THE COLONY--ITS SITUATION AND RESOURCES.
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THE COLONY--ITS SITUATION AND RESOURCES.
New Zealand, situated in the Pacific Ocean, about 1200 miles in a south-easterly direction from the Continent of Australia, consists principally of three islands, designated the North, Middle, and South Island. Its length is about 1000 miles, and its breadth averaging from a few miles at the Isthmus, which separates the waters of the Waitemata from the Manakau, to 250 miles at the south, near Otago. This colony, according to survey, is nearly as large as the entire British Empire; the former occupying an area of 99,500 square miles, or 63,680,000 acres; and the latter is represented as about 120,000 square miles; or 76,000,000 acres.
New Zealand is very mountainous, and a volcanic country; the whole island having evidently been in a state of eruption. In various districts there are still a number of hot and sulphur springs and mountains still in action, while all around, places bearing strong marks of volcanic action, as well as numerous mountains--being extinct volcanoes--are to be seen. In instancing particularly one of these extinct volcanoes to the reader's attention, we might mention Mount Eden, one of the principal mountains in the colony, at the base of which is situated the city of Auckland. Within a radius of five or six miles of the Isthmus, between the two harbours of the Waitemata and Manakau, there are seven similar remains of volcanic eruptions, but Mount Eden is about the most central and perfect; the crater of which is six hundred yards in circumference, two hundred yards in diameter, and about sixty or seventy yards in depth. The land in this district, in all directions, is covered with vast quantities of scoria or lava, which, ages ago, were evidently belched forth from these orifices; the simultaneous convulsions produced from whence must have been terrific. The stones thus scattered about are now used for road making, building, and walled fencing. From the summit of this mountain, which is about seven hundred feet above the level of the sea, the artist
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would find a very beautiful and fitting subject for a painting. The view is really magnificent. The river Waitemata, and the Frith of Thames, studded with their numerous islands; the conspicuous triple peaks of the rugged extinct volcanoe Rangitoto; the Great and Little Barrier Islands in the extreme distance, and the green fields and beautiful homesteads around, would form, indeed, a very interesting and grand picture.
Earthquakes occasionally occur in the district of Wellington, but for several years past they (if any) have been of a very slight nature. The other portions of the colony are not subject to them.
A good deal of rain falls, however, in all parts of the island, which, with the northerly winds that bring moisture, fertilizes and nourishes the land, enabling it, as it does, to produce valuable green pastures and crops. Besides this great advantage, so healthful and useful to a warm country, there are also numerous rivers and estuaries intersecting the whole colony, especially in the North Island, affording a water communication as extensive and commodious as any to be found in any other place in the world, within the same extent of country.
The climate is acknowledged by proper and competent parties, to be superior to any other country on the globe. Both in summer and winter there is always a moderate temperature, and, while in some places in Europe during the day, labourers are for a few hours prevented from working, it is not so in New Zealand, for here the difference of temperature is in the warmest and coldest months very limited. The mean temperature of the hottest month of the year in the North Island is 67 1/2 deg., and the coldest month 51 1/2 deg. In London it is in the hottest month 64 deg., and the coldest 37 deg. The insular position of the colony occasions the equality of temperature. Throughout the whole year, refreshing sea and land breezes continually blow. The north winds are damp, and the south winds bring dry weather.
The genial climate of New-Zealand seems to cause not only the imported breeds of cattle to be very prolific, but also to make all kinds of vegetables and home crop seeds thrive and grow well. Wheat and maize are yearly exported to Australia, and shiploads of potatoes, in their season, are forwarded to Sydney and other ports. All
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sorts of fruit trees yield ample stores; and in the North province the exquisite water melons, Cape gooseberries, figs, oranges, and the vine, thrive exceedingly in the open air. Potatoes and Kumeras, the staple articles of native food, grow in vast quantities, and are extensively cultivated by the Maories.
Cattle, as already mentioned, do well here, and we wonder not why this should be. There is in every direction good pasturage for cattle and sheep, and the country, besides, is not subject to the periodical droughts which cause such ruin to the Australian and Queensland farmers. Sheep, it is said, frequently produce double births of lambs three times in eighteen months, thus enabling owners of extensive "runs," to realise soon a large fortune. The growth of wool now occupies the most careful and incessant attention of a numerous class of settlers, causing this article to be a very valuable export. Land overrun with fern is not so suitable for sheep farming, but it is capital for the rearings of pigs; and large pig runs on this sort of ground are to be found in various districts.
Of the native birds little can be said, they are few in number. The Kiwi and the Tui may, however, be mentioned. The former is about the size of a common fowl, with undeveloped wings, a ground bird, and termed game by the Maories, the feathers of which are highly esteemed for making choice dresses. The latter, a small blackbird, with a tuft of white downy feathers hanging at its throat, and with a note fully equal in rich melody to that of the blackbird or the thrush, may be placed at the head of the singing birds of New-Zealand. The Moa, once the wonder of the middle Island, and the largest bird ever existed on this earth, being sixteen feet high, is now extinct. The size of a moa's egg is said to be a foot long, nine inches in diameter, and twenty-seven inches in circumference.
By the efforts of private gentlemen and Acclimatization Societies, various kinds of birds, &c. have been brought into New-Zealand from all parts of the world, which, following the general rule of this colony, have "increased and multiplied." It may not be here uninteresting to note a few of the introductions:-- Swans from England and Australia; wild fowl from the Cape of good Hope; English singing birds; Canadian geese; English and Chinees phea-
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sants; and English hares and rabbits, besides red deer, the gift of the late Prince Consort, and sent out by orders of her Majesty.
As the pheasants and other birds have become very numerous, sportsmen in this state of affairs can, with a good pointer or setter dog (which are not plentiful), enjoy a capital day's sport, and obtain a good supply of brace for his labours. A game law is established solely regulating the seasons for shooting, but no license is required to shoot.
There is any amount of timber to be found in New-Zealand. The north island itself may be called a large dense forest, it being so thickly covered. In many parts of the middle island there is very little timber, especially in the Canterbury province. Among the various kinds of wood, the Kauri pine has long been recognised by the British Government as being very valuable for ships' masts. From this tree there exudes a resin, known as Kauri gum, also a valuable export of the colony.
The cultivation and preparation of the Phormium Tenax, or New-Zealand flax, of which there is great abundance, is now attended to in various parts of the colony, and promises to become one of the staple exports of New-Zealand. Companies, as well as private settlers, are being formed for the cultivaion of this material. The natives, in its green state, use the flax for plaiting baskets, and for tying and joining articles together.
Tobacco will also, doubtless, become a great acquisition to the resources of the colony. It has been already tried and found to do well. Several sheep farmers grow their own tobacco for the purpose of washing their sheep.
At Wangarei in the province of Auckland, and in the provinces of Nelson and Canterbury, coal has been discovered, and is now worked to a great advantage. The coal from Wangarei is shipped to Auckland, where large quantities are sold for household purposes, as well as for the use of steamers and other works in town.
The copper mines on the Great Barrier Island, near Auckland and in the district of Nelson, are successfully wrought, and extensive exports occasionally go from New-Zealand to the home country.
The gold mines throughout New-Zealand still yield good returns. The Hokitika gold field, recently dis-
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covered, and to which large numbers of diggers from all parts of the colony and from Australia flocked, continues to yield a good remuneration to the diggers, and to prove that it possesses, in a large degree, the precious metal.
