. They export wheat, barley, and timber, and wool. They cultivate in the valleys, and keep stock on the hills. There is coal found in Massacre Bay in Blind Bay; it crops out close to the sea; and fossiliferous limestone and sandstone; from the opinion of coal owners in the north of England it appears probable that this coal will prove, when excavated, equal to the Newcastle coal of New South Wales. There is a small harbour close to the coal. There is a cart-road from Nelson to the Waimea valley, but beyond that only horse tracks, and those very difficult. The communication inland to the Wairau valley is by a bad horse path.

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One of the great advantages of Nelson Haven is the rise of tide, which is 12 feet, being greater than in any other part of New Zealand. Another advantage of Nelson is in the climate, which is calm and sunny, being out of range of the Cook's Straits gales.

There are very few resident natives in this part of the Middle Island, or in any part of it; they are the remnants of the tribes who were exterminated by the more northern tribes from about New Plymouth. The conquering tribes live on the north side of Cook's Straits, and visit occasionally the south side, being the same who disputed the whole land question in which the New Zealand Company were concerned.

OTAGO, also under the auspices of the New Zealand Company, was founded in 1848 by a Scotch company, and was intended to forward the emigration of persons belonging to the Free Church of Scotland. They obtained a largo block of land, from the New Zealand Company; who, through the Government, have puchased in the course of 1847-8-9 from the natives the whole of the middle island, north of a line drawn across somewhere about Molyneux River; and there has been no trouble with the natives, and no disputes about land. The few natives who inhabit these parts live peaceably on their reserved lands.

There are about 1200 English settlers 30 occupied chiefly in stock farming, most of whom have migrated direct from Scotland. The capital town, situated in the harbour, is Dunedin.

The harbour is safe, but difficult of access 31 Dunedin is at the very head of it, seven miles above the anchorage for vessels. The country about it is of the same wooded hilly character as about Wellington, though not quite so mountainous; but to the southward are some large valleys of the grassy plateau character, of which Molyneux River is the largest. There is only a horse-path at present from Dunedin to these districts.

CANTERBURY was founded in 1850 by an English company in Loudon, also under the auspices of the New Zealand Company, for the purpose of promoting the emigration of persons belonging to the Church of England. They obtained a block of about 2,000,000 acres from the Company, situated at Banks' Peninsula, about 200 miles south of Cook's Straits. The whole of this peninsula is a mass of mountains 1000 feet high, indented with long narrow bays; but behind it lies one of the largest prairie plateaus of New Zealand, extending about 100 miles along the coast, and fifty miles back to the mountain backbone of the Middle Island, and almost flat, covered with grass, flax, and fern. The Canterbury Association have selected the harbour on the north side of Banks' Peninsula, and nearest to the plain, as their port; it was called Port Cooper, now Port Victoria. It is a straight inlet, open to the north-east, very easy of access. 32 There is very little level land about the harbour; but it is only five miles over the hills to the plain, and a cart-road is finished, or nearly so, going over a level of 600 feet.

The rivers from the plain are navigable only for small boats. The Association are selling land at 3l. 10s. per acre. There are about 3000 (1851) Settlers there, 33 who have bought land, or have been brought from England as labourers; they are scattered in different parts of the plain.

As at Otago, there have been no troubles with the few natives living about Banks' Peninsula; the chief difficulty appears to be the want of timber on the plains for firewood and building. This is unusual in New Zealand, and will cause

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this settlement to be expensive for some years to come. There is timber on the mountains, both on the peninsula and on the back range; and the only difficulty in transporting it across the plain appears to be the rivers, and they are small. And there is a coal district in the southern part of the plain. And bricks can be made no doubt anywhere, as the soil is sandy clay and gravel. One of the advantages of this settlement is in the superior arrangements made for the reception of emigrants on their first arrival.

SECT. IV. --GOVERNMENT AND LAND.

The Government of New Zealand, from the commencement up to 1852, has been conducted by a Governor-in-Chief, appointed by the Crown, and assisted by a council consisting partly of the officers of Government, and partly of persons nominated by the Governor. This has been the form of government since the colonisation in 1840; but in 1847 the colony was divided into two provinces: the Governor-in-Chief residing at Auckland, and governing in the northern province; and a Lieutenant-Governor residing at Wellington, and governing in the south province with the assistance of a similar council; --the two councils together forming a general council for the government of the whole colony under the Governor-in-Chief. All the officers of Government are appointed by the Governor, subject to the confirmation of the Crown; the Crown appoints three judges to try the graver offences; and the Governor appoints magistrates (some of whom are paid, and are called resident magistrates) to try small offences.

The Governor and council pass all acts necessary for the government of the colony, which, on receiving the Royal sanction in England, become the laws of the colony; besides which, the laws of Great Britain are in force. The revenue is raised by these laws, and is chiefly obtained from customs duties; and goes to pay the officers of Government and the police, and to make roads and other public works. 12,000l. out of the revenue is annually devoted by Act of British Parliament to the Civil List, which is under the control of the Governor; and the sums voted by the British Parliament for New Zealand (which have been about 30,000l. a-year since 1845), are also under the control of the Governor.

The councils also pass acts affecting the natives as well as English. British law is by these acts slightly modified, to suit the native character; and some of the chiefs are selected by the Governor to act under the law as magistrates in native cases. But British law or colonial law is in force throughout the whole colony. There is no line of native territory. This, however, is only nominal; for, excepting near the settlements, British law is not, and could not be, enforced among the natives.

There are no convicts, and never have been any, in New Zealand; and the law is preserved in the settlements as well as it is in any part of the British dominions. There are about 50 armed police among the settlements, composed of Europeans and natives, both of whom perform all the duties indiscriminately.

The expense of the British troops (and there are no other) is paid entirely by the British Government. There have been two foot regiments, amounting with Artillery, Sappers, &c, to about 2000 men, in the colony since 1845; and they have cost 180,000l. a-year. There have been also 600 pensioners since 1849 located near Auckland, in villages, the expense of whom has been entirely paid by the British Government. 34

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Part of the revenue is appropriated (by the Council) to education both of natives and English, and part to religion, which is divided amongst the heads of the principal religious denominations: the Protestant missionaries are also supported by the London Missionary Society, and the Wesleyan Missionary Society, and the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. The funds of the latter are given to the English Bishop, and devoted both to the English settlers and the natives. There is a Church of England school, a Wesleyan school, and a Roman Catholic school for children of the better class in Auckland, and parish schools in all the settlements; but the want of means of education is a very great want throughout the whole colony.

Excepting in one or two places, where they have been lately established, there are no corporations or county authorities yet in New Zealand; the whole public business, police, gaols, roads, streets, hospitals, &c, being paid out of the general revenue.

In 1852 the British Parliament passed an Act giving a free Constitution to New Zealand. By this Act the government of the colony is to be conducted as follows. --

THE CONSTITUTION OF 1852.

I. GENERAL GOVERNMENT.

To be conducted by a General Assembly composed as follows:--

1. The Governor in Chief appointed by the Sovereign.

2. A Legislative Council composed of 10 members appointed by the Sovereign, and for life.

3. A House of Representatives composed of from 24 to 40 members elected for 5 years by certain electors, from electoral districts appointed by the Sovereign.

4. The Franchise to include all British male subjects 21 years old (except criminals), and of the following properties; 50l. freehold estate, being in possession 6 months before registration; 10l. per annum, leasehold estate, being in possession 3 years previous to registration, or for three years to come. 10l per annum householders in towns, and six months' residence. 5l. per annum householder in country, and six months' residence.

5. The powers of the General Assembly to extend to making all laws for the government of the Colony with the following restrictions only:

No laws to be contrary to the laws of England.

No duties to be laid on supplies for the imperial forces.

No duties to be inconsistent with British treaties with foreign states.

The custom accounts to be under the management of Her Majesty's Treasury.

A civil list of 16,000l. per annum to be provided for without power of alteration, except with the sanction of the Sovereign: and the expense of collecting the revenue and payments to natives for land to be first provided for; all the remaining revenue from every source (including Crown lands) to be under the control of the General Assembly, but all money votes to be brought forward by the Governor.

The Sovereign to have the power of vetoing all acts within two years; and the Governor to have the power of reserving acts for the approval of the Sovereign.

6. The natives to be under the laws of the Colony; but the Sovereign to have the power of appointing native districts which shall be exempt from these laws; the Sovereign only to have the power of purchasing land from natives.

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II. PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT.

7. The Colony to be divided into six provinces: namely, Auckland, Wellington, New Plymouth, Nelson, Canterbury, and Otago.

8. Each province to be governed by a Superintendent elected by certain electors; the Governor to have a veto upon the election.

9. And a Council, composed of members elected for four years from the electoral districts.

10. The Franchise to be the same as for the General Assembly.,

11. The powers of Provincial Councils to extend to making all laws for the government of the province, with the following exceptions:

Customs, high courts of law, currency, weights and measures, Post-office, bankruptcy, lighthouses, port dues, marriageS, crown and native lands, criminal law, inheritance; and Europeans and natives to be treated alike.

12. The Governor to have The power of vetoing all acts within three months, and the general laws to supersede the provincial laws.

III. MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT.

13. The Sovereign to have the power of establishing municipal corporations similar to those in England; the municipal laws to be subject to the approval of the provincial government.

REMARKS ON THE CONSTITUTION.

I do not pretend to give an opinion concerning the political question of the best form of government for this colony. But in the case of New Zealand, and all similar colonies, the military question of defence against the natives becomes a very important one indeed, in the whole question of the best form of government, and as I do not think this has been fully considered or provided for in the Constitution of 1852, I venture to make the following remarks upon it.

The military part of the question is, whether, if the colonists of New Zealand have the entire management of their own affairs, they will be able to protect themselves against the natives.

35 It has been proposed that the settlers in that case, would, 1. Either form friendly alliances with the native tribes; or, 2, have a line of demarcation, or, 3, form a strong armed militia; and, 4, that there is little or no chance of future war.

1. 36 But the history of the colony shows that it was the very quarrels between the settlers and the natives that caused the Government to interfere originally; and the natives began to quarrel with the New Zealand Company before the Government arrived at Cook's Straits; 37 and there never has been a colony yet formed among savages, by private or public enterprise, that there were not wars between the races, sooner or later.

2. And it is one of the most important features in the New Zealand natives, that their villages and cultivations are so intermixed with those of the settlers that it would be impossible to draw a line of separation between native and European in any part of the colony.

3. As to the question, whether by a militia alone they could preserve peace; 38 Captain Fitzroy has given his opinion, that in his time, at all events, "a strong

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military force was necessary to overawe the natives;" and he was of a totally contrary opinion when he first went out to the colony: and that "the colony could not then afford to enrol one-fourth part of the militia authorised by law," and that after the destruction of Kororarika the settlers thought more of leaving the colony than of arming for its defence. And I think the circumstances of the Wairau Massacre, and 39 the proposition of the Wellington settlers to leave the colony, and the constant demand for protection, from all parts of the colony, show that, however well disposed and well qualified they may be to protect themselves when supported, without that support there is every appearance that New Zealand, instead of being in a more flourishing condition than it is, would have been almost entirely deserted.

I believe that, as was expressed by the colonists at the time, it was necessary for the preservation of the colony that the British Government should interfere with a strong hand. They did interfere; and although they took a long time to terminate the quarrels with the natives, they did persevere, and at the cost of 200,000l. a year to the British nation, did establish such a flourishing condition of things in New Zealand, that the colony is now justly held up by Government officers and companies as one of the most eligible sites for British colonisation.

4. As to the question of future wars, there is certainly no prospect at present of war in any part of the colony; there is no existing cause for dispute, except the natural animosity of the savage to the spread of civilisation; but that has been the main cause of all war with savages: and there are still in New Zealand 90,000 natives, allowed by everybody to be but little advanced in civilisation from their original state, or at least only advanced to that half civilised state which has always been more dangerous than the wholly wild savage; 40 and 20,000 Europeans pressing on them from different points; 41 some causes of quarrel must arise, and may or may not be fanned into a flame by mismanagement, and into a conflagration by a little success of the natives.

I believe that if the colonists had the whole control over the colony, there would be a probability of continual wars, from the laws they would establish affecting the natives, and that before long it would eventuate, as has been stated concerning the Cape of Good Hope, in a war of extermination which would end in the desertion of New Zealand by the colonists.

I believe that whatever may be the best form of government for the European settlements, in order to preserve that peace, which has been so prosperous to the colony, it is necessary that the control of the natives, and of all questions connected with them and their lauds, should be concentrated in a strong-handed government, under the authority of the British Government, supported by a regular military force, and a regular annual grant of money.

But I think that the number of regular troops. and the grant of money might be considerably reduced from the present amount, if the colonists took a share in the defence against the natives by assisting to pay a colonial corps: I believe that a colonial corps belonging to the colony and paid by them (out of the Parliamentary grant, if necessary, but paid by the colony), and supported by a small force of regulars, would be a much more effective force against the natives than regular troops alone; and tend, by interesting the colonists in the defence of their own country, to preserve the peace more than the present two regiments of regular infantry. Such a corps would be only an extension of the present armed police force, in

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which both natives and Europeans would serve. The organisation I would propose for such a force is given more in detail in the conclusion.

This is the point which I think has not been sufficiently provided for in the Constitution of 1852. When that Constitution was given, the colony should have been called upon to provide such a force as above described. There is now greater danger of conflict with the natives than there was under the old Constitution. For although the Government is not entirely in the hands of the colonists, yet the Governor is now almost single-handed between the naturally encroaching settlers, and the, as naturally, resisting savages: and the means at his disposal for preserving peace are no better than they were in 1846; two regiments of the regular army, paid out of the imperial treasury; while the settlers will not only pay no part of the expenses of a war, but will greatly benefit their colony by the profits of a large war expenditure paid entirely from England.

LAND.

The sale of land is under the control of the General Assembly, the whole of the waste lands, that is, those unoccupied either by English or by natives, being invested in that body for the benefit of the British nation, and not being the property of the colony alone. It is sold in the colony at from 1l. to about 30s. per acre, according as it is more or less rural or townland; and the proceeds are applied to assisting the migration of labourers, and making surveys. The New Zealand Company, and the associations connected with it, have sold land at from 1l. to 4l. per acre rural land; the purchase has been generally carried on in England, the purchaser receiving an order for so many acres and a passage out, at a low rate, for his money. At all the settlements almost the whole of the country in the neighbourhood of the towns has been sold in this manner; and as, from the disturbances, the proceeds of the land-sales have been all expended, there are at present very small funds for the assistance of emigration, and very little favourable land to tempt purchasers, from which funds could be raised.

But as the New Zealand Company is now defunct, most of the land purchases are conducted by the Government in the colony; the emigration of labourers is assisted by the Emigration Commissioners in England, who have the charge of expending the money raised by the land fund, in assisting poor emigrants out.

The Government also lease large tracts of land to settlers at a very cheap rate for grazing purposes. This stock farming is a very profitable business in New Zealand, and is occupying the attention of the settlers much more than agriculture, as the exports show.

As a general rule, emigrants of the better classes should spend as little money as possible, previous to arriving in the colony; it is during the first year or two that the settler most requires ready money. It is better that he should expend a little more money on his passage, and in examining the different settlements for himself, than run the risk of buying an unknown tract of land before he leaves England.

As to the working man, all he has to do is to get to the colony; whatever trade he is, and whatever part of the colony he lands in, he is sure of a livelihood.

The cost of a working man's passage to New Zealand is from 15l. to 20l.; but under the Emigration Commission the passage is much cheaper.

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SECT. V. --CLIMATE AND PRODUCTIONS.

The climate is the grand characteristic which makes this colony so important to the British empire. Of all the Australasian countries, this has the climate nearest approaching to the British. 42 It is considerably more temperate, being within 34° and 48° S. latitude, but from the circumstance of the islands being long, narrow, and mountainous, and 1000 miles from any continent, it is perpetually refreshed, and kept in equilibrium as it were, by sea breezes; and is not nearly so hot and arid as the southern parts of the Australian continent, which are in the same latitude. It is well described by Mr. Weld 43 thus: "The climate of New Zealand, though one of the most variable within certain limits, is at the same time perhaps the most strictly temperate, both in summer and winter, of any in the world."

44 There are constant strong winds blowing, generally speaking from the northward in summer, when they are strongest; and from the southward in winter, when they are rainy. There are about 200 days north-west winds, and 100 days south-east winds. 45 There is a great deal of rain during the winter, averaging 31 inches in the year, but scarcely any frost or snow, except on the high mountains. Thus it will appear that the climate, though not very agreeable either to the sailor or the inhabitant, is very healthy, and very fertile for animal and vegetable; and will produce abundantly all the British grains and fruits, even to the grape, in the open air: and is particularly favourable to the constitution of Englishmen. Shocks of earthquakes are occasionally felt. Some that occurred in October, 1848, were the strongest that had been felt for many years by the natives; they shook down some brick houses in Wellington.

The geological structure 46 is chiefly primary; the long narrow ranges of mountains are almost entirely composed of the lower slate rocks, intersected with veins of basalt, and with numerous volcanoes rising in high cones, of which there is only one (Tongariro, near Lake Taupo in the North Island) ever seen in action, and that only slightly. The rocks are therefore chiefly basalt and scoria, slate, primary sandstone and limestone. There is a great deal of pumice-stone; and there is good sulphur about the lakes Taupo and White Island (Bay of Plenty), in sufficient quantities to constitute an important article of export. Copper ore is worked near Auckland. 47 Titanic iron sand is brought down by several rivers; and along the west coast, from the Waikato River to Cape Farewell, the carboniferous strata appear in different parts. The coal crops out on the Waikato river, at Mokau on the coast, on the Wanganui river, and in Blind Bay, where there is also fossiliferous limestone and sandstone; and coal is also found on the Canterbury plains and Molyneux river; 48 and chalk is found in the cliffs of the east coast about Cape Turnagain.

The flat plains between the mountains are composed of the detritus from the older rocks, as clay, sand, and boulders mixed with lignite, and lying in horizontal strata.

A little north of Otago, boulders of Septaria or Roman cement stone are found very plentiful in the cliffs. 49 The soil throughout the whole country is generally a sandy clay with gravelly beds, being the diluvium from the mountains into the flats below; but owing to the climate it is very fertile, especially where the ancient

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forests remain. The Handbook of New Zealand estimates the available land for pasture or agriculture at two-thirds the whole area of the islands, which I think is a very high estimate.

The indigenous vegetable productions are, first and chief, the Kauri pine, one of the strongest and most durable pines in the world. It does not grow south of Lake Taupo. From thence to North Cape it is found everywhere in great abundance, and so large that spars from 50 to 100 feet long, and 3 to 6 feet diameter, are procured without great difficulty, and form a chief article of export. There are other good building pines all over the islands, of great size; and trees something similar to the English oak, beech, and elm; but pine is the grand staple. The second important production is the Phormium tenax or flax, which covers square miles of the country; it grows like English flags in great clumps, having long narrow leaves springing from the ground, and about 3 inches broad and 5 feet long. The fibre is obtained from these leaves, and has been always used by the natives, and is worked by the colonists into rope, wool bags, &c, but nobody has yet succeeded in cleansing it sufficiently (by a cheap process) to clear off a gummy substance in it, which causes it to go in the bend after a few months' wear. It is exported in a half-dressed state from all parts of New Zealand to the Australian colonies at about 12l. per ton.

The other vegetable productions are chiefly those of a semi-tropical climate, as ferns, palms, &c. Of the grasses, the Toi toi will be found very useful in campaigning, being the chief substance used at out-stations for thatching the roofs of huts; and the Raupo, a rush which is commonly used for thatching the walls.

The trees are described under the head of building materials.

The principal productions of the north are copper ore and Kauri pine timber. 50 The former is found near Auckland, on the coast of Houraki Gulf, and is sent to England in the raw state. The latter is shipped to the Australian colonies and England from different ports in the north.

The principal productions of the south are wool and pine timber. 51 The greater extent of grassy plains in the south have made it a greater stock country than the north. The wool is exported direct to England, and is considered very good, though not yet equal to the Australian; there is grazing country in New Zealand for several millions of sheep.

At present the colony does not wholly supply itself with wheat; but from the fertility of the climate, it will no doubt become the chief granary of Australasia, The natives supply a considerable quantity of wheat and pigs to the different settlements. The pigs, left by Cook and other navigators, having spread over the whole country, have become wild, and are obtained in sufficient quantity to form an export of salt pork. These supplies of wild pork and wheat are of very great assistance to the outsettlers, in all parts of the colony where there are natives.

Price of Provisions at Wellington, 1848. 52

	£. s. d.		£. s. d.
Bread. per lb.	0 0 2	Sugar. per lb.	0 0 3
Fresh butter. " "	0 1 3	Tea " "	0 2 0
Coffee. " "	0 0 6	Tobacco. " "	0 1 9
Flour per ton	14 0 0	Artificers' wages per day	0 6 0
Beef and mutton. per lb.	0 0 6	Labourers' do. " "	0 3 0
Pork " "	0 0 5

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There would he no difficulty in supplying troops with provisions, either of beef, mutton, or pork, and bread, in any part of New Zealand, provided some notice was given beforehand.

BUILDING MATERIALS.

Timber. 53

1. Kauri pine (Dammara Australis). This is a fine cream-coloured, close-grained pine, without knots, and clean; and is useful for ships' spars and decks, and all purposes of house-building. Experiments at the Dockyard, Chatham, in 1834, 54 give the relative transverse strength of Kauri at 730, oak being 1000; other experiments at the same place make it equal to oak. It is the most lasting pine in water, except Totara, and grows all north of Lake Taupo; averages 5 feet diameter, and 50 feet trunk to branches. Clay soil. This timber is probably the only one in New Zealand equal to Baltic pine.

2. Kahikatea, white pine (Dacrydium excelsum), grows chiefly in the south. This is a fine white clean wood, very useful for indoor work, but not a lasting timber; very plentiful; averages 4 feet diameter, and 40 feet to blanches. Rich soil.

3. Rimu, red pine (Dacrydium cupressum), grows chiefly in the south; a strong red-grained pine; very useful for all carpenter's work and furniture. Average same as white pine; grows on the hills. Strength, 700.

4. Totara pine {Podocarpus totara), grows in the south; a fine clean wood of a red colour; useful for waterwork; is the most lasting wood; used always for canoes; has little transverse strength. Averages larger than white pine. Rich soil. Split easily.

5. Puriri (vitex littoralis) grows in the north; very much the character of English oak. Not very large nor very plentiful.

6. Mai or Matai pine (Dacrydium Matai), grows chiefly in the south; a fine clean wood of a yellow colour, very good for furniture and all joiner's work. Averages smaller than white pine.

7. Mairi (Podocarpus macronata) grows chiefly in the south; a dark close-grained hard wood; lasting; useful for engineering purposes; strong and heavy.

8. Rata (Metrosideros robusta) grows in the south; a tough twisted grain, red colour; useful for ship's knees, &c.; hard and difficult to cut. Averages a large tree, but with a trunk composed of several small trunks united.

9. Pohutukawa (Metrosideros excorticata) grows in the north; similar to the rata.

10. Titoke, a small tree, light streaked grain; useful for all purposes to which ash is applied.

11. Manuka or Kahikatoa, Tea tree (Leptospermum scoparium), a small tree, very common, like the Scotch fir in appearance, dark hard wood; used for paddles, spears, axe handles, &c. Very good firewood.

The timber is sawn chiefly by hand, but there is no reason why steam and water saw-mills should not be generally used; it seldom has time to season, and therefore generally shrinks. It is expensive, being about 10s. per 100 feet superficial of 1 inch thick; the expense is caused by the difficulty of transport. Blue gum timber from Van Diemen's Land can be procured as cheap.

Houses are generally built throughout the colony of a frame-work of timber, weatherboarded outside, and roofed with shingles. In consequence of the earthquake of 1848, the soldiers' barracks, then about to be built in Wellington, were made in this manner; of the best timber, and on a brick foundation, and brick-nogged and lined with boards.

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Bricks. --There is no difficulty in obtaining bricks in any part of New Zealand, for there is clay almost everywhere fit for their manufacture. There are brick kilns in all the towns. Their price in Wellington, in 1843, was 30s. per 1000.

Stone. --There is difficulty in procuring good building stone in all the settlements. In the north, scoria is used, dressed from the rough heaps round the extinct volcanoes. It is very hard and impracticable. There is nothing at Wellington but a rotten schist only fit for rubblework; but there is granite, and sandstone, and limestone to be obtained, as at Nelson for instance, though the expense would be very great at present.

Lime. --Is generally made from shells in New Zealand, but sometimes from limestone from Nelson: this stone can be obtained from other places on the west coast, as before stated (p. 27). Shells for lime can be obtained everywhere on the coast, and make very fair lime. Lime is about 2s. 6d. a bushel. Roman cement stone, as before stated, is to be got near Otago; it would be very valuable in New Zealand to protect the exteriors of the wooden bouses against weather and fire, but the expense prevents its being used at present.

Ironwork, glass, and all fitments and castings can be obtained from Sydney or Hobart Town.

The chief difficulty that has been felt in New Zealand in building has been the want of good artificers; that difficulty is not likely to be diminished for some years to come, owing to the slow increase of the population; therefore in case of any works being undertaken by the Royal Engineer department in New Zealand, or of any military operation, it will be absolutely necessary to send out a force of Sappers; and as these men would have to execute every branch of construction, from felling timber and making bricks, to the last finishing touch, it would be necessary to supply them with a complete equipment of tools for all these purposes, and also with carriages for transport The want of such a force, so equipped, was a very serious impediment, and a cause of great extra expense during the whole of the military operations in 1845-6-7. Large working parties of the line and natives have been employed on all the ordnance works, both permanent and temporary; and also upon the colonial roads; and tools and stores had to be purchased for them on the spot at a great expense, and the men had to be instructed in their duties.

The natives make tolerably good labourers after two or three months' practice, and have executed some good mason's work under the Royal Engineer department at Auckland. I believe they could be taught all kinds of trades. They would not require the same wages as civilians, but they would not do the same amount of work; so that their labour would be as expensive as civilian labour. The armed police force I have mentioned as necessary for the defence, might no doubt be employed upon the public works of the colony, when not otherwise required. This force would include both Europeans and natives.

There is no want of water in almost every part of New Zealand. It can be generally obtained from streams; but in all the towns there are wells, which, generally speaking, give a good supply. Owing to the volcanic nature of the strata, the results of boring for water are very irregular; on the low coasts, among the sandhills, it is difficult sometimes to get water within a few miles.

The principal fuel as yet used in New Zealand is wood. This is brought both by land and water from the forests in the neighbourhood of the towns, and is sold at about 16s. the cord of 144 cubic feet. All kinds of timber are used. It is already becoming so expensive that in many private houses coal from Sydney,

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at 30s. a ton, is used. The coal in New Zealand has not yet been worked sufficiently to be brought into use as a fuel.

SECT. VI. --COMMUNICATIONS AND HARBOURS.

Transport is the grand difficulty that has been felt in the movement of regular troops in New Zealand; in the neighbourhood of all the settlements there are now good carriage roads, extending for a few miles, as has been described; but off the roads even in the settlements, and all beyond that, the whole country is either impracticable mountain forest or plains intersected with impassable swamps. To the outposts in the neighbourhood of the towns, all stores, baggage, and materials are transported by hired carts, of which there are plenty, drawn by horses. To the distant outstations, being all on the coast, everything is transported by small coasters suited to enter shallow rivers. There are plenty of these coasters, but in a climate like New Zealand there is no dependence to be placed on such transport.

55 The only paths throughout the country are the natives', which generally follow the most difficult line for the sake of security against enemies, and the outsettlers use them, and not unfrequently lose themselves; 56 but they are passable, for Europeans frequently go through the whole country; and horses have been from Auckland to Wellington, and the outsettlers travel many miles on horseback by following paths. There is a monthly mail between these two places, carried by the armed police, via New Plymouth, along the coast the whole way, and it takes twenty days; but it was so uncertain that public documents were always sent by sea; and as there was no regular communication by sea, it sometimes took several months to get answers at Wellington from head-quarters at Auckland, which are only 500 miles distant.

The difficulty of transporting artillery and stores for even 20 miles into the interior will be seen in the accounts of the campaigns to have been the great impediment. Carriages will not be of use beyond the settlements for some years to come; all transport on land must be effected on horses (as the country is too difficult for pack-bullocks), or on men's backs; as it is done now by the settlers in both ways. The natives are great adepts in carrying loads for great distances; they will carry from 40 to 50 lb. 15 miles a day. The passage of the numerous small deep rivers is another great difficulty; the settlers always make for a native pah and cross in canoes, swimming their horses; but it might be effected in the case of military stores by portable indian rubber boats. The Mackintosh cloak-boat would be a most useful thing to a single traveller in New Zealand.

Small carts, both hand-carts and harness-carts, and also small boats, are very necessary things at all the stations for the transport of stores and materials in the neighbourhood of the stations.

See the "Corps Papers, Royal Engineers," part 3, 1849-50, for statement of distances by sea, and further report on communication.

I have extracted the following itinerary from the Bishop's Almanac (published in New Zealand), because it is generally useful and can be depended on. It is one of the many works of practical benefit to the colony, executed by that talented and zealous clergyman.

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NEW ZEALAND ITINERARY.

COMPILED BY DR. SELWYN, BISHOP OF NEW ZEALAND, FROM PERSONAL OBSERVATION, AND PUBLISHED IN THE ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE ALMANAC.

I. Auckland to Wellington, Coast Road.

Auckland to	Miles.	Description of journey.
Onehunga	6	Open cart-road
Cross Manukau to Orua	10	Dangerous
Waikato River (boat)	30	Good beach
Whangaroa River (boat)	35	Open and hilly
Aotea Harbour (boat)	18	Woody, open
Kawhia (boat)	5	Open
Tapirimoko	25	Wood, beach, cliff
Mokau	25	Good beach at low water
Waitera (boat)	35	Cliffs, beach at low water
New Plymouth 199	10	Open cart-road
Mokotuna	20	Beach, stones, grass
Otumatua	30	Open, grass, sand
Waimate	18	Beach at low water, stones
Patea River (boat)	26	Beach, stones, sandhills
Waitotara	16	Tide beach, sandhills
Whanganui River, M. S. (boat)	18	Do. good beach
Whangaihu River (boat)	9	Sand, beach
Turakina River (ford)	3	Do. do.
Rangitiki River (ford)	17	Do. do.
Manawatu River (ford)	13	Do. do.
Otaki River, M. S. (ford)	20	Do. do.
Waikanae, M. S.	10	Do. do.
Porirua	24	Sand, wood
Wellington 238	14	Wood
	437

II. Auckland to Wellington, Inland Route, by Taupo.

Auckland to	Miles.	Description of journey.
Kaweranga (Mission Station)	40	By sea
Land at Te Rua Kowhawhe	50	River Thames (Waiho)
Matamata	21	Plain, swamp
Te Toa, Patetere	26	Plain, rivers.
Rotorua Lake	27	20 m. wood, 7 m. open
Cross Lake to Te Ngae, M. S.	6	Boat
Tarawera Lake	10	Hill, open, lake
Rotomahana Lake and hot springs	10	8 m. lake, 2 m. plain
N. end of Taupo Lake	34	Hills, plain, deep streams
S. end of Taupo Lake. Te Rapa	25	Lake, by land 35 m.
Makokomiko on Whanganui River	42	Open, woody, deep ford
Mouth of Whanganui, M. S.	150	River, rapids
Wellington	110	See No. I.

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III. Auckland to Wellington, by East Coast.

Auckland to	Miles.	Description of journey.
Kaweranga	40	By sea
Opita. Sacred Creek	30	River Thames (Waiho)
Katikati	25	Open
Te Papa. Tauranga, M. S.	20	Boat, along Tauranga Bay
Maketu	15	1 m. boat, 1 m. plain, 13 m. beach
Otamarora	19	Deep rivers, beach
Wakatane	14	Hills, beach, deep rivers
Opotiki, Mission Station.	20	Beach
Turanga. Poverty Bay, M. S.	90	Hills, beach, no villages
Nuhaka	38	Hills, wood
Wairoa River, M. S.	20	Beach
Waikare River.	31	Beach, cliffs
Arapaoanui	15	Steep hills
Ahuriri, M. S.	24	Beach, inland water
Patangata.	21	Plain, deep river
Rotoatara Lake.	10	Open downs
Rua Taniwha Plain	22	Open, grass plain
Manawatu River	22	Long wood, plains
Te Rewarewa	70	Course of Manawatu River
Mouth of Manawatu	9	Sandhills
Wellington	68	See No. I.
	623

IV. Auckland to Wellington, by Waikato and Waipa.

Auckland to	Miles.	Description of journey.
Mangatawiri Creek on Waikato.	45	Open, wood
Pepepe, M. S.	35	Course of Waikato, rapid
Puehunui	37	Course of Waipa, still
Otawhao, M. S.	10	Open, fern
Rangitoto	25
Tutakamoana	28	Open hill, plain
Waihoura on Taupo Lake.	8	Open hills
Pukawa	12	Lake
Matahanea on Whanganui River	26	15 m. open, 11 m. wood
Mouth of Whanganui River	150	Course of Whanganui, rapid
Wellington	110	See No. I.
	486

Opotiki to Turanga, Coast Road.

Opotiki to		Rangitukia, M. 8.	20
Tunupahore	16	Waipiro	20
Te Kaha	18	Uawa, M. S.	21
Whangaparaoa	21	Pakarae	16
Te Kawakawa, M. S.	33	Turanga	22

Total, 187 miles.

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V. Auckland to Wellington, by Wairarapa.

Auckland to	Miles.	Description of journey.
St. John's College	6
Papakura, native village.	15	Plain, cart-road
Tuimata	10	Fern hills
Tuakau	10	Fern hill and woods
Tukupoto, M. S.	45	Up Waikato River
Puehunui	37	Course of Waipa River
Arowhena	25	Open
Tuaropaki	23	Open hills and plain
Tutakamoana	12	Do. do.
Pakaunui	18	Do. do.
Pukawa, on Taupo Lake	10	Do. do.
Tauranga River on do.	12	Lake
Tangoio: Hawke's Bay	60	Hills, woods
Ahuriri, M. S.	17	Beach, harbour, beach
Waimarama	19	Sand, ridge, sand
Manawarakau	13	Do. do.
Porangahau.	30	Stones, sand, stones
Pakuku	18	Fern bills, swamp, grass
Mataikona	20	Stone, fern, sand
Rangiwhakaoma	15	Sand
Leave Beach.
Whareama.	6	Steep bare hills and valleys
Kaikokirikiri.	80	Woods, hills, grass plain
Hurinui o rangi.	9	Short woods and plain
Ahieruhe	4	Grass plain
Huangarua River	8	Do.
Rimutaka range?	6	Wood, hilly
Mungaroa	8 1/2	Cart-road
Second Valley	8	Do.
Hutt Bridge	8	Do.
Wellington	9	Do.
	541

VI. Auckland to Wellington, by Taupo and Waikare Lakes.

Auckland to	Miles.	Description of journey
Rotorua Lake	164	See No. II.
Ohinemutu	6	Lake
Rotokakahi Lake	8	Grass hills and wood
Ohaki, hot springs.	25	Dry hills, plain
Te Takapau	5	Dry plain. Waikato.
Taupo Lake, N. end	11	Do.
Waitahanui River	5	Shore of Lake
Rangitaiki River	20	Dry bare plain
Te Ngaere	11	Do. do.
Tututarata	15	Do. hills.
Ahikereru, M. S.	12	Hills

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VI. Auckland to Wellington, by Taupo and Waikare Lakes.

(Continued.)

Auckland to	Miles.	Description of journey.
Oputao 2	15	Wood, steep hills
Waikare Moana	16	Steep wooded hills
Wairoa River, M. S. at mouth?	60	Lake, river
Wellington	292	See No. III.
	665
2   Ruatahuna and Waiti villages.

VII. Auckland to Kaitaia, by East Coast.

Auckland to	Miles	Description of journey
Mahurangi
Whangarei
Ngunguru	14	Open hills, beaches
Whangaruru Harbour (Owae)	35
Waikare River, Bay of Islands	22	16 m. water, 6 m. land
Paihia, Mission Station 3	10	Course of Waikare River
The Kerikeri, M. S. 4	16	Cross the Bay of Islands
Whangaroa, M. S.	25	Open, hills
Mangonui	16	4 m. water, 12 m. land
Taipa River, Oruru	2	Open
Kaitaia	17	Open
3   Paihia to the Waimate, 15 m. 4   The Kerikeri to the Waimate, 10 m.

VIII. Auckland to Kaitaia, by Kaipara and Whangaroa.

Auckland to	Miles.	Description of journey.
Head of Waitemata River	14	Tideway
Head of Kaipara River	15	Open, hills
Mouth of Kaipara River	40	Tideway of Kaipara River
Te Otahi, Wesl. M. S.	80	Tideway of Wairoa River
Mangungu, Wesl. M. S.? 5	70	River, wood
Mangamuka	15	Tideway of Mangamuka River.
Kaitaia	25	14 m. wooded ridge, 11 m. plain.
	259
	Miles.	Descrip. of journey.
Oputao to Whakapapa	10	Steep wooded hills
Whakapapa to Toreatai	14	Do. do.
Toreatai to Tauaki	5	Do. do.
Tuaki to Maruteane	12	Do. do.
Maruteane to Waikare River	12	Do. do.
Waikare village to Tunganui	8	Do. do.
Tunganui to Ruatoki	13	Bed of river
Ruatoki to Wakatane	18	Plain.
5   Mangungu to the Waimate, 20 m.

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IX. Auckland to Stewart's Island.

Auckland to	Miles.	Description of journey.
Wellington 6	437	See Route I.
The Wairau	30	By sea
Kaikoura	50	Beach, stones
Matanau Island, Whaling Station.	50
Port Cooper	40	Beach
Port Levy	4	Steep hills
Pigeon Bay	6	Do.
Akaroa	12	Do. harbour
Pireka, Whaling Station	8	Do.
Ikurangi, Whaling Station	8	Do.
Taumutu	20	Shingle bed
Te Wai a Te Ruati	61	Grass plain, shingle beaches
Waitangi River (dangerous)	54	Do. do.
Moerangi, Whaling Station	39	Do. sand
Waikouaiti, Wesleyan M. S.	23	Beach, hills
Otakou	17	Steep hills
Taiari, Whaling Station	30
Molineux Harbour, Matau River	18
Tautuku, Whaling Station	18
Awarua, The Bluff, Whaling Station.	57	Flat, beach
New River	6	Do.
Aparima, Jacob's River, Whaling Sta.	12	Beach
Whakaputaputa	6	Do.
	1006
6   Wellington to Nelson, 150 m.

X. Auckland to Stewart's Island.

Auckland to	Miles.	Description of journey.
Awarua, the Bluff	982
Ruapuke	12	Foveaux Straits
Stewart's Is., the Neck, Paterson's R.	8	By sea
Half Moon Bay	2
Horse Shoe Bay	2
Port William	2
Murray River	4
Saddle Point	6
Raggedy Point	11
Codfish. Passage Island.	3
	1032

The land distances in the above Itinerary were chiefly measured by Payne's Pedometer; but, as that instrument is liable to errors on hilly and broken ground, the measurements cannot be entirely depended upon.

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COMMUNICATIONS AND HARBOURS. HARBOURS.

LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL HARBOURS OF NEW ZEALAND. 57

NORTH ISLAND.

1. Monganui Bay, in Doubtless Bay: a small harbour of easy access, and safe for medium-sized vessels; a resort of whale ships.

2. Wangaroa Harbour: a spacious, deep, and well-sheltered harbour, but very narrow and bold entrance.

3. Bay of Islands: a small gulf, sheltered by several islands, of easy access in all weathers, safe anchorage at the head.

4. Wangaruru, Tutukaka, Wangari: small harbours, accessible and safe for medium vessels; H. M. S. "Calliope" once took refuge in Wangari.

5. Houraki Gulf: into this large gulf vessels can obtain easy access: it has numerous anchorages, of which the principal are--

Auckland: an estuary, three quarters of a mile wide, clear deep channel, accessible for all vessels; strong tide and strong winds blowing up and down the channel.

Barrier Island (Port Abercrombie): accessible and safe for all vessels.

Kawau Island and Bay (Copper Mine): a good harbour for all vessels.

Coromandel Harbour: accessible and safe for all vessels.

The Thames River: is only accessible for boats. There are several other anchorages in Houraki Gulf available in particular winds.

6. Hokianga River: like all the rivers and harbours on the west coast, it is barred or fronted with sand-banks, on which the sea rolls with unbroken fury in westerly gales, rendering them uncertain of access except in moderate weather. This has always been a great trading place in Kauri spars; vessels of 500 tons go several miles up the river: 19 feet the deepest draught of shipping that has been in. 58

7- Kaipara, see No. 6: a large estuary formed by several small rivers, fronted with numerous sand-banks, and reported the most dangerous harbour to enter in New Zealand; a great trading-place for Kauri spars; vessels of 400 and 500 tons can enter.

8. Manukau Harbour (opposite Auckland), see No. 6: deep, tortuous channels through sand-banks, difficult of access from strong tides and heavy swell; safe anchorage inside; a good point of communication for steamers from Australia. From Manukau canal communication might be made to Auckland Harbour and Waikato River, the isthmus in both cases being only one mile across, low land.

9. Mercury Bay: a small harbour accessible and safe in moderate weather for all vessels. From this point to Port Nicholson there are no safe harbours for vessels of more than 200 tons, but numerous anchorages in off-shore winds.

The principal small craft havens are as follows:--

10. Tauranga Harbour: a small harbour, narrow entrance, for coasters, accessible for steamers. 59

11. Hicks' Bay (East Cape): accessible and safe in southerly weather for all vessels. H. M. S. "Driver" took refuge here in a N. E. gale. 60

12. Tokomaru, Tologa, Bay: small, accessible, and safe in off-shore winds.

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13. Poverty Bay has a sheltered haven with a bar entrance, accessible and safe for vessels in offshore winds.

14. Ahuriri has a small bar harbour, accessible and safe for coasters. No haven between this and Port Nicholson.

15. Waikato River, see No. 6: coasters only can cross the bar at low water; difficult of access from sand-banks, navigable for coasters for 50 miles. The Waipa River is also navigable for coasters for a short distance.

16. Wangaroa Harbour, see No. 6: for coasters only.

17. Kawia Harbour, see No. 6: 2 fathoms on bar at low water, 12 feet rise; accessible, but difficult for all vessels; 1 1/4 mile wide.

18. Mokau River, see No. 6: for coasters only.

19. New Plymouth (Taranaki): a roadstead, very unsafe in northerly weather. Waitera River, 10 miles north, accessible for coasters.

20. Wanganui River: a bar river, 6 feet at low water, navigable 4 miles; for coasters only. The rivers on this side Cook's Straits are inaccessible in heavy weather.

21. Manewatu River: a bar river, 7 feet at low water, navigable 20 miles; for coasters only; see No. 20.

22. Kaputi Island (Entry Island): small but secure anchorage on the east side for all vessels; sheltered from both N. W. and S. E. winds, which are the prevalent winds in Cook's Straits. A common rendezvous for vessels going through the straits.

23. Porirua: accessible and safe for coasters in all weathers.

Mana Island at its entrance affords shelter close under its lee in N. W. winds.

24. Wellington (Port Nicholson): accessible and safe for all vessels; difficult of ingress and egress in strong winds, owing to the narrow entrance, three quarters of a mile, lying parallel to the Straits, A lighthouse is very much required to mark the entrance, which is not easily distinguished in thick weather. There are constant strong winds in Cook's Straits from N. W. or S. E.

MIDDLE AND SOUTH ISLANDS.

25. Massacre Bay: in this bay there is secure anchorage for all vessels near Tata (where coal is found).

26. Blind Bay, Astrolabe, and Fisherman's Roads: safe and accessible for vessels in all weathers, but small.

Nelson Haven: a very small harbour, formed by a natural breakwater, with a very narrow entrance, strong tide, rise 12 feet; difficult of access, but safe for vessels of 1000 tons.

There is seldom bad weather at the head of Blind Bay.

Croixille's Harbour: easily accessible, and safe for all vessels in all weathers; the best port in N. W. gales in Blind Bay.

27. Port Hardy: accessible and safe for all vessels.

28. Admiralty Bay: there are numerous good anchorages about this bay, accessible in all weathers.

29. Queen Charlotte's Sound: accessible and safe in all weathers; deep except in the coves, where good anchorage is to be found. The tides are very rapid off the entrance.

30. Port Underwood: easily accessible and safe in all weathers; a frequent harbour of refuge for vessels to enter Port Nicholson, or to go through the Straits.

From Cape Campbell to Banks' Peninsula no havens.

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Temporary anchorage under Kaikora Peninsula in offshore winds.

31. Banks' Peninsula, Port Cooper or Victoria (Canterbury): accessible and safe in all weathers, slightly open to the eastward; northerly winds bring a heavy swell in.

Akaroa: a fine port, open to the south; no hidden danger, moderate depth all over, sometimes dangerous of access owing to violent flaws of wind and heavy swell at entrance.

There are other fair harbours in Banks' Peninsula.

32. No safe anchorage between Banks' Peninsula and Otago except at Moerangi and Waikouaiti, anchorage in off-shore winds only.

33. Otago: a bar harbour, inaccessible in easterly gales, 17 feet at low water; vessels of 800 tons have entered; anchorage confined and tides rapid.

34. Molyneux River: anchorage with off-shore winds, river dangerous to enter at all times; for coasters only.

35. Bluff Harbour: formerly frequented by whalers; confined anchorage; difficult of ingress and egress from rapid tides at entrance (7 knots).

From Bluff to Preservation Sound no harbours.

36. Stewart's or South Island, Port William, and Paterson's Inlet: both safe for all vessels in all weathers; the nearest harbour to the Bluff country. There are other good harbours in Stewart's Island.

37. Chalky Bay, Dusky Bay, Milford Haven: all very deep harbours or estuaries; tempestuous weather; very mountainous, impracticable country; used by whale ships.

No anchorage between Milford Haven and Massacre Bay, except Jackson's Bay, and that not safe in northerly winds.

GENERAL REMARKS.

The above are the principal harbours and rivers in New Zealand; generally speaking, the good harbours are on the east coast. Those on the west coast are generally bar harbours. There are several other small rivers into which coasters can enter at high water.

The flood-tide appears (speaking in a general manner) to strike the south end of New Zealand, and run northwards up both coasts; but it is very irregular. In Foveaux Straits it runs from N. E. to S. W., in Cook's Straits from S. to N. It is high water at full and change; at 12 at Stewart's Island; at 4 at Port Cooper; at 4 1/2 in Port Nicholson, but 9 in Cook's Straits; at 7 in Houraki Gulf.

An average rise of tide is 6 feet on the east coast, and 10 feet on the west coast. About Blind Bay and New Plymouth it is 12 feet

Brief sailing directions for the principal harbours are generally to be found in the almanacs published in the colony.

SECT. VII. --DEFENCES.

These in New Zealand may be divided into External and Internal.

Of External defences against a foreign enemy, there are none worth mentioning. At Auckland there are some 32 pounders on Point Britomart, a military post in a very good position, being a cliff-point, commanding the harbour, and about 60 feet above the water; but these guns are not mounted, and there is no protection for them or for any of the troops and stores against a man of war. There are no heavy guns, or batteries, or forts, at any of the other settlements;

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neither are there sufficient positions reserved for these objects at any of the settlements. There has been some difficulty experienced in obtaining sites for ordinary barracks for the troops; the proper military positions have not been selected, and have been sold to private persons. There are also one frigate, one sloop, one steam-sloop, all fully armed and manned, always upon the station; and the colonial brig of 200 tons, but carrying no guns. The station includes Australia.

The Internal defences against the natives consist at present (1851) of two regiments of the line, mustering about 1000 men together, and 25 Royal Artillery, with some field guns, and 500 Pensioners, and about 50 armed Police, partly Europeans and partly natives.

In Auckland there are about 500 men; there are some stone buildings, but most of the men are in temporary wooden buildings, on Point Britomart, and on the Albert Hill in the rear of it. This latter is a good position for defending the land front of the town; and it is enclosed with a flanked and loop-holed stone wall. There is only a slight enclosure to Point Britomart. There are good magazines and storehouses.

The Pensioners* 61 arrived from England in 1847-8, and have been located in six villages to the south of Auckland, at 6 to 13 miles distant. They are armed, and are occasionally called out under their officers, but their villages are not defensible. There are about 25 armed Police in Auckland, natives and Europeans. They are employed on the ordinary duty of police, and in carrying the mails, and served during part of the military operations. They are on foot, and are armed with a carbine and bayonet.

At the Bay of Islands there are about 100 men. They live in a hired building near Kororarika, not defensible in itself or of any use to the town.

At Wellington there are 400 men. They live in wooden barracks, on Mount Cook, a tolerably good position, commanding that part of the town, but not at present defensible in itself. There are no quarters for officers and no storehouses, the Ordnance and Commissariat stores being in hired buildings. There is a good magazine; there are some detachments at Porirua, and in the Hutt Valley, left there since the war in 1847, but they are only temporary, and not now in defensible positions.

At Wanganui, there are 200 men, in a stockade, with blockhouses of wood, on a hill commanding the town, and containing magazines and storehouses.

The Artillery are divided between Auckland and Wanganui.

There are 20 police in Wellington. The remainder are at New Plymouth, and other settlements. But there are no troops in any other settlement, and no militia in any part of New Zealand, although there are some arms for them in possession of the Colonial Government.

During the war in 1846-47-48, the strength of the two regiments was 2000, and there were about 300 to 400 militia called out.

There was a great want of a Field Engineer Equipment, as well as of a company of Sappers, during the military operations, of means of crossing the numerous rivers, of cutting through the forest, of stockading and intrenching, and of portable powder magazines, all of which would still be wanted if military operations should recommence.

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SECT. VIII. --GEOGRAPHICAL ADVANTAGES.

New Zealand, though situated in a favourable position for sea communication with China and Australia, America and England, is not in the direct line of intercourse between any of these places, and therefore must depend upon her own resources for a commerce. Vessels will not call at New Zealand merely en route, they must have some object to induce them to call there. The present intercourse consists as follows:

With England
To New Zealand, via Cape of Good Hope, 4 mouths, 14,000 miles. British manufactures. Steam 2 months
9 vessels per annum.

To England via Cape Horn, 4 mouths, 14,000 miles. Copper, wool, timber.
5 vessels per annum.

With Sydney
10 days from Wellington, 1200 miles. British manufactures and stock from Sydney. Flax, barley, pork, timber to Sydney.
3 vessels per month.

With Hobart Town
15 days from Wellington, 1300 miles. British manufactures and flour.
1 vessel per month.

With Hong Kong
2 months, 6000 miles, via Pacific or Torres Straits
Occasionally from China Scarcely ever to China.

With United States
4 months, 14,000 miles,
American manufactures
5 vessels from United States per annum.

With California
2 1/2 months, 8000 miles. Occasionally to California.

With Tahiti
80 days sail, 2300 miles, 11 days steam
No trade at present.
And on to Panama 22 days steam, 4500 miles
And on to England 20 days steam, 4600 miles

There is no trade at present with South America or with India.

In 1852 regular steam communication was first established between England and Australia; in screw steamers once every two months, via the Cape of Good Hope, West Australia, South Australia, and Victoria to Sydney; expected to be done in two months from England. But as yet it does not extend to New Zealand, which is still therefore dependent on occasional traders for its mails. I do not think there is any one greater boon (after the men and money necessary for its defence) that the Imperial Government could confer on New Zealand than steam communication with Sydney. And I think that a plan of communication might be arranged, by which the same steamer would meet the bimonthly mails at Sydney, and also communicate monthly between the principal settlements in the colony, thereby doing the double duty of conveying the mails from England, and establishing that intercommunication between the settlements which is now so much required, and for which New Zealand is so peculiarly well adapted. According to the Admiralty statement in the "Blue Book," 1846, the annual cost of a steamer of the size of the "Volcano" is about 5600l., which would be in New Zealand, allowing for increased expenses, about 7000l.

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SECT. IX--RECAPITULATION.

These are the principal characteristics which are to be borne in mind, in considering all points connected with New Zealand.

1. Long narrow islands with numerous small harbours and rivers.

2. Long narrow mountain ranges covered with forests and divided by flat grassy valleys, but all very difficult of passage for foot passengers, even by the footpaths.

3. The six British Settlements planted on the coast with a small town and a little county of civilisation round each, and containing altogether 20,000 British settlers.

4. All the rest of the North Inland, filled with 80,000 savages, settled in villages about the coast and rivers. All the rest of the Middle Island almost uninhabited.

5. The communication about the islands (by small vessels) constant, with Sydney once a month, with England three or four times a year. Carriage-roads for a few miles only about the British settlements, foot-paths through the rest of the country.

6. A British population slowly increasing, and stock farming spreading fast; agriculture increasing slowly; a native population slowly decreasing.

7. Want of defence against the natives.

8. The summary of the latest statistics of the Colony, contained in the following table:

1. POPULATION, 1851. 62

		British.	Natives.
Settlement of Auckland		9000
" Wellington		5000
" Nelson		3000
New Plymouth		1500
Canterbury		2500
Otago		1000
	Remainder	1000
	Total	23,000	90,000

2. EXTENT.

	British.	Native.	Total.
	Acres.	Acres.	Acres.
North Island.	1,000,000	30,000,000	31,000,000
Middle and Southern.	40,000,000	7,000,000	47,000,000
Total	41,000,000	37,000,000	78,000,000

3. PRODUCTIONS, 1850.

Wheat, maize, and other grain (total quantity of land under cultivation in all the settlements by British settlers, 30,000 acres). Sheep, 100,000; horned cattle, 30,000; horses', 2000; pigs, &c. Flax, pine timber, copper, sulphur, iron, and coal.

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4. EXPORTS AND IMPORTS, 1848-50. 63

	Imports.		Exports
	South.	North.		South.	North.
Clothes, &c.	£12,000		Whale oil and bone	£14,000
Flour, &c.	5,000		Wool	8,000
Iron, &c.	4,000		Copper ore	--
Stock.	40,000		Timber	--
Provisions	10,000
Spirits	8,000
	£79,000	140,000		£22,000	20,000

Total	British (manufactures)	£52,000	Total	Britain	£16,000
	Colonial (stock and raw produce)	170,000		Colonies	22,000
				Foreign	5,000
	Foreign	3,000		Total.	£43,000
	Total	£225,000

5. SHIPPING, 1848.

	No. of ships.
To and from Great Britain	10 per annum
" " British colonies....	90
" " Foreign countries	40
Small coasting vessels belonging to the colony	200

6. Revenue and Expenditure, 1848. 64

Revenue.			Expenditure.
	North	South.		North	South.
From colony	£28,000	£19,000	Offices of Government	£30,000	£20,000
Aid from Brit. Parl.	23,000	28,000	Public works	15,000	19,000
	51,000	47,000		51,000	45,000
Total		£98,000	Total		£96,000

	North	South
Military expenditure of Great Britain in 1848 7	£90,000	£65,000
Total		£155,000
7   Martin's Cols.

END OF PART I.