1843 - Letters from Settlers and Labouring Emigrants - NELSON

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NELSON.

From Mr. TUCKETT, Chief Surveyor to the New Zealand Company, at Nelson.

February, 1842.

"We have a thriving cheerful aspect, and most of the emigrants on arrival are pleased with the place, and the first impression is subsequently more than sustained.

I am happy to be able to announce that the town survey is completed, and that the whole 1100 acres were selected, and the choices registered, in three days and a half, to the pretty general satisfaction of all parties. Proprietors are now busily cutting up their town acres; 12s. per foot is readily obtained for frontage, or early choices, and for some 30s. per foot is demanded. The survey of the 50 acre sections is proceeding rapidly, and I trust that in six months they will be ready for delivery to the proprietors. 1

The result of my recent exploration to Coal Bay was so favourable, that it cannot fail to enhance the importance of this colony, because it assures us now of possessing some grand elements of prosperity: coal, lime, iron, and valuable timber.

Two cargoes of horses, cattle, and sheep, have been recently landed here; the first brought by Dr. Imlay, a celebrated Australian breeder, in beautiful condition, and very excellent stock. We are overrun with rats; they have no cunning or timidity, and are killed in great numbers, but there is no sensible diminution, which is not to be wondered at, if they produce sometimes seventeen at a litter, as is reported. It would be well if some colonists in every vessel would bring out some good strong terrier dogs, and some

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round wire traps and gins. The increase of animals is extraordinary; for, besides the rats, we have two she-goats now here, each with five kids produced at a birth, and doubtless the increase of sheep will also be great.

Recommend emigrants to bring out seeds of various useful kinds, all sorts of vegetable seeds, fruit seeds, viz. gooseberry, currant, raspberry, strawberry, apple and pear pips, vegetable marrow; corn, as wheat, barley, oats, rape, beans, peas, vetches, clovers, turnip, and lucerne, and some good kinds of grass seeds, in canvass bags; different sorts of potatoes, and some rhubarb roots; also some forest seeds, as acorns, haws, holly berries, and dog-rose, furze, and broom, elm, and ash seeds, and the four first-named forest seeds, should be packed as soon as gathered in a box or cask, with layers of dry sand between them, and in good quantity."

From THOMAS DODSON, and GEORGE DODSON, to F. W. JERNINGHAM, Esq., Southampton.

Port Nelson, September, 1841.

"I arrived safe at Port Nicholson, on the 8th of September, in good health, after a voyage of 18,000 miles. I never enjoyed myself so much in my life; it is a very pleasant country. Provisions are dear, butter 2s. 2d. per lb., beef 1s. 2d., pork 8d. Clothing is also dear, but wages are very good; a day labourer can get 6s. per day; however, a man that would not come to the colony, let him stay in England and starve; my happiness will be complete when my wife and family arrive safe. I am employed with nine more to row a ten-oared boat daily. I am 63 miles from Port Nicholson, where they are putting up huts or houses, and the place named Port Nelson; the natives are very civil: they go naked in general; they are pleased if they can get a blanket to wrap themselves in; they are nearly

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the colour of W. Smith, their hair is very strong, and they are very much surprised at my naked head, and they smooth me down my head with their hands, they are very fond of the English, but they do not like the French nor Americans; they are too much the we we--viz., they are very covetous; the natives sing and pray in their way; they make a fire, and say 'that if any do curse or tell lies they will burn in that fire, and they that are good will go up to the stars.'"

Port Nelson, February, 1842.

"George Dodson arrived in Port Nelson, February 1st, 1842, and the Lloyds the 11th after. I had a very pleasant voyage. It is nothing but a pleasant trip. The time soon passes away, and seems but as yesterday. It is a very pleasant country, I want my brother Charles not to delay coming, whatever others may do. Thomas and I are building a house, and I have got £1. 1s. per week; the work, eight hours in the day, and our rations are ten pounds of meat and ten pounds of flour, a quarter of a pound of tea, and a pound and a half of sugar per week, which is enough for a moderate family; and we have got our money wet or dry, sick or well, and I can save my pound a week clear. Thomas saw us coming, and came out with the pilot to meet us, as he expected Charles, and to his great surprise it was me, and a joyful meeting we had, and are still happy and comfortable together."

From J. C, Esq., a Settler at New Plymouth, to a gentleman in Cornwall.

Nelson Haven, 9th March, 1842.

MY DEAR T.--

I found on my arrival at Port Nicholson, that the place chosen for the New Plymouth settlement was

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on the south-western coast of the northern island, and after narrowly escaping shipwreck in Cook's Straits, we were landed, with our numerous baggage, on the beach at Taranaki. A more lovely country mo one need desire to live in; but one grand desideratum, a harbour, we have not. We have not even a good roadstead, 2 and consequently, I am afraid, in the infancy of the colony, that some fainthearted, short-sighted individuals may do us great injury by condemning the locality, the Company, the surveyor, and every body connected with the choice of this settlement.

The farmer, the labourer, and the independent colonist have assumed a healthy and vigorous bearing, full of well-grounded hopes, and determination to do their utmost by a soil which barely asks for their powers to clear and cultivate it. Our country sections have not yet been given out, on account of the difficulty of cutting surveyors' lines through such thickly-timbered districts. I should hope, by the end of April, that about 2500 acres of suburban land will be ready for selection; and then I hope to see the farmers go to work in earnest. We have been at a stand-still for working oxen. I felt the want of this so much at last, that I went to Port Nicholson and bought some cattle, which are now on their way to Taranaki. In the meantime, I have been taking a trip with Colonel Wakefield to Nelson and Taranaki. We nearly escaped total shipwreck in the passage between D'Urville's Island and the main land of the South Island, from the inaccuracy of the chart given by the French surveyor. The ship grounded on a rock for nearly twelve hours, until the tide floated her again. The only damage we sustained was unshipping and straining our rudder, and perhaps tearing off a few sheets of

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copper from her forefoot. During my stay at Port Nicholson with Francis M---------h, that genuine good fellow, and pattern for all Anglo New Zealanders, notwithstanding all the melancholy prognostications of ------ and the idlers, went to work and cleared his land--a most formidable undertaking-- and is now reaping the benefit of his wisdom and forethought. I do not know any one in New Zealand who has overcome all obstacles so well and successfully as M---------h, and has encouraged so many others by his example to go to work seriously, instead of idling about Wellington, indulging in all the expensive habits of the New South Wales storekeepers. The Company's settlements seem all in a most flourishing condition.

I was obliged to leave off here in order to go on deck, to witness our arrival at Nelson Haven, where we are now at anchor. It is a very extraordinary little harbour, formed by a mere sand-spit that makes a natural breakwater; the entrance guarded by a formidable, grim-looking pinnacle-shaped rock, called the Arrow Rock. We were sorry to see one of the late emigrant ships, the Fifeshire, lying wedged into the rocks, with no prospect of getting her off. She was trying to work out when this occurred. The town is selected in a flat plain about a mile from the harbour, to which there is a road over a tolerably high hill, and another round by the beach. The place seems rather swampy, but it may very easily be drained, and made valuable. Part of it is at present covered with a grove of pine trees, which I fear must all come down and give way to brick and mortar. At the back of this ran the mountains, forming a most beautiful and striking coup d'oeil. The quantity of land fit for agricultural purposes is stated to be considerable; but I cannot judge of this, not having been into the country at all. The Colonists are spreading over the town, and all very industrious and

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satisfied. They have a most excellent lime, and coal cannot be far off; so, in a few years, we may hope to see nothing but brick and mortar erections, instead of wooden houses, which would be very expensive, from the scarcity of wood. They have a capital sort of clay for making bricks, and have already made several thousands. Captain Wakefield is universally respected and beloved, and it is impossible for any place not to thrive with such an indefatigable leader. I wish you could persuade the thousand-and-one fine young English gentlemen of Cornwall, and any others of your acquaintance, younger sons, &c, how much more desirable a useful, well-employed colonial life is, to idling about London, angling for heiresses, or other less legitimate means of acquiring money. Here they may live comfortably and respected, either single or married, and be increasing their incomes, year by year, in one of the most magnificent countries and delicious climates that you can conceive.

VALLEY OF THE WAIMEA.

To the Editor of the Nelson Examiner . 3

SIR,

As so many of your readers feel a lively interest in all that regards the agricultural prospects of this settlement, the following account of one of the districts now being surveyed as suburban land, may not be considered as intrusive.

The whole valley of the Waimea may be equally valuable and interesting; but as my acquaintance with it is but limited, I must confine my description to that portion lying between the bottom of Blind Bay and a river which runs into the Waimea, about six miles south. The range of hills on the east, and the Waimea on the west, form the other boundaries of the district. The whole of this extent is level, unless

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a series of low hills which jut out from the foot of the grand range about a mile or two into the plain be included within it. The part next the sea is chiefly occupied by an immense bed of flax, which runs about a mile and a half in the direction of the length of the valley. The grass is very fine, and, together with sow-thistle which springs up amongst it, forms quite a thick carpet. Here is probably abundant pasturage for cattle. Next commences a thick bush, which extends to the river both on the south and west. The bush is accompanied by flax, fern, &c.; and the whole may readily be cleared off by fire. A large space, especially adjoining the hills, is covered with fern, some of which is of enormous growth.

The soil, judging from the general abundance and freshness of vegetation, is very good. Its depth (from three or four trials) may be stated at about one foot on the hills, and in the plain itself about two. One or more of the different varieties of grass is almost everywhere to be met with. Sow thistle is extremely abundant; the greater part of the plain is free from marsh, and bears no marks of being ever flooded. The large flax bed mentioned above is marshy; the rest is generally dry.

The district is well watered. Besides the large rivers, which form two of its boundaries, several small streamlets issue from the lofty range of hills on the eastern side, and intersect the plain. Water may also probably be any where found, with but little trouble, by sinking a well, the digging of which occupied one man about two hours, and which has for three weeks past afforded a plentiful supply.

This fertile plain presents no obstructions to being brought into immediate cultivation, with the exception of the marsh, which would require previous draining; unless, indeed, its natural produce (flax) should prove valuable. This marsh, which is only partially wet at present, adjoins the sea--is in one

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compact mass, and otherwise presents facilities for being drained. It might in a great measure be freed from water, by merely affording channels to one or two small streamlets, which, having no present outlet, expand themselves into the marsh in question. But the wet ground is very inconsiderable in extent, compared to the more available ground producing fern and grass. The former is at present apparently ready for the plough, particularly where it has been burnt; and the latter, even if left unimproved, must be valuable for pasturage.

The scarcity of timber may be considered one of the drawbacks to the value of this district. Little or none of any size grows within its limits. However, an inexhaustible supply may be obtained on the other side of the Waimea. The small valleys also on the eastern side are wooded, and fine timber may be procured from them.

Its facilities for communication are remarkable. The sea skirts its northern end. The river Waimea is navigable at least along a considerable portion of its western side; and the river at the south end, where I have seen it, is sufficiently wide and deep; but I cannot say how far it may be available for purposes of transport. Besides these means of water communication, a good road may be obtained by following up to its head the principal valley in which Nelson is situated. A moderate slope separates this from another valley, which, opens into a plain adjoining that of the Waimea. When once on the plain itself, the formation of roads is comparatively easy, and good materials are almost everywhere at hand.

The little branch valleys abound with pigeons, parrots, pheasants, and many other birds. The rivers are frequented in great numbers by ducks and other water fowl.

From the above statement, it would appear that the landowners of Nelson may congratulate them-

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selves on the prospect of speedily obtaining land-- extensive, well-watered, apparently very fertile, with great facilities for communicating with the surrounding districts; and, it may be added, within seven miles of the town of Nelson. The other tracts adjoining this and elsewhere--equally, or perhaps more. desirable--I leave others to describe.

I am. Sir, your most obedient servant,
W. BARNICOAT.

To the Editor of the Nelson Examiner 4

RESPECTED FRIEND,

Having twice visited the valley of the Waimea, and penetrated some distance into the interior, I may perhaps be able to give some information respecting that district.

The valley of the Waimea, is about sixteen miles in length, by six in breadth at its lower extremity, being intersected by the river, which runs about north through the middle of the district. That part of the valley adjoining the coast consists of mud flats, covered at high tides, which extend from one to two miles into the country. Through these flats the river runs in three channels, two running to the eastward and falling into the bay, called Mouturoa, and one taking its course to the westward, and joining the sea towards Moutuaka,

Leaving the mud flats, we crossed a large extent of land, covered with flax, manuka bushes, and grass, occasionally swampy, but affording much good food for cattle. Still more to the southward are extensive plains of grass land, more elevated than the former, often of very good quality, and with a thick undergrowth. Some woods and streams abound in this part, affording plenty of eels and ducks.

At a distance of five miles from the flats a river flows from the hills to the eastward, entering the

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Waimea at right angles. This is a fine river, containing a good supply of water. One mile from this river we come to a fine pine grove, which extends from the Waimea to the hills at the westward, and continues till the river meets the hills on that side. Much of the upper portions of this wood is only manuka bush. There is a fine tract of land eastward of the Waimea, and southward of the river before mentioned, which contains a large quantity of fine timber, occasionally varied with open land.

I understand it is the intention of the chief surveyor to lay out the land on the coast-side of the Waimea, as far as the river from the hills, and also the whole of the land towards the west of the river, as accommodation sections, of 50 acres each; the tract of land before mentioned on the east side being reserved for the rural sections.

The land in the valley of the Waimea is generally very good, producing grass, cabbage, &c, very abundantly. The river falls rapidly, having occasional falls of four to six feet; but the influence of the tide is felt for some miles. The land everywhere in the neighbourhood of the river bears the appearance of occasional extensive inundations; but these might be, in a great measure, prevented by the removal of the banks and timber which at present form the obstructions to the water. I am thine truly,

J. S. COTTERILL.

From Mr. THOMAS BREMNER, one of the Cadets on the Nelson Surveying Staff, to his parents.

"THE NATIVES.--The men in general are fine grown and well made, having immense muscle; they have particularly well-shaped heads, high foreheads, and good eyes, and the tattooing gives them a manly cast when you can accustom yourself to the idea; the nose of all the natives I have seen is evidently the

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worst feature; the mouth is not very good, hut the hair being a good black, and naturally curly, they are most certainly fine and pleasing fellows. I am almost afraid to touch at a description of the fairer sex, having at present seen but few specimens even decent in countenance, and not more than two good-looking girls. All are tattooed that are tap-a-tap, or married; they are particularly anxious to obtain English wearing apparel, but I am certain if they knew how much better they look in their own mats, or a clean blanket, they would never change them for a dress in which they appear so awkward; and, besides, it very materially diminishes from their height and appearance. The natives are, with very few exceptions, very lazy, and sleep an immense deal; and if you attempt to reason with them against their habits, they directly ask the question--are you Englishmen better off than the Mauri?--have you more to eat or more to drink? If you have, we have plenty, and the surplus you must waste: we plant our potatoes, fish, attend to our pigs, and make our own mats and canoes, and are happy without money: you white men must have all these, and money too. If you ask why they do not work for their children, they tell you they must work for themselves: the women here do a large portion of all labour, and are quite under the control of their husbands, yet there appears a strong affection between some of them.

FOREST TIMBER, &c. -- All the way along the beach are steep cliffs, until you come to the river called the Miti, which is the site of the town. The river rises in the hills at the back, and runs down to the valley by the side of a very beautiful wood, containing about 150 acres, and in which there are some very fine trees of the pine species, with some birch, and some other native woods, of which I will send specimens for your inspection next time, with some seeds and leaves. I wait to enable me to give you

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some idea of their nature: there are many fine shrubs here, of the laurel description, and some bays, geraniums, and fuchsias; indeed, all the plants remind me much of England, except that here the trees retain their foliage during the winter. The description of the forest timber, I believe, is equal to the description given by many, and is certainly finer than you can have an idea of by stopping in England, for here you see a tree 100 feet without a branch, and would square up that height six feet: this I call a fine tree, yet you see many like them in these woods.

SITE OF NELSON.--The site chosen is of itself prepossessing in appearance, and the small show of houses at present very much improves its surface; the greatest and almost only objection to this place is, that there is a large tract of land covered by the tide, and therefore at present rendered useless; but I fear from its situation being valuable, much of it will ultimately be recovered, and that its arrangement or allotment may materially interfere with the good Arrangement of our town; the greater part of our streets are at right angles, and point with the compass; the principal, if not the only wind blowing south-east or north-west, and the rapidity with which it changes from the one to the other would astonish you. Some of the streets are a mile or a mile and a half in length.

POPULATION, &c.--We have had a marriage here; ------------ took unto himself, a widow, not fearing old Weller's advice. There have been three burials and one birth; we muster upwards of five hundred souls, besides three bullocks, a cow and calf, more than forty goats, twenty sheep, about two hundred fowls,--and I cannot count the pigs,--a large quantity of dogs, I should say sixty; besides these there are cats, geese, ducks, turkeys, and rats; so you may be assured we are not a little proud of

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the progress of our colony. There is a whale-boat come with a specimen of coal found here; this makes three quantities we have received."

From Mr. WILLIAM CULLEN to Mr. TURNER, Merchant, Langport.

Nelson, 10th April, 1842.

"FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF NELSON.--There is some very good land here, but it is very hilly, and the hills are so steep, that a person standing on one side of them, would be afraid to look to the top, lest he should break his neck at the bottom. Some of these series of hills are so very high that the snow stands on them in summer as well as winter: for our rural sections we must go a long way from Nelson, which is situated seven miles below Pepin's Island, in Blind Bay. It is a beautiful climate, and not subject to such violent winds as Port Nicholson, as we have not witnessed any since we have been here, nor have the surveyors that were here three months before us. The beautiful climate of Blind Bay has often been spoken of before by one of the principal surveyors of Taranaki, as being the best in New Zealand.

PROBABLE PRODUCE.--The cultivating of land will pay well here. Potatoes grow two or three crops a year, and sell at eight shillings per cwt. Beans do not answer here. Oats, barley, and wheat, answer very well, and a brewer would soon realize a fortune if barley was grown to a good extent here, which I have no doubt it]will be as soon as matters are brought about a little. Here are a great many things a person of small capital would soon make a good fortune by --say £500 or £1000.

WHALING.--A thousand pounds would set a person on with the whaling, which many have made large fortunes by--one now lately retired at Port Nicholson

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with many thousands. A hundred sperm whales entered Massacre 5 Bay this year, in a lot.

Coal has been found at Massacre Bay, not far from here. Buying cattle from Sydney and shipping them here would do well. A plenty of lime-stone has been found at Massacre Bay, but no person has shipped any quantity, or burned any, which would pay well, and will be much wanted.

BRICK-MAKING, &c.--Brick-burning is going on but sparingly, but brick is much in demand. A person of capital, setting it on in good earnest, would make a good thing of it. Brick is three pounds a thousand. A person buying from ships, and selling out again in small quantities, could do well, and could get fifty or a hundred per cent, by it. Storekeepers, of all useful kinds, get immense profits. Mr. Dudley Sinclair told me that he did not doubt, that although the public-house-keepers pay thirty or forty pounds per year for their licences, they realize, in the least case, one thousand pounds a-year. Here are many things a man of good perception could soon get a good fortune with, had he money to set off with. I have a middling choice of land in the town, No. 259, but it is only a few very early choices that fetch much, although people stop at home and speak of one and two thousand pounds for an acre of town land. I should be glad to see one or two hundred for mine.

THE NATIVES.--The natives are very civil and harmless, though active and intelligent; very hard to deal with, and not very easily taken in. They are very graceful in their walk and address--no shyness in address to a superior--in short, I believe they think no persons their superiors. The old ones are tattooed in a most curious manner, and some are tattooed about their bodies; but I think only the chiefs are allowed it any where about the body, the

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rest only in their face; they are a fine race of people, stout and well made. Much has been said in England about their fierceness, but a milder, kinder people, I believe, does not exist. Our ladies of the Fifeshire, that almost dreaded the idea of seeing an ugly tattooed New Zealander, would no more be afraid of one of them, or I believe not so much, as they would of one of their country of the lower orders--at least they are perfectly harmless, and I believe that nothing would induce them to meddle with, or injure a white man. Some say, they in some cases, steal; I believe in no case have they been known or proved to do so; I a little suspected it, but I now believe no such thing; the lost things I have found, and I have trusted them anywhere, and lost nothing by them.

SEA FISH.--There is a great variety of shell-fish here; some very good, equal in quality to English salmon, but very little in the fresh water. A kind of trout and eels are all I've seen. The trout are small and not much sought after, but the eels are most delicious, far exceeding any thing of the kind I have tasted in England; they weigh from eight to the pound or less, to eight pounds each, and some a great deal more. A friend of mine caught some at the Waimea district, weighing fourteen pounds each; this I can say is a fact, which I could not have believed had I not seen the eels.

VEGETATION.--Here are a great variety of shrubs and creepers; the shrubs are such as I have never before seen; they say they are very beautiful, but I have not seen the flowers.

BIRDS.--Here are a great many kinds of birds; the pigeons are very numerous; it is not many days but I have two or more for my dinner; people have written to England how very large they are, but those which I get are but little larger than those in England. There are three or four different sorts

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of wild ducks, teal, quail, and a great variety of others, some very curious and very beautiful in their plumage.

PROSPECTS.--I believe my account is too brief to give you very full information. Letters must be deficient to the case of a person speaking, where you may ask any question and receive an answer; but I must tell you candidly, (and I believe every word I have said is so), that any man who intends to live by industry of any kind, such as trading or labour, may do better here than in England.

PROVISIONS AND WAGES.--Labourers are getting good wages, and must find a great change here, where they get thirty or thirty-six shillings per week. The Company gives a guinea a week, and ten pounds of flour, and ten pounds of beef or pork, with tea, &c. Bread is eighteen pence the four-pound loaf, port wine twenty-five shillings per dozen, bottled ale fifteen pence a bottle, fresh pork eighteen pence per pound, mutton one shilling per pound, flour about thirty-five shillings a sack; so that baking is a good trade here.

People who come should try to get good labourers that will stand by them, as it is hard to get a person here that cares anything about work; at least they won't do a master justice. Here are a great many pigs running wild, and catching them suits many better than work. You see by the position of our harbour in Blind Bay, it is better situated for mercantile business than Port Nicholson, being out of the difficult navigation of the Straits; and, on an average, they are twice as long going from Port Nicholson to Sydney, as going from Nelson to Sydney, as the Straits detain ships so long, and we have a snug little harbour. On good land here almost anything will grow; the vine, oranges, and a great many things that will not grow in England; and a farm here, well managed, must be a pleasing sight--

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no such thing is yet to be seen. I have tried many seeds, and all answer well. Green peas may be gathered all the year, or nearly; here has been felt a want of rain this summer, which has not been known before; for three months in summer there was scarcely any, and very warm, warmer than in England; but they say not so cold in winter. Many have written from New Zealand from interested motives, but mine is not; though but little, and of little consequence what I have said, I defy any person to deny the truth of it. A person coming here must not expect the comforts they find in England, and must expect to live in a weather-boarded house at first, but in the course of time it will be remedied. The town acres will be given out to-morrow, and people will build more.

Yours truly,

WILLIAM CULLEN.

From JAMES HARPER, a settler at Nelson, to his friends at Wootton Bassett.

April I7th, 1842.

DEAR FRIENDS,

We embarked on the 14th Sept., and was till the 2nd Oct. before we could sail; on the 19th January we saw the South Island of New Zealand; 20th, entered Cook's Straits, and dropped anchor in Port Nicholson Bay, and there we lay for eight days, for the sailors struck, and eight went to prison for a month. Now a little about Port Nelson. Nelson lays in Blind Bay, the name given by Captain Cook, when, going round the South Island, he thought of going through the bay into the sea again, but was deceived because the Bay lays so far back. Nelson will be a larger town than Nicholson. The streets laid out here are seventy feet wide, and three, four and five miles long. High street is eight miles

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in length. 1100 acres of land for building, plenty of clay and timber of the white pine like deal. The sawyers cut it out at £1 5s. per hundred. We have three brick yards begun; here is plenty of work going on. Labourers get from 6s, to 8s. a day, and are paid in money. Men working for the Company get £1. 1s., 101b. flour, 101b. beef and pork, 1 lb. sugar, 1 lb. tea per week. Carpenters and bricklayers get 12s. per day. The natives are very civil and very deep; they will beg, but not give anything away. They bring oysters, fish and potatoes in little flag baskets holding about half a peck; they put the small ones in the middle and sow the basket up, that you cannot see them till they are opened. They are very stout men, but very lazy and dirty; the women do all the work and carry the loads, and when they sell, the men take the money, and carry the children: they ask one herring for everything they get for sale, if it is not worth two pence, that is, one shilling; they will not take sixpence nor halfpence, they like new money. We have plenty of money here, one pound notes and cheques; here is two tons weight of gold landed here to open a bank. The first sermon preached by the primitives, on Easter Sunday, by a man from Bath. I heard a missionary preaching to the natives: we could not understand anything but the natives had been taking too much whipe havo of the pokeeys, that is, whipe havo is spirits, and pokeeys white men. I like the country very well. I had a master offered me 8s. per pair for making high shoes. I never found it so hot in June in England as it was here in February. I was in the wood cutting timber to build my house: here are three fresh water-brooks running nearly all round the place; all the houses are built round by the water; the wood and timber runs the same rounds and clay close to it: the town acres are given out. There is a kind of wild plum in

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the wood; the gooseberry is something like the acron. Be sure and tell the people to keep out of the sun crossing the line. We arrived at Nelson a fortnight before the Lloyds. Here is plenty of goats, and dogs, and rats. If any should come, let them bring some green tea, oatmeal, nutmegs, ginger, carraways, and cheese; they may bring what luggage they like. I might have brought half a ton or more. I shall do a great deal better here than at Wootton Bassett,

JAMES HARPER.

CLIMATE AND RESOURCES.

Extracts from a Letter dated Nelson, 27th April, 1842.

"Now, remember, I am not writing to you any humbug whatever, nor giving things the smallest possible bias, but describing them exactly as they appear to myself. I think we are exceedingly fortunate, and my reasons for thinking so are as follows: --In the first place, we shall have no difficulty in finding 200,000 acres of fine land within a reasonable distance of the town: in the second place, because we have a most beautiful climate: third, because, at the same time that we have a good deal of open land, we have abundance of timber: fourth, because we have abundance of coal, limestone, and iron stone.

First, the land to be given out will be, in the first place, about 60,000 acres of, generally speakings rich alluvial soil, up the valley of the river Waimea, near the mouth of which the town is situated: second, the rest in Coal Bay, where the lime, coal, and ironstone are found. With regard to the quality of the land, a great deal is first-rate; some of it will require little labour in preparing for crops.

As regards the climate here, I never saw anything more delightful, or a greater contrast to Port

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Nicholson. Instead of being tormented with winds here, we have absolutely almost too little wind, if such a thing is possible; there is always a delicious freshness in the air, most different from the climate of Australia. (The writer had also been there.) Some crops, such as pease, cabbage, and turnips, we shall be able to grow all winter; and as to grass, it will, I apprehend, be more luxuriant in winter than in summer. The effect of all this upon farming operations is not to be overlooked. As regards the timber, we have a great variety for the purposes of house building, and various sorts which are known to make beautiful furniture, besides other sorts well adapted for ship building. There is also coal in great abundance in Coal Bay. The limestone and ironstone are both first-rate. Our population at present amounts to 1700, and we know of several ships which are expected immediately. The general appearance of the settlement at present is that of a pic-nic upon a gigantic scale--tents and cottages perched about in all directions, amid groves of trees, and upon the banks of streams. There is, as yet, very little division of labour. Wages are at present ruinously high; a common labourer cannot be had under 6s. a-day, carpenters 12s., and sawyers 15s. Of course, while this lasts very little can be done, but when we have more emigrants labour will certainly become more reasonable, though never perhaps so low as at home. It is a splendid country for the working classes; and though food at present is dear, whenever its resources are called into play, with our climate and soil, every sort of vegetable will be produced in the greatest abundance.--May 5th. The population increases rapidly. In another year I expect we shall have 4000. I have been up to see the valley of the Waimea, and have been delighted with it. There is a great extent of the richest soil, and a great deal of it will be brought into cultivation

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at an outlay of not more than £3 per acre. The system of emigration pursued by the New Zealand Company appears to me to have a sure basis, and only wants a good field to be tried on, and that it will find here. We shall yet see considerable things done in Nelson.'"*--Edinburgh Advertiser, Jan. 27, 1843.

From CAPTAIN ARTHUR WAKEFIELD, R.N. Nelson, April 29th, 1842.

"We are getting on wonderfully well, and expect a run upon us from England. The land must be prevented from being sold to absentees, except at a premium, or the progress of the place will be much checked.

Revans has been here, and I expect he will give a good account of the place. He sold a part of a cargo from Sydney pretty well, and bought a herd of cattle, and established a station or dairy; so I suppose we shall have him over again shortly.

The satisfaction which has prevailed since the distribution of the town acres is remarkable, and I am persuaded the accounts which go home will be so good that it will cause a run on the wheel. The most valuable part of the town, and the easiest let, is all that north of Trafalgar-square, and south-west of the river; the whole of Burnham is also good, and easily let, as the soil is excellent, and is richly timbered. This is north-east of the river. The water frontages on Wakefield and the Haven road are generally steep, and have only their frontages available, which makes them less valuable than flat acres in a worse position. All that part through which Hill-street runs, and even to the southward of it, is also very good. The immediate neighbourhood of the square is valuable all round, but more to the northward. Tuckett has chosen well for the Company and for absentees, and

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indeed assisted many honestly who asked his advice; there were not a great many absentees for selection, hut they have generally not given any other powers, which is pernicious.

I have commenced building a house, or rather cottage, with three rooms, but I can really say I have felt very little inconvenience from a tent; the wind sometimes shakes it, but I have never felt cold in bed, nor have I been wet. The season ought to be now far enough advanced to make every body glad of a house and fire, but to-day the thermometer is at seventy-four, and quite a summer's day. We may now say we know the weather for eight months out of the year, and I think I never spent eight months of such pleasant weather.

Our population is decidedly good, democratic enough, and will show it when we get a corporation."

From a Gentleman at Nelson to his Father in Warwickshire.

16th May, 1842.

"As for myself, I have had nothing but good luck since I came here; I never passed a happier time than I do now. The bricklayer has finished a mud house for himself close to me, upon my land. I think he will do well. H------ and C------, his wife and child are all well. C---- is saving money. He says he landed with 3s. only. He has built a tolerably comfortable house, and put some furniture into it. He shewed me a double handful of silver which he had saved, and he said his wife had some as well, and they are living close together; they are both careful and industrious, and will do well.

20th June.--Every thing jogs on very pleasantly with me. I am just going to build a cottage. You would be amused with our buildings; a great proportion of them are made with boards; mine will

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be made with perpendicular poles (or frame-work) with mud between; a good three-roomed cottage with weather-boards, costs about £100. Provisions are dear, but declining in price: I expect we shall soon have pork at about half its present price, and I expect that poultry will be exceedingly cheap. Domestic fowls in summer live principally upon grass-hoppers, and locusts: pigs are kept in good growing condition upon fern root. Potatoes are generally about £4.4s. per ton. P------ continues to live near to me; his wages are 8s. for a short day. I suppose he will be able to get a good deal more in long days. C---- and H------ are working away furiously, and I think are sure to get on well; they have taken an acre of land for a garden, for which they pay £7 a-year. We have almost always delightful weather. I expected last week we were going to have a good deal of wet, but have had very little. The nights are rather cold, but with a stove I keep myself comfortably warm. Why, I can scarcely imagine, but it seems to be the almost constant employment of many of my female acquaintance to grumble; the men,however,generally like the country. I am delighted with it, and the more I see of it the better I like it. We have had several accidents with shipping, occasioned mostly by carelessness. You would be astonished at the extraordinary number of rats we have, the places swarm with them; they are, however, being fast destroyed, or driven away. Ferrets would be very acceptable, we have at present only two in the place. Dogs, pigs, and goats abound. We have just started a library, and a scientific institution, which I think will go on well; there are a considerable number of subscribers to it, but people are at present too busy to pay much attention to such pursuits.

S. H-- is a farm labourer and tailor. C------ is a gardener."

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Extract from a letter from MR.ROBERT BODDINGTON, to Mr. W. BODDINGTON, Coventry.

Nelson, 28th May, 1842.

We reached Port Nicholson, in New Zealand, in twenty weeks after leaving England. You cannot have any idea what raptures we were in at the sight of land, and more so as it was the land of our adoption. We lived well on board of ship. We stopped at Port Nicholson four days, when we started to find Port Nelson; we found it after four days' sail. I forgot to tell you that we went on shore at Port Nicholson, and saw Jonathan Mann, Miles, Edwards, Jeffs, and Tandy. They are all, with the exception of Edwards, doing well. We were put on shore at Port Nelson. There was not above half a dozen houses in the place. We slept in the fern, with a couple of blankets over us the first night. So here we were 18,000 miles from my native place, without a pound among us, and no shelter, nor any place to lay our heads; but we were in excellent spirits. The Company gave us a fortnight's provision; we slept in a tent the next night, and were told to go and make choice of land to build a house of our own upon. We soon found a good spot to build on; we went to work gaily; went into the wood, which was close to the spot, with my axe cut down some trees, carried them across the river, which is not above ancle deep in some places, dug holes to put them in, set them up, and went to work in good earnest; and in one month got the house ready to go into. We filled the sides with fern first, and then after we had taken the fern away, and filled between the posts with good pipe clay, we have now as good a house as any in Nelson belonging to any of the emigrants. We have two good windows and a good door, and I am having a brick chimney built. One window is occupied by my wife's shop, and the other by watches

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which I have for sale, and to be repaired and cleaned. When we got into the house, me and Barton went to work on the roads belonging to the Company. We received good wages and it was easy work; we received (weekly) twenty one shillings and our rations, which are 10 lbs. flour, 10 lbs. meat, 4 oz. tea, 1 lb. sugar, each of us. There was no person in this colony which could clean or repair a watch, so I went into the watch-jobbing with a good heart and determination. I soon got a watch for cleaning, and then I mastered repairing. I can mend chains, and put springs in, both pendant and main. I have done several patent levers. I have used almost all the few things that your son William gave me. I have for a watch glass, mending a chain, for main spring, for pendant spring, and for cleaning and for a pair of old hands --. I am obliged to charge a good price for every thing I do, or else they would not think it done well. You will send me two gross of glasses, a good quantity of hands, pendants, and main springs, and a few verges, and all other jobbing things; I will allow you 25 per cent. I have sold that old watch which I gave £1. for in England, for ------. I could sell those verge watches, which you manufactured at ----, for £5 or £6. You may send me some of them if you think proper. The Australian Bank will open on the first of June. I shall open an account with them. You will not receive any money till twelve months after you send the goods, the distance is so great. I wish you had come and brought a good stock with you--you would have saved a fortune in three years. I shall be ruined if you do not send me the glasses and springs.

My wife has opened a grocer's shop, with every prospect of doing well. I bought 2 cwt. of soap, 2 cwt. of sugar, 100 feet of glass, and almost every other article, and we have a good run of business. I pay for everything on delivery.

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I must now give you an account of New Zealand. It is a very mountainous country, well watered and very fertile. I cannot give you a better account than that I can stand at my own door, for my house is beautifully situated--about two hundred yards at the back runs a delightful fresh water river, abounding in fish. Close to that is one of the finest woods in the world. You see I could stand at my own door, and see the river, the woods, the sea, and the mountains, some of them so high that they are covered with snow all the year. The country is covered with fern, some of it twelve to fourteen feet high. I believe that Chambers's Information for the People gives a true account of New Zealand, as far as I know. I find my gun very useful to me. When we first came in, I went into the woods close to our house, and could shoot half a dozen pigeons in two hours; they are as large as an English fowl. I have just come home with twenty. The natives are a poor, half-naked, inoffensive race; strictly honest, and very religious. I have sent Mr. Edward Ellice's letter to Mr. Sheppard. He is in the other island, 300 miles from us. I expect to hear from him every day. I shall not give up my trade unless he gives me a place of £300 a-year, and then I would employ somebody in the shop. Simonds, and Wagstaff, and Lewis, live near to us. Stanton and Tunnicliffe are just arrived by the ship Clifford.

Carpenters get twelve shillings a-day, sawyers get more than that--labourers get six shillings a-day. People work from seven in the morning till five in the evening, and nobody works after twelve on Saturdays.

Your affectionate brother,
ROBERT BODDINGTON.

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From a letter received from Nelson by MRS. CATHERINE TORLESSEof Stoke, by Nayland,

Nelson, June 9th, 1842.

"We are all pleased with our place and prospects, and every thing is going on well; we have pretty well got over the first evils of colonizing. I am sitting in a small room, it is true, but as snug as one of yours, with a good coal fire in the grate; we have good bread, fresh butter and milk, mutton, poultry, if you choose to be extravagant, pigeons, and fish occasionally, as it is at present out of season.

William has just fenced in three quarters of an acre in front of my cottage, and we are going to put in about twenty fruit trees, which I have just received from the gardens at Kew, all alive. We have two or three schools on foot, and a library, and a literary and scientific institution; several brick houses in course of erection, and a number of respectable wooden ones. Upon the whole, for a colony, I think we have a moral population: it is pleasing on Sunday to walk among the cottages, and to see the cleanly appearance of the people and children. There is a Sunday-school, consisting of seventy or eighty children, got up entirely by the people themselves. Divine Service has been performed every Sunday but one since we landed. * * * is in good health, and seems to take to the business of colonizing very well,--her husband is a treasure! I hope to get them out on a fifty acre farm before long."

From MR. FRANCIS JOLLIE, to WILLIAM BLAMIRE, Esq., London.

Nelson Haven, June, 17th 1842.

MY DEAR SIR,

We are progressing here, upon the whole, very satisfactorily; the town acres have been delivered

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now two months, and many of the settlers are comfortably ensconced upon them; though perhaps the majority are yet in the transition state, building, or preparing to build, like myself. Building materials, however, are all excessively dear and scarce; bricks have been made from the first --earth, for the purpose, of a capital kind, abounding all over the place; but as yet there is no mortar to be had, which, along with the high price of the bricks (£3 a thousand) and carriage, very much retards the erection of houses of that description; wood ones are, therefore, chiefly seen: a few mud ones have been put up, and more would be, but for the season, which has lately been rather unfavourable for that sort of stuff, heavy rains sometimes falling for three or four days together almost incessantly. After all, however, we have little reason to complain of the weather or the climate. The general character is remarkably good. Outbreaks of wind and rain occur occasionally, last long sometimes, and are sufficiently violent, especially for those in a comparatively unsheltered state; but it is the time of year when we may expect such weather, and then the long intervals of steady, unbroken, glorious, sunny weather are an ample compensation for the occasional fits to the contrary. We have here travellers over almost all parts of the world, and by them, and all reasonable people, it seems allowed that one may live and enjoy existence here as much--so far as weather and climate are concerned--as any where else almost, however favoured: and certain it is, we have the best of it relatively to the other settlements in the island--have less wind, less rain, and a finer, steadier, sky.

Provisions, like building materials, and every thing else here, are just now very high--butter, (salt) we have hardly any fresh, and none sold, is 2s. 6d. and 3s. per lb.; bread 1s. 1d. the two lb.

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loaf; flour 6d. and 8d. a lb.; cheese, (good) 2s. 8d. and 3s. 3d.; pork, (fresh) from 8d. to 9d. generally, but never equal to English; potatoes, perhaps the most reasonable of all in price, about 1d. a pound, though usually sold by the native basket, which does not by any means preserve a uniformity of size or weight; turnips, (native) much the same as potatoes, and nearly as plentiful and good; beef is scarce, though plenty of cattle have been imported, and high, about 1s. and 1s. 2d.; mutton 1s., and always to be had, and of very good quality, the sheep thriving very well on the hills, though the pasture appears very poor, and the ground rather too wet just now. For a week or two, we had the prospect before us of a total stop to our supplies of bread and flour: but a few days ago, three or four vessels arrived from Port Nicholson and Sydney, which have stocked the market again with the latter article, and we may now daily expect the bakers will reduce materially the price of the former: at 1s. 1d., of course, it was starvation price, no poor man could get bread; potatoes had to take its place on his trencher, and very much against the grain, of course; for John Bull of the labouring class has not left old England to fare worse than he did there--certainly not with good will to adopt Paddy's diet. In other respects, so far as wages and work go, his expectations have hitherto not been far abroad. The latter since the land was given out, has been abundant and the former very high. Common labourers are £1. 10s. a week, and here and there, more; whilst mechanics, carpenters, and others of that class, have invariably, almost from the beginning, had 12s. a day of nine hours.

The suburban or accommodation lands are, the greater part of them, expected to be distributed in August, and many of the settlers are now just waiting for that to get into the country and commence farm-

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ing operations. The prospects in that way are very favourable; the land, generally, being esteemed good, and situated advantageously with reference to the town. Some of it, I am afraid, will be far too hilly; which is the great drawback upon the whole country, as I think; and some, by consequence, too low and swampy. For this latter, however, labour and capital will do great things; but these, no doubt, will be required in sufficiently large measure, in many cases.

We have not many settlers here, that is, actual purchasers of land; but some of them are very substantial; and we look for a great accession to the number so soon as the advantages of the settlement are known at home. Undoubtedly, and I speak as disinterestedly as possible, those advantages are great, both positively and relatively to the rest of New Zealand. I think there can be little doubt that the plan will succeed. We have discovered coal and limestone in great quantities, and of excellent quality, at the other side of the bay, about seven hours' sail from Nelson; and though little has been done with them as yet, they lie at the root of our future prosperity.

I am, my dear Sir,
Very truly yours,
FRANCIS JOLLIE.

From MR. D. MOORE, who went out to New Zealand as a Master Builder, to his friends in Yorkshire.

Nelson, 19th June, 1842.

DEAR BROTHERS AND SISTERS,

Now that I have arrived at my place of destination, I take the opportunity of again writing to you. I wrote to you from the Line, and gave a short account of part of the voyage. We entered Cook's Straits on the 22nd March, but to my morti-

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fication, were driven back again, and, in consequence of the heavy gales and contrary winds, did not gain. Port Nicholson till the 30th: this is a fine harbour, but a very bad one to enter. No one landed at Wellington but a few passengers who remained there, and the captain. On the following morning we left for Nelson, and I felt rather disappointed when I found that it was on the South Isle, for I heard a very unfavourable account of it; but I was soon relieved from anxiety, by finding Port Nelson much easier to enter than Port Nicholson had been. We landed on Sunday, the 2nd of April, after a voyage of just 150 days. Upon the whole, I had a prosperous though rather a tedious voyage, very agreeable, leaving out the exceptions. Some families who have come out here, have certainly done their country a service by leaving it, they look like "No. 1" on a mile post. Temporary buildings had been erected for the married people, but the single men had not where to lay their heads. Being tired of strolling about, I, and another young man, took a "sweet repose" on the beach; in the morning I aroused my companion, and we took a walk over the hills, and here we found a few cottages and a beautiful stream of water. I asked one of the women to lend us a pitcher, which she kindly did, and brought us soap and a towel; and here we enjoyed and felt much improved by our primitive wash. On hearing that we had only come on shore the day before, this good woman invited us to breakfast, and I can assure you we accepted the invitation with pleasure. I care not who may boast of the hardships they have had to undergo in these new colonies, I have had my share so far. For the first fortnight, I was scarcely ever dry, in consequence of having the goods to land; but as wharfs are now being made, this difficulty will be in a great measure obviated. I had to sleep just when and where I could, sometimes with my

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clothes on, but after all I never caught the slightest cold. Winter has commenced, and very much resembles your September, a rainy day now and then, with cold mornings and nights, but it is certainly a fine winter. Nelson is a beautiful place, and from what I can learn, is very superior to Wellington; the town is situated on a fine piece of level land, which opens to the sea; and the background consists of lofty hills, from which flow fine rivers, which run through the town land. I believe the suburban land is very fertile. I am sorry I was not more sanguine about this country, for every thing surpasses my utmost expectation; the only drawback is, the land-proprietors want such high rents, say from 7s. to 20s. per foot for frontage; if this is continued I am afraid it will have a tendency to curtail the prosperity of the settlement. I have erected a small house, but wood is rather scarce and dear at present. I have to cook out of doors: this is the first house I ever built without plumb-rule or square. I shall have a better house by and by, as bricks and wood are becoming more plentiful. Some provisions are very dear, and others moderate; but as our land becomes cultivated, and as we have large importations of cattle from Australia, I expect we shall soon have a reduction. Wages are very high, and are likely to continue so. I have lately contracted for the erection of two buildings, and shall shortly commence operations. My brother John would do well if he was here, and so would H. Miller; please tell him so, for stone, lime, coal, &c. are in abundance. A person with a small capital would do much better than in England. Those who come thinking of being gentlemen, without any exertion on their part, had much better stop at home, for nothing but straight forward perseverance will obtain the desired end. If any of my friends think of coming out, I should recommend them to come as soon as possible, and I should in

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all cases give preference to a private ship. You will find the following articles of great service on the voyage: flour, oatmeal, tea, coffee, sago, pearl-barley, preserved fruits and milk, lemonade, soda, acid, wine, spirits, and warm and light clothing. And now I can only add, I wish you were all here to enjoy the same freedom I do. I can take my gun out into the woods without fear of molestation, and at a short distance find birds in abundance; such as ducks, pigeons, partridges, &c. and all of the first plumage. Our rivers abound with trout and eels, which are very delicious. I have not seen anything in the shape of reptile since I came; the vegetables look luxuriant even in the face of winter. I have not tried my garden seeds yet, and do not intend to do so until spring. But after all the inconvenience I have suffered, the parting with friends, the tossing and rocking, the hungry days and stormy nights, 1 would still come here, if I knew beforehand of all I should have to undergo. I feel quite satisfied with the choice I have made, and conclude by wishing you many happy days, and with my kind love to you, and to all my friends,

I remain, dear brothers and sisters,
Your very affectionate brother,
D. MOORE.

THE WAIMEA VALLEY.

[The following letter, on the geological and general character of the Waimea, appears in the Nelson Examiner, addressed to the Editor.]

SIR,

A few particulars respecting the geological and other features of the plain of the Waimea might be the means of drawing the attention of the scientific observer towards their interesting character.

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For the most part, every stone that is found within it is a pebble. Large quantities of shells are scattered in numerous heaps over its surface. The rocks which jut out on the higher portions of the neighbouring hills, fragments of which have found their way to the plain, are of sand-stone formation, and are full of impressions of the commoner kinds of marine shells. Of these, the kind commonly called the cockle is the most abundant; and almost every bit of stone, however small, is, in some portions of the valley, marked with it. The rocks and stones are sometimes found, not merely with impressions of shells, but obviously altogether composed of the actual substance of the shell itself. This is particularly the case on the hills, which, the higher one ascends, the more abundant these remains become.

A most singular feature presents itself near the banks of the river. After receding a short way from the edge of the stream, the plain suddenly becomes elevated about three or four feet. A level platform then succeeds, preserving this additional height. This second plain is similarly terminated by an abrupt bank or precipice, which rises about twenty or thirty feet. On the top of this a new plain commences, which is also limited by a third ascent of eight or ten feet. The valley then goes on uninterruptedly to the sea-shore, forming one gradual slope, not distinguishable by the eye from a perfect level. It is only in the upper part of the valley that three successive banks are to be met with, as they all soon unite. The single bank may, however, after this, be traced for miles, gradually lessening in height as it approaches the bay. The bank itself is a slope rising at an angle of about 45 deg. It is singularly laid out in a series of curves (formerly bays), approaching a semi-circle in their outline.

The valuable land above this bank constitutes the bulk of the valley. On it are found, occasionally,

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remains of large timber in the last state of decay; sometimes broken by time into several distinct parts, forming a long row of detached fragments, which were evidently at one time portions of the same great tree, and which have been left undisturbedly to the long process of quiet decay. Some emphasis may be laid on this apparently trifling fact, showing, as it does that the plain has not been flooded for very many years. Indeed, from evidence which an inquirer on the ground cannot dispute, it is clear that but an extremely small portion of the plain, and that adjoining the river, is at present liable to be overflown.

On inspecting a portion of the little cliff by the river's side, I discovered no less than three successive layers of soil, and two of intermediate beds of gravel; thus indicating a series of changes which this valley has undergone. The bed of the great river is covered with pebbles of granite and a stone resembling lime-stone. Neither of these have yet been found within the limits of the plain, but of course are to be found somewhere farther up the stream. On the sea-shore, and at the mouth of one of those numerous streamlets which flow into it from the plain, I found a piece of petrified wood of considerable bulk. From this it may, perhaps, be conjectured that this stream possesses the petrifying principle.

Perhaps those who take an interest in such speculations as an inspection of this noble valley would naturally suggest, would find it desirable in some respects to visit it as left by the hand of nature, and will therefore hasten to view it before its whole length and breadth is upturned by the unsparing hand of agriculture.

I have the honour to be. Sir,
Yours most respectfully,
W.

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From MR. WILLIAM CULLEN, formerly of Huish Episcopi, near Langport, Somerset.

Nelson, 3rd July, 1842.

MY DEAR MOTHER, SISTERS, AND BROTHERS,

I again write to you. being the third time since I reached New Zealand. It is with feelings of the greatest pleasure that I tell you New Zealand answers my most sanguine expectations in every thing except the land, which decidedly is not so good as I expected to find it; at least here is a great deal of bad land; and yet I begin to think higher of that than I first did. I have seen wheat on fern land (which I at first thought good for nothing) better than, or at least I may say as good as any I have seen on the best land in England. The wood land is of the richest description, trees growing to an immense size and height on it; I doubt not but I may get good land, as the greatest number of choosers are for people in England, whose agents choose by the map, without much regard to the quality of the soil. My town acre is very rich, being partly wood and partly fern, the fern growing fifteen or sixteen feet high upon it. It has a crystal spring of the purest water in the centre of it, of a horse-shoe form, with an arbour of beautiful shrubs round it. I believe I could readily get £200 for it; but it is worth more to me. The acre next to mine is let at £30 per year for a brick yard; that and mine contain the best clay for bricks of any in the town, but that was chosen long after mine. The natives had their potatoes on my acre. Wide-awake (as the natives call Captain Wakefield) gave them liberty to plant it when he came here. The stalks of the potatoes were up to my chin all but an inch or so, as I stood upright. Their mode of culture is very bad; they take a potatoe planting stick, and tread it into the earth, pull it out and in with the potatoe, and

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poke them out with a stick, in the same manner. The only preparation is to burn the fern and sticks, and put in the crop, and they do no more until they dig up the potatoes.

I must now state a little of George Gillard's and my own proceedings since we have been here; we have stuck to sawing (and well he acts at it.) We have earned about a £100 since we have been here, and have spent about £20 in living. I have bought two cows at £20 each. A gentleman from Bath, Mr. Bartlett of Pitney, and myself bought six, and drew for choice; I had the first choice and the last choice, so the one is worth £30, and the other not so much. Mr. Bartlett is to be dairyman for all of us.

The doctor of the Fifeshire has given me his accommodation section for three years, and I am to choose it myself; his number of choice is 289; I intend letting it. Bartlett is going to have some of it, and going there with the dairy; I shall keep some of it myself, but go to my own to carry on the farming as soon as convenient. We shall crop my town acre, the crop of which will be very valuable, and the ground is not difficult to clear.

George Gillard gets on uncommonly well, and does not give his mind to drink, like many young men that come out here where spirits are cheap; he gives his mind to work, and is very steady. I should be glad if Walter Wallis would come out here, I would give him five shillings per day, and let him have ground enough to keep his family. What a change it would be for his little family to be here, where they could live in plenty. I should also like my brother Joseph to come, but I should not wish him to come till I can spare the money for a cabin passage for him. I doubt not but I soon shall be able to do it, and more than that; when once I get a little settled to have a spring crop, I fear not but my

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house will be the house of plenty, and that plenty sweetened with the idea that there are no tithe-collectors, no tax-gatherers, &c, here. I tell you, my dear friends, I shall not try to run before I can walk, and so let my good success ruin me, like fools in general; some venture more, and may by chance get rich quicker, but I like the safe side, I will proceed slow, but sure. I doubt not but, with the blessing of God, I shall soon be in affluence; I fear it not; this, my dear mother, is no false hope, no fond dream without any foundation; it is no more than any industrious man with carefulness could do.

Henry Feven of Pitney does well, is careful and industrious, and has been in constant work, at good wages ever since he has been here. The regular price for labour is 6s. per day, but he earns more.

Since writing the above, I have an addition to my live stock, my best cow having calved; she gives about eight quarts of milk per day, and what the calf does not drink, we sell at 1s. per quart; this puts me in mind of the goose that laid golden eggs. We have also several hens, and hens' eggs are 6d. each; fowls cost but little in keeping, and that is in the winter; they are 12s. a couple.

My partner with the cows is a Mr. Saunders of Bath, he has brought out a flour mill, he is a teetotaler, and a man of good capital, and very enterprising. Last night I had an invitation to spend the evening with the Surveyor-General, so you see I am respected here. Yesterday the natives brought in cabbages at a shilling each, and soon sold them, they were very fine ones; I and George have 2000 plants coming on, and we intend getting a great quantity for the late year, as our acre will stand the heat of summer better than almost any other acre in the town; and we shall then, I hope, have cabbages when they are scarce, and so fetch a good price. I wish James Cullen had not turned coward at start-

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ing, but had come out here with me. If he had seen a splendid ship riding proudly through the rolling, dashing waves, would he then have been afraid to enter it? Oh, what a magnificent sight is a ship seen dashing through the waves, like a fierce sea-horse, at fifteen miles an hour, her tall masts reaching the clouds, carrying stores, provisions, and merchandize to the remotest part of the world! James would no doubt have done well here, but I never expect to see him here unless, by some supernatural power, this country should be placed down by the side of poor old John Martin's; therefore give my kind love to him, and all my old acquaintances and friends; I do not mention any in particular, (as for the moment I write, I may forget those as dear to me as those I mention) but I think of them at all times with regret;--not that I regret coming, quite the reverse; and if any think so they are quite mistaken. As I said before, any one that comes here, and is careful and industrious, may get rich,--yet persuade none; if they do not choose to come without persuasion, let them stop at home in happy poverty; it is much to leave home and friends, but worse to stop at home and be half starved. I shall not benefit by any one's coming, but I should be glad to see any one from home, and they that do not come, I hope, by the blessing of Almighty God, to return and see, and to comfort the declining years and gladden the heart of my poor old mother with comforts I have gained. I now conclude my long epistle, wishing you all well, happy, and in possession of every blessing this world will afford.

Believe me,
Your loving and affectionate son and brother,
WILLIAM CULLEN.

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From JAMES BARTON, to his Parents.

Nelson, July 9th, 1842.

We had to make for Port Nicholson, (Wellington), as we did not then know where Port Nelson was: we arrived safe at Port Nicholson in the last week in January. I had an opportunity of seeing the first settlement of the New Zealand Company (Wellington). I think Nelson much the best, as it is not so subject to high winds. I met with several Coventry people, an old school-fellow, for one ------; also a Mr.------, who is gaol-keeper and constable; a Mrs. ------; her husband was gone about ninety miles into the country to barter for pigs with the natives. I went ashore twice. I went some distance into the country, but could not get to the end of the wood over one hill; and the next was wood as far as the eye could reach. The town of Wellington is situate the same as Nelson--at the foot of the hills on the sea coast. We arrived at Nelson on the 9th of February, 1842, and found the Fifeshire in port.

I had saved a month's ration to bring ashore with me; we were received on landing by Captain Wakefield, the Company's agent for Nelson, who afforded us every accommodation in his power. We were supplied with two weeks' rations, and a large tent, until we had built our houses, or as they are more generally called by the native name (warries): the only work at first was building houses and making roads. I went to work on the 5th of March for the Company at making roads, which I shall keep at until I can get something better; there are three parties of us at the Haven road. This road is about two miles long, and will connect the port with the town along the beach. We work from seven till five, and leave off at twelve o'clock on Saturdays. Our wages are one guinea per week and rations, which are ten pounds of flour, ten pounds of meat, one pound of

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sugar, and quarter-of-a-pound of tea, which make our wages worth 33s. per week. You may be surprised to hear of my being at such heavy work as road-making, but you would be more surprised if you saw the strength I have gained since I have been in New Zealand. I have been by the sea-side at work about four months. There are several Coventry people and Warwickshire too.

Of the country and its inhabitants, &c, I have a great deal to say, but must reserve it for my next letter. The general appearance of the country is hilly and wooded--the streets are all evergreen. Our shortest day is passed, it was light from seven till five; the winter is mild, a short frost may come on a few hours before sunrise, but the days are as fine and warm as an English summer's day. I can stand on one of our highest hills and see rivers, hills and valleys, woods and forests, the sea, the port and town at a view. We have in the Colony plenty of clay, coal, slate, limestone, ironstone, marble, &c. There is a great quantity of wood even on the tops of the highest hills; also a plenty of fish and birds; there are some wild pigs; rats are very numerous, any one coming out here cannot do better than bring some rat-traps; 1 paid three shillings and sixpence for one. They are very much thinned since we came. The New Zealand Company have acted most honourably in every particular. We have a newspaper published here; a chapel, a public school-room, and a library are building. The natives I can speak of in the highest terms--thanks to God, and the missionaries, many of them are religious--they are turned from cannibals to Christians. There are not many natives in this colony. I must now conclude. If any of my relations or friends come out here I will render them every assistance in my power. A Temperance Society is formed, and a Rechabite tent is opened.

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I have sent three newspapers to Coventry, in which you will see the price of provisions. Any one willing to work will do well here. I am twenty pounds better in pocket since I came. If please God we live, I shall see you all again.

I remain your loving and affectionate son,
JAMES BARTON.

Extracts from a Letter from the REV. CHARLES W. SAXTON to Mr. BROMFIELD.

Nelson, July 13th, 1842.

"Of my own land I have let only one town acre at £10 a year to three persons, with a purchasing clause of £100 (a thing much sought after here) and one suburban section to three men at £20 with a purchasing clause of £200. Mr. Somes's man, John, and a Mr. Redwood, a large farmer, near Lord Talbot's, now settling in the suburban sections, after remaining at Nicholson about five weeks, give the most decided preference to the Nelson districts. I got some carrots out of my garden this morning: very few have been raised. I get potatoes every day; parts of the acre grow them very middling, and parts very good, for there is the greatest diversity of soil within a few square yards. I have for some time got also pease or beans generally every day; those which succeeded produced very abundantly, but in many places they came to nothing at all, either from the poverty of the soil, the pernicious juices of the fern root, or from want of moisture, as the fibres of the fern root make the soil something like peat, and exceedingly porous so as to dry up very quickly; a great change will no doubt take place when this fibre is decayed. I have a small patch of vetches (given to me by Mr. Grindlay) which have grown remarkably well, and have actually killed the fern which grew up among them. They are kept for seed which will

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be nearly the only seed in the colony, and very valuable. I hope that people will bring out a good deal of the seed, as it will enable them to keep a cow confined by cutting the green vetches. There is no food for cattle here at certain times of the year, unless they roam over large tracts, and the New South Wales cows are so wild, that they can hardly be caught to be milked.

On the subject of your Cousin, I should say, let him bring out money in preference to goods, and when he does bring it, let him keep it as long as he possibly can. Nothing is scarce at this time, which is saleable at Nelson. A person may be lucky to bring out an article just as it is wanted, but it is a chance.

When a settler brings out goods here, he has nowhere to put them. Mine were on the beach one night, in two divisions, with a watchman at each, exposed to a most violent rain; one portion was covered with tarpauling which proved leaky. I received some damage, but not very considerable, perhaps several pounds. I think a person is pretty safe with butter, if it arrives here good: it is retailing now at 2s. 8d. per lb. The expense of moving goods at first in a settlement is enormous. The high price of labour here is not from its scarcity, or the value of it, but because there is a kind of tacit agreement not to work under certain prices. The wages you hear of are not the natural ones, and working men find great difficulty in getting them. They get them occasionally, and live idle the rest of their time, a most mischievous policy to themselves and the colony. These colonies abound in store-keepers, who make very large profits, but have very little business. I recommend every one to settle in the country, and cultivate; but they may look for bad crops the first year, unless they cultivate wood or swamp land, which are surprisingly fertile. Great

* See page S3.

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quantities of land in New Zealand are very unfertile. I try to instil into people's minds the advantage of keeping sheep, with a view to send wool to England: it is the only way of making a fortune, that I see as yet. I do not think they will ever be able to work the flax cheaply enough. There are large plains of grass on the river Waimea which would feed sheep in quantities; at present there are cattle there; the fern land cannot feed sheep until the fern is destroyed--a matter of great difficulty. I do not know whether it would pay to cultivate fern land with a view to feed sheep. Turnips and vetches seem to grow here well. A Mr. Wallace here ploughs new land, and puts a crop into it, the owner finding seed at £10 per acre, and I rather think he proposes now doing it for his. A Mr. Duppa is said to have shipped a quantity of fine wool this season, but people are not at all alive to the importance which I attach to wool growing here. The only money here is brought by new settlers, and this soon leaves the colony entirely for goods from England or Sydney: there are, no doubt, great capabilities in this country, but they are not as yet developed. A great many people complain here, but rather unreasonably. A carpenter is very much grieved because he cannot get 12s. a-day, a labourer because he cannot get 6s., and a storekeeper because he cannot get 50 or 100 per cent: the cultivator of the ground, because certain of his crops fail the first year. But the truth is, that a settlement cannot thrive without all its members labouring very hard. The work to be got through is prodigious; and I should say there is a vast deal of idling in these colonies. You would expect that every labourer would get a little garden--the fact is, that a great many have none at all. The fencing is the great difficulty, which being left incomplete, all the produce is destroyed by bullocks, goats, and pigs.

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which are, to the great detriment of the settlement, allowed to roam unrestrained. If my dear wife had lived, I have no doubt that I should have been delighted with the mode of life; but as we were independent, our case would not be like that of others. A person should have a taste for a settler's life, or he or she would not like it. I think the life delightful for a person of independent means, and who has a strong taste for gardening, animals, and agriculture. With money you need not undergo the least hardships worth speaking of, and you can get almost everything you want from the commencement. All kinds of grocery, wines, and spirits are very much cheaper than in England.

I intend to leave New Zealand as soon as I have arranged for your house, for Sydney. If I have not arranged by that time, I shall leave New Zealand to start from Sydney in March, at which time I am informed that the finest vessels sail. My little boy is in the best health possible, with the exception of cutting his teeth which are just beginning to show. I hope he will get over it favourably. We have not had rain here of any consequence for some time, and the ground begins to show signs of drought. Mr. Reay, (now minister here), informs me that the natives say there will now be a great drought. The heat here is not very great, as it is always moderated by a sea breeze. At Wellington, it is always stated there is no wind here; the wind however here, is frequently very violent, and it seldom happens that there is none. One settlement tells lies of another most abominably. The swamps here dry up in summer; and a good deal of draining has been done by the Company's men, which is highly beneficial and effective. The place seems now very healthy. I wish I had delayed my departure from England some months, and my dear wife would have escaped the fever; her loss has been a

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sad loss to me. John has been engaged to take a series of drawings of Nelson, to be sent to England; if you see them published you may rely that they are fac-similes of the country. I sold my bull-calf the other day for £35, the progeny of my Durham cow I lost near the line, so that I do not lose much by the whole transaction. There are a good many rats here, a person introducing ferrets here would be deified after death; had my ferrets lived (I landed them both alive in New Zealand), I think I should have been tempted to make my fortune by turning rat-catcher. I bought a fine eel yesterday weighing 5 3/4 lbs. at 6d. per lb. I have many times lately bought a certain large fish from the natives for 1s., which has served me, the two servants and baby for about three days. The eel was caught by one of your tenants while working at draining for the Company. The eels are very good. I bought a parrot yesterday for eating for 6d.; some pork today at 8d.; the new potatoes are three-halfpence per lb. I bought some flour the other day at 15s. per cwt., it was of inferior quality, the best I think is about 25s. I get black sugar, which I make into treacle, to serve instead of butter, at 4 1/2 d. per lb. I drank some pretty good claret the other day, bought at 7s. 6d. per dozen. I enclose you a valuable sort of grass and a flower resembling English flax, only whiter and larger, I have two very good terriers with me, brought from England--they will kill rats and catch a pig, a very valuable quality in New Zealand, and keep away all thieves; baby is very affectionate to one of them, delighting beyond measure in pulling his nose and ears. The fleas here are very fine and numerous, &c. Most of the suburban sections lie in districts entirely destitute of natives, a great advantage; three or four people only have natives for servants. Mr. Reay has a native boy. I went a

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very pretty excursion with him the other day, to trace a rivulet; we travelled about a couple of hours up it on stones, in the streams there was a continued succession of small cascades, and over our heads an uninterrupted arch of trees growing on the steep banks on each side of us, all which looked very beautiful: we were obliged to return or wade onwards through the water, as there were now steep rocks on each side, which we could not pass. One of my servants has just made me a hat out of the New Zealand flax, it looks very well, the plat cost me 3s. I am bringing a small quantity of the flax to England, my hat looks very nice indeed. I tasted some tea the other day, made from the--[an indigenous plant, of which the name is illegible] which to me was rather execrable. Mr. Reay professes to like it. Great quantities of aniseed grow here wild, which is a valuable plant. The cattle are fond of it. Please give my best regards to your family, and my best love to all my family. I will do all I can here for your interest: and I think your speculation will prosper. In hopes to see you again, I am, dear Bromfield,

Yours very sincerely,
C. W. SAXTON.

Extract of a Letter received by MR. W. LITTLE, from a Settler at Nelson.

23rd August, 1842.

"550 of our Suburban Sections were distributed yesterday and to-day. After a careful and most laborious examination of all the districts with Mr. G------ and S------, an account of which accompanies this, I selected No.------, in the Motuaka district, which is on the other side of the Gulf, (distant by water about 20 miles) where, already a village is forming. It is by far the finest district I

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have seen in New Zealand; nay, it looks more like an English nobleman's domain;---rich valleys with gentle slopes, and woody knolls, dark groves of pine, apparently sloped by art, rivers and mountains streams, and every bush filled with songsters,--nay, everything that can charm the eye or captivate the senses. The section I have chosen is in Rewaka valley, and unquestionably the gem of the vale. It is about half a mile from the beach at high water mark, and the sections nearer the sea are of comparatively little value, being covered with swamp and rushes. The river Rewaka (from which the valley takes its name) a never failing stream of fresh water of considerable extent, runs right through my section, increasing of course, its value ten-fold. On its banks is the richest land in New Zealand,--all flat table land, and ready for the plough at once. Fern, the most luxuriant I have seen, six and eight feet high, with a mossy carpet of a sort of chickweed, wild cabbages, and sow-thistles, upon which the natives feed, with wild fuchsias in full bloom. At the top of the section is a small cluster of trees, principally evergreens, but sufficient for fencing and fuel; and at the back is a grove of valuable pines, consisting of kaikatea and totara. I am negociating with a party for the leasing of it, and if I do not come to terms with him, I shall have it well mapped, and divided as a township, into small lots, to suit small capitalists. At any rate, it cannot but do well."

From CAPTAIN ARTHUR WAKEFIELD, R. N.; Company's Agent at Nelson, to the Secretary.

Nelson, August 21th, 1842.
SIR,

I beg to announce the safe arrival of the Sir Charles Forbes in Nelson Haven on the 23rd instant.

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after a passage of 113 days from port to port. She landed all her passengers in good health, (with the exception of one woman and two children who died on the voyage) on the day of her arrival. The ship has been well managed throughout the voyage, and Captain Bacon has given general satisfaction. This arrival, with the account of the Bailey's reaching England, and the consequent commencement of emigration, has put fresh spirits into our population, although the demand for labour is not great in spite of wages being still at least 5s. a-day for labourers, and 10s. for mechanics. Flour is now selling at 18s. the 100 lbs., and sugar at £1. 16s.; salt meat is scarce at 8d., fresh pork 10d., and mutton 1s. 3d. I do not think that more than 4s. a-day should be held out to agricultural labourers, and 8s. to mechanics. I do not merely speak of the Nelson Settlement, but of the whole of New Zealand. Mechanics' wages are down to 7s. at Auckland, where they were a short time ago at 14s. This extreme change at Auckland is owing to the official expenditure having ceased, and there being few real settlers who employ labour. I have no fear of our labour soon finding employment, as 500 of the accommodation sections were distributed on the 22nd and 23rd instant. Several farms are already occupied and in process of occupation. There are about fifteen acres down in wheat, and there will be one hundred in turnips and potatoes this season, and I see no reason why, if reasonable expectation be realized, we should not have 2000 acres fairly in cultivation next season. This production will do more to render our state wholesome than any progress which has been made in the town, which is considerable. Several brick houses are nearly completed, and a spacious inn has been built; besides the streets are beginning in several instances to shew their form by the erection of frame buildings.

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The Bishop arrived here in the Government brig, on Sunday, and landed immediately, and preached after the afternoon service. He was well received by a numerous attendance; and on Tuesday an address, which had been drawn up the previous Saturday at a public meeting, was presented to his Lordship by a deputation appointed for the purpose. He expressed his satisfaction at seeing it, and paid the community some compliments on the progress of the Colony, which, he was pleased to say, would only be believed by seeing it. He pronounced himself the advocate of the Company's system of native reserves, and pledges himself to support it. He is gaining an influence over the Maories rapidly, and at present desires justice to be done them in the course of settlement, always keeping in mind the belief that it is possible to amalgamate the two races, and that the settlement of the islands by Europeans is for mutual benefit. In this desire and belief I think he will be heartily joined by the majority in this settlement. With respect to the Local Government, we have lately received authority to establish bonded stores; and the authority was dated early in June, though it did not arrive until the 14th of this month. The Police-Magistrate has also received instructions to give licences to pilots, and to select two names from among the residents for a harbour master. So far, the Governor has not been unmindful of us; but we still labour under the serious inconvenience of not having a court for the recovery of debts, and the not proceeding in the administration of the native reserves is also detrimental to our progress. I have this day chartered a small vessel to proceed to Coal Bay, in company with a party of surveyors, to arrange with the natives, and commence upon the surveys of the country lands. I hope in that district to find 60,000 acres of good land for cultivation, independent of mineral productions. We shall, therefore, in all probability.

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have a considerable number of rural sections distributed; and the coal trade likewise in operation next summer. The accommodation lands, I trust, will all be given out in December.

I have &c, &c,
ARTHUR WAKEFIELD.

From WILLIAM DENT, one of the labourers of the Preliminary expedition to Nelson.

Nelson, September 10th, 1842.

MY DEAR FATHER,

About a week ago, I received a letter from my dear wife, giving good account of you all. Thank God! I am in good health and doing very well. I have a good master, and though surveying is rough work, as I have to go through rivers and swamps, and climb up steep hills on my hands and knees, I like it very well.

How can you expect me to come home to England to make a slave of myself in my old age, when I can earn a good living here, with very little hard work, and save enough money, besides, to keep me when I am unable to work? The other women are all living comfortably with their husbands; but, however, my wife could come now if she choose, by applying to Mr. Alston, at the New Zealand House, Broad-street Building's, London. But she must make up her mind either to come directly, or to stop in England; for if she is not here in eighteen months, I shall very likely be gone away from here. I wish I could send you a brace or two of pigeons: I shot twenty in two hours the other day.

I will try and give you an account of the climate of New Zealand. In the summer months, that is from October to May, the days are hot, but not so overpoweringly hot as they are in England; the

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nights are rather cold, and very heavy dew falls. When it rains, which it does once in six weeks, a very heavy freshet comes down the rivers; but they very seldom overflow their banks. In the winter months there is more rain; the days are warm, but the nights very frosty and cold. The soil is very fine. There is a great quantity of wood here of all useful sorts. The hills are entirely covered with wood. It is a fine place altogether. The fault that I see is, that so many labourers come out, and so few gentlemen to employ them. Nelson is quite a town now.

I remain.
Your ever affectionate and dutiful son,
WILLIAM DENT,

'Extracts from a Second Letter from JAMES BARTON to his Parents.

Nelson, September 13th, 1842.

"As I have now been in the Colony of Nelson nine months, you will no doubt expect me to give some account of it; I will endeavour to give as short and true account of it as far as I know at present. Port Nelson is situate in Tasman's Gulf, Blind Bay, in the Middle Island. The town contains 1100 sections of one acre each. The suburban land consists of 1100 sections of fifty acres each, in the plains of the Waimea, Motuaka, and the Mousteri. The country land consists of 1100 sections of 150 acres each of fine wooded land, on the shores of Coal Bay, the valleys of Motupipi, Takaka, and the Orare. The winter is now over: we do not feel the cold after sun-rise, and only see snow on the tops of the mountains. There are many hills and mountains that are covered with verdure to their very summits, and in many cases thickly wooded. Brockhurst, and the rest of the Coventry people at Wel-

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lington are all well. Mr. and Mrs. ------ and family are all well. Mr. B. keeps a large shop in the retail trade, and has two houses, one of which he rents out. Mr. ------ has bought two acres of land for £35. Mr. ------ has been earning 12s. per day ever since he has been here. Mr. ------ is gaoler, and his son William is clerk to the Government Representative, H. A. Thompson, Esq. There is not one Coventry man here but what is doing well, and has a house of his own."

From MR. FRANCIS JOLLIE, to WILLIAM BLAMIRE, Esq. London.

Nelson, September 17th, 1842.

MY DEAR SIR,

We are going on here very well and steadily; half the suburban lands was given out a month ago, and already one or two farms are under partial cultivation. An old Scotchman, named Kerr, whom Captain Wakefield has set up on a farm of 100 acres in the Waimea district, has ten or twelve acres of wheat above ground; two or three more sown; and is now hard at work sowing barley, and oats, and potatoes. He has for very close neighbours two or three settlers, who are all doing something, and so far all doing well.

Captain Wakefield and a party of the settlers have just returned from Coal Bay, making final arrangements with the natives for the cession of the district, and locating upon it a party of surveyors. It is to form part of the country sections, and will form a valuable accession to our settlement. Coal and lime, and marble, and building stone may be got in any quantities; besides, it is believed, other mineral treasures of much value. I think the settlement will succeed, and perhaps better than any other yet planted in the country. We are not without

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hopes, indeed, that Nelson may become the seat of Government before long.

We are in daily expectation of the Thomas Harrison, 6 from London, which was to sail on the 25th May. The Sir Charles Forbes arrived here on the 22nd of last month, and is still in the harbour, though expecting to have sailed before this. I hope the Harrison will bring us plenty of settlers--and settlers with capital, as well as emigrants. What we chiefly want here now, is capital and enterprise. The Forbes men have, most of them, got employment; but it will not do for the next ship to bring us labour only, and no employers of labour, or very few, as was the case with the Forbes. Wages are still very high: labourers 28s., 30s., and 35s. per week; mechanics 10s. and 11s. per day. Prices of provisions are correspondingly dear, but I think there is rather a tendency to fall. Potatoes sell at from £10. to £12. for seed, and very good ones are grown in different parts of the island.

Believe me to be, my dear Sir,
Yours very sincerely,
FRANCIS JOLLIE.

From Mr.WILLIAM CULLEN, to ORLANDO REEVES, Esq., of Taunton, Somersetshire.

October 21st, 1842.

"I at first very much regretted buying land here, but I now think it is the best thing I ever did in my life. My town acre will let for thirty pounds a year, after I have put up a mud house on it twenty feet by thirteen, and ten feet high, which will cost me little except my own labour. I have growing on it barley, wheat, turnips, and cabbages, exceeding anything of the sort in England. I have also the turnip-radish sixteen inches round. Potatoes,

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as I have said before, are perfect weeds, but I do not think they will exceed those grown in England, even with the same cultivation. I have peas, vetches, &c, in my garden, and all looks well. This place being so near Sydney, and out of the Straits, will make it a most desirable place for settlement. Cattle and sheep have been brought here by the barque Eagle, in nine days, without losing one head of either; this makes cattle much cheaper here than at Wellington; being knocked about so long in the Straits in going to Wellington, a great many die, and the living are made to pay for the dead. The Eagle disposed of her cargo at an average of about £10 per head for cattle, and £1 for sheep. We have also coal and lime-stone; a coal company is formed, and mining is in active operation. Limestone is found close to the town. The climate I should think is second to none in the world, being much superior to England, and entirely free from the destructive winds of Port Nicholson;--you do not feel the languor here in the hottest day in summer that is felt in England on a warm sultry day. The air is very pure, and every one seems to have a good appetite;--many that never had their health before they came here are now perfectly healthy, and many of those that were healthy get stout; however, this is not the case with me, instead of getting fat I get quite the other way. Sawing is hard work, and not having my land I have stuck hard at it. Boards and scantling have sold at £1. 5s. per hundred feet until now, and we cut the timber on the roads, and it costs us nothing. On the whole I like it much, and I see no reason why it will not become one of the most plentiful and wealthiest places in the world. The rains come on regular in the spring; nothing can lie in the ground long after being sown; and the soil (especially the woodland) is immensely rich, and capable of supporting crops for a great

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many years without manure, and without failing for the want of it. The best land in England is not to be compared with it for fertility; any industrious man may soon become an independent man, as he can get a piece of land and live with all the economy of America, and still receive all the benefit, or more, of Australia for his surplus produce. But many come here thinking to get rich as if by magic, without doing anything, or having any money to spend, but they, of course, are mistaken. We have had a cargo of coal from Coal Bay, and it burns well, but it has a great deal of gas in it, which causes a smell, but I do not know whether a disagreeable one or not; however, they say that it is not.

Yours truly,
WILLIAM CULLEN.

From SAMUEL NEWPORT to the Rev. J. King, Rector of Bredenham, Bucks; the Rev. W. R. Johnson, of West Wycombe; and G. H. Dashwood, "Esq. of High Wycombe Park.

Nelson, 16th November, 1842.
To the Rev. I. King.
"RESPECTED SIR,

All of my family, with the families of my two brothers, landed here in safety, and good health, eleven weeks ago, and we like the country very much; but it is not at all the place for idle men, or those who cannot put up with inconveniences. I have agreed for the purchase of one acre of land near the town, for £20, to be paid for by instalments, which I hope soon to pay off. My two brothers have agreed for the purchase of one acre each, on the same terms as myself, and both like the country. We hope to get two crops a year from the land. William Ives and Isaac Smith are also doing well."

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To the Rev. W. R. Johnson.

"We received our bibles at Gravesend, and are much obliged for them and for your other acts of kindness to us."

To G. H. Dashwood, Esq.

"This is a very fine country. Most of us from Bucks have got on as well, or better, as almost any of the working men here, and we are not sorry we left England. Any industrious steady man who can bring out a little money to keep him till he can bring an acre of land into cultivation, is sure to do well. There are, however, too many mechanics here. Agricultural labourers seem to do the best of any sort of labourers in this colony. I hope you will let the neighbours see the contents of this letter."

I remain, Sir,
Yours very respectfully,
SAMUEL NEWPORT.

From ROBERT ROSS, a Baker at Nelson, to a Gentleman in London.

Nelson, 30th November, 1842.

DEAR SIR,

I have, according to promise, taken the liberty of writing you a few lines.--Perhaps long before this time you have condemned me for an ungrateful being, in forgetting the promise I made of writing to you; but my reasons were that I would not write you until I could let you know about the country.

After leaving Dartmouth, we had a very pleasant passage. The whole of us emigrants were, very much pleased with the treatment on board. On the 15th October, 1841, the good ship Arab arrived safe

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in Port Nicholson Harbour. After landing, I got engaged to a baker at 30s. per week, victuals for myself and wife included; in five weeks after, I purchased his business and got on rapidly; but upon the settlement of Nelson, I left Port Nicholson, and got the first start as baker here, owing to the kindness of Captain Wakefield, who aided me in all the difficulties I at first encountered. I have got on amazingly. I have now been able to build property to the amount of £500. At present I am baking about eighteen bags of flour weekly, but let this be no criterion for your general idea of the colony. We have a great number of respectable mechanics working on the roads at 14s. per week, and their rations. Provisions are very dear.

In my idea, Nelson is infinitely better than Port Nicholson for agriculture, as there is more level land about it and easier of access. I landed here on the 2nd February, 1842. There were then no houses excepting the Company's offices and immigration barracks; but now there are about 1000 houses, some of them very good. We have got about 2500 inhabitants, of whom about 500 are in the farming and coal districts. Too much praise cannot be given to Captain Wakefield for his noble exertions for the general welfare of the colony.

Trade is in a depressed state at present, on account of the drainage of money to Sydney and elsewhere, for provisions; but I have no doubt that when we can grow enough to keep ourselves, things will get better. I took an excursion into the country last Friday, and saw one farm with fourteen acres of potatoes in, besides six acres of barley and twelve of wheat: the two former looked well, but the latter rather sickly; but the farmer thought that next year he would succeed better.

The welfare of the colony now depends on a large arrival of monied landholders to cultivate the soil.

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It is useless sending out emigrants unless. The climate is one of the finest in the world: about five wet days in the month, on an average. No storms have as yet been experienced, as at Port Nicholson. We have got a Court House, and Jail, and Reading Room, and Bank, but no place of amusement. A cricket club is being formed, for which a meeting is to be held this evening.

I would take it as a particular favour if you would call on my uncle and shew him this letter.

The natives here are wide awake to their own interests, and will not sell their pigs and potatoes for anything else than money or the utu, as they call it, and charge very high besides.

I remain, dear Sir,
Your obedient humble Servant,
ROBERT ROSS,
Baker, from Edinburgh.

From MR. FRANCIS JOLLIE, to WILLIAM BLAMIRE, Esq., London.

Nelson, December 20th, 1842.

MY DEAR SIR,

With regard to the general prospects of the Settlement, I think the only very noticeable things, just now, are Mr. Cotterell's journey to the south-east of this island in search of land, and the working of the coal and lime in Coal Bay, which has just commenced by an association of working men from this place. Cotterell's journey and discoveries, of which we have only just been made acquainted, have put fresh spirits into our settlers. They are considered to have materially improved our position and prospects. He has shewn that we are not so hemmed in as most of us fancied; that, after all, we have an immediate and easy communication with the neigh-

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bouring interior; that the settlement may still be formed in one contiguous, and comparatively speaking, compact block; and that our country lands may yet, in the great bulk, be looked forward to as of some tangible value; not mere refuse, impracticable swamp, hill or forest, but land, for the greater part, that we shall be able to get upon, and at once make contributory, in the shape of pasturage, if of nothing else, to the permanent prosperity of the settlement. It is not, however, merely what Cotterell has actually discovered and examined; what we are likely to discover, on a second journey, may be considered as of still greater importance. The prevailing impression, from Cotterell's account is, that the valley which he saw to the south-west, but did not follow up, will furnish us with a greater quantity of land, and at a more convenient distance, than the one which he explored, (though, perhaps, it is likely to turn out too much timbered, which would tend to render it less eligible for immediate purposes of settlement.) But be this as it may, a quantity of land has been found beyond all our expectations; land with tolerably convenient access, and in direct connexion with our principal suburban district, (the Waimea), and not fern land, as it usually is about here, when not timbered, but fine grass land, just the kind the settlement was most in want of, though it is to be regretted that the great bulk of it is so unmixed in character, so little wooded, or fit for the plough. It is true, it is far off, and does not, after all, bring us at all up to the thing we expected in England, either in respect of proximity to the town, and the bulk of the other lands of the settlement, or I should say, in general capabilities of production; but all of us that have been any time here have abandoned-- reluctantly, perhaps, but still very completely, dismissed--all preconceived ideas of the country, and become prepared to take it for what it is, forgetting

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as much as possible what we had supposed it to be; and we are very content, seeing how much worse it might have been,--and three weeks ago to all appearance was,--to find for the completing of the settlement, according to the scheme, such land as Cotterell has lighted on, with all the exceptions which may attach to it. The survey of a portion of the district--that nearest to the town--will be proceeded with immediately, with a view to its being included in the fifty acre sections, the remainder of which are, or were to have been distributed this month. 7 The actual survey of the other portion will probably be deferred until a further examination has been made of it, and more is ascertained about the other district to the south-west which I have referred to.

With respect to the coal and lime company's operation, I am happy to say they are now proceeding with great spirit, and with every prospect of success. A squabble, that at one time threatened rather serious consequences, in the first instance, arose with the natives, who claimed the minerals as theirs, though they acknowledged the land to have been sold and paid for in a proper manner, and would not permit the men to go to work, unless they were first paid at a most extravagant rate for what they took; but the visit of Captain Wakefield and Mr. Thompson, the police magistrate and government representative here, and a shew of vigour and resolution in dealing with one or two of the most refractory of the Mauris, (as they are called), brought things round, and the men are now actively carrying on their operations, not only unmolested, but quite befriended and patronized by their former enemies. We have already had one cargo of coal and lime, by a small schooner built over there, which was sold, the former I mean, for £1. 7s. 6d. a ton, wholesale, (the price at which it is being retailed at present is £2, car-

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riage included); and we expect another very shortly. People at Sydney and in other parts are wanting cargoes; the emigrant vessels which come here will, in future, no doubt find it to their interest to carry it on to India and elsewhere; and altogether we consider it a very capital thing for the colony. The association that is now at work will probably break up as soon as the land is given out, which it will be in a month or two, for country sections (150 acres): but in the mean time they may make a good thing of it, and of course the undertaking will not want persons to continue it.

Our farming and gardening operations this season, I am sorry to say, are generally a failure. Except very small patches of the wood within the town which have been cleared for gardens, the whole of the land yet turned up and under cultivation, whether as farm or garden, has been fern land; and it is rare to find a whole patch of it doing well. To be sure, we have nearly all been too late in getting our things in this year, and in getting the ground ready; but still I think that the nature and exhausting qualities of the fern are at the root of the mischief. It has soured and poisoned the land, and also considerably impoverished it. There are some instances of prolific crops of nearly every thing on land of this description; and in general one may observe over the place, as a pretty certain rule, that the finer the crop the higher had been the fern which previously grew; but though that holds good generally, one is every here and there struck with some remarkable anomaly in production: land apparently, and from previous natural produce, very poor, yielding very abundantly; whilst, on the other hand, that which from the size of its fern, the care bestowed on it, and other circumstances, one would be inclined to judge most favourably of, brings up very little well, and almost nothing in luxuriance. I

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have no doubt, however, but that next season we shall be able to get very tolerable crops from the greater part of the land, which has been turned up this , from the growth of fern which the land here usually supports, it has evidently the stamina in it of vigorous production; 8 but I fancy before we do any good with it permanently, we shall require for one thing to dig deep, and not, as has hitherto been done here, merely plough it. The fern roots go so deep into the ground, (they are found sometimes six feet long), and are so mixed and matted together, there is, I am sure, no effectual way of dealing with them, but by trenching--smashing through them with the spade at first starting. Even that, however, is not so effectual as could be desired, the vitality of the plant is so strong as to be hardly destructible at all, if the root be left in, which it necessarily is, after all one's efforts, wherever there is a heavy growth. You will, I dare say, be surprised when I tell you that we have commonly here fern of six and seven feet high, and I have measured some more than fourteen feet adjoining the wood in the town. If we had lime plenty and cheap, which may be expected to be the case shortly, we might then hope to cope with the enemy; but without that I fear it will be an uphill fight. I do not know whether you have had any experience of fern land yourself; but if so, I should be glad to have your opinion on it, and the methods best adapted to bring it under profitable culture.

As respects my own proceedings here, since I last wrote you, there is nothing worth notice, except that I have built myself a house, and turned farmer in a small way. I am, fortunately, no longer a "dweller in tents," but in a comfortable house--somewhat too comfortable, indeed, for a settler. This happy

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change I effected about three weeks ago--not before it was fully required. I had lived longer in a tent than any body else, and my satisfaction in getting out of it was not trifling. My house is, I suppose, as large, if not the largest in the place, and I think, certainly the best; but it has cost me too much money; so much (near £400.) that if I had but known it beforehand, and known also that my land was worth doing something with, I should never have gone to the expense. However, I have the satisfaction that the house is a good one, and is likely to let well hereafter, should I want to let; and in the meantime I have civilized shelter, and can breathe freely--heedless of the elements--which, for many months before, I could hardly do.

The Climate continues every thing we could desire. This is the very eve of our Midsummer day, and it is of course getting rather warm. This, however, is rather a cold day; clouds are flying about, and now and then emptying themselves heartily upon us. The Barometer stands at thirty-three, and the Thermometer at sixty-four. We are never many days without rain, but the climate is a dry one rather than a moist; and the weather much steadier than in England. The dryest months of the year are apparently January and February, corresponding to your July and August; and those are just the times when wet can be best dispensed with. However, perhaps, our harvest time is naturally a little earlier than that: the end of this month will, I think, be the usual period with us hereafter. The colony certainly is suffering for want of money, and want of settlers. You will have heard, of course, of the death of the Governor.

We are on the look out daily for the Thomas Sparkes, from London. She was to call at the Cape for some horses, for Mr. Henry Petre, who is one of her passengers; but she ought to have been here

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by this time. I hope she will bring me letters. I have not heard from my friends at home, by ship's letter bag, since I arrived, which is now within one month of a twelvemonth. This is the greatest annoyance that I am subject to. I know that they write. How is it their letters don't come? I am at a loss to conceive. I have now almost begun to despair of hearing--ship after ship arriving, but never one syllable for one amongst all the letters they bring. 9

21st December.--I see I have forgotten in the right place to say what I intended respecting my proceedings in the country, in the fanning way. I am happy to say my fifty acres section turns out a much better one than I anticipated, or had any right to expect, with my late choice. It is not all available, some of it being swamp, which will, however, be easily drained hereafter, and a good portion hill and stony; but there are more than fifty acres in it, though nominally that quantity, and I dare say I have thirty-five or forty acres that could be put to immediate account, with very little preliminary labour in draining or clearing. There is plenty of wood, too, upon it, or close at hand; an advantage which very many sections here do not possess--plenty of good water, with some capital watercourses for draining purposes, &c, and good natural pasture both upon it and adjoining. Three or four acres in the wetter part of the section have now a fine crop of grass, ready to mow, which my man means to do, or has done already. The men, soon after they went up, discovered a capital road from the beach, where the boat carriage ceases (about seven miles from the town,) clear of both a great hill and a great swamp, both of which nuisances

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we had previously expected there was no way of avoiding, in getting to the section. So I am rather in good spirits about the affair. If I could but get my country land, adjoining, I should think myself very fortunate, so far as the land-proprietorship is concerned; and I don't know but I may be able to arrange this too, though my choice is unfortunately beyond the "thousand," and consequently desperate bad; and though by so doing, I must submit to some sacrifice of available quantity. I have a man of the name of Graham, from Renwick in Cumberland, and a distant relation of John Graham, of Yanwath Hall, managing for me. He and his son are the only persons I have at present at work. They are steady, honest folks, that I consider myself lucky in meeting with. I pay the father 27s. a week, the son 24s. About 27s. have, I think, been the usual wages given hitherto to farm labourers, in the country --of course including rations.

The prices of most things here are now much lower than they were. Were I building a house now, I have no doubt I could have it done for at least one-third less than what I paid--timber is so much cheaper, and the wages of carpenters and other artificers so much reduced. There was, for a long time, no getting anything done by a carpenter under 12s. a day; now, they are glad to take 8s. Wood is now fully one-half lower; 30s. per 100 was the price for a long time at first, it then came down to 25s. and 21s., and now you can get the best and longest seasoned timber (the Kaurie, or Cowdie) at 15s.--timber brought to the place from Auckland, or other places to the North, not cut here. That cut here is of course cheaper still; but we have no "Cowdie" on this island.

Believe me,
Very truly yours,
FRANCIS JOLLIE.