AS OTHERS SEE US.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 268, 10 November 1881, Page 4

AS OTHERS SEE US.

A Penh pepf-r publishes n letter from a rrcFtt arrival in New £en!ond, •from wl-.icli ~e tr-tke <U follow ie?' eE'rnpf; — " I w^e h-artiV H fic i to pet rut of Danedin Boslqf-q wss perfectly r,h. jert. Aa ex-mayor, himself a merchant, BP.!d to me, 'Happy the msn wh «an r'a'iap, and leave New Zealand i-ief CO'.v!' The climn'e o< Dunedin is <-. very naety one. and people living i oiher towns hnfe it ou th'H amount Oacparu dprid a diy has the best climatf in New Z-aUnd for Sco'ohmea h. health. I ask^d the chief cflieer of cur steamer in which town he would prefer to s?ttle; he said nt oncfl Aurklsrid. Tiia town covers as much cround oy Eilinhurgh, if not mors, although only 40,000 at outside, wiih all suburb?. But then a vast number cf bouses h-ve large gardens, nnd there fire estensivpnbiic parks within the limits, sn 1 the ground ia very billy and broken, fhous' cot so bad as Dunedin. The priccipß ! business ptreete are nicstly brick, el! else wood. Houses gf-nerrdly have very .mall rooms, and fe* fire ploere — tfapy do not please re~'ple from B'i'^it at ell. Auckland climate is very re Jaxing, extremely opprfSHva when th--ccrtb or ?qu .tcria! v, ini bio*s ; bus pleasant with any wi.d eou!;b'-var ily Of wind there is enough to spirt.; but there is plenty of sunshine, except io thv?ioter, which is more prorerly a r-Ai'..\ Bea.on than a winter. Working men'.aod humble clerk.' houses are u-rriblj Small poky p'a^es — mere boxes ; bu: perpie seemed to te eo much out of door* they dilri't mind. We returned her' on 19 Jjly, end sirce ihat day 1 tnr ears there have not been more th':n t i days on wbich a lady could g.:t as much exerme in eun.-hire as she cared tf. Colonial livirg is not pleasant cc- first Servants ere ruiccufcly expensive, an ' mast live on the bfpt bs their m sier.=, or else tbey leave. Houee rent is extremely high. For a woodea box, ■with partitions into, s^y, six rubbtt botches, about £60 a year i3 demanded. Town tßXea, &c, are very high everywhere. Meat is cheep in name, but somehow the meat is inferior, and cots not go so far as at Home. Pouhry very dear. Fruit monstrously so ; poor apples 6d per lb. Bread rather dearer than at bome. Whenever labor touches in New Zealand, then up goes its cost sky high. This is all from the millions of borrowed money. Money seems to bave been like water. But a change is BettiDg in. My wife wanted an orange the other dsy, being thirsty in the sun, and bad to pay 2h for it. I knew tbe pamphlets about New Zealand told crammers, but I didn't think they were sach big ones. Nevertheless, it is a fioe country on the whole, with a climate, generally speakicg, superior to the Home one ; but at present, for £100 at Home one can live as comfortably hs for £150 here, if not more so. Farm ing is pretty precarious out here. Oats Were sold commonly at ls a bushel thib season. I find that in this province farmers may live on their farms by hard personal work, but they never put anything m the Bank, because they can't ! Many retired military met; and young professional men have gene on to land, at cheap prices toj, but away in the bush, Jar from markets, and working their lives and tbeir wives' lives out. Very many have bad to give in. On the Canterbury plains seme skilled men are making money and many unskilled bave lost it, even there. The air of New Zealand is so moist tbat one feels chilly at a higher temperature tban that causing the Bame effect at Heme, and fires are welcome, but fuel is monstrously dear ; poor coal, 28s to 30s per ton, although tbere are many mines in this province. Here, Bgain, comes in the high coet of labor, liheuuiatis-m and nouialgia are common disorders from tho great moisture. There is a much create.variety of climate in New Zealand than at Home, and it i- difficult ! o under stand it. This ismidsummer, and people wear Indian helmets during the day, and then can bear two blankets at ni<<ht; the change is so marked. The countrv around Auckland is most charming, the splendid gardens containing such bril liant shows of flowers. I have seen geraniums here eight to ten feet high, and growing quite wild and unfunded; but neither have flowers the scent, nor fruit the flavour af that at home.