A NEW ZEALANDER IN SOUTH AFRICA.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 2769, 12 April 1890, Page 6 (Supplement)

A NEW ZEALANDER IN SOUTH AFRICA.

We have been favoured with a letter from a well-known Napierite, who a short time ago determined to seek his fortune in South Africa, and we are sure the following extracts will prove interesting and instructive to those who are dissatisfied with their lot in this colony. Writing from Durban, the gentleman in question says : — " We got to Mauritius four weeks after leaving Sydney. It is only a little island, about thirty square miles, and there is a population of 400,000 people, nearly all blacks, and of all the dirty, filty holes I ever saw Port Louis places them in the shade. Small-pox was pretty bad when I got there so there seemed a chance of our not getting away as easily as we wished. We had to wait three weeks for the steamer, but she left at last, and a dirty old tub she is. We called at Tamatave in the Island df Madagascar. This place is a long way behind the times; the natives won't allow Europeans to occupy the conntry. If we live long enough wn shall see more gold taken out of that country than any its size in the world. Time will make a second New Zealand of it. We arrived at Durban the day before Christmas, and took train tickets for Ladysmith, 220 miles inland. We arrived at Harrismith the same day, but reports were so bad that we determined to go no further. We returned to the port, where my chum got a job carpentering, wages 14s a day. I had a hunt round for a couple of days, and was beginning to get a bit down-hearted, as I could not fret a job, I tried at the railway workshops, and thought I might have a show there, as they asked me to call again, but my eudeavonrs were in vain. I then tried every placo where I thought I miirht obtain employment. I tried at nine different places without success. I then went down on the wharves, as I heard the Harbour Board had a lot of work on hand. I saw the boss man, and ho sent me to the foreman, with the result that I got on driviui? the ensrine in the big workshops. It is an easy job, and I can manage it very well. There is a lot of work going on here just now, but the labour is just as plentiful as the work except for carpenters, and I don't think that will last for long. There is too much black labour here. They get about 15s per month, so you see a white man can't run with them. Kaffirs are the biggest race of people I have seen yet, all about 15 stone, and active as cats. There is no doubt this placo is goingf ahead by leaps and bounds, but will it last ? I hope it will, though I have very serious doubts of stioh being 1 the case. To toll you the amouut of stuff coming into the country would astonish you. The amount collected in Customs duties yesterday at Port Natal amounted to £4,600. That will give you an idea of the place and its present requirements. Will that keep up ? Well, the next six months will tell. If the Rind and other fields keep up, it will do so ; if they don't, it will go bnnsr. Farming here is not worth the name. The country seems good enough, but the people are too slow and behind the times altogether. Meat is 91 a pound, and living is high all round. Tt costs 25a a week here for boaid, and 60s at Johannesburg, with the chance of it going up at any time. The gold fields are a swindle so far. The money spent in drink last year on the Rand was 20 per cent more than the output from the mines, so putting two and two together any man that cornea here to better himself is a fool for his trouble. I am not sorry we caaie in one way, for it has opened our eyes a good deal and taught us how to value money, so perhaps when we get back we shall settle down quietly. If you should know or hear of auyone who thinks of coming here just tell them to wait for another six months, for by that time something certain will be known about the fields of which wo hear so much. I have met over two hundred Australians since I landed, and none of them appear to have bettered their condition, while the majority complain bitterly of being misled. If their is not a great crash in a few months I shall be glad to admit that I have been mistaken in my estimate of the place. If many think of leaving Napier you might publish part of this letter to acquaint the public with the truo state of affairs, for unless a man comes with capital his show of doing anything is a poor one. Six weeks ago in Johannesburg there were seven hundred tradesmen out of work, lots of them Without a shilling in the world. Men are committing suicide and dying off with fever worse than ever. There is no chance of work on farms or stations, for all black labour is kept on them. The man that says this is a good country deserves to be flogged. Once more, advise any you know leaving not to come, or they will bitterly regret the day they left New Zealand. There is no comparison between the two countries.—Hawkes Bay Advertiser.