CANTERBURY TALES.

Globe, Volume II, Issue 193, 21 January 1875, Page 3

CANTERBURY TALES.

jottings of the early days of canterbury. By an Old Colonist. . (From, the Press.') (Continued.) Immigrants arriving in Canterbury at the present time, provided with an easy and rapid transit to comfortable and roomy barracks, a bountiful supply of good wholesome food, and surrounded by all the conj veniencies of civilisation, can have little or no conception of the trials and difficulties experienced by the first settlers at the time of which I am writing; whether as regards house accommodation or getting themselves and their chattels transported to Christchurch and the Plains; and these trials and difficulties were shared alike by gentle and simple, employer and employee, land purchaser and laborer. I remember a lady, now living in Christchurch, saying to me in a laughing manner a few days before leaving Lyttelton for the Plains, that she was very glad at the prospect of a little more freedom, as she had found it very irksome living with her pots and kettles, alluding to the one room at the barracks, about 10 by 12, occupied by herself, husband, and daughter, and which had to do duty as bed-room, sitting-room, and kitchen. Others, where the families were larger, were even more sorely inconvenienced. The genial good humor with which all those little trials were encountered and overcome was quite refreshing to witness, and then the sums that had to be paid for the conveyance of luggage and personal effects, in boats by way of Sumner to Christchurch, and the tramp over the hills to Christchurch by ladies unaccustomed to much walking are matters still held in remembrance, I have do doubt, by the fair pedestrians. In addition to the great expense incurred in sending goods by the boats, there was also the uncertainty of when they would reach their destination, as the Sumner bar sometimes caused considerable delay. For one or both of these reasons, it was customary for parties migrating.to tba

plains, to load themselves with everything Krtable, and that could not even temporarily dispensed with, (hie evening about a month after the arrival of the first ship, I was returning to port, having visited with a friend the Messrs Deans, and had just waded through the swamp that lay in the line of march, which could not be avoided, I met a middle aged gentleman carrying a towerinc bundle, which I concluded to be a bed. A few chains in the rear was his wife, also carrying a bundle nearly as large as the one carried by her husband, Shortly after I encountered the eldest son, who was staggering under a heavy load Then appeared one of the daughters, and finally I passed two more sons, a daughter, and one or two little oneß, all more or less loaded. They had walked with their loads from Port, and it was their intention to camp near the site of the house that had yet to be built. I merely give this as one instance, but it was of daily occurrence the first few months of 1851. The gentleman here referred to is now living in the suburbs of Christchurch, having retired from business; -I frequently meet him now, but under what changed circumstances 1 Be is generally accompanied in his carriage by his wife and some members of his family; the sons are thriving in various businesses in the city, and he is, I hope, in the full enjoyment of a well-earned repose, after the heat of the day, cherishing, I have no doubt, a kindly remembrance of the early trials and difficulties of founding a new hoaie in a strange land, which a few years of persevering effort successfully accomplished. In addition to the stream of pedestrians, loaded with every conceivable article pertaining to household and culinary use, to be met Wending their weary way from the Port to the embryo oity, and various parts of the plains, resembling more the hasty retreat from a hotly besieged town than the exodus of a determined band of pilgrims bent upon establishing homes in this land of promise, were also to be seen certain enterprising ■torekeepers, who were under the necessity of making frequent trips to and from Port for ■uch goods as were in request, and which could not wait the tardy transit by boat; and who, in the interest of their customers, and the exigences of trade, did not hesitate to transform themselves into pack-horses for the nonce, and carry loads of such a size and weight thatmadethenewarrivals,justoff along sea voyage, marvel at their muscular powers, and staying qualities, for, as I observed, these herculean feats were frequently undertaken two and three times a week. It is pleasing to be able to record that a wellmerited success in trade attended such persevering efforts, and that some one or two are now quietly reposing upon their laurels. The advent of the Bishop Designate! what a halo of sanctity was shed o'er the town of Lyttelton by his arrival I what a lively time it was during his brief effulgence! with processions of school children carrying banners, doing the block comprised between Oxford, London, and Canterbury streets', and Norwich Quay. What an inspiration it was that prompted him to import a quantity of old building materials, intended, it was supposed, for his future " Bishop's Court;" it helped to keep the memory of him greeo for long after his departure from these shores, alas 1 never to return. The proprietor of a certain licensed house on the quay was wont to refer with pride to the doors and windows in his house as having formerly been the property of the " Bishop Designate." The title long lingered in the minds of the inhabitants. I remember when Sir William CongreVe was a candidate for a newly created office ander one of the Ordinances of the first Provincial Council, he used to be referred to as the "Scab Inspector Designate." This meteoric visit was generally regarded as a great " sham " —not that anything unworthy was imputed to the highminded gentlemen associated together for the purpose of founding a Church of England settlement in New Zealand, and who in their zeal for transporting a section of the Church complete in all its parts, considered it of paramount importance that the flock should be presided over by a veritable " Bishop." Yet, notwithstanding, a strong opinion prevailed that his brief visit was only intended to give eclat to the enterprise, and to attract land purchasers; if so, it utterly failed in its object, and added considerably to the " little bill" of the Canterbury Association against the Province, which was ultimately paid from the sale of the Town Reserves, thereby depriving the future municipality ef an endowment. I have always thought it a fortunate circumstance that the location of the Canterbury settlers took place at the particular time it did, for had it been delayed twelve months, it is certain it would have been wanting in one at least of its chief elements of success that first assured, and to the present time hat materially assisted in maintaining its prosperity. I refer to the presence and example of the Australian stock owners and Sheep farmers, who arrived in Canterbury almost simultaneously with the English Settlers. The discovery of gold in Australia, which occurred so soon after the formation Of this settlement, would have given a different direction to the enterprise and energy of those gentlemen, and the probability is that they would not have been found seeking new country and fresh outlets for their surplus stock in New Zealand, which a knowledge of the projected new settlement had stimulated; station property and .stock farming in Australia at that time having almost ceased to be profitable. To give an idea of the depreciation in value of station property at this time in Australia, it is only necessary to refer to accounts of sales that occasionally appeared in the newspapers of this period, showing that stations with all the sheep depasturing thereon, were frequently sold at a price computed, according to the number of sheep, at from 4d to 6d per head; and this aggregate sum included station buildings, boiling down establishments, and all the appurtenances of a first-class station. These pioneers in New Zealand of the Australian squatters, finding the Canterbury plains eminently adapted for their purpose, and the climate of New Zealand promising an immunity from those periodic visitations of floods and droughts which 'were frequently so destructive to stock in Australia, may be supposed to have summed up the prospective advantages somewhat in this wise:—New and fertile pastures, more lambs, more wool, fewer casualties; and '.for some, perhaps many, years a good market for stock, dispensing with the boiling down process. Favorable reports soon found their way into the Port Phillip (Victoria) Supers, particularly one written by Mr oseph Hawdon, a gentleman upon whose judgment and experience the greatest oenfidtnce was placed, and in consequence many others joined in the movement, and a brisk carrying trade of sheep, cattle, and horses to Canterbury was the result. The

Canterbury settlers were not slow in profiting by so good an example, and by entering heartily into the same pursuit, very soon convinced their exemplars that they were not dtserving of the openly expressed pity, closely allied-to contempt, with which their Australian visitors were disposed to regard them. In the "Dream of a Shagroon," which bore the date "Ko Mo'inau, April, 1851," and which first appeared in the Wellington Spectator of Maj 7th, the term " Pilgrim was first applied to the settlers ; it was also predicted that the " Pilgrims" would be " smashed," and the •' Shagroons" left in undisputed possession of the country for their flocks and herds. Happily for the mutual advantage of both " Shagroons" and " Pilgrims," the predictions of the former were not verified.

It would be a mistake to suppose that in those early days of persistent hard work and dogged endurance there were no softening influences to take off and tone down the rough asperities of colonial life. Balls, glee parties, and other social amenities were not wanting as means of relaxation. The impromptu devices and artistic management of incongruous combinations and amusing makeshifts to achieve a certain result, were not the least pleasing feature of these social reunions, and seemed to give to their partakers a keener sense of enjoyment. The number of pianos imported by the first settlers formed the subject of some depreciatory remarks by one of the Australians, in writing to a friend; and perhaps unconsciously helped to form the opinion that the " Pilgrims" would never succeed as colonists. On the other hand it was charitably concluded by the Pilgrims that a long deprivation of the refinements of good society had warped the judgment of the "colonials," causing them to take too cynical a view of the new aids to colonisation.

It is not given to many men to possess both the commanding talents of Mr Godley, and such an opportunity of exercising them as fell to his lot when he assumed the charge, I may say government, of this Canterbury settlement. In the exercise of his multifarious duties he won the unbounded confidence and esteem of the entire community over which he presided. Whether as the champion of the constitutionalists (for there was a Constitutional Society in those early days) who were fighting the bartle of freedom, and vainly trying to extort some measure of local self-government from Sir G. Grey, or by an ever vigilant watchfulness in smoothing difficulties incidental to the first planting of a settlement, by modifying and correctingthe crude theories and cut and dried regulations of a distant and almost irresponsible power, ignorant and inexperienced in the varying changes and necessities of a young settlement, his powerful, and at the same time persuasive and winning eloquence, and his tact and skill as an administrator were equally conspicuous. As one illustration out of many of the wondeiful power he could wield over an auditory by his eloquence, I may instance the first symptom of dissatisfaction, culminating iu a kind of " indignation meeting being held in Lyttelton by a considerble body of land purchasers, whose grievances were, that the churches and schools had not been provided by the association, for which one-third of the price of all the land sold had been allocated. Mixing freely among those present, 1 readily gathered that the prevailing sentiment was strongly condemnatory of the association, and that it would probably find expression in the passing of some severe resolutions. This was an opportunity Mr Godley, as agent of the as sociation, oould not allow to pass unheeded ; indeed as the sequel shewed he resolved to " improve the occasion." I cannot attempt to indicate his line of argument. There was a long pre-oration upon the dignity of work, and the inestimable privilege they each and all shared in assisting to found and build up the institutions of a state and church in this distant part of the globe, and the speaker ended a very eloquent appeal by proposing to head a subscription list on behalf of the association with the sum of £SOO, and a contribution on his own account of £ 100, towards a fund for the erectisn of the first church in Canterbury. I need not add that all present warmly responded, and those who came to censure remained to pay. A few days after the subscription list was published, amounting to near £9OO. Mr Godley's speech, delivered at a very large meeting held in Lyttelton, commenting upon Sir George Grey's Provincial Councils Ordinance then before the public, and counselling its rejection was considered a master-piece of cogent reasoning and eloquence. Being echoed thro' the colony, it determined the fate of the measure, which was universally condemned and rejected. The colony was ruled at the time referred to by a Nominee Council, consisting chiefly of the paid officials of the Government, in which the Governor had failed to induce any leading man to accept a seat. In tbe Provincial Councils proposed to be constituted, the nominee element was retained, to the extent of one third of the whole number of members. Sir George Grey was much chagrined at its summary rejection, and as Lieutenant-Governor Byre had sided with the colonists, he was made the subject of a remarkable despatch from Sir George to the Home Secretary, in which he (LieutenantGovernor Eyre) was represented as making the government of the country very difficult, and almost denouncing him as inciting to revolution. Canterbury also came in for a share of the Governor's strictures. At a meeting of the Legislative Council in June, 1851, Sir George made a fierce attack upon the settlement, and the principle upon which it had been founded. Remembering bow despotically he once ruled the country, he ought to be congratulated on having assumed the new character of champion of the political privileges of the people. To be continued.