MARTIN'S BAY.

Tuapeka Times, Volume V, Issue 259, 16 January 1873, Page 6

MARTIN'S BAY.

Mr Warden Beetham, under date, Queenstown, December 27, continues the report of Ma overland journey to Martin's Bay :—: — Referring to my report of given date herewith on the subject of the trade to Martin's Bay, I have now •he honor to forward you some infoimation as to the present state of that settlement, its requirements, and probable future prospects. You will, doubtless, possess exact infornntion from surveys already completed as to the extent of land available for agricultural purposes. For the purposes of this report it may be roughly estimated at from 20.00 ) to 30,000 acres. From the point at which the track from Lake Wakatipu enters the Hcllyford Valley to the head of Lake M 'Kerrow, a distance of about 12 miles, the land we passed through was of the finest quality, the soil in many places being 20 feet in depth j nearly the whole of the land is flat, covered with valuable timber, and well watered. I rhould estimate the average breadth of the valley at 3 mi es ; this does not include a considerable quantity of available 1 mil in the neighborhood of Pyke's Creek and Lake Alabaster. The bush presents ho great difficulties as to clearing, there being very little heavy undergrowth or supplejack to deal with. The climate of this valky must be magnificent, lying as it does due North and South ; it has the sun all day. Thn, in a valley of comparatively limited ex tent such as the Hollyford, would result ia a semi-tropical climate, were it not for the fact that the mountain range bounding the valley on its western side is screened by a success on of enormous glaciers which" descend in some instances within 1000 feet of the river level. Many of these ice masses are more than 1090 f«.et in thickness, and are probably a mile in width by three or four miles in length. The character of the vegetation rtsenibles very closely that of the semi-tropical valleys of the North Island. The western range reaches an altitude of, I should say, at least 10,000 feet, throwing its glacier completely into, the bush line. These masses of blue ice, surrounded by the luxuriant vegetation of the valley, and pouriug by numberless cascades their glacial streams into the H >jlyford River, the whole being packed up by high mountain peaks, broken by enormous fields of pure white snow, form a scene of indescribable grandeur and beauty. The Hollyford river is, with the exception of two oi three respects, navigable for a canoe throughout its whole length, and could be used for the purpose of driving to Lake McKerrow the va'uable timber which abonnds in the valley ; where it enters the Lake it i 3 probably about 400 yards wide and 3 l feet deep, w th a current of say four miles an hour. From the head of Lake \1 'Kerrow to Jamestown, at which place the river leaves the lake for the sea, there is little or no land available for agriculture ; the ranges bounding the lake are however covered with timber of excellent quality. From Jamestown to the sea, a distance of five miles, the river luns through extensive flats of splendid agricultural land, heavily timbered with white, black, and red pine. It is principally on these levels that the land in Class A is situated, and where alone clearing has been attempted. At the date of my visit there wers four families tesideut at Jamestown, or near it, besides other parties working singly or without families, including three settlers who were in Big Bay occupied in gold mining, there would be about 40 souls in the settlement. I am bound to say that in despite of its great natural advantages, the settlement appeared to me to be in a languishing condition. Ihc inhabitants, while they one and all spoke in the highest terms of the spot which they had chosen as their home, appeared to be ia a, depressed state. It was evident, too, that, taking into consideration the length of time during which the settlers had been located at the Bay, the settlement had not made the progress which mi^ht have been fairly expected from it. I attribute this First. To the r-"--- .isolation of the settlement resulting from rtß unoci^- . , . in f reqaent communication with other portions \A . p rov j nce< Secondly. By revision of the unsati&i ,f Or y working of the land regulations, prmcip&iP, with reference to Class A. And thirdly. To the absence of any settled industry by means of which labour and capital would be introduced into the settlement. The absosolute isolation of the settlement has, I think, had a great deal to do with its slow progress. Not only have the settlers been unable to obtain regular supplies, but they have actually been redu ed to the very brink of starvation. This uncertain and irregular communication has exercised, in my opinion, a very depressing influence upon the settlers ; they look upon themselves as deserted and uncared for, and as a natural consequence they lose that push and energy | without which progression is impossible. | This irregularity of communication is against them in another way. It is almost a bar to future settlement, TU© ranks of the wttlen

receive from time to time very slight augmentation as to numbers. Intending immigrants will not be at all likely to visit the settlement with a viow to locating themBelves there, unless they see seme reasonable chance of getting away again, should they find it does not suit them. Under present circumstances a person may be set down-in Mart'n'aßay by a chances; earner, and have to remain there for aix months, unless, indeed, he undertakes an a.most impossiblejourneyoverland to Wakatipu. This state of things will certainly be much improved when the track is I cut ; indeed, the ct.inplttion of this appears to me to be an absolute necessity to the future existence of the settlement. There tbould be, also, regular communication by sea, say three times a year at least, as it is from this source that the settlement will receive its supplies. The settlers also complain that the steamers do not bring for sale numerous necessaries which they require. When we were there the only food obtainable was, with perhaps a tingle exception, bread, tea, sugar, and salt meat, the latter of a very inferior quality, almost unfit to eat. There was not in the whole settlement a piece of fat to use either for cooking or eating. The settlers say, and with truth, that they caDnot do a fair day's work on such food as this. An enfeebled condition of body icoults inevitably in a depression of mind, and it is not in this state that men should exist who h,i Y e to fight and overcome the primeval forest of A New Zealand, As to the land regulations with reference to Class A, these regulations permit a person to select and retain, as against any other selector for twelve months 50 acres of land he having at the same time no intention of using or improving the land, or of ultimately settling thereon. It is a fact, that numbers of persons have applied for and held frontage, aud thereby va'uable sect ions, in this mannei for pure y speculative purposes ; and intending settlers find that in this way valuable and immediately available land is locked up for twelve months by persons wno have not any intention to use it. At the expiration of the twelve months, the Eection becomes vacant, aud is pro ably re-selected under the same circumstances. Tliis is certainly inimical to the best interests of the settlement. It could, I think, be met in the following manner : — At the time of selection the selector should be required to deposit a small sum, to be returned to him whenever improvements evidencing an intention to settle on, or utilize the land have been made. It appears also to bo understood that the conditions as to the further residence upon the land can in some way Le evaded, and that residence in the settlement itself, though nob upon the section, will be sufficient to entitle the select r to his Crown grant, even though the land may be very slightly, or not at all improved. 1, myself, saw one section which was improved to the exteut of ha f an hour's work, the proprietor of which has never resided upon it. I understand that he exp cts his Crown grant at the expiration of bis three ytars. lam not of course in a position to say whether it is intended to carry out the regulations with absolute strictness ir not ; but in my opiuion the residence clause might with great advantage be wiped out altogether, and an iinproveineut' clause substituted, It is, I think, the improvement clauses which, in the Agricultural Lease Regulations on the Goldfieids, have been so valuable in inducing settlement. Ground cannot be improved without labor and the expenditure of capital, which is really all that is required. .Nearly ail the selectors at Jamestown reside in the town, probably for the sake of companionship, preferring this to living on their sections, which they visit by means of boats. It is, indeed, questionable whether a direct sale of the land at a moderate price, upon a system of deferred payments with a strict improvement clause, would not ba preferable to the existing regulations, which, without any officer on the spot to administer them, do not appear to be working in a satisfactory manner. One of the greatest aids to the development of the fereat resources of the Martin's Bay settlement would be the establishment of some permanent industry there, by which capital would be introduced and aa impetus given to the whole settlement. This could ot course only be at erupted by private enterprise, and it will, 1 h.«xc no doubt, before long, take the direction of the establishment of saw mills, for which, I feel convinced, no more favorable location could be found on the JNew Zealand Coast. Timber of all kinds and of the finest quality is abundant ; while there is sufficient waterpower to turn all the mills in the Colony. The logs could be floated by means of the lake to the mills from all parts of the settlement; vhile the Hollyford river could be used as a drive for th«* magnificent forest on its banks. The river, from the sna, is easily entered by steamers of a moderate draught of water, and the Melbourne market is at hand. The benefit to the settlement by the establishment of such an industry would be incalculable : it would indeed be the key to its success. At some 16 miles north of Martin's Bay lie the gold workings at Big Bay ; they are accessible from Jamestown, either by land or water ; and there, during our visit, a considerable number of the settlers were working, andf rom what I could learn they were making good wages. The workings are entirely confined to the beach, and the general opinion appears to be that if the adjacent country was properly prospected, a large extent of it would prove to be payably auriferous, 'i he country in the neighborhood of Pyke's Creek and Lake Alabaster is also spoken of as presenting good indications of auriferous deposits, judging from the colour of the water of Pyke's Creek in flood, the formation of that portion of the country is entirely different from that of the Hollyford Valley. Considering the great natural advantages possessed by the whole district, which I think cannot be overrated, I believe that the settlement is destined, ia a very few years, if it receives a moderate sWe of attention, to become a thickly populated and very valuable district.