IMPRESSIONS of the KARAMEA.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XI, Issue 88, 31 March 1876, Page 2

IMPRESSIONS of the KARAMEA.

[communicated ] You ask me, Mr Editor, to -give you some account of what I saw during ray very brief stay at the Karamea. lam aware that I may be fairly charged with presumption in venturing lo write at all about a placo at "which I remained only twenty-four hours. But I trust that I shall escape being classed amonp " the mob of gentlemen who write with etse" by pleading that I intend nothing more than to eet down hasty first impressions, some of which would, doubtless, have been creatly modified by subsequent f xpcrience, had my stay been prolonged a for a few days. Our first essay to enter the Kqromea failed. A continuation of south-WPgWly gales raisedsuch a sea that it wan impossible even to approach the hhrbor mouth. One beacon only was discernible through the surf, and that one inclining at a most disreputable angle. Matters were mended on our next attempt The bar was smooth, the entrance straight, ami two beacons, both rigidly perpendicular, and dressed accurately- into line, guided us in'o a broad expinse of calm water, surround ing the low islet upon which the Government store-houses are built. To the eye of a mere landsman, the Karamea seems a better and more accessible harbor than any on the West Coast, save always Westport. The .traveller who would reach the settlement most truf t his person to a can- c— perhaps the most prominent feature of Karamein life. I v a<t handsomely offered the choice of two barks, the first being seven feet long, by as many inches deep, ani excessively leaky; theßecon-i hcsn~ thrice as long as its smaller brother, wic9 a« drep. Need I saj <h,t ' n J the more unwieldy vessel, . rpgard for the safety of my Charob : minutes' paddling brings you to the fo v ! : • excellent horse-track, that ltads, by a in, - long ascent, to the South Settlement on ih' Terrace, where the buik of the immigrants are at present living, I say •' at present " ad-

vioedly, feeling presty;»ure that aV'.th^ *nd of >i year, at mat, i h s unpromising portion of tho valley will be abandoned in -favor of the northern, and Jar mpre fertile, bank of the Tiver.. The cottages of the settlers, built for ithe most^parfc of s weatber-board, are neatly ' thatched with toi-toi or raupo, are scattered along both sides of the horse-track, at intervals of about two hundred yards. When I saw all that had been done by the ocf-upants of these huts, after the expiration of more, tlmn, a year, ..at a cost to the New Zealand Government of many thousands of poutfds, I confess that mv heart failed me. A scanty patch of sickly pota'oes, a few stunted cabbages, half-nn acre of wiry grass — these, with here and there a goat, or halt a dozen lanky fowls, were all the provision that I could discern for the inevitable day when the Government store-room must be closed to all who cannot bring sn tquivalent in coin or in kind for the necessaries of life. The natural growth of the south side of the river ia chiefly rimu, large trees, for 'sawing purposes, being rather scarce, so far as I could see. The soil on the terrare is a layer of half de omposed vegetable matter, about a, foot thick, with a substratum ot day, overlaying a bed ot gravel. The «urface-«oil is saturated with moisture, and until it is sweetened by draining and exposure to the *ua and air. will ill rep^y the labor bestowed upon it. Water there is, in superabundance, but strong y impregnated with vegetable matter, and of a eh icolate color. In spite of appearances, this uninviting-looking fluid may be wholesome.' It is, at any rate, impomble to deny thet the settlers, both young and old, knk healthy, bo th it there may be certain occult medicinal virtues ia the ruddy streamlets not discernible by the stranger. I tried honeßtly to put myself in the position of one of these terrace settlers who, by preternatural industry aniJ supernatural good luck, had succeeded in growing a ton or two of potatoes more than he could eat. How must such an. one utilise his gooi fortune? He must begin by packing the fruits of his labor, say. two hundredweight at a time, to the river side. A mile or so of canoeing will bring his produce to the Government store, whera it must await, probably, for a month or two, the coming of a (cubsidised) steam.er. That yeoman's net r.ceipt*. after the potatoes h <ye been landod at Westp.rtor Nelson, will not, I fear.greitly embarrass him. Those moist and dreary uplands, are not suitable, I was told — and my own observation conflrmed the statement — for pigs. Ctt'tle will hardly thrive amidst a swampy bush, almost destitute of any undergrowth fit for the support of-h-rosd stock. It is clear, even to the most superficial observer, that many of the settlers are ill adapted to the trying work of opening up new country. Many lack cm rgv —almost all olonial experience. But I question whether a picket band of cur to>ghest settlers would do much in a valley absolutely cut off from the r st of the world for months together — where there are no employers of labor— where there is no exchange of commodities, np market, and no special branch of in iiistry, whereby the most eDterprisine can earn. a sixpence. I do.not forget that there has been much vague talk about gold-mining as a possible resource for the penniless settler, and, indeed, during my stay, a live digger, brandishing a small bag containing several ounces of ,god, was swaggering about " the island." Yet, somehow, the settlers as a body, set small sto r e up:m gold as a future article of export. The thing hid been tried, they eaid, yea>s ngo, and had failed egregiously. Nor has the questionable expedient of offering a bonus to the en terp* lain? setter-up of a stw mill hitherto attracted any of the shrewd mill owners who have visited the valley. ■ It has been the fashion of late to cast ridicule upon the Wakefleld s -herne of colonization, which require | a certain proportion of c&pital as the invariable accompaniment of a certain proportion of labor. But it is not difficult to foresee ■ how an experiment will end which simply substitutes a paterh 1 Government—or, in other words, the New Z aland taxpayer — for the much abused capitalist. The only objection to so novel an experiment is,- that though exceedingly interesting to the political economist, it is also exceedingly' costly. lam far from anticipating that the broad valley of the Karamea, which Inwever unapproachable by land, does undoubtedly contain some ifbousaniß of acres of good soil, bccessible by a tolerable bar harbor, will ever be entirely abandoned. A few ecorei of hardy Mows will assuredly survive the difficulties that mint epeedily crush their we'ker brethren, and tha former may even thrive in a couotry where there i«, at any rate, " ample room and verge enough." . Whether so poor a game is worth so costly a candle is an open question not to be deciJed by a mere Wayfarer