ticularly in the immediate vicinity of the water; and the houses now extend along the whole of the beach frontage of the town, or nearly three miles. The average rent of land on the beach is about sixteen shillings per lineal foot of street frontage, and all land within half a mile of it lets advantageously. The merchandise and provisions in the different stores are estimated at £400,000, a large sum for a colony of only six years standing; and there are now three breweries in the town, and five wind, water, and steam mills.

The want of roads, so long a drawback to the prosperity of Wellington, is now, in a great measure, supplied. There is an excellent carriage road to Petoni, six miles distant, which has been lately extended up the valley of the Hutt; and from the upper valley of that river, a cattle or bridle path has been formed to the magnificent valley of the Wairarapa, thirty miles from Wellington, containing 400,000 acres of good arable and pasture land, passing through the Ruamahunga plains, containing 100,000 acres, and situated about twenty miles from Wellington, thereby opening up to that district half a million acres of available land. A road or cattle path, five feet broad, has also been opened up to Porirua, sixteen miles distant, by the road, from whence cattle can be driven to Wanganui and Taranaki. Where these cattle tracks are widened, and rendered available for carts and bullock teams, the thing will be complete. The country around Port Nicholson is considered perhaps the best adapted for settlers of capital, who do not depend on immediate return, on account of its extreme fertility; but Wanganui, Manawatu, and New Plymouth, in the North Island, and Nelson on the Middle, are perhaps more

suitable for rearing flocks and herds, as the land there, from not being so heavily timbered, can be cleared and cultivated with less outlay.

The natives at Port Nicholson are becoming quite domesticated with the settlers, and a few of then live in their houses. They are so fond of being dressed like the British, that one of the merchants at Wellington had the names of one hundred of them at one time in his books, to whom he had furnished clothing, &c. and they are very honourable in discharging their debts. Being great misers, many of them are becoming opulent; and Mr. Smith, the intelligent manager of the Wellington Bank, estimates the amount of their capital in houses, money, &c., at £150,000.

The cattle turned out to graze round Wellington get comparatively fat, without having, at times, any grass to eat, as they feed very much on the Kraka laurel, a good supply of which makes even a cow in the stall give abundance of milk. The Hon. Mr. Petre mentions, that oxen which were worked all day, and only turned loose at night, had reached 900 pounds weight, which astonished him very much, as he adds, "What the cattle and sheep do feed upon I am unable to say; they browse, to a great extent, on the young shoots of various trees and shrubs, and find great abundance of nourishing food even before any grasses spring up. The rapidity with which they fatten is very remarkable." Mr. Thorp says, "Poultry, pigs, and cattle thrive well, almost in every part where there are bushes, herbs, plantain-leaf, and a little grass. Cattle occasionally take a bite of the fern, but, as the natives do of its roots, because other food is scarce." There are now 3000 cattle, and 10,000 sheep, in the vicinity of Wellington, besides pigs innumerable.

PETRE. This town has been colonized chiefly with settlers from Port Nicholson. It is named after Lord Petre's son, and is beautifully situated on the river Wanganui, about four miles from its embouchure in Cook's Straits. The river there is about 1000 feet in width, with an average depth of two fathoms at low water; but as it is a bar harbour, no vessel drawing more than eight feet of water, or about 150 tons burden, can enter the river with safety. The country all round is much more free from timber than in many other parts of New Zealand, being chiefly covered with fern and flax. The fern land at Wanganui costs from £5 to £8 an acre to clear and extirpate its immense roots, but, like the land in the valley of the Hutt, will require no manure for several years, it being only necessary after each crop, to turn up a fresh soil by ploughing sufficiently deep, when it is ready for immediate cultivation.

acres.

Petre is beautifully situated on level ground, and the site of the town, including streets, &c. covers 700 In the course of a few years all the available land betwixt it and Port Nicholson, one hundred and ten miles distant, will be more or less in a state of cultivation. The settlers are in good spirits, and already amount in numbers to 400 individuals, besides natives. There are now roads, or more properly speaking cattle tracks, opened up from it, both to Wellington and New Plymouth, from which latter it is distant ninety miles. A large tribe of natives live near the Wanganui. At some little distance to the north-west of Wanganui, on the shore, is the river Waimate, celebrated as the place where, on the shipwreck of the "Harriet," a fierce struggle ensued between the natives and Europeans, in which several were killed on both sides. Though

this conflict was mainly owing to the conduct of the Europeans, yet Her Majesty's vessel, "Alligator," afterwards inflicted a severe and summary punishment on the natives; which has filled them ever since with an awful, and almost superstitious, horror for the guns of a ship.

NEW PLYMOUTH.-This was the second of the New Zealand Company's settlements, and has been founded in the Taranaki district, thirty miles from Mount Egmont. This district, from being the finest in that country, has been called the "Garden of New Zealand." The Company would probably have placed their chief town there, instead of Port Nicholson, had there been a good harbour, but there is only an open roadstead, and when a strong north west wind blows, no vessels of any size can lie there with safety, though the moorings lately formed, remedy in some measure this defect. The produce of this valuable district will probably therefore be conveyed for shipment to Port Nicholson, from which it is distant 200 miles. Some few of the settlers there have already gone to it, and these, with the great body of emigrants from Plymouth in England, whence it derives its name, now form a population of about 1500 individuals. It is said that a plough could run straight along that district for fifty miles, if steered in the direction of Wanganui, at the back of Mount Egmont. This mountain is worthy of a special notice, as it is certainly by far the grandest and most sublime object I ever saw, worthy of a visit to New Zealand, though one were to see nothing else. My friend Dr. Dieffenbach, in his excellent Travels in New Zealand, published in 1843, gives such an interesting account

of his journey to the top of that mountain, that I must refer my readers, who are curious on such subjects, to his work. Though at one time supposed to be nearly ten thousand feet high, yet he calculates the height, from certain data which he points out, at 8839 feet, or about eight times higher than Arthur's Seat, near Edinburgh. He came to the line of perpetual snow, at a point about 1600 feet below the summit. The ground round its base is almost level, which adds greatly to its magnificence. Dr. Dieffenbach concludes his description of this celebrated mountain in these words:" Mount Egmont, and the smiling open land at its base, will become as celebrated for their beauty as the Bay of Naples, and will attract travellers from all parts of the globe."

NELSON-Situated on the Middle Island, in Blind Bay, or Tasman's Gulf, at the south west entry of Cook's Straits, is also one of the Company's settlements, and was founded in 1841. The climate there is infinitely better than at Port Nicholson, from being both warmer, and not nearly so much exposed to heavy gales. The harbour, which may be said to be formed by nature, will admit vessels of 500 tons burthen. Nelson is not far distant from Waimea, Moutura, Mowtuaka, and Wairoa, where 125,000 acres of available land have been discovered; the plains in these several districts being almost all open, and covered principally with fern, grass, and other herbage. It is also near to Massacre Bay, where they have discovered most excellent coal and lime, and, in consequence of that, have now changed the name to Coal Bay.

The Nelson district may be considered the most open perhaps in that country, and is, therefore, well