OTAGO.

Auckland Times, Volume 2, Issue 78, 9 July 1844, Page 4

OTAGO.

We hear that the information from Mr. Tuckett, who had proceeded as far as Otago, was to the effect that he preferred that to any place which he had then seen, for the new settlement. He has proceeded to the southward, and if he does not meet with any place snperior to Otago, he will select it for New Edinburgh. Under these circumstances, a description of Otago becomes interesting. We pubjoin the following from the report of Captain YV. M. Smith, R. A-, late Snrveyor General to the New Zealand Company. The report was not published in this country, and we have obtained this account from the " New Zealand Journal" of the 14th October, 1843. It will be remembered that the vessel on board of which Captain Smith was returning, sank at the entrance of Akaroa, and that he aud the captain and crew narrowly escaped a watery grave, but that all his plans and his report were lost. We know his report to have been so well planned that it would have borne comparison at least with any thing ever drafted in this country. The following is from memory, and may be relied upon, as we are assured that his maps from memory are so accurate, that any sailor is safe in trusting to them.

The Middlb Island,—Port Otaco, —(Continuation of Captain Smith's report.) We left our voyager at the entrance of Port Otago, which, it wiil be remembered, he describes as easily accessible, except in one wind, during the prevalence of which good anchorage is to be had at any easy distance, It will be perceived from the subjoined extracts, that the New Edinburgh pioneers are not by any means reduced to a Hobson's choice, as respects

the site of their settlement. Otago appears to present many desirable points for a colony; with large tracts of available land and ready access to these ; the general features also, of the district are said to resemble those of Banks' Peninsula—so that, even presuming that the Scotch commnnity is to be established in the latter place, somethitig may be learned from the annexed description, which may guide the intending colonists in forming a judgment of the probable attractions of their new home. [Ed. " New Zealand Journal."

The shores of this harbonr vary much in character. Below the islands, in several places are sandy, but not above ; in some places the shores are rocky and perpendicular, though not high, in other places the ground slopes gradually from the water's edge to the foot of the steeper hills. During my survey of the harbour I looked very carefully for a site suitable for such a town as the Directors of the Company might be likely to provide for in their information of another settlement upon a large scale. Should the Directors arrange for a town as large as Wellington, in acre sections, I fear it will be impossible to find a convenient site of sufficient capacity. But if the sections be limited to half acres, I think that more than one site may be found. I was only able to judge of these from a boat, for the country is covered with dense forest, There was one site, however, near the mouth of the harbour, which I had an opportunity of overlooking from the top of a tree on a neighbouring hill. There is another site on the east side, near the islands ; the land there is not so high, and it would I thiiik* all things considered, be the most convenient situation for a town in the harbour. From what I saw, I judged that there might be about 700 or 800 acres, but of this I will not speak positively, for as I have before stated, the country is thickly covered with timber and brushwood, so that I could not walk through it with advantage. This site is for the most part fiat, or on a very gentle slope ; such hills as there are, would, 1 have little doubt, when cleared of the trees, prove to be of very little consequence. The soil of the surface is a rich vegetable deposit, with a subsoil of clay loam, and rocky in some places. This appears to be common to all parts of New Zealand, I have no doubt from the general appearance of the country, that good brick clay may be found, though I did not see any. The features of the country are very similar to those around Akaroa, and most of the rocks are the same, viz, trap and ironstone, with veins of the red ochrous eaith. called Ko-ko-wai, I saw some specimens of the trap which were lying in strata, varying in thickness from six inches to a foot. This 1 think might be found useful in building; there is also a kind of sandstone on the islands, aud hear the head of the harbour, which may, I thiuk, be used for the same purpose. The timber as I have stated before is abundant, and though not so large as it is more to the north, is sufficiently large for all common purposes in building. The principal kinds are the totara, matai, rimu, kahaikatea, and the kowai (a species of acacia), which is much used for shingling at Akaroa, is abundant. I inquired of some of the sawyers concerning the size of some of the trees, and I was told that the totara was sometimes found to be twenty six feet high to the lower branches. I have measured trees of the same kind, standing between Port Nicholson and Porirua, and have found them iu several instances to be upwards of seventy feet without a branch.

The land between what I have attempted to describe as the best site for a town, and the mouth of the harbour is hilly, though in many parts the slopes are not very steep, and there is a considerable quantity of flat land at the top. But the shores are either high and rocky, or they are covered with sand-hills, which are evidently accumulating. Toward the head of the harbour, the land is also hilly, but in most parts the slopes are moderate, and I think a large proportion wili be found available for agricultural purposes, when cleared of the timber, with which it is entirely covered. At the head of the harbour is a low sandy neck, covered with grass and flax, this is not more than half a mile wide, when we came again to the open sea; thus making a peninsular of the land on the east side of the harbour. ■ On the west side ot the isthmus the land assumesa dif-

ferent character, it is broken into gentle undulations, and is covered with fern and grass, instead of timber, and I have u 0 doubt that a good road might be made easily to the southward, opening a very large extent of fine country. A little fur. ther to the north, on the west side of the harbour, the country is again covered with timber and becomes hilly. The hills on this side are much higher, and bolder in character than those on the east side. There are, however, several vallies, some of which, appeared to m« to contain from 300 to 500 acres of land, which mioht prove useful to the farmer. Ido not think it would be easy to carry roads round the harbour to connpet these vallies, evert should they be found necessary, which I do not think they wonld be. And if Otago ever should become a settlement, the town, should be placed on the east side, and in. tercourse with it ftom the west side would always be carried on in boats. The rocks round the harbour would, I think, afford good mottling for the roads. But Ido not know that good materials for this purpose will be found near the roads through the open country to the south. The native population round the harbour of Otago ha 3 decreased very much of late yean. { was told that a few years ago, they amounted to 1,500, and now, I believe, they do not exceed 100. One of the chiefs there told me they were diminishing very fast. The measles and influenza seem to have been their great scourges. Many die of consumption, and not a few from their own superstitious fear. There are some large potatoe grounds below the islands still in use, and produce abundantly. There were large gardens formerly at the head of the harbour, they have been abandoned for some three or four years, but they still produce potatoes, though the natives never dig them ; they are left a prey to the wild pigs, which ate found here iu great numbers.

The white population here does not exceed twenty men, there are no white women. These people do scarcely anything in the way of cultivation. Mr. Harwood, an intelligent young man, who is in charge of the fishing station, has a small garden near his house, it contains a number of fruit trees, and mauy varieties of vegetables, all of which were looking well, though the soil is very little better than mere sand. I sa«v a few goats, but no cattle or sheep, I saw also a good deal of poultry, and they were not confined to the white people. The wood hen, which I have before mentioned, was very common in this neigh" bourhood a few years ago, but the number has been much reduced by the natives, who have adopted rather a singular mode of taking them. They go into the bush, armed with two sticks, to the end of one is attached a piece of red rag, to the end of the other a piece of string with a noose in it. When near the haunts of the wood-hen, the}- imitate the cry of the bird ; as soon as one appears, the red rag is shaken at it with the left hand, the bird, which is very bold, instantly attacks it, and contiu* ues to fight until the hunter has succeeded in slipping the noose over its neck. Quails, wild ducks, pigeons, tuis, and kakas, are all abundant. The large white crane is also common, and 1 hear two migratory birds, one by its description 1 supposed to be a species of the cuckoo, the other was said to be about half the size of a pigeon, its colour blue, with a bright red crest; 1 did not see either of these last. Fish abound here at certain seasons of the year. The patiki, an eycellent fish, which is something like a plaice, comes in about the middle of October. These an. taken with spears in great numbers on the sand banks. The fish which, at Port Nicholson, is known by the name of habooka, but which is called groper to the southward, makes its appearance about the middle of November. This with the cod and trumpeter, remain o i the coast the greater part of the summer. Oysters, muscles ""* other shellfiish, are found among therocks, but they are not very abundant, M r ' Harwood gave me some specimensof star fish found here, which are different fro" 1 any 1 had seen before. They are not ro a star form, but were nearly regular pentagons ; they vvere covered with a s» e11 somewhat like that of a crab, but not smooth, it was thrown up into pustules ot various sizes, the largest being nearest the outer edges. _