We extract the following from the Sydney Herald of the 7th of April :—

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume I, Issue 11, 21 May 1842, Page 42

We extract the following from the Sydney Herald of the 7th of April :—

" NELSON, NSW ZEALAND.

" We are informed, by a a gentleman recently arrived from that settlement, that the people at Nelson are much disappointed with the country in the neighbourhood of the township. The harbour is capable of being made a tolerable one ; and this, we expect, is what charmed the eye of Captain Wakefield, who, as a naval man, would be more likely to attend to this point than any other. The editor of the Nelson Examiner, who is naturally anxious that the settlement should be placed in a favourable light, shows that in the vicinity of the harbour there is little more than two hundred acres of land available, although over a range of mountains, at what distance from Nelson is not stated, there is said to be fifty thousand acres of good land on the Waimea Plains.

" It is surprising that men of the world, men of first-rate ability, such as are concerned in the management of the New Zealand Company's affairs, 'will, in order to carry out a preconceived theory, shut their eyes to the practical evils of the course they are pursuing. It appears to us little short of madness to send out large numbers of people, men, women, and children, to settle in a country that has never been explored. Common sense would say, examine well the country, and ascertain exactly what its capabilities are, before you send your emigrants to it ; but the South Australian Commissioners and the New Zealand Company say no : they say, let us settle the country first and explore it afterwards ; and, in pursuance of this plan, large numbers of people were sent to South Australia before it was known in England where the capital was to be, and before a single acre of it had been surveyed. The misery and distress caused among the first settlers by this procedure was immense. The same course was pursued with respect to Port Nicholson, New Plymouth, and, more recently, Nelson. We have before us a number of the New Zealand Journal (published in London), giving an account of a fete held at Blackwall, to commemorate the departure of the Mary Anne for Nelson, and at which the Duke of Sussex and a large number of peers and leading men were present ; and it is clear, from some of the speeches, that it was expected that the emigrants were proceeding to the Northern Island of New Zealand, not the Middle Island.

" The general opinion among persons who have visited New Zealand is that the Southern Island, or New Munster, is by far more eligible for settlers than the Northern, or New Ulster ; but, until the country has been thoroughly explored, it is impossible to tay which will be the most advantageous spot at which to commence colonization. -The surveying party of the Nelson settlement preceded the emigrants by about four months, whereas they should have been at least eighteen months or two years, if they were to have had a chance of doing their duty, by determiniug upon the best spot at which to found a settlement It is cruel to 'delude a number of ignorant people by making them imagine that a town has been laid out, and a country surveyed, and, upon their arrival at the spot, to let them find that they are not able to get possession of their land for a couple of years. We make these remarks from no ill-natured motives, for the colonization of New Zealand has been of considerable benefit to this colony, and will be more so, by providing our settlers with a market for their surplus stock: our only wish is to deprecate the practice of sending | emigrants, particularly women and children, to an unexplored country, and making them believe they will find a ' city ' laid out, where there has not been a single stake put down."

We quite believe that these remarks are made from no ill natured motive. Whoever may have been the informant referred to, he has certainly not conveyed a correct impression of the feeling of " the people at Nelson." That there are some here who

are disappointed we do not doubt, as, indeed, where is that ill Dorado which will fulfil the expectations of all ? and where are there 1,000 people together of whom none shall be confirmed grumblers, malcontents by nature, unredeemable lookers-on-the-worst-side-of-things ? We have certainly been misunderstood most strangely, if anything we have said has given the impression that the quantity of available laud round Nelson is exceedingly limited, or that it is so distant as to be attained with difficulty. For our fellow-settlers, there is no necessity to tell them what the Waimea district is, or how far oft*. We could not wish a finer district ; and, considering the peculiar character of the New Zealand scenery generally, it is as near to the Port as it well could be. An hour's walk, when a road is made, will, at the ordinary rate of walking, bring any one from the centre of Nelson to the Waimea plains ; and now the walk, through fern and towai-towai and swamps of raupo, may be very well managed in an hour and a half or two hours. We expect shortly to be able to publish a description of the Motuaka district ; and, if our papers have reached, and continue to reach, the editor of the Herald regularly, we doubt not that his impression of the country, as well as of the tone of feeling with regard to it among the settlers, will be altered for the better. When the editor of the Herald shall honour us with a visit, he will find more men ready to show him the country with pride than to entertain him with grumblings. We shall be happy if he will afford us the opportunity of sending back to Sydney a true statement of our locale and our temper bj T such good authority. We have extracted the last part of the article from the Herald, because we believe it to have both truth and reason. Substitute nine or twelve months for eighteen months or two years, and we cannot say we much differ from our contemporary on the subject, except that with Us inconvenience, not misery and distress', has resulted from the too early sending out of the emigrant ships.

The following address has been very numerously signed by the members of the Scotch Church resident in this settlement, ' and others who feel an interest in the supplying the religious wants of their fellowcolonists. We cannot doubt that the Assembly, or their Colonial Committee, with whichever the determination may rest, will give due attention to the circumstances which give rise to the address, and grant the request contained in it : — To the Colonial Committee of the General Assembly of the Church of

Scotland.

Reverend Sirs— : We, the undersigned, Scots Presbyterians and others desirous of enjoying the privileges of a preached gospel, beg to represent to your venerable body the peculiar circumstances in which we are placed. The population of Nelson, our adopted hotxfe, amounts to about 1,700 souls, of which fully 300 may be Scots, and the number is daily increasing. Ever since our arrival here we have been without a resident clergyman, and consequently deprived of those precious ordinances "bf religion which we had enjoyed in our fatherland. The consequences of such a state of things must be very obvious : general indifference to religion, open profanation of the Sabbath, immorality of various kinds, especially drunkenness in its most obnoxious form, with various other grievous evils, have already been the result, and must necessarily increase, unless means are speedily adopted to provide for the spiritual destitution of this settlement. We may further add that parents in full communion with the church are .unable to procure for their infants the sacred ordinance of baptism ; whilst the impossibility of having the rite of marriage duly performed by an ordained clergyman, has led, and must still lead, to irregularities to be deplored, as at variance with sound morality and the best interests of the colonists.

Under these circumstances, we trust we appeal not in vain to the. Christian sympathies of our countrymen at home, and of that church which has already so much distinguished itself for missionary enterprise. ■

We hope, then, that amicbt the numerous licentiates of the church some one will be found ready to devote himself to the good cauße ; and that the church itself will not be wanting in liberality ; while we, on our part, would hau his arrival with gratitude, and, as far as lies in our power, promote his comfort and usefulness. Nelson, May 7, 1842.