QUEENSTOWN.

Clutha Leader, Volume III, Issue 156, 6 July 1877, Page 6

QUEENSTOWN.

TMio^.r our own coi.RESi'Oi\ r nr._*NT.] 1 often envy the Oluthaites on their proximity ro tlie commercial capital of New- Zealand, but 1 daresay they would envy me were they to behold tho beau ties which surround this, the " City of the Likes." Queenstown is situated on a bight of one of the many arms of Lake Wakatipu, lying- beautifully to the Lake, it is nicely, not to say handsomely built, mostly ot stone, which is very plentiful • and a pleasing* feature in it is the niter absence of hovels or huts which of'times disfigure many of our rural towns.

Mr Elicliiu'dt's hotel, Mr Adnm says, is one of the best in the Colony, and is conveniently situated near the principal jetty, where the Jane, s.s., and Venus, s.s., load and disload. There is another jetty, to and from whioh the Antrim, s.s., runs. Rising* abruptly from the lake to a height of more than a thousand feet, are the mountains, the most remarkable of which are the Remarkables. Sharp and ruo'o-ed in their outlines, they cannot be rivalled for beauty in Alpine Switzerland. About 25 miles souch from Queenstown, which a three hour*-;' trip by steamer will convey you to, lies Kingston, the terminus of the Inver-cargill-Win ton railway. This township consists; of six houses, four of which are or were hotels. Stretching away along- the southern -shore of the lake lies the celebrated Frank ton Flat, the most of which is as rich as iuch Clutha, belonging- to Mr Boyes. His homestead is beautifully situated at the base of the hills, where the lake empties itself into the Kawarau. .Be- | low it a short- distance are the Kawarau j .Falls- and further down is the junction I of the Shot-Tver 'and Kawarau.

But to return to Queenstown. It abounds in Societies. Masons, Oddfellows,, Keehnbitt-s, Foresters, and Good Templars are each well represented. There are threo pluoes of worn hip, viz, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, and Roman Catholic. There is also a Koman Catholic school, attended by thirty or forty chileren, while the Government school is n very imposing- edifice, the part lately built, which the people call the grammar school, having cost over LOGO. The bead master is Mr H. iNeill, late of yoar county * there are also a schoolmistress, Miss \oung*, and n pupil teacher. Owing* to the increased 'attendance the (Join mittee have applied for au additional pupil teacher.

A peninsula, running* into tho lake, has been reserved uad planted with trees as a public park, ami is a favourite resort of the townspeople when . the weather is good.

There is a good company of volunteers, efficiently drilled. A cadet, corps, underCapt. Pvogers, is also iv v lively state. A juvenile temple was established here on Monday evening, when four-f-en hopefuls were enrolled under the Templars' banner, and still there's more to follow.

The annual meeting- of the Presbyterian Sunday School teachers took placo on Tuesday evening-, when Mr li. iNeill was elected their Superintendent ior the ensuing* year.