MACCABE ON NEW ZEALAND.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 950, 23 May 1883, Page 4

MACCABE ON NEW ZEALAND.

■ ”Mr Fred. Maccabe sends the follow--1 ing contribution to the New Zealand Serald:— Since I took my farewell of the good people i£ucklana» I- haVe > made the experiment of travelling on the West Coast I find it is the cus-. tom ofthe colonists to ask all travellers think of,.the ,,Tbis, is Tatfier v mohdicnotis 1 , and 1 somewhat troublesome; became when you have not made up your mind about a thing it is troublesome to be asked what you think about it. lam not quite sure that I have made up my mind finally about New Zealand, i ut I have some impressions which “I- might modify, or intensify, on reflection;- but such as they are l-giye -you, well knowing thas whe;h,er 15m* mildly, or strongly fyrpng, there .will be plenty peb'fSfe theth; Th,e people of New Zealand seem to hole ! tb be determined to lay .ani embargo on A&jniq4a' qf travellers.,. by asking them (in a manner which conveys_Jhe. answer they expect), “ What they think . of the colony ? ’ { ’> < a .rule,, trayellei-s answer approvingly. If the travellers are Englishman,,, they are immediately assailed with thechmate of pfkthe 'vcUmate of®ewzSaJanoX TheftbuseandpfSise arXdike absurd.-x'O’he of have""' their own characteristics. rfflmt.-jpf England jis, well-known; and that" it is not very bad is proved by the fact that- noEnglishman praises it. Quid excuse s’ac : ease. att&cks a visitor with the assertion that the climate is "admirable, but every colonial seizes the visitor and flings the question at him in a tone that means, “ you must approve.” Now, I have been in New Zealand since November, and I have not seen anything to justify me in sayling that it -has a'! good climate. Of course, all depends upon what you consider is “ good climate.” If constancy in cold, in wet, in fog, and. in steady sunshine is good England has a good climate; but if a mixture of winter and summer in a haphaz&Vd way, 1 if an hour of warmth and an hour of cold, varied by wind- aim wet in the coarse of nearly every day,..is gppd climate, then New Zealand'has' a very good climate. My impression of New Zealand .splendid country, possessing many disadvantages, and that for delicate people it kt( to ' end- their troubles, but it is a very fine country for the survivors. . ; I|iaye, just .arrived in Auckland "from my ' trip, pn the West Coast, of which I cah safdly assert the chances of being “stuck” are nearly in a. certain, and the chances of being “ stuck” in a pecuniary sense are quite certain. The travelling by^the )t U.'S.S. Co.- is undoubtedly comfortable. The new steamer Waifmra is certainly a splendid vessefel «ot4 racehPrse/bntrgdod and steady-going, in which you feel that neither wind nor water can hmL . r lt is not only a good ship, but stupidly splendid Splendor thrusts comfort away. Top tbo J prevalent. A place called the social saloon, which has two instruments of torture, in the shape of an organ and piano, ".(take# upa good deal of room and darkens, t)\e. saloon. In the present journey this social hall was monopolised by a family of children who made the day hideous with demon noises, and I discovered that there is no authority on board to stop a nuisance. The number of oaths qiiietlyjndulged-in -during my-psssage from Christchurch to Auckland, by the pagsengegy in tlje Waihora, because of the howling, screaming, and pretended vomiting of the demon family, would make a good sized Sunday -school hymn fo* |ASme|i(ja. on ' Tues Say next. Enthusiastic colonists have therefore time, to abuse me,fpr “ppirirbns, ‘ which are certai^y 3 my 0 .however false they may be. — Fred. Maccabe. aril 710 IHlgt’l j y