FROM GISBORNE TO MELBOURNE.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume X, Issue 1063, 20 April 1882, Page 2

FROM GISBORNE TO MELBOURNE.

[Written for the Poverty Bay Standard.] No. IV. I think I parted company with you in my last letter as we were backing and filling (ur rather, the llawea was) waiting for the pilot to come off to us at Nelson. He did so about 5 o’clock in the morning, and I and my male friend went on deck to witness the scene. It was nothing new to him, but it was to me ; and as I had come that route for the purpose of seeing these lands (said to be flowing with milk and honey, and the oil of gladness), and which I had not yet visited, I naturally made the most of my time. It was a glorious morning, and the water quite calm, and no wonder when the land-locked nature of the place is taken into consideration. One of the novelties of the place, which arrests the attention of the curious, is the “ bell-buoy.” It is an ordinary looking buoy, with a boll suspended from the top centre, and which tolls on the oscillation caused by either the wind or the disruption of of the water by passing vessels. In this instance it was the surges made by the Hawea, that made the tocsin sound, and so give us warning of approaching danger. By night the bell conveys a weird-like sound to the passing mariner, and to the residents on shore, especially in squally weather, when' it is almost constantly ringing. It is a very useful device, and has proved of great service to those imperfectly acquainted with the somewhat intri-

cate navigation of Nelson harbor. The scenery on the land side, on approaching the wharf, is very pretty. A long, high range of hills leads up to the town, and on this are to be seen little nooks and crannies where appear comfortable homes of the well-to-do class. In the nfbrning light, with the mist just rolling away be* fore the rays of the newly-risen sun, these cosylooking residences have a very inviting appearance. Pathways and ornamental shrubberies adorn the elopes leading to the houses, and the commanding view obtained from them adds to their picturesqueness, reminding one very much of some similar land and water scapes to be seen from the lulls in Napier. Being night time and dark on making the land, 1 was not able to see what the country seaward was like* but I believe it is not dissimilar to the general characteristics of other coast lines of New Zea* land. On the left, as we pass onwards to the wharf, is a natural intake or basin, made by the formation of a low-lying “boulder” bank —from the presence of which the bank takes its name. This bank runs parallel with the hills, and at. right angles to the foot, or lower part of the town, and is a safe protection to the shipping, against anything like a swell, or heavy wash. It is a pretty little sheet of water; and as Nature has provided it, as she does most things, very cheap, it is a great boon to the place. The shipping interest was not largely represented, at the time of my visit to Nelson, although the wharf accommodation is obviously equal, if not superior, to present requirement. Besides a few small fry, there was only one barque, and a steamer of light tonnage, trading to the West Coast there. About 6.30, my friend and I thought, we would explore a little of the “ Sleepy Hollow,” of which we heard so much ; we did so, and, incredible as it may appear to the idlers that throng the wharves of larger places, there was not a soul to be seen about, not eVen one watchful loafer to haul the steamer’s line on shore ; and what was even more wonderful, not a “ pub ” was open till near 7 o’clock, although there were five of them in a range of as many hundred yards. After walking some distance, the human phase of life began to make its appearance. A man was drinking at the public pump, and a halfsomnolent domestic yawning herself awake, leaning on a broom, preparatory to sweeping the dust, of the previous day from the door. We returned to breakfast on board the steamer, simply because there was no chance of getting anything to eat in the town ; and, taking what we had already seen as specimens, I concluded that, the quiet, little place called Nelson, had not inappropriately been designated a sleepy, one-horse place. My companion, who had the advantage of being before, described the port portion as bearing the same standstill, unprogressive aspect, that it did some years before ; no new buildings had beenerected, and the old ones were going to decay. The roads and streets arc in good order, thanks to the gravel kind of metal that abounds there. There is, also, a tramway laid down between the port and the town. The cars are drawn by horses, and appear to be well patronised—that is for a community who are said to take life so easy, that they are almost too lazy to enjoy themselves in any sense where effort is required. There is, however, one thing in favor of th Nelsonians, which I must record as a kind of redemption from the somewhat too wholesale charge of inertness, and that is the building of a new gasometer, and the consequent corresponding reduction in the price of gas. The existing works were found to be incommensurate with the growing demands for lighting power, so the new ones were undertaken, which are on a more extensive scale, and will be a sufficient source of supply for years to come, as the increase of population there is not very rapid. The rate, it was expected, would bo reduced to 10s per 1000 feet, and to 7s 6d to those who were punctual in their payment s. Whatever the cause may be —whether the easy and cheap facilities for obtaining eoal, or the exist ence of an active element of enterprise, or both combined —it is obvious that the little township is sett ing a good example to the rest of New Zealand, fur in no place that 1 visited did I find that the price of gas was lower, and in most not so low, os that promised by sleepy Nelson. Taking advantage of the few hours’ detention of the steamer, our party migrated as far into the country as we could in so short, a time. A pleasant drive along the southern road, skirting the mountain range on one side, with an oozing salt water mud fiat on the other, gave us a commanding view of the suburbs, and the city of Nelson in the distance. Outside the town proper, the land is hilly, and mostly precipitous. Its quality, too, is poor, with but little -cultivat ion, except in patches. Rain had not fallen, in any appreciable quantity, for some time consequently what grass there was, was yellow and stunted, resembling stubble more than anything t*lse. The belt of hills, forming a kind of amphitheatre, and at the base of which stands Nelson city, do not seem to be occupied, or put to any use of either profit or utility, while, in their primitive state, they do not add to, but contrast strongly with, the beauty of some of the cultivations that lie beneath them. Of course Nelson is the ne plus ultra of New Zealand for cultivation of hops, and to these gardens we directed a good deal of attention. Unfortunately for us the season for “ picking” had not arrived, but we saw the budding blossoms of many acres, just bursting forth in fragrant luxuriance, and gave promise of a prolific if not an abundant harvest. The want of rain, however, had greatly deteriorated the growth of the plants, although the clustering flowers at the tops of the poles, revived hopes in the hearts of their owners, which had but recently been very faint indeed. (To be Continued.)