The Nelson Evening Mail. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1880. THE KARAMEA.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XV, Issue 51, 28 February 1880, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1880. THE KARAMEA.

A gentleman who has just returned from a trip to this settlement, which has received such varied treatment at the hands of the Government and others in power, called upon us yesterday, and kindly furnished us with some information regarding the country and the settlers. In company with another he left Motueka on the afternoon of Monday, the 16th instant, and walked by way of the Table Land, the road to the summit being in very fair order, but from thence to the Leslie the track is blocked with fallen timber and undergrowth. From the confluence of the Leslie with the Karamea the travelling is of the roughest description, and in many places is nothing but clambering and climbing, hands and arms being brought into requisition quite as much as feet and legs. A great deal more than the £1000 voted will be required to complete this track. On Friday afternoon, after a rough journey of five days, the settlement was reached, and it formed a pretty as well as a welcome sight, clearings having been made in several places, and many picturesque dwellings surrounded by bits of garden being visible in the bush. The majority of the huts are built of fern trees, and thatched, but there are also three or four wooden buildhags which were erected by the Government. The population consists of 79 adults and 81 children, amongst the former of whom the work of the survey now being carried on in the district has been, and is being, equally divided, and tbat with a small expediture by the County Council has been the only means of earning money that the settlers have had since the Government works were stopped. The blocks of land taken up by them vary iu size from ten to 100 acres, and all appear to be thoroughly well pleased with the quality of the soil. The majority are located on what i« kn^wn as the " Promised Land," but th-ii- nn- :N:i several families on the opposite side of tue river where the land is equally good. The crops grown in the district, consisting principally of potatoes and swedes, are described as being really splendid. There are also grown magnificent vegetables, and one advantage that the settlers there have over those in the older districts is that such pests as slugs, snails, and other insects, which are the terror of gardeners here, as well as blight of all kinds, are quite unknown in the Karamea. A little grain has been grown, but not much, as can easily be imagined when it is stated that there is not a plongh in the district, so that all the grain patches are cultivated with the spade. Another want which militates agaiDst grain farming is that of a mill, a convenience which ia much desired. At present the solitary coffee mill, of which one of the settlers is the fortunate possessor, has to do duty for many other purposes than that for which it was originally intended. What grain there is, is described as being of first class quality ,and enough has been grown to prove tbe suitability of the land for the purpose. All the settlers have a few head of cattle, which are in excellent condition and remarkably quiet. Of gold digging t&§re Js but/ rerj Jitfrle going on, .Bdo@d, our

informant in the course of his travels came across only two parties, who were washing out with a cradle, a sure proof that they were not doing very much. There were, however, numberless tracea of old workings, showing that the country had been well prospected, and that gold had been obtaiaed in the district at one time. Thc work of clearing the bush is being steadily proceeded with, and in some cases is carried on in a thoroughly systematic manner, and out informant) himself an experienced bushman, who had visited the Karamea four years previously, was much struck with the progress that had been made by the settlers in the art of handling the axe. They all seemed moderately happy and contented, but what is felt by all to be the chief drawback is the infrequeucy of communication with the outer world. At present a steamer calls there once a mouth ingoing inj perhaps, on one tide 'And oub on the next, and tbis being the only available means of visiting the settlement with any degree of comfort, it follows that the district must remaiu a terra incognita to outsiders, for none would care to visit it with the knowledge that a whole month must elapse before an opportunity offered of getting away again. This seclusion, too, must weigh with many who know the country and are aware of the excellence of the soil, and who would be prepared to settle there if the means of communication were more frequent. Of this, however, there appears at present to be hut little likelihood, cause and effect being so commingled that it is impossible to unravel them. Steamers will not call except at long intervals, and then only on receipt of a subsidy, on account of the small ness and unimportance of the settlement, while one of the chief reasons why the number of inhabitants does not increase is that the district is cut off from the rest of the colony, and, indeed, of the world. The inducements to a hard working man, with a little meney on which he could live for a time, to settle there are, our informant considers, very great, owing to the character of the soil, which in many places is eight and ten feet deep, and, as has already heen proved, is fertile to a degree. It is, however, heavily timbered, and the clearing would involve a large amount of labor, but, once brought under the plough, it would be second to none in New Zealand, either for grass, grain, or root crops.