Saturday, January 4th

Rain in the night and the house let a few drops in but no harm done. Stirabout, oaten bread & tea for breakfast. The hens have not yet settled sufficiently to be able to lay but are beginning to domesticate themselves about the house and with the cat they make the place seem very cosy. We bought a bag of potatoes, about one and a quarter hundredweight, for five shillings and sixpence, the best I ever tasted. Beefsteaks and pickles made up a delicious dinner. Margaret washing a few things for Sunday, but she is sorely off for conveniences, such as an ironing table and clothes horse. Robert made a mat for the door out of the long thick grass of the place. After dinner, which was ordered at half past twelve, we went up to Rhodes' station at the back of Mountpleasant^† to inspect it again. But the place did not look half so well as it did before, and the soil not uniformly good, being pretty full of rocks and uneven ground. So we decided against having anything to do with it, and are once more set for the Plains, with the million. When we returned we found the Bishop of New Zealand going the rounds of the huts and tents. He had paid the house a visit before he saw page 100us, and when he saw me afterwards he complimented us on the superior neatness and comfort of our abode. He also enlarged on the advantage of coming out in triplicate, like ourselves, and saying that it was the only way to make ourselves independent of labourers. He has a highly intellectual face and kind manner. He talked familiarly with everyone, and walked about with a whole staff of clergy, dressed in his Bishop's hat, apron & knee breeches. His yacht the Undine in the harbour is an elegant little craft. This evening Brittan and I had a conference on bank matters. We engaged Mr Longden, who has had banking experience in Coutts', to undertake the management for the present, and we propose to commence operations on Wednesday.