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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Auckland Provincial District]

[introduction]

page 444

With its noble harbour, extensive wharfage accommodation, and its growing population, Auckland is naturally the centre of a large shipping trade; in fact, of the total number of vessels registered in New Zealand, about one-half have their headquarters at Auckland. Auckland, too, is the first and only port of call in the colony for the San Francisco mail steamers, and also the first port of call for the “round trip” inter-colonial steamers leaving Sydney. The purely local shipping trade is in itself very extensive, and the operations of the Northern Steamship Company extend to almost all the seaports on the coasts of the province, but especially to those north of Auckland. Then the Devonport Ferry Company's boats help to give the harbour a busy appearance; and the harbour is a favourite rendezvous with the warships of the Australian squadron.

Until the Main Trunk Railway is completed, visitors from districts beyond Auckland's own provincial boundaries can approach the city only from the sea, and this circumstance necessarily enhances the prominence of the city's shipping trade. At the same time, that trade must always be, in the nature of things, one of much magnitude and great importance. It is a trade which is subject to much scrutiny by many minds, but the companies who carry it on, and their officers and men, seldom, if ever, give occasion for reasonable complaint on the part of traders or travellers. Detailed information concerning the harbour, wharfage accommodation, and the commerce of the port is given at pages 134, 135, 136 and 137 of this volume, in connection with the Auckland Harbour Board, and the articles in this section deal chiefly with the ships and the men engaged in the seafaring trade of the city.