THE EMIGRANTS FROM THE CLYDE AT NEW ZEALAND.

New Zealand Colonist and Port Nicholson Advertiser, Volume I, Issue 48, 13 January 1843, Page 3

THE EMIGRANTS FROM THE CLYDE AT NEW ZEALAND.

(From a Correspondent of the Colonial Observer.) Auckland, New Zealand, November 12, I#42L You will have heard before this can reach you, of the arrival in our port of two vessels from the West of Scotland with emigrants. As the people of Scotland cannot but be interested for several reasons in the safe arrival and future prospects of these wanderers, the first swarm direct from the Parent hive that have been cast upon this shore, and as there is no other channel in these colonies possessing the same opportunities, or that would obtain the same credit as your Journal does in their native land ; I feel confident you will not grudge a small corner of it to communicate any little intelligence youf acquaintances can forward respecting them/ The vessels arrived in our port on Sunday, the 9th ultimo—the barque Jane Gifford having left the Clyde on the 18tli June, and the ship Duchess of Argyle, about ten days before. The passengers by both vessels arrived in excellent health. Those by the Jane Gifford speak -ha warm terms of the kindness of their mediatel adviser, and others in charge over them—those by the Duchess of Argyle speak in the same manner of their temporary rulers, with the. exception of their medical man. The weather unfortunately happened to get very boisterous on the day of their arrival, and continued so with little or no intermission for several days subsequent thereto, which made their landing along the extensive muddy beach of Auckland very uncomfortable. Upon landing they were huddled into small “ Raupo” hovds beyond the bounds of the town •; nto the OrorfeTTpuse, or any other building within the to4vn, over which Government had influence ; indeed, Government had no other places for them, save these miserable huts. Scarcely were themselves and luggage ashore, when they were set to work upon the streets of Auckland in the same-way as the convicts are in Sydney and Parramatta; of course not subject to such unqualified despotism as obtains in those penal gangs. The pittance allowed them by the local Government doe 3 not much exceed that so humanely granted by his Excellency Sir George Gipps to the better behaved men of the chain and other gangs in the principal convict establishments of /New South Wales. The men with familia/have fifteen shillings, and single men Jen sfi7]ktgs per week. Such of them that make an offer to leave the Government lodgings, cannot procure any sort of house under,; say* seven., shillings per week. Provisions they cannot have aidless than one shilling for the four pound loaf; .five shillings per pound for tea; six-pence per pound for coarse moist sugar ; and sixpence per pound for butcher meat.. Pork is the only kind of animal food to be had in this part of the colony as yet. Fish and vegetables are not often to be had at such rates as those people can afford. Fortunately potatoes form an exception to the general rule during the greater part of the vear. Fire-wood is always scarce in Auckland, and, consequently excessively high in price; the only fuel poor people can procure, in the present state of matters, is a kind of small stunted shrub, which grows in the vicinity of the town, and is commonly termed “ tea-tree”—a kind of bush not unlike the tall heather in some parts of Scotland. Let it not he understood that there is any scarcity of wood either for fuel or building in this district of the coloi>y. Quite the reverse : there is more than abundance of very valuable descriptions of timber in the district ; it is the expence of getting it into town that causes the enormous price. Nor let it be supposed that there any peculiar natural disadvantages oppressing this locality. Quite the contrary : almost all the difficulties that prevail have been caused by the incapacity of the local rulers in conjunction with the aid of a “ Midb ahitish” band of paltry speculators, or more properly speaking, the dregs of commercial gamblers from the .ranks of “ Jews and Gentiles” alike, from the neighbouring colonies. The people of Scotland cannot, methinks, but feel painfully solicitous respecting the prospective moral condition of their far separated friends, more especially when they are informed that they have been immediately succeeded by a company of London thieves, recently imported in the barque St. George —92 in number —all young scamps, and daily coming in contact, more or- less, with the sons and daughters of the immigrants. These promising youths have already, supplanted all the free labourers in. the survey and other public, departments. . In reference to the prospective moral condition of the immigrants from Scotland, there is one misfortune more appalling than all the, rest* and-which cannot be so easily repaired as others. Jt is this i that unless the most prompt and energetic measures are taken by some of the Presbyterian churches at home, the late arrivals, ■ as well as the .previous ones, of the Presbyterian community in this colony, may speedily fall away into Puseyism, Deism, Mahometanism, or any other Ism that, happens to prevail. The Established “ Church

<){' Scotland" has done little to prevent such a calamity. Surely nothing' can be more unpalatable to a thorough-going Presbyterian, than to be compelled to resort to an Episcopal clergyman, whether of the Romish or Protestant denomination, to participate in the various religious ordinances administered by him in a form very remote from the plain and unassuming scriptural precedent. He soon gets disgusted with the Popish externals of the English Church, and sees but comparatively little difference between it and the Romish. He is thus led at last to forsake all places of public worship, not without a sigh for the revered Church of his Fathers. I do .not say thht this is proper, but, alas, it too often occurs. What can the Church of Scotland, both laity and clergy, think of the spiritual interests of these unhappy people, since they sent them out here, as they would send their cattle and sheep to the supposed best market, to be disposed of to the highest bidder ? No provision whatever, so far as is known, has been made at home for the moral welfare of the Presbyterians of Auckland ; —let them do or die, as their Mother Church has said in effect, although numbering close upon one-half of the Protestant population of this town. It is known that there is a Presbyterian Clergyman at Port Nicholson, distant about &00 miles from Auckland ; but what is that to us ? During the last six months the better class of mechanics and labourers have been weekly leaving this district for other localities in the Colony itself, as also for the neighbouring Colonies. Since the arrival of the above mentioned convicts, especially, many reputable free people, who came hither at their own expense, having thus been supplanted by felons brought out all the way from England at the public expense; the working people have lost all courage, and as many of the industrious and virtugps of them as have it in their power, are eiffief '|*omg !# gr making preparations to go, as soon as’ it may be practicable. From the tenor of this communication parties in Scotland may be apt to infer that the “ Land of Promise" is naturally sterile, or labours under some other physical disadvantage—there could be no greater mistake, however, than that. In the neighbourhood of Auckland itself, and along the banks of the different inlets of water leading to it,* there are thousands and tens of th-'usands of acres of excellent land, and a climate for agricultural productions unsurpassed anywhere south of the equator. It may be asked'then, how does such a scarcity of emexist, particularly for agriculturists ? It is answered, simply, because the working agriculturist cannot obtain any of it, and the speculators allow their farms to lie uncultivated from want of means—having run themselves out of cash during the prevalance of the “ gambling mania." And no wonder —paying at the rate of 700/. per acre at the first sale of town allotments in this wilderness—2os. per day to a carpenter to build a wooden house—15s. to the labourer to dig its foundation, and a proportionably extravagant amount to the storekeeper and others for materials. Nothing apparently was thought of at that time but the raising of a trading city, to be supported by commercial gambling in land, rum, tobacco, and such like ; but this state of things speedily gave place to its natural consequences. In addition to this primary cause of depression, I may add, that so disgusted with the chicanery of the Colonial Government- have been several highly respectable agriculturists from Roxburghshire in Scotland, who arrived in the Tuscan, that they left by her again for Port Phillip, without even taking their luggage ashore. Not only did these late arrivals themselves go, but they induced such of their friends as were here before them, and many of whom have the same cause of dissatisfaction with the present administration of affairs, to quit along with them for Melbourne. It would be superfluous, in these circumstances, to say that mechanics of every description are unable to procure anything worth speaking of to .do; not half of the old hands are employed; and it cannot be expected that the late arrivals should have the preference. The Scotch or other stonemasons are apprised that there is no trade for them in this place at any time—no stone being within reach, save some intractable “ scoria.” There is another class of people who are most bitterly disappointed in this colony, and indeed in the neighbouring colonies, that is, commercial clerks, and young men who have received the disadvantages without the advantages of a liberal education; in a word, parties who have been brought up to no definite pursuit. Such parties, as well as medical men, Scotch lawyers, &c. &c., should never come hither to better their condition, unless prepared to turn to, and take the spade and pick—a species of labor for which their previous habits, generally speaking, incapacitate them.—Before concluding, allow me to tell the people of Scotland to re-peruse the letters of the Rev. Dr. Lang to Lord Durham, on the natural advantages of New Zealand; and, in addition to this valuable source of information, to give their best attention to a pamphlet by Dr. Martin on the abuse of these advantages by the Colonial .Rulers. These two publications, on the whole, are the best on the resources and actual condi-

tion of this colony that I have met with.—May it be respectfully, but earnestly, suggested to the “ Church of Scotland,” in the event of her being disposed to look after her scattered children in New Zealand, to send to Auckland, its capital, a person possessing as much as may be of the indefatigable industry, and indomitable perseverance of your friepdDr; Lang, or the Rev. Dr. Duff of Calcutta, both of whom have unquestionably done more for the cause of religious and general education, than all the clergymen, whether Episcopalian or Presbyterian, that have hitherto come either to New South Wales or India. With every apology for trespassing so much upon your columns in behalf of my countrymen, I have the honor to be, Sir, Your most obedient servant, A SCOTCHMAN.