A VISIT TO MARTIN'S BAY.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 133, 4 June 1873, Page 2

A VISIT TO MARTIN'S BAY.

The following graphic description of this miserable settlement is contributed to the columns of the Otago Daily Times:— ■ The settlement of Martin's Bay does not come up to my expectations. I exFor remainder of news see fourth page.

07> : .peHited to find something of sT country fit |7to settle in, and was greatly disappointed. 5 7 The .township 7is ii situated 1 Lake 7 p.^M'Kerro^ ; about four miles from the sea, 7 and TcOHsists of exactly eight houses,-i-only five of which are occupied. Of arable - . , land;- there iebut.vety little, tand one-half 7j.7-of---.the_- land .-"is, swamp and unfit for culti--7 TTation^as^drainage would be impossible. At The farther you go towards the ranges the " more swampy the ground becomes. The same,; *yisi ithe case throughout the .whole valley of the Hollyford, ; and neither will :, lever .be a farming - dbuntry. Of all : 7: the miserable settlements I ever saw or . re ad of, Martin's Bay is the worst. The selection of the site is bad and a 7 mistake, and although it is three years since the settlers first landed here, scarcely anything has been done amongst tb7e r wholeTlot. . Only jtwelve acres have been cleared. Mind, no stum ps have been , removed, the ground;' between' being only scratched up with a hoe orrake— -not dug with a spade- — and sown with wheat or ■ potatoes. This extensive area, I was told, was next year to" be increased by four acres; There are no; fences-whatever —not so much as one surrounding a gaivden. Three persons have made gardens, and an area of half an acre wiil comprise the whole. About a couple of dozen of currant and gooseberry bushes, with a few ; willows and oaks, comprise the whole of the plantations, which are rapidly receding . into . a -.stale - of nature.y The settlement possesses in live stock about two dozen fowls and three pigs. The latter have. been placed on an island up the lake to breed so that their owners might be saved the trouble., of looking after them. The produce of the cultivated '* plots is scarcely enough to last the settlers „ until next season. How these enterprising -??■ people employ their time, it is impossible to say. For what I can glean, it is spent tbus:-J-In the morning the head of the ; family, or perhaps a grown-up .son or daughter, goes out to shoot a sufficient \ * quantity of pigeons for breakfast, which is accomplished in' about a quarter of an hour. After breakfast, the townspeople hold a'sort of municipal palaver until it is time to shoot again: for dinner. Then tbey loirabout until the .calls of hunger start them once more into activity, and more i pigeons -are procured for supper, after' whicli I suppose, they all retire to rest, overcome with the exertions of the day. Sometimes breafi is obtainable, ; but the usual food of the settlers is a 'sort!' of stew made of pigeons arid vegetables,. I could not procure a bit of fish f op love or money, for although the sea teems with millions, tiut very few appear to be caught. Abuse of the Provincial Government appears to be the cjiief occupation of the settlers;! whtf complain loudly of neglect, that paternal body not sufficiently often sending, them provisions. Complaints of starvation are of course rife during the intervals of these supplies, which, I learnt, were almost 1 gratuitous. ' The last time the.Prpyincial Government sent provisions some few,, paid, cash, while others only gave LO-Ufs, and they are now selling the flour to the diggers at Big Bay 1 at 24s per lOOlbs cash down. Another stock of provisions is anxiously looked for to keep these poor unfortunate people from starving. ■'•; '■ '"'*> i -*..--• ■■■■ '-•; 7 As one settler had been very clamorous in proclaiming his wiongs and hardships to the province, and importuning the Government, .1 paid half-a-crown boat hire purposely to visit his. estate and obtain ocular demonstration of what had been done. The .owner was from home, and after much difficulty I found a spot where some human; being might have dwelt. Although occupied for three years, this location boasted of improvements as follows: —-A few slabs stuck upon their ends formed a sort of enclosure very much like a pig-stye. There had been a roof of calico, but it was removed or rotted off; no ground had been cleared > excepting a small patch, which a <r^ 0( j WO rking man cpuld accomplish }f a folf-an-hour. HapP vv -t eace o{ lke BetUeatte^* wms W 8 < Tuhobtainable, or the consequer,- --' J? B * be- fearful. I can only come to *ue conclusion that the best thing the Government, can.'do id to send a steamer and fetch: thesej unfortunate settlers. away. The children j who number about fourteen, are to be pitiedj and for their sakes alone they should' .be •* removed'; !With its present mendicant population, no good whatever can come of the settlement- and instead of continually sending provisions to keep those people from, starving, it. would be .much better for the province to fetch them all away. I took some newspapers over with me from Queenstown, and gave them to a person to distribute, but somehow or another one individual managed to get - hold s 6f the -Ipt; and Tiyduld not allow any one to see ' thetio,' although one of them came fifteen niiies to do so.