NOTES OF A VOYAGE TO THE CENTRE OF NEW ZEALAND.

Lyttelton Times, Volume X, Issue 595, 17 July 1858, Page 4

NOTES OF A VOYAGE TO THE CENTRE OF NEW ZEALAND.

Auckland, June 23.

My lastietter was dated from Wellington, "a town which, if common maps may be considered correct, lies, with tolerable exactness, in the middle of these Islands, halfway from the North Cape to the South, and a converging point of the routes from each Province to the rest. From this point to the legally constituted centre is a considerable number of miles, and when I last wrote I was in no little dread of the distance and duration of the voyage which we were about to xmdertake in a forty ton "schooner. Fortunately, however, before" the time came for our departure in the little vessel which had brought us so far, . the White Swan, under charter to perform the inter-provincial service, appeared .in Port Nicholson, on her way to Auckland. This opportunity was seized at once, and the Henry went without us on her wear}1" wav", flogging and straining northwards, with the certainty of being about ten days on the passage. Six days in Wellington^ three of sunshine and three of stormy are enough to satiate the curiosity of any visitor to that town; so, at least, we unanimously agreed, i when, on the seventh day after arrival, we passed out of the harbour in the good steamship White Swan. And here let Ime say, that the satisfaction I and the rest of our party- experienced at the opportune appearance of this vessel has been fully maintained by the c mfort we met with on

board, and the attention shown to us as passengers by those in charge of the ship. As, by the time this letter reaches you, the Swan will be under your own observation, I need add nothing respecting her merits, or those of her commander, further than that the.proofs of both, exhibited on our short passage, were in the highest degree satisfactory, " The morning after we left Wellington we were off Taranaki, in the roadstead of which settlement we anchored. for thirty hours. Of course I went on "shore and

saw all that could be seen in the time; but as " hand-books " are plentiful, I will not indulge in details of- geography or statistics in emulation of such -work's. Suffice it that I rode through " Bell Block," absorbing the view of the country, which eminence afforded, and I unhesitatingly pronounce it a lovely place. It is really painful to be reminded that all the natural advantages which New Plymouth possesses are counterbalanced by the prescence of an overwhelming native population. The little town is full of soldiers; not a building is in progress; not a sign of animated business is visible. The set-, tlement possesses the dimensions of about two English parishes, and throughout its small extent is cultivated into green and smiling farms; but outside the boundary a wide-spreading district of equal capability still frowns in its native uselessness, for the Maori refuses to sell. Doubtless the time will come, when English power and perseverance will have removed or improved the humait-obstaele, that colonization will be unrestricted, and then the country under the shadow^of Cape Egmont will be a perfect garden. As we g§t northward the climate becomes milder by perceptible degrees; the wind blows fiercely without being bitter, and rain falls copiously indeed, but " with the chill

oif."_ The earth is green and damp, suggestive of mildew, and provoking an Etiq---1 isV farmer wish '»hab those ~pc<rpet,uid little grass fields were ploughed from end to end, and exposed to a sound British frost. lam at last in the province of Auckland, and see plenty of occupied land, but scarcely anything- in the way of active cultivation. The pasture land of a beautifully smooth surface and vivid verdure which surrounds us is delightful to look upon at first, but must soon grow wearisome. Where the lands are situated which produce the large annual agricultural exports of the province does not at first sight appear. At any rate the coun-' try about Onehunga on the Manakau, where we first stepped ashore, presented :itself in-such a passive- state of prettiness

that you might have imagined it to be painted. Whether the residents on the Eastern gulf are jealous of the merits of the Manakau harbour on tlie West, or whether the interruption of steam communication with the South has - caused the arrangements for traffic in the latter direction to fall into disuse, I know not'; but this is certain, that a more incommodious, dirty, slow, and generally disagreeable mode of transfer from harbour to town could not be devised than that which awaited us in moving ourselves and luggage from on board the White Swan to the city of Auckland. I have not room to enter into particulars but will merely notice that the chief requisitions of a traveller by this route are patience and small change. The principal natural features of the province so far as observation limited to the neighbourhood of the town goes —are the profusion of little grass fields noticed above; an abundance of intersecting roads, many of which are metalled and good for traffic,' the rest unmefcalled and "deeply muddy; a "rolling" country abounding in .slopes of every aspect and gradient, , whence arises the the circumstance that sheltered and beautiful sites for houses are to be found in all directions: in fact, I cannot conceive a country of more natural capability for English farm and park-like effects in scenery than this. There is nothing here of the Alpine character which ornaments every other part of New" Zealand 'that I have seen, and a certain roughness of finish still interferes with the landscape,, but the time will come, I venture to prophecy, when this place will be comparable with* .any on earth for its rural beauties. The social characteristics of this place appear at first sight to consist firstly, in a much wider distinction of classes than obtains in the South. There is more

easy living" on the one side and more dependence on the other: in fact, those who work for others for hire form a portion of the population large- enough and sufficiently marked to be:easily-disfcing-uished in the, streets. It would no' doubt seem otherwise to.one arriving from the mother country, but we from the' younger settlements notice plainly the readines with which persons can be found to do other persons', business 'for a consideration.' :

Politically things are quiet, even though the General .Assembly -is now sitting. I have been here so 1 short a time that P am unable to give you any detailed account of the present position .and "prospects'.■" An immense 7niass of bills have .been-brought in, bf which I find that,twelve have-been already assented to and published; that twenty : more have passed through both Houses, and that about as many .besides are now under consideration in some,shape or form. Those of interest, I mean those which appeal .to other than the logical powers of hon. members thereby creating warm debate are-few rari nantes in gurgite vasto. A resolution condemning in sweeping terms the finance of the Government brought out some warmth of language even though the proposer of the resolution , stood alone. Generally speaking the sittings are placid even to dulness, and the amount of eloquence displayed on any hand is therefore not very great. lam ready to believe, however, that nnder other circumstances from seveveral tongues in both houses harangues of brilliancy and fervour might be expected. Some few rumours and surmises of future events are ■current. For instance it is said that the ballot proposition may peradventure be dropped for this session, or, if brought forward, that it is likely to be rejected by the Assembly. In connection with this subject it is said that most of the other Electoral bills are likely to receive considerable opposition if introduced.

Another subject interesting1 in Canterbury- will soon be brought on for debate, namely, the appeal' from Nelson to be relieved from her share'of the burden of the JNViv Zealand Company's Debt, under the resolution of last- session. The appeal comes in this shape: that under those resolutions the debt of £200,000 .was divided equally between Nelson, Canterbury,-and Ota go, to which arrangement Nelson provisionally agreed in order that,the resolutions might be adopted in "their general ! scope; but that Nelson in fact received as her share of the land of the-Middle Island (that is, of the available land), a portion much less than one-third, while-Canterbury came better offand Otago received the lion's share. Further, that Nelson's portion was reduced by its being liable to a charge of something like 90,000 acres in satisfaction of land orders and compensation scrip of the New Zealand Company, none of which

according to present law, could be laid, down in the other provinces of the Middle Island, Nelson therefore desires^first,' that the scrip should run over Canterbury and Otago;—second, that those two provinces should take between them one half of Nelson's annual payment on account of interest and sinking fund, or £2,000 a year. Sundry dark threats,and warnings have been thrown out .that Nelson will appeal to the North Island to upset the whole scheme if her southern neighbours will not listen to her demands. The next mail will probably inform you of the answer which the Extreme South will give to these moderate requests, but at present nothing definite has transpired, beyond a disposition to argue the point strongly on the other side. < !

The mail is about to close, I must cease. I may add that it is generally believed that the session will be Drought to a close in time for the next southern trip of the steamer at the end of July ; but others who ought to know say that1 business will be protracted into August.v , ;