OLD TARANAKI.

Taranaki Daily News, 7 August 1920, Page 152

OLD TARANAKI.

LEAVES FROM THE PAST. A subscriber has kindly forwarded lis a copy of a book published in London in 1859, entitled "Willcox's New Zealand Hand Book, or Practical Hints to Emigrants to New Zealand." The references to Taranaki'and New Plymouth are interesting at the present time. It says;— NEW PLYMOUTH. This settlement, originally made in 1841, by members of a society from Plymouth, is situated on the western extremity of the north shore of Cook's Sound, and is possessed of a delicious climate, and well watered and fertile land. The unusual fertility of its soil has obtained for it, amongst its settlers, the appellation of "The Garden of New Zealand." In general, ■ the land of this settlement is undulating, and thickly covered with timber and underwood. Cattle thrive well in the province, which, on the whole, is a very prosperous one. In length the Province of New Plymouth is about 80 miles, in a direction stretching nearly north and south, by a breadth of about 70 miles. Tho province contains an average area estimated at 2,176,000 acres of land, 300,000 acres of which form a belt of the richest arable soil in the colony; and it has a coast-line 115 miles in length. A very large proportion of the land, apart from the, belt spoken of, is covered by a dense forest, which is believed to bo equally fertile, and to contain only a comparatively very small portion of unavailable land. In 1857—according; to the Government census—the European population of the province of New Plymouth was I 2618, of whom 1391 were males and 1227 | were females. The native population at the same time to 3015, of whom 170 l were males, and 1264 females. Tho chief occupations of the European settlers are pastoral and agricultural; wool being tho commodity principally depended on as a profitable article of export. In 1857, the total value of colonial products exported from New Plymouth was £4603 4s 4d, of which sum £2453 fls 4d was for 36,802 lbs of wool, and £1582 for 363 .tons of potatoes. The other articles exported- were bran, butter, cheese, hides, sheepskins, and wheat.

There are not many outlying settlements in this province; the colonists being chiefly concentrated in the capital, New Plymouth, or Taranaki, and; a belt of clearings and small farms by which it ds surrounded within a circle of less than ten miles. The back, or inland portion of the province, is occupied by dense forests of valuable timber. The district, although destitute of large rivers, or important lakes, and having few harbors of magnitude, ds nevertheless profusely watered by numerous streams of moderate size, which confer op it abundance of water-power.

THE TOWN AND NEIGHBORHOOD. New Plymouth (Taranaki) is situated in 39 degrees south latitude, at about 140 miles distance from Auckland by sea. It is' .the principal, and indeed tho only town in the provinoe. It is surrounded by a series of suburban villages named Eijui, Bufi, Omata, and Tataramanka, and these, along with the Capital contain nearly all the European population of the province. "The district of Taranaki," says Earp, in his description of New Zealand, ''which comprises the country around Mount Egmont, has with justice been termed 'The Garden of New Zealand;' and whether we regard the serenity of its climate, the fertility of its soil, or the extent of land available for the agriculturalist; it is surpassed by no other locality in either island—though, in extent alone, the New Plymouth district must yield to the huge plains which reach from Banks' Peninsula to the southern extremity of the Middle Island."

Another authority, Mr. Hursthouse, supplies the following sketch of this interesting settlement: —"Snugly planted on the margin of the beach, embosovaed amid gentle hills, and watered by the Hautoki, Mangotuku, and tributary burns, it displays its granite church and chapels, its little mills and breweries, snug hostelries, post office, stores, and primitive shops; but, affecting no 'town airs,' stands out before the world a robust hearty-looking village, famed throughout tho land for its troops of rosy children, pretty women, honey, fine mutton, and dairies of Devonshire oream. The appearance of the place from the sea, in fine weather, is very beautiful. Tli£ taste for sylvan scenery, and quiet rustic beauty, is gratified by the combination of stream and forest, glade and valley, pastures and trim fields dotted with cattle or yellow with corn; while for the Salvador Rosa eye there is the giant snow-capped mountain, shooting up 'from a sea of forest 8000 feet iu the brilliant sky. The principal, indeed the only natural drawback upon the .resources of this remarkably fine province, is to bo met with in the absence of harbors along its rather extensive sea const; the shipping place of the town itself being only an open .roadstead. Largo vessels have Co anohor about two miles from shore, and their goods are landed, and tho colonial produce put on board of tliem, in large cargo-boats. It is but fair to add, however, that the absence of a land-locked harbor is more a cause of delay anil anxiety than of absolute danger or actual loss. Of the hundreds of vqpels which have unloaded and loaded at New Plymouth during the past twelve years,only three or four nre recorded as ■ having been wrecked; while from the extent and commercial value of the exports already quoted, and from the amount of annual innorts, reaching £25,608 0s fld, in the year 1857, it,is evident that a very large extent of shipping business must bs transacted there.