Appendix B.
Letter From Mr. Tuckett To
Dr. Hodgkinson.

My Dear Sir,—I received your interesting letter about the middle of June. It was forwarded from Nelson by a vessel which arrived here on the day of my return overland from the south, in which journey I examined for the second time a district from Molineux Bay on the Matau northwards to Otakou, and decided on purchasing it for the settlement of New Edinburgh. I had previously received a letter from my bereaved friend—J. Walker— in which he mentioned having had the pleasure of seeing you. You saw America to advantage—that is, you pursued a route which conducted generally through the most attractive and fertile localities; the state of Kentucky excepted, unsurpassed perhaps, and Kentucky is blighted by the moral pestilence of slave holding. You appear to have been but little offended by those peculiarities of manner and conduct which are called Americanisms and supposed to be parts of Republicanism, but which in the main would be fairly attributable to the sudden transition in the circumstances of uneducated and irregulated minds from a state of dependence, and, perhaps, want to one of independence, and an abundance of the necessaries of life; especially to the altered relative value on such a field of life of mental and physical power—your judgment against the eligibility of North America as a home for Britons is therefore entitled to the more consideration. And if I, who am favoured to enjoy good health everywhere, am not quite convinced of the soundness of your conclusions, I consider at least that your visit to America has fully compensated you in that you have arrived at a decided opinion. I like decision, and that men should embrace error heartily, rather than hold the truth in doubt or apathy, and consider it of universal application that he who doubteth is damned if he acts, because he acts not in faith. The survey of all the Lands included in the Nelson Settlement would have been completed at the close of last year but for the lamentable collision which occurred with the Maoris at the Wairau. The survey extended almost from Cape Campbell to Cape Farewell, embracing every accessible spot, and yet half the land was not worth the expense of surveying—certainly not worth purchasing even at 10s. per acre, and yet no one could point out an omission of that which was preferable. Stopped at the Wairau, there was no alternative, but either to wait until we could obtain possession, or survey land nearer to Nelson, hitherto excluded as being insufferably bad. I therefore obtained my release from office, and was about to have left Nelson on my return home viâ Van Diemen's Land and the Cape Algoa and Natal, when I unexpectedly received an offer of the appointment which I hold here until Mr. Rennie's arrival to conduct the agency and survey business of the proposed Scotch settlement at Port Cooper. page 227This offer I declined, determined not to be in any way connected with any other settlement in N. Zealand unless I had previously an opportunity of satisfying myself of the eligibility of the District. At the same time I offered (in reply) to accept the appointment with liberty to examine the country from Banks Peninsula to Milford Haven on the west coast for a suitable site. My offer was accepted, and in addition I was authorised to select and effect the purchase of the Land and report only its accomplishment. At the same time I was assured that it was anticipated with undiminished confidence that I should approve of the previous selection, return to and establish myself at Port Cooper. Thither I proceeded to make it the standard of comparison. I examined the District thoroughly, and found it to be so deficient of almost every quality which was essential for the prosperity of a settlement, and particularly of one subdivided into such small properties, that the opinion which my experience of the settlement of Nelson had formed was here only confirmed, viz., that New Zealand was an unpromising field for colonisation, and peculiarly unfit for the system of sales pursued by the Company. I purposed walking, not along the beach, but inland on the west side of the Plain to Otakou, and had nearly completed my arrangements, but on the point of starting the Maoris who were to have been my guides, or rather my porters, declined the journey. I landed subsequently at Moiraki, and walked from there southwards and into the interior, and returning continued walking to Otakou. This district more than realised my expectations, combining the advantages of frequent wood and water of a good surface and sub-soil with that of a fine grazing District, apparently a delightful climate; the remoteness of the western snowy mountain range more than compensating for its more southern latitude. From Otakou I sent the schooner to Molineux Bay (or Matau), proceeding myself overland. I was well satisfied with the country throughout, but especially on arriving at the Matau—a river which an American would not despise—its water so deep that its current, which is strong and swift, is hardly perceptible. I estimated the mountain range at the west to be about fifty miles distant, and the whole intermediate tract of country appeared to be a fine grazing district, and the great plain of the Matau when drained suitable for tillage, rich and warm enough for maize, and the gently wavy land inland an excellent wheat soil. The Banks of this River and its tributaries afford a valuable suppy of Timber, and for fuel near to the River and the seashore, I found a cliff of coal about 200 yards its length or face, and in vertical extent from 7 ft. to 20 ft. above the sand, and evidently the bed was much deeper, and only partially uncovered. The District as a whole is inferior to that north of Otakou, in respect of the quantity and convenient dispersion of Timber. The abundance of coal compensates in some degree for this defect, and in other respects, particularly the extent of good level land, and the fertility of the hills to their summits, the facilities of inland navigation and other internal communication it is unequalled. The Matau District alone would afford all the Land required for the Settlement, and there I would have established it could I have entered the Matau with the schooner. But without the aid of steam power, neither this nor the other principal rivers on the east coast can be entered. Here there is rather more than 12 ft. of water at low water on the Bar. No vessel can remain in the Bay with an easterly wind. With the aid of a steam tug, I consider it perfectly available and eligible for vessels drawing 15 ft. of water. The south-east headland of Molineux Bay, commonly called the Nuggets (by the page 228Maoris Tokata) is about 60 miles north of the Bluff harbour, Foveaux Straits. Running along shore in my whaleboat, I visited most accessible points, but there is no intermediate District of a sufficient extent for a large settlement excepting on the Mataura, or To-toe river, about twelve miles south of a little harbour for shipping called Waika, 18 miles north of the Bluff. I visited in succession the Bluff, the Oreti (or New River), the Aparima (or Jacob's River), and the Pleasant River, or creek, Stewart Island, and then returned to Molineux Bay, determined, subject to a confirmation of my previous judgment by a fresh examination of the country in the interior from there to Otakou, to select that district and Otakou as its Harbour and port. I reluctantly abandoned the exploration of the west coast convinced by the unanimous representation of the sealers who alone frequent that coast, that there was only one extensive tract of available land about 40 miles north of Milford Haven. The probability of its being more eligible for the Settlement than that which I had already seen was slight, and considering the importance of acquiring the Land for the Settlement, and commencing the Surveys without further loss of time, I felt best satisfied even not to accomplish what I had proposed. But I believe the west coast of this island would be worth exploring by a naturalist, more so than any other District in New Zealand. If the right sort of colonists came out with some little capital, and much faculty of industry, perseverance, and frugality, this would be the first successful settlement in New Zealand, but even here I cannot advise anyone to buy land by lottery. If there were no peculiar obstacles as there are everywhere in N. Zealand to such an absurd and impracticable scheme, it would be a sufficient objection that no two colonists who valued each other's society and co-operation could avoid isolation and separation. I think that the annals of company's folly and shortsightedness hardly afford a parallel to that of the New Zealand Company in respect of their attempted system of selling land, considering their opportunities of knowing better and the extent of their, self-interest in doing better. It should be a premium on actual colonisation that those who undertake to occupy the land should select it as they arrive. How different would have been the result. The first body of settlers in each settlement would have been agricultural and comparatively a satisfied and grateful body, writing home to their relations and friends to come and locate themselves on adjoining sections; each settler would strongly maintain the excellence of his own selection instead of criticising that which is made for him. Land jobbers at home, I suppose, considered that the culled residue would be an unmarketable commodity; much of it ought to be, it is wretchedly bad, but the system which I press for, "first come, first choice," is the only one that can enhance the value of inferior lands or less convenient land by encouraging the occupation of the prime land and the freedom of individual judgment and enterprise. Until the New Zealand Company will pursue some such course by giving to individuals orders to purchase on arrival any quantity of unsold land at a price diminishing in the ratio of increase of quantity they will never attain to any remuneration or gratification for their expenditure and trouble. We want country gentlemen, not mobs of disappointed labourers sent out by the funds obtained by the sale of lands to absentees and in part paid for by the resident proprietary, and from first to last their bane and terror. If you have any influence try and stop this course of folly and source of suffering and misery which drives from the settlements the great part of the settlers of respectable and honourable character, who have the means of page 229removal. As you appear to attach much importance to the climate, I may inform you that early in June we had sharp frost and occasional rain and then frequent falls of snow, and from the 23rd or 24th of June to the 12th of August there has been only one fall of rain or snow during the daytime, occasional showers in the night, weather generally serene and brilliant by day and frosty by night. It has been, the old colonists say, an unusually cold winter. It is now considered as breaking up, and we have had three days' rain, with an easterly wind. Next month they plant potatoes. Mo'ineux Bay has a milder winter climate than Otakou, owing to the vicinity here of a mountain on which snow frequently lies. Subject to a radical change in the system of settling land so as to enable each colonist to select for himself on arrival, I can conscientiously recommend to any of my countrymen this District as an agreeable and most healthful residence and a promising field of remunerative enterprise. The whalers have had great success this season on the coast; the Taieri island is a first-rate station for a fishery. I have found rich lead ore in a small quantity in the harbour and the rocks at the Taieri, chiefly mica schist, exhibit frequently a stain of copper, and will, if properly worked, afford stone with a true slaty cleavage. But I must conclude this scrawl which, without crossing, was almost illegible, and remain, very truly yours,

—The snow does not lay during the daytime on land that would be included in the survey, but on land of higher elevation it has remained for weeks. I sent your letter to Mr. Strang that he might peruse it and communicate to you his opinion of the settlement of Nelson.

Next to the sale of land by Lottery and in England, the connection of the settlements with one another by the residence at one of them of a principal Agent, and at others of subordinate Agents, is a permanent defect. It has caused the Wellington colonists to assume and maintain that the interests of other settlements are not to be promoted or secured if such acquisition would render them superior to Wellington. But I maintain that with each set of colonists there is a distinct transaction, and that it is absurd as it is dishonest to try and place each successive settlement in a graduated scale of inferiority and disadvantage because the first settlement cannot sustain otherwise its fictitious precedence.