I got up early and went on deck to find that having weathered everything in the night we were gradually approaching our side of Banks' Peninsula and in fact standing direct for Port Cooper. The land we passed was most beautifully situated—high and wooded, with glades of grass running up through the forest here and there. We were all enchanted as fresh beauties broke on our view every moment. We passed successively Okain's Bay, Pigeon Bay, Port Levy and soon entered Port Cooper^*. We stood for about three miles through high brown hills with not a speck of life upon them to be page 84seen. Till at last we saw a line of road, sloping upwards across one of the hills, and soon specks of labourers could be seen working at this road. All our eyes were strained to see if any ships were lying there—we at last saw two, and dire was the consternation, for we imagined we must be the third—beaten by two. A mile more proved to us that one was a ship-of-war, and the other a vessel too small to be one of ours. And so it came to pass—we rounded to, under the stern of the Fly corvette and cast anchor behind her. The other was the little Barbara Gordon which had left England in May. As we rounded to, we shot past a little point of land, and the town of Lyttelton burst upon our view—like a little village—but nothing more than a village, in snugness, neatness and pretty situation (under a high hill partly wooded). As soon as we came to anchor, a boat with an officer came off from the Fly and had an interview with the Captain below. Soon a boat came off from shore, containing the officer of Customst^†, and another with Dampier^‡ and my old schoolfellow Torlesse^§ on board. He welcomed me heartily and told me all the news, which was merely that they had lain dead and buried for the last eight or nine months in perfect inaction, without money or anything to do. The road was only half finished and (what I was sorry to hear) there were but few houses or lodgings, either built by the Association page 85or in private hands. Notices had been issued warning people not to build, and this is the consequence. I anticipate complaints of the loudest kind from those of the better class, who seem to have been led to expect shelter of some sort provided for them, and will not be able to get any for love or money. We went ashore with Torlesse and walked up the hill, examining with curiosity every plant, stone & insect. Our hands, and soon our arms, soon became full of specimens. After a toilsome walk, over a path newly cut out, and in some places not finished, we reached the top of the hills, and looked down upon the plains and the sea on the other side. Though the haze partly concealed the view, it was magnificent—a vast level, brown & sandy to appearance but described as rich and fertile land, stretched away to the Snowy Mountains, or rather to a ridge of grassy hills at the foot of the Snowy Mountains—Kaikora and Mount Torlesse, the highest of all, were pointed out and easily seen. The sea washed one side of the plain, and its surface was traced by the lines of several rivers, and dotted with a few clumps of trees—some more than clumps being of good extent—a goodly range of wood lay under the grassy hills before mentioned. I imagine there will not be, on the plains at least, or anywhere but in Port Lyttelton, a scarcity of timber or firewood. We will nearly all choose a good situation for these purposes. We descended by another path to the town, and in our way passed through a small specimen of New Zealand bush. It was but a patch of scrub, but inside the path lay under or through trees, and the beauty of the underwood, the smell of flowers & scented leaves was incomparable. The shrubs were various—some looking like rhododendron—there were also varieties of myrtle, fuchsia and acacia. Few were in flower. The only flowers visible were clematis and convolvulus (white), larger than I had ever seen them in England. Here and there were remains—roots, trunks and branches—of various useful trees whose qualities for dye, medicine and tanning, &c, Torlesse page 86pointed out as we passed along. Wild cabbage and sowthistle were growing plentifully everywhere, and the flowers were hepaticas and perennial (white) flax. Two or three daisies, too, were picked up. The native flax grows everywhere, and so does the anise plant and the tutu—the latter fatal to, and the former most excellent for, cattle. We reached the town in time to be taken on board in the Captain's gig, having "previously looked into several houses, in one of which we were regaled with new milk by a lone woman whose husband left her last year for California. A well, a powder magazine, emigrants' & agents' houses were the only public buildings in the town—rude and simple all. Private houses—a few—two hotels, the Mitre and the Lyttelton Arms, no more than small grogshops with a loft and an outhouse. As we reached the beach, the Governor's^* boat came off from the Fly. He had come round from the Auckland Islands in her and was going back to Wellington and the North. His private Secretary, Nugent^†, I soon recognized, and introduced ourselves. He spoke very kindly, and in the evening he came on board to visit us and gave us some good advice—among other things to cut the town at once and take to the bush. He intends to go home in two years. He gives a poor account of the Auckland Islands for cold and barrenness. We went to dinner on board—but I had such a headache that life for the rest of the day was a burden to me. After dinner a ship was discovered coming in, and lo! it was the Randolph. We gave and received three cheers as she came up alongside. The Captain and Wortley went off, but I was too unwell. The news from her was that there had been disagreeables on board of all kinds. A mutiny among the sailors—the Captain having had to warn the cuddy passengers. There was also a rumour of pistols among the cabin passengers. Fisher in the evening unrolled a plan of getting a boat to carry all our goods and page 87people round the heads to the Plain near some bush and river, and rough it out there away from the town till the land was portioned out. As this plan agreed with Captain Nugent's advice I agreed to it, and as soon as we can make arrangements, it is to be done.