Sailing from the coast of Chili about the latitude of. 40deg, south, after a voyage of a month, Juan Fernandez in 1574 met the coast of a continent which seemed to be very fertile and well cultivated. The people were white, wore fine attire, and were of an amiable and peaceful disposition. Several large rivers fell into the sea, and altogether it appeared much better and richer than Peru. This country has been supposed by some to be New Zealand. This is the first reference or probable reference, that could have been made to New Zealand.— M.S. in Hobart Museum.

It was on the 14th of August, 1642, that the Dutch navigator, Abel Jansen Tasman, whose name now occupies so honourable a place in the history of nautical discovery, left the port of Batavia in the East Indies, on a voyage to the yet almost unentered regions of the Southern Pacific. He was despatched on this expedition by Anthony Van Dieman, the Governor of the Dutch possessions in that quarter of the globe; and had under his command the yacht Heemskirk and the Zeehan fly boat. The first reward of Tasman's research was the discovery of Van Dieman's Land. At this time, and for more than a century afterwards, the existence of a land extending round the South Pole, which was denominated the Terra Incognita Australis, was the favourite dream of geographers, and upon this Tasman imagined that he had now touched. "It is a very fine country," says he, "and we hope it is part of the Unknown South Continent." Twenty-six years before this, his countrymen, Scheuten and Le Maire, on penetrating into the Pacific through the strait which bears the name of the latter, had given that of Staten Island, or States Land, to the coast which appeared on their left, and which they were convinced belonged to the long-sought Polar Continent. Tasman accordingly gave the same name to the land which he had just discovered, under the impression that it might be only another part of the same extensive region. It happened, however, that within three months after this, Scheuten's Staten Land was found to be merely an inconsiderable island. Another Dutch navigator, Hendrick Brouwer, sailed round its eastern and southern coasts in making a voyage to Chili. Upon that discovery being announced, the country which Tasman had called Staten Land lost its first' name, and received instead, that of New Zealand, by which it has ever since been known. It was a considerable time after Tasman's voyage had been performed before any narrative of it was given to the world. An imperfect account at last appeared in Dutch, which was soon translated into English and French, and became very popular. But although more complete details of it were subsequently given, and especially by Valentyn, in his magnificent work on the possessions of the Dutch in the East Indies, published about a century ago, where we find the relation illustrated by copies of charts and views from Tasman's own journal, it was only very recently that the interesting document itself was rescued from oblivion. The public are indebted for its preservation to the late Sir Joseph. Banks, who, having purchased the manuscript, which was written in Dutch, had a translation of it into page 8English; and this, accompanied by accurate copies of the principal drawings in the original, has since been printed in the third volume of Admiral Burney's History of Discoveries in the South Sea.— Royal Society record

[Note.—Quiros, in 1606, named his discovery Austrilia del Espiritu Santo in honour of Philip of Austria. Purchas, in his English translation of Quiros' voyages, published 1625, called it Australia Incognita. Dalrymple, in his collection of voyages (1770), suggests the name, and Flinders revives it, in the introduction to his voyage, to Terra Australeas (1814).]

The prepossession in favour of a Southern Continent was inveterate in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. When Tasman made the west coast of New Zealand, he was confident that at last he had discovered the west side of the long-sought Terra Australia Incognita, So late as 1771 Alexander Dalrymple, Hydrographer to the Admiralty, and the jealous rival of Captain Cook, published a collection of voyages to the South Seas with the express object of demonstrating the existence of a huge Southern Continent. The only part of the Pacific then unexplored was that lying between New Zealand and Magellan Strait. This gave nearly the area by which, by elaborate calculations, Dalrymple showed was necessary to preserve the equilibrium of land between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. He therefore concluded that this space south of the equator must be almost entirely solid land. Within four years of the publication of Dalrymple's works, Cook, in his second voyage, by sailing over the site of the imaginary continent, finally dissipated the fable, and reduced this Terra Australis Incognita to the frozen mass within the Antarctic circle.—Notes re Abel Jansen Tasman in Hobart Museum Library.

In 1639 Anthony Van Dieman was Governor of Amsterdam. Tasman was on service which took him to the coast of China and Japan. Here reports were current of a golden island to the eastward. Tasman commanded one of the ships fitted out for the quest. After a long search over a wide area the venture was abandoned, with a loss of 50 of the 90 men composing the expedition. The Dutch were anxious at this time to discover the Great South Land, of which there had long been rumours. Already, before the expedition after the Golden Island, a Dutch ship found itself, by an error of latitude, off the coast of Western Australia, In a few years that coast was well known to Dutch mariners. Anthony Van Dieman at length fitted out an expedition of two ships to discover the Great South Land, with Tasman as commander, and Fischer, a famous pilot, second. These ships touched first at Mauritius, remaining there to refit and provision. They sailed and got down to latitude 49deg. They then fell off to latitude 42deg., and there struck the coast of Tasmania, somewhere near the entrance to Macquarie Harbour. Getting round to Bruny, they tried to make Adventure. Bay, but were driven out. Thereupon they named Frederick Henry Bay, now known as Blackmail's Bay. Sailing from: the coast they made New Zealand near Cook Strait, and had an encounter with the natives. New Zealand, Tasman held to be the veritable Great South Land of these Golden Islands.—J. B. Walker, in Royal Society of Tasmania,

Abel Tasman discovered New Zealand, 1642. Captain Cook and M. de Surville approached the country about the same time. Surville approached it in a bight he named Lauriston Bay, which Cook called Double Bay. Mount Egmont was named by the Frenchman, Mascarin Peak, in the neighbourhood of which he landed.—M.S. in Hobart Museum Library.

We completed our stores of wood and water; we took possession in the King's name of the island of New Zealand, which the aborigines called Eakenomaouve, and which Marion called France-Australe. Cook had called it on his chart Bay of Islands, but which we named Treachery Bay.—Crozet's Voyages.

Under date 11th March, 1760, Cook writes: —We had now sailed round the land which we discovered on the 5th, and which then did not appear to be joined to the main, which lay north of it, and being now come to the other side, which we supposed to be water, a bay or low land, it had the same appearance, but when I came to lay it on paper I saw no reason to suppose it to be an island. On the contrary, I was clearly of opinion it made part of the main. At noon the western extremity of the main bore N. 49 W., and the land we had seen in the morning S. 59 W., distant about five leagues. It lies in the latitude 46deg. 31min. S., longitude 192deg. 49min. W., and is nothing but a barren rock about a mile in circuit, remarkably high, and lies five leagues distant from the main. I named it after Dr Solander, and called it Solander Island. The shore of the main lies nearest E. by S. and W. by N., and forms a large open bay, in which there is no appearance of any harbour or shelter for shipping against S.W. and southerly winds. The surface of the country is broken into craggy hills, of a great height, on the summits of which there are patches of snow. It is not, however, wholly barren, for we could see wood, not only in the valleys, but upon the highest ground, yet we saw no appearance of its being inhabited.

First Map Of New Zealand.
[Deposit of Sydney, Historical Record Office.]

Intituled: Chart of New Zealand in 1769 and 1770 by Lieutenant J. Cook, commander of his Majesty's barque Endeavour. Published as the Act directs, 1st January, 1772.

The coast line from Cape Saunders is traced with seeming accuracy. Stewart Island is put down as a club-headed peninsula with a narrow neck joining the mainland, situated well inside Foveaux Straits. The insets to this neck are named respectively South-east Bay, and that on Solander side South-west Bay. Between Cape Saunders and Molyneux Bay he appears to have stood well off the land. From thence he hugged the shore to an acute point at Bench Islet on the coast of Stewart Island at the entrance to the Strait. From the outlining of the coast inside the strait we may assume he got sight of the entrance to Howell's Roads, but it must have been a very imperfect view. Ruapuke Island is not marked, although in making tracks for Trap Rocks he must have sailed in close proximity thereto. Westward of Stewart Island he made a loop-line course, at one end of which he stood well in to Sandhills Point, south-west of Te-Wae-wae Bay. That position, if correctly marked on the chart, should have opened out Foveaux as a through passage. From thence he made off shore, and, before beating up again for the land, must have been well out in the neighbourhood of, although he did not sight, Snares Islands. Dusky Bay was the next point touched at.

Topographical, Political, Etc.

In both islands there are extensive lakes; and the rivers are also numerous and mostly navigable, generally running north and south, and branching off into others, from which run numerous streams and creeks. The rise and fall of the tide along the whole coast is considerable, but greatest to the southward. At Hokianga (which is to the northward) it is 14ft or 15ft in the springs. The harbours and bays are, perhaps, the finest in the world—and few countries, indeed, possess so many, capacious, safe, and easy of access. The climate is very healthy, and free from those hot and pestilential winds destructive to cultivation, which characterise the climate of New South Wales; nor is the thermometer subject to the sudden changes observable there. From all the information that can be collected, New Zealand is far from being thickly page 10peopled, but is rich, beautiful, and fertile. The Natives have an intuitive respect, blended with fear, for the English—the chiefs, for the most part, desiring to place themselves under British protection. They do not possess courage, but are cunning, easily taught, clever, fond of show, hardy, and capable of undergoing great fatigue. They require to be treated with a mixture of kindness and firmness. There seems yet but little prospect of uniting any number of the natives under one leader. They are subdivided into many small communities or families, without any one individual having the slightest recognised authority, and are excessively jealous of each other and of their equality. With the exception of slaves, they have no distinctions of rank, everyone, not a slave, being equal to every other. The elder of a family, in time of peace, meets with some little deference—in war, the most enterprising takes the lead. The property of the soil is well defined, their jurisprudence extensive, and its penalties are submitted to without opposition, even by the stronger party. We find amongst them none of the volatile spirits of the islanders in warmer latitudes, but a proud, haughty, independent race, who think deeply, reason acutely, compare the past with the present, anticipate the future, and are as dogged and persevering amidst their fogs as the Briton is in his.—Communication to Royal Geographical Society by R. W. Hay, 3rd January, 1834.

Native Conspiracy.

The late arrival of the Harriet from New Zealand presents us with a picture of the natives of that island, by no means flattering to the humane wish for their civilisation. While the Harriet lay there, which was eight weeks (the greater part of which was in the South-east River), Captain Jones received repeated informations of plots, formed among the chiefs, for the capture of the vessel; but being always on the alert, the conspirators never had the opportunity of making the actual attempt. These islanders were aware of the conditions of Captain Jones's crew, nine of whom had refused duty; and as there were but few other Europeans, exclusive of the officers, on board, she being partly manned with Lascars, they encouraged their treacherous design, until the last moment of the vessel's stay. She arrived at the bay from hence, the 23rd of June, and had been more or less agitated with the apprehension of assault until the middle of August, when the conspirators, becoming impatient for the perpetration of their design, and, finding that they could not by any stratagem prevail on the Captain or officers to visit their villages (though frequently invited thither), the treachery assumed a bolder character, and at a little after daylight on the morning of the 22nd a fleet of war canoes, 11 in number, had just cleared a point of land that before screened them, and stood directly towards the vessel, around which a number of other canoes, with armed chiefs and natives, were already collected. The chief Bumorri, of whose perfidy Captain Jones had received repeated information, at this time drew alongside, intending familiarly to go on board as before; but this being refused him, and finding the ship in a thorough condition of defence, they thought it prudent to obey Captain Jones' orders not to presume to approach on pain of being fired into. The over-bearing insolence of the chiefs of this inhuman race of people it is impossible to form an adequate idea of. Their insults to Captain Jones and his officers and people were without parallel; spitting in their faces, and using menacing gestures to them on board their own vessel, was far from uncommon. And in their insolences they appeared to consider themselves protected by the consciousness of the ship's people that the missionaries on shore were always in their power, and that to incense these cannibal tyrants might provoke some act of vengeance upon them. Messrs: Hall and King, two of the gentlemen belonging to the missionary establishment there, were frequently on board, and declared their situation among them to be far from enviable. The natives rob them of whatsoever they see and have a wish for; they break in ad libitum upon their page 11inclosures; destroy their garden fences; and in all respects behave towards them, as we are confidently informed by Captain Jones and Mr Chase, chief officer of the vessel, in a most insolent and oppressive manner. The plan laid to cut off the Harriet was by no means limited in its extent, as the chiefs and their sanguinary subjects were attracted by the hope of plunder from the River Thames, which is 208, and others, from places upwards of 300 miles, distant. Such being their present feeling towards us, vessels proceeding thither cannot be too well upon their guard against surprise, as we were not heretofore aware that treachery and a thirst for blood formed their leading feature, and opportunity was the only ingredient needful to avowed hostility, and success their countersign for universal slaughter.—Sydney Gazette, 20th September, 1817.

Cook Strait An Ocean Highway.

The Warspite, a vessel of 70 tons, commanded by the Hon. R. S. Dundas, put in at Queen Charlotte Sound, en route from Sydney to England. One of her boats, in charge of a midshipman, was seized, and the crew massacred. This occurred in 1827, but detailed particulars are not given in the records. The Maori tradition is that some interference had taken place with their women, whether by the sufferers or some others is not known. The Warspite voyage, however, has been rendered otherwise memorable. Hobart Town Courier, December 15, 1827, reports:—"The Warspite left Sydney on the 6th January. She is the first line of battleship that has ever circumnavigated the globe in crossing the 180th degree of east longitude from Greenwich. The day was therefore changed; the week was made to consist of eight days, having two Tuesdays in it. On the passage from Port Jackson to Valparaiso the Warspite went through Cook Strait between the two islands of New Zealand and Eaheinomawe and Pocnawentoo. These straits are not well surveyed, and the different points are incorrectly laid down, the only chart of them being by Captain Cook in the Endeavour. The conducting of a line of battleship through such a narrow passage (being only 11 miles across in one place, and little known), with a beating wind the whole way, required not only great strength of nerve, but a constant and vigilant look-out, together with the unceasing operation of keeping the lead going. With these precautions the Warspite beat through in six days, without an accident."

The New Zealander Abroad.

Under the heading "A New Zealand Prince and Suite in Australia," the Colonial Times (Hobart Town, April 13, 1827) writes the following, evidently a skit, on the New Zealander abroad:—"We omitted in our last to report the arrival of the following distinguished passengers by the H.E.I.C. cruiser Research, Captain Dillon, which touches at New Zealand for the purpose of landing them in their native country. They are: His Royal Highness Brian Borombe, a New Zealand Prince, and Morgan McMurrooh, a New Zealand nobleman, secretary and aide-de-camp to the Prince. These distinguished persons were brought from New Zealand by Captain Dillon in his ship, the St. Patrick, to India, where they have been treated with the greatest kindness by several distinguished persons. However, we cannot but express our astonishment in this enlightened age that a Prince of the Blood Royal of the mighty State of New Zealand, with his secretary, etc., etc., etc., should be suffered to enter the ports of Calcutta and Van Dieman Land without being honoured with a salute from either of the batteries. Smoke and fire is certainly due to their distinguished rank, and surely they will never be suffered to depart Tasmania without being popped at either from Mulgrave Battery or the shipping. His Royal Highness, attended by his favourite Minister and suite, parade the streets of Hobart Town in all the pomp imaginable. Although his page 12Royal Highness is very modest, and by his dress would only be taken for a Lieutenant-general in the British Army; but when his face, so beautifully tatooed, is seen, it strikes the mind with an impression not easily effaced. His Royal Highness, in the bloom of youth and vigour, seems highly delighted in the society of our Tasmanian beauties. Their sparkling eyes and ruby lips confound him, and from which nothing can distract his attention but a solid piece of good roast beef and plum pudding. We pity our country friends, especially the ladies, that they will not have time to pay their respects to the Prince—the first who ever honoured Tasmanian shores, with his Royal Presence."

Arrived here (Cowes), August 14, 1830, the English ship Lloyds, Howe master, from London for the South Seas, having on board Teralu, the Sovereign of New Zealand, and his son, who have been to England to receive education, and are now going out to instruct their illiterate countrymen. Teralu's face is tatooed; he and his son affable, and speak English. Tasman discovered them in 1664. They were afterwards more fully explored by Captain Cook, who left on the island a great number of European poultry, which are now beyond all danger of being exterminated. He also planted several spots of ground with garden seeds, which flourished in great perfection.—English newspaper, dated January 5, 1831, in Sydney Record office.

Exaggerated Notions Of The South.

In Parliamentary Committee of 1838 we get the following:—"Mr J. B. Montefoire: I think the character of the natives in the south is less intelligent than those of the north. That may arise from their non-intercourse with Europeans. I do not think they would understand the nature of a bargain for the sale of their lands as well as the people in the north. The capabilities for colonisation of the northern parts of the Southern Island are very good, but not the southern part of that island. That part, I should think, was very bleak and cold, and not fit for settlement purposes. It is very mountainous country, a range of mountains running through the entire island. The people are not apparently of the same race, but they are similar in their habits."

Mr Herman Merivale, Permanent Under-secretary to the Colonies, in Parliamentary documents, 1835-38: "The Middle Island, as I understand, the slight rights the natives ever had, have been all but extinguished, so that the available land is practically unlimited.

In a MS. communication to the Governor of New South Wales (Sydney Record office), dated April 6, 1832, the writer says:—"I made strict inquiries as to European settlement in the south. The mate of the schooner in which I sailed to New Zealand had formerly lived two years in the South Island, and had frequently visited the fine bays as far south as Foveaux Strait for the purpose of buying flax and pork. He told me there were Europeans located all along the coast, and that their numbers were rapidly increasing. In the bays west of the strait a considerable number of timber gangs were located. The principal pursuit in these bays, however, was carried on by sealers and sealing gangs."

William The Fourth River.

In 1832 the author of the following, which is extracted from Hobart Town Courier of September 7, appears to have made his way to the head of the Pelorus, which he describes to be 50 miles long. Exercising the rights of discovery, he tells us he named it William the Fourth River:—"The page 13barque William IV., after visiting Entry Island, proceeded to that part of the coast of New Zealand which lies between Queen Charlotte Sound and Cloudy Bay. On entering the bay where the populous native settlement of Wickett is situated, Captain Steine found that a very large navigable river flowed into it, which he named William the Fourth River. He proceeded up a distance of 50 miles, when he entered a beautiful bay, surrounded with magnificent timber, interspersed with tracts of the richest soil. About 200 New Zealanders dwelt in a small village close to the beach, who seemed gradually to be acquiring industrious and civilised habits. By means of the traffic with the English they had obtained hoes from the people at Wickett, with winch they had broken up the soil, and were cultivating potatoes. Captain Steine found them of a very friendly and peaceable disposition, and easily prevailed on them to assist him in cutting the trees and loading his vessel. That part of the country never having been visited by any European, he named the bay Home's Bay, after the owner of his vessel. The resident chief, named Tamoe, a very handsome athletic youth, and two others named Ahuda and Chewack have come up in this vessel, on a visit to Hobart Town. Near the entrance of the River William Four, Captain Steine discovered another large river, which he named Queen Adelaide River. The whole of the country round those parts is under the domination of Kankatatoo."—Hobart Town Courier, 7th September, 1832.

Native Troubles.

The devastating Te Rauparaha wars took place about this time. These, as we know, occasioned a great deal of complication throughout the south. Sydney records make no mention of them, and as for Hobart, its allusions are so fragmentary and tribal names badly rendered as to defy identification. Hobart Town Courier, December 9, 1836, reports:—"The natives on the northern side of New Zealand were on the march to the southern tribes, Robulla (Te Rauparaha), the celebrated chief, at their head. The movements of the savages have been protracted by a severe attack of the influenza, or a disease which was similar in every respect to that which had been so prevalent here and in Sydney lately. Captain Bruce, of the Sydney Packets, states that the whole of his crew were affected with the same complaint at sea previous to arriving at New Zealand. The natives threaten to kill the steward of the Sydney Packet for bringing (as they believed him to have done) this new disorder among them. The measles, which was conveyed to New Zealand some time since, we are informed, has carried off at least 600 of the natives, and many of them are so affected by the new disorder that they are lying about the place half dead."

We have been favoured with the following extract of a letter from New Zealand by the last opportunity:—"A circumstance occurred here a short time ago which, had it turned out otherwise than it did, would have rendered the situation of the European residents very unsafe. However, the result of the affair to which I allude was most unfortunate, and has doubtless struck terror into a tribe of savages, who were the aggressors. During the absence of a sawyer from his premises his house was attacked and stripped of every article, and his wife beaten and abused. This led to a determination on the part of nearly all the Europeans (upwards of 40) to resent the injury and insult. On making known their determination to Nene and Patawahue, two very powerful chiefs, who have ever been on friendly alliance with the English, they readily volunteered their assistance. The 40 or 50 English, under the command of generals, the Rev. W. White (missionary, principally armed with faith and works, despising the use of firearms), and Mr Russell (the head merchant there), took the lead… The reserve, under General Nene and Patawahue, consisted of about 500 New Zealanders, under arms. This wellequipped little force, having marched for the enemy's pa or fortification, were page 14halted a short distance from it, when the Rev. Mr White and Mr Russell, accompanied by the two chiefs, advanced with a flag of truce boldly up to the pa, which was well fortified, and in the most pacific language remonstrated with them, disclaiming all wish to proceed to extremities, but at the same time assuring them that unless the stolen property was restored and reparation made to the injured party, the Europeans were bent upon revenge. I have been assured by a gentleman present that some of the chiefs whom they addressed wept in the expression of their regret, and stated that, as the property was not to be found, it could not be restored. They candidly admitted the offence of some of their tribe, and deplored the necessity of living with them. The storming party then advanced at the double, and on entering the fortification (which the enemy had abandoned on the departure of Messrs. White and Russell and the two chiefs) they put all the living in the garrison to death, consisting of 150 fine pigs, set fire to the pa and every house in it, and wasted their provisions and every potato they had in the flames. Thus reduced to ashes, wretchedness, and poverty, having lost all their seed potatoes, they retired to the woods. Shortly afterwards the Rev. Mr White and Mr Russell, with Nene and Patawahue, sought and came up with this unhappy tribe; and I am told the scene was most affecting… They were all drawn up in line; they wept bitterly for the offence of a few, who had involved them all in such distress; shook hands most cordially with Messrs White and Russell and the two chiefs, whom they regarded as friends, and were by them brought back to their ruined pa, where, stimulated by the humane assistance of these gentlemen, they have returned to their former habits of industry. It is impossible to do justice to the hearts of these two good men, whose conduct has made a lasting impression on the minds of all parties. This I believe to be a true and faithful statement of the affair, and I will venture to hope our Colonial Government will not pass over in silence the very meritorious conduct of Nene and Patawahue, which cannot be made too public."—Hobart Town Courier, April 17, 1835.

December 12, 1839, the Port Philip Patriot records:—"By favour of Captain Leslie, of the Falcon, we learn the following particulars of an outbreak among the natives about eight miles from Kapiti: On October 16 the Notorowkow attacked the Nottyarber tribe at 3 a.m., while asleep in their huts. The alarm being given, the Nottyarber tribe immediately rose, and a dreadful conflict ensued, which lasted till 9 a.m. About 150 of the Notorowkow were killed, and nearly twice that number wounded, while on the other side scarcely one-fourth were hurt. So confident were the Notorowkows of success that they even brought ropes to bind their captives, as also accompanied by their women and children to enjoy the feast upon the slain after the contemplated victory. The Nottyarbers were as forbearing after their victory as they proved themselves courageous in the battle. They buried their wounded enemies on the spot, with all their accoutrements, many of whom were barely dead. A native missionary from the Bay of Islands headed the Nottyarber tribe until a reinforcement came from another pa, belonging to Wykanny, headed by a chief named Mychakakow, supposed by the old men to be the chief who killed Captain Cherry, of the Caroline, and who succeeded in gaining victory of the Notorowkow tribe. After peace had been restored, the Nottyarber tribe declared that their intention was never to fight unless in the defensive. The Tory arrived next day at Kapiti, and some of the chiefs of the Nottyarber tribe repaired on board to secure medical assistance, and the surgeon of the ship immediately started overland to the scene of action, and attended the wounded. The Nottyarbers attributed their victory to their having become missionaries. The country for some distance round was in a very unsettled state when the Falcon sailed, and the probabilities are the natives will have a general war. At present a complete stoppage has taken place in trade, and the Falcon was unable to procure a single basket of potatoes. The Land page 15Company, who went cut in the Tory, had purchased the whole of Port Nicholson, and appointed a harbourmaster and a pilot."

[The Tory, being first of the New Zealand Land Company's vessels, sailed from Plymouth May 12, 1839, reaching Cook Strait August 17, 1839. At the time of its arrival the British settlers in New Zealand scarcely amounted to 1000 in all, of whom about 500 were settled in the north and about as many in Cook Strait and Banks Peninsula, further south.]

"New Zealand As It Is."

A page or two from a forthcoming publication is sub-title of the following, which appears in the Australian of September 20, 1839:—

New Zealand is a peculiar country—and per se in many respects, peculiar in its climate, soil, and natural productions, but pre-eminently in its inhabitants and mode of government. It is widely different from any other, either ancient or modern, that we have ever seen or read of, and from a combination of many circumstances it must remain so. A new and interesting experiment is about being tried there—or, rather, trying itself; colonisation is going on without any internal laws, and without any encouragement or aid from any regularly-constituted kingdom, country, or state. How far the experiment may succeed we dare not as yet foretell; probably it may bring forth the Utopia, which many have hitherto vainly and fondly dreamt of. At all events, it would not be cherishing too sanguine an expectation or hazarding too rash an opinion to say that it bids fair to out-rival hydrogen or bubble companies of South Australia; indeed, it is not unlikely that ere long it may advance more rapidly than New South Wales itself, however well manured the soil of the latter may have been by convict labour. But it will not bear comparison with New Holland… The two countries are essentially different. If either or each of them come 10 the maturity of an independent and prosperous kingdom, they must be widely opposite in their productions and resources. New Holland must always remain a pastoral and consequently a thinly-inhabited country. Its climate, soil, and want of internal communication by navigable rivers must render the cultivation of it a precarious and expensive pursuit. New Zealand, on the other hand, if ever it flourishes, must do so as an agricultural country. Its capabilities in this respect are good. It abounds with navigable rivers and good harbours, and, although the soil in many parts is not of the richest description—probably not so much so as in New Holland—yet the regularity of the seasons will far more than outweigh any advantages that the latter may have over it. New Holland possesses, comparatively speaking, a very small extent of good land in proportion to the immensity of its desert and barren tracts. New Zealand, on the other hand, has little really bad or unproductive soil, although the greater part may never be cultivated owing to the irregular and broken surface of the country. The whole line of sea coast is bounded by steep hills, so sudden in their ascent that, even if the soil were good (which in many cases it is), it will still never be brought into cultivation except by manual labour; and the chances are that such a system of agriculture would not sufficiently remunerate the owner of the soil in a country where labour must of necessity be high. There are several good harbours in the Northern Island of New Zealand, the principal of which are Hokianga and the Bay of Islands. The latter is most frequented. There is one remarkable feature that surrounds it—namely, there is not a level spot where a town of any dimensions could be built, with the exception of that in the possession of Mr Busby, the British Resident, and' that is not a desirable situation in consequence of its being in the first place exposed to the mouth of the harbour, and in the second on that (the west) side the water is shoal, and dangerous reefs extend a considerable distance from the shore directly opposite Mr Busby's. On the east side of the bay or harbour is the celebrated beach of Kororarika, forming the segment of a circle, about one-third of a mile in length, and terminating page 16at about 100 yards distance from the sea in a swampy ravine. About 15 weatherboarded houses and as many huts, the remnant of a native pa or village, constitutes this apology for a town. The greater part of the European inhabitants are exclusively devoted to the honourable and lucrative profession of supplying the natives, sailors, and any of the biped fraternity with liberal potations of aqua vitæ. To such an extent is this infamous practise carried on that not long since a notorious crimp and grog-seller, by the name of—, secreted an American whaler that was on the point of sailing. This circumstance so enraged the Yankee captain that he determined with a zeal worthy of every commendation to take the law into his own hands, and to inflict upon the infamous grog-seller a punishment which his conduct so justly merited. Having procured the assistance of the crew of another ship, he landed at the head of his men, and commenced pulling the crimp's house to pieces; nor did they leave the beach until it was entirely demolished. Besides the grog-sellers in this wooden town there are two or three general dealers, two shoemakers, a self-elected and licensed auctioneer, a usurer, a Catholic Bishop, and two or three priests, a Belgium botanist, a surgeon, and a ratcatcher. There are five or six establishments situated on the bank of the river above Kororarika, having a respectable and picturesque appearance. The proprietors of most of them, like mushrooms, sprung from nothing, having been run-away mechanics from whalers or masters of small coasting vessels; and one in particular, who the other day kept a grog shop, now aspires to something like consular dignity. The state of society in New Zealand altogether is deplorably low—'even beyond the low reach of compare.' The cannibalism of the natives, horrid and revolting though it be, is not a whit more repugnant to the feelings of civilised men than some of the daily unblushing practices of the white population. The evil passions and propensities of our nature are here allowed to expand themselves to their fullest, and fearfullest dimensions without the slightest control. Crimes of the deepest and blackest are not only every-day occurrences, but are even talked and boasted of by the canaille as if they were the perfection of excellence. The greater the villain, the more disgusting the blackguard, the worthier, the cleverer, and the better companion is the man reckoned. So gross and utterly regardless of decency are these people that, instead of endeavouring to conceal their infamous deeds, they take a peculiar delight in revealing them to one another. This is generally the only way of beguiling an evening. When acquaintance meets acquaintance the whole burden of their conversation is the rehearsal of all their feats in villainy since their former meeting. It is asserting nothing but truth when we say that offences most justly deemed in England worthy of death are here the boast of those who perpetrated them, so completely and thoroughly will the nature of civilised man become changed when left to itself, without fear of the vengeance of the offended law, or the reprobation of his fellow men. It will and has in this land of crime transformed itself into a condition far more debased than anything that natural savagedom has hitherto produced. The barbarian commits his savage and murderous deeds with a degree of simplicity or even innocence, consequent upon his state of ignorance; whereas the civilised savage exerts an ingenuity in planning and a refinement in executing villainy totally unknown to the other. That such a state of things should exist in New Zealand perhaps, after all, is not so much to be wondered at, when we consider the materials from which society is formed and the helpless condition of the country in regard to law and the power of quelling the outbreakings of vice and immorality among its inhabitants. Botany Bay has hitherto been reckoned the soil where crime flourished most and produced the heaviest crop, but her offspring—New Zealand—bids fair to rival her. It is well known that Botany Bay has for a number of years transplanted some of her choicest fruits into that country. They have fully proved by the luxuriance of their growth, the wisdom of the choice, and the perfect adaptation of the soil and climate to every Botany Bay production. New Zealand is, to all intents and purposes, its sublimate—a sort of city of refuge for its scapegoat malefactors, its lazy page 17runaway sailors, insolent rogues, and thieves. New Zealand possesses, as yet, nothing in the shape of a local legislature, nor is it in the least degree under the influence of law, either native or European. The Europeans are too few, too ignorant, and too licentious to wish to establish any form of authority that would at all tend to check or restrain their own unbridled and vicious passions. The power of the native chiefs is merely nominal; it has never, we believe, been very great, and it is now disappearing altogether. It is true, on extraordinary occasions, as in time of war, they can muster their men, but still each acts independently of the other. Self-interest and the feeling of danger will for a moment unite them, but when the storm has subsided every man is his own master, and returns to his former state of indolence."