To the Editor of the New Zealand Spectator.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume II, Issue 55, 25 October 1845, Page 3

To the Editor of the New Zealand Spectator.

Sir, — Having just returned from a visit to the adjacent colonies, I here enclose a few remarks on each of them, if you deem them of any serviie, or at all interesting to any of my fellowcolonists, you will perhaps give them a place in your valuable journal.^ I remain, Sir, Your obedient'servant, Jgaß. Fuller. I arrived in Port Nicholsoir^jKj^cember, tS^Jpwith 'he intention of fanning^|n owing toTthe unsettled state of the land claim's, and the great difficulty of procuring land, where I should not be annoyed, and perhaps driven off by the natives, I was obliged, like many others, to commence business in town, in hopes, however, that in a shoit time all difficulties would be amicably arranged between the Government and the New Zealand Company, and that I should then be able to enter into a line of life more congenial to my wishes; but after wailing patiently until the commencement of the present year, and thnn seeing no prospect of a termination to our difficulties, I resolved upon visiting the other colo nies, in hopes of finding (what appeared denied to us here) a home for my family. I left Port Nicholson in ihe brig Bee, in the latter end of January, and after a pleasant passage, ai rived in Sydney. I was very much pleased with the port and town of Sydney; it has become a London in miniature: the streets are paved, and the houses large and substantially built; the shops are expensively fitted up with plate-glass, and lighted with gas. But most of your readers, I dare say, have obtained a better description of Sydney than I can give them: I will therefore enter on other matteis. The weather was oppressively hot, and the flies by day, and the musqnitoes at night were veiy annoying. T should think from my own experience, and from what I heard finm others, that people from New Zealand soon lose their appetite, and their ruddy appearance. I one day told my landlady at dinner, th.it the meat oug-ht to have been cooked sooner ; she replied that it must then have been cooked alive, for it was only killed that morning ; that meat was often running with maggots half an hour after it was killed. 1 saw several persons whom I had known in New Zealand; they all expressed their disgust of Sydney, with the exception of Mr. Miller, plumber, who appears to have got into a jvery good -business : he had friends in Sydney/and through their recommendation he ha 3 plenty of work ; and he says a hot climate agrees with him ; but with every other person that I conversed, they say the climate is very debilitating to the working man. On my return to Sydney in September, I met Mr. H — ; he looked, I thought, very different from what he did when he was in New Zealand: he said he had been walking the streets of Sydney more than four months, and saw no more prospect of getting a situation than he did the day he arrived. I took him to several influential merchants that I had bein introduced to through my relations; but it was of no use : they told me that a great number of clerks, who formerly held good and responsible situations, had been walking about Sjdney for 12 and 18 months ; that some had been obliged to take situations to go into the interior of the country as shepherds at £15 per annum, and their rations; that it was by no means rare to meet with a shepherd who had received a college education. I also saw Mr. S— — , carpenter; he told me was in work, and received 3s. 6d. per day for 10 hours' work : he said he was very sorry that he ever left New Zealand; be always got ss. per day in London, and he never worked for less in New Zealand ; but now he was in Sydney, he did not know what he was to come to. But I think I should occupy the whole of your paper, were .1 to enumerate all I heard of disappointment.* J toon Miftbat Sydney would np.t dp for me to bring

my family to ; and lam convinced, should our ' New Governor prove to be a man of energy, and settle our disputes with the native*, so that settlers can get peaceable possession of land, not only those who have left, but a great many from all the other colonies, will come to New Zealand. I left Sydney for Adelaide in the Phahe ; she was to call at Hobart Town for horsey I was very glad of k having an opportunity of visinng Van Diemen's Land, having heard so much of its capabilities as a corngrowing country. Shopkeepers and people residing in Hohart Town, complain very muchof being overtaxed, and labourers and mechanics complain that they cannot get employment, because convict labour can be procured so very cheap ; great numbers of working men are leaving it for the other colonies. I rode about sixty miles inland; the countiy has a very barren appearance ; it is very hilly and broken; a great deal of ground is covered with an ironstone that renders it unfit for cultivation ; the farms are scattered here and there in situations most favorable ; the harvest was just over ; but I could sef by the stubble that the land is not so productive as it is in New Zealand. I conversed with a great many farmers, and all agreed that farming in Van Diemen's Land was a poor man's occupation ; for if a man had a little money when he commenced, he would soon get through it : according to the highest account, the crops did not average more than 18 or 19 bushels of wheat to the acre ; I could have taken plenty ot farms, by allowing the landlord two bushels per acre, for every acre I had in crop. The more I see of even the most favoured colonies for corn growing, the more I am convinced of the fallacy of Government thinking that one pound sterling per acre is not too much for waste land. We left Hobart Town with 25 horses on board : we were obliged to run into Launceston in a gale of wind; we only remained two days: I need scarcely make any remarks upon Launceston ; what I have said about Hobart Town is also applicable to this place : I will only add, that I consider the climate of Van Diemen's Land much superior to either of the other colonies : it is much hotter in summer, and fromall I could hear, much colder in winter, than it is in Port Nicholson. We called in at Port Phillip to land two passengeis : Melbourne is a much superior town to what I expected it to have been ; the hot winds, however, are very oppressive, and the dust very disagreeable : the shopkeepers say the place is looking up ; carpenters and those who cannot cret work, say it is going down ; a great many labourers were hanging about the town, picking up a precarious living; they get 3s. per day: but I should think would take much less for constant employment; farm servants get about £15 a-year, and rations; shepherds about £20. I was pleased at the free and easy manners of the inhabitants of Melbourne: there appears no pride or love of display, if you see a man togged out in his broad cloth, people ask one another, Who is he? Is he fresh caught? or, Is he a barber's clerk? The usual dress of all classes is a pair of light trowsers and Guernsey frock, with a belt round the waist. The country around Port Phillip is for a great extent a level fine looking country, wilh patches of trees here and there, which gives it in many places the^ appearance of an extensive park; but there is a great scarcity of water in many places, and the land is parched up the gi eater part of the year; p-jor farmers who depend entirely upon cultivating the land, complain of being scarcely able to live by it: the stockholders are obliged to have large holes dug U|>on their stations : these holes get full of water in the winter, and that is all the water they have to depend on for the summer. I forgot to say that house rent is dear in Melbourne ; small cottages vary fiom ss. to 7s. per week. I asked some poor people why they had nothing growing in their gardens? They said that nothing would grow except in the winter time. We had a favourable passage from Port Phillip to Adelaide. I was looking very anxiously for the harbour, when the Captain said, there is the port. I could see nothing except an old vessel laying in an open roadstead, which they told me was the lighthouse. A pilot came on board, and, after enquiring what was our draught of water, took the vessel into a narrow river about 100 yards wide, and this they called the port. A few dilapidated houses are scattered about, which I thought told a sad tale of its prosperity: we rode from the port to Adelaide in a one-horse light cart; we crossed over a small river about 20 feet wide : the water was mudd}', and about a foot deep ; my fellow passengers told me that was the river Torrens . I could scarcely believe that lhat was the same I had heard so much about while I was in England: bad, however, as I then thought it, I don't know what Adelaide would be without it, for it is the only wrter they can get to drink for miles around. I was very much disappointed with Adelaide : I had heard before I left Port Nicholson that it was by far the most flourishing colony ; I knew that a vast amount of capital was taken to it from England : I had just left Melbourne, which started as a colony, I believe, about the same time ; but with all its boasted urosperity, I think it nothing compared to Melbourne: it certainly has one long street, with houses on both sides, which gives it something the appearance of a town ; but the buildings in it are nothing to be compared to some of the streets of Melbourne; the few ruinous mud hovels that are scattered about those parts that will one day, they say, be the principal part of the town, do not say much for the comfort or prosperity of their inmates. After procuring lodgings, I was walking about the town, when I met with two men who formerly were employed by Mr. Kebble of Manawatu; these men 1 knew while in Port Nick, and they appeared very glad to see me : I asked them how they were getting on 1 they said not at a' 11": when they arrived in Adelaide, they could get nothing to do at their trade, so they took a small farm of 25 or thirty acres ; it was all fenced in and ready for cropping; there was a small house and blacksmith's shop upon the ground, and being within five miles of Adelaide, and the rent only £8 per annum, we thought we could not do better than take it: we went to work in right good earnest; got the whole of it sown in wheat, which only brought us 2s. per bushel, we found ourselves worse off than we were when we commenced, so we gave it up: they asked me to walk out and

see a water-mill that adjoined the land they formerly occupied. When we arrived at the place, I saw a long wafer trough, but not a drop of water in it. I was introduced to the miller, a strong hardworking looking man : he was sorry, he told me, that he could not shew his mill in active operation ; hut lie had not water enough for more than three months in the year, and then he woiked night and day. He said the mill was built by a gentleman who resides in Adelaide ; he expected him to pay but a small rent fdr the mill, but that he had not been able to do; and he saw no prospect of being able to do so ; in fact, he said, I should not he able tp make both ends meet, were it not that myself and lads sometimes manage to cart a load of firewood into Adelaide, for which we get a little sugar and tea in return. I asked him why he did not cultivate a little land: he appeared' to have plenty of land about the mill. Yes, he said, I have plenty of land ; I have a whole section : but I can buy wheat cheaper than I can grow it. My landlord knows lhat very well, and therefore don't expect me to pay any rent for the land. — I was introduced to a gentleman, a Mr. Horn ; he has a steam flour-mill about 30 miles from Adelaide : he insisted on my going home with him, and remaining a few days. His mill ia situated at the head of a salt-water creek, called the Horse-shoe : we rode from there to his house, which is pleasantly situated on a hill about five miles from the mill. The first word the servant said was, Have you brought any water, 9ir? we have been without water all day. We went into the house, and Mrs; Horn said she had b^en obliged to send the children to bed almost famished for the want of their tea. What was to be done? It was getting dark: we had been riding all day, almost smothered with dust, and we could not think of going to bed to be sucked by myriads of fleas and musquitoes, without a diop of moisture in our body. Mr. H. was obliged to saddle his horse, and ride five miles before he could get his can filled with water. Next day we receii'pd a supply of water, which was brought up in casks on bullock drays ; and at night I was awoke by a most tremendous noise. I thought a whole horde of natives had came down upon us : I jumped out of bed, and ran to the window to see what was the matter: there I saw a furious attack, not by a horde of natives, but a herd of cattle who had vigorously attacked the water-butts; the want of water is sorely felt by man and beast. The country might be considered fine, were it not for the long droughts: for nine months in the year every thing is parched up; the land gets as dry and hard as a turnpike road, and the dust almost unbearable. A great deal more has been said about the prosperity of Adelaide than itde serves : shopkeepers complain of there being no money stirring, and their whole dependence appears to be on their minerals : how they may turn out remains to be proved ; it is the opinion of many persons that the great expense of working the mines, and the great distance the ore has to be conveyed from the mines to the poit, and the freight home, make it doubtful whether it will pay ; they a» c, however, going eneigetically to work ; and I believe that such men as have been accustomed to work on the railroads at home, men who are good hands at the pick and the shovel, could get employment at the mines; but I think it would be madness for any other class of people to go to Adelaide. I saw Mr. Swan, carpenter, who left Port Nicholson about 18 months since ; he told me he had not had anything to do since he arrived ; he was in hopes, however, he should soon have a Methodist chapel to build, for the Society had nearly sufficient means for that purpose; he said he should come back as soon as the land claims were settled. 1 saw a great a quantity of land belonging to Mr. Henry Hughlings; some of it was fenced in, and a considerable outlay had been expended upon it: that land I could have had for the small yearly rent of one shilling per acre. I left Adelaide for Swan River : the weather was very boisterous; and after knocking about for five weeks, we were obliged to put into King George's Sound. This is a fine harbour, but a vessel had not entered it for six months previously ; pro\isions were very scarce and very [ dear ; many people, they said, Were half statv ing; thpy do not grow sufficient corn for their own consumption, but depend entirely upon Hobart Town and other places for their supplies. We waited in King George's Sound three weeks, in hopes of getting a change of wpather. I used to think New Zealand a windy place; but after what I experienced on that coast, I think cur weather very moderate. We left at last, and thirteen days after arrived off Freemantle : it is an open roadstead, and the beach was literally covered with fragments of wrecks; while standing on Jail Hill, I counted fourteen wrecks. Freemantle is built upon a bed of sand, and although a great deal of money has evidently been spent in buildings, and after being in existence seventeen yeais, it is at present in a most miserable state; a great many people have left is, and a great many more would if they could. I •went from Freemantle to Perth in a whaleboat: 'Perth is ten miles from Freemantle inland . Swan River is a fine looking river, about a mile and half wide; but the water on the bar is so shallow, that it is dangerous for a whaleboat to go over it. Perth is a fine little town ; the houses are large and substantially built of stone ; but the streets are covered with a light sand, which makes it very tiresome to walk only a short distance. They have lately found a bed of clay somewhere, and the inhabitants are now getting a foot path made with clay and sand mixed together. I rode about 50 miles in the interior ; there are no roads ; the country is very level, and has rather a pleasing appearance ; but it is all sand, and nothing but a small shrub will grow upon it. I saw but one farm, and that was fifty miles from Perth ; it belongs to a Mr. Moor, who formerly kept a store in Freemantle; but as the store would not keep him* he removed into the country upon hi 3 own land ; he cultivates a little land : we bought two cwt. of potatoes from him, for which we paid 15s. per cwt., to be delivered in Freemantle. 1 was honified at the immense number of snakes and adders ; some of them 10 and 12 feet long, and the} are very venomous ; I saw two women who had each lost a child by a bite from a smake : there are also an immense number ot lizards from 12 to 2<) inches long ; and the eternal pest of fleas, sandflies, and musquitoes no person could credit, unless they

had'experienced it. There are a great ni{mbef of kangaroos in the country, and a fortunate thing it is for the poor people who hunt them with dogs; they eat portions of the flesh, and sell the skin for about sixpence. Swan. River appears to me to be nearly supported by Government expenditure. I could not hear of any export they had, with the exception of wool, although the settlement has been established seventeen years ; they depend upon other colonies for a supply of provisions. I would recommend my friends both in England and here, who are upon the move to go to any other colony rather than Swan River. I had now examined the whole, and my mind was at once made up to return to New Zealand, and endeavour to remain in it while I had a leg to stand on. lam fully convinced .that the relative advantages and capabilities of New Zealand, require only to be known to make it the favourite resort of all who have made up their, minds to leave their mother country for ope of her colonies. We are not, like the whole of the Australian Colonies, annoyed with snakes or adders: we have no venomous reptile of any kind that ever I heard of. lam sure any right thinking mart, leaving England to make a home for himself and family in any of the colonies, would,, after seeing the whole of them, -select New ZealandI am afraid, Mr. Editor, that I have already trespassed tdo much on your valuable time ; 1 will therefore only add, to those who have followed me in my epistle to Swan River, and are desirous of knowing how I got back ; how I came to be shipwrecked on an uninhabited island; and by what slice of good fortune I managed to get off again : if they require any other information that I can give them, I would respectfully hintj that I am to be found at the Ship Hotel, any day from 6 in the morning until ten at night. I am, Sir, Your obedient servant, John Fuller. October 20, 1845.