NOTES OF A JOURNEY TO NAPIER AND BACK.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5520, 5 December 1878, Page 2

NOTES OF A JOURNEY TO NAPIER AND BACK.

(Continued from our issue of the 3rd.) Most of the land in Hawke’s Bay is excellent, and if rain would fall as regularly and as abundantly as in Taranaki and Wanganui, it would bo as productive. The great drawback of Hawke’s Bay is the grand range of mountains forming tho backbone of tho North Island ; if it were removed all would be well. The people are ever talking of tho weather, yet they never speculate as to the cause of the drought. Physical geographies have taught us that there ia a constant circulation of the air, and that there is a How of air from the Arctic and Antarctic regions, to the Equator; that there the heated, expanded, lighter air ascends to the higher regions and travels a long distance, till it is cooled, when it descends and becomes the antitrades. These anti-trades are the f* brave west winds” of Maury, which blow nearly all the year round and .through every degree of longitude, between the 35th and 60th degrees of latitude. These winds are heavily laden with moisture when they strike the western shores of Patagonia and New Zealand, and in both countries tho same phenomena are observable. In one spot in the Southern Andes the rainfall is about 600 inches a year, whilst on the other side of tho range it dwindles to very little. In New Zealand, tho rainfall at Hokitika last joap was 136 inches, whereas at Capo Campbell it was only 16 inches, and at Christchurch it was under 24 inches. At Taranaki the average rainfall is 56J inches yearly, a P l ® r only 36J. In Wanganui about 40 inches tall, and in Wellington nearly 52. Western trades deposit much of their moisture on the W esc Coast of the North Island, when partially dried they strike the Tarawa, Kuahme, and Koimanawa ranges, are forced to ascend, are cooled thereby and lose still more of their moisture; by the condensation of vapour much latent heat is set free, and by the tune the westerly winds have crossed the Kuamue ranges they are hot and dry, instead of being moist and comparatively cook: These dry hot

winds sweep over the treeless plains and uncovered hills of Hawke's Bay ;.they bring no rain, but soak up whatever moisture is in the ground. In Hawke's Bay a S.K. wind generally brings heavy rain, but in parts of Wang nui, on tho other side of the range. This wind is often a dry one. On travelling by rail from Napier through To Ante, Kaikoura, Waipaoia, Waipukurau, the Ruataniwha plains, and other districts, all of which are just now burnt and bare, one leaves the rail, and aftor a ten mile coach ride through the bush, fertility is seen agMn ; tho grass is green instead of brown, and the crops are tall and good. The nearer one approaches the Manawatu Gorge the greener and moister does the country appear. The difference is very striking The severity of the droughts in the province is increased by the wholesale destruction of the forests. Many years ago considerable forests existed; now most of these have been swept away by fire. Farmers are much troubled by Insect plagues, grasshoppers, caterpillars, green beetles, bl ghb insects, and locusts. Each and all of these do immense harm, and their numbers are quite nndlmimshed as yet by birds. The district is almost destitute of ins°ck-destroying birds, with the exception of a few aboriginal larks. Certainly one of th* gre’t wuitti of *he district is a large supply of Insect-eating birds. Tne runs for about 60 miles through the heart of the district, and pierces about five miles of the great Seventy-Mile Bush. It runs through a smooth country, and there is not a single large embankment or cutting. Its present terminus is Kopua. A contract is let to Mr, Broudfoot to carry it ou to Ormond ville, a very few miles further in tho bush ; but these few miles are very costly, for there are in it four biu bridges, one only of which is finished ; they will cost from £20,000 to £25,000 a-piece. In the neighborhood are the Danish and Norwegian settlements—Dauevirk, Noraewood, Ormondville, &c. When there was plenty of railway work these small settlers did very well, but when much of this was lessened they became leas prosperous. There is said to b© some distress amongst them. In the other parts of Hawke's Bay wages are high. Shearers get £1 a hundred, which was what they got about 20 years ago. It has never fallen below 17 s , 6d, per hundred. The large number of immigrants has not lessened the rate of wages at all materially, because landowners now employ so many more hands. One ruuholder employs 10d men constantly, and another pays wages to about double that number.

The Harbor Board has spent nearly £60,000 in works for the removal of the bar, but it is still an open question whether the gain is equal to the coat. It is true much of the bar is removed, but English vessels do not—probably sever will—come inside to load, while such steamers as the Hawea, Wanaka, and Wellington do not go inside the Iron Pot. A new hospital is about to be built in Napier. The site is ill-chosen—on the high Bill*, far from the centre of the town, and entailing a great deol of trouble and worry on all the poor who may frequent it. It is also a question if there will be enough water for it. In Napier people living on the heights are often obliged to bay water. At Waipnkuraua capital village hospital is being built on land generously given by the Hon- H. R. Russell. Politically there appears to have been of late a very marked reaction. When Sir George Grey and the Hon. J. Sheehan visited Napier at the end of the session of 1877 they won golden opinions from many, but unquestionably of late public feeling has changed. The dual Maori vote did the Government much harm, and Mr. Rees, who has taken Mr. Sheehan's place, is by no means so popular either with the Europeans or the Maoris. The three Hawke’s Bay members—Messrs. Ormond, Russell, and Sutton—ar© all very popular. The war between the Repudiationists and the so-called Land Ring is languishing, but may at any moment burst forth into fury. Probably one of the most unpopular acts of the Government was the removal from the district of the very popular and respected Resident Magistrate, Mr. Richmond Beetham, The choice of his successor was approved only by a few perfervid Greyites. The County Councils are working well. The Waipawa Council is so well off, and has expended so little of its last year's rates, that it has not struck one for the present year. Viewed as a whole, the province is in a very flourishing condition. Land is rapidly ri Ing in value. Nearly all the runholders are really wealthy, and the smaller landowners, though scant of coin, are steadily growing richer. It is, however, said that trade is not as sound as it should be, and of late there have been some failures. The district is amply supplied with professional men —doctors. Lawyers, and parsons ; indeed the latter are numerous, and it may be owing to that circumstance that they arc not as well supported as could be desired.