NOTES OF A JOURNEY TO NAPIER AND BACK.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5521, 6 December 1878, Page 7

NOTES OF A JOURNEY TO NAPIER AND BACK.

A Wellington resident, living in a climate where rain is conn tan tly falling, where even in the summer months, October, November, December, and January, rain usually falls during each week, and where the grass is brilliantly green and abundant and the leafage * bright and fresh, will be start!; 1 by the different condition which he will see obtaining in the neighboring provincial district of Hawke’s Bay. A 20-hours* journey by one of the Union Company's steamers will take him to Scinde Island, on which is built the City of Napier. Instead of bright green well-covered Inlla and fertile plains he will see dark brown hills and withered, dried-up looking plains. Instead of cool breezes and vapor-laden airs he will feel winds stronger and more constant than those to which he has been used, winds which are drier and hotter. On landing he will find streets that are never wetted by rain or by water carts, streets that are made of white, glittering limestone, which is soon crushed ; streets covered literally inches deep with soft, white powder. . Ho will see all the roadside houses and shrubs and trees all white with this dust; he will see firs that at a distance look white as though covered with snow, and after tramping about the streets he will find his black bat and coat rapidly becoming of tbo same tint as the firs. He will feel the heat intense, and tho air thick and heavy ; often ho will fancy himself in some,tropical town. After hearing the inhabitants talk he will soon learn that there is only one thing about which they do talk, only one thing of which they seem to think, that only one subject engages their minds and completely monopolises them. He will nnd that they are everlastingly asking each other one question with damning iteration, that one question being, ft When do you think it is going to rain ?" To this stereotyped question a stereotyped answer Is always given,, “ IE it docs not come soon tho country districts will be ruined." Wherever one goes, in whatever society the traveller mixes, the one unceasing subject of conversation is the absence of rain. All day long, and every day, tho people think and talk of the drought and of nothing else. It is an absolute fact that for twenty months there has been hardly any rain, that since last February twelvemonths tho district has been suffering from want of raiu. During two whole winters there has been almost no rain, certainly nothing approaching a flood, and the smaller creeks have not been set running. There have been no “ southerly busters," no deluges. Day after day the strong hot westerly winds prevail, winds which dry up and scorch, tho grass and the crops. Night after night black clouds gather overhead, the stars arc shut out, perhaps a few drops of rain fall, tho stranger expects a deluge, but tbo inhabitants are wiser and know it is all a fraud. Sometimes the wind abates, and all is calm and hot, reminding ono of tho poet's words— In tho afternoon they camo unto a land In which It scorned always afternoon. All round the coast tho languid air did swoon, breathing like ono that hath a weary dream. The drought is really a dire calamity to tho district, For want of water tho crops are miserable ; in many instances they will barely return tho seed that was sown. It is really very depressing to sco hundreds of acres of crops (oats, wheat, gras*, turnips, fee.) all almost ruined ; to see them after they have been growing for months not a foot high, and in many instances with tbo ends of their leaves withered and yellow. Many cockatoos who bought small blocks of land at high prices will be ruined, and others will bo very hard

pushed. Some parts of the district seem quite unfit for cultivation, because of tho frequent droughts and the never-ceasing winds. It is, however, a splendid sheep country. The up country settlers breed large quantities of young sheep, which are sold to the dwellers on the far-famed Ahuriri Plains. Close to Napier are 50,000 acres of most magnificent fertile level land —land which is pure alluvial deposit many feet in depth. Part of this land is the famous Heretaungo block, about which there has been so much talked in the House of Representatives in past sessions. This land will carry five and six sheep to the aero all the year round, and so good is the subsoil that the drought is but slightly felt. Tho grass is so good and so abundant that tho sheep scour, and it is found that it is a bad place for breeding, as tho young lambs die fast. The plains are therefore always stocked with sheep bred in less luxuriant pastures. Tho wool crop this year promises very well. Of late years the innholders having bought all their land are now spending their money improving their 'sheep, and it is no exaggeration to say that of late years the weight of tho fleeces has been more than doubled, and the quality vastly improved. Eor years merinoes alone were in fashion, but now crossbreds are supplanting them. The greater part of the district is divided into runs, only in a few parts are there many small farmers. The largest land-owner has about 50,000 sheep. Most of the runholders are now very wealthy, and all over the district a vast amount of improvement is going on. Many hundreds of miles of fencing are yearly completed. The fern is rapidly being cleared off the hills, and the swamps rapidly decreasing. Runs which a few years ago would carry only 5000 or 6000 sheep now carry from 15,000 to 20,000. Runholders are everywhere spending large sums in surface sowing and in ploughing. The Hon. H. R. Russell has ploughed tho greater part of his run, including the large hills, and on another estate £IO,OOO a year is sunk in improvements.

Most of tho land in Hawke's Ray 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’sßay is the grand range of mountains forming the backbone of the North Island ; if it were removed all would be well. The people are ever talking of the weather, yet they never speculate as to the cause of the drought. Physical geographies have taught us that there is a constant circulation of the air, and that there is a flow 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 “ 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 the 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 the range it dwindles to very little. In New Zealand, the rainfall at Hokitika last year was 136 inches, whereas at Cape Campbell it was only 16 inches, and at Christchurch it was under 24 inches. At Taranaki the average rainfall is 56 J inches yearly, in Napier only 364. In Wanganui about 40 inches fall, and in Wellington nearly 52. Western trades deposit much of their moisture on the West Coast of the North Island, when partially dried they strike the Tararua, Kuahino, and Kaimanawa 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 time the westerly winds have crossed the Ruahine ranges they are hot and dry, instead of being moist and comparatively cool. 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.E. wind generally brings heavy rain, but in parts of Wanganui, on the other side of the range. This wind is often a dry one. On travelling by rail from Napier through Te Aute, Kaikoura, Waipania, Waipukurau, the Ruataniwha plains, and other districts, all of which are just now burnt and bare, one leaves the rail, and after a ten mile coach ride through the bush fertility is seen again ; the grass is green instead of brown, and the crops are tall and good. The nearer one approaches the Manawatu 'Gorge the greener and moister docs 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, blight insects, and locusts. Each and all of these do immense harm, and their numbers are quite undiminished aa yet by birds. The district is almost destitute of insect-destroying birds, with the exception of a few aboriginal larks. Certainly one of the great wants of the district is a large supply of insect-eating birds. Tho railway 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. Proudfoot to carry it on to Ormondville, a very few miles further in the bush ; but these few miles are very costly, for there are in it four big 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—Danevirk, Noraewood, Onnondville, &c. When there was plenty of railway work these small settlers did very well, but when much of this was lessened they became less prosperous. There is said to be 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 17s. 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 runholder employs 100 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 tho cost. It is true much of the bar is removed, but English vessels do not—probably never will—come inside to load, while such steamers as the Hawea, Wanaka, and Wellington do not go inside the Iron Pot, A mew hospital is about to be built in Napier. The site is ill-chosen—on the high hills, far from the centre of the town, and entailing a groat deal of trouble and worry on all the poor who may frequent it. It is also a question if there willbo enough water for it. In Napier people living on the heights are often obliged to buy water. At Waipukuraua capital village hospital is being built on land generously given hy tho Hon. H. B. Bussell. Politically there appears to have been of late a very marked reaction. When Sir George ; Grey and tbo Hon. J. Sheehan visited Napier at the end of tho 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, Bees, who has taken Mr. Sheehan’s place, is by no means so popular either with the Europeans or tho Maoris. The three Hawke’s Bay members—Messrs. Ormond, Bussell, and Sutton—are all very popular. The war between the Bepudiationists and tho so-called Land Bing is languishing, but may at any moment burst forth into fury. Probably ono of tho most unpopular acts of tho Government was the removal from tho district of the very popular and respected Bcsident Magistrate, Mr, Bichraond Beetham. The choice of his successor was approved only by a few perfervid Greyitcs. The County Councils are working well. Tho Waipawa Council is so well off, and has expended so little of its last year’s rates, that it has not struck ono for the present year. Viewed as a whole, tho province is in a very flourishing condition. Land is rapidly rising in value. Nearly all the nmholders are really wealthy, and the smaller landowners, though scant of coin, arc steadily growing richer. It is, however, said that trade is not as sound as it should bo, and of lato thoro have been some failures. Tho district is amply supplied with professional men —doctors, lawyers, and parsons ; indeed tho latter are numerous, and it may bo owing to that circumstance that they arc not as well supported as could be desired.