page break

No apology is needed for introducing into this Cyclopedia a section devoted to the interests of shipping. In a colony so thoroughly insular as is New Zealand, where the migrations of its people are in consequence mainly by sea, it follows that everyone is more or less interested in shipping. Besides giving short accounts of the principal companies doing business in these waters, it has been thought advisable to include special paragraphs, and in some instances pictures, of the captains and officers, who, though not exactly New Zealanders, are, by the frequency of their visits, well known throughout the Colony, and attached to the people by very real ties of friendship, and in not a few instances by kinship. Unfortunately, it is quite impossible after this lapse of time to collect anything like reliable data regarding an appreciable number of the brave men who, more than half a century ago, brought to this Colony their comparatively tiny ships, freighted with New Zealand's founders. That such particulars would now be read with interest is certain enough; and that fact will serve to show that, in making this effort to place upon record short accounts of the mariners of the present day, the compilers have made a departure which, though highly appreciated now, will become still more popular as time flies. The shipping of Wellington has been growing rapidly for many years, and is now the largest in New Zealand. The wharf and appliances are considered the best in Australasia, and are admirably suited for the shipping of the port. In addition to the local trade, a large and growing business is done for other parts of the Colony, and considerable quantities of goods are transhipped as far north as Auckland, and as far south as Hokitika.