NELSON THIRTY YEARS AGO.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1102, 8 February 1872, Page 3

NELSON THIRTY YEARS AGO.

Thursday last was the f .nniveuary o the settlement of the Prov ice of Nelson. In noticing the celebration of the day, the Cbfontrf gives a shcii: sketch of the early history of the Protlnce, and of the adventures of the original settlers. Thirty yean ago the expedition men, sent out by the New Zealand Company to form a settlement, to be r "\d Nelson, enter ad Blind Bay, and being directed by some Maoris to a Bpot known to them as Wakatu, which wgr'fiea a safe anchorage for canoes, found a harbor famished by nature with every requisite for a. good and safe anchorage, with a picturesque site for a city at its head. Here, on the Ist February, 1842, they landed and determined to 6x the : ? future home. On the one side of the river, where tte business portion of the town stands, the land was principally manuka and fern, with patches of flax swamp ; on the other side, which still bears the name of " The Wood," and extending into, the Brook street valley, a heavy .bush flourished in rude luxuriance. A portion of this bush was a* speedy as possible convex ted into sawn timber, and two large buildings were ercot:d to house the men, after wr'ch the toy. »m laid put and the land sui/eyed into sections. Jl was at this stage when tLe first emigrant ships arrived some foir months after the expedition, and many were the hardships these early settlers had to undergo before they estab"*hed ai< hing I'Ve a comfortable home for the*. 'families. No habitations b- 1 t m provided for them, and until +Sey mid contrive to put up a whare of fe. i or long toi gw-s they Jiad to te\e «p their abode under the Lrbad^nopy of ' le heavens, which, as then in the depth of winter, was neither pleasant nor comfortable. When fyus in ft measuie colon : «ed, matters went pmootbly witf i {he settlers for abou*lighten months, as during that time employment in road-making, &c, cor Id 1 3 obtained from the New Zealand Company. But the Company's works abruptly • iroiog, the people were left a'most des - tute of the ordinaiy means of sul :'«tenc. They hp 1 not yet pot a sufficient footing oil the land to enable them to strike out ;i living for th6roselves,|but were depend' : ; uponthereporttheyreceived from the Coir • pany j and, therefore, the distrr-swhiih followed its sudden collapse was faded very great. Numbers were thrown out 0 1 opoplo* jjent without having made t\e least provision for an emergency of th : s kind, and the few who were foiluna* i enouarh to get work could orly earn about 8s per week, payment of which had, in some instances, to be taken in potatoes or such scores as their employers cord spare, while some depended solely for existence upon wl'-t fish they could o*/ h, and a sort of TH M d tfnip which l«cl"y was to be found 1 abundance at fiat t'ne. Others even dug np the seed potatoes they bas panted for the next year's crop. When an opportunity offered to get away, as wf «t sometimes the case with vecsels calling, many willingly sacrifi/^d all they were possessed of ,-o obtain a pr *sage/md on one occasion as manyrs 70 crowded themselyr 1 'ito a small vessel bound for Valparaiso. Of course there was little inducement at that time for vessels to call at Nelson, |and therefore }t was bnt 1 eJAorn thafone baa the chance to leave ityphftbp Vihed to do ao and had the : neans, Indeed; for some yean the arrivr' Of at vessel, particularly one from England, was mtfte an event, and anxious inquiries quickly went . round as to who Hd come, and ; i some cases what they were going to do. The intercourse with England we both tardy and unrerta : n, and a reply to the most. -npoivant. roromunication could got be expected under twelve months. Were these many inconveniences and hardships, tinder whvh ' the pople straggled during Ne'son's infancy r ompared with Hs present condition, t^e oontrflrf would be striking, MOl9 recent settlers, w^o compare the present with tie past, and behold the comfort at+ 'nable now, maybe encouraged by observing the difference between what has bern and what noir Lj.