We have been favoured with the following extracts from the letters of a settler in the province, of considerable standing and experience:—

No earnest entreaties, no expressed willingness to do anything, should prevail with the agents to give Land Orders to clerks, shopmen, or persons of that class. Such people only go to Auckland to be miserable, and to be a burden on the public. Some few young and energetic lads of that class do, after a little suffering, manage to get on; but there is the greatest difficulty in getting a chance of doing well for any one not accustomed to energetic manual labour. People with capital, who are, at the same time, willing to rough it for a time; good agricultural labourers, carpenters, brickmakers, bricklayers; and, in general, men who have a trade such as is wanted in a new country, and who are steady and industrious, may all come, with advantage to themselves and the colony, but no others.

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Persons with capital who are about to emigrate might be recommended to bring out servants with them. The value of the Land Order will be more than the expense they will thus incur, so that they need not be very anxious about binding them to serve them for any length of time. If such agreement is made, however, it is advisable that in all cases the agreement should be to give them the current rate of wages of the district, as any other way is almost sure to engender heart-burnings. A person who intends to invest money in the purchase of land will find that to bring out a good class of agricultural labourers and a few respectable female servants, even without any agreement, will be the cheapest and best way of remitting his money to Auckland. He can bring each of them for £16, and if of the right class will receive for them £20 worth of land.

The Immigration Agent, feeling it to be a very important duty, both for the sake of the immigrants and the province, that they should not be discouraged at the outset, and that everything should be done to make matters as smooth for them as possible, has provided himself with a list of houses and furnished apartments to let, and of boarding houses, with their terms; and, on his recommendation, the Superintendent has rented a large building for the purpose of affording temporary accommodation to those whose limited means may make it advisable that they should be saved the expense of lodging until they have time to look about them.

It is well that applicants for Land Orders should exactly understand their position. There is no land belonging to the Government for sale near Auckland, nor, the writer should think, within thirty miles of it; and the best land that is coming into the market—a good deal of it very good—is much further away. To any one who knows this country this will not appear a matter of much consequence, as every part of the province is near water communication, and new settlements are springing up in all directions. The writer has had experience of a farm between twenty and thirty miles from Auckland, abutting on a navigable creek, such as they have almost everywhere, and he was able to send his produce to Auckland at a considerably less cost than if he had been only five or six miles from Auckland, close to one of the main roads. In fact, the most flourishing farmers in the province—Messrs. Williams, Brothers—have the principal part of their land at the Bay of Islands, from whence they send large supplies of sheep, cattle, and horses, to Auckland; and their manager at Auckland informed the writer that it cost them just one shilling a-head to bring sheep there. Many immigrants imagine that they are to be set down on a cultivated farm, or at least on one bearing good grass. They should all be undeceived as to this. The land is naturally covered with fern, shrub, or trees—the last, by far the best of the land—if level, or nearly so. Good bush (forest) land costs about £2 10s. an acre to fell the trees and burn them off—that is, if the labour has to be paid for. The writer's sons have had a quantity cut down last spring, by contract, at 35s. and 37s. 6d. per acre. This will be burnt off in March; and afterwards grass, and even a fair crop of wheat, will grow upon it if sown on the surface among the ashes. Every emigrant should understand that he must calculate upon supporting himself for twelve months in some other way than by the produce of his land.

There are no such things as "Free Grant Lands," as distinguished from any other lands belonging to the province. A Land Order for 40 acres, issued by a duly authorised agent, is just the same to any person wishing to purchase any land belonging to the Government as a £20 note, with this difference, that its possessor must remain in the province to reap the benefit of it, and will not be in a condition to sell his land for five years after he has arrived at Auckland.

The Government is constantly purchasing blocks of land from the natives; and a number of surveyors are then set to work upon them and subdivide them into farms of different sizes. When two or three blocks have been thus divided, the Superintendent advertises that on and after such a day such and such lots of land in such a district will be open for sale; and in applying for these lots, or any unsold lots previously open for sale, the holders of Land Orders are on the same footing as if their Land Orders were money, with the single exception to which the writer referred above. If a person has a 40-acre Land Order, and buys an 85-acre farm—as one did yesterday—he hands in his Land Order and page 54£26 10s.; or, if he buys so much land as he has orders for, he has nothing to pay.

There is a good deal of work for land surveyors in the colony, and there are a good many land surveyors (not many, however, of a superior class). The Provincial Government does all its surveys by contract, at a fixed price for the different kinds of work. A land surveyor's life in New Zealand is rather a hard one, but they generally make a tolerable income. My private opinion is, that there is a want of a person thoroughly qualified. Everything, however, depends on his ability and industry. If, indeed, well qualified in these respects, he might, very possibly, after a time, be employed by the Government, and, at all events, could not fail to find private employment. This, of course, is only my opinion, formed from observing the very moderate qualifications of some who are employed. You will ere long have correct maps of the province.

Means of education in Auckland, both for boys and girls, arc abundant and of good quality.

Families in which there are grown-up daughters, able and willing to take situations as domestic servants, have a great advantage, Female servants are much wanted, and meet with great encouragement, A good carpenter and wheelwright is sure of employment.

The land orders are just equivalent to the price of twenty or forty acres of land, as the case may be, to be selected by the holder from any land that the Provincial government has, or may have, open for sale. New blocks are continually being surveyed, and brought forward for that purpose; thus whether the whole, or only a part, or no part, of any lot selected may be fit for cultivation will depend wholly on the wisdom of the selection. If the immigrant chooses, he will get at the Land-office, without fee, all the information they have as to the quality and nature of the land open for selection in the different blocks, or he cart employ a recognised land agent to select for him, or to assist him in making his selection, at an expense, I believe, of 6d. per acre. It would be an easy matter to send home plans from the Survey-office, as the different blocks of land are cut up and ready for sale; but it would only mislead intending emigrants to do so, as on their arrival here they might very likely find the greater part (at all events the best part) of these blocks already taken up, and that in order to get a good choice they must select from still more recent surveys. The surveys are going on rapidly.

Mr.—writes chiefly to inquire what would be the effect of servants or children, in respect of whom land orders have been granted to the head of, a family, leaving the province before the stipulated five years has expired. It is quite plain by the act, that in such case, a Crown grant could not issue in respect of land held in respect of these orders. Any peculiar circumstances involving hardship, such as having expended money in improving such land, would doubtless receive a fair and equitable consideration from the Government then existing, and the matter would without doubt be arranged as favourably as possible for the holder of the land orders. Every person, however, bringing out servants should make such arrangements with them as will, as far as possible, secure their remaining in the province, while at the same time there is little fear if the proper class of servants is brought out, that they will have any temptation to leave the province, whether they leave their master's service or not.

There is no difficulty in obtaining employment for good agricultural labourers, or girls willing to go to service. A lot of fine men came by the Harwood from the North of England, chiefly from the county of Durham—shipwrights, carpenters, and blacksmiths. They are all doing well, and are now sending home for their families.

It is the desire of the Provincial Government rather to have five hundred Immigrants arrive here who will feel contented and satisfied, than to have as many thousand grumblers and disappointed persons accusing the Government here and its Agents in England of having deceived them. Many of those who arrive here come with exceedingly incorrect notions about what they are coming to. This, to some extent, is inevitable; the difference between a country such as our mother-country is and any young colony being so many page 55and so great that nothing one can read or hear will enable them to form a correct idea of it. A good deal, however, may and ought to be done to correct erroneous expectations, and with this object the writer will mention a few particulars. In the first place we have in this Province, at least in that part of it as yet purchased from the natives, no grassy plains. All the land is covered either with forest shrub, or fern. The land in the neighbourhood of volcanic hills, all of them long ago extinct, is generally a light soil and is very easily brought into cultivation, but does far better with grass than anything else—in fact will speedily be well grassed by mere surface sowing. Next to that is the land covered with forest trees; where this is not much broken (the writer means where it is tolerably level), it is the best land generally. In most places the trees can be cut down by contract at from 35s. to 40s per acre—it is even done at 30s. This is done in winter and early spring. The felled trees are allowed to lie over the summer, and in the end of March or early in April they are burnt off: the unburnt remains are then tumbled together in heaps, and upon the ashes grass seed, wheat, or oats are sown, and generally do very well. Fern land can be laid down with grass at about half the cost of forest land probably, but in most cases not so successfully, and in almost all cases it will be a year or two longer, before you can have good grass upon it. It has to be cleared by burning off the fern, very lightly ploughed, and allowed to lie fallow for a good while to sweeten it, before it can be sown to advantage. In newly opened districts, where cattle have not been kept before to any considerable extent, cattle, properly selected, will thrive well in the bush for some years, but such runs deteriorate in place of improving; they, however, enable a gettler, who understands what he is about, to get a good herd of cattle while he is by degrees getting land into grass. Bush runs don't do for sheep, but our made pastures are far superior to the natural grass runs in the southern provinces, and sheep forming is rapidly increasing here.

Every person thinking of coming here should distinctly understand that for at least twelve months after his arrival he must expect to support himself from some other source than from the produce of his land. All young men, in fact, all men accustomed to work, the writer advises to take service for a time—by so doing, they save their money and gain the needful experience. Where the men are of the right sort they have not hitherto found much difficulty in getting employment. A considerable number of immigrants of the superior class have selected their land in very good localities, and if rightly directed will, I doubt not, after the struggle which we have ail had to go through, do very well. There is no land in the hands of Government, at least, none worth having, at all near Auckland. That, however, the writer considers of much less consequence than it may appear to a stranger. Population is rapidly spreading northwards, roads are being made, settlements are springing up, and such is the nature of the country that every part of it is near some navigable creek or river by which farm produce can be brought to Auckland from even great distances at far less cost than it could be brought a short distance by land. I have had a farm between twenty and thirty miles from Auckland, and brought my produce here at two-thirds of the cost of bringing it five or six miles by one of the best roads.

It will be well for immigrants to make up their minds really to rough it for a while, and not spend their money in building comfortable houses or furnishing them nicely. When I came to this province, nearly ten years ago, I got two natives to build me a raupo hut—that is a hut with a frame of poles crossed by supple-jacks, to which are tied bundles of a sort of broad reed that grows in the swamps. I got a carpenter to floor it and make doors and windows; altogether it cost me about 20l. It was more comfortable either in summer or winter than a weather-boarded house, and I think looked better; it being, however, dangerous for fire, I had no fire-place in it, but had the cooking carried on in a separate place. We lived there five years; we never were, either before or since, so free from colds, &c. As for furniture I brought scarcely any with me, as I was not sure when I left home where I would settle, and I believe I did not in those five years expend 51. on furniture, and we did very well without it.

At first they felt it somewhat odd to be without so many things we used to have, but by-and-by we did not mind it. Such, too, is the mildness of the page 56climate, that I don't think there were more than three or four days in each year that I wished we could have had a fire in our sitting room.

This may perhaps be egotistical, but the writer has said this much about himself thinking it may be useful to others and you. Every one may be assured that a man's respectability here will not in the least suffer by his doing any honest kind of work, or living as roughly as it suits him to do. The writer has seen a retired major of the—Regiment without a coat leading his dray laden with manure; and he has himself, when driving his own dray, been repeatedly stopped and spoken to frankly by such ladies as the Bishop's and the Chief Justice's wives. A man's position here depends upon what he is, not on what he has; it is so at least in a degree that is not understood at all in Great Britain. Emigrants may do well to lay this to heart. It would be well too if emigrants who propose to settle on land immediately after arriving would arrange so as to arrive here if possible between the end of August and end of April. The other months are not so suitable for travelling about (although May is occasionally a fine month), and there is generally so much rain, especially in June July, and the beginning of August, as to dishearten strangers who arrive about that time. Agricultural labourers may come at any time, as there is a good deal of work done during winter—only they won't like it much at first,

"Mr.——, a member of the House of Representatives, and one of our largest and most energetic proprietors, told me to-day, that he found it more difficult to obtain agricultural labour now than he did last year. Since Saturday, applications have been made to the immigration agent to procure for settlers, six ploughmen, a drayman, a bullock-driver, ten men to reap, boys to milk and attend to cattle, and several others, and he has only found one ploughman and nothing more.

"I am sorry to say that the ships which have arrived lately have brought a very small proportion of working men of the right sort—not that there are plenty of people seeking employment, for a large number of them appear to have landed here absolutely without money, expecting to find employment next morning; but there are hardly any young men accustomed to agricultural labour among them, and a large number hoping to be employed as storemen, cigar manufacturers, light porters, overseers of labour, land stewards, &c. Quality is the thing not quantity. There are also carpenters, shoemakers, and such like; I dare say, for the most part, very proper immigrants, if they had not come here under the impression that they would not require to support themselves without work for a day. These will all get employed, but they can't be absorbed all at once at all times. It is not what are you willing to do will be asked, but what can you do?

"Some emigrants affect, or really do consider themselves deceived when they find that they are exposed to the competition of others when they appiy for land which has not previously been proclaimed as open for sale or collection.

"'When an emigrant tells an Immigration agent he has land orders, he says, 'Go to the land office with them, taking with you all the persons named in 'the orders, as they must appear personally; the deputy commission will 'endorse upon the order that they have been duly presented on such a date, 'and will also inform you,' if you ask him, in what district there is land open 'for sale or selection; also, where there are lands not yet open, but proclaimed, 'or about to be proclaimed, open for selection. Go, then, and see these lands 'first, those already open. If you see any thing to suit you there, on coming 'back to the land office, if no one has taken it in the meantime, you have only page 57'to fill up a printed application for it, and hand it in along with your land 'orders, and the application will be granted as a matter of course. In case, 'however, some other immigrant should have fancied the same land and taken 'it up while you were looking for it, do not set your heart exclusively on one 'allotment, but pitch upon two or three if possible, in order that if you fail in 'getting one you may be sure of the other. There is no competition for land 'that has once been proclaimed for sale or selection after the day upon which 'it was open for sale. The first applicant gets it. If, however, you fancy to 'have the pick of a new block proclaimed to be open, say three weeks hence, 'then you must give in your application with your land orders before noon 'on the day fixed by the proclamation. After twelve the applications are all 'opened by the commissioner in open court. If no other person has applied 'for the same allotment that you have applied for, it is marked in the office-'book and on the plan as granted to you. If another person, however, has also 'applied for it, unless you shall settle between yourselves which shall have it '(as we have not yet discovered any way of giving two or more persons the 'same piece of land), it is put up to auction between you (the applicants), the 'Land-orders representing the upset price of 10s. per acre, and the one that 'bids most above that gets it.' I can see no fairer way of acting than this, and I think that if it were so explained to them before leaving England, no one would think of grumbling at it. The Government keep a person in pay in the district where the most of the land is situated, to point out the land to persons who want to see it, when a party is made up to go and inspect it; and when a party is made up to go and inspect any other district, the Deputy Commissioner is always ready to supply a guide to show it them. Again, the Government don't want people to bid against each other for land, knowing that it is better for the country that settlers should expend their money upon the land than in buying it; but if two are determined to bid against each other, there is no help for it. This does not, however, very often occur, and when it does the opposition is of a very mild kind. It is inexpedient that immigrants should arrive here between the beginning of May and August, to men of capital it is not of so much consequence, winter being the best time for having forest land cleared; but laboring men, unless they are woodmen, or a few good ploughmen, may have to wait longer for employment than at other seasons of the year, and should it happen to be a wet winter, the spirits of newcomers are apt to fall very low for a short time.

"The immigrants chiefly required are, either men having at least £500, if not, men accustomed to work—if working farmers they will do as well with one-third of that sum as the other will with the whole of it—good ploughmen, some agricultural labourers accustomed to hedging, ditching, &c., &c., and a sprinkling of other tradesmen from time to time, as country blacksmiths, wheelwrights, &c.

"My only desire in thus writing to you is to make matters plain, so as, as far as possible, to hinder persons from emigrating who are not likely to prosper; for, assuredly, unless the individual immigrant prospers, he cannot add to the prosperity of the province."

"Dear Sirs,—I arrived here in the Matoaka, on the 24th of September, after a pleasant passage of 106 days, calling at Wellington, which lost about 10 days.

"I lost no time in having my land orders endorsed, and found an allotment of land at the mouth of the Wangurei River, 50 miles north of this city, to be disposed of, applicable to land orders, and to be allotted on the following Monday, Oct. 3. There was just time to make the necessary inquiries, and, having got a satisfactory account of it, I put in my claim, and, after some slight competition, was put in possession of 339 acres of good tall fern land page 58upon the eighth day after setting my foot in the country. It is, as I said before, 50 miles from this by sea, three trading schooners constantly running on the line, which put their passengers and goods on the beach within three miles of the land I have selected. There are roads marked out, but as yet only a cattle track to it. There is a frontage of over a mile to a river navigable for boats, and running into the sea about 10 miles north of the Wangurei River. On the other side it is bounded by a road to be made by the provincial authorities.

"The quality of the soil is good, as tall fern will not grow on inferior; there are 20 or 30 acres of wood, and perhaps 20 or 80 of natural grass. My two sons are now on the spot with oxen, plough, and other implements to break up and fence, the greater part of which I expect to get done by contract. The neighbourhood is well settled, and in a few years I hope to have it in good productive order.

"The system of preferring the purchaser by auction, where more than one claim the same land, is much complained of; but I see no other mode of fairly settling their claims. The lots brought from 4s. to 5s. per acre advance, which is paid in cash, and the unsuccessful party has only to apply for some other parcel, as the Government warrant 40 acres for each of land, worth at least 10s.; mine was laid off in five lots. I overbid competitors, and got the whole in one compact farm. By the old system of lottery I could not have got every one, and would have only got two or three disjointed lots of 50 to 70 acres each, and, probably, obliged to take the balance in another locality,

"I give you these particulars at the suggestion of my old friend Mr. Lusk, the immigration officer, as it may satisfy parties proceeding on the same route. I have met with several who neglected taking land orders in England, and have been disappointed here, land being as yet refused them.

"A Mr. Ball, who came out in the same ship with me with a special settlement party of 150, got 10,000 acres set apart for him at Mongouni, distant 150 miles by sea with which he declares himself satisfied, and has sailed to enter into possession.

"I shall be glad if this letter serves to encourage others to come to this magnificent climate, Everything in nature is most beautiful. I am told about seven tons of peaches fell from the trees on my grounds last year for the wild pigs to consume, and that some of the trees are large; one in particular took five men to span it.

"Emigrants should arrive here between October and June, after the winter is over. All those in the Matoaka who were willing to work got employment at once at full rates—from 6s. to 10s. a day for men, and 5s. to 8s. and 10s. per week for female servants, and found.

From the New Zealander, Sept. 10, 1859.

The work of colonization progresses with steady pace in the Province of Auckland, notwithstanding the sundry neat artifices of those who object to the existing Land Regulations, because they interfere with pet plans for the foundation of Earldoms, or with the business of clever agents who purchase for distant clients, blocks of "native land," which, on actual page 59measurement, turn out to be about one-sixth the quantity for which those clients have paid in hard cash.

That there are some who have lately arrived among us who are temporarily disquieted in their minds, is very possible. It would be strange were this not the case. As in every young colony, so here in Auckland—as we have more than once had to say—we have here an active band of blatant Job's comforters, who are ever ready to warn new comers not to exercise their land-orders, but to buy or lease "improved farms;" while we have also a certain per centage of immigrants arriving per each ship, who would never be satisfied or self-supporting anywhere.

Some new comers are impressionable enough to be led away by this cheap sympathy. They find out their mistake when too late, and the "improved farm," which has done duty with more than one victim, reverts to the owner or mortgagee plus the money deposited, and the labour and time and capital expended upon it. There is more than one land-agent in Auckland who has warned new comers against hasty bargains of this kind, that can bear out our statement.

But while this is the case, the great majority—we think we may say five-sixths of the bonâ-fide immigrants now arriving—are the right stamp. They are prepared, if not capitalists, to rough it; if capitalists, they know that, just as they did at home, they must look before they leap; if working immigrants, they are prepared to do as the first settlers (who had no land orders) did,—take the first employment that comes in their way, and bide their time to settle down upon the land which they have a right to under the Land Regulations.

To the northern portion of the province, more particularly, is the attention of the most energetic and practical of our new fellow-colonists now directed. At Mahurangi, Matakana, Omaha, Pakiri, Mongawai, and sundry adjacent blocks, large accessions are being made to the ranks of our settlers. In the Waipu and Wangarie districts, the same work is going on; and hardly a post reaches us but we receive confirmation of the testimony borne to the steady growth and increasing prosperity of the different settlements in the County of Marsden, so well described by our correspondent, "A Prince Edward Islander."

Looking still further northward, we perceive most gratifying symptoms of a growing tendency on the part of new comers to direct their attention to Mongonui, where the Provincial Government has large blocks of land of the very best description, which will very shortly be open for settlement. But while many are looking to the north, others are looking as earnestly to the south, so far as the land is in the page 60possession of the Government; and it will not be long before the as yet unoccupied allotments in the Drury, Hunua, and Wairoa blocks are taken np.

Reverting to a suggestion by one of our practical and bonâ fide settler-correspondents,—that the Government should give a general indication of the location and quality of each block as it is declared open for selection, and afford other reliable information,—we may observe, that the Provincial Government has already made provision of this kind, and has duly notified the fact. But, unfortunately, some of the "sympathizers" with the "poor immigrants," who did their best to prevent those immigrants from ever getting any land orders, and who still aver that the Government has no good land to exchange for the orders, tell the immigrants that they must not trust to anything the Provincial Government says or does. They must only trust to them, and buy "improved farms" at 200 per cent, advance on the original cost and the expenditure since incurred thereon. Happily, we are getting out by each vessel more thoroughly practical agriculturists and more observant labourers, and business men; and so the work of permanent colonization progresses healthfully.

It would be extremely difficult, without entering in greater detail into the history of local politics than our present space will permit, to convey to our more distant readers a picture of Auckland "party," and thereby to render intelligible the opposition which is being made with so much recklessness to the existing system of immigration. Let it suffice to say, that there are two political parties in the Province: — the one, representing a vast majority of the colonists, is styled the Constitutional party; the other, a very small minority, yet active, and having command of a newspaper, names itself, the "Progress" party.

On the question of the disposal of the waste lands, the policy of the two parties are diametrically opposed. The land regulations at present in force, embody the principles of the Constitutionalists. They promote the actual settlement of the country.

Some time since it was stated that the immigrants were page 61suffering great distress; that some of them were actually starving; that they could not obtain land; that they could not find employment; and it was gravely proposed, that a general rate should be levied without delay for the immediate relief of their necessities. These statements have been copied into some of the journals of the other provinces, and thus, obtaining a wider circulation than they could have obtained by the medium through which they were first made public, may cause much anxiety to the friends in Great Britain of those persons who have already arrived here with land orders, and may affect the future proceedings of many intending emigrants to Auckland.

In recent articles in this journal, and in numerous letters from indignant correspondents, the utter wickedness and falsity of those statements have been conclusively demonstrated. Having premised this much, we leave the following facts to speak for themselves.

From the returns issued by the Deputy Waste Lands Commissioner, from November 30, 1858, to August 31, 1859, it appears that during that period land orders were exercised by immigrants to the extent of 32,525 acres. The first immigrants under the present Auckland Land Regulations arrived on the 4th of November, 1858, and the "Harwood," the vessel in which they came, will probably be out with another party within a little more than a year from the date of her arrival as the pioneer ship under the new system of colonization.

On the 30th of April last, according to the official returns, the quantity of land already surveyed and opened for sale or selection was 27,760 acres; on the 31st May, 31,551 acres; on the 30th June, 34,273 acres; on the 31st July, 35,302 acres; on the 31st August, 31,041 acres. It will thus be seen that, notwithstanding the large demands made for land, the quantity prepared for sale has increased. On the 23rd of August, 8024 acres were gazetted for sale or selection on the 3rd October. On the 19th October, 7989 acres in addition, were gazetted for sale or selection on the 21st day of November next. Some 20,000 acres more are now, as we are informed, surveyed, and will be proclaimed, in a few days.

On the 26th ultimo, two days after the dispatch of our last Month's Summary, the Matoaka (1,092 tons), from London, arrived in our harbour, bringing 170 immigrants, and amongst them Mr. Thomas Ball and his "special-settlement" party. A place called Kohumaru, in the vicinity of the Harbour of Mongonui, in the northern portion of the Province, having been fixed upon, Mr. Ball and his friends and followers have already departed from Auckland to take possession of their new home, and to lay the foundation of a new Colony which page 62cannot fail to succeed. Mongonui is an excellent harbour, and is the port of resort for a large portion of the whaling fleet of the Pacific. The supplies for these ships have hitherto been furnished from Auckland, but the new settlers will find a market at their doors for the sale of much of their surplus produce for years to come.

The immigrants from Prince Edward's Island are also about to locate themselves at Mongonui. There is already a large extent of land in that neighbourhood at the disposal of the Government. The Natives—who anxiously desire to have settlers near them—have promised to sell the celebrated "Victoria Valley;" and thus, if a good harbour, good land, capital, labour, and a ready market, can make a settlement prosperous, the future of Mongonui is secure.

The "Tornado" (1,075 tons), the first of the Liverpool clippers, with 245 passengers, arrived a few hours after the "Matoaka." Many of her passengers have already selected their land; others are "prospecting;" and of those who desire to labour for hire, not any, so far as we are aware, who are able to work, have failed to find employment.

On the 19th instant, the "Mermaid" (Capt. White, 1,233 tons)—the second vessel of the well-known Liverpool "White Star" line—arrived in harbour, with 322 passengers, all in good health and spirits. The immigrants by this noble vessel will form a highly intelligent and eligible addition to our population; among them are a large party from the Isle of Man; and we are glad to learn that another special settlement will be formed out of their number.

We have now before us a "List of Immigrants in respect of whom land orders have been issued, who arrived in Auckland on the 8th of January, 1859, by the 'William Watson,'" which was the second vessel arriving under the present Regulations; and this list shows how this party, consisting of 130 odd, were located or employed up to nearly the present date. Out of them 8 (a family) have gone to Melbourne; 4 to Sydney; 2 to Otago; 1 to Canterbury; 2 gone back to England; and 2 about to leave. Say that in round numbers 20 have left, there are still remaining 110 in the province, engaged in various occupations either in town or country, many of them, to our certain knowledge, doing well! while, also, to our personal knowledge, some of those who left, did so because of the disheartening reports with which they were greeted on landing, by the loafing old hands to whom we have above alluded. Now, this list affords a fair sample of what would be the result of an investigation into the history of almost every ship-load of immigrants arriving here with land orders. The discontented and incompetent compose but a very small page 63per-centage—the great mass, the really desirable settlers, remain behind and become permanent residents.

One word of advice to persons about to emigrate. Whenever it is possible to form associations at home, of from one to two hundred individuals, for the purpose of establishing "a special settlement" in this province, that mode of colonization should be adopted; the experience of every day proves its advantages. Capital and labour may be combined in such associations, and with a favourable location, such as may be secured by proper arrangements, success will, under ordinary circumstances, be certain.

The natural tendency of a large immigration is, in the first instance, by increasing the supply of labour, to lower the rate of wages. The Emigration Agents are regularly advised of the current rate of wages, of the price of provisions, and of the sort of labour which is most in demand. Intending immigrants should inform themselves accurately upon those points, and prepare for all that may await them on this side. Here are no gold-diggings, where men grow suddenly rich; hard work, privation, discomfort endured for two or three years, are the inevitable conditions of success. In the struggle with the wild land, those who have patience, courage, strength, conquer; the weaker vessels go to the wall.

Sir,—I have read with much surprise the article headed "The Forty-acre Men," in your issue of yesterday.

You appear to have been informed that a number of labourers among the lately arrived immigrants cannot find employment, and that "some among them have been reduced to begging for food."

As Immigration Agent to this Province it has been my duty to render every assistance in my power to all Immigrants desirous of being employed. I have therefore publicly invited applications—both from labourers and the employers of labour—and I believe that as a general rule, every Immigrant desirous of employment applies to me, so that I can speak pretty confidently as to the real state of the labour market, and. I can positively assure you that the information you have received is altogether incorrect.

A very few persons, unfit for labour, or only accustomed to some employment not to be found in a young colony, may be unemployed; but I do not believe there is, among all the page 64number who have arrived here, one efficient labourer who is not employed, or, at all events, who cannot find employment if he chooses.

I have at present commissions from various settlers to send them ploughmen, ditchers, spadesmen, and married couples fit to take charge of dairies, &c. while I do not know where to find any of them.

In corroboration of what I have stated, I may mention that on Monday, I sent a note to the person in charge of the Immigration Barracks, requesting him to send me any unemployed labouring men in the Barracks, as I could offer employment to some of them, and I received a note from him, in reply, stating that there were none; in fact, that, with the exception of one or two families about to settle on land, and another the head of which was ill, the Barracks were empty.

However strange it may appear, it is a fact, that the Immigrants who have arrived lately have found employment much sooner than those did who came three or four months ago.