AS OTHERS SEE US.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume 4, Issue 417, 20 July 1880, Page 3

AS OTHERS SEE US.

A contributor to .tfp\,.stytf« tyfitMfs and other paper's,,and who _jr> mean reputation in the literary world,ha„ liecu " doing " Akaroa, and as ii result of his vit*it here has, published an article,. i n the Wit mm tinder the Vitfej "'Akaf 6a Past aud Present;" in' \vlnclrli6"r«:otut<iß, his impressions of the place.■• As it is silwuyb advantageous td ' "he ' fiHe 'to achieve.the task ,wluch the poet longed, for— v to see ourselvcsas others see,us " —we make a few extracts fi*om the article in question.' ' There''is no doubt that the impressions of.'a strnnger/who lias travelled, and has the artistic faculty; are most likely to be truthful, and, will, often bring to the mind, of the inhabitants of any localities both beauties and defects to which use 1 had rendered them comparatively blind. The same remark applies to thestranger's- estimate : of the most striking ; and 'noticeable outward characteristics of tlie people; but when ihe same observant stranger-p-the. typical 4i intelligent foreigner," in fact—•proceeds' to giean historical facts,, and to account for the state of affairs he. finds existent, he becomes just as liable to be led astrwy by incorrect: in formation, ;and; jtisjfc; as likely to form hasty deductions from imperfect premises, as* the veriest tyro.'

The author evidently possesses tlie true artist's appreciation of tlie beautiful. He can conteniplate' a hill-side clothed in vegetation and bush, and admire and be happy,: without stopping to calculate' how many thousand.: feet of timber could be' got gut of it,,and how many sheep it would cai'ry, to., the acre, when clearecK: At the same tinie we hope there is a little poeticexiiggeratjoh in the description given of many of our buildings as • " rot-eutenj ' mildewed.', and detestable-':' ....

The author, it will be seen, docs'full justice to the capabilities of our harbor, aud " cannot understand "why people at a distance should be so misled about it. The matter is easily, understood, if we take into account vested ihtere its and local jealousies.

We.fancy our author has been a little misled as to the "' traditions and stories of past grcatiu-.5," which he mentions. He was probably interviewed by some laudator teiiipuris ucti,a( whom one can always 'hid a specimen knocking about. With a very fair know lodge of the place and people, we are unable to recall examples of the " men now poor who were wealthy proprietors." Any such cases that do exist could easily be traced to other causes than any general decadence. Neither do we think it is correct to say we are suffering from a reaction attendant on fictitious land speculations, for there is probably no place in the colony where there lies been hss speculation in land. Land has changed hands, and at long prices, but it has almost, if not quite invariably, been purchas-i-d ibrabso-

lute use and settlement. The best proof that tho prices have not been fictitious ones lies in the fict that the*purcha3es, thpugh usually made upon terms, have very seldom fallen through on account of non-payment. > ; With these few remarks wo leave our author to speak for himself, and give hereunder a few extracts from the article we fiavO referred to, it being too long to re-produceit intosstenso :— * V I Very lovely looked the hills and the water in the morning light, as the rosy glow, fast changing to golden, caught each tiny projection and threw it into strong relief against .the dark depths of shadowy * gullies, which looked,' in the level light, far deeper and more gloomy ifhan they really are*. Higher rbse the sun, the gray mist which had shrouded the water gradually melted, 1 and A thousand sparkling wavelets caught the bright tints and laughed in the sunlight. .It. was a lovely scene, the enclosing hills arid f the seemingly land-locked lake; yet, as )we advanced, a way was opened for _s, and j the vessel steamed on withoiit let or j hindrance, and not until we'd taken several turns did we come in sight of our destina 'tion—a little town nestling at "the foot of lofty hills; a quaint, romantic! little spot, reminding one of one of Prout's watercplor sketches on the'ltalian lakes. There Were the same rich tints in sea and sky j; the same dilapidated buildings, delightful in ;a. picture—rot-eaten, mildewed, and ( detestable in- real life ; for Akaroa-'is an■; old settlement,.and has an old-world, half-j worn-out look,; which I have not met with .anywhere else in the the buildings being of woodj their appearanoe when closely examined is more shabby than picturesque. •, i To my L surprise we anchored hi _eep Water alongside of t,e jetty. We had been told in Dunedin that if the weather was bad we should not be able to putlnto this port; and further that we would probably have to disembark in small boats. Why people are so misled I cannot Understand. This is a far finer harbor than either Dunedin •or Lyttelton j uWro sheltered, with, deeper water and a less shifting; canal;, vessels which dare not go to Dunediu lie here by the. aide of ,the jfetty and dis-harge" their cargoes without difficulty,- /fhe;Only ; thitig to be feared is a violent gale from the south-east, when vessels have some Hilficulty in passing between the Hends, [and occasionally 'shrink from attempting the pasar»e/ With that,except!oo,.Uiere is no fault be found With .the harbor, which '-is'/.safe and sheltered, ! and capable of aecOrahir> dating any'number £?) of the largest ships afloat, which may lie here at any hour wholly undisturbed by the storhis ranging without. When H.M.S. Dido put in here H the officers were delighted with the harbor, and praised it wiierover they went.

With respect to situation, there is considerable resemblance between Akaroa and Dunedin, with thi*» advantage in favor of the former spot, that the winding-fiord onwhich it is built extends many miles beyond it, so that the sewage and other impurities have a better chance of being Swept away by the tides than 'can possibly He the caw? in Dunedin, where $he state of the.foreKhoie at low water is. too well to 'be dwelt upon here! The available space for, building purposes here is, 'H'dwevei;, n#,<jhs> baiter thinn in the Sdu'theirri.citj',, and if are.ever-terraced, steep indeed will he.she ( gradientß. . Tliero is a tradib'on,, devoutly believed by the,inhabitants, that Akaroa, wasjonee an extremely thriviiig place, and at that period land: was valuable and fetclied high prices. Now the tbwii sections are almost unsaleable, and the period of prosperity has passed, for a time, at any rate. The whole place is full Of traditions and stories of past greatness,, when men., now poor, were wealthy proprietors and so . forth, The reason of the decadence is not very clear--4prbbably the attendant on'fictitious land speculations,' such' as we have seen so,much of in Dunedin and elsewhere—certainly the number.of good sized house, and stores now. empty corroborate the statement, and give to the place a curiously old-world look, such as we frequently see in country towns and large villages at Home, and which is as far as possible removed from the. bustling, go-ahead appearance of Dunedin and most other Colonial cities. The people, too, are, like the place, in no great hurry to get on in life; The chief characteristic, as told by one of themselves, is laziness— not too complimentary, perhaps, but to some extent true; certainly they never appear to be in a hurry either to work or to get paid for it, but do all: things i n a leisurely manner that implies an infinite amount of spare, time and no pressing heed of money, which indeed rarely comes to them in the form of actual cash. A general system Of long credit prevails, a system which when carried to any great extent invariably paralyses energy and induces sloth and indifference. But the laissc aller of. the Akaroa people is not without its charm to strangers, who, visiting the place in search of health and amusement are delighted to find idlers always ready nnd willing to spend their, hot very precious, time in yarning and in pointing out all the little traits of interest in place .and people. The present state of Akaroa may be described as somewhat stagnant. The Hush of stimulated prosperity already referred to has passed away. The three saw-mills, the workmen they employed, and the wood which supplied them are alike things of the past; still the little town has a fair number of inhabitants— something over aix hundred—nnd most of these contrive to make a living out of the place. They have a library, a newspaper, four churches of different denominations, several good hotels, and a most imposing court-house, just opened. In the stores we can obtain all the necessaries, and many of the luxuries, of lite, at prices, however, which rule somewhat in excess of Dunedin : for though the rents here are low, the amount of business done is necessarily small, and large profits alone v Jer existence possible.