The New Zealand Shipping Company’s pocket-book

Page 1


Ac*** 3

& H > ± > i + c d .

jT


The New Zealand Shipping Company's pocket-book : an interesting guide for passengers by the company's steamers, and containing information of general interest to all travellers to the Dominion / New Zealand Shipping Company.


THE

NEW

ZEALAND

COMPANY'S

SHIPPING

POCKET-BOOK




PREFATORY

NOTE

T H E N e w Zealand Shipping Company's Pocket-Book is not intended to replace the detailed

Handbook

of Information, but the Company hope that the Pocket-Book w i l l be read with interest by Passengers to the Dominion of N e w Zealand, and retained as a Souvenir of a pleasant voyage by those who travel on the Company's Steamers.


T H E

NEW ZEALAND SHIPPING COMPANY'S POCKET-BOOK AN

INTERESTING

THE ING TO

COMPANY'S

GUIDE

INFORMATION ALL

FOR PASSENGERS

STEAMERS, OF

AND

GENERAL

TRAVELLERS

TO

T H E

BY

CONTAININTEREST DOMINION

W I T H S I X T E E N F U L L - P A G E ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR, SIX

REPRODUCTIONS

FROM

PHOTOGRAPHS,

TWO MAPS, A N D TWO PLATES OF F L A G S

LONDON A D A M

A N D

C H A B L E S 1908

B L A C K



CONTENTS PAGE DIRECTOES A N D M A N A G E R S THE

FLEET

D A T E S OF

.

.

.

.

.

SOME OF T H E

.

PART

.

A U C K L A N D PROVINCE

.

-

7

-

-

.

PART

IV

-

-

T H E PORT OF W E L L I N G T O N

-

.

-

96

.

.

112

VI

.

.

.

.

127

VII -

vii

-

V

PART

D U N E D I N A N D ENVIRONS

53

68

.

PART

5

III

.

.

-

II

PART

CANTERBURY, ETC.

.

-

.

-

4 THE

I

PART

PART

IN

-

T H E COUNTRY A N D ITS ASPECT .

A W O R D TO T H E TOURIST

.

EVENTS

-

1

.

.

PRINCIPAL

HISTORY OF T H E C O M P A N Y

SPORT A N D A T H L E T I C S

.

-

-

-

141


viii

CONTENTS PART VIII

T A B L E S , ETC. :

P A G R

Gold Production of Australasia

-

-

-

149

Distance Tables

-

-

-

-

149

Railway Distances

-

-

150

Time at certain Places

-

Watches on Board Ship

-

151 -

-

-

152

Imports and Exports of New Zealand

-

-

153

Trade of Australasia Banking in New Zealand Land Valuation

-

Education

-

-

Government Railways

-

.

.

.

155 .

155 156

-

-

-

.

157

-

-

-

-

157

Sown Grasses MEMORANDA

158 -

-

-

-

-

-

161


LIST O F I L L U S T R A T I O N S THE

R T . H O N . S I R JOSEPH G . W A R D , P . C , P R E M I E R OF N E W Z E A L A N D

K.C.M.G.,

-

- Frontispiece

-

-

From, a photograph.

FACING PAGE

CAPTAIN H E R B E R T E . GREBNSTREET

2

From a pholo<jraph. T.S.S.

" RLMUTAKA," OFF GRAVESEND

-

-

T.S.S.

"TURAKINA,"

-

-

POHUTUKAWA

OFF AUCKLAND -

-

-

-

A

-

-

-

-

BUSH CREEK

"THE

-

RAPIDS, W A I K A T O R I V E R

DRAGON'S M O U T H , "

-

16 33 48

-

-

-

53

-

-

-

61

OHINEMUTU

-

-

65

-

-

72

WAIRAKEI

COOKING I N A H O T SPRING,

4 19

I N BLOOM, W H A N G A R O A H A R B O U R

P L A N T I N G POTATOES ARATIATIA

-

C A P T A I N R . C . CLIFFORD

-

-

From a photograph. O N T H E T E - A N A U - M I L F O R D T R A C K (THE CLINTON RIVER)

80

CARVED HOUSE,

97

OHINEMUTU,

ROTO-RUA

CAPTAIN RUSSELL JAGGARD

-

-

-

-

-

112

From a photograph. C H R I S T C H U R C H FROM T H E T O W E R BUILDINGS, 1906-07 O N T H E B E A L E T RIVER, BURY CAPTAIN

-

OF T H E E X H I B I T I O N

-

W E S T COAST -

-

I. A . S U T C L I F F E

-

From a photograph. ix

-

-

ROAD,

CANTER-

-

-

129 144 146


x

LIST O F ILLUSTRATIONS

DIAMOND L A K E ,

C E N T R A L OTAGO

T.S.S. " T O N G A R I R O , "

.

FACING PAGE . 148

.

OFF T A B L E B A T , CAPE TOWN

-

150

-

-

155

-

-

158

F L A G S A N D F U N N E L S OF VARIOUS SHIPPING COMPANIES

1

NEW

6

T.S.S. " R U A F E H U , " OFF RLO D E JANEIRO M I T R E P E A K , MILFORD SOUND

-

C A P T A I N F R A N C I S FORBES

-

157 -

From a phoiorjraph.

MAPS

A N D FLAGS

Z E A L A N D A N D T H E PACIFIC ISLANDS

LINES

OF T H E N E W Z E A L A N D

SHIPPING

-

-

COMPANY,

L T D . , W I T H T H E I R CONNECTING ROUTES

-

-

152

I N T E R N A T I O N A L C O D E F L A G S A N D PENNANTS

-

-

160



ENSIGNS. HOUSE

WHITE

ENSIGN

F L A G S AND

NEW

FUNNELS.

REO

ZEALAND

ENSI6H

•j"r UNIOM S T E A M SHIP C O M P A N Y OF HEW ZEALAHO.

I P !

PCJIIHSUIAR A, ORIENTAL STEAM MAV.CO. LONDON.

PACIFIC S T E A M NAV. CO., LIVERPOOL.

HE •V Z E A L A N D SHIPPING COMPANY! LONDON.

W H I T E S T A R LINE. LIVERPOOL.

ABE ROEEN LIKE (6EQ. THOMPSON ACO) LONDON.

r+-i l i p s

E L D E R D E M P S T E R A CO., AFRICAN S T E A M S H I P CO. i3

RC

YAL MAIL S T E A M P A C K E T CO., LONDON.

H

I T I S H INDIA 3 T E A M NAV. CO., LONDON. Accompanying

SHAW, SAVILL & A L B I O N CO. LONDON.

N ZS. €o? Potfoet Booh

CUNARD

S T E A M S H I P CO., LIVERPOOL.


THE

NEW ZEALAND

SHIPPING

COMPANY, LTD. (INCORPORATED IN N E W Z E A L A N D . )

HEAD

OFFICES:

159, H E R E F O R D STREET, CHRISTCHURCH, N E W ZEALAND. 138, L E A D E N H A L L STREET, LONDON, E.G. DIRECTORS

IN

LONDON:

W I L L I A M C. DAWES (Chairman). C O L O N E L B. M. DAWES. JOSEPH GOULD. G. T. H A Y C R A F T . WARRINGTON LAING. MURDOCH MACIVER. DIRECTORS

IN NEW

ZEALAND:

H . P. M U R R A Y A Y N S L E Y (Chairman), Christehurch. J O H N A N D E R S O N , Christehurch. H O N . C. C. B O W E N , Christehurch. SIR GEORGE CLIFFORD, B A R T . , Christehurch. GEORGE GOULD, Christehurch. F . D E C. M A L E T , Christehurch. A . E . G. RHODES, Christehurch. J. R. BLAIR, Wellington. H O N . E . RICHARDSON, C.M.G., Wellington. MANAGERS: London: New Zealand : ( Orneral G. L. KING, 1 ISAAC GIBBS, C. J . C O W A N , / 1

1


OFFICES A N D HEAD

AGENTS IN N E W

OFFICE

IN NEW

ZEALAND

ZEALAND:

159, H E R E F O R D S T R E E T , C H R I S T C H U R C H . Telegraphic Address: ' Conrad, BRANCH

OFFICES

IN NEW

IN NEW

ASHBURTON BLENHEIM

WANGANUI WESTPORT

:

ZEALAND

.-

FBIEDLANDER BROS., L T D .

{

GRETMOUTH HASTINGS HOKITTKA KAIKOURA NELSON NEW PLYMOUTH ... PALMERSTON NORTH\ FELLDING \ DANNEVIRKE J PATEA RANGIORA WAIMATE WAIROA, H.B

ZEALAND

LYTTELTON NAPIER OAMARU TIMARU WELLINGTON

AUCKLAND D U N E DIN FOXTON GISBORNE INVERCARGILL AOENTS

Christehurch."

T H E NEWZEALAND LOAN AND M E R CANTILE AGENCY COMPANY, L T D . NANCARROW AND DE

Co.

PELICHET, M C L E O D AND

V.

W.

M.

T.

DAVIDSON.

Co.

BONAR.

E . BUXTON AND CO., L T D . W E B S T E R AND M C K E L L A B . BABEAUD AND ABRAHAM. J . K.

MITCHELL.

/ NORTH CANTEBBUBY

CO-OPERATIVE STORES COMPANY, L T D .

\

GUINNESS AND L E CREN, L T D . L E E S AND MOUNTFORT.

|JOHNSTON

\

AND CO., L T D .

T H E N E W ZEALAND LOAN AND M E R CANTILE AGENCY COMPANY, L T D ,

\ A.

2

D.

BAYFIELD,



AGENTS

..,

WEST AUSTRALIA R O C K H A M P T O N .. TOWNSVILLE

W A L T E R REID AND C O . BUBNS, PHTLP AND C O .

AGENTS CAPE TOWN

:

I T H E N E W ZEALAND LOAN AND M E R l CANTILE AGENCY COMPANY, L T D . DO. DO. DO. GEO. W I L L S AND C O . GIBBS, BRIGHT AND C O . f BRITISH INDIA AND QUEENSLAND I AGENCY COMPANY, L T D . DO. DO. DO.

MELBOURNE SYDNEY ADELAIDE NEWCASTLE BRISBANE

IN AUSTRALIA

IN SOUTH AFRICA :

W. WESTBAY B E L L AND CO. See Agents at Porta of Call.) 5TH -V

i

E11ST°LONDON

" f

J O H A N N E S B U R G '.'.'.) D U R B A N (Port Natal) AGENTS

M I T

C H E L L , COTTS AND C O .

WILLIAMS AND CO., L T D .

AT PORTS OF

PLYMOUTH

CALL:

H E N B Y J . WABING AND CO.

Telegraphic Addre33—" Universal, Plymouth." TENERIFE HAMILTON AND CO. Telegraphic Address—"Hamilton, Tenerife." CAPE TOWN W. WESTRAY B E L L AND C O . Telegraphic Address—"Interview, Cape Town." HOBART

MACFABLANE BBOS. AND C O .

Telegraphic Address—" Macfar, Hobart." MONTEVIDEO BUENOS AIRES

... \

MANN G E O B G E D E P O T S , L T D .

ROSARIO J Telegraphic Address—" Mandepots, Montevideo." RIO D E J A N E I R O

WILSON, SONS AND C O . , L T D .

Telegraphic Address—" Anglicus, Rio de Janeiro." CABLB

KATES

FROM

NEW ZEALAND T E N E R I F E ... CAPE TOWN HOBART MONTEVIDEO

THE IfSITED KINGDOM AND PORTS OF CALL:

TO NEW 3

0 2 3 4

ZEALAND

d. 0 per word 9 ,, 6 „ 0 „ 2 „

1—2


FLEET

OF T H E N E W Z E A L A N D

SHIPPING

COMPANY, LTD.

MAIL

STEAMERS: Tons Rvg.

" P A P A E O A " ( T W I N SCREW)

...

...

...

6,772

" E I M U T A K A " (Twis SCREW)

...

...

...

7,952

( T W I N SCREW) ...

...

...

7,600

...

8,349

" RUAPEHU "

( T W I N SCREW)

"TONGARIRO" "TURAKINA"

7,885

( T W I N SCREW)

"PAPAKUI"

6,582

Building (TWIN SCREW) . . .

CARGO "KAIKOURA" "KAIPARA" "OPAWA" "ORARI"

...

...

... 10,000

STEAMERS:

( T W I N SCREW)

6,998

( T W I N SCREW)

7,392

( T W I N SCREW)

7,230

(TWIN SCREW)

" O T A K I " ( T R I P L E SCREW)

"RAKAIA"

...

" W A I M A T E "

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

7,207 7,500

5,628 ..'

5,610

" WAKANUI"

5,824

" WHAKATANE "

« 5,902

4



BATES

OF

SOME

OF

THE

PRINCIPAL

EVENTS I N T H E HISTORY OF T H E N E W ZEALAND SHIPPING COMPANY, LTD. 1873. Founded b y N e w Zealand merchants at C h r i s t church, N e w Zealand.

Fleet originally con-

sisted entirely of sailing ships. 1875. D u r i n g the first three years of its existence the N e w Zealand Shipping Company despatched 150 ships from the U n i t e d K i n g d o m to N e w Zealand, carrying 28,670 passengers. 1879. The first direct steamer, Stad Harlem,

sailed

from L o n d o n w i t h 600 emigrants for N e w Zealand. 1882. The New Zealand Shipping Company's Mataura sailed from P o r t Chalmers on February 15 w i t h 150 tons of frozen mutton.

This was

the first shipment of frozen produce from N e w Zealand. 1883. A direct line of steam communication between England and N e w Zealand was inaugurated by the N e w Zealand Shipping Company,


6

PRINCIPAL EVENTS

whose steamer, the British Kivg, began the Government mail contract, and sailed from London on J a n u a r y 26.

F i v e steamers were

built for the direct service. 1900. The fourth and fifth N e w Zealand contingents sailed for South A f r i c a i n the ss. Waimate. 1901. T h e ss. Tongariro, on her first voyage, conveyed 1,000 officers and men of the South A f r i c a n Constabulary to Cape T o w n . 1908. T h e ss. Otaki, the first triple screw turbine and reciprocating combination steamer ever built, launched for the N e w Zealand Shipping Company.


NEW Atlantic1.

. Greenwich I.

PU> i+amil.

. Gjjert

ZEALAND

A N D T H E PACIFIC

OCEAN.

•Christmas J.

Jft'w/tunl I. -Baker

•Octant'*?*'* * 0

•Starbuck I.

-^^oLraiiaiLrr

i

EllicelT

/ Tokela

/

• artTnibxul? Hokahanqal. Tfayrl • Maoihiki I?

Samoa or

C ora i

Sea

V lev Vflehriaes

> F |

a

A.

—r^-t

J^Aixp^V

Bo

NO RT I S L A N

Jobn BarlLoiotaeir JE CO.


NEW BY

I -

ZEALAND

THE HON. W .

P E M B E K

B E E V E S

High Commissioner for New Zealand. *

PART THE A

GREAT

COUNTEY

I

A N D ITS

ASPECT

deal has been written about N e w Zealand ;

indeed, the books and pamphlets upon i t form

a

respectable little library. Y e t is the picture which the average European reader forms i n his m i n d a n y t h i n g like the islands ?

I doubt i t .

The patriotic but mis-

leading name, " The B r i t a i n of the South," is responsible for impressions that are scarcely correct, while the map of the world on Mercator's Projection is another offender.

N e w Zealand is not very like Great

B r i t a i n , though spots can be found there—mainly i n the province of Canterbury and i n N o r t h Otago— where Englishmen or Scotsmen might almost t h i n k themselves at home. B u t even this likeness, pleasant as i t is at moments, does not often extend beyond the foreground, at any rate as far as likeness to E n g l a n d 7


8

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

is concerned.

It is usually an effect produced by the

transplanting of E n g l i s h trees and flowers, cultivation of

English

crops

and grasses, acclimatization of

E n g l i s h birds and beasts, and the copying more or less closely of the English houses and dress of to-day. It is a likeness that is the work of the colonists themselves.

T h e y have made i t , and are very proud of i t .

The resemblance to Scotland is not quite the same thing. It sometimes does extend to the natural features of the country. I n the eastern half of the South Island particularly, there are landscapes where the Scot's memory, one fancies, must often be carried back to the Selkirks, the peaks of A r r a n , or the H i g h l a n d lochs of his native land.

Always, however, i t is

Scotland under a different s k y . The N e w Zealanders live, on the average, 12 degrees nearer the equator than do dwellers i n the " o l d c o u n t r y " ; and though the chill of the Southern Ocean makes the change of climate less than the difference of latitude would lead y o u to expect, i t is still considerable.

The

skies are bluer and higher, the air clearer, and the sun much hotter than i n the B r i t i s h Isles.

The

heavens are a spacious dome alive with light and w i n d . A m p l e as the rainfall is, and i t is ample almost everywhere, the islands, except i n the south-west, strike the traveller as a sunny as well as a bracing country. This is due to the ocean breezes and the strength of


THE

the sunshine.

C O U N T R Y A N D ITS A S P E C T

9

T h e average number of wet days i n

the year is 151 ; but even a wet day is seldom w i t h out sunshine, i t may be for some hours, i t w i l l be at least a few gleams.

Such a thing as a dry day w i t h -

out a ray of sunshine is virtually unknown over fourfifths of the Colony. I once had the felicity of l i v i n g i n L o n d o n during twenty-two successive days i n which there was neither a drop of rain nor an hour of sunshine.

If such a period were to afflict New Zealand,

the colonists would assuredly imagine that Doomsday was at hand. " T r u l y the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing i t is for the eyes to behold the sun," is a text which might be adopted as a motto for the islands. In the matter of climate its inhabitants are certainly the spoilt children of Nature, and this is not because the wind does not blow or the rain fall i n their islands, but because of what Bishop S e l w y n called " the elastic air and perpetual motion " which breed cheerfulness

and energy all the year round.

Of a l l European climates, perhaps, i t resembles most closely that of the coasts of France and Spain fronti n g on the B a y of Biscay.

B o u n d N e w Zealand are

the same blue, sparkling, and uneasy seas, and the same westerly winds, often wet and sometimes rising into strong gales; and where France and Spain j o i n y o u may see i n the Pyrenees very much such a barrier of unbroken mountains as the far-reaching


10

NEW

ZEALAND

POCKET-BOOK

snowy chains that form the backbone of the islands of the south.

F u r t h e r , though mountainous, ours is

an oceanic country, and this prevents the climate being marked b y great extremes.

It is temperate i n

the most exact sense of the word.

The difference

between the mean of the hottest month and the mean of the coldest month is not more than 15 degrees i n most of the settlements.

Christehurch is an ex-

ception, and even i n Christehurch i t is only 20 degrees. I n W e l l i n g t o n the mean for the whole year is almost precisely the same as i n S t . Louis i n the U n i t e d States.

B u t the annual mean is often a deceitful

guide.

S t . Louis is 16 degrees warmer i n summer

and 17 degrees colder i n winter than W e l l i n g t o n ; and that makes a l l the difference when comfort is concerned.

W e l l i n g t o n is slightly cooler than London

i n midsummer, and considerably warmer i n winter. F i n a l l y , i n the matter of w i n d the European must not let himself be misled by the playful exaggerations current i n certain N e w Zealand stories.

It is not the

case that the average citizen of W e l l i n g t o n clutches convulsively at his hat whenever he turns a streetcorner i n any city of the w o r l d ; nor is i t true that the teeth of

sheep i n the Canterbury mountain

valleys are worn down i n their efforts to hold on to the l o n g tussock grass, so as to save themselves from being blown away by the north-west gales.

Taken


T H E COUNTRY A N D ITS ASPECT

11

as a whole, N e w Zealand is neither more nor less w i n d y than the coasts of the E n g l i s h Channel between Dover and the Isle of W i g h t .

I write w i t h

the

advantage of h a v i n g had many years' experience of both climates. O n the map of the world N e w Zealand has the look of a slim insular strip, a L i l l i p u t i a n satellite of the broad continent of Australia.

It is, however,

twelve hundred miles from the continent, and there are no island stations between to act as l i n k s ; the Tasman Sea is an unbroken and often stormy stretch of water.

Indeed, N e w Zealand is as close to P o l y -

nesia as to Australia, for the gap between Cape M a r i a V a n Dieman and Nieue or Savage Island is also about twelve hundred miles across.

I n result, then, the

Colony cannot be termed a member of any group or division, political or scientific.

It is a lonely oceanic

archipelago, remote from the great centres of

the

earth, but with a character, attractions, and busy life of its o w n .

Though so small on the map, it does not

strike those who see i t as a little country.

Its scenery

is marked by height and steepness; its mountainranges and bold sea-cliffs impress the new-comer by bulk and abruptness.

The clear air, too, enables the

eye to travel far ; and where the gazer can hold many miles of country i n view—country stretching away, as a rule, to lofty backgrounds—the adjective " s m a l l "


12

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

does not easily occur to the m i n d .

Countries like

H o l l a n d and B e l g i u m seem as small as they are. That is because they are flat, and t h i c k l y sown with cities and villages. I n them man is everything, and Nature appears tamed and subservient.

B u t N e w Zealand

submits to man slowly, sometimes not at all.

There

the rapid rivers, l o n g deep lakes, steep hillsides, and mountain-chains r i s i n g near to or above the snowline, are the features of a scenery romantic softness to rough grandeur.

v a r y i n g from Indeed, the

first impression given b y the coast, when seen from the deck

of an approaching ship, is that of

the

remnant of some huge drowned continent that, long ago, may have spread over degrees of longitude where now the Southern Ocean is a weary waste. N o r , again, is this impression of largeness created b y immense tracts of level monotony, as in so many continental views.

There is none of the tiresome

sameness that besets the railway passenger on the road from The Hague to Moscow—the succession of flat fields, sandy heaths, black pine-woods, and dead marshes.

F o r the keynote of our scenery is variety.

F e w countries i n the world y i e l d so rapid a series of sharp contrasts—contrasts between warm north and cool south, between brisk, clear east and moist, m i l d west, between the leafy, genial charm of the coastal bays a n d the snows and rocky walls of the dorsal


T.S.S.

"TURAKINA"

OFF

AUCKLAND.


T H E COUNTRY A N D ITS ASPECT

ridges.

The

very

13

mountains differ i n character.

Here are A l p s with long white crests and bony shoulders emerging from forests of beech ; there rise volcanoes, symmetrical cones, streaked w i t h

snow,

and, some of them, incessantly sending up steam or vapour from their summits.

Most s t r i k i n g of a l l the

differences, perhaps, is the complete change between the deep and ancient forests which formerly covered half the islands, and the long stretches of green grass or fern land, where, before the coming of the settlers, y o u could ride for miles and pass never a tree.

Of

course many of these natural features are changing under the masterful hands of the B r i t i s h colonist. Forests are being cut down and burned, plains and open valleys ploughed up and sown, swamps drained, and their picturesque tangle of green flax, giant reeds, and sharp-edged grasses remorselessly cleared away. Thousands of miles of hedges, chiefly of gorse, now seam the open country with green or golden lines, and divide the surface into more or less rectangular fields; and broom and sweet-briar, detested weeds as they are, brighten many a slope w i t h gold or rosecolour i n spring-time. Plantations of

exotic trees grow i n number and

height yearly, and show a curious blending of the flora of England, California, and Australia.

Most

B r i t i s h trees and bushes thrive exceedingly, though


14

NEW

ZEALAND

POCKET-BOOK

some of them, as the ash, the spruce, the holly, and the whitethorn, find the summers too hot and the winters not frosty enough i n many localities.

More

than i n trees, hedgerows, or corn-crops, the handiwork of the colonist is seen i n the ever-widening areas sown w i t h E n g l i s h grasses. give w a y to grass.

E v e r y t h i n g has to

T h e consuming passion of the

N e w Zealand settler is to make grass grow where i t d i d not grow before, or where i t d i d grow before, to put better grass i n its place.

So trees, ferns, flax,

and rushes have to pass a w a y ; with them have to go the w i r y native tussock and tall blanched snowgrass. A l r e a d y thirteen m i l l i o n acres are sown w i t h one or other m i x t u r e of

cock's-foot, timothy, clover, rye-

grass, fescue—for the N e w Zealand farmer is knowing i n grasses; and every year scores of thousands of acres are added to the area thus artificially grassed. Can y o u wonder ?

The carrying power of acres i m -

proved i n this way is about nine times that of land left i n native p a s t u r e ; while as for forest and fern land, they, before man attacked them, could carry next to no cattle or sheep at a l l .

I n the progress of

settlement, N e w Zealand is sacrificing much beauty i n the districts once clad i n forest.

Outside these, how-

ever, quite half the archipelago was already open land when the whites came, and i n this division the work of the settler has been almost entirely improvement.


T H E COUNTRY A N D ITS ASPECT

15

F o r t y years ago i t needed a l l the gold of the sunshine and a l l the tonic quality of the air to make the wide tracts of stunted bracken i n the north, and the even wider expanses of sparse, yellowish tussock i n the south, look a n y t h i n g but cheerless, empty, and half barren.

The pages of many early travellers testify

to this, and tell of an effect of depression now quite absent.

F u r t h e r , for fifteen years past the process of

settling the soil has not been confined to breaking i n the wilderness and enlarging the frontiers of c u l t i vated and peopled land. going on.

T h i s good work is, indeed,

B u t hand i n hand w i t h i t there goes on a

process of subdivision by which fresh homes rise yearly i n districts already accounted settled; the farmstead chimneys send up their smoke even nearer to each o t h e r ; and the loneliness and consequent dulness that once half-spoiled country life is being brightened. V e r y few N e w Zealanders now need live without neighbours w i t h i n an easy ride, if not walk. L i k e the province of the Netherlands the name of which i t bears, N e w Zealand is a green land where water meets the eye everywhere. blance ends.

There the resem-

T h e dull, grey tones of the atmosphere

of old Zealand, the deep, unchanging green of its pastures, the dead level and slow current of its d u l l and turbid waters, are conspicuously absent at the Antipodes.

W h e n the N e w Zealander thinks of


16

NEW

ZEALAND

POCKET-BOOK

water his thoughts go naturally to an ocean, blue and restless, and to rivers sometimes swollen and clouded, sometimes

clear and shrunken, but always rapid.

E v e n the mountain lakes, though they have their days of peace, are more often ruffled by breezes or lashed by gales. motion.

I n a word, water means water i n

A m o n g the sounds most familiar to a N e w

Zealander's ears are the hoarse brawling of torrents, g r i n d i n g and bearing seaward the loose shingle of the mountains, and the deep roar of the surf of

the

Pacific, borne miles inland through the long still nights when the winds have ceased from troubling. It is no mere accident, then, that rowing and sailing are among the chief pastimes of the well-watered islands, or that the islanders have become ship-owners on a considerable scale.

Y o u n g countries do not always

carry much of their own t r a d e ; but, thanks to the energy and astute management of their U n i o n Steamship Company, N e w Zealanders not only control their own coasting trade, but virtually the whole of the traffic between t h e i r own shores, Australia, and the South Sea Islands. stantial,

amounting

ÂŁ6,000,000 a year.

The inter-colonial trade is subto

between

ÂŁ5,000,000

and

M u c h larger, of course, is the

trade w i t h the M o t h e r C o u n t r y ; for our Colony, w i t h some success, does her best to shoulder a way i n at the open but somewhat

crowded door of London.



PRODUCTION

17

Of her total over-sea trade of about £37,000,000 a year, more than two-thirds E n g l a n d and Scotland.

is

carried

on w i t h

Here, again, the colonial

ship-owner has a share of the carrying business, for the best-known of the four ocean steamship

com-

panies i n its service is identified w i t h the D o m i n i o n , and bears its name.

PRODUCTION W i t h variety of scenery and climate there comes, of course, an equal variety of products.

T h e Colony is

eleven hundred miles long, and lies nearly due north and south.

T h e latitudes, moreover, through which

i t extends—namely, those from 34 to 47 degrees—are well suited to diversity.

So y o u get a range from the

oranges and olives of the north to the oats and rye of colder Southland. more than one

kind.

Minerals, too, are found

of

A t first the early settlers

seemed none too quick i n appreciating the advantages offered them b y so varied a country.

They pinned

their faith to wool and wheat only, adding gold, after a time, to their larger exports.

But

experience

showed that, though wool and wheat yielded large profits, these profits fluctuated, as they still do.

So

the growers had to look round and seek for fresh outlets and industries. T h i r t y years ago, when their 2


18

N E W

ZEALAND

POCKET-BOOK

Colony was first beginning to attract some sort of notice i n the world's markets, they still depended on wool, gold, cereals, hides, and tallow.

Cereals they

have now almost ceased to export, though they grow enough

for home consumption ; they have

other things that pay better.

found

They produce twice as

much gold as they did then, and grow more wool than ever.

Indeed, that important animal, the N e w

Zealand sheep, is still the mainstay of his country. Last

year's

export

£7,700,000.

of

wool

brought

in

nearly

B u t to the three or four industries

enumerated, the colonists have added seven or eight more, each respectable i n size and profitable i n the return i t yields.

T o gold their miners have added

coal, the output of which is now two million tons a year.

A n o t h e r mineral—or sort of mineral—is the

fossil resin of

the giant k a u r i pine, of which the

markets of Europe and N o r t h America absorb more than half a million pounds' worth yearly.

Freezing

and cold storage have become main allies of the N e w Zealand farmer, whose export of frozen mutton and lamb now approaches i n value £4,000,000.

Almost

as remarkable is the effect of refrigerating on d a i r y i n g i n the islands.

Hundreds of co-operative butter

factories and creameries have been built during the last twenty years.

It is not too much to say that

they have transformed the face of whole provinces.


PRODUCTION

19

It is possible to grow wool on a large scale w i t h but the sparsest population, as the interior of Australia s h o w s ; but i t is not possible to grow butter or cheese without m u l t i p l y i n g homes and planting families fairly thickly on the land. I n N e w Zealand even the growing of meat and wool is now chiefly done on moderate-sized land-holdings.

The average size of

our flocks is but a thousand head.

B u t d a i r y i n g is

par excellence the industry of the small man.

I t was

so from the first, and every decade shows a tendency to closer subdivison of the land devoted to producing butter and cheese.

W i t h i n the last few years, again,

yet another industry is being handled w i t h more science than of old. This is the manufacture of hemp from the fibre of the native

flax.

One cannot call

this a new thing, for the colonists tried it on a fairly large scale more than t h i r t y years a g o ; but their enterprise seemed again and again doomed to disappointment, for N e w Zealand hemp proved for a long while but a tricky and uncertain article of commerce.

I t was, and is, a k i n d of understudy of

manilla, holding a place somewhere between that and sisal.

F o r many years, however, i t seemed unable to

get a firm footing i n the markets, and when the price of manilla fell, was apt to be neglected altogether. D u r i n g the last decade, however, the flax millers have decidedly improved its quality, and a demand 2—2


20

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

for i t has sprung up i u countries outside Britain.

Great

It is said that Americans use it i n lieu of

hair, and that the Japanese can imitate silk with it. Certainly the Germans, D u t c h , and French buy i t to spin into binder-twine, or, maybe, to " blend " w i t h other fibres. T o the ordinary stranger from Europe, the most interesting of our industries are those that bear least likeness to the manufactures and agriculture of an o l d country.

T o h i m there is a savour of the strange

and new i n k a u r i - g u m digging, gold-mining, timbercutting, and saw-milling, and even the conversion of bushes of flax into bales of hemp. asked

to

B u t if I were

choose two industries before others

to

describe w i t h some minuteness, I think I should select the growing, freezing, and export of meat, and the application of the factory system to the m a k i n g and export of butter and cheese. Though my countrymen have no monopoly of these, they have from the first shown marked activity i n organizing and exploiti n g them.

I n one chief branch of refrigeration their

produce stands first i n quality, if not i n quantity. I refer to the supply of mutton and lamb to the E n g l i s h market.

I n this they have to compete w i t h

the larger flocks of Australia and the Argentine, as well as, indirectly, with the huge herds and gigantic trade combinations of the U n i t e d States.

Of

the


21

PRODUCTION

competitors whose products meet at Smithfield, they are the most distant, and i n their command of capital the least powerful.

Moreover, they are without the

advantage—if advantage it be—of cheap labour. Y e t their meat has for many years commanded the best prices paid for frozen mutton and lamb i n London and the demand, far from being unequal to

the

supply, has been chiefly limited by the difficulty of increasing our flocks fast enough to keep pace w i t h it.

I n the contest for English favour, our farmers,

though handicapped i n the manner mentioned above, started w i t h three advantages—healthy flocks and herds, a genial climate, and an educated

people.

The climate enables their sheep and cattle to remain out a l l the year round, and, except i n the Southern A l p s , to suffer very little loss from weather.

The

sunny air helps them to keep disease down, and, as already said, the best artificial grasses flourish i n our islands as they flourish i n very few countries.

The

standard of education makes labour, albeit h i g h l y paid, skilful and trustworthy.

The

farm-workers

and meat-factory hands are clean, efficient, and fully alive to the need for sanitary precautions.

The

horrors described i n U p t o n Sinclair's " J u n g l e " are impossible i n New

Zealand for many reasons.

Of

these the first is that the men employed i n meat factories would not tolerate their existence.


22

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

There are thirty-seven establishments i n the Colony for meat freezing and preserving, employing over three thousand hands, and paying nearly ÂŁ300,000 a year i n wages.

T h e value of their output is about

ÂŁ5,000,000 a year, and the bulk of i t is exported to the P o r t of L o n d o n .

The weight of meat sent to the

U n i t e d K i n g d o m last year was two hundred and thirty-seven m i l l i o n pounds avoirdupois.

Then there

are about three hundred and twenty dairy butter or cheese factories, without counting a larger outer circle of s k i m m i n g stations.

T o these the dairy-farmers

send their m i l k , getting it back after skimming. That completes their share of the w o r k ; expert factory hands and managers do the rest.

A s for

meat-

freezing, from beginning to end the industry is scientifically managed and carefully supervised.

A t its

inception, a quarter of a century ago, the flocks of the Colony were healthy and of good strains of blood. B u t they were bred chiefly to grow wool, and mainly showed a basis of M e r i n o crossed with L i n c o l n or Leicester.

Nowadays the B o m n e y Marsh blood pre-

dominates i n the stud flocks, especially i n the N o r t h Island.

L i n c o l n , Leicester, Merino, Border Leicester,

Shropshire, and South D o w n follow i n order. five-and-twenty

years our breeders

have

For

brought

their s k i l l to bear on crossing, w i t h a view to producing the best meat for the freezing factory without


23

PRODUCTION

r u i n i n g the quality of their wool.

They still face

the cost and trouble of importing stud sheep from E n g l a n d , though their own selected animals have brought them good prices i n South America, A u s tralia, and South Africa. subjected officers of

Flocks and herds alike are

to regular inspection by the veterinary the

Department

of

A g r i c u l t u r e ; and

though the slaughter - yards and factories of

the

freezing companies are models of order, speed, and cleanliness, the Government expert is there, too, and nothing may be sold thence without his certificate, for every carcass must bear the official mark.

From

the factory to the steamer, from one end of the earth to the other, the frozen carcassesare vigilantly watched, and the temperature of the air they are stored i n is regulated w i t h painful care.

A s much trouble is

taken to keep freezing chambers cold as to keep a king's palace warm.

The shipping companies are as

jealously anxious about the condition of their meat cargoes as they are for the contentment of their passengers and the safety of their ships.

A t the L o n d o n

Docks the meat is once more examined b y a N e w Zealand official, and, finally, at Smithfield, as the carcasses are delivered there i n the small hours of the morning, they are scanned for the last time b y a veterinary expert from the Antipodes.

Moreover,

since our meat goes now to other B r i t i s h ports as


21

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

w e l l as to L o n d o n , and since, too, nearly half of what is discharged i n the Thames no longer finds its way to Smithfield, our inspectors have to follow our meat into the provinces and report upon the condition i n which i t reaches such towns as Bristol, Cardiff, L i v e r pool, and Manchester.

Furthermore, they do their

best to track i t a stage further, and ascertain its fate at the hands of the unsentimental retail trader. M o s t N e w Zealand meat is now honestly sold as what i t is. Some of the best of it, however, is still palmed off on the consumer as B r i t i s h .

O n the other hand, South

A m e r i c a n mutton is sometimes passed off as N e w Zealand.

F o r a l l this the clumsily-drawn English

law, which makes conviction so difficult, must be held m a i n l y responsible.

N e w Zealand butter, too, suffers

at the hands of English manipulators.

It is what

Tooley Street calls a d r y butter—that is to say, i t contains on an average not more than some 11 per cent, of moisture.

T h i s renders i t a favourite for

m i x i n g with m i l k and for selling as " m i l k - b l e n d e d " butter, a process at which makers i n the Colony can only look on wrathfully but helplessly.

Otherwise

they have little to complain about, for their butter has for years past brought them prices almost as high as those of good Danish, while during the butter famine of the first few months of 1908 as much as 150 shillings a hundredweight was paid for parcels of


25

PRODUCTION

it.

Before shipment i n the Colony, butter and cheese

are graded b y public inspectors. the Government stamp.

E v e r y box bears

I n practice the verdict of

the grader is accepted b y the English purchasers. Relatively the amount of frozen

beef

which we

export is not l a r g e ; but our climate and pastures are too well suited for beef-growing to make i t l i k e l y that the discrepancy w i l l continue.

Probably frozen

beef w i l l give place to c h i l l e d ; that is to say, i m provements i n the art of chilling w i l l enable

our

beef to be carried at a temperature of, let us say, 30 degrees Fahrenheit instead of 12 degrees.

It w i l l

then arrive i n E n g l a n d soft and fit for immediate use ; thawing w i l l not be needed, and a higher price w i l l be obtained.

B u t , however far behind N e w Zealand

may as yet lag i n the beef-trade, enough has l>een done i n other branches of refrigeration to show how scientific, well organized, and efficient colonial i n dustry is becoming, and how very far the farmers and graziers of the islands are from w o r k i n g i n the rough and hand-to-mouth fashion that settlers i n new countries are supposed to affect.

TOWNS AND TOWN

LIFE

The purpose of this sketch, however, is not to dilate upon the growth of our commerce and industry, re-


26

NEW

ZEALAND

POCKET-BOOK

markable as that is i n a country so isolated and a population only now touching a million.

M y object,

rather, is to give something of an outline of the archipelago itself, of

the

people who

live

there

between the mountains and the sea, and of the life and

society that a new-comer may expect to

see.

M a i n l y , then, the most striking peculiarities of the islands, as a land undergoing the process of occupation, are the decentralized character of this occupation, and the large areas almost unpeopled that still remain i n a country relatively small in size.

N e w Zealand

was originally not so much a colony as a group of little settlements bound together none too ably.

comfort-

Its nine provinces, with their clashing interests

and intense jealousies, were politically abolished more than t h i r t y years ago, but some of the local feeling which they stood for and suffered for still remains, and w i l l remain as long as mountain-ranges and straits of the sea divide N e w Zealand.

Troublesome as its

divisions are to politicians, merchants, ship-owners, councils of defence, and many other persons and interests, they nevertheless have their advantages. T h e y breed emulation, competition, civic p a t r i o t i s m ; and the local life, parochial as i t looks to observers from larger communities, is at least far better than the stagnation of provinces drained of vitality by an enormous metropolis.

F o r i n N e w Zealand you have


TOWNS

A N D TOWN

27

LIFE

four chief towns large enough to be dignified w i t h the name of cities, as well as twice as many brisk and aspiring seaports, each the centre and outlet of a respectable tract of advancing countay.

A l l these

have to be thought of when any general scheme for opening up, defending, or educating the country is i n question.

O u r U n i v e r s i t y , to give one example, is

an examining body, w i t h five affiliated colleges ; but these colleges lie i n towns far apart, hundreds of miles from each other.

The ocean steamship com-

panies before mentioned have to carry merchandise to and from six or eight ports.

Singers and actors have

to travel to at least as many towns to find audiences. W e l l i n g t o n , the capital, is still not the largest of the four chief towns, rapid as its progress has been d u r i n g the last generation.

A u c k l a n d w i t h 90,000

people is still the largest, as i t is the most b e a u t i f u l : W e l l i n g t o n w i t h 70,000 holds the second place. Decentralized as N e w Zealand is, large as its rural population is, and pleasant as its country life can be, still its four chief towns hold between them more than a quarter of its people, and cannot, therefore, be passed over i n a sentence.

Europeans are apt to

be impatient of colonial towns, seeing i n them collections of buildings neither large enough to be imposing nor old enough to be mellowed into beauty or quaint•ness.

A n d i t is true that i n our four cities you have


28

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

towns w i t h o u t architectural or historic interest, and i n size only about equal to Reading, Oxford, Coventry, and Y o r k . years ago

Y e t these towns, standing where seventy nothing stood, have other features

interest beside their newness.

of

Cities are, after a l l ,

chiefly important as places i n which civilized men and women can live decently and comfortably, and do their daily work under conditions which are healthy

and

neither degrading nor

disagreeable.

The first business of a city is to be useful, and its second to be healthy.

Certainly it should not be

hideous; but our cities are not hideous.

WTiat if

the streets tend to straight r i g i d i t y , while the dwelling-houses are mostly of wood, and the brick and stone business edifices bespeak modern commercialism ! The European visitor w i l l note these features; but he w i l l note, also, the spirit of cleanliness, order, and convenience everywhere active among a people as alert and sturdy as they are well-fed and comfortably clad.

The

unconcealed

pride of

the colonist i n

material progress may sometimes jar a little on the tourist i n search of the odd, barbaric, or picturesque. B u t the colonist, after a l l , is b u i l d i n g up a 'civilized nation.

A r t , important as i t is, cannot be

the

foundation of a young state. I n the towns, then, y o u see bustling streets, where electric tramways r u n out into roomy suburbs, and


TOWNS A N D TOWN

29

LIFE

where motor-cars have already ceased to be a novelty. Y o u notice that the towns are even better drained than paved, and that the water-supply everywhere is as good as it ought to be i n so well-watered a country. The visitor can send telegrams for sixpence and letters for a penny, and finds the State telephone system as convenient as i t is cheap.

If the hotels do

not

display A m e r i c a n magnificence, they do not charge American prices, for they give you comfort and c i v i l i t y for twelve shillings and sixpence a day.

Theatres

and concert-halls are commodious, if not i m p o s i n g ; and, thanks to travelling companies and to famous artists passing through on their way to or from Australia, there is usually a good play to be seen or good music to be heard.

Indeed, if there be an art

which N e w Zealanders can be said to love, i t is music.

Their choral societies and glee-clubs

are

many, and they have at least one choir much above the average.

N o r are they indifferent to the sister

art of painting, a foundation for which is laid i n their State schools, where a l l children have to learn to draw.

Good art-schools have been founded i n the

larger towns and i n some of the smaller.

Societies

are b u y i n g and collecting pictures for their galleries. A t the International E x h i b i t i o n , held i n Christchurch i n 1906-7, the fine display of B r i t i s h art, for which Christchurch had to thank the English Government,


30

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

was welcomed with the enthusiasm it deserved.

The

picture-galleries were thronged from beginning to end of the Exhibition, and the many thousands of pounds spent i n purchases gave material evidence of the capacity of N e w Zealanders to appreciate good art when they have the chance of seeing it. The same may be said of literature.

To say that

they a l l love books would be a b s u r d ; but of what nation can that be said 1 W h a t can truly be affirmed is that a l l of them read newspapers, that most of them read books of some sort, and that a l l their books are not novels.

Booksellers tell y o u that the demand for

cheap editions of well-known authors is astonishing i n so small a population.

They try to write books,

too, and do not always fail, and a small anthology— i t would have to be very slender—might be filled w i t h genuine N e w Zealand poetry.

Of course, how-

ever, i t is i n the newspapers that we have the plainest evidence of the average public taste.

It is a land of

newspapers—town and country, daily and weekly, small or of substantial size.

T o say that the best of

these equals the best of the English provincial papers is not, I fear, true.

The islands contain no daily

newspaper which a journalist can honestly call equal to the Manchester Guardian or the Birminglmm

Post;

bat many of the papers are good, and some of them are extraordinarily good for towns, the largest of which


TOWNS A N D TOWN L I F E

31

contains, with its suburbs, less than ninety thousand people.

N o one journal towers above the others.

If

I were asked to choose a morning, an evening, and a weekly paper, I should, perhaps, name the Otago Daily Times, the Wellington Evening Post, and the Christchurch Weeklj Preis;

but the Weekly News of A u c k -

land has the best illustrations.

I could understand a

good judge making a different selection.

The most

characteristic of the papers arc illustrated weekly editions of the chief dailies.

These good, though not

original, products of island journalism are pretty close imitations of their Victorian prototype, The Australasian.

The influence of the press is considerable,

though not perhaps as great as might be looked for from the numbers and success of the newspapers. Moreover—and this is really curious—they influence the public less in the politics of the Colony than i n several other fields.

" SOCIETY " Society i n the towns is made up of a mingling of what i n England would be called the middle and upper middle classes.

In some towns the latter pre-

ponderate, i n others the former.

N e w Zealanders

occasionally boast that i n their country class distinctions are u n k n o w n ;

but though this is

true


32

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

politically—for there are no privileged classes and no lower orders—the line is drawn i n matters social, and sometimes i n odd and amusing ways. inside

the

merchants,

line

are

financiers,

manufacturers,

The townsfolk

lawyers,

clergymen,

doctors, newspaper

owners, the higher officials, and the larger sort of agents and contractors.

Here and there, ran nantes,

are to be encountered men who paint, or write, or are musicians, or professors, secondary

schools.

or teachers of colleges or

M o s t of the older and some of

the younger are B r i t i s h born, but the between

differences

them and the native born are not very

apparent, though shades of difference can be detected. Money, birth, official position and ability are passports there, much as i n other countries, though i t is only fair to say that money is not all-powerful, and that ability, if not eccentric, has a rather better chance than i n older societies.

O n the surface the urban

middle class i n the Colony differs but little from people of the same sort i n the larger provincial cities of

the M o t h e r C o u n t r y .

Indeed, the likeness is

remarkable—albeit i n the Colony there is no aristocracy, no smart set, no army, navy, or

dominant

church, while underneath there is no multitude of hungry and hard-driven poor for the rich to shrink from or regard as dangerous; yet, except for the comparative absence of frock -coats and tall silk hats


PLANTING

POTATOES

IV.

Wright


•i-i

ARTISANS

and for the somewhat

easier and less suspicious

manner, the middle class remain as a British middle class still.

It is, then, pleasant to think that, if they

retain English prejudices, they have also the traditional virtues of the English official and man of business. ARTISANS T o a social student, however, the most interesting and, on the whole, most cheering aspect of town life is supplied by the work-people.

They are worth

watching as they go to their shops and factories between eight and nine i n the morning, or when, after five i n the afternoon, they pour into the streets with their work done and something of the day yet left to call their own.

The clean, well-ventilated

work-rooms are worth a visit certainly. B u t i t is the men and women, youths and girls themselves, who, to anyone acquainted with factory hands i n the O l d W o r l d , seem the best worth attention.

Everywhere

you note a decent average of health, strength, and contentment.

The men do not look stunted

or

deadened, the women pinched or sallow, the children weedy or underfed.

A s a rule they seem bright and

self-confident, with colour i n their faces and plenty of flesh on their frames, uniting something of English solidity w i t h a good deal of American alertness. 3


34

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

Seventy thousand hands—the number employed i n our factories and workshops—may seem few enough. B u t forty years ago

we could not muster seven

thousand, and the proportional increase d u r i n g the last twelve years has been very rapid.

To what

extent their healthy and comfortable condition is due to the much-discussed labour laws of N e w Zealand is a moot point which need not be considered here. W h a t is certain is that for many years past the artisans and labourers of the Colony have increased i n numbers, while earning higher wages and working shorter hours than formerly.

A t the same time, the

employers, as a body, have prospered as they never prospered before, and this prosperity shows as yet no sign of abatement.

That what is called the labour

problem has been solved i n N e w Zealand no sensible man would pretend ; but at least the more wasteful and ruinous forms of industrial conflicts were prevented b y them for twelve years.

A s a testimony to

the condition of the N e w Zealand worker I could hardly do better than quote the opinion of the wellknown

English

labour .leader,

M r . K e i r Hardie.

Whatever my readers may t h i n k of his opinions— and some of them may not be among his warmest admirers—they w i l l admit that he is precisely the last man i n the E m p i r e likely to give an overflattering picture of the lot of the labourer anywhere.

His


COUNTRY L I F E

35

business is to voice the grievances of his class, not to conceal or suppress them.

Now, M r . Hardie, after a

tour round the Empire, deliberately picks out N e w Zealand as the most desirable country for a B r i t i s h emigrant workman.

The standard of comfort there

appears to h i m to be higher than elsewhere, and he recognizes that the public conscience is sensitive to the fair claims of labour.

COUNTRY

LIFE

W h e n a l l is said, however, i t is not the cities which most interest the ordinary visitors to N e w Zealand.

They may have a charm which i t is no

exaggeration to call loveliness, as A u c k l a n d h a s ; or be finely seated on hillsides overlooking noble harbours, as W e l l i n g t o n and Dunedin are ; or may have sweetly redeeming features, like the river banks and public and private gardens of flat Christehurch. They may be pleasant altogether both i n themselves and their landscape, as Nelson is.

B u t after all they are

towns, and modern towns whose best qualities are that they are wholesome and that their raw newness is passing away.

It is to the country and

the

country life that travellers i n N e w Zealand naturally t u r n when looking for something having a spice of novelty and, maybe, a touch of romance. 3—2

N o r need


36

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

they be disappointed.

Country life i n N e w Zealand

varies w i t h the locality and the year.

It is not

always bright any more than the N e w Zealand sky. It is not always prosperous any more than you can claim that the seasons are always favourable.

But,

on the whole, I do not hesitate to say that to a healthy, capable fanner or rural worker N e w Zealand offers the most i n v i t i n g life i n the world. I n the first place, the life is cheerful and healthy ; i n the next place, the work, though laborious at times, need not be k i l l i n g ; and then the solitude, that deadly accompaniment of early colonial life, has now ceased to be continuous except i n a few scattered outposts.

Moreover

— a n d this is important—there is money i n i t .

The

incompetent or inexperienced farmer may, of course, lose his capital, just as a drunken or stupid labourer may fail to save out of his wages.

B u t year i n , year

out, the farmer who knows his business and sticks to i t can and does make money, improve his property, and see his position grow safer and his anxieties less. Good farmers can make profits quite apart from the very considerable increment which comes to the value of land as population spreads. Whatever may be said of this rise i n price as a matter of public policy, i t fills the pockets of individuals i n a manner highly satisfactory to many of the present generation. One of the most cheerful features i n N e w Zealand


C O U N T R Y LIFE

37

country life, perhaps, is the extent to which those who own the land are actually taking root in the soil. F a r the greater part of the settled country is i n the hands of men and families who live on the land, and may go on living there as long as they please : no one can oust t h e m ; they are either freeholders or tenants of the State or public bodies.

Such tenants hold their lands

on terms so easy that their position as working farmers is as good as or better than that of freeholders. As prospective sellers of land they may not be so well placed ; but that is another story.

A n y w a y , rural

New

Zealand is becoming filled with capable independent farmers, with farms of a l l sizes, from the estate of four thousand or five thousand acres to the peasant holding of fifty or one hundred. Colonists still think i n large areas when they define the degrees of land-holding and ownership. A n d here a N e w Zealander, endeavouring to make a general sketch that may place realities clearly before the English eye, is confronted with the difficulty, almost impossibility, of helping the European to conceive a thinly peopled

territory.

Suppose, for a

moment, what the B r i t i s h Islands would be like if they were populated on the N e w Zealand scale—that is to say, if they held about a million souls, of whom fifty thousand were brown and the rest white.

The

brown would be English-speaking and half-civilized,


38

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

and the whites just workaday Britons of the middle and labouring classes, a little taller and rather more tanned by sun and w i n d . T h a t at first sight does not seem to imply any revolutionary change, but imagine standing on the deck of a steamer running up the English Channel past the English coast as it would look if nineteen-twentieths of the B r i t i s h

popula-

tion and a l l traces of them and the historic of their country had been swept away. edges of C o r n w a l l and hills of

past

The cliff

Devon would

be

covered w i t h thick forest, and perhaps a few people might cluster round single piers i n sheltered inlets like Falmouth and P l y m o u t h .

The Chalk Downs of

Wiltshire and Hampshire would be held by a score or two of sheep-farmers, tenants of the Crown, running their

flocks

over enormous

areas of scanty grass.

Fertile strips like the vale of Blackmore would be occupied by independent

farmers with from

three

hundred to two thousand acres of grass and crops round their homesteads.

Southampton would be

the largest town i n the B r i t i s h Islands, a flourishi n g and busy seaport, containing with its suburbs not less than 90,000

people,

and its inhabitants

would

to

railway system,

proudly

point

the

of

which they were the terminus, and by which they were

connected

with

L i v e r p o o l , the second

city

of the U n i t e d K i n g d o m h o l d i n g with Birkenhead


COUNTRY

about

seventy

Southampton

thousand to

LIFE

souls.

Liverpool on

Journeying from a

single

line

of

rails, the traveller would note a comfortable race of small farmers established i n the valley of the Thames, and would hear of similar conditions about the W y e and the Severn.

B u t he would be struck by the

almost empty look of the wide pastoral stretches i n Berkshire and Oxfordshire, and would find axe-men struggling with Nature i n the forest of A r d e n , whose dense thickets would still cover the whole of W a r w i c k shire and spread over into the neighbouring counties. Arrived at Liverpool after a twelve hours' journey, he might wish to visit D u b l i n or Glasgow, the only two other considerable towns i n the British Islands; the one about as large as B a t h now is, the other the size of Northampton.

H e would be informed by

the

Government tourist-agent i n Liverpool that his easiest way to Glasgow would be by sea to a landing-place i n the Solway F i r t h , where he would find the southern terminus of the Scoteh railways.

H e would discover

that E n g l a n d and Scotland were not yet linked b y rail, though that great step i n progress was confidently looked for within a very few years. B y a l l this I do not mean to suggest that there are no spots i n N e w Zealand where the modern side of rural English life is already closely reproduced. O n an earlier page I have said that there are. Country


40

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

life in N e w Zealand differs widely from district to district, and is marked by as much variety as is almost everything else i n the islands.

O n the east coast of

the South Islands, between Southland and the K a i kouras, mixed farming is scientifically carried on with no small expenditure of s k i l l and capital.

The same

can be said of certain districts on the west coast of the Wellington Province, and in the province of Hawkes Bay, within a moderate distance of the town of Napier. Elsewhere, w i t h certain exceptions, farming is of a rougher and more primitive-looking sort than anything seen in the Mother Country, though it does not follow that a comparatively

rough,

unkempt

appearance

denotes lack of skill or agricultural knowledge.

It

may mean, and usually does mean, that the land is in the earlier stages of settlement, and that the holders have not yet had time to think much of appearances. Then outside the class of small or middle-sized farms come the large holdings of the islands, which are like nothing at all i n the U n i t e d K i n g d o m . two kinds, freehold pastoral licenses.

They are of

and Crown lands held

under

Generally speaking, the freeholds

are much the more valuable, have much more arable land, and w i l l , i n days to come, carry many more people.

The pastoral Crown tenants have, by

pressure of land laws and the demands of

the

settlement,

been more and more restricted to the wilder and more


COUNTRY L I F E

barren areas of the islands.

11

T h e y still hold more

than ten million acres, but this country chiefly lies in the mountainous interior, covering steep faces where the plough w i l l never go, and narrow terraces and cold stony valleys where the snow lies deep i n winter. O n these sheep stations life changes more slowly than elsewhere.

If you wish to form an idea of what

pastoral life " up-country " was forty years ago, y o u can still do so by spending a month or two at one of these mountain homesteads. There you may possibly have the owner and the owner's family for society, but are rather more l i k e l y to be yourself furnishing a solitary manager with not unwelcome company.

Round

about the homestead you w i l l still sec the traditional features of colonial station life, the long wool-shed with high-pitched roof of shingles or corrugated iron, and the sheep-yards which, to the eye of the " n e w chum," seem such an unmeaning labyrinth. N o t far off w i l l stand the men's huts, a little larger than of yore, and more likely nowadays to be frame cottages than to be slab whares with the sleeping bunks and low, wide chimneys of days gone by.

I n out-of-the-way

spots the station store may still occasionally be found, with its atmosphere compounded of odours of hobnailed boots, moleskin trousers, brown sugar, flannel shirts, tea, tar, and black tobacco; for the T r u c k A c t


NEW

42

Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

does not apply to sheep stations, and there are still places far enough away from a township to make the station store a convenience to the men. At

such places the homestead is still

probably

nothing more than a modest cottage, roomy, but built of wood, and owing any attractiveness i t has to its broad veranda, perhaps festooned with creepers, and to the garden and orchard which are now seldom absent. I n the last generation the harder and coarser specimens

of

the pioneers

often affected

to hold

gardens and garden-stuffs cheap, and to despise planting and adornment of any k i n d , summing them up as " fancy-work."

T h i s was not always mere stinginess

or brute indifference to everything

that did not

directly pay, though it sometimes was. There can bo owners or mortgagee

com-

panies were often mean enough i n these things.

no doubt that absentee

But

the spirit that grudged every hour of labour bestowed on anything except the raising of wool, mutton, or corn was often the outcome of nothing worse than absorption i n a ceaseless and unsparing battle with Nature and the fluctuations of markets.

The first

generation of settlers had to wrestle hard to keep their f o o t h o l d ; and naturally the men who usually survived through bad times were those who concentrated themselves most intensely on the struggle for success and existence.

B u t T i m e mellows everything.


COUNTRY L I F E

18

The struggle for life has still to be sustained i n NewZealand.

It is easier than of yore, however, and the

continued prosperity of the last twelve or thirteen years has enabled settlers to bestow thought and money on the lighter and pleasanter side.

Home-

steads are brighter places than they were : they may not be artistic, but even the most remote are nearly always comfortable. More than comfort the w o r k i n g settler does not ask for, and i n estimating how far N e w Zealand country life may be enjoyable

and satisfying we

must remember that i t is maiidy a life out of doors. On farms and stations of a l l sorts and sizes the men spend many hours daily i n the open, sometimes near the homestead, sometimes miles away from i t .

To

them, therefore, climate is of more importance than room space, and sunshine than furniture.

If

we

except a handful of mountaineers, the country worker i n N e w Zealand is either never snow-bound at all, or, at the worst, is hampered by a snowstorm once a year.

M a n y showery days there are, and now and

again the bursts of w i n d and rain are wild enough to force ploughmen to knock off work, or shepherds to seek c o v e r ; but, apart from a few tempests, there is nothing to keep countrymen indoors.

It is never

either too hot or too cold for outdoor work, while for at least one day i n three i n an average year i t is a


11

NEW

ZEALAND

POCKET-BOOK

positive pleasure to breathe the air and live under the pleasant skies. The contrast between the station of the back-ranges and the country place of the wealthy freeholder is that between the first generation of colonial life and the third. The lord of forty thousand acres may be a rural settler or a rich man w i t h interests i n town as well as country.

In either case his house is some-

thing far more costly than the old wooden bungalow. It is defended by plantations and approached by a curving carriage-drive.

W h e n the proprietor arrives

at his front door, he is as likely to step out of a motor-car as to dismount from horseback.

Within,

you may find an airy billiard-room ; without, smoothshaven tennis-lawns, and perhaps a bowling-green. Should guests be i n the house, the company wear evening dress at dinner, where the wine w i l l expensive, and may even be good.

be

In the smoking-

room, cigars have displaced the briar-root pipes of our fathers.

The stables are higher and more spacious

than were the dwellings of the men of the early days. Neat grooms and trained gardeners are seen i n the place of the " rouse-abouts " of yore.

D i p and wool-

shed are discreetly hidden from v i e w ; and a conservatory gallows.

rises

where

meat

once

hung

on

the


GARDENS

45

GARDENS F o r a Colony whose days are not threescore years and ten, ours has made some creditable headway i n gardening.

The good and bad points of our climate

alike encourage us to cultivate the art.

The com-

bination of au ample rainfall with lavish sunshine helps the gardener's skill.

O n the other hand, the

winds—those gales from north-west and south-west, varied by the teasing persistency of the steadier north-easter, plague of spring afternoons—make the planting of hedgerows and shelter-clumps an inevitable self-defence.

So while on the one hand the colonist

hews and burns and drains away the natural vegetation of forest and swamp, on the other, i n the character of planter and gardener, he does something to make amends.

The colours of England and N e w

Zealand glow side b y side i n the flowers round his grass

plots, while Australia and

North

America

furnish sombre break - winds, and contribute some oddities of foliage and a share of colour.

I n seaside

gardens the Norfolk Island pine takes the place held by the cedar of Lebanon on English lawns. mimosa and

jackarandah of

Australia

The

persist i n

flowering i n the frosty days of our early spring.

On

the verandas, jessamine and V i r g i n i a creeper intertwine w i t h the clematis and passion-flower of the


M

bush.

N E W Z E A L A N D rOCKET-BOOK

The p a l m - l i l y — i n s u l t e d w i t h the nickname

of cabbage-tree—is hardy enough to flourish anywhere, despite its semi-tropical l o o k ; but the nikau, our true palm, requires shelter from bitter or violent winds.

The toe-toti (a reed with golden plumes), the

glossy native flax (a l i l y with leaves like the blade of a classic Roman sword), and two shrubs, the matipo and karaka, are less t i m i d , and so more serviceable.

The

crimson parrot's-beak, and veronicas, white, pink, and purple, are easily and commonly grown ; and though the manuka does not r i v a l the E n g l i s h whitethorn i n popularity, the pohutu-kawa, most striking of flowering trees, surpasses the ruddy may and pink chestnut of the old " country." cannot be transplanted.

Some E n g l i s h garden-charms The thick sward and living

green of soft lawns ; the moss and mellowing lichens that steal slowly over bark and walls ; the quaintness that belongs to old-fashioned landscape g a r d e n i n g ; the venerable aspect of aged trees—these cannot be looked for i n gardens the eldest of which scarcely count half a century.

B u t a climate i n which arum

lilies run w i l d i n the hedgerows, and i n which bougainvilleas, camellias, azaleas, oleanders, and even (in the north) the stephanotis, bloom i n the open air, gives to skill great opportunities.

T h e n the lover of ferns

— a n d they have many lovers i n N e w Zealand—has there a whole realm to call his own.

N o t that every


GARDENS

17

fern w i l l grow i n every garden. varieties

A m o n g distinct

numbering scores, there are many that

naturally cling to the peace and moisture of deep gullies and overshadowing jungle.

There, indeed, is

found a wealth of them—ferns w i t h trunks as thick as trees, and ferns with fronds as fine as hair or as delicate as lace; and there are filmy ferns that cling to and twine round

their greater brethren, and

pendant ferns that droop from crevices and drape the faces of cliffs.

T o these add ferns that climb

aloft as parasites on branches and among foliage, and ferns that creep upon the ground like lycopodium, or that coat fallen forest trees like mosses. The tree-ferns are large enough to be hewn down with axes, and to spread their fronds as wide as the state umbrellas of Asiatic kings.

T h i r t y feet is no uncommon span for

the shade they cast, and their height has been known to reach fifty feet.

Sometimes they stand together i n

dense groves; attempt to penetrate these and you find a dusky entanglement where your feet sink into tinder and dead brown litter.

B u t look down upon

a grove from above, and your eyes view a canopy of green intricacies, a waving covering of soft, wing-like fronds, and fresh curving plumes.

A m o n g tree-ferns

the black-trunked are the tallest, while the silverfronded, whose wings seem as though frosted on the underside, are the most beautiful.


N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

18

The change i n country life now going on so rapidly has not merely meant more comfort for the employer: the position of the men also has altered for the better.

W h i l e the landowner's house and surround-

ings show a measure of refinement, and even something that may at the other end of the earth pass for l u x u r y , the station hands are far better cared for than was the case a generation or two ago.

The

interior of the " men's huts " no longer reminds you of the foc'sle of a merchant-ship. Seek out the men's quarters on one of the better-managed estates, and it may easily happen that you w i l l now find a substantial, well-built cottage w i t h a broad veranda round two sides.

Inside, you are shown a com-

modious dining-room, and a reading-room supplied with newspapers and even books.

T o each man is

assigned a separate bedroom, clean and airy, and a b i g bathroom is supplemented by decent lavatory arrangements.

The food was always abundant—in

the roughest days the estate owners never grudged their men plenty of " tucker."

B u t i t is now much

more varied and better cooked, and therefore wholesome.

T o some extent this improvement i n the

country labourer's lot is due to legal enactment and Government inspection.

B u t i t is only fair to say

that i n some of the most notable instances i t comes from spontaneous

action by employers themselves.



GARDENS

N e w Zealand has developed

49

a public

conscience

during the last twenty years i n matters relating to the treatment of labour, and by this development the country employers have been touched as much as any section of the community.

T h e y were never an u n -

k i n d l y race, and it may now be fairly claimed that they compare favourably with any similar class of employers within the Empire.

THE BUSH

SETTLER

A t the other end of the rural scale to the establishment of the great landowner we see the home of the bush settler—the pioneer of to-day.

Perhaps the

Crown has leased a block of v i r g i n forest to h i m ; perhaps he is the tenant of a M a o r i tribe, holding on a twenty-one or forty-two years' lease; perhaps he has contrived to pick up a freehold i n the rough.

At

any rate, he and his mate are on the ground armed with saw and axe for their long attack upon N a t u r e ; and as you note the muscles of their bared arms, and the swell of the chests expanding under their light singlets, y o u are quite ready to believe that Nature w i l l come out of the contest i n a damaged condition. It is their business to hack and grub, hew and burn, blacken and deface.

T h e sooner they can set the fire

running through tracts of fern or piles of felled bush

4


50

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

the sooner w i l l they be able to scatter broadcast the contents of certain bags of grass-seed now carefully stowed away i n their shanty under cover of tarpaulins. Sworn enemies are they of tall bracken and stately pines.

To their eyes nothing can equal i n beauty a

landscape of black, fire-scorched stumps and charred logs—if only on the soil between these they may behold the green shoots of young grass thrusting ten million blades upward.

W h a t matter the ugliness

and wreckage of the first stages of settlement, if, after many years, a t i d y farm and smiling homestead are to be the outcome ?

I n the meantime, while under-

scrubbing and bush-felling are going on, the axe-men build for themselves a slab hut with shingled roof. The furniture probably exemplifies the great art of " doing without."

The legs of their table are posts

driven into the clay

floor.

N a i l e d to other posts

is the sacking on which their blankets are spread. A couple of sea-chests hold their clothes and odds and ends.

A sheep-skin or two do d u t y for rugs.

Tallow candles, or maybe kerosene, furnish light.

A

very few well-thumbed books, and a pack or two of more than well-thumbed cards, provide amusement. Not

that there are many hours i n the week

amusement.

for

W h e n cooking is done, washing and

mending have to be taken i n hand.

Flannel and

blue dungaree require washing after a while, and


T H E BUSH S E T T L E R

51

even garments of canvas and moleskin must be repaired sooner or later.

A camp oven, a frying-pan,

and a big teapot form the front rank of their cooking utensils, and fuel, at least, is abundant.

Baking-

powder helps them to make bread, and bush pork, wild birds, and fish may vary a diet in which mutton and sardines figure monotonously.

A f t e r a while a

few vegetables are grown behind the hut, and the settlers find time to m i l k a cow.

Soon afterwards,

perhaps, occurs the chief event of pioneer life—the coming of a wife on to the scene.

W i t h her arrival

is the beginning of a civilized life indoors, though her earlier years as a housekeeper may be an era of odd shifts and desperate expedients.

A bush household

is lucky if i t is near enough to a metalled road to enable stores to be brought within fairly easy reach. More probably such necessaries as sugar, groceries, tools, and grass-seed—anything, i n short, from a grindstone to a bag of sugar—have to be brought by pack-horse along a bush-track where road-metal is an unattainable l u x u r y , and which may not unfairly be described as a succession logs.

of mud-holes divided by

A l o n g such a " thoroughfare " many a pioneer

has guided, i n days past, the mud-plastered packhorse which has carried the first beginnings of his fortunes.

F o r what sustains the average

settler

through the early struggles of pioneering i n the 4—2


52

NEW

ZEALAND

POCKET-BOOK

wilderness is chiefly the example of those who have done the same t h i n g before, have lived as hard a life or harder, and have emerged as substantial farmers and

leading

district.

settlers, respected

Success has crowned

throughout

their

the achievement so

many thousand times i n the past that the backcountry settler of to-day, as he fells his bush and toils along his muddy track, may well be sustained by hope and by visions of

macadamized

coach-roads

running past well-grassed, well-stocked sheep or dairy farms i n days to come.



P A R T II A W O R D TO T H E T O U R I S T PASSENGERS

to

New

Zealand

may

be

divided into two k i n d s — t h o s e who go

roughly to settle

there, and those who go as visitors merely. visitors, again, may bo separated into

The

sportsmen,

invalids, and ordinary tourists who l a n d i n

the

country i n order to look round and depart, " t o glance and nod and hurry by."

Now, by passengers and

travellers of a l l sorts and conditions I, a G o v e r n ment official, may be forgiven if I advise to make a l l possible the Dominion. willing may

be

to

use of

them

the Government

of

F o r i t is a Government ready and

give

pardoned

them help and information. for reminding English

I

readers

that the Dominion has an office i n London with a bureau, where inquirers are cheerfully welcomed and inquiries dealt w i t h . Official pamphlets and statistics may not be stimulating or exciting reading • but, though d r y and cautious, they are likely to be fairly 53


NEW

54

accurate.

Z E A L A N D POCKET BOOK

So much for the information to be got i n

England. W h e n the passenger lands i n N e w Zealand, I can only repeat the advice—let him make every use he can of the Government.

If he is in search of

land, he cannot do better than make his way to the nearest office of the Lands and Survey Department. If he be a skilled labourer whose capital is chiefly i n his muscles and trade-knowledge, the Department of Labour w i l l tell h i m where he can best seek for employment. any of

L a s t , but not least, if he be a tourist of

the three descriptions above mentioned, he

cannot easily miss the T o u r i s t Department, for that ubiquitous organization has agents i n every part of the islands.

Once i n their hands, and brought by

them into touch w i t h the State and the facilities its railways offer, the traveller's path is made as smooth as ample knowledge and good advice can make i t . T h e visitor need not overburden himself with any cumbrous or extravagant outfit.

H e is going to a

civilized country w i t h a temperate climate.

The sort

of k i t that might be taken for an autumn journey through the W e s t of Ireland w i l l be sufficient for a run through N e w Zealand.

A sportsman may take

very much what he would take for a hunting or fishing holiday i n the highlands of Scotland; and, speaking broadly, the mountaineer who has climbed Switzerland w i l l know what to take to N e w Zealand.

Of course,


A WORD TO T H E TOURIST

55

anyone who contemplates camping out must add the apparatus for sleeping, cooking, and w a s h i n g ;

but

these things can be bought i n the larger N e w Zealand towns at reasonable prices. A much more complicated

question is the route

which the traveller should follow on landing. districts for deer-shooting are well known.

The

Indeed,

the sportsman need have no difficulty i n mapping out a course for himself.

A l l w i l l depend on the season

of the year and the special game he is after.

Any-

one interested i n the progress of settlement and colonization may be recommended to pass through the farming district between the W a i a u R i v e r i n Southland and the river of the same name which runs into the sea about sixty miles north of Christehurch. Next, he should make a journey from Wellington to N e w P l y m o u t h , along the south-west coast of N e w Zealand, and again

from Wellington

to

Napier,

threading the districts of Wairarapa, the Seventy M i l e Bush, and Hawkes E a y .

The city of A u c k l a n d

and its neighbourhood, and the valley of the Waikato R i v e r also, he should not miss. L e t me suppose, however, that what the tourist wants is rather the wilderness and its scenery than prosaic evidence of the w o i k of subduing the one and wrecking the other.

H i s route, then, w i l l very much

depend on the port that is his starting-point. Should


56

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

he land at Bluff H a r b o u r he w i l l find himself within easy striking distance of the Otago mountain-lakes, all of which are worth a visit, while one of them, Manapouri, is perhaps as romantic a piece of wild lake scenery as the earth has to show. fiords of the south-west

The sounds or

coast can be

comfortably

reached by excursion steamer i n the autumn.

The

tougher stamp of pedestrian can get to them at other times i n the year by following one of the tracks which cross the mountains from the lake-district aforesaid to the western coast. Aorangi, the highest peak of the Southern A l p s , and the centre of the chief glaciers, is best approached from Timaru, a seaport on the eastern coast, a hundred and twelve miles south of Christchurch.

Anyone,

however, who is able to travel on horseback may be promised a rich reward if he follows the west coast, southward from the town of H o k i t i k a , and passes between A o r a n g i and the sea on that side.

Between

H o k i t i k a and the Canterbury plains the journey by rail and coach is for half its distance a succession of beautiful sights, the finest of which is found i n the deep gorge of the O t i r a River, into which the traveller plunges on the western side of the d i v i d i n g range. Inferior, but well worth seeing, is the gorge of the B u l l e r R i v e r , to be seen by those who make the coach journey from Westport to Nelson.

Nelson


A WORD TO T H E TOURIST

67

itself is finely placed at the inner end of the grand arc of B l i n d Bay.

The drive thence to Picton on Queen

Charlotte Sound, passing on the way through Havelock and the R a i V a l l e y , has charming points of view. The better scenery

of the N o r t h Island is not

found i n the southern portion unless the traveller is prepared to leave the beaten track and do some rough scrambling i n the Tararua and Buahine M o u n tains.

Then, indeed, he will have his reward. Other-

wise, after t a k i n g i n the fine panorama of Wellington Harbour, he may be recommended to make his way with a l l convenient speed to N e w P l y m o u t h and the forest-clad

slopes of Mount Egmont.

Thence

he

should turn to the interior and reach the H o t Lakes district by way of one of the river valleys.

That of

the M o k a u is extremely beautiful in its rich covering of virgin forest.

B u t the gorges of the Wanganui

are not only equal to anything of the k i n d i n beauty, but

may

fashion.

be

ascended

i n the

most

comfortable

A r r i v e d at the upper end of the navigable

river, the traveller w i l l make his way by coach across country to L a k e Taupo and the famous volcanoes of its plateau. More often the tourist gains the volcanoes and thermal springs by coming thither southward from the town of A u c k l a n d .

A n d here let me observe that


58

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

A u c k l a n d and its surroundings make the pleasantest urban district i n the islands.

W i t h i n thirty miles of

the city there is much that is charming both on sea and land.

N o r w i l l a longer journey be wasted if a

visit be paid to the chief bays and inlets of

the

northern peninsula, notably to Whangaroa, Wangarei, Hokianga, and the B a y of Islands.

S t i l l , nothing i n

the province of A u c k l a n d is l i k e l y to r i v a l in magnetic power the volcanic district of which Boto-rua is the official centre.

T o its other attractions has

now

been added a connection by road with the unspoiled loveliness of L a k e AVaikaremoana and the forest and mountain region of the U r e w e r a tribe, into which, before the nineties, white men seldom ventured, save in armed force.

R i s i n g like a wall to the east of the

R a n g i t a i k i R i v e r , the U r e w e r a country is a l l the more striking b y reason of

the utter contrast it

affords to the desolate, half-barren plains of pumice which separate i t from the H o t Lakes.

These and

their district include Taupo, with its hot pools and giant cones.

B u t the most convenient points for a

visitor's headquarters is undoubtedly Roto-rua.

In

order to give the E n g l i s h reader some notion of the attractions of a representative resort for travellers and holiday-makers i n the Colony, I do not think I can do better than select Roto-rua and its environment.

I therefore subjoin the following sketch.


A WORD TO T H E TOURIST

.-.9

ROTO-RUA

The township of Roto-rua, with its side-shows, Ohinemutu and Whaka-rewa-rewa, escaped i n the great eruption of M o u n t Tarawera i n 1886

scot-free,

or, at any rate, w i t h a light powdering of dust. place survived to become the social centre of thermal country, and now offers no suggestion ruin or devastation.

The the of

It has been taken i n hand by

the Government, and is now bright, pleasant, and, if anything, too thoroughly comfortable and modern. It is scientifically drained and l i t by electricity. Hotels and tiny lodging-houses look out upon avenues planted with exotic trees.

The public gardens cover

a peninsula j u t t i n g out into the lake, and their flowery winding paths lead to lawns and tenniscourts.

Tea is served there by M a o r i

waitresses,

whose caps and white aprons might befit Kensington Gardens, and a band plays.

If the visitors to Roto-

rua do not exactly " dance on the slopes of a volcano," at least they chat and listen to music within sight of the vapour of fumaroles and the steam of hot springs. A steam launch w i l l carry them from one lake to another, or coaches convey them to watch geysers made to spout for their diversion.

They may picnic

and eat sandwiches i n spots where they can listen to m u d d y cauldrons of what looks like boiling porridge,


so

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

sucking and gurgling i n disagreeable fashion. O r they may watch gouts of dun-coloured mud fitfully issuing from cones like a n t - h i l l s — m u d volcanoes, to wit. F o r the country around is not dead or even sleeping, and w i t h i n a circuit of ten miles from Roto-rua there is enough to be seen to interest an intelligent sightseer for many days.

Personally, I do not think

Roto-rua the finest spot i n the thermal region.

Taupo,

with its lake, river, and great volcanoes, has, to my mind, higher claims.

M u c h as Roto-rua has to show,

I suspect that the W a i o t a p u V a l l e y offers a still better field to the man of science.

However, the die has

been cast, and Roto-rua, as the terminus of the railway and the seat of the Government sanatorium, has become a k i n d of thermal capital. There is no need to complain of this.

Its attractions are many, and, when

they are exhausted, y o u can go thence to any other point of the region.

Y o u may drive to Taupo by one

coach-road and return by another, or may reach W a i o t a p u i n a forenoon.

easily

Anglers start out

from Roto-rua to fish i n a lake and rivers where trout are more than usually abundant.

Y o u can believe if

y o u like that the chief difficulty met with by Rotorua fishermen is the labour of carrying home their enormous catches.

B u t it is, I understand, true that

the weight of trout caught by fly or minnow i n a season exceeds forty tons.

A t any rate—to drop the



A WORD TO T H E TOURIST

01

style of auctioneers' advertisements—the trout, chiefly of the rainbow k i n d , are very plentiful, and the sport very good.

I would say no harder thing of

the

attractions of Roto-rua and its circuit than t h i s — those who have spent a week there must not imagine that they have seen the thermal region.

They have

not even " done " it, still less do they know it. Almost every part of i t has much to interest, and Roto-rua is the beginning, not the end, of it a l l .

I know an

energetic colonist who, when travelling through Italy, devoted one whole day to seeing Rome. however,

E v e n he,

agrees with me that a month is a l l too

short a time for the N e w Zealand volcanic

zone.

Sociable or elderly tourists have a right to make themselves snug at Roto-rua or W a i r a k e i . B u t there are other kinds of travellers, and holiday-makers and lovers of scenery, students of science, sportsmen, and workers seeking for the space and fresh air of the wilderness, w i l l do well to go farther afield. A t Roto-rua, as at other spots i n the zone, you are i n a realm of sulphur.

It is i n the air as well as the

water, tickles your throat, and blackens the silver i n your pocket.

Amongst many compensating returns

it brightens patches of the landscape with brilliant streaks of many hues—not yellow or golden only, but orange, green, blue, blood-red, and even purple. Often where the voleanic mud would be most dismal


62

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

the sulphur colours and glorifies i t .

A l u m is found

frequently alongside it, whitening banks and pool i n a way that makes Englishmen think of their chalk downs.

One mountain, M a u n g a Kakaramea (Mount

Striped-Earth), has slopes that suggest an immense Scottish plaid. GEYSERS

But more beautiful than the sulphur stripes or the coloured pools, and startling and uncommon i n a way that neither lakes nor mountains can be, are the geysers.

Since the P i n k and W h i t e Terraces were

blown up, they are, perhaps, the most s t r i k i n g and uncommon feature of the region, which, if i t had nothing else to display, would still be well worth a visit.

T h e y r i v a l those of

surpass those of Iceland.

the Yellowstone and N e w Zealanders

have

made a study of geysers, and know that they are a capricious race.

T h e y burst into sudden activity,

and as unexpectedly go to sleep again.

The steam-

jet of O r a k e i - K o r a k o , which shot out of the bank of the Waikato at such an odd angle, and astonished a l l beholders for a few years, died down inexplicably. So d i d the wonderful W a i m a n g u , the spray of which was sent at least fifteen hundred feet into m i d a i r . The W a i k i t e Geyser, after a long rest, began to play again at the time of the Tarawera eruption. natural enough.

That was

B u t why d i d i t suddenly cease to


A WORD TO T H E TOURIST

6^

move after the opening of the railway to Roto-rua, two miles away 1 M r . R u s k i n might have sympathized with it for so resenting the intrusion of commercialism, but tourists d i d not.

Great was the rejoicing when

Pohutu, still attentive to public events, broke out i n full vigour on the day on which the Colony became a Dominion.

S t i l l , there are geysers enough and to

spare i n the volcanic zone, to say nothing of the chances of a new performer moment.

gushing out at

any

Some are large enough to be terrific, others

small enough to be playful, or even amusing. hydrodynamics

The

of Nature are well understood

at

Roto-rua, where M r . Malfroy's ingenious toy, the artificial geyser, is an exact imitation of their structure and action.

The curious may examine this, or they

may visit the extinct geyser, Te W a r o , down

the

empty pipe of which a man may be lowered.

At

fifteen feet below the surface he will find himself i n a vaulted chamber twice as roomy as a ship's cabin, and paved and plastered with silica.

F r o m the

floor

another pipe leads to lower subterranean depths.

In

the days of Te Waro's activity steam rushing up into this cavern from below would from time to time force the water there violently u p w a r d : played.

so the

geyser

To-day there are geysers irritable enough to

be set i n motion b y slices of soap, just as there are solfataras which a lighted match can make to roar,-


64

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

and excitable pools which a handful of earth w i l l stir into effervescence.

More impressive are the geysers

which spout often, but whose precise time for showing energy cannot be counted o n — w h i c h are, i n fact, the unexpected which is always happening.

V e r y beauti-

ful are the larger geysers, as, after their first roaring outburst and ascent, they stand, apparently climbing up, their effort to overcome the force of gravity seeming to grow greater and greater as they climb. E v e r y part of the huge column seems to be alive, and, indeed, all is i n motion w i t h i n i t .

Innumerable little

fountains gush up on its sides, to curl back and fall earthwards.

The sunlight penetrates the mass of

water, foam, and steam, catching the crystal drops and painting rainbows, which quiver and dance i n the wind.

Bravely the column holds up, t i l l , its

strength spent, i t falters and sways, and at last falls or sinks slowly down, whirlpool.

subsiding into

a

seething

Brief is the spectacle, but while it lasts i t

is " all a wonder and a w i l d delight." T w o M a o r i villages, one at Ohinemutu, the other at Whaka-rewa-rewa, irregular huts.

are disordered

collections

of

A m o n g them the brown natives of

the thermal district live and move w i t h a gravity and d i g n i t y that even their half-gaudy, half-dingy European garb

cannot wholly spoil.

Passing their

lives as they do on the edge of the cold lake, and



A WORD TO T H E TOURIST

65

surrounded by hot pools and steam-jets, they seem a more or less amphibious race, quite untroubled by anxiety about subterranean action.

They make a l l

the use they can of Nature's forces, employing the steam and hot water for various daily wants.

Of

course, they bathe incessantly and wash clothes i n the pools.

They w i l l sit up to their necks i n the

warm fluid, and smoke luxuriously in a bath that does not turn cold. is their cooking.

B u t more interesting to watch

Here the steam of the blow-holes

is their servant; or they w i l l lay their food i n baskets of flax i n some clean boiling spring, choosing, of course, water that is tasteless.

Cooking food

by

steam was and still is the favourite method of the Maori.

Where Nature does not provide the steam,

they d i g

ovens

i n the

earth called hangi, and,

wrapping their food i n leaves, place i t therein on redhot stones.

Then they spread more leaves over them,

pour water upon these, and cover the hole with earth. When the oven is opened the food is found thoroughly cooked, and i n this respect much more palatable than some of the cookery of the colonist. In their culinary work the Maoris have always been neat and clean. This makes their passion

for

those two terrible

delicacies, p u t r i d maize and dried shark, something of a puzzle.

5


66

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

THE

SANATORIUM

L i f e at Roto-rua is not a l l sightseeing; there is a serious side to i t .

Invalids resort thither, as they do

to Taupo, i n ever-increasing numbers.

The

State

sanatorium is as well equipped now as good medical bathing-places are i n Europe, and is directed by a physician who was i n former years a doctor of repute at Bath.

A m i d the embarras des richesses offered by

the thermal springs of the zone, Roto-rua has been selected as his headquarters, because there two chief and distinct kinds of hot healing waters are found in close neighbourhood, and can be used i n the

same

establishment. The two are acid-sulphur and alkalinesulphur, and both are heavily loaded

with silica.

U n l i k e European springs, they gush out at boilingpoint, and their potency is undoubted.

Sufferers

tormented w i t h gout or crippled with rheumatism seek the acid w a t e r s ; the alkaline act as a nervous sedative and cure various skin-diseases.

There are

swimming-baths for holiday-makers who have nothing the matter w i t h them, and massage and the douche for the serious patients.

Persons without money are

cared for by the servants of the Government.

Won-

derful cures are reported, and as the fame of healing waters becomes better

and

better

the

estab-

lished, the number of successful cases steadily i n -


A WORD TO T H E TOURIST

creases.

67

F o r the curable come confidently expect-

i n g to be benefited, and this, of course, is no small factor i n the efficacy of the baths, indisputable as their strength is.

Apart, too,

from its

springs,

Roto-rua is a sunny place, a thousand feet above the sea.

T h e air is light even i n midsummer, and the

drainage through the porous pumice and silica is complete. I n such a climate, amid such healing influences and such varied and interesting surroundings, the sufferer who cannot gain health at Roto-rua must be i n a bad way indeed.

5—2


P A R T III SPOET

AND

ATHLETICS

S P O R T i n the islands resembles scenery.

their climate and

T o name the distinguishing feature I have

once more to employ the well-worn word, " variety." E v e n if we l i m i t the term to the pursuit of game, there is enough of that to enable an idle man to pass his time a l l the year round.

I n the autumn there is

deer-shooting of the best, and i n the early winter the sportsman may t u r n to w i l d ducks and swamp-hen. Then w i l d goats have begun to infest certain high ranges, especially the backbone of the province of Wellington and mountains i n central Otago.

In

stalking them the hunter may have to exhibit no small share of the coolness of head and stoutness of limb which are brought to play i n Europe i n the chase of the chamois, ibex, and moufflon. I n addition to sureness of foot, the goats have already developed an activity and cunning unknown to their tame ancestors. They w i l l lie or stand motionless and unnoticed among 68


SPORT A N D A T H L E T I C S

B9

the bewildering rocks, letting the stalker seek for them i n v a i n ; and when roused they bound away at a speed that is no mean test of rifle-shooting, particularly when the marksman is hot and panting with fatigue.

And

when brought to a stand against rocks, or among the roots of mountain beeches, or on the stones of a riverbed, they w i l l show fight and charge dogs and even men. The twisted and w r i n k l e d horns of an old he-goat are not despicable weapons.

A s the reward of many

hours' hard clambering, varied by wading through ice-cold torrents, and spiced, i t may be, w i t h some danger, the goat-hunter may secure a long pair of curving horns, or i n mid-winter a thick, warm pelt, sometimes, though rarely, pure white.

Moreover, he

may feel that he is r i d d i n g the mountain pastures of an unlicensed competitor of that sacred quadruped, the sheep. Goats are by no means welcome on sheepruns.

Colonel Craddock, i t is true, complains that i t

is not easy to regard them as w i l d , inasmuch as their coats retain the familiar colours of the animals.

domestic

H e wishes they would change to some dis-

tinctive hue.

This feeling is perhaps a k i n to the

soldier's dislike to shooting at men who retain the plain clothes of a civilian instead of donning uniform — a repugnance experienced now and then by some of our fighting men i n South Africa. Rabbits, of course, as a national scourge, are to be


70

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

shot at any time, and though on the whole now held in check, are i n some districts still only too abundant. Occasionally when elaborate plans are being laid for poisoning a tract of infested country, the owner of the land may wish no interference, and the man with a gun may be warned off as a disturber of a peace intended to l u l l the rabbit into security. B u t , speaking generally, anyone who wishes to shoot these vermin may find country where he can do so to his heart's content, and pose the while as a public benefactor. PIG-HUNTING

The largest game i n the Colony are the wild cattle. These, like the goats and pigs, are descendants of tame and respectable farm animals.

O n many moun-

tain sheep-runs, annual cattle hunts are organized to thin their numbers, for the young

bulls

become

dangerous to lonely shepherds and musterers, and do great damage to fences. Moreover, the w i l d herds eat their f u l l share of grass, as their condition when shot often shows.

Generations of life i n the hills,

fern, and bush, have had their effect on runaway breeds. The pigs especially have put on an aristocratic air of lean savagery.

T h e i r heads and flanks are

thinner, their shoulders h i g h e r and more muscular, their tusks have become formidable, and their nimbleness on steep hillsides almost astonishing.

A quick


SPORT A X D ATHLETICS

71

dog, or even an athletic man on foot, may keep pace with a boar on the upward track.

B u t when going

headlong d o w n h i l l the pig leaves everything behind. The ivory tusks of an old boar will protrude three or four inches from his jaw, and woe to the dog or horse that feels their razor-edge and cruel sidelong rip.

The hide, too, has become inches thick i n places,

where i t would, I should think, be insensible to a hot branding-iron.

A t any rate, the spear or sheath-

knife that is to pierce i t must be held i n clever as well as strong hands.

E v e n a rifle-bullet, if striking

obliquely, w i l l glance off from the shield on the shoulder of a tough old boar. the sheep-farmer's enemies. prey

on

his y o u n g

lambs

W i l d pigs are among Boars and sows alike i n spring-time,

and

every year do thousands of pounds' worth of mischief i n certain out-of-the-way country.

So here again the

sportsman may plume himself upon making war upon a public nuisance.

I n bygone days these destructive

brutes could be found i n numbers prowling over open grassy downs, where riders could chase them spear i n hand, and where sheep-dogs could bring them to bay. They were k i l l e d without exception or mercy for age or s e x ; and the spectacle of pigs a few weeks old being speared or knifed along w i t h their mothers was not exhilarating.

B u t they were pests, and contracts

were often let for clearing a certain piece of country of


72

them.

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

A s evidence of their slaughter the contractors

had to b r i n g i n their long tufted tails. station manager

would

These the

count w i t h care, for

the

contract money was at the rate of so much a tail.

I

have known ninepence to be the reigning price. N o w a days, however, the pigs are chiefly to be found i n remote forests, dense manuka scrub, or tall bracken, and if caught i n the open it is when they have stolen out by moonlight on a raid upon lambs.

The thick

fern not only affords them cover, but food : " the w i l d boar out of the wood doth root i t up," and finds i n i t a clean, sweet diet.

M a n y a combat at close quarters

takes place every year i n the N o r t h Island, i n fern from three to six feet high, when some avenging farmer makes an end of the ravager of his flocks.

Numbers

of the pigs are s h o t ; but shooting, though a practical way of r i d d i n g a countryside of them, lacks, of course, the excitement and spice of danger that belong to the chase on foot w i t h heavy k n i f e .

Here the hunter

trusts both for success and safety to his dogs, who, when cunning and well-trained, w i l l catch a boar by the ears and hold h i m t i l l he has been stabbed. Ordinary sheep-dogs w i l l not often do this ; a cattledog, or a strong mongrel w i t h a dash of

mastiff

or bull-dog, is less l i k e l y to be shaken off.

Good

collies, moreover, are valuable animals.

N o t that

they fail i n eagerness for the chase; they w i l l often


CAPTAIN R. C. CLIFFORD.


SPORT A N D ATHLETICS

73

stray off to track pigs on their own account.

And

anyone who has seen and heard them when the boar, brought to bay against some tree-trunk, rock, or high bank, makes short mad rushes at his tormentors, w i l l understand how fully the average dog shares the hunter's zest. Another, though much rarer plague to the flockowner are the w i l d dogs.

These also prey by night

and lie close by day, and if they were numerous the lot of farmers near rough, unoccupied stretches of country would be anxious indeed ; for the w i l d dogs not only k i l l enough for a meal, but go on w o r r y i n g and tearing sheep, either for their blood, or for the excitement and pleasure of k i l l i n g .

W h e n three or

four of them form a small pack and hunt together, the damage they can do i n a few nights is such that the persecuted farmer counts the cost i n ten-pound notes.

They are often too fast and savage

to be

stopped by a shepherd's dogs, and accurate rifleshooting b y moonlight—to say nothing of

moonless

nights—is not the easiest of accomplishments. F a i l i n g a lucky shot, poison is perhaps the most efficacious remedy.

H a p p i l y these dogs—which are not sprung

from the fat, harmless little native curs which the M a o r i once used to fondle and eat—are almost confined to a few remote tracts.

A n y notorious pack

soon gets short shrift, so there need be no fear of any


74

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

distinct race of w i l d hounds establishing itself i n the wilderness. THE K E A

A n o t h e r hostis humani generis, against which every man's hand or gun may be turned at any season, is the kea.

A w i l d parrot, k n o w n to science as Nestor

notabilis, the kea nevertheless shows how fierce and hawk-like a parrot can become.

H i s sharp, curving

beak, and dark-green plumage, brightened by patches of red under the wings, are parrot-like enough.

But

see h i m i n his home among the H i g h A l p s of the South Island, and he resembles anything rather than the grey A f r i c a n domestic who talks i n cages : nor does he suggest the white cockatoos that may be watched passing i n nights above rivers, and forest glades i n the Australian bush.

U n l i k e his cousin the k a k a , who is

a forest bird, the kea nests on steep rocky faces or lofty cliffs, between two and five thousand feet above sea-level.

If he descends thence to visit the trees of

the mountain valleys, i t is usually i n search of food ; though Thomas P o t t s , the naturalist, says that keas w i l l fly from the western flanks of the Alps near M o u n t Cook to the bluffs on the sea-coast and rest there. One envies them that flight, for i t must give them i n mid-air an unequalled bird's-eye view of some of the noblest scenery i n the island. Before the coming of the settlers this bold mountaineer supported a harmless


SPOET A N D A T H L E T I C S

75

life on honey, seeds, insects, and such apologies fruits as our sub-alpine forests afford.

for

B u t as sheep

spread into the higher pastures of the backbone ranges, the kea discovered the attractions of flesh, and especially of mutton fat. Beginning, probably, by picking up scraps of meat i n the station slaughter-yards, he learned to prey on dead sheep, and, finally, to attack l i v i n g animals.

H i s favourite titbit being kidney fat,

he perches on the unhappy sheep and thrusts his merciless beak through the wool into their backs. Strangely enough, i t seems to take more than one assault of the k i n d to k i l l a sheep; but though forty years have passed since the kea began to practise his trick, the victims do not yet seem to have learned to roll over on their backs, and thereby r i d themselves of their persecutors.

E v e n the light, active sheep of

the mountains are, i t would seem, more stupid than birds of prey. Ingenious persons have suggested that the kea was led to peck at the sheep's fleecy backs through their likeness to those odd grey masses of mossy vegetation, called " vegetable sheep," which dot so many N e w Zealand mountain slopes, and which birds investigate i n search of insects. Shepherds and station hands wage war on the kea, sometimes encouraged thereto by a b o u n t y ; for there are run-holders and local councils who w i l l give one, two, or three shillings for each bird killed.

Let a


76

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

pair of keas be seen near a shepherd's hut, and the master runs for his g u n , while his wife

will

imitate the bird's long w h i n i n g note to attract them downwards; for, venturesome and rapacious as the kea is, he is just as confiding and sociable as the gentler kaka, and can be lured by the same devices.

Stoats

and weasels, too, harass h i m on their account.

Thus

the bird's numbers are kept down, and the damage they do to flocks is not on the whole as great as of yore. Indeed, some sceptics doubt the whole story, while other flippant persons suggest that the kea's ravages are chiefly i n evidence when the Government is about to reassess the rents of the A l p i n e runs.

Against

these sneers, however, may be quoted a large, indeed overwhelming, mass of testimony from the pastoral people of the back-country.

T h i s evidence seems to

show that most keas do not molest sheep.

The evil

work is done by a few reprobate birds—two or three pairs out of a large flock, perhaps—which the shepherds nickname " butchers."

O n l y this year I was

told of a flock of hoggets which, when penned up i n a sheep-yard, were attacked b y a couple of beaked marauders, who i n a single night killed or wounded scores of them as they stood packed together and helpless.

N o laws, therefore, protect the kea, nor

does any public opinion shield h i m from the gun i n any m o u t h H i s only defences are inaccessible moun-


SPORT A N D A T H L E T I C S

77

tain cliffs and the w i l d weather of winter and springtime i n the Southern A l p s . Acclimatization has made some woeful mistakes i n N e w Zealand, for is i t not responsible for the rabbit and the house-sparrow, the stoat and the weasel? O n the other hand, i t has many striking successes to boast of i n the shape of birds, beasts, and fishes, which commerce and industry would never have brought to the islands i n the regular way of business. Of these, one may select the deer among beasts, the trout among fishes, and the pheasant, quail, and starling among birds.

M a n y colonists, i t is true,

would include skylarks, blackbirds, and thrushes among

the

good works

for

which acclimatizing

societies have to be thanked ; but of late years these songsters have been compassed about with a great cloud of hostile witnesses who bear vehement testimony against them as pestilent thieves. RED

DEER

N o such complaints, however, are made against the red deer, the handsomest w i l d animal yet introduced into N e w Zealand.

Indeed, several provinces com-

pete for the honour of having been their first N e w Zealand home.

A s a matter of fact, it would appear

that as long ago as 1861 a stag and two hinds, the gift of L o r d Petre, were turned out on the Nelson


NEW

78

hills.

Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

N e x t year another small shipment reached

W e l l i n g t o n safely, and were liberated i n the W a i r a rapa. and

These came from the R o y a l P a r k at Windsor, were secured by the courtesy

of

the Prince

Consort. I n 1871 some Scottish red deer were turned loose i n the Otago mountains near Lakes W a n a k a and Hawea.

I n a l l these districts the deer have spread

and t h r i v e n m i g h t i l y , and i t is possible that the herds of the Colony now number altogether as many as ten thousand.

Otago sportsmen boast of the u n -

adulterated Scottish blood of their stags, whose fine heads are certainly worthy of atiy ancestry.

I n the

Wairarapa the remarkable size of the deer is attributed to the strain of G e r m a n blood i n the animals imported from the R o y a l P a r k .

A s yet, however,

the finest head secured i n the Colony was not carried by a deer belonging to any of three largest and bestk n o w n shooting - grounds of

the islands.

It was

obtained i n 1907 from a stag shot b y M r . George Gerard i n the E a k a i a Gorge i n Canterbury.

The

Rakaia Gorge herd only dates from 1897, and is s t i l l small, but astonishing stories are told of some of its heads.

A t any rate, the antlers of M r . Gerard's stag

have been repeatedly measured.

One of them is

forty-seven inches long, and the other forty-two inches and a half.


79

SPOET A N D ATHLETICS

Deer-stalking i n recommended

as an

N e w Zealand can scarcely easy diversion for

elderly L o n d o n gentlemen.

be

rich and

I t is not sport for the

fat and scant-of-breath who may be suffering from sedentary l i v i n g and a plethora of public banquets. N e w Zealand hills are steep, N e w Zealand forests and scrubs are dense or matted.

E v e n the open country

of the mountains requires lungs of leather and sinews of wire.

The hunter when u n l u c k y cannot solace his

evenings with gay human society or with the best cookery to be found i n a luxurious, civilized country. If he be an old bush-hand, skilful at camping out, he may make himself fairly comfortable i n a rough way, but that is a l l .

N o r are such things as big drives, or

slaughter on a large scale, to be had at any price. Shooting licenses are cheap—they can be had from the secretary of an acclimatization society for from one to three pounds; but the number of stags a man is permitted to shoot i n any one district varies from two to six.

T o get these, weeks of physical labour

and self-denial may be required.

O n the other hand,

trustworthy guides may be engaged, and colonial hospitality may vary the rigours of camp life.

Then,

too, may be counted the delights of a mountain life, the scenery of which excels Scotland, while the freshness of the upland air is brilliant and exhilarating i n a fashion that Britons can scarcely imagine.

A n d to


80

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

counterbalance loneliness, the hunter has the sensation of undisturbed independence and freedom from the trammels of convention, as he looks round h i m i n a true wilderness which the hand of man has not yet gashed or fouled. WILD

FOWL

W i l d - f o w l shooting ranges from tame butchery of trustful native pigeons and parrots to the pursuit of the nimble godwit, and of that wary b i r d and strong flier, the grey duck.

The godwit is so interesting a

b i r d to science that one almost wonders that ornithologists do not petition Parliament to have it declared tapu.

T h e y tell us that i n the Southern winter i t

migrates over-sea and makes no less a journey than that from N e w Zealand to N o r t h e r n Siberia by way of Formosa and the Sea of Okhotsk. distance is covered

i n easy stages

E v e n if this during

three

months' time, i t seems a great feat of b i r d instinct, and makes one regret that the godwit so often only returns to our t i d a l inlets to fall a prey to some keen sportsmen indifferent to its migratory achievements. T h e only excuse for molesting the wood-pigeon is that he is very good to eat.

The kaka parrot, too,

another woodlander, makes a capital stew.

Neither

v i c t i m offers the slightest difficulty to the gunner—• I cannot say sportsman. Indeed the kaka w i l l flutter round the slayer as he stands with his foot on the


THE

TE-ANAU-MILFORD

K TRACK

N TTO ON N ' T H E C LL II N

RIV VE ER R.)

F- Wright


SPORT A N D ATHLETICS

81

wing of a wounded bird, a cruel but effective decoytrick.

A n o t h e r native b i r d easy to hit on the wing

is the queer-looking pukeko, a b i g rail w i t h bright red beak and rich blue plumage.

The pukeko, how-

ever, though he flies so heavily, can run fast and hide cleverly.

Moreover, i n addition to being good for

the table, he is a plague to the owners of standing corn.

I n order to reach the half-ripe ears, he beats

down the tops of a number of stalks, and so constructs a light platform on which he stands and moves about, looking like a feathered stilt-walker, and feasting the while to his heart's content.

Grain-growers, there-

fore, show h i m no mercy, and follow h i m into his native swamps, where the tall flax-bushes, to6-toe, and giant bulrushes furnish even so large a bird w i t h ample cover.

W h e n , however, a dog puts h i m up,

and he takes to the air, he is the easiest of marks, for anyone capable of hitting a flying haystack can hit a pukeko. V e r y different are the w i l d ducks.

They soon

learn the fear of man and the fowling-piece.

They

are, moreover, carefully protected both by law and by public opinion among sportsmen.

So they are

still to be found i n numbers on lakes and lagoons by the sea-coast as well as i n the sequestered interior. Large flocks of them, for example, haunt L a k e Ellesmere, a wide, brackish stretch of shallow water not 6


S3

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

many miles from the city of Christchurch. B u t i n such localities a l l the arts of the English duck-hunter have to be employed, and artificial cover, decoys, and first-rate marksmanship must be brought into play. The grey duck, the shoveller, and teal, both black and red, a l l give good sport.

Strong of flight and

well defended by thick, close-fitting suits of feathers, they need quick, straight shooting.

A long shot at

a scared grey duck, as, taking the alarm, he makes off down the w i n d , is no bad test of eye and hand.

In

return, they are as excellent game-birds dead as living.

This last is more than can be said for the

handsomest game-bird of the country, the so-called paradise duck.

Its plumage, so oddly contrasting i n

the dark male and reddish white-headed

female,

makes i t the most easily recognized of w i l d fowl.

It

also has developed a well-founded suspiciousness of man and his traps, and so manages to survive and occupy mountain lakes and valleys i n considerable flocks.

U n l i k e the grey species which are found be-

y o n d the Tasman Sea, the smaller and more delicately framed blue duck is peculiar to the islands.

It is

neither shy nor common, and, as i t does no harm to any sort of crop, law and public opinion might, one would think, combine to save i t from the gun and leave it to swim unmolested among the boulders and rocks of its cold streams and d r i p p i n g mountain gorges.


83

SPOET A N D A T H L E T I C S

TROUT

Nature d i d not furnish N e w Zealand much better with freshwater

fish than with quadrupeds:

allowance of both was curiously scanty.

her

A worthless

little b u l l t r o u t was the most common fish, and that white men found uneatable, though the Maoris made of i t a staple article of diet.

Large eels, indeed, are

found i n both lakes and rivers, and where they live i n clear, clean r u n n i n g water, are good food enough; but the excellent whitebait and smelts which go up the tidal rivers can scarcely be termed dwellers i n fresh w a t e r ; and for the rest, the fresh water used to yield nothing but small crayfish.

Here our acclimatizers had a fair

field before them, and their efforts to stock i t have been on the whole successful, though the success has been chequered.

F o r fifty years they have striven to

introduce the salmon, t a k i n g much care and thought, and spending many thousands of pounds on repeated experiments; but the salmon will not thrive i n the Southern rivers.

The young, when hatched out and

turned adrift, make their way down to the sea, but never return themselves.

M a n y legends are current

of their misadventures i n salt water.

They are said,

for instance, to be pursued and devoured b y the big barracouta, so well known to deep-sea fishermen i n the Southern Ocean.

B u t every explanation of the 6—2


NEW

84

Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

disappearance of the young salmon still lacks proof. The fact is undoubted, but its cause may be classed w i t h certain other fishy mysteries of

our

coasts.

W h y , for instance, does that delectable creature the frost-fish cast itself up on our beaches i n the coldest weather, committing suicide for the pleasure of our gourmets ?

W h y does that cream coloured playfellow

of our coasters, Pelorus Jack, dart out to frolic round the bows of steamships as they run through the French Pass 1 B u t if our acclimatizers have failed with salmon, fortune has been k i n d to their efforts w i t h trout. F o r t y years ago there was no such fish i n the islands. N o w from north to south the rivers and lakes are well stocked, while certain waters may be said with literal truth to swarm w i t h them.

H e r e they are the brown

trout so well k n o w n to anglers at home ; there they are the rainbow k i n d , equally good for sport.

At

present the chief local peculiarity of both breeds seems to be the size to which they frequently attain. T h e y are large enough i n the r i v e r s ; and i n many lakes they show a size and weight which could throw into the shade o l d E n g l i s h stories of giant pike. F i s h of from fifteen to twenty-five pounds i n weight are frequently captured by anglers.

Above the higher

of these figures catches w i t h the rod are rare.

In-

deed, the giant trout of the southern lakes w i l l not


SPORT A N D ATHLETICS

85

look at a fly. Perhaps the best sport i n lakes anywhere is to be had with the minnow.

T r o l l i n g from

steam-launches is a favourite amusement at Rotorua. It seems generally agreed that in the rivers trout tend to decrease i n size as they increase i n numbers. The size, however, still remains large enough to make an English angler's mouth water.

So i t has come

about that the fame of N e w Zealand fishing has gone abroad into many lands, and that men come with rod and line from far and near to try our waters. F i s h i n g i n these is not always child's play.

Most of

the

streams are swift and c h i l l i n g ; the wader wants boots of the stoutest, and, in default of guidance, must trust to his own wits to protect him among rapids, sharp rocks, and deep swirling pools.

H e may, of

course, obtain sport i n spots where everything is made easy for the visitor, as i n the waters near Rotorua.

O r he may cast a fly i n the willow-bor-

dered, shingly rivers of Canterbury, among

fields

and hedgerows as orderly and comfortable-looking as anything i n the South of E n g l a n d .

B u t much of the

best fishing i n the islands is rougher and more solitary work, and, big as the baskets to be obtained are, the sport requires enthusiasm as well as skill. over, rules have to be observed.

More-

Licenses are cheap

enough, but the acclimatization societies are wisely despotic, and regulate many things, from the methods


86

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

of catching to the privilege of sale.

In the main, the

satisfactory results speak for themselves, though, of course, a certain amount catching goes on. way,

one

of

poaching

and illegal

I n certain mountain lakes, by the

r u l e — t h a t against spearing—has

to

be

relaxed, otherwise the huge trout would prey upon their small brethren to such an extent as to stop a l l increase.

So occasionally an exciting night's sport

may be enjoyed from a boat i n one or other of the A l p i n e lakes.

T h e boatmen prepare a huge torch of

sacking or sugar-bags wound round a pole and saturated w i t h tar or kerosene.

Then the boat is rowed

gently into six or eight feet of water, and the flaring torch held steadily over the surface.

Soon the big

trout come swarming to the light, d i v i n g under the boat, k n o c k i n g against the bow, and leaping and splashing.

The

spearman, standing erect,

makes

thrust after thrust, now transfixing his prey, now missing his aim, or i t may be, before the night's work is done, losing his footing and falling headlong into the lake, amid a roar of laughter from boat and shore. ELDING

T h e merest sketch of sports and amusements i n N e w Zealand demands more space for the horse than I can afford to give. sometimes

M y countrymen are not, as is

supposed, a nation of riders, any more


SPORT AND ATHLETICS

8V

than they are a nation of m a r k s m e n ; but the proportion of men who can shoot and ride is far greater among them than i n older countries.

The horse is

still a means of locomotion and a necessity of life everywhere

outside

the towns, while even

among

townsmen a respectable m i n o r i t y of riders can be found.

H o w far the rapid increase of motors and

cycles of a l l kinds is likely to displace the horse is a matter for speculation.

A t present, perhaps, the

machine is more l i k e l y to interfere with the carriagehorse than the saddle-horse.

N o r w i l l I hazard an

opinion as to the place that might be held by N e w Zealanders i n a competition between r i d i n g nations. Australians, I fancy, consider

their stockmen and

steeplechase-riders superior to anything of the k i n d i n our islands.

A n d i n a certain k i n d of r i d i n g —

that through open bush after cattle, amongst standing and fallen t i m b e r — I can scarcely imagine any horsemen i n the world surpassing the best Australian stock-riders.

On the other hand, i n a h i l l y country,

and on wet, slippery ground, New Zealanders and N e w Zealand horses show cat-like qualities, which would puzzle Australians, whose experience has been gathered chiefly on dry plains and easy downs.

Com-

parisons apart, the Dominion certainly rears clever riders and good horses.

A meet of N e w Zealand

harriers would not be despised even by Leicestershire


88

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

fox-hunters.

T o begin w i t h , the hare of the A n t i -

podes, like so many other European animals there, has gained i n size and strength, and therefore i n pace.

T h e horses, if rather lighter than English,

have plenty of speed and staying power, and their owners are a h a r d - r i d i n g lot.

Gorse fences, though

not, perhaps, so formidable as they look at first sight, afford stiff jumping.

A n d if a spice of danger

be desired, the riders who put their horses at them may always speculate upon the chances of encounteri n g hidden wire.

T h e legend that N e w

Zealand

horses jump wire almost as a matter of course has only a foundation of f a c t ; some of them do, many of them do not.

N o r are the somewhat w i l d stories of

meets where unkempt horses, w i t h flowing manes and tails and coats never touched b y brush or curry-comb, are steered by riders as u n t i d y , to be taken for gospel now.

V e r y few of those who follow the harriers i n

N e w Zealand at a l l resemble dog-fanciers bestriding mustangs.

T r u e , they do not dress i n the faultless

fashion of those E n g l i s h masters of fox-hounds whose portraits flame on the walls of the R o y a l Academy. Some at least of them do their own grooming.

Yet,

speaking generally, the impression left is neat and workmanlike, and is none the worse for a certain simplicity, and even

a touch of roughness.

The

meets are pleasant gatherings, a l l the more so because


89

SPORT AND ATHLETICS

they are neither overcrowded, nor are there too many of them.

M u c h the same may be said of the polo

matches, where good riding and good ponies are to be seen.

T w e n t y years ago trained ponies could be

bought i n the islands for £ 2 5 apiece.

N o w they, i n

common w i t h a l l horseflesh, are a good deal more costly.

However, sport i n N e w Zealand, though

more expensive than of yore, is still comparatively cheap, and that, and the absence of crowds, are among its chief attractions. A s i n other countries, there are tens of thousands of men and women who never ride a horse, but who find i n horse-racing—or i n attending race-meetings — a n absorbing amusement.

The number of race-

meetings held i n both islands is very great.

Flat-

racing, hurdle-racing, steeplechasing, and t r o t t i n g — all these can assemble their votaries i n thousands. Sportsmen

and others t h i n k

little

of

traversing

hundreds of miles of land or sea to attend one of the larger meetings.

Ladies muster at these almost

as strongly as men.

A s for the smaller meetings up-

country, they, of course, are social gatherings of the easiest and most cheerful sort.

I n bygone years

they not seldom degenerated towards evening into uproarious affairs.

Nowadays, however,

race-meet-

ings, small and large, are marked b y a sobriety which, to a former generation, might have seemed


90

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

wasteful and depressing.

T o a stranger the chief

features of the races appear to be their number, the size of the stakes, the average quality of the horses, and the w o r k i n g of the totalizator.

This last, a

betting machine, is i n use wherever the law will allow i t , and is a source of profit both to the Government and the racing clubs.

The Government taxes

its receipts, and the clubs retain 10 per cent, of t h e m ; hence the handsome stakes offered by the Jockey

C l u b committees.

The sum that

passes

through these machines i n the course of the year is enormous, and represents, i n the opinion of many, a national weakness and evil.

In defence of the

totalizator i t is argued that the individual wagers which it registers are small, and that i t has almost put an end to a more ruinous and disastrous form of b e t t i n g — t h a t w i t h bookmakers.

It is certainly a

popular institution with an odd flavour of democracy about i t , for i t has levelled down betting and at the same time extended i t .

Indeed, i t almost seems to

exhaust the gambling element i n N e w Zealand life, for, as compared with other nations, m y countrymen are not especially addicted to throwing away their money on games of chance.


SPORT A N D A T H L E T I C S

ATHLETIC

Bl

GAMES

Passing from what is commonly called sport to athletic games, we tread safer ground.

One of these

games, football, is quite as popular as horse-racing —indeed, among boys and lads more popular; and whatever may be its future, football has up to the present time been a clean, honest, genuine game, free from professionalism and excessive gambling.

The

influence of the N e w Zealand Rugby U n i o n , with its network of federations and clubs, has been, and still is, a power for g o o d ; and though i t is true that the famous and successful visit of the " A l l Black " team to Great B r i t a i n has lately been parodied by a professional tour i n England and Wales, there is still hope that professionalism may be held at bay.

For,

as yet, the passion for football, which is perhaps the main peculiarity of N e w Zealand athletics, is a simple love of the game, and of the struggles and triumphs attending i t . The average N e w Zealand lad and young man looks for nothing but a good hard tussle i n which his side may win and he, if luck wills i t , may distinguish himself.

A s yet money-making scarcely enters

into his thoughts. The day may come i n N e w Zealand, as i t has i n E n g l a n d , when bands of skilled mercenaries, recruited from far and near, may play i n the name of cities and districts, the population of


92

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

which turns out to bet pounds or pence on their paid dexterity.

B u t , as yet, a football match in the

Colony is just a whole-hearted struggle between manly youngsters whose zeal for their club and town is not based on the receipt of a weekly stipend. W h y cricket should lag so far behind football seems at first sight puzzling ; for few countries would seem better suited to the most scientific of outdoor games than the east and centre of N e w Zealand, with their sunny but not tropical climate, and their fresh sward of good green grass. account for the disparity.

T w o reasons probably T o begin with, cricket—•

at any rate first-class cricket—takes up far more time than football.

Its matches last for d a y s ; even

practice at the nets consumes hours.

Athletics i n

N e w Zealand are the exercise and recreation of men who have to work for a livelihood. The idle amateur and the trained professional are equally r a r e : you see neither the professional who plays to live, nor the gentleman who lives to play.

The shorter hours

of the ordinary w o r k i n g day, helped by the longer measure of d a y l i g h t allowed by Nature, enable a much larger class than i n E n g l a n d to give a limited amount of time to athletics. and

first-class

demands

B u t the time is limited, w i t h its

heavy

on the attention of its votaries,

suffers

accordingly.

cricket, therefore,

Cricket, again, is a summer game, and


S P O R T AND

ATHLETICS

93

i n summer the middle or poorer classes have a far larger variety of amusements

to turn to than i n

winter. Sailing, rowing, cycling, lawn-tennis, fishing, picnics by the sea or i n the forest, mountain-climbing, and tramps i n the wilderness, a l l compete with cricket to a much greater degree than with football.

Indeed,

the horse and the gun are wellnigh the only dangerous rivals that football has, and they arc confined to a much more limited class.

So while N e w Zealand

stands at the head of the list of countries that play the R u g b y game, our cricketers could at the best furnish an eleven able to play a moderately strong English county.

The game does, indeed, make head-

way, but is eclipsed both by the pre-eminent local success of football and by the triumphs of cricket i n Australia and South Africa.

Meanwhile, cricket

matches i n N e w Zealand, if not O l y m p i a n contests, are at any rate pleasant games.

One is not sure

whether the less strenuous sort of cricket, when played in bright weather among surroundings where good-fellowship and sociability take the place of the excitement of yelling thousands, is not, after a l l , the better side of a noble game. ROWING

AND SAILING

A s rowing men know, N e w Zealand has produced more than one sculler of repute, and at t h i s moment


94

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

Webb, of the Wanganui R i v e r , holds the title of champion of the world.

W i t h this development of

sculling, there is a curiously contrasted

lack of

especial excellence i n other forms of rowing.

Indeed,

one is inclined to predict that aquatic skill i n the islands w i l l , i n days to come, display itself rather i n sailing.

The South Pacific is an unquiet ocean, and

long stretches of our coast are iron-bound cliffs or monotonous beaches.

B u t to say nothing of half a

hundred large lakes, there are at least three coastal regions which seem made for yachting.

The most

striking of these, but one better adapted for steam yachts than for sailing or small open craft, is at the butt end of the South Island, and includes the fiords of the south-west coast and the harbours of eastern Stewart Island.

Between the two Bluff Harbour lies

handy as the yachtsman's headquarters.

The second

of the three chief yachting grounds of the Colony has been placed b y Nature on the southern side of Cook's Straits among a multitude of channels, islands, and sheltered

bays, accessible

alike from Wellington,

Nelson, or P i c t o n , and affording a delightful change and refuge from bleak, wind-smitten Cook's Straits. T h e best, because the most easily enjoyed of the three, is the H a u r a k i Gulf, studded with islands, fringed with pleasant beaches and inviting coves, and commanded by the most convenient of harbours


SPORT A N D ATHLETICS

i n the shape of the Waitemata.

ÂťS

N o r , charming and

spacious as the gulf is, need the A u c k l a n d yachtsmen limit themselves to i t . smooth

Unless entirely wedded to

water, they can r u n northward past

the

L i t t l e Barrier Island, and visit that fine succession of beautiful inlets, Whangarei, the Bay of Islands, and Whangaroa.

A l l lie within easy reach, and all are

so extensive and so picturesquely diversified w i t h cliffs, spurs, bays, and islets, that any yachtsman able to navigate a cutter w i t h reasonable skill should ask for nothing better than a summer cruise to and about them.


PART IV THE

AUCKLAND BY F.

KOLLETT.

SPECIAL COMMISSIONER, " N E W

THE

A u c k l a n d province

portions of the e a r t h .

PROVINCE

ZEALAND

is one

of

HERALD"

the

favoured

Situated between latitudes

34째 30' and 39째 south, i t has a m i l d and beneficent climate without any rigorous or harsh degrees of temperature. resources;

I t is marvellously rich

i n natural

i n fertile s o i l s ; i n forests of

valuable

t i m b e r ; i n gold and silver, and coal, and most of the economic minerals.

It possesses one of the finest

coast-lines i n the world, being indented almost every few miles with harbours and bays, tidal creeks and navigable rivers. Its geographical position, midway between the great continents that border the Pacific Ocean, and on their main trade routes, give it present advantages and a future importance that may yet make its chief city 96



T H E AUCKLAND

97

PROVINCE

and port one of the great maritime centres of the southern world. A s a province, A u c k l a n d occupies nearly the whole northern half of the N o r t h I s l a n d ; its area being 16,500,000 acres, and under its newer boundaries as a land district i t still possesses 13,858,000 acres. AGRICULTURAL

RESOURCES

A t the present time only 6,297,085 acres of the A u c k l a n d province are i n occupation, and of this area i t may be said that not half is producing up to anyt h i n g like its full capacity; yet the settled land is carrying, according to the latest official statistics, 2,078,313 sheep, 558,307 cattle, 90,102 horses, and 62,515 s w i n e ; and its last year's exports of agricultural produce were: Butter, £375,232; cheese, £12,970; frozen

and

preserved

meats,

£138,903;

wool,

£258,808; and £79,713 worth of hides, tallow, and similar products—a total of £865,626.

W h a t the

total production of the occupied land amounts to is difficult to estimate because no statistics are available on the subject of local consumption, but this must reach a high average, because a large proportion of the population is engaged i n highly paid industrial pursuits, thus providing excellent local markets. It should be understood that until recently Auckland was not looked upon as an agricultural province, 7


NEW

95

and

Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

even now the magnificent possibilities of

province i n this direction are not fully realized.

the A

few years ago A u c k l a n d was importing butter from Taranaki, to-day it is exporting this article to Great Britain, South Africa, and the Pacific Islands to the value of hundreds of thousands of pounds; and owing to its m i l d climate, which allows grass to grow nearly all the year round, i t promises to develop this industry to a far greater extent than any other part of N e w Zealand. L i k e dairying, the export meat-trade took some time to establish, but d u r i n g the last three years it has gone ahead i n a wonderful manner, and A u c k l a n d lambs have commanded as h i g h a price i n the English markets as " P r i m e Canterbury."

A u c k l a n d farmers

own two co-operative freezing factories, and there is every reason to expect that from now onward the meat export trade w i l l grow almost as fast as dairying has grown. Of the millions of acres still l y i n g idle i n the A u c k land

province, a

fertile.

large proportion is

exceedingly

T o the south-west, i n the K i n g Country,

which the Maoris once guarded so jealously against European intrusion, the C r o w n already owns considerable blocks of fine l a n d ; and better legislation, and a better understanding between the races, are opening the way to the settlement of vast blocks of magnifi-


THE

AUCKLAND

cant native-owned country.

99

PROVINCE

There are long stretches

of rolling downs awaiting the plough, lovely valleys opening to the dairy farmer, miles and miles of limestone ranges to be turned into sheep pasture.

There

is room for thousands of farms and thousands of farmers i n this district alone, and good v i r g i n land can be bought at £1 to £1 10s. per acre, or leased at Is. to Is. 6d. per acre, and some of i t when properly grassed w i l l carry three sheep to the acre, and the best of it a dairy cow to the acre a l l the year round. This portion of the A u c k l a n d province is so naturally favourable to human occupation, is so well-watered with noble streams, has such a pleasant and healthy climate, and such potentialities i n the shape of easily worked coal-beds and k i n d l y soils, that if i t were only well enough known it would attract settlers from any part of the world. It is, of course, largely i n the embryo stage yet.

Though the M a i n T r u n k L i n e

runs the whole length of its eastern border, and its western coast is blessed with

several

convenient

harbours and navigable rivers, it possesses scarcely five miles of metalled road, and though for a good portion of the year its tracks are good, i n wintertime they are sloughs of mud. I n the south-east part of the province, from K a t i kati right down to Gisborne there are great areas of land awaiting settlement.

A r o u n d the shores of the 7—2


100

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

beautiful Tauranga Harbour is some of the

fiuest

orchard land i n the Dominion, where nearly all the fruits of the temperate zones seem to thrive l u x u r i antly ; and further south on the sea-board are great alluvial flats that when drained w i l l y i e l d naturally from ÂŁ10 to ÂŁ20 worth of native flax to the acre, and can be turned w i t h little expense into rich grazing lands.

Between the B a j ' of P l e n t y and Poverty B a y

lies a region generally k n o w n as the East Cape, a mass of

fine

pastoral

country containing

million acres j u t t i n g out into the Pacific. rapidly becoming one

of

several This is

the most famous sheep

districts i n N e w Zealand, and has room for immense future development i n this direction. T o the northward lies the great Auckland P e n i n sula, containing nominally about three million acres, and a population of under forty thousand people.

It

is i n this part of A u c k l a n d that one may expect i n the future the densest form of land settlement, because i t is essentially the home of the small farmer; the fruit-grower and the vigneron. A l o n g its wonderful coast-line, w i t h its magnificent harbours and its innumerable bays, fishermen-settlers

there is room for thousands

of

who would gather rich harvests

from the teeming seas, and fruits from the bountiful land.

I t is i n this part of the province, where apple

orchards

may be

established

vying w i t h those of


THE

AUCKLAND

101

PROVINCE

Tasmania, and where vineyards may yet climb every sunny slope. This region is still called " The neglected N o r t h , " and i t deserves the term principally because our race do not yet fully recognize

its wonderful

resources and its marvellous charms. TOURIST

ATTRACTIONS

If the people of the O l d Country only realized the attractions offered b y A u c k l a n d i n the way of scenic wonders and sport, there would be less money spent on continental travelling and more expended i n making theacquaintance of this partof the Empire. Its thermal region may well be called the " Wonderland of the W o r l d , " for over its thousand square miles are spread such marvels as can scarcely be found

elsewhere.

Geysers and boiling rivers, hot lakes and cold lakes, lakes whose waters are of the most brilliant hues, • cliffs shattered with steam-jets, great ash-beds spread out by volcano outbursts, giant volcanoes lifting their peaks eight thousand and more feet above the sea, and

on these peaks smoking craters and steaming

tarns walled with

perpetual snow and ice.

thermal region is not

exhausted i n a few

This days.

Travellers could spend months examining its wonders, and still leave much to see. A n d the seeing does not entail hardships, because everything that can minister to the pleasure and comfort of the visitor is found


102

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

there. There are excellently appointed hotels and accommodation houses all through the region, and communication b y railway, oil-launch, motor-car, or coach is well established.

It is not only a place of scenic

wonders, i t is a world's sanatorium, for many of its mineral springs have wonderful medicinal properties, and its natural hot baths have restored many sufferers to health and vigour.

So vast is the extent of these

mineral springs that millions of people could use them and still leave waters untouched.

In a tiny corner of

the district there gush out perpetually more medicinal waters than are found i n a l l the spas of Europe, and there are hundreds of springs yet untested. T h e thermal region is not the only tourist attraction i n the A u c k l a n d province.

There are many

beauty spots and many methods.of enjoyment.

The

sea-trip to the far north shows a coast-line unsurpassed for beauty, and takes the traveller into harbours which i n any other country would be famous show-places.

Whangarei, the B a y of Islands, W h a n -

garoa, each i n its way is unique, and the tourist could find weeks of pleasure i n exploring these sheltered waters by launch or small boat.


THE AUCKLAND

103

PROVINCE

TROUT-FISHING

In

this

thermal region is found also the

marvellous trout-fishing i n the world.

most

L a k e Rotorua

alone yields each season between thirty and forty tons of rainbow trout, and there are scores of lakes teeming w i t h fish that have scarcely been touched by the angler. The whole of this fishing over lakes, rivers and creeks, is available to anyone who pays a ÂŁ1 license. T r o u t weighing up to twenty pounds and t h i r t y pounds have been taken w i t h the artificial minnow, and some nearly as large on the made by the

fly-fisher

fly.

The baskets

are almost incredible, and

the merest tyro w i t h the r o d can have some k i n d of sport.

Trout-fishing is not confined to this part of

the A u c k l a n d province. any of

One can get off at almost

the small farming

townships

along

the

R o t o r u a - A u c k l a n d railway, and find beautiful streams well stocked with fish, or one can go down the M a i n T r u n k L i n e and find hundreds of miles of

fishing

water. SEA-FISHING

O n this coast, too, fine sea-fishing is to be had. The kawhai, or sea salmon, is a fine sporting fish, and gives as much play as a lusty rainbow trout.

It can

be taken easily w i t h the rod by spinning an artificial minnow or using a sprat bait.

The k i n g fish i n its


104

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

way offers as much excitement as a F l o r i d a tarpon. It

may be taken with a live herring, or a Devon

minnow.

A s i t runs to six feet i n length and up to

eighty pounds i n weight, i t needs strong tackle, and at least 250 yards of line. NATURAL

RESOURCES

It is i n the N o r t h e r n Peninsula where the traveller can see the unique gum-digging industry and the felling of giant kauri-trees.

H e can also see thermal

wonders which i n their way are almost as remarkable as those of R o t o r u a ; and at W a i w e r a and K a m o and Ohaewai find medicinal waters as valuable as those at Te A r o h a .

T h e waterways of the West Coast are

also worth exploring.

There is the vast stretch of the

K a i p a r a Harbour with its far-reaching arms and its great feeder, the W a i r o a River.

The marvellous

beauties of Hokianga, with its long tidal creeks, are available by steamer and oil-launch, and besides the north there are the islands of the H a u r a k i Gulf, the goldfields of the Coromandel Peninsula, the farming districts of the Waikato, and many other places of interest. The natural resources of A u c k l a n d are vast and varied ; they include magnificent forests, rich deposits of gold, silver, copper, iron, antimony,

manganese,

plastic clays, natural cements, coal, kauri-gum, and


105

T H E A U C K L A N D PROVINCE

many other things. The forests still remaining i n the A u c k l a n d province are estimated to contain at the present time over seven thousand million superficial feet of good m i l l i n g timber, including rimu, kahikatea, totara, and kauri, so i t w i l l be seen that the province possesses enough timber to supply its own wants for a great many years to come.

Replanting is also being

carried on i n the southern parts of the

province,

where on the light pumice soils, deemed of little value for any other purpose, trees make phenomenal growth, increasing at nearly three times the rate of the same species planted i n favourable parts of Europe. Kauri-gum is one of Auckland's unique products. It is found on the l i v i n g trees, and at various depths i n the ground where i t was deposited ages ago i n ancient forests long since swept away. output

is

valued

at

about

The annual

£500,000, and

over

£13,000,000 worth of this product has already been exported.

Though supplies are gradually lessening,

it is expected that with fresh discoveries and more careful working the output w i l l keep up for many years to come. A m o n g minerals, gold is at present the most i m portant as far as y i e l d is concerned, the export of this mineral being valued at between £1,180,000 and £1,190,000 each year.

Silver comes next i n value,

the output last year reaching £169,484.

The A u c k -


106

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

land goldfields are of immense extent.

Auriferous

quartz reefs are common from Cape Colville to T e P u k e , a distance of more than a hundred miles, and i n most places the field is nearly t h i r t y miles i n width. There is an immense reef-system on the Great Barrier Island, and i n the N o r t h e r n Peninsula mineral country extends from Whangarei to

the B a y of

Islands. Auckland

can boast of

possessing

one of

the

greatest, if not the greatest, gold-mine i n the world —the Waihi.

T h i s mine has an annual output of

£875,000 worth of bullion, and the monthly output is steadily growing.

Some of the reefs are of gigantic

size, being over a hundred feet i n width.

One reef,

seventy-five feet i n width, averages, at the lowest level opened, an assay value of £ 1 0 per ton right through.

So far only portions of the mine have been

worked to depths of between five hundred and six hundred feet, but the reefs are opened up for three hundred feet below this depth, and are larger and richer than near the surface.

According to geo-

logical evidences there is every prospect of the reefs being large and payable down to several thousand feet, so there is not much exaggeration i n declaring the W a i h i to be the greatest gold quartz-mine i n the world. The Talisman, Crown, W a i h i G r a n d Junction, i n the same line of country, are also turning out large


T H E A U C K L A N D PROVINCE

quantities of bullion monthly.

107

B u t i t is not t h e '

mines that are at present working, promising as they are, which hold the sole wealth of the A u c k l a n d goldfields.

It lies i n new mines yet to be developed,

which are scattered through the forest-clad ranges of the Coromandel Peninsula, through the mineral h i l l of the Great Barrier, through the andesite and palaeozoic districts of N o r t h A u c k l a n d , and through districts like the Maori territories of Tuhoe and Rohe Potae* It is not only i n the precious minerals that A u c k l a n d is r i c h ; i t is i n those of purely economic value—coal, plastic clays, natural cements—the working of which already forms large and profitable industries; and i n the copper and iron deposits yet to be worked commercially. AUCKLAND

The town of

CITY

A u c k l a n d sits

enthroned

on

the

narrow isthmus which lies between its two sea gateways. west,

The Manukau Harbour gives access to the the

Waitemata Harbour to the east.

The

Maoris called this isthmus " T h e desired of a hundred lovers," and tribes warred for its possession, and died i n their defence of i t . It is loved to-day by its A n g l o Saxon possessors, and no colonial city has had costlier gifts laid at its feet. natural advantages

A u c k l a n d possesses all the

that should make i t a great

maritime and industrial centre.

There are people


108

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

alive to-day who saw the T a m a k i isthmus when not a European house stood upon i t , and no one dreamt that Europeans would ever occupy i t .

I n less than

the span of a human life a noble city of eighty-two thousand inhabitants has grown up, and its rate of growth now is greater than at any previous time. F o r years the M a o r i peril menaced it, and political jealousies hampered i t , and i t made little progress. D u r i n g the last two census decades, however, its population has g r o w n at the rate of 42-50 per cent., and its trade exports have increased by over 100 per cent.

E v e r y t h i n g seems to point to a still more

rapid increase i n the near future, because the waste lands of

the province are being

taken up and

made productive, manufactories are increasing, new markets are opening up for its products, new industries are being started and old ones are growing rapidly. A t the present time the development of A u c k l a n d is hampered somewhat by lack of railways and roads. These necessary public works have been neglected i n past years, but they are now being pushed forward. A railway is being surveyed to connect A u c k l a n d w i t h the East Coast districts, and when i t is completed it should, besides opening up some millions of acres of fine country, give to A u c k l a n d traffic from as far south as Gisborne.

The line through the N o r t h e r n Penin-


T H E A U C K L A N D PROVINCE

109

sula is being pushed forward steadily, and as i t links up old settlements and opens the way to new ones, i t brings a yearly increasing amount of trade.

The

Government is draining the Great Paiko Plains which lie about sixty miles south-east of the city, and i t is anticipated that a railway w i l l be pushed across this country to connect w i t h the goldfield towns.

The

draining of the P a i k o w i l l add many hundred thousand fertile acres to the productive area of the province, and the flax mills and the dairy factories that w i l l spring up there w i l l add to the trade of the city. Another line which w i l l beneficially affect Auckland is that connecting Taranaki w i t h the M a i n T r u n k , either by way of Ongarue and Stratford, or by P u k e tutu and Stratford.

This line will pass through one

of the greatest and most fertile areas yet left to be developed i n New Zealand. There is another work which will at some time or other largely affect the prosperity of A u c k l a n d , and that is the construction of the M a n u k a u - W h a u Canal. It is not a very great or expensive undertaking, but it would permit steamers from the West Coast to enter alongside

the

city

wharves,

steamers i n the Waitemata.

or

alongside

ocean

They could then dis-

charge their cargoes direct, instead of as at present unloading at Onehunga and having their freight con-


110

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

veyed across the isthmus by railway. secure

This would

to A u c k l a n d the trade of the West

Coast

from as far south as N e w P l y m o u t h and as

far

north as Whangape, and would stimulate settlement and industry along country.

three hundred miles of

rich

The effect on A u c k l a n d from the opening

of the Panama Canal can only be conjectured, but even the most cautious of business men must recognize that when the completion of this work places A u c k land directly upon the greatest sea-route of

the

Southern Hemisphere, i t must stimulate its commerce, and assist the development of the Pacific Island trade of which A u c k l a n d is the natural centre. These descriptions given of the present and future possibilities of A u c k l a n d province and A u c k l a n d city may seem optimistic, but they are based upon sound practical reasoning. W i t h a great territory richly endowed

with a l l

that counts for success, under the modern conditions of civilization, and a climate so pre-eminently adapted for the development of all forms of industry, with its natural wonders and beauties, this portion of N e w Zealand is bound to continue attracting immigration. It is only w i t h i n the last few years that a portion of its resources has been open for exploration.

Only a

small part of the province has passed out of

the

pioneer stage. The energies of its population hitherto


T H E A U C K L A N D PROVINCE

111

have been largely expended i n breaking the w a y — i n building roads, bridging rivers, felling the forests, making pastures.

N o w most of the preliminary work

is done, and even the pioneering of new districts is an easy matter w i t h the power of settled industry and organization behind i t .


PART V THE

PORT OF

BY M A L C O L M CORRESPONDENT

WELLINGTON ROSS, F.R.G.S.,

OF

" T H E TIMES"

M A N Y generations ago, and long before the ships of the white man sailed into Whanga-nui-a-Tara, now the P o r t of

W e l l i n g t o n , its waters were cleft by

the

canoes of those great Polynesian navigators who came from far-away H a w a i k i to make another home for themselves

i n these fertile islands.

So far as we

know from the legendary history of the Maoris, one K u p e , a Polynesian navigator, was the first sailor to enter Whanga-nui-a-Tara, which means the Great Harbour of T a r a .

H e named the Pinnacle Rocks at

its entrance after himself, and the two islands within — n o w k n o w n by the more prosaic names of Somes and W a r d — h e called M a t i u and Makero, which were the names of hi3 nieces. Thereafter many tribes lived and loved, and fought 112


CAPTAIN RUSSELL JACGARD.


T H E PORT OF W E L L I N G T O N

113

anol died, about the shores of Whanga-nui-a-Tara. Legends of brave deeds and gruesome killings are i n existence to this day, and many were the occasions when the fern on j u t t i n g promontory or the sands on shelving beach were dyed with the blood of quest, as the

never-ceasing pressure of

con-

invading

hordes from the north drove the settled tribesmen across the Straits into the other island.

The victors

d i d not suffer from hunger i n those days ! A t one time when the N g a t i Ira tribesmen held possession of the Harbour of Tara, and the northern invaders pressed hard upon them, there were fierce battles at O k i w i , W h i o r a u (now known as L o w r y Bay), and other places on the eastern shore of the harbour, and war parties marched from Heretaunga (the H u t t ) b y way of W a i t a n g i , a lagoon or swamp that existed at the lower end of Cambridge Terrace, where now runs an electric tramway.

In those days

many men were slain, and, as Elsdon Best well puts it, only those having some knowledge of

Maori

customs can form any conception of what tragedies were enacted on these now peaceful shores, and what misery and suffering were endured by the unfortunate N g a t i Ira, d u r i n g that period of war and t r o u b l e ; for day and night the ovens were ever glowing, ready for the bodies of revenge.

Then might be

fresh victims of

savage

heard the weeping 8

of


114

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

women, the death-songs of brave warriors foredoomed to the hangi, and the w a i l i n g of helpless little children i n the hands of an implacable foe.

D u r i n g the period

between 1820 and 1835 nearly the whole of the tribes resident i n the vicinity of the harbour were either killed or driven from the district by the warlike tribes of Ngatiawa and Ngatitoa.

A t one time there must

have been a considerable aboriginal population i n the locality, for every h i l l and dale and stream and bay were named i n the M a o r i language.

One tribe, the

Ngatiahu, which left L y a l l Bay for the South Island about the middle of the seventeenth century, is still in existence.

B u t before their advent the now extinct

Ngatimamoe

were

the

rulers, while, dating

still

farther b a c k — p r i o r even to the historic canoe migration from H a w a i k i — t h e land was under the sway of the W a i t a h a tribe, who "covered the ground like ants."* It is often said by the visitor, and even by many of the colonists themselves, that N e w Zealand is a land without a history. Such statements, however, simply betray the ignorance of the unread ; for these islands have a history of legend and m y t h and story, of ancient siege and combats, and of the struggle of colonization almost as romantic as the story of the battle-grounds of Europe. * Elsdon Best: " Whanga-nui-a-Tara."


T H E PORT OF W E L L I N G T O N

115

B u t we must pass on to the next phase i n the history of the P o r t of Wellington, and come clown to more modern times, when the double canoes of the early Polynesian

navigator

white-winged ships of the

gave way

before

the

Pakeha.*

Tasman, the D u t c h navigator, saw these islands in 1642; but the Maoris k i l l e d four of his men and frightened him away.

H e did not land, and, appar-

ently, regarded the country simply as a barrier to his eastern progress. B u t for this incident, an adverse wind, and a lack of determination at the right moment, he would have sailed through the strait that separates the two main islands of N e w Zealand, and, in all probability, have discovered the magnificent upon which the

capital of

Zealand now stands.

harbour

the Dominion of

New

F o r one hundred and t h i r t y -

seven years this new country which he had named, was left to its aboriginal inhabitants.

Then came

Captain Cook. The wonderful record of his voyagings, his surveys, and explorations, now reads like a romance. H e was the modern discoverer of the Harbour of Wellington.

It is often stated that he entered

harbour; but this is contrary to fact.

the

There can be

no doubt, however, that on his second voyage, while looking for Furveaux, Captain Cook descried AVellington Harbour. * One not of the Maori race : a white man.

8—2


116

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

After the early navigators—long after—came the early colonists.

Cook had, himself, suggested the

colonization of N e w Zealand, and so subsequently did several others, including D r . F r a n k l i n .

B u t the real

colonizer of N e w Zealand, E d w a r d Gibbon Wakefield, did not come upon the scene t i l l 1837, when, under his guiding hand, the N e w Zealand Association was formed.

M r . Francis B a r i n g was at the head of the

company, and associated w i t h him were well-known men such as J o h n Lambton, E a r l of Durham, L o r d Petre, S i r W i l l i a m Molesworth, Sir George Sinclair, Mr. William

H u t t , M r . Campbell

Ferguson of E a i t h , and M r . Charles.

of

Islay, M r .

The names of

several have been perpetuated i n the nomenclature of the port.

T h e story of the colonizers is well told i n

a book now difficult to obtain, " Adventures i n New Zealand," by E d w a r d Jerningham Wakefield, Gibbon Wakefield's

son, who, i n

company with

Colonel

Wakefield, left P l y m o u t h i n the ship Tory on M a y 12, 1839, and landed i n P o r t Nicholson i n the same year. In his account of their arrival, Jerningham Wakefield explains that the harbour was christened P o r t Nicholson by the captain of a Sydney trading vessel after his patron and friend, the harbour-master of P o r t Jackson, N e w South Wales.

Wakefield's description

of his entrance to the port is worth quoting : " The harbour expanded as we advanced, two deep


T H E PORT OF WELLINGTON

117

bays stretching to the south-west from the innermost end of the entering channel.

F r o m their western

extremity the land trends round to a valley l y i n g at the northern end of the harbour, about eight miles from the reef, while the hilly shores of the eastern side continue nearly straight to the mouth of the valley ; thus leaving the upper part of the great basin four or five miles i n width.

In the upper part lie

the two islands, behind the largest and most northerly of which we anchored at the distance of half a mile from the sandy beach at the valley's m o u t h . " The ship had been boarded by two M a o r i chiefs, one of mature years, named E p u n i , or " Greedy," the other Warepori, or " D a r k House."

Both expressed their

satisfaction on hearing that the new-comers wished to buy the place and to bring white people to it. acknowledged

They

that they would be heartily glad to

renounce war and cannibalism, but deprecated the i n cessant praying and singing that the missionaries had taught them, because i t " took the people from their industrious avocations, and substituted a monotonous repetition which lasted all day and night."

There

can still be heard some praying and singing along the shores of P o r t Nicholson, but it is not sufficiently i n cessant to interfere with the activity of the modern port! Captain Chaffers soon proceeded to make a survey of


118

NEW

Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

the harbour, and Colonel Wakefield named the various points and bays.

L o w r y B a y was named after the

first mate of the ship. The South-Western Bay, where the town was

to be built, was named Lambton

Harbour, i n honour of the E a r l of D u r h a m , who was Governor of the Company.

A piece of level ground

over which the town was to extend was named Thorndon F l a t , from Thorndon H a l l i n Essex, the residence of L o r d Petre, who " h a d forwarded with his unceasing support the intended colony."

The R i v e r

Heretaunga received the name of M r . W i l l i a m H u t t , " another of the most energetic friends of the undertaking."

The large island was christened Somes's

Island, after M r . Jos. Somes, " t h e n Deputy-Governor of the Company."

The most remarkable headlands

at the entrance were named after M r . Francis B a l i n g , Sir George Sinclair, and Pencarrow, the residence of Sir W i l l i a m Moles worth. Originally the site of the town was fixed on the shore of the bay near the H u t t River, and it was to be known as Britannia. Owing to the flooding of the river and the exposed nature of the bay, the site was, however, not found to be a good one, and so the present situation was chosen for the town, and Wellington was substituted for Britannia.

The vessels that came out

with the emigrants in due course sailed away again, and i t is interesting to note that a schooner of sixty


T H E POET OF W E L L I N G T O N

tons, built at T a h i t i , was the first decked belonging to P o r t Nicholson. Bay

lit*

vessel

She came from the

of Islands with a cargo of pigs that she had

picked up on the East Coast.

She was bought by

some of the colonists, and was called The Jewess. In those early days the surroundings of the P o r t of W e l l i n g t o n were very beautiful, the forest primeval coming down i n places to the water's edge. Lambton Quay, still the principal street, wound along the shore, and very old residents, to this day, talk of i t as " t h e beach."

N o w it is some distance i n l a n d , a n d

other streets, and even railways, have been formed, and stately piles of public and private buildings have been erected upon the extensive area of land that has been reclaimed from the sea.

The forest, with the

flute-like notes of the tui sounding clear i n the chorus of birds, has gone beyond recall, and a modern city, with a l l the hum and bustle of latter day commercialism, has arisen upon the foundations of the little pioneer village of half a century ago. There is not space i n a n article of this nature to relate the story of the early settlers; but the student of colonial history w i l l find it given with much i n teresting detail i n Wakefield's " Adventures i n N e w Zealand," and s t i l l more Pember Reeves's

tersely i n M r . W i l l i a m

book " T h e L o n g W h i t e C l o u d , "

which, w i t h occasional revision of a few of the later


120

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

chapters, is l i k e l y to remain, for many years, the best description of N e w Zealand and the N e w Zealanders. H a v i n g dealt w i t h the early history of the P o r t of W e l l i n g t o n , i t only remains now to give some account of i t as i t is at the present day. T h e harbour itself is a magnificent sheet of water about twenty thousand acres i n extent.

The battle-

ships of the world might lie at anchor i n it, and there is room for a squadron of warships to manoeuvre under steam within its bounds. A t its entrance the narrowest part exceeds three thousand six hundred feet, with a depth of from seven to eight fathoms and a current that seldom, if ever, exceeds two knots an hour.

The

rise and fall of the tides varies from two feet six inches to four feet six inches.

Inside, the depth of

the harbour varies from six to fourteen fathoms, and the anchorage is good throughout, the bottom being of a silty blue clay, sand, and shells. locked, the harbour is w e l l sheltered.

Being land-

The prevailing

winds, which at times are very strong, come from N . N . - W . and S . S . - E . is on Pencarrow Head.

The main light at the entrance It is a fixed white light of the

second order, placed at an elevation of three hundred and twenty-two

feet above high-water mark, and

i n ordinary weather is visible at a distance of twentyfive miles.

There is also a beacon light, recently

erected—thirty-two feet above high water—at the


T H E PORT OF W E L L I N G T O N

foot of Pencarrow Head.

121

This light is visible i n

clear weather at a distance of ten miles. weather, which is not of

I n foggy

frequent occurrence, an

explosive signal gives onQ report every five minutes. The harbour, inside, is well l i t , and its wharves, goods-sheds,

cranes,

and general appliances

arrangements are quite up to date.

and

Indeed,

for

the working of vessels, i t is probably the best equipped harbour i n the Southern Hemisphere. i n g accommodation vessels

is

extensive

The berth-

for both coastal and over-sea and

convenient, there

in a l l some twelve thousand feet of jetties.

being

Another

very fine wharf, k n o w n as the King's W h a r f , is now under construction to meet the growing requirements of the port. The depths at the wharves at low water varies from sixteen feet to t h i r t y - t w o feet. The storage sheds available for cargo discharging and loading are conveniently situated, and can be made available for ships at any berth.

A t the

Queen's Wharf, Jervois Quay, and Taranaki Street Wharf, the sheds have a total of 125,227 square feet of floor area, and 2,523,773 cubic feet capacity. T h e y are used chiefly for inward and transhipment cargo. At

Waterloo Quay, Glasgow W h a r f , the Railway

Wharf, and the W o o l J e t t y there are 95,710 square feet of floor area, and 1,673,865 cubic feet capacity. These wharves and sheds are used principally for


122

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

export cargo.

I n addition, there is a floor area of

25,960 square feet, and a cubic capacity of

228,800

feet in the Bonded and F r e e Store on the Queen's "Wharf.

There is thus a total storage shed floor area

of 246,897 square feet, and 4,426,438 cubic feet available i n connection with the w o r k i n g of the port.

This

accommodation w i l l be largely added to when the K i n g ' s W h a r f is completed, towards the end of 1908. Strolling along the water-front one notices that the wharves and sheds are a l l well built, while from some points of view the tall cranes, w i t h perpendicular chains and long arms aslant, rear themselves—a forest of ironwork—against the s k y . The hydraulic system has been adopted.

A t the N o . 14 berth on Jervois

Quay breastwork there is a forty-ton fixed crane. On the other wharves there are one twenty-ton crane, one ten-ton fixed crane, five two-ton fixed cranes, and twenty-six two-ton movable cranes.

This plant w i l l

be increased when the K i n g ' s W h a r f , which is to cost £80,000, has been completed. Reclamation and other works continue to be actively prosecuted by the Harbour Board, so that the Port of W e l l i n g t o n may be i n every way up to the standard of modern requirements.

Chief amongst the works

now i n progress is the construction of a large graving dock, for which a sum of a quarter of a million sterling is available.

T h i s dock w i l l be capable of taking i n


T H E PORT OF W E L L I N G T O N

123

merchant vessels five hundred and fifty feet by s i x t y three feet.

It will also be able to accommodate war

ships of the size of the King Edward

VII.

O n the southern shore of this fine harbour has risen, i n a little over half a century, the city of Wellington, the capital of the Colony and the seat of Government. thousand.

It has now a population of sixty-five

The C i t y Corporation possesses an up-to-

date electrical tramway service, constructed at a cost of nearly half a million sterling.

It also controls the

water supply, the drainage system, and an electrical lighting system.

There are two public libraries, and

six recreation grounds.

Several other

recreation

grounds are being made at a cost of some £27,000. There is a town hall containing a first-class organ, the cost of the building and the organ being £79,268. The revenue of the Corporation for the year ending 1907 was £267,447, and the expenditure £263,444. I n A h e city itself there is not a great deal to interest the sightseer.

The museum—which is shortly to be

rebuilt on a larger scale by the Government—and the Botanic Gardens, sixty-three acres i n extent, w i l l be worth visiting.

The surroundings, however, are very

beautiful, and short trips may be made to Island Bay, on Cook Straits, the heights of Kelburne, which overlook the town, Day's Bay, across the harbour, and the H u t t Valley, which is i n the country.

The city


121

is

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

i n process of

rebuilding, and already a

great

many of the old wooden, iron-roofed premises have given place to modern structures i n stone, brick, and ferro-concrete.

There is still, however, a great deal

to be done i n the matter of rebuilding.

The hotels

are constructed on modern lines, and the best of them are quite up to date i n the matter of cuisine, sanitation, etc.

There is communication from the port

w i t h the East and West Coast of the N o r t h Island both by railway and steamship service, while

modern

vessels—one of them an up-to-date turbine steamer— maintain d a i l y communication with the South Island. A l l these changes i n the place itself have been brought about i n a comparatively brief space of time.

And

with the change i n the amenities has come just as great a change i n the manners and customs of the people.

It is no longer necessary for a visitor from

the Motherland to include a revolver i n his outfit. The Maoris, now, are few i n number, and clothed i n English garments.

I n the

days of

the

Pilgrim

Fathers they still wore their native garb, and even this they would often cast aside when engaged i n any work requiring special exertion. " O n warm days, too," says a local chronicler, " one was liable at any time, strolling a little way out of town, to meet a M a o r i warrior, w i t h his carved staff i n his hand, clad only i n his moko (tattoo) and his native dignity.

It became


125

T H E PORT OF "WELLINGTON

necessary to pass an ordinance restraining natives, under penalty, from appearing in a state of n u d i t y . " The pakeha, too, has changed.

I n pioneer days the

men didn't wear dress clothes, even to dances; but red shirts set off good figures vastly well, and many a dear old dame i n after-years has made invidious comparisons between the dancing men of the olden time and those of to-day.

These pioneer women had

the true fibre of the race i n them.

" A s a rule," says

Forrest Eoss, i n an article i n the New

Zealand

Magazine, " one hears little of the women pioneers, and the part they took i n the struggle to gain a footi n g i n the new land. A n d yet, perhaps, their lot was as hard, and maybe harder, than that of the men, for, i n addition to the toil and lack of comforts and, at times, even of necessaries, they had the anxiety of watching over the children, and fearing, when times grew evil, for the safety of their sons and husbands. One reads of sudden storms on the harbour, of wrecked boats and loss of life, of nights—nay, weeks—of watching for stealthy foes, and of dread epidemicsthat fell hardest on the little ones. B u t the women pioneers, too, possessed infinite courage, trust, and hope, and now, even when time has softened the shadows of the past, the old women who were girls then speak with a sigh of the ' good old time,' when all l i v e d like one great family, and cards and conventionalities were u n k n o w n . "


126

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

But, in the m a k i n g of a nation, the simple life of the pioneer must giv§ way to the more complex conditions evolved by the men of commerce and science. A n d so it comes to pass that i n place of the village of those days we have now a large and still growing city stretching its suburban arms toward the ocean, and up the steep hillsides—a city with great warehouses built where the waves used to roll lazily shorewards, and with a society that considers itself the creme de la crime of the new Dominion, enriched by the presence of the Parliament and the K i n g ' s representative, and copying the follies and fashions of the older cities i n the Motherland.

In the forties a man would leave

his dress suit at home, and take his revolver with him.

Nowadays he leaves his revolver and packs his

dress suit.

L o o k i n g down

the years, we

find i t

not so long since the canoes of the Maoris were the only vessels entering the P o r t of Wellington. To-day the primitive vessels of these early navigators, hewn out of single trees, and grotesquely

carved, find a

place only i n the museum, and, i n their stead, the comfortable eight and ten thousand ton twin screw liners of the N e w Zealand Shipping Company, bearing the men and merchandise of Empire across thirteen thousand miles of ocean, steam with unfailing regularity i n and out of port, churning with their strong propellers into foam the waters of Whanga-nui-a-Tara.


PART VI CANTERBURY

A N D " T H E CITY

IN THE

PLAINS" B Y W. H . TRIGGS, F . J . I . E N G . , F . J . I . N E W Z E A L A N D " In a silvern afternoon We saw the city sleeping, Sleeping and rustling a little Under the brindled hills. Spectres of Alps behind, Alps behind and beyond, Tall, naked, and blue, The city sleeps in the plain— A flight of glittering scales Flung in a wanton curve, Sinking softly to earth, Flung from a Titan's palm. In the silver afternoon, All around the shining city, A thousand-thousand sheaves Loll in the golden plain ; On goes the stately wain, The dun hind striding by it, Beside the elms and willows, Between the Alps and the sea." ARNOLD

127

WALL.


128

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

T H E story of the province of Canterbury is one of the most

interesting

colonization.

chapters

i n the

history

of

The province occupies the middle por-

tion of the South Island, and is the richest and most extensive agricultural district throughout the whole of the Dominion.

The area under the jurisdiction of

the Canterbury L a n d B o a r d is 9,604,045 acres, of which no less than 2,046,071 acres is classified as first-class land. The whole of this is arable, as is also a good deal of the 5,207,173 acres classified as secondclass, the rest being adapted for pastoral purposes. F r o m the W a i t a k i i n the south to the Waipara i n the north, a distance

of 180 miles, is one vast plain

bounded on the east by the Pacific Ocean, and on the west by r o l l i n g downs, foothills of the great A l p s which form the backbone of the Southern Island. Out of nearly 10,000,000 acres i n a l l , only 2,350,801 acres are classified by the Government as third-class (barren lands and lands of little value).

It w i l l be

understood from these figures how Canterbury got the title of " the Granary of N e w Zealand."

Once i t ex-

ported millions of bushels of wheat annually to the United

Kingdom.

Now

that

sheep-rearing

has

proved more profitable than grain-growing, the production of wool and mutton is the prime care of the Canterbury farmer, and the excellence of both is well known.

Canterbury mutton always commands the


CHRISTCHURCH

FROM

THE

TOWER

OF

THE

EXHIBITION

BUILOINQS,

1006-7

F.

Wright


CANTERBURY

129

highest price i n the English market, and the wool holds its own w i t h that from any part of

New

Zealand. Seen from the P o r t H i l l s near Christehurch, the Canterbury plains remind the travelled visitor of the plains of Lombardy.

The view of the Southern A l p s

i n winter, seen from this eminence, is finer than that of the Monte Eosa chain which Tennyson has i m mortalized, and which so many tourists climb to the roof of M i l a n Cathedral to see i n the early morning. Professor W a l l has aptly described the Canterbury prospect i n the lines quoted at the head of this article. In the foreground, the city of Christehurch lies embosomed i n trees—a veritable garden city.

Away

to the north, the west, and the south, as far as the eye can reach, stretches the fertile plain covered with farms and homesteads. downs,

famous for their

Beyond are the

pastoral

Merino sheep, and

the

mighty ice-clad ramparts of the Southern A l p s close i n the picture.

I n the winter, especially, they domi-

nate the landscape, and the writer already quoted, referring to Christehurch, says : " Each of her streets is closed with shining Alps, Like Heaven at the end of long plain lives."

Canterbury, and especially the capital city, Christchurch, enjoys the distinction of being, i n the opinion of the majority

of visitors from Home, the most 9


130

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

E n g l i s h part of N e w Zealand. founders

The intention of its

was to transplant to the Southern H e m i -

sphere " a section of E n g l a n d from top to bottom," and to a very large extent their dream has been realized.

The

Archbishop of

Canterbury Association, with

the

Canterbury at its head, was incor-

porated by R o y a l Charter, dated November 13, 1849. Previously, settlements had been founded i n a haphazard way.

The adventurous spirit of Englishmen

led them to wander abroad, and wherever a desirable spot presented itself, some of them would be tempted to remain, and others would join them from time to time.

In this way tho constitution of the new com-

munity depended very much upon chance, and often the quality of the society thus formed left much to be desired. T h e Canterbury Association decided to proceed on systematic and well-considered lines.

" Our

present object," as they said i n sketching out their plans, " i s to set an example of a colonial settlement i n which from the first a l l the elements, including the very highest, of a r i g h t and good state of society shall find their proper place, and their active operation."

A s is well known, they intended i t to be a

settlement composed entirely of Church of E n g l a n d .

members

of

the

Needless to say such restric-

tions could not be long maintained, and

to-day,

although the Church of England is very strong i n


CANTERBURY

131

the province of Canterbury—as i t is i n Wellington, and A u c k l a n d , and other parts of the Dominion for that matter—other sections of religious thought and activity are worthily represented, and have large numbers of adherents. population

A t the census of 1906 the

of Canterbury, classified according

to

religious beliefs, was as under— ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Church of England ... Presbyterians Methodists... Baptists Congregationalists ... Rinnan Catholics Other denominations Total

...

72,481 31,494 20,333 3,570 1,014 19,520 10,694

... 159,100

B u t although the attempt to maintain i t as a strictly A n g l i c a n settlement failed, Canterbury today is feeling the benefit of the care taken i n selecting her first colonists, and is reaping the fruit of the labours of the high-minded, well-bred, well-educated men and women who gave a tone to the settlement which i t has never lost.

These pioneers laid broad

and deep the foundations of the present system of education, and they instilled into the young community a high sense of public duty, and a standard of honour based on the life of public school and the university life of the Motherland.

Furthermore, 9—2


132

NEW

Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

they brought w i t h them the softening and refining influence of E n g l i s h homes where the religious spirit was still cherished as something sacred and precious. Thus it is that Christchurch, i n its people, and in its material aspect, is an essentially English town. Its splendid park of four hundred acres is planted w i t h English trees, and there are parts of the willowfringed A v o n — t h e chief pride of the town—which remind the Cambridge man of the Granta.

I n the

group of educational buildings at the west end of the town—Canterbury College, the School of A r t , the Boys' H i g h School, and the Museum, a l l handsome stone structures, well appointed and well staffed—the visitor sees tangible evidence of the care and liberality w i t h which provision was made for education by the pioneers i n the first instance, and continued by their successors.

Christ's College Grammar School, founded

originally on English public school lines, worthily maintains its traditions, and its " old boys " are to-day found doing good work not oidy i n N e w Zealand, but i n the N a v y , i n the A r m y , i n the Indian C i v i l Service, i n South Africa, i n the Motherland, and indeed i n a l l parts of the Empire. The G i r l s ' H i g h School, within a bow-shot, is doing equally good work for the daughters of N e w Zealand. A t L i n c o l n is the Canterbury A g r i cultural College with its farm of six hundred and s i x t y acres—the only institution of the k i n d i n N e w


" T H E CITY IN T H E P L A I N S "

Zealand.

133

Indeed, it is not too much to say that the

head of a family i n the middle classes desiring

to

give a good secondary or university education to his boys or girls can do so more easily and at less expense i n Christehurch than i n most of the fairly large provincial towns of England.

The Anglican Cathedral,

designed by S i r Gilbert Scott, marks i n an impressive way the ecclesiastical origin of the settlement, and its services, for reverence and musical beauty, would be worthy of any English cathedral.

The building is

Gothic, w i t h a fine spire two hundred and

fifteen

feet high, which, seen far out at sea, forms a notable landmark to the mariner, while settlers on distant farms on the Great Plains or on the hills are able by its means to locate the centre Christehurch.

of the city of

A l t h o u g h included i n the plans of

the original settlement, and although the foundationstone was laid by the saintly Bishop Harper i n 18G4, it has only been completed within the last thirty years. The main structure was consecrated by Bishop Harper on A l l Saints' D a y , 1881, and the chancel and other notable additions are due to the energy of the E i g h t E e v . D r . Julius, the present Bishop of Christehurch. N o r does the cathedral stand alone as evidence of the religious activity of the people.

E v e r y quarter

of the town and every suburb has its own Anglican church. The E o m a n Catholic Cathedral i n Barbadoes


134

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

Street, a fine, handsome basilica, which w i l l form a lasting memorial of the episcopate of Bishop Grimes, is as admirable i n its way as the Anglican Cathedral; and the Presbyterians, the Methodists, the Congregationalists, the Baptists, the Jews, and other denominations a l l have their own place of worship, many of them handsome and commodious structures. N o r is the social enjoyment of the community neglected. The new Theatre R o y a l is ahandsomebuilding, equal to some of the smaller theatres of the newest type i n London.

H i s Majesty's (formerly the Canterbury

H a l l ) , while possessing a fine stage, i n every way suitable for theatrical performances, has i n addition a splendid organ, costing upwards of ÂŁ3,000, enabling musical performances to be given i n this building with especial advantage.

I n these buildings, to say nothing of

smaller places of

entertainment,

the citizens

are

enabled to enjoy music and the drama, while an A r t Gallery, i n addition to displaying the works of local artists, has a very fair collection of pictures.

good English

There are three well-appointed clubs i n the

town, excellent

golf-links w i t h i n easy distance

by

tram, and facilities for football, cricket, tennis, bowls, and other outdoor games unsurpassed i n any other part of the Dominion.

Sea-bathing is to be had at

Sumner or N e w Brighton by taking a tram ride of a few miles from town. A t Riccarton the Canterbury


" T H E CITY IN T H E P L A I N S "

Jockey C l u b owns Zealand.

135

the finest racecourse

in New

A d d to this the fact that deer-stalking,

hunting, fishing, and mountaineering are a l l within easy reach of the residents i n the city, that the climate is of the brightest and sunniest without great extremes of heat and cold, and it w i l l be seen that the lot of the Englishman i n this little section of England i n the Pacific is one which his stay-at-home brother i n the British Isles may well envy.

S i r J o h n Gorst, who

came out as Special Commissioner to represent tho B r i t i s h Government at the International Exhibition held at Christehurch i n 1906, said of the city : " I wish that I could have a cottage here, and spend the rest of my days i n this charming spot. that I have been i n E n g l a n d all the time. loveliest town that I have ever seen. city.'

I feel

It is the

I t is a 'garden

T o my m i n d Christehurch is exactly what we

are t r y i n g to make our garden cities i n E n g l a n d .

It

has the same broad streets, open spaces, and beautiful gardens. . . .

I like your English lanes, and, i n short,

the essentially English ideas represented on all sides." F o r the rest, Christehurch is a city with a population, according to the census of 1906, of 52,313, or about 68,000 with the suburbs.

It has a l l the con-

veniences of a well-managed town i n the O l d Country. It is l i t by gas and electricity. There is a splendid drainage s y s t e m ; the city refuse is burnt i n a de-


136

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

structor; there are public abattoirs where all animals intended for local consumption are slaughtered under official supervision; tepid swimming baths, technical schools, and other outward and visible signs of civic patriotism and public spirit.

The electric tramway-

service is under the control of a Tramway Board. There are about fifty miles of track, and the capital expenditure is upwards of £400,000. Christchurch has a large range of local industries, from the m a k i n g of art enamels to

iron-founding.

B u t the chief place is taken by the industries connected w i t h the prime products of the country—the freezing of meat for export, fellmongering, and the manufacture

of

woollen goods.

The Christchurch

Meat Company, with a paid-up capital of £168,399, has works at Islington (a few miles from Christchurch), Smithfield

(near

Timaru),

Picton

(Marlborough),

Burnside (Otago), and Oamaru, which, with shops and offices at Christchurch, represent a capital value of about £370,000.

The quantity of stock put through

the works i n 1907

constituted

a record

for this

Company, the total reaching 1,590,682 head of stock. The Canterbury Frozen Meat Company, with a paidup capital of £183,727, has works at Belfast (near Christchurch), Fairfield

(Ashburton),

and

Pareora

(South Canterbury), the land, works, machinery, and plant standing on the balance-sheet

at £274,508.


" T H E CITY IN T H E PLAINS "

137

D u r i n g 1907, 1,169,349 head of stock were dealt with at the works.

In other words, these two companies

dealt with more than one-half of the total sheep and lambs exported

from N e w Zealand.

The K a i a p o i

Woollen Company is another industrial institution of which the city is justly proud.

It has large woollen

mills at Kaiapoi, about twelve miles from Christehurch, and an extensive clothing factory and warehouses i n Christehurch.

It employs about a thousand hands,

and the range of operations would surprise an English manufacturer accustomed to mills which specialize i n one particular line—e.g., blankets or not combining both.

tweeds, but

The Kaiapoi mills turn out

rugs, blankets, tweeds, flannels, hosiery, etc., while in the Christehurch factory the tweeds are made up into clothing, hats and caps, etc.

The company has

exported its goods—principally rugs and the finest quality of blankets—to the U n i t e d K i n g d o m , America, and

a l l the

States

of

the Australian

Common-

wealth. Christehurch is particularly well supplied w i t h newspapers.

There are two daily morning papers—

The Press and the Lyttelton

Times, varying i n size

from twelve to sixteen pages.

There are two evening

newspapers—Truth and The Star—issued from the same offices respectively as the morning papers, and two large weekly illustrated papers—the Weekly Press and


N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

138

Canterbury Times.

The Christchurch Press Company

has just erected i n Cathedral Square fine new offices, stated to be the largest and most perfectly equipped printing-house i n Australasia. A

few words i n conclusion about the ports of

Canterbury, and some of the most important boroughs outside

the

metropolitan

L y t t e l t o n , the

port

harbour, where

the

of

area

of

Christchurch.

Christchurch, has

largest

vessels

of

a fine

the

New

Zealand S h i p p i n g Company can be berthed at the wharves.

It is connected with Christchurch by rail,

the intervening hills being pierced by a tunnel one mile and five furlongs i n length, an engineering work carried out

i n the early days of

the province

which the inhabitants are justly proud.

of

It is, how-

ever, now thrown into total eclipse by the Otira tunnel, five and a quarter miles i n length, on the railway between Christchurch and the West Coast, now i n process of construction. L y t t e l t o n is a well-managed municipality, owning its own gasworks and high-pressure water supply, and w i t h a population of 4,200.

The

L y t t e l t o n H a r b o u r Board's trade return for

1907

shows that the number of foreign and colonial vessels outward bound

from L y t t e l t o n was 1,593, of

aggregate tonnage of 1,911,467 tons.

an

The value of

imports d u r i n g the year was ÂŁ2,640,506, and the value of the exports was ÂŁ2,836,739.

T i m a r u , the


" T H E CITY IN T H E PLAINS

139

seaport of South Canterbury, is a town of 7,700 i n habitants, rapidly increasing i n importance.

It has a

fine artificial harbour in which the largest liners load with safety.

D u r i n g 1907, 367 vessels, w i t h a total

tonnage of 453,456 tons, sailed from the port, and 789,094 carcasses of frozen mutton were shipped; this does not include a large quantity railed to L y t t e l t o n . T w o large freezing works, three large flour mills, a woollen factory, boot factories, etc., testify to activity of local industry.

the

Akaroa, situated on the

eastern side of the excellent harbour of the name, is the port for the produce of Banks Peninsula, famous for its cheese, its fruit, and its grass-seed.

It is very

interesting from an historical point of view, chiefly from the fact that i t was here that the French Government attempted to establish a colony i n N e w Zealand, but were

forestalled

by

H.M.S.

Britomart

under

Captain Owen Stanley, whose brother, the celebrated Dean of Westminster, presented the font i n Christchurch Cathedral as a memorial of his name. burton, an inland borough

Ash-

of 2,850 inhabitants, is

situated on the Ashburton K i v e r , i n the middle of the large agricultural and pastoral district of the Canterbury P l a i n .

Other boroughs are K a i a p o i (population

1,804), Rangiora (1,800), Temuka (1,665), Waimate (1,800), Geraldine (1,020), N e w Brighton, a marine suburb of Christehurch (1,132), Sumner, also a marine


140

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

suburb (1,250), and Woolston, a suburb of Christchurch (2,950). T o understand what Canterbury means to N e w Zealand one has only to attend the great agricultural and pastoral show held i n

November,

when

the

settlers troop i n from a l l parts of the province to attend the annual carnival.

The display of

sheep

excels a n y t h i n g to be seen at the great shows i n the Motherland, and the cattle, horses, and pigs testify to the s k i l l and care with which breeding is carried on. The people, however, are the most interesting and inspiring spectacle.

I n a crowd of t h i r t y thousand,

y o u w i l l not see one bearing the look of poverty.

It

is a sun-burned, happy throng—the best evidence of the fertility and prosperity of the land i n which they live.


PART VII DUNEDLN BY

AND A.

ENVIRONS

WILSON

T H E visitor to Dunedin, whether he comes from the north or from the south, may reach i t either by rail or by steamer, but the most picturesque approach is that by the bay. W h e n ouce the Heads are entered, the scenery is that of an inland lake, enclosed on either hand by low ranges of varied outline.

On the

left of the entrance to the lower harbour are rolling slopes of white sand, near which is the chief M a o r i settlement of Otago.

A f t e r passing P o r t Chalmers,

from which the visitor may, if he chooses, take train to Dunedin, the vessel, passing Quarantine Island, enters the upper harbour, and at a distance of some eight miles from P o r t Chalmers and sixteen from the Heads moors at the Dunedin wharf. The approach by way of the bay gives one of the finest views of the city, which follows the curves of the shore-line and is thrown into 141


142

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

relief against the wooded slope which rises up behind i t to a height of several hundred feet. Those, however, who prefer to do so may reach Dunedin by r a i l .

Passengers from the south may

land at the Bluff, and take train to Invercargill, and thence to D u n e d i n .

Those who decide upon this

course, and who have the time to spare, may prefer to visit the Otago C o l d L a k e s , from Invercargill, before proceeding to D u n e d i n .

Those, on the other hand,

who approach D u n e d i n from the north, may, instead of coming a l l the way from Wellington by sea, take train at L y t t e l t o n , and i n this way see something of that part of the country which lies between Christchurch and D u n e d i n . The city of Dunedin was founded as a Presbyterian Church settlement some sixty years ago, but the large influx of strangers which took place on the discovery of gold i n Otago considerably modified the character of the settlement, though the town still retains many of its Scottish characteristics. The city is built for the most part along the shore-line of the bay, the outline of which, i n consequence of the extensive reclamation works carried out by the Harbour Board, has changed considerably since the town was first founded.

A

narrow belt of flat land skirts the head of the bay from the water of L e i t h at the north to Caversham and St. Clair at the south end, where the flat, as i t


143

D U N E D I N A N D ENVIRONS

reaches the Pacific Ocean, widens out into a broad stretch extending eastward to Anderson's Bay at no great height above the sea-level. The picturesqueness of Dunedin is due largely to the hills which surround the city on all sides except where the F o r b u r g F l a t stretches away to the Pacific Ocean, from which i t is separated by a line of sand-dunes.

The Ocean Beach

between the sand-hills and the ocean, a fine strip of sand running from St. Clair to Lawyers Head, is the chief health and recreation resort of the city, from which i t is easily reached by trams running from the post-office to St. Clair. The centre of Dunedin, regarded i n the light of the original plan of the city, though it is not the business centre, is an open space called, from its shape, the Octagon, on the north-west side of which stands the T o w n H a l l , an imposing building with a high

clock-tower,

from which there is an extensive view of the city and environs. The Octagon is divided i n half by the main thoroughfare, the part of i t which runs south towards Caversham

being

k n o w n as Princes Street,

that

which runs north to the Botanical Gardens and N o r t h East V a l l e y as George Street.

The chief

business

streets of the city lie i n the area (largely land reclaimed from the bay) to the east of Princes Street, between that street and the wharves and foreshore. T o the west, along their entire length, George Street,


144

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

and Princes Street are flanked by a hill, which rises more or less abruptly i n terraces, and forms a background to the town.

O n this h i l l , and well up

towards the ridge, a broad space running round the city on its north, west, and south sides was reserved, by those who originally laid out Dunedin, as a public domain for the recreation of the citizens. This Town Belt, which at the north end is covered with native bush, and towards the southern end affords fine open places available as football and cricket grounds, is one of the most attractive and characteristic features of the city. A carriage road, Queen's D r i v e , which runs the whole length of the B e l t , rising and sinking to various levels, is one of the prettiest and most interesting

walks or drives

bourhood vantage

of

Dunedin,

points, extensive

harbour, and the ocean.

i n the immediate commanding, views

from

neighmany

of the city, the

A t the north end, imme-

diately below M a o r i H i l l and Roslyn, the T o w n Belt is densely covered w i t h native bush, chiefly manuka, fuschia, and broad-leaf, w i t h an undergrowth of ferns; the south end, on the other hand, towards Montecillo, is more open, affording to the citizens of Dunedin and the adjoining suburbs ample and breezy recreation grounds. P a r t of the T o w n B e l t , at the northern end of the city, where i t joins the North-East Valley, has been



D U N E D I N A N D ENVIRONS

145

reserved as Botanical Gardens, though the scheme on which they have been laid out does not lend itself specially to the purposes of botanical study.

The

Botanical Gardens are, rather," beautiful pleasuregrounds,

with

pleasant, shady

walks, and

seats,

stretches of smooth turf, fine specimen trees, and i n numerable flower-beds and borders i n which at any season of the year there are pretty and interesting plants i n bloom.

A n aviary, for native birds, an i n -

door fernery, a winter garden, a free gift to the city from

M r . R . Glendining, and several ponds w i t h

water-fowl, add to the general attractiveness of these well-kept public gardens, which are a favourite resort of Dunedin citizens, especially on Sunday afternoon, when one of the city instrumental bands plays i n the rotunda.

The Botanical Gardens may be reached by

tram from the central post-office i n about ten minutes, by way either of Castle Street or George Street. Besides the extensive T o w n Belt, with the Botanical Gardens, the city has within its limits various other open spaces of a more or less attractive appearance. Amongst them the triangular railed space, originally called the " Triangle," but now known as the V i c t o r i a Reserve, at the lower end of H i g h S t r e e t ; the N o r t h Dunedin Recreation Ground and the Museum Reserve at the north end of the town between Great K i n g Street and Cumberland Street ; Jubilee P a r k i n 10


146

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

U p p e r Maclaggan Street, w i t h pleasant walks and w i t h an exquisite view of the city and bay from the crest of the h i l l ; the Oval, at present i n course of formation on the Anderson's B i y Road and Princes Street S o u t h ; and, opposite to the Oval, the Market Reserve,

well

laid out

i n turf

and

flower-beds.

Further, to the west of the Botanical Gardens, on the banks of the Water of L e i t h , there are the pleasant Woodhaugh G a r d e n s ; so that, for its size, i t cannot be said that Dunedin is ill-provided with public reserves.

The city can be fairly well seen i n the

course of a day by using the various tram-lines to advantage. In addition to the city system of electric trams there are three cable trams which connect with the city trams, and serve the various hill boroughs. A l l three h i l l trams give a good opportunity of seeing the city and its environs to advantage, and from their respective termini there are pleasant walks in various directions, and to any distance. COMMERCE

A N D INDUSTRIES

Dunedin, as the distributing centre and port of provincial districts, is one

of the most

flourishing

commercial and industrial centres of the Dominion. T h e export trade in such commodities as gold, dairy produce,

grain, frozen meat, wool, skins, etc., is


CAPTAIN I. A.

SUTCLIFFE.


DUNEDIN

considerable.

A N D ENVIRONS

147

Besides carrying on a large wholesale

and retail distributing trade i n a l l classes of goods, Dunedin and places i n the immediate neighbourhood, such as Green Island and Mosgiel, excel i n a variety

of

manufactures :

refrigerated

meat

for

export, butter and cheese, leather, paper, wearing apparel, iron and brass work, carriages and bicycles, machinery,

agricultural implements, ales,

waters and cordials, woollen goods, etc.

aerated

The woollen

goods manufactured by the Mosgiel and K a i k o r a i mills have a well-deserved reputation for of material and workmanship.

excellence

In the matter more

particularly of blankets and rugs these mills can hold their own w i t h any competitors inside or outside the Dominion. THE

PRESS

The chief Dunedin newspapers are the Otago Daily Times (the morning daily), the Evening

Star (the

evening daily), and the Otago Witness, a weekly paper published by the Otago Daily Times Company.

PUBLIC

INSTITUTIONS

Dunedin is well provided with the various public institutions necessary to municipal life. P r i m a r y education is provided by some dozen large public schools i n the city and suburbs, and secondary 10-2


148

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

education by the two Otago H i g h Schools, for boys and girls respectively.

T h e Boys' H i g h School, on a

fine site overlooking the city and harlxmr, is one of the finest public buildings i n Dunedin. The Otago U n i v e r s i t y , one of the four teaching colleges affiliated to the N e w Zealand U n i v e r s i t y (a purely examining body), provides a course of teaching in arts, science, medicine, dentistry, mining, and law.



149

PART VIII GOLD PRODUCTION OF AUSTRALASIA T H E gold yield of Australasia for the following years was as u n d e r : 1898. Queensland New South Wales Victoria South An-! rill i Western Australia Tasmania New Zealand

DISTANCE

1900.

1902.

On. 020,048 340,493 &37,257 31,901 1,050,184 74,233 280,175

Ox Ox. 903,189 Sr.0,453 345,050 190,310 S( 17,407 777,738 24,080 28,198 1,580,950 2,177,442 81,125 70,996 373,610 508,045

O*. 592,620 828,747 810,050 20,530 2,185,698 82,205 520,485

3,534,351

4,176,023

4,540,335

4,013,188

TABLES, I N NAUTICAL

ACCORDING

1U05.

TOT H E ROUTES

MILES,

ADOPTED

BY T H EN E WZEALAND SHIPPING COMPANY, LTD., A N DTHEIR

CONNECTIONS

London. 14

11 r a v e - 11 • I -

310 290 Plymouth. 1,730 1,716 1,420 Tonerife. 6,180 6,166 5,870 4,4-50 Cap I Town. 11,900 11,886 11,590 10,170 5,720 Hobirt 13,178 13,164 12,868 11,448 6,998 1,278 Wellington. Wellington 5,960 Montevideo. 10,460 4,500 Tenerife. 11,880 MM 1,420 Plymouth. 12,176 6,216 1,716 296 Gravesend. 12,190 6,230 1,730 310 14 London.


NEW

150

ZEALAND

POCKET-BOOK

Wellington. 203 Napier. 289 86 Gisborne. 690 387 801 Auckland.

Wellington. 175 Lyttelton. 3(55 190 Dunedin. 497 322 132 Bluff.

I Wellington. Wellington. 53 Plcton. 172 New Plymouth. [land). 138 85 Nelson. 807 135 Onehunga (Auck298 245 160 Westport. Wollington to Nelson direct 101 63 Greymoutb. „ to Westport „ 226 I 861 808 223 ... ...

Hobart to Melbourne „ to 8ydney

457 I Launceston to Melbourne .. . 277 . 508 623 I Melbourne to Adelaide Brisbane. 850 Rockhampton (Kcppel Bay). 748 398 TownsTllle.

Sydney. 510 Brisbane. 690 ISO Maryborough. Auckland. 1,140 Suva. 1,194 54 Luvuka. Auckland. 1,638 Barotonga. 2,268 630 Tahiti.

Auckland. 1,101 Nukalofa. 120 Hapai. 1,221 Vavau. 80 200 1,301 Apia. 847 427 647 1,648 t">0> .' Lcvuka. 952 1,032 1,152 2,253 659 54 Suva. 1,006 1,086 1,206 2,307 Auckland to Tago Pago 1,580.

R A I L W A Y DISTANCES, N E W Z E A L A N D North Island: Miles. 38

From A u c k l a n d to Helcnsville ,,

to Rotorua

171

,,

,,

to Cambridge

101

,,

to Thames

148

From N e w Plymouth to Wanganui ,

,,

,,

to Napier

,,

n

to W e l l i n g t o n : Via

Wellington

107 276 and

Manawatu Railway ... V i a Rimutaka From Napier to Wellington

251 215 199


T.3S.

"TONGARlRO

OFF

TABLE

BAY.

CAPE

TOWN


151

RAILWAY DISTANCES South Island : Miles.

From Christchurch to Culverden to Dunedin From Oamaru to Dunedin From Dunedin to Ranfurly . ., „ to Invercargill „ to Bluff ,, „ to Kingston: Via Waimea Plains Line Via Invercargill From Bluff to Kingston

69 230 78 85 139 156 ...

174 226 104

The length of Government railways open for traffic on M a r c h 31, 1907, was 2,456 miles, of which were situated i n the N o r t h Island and 1,513

943

i n the

South Island.

TIME

BY THE CLOCK

PLACES

WHEN

NOON AT

IT

AT THE

FOLLOWING

IS T W E L V E

O'CLOCK

GREENWICH

Auckland Brisbane ... Cape of Good Hope Dublin Edinburgh Hobart, Tasmania ... Melbourne New York Paris Perth (Western Australia) Sydney Vancouver

.. .. .. .. .. ..

... ...

11.39 p.m. 10.12 „ 1.14 „ 11.35 a.m. 11.47 „ 9.49 p.m. 9.40 „ 7.4 a.m. 0.9 p.m. 7.43 „ 10.5 ,, 3.38 a.m.


152

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

Variation of time depends upon longitude.

Every

degree east of Greenwich is four minutes later, and every degree west four minutes earlier.

WATCHES ON BOAED

SHIP

The nautical day commences at noon, and is thus divided: Afternoon watch First dog-watch Second dog-watch First watch ... Middle watch Morning watch Forenoon watch

noon to 4 p.m. 4 p.m. to 0 p.m. 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. 8 p.m. to midnight 12 a.m. to 4 a.m. 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. 8 a.m. to noon

There are thus seven watches, which enables the crew to keep them alternately.

The watch on duty

i n the forenoon one day has the afternoon next day, and the men who have four hours' rest one night have eight hours the next.

This is the reason for

having " dog-watches," which are made by dividing the hours between watches.

4

p.m. and 8 p.m. into two


LINES

OF

THE

NEW

ZEALAND

SHIPPING

CO.,

LTD.,

WITH

THEIR

CONNECTING

ROUTES


IMPORTS A N D EXPORTS

153

I M P O R T S O F N E W Z E A L A N D F R O M 1897 T O 1906

Year.

1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906

...

Imports from United Kingdom.

Imports from British Colonics and Possessions.

Imports from Foreign States.

£ 5,392,738 5,148,833 5,526,645 6,501,484 6,885,831 6,851,452 7,512,668 7,982,340 7,795,284 9,003,229

£ 1,662,935 1,927,817 2,036,797 2.625,372 2,913,866 2,583,005 3,135,474 3,047,354 2,914.358 3,886,787

£ 999,500 1,153,950 1,176,191 1,516,240 2,018,218 1,892,266 2,140,533 2,262,000 2,119,215 2,321,387

E X P O R T S O F N E W Z E A L A N D F R O M 1897 T O 1906 Exports to United Kiugdom.

1897

1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906

£ 8,168,123 8,265.499 9,427,515 10.259,342 9,295,375 9,450,648 11,345,075 11,876,273 12,087,818 14,047,176

Exports to British I Exports to Colonies and , Foreign States. Possessions.

£ 1.3S0.502 1,532,511 1,850,239 2,332,780 2,907,412 3,577,815 2,821,608 2,088,691 2,591,802 3,141,327

£ 468,368 719,945 660,581 654,039 678,637 616,514 843,695 783,384 976,327 906,634


EXPORTS

Frozen Meat.

Butter and Cheese.

Agricultural Produce.

PRODUCE Manufactures.

Other New Zealand Produce.

£

£

Total.

Year.

Wool.

1897

4,443,144

980,204

1,566,286

553,122

495,175

197,601 1,360,735

9,596,267

1898

4,645,804

1,080,691

1,698,750

539,466

410,677

253,805 1,695,795

10,324,988

1899

4,324,627

1,513,18C

2,088,856

713,617

913,678

378,066 1,867,716

11,759,740

1900

4,749,196

1,439,602

2,123,881

969,731

1,230,565

549,342 1,992,932

13,055,249

1901

3,699,103

1,753,784

2,253,262

1,121,091

1,532,386

425,142 1,905,692

12,690,460 13,498,599

£

Gold.

OF NEW ZEALAND

£

£

£

£

£

1902

3,354,563

1,951,426

2,718,763

1,369,341

1,045,986

755,232 2,302,288

1903

4,041,274

2,037,832

3,197,043

1,513,065

744,845

823,358 2,480,775

14,838,192

1904

4,673,826

1,987,501

2,793,599

1,565.946

559,243

896,362 2,125,310

14,601,787

1905

5,381,833

2,093,936

2,694,432

1,613,728

428,280

882,960 2,408,861

15,503,530

1906

6,765,655

2,270,901

2,877,031

1,901,237

270,542

987,464 2,766,713

17,840,346

3



T R A D E OF AUSTRALASIA (1906)

155

T R A D E O F A U S T R A L A S I A (1906) T h e following table gives the value of the imports and exports of the different States comprising the Commonwealth of Australia and the Dominion of N e w Zealand.

The Australian figures include i n

each case the value of inter-State trade :

State.

Queensland New South Wales Victoria South Australia (including Northern Territory) ... Western Australia Tasmania New Zealand

Area in Square Miles.

Total Value of Imports.

£

070,500 8,311,466 310,370 34,665,363 87,884 25.234.402

Total Value of Exports.

£

Excess of Exports over Imports.

£

12,754,289 45,638,044 28,917,992

4,442,823 10,972,681 3,683,590

003,690 9,702,264 11,933,171 9,832,679 975,920 6,820,933 26,215 3,030,514 3,752,501 104,471 15.211.403 18,095,137

2,230,907 3,011,746 721,987 2,883,734

BANKING IN NEW ZEALAND The development of b a n k i n g i n N e w Zealand since the year 1857 has been very great.

T a k i n g for each

year the average of the four quarters' returns made by the banks of issue, the figures for 1857, 1870, 1880, 1890, 1900, and 1906 are :


156

N E W Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK Year.

1857 1870 1880 1890 1900 1906

Deposits.

Assets.

Liabilities.

£ 343,316 3,127,769 8,538,935 12,368,610 15,570,610 22,422,243

£ 419,860 6,315,354 14,220,275 17,735,259 17,314,535 23,829,933

£ 432,494 3,819,670 9,550,177 13,356,598 16,964,582 24,143,008

I n 1880 the deposits of these banks were £ 1 8 per head of

the mean p o p u l a t i o n ; i n 1890 they

were

£19-92 per h e a d ; and i n 1906, £25-04. LAND

VALUATION

T h e f o l l o w i n g figures may be of interest to those who s t u d y the question of land valuation : T A B L E SHOWING CAPITAL A N D UNIMPROVED V A L U E S OF L A N D I N T H E DOMINION OF N E W ZEALAND.

Year of Valuation.

1878 1882 1885 1888 1891 1897 1902 1904 1905 1906 1907

Total Capital Values.

Total Unimproved Values.

£ 99,566,679 101,000,000 113,270,649 111,137,714 122,225,029 138,591,347 154,816,132 182,796,241 197,684,475 218,422,552 236,644,536

£ 62,573,868 75,497,379 75,832,465 84,401,244 94,847,727 112,629,412 122,937,126 137,168,548 149,682,689



157

EDUCATION EDUCATION

Year.

Scholars at Primary Schools.

1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906

110,919 112.685 115,456 117,912 119,523 122,620 124,690 127,300 129,856 131,037 132,197 131,621 131,315 130,724 131,351 132,262 133,568 135,475 137,623 139,302*

Scholars at Secondary or Higli Schools.

Scholars at Private Schools.

New Zealand University Graduates.

2,242 2,120 2,147 2,117 2,205 2,262 2,251 2,454 2,525 2,614 2,709 2,706 2,723 2,792 2,899 3,072 3,722 4,038 4,060 4,270

13,417 13,893 13,458 13,626 14,142 14,456 14,922 14,627 14,659 13,947 14,447 14,782 15,295 15,555 15,344 15,624 15,609 16,378 16,639 17,131

145 168 199 230 279 323 366 410 464 501 546 603 641 699 757 814 869 929 992 1,083

* In addition to these, there were in December, 1906, 4,174 children attending the native schools, nearly all maintained by the Government, and 795 at industrial schools and orphanages.

NEW The

ZEALAND following

GOVERNMENT

RAILWAYS

statement shows the number of

miles of Government railways open, the number of t r a i n - m i l e s travelled and of passengers carried, and


158

NEW

Z E A L A N D POCKET-BOOK

the tonnage of goods traffic, for the past seventeen years:

Year.

Length Open.

TrainMileage.

Passengers.

Season Tickets Issued.

Goods and Live-Stock.

1890- 91 1891- 92 1892 93 1893- 94 1894- -95 1895 96 1896 -97 1897--98 1898-99 1899--1900 1900--1901 1901--1902 1902--1903 1903 -1904 1904--1905 1905--1906 1906-1907

1,842 1,869 1,886 1,948 1,993 2.014 2,018 2.055 2,090 2,104 2,212 2,235 2,291 2,328 2,374 2,407 2,458

2,894,776 3,010,489 3,002,174 3,113,231 3,221,620 3,307,226 3,409,218 3,666,483 3,968,708 4,187,893 1,620,971 5,066,360 5,443,333 5,685,399 6,107,079 6,413,573 6,755,454

3,433,629 3,555,764 3,759,044 3,972,701 3,905,578 4,162,426 4,439,387 4,672,264 4,955,553 5,468,284 6,243,593 7,356,136 7,575,390 8,306,383 8,514,112 8,826,382 9,600,786

13,881 16,341 16,504 17,226 28,623 36,233 43,069 48,660 55,027 63,335 82,921 100,778 118,431 129,919 140,453 147,989 165,504

Tons. 2,134,023 2,122,987 2,258,235 2,128,709 2,123,343 2,175,943 2,461,127 2,628,746 2,744,441 3,251,716 3,461,331 3,667,039 3,918,261 4,259,217 4,185,468 4,415,166 4,824,563

SOWN

GRASSES

I t w i l l be observed from the following table that the acreage of l a n d under sown grasses is far greater i n N e w Zealand than i n the whole of Australia and Tasmania. I n addition to the artificially sown pastures, the returns for 1907 show that 22,922,047 acres of u n improved land, including that i n tussock or native


CAPTAIN

FRANCIS

FORBES.


159

SOWN GRASSES

grass, belonged to the occupied holdings, and were available for stock-feeding b y the sheep-farmers and cattle-farmers of the Dominion. The following shows the acreage i n sown grasses in Australasia i n 1905-06 : Acres.

Queensland New South Wales Victoria South Australia .. Western Australia Tasmania New Zealand

40,802 627,530 1,040,335 26,082 5,456 404,653 12,525.461


INTERNATIONAL CODE 1

K

H

A

J

!• II

I

FLAGS.

O

V

|

•!=)

II

P BLUE PETER

w

»

P'Pi* III |+|[^| II

J

L 1

J

i^H—^|—1 ^^^^bj G

^compajj^y Jf.Z.S. Co? Pocket Book

1

Q

|

x

S PILOT

IliHB

Z 'I

FLAG

i

1"

"

C0DE FLAG AND

{"ANSWERING PENNANT


MEMORANDA

11


AUTOGRAPHS.


AUTOGRAPHS.

11—2


H. 2. S. Co. SS. Date.

Lat

Long.

| Winds. !

Bar.

Ther.

Distances Run.

1

i

•


NOTES.


N. Z. S. Co. SS Date.

Lat.

Long.

Winds.

Bar.

P

b

0 f

>>

Ther.

/I

6

distances Run.

c

L

X

t


NOTES


N. Z. S. Co. SS Date.

Lat.

Long.

Winds.

Bar.

Ther.

Distances Run.


From

to..

NOTES.


CASH MEMORANDA. Date.

£

«t.

d.


CASH MEMORANDA. Date.

£

«.

d.


NOTES.


NOTES.


NOTES.


NOTES.


NOTES.


NOTES.

12


NOTES.

L


NOTES.


NOTES

BILLING AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, GUILDFORD




Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.