Maori War Days.

Regarding the people that came out on the Queen of Beauty, Mr. Farrell writes: "The majority of the passengers were of the farmer class, and of real good quality. Several families settled in the Whangarei district, and are still there, and are doing well, having borne their share in the development and progress of the district. Messrs. Carter, Horn, Tilly, and others are still enjoying good health and are supervising the efforts of their sons and daughters.

"As the Maori war had just started when we arrived many of the young men who failed to join the Volunteer Corps were conscripted and sent to the front. Work was plentiful in Auckland at that time, and employers visited the ship in search of mechanics who wanted employment. I remember that the foundations of the present Union Bank of Australia, at the corner of Victoria and Queen Streets, were then just level with the street, and bricklayers and carpenters were in request. The late Mr. Wm. Philcox, builder, had a big contract erecting military stores in the Albert Barracks, now the Albert Park, and that gave employment to a good many hands. The blacksmith and engineers found work putting together the parts of a small steamer called the Gemnotus, which Messrs. Bach and Sons brought out from home in sections. This little steamer was afterwards taken overland to Onehunga, and then to the Waikato River, where she did good work carrying troops and stores up and down the river. The spot where the little Gemnotus was put together on the beach at Auckland was somewhere about the site of the present building of the United Insurance Company in Fort Street."