A SCOTCH EMIGRANT IN NEW ZEALAND. [From Wakefield's Adventures in New Zealand.]

New Zealander, Volume 1, Issue 27, 6 December 1845, Page 4

A SCOTCH EMIGRANT IN NEW ZEALAND. [From Wakefield's Adventures in New Zealand.]

Beil had managed,to locate himself.here, notwithstanding considerable opposition from the natives, by an admirable mixture of firmness, &<>od temper, qud kindness. He had first paid the natives for putling up the frameof a house ; and ha<l then filled up the walls with karcau and clay, and whitewashed them. A little garden had succeeded. He had then proceeded to ( lear off the flax, fern, and other scrub, which wa« waist high on the l.*nd which he meant to plough. When he began this operation, the interruption commenced. One perseveringly annoying and ill-tempered old chief headed the malcontents : but Bell had made a friend of another by judicious presents ancl attentions, and obtained some protection jrom him whenever the persecution became a little too serious Ihe 'friend was'tfiri karamu, the chief who had signed the deed at Kapiti, and afterwards accompanied E. Kuru and myself hither to the grand sale. He was a'repudiator 6f'the bargain gejfciali> ; but had app're'nateu the advantages of havirfg a go6d p< keha to live near him, auct teach him how to plant potatoes and grow wheat. .He never did moie ihan remonstrance with E. Waka, the troublesome neighbour; apparently conniving at extortion, thougli he would nut allow violence to be used. 3)m ing the progress of the ploughing-, E.-Waka used to come, and watch, and keep walking by the side of the oli fai-rnev, telling him tie'sho'tiM plough n6 more. But Bell f.Vetenrled uo't to under&tand him, and smiled a'thim, and geed the bullocks, and warned E. Waka to get out ot the way of them when they turned and ploughed on. E. Waka got furious; but Bell would not look a bit frightened, and told he didn't understand him , "- He must £0 to the boys," meaning his own sons ; " they'd talk Maon tp him;" and he geed the bullocks, and ploughed on. The patience of C. Waka soon got exhausted, aud he retired sulkily towards the house, .af(ter putting in some pegs a fevy yards beyond where Bell had got to, pointing to that as his ultimatum. 'And w"hile the good wile gave h'nn 8 large mes'i of bread and milk, or a smoking dish of poik and potatoes, and the sons and daughters chatted good h'ummiredly to filui, while they built a pigs-y or put a stockyard, old ftell was ploughjng on. And E. Waka ate and smoked and basked in.the sun, •wondering at the industry*of the pakeha, till tie got sleepy, and crept back to his v'i'll lge for the day. The ilext morning however,'lie v woind be a-100l pretty eaily to'besiet-e the pdliilta 'maro, or " hard whileman,' 1 as he called hiitf. Biit he was never early enough; and the first sight 'that met his eyes, was always his bGle moire, the team of bullocks, anil the, old man trudging steadily along the fresh fuirows. E. Waka would begin by looking for the pegs, aud hunt about for a long while grumbling and puzzling, before he found out that the plough must have gone over them some hourh ago, if not the evening helore. Aud while he was hunting, the plough sped quietly on. Then came the remonstrance, and the shrug of the shouldeis, and the fury, and the good-humoured' lurf'ftereiictt, and the reference to the hoys, atid the jiieal, and ihe sleepiness, and the return home, and the careful pe»gmg of the ground as before. The 1 same "story over again, no patience 'could'stand it; old Bell and the team went on, slow, sure,'and.re-, gular as the course of the sun. And besides, on one occasion, when E. Waka had brought a large troop ot attendants, and threatened to commit some vio lence, the old man had called his stalwart sons to his side, and taking up a spade or a ploughshare, had said in broad Scotch, while his resolute looks and prepared attitude interpreted his words into a universally intelligible language, " Diuna ye think to touch a thing that's here 1100; for as sure as ye do, I'll cleave ye to the ground ! A! bargain's 1 a'bargain ; I've paid ye'richt and fair, and'l'll grir ye to keep to it." ' Tlien E. Waka would look frightened ; aha Kpgin to think that his good daily meal was better than a blow of old Bell's weapon ; and peace was s'odn restored. And when the ploughing was done, the'plauting potatoes was too amusing to be interfered with; for they ridiculed the idea of expecting any orop fr.olll potatoes cut into small pieces. " Bide and see/ 5 said the old man, and they waited with anxiety the time of crop, and,the report spread far and wide, that the old pakeha with the cows.was very good, and, brave aud industrious, but that he was certainly gone porangi or mad, for he had cut up his seed'pota toes | fjefore he'put them in. " Poor old man," they said, •« his trouble has turned his head, such a very absurd idea." But the crop came better than their own\ from whole potatoes, find they stared, and found that the foolish old man eould'fce'ach them some lessons:in' growing food ; and they,soon honoured him as much for his knowledge, as they had learned to stand in ( awe of his courage and resolution. And though, t,hey have uot yet allowed him to make use of the whole of his section, he has now fiffy acres under pMongh cultivation, sends grain and! grass seed enough to Wellington to pay for the luxuries which his lamily rf quire, owns several cows and a flock of sheep, call himself the"Liird of Wanganui," aud gives harvest home festivals. He talked of buying a horse, and earing for no man when 1 last saw him.