they eat so many potatoes at breakfast and dinner, that they can't afford to eat any supper at all, so that they fast about twenty hours every day, and have thus no occasion to set aside any particular days for that purpose. Provisions of all kinds are now, however, less than the one half of what they were in 1841, in Auckland, and wages and house rent have fallen in the same proportion.

Auckland, though now slowly recovering, was in a deplorable state in 1844. A friend of mine, Mr. Sanderson, writes thus to one of my brothers in Sydney on 22d January, 1844 :-" There are, at this moment, not half a-dozen houses standing in Auckland, and these half-dozen could not raise together £300. Sales of bankrupts are taking place every day at ruinous prices, and at one which I attended lately, sugar was sold at a penny a pound, Indian silk handkerchiefs eightpence each, and rice one farthing a pound." Mr. Sanderson mentions in the same letter, that, at the sale of the property of Mr. Cooper, the colonial treasurer, who had fallen behind, an allotment of ground, with a splendid house, which had cost in all £1550, brought only £340, and that his cattle, horses, furniture, &c. brought only one seventh of their cost two years before.

It has often appeared to me strange, how seldom the working classes here, compare the rate of living in other countries, with the nominal rate of wages; and this neglect often creates disappointment when they emigrate to these countries. Indeed, I believe that the average rate of wages throughout the world, keeping in view, of course, the expense of living, is more equal thanat first sight we should be apt to imagine. When an Irish labourer, for instance, who, in his own country,

is receiving only tenpence a-day, hears of a labourer in Auckland receiving seven shillings, as he did at one time, he probably thinks that this must almost have enabled him to keep his carriage. He does not consider of how little consequence it is whether the nominal quantity of money received be great or small, and that the amount of the necessaries of life which that money can procure, is the only test whereby he can judge accurately of the rate of wages. Humboldt, the great traveller, mentions, that the miners who work in the gold and silver mines of Peru, and Chili, in South America, receive four times as much wages in money as the miners in Saxony, but are no better off, as the price of every thing is dear in proportion. During the reign of Edward the III. a common labourer received threepence a day, but a fat sheep was only one shilling and threepence, and a fat goose threepence, so that he could buy a fat sheep with five days pay, and a fat goose with one. But at the present day, when a fat sheep costs twentyfour shillings, he must give twelve days pay for it, at two shillings a-day.

It is curious that the English cannot settle down quietly, even in a new country, without wasting their time and money on these two most absurd of all absurdities, namely horse races, and public dinners. When beef was one shilling and fourpence a pound, one would suppose that the Aucklanders might have been better employed in sowing a little clover or turnip seed for their cattle, than in drinking a long list of absurd toasts, or setting a parcel of dumb animals to run against each other, particularly in a country like that, where, from their being scarcely any roads, it is of no earthly consequence whether a horse can gallop

twenty miles an hour, or only twenty yards; indeed a couple of working bullocks are intrinsically more valuable, in a new colony, than all the race horses in the world. These races were advertised in the Auckland Gazette of 1st December, 1841, as the Epsom races, and to those amongst the Aucklanders who had really seen the Epsom races in England, the contrast must have appeared singularly striking. The winner of the Auckland town plate was to be sold for £150, "if demanded," but who in their senses would give above as many pence for a race horse in a wilderness.

The dinner was given to Captain Hobson, the late governor, and took place on the 21st of July, 1841, when, as the newspaper states, "his Excellency fulfilled his promise of honouring the inhabitants of Auckland with his company to dinner, at Wood's Royal Hotel." This dinner, like most other pnblic dinners, though given ostensibly in honour of the Governor, was no doubt got up by the fifty gentlemen who attended it, chiefly with the view of affording them an opportunity of sounding each other's praises. When his Excellency's health was proposed, he made an eloquent reply, worthy in every respect of a jolly British tar converted into a governor. The toast of "the Church," gave the Rev. Mr. Churton an opportunity of displaying his usual eloquence. The "Army and Navy" followed next, when Lieutenant Dawson, of the Navy, and Captain Richmond of the Army, both returned thanks. Lieutenant Dawson, in his speech, seemed to think that Governor Hobson was as eminent an individual as Captain Cook, which no doubt secured for him a knife and fork at his Excellency's table the following day. The next toast was "the blessings of peace and civilization to the abo

rigines," to which Mr. Halswell responded, declaring that though he had been appointed one of their protectors, he found them perfectly able and willing to protect themselves; admitted by all present to have been the most sensible remark that was made during the whole evening. The next toast, "Mrs. Hobson, and the Ladies of New Zealand," was proposed by the Attorney-General, and responded to by the Governor, who afterwards retired. Now as the dinner was given in honour of him, they ought all to have retired at the same time, but that would not have answered their purpose at all, as, with the laudable object which they had in view, it was of no consequence whatever to them whether they entertained at dinner his Excellency or a chimney-sweep; and but for that, his Excellency, in all probability, would have had the distinguished honour of dining by himself. After his departure, accordingly, they set to work with more energy than ever. The vice-chairman gave the "Colonial Secretary," who made a neat reply; Mr. Mason gave "the commissioners of claims to grants of land," when Colonel Godfrey, one of the commissioners, displayed his usual eloquence; Mr. Coates gave "Captain Symonds and the Magistrates of New Zealand," when the captain returned thanks in an appropriate manner. short, they continued pouring forth the most extravagant eulogies on each other for several hours, till the healths of almost the whole company had been proposed, and they had made their speeches, when the revelry, of course, came to an end. They were all, in short, so delighted with each other, that they were reluctant to separate, thereby resembling two lovers courting, who, it is well known, never tire of each other's company, for the best of all possible reasons, because they are always talking of themselves.

In

PORT NICHOLSON.-This was the first of the Company's settlements, and is still the principal one. It is possessed of a good harbour, surrounded by hills on all sides, beautifully covered with trees to the top. The bay or port, is about eight miles long, and three broad, entering from Cook's Straits. The want of available land in its immediate vicinity has been somewhat complained of, but this objection can no longer be urged against it, as 7000 acres of the richest land have now been rendered available in the valley of the Hutt, seven miles distant, and it has received a still further addition to its agricultural importance by the discovery of the Ruamahunga Plains, about twenty miles distant, containing upwards of 100,000 acres of good pasture land. But by far the most important addition to it, is the splendid valley or plains of Wairarapa, thirty miles from Wellington, up the valley of the Hutt, beyond the Ruamahunga Plains, comprising nearly half a million of acres, of which the New Zealand Company acquired right, in 1844, to 150,000 acres of available land, without regard to figure or continuity of blocks. Mr. Heaphy, the draftsman of the Company, gives a very good account of Port Nicholson, in his work, pnblished in 1842, though he shews too great partiality to the Company's settlements, taking little notice, in fact, of any other. Accordingly, the Morning Chronicle of 1st October, 1842, in reviewing his work, says, "we believe he has not coloured the capabilities of the colonies too highly, but he is evidently the advocate of the Company, rather than an impartial judge, by whose judgment we should feel disposed to let ourselves be guided." It is amusing to contrast Mr. Thorp's description of Port Nicholson, with that of Mr. Heaphy. Mr. Thorp, writes thus in 1842