THE REV. F. CHURTON AND PORT NICHOLSON.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume I, Issue 13, 4 June 1842, Page 51

THE REV. F. CHURTON AND PORT NICHOLSON.

The following letter, which we take from the columns of the New Zealand Gazette, is addressed to a respectable tradesman in England, and has appeared, it seems, in some English paper, the name of which has not been given. We have subjoined some extracts from the remarks of the editor of the Gazette on the subject.

It has been my wish to communicate to my kind friends in your district the real state of New Zealand — and I am under a promise to do so ; not being able at present to write to them all, I take this means of reporting in general the result of my observations, and if you think fit to give it publicity in your paper I have no objection to your doing so — provided it be done in a plain and open way, with the guarantee of my name. As you know, I came out in the capacity of chaplain of the Episcopal church in the colony then forming by the New Zealand Company, and since known as " Wellington." I cannot give to that settlement any other character than a positive failure. By this time I have no doubt the true statements have reached England, and the fallacy is exposed of the coloured representations which hitherto have been brought before the public. I account it a failure becauße it is utterly impossible to realize in Port Nicholson the propositions and expectations of the New Zealand Company. In the first place, there is no extent of available land within a considerable distance from the site of the town ; what little there is, is scarcely approachable. In proof of this, it was intended, until the decision of Sir George Gipps put a stop to it, to give the country sections at Wanganui, above 100 miles distant, or at Taranaki, 180 miles distant. In the next place, the winds are fierce and incessant. From the situation of Port Nicholson, it is exposed to the full face and action of the winds, which are always in action in Cook's Straits. I was there from 20th of April to 29th of December, and in all that time I can safely assert that there were never (more than once) 48 successive hours of calm weather. The winds are the scourge of the place, and I am sure nothing can withstand them and prosper. There is at this time a population of 2,000, but they are doing nothing. They are colonists who have come trusting to the reports of the place, and emigrants poured in by the Company ; but they are leaving, and they will leave as fast as they can. The prosperity, the enterprize, and forwardness that you read of; the advance of the town, and the progress of improvement, are entirely the beauties of fiction — they exist only on paper. Port Nicholson is a failure. But let no one be afraid of New Zealand ; the climate, apart from the local disadvantage of Port Nicholson — the climate is delicious and healthy in an astonishing degree. New Zealand has no venomous reptiles and no droughts. It has abundance of water, evergreen vegetation, and beautiful land. lam now here at the seat of Government, and it is a place of most encouraging promise — a place to which I can with confidence invite every friend to come. Here are thousands of acres of fine land, perfectly open and level (*. c. undulating), admitting of the readiest access in all directions, and ready for immediate cultivation. Several rivers navigable for small craft to a considerable distance, so that produce may be brought down at a trifling expense. At five miles distance by water are forests of the cowrie tree. The whole district of town and suburban allotments, with much of the country lands, are destitute of wood, it is entirely open land, covered with low underwood or fern. The climate is delightful ; the natives are most friendly, and intimate — very honest, trustworthy, grateful, and obliging. Provisions are plentiful; fish is abundant; nnd it must be a district of great plenty and cheapness. The society promises to be of the best. They have already subscribed a very considerable sum for the erection of a temporary church and schools, and the natives have in the most handsome manner volunteered as their subscription, to bring a body of thirty men to build it, and to furnish the native materials.

It is understood that the intention of the colonial Government is to sell the land at an uniform price of £1 per acre ; to dispose of it in small allotments from 20 to 100 acres, so as to afford an opening for small farmers and settlers of limited means, and I cannot doubt but the population will be very large. The sacrifice is very great of leaving our native borne, and the inducements ought to be very great under which to incur it. But if, looking to the prospects of his family and the hope of his own improvement, a man decides on such a step, I think he will find reason to rejoice in directing his steps to this place. I think this part of New Zealand offers ail that a settler can reasonably want, and contains all the elements of prosperity, firewood will be scarce, and must be brought from the forest, and I am not yet aware of the existence of coal nearer than Cape Farewell, in the middle island, where it is both good, plentiful, and easy of access : it will no doubt be brought to us regularly in a short time, as our wood become* scarce and our population increases. There are great indications of iron ;. the sands on my beach are full of iron particles ; and lam told of one gentleman who found on trial 80 per cent of metaL To labourers and mechanics this colony offers immense advantages, because labour of all kinds is very high, and the demand must for a long period be considerably more than the supply, inasmuch as the introduction of small allotments will bring a large population together. Provisions are and must be cheap, being so easily raised, and tbe climate so favourable for rearing young stock, and land is easily attain-

able. Brickmakers, Bawyers, carpenters, joiners, would be sure to find abundance of employment ; for a farming maltster and a brewer, no place can offer better advamages. • The climate is more cool and equal than New Holland, the soil is of a kind particularly adapted for the growth of barley, and the demand for beer would be immense. It was generally considered till lately that the climate of New Zealand was too moist for sheep — the contrary is now proved by trial. The same sheep which gave 441b. fleeces in New Holland, being brought to New Zealand gave fleeces of 9lbs., whilst the meat (which we have commonly eaten of), improves also.

It would be a profitable investment, probably, to bring over considerable quantities of English grass seeds- -also of English hawthorn berries for hedges. Our annoyancec at.present are the immense quantities of grasshoppers, and of a very large catterpillar, some of them green and others black, three inches long and proportionately thick ; but I consider both of these will be subdued as we clear the land for cultivation, and the fowls I observe are greedily fond of the grasshopper — the introduction of the rook and tbe sparrow would surely be useful. What they destroy would repay for what they eat. Birds are very scarce; of animals we have none. I would suggest to every one coming out to bring two or three barrels (at least) of poster. We have none, but what comes from England. It always sells at least for £7 per 54 gallons, and here it has fetched £12 10s — by no means come without some. Also bring a large stock of shoes and boots — that trade being very scarce in colonies, and the articles are very dear.

It will be a pleasure to those who have known me to learn that I very much enjoy New Zealand — and whilst my life in Port Nicholson was a scene of disappointment and discomfort, lsam here in great comfort, in a delicious climate, and a place of most important promise, and under circumstances of the greatest encouragement to myself and my family; and that I have not the least hesitation in recommending the place as an eligible home to every one of high and low rank, who may propose the step of emigration. Believe me, dear sir, very faithfully yours, John Fbedbric Churton. Mr. Churton has been, thoroughly reckless about facts. We should be warranted in giving a flat denial to almost every statement contained in his letter. It was necessary that Mr. Churton should furnish some reasons for tbe manner in which he abandoned, or seemed determined to abandon, the charge which had been self imposed. We must bear in mind that Mr. Churton is a Christian minister, to feel the full force of the defects of his character. In the body of the third paragraph of his letter, he states there are 2,000 persons at Port Nicholson; and the tenor of his statements is that their prospects are blasted, that certain ruin stares them in the face — and will it be believed, that while intimating these coneequences to so large a body of fellow creatures, he, a Christian minister, 'does not utter a word of sympathy; not even the slightest regret. We tell the people at home that this reverend gentleman has land at Auckland, a rival settlement, and that he is as sharp a trader as when he was a coal merchant or a solicitor. We will not contrast the condition and prospects of Wellington with Auckland. The settlers have in public meeting declared the place to be in a state of insolvency; and we are truly sorry that the foolish and extravagant example of the Government should have reduced that settlement to its present deplorable state. We have never quarrelled with the settlers there. We hope it is, as declared by its friends to be, a highly desirable place of residence. We are not interested in proving that half New Zealand is barren ; on the contrary, it is for the benefit of all that every foot of ground should prove useful to man. We merely maintain, that the seat of Government should be in a central position, and that Port Nicholson is that position ; and while we shall be happy to hear that the settlers of Auckland are in a prosperous state, we must ever deny to it the quality of fitness for the seat of Government of the* islands of New Zealand.

Importation or Slaves to tbb Brazils. — The latest accounts from this country state that the number of negroes imported has very much decreased, and whilst it amounted in previous years to 30,000, may be stated now to be about 6,000 per annum. The reason is, that the English cruizcrs, instead of detaining and examining ships on the coast of Africa, are performing this, duty now on the very coasts of the Brazils, and if any vessel is suspected, from its internal arrangement, to be a slaver, it is brought back and condemned as such. Wins Growing in Australia. — The Journal de* Debats publishes a letter, dated Mentz, 9th Nov., stating flat, in the year 1837, a family of vine dressers, confltsting of 19 persons, emigrated from the Rhiagau, in the duchy of Nassau, to New South Wales, where they transplanted the various descriptions of Rhenish vines. It appears by the latest accounts that their last crop produced 1 5,800 bottles. The wine differs considerably fjrqm Rhenish wine, but stQl retains a strong «ffiaiqr,-to that from which it was produced. — Lotih*&mmitl if Commerce, A<w. 20.