THE LAND REGULATIONS.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume IX, Issue 813, 18 May 1853, Page 3

THE LAND REGULATIONS.

The following are extracts from two articles on this subject published in the New Zealander. In the first, (from the New Zealander 27 th) after referring to the receipt of the Wellington papers, the Editor continues :—: — "The leading topic is Sir George Grey's Cheap Land Regulations ; and the chief point in con. nection with this subject is the execution of Mr. Sewell's threat that he would take legal steps to oppose the operation of His Excellency's Proclamation. An application was accordingly made to the Supreme Court, in the name of Mr. W. Dorset, (who, it appears conaented to be made the ostensible mover in the scheme,) praying for an injunction against Mr. Francis Dillon Bell, Commissioner of Crown Lands, to restrain him from proceeding under the Land Regulations. As the case was to be heard on the very day of the date of the latest paper, (the 30th ult.,) we have no published report either of the argument or the issue. It is said, however, —and, we believe, on good authority — that Mr. Justice Stephen pronounced an opinion in favour of the application ; and that, although the injunction had not actually been issued up to the time to which our information reached, yet it was probable that it would be granted within a few days. Thus a technical triumph would be obtained by the enemies of a reduction in the price of land, and they would have accomplished the object of placing Mr. Dillon Bell personally under a restraining injunction. But they would have little to boast of in reality and practical effect, as we have no doubt that the proceedings under the Proclamation will still be carried forward as firmly as if the interruption had never been attempted. It is not conceivable that the Governor resolved upon his course in so important a matter as this, without the fullest deliberation, and the most conclusive knowledge of the grounds on which he was acting. We shall be curious to see the reasons

which induced Mr. Stephen to add to his otao- o notoriety the fame likely to encircle his judicfal character from this notable decision (supposing him to have made it.) Certain it is that all Sir John Pakmgton's despatches to his Excdlencv were not before the Court, and equally certain therefore we may safely assume it to" be, that Mr. Stephen could not have been informed as to the extent of the powers conveyed to the Governor, through those despatches. Mr. Sewell — the gentleman always in a hurry was fortunate in finding on the Bench of the Supreme Court at Wellington so congenial a spirit as the Judge who, on a memorable occasion at Dunedin, — because, as he d'dared, he " cou'd not wait for the slow and tardy process of the law," — had (according to the report of the proceedings in the Police Court at the time,) shook his fist m a Mr. Mansford's face, called him "a lying scoundrel," and threatened to "beat his brains out, and break every bone in his body." The great boon of cheap land will, we confidently anticipate, be, notwithstanding, continued to the country. The regulations, we cannot question, will be sustained and acted out. Accordingly we find in the Auckland Government Gazette just issued the official notifications of the arrangements for this purpose. That this is so, however, will in no degree mitigate the stern censure merited by those who, from the sordid motive of a desire to keep np the price of land at Canterbury, would, if they could, deprive the real settlers", the working classes, and the numbers of industrious, but asyet not wealthy agriculturists who have truly made Xew Zealand their " adopted country," j of the great benefits which this measure is calculated to confer upon them and their children. The heartlessness of the attempt is as revolting as its selfishness is despicable." The next is from an article in the New Zealander, May 4th: — "The real opponents at Wellington of the new land regulations we believe to be the squatters, whose selfit-h and grasping monopoly will be checked by their liberality, the double-dyed political partisans with whom the mere fact of the emanation of the measure from the Government is a sufficient incentive to their | bitter hostility,— and, though last not least in [vehemence, subtlety, and pertinacity,— Mr. Sewell and Mr. Edward. Gibbon Wakefield, with those whom they can influence. This we regard as constituting mainly the confederacy I to the promotion of whose object of resisting the cheapening of land, Mr. Justice Stephen has f given such sanction as can be conferred by his , judgment in a matter which, we are happy to : believe, it is beyond his power injuriously to influence. But it is a stirring confederacy notwithstanding ; and from all we can gather I from the newspapers and letter? lately received I from Wellington, we apprehend that no effort will be left untried to interfere with the operation of the Regulations not merely in the Southern Provinces but in this Province also. We can smile at the impotence of the efforts, howj ever. The blessing of cheap land will be maintained notwithstanding all that Mr. Sewell, j Mr. Gibbon Wakefield and their sympathisers can accomplish. We have pointed out on former occasions some of the minor developments which Mr. Sewell has made of himself since his arriral in | the colony ; but perhaps due attention has not I been turned to the impertinence of his interfeI ring at all in the present question, when the special and limited nature of the business on which he professedly has favored New Zealand >j with a visit is borne in mind. That business | was to " wind-up" the affairs of the virtually defunct Canterbury Association. The committee of the Association had thought fit to jump at the liberty afforded by the Constitution Act to transfer their functions to the colony. They had done this with a seemingly impetuous celerity, and under circumstances of suspicion, which called forth from Sir John Pakington the scourging despatch which appeared in the New Zealander of the 26th of March. To be sure, the haste with which they took the step may perhaps be in a good degree accounted for when we remember that Mr. Sewell— the gentleman always in a hurry— was then at home, and was an active and influential manager of the Association. At all events the Association resolved on discontinuing all operations in England on and after the 30th of September ; and Mr. Sewell was sent out to the colony to " wind up" its concerns. Now, had this gentleman minded his own business — had he decently and with due gravity and reserve performed merely his duties as the undertaker of the dead and unlamented Association— we certainly should never have adverted to him, except casually, and in terms of respect. But he has chosen a different course. He has meddled in affairs of the most vital concern to the colony at large; associating himself with his fellow passenger Mr. Gibbon Wakefield, of high priced land notoriety, in an effort to prevent the beneficial operation of the New Land Regulations,— although the Proclamation bore on the face of it that the Regulations did not extend to the lands reserved to the Canterbury Association. Mr. Sewell may have been a highly respectable gentleman, learned m the law," at home, but his appearance on the shores of New Zealand in company and in sympathy with ,Mr. Gibbon Wakefield was not likely to create any very strong prepossession in his favour. Whether a man's private morality would be at all endangered by constant association with that gentleman during a voyage from Europe, mio-ht be too nice a point for discussion here and perhaps not quite relevant ; but his political morality we do apprehend would be in peril a/ ~J?* l l may bowever » Mr. Sewell and Mr Gibbon Wakefie'd now figure before the public as working together to inflict a great evil on the country; and— over and above the impertinences of detail into which Mr Sewe'l has fallen j n his hurry— he has set out from tne great central impertinence of meddling in a matter which d.d not fall properly within his limited service"— as the object of his mission is generally understood— and in which if he is not very mischievous, it will be only because the results of his efforts will not be equal to the accomplishment of the object at which they are aimed. y Mr. Gibbon WakefielJ is himself, however ostentatiously prominent in his hostility to the Cheap Land Regulations ; and, if rumour may be credited, is adding to his more open displays the exercise of every personal influence

within his reach to enlist partisans even Lj amongst those connected with some of the! departments of the Government. It may be curious to observe how far he will succeed,— ■ for instance with his brother, Mr. Daniel Wakefield, the Attorney-General of New Munster— while New Munster itself had a provincial existence, bat now we presume no " longer Attorney. General, unless there should be some new arrangement to that effect. It seems reasonable to suppose that, as he was a P law officer of the Crown, on the spot when the Regulations were first proclaimed, his opinion f as to their legal accuracy would be taken. > Was that opinion in favour of their legality ? If so, he must now be in opposition on the question of law to Mr. Justice Stephen and on the question of policy to his brother Gibbon. We may hear by and by how the case really stands."

- ' the painting of tha Goddess of Liberty ; that *'pc costume which adorned tht person of the "»es at that period. Her father hid already a dead better than three hundred day*, the ss therefore was in half mourning. Her hat i a small black beaver, all the fashion at that Je, the rim turned up on each side, so a* to -^c the ears visible ; the hair was in a broad kj, resting between the shoulders, having the >reme ends fastened with a pin on the crown* rs was very long and very flaxen ; she was .bed in a white garment, fine, neat and clean, ; ■ neok encircled with a black bracelet and •^ und her waist was a bltfck ribbon. The train ; jer garment was banging on her left arm* Tbt "tight, that before another boar th« eyes of tbt ilt congregation would be fastened on her at, brought a faint blush on the check. When walked up the middle aisle and sat down, • "d PeW from th* milnit. f thnmrUl T_maM*«.

the plains, through every abaci* of increasing , barrenness, to a few mosses and scrubby bushes on the Puna. A few village* are scattered on tha route, and in the neighbourhood of these, maize and potatoes are grown even at a height of tome jten thousand feet. But, by degrees these disappear, and the monotony of the road ia broken only by au occasional tambo — a most miserable atuuted apecies of road-aide inn — which yields a scanty supply of food and accommodation, and is eaten up almost to the very walls by fleas. Fleas, I should guess, were like the potatoe, first imported into Europe from Peru. In that country, certainly, the , species must have been multiplying rapidly from , the remotest times. The scenery of the Andes (like that of the Himalayas, and of all vast i mountains) appears, at first sight, to fall short of ' one's previous ideas. The view is often very tApcu confined. The idea of their enormous ght ia not at all conveyed by travelling over ' }■'■' m ; for, the successive valleys and table-lands . -„, isent successive starting-points, and the stu- ';< ■•■ idoua mountain-chain, supporting countries / -- its bosom, escapes the measurement of a ; ' re pair of eyes. " Having crossed the passes of the Alto de [Uebambo, and the Alto de Lacbaqual — the er of which is above the snow line, fifteen usand, five hundred feet high — we begin to ccnd, and presently, a sudden turn in the d reveals a large and apparently well-built m. This town lies in a basin surrounded by ks, and the view of it forms a scene oddly ousistent with the grand solitude and bleak- * -\» of the scenery arouad. Closer acquaintance sipates our notion that the town ia well built. « is a dirty miserable place, in which there are somfortably huddled together fifteen thousand • >ple. It is chiefly composed of miners' huts— nething like overgrown bee-hives — with a few 'erable bouses that belong to shop-keepers and .■ proprietors of mines. As we descend from ; pass into the Puna, a scene worthy of the ides breaks upon us. We are on the highest i the most extensive table-land in all Peru. i breadth is about seventy miles, its length ircely determinate, as it penetrates into the - mntains at various points, and is not abruptly , Dkeu by them, but sweeps gradually upwards their summits. In the centre is a large lake, >m one side of which the principal tributary oi c Amazon begins its course, whilst, from the tier side, several small streams flow to the istern coast, so that from this lake tribute ia at both to the Atlantic and Pacific ocean*. In : distance rise the great Cordillera stretching wards the Brazils ; whilst the nearer peaks oi c Andes, whitened with snow, shine round [out us cold, rugged, and silent, in vast masses " at cause our hearts to dilate with a half painful nse of the sublime. The clear blue sky oi c plains has deepened almost into black ; the ill lead-coloured sun seems to have lost the >wer of communicating heat, and looks like s ' ere spectre of the tyrant under whose reign for t many years, men, women, and children have ;en flayed, or roasted, or marked with a brand )on the skin. On first reaching the Puns, we all Buffer ■ )od deal from the rarefaction of the air, hich produces sickness, bleeding at the outh and nose* and pai« in the cheat. Horses id mules, on their first visit, suffer from this au«e more acutely than men, and the drivers ften slit the nostrils of these animals ; an operaoa which is said to give relief. The slitting of «ur own notes being, of coarse, oat of the qaesori, we got over our discomfoit at we can. The 'nly native animals found on the Puna belong to he llama tribe ; alpacas, guanacas, and vicunas. The llama works at the mines as the ordinary jeast of burthen, and is perfectly efficient; .t is more sagacious, steady, and surefooted even than the mule. The alpacas are tamed and kept in flocks for the sake of their wool, an article which has of late become important to the English manufacturers. The guanacas and vi:unas — the former the largest, and the latter the handsomest members of their tribe — are seldou to be tamed ; they range the mountains, and the Pursuit of them affords sport to the Europeai mnter in Peru. On entering the city of Pasco from the moun- - aio solitude, we are in the first place annoyed ai he incessant clatter that surrounds us. The nines are opened in the streets, the courtyards, tnd occasionally even in the houses in the tow n, IrVe encounter them at every step end as they ar( • >pen very shallow, the depth varying from twentj o a hundred and fifty feet — the blows of man j >icksaod hammers are distiuctlyheard. The minei ire generally private property, though some ol hem, iudeed, belong to English companies. The node of workidg is extremely careless. Th« descent into them is by a bucket hung on an old chain, or worn-out rope. The sides and roof o: the galleries are frequently left unsupported, because timber happens to be scarce and dear; ac- . cidents therefore constantly occur, but nobodj concerns himself about them. The rubbish ia ■ removed after a fall in \ and the work goes on as -usual. The miners are, for the most part, Indians. They earn, on an average, from four 'to six reals (iwo or three shillings) daily ; but when a rich vein has been opened, they are paid in ore, and often earn very high wages, which ibey spend in brandy, chicha, aud fine clothes. The town abounds with liquor-shops, eatinghouses, and cafes, which are generally kept by foreigners, men of all nations. From these places the Indian miners buy their food ready cooked. It consists chiefly of maize bread and cbarqui — slices of beef dried in the sun — great quantitiei of which are imported from the more southern republics, especially the Argentine. Even before food, however, the chief comfort of the Indian is the coca leaf. The coca plant is not unlike the vine in its appearance. It is cultivated by the ! Indians at the foot and on the sides of the Corjdilleras, and bears a white flower, with a small red fruit. At the proper season, the leaves are stripped from the plants, carefully dried, and packet in bags containing each from fifty to a bundred pounds. They have an aromatic bitter taste. The cholo never is without his little pouch of coca leaves, and a small calabash containing quick lime, or the ashes of a hot root. He first chews a quid of leaves until it is well moistened, and then thrusts a little lime into the mass on the point of a small stick ; thereupon the mastication is continued till the quid is dry. This kind of refreshment is taken by the miners three times a day, ahou) a quarter of an hour being set apart for its enjoyment upon each occasion ; and the men will go through the most arduous toil,

or travel for days over the mountains, with no other support than coca leaf. In travelling, a quid ii kept continually in the mouth. On first using the coca, there is some excoriation suffered by the lips ; this, however, passes off, and, when mixed with a little quinna, I must say that I have found the stuff very agreeable. It products the exhilarating effects of opium without the drowainess and stupefaction; it will ward off sleep, destroy the sense of hunger, and act as a spur upon the strength and spirits. The cbolos who use it regularly art unquestionably healthy and long-lived ; but the coco, like all 'other stimulants, is liable to serious abuse. The coquero or coca-cbewer, who is nevtr without a ball of it in hie mouth, often passes the night through without sleep ; he becomes debilitated, languid, nervous ; bis complexion takes a greenish hue ; and, if he will persist in his excess — which soon becomes a vice beyond the power of his will — he perishes. In the shops of Pasco are found the products of all countries. Bass's pale ale is in high favour here, and knives and forks carry the stamp of Sheffield cutlers. I remember being pleasantly surprised in a shepherd's hut on the Puna, at having placed before me some boiled maize on a plate ornamented with a picture of John Anderson my joe and his gude wife, with two verses of the song beneath it. The Indian waa delighted at the pleasure I took ia the plate, and waa solicitous to have the lines translated. The mo6t common contents of dishes at tho fondas, or eating-houses, are pucheros and picantes ; the former a mixture of everything — beef, pork, camotes, frijoles, bananas, potatoes, maize, j &c, highly seasoned with aji — a sort of ground pepper, of a peculiar and pleasant flavour. The latter, the picaffte, is comprised of jerked beef, chopped small, and mixed with bread crumba or crushed maize. The usual liquors are a sweet unpleasant wine, chicha, and guarapo — the latter made from fermented sugar and water ; still good ■ wines are procurable, and spirits are much too i plentiful. Under the influence of spirit frequent battles occur among the Indians, ia which the long knife is freely used. As the high table-land is altogether unproductive, provisions and other necessaries are brought from the valleys on the backs of mules. That is the only practicable mode of carriage ; although it is a curious fact that, during the War of Independence, cavalry and artillery were transported to these heights, andjwo battles were fought close to Pasco* At the latter of these Bolivar had ten thousand troops betides artillery iv the field, and Canterac, the royalist general, opposed him with an equal number. They must certainly have had a taste for fighting under difficulties if they dragged themselves, their guns, and horses up these mountains for no other purpose. An English firm at Cailao, which has considerable mining property on the Ceno de Pasco, has recently procured from England a quantity of improved machinery for the extraction of the silver from its ore. The old method ia still commonly practised, that ia to say, the ore is amalgamated with quicksilver by treading together quicksilver and ore beneath the feet of mules and horses ; this proceeding causes a considerable loss of quicksilver, ruins the feet of the animals, and doea not properly fulfil its purpose. The quicksilver — nearly all of which is brought, from Europe — js afterwards evaporated by the application of heat. Coal is found on the Puna. The whole annual produce of the mines of Ceno Pasco once reached the amount of eight millions of dollars, or one million, six hundred and fifty thousand pounds ; but the returns do not now probably reach half that sum. There is in the city a government establishment, at which all the silver is marked before being sent to Lima. It is usually melted into large oblong flat bars, some of which weigh from sixty to eighty pounds. These are conveyed to the capital on mules, commonly with no protection ex- ; cept that of the mule-drivers, although the Sierra may be swarming with the bandit montoneros. These gentlemen do not consider it convenient to intercept the silver on ita downward passage, i they preferring to wait for the coin that is returned in payment. With this upward freight a strong escort is always sent, and when it is attacked, a fierce battle ensues, that often ends in favour of the robbers. The singular accoutrements of the horsemen are among the first things that attract the atten- ; tion of the stranger in Peru. If the rider be a rich man, the horse is almost hidden by a multitude of straps and ornaments. The saddle is made very hgh bub on puramell and crupper, leaving just noin for the rider to wedge himself into his seat between them. Under the saddle is the pillow, an alpaca or goat* a skin, dyed black, with the wool combed out or twisted with silver wire into shoii curls, lengthened sometimes with long fringes of dyed alpaca wool. The stirrups are heavy and clumsy ; each is a solid piece of wood, often measuring twelve inches square at the bottom, and gradually tapering to a point where it is attached to the saddle by a silver ring ; on one side an opening is scooped out for the foot : the other three sides are all highly polished, often carved beautifully and inlaid with silver. The bit is very heavy ; often of silver. The head-band is adorned with a long fringe of plaited strips of leather ; and the reins, which are separate, pass through a silver ring, one of them being continued in a long lash. In addition to the bridle, the horse's head is encumbered with a leathern halter covered with silver ornaments. The spurs are the most preposterous part of the whole equipment. Tbey are so formed, that the wearer can walk only on his toes. The stem of the spur is often twelve inches long, and the rowel six inches in diameter. Amongst the wealthier classes, these spurs, also, are frequently of silver. Every horseman wears the poncho ; and some ponchos, from their splendid colours and fine texture, are a costly article of dress. The horses that bear these encumbrances are small, but they are well made and active *, they are not allowed to trot, but taught a sort of amble which, when the rider becomes used to it, is an easy kind of motion. It is very rapid. Horses are but seldom used for draught, as, even iv the low country, asses are the ordinary beasts of burden. These are bred in vast numbers, and troops of them are constantly passed by the traveller on all the roads : they have no head-gear, but are driven in the same manner as cattle, the driver riding behind armed with a long whip. These poor animals are most cruelly treated, Peru has beeD

i called "the heaven of women, the pnrg atory of i husbands, and the hell of asses." The list clause '■ of the proverb cannot be questioned. ' The taste for gambling, so prevalent throughi out South America, is most strongly developed at Ceno di Patco. Public lotteries are drawn i every week, and sometimes every day in the week. i The streets are continually infested by fellows crying, " A thonsaud dollars to-morrow !" These" i men carry books, from which they tear, for eachi customer, a ticket price one shilling, giving himor her a chance in the next lottery. The prize I it sometimes aa large a* five thousand dollar*,, with intermediate ones of smaller amount. I believe that the strictest impartiality and fairness characterise the drawing. All these lotteries are under government control. The billiard and montero tablet arc In constant request : dominoes is a favourite game in the cafis, but those games at cards which are rapid in their results and depend wholly upon, chance, have irresistible attractions for all classes.. The shaven priest, decorated with cross and rosary, may be frequently seen playing with theragged Indian, and instances are told of the wealthy mine proprietor losing, in a nigbt, every dollar he possessed to one of his own ragged men. The cock-pit is a favourite amusement. The combatants are armed with one spur only ; this; is a flat, carved, two-edged blade, very keen, and finely pointtd. The first blow commonly decides the battle, and both cocks are often killed* Hundred of dollars change hands every minute ; the excitement of the bettors is intense, and even here, on the afternoon of the Sabbath, which is especially appropriated to the cock-fight, the priest hands round his begging box, or lays his dollar oa a favourite bird. Ceno de Pasco, although so high up in the world, and so close to the region of eternal snow, has, nevertheless, a tolerable warmth during the day. The nights are all frosty, and a dense fog often envelopes the Puna. Excessively heavyrain falls at certain periods of the year. But the most sublime spectacle on the Andes is a thunder" storm. It is an event of frequent occurrence in the -table-lands, and I had the good fortune to witness one of extraordinary grandeur. It is impossible to convey any idea of the magnificence of the spectacle. The lightning plays round the summits of the mountains in a constant succession of brilHant flashes, whilst, the thunder is prolonged through the deep ravines and distant valleys, until the echo of the one peal and tbe crash of another blend together in . one never-ending roll. Heavy falls of snow often' accompany these storms, and tbe condition of travellers crossing the passes during one of them is most distressing. Unable to advance or to retreat, they hah, and . wait in momentary fear of being hurled over the. mountain sides. Blinded by snow and by the vivid flashes, they dare not proceed ; tbe ledges also are, perhaps, so narrow, that if they would they could not turn the mule round to retrace their steps. In such a position as this, men have been compelled to remain nuny boors in places where the -thermometer falls be* low freezing point, and where the most intense darkness — whilst it fails to bide the real dangers — conjures up imaginary ones, which multiply all the horrors of the scene. There are some portions of Upper Peru which are yet comparatively unknown to Europeans. This is especially the case with that part of it which has declared itself an independent republic, under the name -of Bolivia. Though possessing a coast town ott tbe Pacific of considerable extent, with several good harbours, yet its singular formation precludes much intercourse with other countries. Between tbe Andes and tbe sea is a broad belt of barren desert ; a sand plain in continual motion. This is traversed by a few small rivers, which, though very shallow, and often dry during tbe summer months, render the strips of soil through which they pass extremely fruitful. Beyond this desert, the most inaccessible chain in tbe Andes rises and forbids approach to tbe fair country enclosed within. On tbe summit of this chain is tbe celebrated mountain Potosi, now neaily exhausted of its treasures ; tbe town is situated in a district wholly destitute of vegetation. Passing from the Geno de Pasco through tbe town of Larma, we enttr the valley of Janja, and shortly find ourselves in a country presenting a strange contrast to the one we have just left. A succession of tbe most fertile valleys in the world. As the ascent of the mountain commences from the low country, the sandy desert disappears. A rich coat of lucerne spreads over the sheltered hollows. Vines and olives appear in tbe vales. Tbe sugar cane, the banana, tbe guava, and numberless tropical fruit flourish. At the height of eight, and sometimes ten thousand feet, Los Yalles of Bolivia are covered with the most luxurious vegetation. Forest trees of gigantic size are thickly spread over the mountains. The cereals, which live a sickly life down by the ' sea, appear in these lofty valleys in full vigour : including maiee, qiiinna, rice, barley, with occasional patches of wheat, though of this last the chief supply is imported out of Chili. Rich esculents and fruits unknown in other countries are in abundance. Amongst the former are yuca, mandive, and camotes ; whilst the delicious cherrimoya reigqg supreme over them all. The valleys of Upper Peru, of Bolivia, and of the Province of Salta in La Plata, are rich in the most valuable products. Exclusive of minerals — which include gold, silver, copper, and lead — we have coffee, chocolate, tobacco, cotton, indigo, cochineal, sarsaparilla, logwood, and an infinity of similar productions. Cattle are numerous; mules and horses abundant. And, above all, tbe men are noted for their generosity and hospitality, and the women for their grace and beauty. What a contrast between these glorious valleys — in which Rasselas might well have lived — and tbe rugged heights of the silver city, Ceno Pasco : its, dirty streets and half-savage'people, its unhealthy mines and blackened smelting furnaces, its bare rocks and scrubby patches of brown herbage affording a scanty subsistence to its flocks of shaggy llamas. It is a charm to travellers among the Andes, that within their limits these vast mountains enclose every climate. Within the range of one 1 degree of latitude, we may sit aud burn under a palm-tree, or lie down upon a bed of Alpine moss.