The wool here is considered superior to any in New Zealand; the average weight of the fleece is 7lbs., and the price in the London market is 1s. 7d. a pound;* the superiority of the Otago wool to that of the other provinces in the colony is owing, I was assured, to the equable temperature all the year round.

Labour just now is very scarce and of course very dear; labourers employed by the government on the roads get 5s. 6d. a day and their rations! Skilled labour is in proportion: sawyers can earn 25s. a day. Truly there is a fine field open for the emigrant here.

Of course I paid my respects to the superintendent, whose acquaintance I made on board the John Wickliffe, at the Motherbank, in 1847. Captain Cargill, the leader and founder of this settlement, is a direct lineal descendent of the celebrated Donald Cargill, the Cameronian minister, who, having been hunted from place to place during the persecution in Scotland in the reign of Charles II, suffered martyrdom at the Grassmarket, Edinburgh, in the year 1680. He is himself no ordinary man, a perfect patriarch, having no less than forty-three grand children, of which number twenty-three are living in the province: increasing age, for he has long passed the allotted three score and ten, and bodily infirmities oblige him to retire from public life, and in January his place will be supplied by another superintendent, who will find himself in charge of a most thriving community.

Last year the exports of Otago amounted to over £47,000, of which wool figured for the sum of £38,215, and grain for £8,500: the imports were £96,620.† The European population of the province was 6,944; and the revenue from the customs for 1857 (I could not obtain the amount for last year) was £8,218 collected at Otago, and £332 from Invercargill or the Bluff, the southernmost port of the island, in Foveaux Straits. These figures are suggestive, and speak volumes for the industry of this young community, £2 1s. being the amount of gross revenue raised per head of population in England.

On Christmas Eve I dropped down the harbour and anchored outside the bar, to wait there for the Governor, who came from Dunedin in one of the small steamers, and landed above the Pilot Station to pay a visit to a Maori pah and native school, in which his Excellency takes much interest. I had taken on board the day before fifty tons of coal at fifty shillings a ton, hauling alongside a hulk at Port Chalmers belonging to Mr. M'Andrew for that purpose. In the afternoon the Governor came on board, with a large party of the most influential inhabitants to bid him "Farewell." And after they left, about 6h. 30m. p.m., we stood out to sea, steaming into the offing. and lifted the propeller.

"Christmas Day." We had a pleasant breeze all night from *The best Lincoln is worth 1s. 8d. In Mecklenburg Schwerin the average weight of the fleece is only 33 lbs., but it is worth 2s. 6d. a pound in London.

This was written before the gold discoveries were made, and the progress since may be judged by the fact that the exports, which in 1859 amounted to £83,720, had increased last vear (1861) to £844,419. The imports from £243,871 to £859,733!!!

NO 9.-VOL. XXXI.

3 N

N.N.E., drawing gradually round to the westward, so that we made very little way towards our destination, which is Port Cooper. The following morning the wind shifted into the southward, and finally settled in the South-west, and we rattled along with studding sails set; by noon Sir Joseph Banks Peninsula was in sight. The wind freshened to a gale, and as it would have been impossible to work into port against it, I brought the fires forward and proceeded under steam at five o'clock, anchoring off the town of Lyttleton at 7h. 30m. p.m., in 4 fathoms, veering to half a cable, as the squalls were very heavy. We should have taken up a much better berth, but the Iris, with Commodore Loring's broad pendant, which arrived here yesterday, was moored a long way out, and I thought it. right to anchor near her.

The so called harbour of Port Cooper is nothing better than an inlet, with no protection from the sea, which comes tumbling in when the wind blows between the North and East points. The holding ground is far from good: it is therefore not a secure anchorage, and as the weather is frequently very unsettled and always squally, owing to the height of the surrounding hills, it is a very unsafe place for sailing boats. There is a small pier at Lyttleton, which is being improved; coasters can now load and discharge alongside.

This is the port, par excellence, of the province of Canterbury, for it is the only one yet available, owing to the want of a good road to Akaroa. Here all the wool produced on the extensive sheep runs is brought for shipment: the value this year amounts to £90,134. Christchurch, the capital of the province, is situated on the edge of an extensive plain about eight miles from Lyttleton; to reach it, however, a very high hill has to be crossed. There are two roads; one only a bridle path, the other, called the Summer road, about four miles longer, is practicable for vehicles, but cannot be considered very safe, being scarped along the face of the hill and carried very near the edge of the cliffs which overhang the harbour. Very few goods are conveyed this way; nearly all, both exports and imports, are carried by water in vessels of light draught to and from the Heathcote River, which falls into the sea to the North-west of Banks Peninsula. In 1858 the exports amounted to £108,713, the imports to £216,183; and both are rapidly increasing, The revenue from the customs at Lyttleton reached in the year just closed upwards of £30,000; in 1857 it was only £18,465!

About three miles from Christchurch, at the foot of the hill, in a pretty situation close to the Heathcote River, is Cashmere, the seat of Cracroft Wilson Esq., a retired Indian judge, to whom Lord Canning has accorded the proud distinction of having by his courage and determination saved more European lives during the late rebellion than any other man in India, which empty praise is all he has yet received in return for all the sacrifices and hair-breadth escapes he underwent.*

Since the above lines were penned this gentleman has been gazetted C.B. for his distinguished services; his friends had justly hoped that a distinction more worthy of his merits would have been awarded.

And now he has cast his lot in this goodly land with every prospect of becoming a successful colonist. From this gentleman, my near connexion, I gleaned some valuable information relative to the sheep farming of the province and of this district in particular, which would be out of place here; suffice it to say, that although a most profitable Occupation everything is not couleur de rose. One of the drawbacks to prosperity proceeds indeed from so singular a cause that I cannot help recording it: namely, the ravages made among the lambs by the wild pigs so serious have these become that some check is considered absolutely necessary, and rewards are now offered for pigs' tails. In 1858, Messrs. Clifford and Weld gave out a contract for the destruction of three thousand pigs on their run, consisting of about sixty thousand acres. This was executed in three or four months, but without any apparent diminution of their numbers. Some four or five run-holders, holding a block of perhaps three to four hundred thousand acres, then gave a contract for twenty thousand tails, but owing to some differences between the proprietors this was broken off when two thousand had been killed, upon which Clifford and We'd gave a contract for five thousand more on their own run, which is being rapidly carried out. Ninepence a tail is the price paid, and this is not done till the contract is completed.

The province of Canterbury was founded in the year 1850 by the Canterbury association, and as a pastoral country it has made the most rapid and satisfactory progress. Its European population is upwards of ten thousand, and Christchurch bids fair to become a handsome town. All the buildings at present are of wood, but good models have been followed, such as may be seen in the old city of Chester. The new legislative buildings, far advanced in construction, will be very handsome, with quaint corbels and finials, and Louis Quatorze zinc roofs. The Wesleyans appear to have taken the lead in the church architecture here, as they have at Melbourne; a pretty spire open woodwork, attached to their place of worship, is now about having the last touches put to it. A grand episcopal cathedral is projected. A beautifully deep clear stream called the Avon flows through the town and to the sea by the same entrance as the Heathcote, but the navigation of both rivers is impeded at the mouth by a dangerous bar. In these waters the "watercress," uncontaminated by frogs, which are unknown in New Zealand, grows with the greatest rapidity and luxuriance.

of

The general aspect of the Canterbury plains is not inviting at this season; about fifteen thousand acres are under cultivation, the rest is covered with tee tree and fern intermingled, presenting a sombre appearance: much of the land is tough clay, but when the scrub is burnt off, and the soil cleared, it requires but little labour to convert it into excellent wheat land: the steam plough might be worked to advantage here. The sheep runs require no preparation; the flocks roam over extensive tracts of many thousand acres; but it takes three and sometimes more acres to depasture a single sheep. Whereas, in the province of Auckland, where the land is prepared for the reception of

sheep by sowing clover and artificial grasses, the meadows will feed from five to eight sheep per acre. There can be little doubt in my mind which system will prove most remunerative in the end. Here, in the "Middle Island," the sheep "runs" are being rapidly absorbed. In Auckland the sheep "pastures" are becoming greatly enlarged, and the production of sheep and wool is keeping pace in a corresponding ratio with the means thus provided for their increase.

During the eleven days we remained at Port Cooper the weather was very variable; gales of wind succeeded each other rapidly from every quarter, and the storms of dust at Christchurch were as bad as any I ever experienced, even in Egypt. I was almost thankful to get away from such a climate, although it is but fair to add that the weather was considered very unusual.

January 6th, 1860.—The Governor re-embarked this evening, and at 4h. 40m. a.m. the following morning (Saturday the 7th) we stood out of Port Cooper, with a strong southerly wind, and got the propeller up as soon as we were clear of the entrance. The Iris followed us out. There was a nasty sea on, the effects of a heavy gale, and the two ships kept together till the following afternoon, when the commodore parted company, being bound to Wellington, and I steered to the

northward.

At daylight on Monday Cape Palliser was in sight; fine bold land, well wooded, and uncultivated. The wind now died away, so the steam was got up, and we proceeded, coasting along shore and across Hawkes Bay, but too far off to make out anything of the infant settlement of "Napier," the capital of the province lately established here. Hawkes Bay became a separate state in 1858, and it has since made rapid strides, being in much estimation as a grazing country.

At sunset on the 10th we were abreast of Portland Isle, so called from its resemblance to its namesake at home. There is a dangerous rock off it, bearing N.E., four and a half miles, mentioned by Cook; it breaks very rarely: we caught sight of it, however, and passed about three miles outside. We stood on all night under easy steam, the weather being clear and water smooth. Rounded Young Nick's Head at 3h. a.m., on Wednesday the 11th, and at daylight anchored in 5 fathoms in Poverty Bay, close to the entrance of the Turanga River, and within a quarter of a mile of a ledge of rocks which project to seaward, but affords no shelter even to the very smallest craft. This is in fact a very exposed place, and with any wind blowing "on shore" it would have been next to impossible to communicate; fortunately it was a dead calm during the whole time we remained. It was here that our great circumnavigator, Cook, was so disappointed in obtaining refreshment for his people, which induced him to give it the name of Poverty: I imagine it will earn a very different appellation some day, the land being as rich as any in New Zealand: all is still, however, in the hands of the natives, the government not having made any arrangement yet for the purchase of their claims, and private individuals are precluded by a law, which is at once impolitic and unjust, from opening negociations with them on this subject. For my

part I am unable to comprehend why it is considered necessary to the successful colonization of the country that the Crown should monopolize the right of purchasing native land, thereby virtually compelling its owners to dispose of it at a price far below its market value. This method of dealing with the natives is a fertile source of distrust, and must lower the character of any member of the government who is not above land-jobbing while holding office. It would be a wise resolution, therefore, of the government to give up land dealing and remove those restrictions which at present prevent the native owner from disposing of his land in the open market and obtaining for it its real value.*

I had sent a boat ashore directly we anchored to announce the Governor's arrival, and at noon his Excellency landed on the ledge before mentioned, as no boat could enter the little river on account of its being dead low water.

The country is very beautiful, and the river deep and abounding in fish; our seining party was very successful notwithstanding the stakes driven in to mark the channel. Immense quantities of crayfish are taken here by the Maories, and there is a considerable trade with Auckland carried on in little coasters, which can come alongside a jetty in front of the only house here, about a quarter of a mile inside the bar. Our missionaries are actively employed in this locality. There seems, however, to be a bad understanding between the natives and the European squatters who have established themselves inland.

On the afternoon of the 12th the Governor returned on board, having been received with marked incivility if not rudeness by the natives: one had the impertinence to ask his Excellency what right he had to hoist an English ensign over the house he slept in (a matrimonial alliance with the gunner's daughter would have done this indi- ́ vidual good). Another, we were told, had, during Divine Service on the previous Sunday at the mission station, when the prayer for the Queen was read, got up and said,—your Queen not our Queen!

There were, however, many loyal subjects of her Majesty, and a large party came off with the Rev. Mr. Williams, one of the missionaries, whom I permitted to go over the ship, with which they appeared much astonished, this being the first war steamer that ever appeared in these waters.

At 6h. p.m. I left Poverty Bay under steam and sail. There was a light land wind, with heavy rain squalls, which kind of weather is rather against the Maories gathering in their harvest, just now ready

* These views have been endorsed since by a good authority; Sir William Denison, Governor General of New South Wales, wrote as follows to Governor G. Browne:

"With regard to the alienation of land, might there not exist a well founded distrust of a government which, while it did not permit the sale of land to individuals, does, by holding out inducements which few savages are able to resist, acquire the article which the Maori has to sell at a very low rate, (sixpence or a shiling an acre,) which article is instantly retailed to the white man at ten shillings an acre!"