New Zealand and its Six Colonies Historically and Geographically Described.

First published by Cradock in 1853

Digitised and made available online by the University of Auckland Libraries and Learning Services.

Epub © 2013 Early New Zealand Books Collection

ISBN 978-1-927279-97-7

[COVER]

NEW LIBRARY OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE

NEW ZEALAND

AND ITS

SIX COLONIES

Historically and Geographically Described

WITH

DIRECTIONS FOR, AND ADVICE

TO EMIGRANTS,

LONDON:

CRADOCK AND CO., 48, PATERNOSTER-ROW.

SIXPENCE.

The Four Colonies of Australia, with Gold Fields, just published.

VALUABLE LIBRARY FOR THE COLONIES.

The Ninth Edition, much enlarged by M. A. Youatt, and able assistants.

WATT'S COMPLETE GRAZIER; OR, FARMERS' AND CATTLE [illegible]and Dealers' Assistant. A Compendium of Husbandry. By William [illegible] V. S., and illustrated with upwards of 130 Engravings of Cattle, Sheep, the [illegible] Farm Implements, Meadow Grasses, &c. In a thick 8vo volume of upwards of [illegible]Price 18s., cloth lettered. The work is divided into Ten Books, containing [illegible] and 2. The breeding, rearing, fattening, and general management of NEAT [illegible] and management of the Dairy.
[illegible] The breeding, rearing, and management of FARM HOUSES.
The breeding of SHEEP, and on Foreign and British Wool,
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On MANURES. – Vegetable, animal, fossil, mineral, fluid, and compound.
ACCOUNTS and Tables for calculating labour by the acre, &c, with a Monthly of Work to be done throughout the year, with observations on the weather.

In presenting to the public this Ninth Edition, the Proprietors beg leave to say every endeavour has been made, as far as possible, to bring it to that state which the requirements of Agricultural Science demand. Much new matter, and several [illegible]cuts. of the most recent and useful Agricultural Implements, have been added: latter [illegible] may be specified the Cut of M'Cormick's Reaping Machine – one of the most efficient aids to the mechanical operations of Agriculture. The volume, [illegible] when rendered as replete with useful and practical information as a study of Agricultural Authorities, and diligent inquiry, could make it.

II.

THE SHEEP, ITS HISTORY, STRUCTURE, ECONOMY, AND [illegible] In Three Parts. Illustrated with fine Portraits of the different Breeds, [illegible] Harvey's Drawings, with a List of the Medicines employed in the Treatment of their Diseases. By W. C. SPOONER, M. R. V. C., &c, Editor of "White's Cattle Medicine" &c. Second Edition, now sold for 6s., bound extra, and lettered.

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IV.

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THE NEW LIBRARY OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE

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Upon a comparison of this Series of Works with others of a similar nature, it will be seen that, as regards composition, printing, and quantity of matter, it has no rival.

The following are already published. Each contains 64 pages, price 6d.

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4. Kitchen Gardener's Manual.

6. Mother's Medical Adviser on the Diseases of Children, &c.

6. Australia (the Four Colonies of); their Geography, Climate, Agriculture, and Commerce; Account of the Discovery of Gold, &c.

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29. Music in England, Ireland, Wales, and Scotland: its history, &c.

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44. The British Museum, in Five Sections; or, How to View the Whole at Once.

45. New Zealand and its Six Colonies Historically and Geographically described: with Directions for, and Advice to Emigrants.

[TITLE PAGE]

NEW ZEALAND
AND ITS
SIX COLONIES

Historically and Geographically Described:
WITH
DIRECTIONS FOR, AND ADVICE
TO EMIGRANTS.

LONDON:
CRADOCK AND CO., 48, PATERNOSTER ROW.

London:

Printed by STEWART and MURRAY,

Old Bailey.

[CONTENTS]

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

Remarkable peculiarities of the country – Discovery by Tasman – Capt. Cook's visit – The first encounter with the natives – Opinions of the natives as to Capt. Cook's vessel – Manners and customs of the natives.......page 5

CHAPTER II.

Volcanic Origin – Mountains – Harbours – Rivers – Climate – Seasons – Soil – Animal, vegetable, and mineral productions..page 11

CHAPTER III.

The whalers – First Church mission – First Wesleyan mission – New Zealanders in England – Baron Thierry – Formation of the first emigration company – Troubles in the island – Mr. Busby's mission – New Zealand Association – Its failure – New Zealand Land Company – Opposition of the Government – Voyage of the Tory – Purchase of land – -Dicky Barrett – Appointment of a Lieutenant-Governor – His proclamation – Treaty of Wanganui – Reconciliation of the Government and the Company – Charter granted – Settlements – Effects of the treaty of Wanganui and the land sales – War – Division of the colony – Government – Canterbury Association – Canterbury settlement..........page 23

CHAPTER IV.

The six colonies of New Zealand – Order of settlement – Geographical order – Wellington; its situation; hills; first called Britannia; change of name; description of the town; conversazione at the Athenaeum; topography of the district; population; trade of Wellington; gold supposed to be found there – Auckland: reasons why Capt. Hobson chose the site; harbour; founding the town; description; Auckland a sea-port; society in England; amusements; newspapers; surrounding district; gold........page 31

CHAPTER V.

The six colonies (continued) – New Plymouth; New Plymouth Company; locality of the colony; disputes with natives; places of worship, schools; fertility of the soil; resemblance to England; population; produce; extract from a settler's letter – Nelson; first settlers; locality of the settlement; Blind Bay; Nelson Haven; site of the town; nature of the soil; produce; population; trade; climate; the Wairau valley; surrounding country; Pakawau coal district – Otago; locality; a Free Church colony; nature and capabilities of the country; rivers; the harbour; Dunedin; the Acheron; Port Chalmers; population; religious sects; birds; climate.......page 42

CHAPTER VI.

The six colonies (concluded) – Canterbury; its situation; Banks' Peninsula; Akaroa; nature of the soil and produce; climate; Mr. Deans' station; Messrs. Deans' opinion of Canterbury; Lyttelton; Christ-church; dinner at Lyttelton coffee-house; sleeping accommodation; failure of promises as to church and school accommodation; sheep pasturage more profitable than tillage; opinions of settlers.............page 51

CHAPTER VII.

Means of communication between the settlements – the natives; their numbers; complaints of a chief; measures for the protection and benefit of the natives; Mr. Fox's character of the natives; Mr. Adam's visit to a Maori village; government; abstract of the constitution of 1852..........page 56

CHAPTER VIII.

Directions for, and advice to emigrants – New Zealand Company; Canterbury and Otago Associations – Land-purchases – Persons most wanted – Which settlement to choose – Fares for passengers – What emigrants require – Wages – Prices of provisions......page 61

CHAPTER I.

NEW ZEALAND.

CHAPTER I.

Remarkable peculiarities of the country – Discovery by Tasman – Capt. Cook's visit – The first encounter with the natives – Opinions of the natives as to Capt. Cook's vessel – Manners and customs of the natives.

NEW ZEALAND – although we hear much less of it than we do of Australia, and although emigration has not perhaps at any time been so popular to that colony as it has to some other quarters – is far from being the least desirable or the least remarkable of the dependencies of the British Crown; and it possesses a climate and a soil admirably adapted to agricultural pursuits. There "barley and beans become perennial; the wheat stalk grows so strong that no wind can lay it; and fifty bushels to the acre have been obtained." There "the myrtle and fuchsia grow to timber-trees, and radishes swell out to the size of a man's leg." There "all possible facilities for the breeding of sheep exist;" and there "sheep give forth a fine and long wool," adapted to all the purposes of manufacture. There "coal, copper, manganese are all abundant." In fact, there "is everything that is required for the development of a magnificent people but the men and women themselves;" for at present the population is very inadequate to the extent of country, and quite unable to make the most of the resources and fertility of the soil.

The territory of New Zealand is situated in the Southern Ocean, at the antipodes of the mother country. Under that general name three islands are comprised, one of which

is of very small dimensions. They extend, in a curved line from north to south, between the 34th and the 48th degrees of south latitude, and from the 166th to the 178th degrees of east longitude. The island that lies farthest to the north is called New Ulster, and is about one-sixth smaller than England and Wales. To the south, separated from New Ulster by a strait called Cook's Strait, is New Munster, the area of which is about one-fourth larger than that of the northern island; and still further to the south, separated from New Munster by the Strait of Foveaux, lies New Leinster – a speck on the ocean, scarcely so large as an English county. These islands are situated between 1,100 and 1,200 miles from Australia; they extend from north to south about 800 miles, having nearly 3,000 miles of coast line; the breadth is extremely variable, particularly in New Ulster, which, in its extreme breadth, extends from east to west near 200 miles – whilst it diminishes to less than five. The area of the three islands contains 78,000,000 acres; of which New Ulster comprises 31,000,000; New Munster, 46,000,000; and New Leinster, 1,000,000.

These islands were discovered by Abel Janssen Tasman, a Dutch navigator, who, in the 17th century, was employed on voyages of discovery by Van Diemen, the Dutch governor in the East. He first saw them on the 13th of December, 1642; and he traversed the coast from lat. 34 deg. to 43 deg. He entered the straits between the northern and the middle islands, but being attacked by the natives soon after he came to an anchor, and three of his men killed, he gave the place the name of the Murderers' Bay, and did not land. The islands he called Staaten Land, or the Land of the States, in honour of the States General; but they are now generally distinguished in maps and charts by the name of New Zealand. The islands were not visited again till Captain Cook made Poverty Bay, on the south-east coast of the northern island, on the 6th of October, 1769. This part of the island was then inhabited by a native tribe, who came from the southward, and made war on the inhabitants of that locality, destroyed them, and planted themselves in their places. A chief named Te Ratu was one of the principal warriors. When these savages first saw the Endeavour (Captain Cook's ship), they imagined it was a bird; and

LANDING OF CAPTAIN COOK.

"many remarks passed amongst them," says Mr. Polack, in his "Travels in New Zealand," deriving his information from Manutai, a grandson of Te Ratu, "as to the beauty and size of its wings, as the sails of this novel specimen of ornithology were supposed to be. But on seeing a smaller bird, unfledged [the boat, without sails], descending into the water, and a number of parti-coloured beings, but apparently in the human shape, also descending, the bird was regarded as a houseful of divinities;" and "nothing could exceed the astonishment of the natives" at this phenomenon. On the 7th of October, Captain Cook left his ship, with some men in his yawl and pinnace, to effect a landing. The pinnace was left at the entrance of the bay, and the party from the yawl landed, leaving four boys in charge of her. The sailors on shore had got some distance, when four natives, headed by Te Ratu, and armed with lances, were seen from the pinnace advancing to the boat, which they would have cut off had not the people in the pinnace hailed the boys to drop down the stream. This they did, closely pursued by the natives. The coxswain of the pinnace discharged a musket over the heads of the latter to deter them; and this caused them to pause and look round. Seeing nothing, they brandished their lances, and renewed their pursuit. A second musket was discharged over their heads, but still they advanced; and Te Ratu was in the act of lifting his lance to dart it at the boat, when a third musket was discharged, and he was shot dead. This startled them: they at first seemed petrified with astonishment; but, soon recovering themselves, they went to the body, and began to drag it away. Finding that it impeded their flight, they soon left it, and disappeared. The manner of the chief's death, says Mr. Polack, "was ascribed to a thunderbolt from the new gods; and the noise made by the discharge of the muskets was represented as the watitiri, or thunder, which accompanies that sublime phenomenon. To revenge themselves was the dearest wish of the tribe; but how to accomplish it, with divinities who could kill them at a distance, without even approaching to them, was difficult to determine. Many of these natives observed that they felt themselves taken ill by only being particularly looked upon by these Atuas. It was therefore agreed, that, as these new comers could bewitch with a single look, the sooner their

society was dismissed the better it would be for the general welfare."

Captain Cook did not leave New Zealand till the 31st of March 1770; taking his departure from Cape Farewell, the north-east point of New Munster. He had surveyed the coasts with great accuracy; passed through the straits between New Ulster and New Munster, which bear his name; and circumnavigated both islands, of which he took possession in the name of Great Britain. During his coasting voyage, and his excursions into the interior, he made himself acquainted with the climate, and the productions of the islands, and with the character of the natives. He found the men, in stature equal to the largest of those in Europe, stout, well-limbed, and fleshy – exceedingly vigorous and active, adroit and dexterous in an uncommon degree. Their colour was in general brown, but in few deeper than that of a Spaniard who had been exposed to the sun. The women wanted feminine delicacy in their appearance; and, the dress of both sexes being the same, they were distinguished from the men, chiefly by their soft voice. They had also more airy cheerfulness, and a greater flow of animal spirits, than the other sex. The hair, both of the head and beard, was black; the teeth regular and as white as ivory; the features of both sexes good; and they appeared very healthy. The dispositions of both men and women seemed to be mild and gentle; they treated each other with the tenderest affection, but were implacable towards their enemies, to whom they never gave quarter. Their principal food was fish, as the island did not produce sheep, goats, hogs, or cattle; nor had they any tame fowl. When unable to procure fish, they lived chiefly on fern-root, yams, clams, and potatoes. They were, however, guilty of cannibalism, eating the bodies of those who were slain in battle. There was more modesty, reserve, and decorum in their behaviour, than was observed in most other inhabitants of the South Sea islands; they were not quite so clean in their persons as those of Otaheite; and the oil or fat which they rubbed over their hair had a most offensive smell. Their bodies were tattoed – the women's much less than those of the men; and they were smeared with red ochre, which some rubbed on dry, and others applied it mixed with oil, in large patches that were always wet, and would rub off with the least trouble.

THE NATIVES.

Their ordinary dress was formed of the leaves of one of their vegetables, which were made into a sort of stuff between netting and cloth. One piece of this cloth was tied over their shoulders with a, string, and reached to the knees; and the other was wrapped round the waist, and reached nearly to the ground. They also manufactured two other sorts of cloth, which had an even surface, and were very ingeniously made. One was as coarse as our coarsest canvas, but ten times as strong; the other was formed by many threads lying close together one way, and a few crossing them the other. This was composed of the fibres of a plant, prepared so as to shine like silk; it was frequently striped, and was made in a species of frame, generally about five feet long and four broad, the size of the cloth. To both kinds of cloth they worked borders of different colours. They adorned their dresses with feathers, and the fur of their dogs; Captain Cook saw one entirely covered with the red feathers of the parrot. The men generally wore their beards short, and their hair tied on the crown of their heads in a bunch. The hair of the women was generally cropped short; when long it flowed about their shoulders. They had combs of bone and wood, which they sometimes wore stuck upright in the hair as an ornament.

The habitations of these people were formed of wood frames, the walls and roof consisting of dried grass and clay, very closely put together, and the interior was sometimes lined with the bark of trees. They were generally eighteen or twenty feet long, eight or ten broad, and five or six high. The roof was sloping, and the door at one end was just high enough to admit a man creeping upon his hands and knees. The fire-place was enclosed in a hollow square, either of wood or stone; and the floor, along the walls, was thickly covered with straw, on which the family slept. Their cookery consisted of baking or roasting; and their provision baskets, the gourds to hold their fresh water, the hammers to beat their fern-root, some rude tools (axes and adzes of stone, and chisels of bone), their clothes, arms, and a few feathers to stick in their hair, formed the chief of their possessions. They had canoes, long and narrow, but ingeniously constructed, which they impelled by paddles, with oval-shaped blades, small, light, and neatly made; or with sails of netting or mat, suspended between two upright

poles fixed on the gunwale of each boat: the canoes were steered by two men sitting in the stern, with each a paddle in his hand for that purpose. They had fishing nets of enormous size, one of which seemed to be the workmanship and the joint property of the whole town, – their hooks were of bone or shell, and generally ill-made. To receive the fish, when caught, they had baskets of various kinds and dimensions, very neatly made of wicker-work. They are said, by Captain Cook, to have excelled in tillage, though "the implement which served them for both spade and plough, was nothing more than a long narrow stake, sharpened to an edge at one end, with a short piece fastened transversely at a little distance above it, for the convenience of pressing it down with the foot. With this they turned up pieces of ground, six or seven acres in extent, though it was not more than three inches broad." "Tillage, weaving, and the other arts of peace, seemed to be best known, and most practised, in the northern part of the country." Their weapons were spears, darts, battle-axes, and the patoo-patoo, or club. Their war-dance consisted of a great variety of violent motions, and hideous contortions of the limbs. It was always accompanied with a song; and in its motions, however horrid, there was a strength, firmness, and agility, which could not be beheld without admiration. In their song they kept time with great exactness; and they sometimes sang without the dance, as a peaceable amusement. Other songs were sung by the women, whose mellow and soft voices had a pleasing and tender effect; the time was slow, and the cadence mournful, but they sang with more taste than could be expected. They had instruments of sound which could scarcely be called musical; one was a shell, the other a small wooden pipe, resembling a child's ninepin, only much smaller, and in this there was no more music than in a pea-whistle. Their towns or hippahs were all fortified; for the tribes appeared to live at great enmity with each other.

Of their religion it was impossible to learn much. They acknowledged the influence of superior beings, one of whom they thought held supreme power; and they had nearly the same idea of the origin of the world, and the production of mankind, as the Otaheitans; viz., that all was produced by the conjunction of two persons, whose generations they

VOLCANIC ORIGIN.

described in a manner as unintelligible as the mysteries of the classical mythology of Greece or Rome.

Such were the people of New Zealand when first visited by Europeans. They are now becoming more civilized; and form an interesting part of that large and varied family which constitute the subjects of the Queen of Great Britain.

CHAPTER II.

CHAPTER II.

Volcanic Origin – Mountains – Harbours – Rivers – Climate – Seasons – -Soil – Animal, vegetable, and mineral productions.

THERE is no doubt but that New Zealand is of Volcanic Origin. Extinct craters are found in different parts of the islands, and there are still a few active volcanoes, with hot springs "of a sufficient temperature to cook any kind of native food. There is one spring," says Mr. Darwin, who visited the island in the Beagle, "of a very remarkable quality; it is to the touch as soft as oil, and, without the use of soap, or any alkali except what the water itself contains, will cleanse the dirtiest garments, removing every particle of grease, however sullied they may be with it." In the Rotorua country, in the road between Auckland and Port Nicholson, there is a beautiful lake called Rotorua, about ten miles long, and eight broad; the water of which is tepid, with many hot springs, "not confined," says the author of an "Overland Journey from Auckland to Port Nicholson," published in the Australian and New Zealand Gazette," to one or two places, but so numerous that it is dangerous for a stranger to walk about without a guide; at least, if he does, he runs great risk of scorching the soles of his feet. The water rises in some of the springs to the height of fifteen and twenty feet in regular jets; others emit steam like a high-pressure engine." It is very probable that these volcanic phenomena may produce the shocks of earthquakes so frequent in certain districts. These were productive of much alarm to the settlers; but no

other inconvenience is recorded of them; nor are there any traditions extant among the natives of catastrophes resulting from these visitations.

There is one great geographical peculiarity in New Zealand, which has produced, and will continue to exercise, a great influence over the mode of its settlement and cultivation. Down the centre of both the north and the middle island, a lofty Mountain Range extends, with spurs running from both sides to the sea; interrupting the formation of roads, and impeding, to a certain extent, free communication. This mountainous range exhibits every variety of the lofty peak and the humble hill; and its picturesque scenery in some parts of the island is very beautiful. Some of these mountains are capped with perpetual snow; their sides are covered with forest trees and luxuriant ferns, and innumerable rills pour down their declivities, which, when they reach the valleys beneath, form considerable streams. Mount Edgecombe, in the Bay of Plenty, on the eastern shore of New Ulster, is one of the highest points in the island; it attains the height of 9,630 feet from the level of the sea. Mount Egmont, on the western coast, is, however, the most beautiful and imposing mass. It is a volcanic cone, now quite extinct, rising 8,840 feet above the sea line, or about 1,600 feet above the snow level, in complete isolation from a perfectly level plain: its base is adorned with a thick belt of woods. The great mountain of Tongouro is said to have an elevation of 14,000 feet. Some of the subordinate ranges of these mountains are covered with vegetation to the top; and we learn from Mr. Heaphy, who assisted in surveying the country, that this hill country is far from being useless. The natives prefer it for their plantations of potatoes and maize; and it yields, by hand labour, a good return. The hills are covered with rich mould, and between the mountain ranges, the valleys that extend parallel with them are generally covered with a highly productive soil of alluvial deposit. Large caves have been formed in these mountains by the volcanic eruptions, the openings of some of them being thirty feet in diameter. The whole range presents an abrupt but picturesque appearance, as far as the eye can see; and travellers tell us that "the perpetual snow on the tops forms a fine contrast to the agreeable climate and rich vegetation of the valleys below."

HARBOURS

There are few countries which have finer Harbours than New Zealand. Captain Cook surveyed most of them; and his descriptions are so accurate, that little can be added. Towards the northern extremity of New Ulster, on the eastern coast, lies the harbour of Wangaroa; it is described as "beautiful, romantic, capacious; capable of containing the largest fleet, and of obtaining good anchorage in from five to eleven fathoms, completely sheltered from the sea and all winds" Twenty-five miles to the southward of Wangaroa, is the Bay of Islands, which takes its name from the number of islands with which it is studded. This is a remarkably fine and capacious harbour, affording security for an almost unlimited number of vessels, in all weathers, and in all seasons. Further to the southward, is the Frith of the Thames (so named by Captain Cook, from its resemblance to our river Thames), which also affords good anchorage; and is navigable for a considerable distance inland. Next comes the Bay of Plenty, an immense roadstead, also affording anchorage for a large number of vessels, having also the advantage of numerous bays and harbours, where small vessels can find shelter. Poverty Bay, the place where Captain Cook first landed, is still further south, and he considered it a safe anchorage. Still progressing to the southward we come to Hawkes' Bay, which is also capacious, and affords good shelter from adverse winds. Entering Cook's Straits, we come to Port Nicholson, on the southern extremity of the islands; of which Mr. Heaphy says that, "on entering it, one is struck with the grandeur of the view; the harbour resembles an inland lake rather than an arm of the sea, and, in beauty, far surpasses that of our English lakes. As we worked up to the anchorage, the noble expanse of water, surrounded by a country of the most picturesque character, formed a scene of indescribable beauty; and, as the valley of the Hutt river opened to our view, apparently extending far inland, until bounded by the snowy range, we wondered that a place which seemed so much to invite settlement, had not before been colonized." This bay is about twelve miles long and three broad; is perfectly sheltered, and ships may enter or leave with any wind. We now come to the western side of the island, on which the harbours and bays are numerous; but, owing to the prevalence of westerly

winds, they are not so much frequented as those on the eastern, except in the neighbourhood of New Plymouth, since that settlement was formed. Passing the Kawia, the Aotea, and Kaipara Harbours, we come to Hokianga, near the northern extremity of the island. It abounds in fish; and the distance across the land to Wangaroa and the Bay of Islands being inconsiderable, it is becoming of importance, and would be more so, but that a bar at the entrance renders it inaccessible except to vessels of light burthen. New Munster also abounds with harbours. At its northern extremity, in Cook's Strait, is Queen Charlotte's Sound, extending for nearly thirty miles. Within this harbour is a smaller but most excellent one, called Ships' Cove – which was minutely described by Captain Cook, and has been since his time always frequented by European vessels. "The harbour is perfectly sheltered, and the soundings show ten fathoms a cable's length from the shore." Blind Bay lies to the west, and Cloudy Bay to the east of Queen Charlotte's Sound. The latter is four miles broad, and runs fifteen miles inland. It is thought to be the best station for the black whale fishery, and, in consequence, several Europeans have already settled on its shore. On the east of the island there are Lookers-on Bay, Pegasus Bay, Port Victoria, and Molyneux Harbour; and on the west, Chalky Bay, Dusky Bay, and Milford Haven, with several smaller ones.

There are many fine Rivers in both the north and the middle island; with numberless streams, rivulets, and lakes, which diversify the scenery, and are capable of being converted into excellent means of trade and intercommunication. The rivers take their rise in the mountains; and though many of them contain great bodies of water, none of them are longer than about 200 miles, and few reach 100. The extent of navigation upon these rivers appears to be from thirty to fifty miles. In 1838, we are told, "the ship Pelorus entered a river in the middle island, falling into Cook's Strait, and sailed up nearly forty miles: her boats continued the navigation for near twenty miles farther." In the north island, the River Hokianga, situated nearly opposite the Bay of Islands, is navigable for upwards of thirty miles, by vessels of 500 tons. The Haritona, which falls into Port Nicholson, is navigable for nearly 100 miles. The Rev.

CLIMATE.

William Yates, in his "Account of New Zealand," says – "The River Thames, the mouth of which lies about" 100 miles from the head of the Bay of Islands, is a splendid run of water, which, from Aotea or Barrier Island, as far as Kopu – a native fortification just within the narrows – is navigable for vessels of 130 tons." In the recent charts, a fine river, the Knowsley, is laid down in the middle island; it falls into Foveaux Straits, on the south, and is navigable for large ships. Numerous waterfalls are found upon these rivers, which afford great mechanical power. Mr. Yates describes several which he met with in the northern island. One, the Kerikeri, "rolls over a rock whose perpendicular height is about ninety feet." "The Waianiwaniwa, a mountain stream, passes swiftly through a deep ravine for nearly the space of a mile, when it joins another stream, and rolls peaceably on for a few hundred yards. The united streams then fall over another rock about thirty feet high; and then, rushing on to the Kerikeri settlement, the river again falls ten feet, and then mingles with the ocean." "The Wairoa, another stream, though not so considerable, falls at least sixty feet."

The Climate of New Zealand, though undoubtedly very fine, does not deserve the indiscriminate praise which has been applied to it. There is no question, however, that the country, in its entire extent, is extremely salubrious; and the climate appears to be much more equable than that of Australia. Many travellers speak most highly of it. "We were," says Augustus Earle, draftsman to the surveying ship Beagle, in his "Narrative of a Nine Months' Residence in New Zealand," "quite free from those oppressive heats which invariably prevail in the middle of the day at Sydney, and from those hot pestilential winds which are the terror of the natives of New South Wales; nor were we subject to those long droughts which are often the ruin of the Australian farmer. The temperature here was neither too hot nor too cold, neither too wet nor too dry." Mr. Yates, who eulogizes the salubrity of the climate, tells us that "the sickly are soon restored to health, the healthy become robust, and the robust fat;" he also says, "the country, during six months in the year, is subject to heavy gales from the east and north-east, which generally last for three days, and are accompanied by tremendous falls of rain. These

gales usually commence in the east, and gradually howl round to the north-west, where they terminate in a violent gust, almost approaching to a hurricane; the clouds then pass away, and the westerly wind blows again with some violence." "The spring and autumn are delightfully temperate, but subject to showers from the west and south-west. Indeed, however fine the summer may be, we are frequently visited with refreshing rains, which give a peculiar richness to the vegetation and fertility of the earth." These gales and tremendous falls of rain which Mr. Yates speaks of, must be some interruption to the pleasant medium which Mr. Earle mentions; but it is very probable that they have a beneficial effect, by clearing the atmosphere of everything noxious and disagreeable, and giving it that balmy influence which causes it to "seem impregnated with perfumes," whilst "every breath inhaled stimulates the system." The number of rainy days is not so great as in London; and the air appears to be free from damp, and does not render those who breathe it so susceptible of cold as we are in England. "I have," says Mr. F. A. Carrington, formerly the chief surveyor at New Plymouth, "seldom or never suffered from cold. I have been up to my middle in water in the swamps, and laid down in the same clothes for several nights, and have never experienced any injury." Colonel Wakefield tells us that "the bivouacking in the end of winter during eleven nights had no bad effect on any of the party. The night air, however humid, has not the same effect on the lungs and limbs as in most parts of Europe." The Colonel compares the climate to that of the north of Portugal; and Mr. Ward, a settler at Nelson, to "that of the land lying between the south of Portugal and the north of France." A more recent writer ("Description of Auckland") says – "Compared with that of Nice, one of the most celebrated continental climates, the climate of Auckland is more temperate in summer, milder in the winter, equally mild in the spring, but a little colder in the autumn: with this advantage, too, over all the boasted continental climate-, that it is not so liable to the very great variations of temperature common to them all, from sudden shifts of wind. The climate of New Zealand is doubtless less charming and delightful than that of Italy and the south of France; but it is certainly more salubrious, and probably better suited

THE SEASONS.

to the English constitution generally, than even that of Madeira. For although it has its share of wind, rain, and broken weather, it has the advantage over Italy and France, in being more limited in range of temperature – embracing a less oppressive summer heat, and less sudden changes of temperature during the twenty-four hours, and a more gradual change of temperature from month to month." It is highly favourable to the development of the human species. Of ninety individuals (missionaries and their families), only one died, we are informed, in twenty-three years; and from observations made by Dr. Thomson, of the 58th Regiment, between April 1848, and April 1850, it appears that out of every thousand men, the number admitted into hospital in England, compared with New Zealand, was as two to one; and the number of deaths was about fourteen in the former, to eight and a half in the latter. Small-pox and the measles are not known in New Zealand.

The Seasons take place at very different periods in New Zealand as compared with England; but writers do not exactly agree as to the time of their commencement. One tells us that "spring commences in the middle of August; summer in December; autumn in March; and winter in July." Another says, "spring commences in September; summer in December; autumn in April; and winter in the middle of June." Probably, as with us, Dame Nature is variable, and does not always assume her different phases precisely at the same times. During the hot summer days, the sea breeze generally moderates the heat about 10 or 11 o'clock in the forenoon. In the winter, long continued heavy rain is frequent. "In all seasons," says the author of the "Description of Auckland," already quoted, "the beauty of the day is in the early morning. At that time, generally, a solemn stillness holds, and a perfect calm prevails: not a sound is heard – not a breath is stirring – as the rays of the rising sun are gently stealing over a world at rest. Every object breathes repose; and the peaceful landscape, softly sleeping, suffused into golden light, suggests an image of the world before the fall."

There are other variations besides those of the commencements of the seasons. When it is noonday with us it is midnight with our brethren in New Ulster and New Munster. "The compass-needle points to the south; the

north is the warmest, the south the coldest points. The luminosity, which we designate from its general position in the heavens the aurora borealis, occurs there as the aurora australis."

All travellers, from Captain Cook downwards, speak most favourably of the Soil of New Zealand; "its quality," says that celebrated circumnavigator, "is best indicated by the luxuriant growth of its productions, which are superior to anything that imagination can conceive," It is extremely rich, but varies considerably. Round the mountains it is volcanic, composed of pumice-stone, somewhat resembling that of some parts of Italy. In other parts it appears to be a fine stiff loam and vegetable mould, very productive. "Indeed," says Mr, Earp, formerly a merchant, and a member of the Legislative Council in New Zealand, but now (March 1853) resident in London as editor of the Australian and New Zealand Gazette, "fertility is the characteristic of New Zealand; and even the lands of New Zealand which are said to be bad lands, are fertile. Fern land is often called bad land, but it is, in fact, among the most valuable land in the colony, or may be made so. If you turn up the fern land, you will not get a good crop off it for the first year; but I consider that to arise from two causes: first, from the nature of it, that it is a marl not a clay, an argillaceous marl; and next the mode of clearing, that is by burning off the fern; whereas the argillaceous marl contains more alkaline salts than are good for cultivation, and, by burning, you add to them the alkaline salts of the plant, which contains, perhaps, more than any other plant; but, if that land is ploughed up, and suffered to lie fallow for a year or two, I have seen enormous crops produced from it." This information will be valuable to the emigrant, for which reason we have extracted it from Mr. Earp's Evidence before a Committee of the House of Commons. Other authorities speak in equally favourable terms of the soil of the colony. Mr, Yates says, "we have extensive valleys of rich alluvial soil, deposited from the hills and mountains, and covered with the richest vegetation, which it supports summer and winter." There is, "also, a deep, rank, vegetable mould, with a stiff, marly subsoil, capable of being slaked or pulverized with the ashes of the fern." Then "the forest land is peculiarly rich;" indeed,

CATTLE – BIRDS – FISH.

to sum up in the words of Mr. Earle, "in whatever direction I travelled, the soil appeared to me to be fat and rich, and also well-watered. From every part of it which the natives have cultivated, the produce has been immense."

The Animal, Vegetable, and Mineral Productions of New Zealand, must next be enumerated. It is singular that there are no native quadrupeds in the island, and no reptiles, except a rat, and it is doubtful whether this is indigenous. There is also a lizard, a few inches long, and perfectly harmless. The quadrupeds now found there are descendants of those left by Captain Cook and other Europeans. Of these, pigs are numerous, and are found all over the colony; so are dogs, which especially abound about the Bay of Islands, as do cats, of which the natives are very fond as articles of food. The missionaries have introduced cattle, which thrive well; and where sheep have been tried, they have succeeded. The native birds are very numerous, consisting of beautiful song birds, and others distinguished for the beauty of their plumage. Captain Cook says, and subsequent travellers descant quite as eloquently on the same subject: – "The ship lay at the distance of somewhat less than a quarter of a mile from the shore in Queen Charlotte's Sound, and, in the morning, we were awakened by the singing of the birds, the number was incredible, and they seemed to strain their throats in emulation of each other. This wild melody was infinitely superior to anything I had ever heard of the same kind; it seemed to be like small bells, most exquisitely tuned; and perhaps the distance and the water between might be no small advantage to the sound. Upon inquiry we found that the birds here always began to sing about two hours after midnight, and, continuing their music till sunrise, were, like our nightingales, silent the rest of the day." Amongst the feathered tribe are ducks, geese, woodcocks, snipes, curlews, and wood-pigeons. Some of the latter have been introduced into and bred in this country: they are much larger than the English pigeon, and their plumage is remarkably resplendent – shining in green, purple, and gold. Fish abounds; and the quality is as good as the quantity is plentiful. "We have," says the Rev. William Yates, from whom we have so often quoted, "a rich supply of saltwater fish; but nothing more than eels in any of the fresh-

water streams or lakes in New Zealand. Those most plentiful, and of greatest note, are soles, mackerel, codfish, a species of salmon, whiting, snappers, mullet, beam-skate, gurnards, and a few smaller kinds, some not so large as a sprat; with an abundance of cray-fish, oysters, shrimps, prawns, mussels, and cockles. An immensely large mussel, measuring from eleven to thirteen inches, is found in great abundance at Kaipara, a harbour on the western coast [of the northern island], and some few of this fish are picked up in the Bay of Islands. These inhabitants of the deep form a never-failing resource for the supply of native food; but fishing is not now much regarded, except in the mackerel season, when several tribes go together to the little creeks which these fish frequent, and always succeed in capturing some hundreds of thousands before they return, the greater part of which they preserve for winter stock. They always watch these fish in the darkest nights, when they are able to see the direction the shoal takes from the phosphorescent appearance which their motion causes upon the water. They surround them with their nets, which are several hundred yards long, and drag them in vast numbers to the shore, where the contents are regularly divided among the people to whom the nets belonged." The coasts of New Zealand are also frequented by whales for the purpose of calving; and they are caught in great numbers.

In the vegetable kingdom of New Zealand we find grass, of which there are extensive ranges on the east side of the south island, at least. Also, the phormium tenax, or New Zealand flax, which appears to grow universally in low situations. It resembles the garden iris in appearance, having a thick green leaf from six to ten feet long. Ropes are made of the fibres of the leaf; and it is asserted that they are better than those manufactured from European flax. Mr. M'Donnell says, – "All the standing, and part of the running rigging of the Sir George Murray, a ship of 400 tons, belonging to myself, was laid up from New Zealand flax; it had been over the mast-heads for nearly three years. I can state that better rope never covered a ship's mast-head." * * * * * "Cordage and fishing lines, made from good New Zealand flax, have been proved to be far more durable than any made from European hemp." Another plant is the fern, the root of which, said to be almost

VEGETATIVE PRODUCTIONS.

equal to flour, furnishes the natives with a good part of their food. The plant also supplies food for cattle. Most of the vegetables of Europe flourish in New Zealand; and seeds which were sown by Captain Cook are said to have propagated themselves all oyer the country. The potato is the vegetable which the natives appear to prize the most; they have four kinds, – the common potato, the white man's potato, an indigenous species, and the sweet potato. Large quantities of Indian corn are also raised; there is a particularly fine species of yam, with cabbages, greens, and turnips in abundance. On the farms of the missionaries and others, good wheat is grown, and Australia will, ere long, draw her chief supplies of that grain from New Zealand. Oats and barley also thrive in the fertile soil; the former may be seen growing wild in many of the deserted potato-grounds near Port Nicholson. Of fruits there are peaches, figs, grapes, oranges, melons, and the Cape gooseberry, which thrive uncommonly well. Strawberries and raspberries are extremely prolific; and there are several species of native fruits which are very pleasant to the taste. Mr. Ward thus sums up his account of the vegetable productions of the country: "New Zealand is fitted by nature for the production in abundance of those three articles which have always been regarded as the especial signs of the plenty, wealth, and luxury of a country – corn, wine, and oil. Its fertile plains adapt it to the easy cultivation of grain, for the surplus production of which it will possess a ready market, from its vicinity to New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land. The New Zealand harvests may be safely anticipated to be free from those destructive droughts which must ever be ruinous to the prospects of agriculture in Australia. The vine has been already found to thrive luxuriantly in the islands, and the possibility of its successful cultivation, both for home consumption and for commerce, admits of no doubt."

But the pride of New Zealand is its forest trees, which yield some of the most beautiful woods in the world. The timber grows to a towering height, and in a perfection equalled in few other countries. Inexhaustible supplies for ship-building and other purposes are to be found in its forests. A great variety of hard wood which they produce – fine pines, the black birch, and the tetoki – is admirably

adapted for the former, and there is a great variety of trees of a smaller growth, that are very closely grained, and take a high polish, bringing out beautifully variegated veins, These woods are peculiarly adapted for furniture; and some extremely beautiful specimens of articles manufactured from them were shown in the Great Industrial Exhibition in Hyde-park of 1851. Dye woods are also in great variety and abundance. These woods add greatly to the beauty of the country. "In spring and summer, and autumn and winter," says Mr. Yates, "there is no visible change in the appearance of the woods. They are as beautiful in the depth of winter as in the height of summer. Leaves no sooner fall to the ground than others assume their station; no branch withers from its trunk, but another and more vigorous one puts out in its stead. The fairest and most tender shrub shrinks not from the southern blast, nor faints beneath the rays of the sun, when he rides brightest in the heavens."

Of the mineral productions of New Zealand Captain Fitzroy thus wrote to Lord Stanley, on the 16th of October, 1844: – "Beneath the productive surface of this teeming island are mineral stores as yet hardly known. If from merely looking at or scratching some of the projecting corners of the land, at least twenty valuable minerals have been discovered, in greater or less abundance, what may not be anticipated after years of research in the interior? The more valuable minerals hitherto found are – coal, iron, limestone, copper, tin, manganese, nickel, lead, silver, bismuth, arsenic, cerium, sulphur, alum, rock-salt, marble, of various qualities and colours, cobalt, ochre, fullers'-earth, asphaltum, pumice, volcanic earths and lavas, &c. Of the copper, it ought to be remarked, that the per-centage of metal is usually very high, and that the ore is easily smelted. Much of the manganese presents a large per-centage of copper. Both this and the copper can be quarried rather than mined in abundance. Fullers'-earth, fire-clay, and stone fit for furnaces, which the bakers here use for their ovens, can be found anywhere in this neighbourhood." In 1852, there were rumours that gold had been discovered in the islands; and certainly traces of the precious metal were found. It has not, however, been as yet ascertained whether it can be profitably worked.

CHAPTER III.

FIRST MISSIONARIES.

CHAPTER III.

The whalers – First Church mission – First Wesleyan mission – New Zealanders in England – Baron Thierry – Formation of the first emigration company – Troubles in the island – Mr. Busby's mission – New Zealand Association – Its failure – New-Zealand Land Company – Opposition of the Government – Voyage of the Tory – Purchase of land – Dicky Barrett – Appointment of a Lieutenant-Governor – His proclamation-Treaty of Wanganui – Reconciliation of the Government and the Company – Charter granted – Settlements – Effects of the treaty of Wanganui and the land sales – War – Division of the colony – Government – Canterbury Association – Canterbury settlement.

IN 1769 Captain Cook took possession of New Zealand "in the name of the King of Great Britain," and suggested its regular colonization, observing, "if this country should ever be settled by people from Europe, they would, with a little industry, be very soon supplied not only with the necessaries but with the luxuries of life in very great abundance." No attempts at colonization were, however, made; the reports as to the savage character of the islanders, and of their cannibalism, deterring adventurers. But the islands, with their numerous bays and harbours, lie most convenient for the ships engaged in the southern whale fishery; and as these vessels were in the habit of frequenting them for supplies of wood and water, a species of intercourse between the natives and Europeans took place, and some of the latter even settled on the island. This led to a proposal by the Rev. Samuel Marsden, colonial chaplain of New South Wales, to establish a mission of the Church Missionary Society upon the island. In 1814, this proposal was carried out, and the first mission was established on the north-east coast of the northern island, under the sanction of the Governor of New South Wales, Colonel Macquarie, who appointed Mr. Thomas Kendal, the first missionary, "resident magistrate of the Bay of Islands;" and nominated three natives, Duaterra, Shunghee, and Korokoro, to be magistrates. In 1819, the first Wesleyan missionary, Mr. Leigh, visited the island, having been persuaded by Mr.

Marsden to go there for the sake of his health. He returned, in 1822, with his wife; and, in 1823, Messrs. White and Turner joined him, when they established a station of their own at Wangaroa, north of the Bay of Islands; and for several years they endured great hardships, dangers, and privations among the turbulent natives. Many travellers were now induced to visit the country; the reports of the Church Missionary Society attracted much of the public attention; and when, in 1820, two chiefs, Hongi and Waikato, visited this country they were made quite lions of; they assumed the character of devout and sincere Christians, and were exhibited as converts at the University of Cambridge and other places. At Cambridge they became acquainted with Baron de Thierry, a Frenchman by birth, whom they led to believe that he might acquire territories, and obtain the rights of chieftainship in New Zealand. He entrusted Mr. Kendal – who had accompanied the chiefs to England – with 200l, with which lands were purchased for the Baron in 1822; and this laid the foundation of the attempt made by France, in 1840, to establish a penal settlement in the middle island.

The "Reports" of the Church Missionary Society, and the accounts of New Zealand published in 1807, by John Savage, Esq., and in 1824, by Major Cruise, led, in 1825, to the formation of a company, for the purpose of forming a settlement. The following gentlemen were members: – The Earl of Durham, Lord Hatherton, the Hon. Courtenay Boyle, Colonel Torrens, George Lyall, Stewart Marjoribanks, George Palmer, J. W. Buckle, Ralph Fenwick, James Pattison, A. W. Robarts, George Varlo, Anthony Gordon, and John Dixon, Esqrs. Mr. Huskisson approved of the principles of that company, and promised them a charter if their preliminary expedition succeeded. "The expedition, however," says Mr. Jerningham Wakefield, "was confided to incompetent management; its leader was alarmed by a war-dance of the natives, performed, there is every reason to believe, as a mark of welcome; and he abandoned his task, after purchasing some land at Hokianga (on the north-west of the middle island), and in the Frith of the Thames."

During this time, the affairs between the New Zealanders and the Europeans became greatly involved. Mr. Marsden

had obtained the first missionary site by agreement with the natives: a formal deed had been drawn up which the natives could not understand; and this led to other transactions of a similar kind on the part of whites, who landed from the French, American, and British shipping, and also from England. This was the origin of the system of "land-sharking" as it was termed. The affairs of the islands became, too, distracted by the return of Hongi and Waikato from England. These chiefs had procured a good many arms in this country; and they used them to arm their tribe, and made war upon the other natives. In the savage and murderous conflicts which ensued, several tribes were almost exterminated; the Wesleyan missions at Wangaroa were destroyed; and so embroiled did the state of affairs become, that in 1831, most probably prompted by the missionaries, thirteen chiefs residing in the neighbourhood of the Bay of Islands, addressed a memorial to William IV., "to become their friend and the guardian of the islands, lest the teasing of other tribes should come near to them, and lest strangers should come and take away their lands;" and also "to be angry with such of his own people who might be vicious or troublesome." This memorial was transmitted by the Rev. William Yates, then head of the mission in New Zealand, whose work on that country we have several times quoted. It led to the sending Mr. Busby to reside at the Bay of Islands; but his powers were so inefficient, that he rather augmented than lessened the difficulties which surrounded the mission and the peaceable natives.

In 1837, a society was formed in London, upon the plan of Mr. Edward Gibbon Wakefield, called the New Zealand Association, whose first object was merely to induce the British Government "to establish a sufficient authority in the islands, and to colonize them upon a plan deliberately prepared with a view of rendering colonization beneficial to the native inhabitants as well as to the settlers." It may be well to put the names of the members of this association on record. Mr. Francis Baring (chairman), Lord Durham, Lord Petre, Mr. Bingham Baring, Mr. Campbell (of Islay), Mr. Charles Enderby, Mr. Ferguson (of Leith), the Rev. Dr. Hinds, Mr. Benj. Hawes, Mr. Philip Howard, Mr. Wm. Hutt, Mr. Lyall, Mr. Mackenzie, Sir William Molesworth, Sir Geo. Sinclair, Sir Wm. Symonds, Mr. H. G. Ward,

and Mr. Wolryche Whitmore. The views of this association were opposed by the missionary society, and by the Government – the latter recognizing the independence of the islands; and a bill brought into the House of Commons to incorporate it was lost. The New Zealand Land Company was then formed, in 1839, chiefly out of the members of the Association, and some gentlemen who had disposed of property and abandoned professions with the view of emigrating. The Government showed the same hostility to the Company as it had done to the Association: it still refused to consider New Zealand in any other light than as an independent country; and the Company was obliged to fall into these views, and proceed to acquire land and to form settlements in the manner which alone would obtain the sanction of the Crown. The Company was, therefore, say-its advocates, "forced into the adoption of 'land-sharking;'" but they made it one of the conditions of their settlements, that a certain portion of their lands should be set apart as "reserves" for the natives; and it was their policy that those reserves should be incorporated with the villages and towns of the settlers, and not left in an isolated position, as was the case with the "Indian reserves" of Canada.

"In order to establish a uniform system," says Mr. Edward Jerningham Wakefield, in his "Adventures in New Zealand, from 1839 to 1844," "it became requisite that 'the Company' should obtain control over a much larger extent of land than could be required for the use of any possible number of settlers for years to come. With this view, and in accordance with the alleged national sovereignty of the native chiefs, they resolved to send an expedition to New Zealand, under the directions of an agent, instructed to adopt the usual method of acquiring land from the natives; but, if possible, upon a far greater scale than was ever necessary for the purposes of cultivation, or even of speculation, by individuals. This charge was confided to an uncle of mine, Col. William Wakefield. He was further instructed to select the spot which he should deem most eligible as the site of a considerable colony, and to make preparation for the arrival and settlement of emigrants." "The Tory" a fine vessel of 400 tons, was sent on the voyage: she carried eight guns; the crew had small arms; and she was "filled with the necessary stores,

PORT NICHOLSON – WELLINGTON.

provisions, and goods for barter with the New Zealanders, and manned with a strong and select crew." The adventures of the voyagers in the Tory are very exciting; but our space will not allow us to enter into any details respecting them. We can only say that Col. Wakefield succeeded in purchasing the land on which the settlements of the Company were formed; the price paid for them was merely nominal, and some few of the chiefs opposed the sale; but the great majority of the natives were anxious for "white men to come and live among them," and the bargain was concluded. The plan of the native reserves reconciled the agents of the Company to what they could not but feel was a most unsatisfactory arrangement.

The territory of Port Nicholson, where the province of Wellington is formed, was that first acquired by Col. Wakefield, who, in his journal, thus describes his purchase: – "I found a territory of forty or fifty miles in length, by twenty-five or thirty in breadth, containing a noble harbour, accessible at all times; and in the very highway, between New Holland and the Western World, with land exceeding in fertility any I have seen in these islands, and equalling an English garden. I found a mass of people of warlike habits, and but little used to intercourse with the Europeans, just emerging from their barbarism, and inclined to cultivate the arts and intimacy of Great Britain; appreciating the protection from their hostile and still savage enemies that British settlers would afford, and anxiously desirous to assist them in their first labours in the new country." The Colonel also purchased lands at Hokianga; and through the agency of Mr. Richard Barrett, a whaling merchant ("Dicky Barrett," as he was called, and who "dressed in a white jacket, blue dungaree trowsers, and round straw hat, seemed perfectly round all over; while his jovial ruddy face, twinkling eyes, and good-humoured smile, could not fail to excite pleasure in all beholders"), arrangements were made with the natives for lands more immediately to the north of Cook's Straits. The first settlers arrived at Port Nicholson before the 7th of March, 1840.

We have alluded to the purchase made by Baron Thierry. This led, it is imagined, to a design on the part of the French government to take possession of the islands for the purpose of forming a convict settlement. It was determined by the

British government to anticipate them; and this determination, strengthened by jealousies fomented by the enemies of the New Zealand Company, which had led to the impression (and some of the acts of the Company certainly gave a colour to it) that its members intended to set up a rivalry of the Colonial-office, led to the appointment, in August, 1839, of Captain Hobson, R. N., as Lieutenant-Governor of New Zealand. He arrived at the Bay of Islands on the 30th of January, 1840; and, on that day, he issued a proclamation as Lieutenant-Governor under the Governor of New South Wales, "in and over any territory which was, or might be, acquired in sovereignty by her Majesty, her heirs, or successors, in New Zealand." The proclamation stated, that it was not designed to "ispossess the owners of land acquired on equitable conditions;" that "a commission would be appointed to inquire and report on all claims to such land;" and that "purchases of land, in any part of New Zealand, which might be made from any of the chiefs or native tribes after that date, would be considered as null and void, and would not be confirmed or in any way recognized by her Majesty." This proclamation, it is said, only preceded the intended one of the French by four days. As the British Government had previously acknowledged the independence of New Zealand, it was necessary to enter into some arrangement with the chiefs. "Accordingly, on the 5th of February, the celebrated treaty of Wanganui was negotiated with them. The principle of this document was, that the sovereignty of the British crown was acknowledged to extend over the islands, the inhabitants receiving the privileges of British subjects. The right of property in the soil was reserved to the respective chiefs and tribes, subject only to a right of pre-emption by the Crown when they sold land, and an adjustment of such equitable claims as might arise out of the previous land transactions." Soon after these transactions, some inquiries, set on foot by Lord Eliot, having produced a better understanding between the Company and the Government, an agreement was concluded between them, by which the latter guaranteed to the former "a grant of an acre of land for every 5l. which they had expended upon the colonization of the country; and the Company yielded to the Government all its claims in right

WAR WITH THE NATIVES – GOVERNMENT.

of purchases from the natives. The Company was incorporated [in 1841] by Royal Charter, and required by the Government to double their capital, and recognized as a valuable instrument for the colonization of the country." In 1841, the settlement of New Plymouth, on the west side of the northern island, was formed by a company called the Plymouth Association (which soon merged in the New Zealand Company); in 1842 the latter Company established the settlement of Nelson, in Tasman's Gulf, in the middle island, on the southern shore of the strait; and also in 1847-8, the settlement of Otago, on the south-eastern coast of the same island. Auckland was founded as the political capital of the colony, by Captain Hobson, at the head of Waitemata Bay, at the north-east part of the northern island in 1840.

The treaty of Wanganui – the examinations into the claims of lands – the enmity between the missionaries and the Company, and between the latter and the local government, which sided with the missionaries – led to many lamentable events, and to a war between the natives and the English, in which three native chief's, Rauperaha, Rangihaeata, and John Heki, were conspicuous. This lamentable episode in New Zealand history we must pass over with the hope, that such scenes will never again disfigure the island. The result was the establishment of British authority on a firm basis; and, in January, 1848, the colony was divided into two provinces. One embraces the northern portion of the northern island; the other, the remainder of that island, and the whole of New Munster and New Leinster. A governor-in-chief was fixed at Auckland, in the first province; and a lieutenant-governor at Wellington, in the second; which was entrusted to the New Zealand Company for colonization purposes. A legislative council of six members, appointed by the governor, assisted him in his administration. A Bishop of New Zealand was also appointed; and municipal institutions, with local magistrates and police, as in England, were given the colonists. Such was the constitution and government of New Zealand, till April 5, 1853. The alterations which then took place, we shall hereafter particularize.

In the history of the settlements of this colony we have two more important transactions to notice; and these are

the formation of the "Canterbury Association," which, originating in 1848, was incorporated by Royal Charter on the 1st of November, 1849; and the planting of the settlement of Canterbury. The Association is not a joint-stock company, nor have its members any pecuniary interest in the undertaking. Their object, as set forth in the Charter, is simply to "found the settlement of Canterbury in New Zealand;" and to promote the interests of the settlers, who are to be members of the Church of England. The Archbishop of Canterbury is president of the Association, and Lord Lyttelton chairman of the committee of management. The Association consists of about seventy prelates, noblemen, and gentlemen; including, besides those we have named, the Archbishop of Dublin, the Bishops of London, Winchester, Exeter, Ripon, St. David's, Norwich, and Oxford; the Dukes of Buccleuch and Newcastle; the Marquis of Cholmondeley; the Earls of Ellesmere, Harewood, and Shaftesbury; Lords Ashburton, Wodehouse, A. Hervey, J. Manners, &c.

In forming that association, the first object of the projectors was, "to set an example of a colonial settlement in which, from the first, all the elements, including the very highest, of a good and right state of society should find their proper place and their active operation." Of course religious instruction and education were amongst the first things to be thought about. "We intend," say the projectors, "to form a settlement, to be composed entirely of members of our own church, accompanied by an adequate supply of clergy, with all the appliances necessary for carrying out her discipline and ordinances, and with full provision for extending them in proportion to the increase of population." The emigration of labourers, members of the Church of England, is provided for; to be selected by the purchasers of land. The site fixed on for the settlement was an extensive tract, on the east side of the middle island, nearly in its centre. It contains about 2,400,000 acres; and with the exception of such land as was selected for the capital, for harbour and port towns, &c, the whole was open for purchase as rural land. The sum of 3l. per acre was the price fixed for the land, to be applied as follows: – 10s. for the land; 10s. for miscellaneous purposes; 20s. for religious and educational purposes; and 20s. for emigration.

WELLINGTON.

There are some minor regulations, but these are the principal – those that give the character to the settlement.

The preliminary expedition of surveyors reached the colony in the spring of 1849, under Captain Thomas; and on the 11th of April, 1850, the chief local agent of the Company, Mr. Godley, arrived at Port Lyttelton. Lyttelton was the first town founded; and the utmost exertions were made to prepare for the first settlers. Four fine ships were chartered for 800 emigrants; and on Tuesday, the 30th of July, 1850, they partook of a public breakfast on board the Randolph, Lord Lyttelton in the chair. On the 1st of September, the Archbishop of Canterbury preached to these emigrants, in St. Paul's Cathedral; and on the 4th, the Bishop of Oxford affectionately exhorted them at Westminster Abbey. On the 7th of September, the four vessels sailed; they were very shortly followed by two more; so that the first party of colonists may be taken at 1,200. Fresh parties went out in May and June, 1851; and more settlers have followed since. The progress they have made, and the present state of the settlement, will be found in Chapter VI.

CHAPTER IV.

CHAPTER IV.

The six colonies of New Zealand – Order of settlement – Geographical order – Wellington: its situation; hills; first, called Britannia; change of name; description of the town; conversazione at the Athenaeum; topography of the district; population; trade of Wellington; gold supposed to be found there – Auckland: reasons why Capt. Hobson chose the site; harbour; founding the town; description; Auckland a sea-port; society in Auckland; amusements; newspapers; surrounding district; gold.

TAKING the six colonics of New Zealand in rotation, according to the date of their settlement, they would come in the following order: – 1. Wellington. 2. Auckland. 3. New Plymouth. 4. Nelson. 5. Otago. 6. Canterbury. Taking them in their geographical position, from north to south, they will be found laid down on the map thus: – Auckland, New

Plymouth, Wellington, Nelson, Canterbury, Otago. For the purposes of description, we shall take the order of settlement, and begin with –

1. WELLINGTON. – This settlement is formed at the southern extremity of the northern island; and as it was the first, so it is the principal one of the New Zealand Company. It includes the district of Porirua, Karori, Loury Bay, Wainuiomata, Wanganui, and Petre. The great recommendation of the locality was its fine harbour, Port Nicholson, which has been already described. It is six miles in diameter, and protected by the land on every side. At one side of this harbour is the valley of the Hutt, so called from the River Hutt, which falls into the harbour. It contains about 15,000 acres of excellent land, but so heavily timbered that it will require great toil and expense to clear it. When cleared, it will be as fertile a tract as any in the island. Beyond the valley, and on the other side of the harbour, the country for twenty or thirty miles on each side is covered with hills, which, says a settler in a letter to his father, "are unlike the hills of any other country. They do not run regularly in ranges, but are scattered about; and those that do run in ranges are divided by deep indentations, and, in the sides, almost into separate hills, merely connected by a ridge at the top, along which the Maories (or natives) form their footpaths, thereby avoiding all the gullies. The valleys, too, are, in general, small and isolated, which will make the expense of roads to each very heavy. I have only had time to make one excursion into the country – for one sees nothing of it here (at the town of Wellington) but the precipitous ends of hills running down into the bay, like the gable-ends of so many houses, and the flat at one end of the bay on which the town is built, and the valley of the Hutt at the other, stretching away to the high mountains in the interior, which are often covered with snow."

The town of Wellington was founded by Col. Wakefield, in 1840. It was at first called Britannia; and the name was changed at the earnest wish of the Directors of the New Zealand Company, in honour of the late Duke of Wellington, "in order to commemorate the important support which his Grace had lent to the cause of colonization ia general," and more particularly to those principles on

WELLINGTON.

which that settlement was founded. The part of Port Nicholson on which the town stands is called Lambton Harbour. It has a good sandy beach; and there are several wharfs, "at one of which," we learn from a recent writer, "vessels of eighty or a hundred tons can load and unload" Wellington possesses many of the requisites of an English town. The houses are built, as near as can be, after the English fashion: there are good shops, inns, and hotels, barracks for troops, and accommodation for the transaction of public business. A branch of the Union Bank of Australia is established here. It is a bank of deposit; has a circulation of notes, "payable on demand;" and the usual banking accommodation of discounts, advances, &c, are afforded. In the town and its vicinity are five churches, one Presbyterian or Scotch church, five Wesleyan and one Roman Catholic chapels, with three others belonging to the Independents, Primitive Methodists, and German Lutherans. All these places of worship have schools attached; and there is, besides, a school called "Non-Sectarian," in which no religious tenets are taught. The town also boasts its newspapers – the Wellington Independent, and the New Zealand Spectator – and its "Athenaeum and Mechanics' Institute."

Wellington is the seat of government for the southern province; and very good society is to be found there. As a specimen of the manner in which the intellectual and social pleasures of the colonists are provided for, we extract from the Wellington Independent, an account of a conversazione to which the Governor-in-Chief, Sir George Grey, invited the members of the Athenaeum, the commanding officers of the troops, the heads of the several departments of the government, and the ministers of the various religious bodies, on the 30th of September, 1852. It took place at the Athenaeum (of which institution his Excellency is president), and Sir George himself, Lord Robert Cecil, and the Rev. T. B. Paul, his guests, with many ladies, were present: – "The hall was tastefully decorated with paintings and engravings, the tables covered with rare and costly books, native curiosities, and articles of vertu, while a select portion of the band of the 65th Regiment enlivened the evening with their animated strains. One decoration that was much admired was a species of trophy in which the emblems

of literature, agriculture, and the mechanical arts, decked with laurel and flowers, were represented, surmounting alike the sword and the war-club of our two mingling races. The point, however, of greatest attention, and of incomparably the greatest interest, was a fire of coals from Pakawau, the material for which was contributed by Messrs. Bethune and Hunter, out of a specimen forwarded to them by Mr. Travers, of Nelson. The brilliancy of the flame, steadiness of combustion, clear redness of the cinder, and freedom from unpleasant smell, of these coals, and their perfect contrast to all other sorts that have been exhibited here, were themes of universal remark, and suggestive of anticipations that seemed to promise for New Zealand a future not less brilliant than that of golden Australia. Refreshments, including tea, coffee, fruits, &c., were served in the rooms of Barrett's Hotel, with a degree of elegance and liberality that left nothing to be wished for. When the company broke up, we believe there was not one who did not feel that not only a delightful evening had been spent, but that, as a community, we had really made a step forward in the path of social improvement."

Very few particulars are known of the topography of the district round Wellington. "On the north-west," says Mr. Fox, in his "Six Colonies of New Zealand," "the mountains begin to recede from the coast at a distance of about thirty miles from Wellington, gradually leaving a splendid tract, which extends, with few breaks, all the way to New Plymouth. On the east side, at the head of Palliser Bay, is the fine valley of the Wairarapa, containing about 350,000 acres of level land, connected with large level grassy plains, divided from each other by low hills, which extend up to Hawke's Bay on the one hand, and the head of the Manawatu river on the other." Part of these lands belong to the colonists, and part to the natives; the latter is chiefly occupied by graziers, as tenants to the Maories. There are some good roads opened out in these districts, and several rivers. The Wanganui, on the banks of which the Company's dependency of Petre is situated, is a very fine one. It will admit vessels of 340 tons; and the settlement is described as being "as beautiful as valuable." There are six or seven fathoms water in the river all along, with fine clay for bricks and pottery. The river is full of fish, with

WELLINGTON.

abundance of wild ducks and teal. Petre is five days' "walking journey from Wellington. "A fine district, containing about 60,000 acres, is opened," says Mr. Tiffin, "on the Manawatu river, which is navigable for coasting schooners. There is said to be abundance of fine land on the river, and the best natural arrangements for water power. Wanganui, lying midway between Port Nicholson and New Plymouth, communicates with them, and Manawatu, Otaki, and Porirua, by means of roads; and with Auckland, the Bay of Islands, &c, by the river." "The farms," according to Dr. George Rees, "are of the finest description."

Wellington contains about 7,000 inhabitants, of which number little more than one-third are females. "Twenty-six per cent, were born in New Zealand; the remainder are emigrants from the mother country and the colonies, a few foreigners excepted." In 1848, there were 1,501 persons in the settlement following specific callings, exclusive of female domestics, and thirty-four per cent. were engaged in farming pursuits. "Many colonists of the upper classes," says Mr. Fox, writing three years later, are "settled on the land, and own large quantities of sheep and cattle in the Wairarapa or Rangitiki [districts], and not less than from 400 to 500 families of the labouring class are cultivating land on their own account."

Wellington, however, has at present more of a commercial than an agricultural or pastoral character; and about 100 vessels belong to the settlers, most of which were built in the colony. It has many commercial resources. Several years back, Mr. Grimstone stated, that no less than 10,000 tons of shipping were annually employed in the coasting trade; a quantity now largely increased. There are stations on the coast of settlers and natives, from which salted pork, hams, lard, flax, and fish, are sent to Wellington. Port Nicholson is also become the great resort of those engaged in the whale fishery, who find it convenient as well as advantageous to fit themselves out there; and if a regular steam communication with England be established, it will greatly improve the settlement, as there will be a surer and more ready market for the oil made there.

Since the discovery of gold in Australia, the population of Wellington, like that of Europe and America, has been strongly disposed to go there. Some ventured early

in 1852; and a letter, dated "Wellington, September, 1852," says, "The return of a few people within the last ten days from the gold fields, where they have been very successful, and letters from others who have left but a few weeks since, have created such an excitement, that it is hard to say, what will be the immediate consequences. I really believe that hundreds will leave. It is not only the labourer, but the mechanic and the shopkeeper are also infected." There are, however, signs of gold in New Zealand. It has been found near Auckland, as will be seen in our description of that province: and there are some indications of it in Wellington. The Rev. W. B. Clarke, F. G. S., one of the early discoverers of gold in Sydney, writes thus from "St. Leonard's, New South Wales," to a resident in Wellington: – "I have long been impressed with the persuasion that New Zealand must contain a portion of those more ancient formations, which in this country are found to be auriferous. Everything in the physical geography of these countries induces my conclusion; and I am not at all put out of conceit with the circumstances attending a late alleged discovery of gold and subsequent disappointment. Since my return I have had given to me for examination some specimens of quartz from, I believe, the vicinity of Wellington. One of these is very ferruginous; and, on applying the file to the surface, three or four patches of gold made their appearance; so that I have positive proof of the auriferous character of some of your rocks. I doubt not that search, properly conducted, in the granite and slate regions, will be rewarded." We have little doubt but that the search has commenced, and that the colonists are "prospecting" in New Zealand with as much zeal, if not with the same results, as in Australia.

2. AUCKLAND. – When the British government determined to take possession of New Zealand, and sent out Captain Hobson as governor, that officer selected the missionary settlement in the Bay of Islands as the place for his first visit, greatly to the annoyance of the New Zealand Company's settlers at Port Nicholson. After a survey of the country, he fixed upon the site on which Auckland has since been built, for the capital, and as the seat of government, "on account of its central position – its great facility of internal water communication – -the facility and safety of

AUCKLAND.

its port – the proximity of several smaller ports, abounding with valuable timber – and by the fertility of the soil. Further experience satisfied him of the wisdom of his choice." The town stands on the narrow neck of land which separates Manakau harbour, on the west side of the northern island, from Shouraki gulf, on the east. This piece of land is about five miles broad, and the town stands on the north side. The frith of the Thames lies to the south, in which are several inner harbours, easy of access, viz, Coromandel Harbour, the Great Barrier, Matakana, Kawau, Mahurangi, Waiheki, and the Waitemata. Here vessels of any size may anchor in all weathers. Manakau is said to be the best harbour on the west coast of the island, but it is difficult of access in the prevailing winds, a tremendous sea breaking across at the heads. Mr. Fox, who visited it in 1849, says, "The impression it left on my mind is not favourable, and I do not think it will ever become a harbour of general resort. Auckland harbour will be the only one."

On the 18th of September 1840, formal possession was taken of the site, and the foundation of Auckland was laid by the government surveyor-general, Mr. Felton Mathew. The health of the Queen was drank by the party assembled, and prosperity to the infant undertaking, which has become the largest and most compact town in the colony. It has a frontage on the water of about a mile and a half, and extends inland to the distance of about a mile, The greater number of houses are built near the water (we quote from a description of "Auckland" written for the New Zealander, a local newspaper, and re-published in England), "in the bays and on the headlands with which it is indented. These bays are backed by small valleys which run inland to the distance of half a mile, terminating in narrow gullies; and are separated from each other by spurs, which run into the harbour, and terminate in low headlands. The lower parts of the town being thus separated, the roads which connect them with each other are somewhat steep and inconvenient." The town has an imposing appearance from the harbour. The bays alluded to look very picturesque. There is "Official Bay, commanded by St. Paul's Church, and with its detached cottage-like houses built on a sheltered slope, each snugly nestled

in the luxuriant shrubbery of its surrounding garden" Then "Commercial Bay, seen from the water, presents the appearance of a large town having a mass of homes closely packed together. Mechanics' Bay is as yet but little built upon; a large rope-walk, a ship-builder's yard, a native-hostelry, and a few small shops, are the only buildings, This bay." we are told, "is the principal place of encampment for the natives visiting Auckland in their canoes. Here they land their native produce, in fine weather bivouacking in the open air, or under their sail-made tents; and in bad weather seeking shelter in the neighbouring hostelry. Freeman's Bay, to the westward of Commercial Bay, is occupied chiefly by saw-pits, brick-kilns, and boat-builders' yards."

There are four principal streets. In Prince's-street, which is broad and spacious, are St. Paul's Church, the Treasury, the Bank, and the Masonic Motel. Shortland-crescent connects Princes-street with Queen-street, and contains some shops of a very superior description, It is, however, described, taken altogether, as "irregular and unfinished." Queen-street, which is the most considerable street in point of extent, is the least built upon; the Wesleyan Seminary overlooks it on the south. Wakefield-street "is the newest" (we still quote the description of "Auckland" already referred to) "and most increasing street in the town. Many of the houses are built of brick, and it already bears a considerable resemblance to a new street in the outskirts of a modern English town." The religious edifices are St. Paul's Church, the Scotch Church, and the Roman Catholic Church, with some chapels for dissenters. The public buildings are the Colonial Hospital, the Wesleyan institution, and the Britomart and Albert Barracks. A neat wooden jetty, 500 feet in length, has recently been erected to facilitate landing at low water; and a quay or landing-place has been constructed in Commercial Bay for the purpose of enabling coasting vessels to land and take in their cargoes. Auckland is a free port in every sense of the word. There are no port dues, or any other taxes levied on shipping; it is optional with masters of vessels to employ a pilot; and if not employed, no pilotage is chargeable. Ships' stores and provisions can be obtained at a moderate price.

Auckland is the seat of the civil government and of the bishopric of New Zealand. It is the principal station of the Church Missionary Society – the centre from which all its operations in New Zealand are directed. It is also "the head-quarters of a regiment, and has representatives from the brigade, commissariat, artillery, and engineer departments. Two battalions of military pensioners, enrolled for service in New Zealand, are located in the neighbourhood; and a ship of war frequently lies at anchor in the port. A banking establishment, connected with the Union Bank of Australia, has also been established here." From these various sources the elements of good society are a (forded; and, for amusement, once a week during the summer, the hand of the regiment plays for two hours in the Government grounds; there are three or four balls in the course of the year; and concerts, pic-nics, riding, water excursions, and cricket, with temperance and tea-meetings, school-feasts, "stitcheries," and lectures, diversify the hours that are devoted to recreation. There are horse-races once a year; but there is no hunting, and very little opportunity of using the fowling piece. The great event in Auckland is the ball the Governor gives annually on the anniversary of her Majesty's birthday, for which about two hundred invitations are issued. There are two newspapers published at Auckland, the New Zealander and the Southern Cross.

Auckland seems to be situated in a district in which there are not many natural beauties, and in some parts of which the scenery is by no means of an interesting description. The country around the town is level and open, for the most part; and its features are neither bold nor picturesque. At times, however, the harbour is very beautiful to look upon. In the winter season, when a perfect calm prevails, "with a deep but soft blue sky, studded here and there with fields of snow-white silvery clouds, seen through a glistening atmosphere." Then "the Waitemata presents a landscape of placid beauty, which it would tax the imagination to surpass." The borough of Auckland comprises within its limits two large harbours; "a water-frontage, not including the Tamaki with its numerous creeks, of not less than forty miles, having shelter and anchorage for shipping through the greater part of its extent; and an area of about

53,000 acres, the whole of which," says Sir George Grey, "is available for cultivation, and is generally of very superior quality." One half of this district, consisting of undulating ground, is covered with fern and various shrubs, chiefly the tupaki. Over one-fourth, the surface is more level, and it is covered with dwarf Manuka fern. The remaining fourth is considered to be of volcanic origin; the hilly portion is covered with fern and grass. There is, in these three different portions a great variety of soil; each is adapted to some particular production, and favourable to some peculiar mode of agriculture.

Placed as a sort of cordon round Auckland, to protect it from the large tribes of the south and west, are the "Pensioner Villages," where a number of enrolled pensioners dwell. Their establishment appears to have been a costly experiment; and, if ever required for purposes of defence, we have great doubts whether they would be found available.

Auckland has been chiefly peopled from Sydney and Van Diemen's Land, and its population was the most depraved in the colony. We hope it has improved, for it is certainly an unfavourable state of things where one in six of the population is convicted of crime, and one in eight of drunkenness, which was the case in Auckland a few years ago.

In the Auckland district gold has been found; and great anticipations are entertained of the probable results of a further search. The latest accounts we have are in the Sydney Morning Herald of Nov. 10, 1852, from which we make the following extract: –

"GOLD IN NEW ZEALAND,

"It appears pretty certain that gold has at last been found in New Zealand. A Mr. Ring, who has been to California, on his return to Auckland, went on a 'prospecting' tour, and succeeded in finding gold at Coromandel, about forty miles from Auckland, and accordingly claimed a reward of 500l. offered for the discovery of a workable gold field in the district. A deputation of the Gold Fund Committee accompanied Mr. Ring to the place indicated, and on their return issued the following memorandum: –

GOLD NEAR AUCKLAND.

"'The committee appointed by the subscribers towards the Reward Fund, deeming it to be desirable that the public should have correct information relative to the alleged discovery of gold, take this, the earliest opportunity, of stating that the deputation appointed by them to visit the locality of the alleged discovery have returned, and that the report is satisfactory, in so far as the existence of gold is concerned; but that the question of its being sufficiently abundant to he profitably worked is yet in abeyance.

"'By order of the Committee,
"'Thomas S. Forsaith, Secretary.'"
"'Auckland, Oct. 23, 1852.'"

"Several other persons also visited the spot and obtained samples, which were brought up to Sydney yesterday [Nov. 9] in the Marmora. It being thus certain that there was a gold field, Lieutenant-Governor Wynyard called together the newly-elected members of the legislative council, who were residing near Auckland, and consulted them as to the best course to adopt. It was understood that it was intended if possible to buy the land from the natives, and if they would not sell, to issue licenses at thirty shillings a month, and give ten shillings to the owners of the soil, and one pound to the revenue. On the 27th of October the lieutenant-governor, the bishop, the native secretary, and other officials, sailed for Coromandel in the schooner Border Maid for the purpose of entering into arrangements with the natives, and issuing licenses to diggers, so that we may expect in a few weeks to have more positive information.

"The position of the new gold field is most advantageous. Vessels of two hundred tons burthen can go within ten miles, and coasting crafts within three miles of the actual workings, so that the great expense of land carriage will be obviated. To Auckland this discovery will be of the utmost importance, as it is situated within forty miles, and will naturally be the head-quarters to which the diggers will have to resort to for supplies."

CHAPTER V.

CHAPTER V.

The six colonies {continued') – New Plymouth; New Plymouth Company; locality of the colony; disputes with natives; places of worship, schools; fertility of the soil; resemblance to England; population; produce; extract from a settler's letter – Nelson; first settlers; locality of the settlement; Blind Bay; Nelson Haven; site of the town; nature of the soil; produce; population; trade; climate; the Wairau valley; surrounding country; Pakawau coal district – Otago; locality; a Free-Church colony; nature and capabilities of the country; rivers; the harbour; Dunedin; the Acheron; Port Chalmers; population; religious sects; birds; climate.

3. NEW PLYMOUTH: – The settlement of New Plymouth was undertaken by a company, formed in 1840, chiefly of inhabitants of Devonshire and Cornwall. This company was to be in connection with the original company, to which it is now joined; and amongst its directors were Lord Devon [the governor], Sir Anthony Duller, the Mayor of Plymouth, Lord Eliot [now Lord St. German's], Sir Charles Lemon, Sir William Molesworth, Mr. E. H. W. Pendarves, Mr. Edward St. Aubyn, and Sir Harry Vivian. Their object was to have a settlement distinct from that at Port Nicholson; and the fertile district of Taranaki, on the west coast of the Northern Island, was fixed upon. They bargained to receive from the parent society 50,000 acres in this district, including a site for a town to be called "New Plymouth;" and in the middle of the year a ship was despatched, with fourteen cabin passengers, and 148 labouring emigrants, to the colony, where they arrived quite safe. Mr. Frederick Alonzo Carrington was the chief surveyor for the company; and he at first fixed upon the banks of the river Waitera as the site of the new town. This river falls into the Pacific about twelve miles north of the Sugar-loaf Islands, and has a bar nearly dry at low water, with a rise of twelve feet in the spring tides. The eligibility of the spot, however, was destroyed by a high surf which ran there at times, when it was comparatively smooth at Ngamotu. The party engaged in the survey capsized one or two boats at the entrance of

NEW PLYMOUTH.

the river; and then Mr. Carrington removed the site to the coast close to the islands.

The early settlers had serious disputes with the natives. The New Zealand Company had purchased this district, as well as their other possessions, from the chiefs; but some Maories of a different tribe laid claim to the land, and it was with difficulty that the colonists maintained their own; and, having fixed themselves in a splendid tract of country, the town soon sprung into existence. Mr. Fox tells us that "it is extremely picturesque, scattered up and down the sloping-sides of easy hills, and more resembling an English village than any other in the colony." There is a church, with Wesleyan and Primitive Methodist chapels, schools, a brewery, and three excellent flour-mills. It lies close to Mount Egmont, already described (p. 12), and that noble eminence forms a magnificent object in the scenery. Before this mountain "lies a beautiful undulating country, bounded by the sea on one side, and on the other stretching away, one vast forest, into the blue distance. The soil is of the very first fertility, and the natural vegetation of every sort except grass, most abundant."

New Plymouth possesses an indifferent access from the sea, and has a poor harbour; it is not, therefore, calculated for commerce; but for agricultural pursuits it is unsurpassed, if equalled, by any other tract in the islands. We have quoted Mr. Fox's testimony to its fruitfulness. Mr. Carrington says, the climate is magnificent, and the soil excellent; and Governor Grey says – "I have never, in any part of the world, seen such extensive tracts of fertile and unoccupied land as at Taranaki." "The soil," says Mr. Palmer, "is a black vegetable mould, four or six feet deep; the subsoil a yellow clay. Wheat and Indian corn are finer here than in any other part of New Zealand, as also potatoes." Numerous other testimonies to the same effect could be quoted, and it seems that this settlement is not inaptly styled the "garden" of the island.

To an Englishman, New Plymouth will soon be endeared, for it reminds him of home. "There are," says a tourist, "cottages after cottages, with tasty gardens; trees and ferns left here and there to throw their shadows across the thatch; neat gates and compact fences; and you meet with all the little civilities and kindly greetings of the west

country peasantry. We looked from a cliff over a huge hollow, filled with the richest wood of every shade and colour; a blue stream rushing and winding through the midst; and beyond, the clear dazzling cone of Mount Egmont; then came up the piping, gushing, and thrilling of birds."

There are between fourteen and fifteen hundred English colonists in this settlement, and about eight hundred natives. By the two, the soil is well cultivated, as far as clearances have been effected; the produce greatly exceeds the consumption; and large quantities are exported to Auckland and Wellington. A bridle road connects the settlement with Auckland. The most ready way of communicating with Wellington is by sea. Though the harbour is not good, still the Waitera can be entered by moderate-sized vessels, and it is navigable a considerable way up the country, which is watered also by the Waiwakaiho (a fine stream, sixty feet wide, and swarming with fish), the Huatoki, and the Enui. It produces wheat, barley, oats, rye, maize, potatoes, turnips, hops, and grass. The gardens are luxuriant with flowers and fruits. There are cattle, goats, pigs, and horses, which thrive well; but the pasturage is not good for sheep. Coal easily accessible, and of good quality and thickness, is found in the neighbourhood.

The following extracts from a letter written by a settler at New Plymouth, and dated August 30, 1852, will be read with interest: –

"We have now been in New Zealand ten months, and I shall be able to tell you something about the place. It is now near the end of winter, and we have only seen ice once, and then not thicker than a fourpenny piece. It is rather cold in the evening, but gets warm towards the middle of the day.... Plants that are hothouse plants in England stand in the ground, and flower the whole of the winter; and several things that are annuals in England are perennial here. Scarlet-runners stand in the ground five or six years, if they are cut down when they have done bearing. People grow vegetable marrow for pigs. A neighbour of ours grew several tons of them for pigs, most of them measuring two and a half feet in length, and the same in circumference. They want no care at all: people just put the seeds into a piece of waste ground, and take no more trouble.... We have three nice cows: one, a black one, makes thirteen pounds of butter per week, and only

NELSON.

her second calf, which is considered very good out here.... You would think it very curious to see some of our fields here. I saw a piece the other day, about ten acres, just sown with wheat; the field was covered all over with great logs that would take five or six men to move, and the owner said he quite expected to have forty bushels to the acre. They have the bush felled about October, and let it lie about three months to get dry, then set fire to it; it burns all the small wood, but leaves all the large, and those are left till they get rotten, which is in about three years. About July we sow our wheat – just sprinkle it over the ground (about one bushel to the acre) and leave it-do not cover it up at all, and we generally have a good crop. People have had sixty bushels to the acre, but the general run is forty to fifty."

There is a newspaper, called "the Taranaki Herald" published at New Plymouth.

4. NELSON. – This, the fourth settlement in point of time made in the New Zealand Islands, was the third formed by the New Zealand Company. The first party of settlers was organized in England in 1841, under different leaders, and in many respects different circumstances, from Wellington. It was on the 28th of August, 1842, when the Arrow, a store-ship, forming one of the preliminary expedition of this proposed colony, arrived at Wellington, and announced that two barques containing the rest of the pioneers might be daily expected. After some negotiation with the Governor, Capt. Hobson, who was opposed to the colonizing New Munster, Blind Bay, at the head of Tasman's Gulf, on the south side of Cook's Straits, and at the northern extremity of that island, was fixed upon as the site of the new establishment. The emigrants who followed the Arrow, left Wellington on the 2nd of October for their destination. Many of them were young and active: all were industrious; and soon, under their auspices, the nucleus of the present pleasant little town was formed. In the month of March, in the following year, when Mr. Wakefield visited it, there was a group of wooden houses, tents, rough booths, and sheds, disposed about a small hollow on the side of a hill; and the settlers were busily engaged in completing the necessary accommodations they required.

Mr. Wakefield, in narrating his trip from Wellington to the infant colony, says – "After rounding Cape Stephens

we had made out clearly the entrance of Port Hardy, the southern mouth of the French pass which separates D'Urville's Island from the main, the islets at the mouth of Croisille's harbour, and the bluff promontory formed by Pepin's Islands. All this east side of the gulf is backed by high and rugged mountains. The land towards Massacre Bay rose blue and clear over the distant horizon, until the haze and night closed in; but the low land at the southern end was not yet distinguishable; and the bay, looking like a broad strait, deserved the name of 'Blind,' given to it by Captain Cook." A bank of boulders of no great breadth, and raised only a few feet above the highest tides, runs parallel with the land for about six miles, thoroughly sheltering a space which averages a quarter of a mile in width from the face of the sea, and forming a natural breakwater. It joins the land at its northern extremity, but leaves a narrow gut between its southern point and the steep coast adjoining, at the very south-east corner of Blind Bay. This gut is the entrance to Nelson haven. The eastern shore of this haven is formed by a low and steep ridge of hills, which are bare of wood, and extend for about a mile. Beyond this, to the eastward, the haven expands in breadth; and, when covered by the hole, it presents the appearance of a fine lake; but, when the tide recedes, it is a flat expanse of mud, intersected by the branching channels of a small river called the Maitai. "An amphitheatre of about 1,000 acres, shelving from the southern shore of this lagoon, to the base of abrupt mountains on the east and south-east, seems made for the site of a town; and here Nelson is situated." The ridge of hills separates it from the entrance to the haven; and there is a communication between the latter and the town by a path over its summit. There is a good prospect from the north, over the wide part of the haven and the boulder banks, into Blind Bay; "and the fringe of wood on the banks of the Maitai lead the eye to the forest gullies and towering crags in the direction of the Ohiere or Pelorus River." The town possesses many of the requisites and accommodations of an English town. There are good shops and several breweries – it being famous for its ale. Good wharfs have been made, and roads constructed; and there is a newspaper called the "Nelson Examiner." The means of religious instruction and education are liberally provided; and a large number

NELSON.

of the children of Nelson attend the schools. The population comprises about 4,000 Europeans and 600 natives.

The land around Nelson is more open than that which lies in the neighbourhood of Wellington, and is not so heavily timbered. There are about 50,000 acres in immediate connection with the port, but not much more than half of it is fit for agricultural purposes: that is a great deal more than the present population can occupy. Much of it is fern land, which requires to lay fallow about a year before it produces an average crop; and the expense of clearing is much less than where forests abound. Towards the sea this land is covered with flax, which is now known to indicate a very superior soil; the fern, too, indicates good land, and when cattle or sheep are turned into it, grass appears in great luxuriance. This has given an impetus to stock-breeding and store-farming, which have been found extremely profitable. "There are no heavy clays," says Mr. Fox, "or stiff marls to be met with, but the light lands break up as light as garden ground." The average produce, even under inferior management, is of wheat, 24; of barley, 25; of oats, 21 bushels; of potatoes, 6; and of turnips, 24 tons per acre. The flax, and some of the fern land, will, well cultivated, yield 40 bushels of wheat per acre. The wire-worm is found in wet soils, but no other destructive insect ravages the crops.

This is a very improving colony. The population is now approaching 6,000; and the buildings, the land taken into cultivation, and the live stock, are continually increasing. The prospects of trade are good. Mr. Bell in his report says: – "It is likely that the brisk commercial intercourse which has sprung up between all these [Australasian] colonies and California, will benefit New Zealand more than any, from its geographical position, and its great resources and capabilities; and Nelson, as an exporter of timber and agricultural produce, which are the most wanted in California, will come in for a large share of the advantages which the new market offers. To the Auckland settlers," however, he says, "is due the credit of starting the trade, which promises to increase steadily with the wonderful rise of the 'gold country.'"

The climate differs from Wellington, as the days are hotter and the nights colder. Mr. Wakefield says: "during

the month I remained here, the climate was certainly magnificent. There were only three or four days rain, and the rest of the days, cloudless skies and calm air glowed upon the landscape. If I had any complaint to make, it was that I thought it too dry and hot in the day time; and that the nights were, on the contrary, very cold, when a light air breathed down from the lofty peaks inland."

Mr. Fox says he has known the sky without a cloud for a month together, even in winter, during which season geraniums, aenotheras, picotees, and other English flowers, will be found in blossom. In summer the temperature seldom exceeds 80 or 82 degrees. Mr. Fox also informs us, that "forming part of the Nelson settlement, but separated by a ridge of mountains, which necessitates a journey round of sixty or seventy miles, is the Wairau valley, a plain consisting of about 250,000 acres of land, the lower portion of first-rate quality, the upper part only fit for grazing purposes. It is surrounded by hills, which afford excellent sheep-runs, and which are occupied by Nelson settlers, many of whom live in the Blind Bay district, entrust their flocks in the Wairau to a shepherd, and only occasionally visit them in person." West and south of Nelson the country does not invite the settler. In 1846-8 it was explored as far as Cascade Point, in lat. 44 S. by Mr. Brenner. In 1850 Captain Mitchell Dashwood explored the country to the east and south of the settlement. In 1851 and 1852, a party of four – Messrs. Monro, Stafford, Wells, and Travers – explored the district of Pakawau, and inspected its coal fields, which it is the object of the Nelson Mining Company, established in the settlement, to work. The report of these gentlemen, made at a meeting of the provisional committee of this company, in Sept. 1852, is highly favourable; and the Nelson Examiner, of the 25th of that month, congratulates the company upon "possessing, for the field of its operations, so rich a district;" and adds, "it seems difficult to attach too much importance to the possession of a large supply of coal, or to doubt that the resources of the Pakawau coalfield, if properly developed, will add immensely to the value and importance of this settlement, and of the colony generally."

5. OTAGO. – This is the fifth settlement in point of time; and the fourth of the New Zealand Company. It is situated

OTAGO.

towards the southern extremity of the east coast of the middle island; and was founded in 1847, by "a body of colonists organized in, and proceeding from Scotland, in connection with the Free Church, for the endowment of which, and of schools in connection with it, a portion of the fund arising from the land-sales is appropriated." All other sects, however, are allowed to establish their own churches and schools. The town of Dunedin was founded by the first settlers. The Otago block, as it is called, of 400,000 acres, is bounded on the north by the Otago harbour, and on the south by the Matou or Molyneux rivers. It has, we are told, abundance of untimbered fertile land; open grassy pastures; ample fields of coal, capable of being easily worked; an unbounded sheep-walk towards its mountains; an adequate supply of wood; a navigable inland communication, running up its centre; and sixty miles of sea-line. Otago harbour is two miles wide, six fathoms deep for seven miles, and three fathoms up to the head. It is perfectly sheltered, and the tide runs three knots an hour, it is safe to approach and enter, and easy to leave. "Many extensive lagoons, lakes, and streams, intersect the country in every direction, which will ultimately be connected by canals and afford a perfect internal communication. Few topographical difficulties present themselves to the connection of the various districts by the means of roads." The rivers Puerua, Koau, and some smaller streams, are more or less navigable, the former for vessels of considerable burthen; the Clutha, as the Matou or Molyneux is now termed, is a quarter of a mile broad, and six fathoms deep, and these dimensions it retains for sixty miles inland. The soil is very fertile on its banks, but liable at times to be overflowed. It rises out of three very large lakes, situated at the foot of the Snowy Mountains to the north-west of Dunedin, and falls into the sea, on the east coast of the island, about sixty miles from the town. It forms the southern boundary of the block of land purchased for the Otago settlement.

The harbour is described as presenting one uninterrupted scene of the most romantic beauty, throughout the entire fourteen miles to which it extends. A settler says, "As we sailed up to the anchorage, some of our people exclaimed, 'How like this is to the Trosachs and Lake Katrine!'" The

difference is, that Otago is on a larger scale and of a blander character. Dunedin stands at the head of the harbour; and there is a considerable amount of available land around the harbour, and within a mile or two of the town. "The principal rural districts," says Mr. Fox, "commence about seven miles off. They consist of four plains, surrounded by grassy hills, all of them of good land." The rivers and streams we have named supply water-carriage through the greater part of the districts. The grazing capabilities of the country are very great, "as it is," says Mr. Fox, "almost entirely a grass country, and connected through the Clutha with a still more extensive level grazing country on Foveaux Straits." The latter district was explored in 1850 by Captain Stokes, R. N., and other officers of her Majesty's steamer Acheron. "It possesses a very good harbour at the 'Bluff,' in which the Acheron lay for some weeks; a river, called the New River, navigable for large vessels; and a smaller one, known as Jacob's River, adapted for coasters." There is a good supply of timber scattered through the districts.

Besides Dunedin, there is a village at Port Chalmers, where a place of worship for the Free Church of Scotland, was opened on the 17th of October 1852. The population of Otago is near 2,000. Of religious persuasions, there are members of the Free Church, of the Church of Scotland, the Church of England, Wesleyan Methodists, Roman Catholics, Independents, Baptists, &c. Although the colony was especially intended to be a "Free Church colony," the number of members of the Church of England and of the Church of Scotland each exceed those of the Free Church. The settlers are both agricultural and pastoral; and the quantity of cattle, sheep, goats, swine, and horses, in the settlement has greatly increased. There are birds of every description. Five or six different kinds of hawks; the tuis, a bird like our blackbird; robin-redbreasts, as they are called, from resembling that bird in shape and whistle, though the colour of the bodies is jet black, and of the breasts white; parrots in great variety, which are delicious to eat; wild ducks, called "Paradise Ducks," nearly as large as a goose; and quails in great variety, which are also excellent eating.

"The climate," says Mr. Fox, who is one of the latest

CANTERBURY.

writers on New Zealand, and visited all the colonies, residing at some of them a considerable time, "seems to resemble that of Wellington. There are more flying clouds, and more wind than in many other parts of the colony, but the climate is good on the whole, and exceedingly healthy – certainly no Scotchman or Englishman need complain of it. I was there when a colonist arrived, who had lost his health by a long residence in India, and who had been unable to regain it on the continent of Europe and at the watering places of England. He seemed completely shaken to pieces. I saw him a year afterwards, when his health seemed entirely restored – he was full of activity; enjoying life and engaged at that particular moment in presiding over one of the pleasantest scenes I witnessed in New Zealand – a harvest-home, attended by some thirty or forty labourers, and their wives and children who were in his employment."

A paper called the Otago Witness is published at Dunedin.

CHAPTER VI.

CHAPTER VI.

The six colonies (concluded) – Canterbury; its situation; Banks' Peninsula; Akaroa; nature of the soil and produce; climate; Mr. Deans' station; Messrs. Deans' opinion of Canterbury; Lyttelton; Christchurch; dinner at Lyttelton coffee house; sleeping accommodation; failure of promises as to church and school accommodation; sheep pasturage more profitable than tillage; opinions of settlers.

6. CANTERBURY. – We come now to the last, and certainly the most important colony in New Zealand; one which promises to exceed any of the others in its social attractions, and probably in its wealth. It is situated at Port Cooper, on the eastern shore of the middle island, very nearly in its centre; a locality which the Nelson settlers would fain have chosen, but they could not get the consent of the governor to take possession of that district. Prom nearly the middle of the east coast, but nearer to the northern than to the southern extremity, Banks' Peninsula, containing about 250,000 acres

of mountain land, juts out into the sea, forming a somewhat bold promontory. In this peninsula there are four good harbours; Akaroa at the south eastern extremity; Port Cooper (now called Port Victoria); Port Levy and Pigeon Bay, on the north. Port Levy and Port Victoria are separated from each other merely by a headland, forming a sort of angle; they run up till they nearly meet; Port Cooper is the largest and most sheltered. There had been, for some time, a small settlement formed at Akaroa, of which Governor Sir George Grey, in a despatch of March 17, 1848, thus speaks: – "This is a very interesting district, containing a population of about 300 Europeans [chiefly French], and 400 natives. The inhabitants are all now in a state of great comfort, producing for themselves all the necessaries of life, and exporting their surplus produce to other settlements. The harbour is one of the best in this country, so celebrated for fine harbours; the soil and climate are excellent, and it would form an admirable site for a large colony."

The settlement of Canterbury comprises Banks' Peninsula, with the adjacent plains upon the main land containing about 2,500,000 acres in one block; and consisting mainly of three grassy plains or prairies, named Sumner, Whately, and Wilberforce. This tract extends on the north nearly as for as Nelson, and on the south to Otago. It is intersected by several rivers, with their numerous tributaries, running to the sea from an Alpine chain of snowcapped mountains. Along the spurs and foot of this range, the forest, of which the plains seem to have been stripped by fire, extends in primeval grandeur. The whole of the plain country affords excellent natural pasturage, and is well adapted for grazing purposes. Much of it is, also, capable of being converted into arable, and will yield crops of excellent grain, potatoes, European fruits, and vegetables. "It is on the whole," says Mr. Fox, "as fine a tract as has ever been colonized." It has only one drawback – timber is not conveniently scattered over it. The immense plains are bare of wood, which grows about twenty miles from their centre, on each side. But as there are facilities for conveying timber for several miles into the plains by water, when the settlement is fully formed, and employment is properly organized, there is little doubt the supply of wood

CANTERBURY.

from Banks' Peninsula and the hills will form a regular trade; and the price become reasonably moderate."

The climate is chiefly remarkable for warmth, without sultriness, but the nights are very frequently bitterly cold; and in winter frost and snow prevail. It is, however, very healthy. Fruits – like the grape, the melon, and the gooseberry, the produce of different countries – are here brought to perfection; and the colonists had proofs of the fertility of the soil, from the experience of the French settlers in Akaroa bay, and some "squatters" on the plains. Their gardens teemed with flowers, kitchen vegetables, and all the English fruits. Sea fish is abundant, and of excellent quality; the plains abound with wild swine, which are excellent food; quails and wild fowl; there are no snakes, wild dogs, or other indigenous vermin. About fourteen miles from Port Victoria is a station called Riccarton, in a most lovely spot, where two brothers named Deans, have now been settled nearly ten years. A visitor to these squatters, in March 1849, says. "The garden is luxuriantly stocked with fruits and vegetables of every description; and I particularly remarked the apple-trees, every limb of which had to be propped up from the immense crop of fruit, with which they are burdened." Some of the Messrs. Deans' land yielded sixty bushels per acre, when first cropped with wheat. The Messrs. Deans themselves, addressing Captain Thomas, the agent and chief surveyor of the Canterbury Association, says, "After having traversed the country from Port Nicholson to Taranaki, and the whole of the east coast of this island, and after considerable experience in England as farmers, and for the last nine years in New Zealand, we can, with some confidence, congratulate you on being able to secure the district as the site for the Canterbury settlement."

Port Victoria is the principal harbour, and at its head is situated Lyttelton, in latitude 43 deg. 35 sec. south, which, as respects temperature, corresponds with about 47 deg. in the northern hemisphere. The most recent visitor, who has given us any account of this colony, C. Warren Adams, esq., who visited it in 1851-52, says, – "There are few prettier places than Lyttelton, seen from the sea. Situated in a small but picturesque bay, it is, as it were, framed in the bold and rugged hills by which it is on three sides surrounded; and whose wild and uncultivated

aspect contrasts very effectively with the neat houses and busy streets of the town. The most striking object is the jetty; it is well-built and convenient, running into the sea for about 100 yards, and is, I believe, the best in New Zealand. On landing there a wide street leads directly up the hill towards the police court and the upper part of the town. The emigration barracks are neat and commodious buildings, standing in a spacious area, immediately on the right wing of the jetty. One of them is at present [Oct. 1851] used as a church, another is converted into schoolrooms." The Esplanade is the best street in the town; it extends from the jetty to Canterbury-street, in which is the Mitre hotel, said to be the best in New Zealand. A bridle path, inaccessible for carts, leads over the range of hills at the back of the town, to the ferry across the Heathcote, on the way to Christchurch, the other town in the colony. This, Mr. Adams tells us, is "by no means so pretty a town as Lyttelton; in fact it is decidedly ugly. It is larger; but the houses being scattered over a wide space of ground, have a straggling and irregular appearance. The site is also unfavourable to beauty, as it is situated on the vast plain, which forms the principal portion of the Canterbury blocks. It is, however, a good situation in point of utility." The river Heathcote runs through Christchurch, which is the capital, and the seat of the Bishop of Canterbury.

Mr. Adams dined and slept at the Steadfast coffee-rooms, in Lyttelton, and, for 5s., had an excellent dinner of good pea-soup, beef, roast and boiled, with puddings, cheese, and dessert. "And when we drew round the flaming wood fires," he says, "and began to discuss a bottle of excellent sherry, it was difficult to believe that we were, as an Irish friend expressed it, 'on the other side of the world.'" At night their "room was a small loft in the roof of the house, barely six feet high in the centre. Eight wooden beds were ranged along the sides of the room, with feet towards the outer wall, and adorned with gay blankets of red and blue. At the head of each bedstead hung a towel, for the private use of each occupant, whilst at each end of the room was a ricketty wash handstand, and cracked looking-glass, for public accommodation. The narrow path along the middle of the room was filled with sleepers who had failed in gaining the accommodation of beds. The room measured

CANTERBURY.

twenty feet by twelve, and contained twelve or thirteen sleepers, but there was no want of ventilation." The travellers were better lodged at Christchurch.

A church was built at Christchurch when Mr. Adams was there; and the foundation of one was laid at Lyttelton, in May, 1852, towards the building of which 1,000l. had been subscribed. The expenses of the colony, in making roads, for surveys, buildings, &c, were 11,010l. 14l., in excess of the proportion allowed by the charter; the net expenditure of the emigration fund was also in excess 10,911l 16l. 11l. The accumulated funds for ecclesiastical and educational purposes, were applied towards this surplus expenditure, and land appropriated to church purposes. This was the reason why more church and school accommodation had not been provided: it is to be hoped that the engagements of the Association, in this respect, will yet be carried out. A colonist, writing from Christchurch, in May, 1852, says, that the attendance on divine worship "on Sundays, both here and at the port, is enormous, but, I am sorry to say, it consists principally of the lower classes."

Mr. Adams was of opinion that sheep-pasturage would succeed better than tillage in Canterbury, and this appears to have been the opinion of many of the colonists; and though the charter discourages sheep-pasturage, it is very generally practised. There are many sheep-farmers in the plains, and the colonist we have just quoted, advises a friend, who had some thoughts of investing capital in sheep, to do it at home, "as all the country," he says, "is being taken up. There is not now a desirable station to be had in Canterbury block, and those outside are being taken up with alarming rapidity; and since an overland passage has been made out to Nelson and Otawa, it is very probable that the whole of the east coast of the middle island will be stocked, and stations formed, connecting the settlements of Nelson, Canterbury, and Otago with each other. An investment in sheep will, I feel certain, yield a high interest, and redeem the capital sooner than any other capital in the world." This writer speaks of several balls given in the colony; at one of them, he says, "we mustered about a hundred, which was pretty well, for a private ball, in a newly established colony. You may fancy how civilized

we were, when I tell you we danced everything that is danced in England, including Mazurkas, &c."

Another colonist, writing on September 9, 1852, says: – "Farming is now, and I think will be likely to continue for some time at least, a profitable pursuit." "There is nothing like want of labour here yet, and, at the same time, good wages can be obtained by an honest, industrious man. From all I can hear or read of in colonization, the Canterbury settlement has been founded with less difficulty, and at once placed in a more prosperous condition, than any other colony ever founded by ourselves or any other people. I feel myself quite at home here, everything is so truly English, save the restraint which, I believe, most of us wish never to resume."

There is an Athenaeum at Christchurch; and a newspaper, called the Lyttelton Times, is printed at Lyttelton. The population of the colony is now nearly 4,000,

CHAPTER VII.

CHAPTER VII.

Means of communication between the settlements – the natives; their numbers; complaints of a chief; measures for the protection and benefit of the natives; Mr. Fox's character of the natives; Mr. Adam's visit to a Maori village; government; abstract of the constitution of 1852.

We have thus described the six settlements, or colonies, of New Zealand; and the reader will be enabled to judge which possesses the greatest advantages for the emigrant. In whichever he fixes his residence, he will not find that facility of communication with the others, which he has been accustomed to between the different districts of Great Britain. "Overland communication between the settlements," we are told by Mr. Fox, and Sir John Pakington urged the fact in the House of Commons, when introducing the New Zealand Government Bill, in 1852, "by made roads, is entirely wanting." There is also an absence of proper ferries across the rivers in the settlements them-

THE NATIVES.

selves. Those that exist, are in the hands of natives, who earn a few shillings by ferrying over travellers or goods, and "will not allow the government to establish regular ferries in charge of European ferrymen." The right to establish ferries, however, is one which the government should insist upon the natives surrendering into its hands. Considerable sums have been expended in road-making, in Wellington and Auckland – as much as 80,000l. The best of these roads is one thirty miles in length, which connects Wellington with a fine sea beach, forming the natural highway to Wanganui and the districts between. The communication between the settlements is chiefly kept up by sea; and a government brig visits them occasionally. An overland mail from Auckland to the southern settlements, carried by a native, is sometimes three weeks on its journey. As the settlers increase, more roads are forming – we have mentioned some of the recently constructed ones; and the introduction of steamboats will enable the intercourse by water to be kept up with much more regularity than heretofore.

In the first chapter, we have given an account of the natives of New Zealand, as they existed at the time of Cap-Cook. They are much less numerous now than they were when that celebrated circumnavigator visited the island. Some of the tribes have been almost annihilated by their own internal wars; and the race is gradually, but surely, disappearing before the superior influence of the white man. In 1850, their number was estimated, by a well-informed Wesleyan missionary, at 70,000; i. e., 59,000 in the northern, and 11,000 in the southern province. Calculations of the numbers in 1849 and 1850, show a decrease of 4 per cent. They chiefly live in pahs, or villages, under their own chiefs, professedly; but the ancient control which they had over the tribes, is nearly lost. A chief pathetically complained of this to Governor Grey, in 1848. "The slaves of my village," he says, "will not obey me; when I ask them to work, they will not regard me. The result of this conduct is theft and adultery." "Is it right for a servant to be insolent and disobey his master? It is my wish to protect my slaves, and to protect them, I wish them to respect me in return. If my slaves do evil, their sin will affect myself; when my people do well, my heart rejoices." He

asks that a law may be made for the natives, that their slaves may obey them. But, of course, our government could only subject them to British law. There is an officer in New Zealand, called the Protector of the natives. It is his business to see that they are not oppressed and imposed upon in the purchase of lands, &c. Three hospitals have also been established, chiefly for their use; one at Auckland, one at New Plymouth, and one at Wellington. Ordinances have been passed for the recovery of small debts, and the administration of summary justice amongst themselves; and 500 or 6OO of them are employed on the public roads. At present, there is little appearance of any amalgamation of the races. Except among the old whalers, and the "beachcombing population," marriages with native women seldom take place: and the influence exercised upon the natives, either by government, or the European inhabitants, is inconsiderable.

Very different accounts are given of the present condition and disposition of the natives. Mr. Fox says, – "With the exception of an inconsiderable number, the natives continue to reside in wretched hovels, go clothed in blankets full of vermin, help themselves to food with their fingers out of a common dish, indulge in conversations such as no civilized person would listen to, have no fixed laws or institutions, no books but testaments and hymns, [Mr. Fox, like many settlers, seem to think very lightly of the missionary exertions, we trust unjustly;] and, in short, retain all the principles, and many of the most disagreeable features, of the savage character." Mr. Adams gives a more pleasing account of them. He visited a Maori pah at Kaiapoi, about five miles from Rangiora, and twenty-five from Christchurch, the only remaining village of any extent in the Canterbury settlement belonging to the natives. It contained about 800 inhabitants, who lived in small huts, each possessing a piece of enclosed ground; or garden; and they lived principally upon vegetables and wild pork. "The race," says Mr. Adams, "is rapidly wearing out, and will, in a few years, become extinct. This is a painful reflection, for they are a noble race of men. They are for the most part tall and well proportioned. Their skin is of a rich dusky copper colour, and the tattooing with which they are covered, though at first sight unwelcome to an European

GOVERNMENT.

eye, is often executed with considerable taste and skill, and is far from displeasing. They are harmless and friendly; they never meet you without a passing 'tenaqui,' [how d'ye do?] and are delighted when an opportunity offers of shaking hands with an Englishman. They are a faithful and affectionate race, and notwithstanding their intercourse with white men, their honesty is still proverbial. Undoubtedly we have taught them to drive bargains, and European cunning, grafted upon their own shrewd and intelligent nature, has rendered them difficult to deal with, but a bargain once concluded, they will scrupulously fulfil it at any sacrifice." * * * * * "They have a considerable appreciation of fun and drollery. Their deep devotion to the apostle of modern days, Bishop Selwyn, is not the least noble trait in their character. It is impossible to speak too strongly of the attachment and submission of the Maories to him, or of the wonderful manner ia which he exercises the power he has so deservedly attained. In the middle island the natives have almost universally embraced the Christian faith, and now indignantly deny the imputation of cannibalism." Whichever account approaches nearest to the truth – Mr. Fox's or Mr. Adams' – or whether they may not both be true of natives in different parts of the island – this much is certain: – the colonists have now nothing to apprehend from the Maories, who have the greatest wish to remain on terms of friendship with their European neighbours.

The original Government of this colony was in a governor-in-chief, residing at Auckland; a lieutenant-governor, residing at Wellington, and a legislative council of six or more members, appointed by the governor, who was empowered from time to time to constitute fresh provincial divisions, and municipal districts in each province. On the 6th of April, 1853, however, a new constitution was put in force, in accordance with an act of parliament, introduced by Sir John Pakington, when he was colonial secretary, and passed in 1852. Of the principal provisions of the act the following is a correct outline: –

The six provinces of Auckland, New Plymouth, Wellington, Nelson, Canterbury, and Otago, are established, the limits to be fixed by the governor. There is to be a superintendent and provincial council in each province, the number of members in the latter, not less than nine, to be fixed by the governor. The

offices of superintendent and members of the provincial councils are elective, but the governor can disallow the election of the former, if he sees fit, in which case a fresh one must be chosen. The governor is to appoint the electoral districts, nominate the returning officers, and issue the writs for elections. The persons who are qualified to vote are also qualified to be elected; and these are, every man of twenty-one years of age, with a freehold estate, of the value of 50l. per annum, of which he has been in possession six months; every man holding a lease, which has at least three years to run, of the annual value of 10l., or who is a leaseholder within the limits of the town, of 10l., or without the limits, of 5l. a year, having resided six months previous to the registration. Aliens and persons convicted of treason, felony, or any infamous offence, are disqualified. The seat of a member of the council is to be declared vacant if he become bankrupt or insolvent, or a public defaulter, or is convicted of any criminal offence. The duration of the councils is to be not more than four years, and the governor may, whenever he pleases, dissolve the same by proclamation. One session is to be held every year; and the interval between the sessions is never to exceed twelve months. These provincial councils may enact laws, except on the following thirteen subjects: – 1. Imposing or regulating customs. 2. Courts of judicature. 3. The customs. 4. Weights and measures. 5. The post-office and the carriage of letters. 6. The bankruptcy and insolvency laws. 7. Beacons and lighthouses. 8. Dues on shipping. 9. Marriages. 10. The Crown lands. 11. Inflicting disabilities on the native race to which Europeans or persons descended from Europeans, are not subject. 12. The criminal law. 13. The law of property or wills. These subjects are confined to the general government, which consists of the governor; a legislative council of not less than ten, the members to be above twenty-one years of age, and to be nominated by the governor, for life; and a house of representatives not to be less than twenty-two nor exceed forty-four in number, to be elected for five years, by the same persons who elect the provincial councils; the electorate districts to be appointed by the governor. The general assembly may alter the constitution, but any bills passed for that purpose must receive her Majesty's approval before they become law. Her Majesty, by letters patent, may establish municipal corporations in any part of New Zealand, and make bye-laws for their government.

It will be seen that the general government is formed upon the model of that of the British empire; whilst those of the provinces resemble our provincial town-councils.

CHAPTER VIII.

ADVICE TO EMIGRANTS.

CHAPTER VIII.

Directions for, and advice to emigrants – New Zealand Company; Canterbury and Otago Associations – Land-purchases – Persons most wanted – Which settlement to choose – Fares for passengers – What emigrants require – Wages – Prices of provisions.

WE shall conclude this little manual with some brief directions for, and advice to emigrants.

The New Zealand Company has resigned its functions as a colonizing body, and those who wish to emigrate must apply for information – either to H. F. Alston, Esq., the Secretary to the Canterbury Association, at 9, Adelphi Terrace, Strand, London; or to J M'Glashan, Esq., the Secretary to the Otago Association, 27, South Hanover Street, Edinburgh. At present, those associations exercise the functions of colonizing bodies; but it is not improbable that they will both follow the example of the parent society, and abandon them. As an associated company, the Canterbury Association is involved in difficulties, and Government has refused a charter to that of Otago. Rut whatever may be the fate of these bodies, there is no doubt that the colonies they have founded will, under divine protection, do well and prosper. Emigrants with small capitals, and possessed of industry and perseverance, must succeed in creating a comfortable competence, if not wealth.

At page 30 we have stated what the Canterbury Association require in colonists. There is no restriction as to the class or persuasion of persons emigrating to Otago; out of the purchase-money of the land in the possession of the Association, three-eighths are appropriated towards the free emigration of labourers, two to each property of 60 1/4 acres; or if the purchaser pay 7l. 16s. additional, three labourers will be sent out; or if the purchaser be a farmer, who intends to till his own land, the allowance will enable him to convey himself, his wife, and a child, to the colony.

The Canterbury and Otago Associations have purchased considerable districts; and the intending emigrant going to either of them, will have no difficulty as to his title. But

the Government has acknowledged the title of the natives to the waste lands; reserving merely the "right of pre-emption; that is to say, it retains the privilege of being the only purchaser from the natives, and prohibits its subjects from doing so." This step was taken to put an end to the practice of "land-sharking," by which bodies and individuals obtained large tracts of land for considerations absolutely worthless; and out of these transactions sprang those disputes with the natives which ended in the war of 1848. "Hence, it is through the instrumentality of the Crown alone (or in other words, of the Colonial-office and the local government), that every acre which is to be reclaimed from the waste, and subjected to colonizing operations, must be obtained. And it follows, that every private right must, to be valid, be traced back to the Crown." "This privilege," observes Mr. Fox, "which the Crown claims, is not a mere feudal or prerogative one, but is founded on a wise and constitutional principle, by virtue of which it assumes the office of regulating the future settlement and occupation of the country. In the absence of such an exclusive power, there would result a general scramble, and colonization would be an impossibility."

The class of persons most wanted in the colonies are agricultural labourers, firm-servants, shepherds, and domestic servants. There is, also, a demand now for mechanics, but it is not so great as it is in Australia. Industrious persons of the above classes, are almost certain of finding employment at any of the settlements; whilst men of capital can hardly fail to make profitable investments. It requires no large sum to start with in New Zealand. A merchant may make his way with from 1,200l. to 1,500l.; a farmer or a tradesman might do with about one-fourth of those sums, or even less. As a general rule for emigrants, Mr. J. Ward, who is settled at Nelson, recommends "Nelson for farming purposes, or New Plymouth, perhaps, may be as good; Wellington for mercantile pursuits; Auckland for a storekeeper or a situation; Otago, Port Cooper, and Canterbury or Wairau, for sheep-keeping." The emigrant, however, would do well to consider, whether he has any friends or connections in any of the settlements. If he has, no doubt his comforts would be greatly increased by settling amongst them. In the ships of the Canterbury Association,

ADVICE TO EMIGRANTS.

the charge for passage is for each passenger fourteen years old and upwards, 42l. in the chief cabin; 25l. in the fore cabin; and 16l. in the steerage. Children between one year and fourteen years, half-price; and under one year, free.

Emigrants should take nothing but that which is useful; for money will generally go farther than goods: and it is better to take their money in a draft upon the bank than in cash. A good supply of clothing is requisite; it should be strong and serviceable; and in a new settlement it might be well to take the iron-work necessary for a house, with a few tools; and cart-wheels, wedges, beetles, and a blacksmith's forge, would be found useful. There has been much written with respect to the course an emigrant should pursue on landing; but as things stand now, he had much better trust to the advice of those already in the colony. One piece of counsel given by Mr. Ward, already alluded to, we cordially second: – "If you are well off and comfortable, STOP WHERE YOU ARE. But if your prospects are bad, if you cannot see your way clear, without slavery and starvation, then I can safely say you would be ten times better off at New Zealand, where, if you are able and willing to work, and keep yourself sober, you would in a little time be surrounded with abundance of bacon and eggs, bread, butter, milk, cream, pudding, fowls, and all kinds of vegetables." Idle, dissolute, drunken parties, will fail in New Zealand as they will elsewhere.

We subjoin some information as to the rate of wages and the prices of provisions.

WAGES.
s. d. . . s. d.

Farm and other labourers, per day ............
3 0 . to . 4 0

In Canterbury.............................
0 0 . to . 4 0

Mechanics, sawyers, carpenters, cabinet-makers,
carpenters, coopers, wheelwrights, &c, &c.....
5 0 . to . 6 0

Labourers.................................
2 6 . to . 3 0

The day's work is from 8 to 6.

PRICES OF PROVISIONS.

AUCKLAND. – Bread, 2 lb, loaf, 6d,; beef and mutton, 5d. to 6d. per lb.; pork, 5d. per lb.; potatoes, 4s. 6d. per cwt.; cheese (English), 1s. 6d. per lb.; (Auckland), 1s. per lb.; butter, (fresh), 1s. 6d. per lb.; (salt), 1s. per lb.; eggs, 1s. per dozen; tea, (6l 10s. per chest), 2s. 0d. per lb.; sugar (moist, 28s. to 42s. per cwt.), 3d. to 5d. per lb.; coffee, 1s. 6d. per lb.

CANTERBURY. – Flour, 35s. per 100 lbs.; bread, 8d. the 2 lb. loaf; potatoes, 3l. per ton.

NELSON, Sept. 25, 1852 – Wheat, 6s., 6s. 9d., and 7s. per bushel; flour, 18l. to 19l. per ton; barley, 5s. per bushel; oats, 5s. per bushel; fresh butter, 1s. 3d. per lb.; cheese, 10d. per lb.

NEW PLYMOUTH. – Wheat, 6s. per bushel; fine flour, 17l., and seconds, 15l. per ton; maize, 2s. 6d. per bushel; potatoes, 3l. per ton.

OTAGO, Oct. 16, 1852. – First flour, 28s., Sydney, 28s., and second, 21s. per 100 lbs; bread, 1s. per 4 lb. loaf; wheat, 8s., and oats, 4s. to 5s. per bushel; beef, 4d. to 6d.; mutton, 5d. to 6d.; pork, 4d, to 6d.; ground coffee, 1s. 4d.; raw coffee, 1s.; tea, 2s. 3d.; new sugar, 3 1/2d. to 4 1/2d.; mould candles, 9d.; cheese, 1s. to 1s. 2d. per lb.; milk, 4d. per quart; potatoes, 2l. 10s. per ton; eggs, 1s. 2d. per dozen.

WELLINGTON. – The prices range much about the same rate as in England.

– – – – – – – – -

Since the pages were stereotyped in which we have noticed the discovery of gold and the present condition of the natives, later information has been received from the colony. The discovery of gold is confirmed. The gold field is on lands the property of the natives. They are quite willing that it should be searched for, and the Government has undertaken to pay them, for any number of persons under 500 digging between Cape Colville and Kauiarago, 600l. per annum for three years; for 500 to 1,000, 900l.; for 1,000 to 1,500, 1,200l.; for 1,500 to 2,000, 2,000l.; and so on in proportion. The diggers are to pay 30s. per month for licenses.

As to the natives, – a settler, Walter Brodie, in a letter dated Auckland, Oct. 25, 1852, and published in the Times, of March 26, 1853, speaks of them as the "backbone of New Zealand." He says – "During the last six months they exported, along with Europeans, but of their own growth, 50,000 bushels of wheat, besides maize, and hundreds of tons of potatoes. One settlement alone, at Rangeawhea, on the Waikato and Waipa River, had, last year, 2,500 acres under cultivation, and five water-mills, which cost on an average 600l. each, At Tauranga, on the Bay of Plenty, they have sixteen moderate-sized schooners." According to Mr. Brodie, therefore, the Maories are a very important part of the population.

London: Printed by STEWART and MURRAY, Old Bailey.

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