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Letters from Early New Zealand

Lyttelton, March 21, 1851

page 173
Lyttelton, March 21, 1851.

My Dear Mother,

My last letter to you went on the 4th, and was written from Ricarton. I described, in my letter to Sara, the latter part of our séjour there, which was rather unsuccessful from rain, rats, etc. We are now re-established in a, for us, tolerably civilized house; myself in somewhat solitary grandeur (for you know everything goes by comparison) as my husband started two days ago for Wellington, to get some matters of business arranged with the Governor (Sir G.G.), who is now there (as we believe). He has tried writing already, but the answers were so long in coming, and unsatisfactory, that he at last determined, much as he disliked it, to go himself. There was a very good opportunity too for him; the Isabella Hercus, which had just discharged her passengers and cargo here, and is a good deal better than any of the coasters about. I hope he is safe on shore by this time, as we have had a strong fair wind for most of the time since she sailed. He took with him my letters to Sara, enclosing one to Louisa, which I believe Mr. Jackson will convey to their hands, as he was expected to be at Wellington; pausing there, as most ships do, on their way to Sydney. You cannot think how glad I was to hear of the Woodstock letter arriving at last. We get letters for the present, so much quicker, oftener, and more regularly than you do, which indeed seems only fair, as we have so many more people that we want to hear about; though I am ready to embrace you all for writing so well, and am always afraid of your getting tired of it. I wonder now what you did at Xmas, and what came after, and where you would spend this coming Easter. It seems so strange here preparing for it with getting out winter clothes! but it is, and has been, very cold for a few days, and the bad weather is beginning very early. Thanks to the rain, however, we made page 174a beautiful green lawn of English grass, which is the admiration of the whole settlement. The place too has become much cleaner and pleasanter from there being so little dust, and the coolness agrees with me, for one, infinitely better than such weather, for instance, as when Mr. and Mrs. Jackson arrived. The next day the thermometer was ninety-six, outside the shady window of the office; indeed, there was no sun shining at all, and dust blowing in at every crack, almost faster than we could wipe it away; such weather for having the house very full and the servants very busy. We have now taken courage, and mean to make the house a little tidy, and set the rooms to right, in various ways. It was not worth trying before to have anything at all nice. The dust made the white things brown, and the red, dark things white and threadbare-looking in a few days, and as for pantry and kitchen affairs Surmon would have died of them in a week.

Our new kitchen is finished now, too, but lets in rain, and has a refractory chimney, and somewhat wilful stove, that has just come from Sydney for us, but is not (of course) half so good as many that the colonials, rich and poor, have brought out with them. If anyone wants a good grate for a room, I should recommend the Sussex grate, which will burn either wood or coal, and in which you can make as small a fire as you please, and it always burns brightly. The Fitzgeralds have one, and they are beginning to make their house look quite comfortable, but I am afraid for my life in going up there to call, they have such a horribly ferocious bulldog, chained in a barrel at the door, it bites you as you pass, and if you take a stick, flies at you at once. You are obliged to wait at a distance till your voice, and his barking, can bring out one of the inmates, who sits against the mouth of the barrel while you pass. It will bite anyone but Mr. Fitzgerald, and I think ought to be shot. I know I would rather lose a good many little things than have such a pest about the house. We are ourselves pestered with rats here, too. Elisabeth (who, by the by, was delighted with your message about little Margaret) left the kitchen door open, the other day, for a few minutes, and as she returned, met three, coming together into the house, but we are going page 175to try poisoning, with some wonderful stuff that Mr. FitzGerald told me of. He has grown more wonderful than ever, in dress and appearance. His hair is all brushed and shaved away from his face, except a very long moustache, and on hot days he used to wear the most frightful long brown holland blouse, left very open, with a belt and turn-down collars, and on wet or cold days he sallied forth in the celebrated green plush shooting jacket.

Ld. F. Montagu, who came out in the Castle Eden, is quite a nuisance here, drinking, swearing, cheating at cards, and so on, and amongst the lowest public-house set, for no one else now I believe will notice him. The gentlemen gave him a trial, especially Mr. Cholmondeley, who had been at school with him; but I believe that is quite at an end. My husband had some letters about him, because his Grandmother, Lady Olivia Sparrow, knew Mr. Godley1 so very well, but in their first interview he told him that hearing the language he used, with oaths between every word, it was out of the question his asking him to come to his house, or into the society of ladies. Ld. F. assured him he should never do it before ladies, and he took it in very good part, and "spoke uncommon fair", but has behaved disgracefully. I was told, the other day, that he is now living on board the Camilla, one of the ships in harbour, and meant to go off to Sydney, which I hope may be true. (He did go). His name and title, out here, make him far too conspicuous, and I think some of the very young gentlemen here would have been better if they had never seen him. Mrs. Jackson told me that he was unbearable in the ship, and used such language, the first day she was at dinner, that she and Dr. J., and their boys, always afterwards dined in their own cabin. I was not here when the last ship arrived, and I see a good many new faces about, and I have not my husband to tell me who they are. He of course knows everyone. I expect to lose all my patience if I live here very long, seeing always new people, with always (no, but almost always), the same complaints, of the past voyage, and of the future prospects; the same wonderments at novelties, and bad houses, and the same assurances of how different it all page 176is from what they were used to at home, and (when a little cross) how none of them would ever have thought of coming if they had had the least idea of all they would have to go through. How Mr. Jackson had distinctly promised them this, and how Mr. Felix Wakefield had assured them they would find the other, and then I have to look sympathetic, and to tell them how very comfortable they will feel, after the rough beginning, when they get only a little settled in places of their own, and so on. For my own pleasure, too, I dislike very much seeing so many new people, I always feel very shy, and look just the other thing, only composed and stupid; but after all, as I said before, we have been very lucky in the set of people who have come out. There is an old Woodcot schoolfellow of William's here, Mr. Harold de Boubelle. He was sent out with Mr. Jackson, and remains here now, boarding at Mr. Jacobs, where he also receives Collegiate instruction from Mr. J., who took very high honours at Oxford, and who is to be professor in the College, as soon as it is established. He seems a nice boy with a very handsome face, but I fancy he must find it rather dull. Mrs. J. is something like Miss Bourlier's sister, but not at all clever, and very languishing and sickly, and good natured. Her husband is an excellent little man, but I feel convinced not precisely congenial society for him, either, and with a very undecided manner, which I should think would nullify a great many of his other good qualities in teaching; but I am ungrateful in recording anything but praise of Mr. Jacobs to-day, for he is just returned from Akaroa, where he took last Sunday's duty, and brought me a bouquet which is worth far more here than in London (if scarceness is the true test of value), and a bunch of grapes. You cannot think what a treat the sweet room is. We have seen very little, though, of Mr. de B. yet, for when the Jacksons were here we were pretty full, and when we did ask him to tea we were obliged (almost) to ask Mr. Calvert, a most disagreeable, cringing secretary of Mr. Jackson, with whom he was then living. You may imagine that the toady of "Mr. J." is not a very nice person. However, the Russells see him (Mr. de B.) very often, now, and they are just the people for him. They, too, are going to the plains page 177for a short time, not for change of air, exactly, as we did, but to look after their people at work there, and preparations for getting the land into cultivation, and so on. I suspect their agent is not quite so effective or satisfactory as could be wished; at all events he will be a very expensive item in their proceedings, and I suspect it will end in Mr. Russell doing, and looking after, almost everything for himself; or else that nothing will be done.

We have had a man-of-war in the harbour for three or four days, the Havannah, but she lays so far down that she was not visible unless we walked all round the point to look at her, and as my husband was away, I saw nothing of anyone in her; excepting the boat, which often came on shore, with little middies steering, and ten oars going so well together that Arthur was always fixed in admiration. Some of the officers went over to the plains, and, I heard afterwards, called here very early to know if it was the hotel. I believe the Commander, Captain Erskine, is very much liked. The Havannah's tender (a small ship, or rather, in more correct phrase, a large schooner, 160 tons, to wait on her) came in to-day, having been long on the passage from Wellington, which she left a week ago, exactly, and she brings news of the Isabella Hercus, with, as I hope, my husband on board, just dropping her anchor as they came away; having been only forty-eight hours out, which is pretty well. The officer commanding the tender is brother to one of our settlers, a Mr. Pollard, who once brought me a note about Sara, from Tom, and so they came up here to-night to call, and to bring me a book I had lent Lady Grey, which she sent by this opportunity, and letters to John. I was quite disappointed, for I knew a vessel had come in from Wellington, and thought I should have got a letter from him to myself, when they came in.

March 30th. Sunday. I suppose my letters may be a little dull, and bare of events, but I did not expect that Arthur would suggest the idea to me. When I went to kiss him in bed to-night, he said, as he often does, "Are you going to write to-night?"; so I said "Yes": "Well, I'd rather you did not, we haven't been doing anything now for you to tell your friends". By the bye, Powles and I are page 178full of lamentations that we cannot bring you his first trowsers, as you wish, for they were a very funny little pair, with pieces put in behind, and cut just like the sailors', meant to be worn without braces; but when we had just finished a much smarter pair of very white ones, these, which were of a bit of the Captain's duck, not quite bleached, and much the worse for wear, looked so bad that she begged for them to cut up and mend something with, and I gave them. I have got the blue shirt, indeed, being elastic, he can still wear it, though it is rather short. He fills out his clothes very well just now, and you would be amused to hear his intense pity of himself when he "was sick", as he calls it; that means the influenza before we went to the plains. "I was so ill, oh! I was in such a state," as he told Mrs. Russell the other day. She is quite a friend of his, being very fond of children. It was all quite in character was it not that he should accomplish the art of sawing while we were at the plains. He sawed several bits of wood for the fire, and then we got ambitious, and tried a log that was quite six inches in diameter, and after working at it for a day and a half, it was accomplished; all by himself as far as actual sawing went, and also greasing the saw, which Powles recommended, and was supposed to assist very much; but we stood by him to encourage him, for he got very impatient at having nothing to show for so long. I am afraid I have made you fancy him much too pretty, though quite without meaning it. I am sure he is not half so good looking as Heneage must have been, only just his old little round face, grown better-looking, and his hair better and more curly. It has still never been cut, but still curls up so as not to hang anywhere lower than his ear, and is of a rather bright tinge of very light hair.

April 7th. I have not written in this letter for a week and now we have the Travancore in and such a number of letters and presents to thank you all for, and for all the good wishes for my birthday. I have seen Mr. Evans too, and had a long talk with him about everybody. You must be left to imagine my delight with all my parcels and presents. First came your hand-writing, a parcel from Mr. Evans, the night that the ship anchored, with my book from page 179Louisa for Arthur; and my new collar, for Easter Sunday, it came most luckily, and my gardening gloves, with a little note from Mr. Evans promising to call; then, the next morning but one, my beautiful, perfect clock!—and long before I had done admiring that, my other parcels, presents for Arthur, and the Ladies' Companion from Sara, but not the gown she sent me; for we have such an advanced and superior custom house, that the gown had to be kept two days to be valued, and every other parcel opened thoroughly in search for letters. However, at last I did get it and everything else, and don't know where to begin my thanks. I am specially glad that there was a holiday on my birthday, only I am sorry you had such a small party. I can fancy I see you just at dessert, too, the dining-room door finally shut, and my Father pouring out wine for everyone, and you just pulling up your scarf, and giving your after dinner shiver; Louisa and Frances, both, I guess, on the warm side of the table (such a shiny table, too, as we don't see in N.Z.), for your 14th November would not do very well for our festivity of tea out in the garden! It seems too happy to hope ever to see it again. I am now plotting deeply to get my husband sent home in disgrace. The general line for the people here is to look very blank at the mention of our going, and then he says of course he would not go home while he could do good by staying, which words, though very right and all that, rather grate upon my ears, for I am such a fool as to think that, if he lives, it will be a long time before they get all the available good out of him. At all events, it is some comfort to me to know that he is quite as anxious to get back to England as I can be, for he cares nearly as much as I do about seeing his people and friends again, and besides, cares a great deal about the politics, "public events" and so on, which I don't in the least, now I am accustomed to be quite out of it. I am afraid all this about the R.C. Bishoprics will disgust you so much with the whole concern that you will hardly have liked our friend Mr. Weld at all, and yet he is so very nice when you know him well; and besides, you know he is not a convert, but one of an old R.C. family. I shall be so glad to hear that you have seen him, and heard all about us from him. If he was not page 180overcome with shyness, I am sure you must have liked him, and he promised to call. His little vessel, the Henry, has just been here for some days, with his cousin, and partner in stock-farming concerns, Mr. Clifford, who is not nearly so agreeable. He knows a good deal of N. Zealand, however, having been out here eight years, in different parts of the country, and he is in great admiration of this settlement, and particularly of our climate, which has indeed been lovely since we came back from the plains, more than a month ago; only a few showers, and one whole day of rain; but that was a tremendous one, with such a gale from the south as sent the wet streaming down our drawing-room paper in five or six places, and deluged the ceiling from a pool that ran in under my bed upstairs. But the fine days are quite lovely, when there is little or no wind. Yesterday, for instance, was quite perfection; warm enough for the greatest invalid to sit out by the sea, and cool enough for any amount of exercise; and the mountains looking as beautiful as on our good days at Voelas. We went, with a horse, up the bridle path to the top of the hill, and had a lovely view of the plains, and snowy mountains, just before sunset. Easter Sunday was just such another day, and so were many more. To-day it is cold, with a strong south wind that shakes the house, though it is very fine. It is very good weather for the invalids, too, and we have a good many cases of bilious fever that seems in the air; it sometimes turns to typhus, and some of the patients have died. The houses are all so small, and so full, that it is wretched work when any serious illness comes.

I think that I have never mentioned that my husband got back from Wellington on April 4th (we are now at the 26th, William's birthday having been duly remembered on Easter Tuesday). He saw the Governor (who is a sad deceiver), and did all his business, and met there, too, Mr. Jackson, and the Bishop, and stayed with Mr. Eyre at Government House for the time he was there. Fancy Sir G. Grey having sent to Mr. Eyre, just shortly, to say he must give up possession of his house at Wellington, on which he had spent a good deal of money, to him, in a month, just when Mrs. Eyre is expecting to be confined! I believe they will page 181go to Nelson. Sir G. Grey cannot bear him, and never loses an opportunity of snubbing and annoying him, and this even was done in such a way. The Greys had been in Wellington for three or four months, and then General Pitt, who was left in charge at Auckland, died, and Sir George had to go up there, a few days after my husband left. When he went, he left a short letter to this effect, for Mr. Eyre! As soon as he arrived in Wellington he ordered that every single paper, and matter of business, should be brought before him; and the Lieut.-Governor was to hear and see nothing, but sit with his hands before him. Yet he dared not give himself a holiday, and leave the place, knowing that a policeman would soon be sent after him, to bring him back, as happened before! Who would be a Lieut.-Governor? I cannot think why Mr. Eyre does not resign, except that being just married he cannot afford it; and besides, Sir George is daily expecting to be removed. When Lady Grey was here, she told me they had heard, for certain, that he was appointed to Canada! and that she was much afraid the climate would not suit his constitution. He is very delicate, something about the heart and circulation. He is going to hold a "Council" at Wellington and has summoned Mr. Deans and Mr. Tancred from here to attend, but neither of them will go. When he was here, it seems Deans consulted him about a claim which has only more lately been announced to the settlers. This claim is to, I think, a space of two miles all round Ricarton, on the old story of having purchased it from the natives, which would, of course, annihilate Christchurch and turn all the settlers about there off their land. Deans has lately put this forward, not apparently expecting, or hoping, to get the land itself, but hoping to get, as compensation, some particular "run" for cattle about fifty miles off. My husband consulted Sir G. Grey at Wellington about this claim, and he said at first he thought it was a good one, as he had told Deans, and likely to give a good deal of trouble; but when my husband explained to him that if so it would be a claim on Crown lands, as the Association has no possession of the land here, only can recommend purchasers to the Crown, he quite changed his note, and said, at the next interview, that page 182the claim was worth nothing at all! My husband has refused any salary, either in his capacity of Resident Magistrate, or Commissioner of Crown lands; for which, at the other settlements, they are paid about £300 a year for each. The Governor did not much like that, for they would have liked a story against him of liking good places, and perhaps you know that he has got his salary as Agent here lowered from £800 to £600 which is quite enough. He thinks all the salaries are fixed at too high a rate, and has just gone through the very disagreeable task of lowering those of the Surveyors, and so on; some are going in consequence, but they were really extravagant, and so many things are wanted at a first start, that money is very precious. Clergymen and schoolmasters, all must be provided with salaries and houses, and find such things much smaller than Mr. Jackson's liberal promises had led them to expect. That, indeed, is a very disagreeable part of the business; meeting with disappointment and discontent, which vague promises at home are sure to lead to, especially when the hopes and expectations have been growing through all the monotony of a three or four months' voyage. However, all goes pretty smoothly for the present, and I am happy to say our incumbent at Lyttelton seems a very good man, though perhaps not clever. There is, however, one ecclesiastic, the Reverend Puckle by name, not so agreeable. He was a bosom friend of Mr. Jackson's when he was a rich man in trade in London (I forget what kind). He tried some other business (selling prints, I think) and failed; and "having always had a great wish to be in Orders" he somehow contrived, although he had not been at either of the Universities, to be ordained by the Bishop of Exeter; chiefly, I believe, with the view of his coming out here. So here they came, expecting to get the best of everything; on account, as he told Mr. FitzGerald about his accommodation at first, "of his having been, for many years, the personal friend of the Bishop Designate". In appearance he is what you can imagine an ugly retired grocer of nearly fifty, and with such an intriguing, meddling wife! who had a fortune of £30,000 (being a Miss Smith, sister to the great lace manufacturer at Derby), and who is naturally not pleased page 183with such accommodation as she gets here in the barracks. They are always asking for more, and finding fault with all they get, the house that is being built for them, the place it is built at, etc. Mrs. Puckle wrote the other day to John to beg that instead! of adding to the other clergyman's house, who had no children, he would devote all the money available in adding another room to her house, beside the intended additions, because she had five children! and they will take the whole thing as a matter of personal favour, and not at all of trying to do the best with other people's money. It is disagreeable dealing with such people, but not, by the by, a very profitable subject to discant upon to you.

April 28th. I am left again. My husband started this morning for Akaroa, where there are claims to be settled, and expects to be away about ten days. I hope he will have fine weather, for it is a lovely place to see, by all accounts; everyone likens it to the prettiest place he has seen. Mr. Tancred and Mr. Wortley went too, and I shall be very glad when I see them safe back, for there are so many accidents with these boating businesses. They went with the Maori teachers from "Pigeon Bay", from which place they were to walk over to Akaroa. Mr. and Mrs. Russell were to have gone too, but she dreamt last night she was upset, and as it was very stormy to-day she took fright, remembering their drowning when they first came; so they have stayed at home instead, and I am invited to drink tea there tomorrow. I have not been out in the evening since we cam here.

April 29th. There is such a good opportunity for sending this letter to-day that I think I must let it go. It is, I believe, to go from Wellington by a ship direct to London. How soon shall we have enough sheep here to charter a wool ship for ourselves? Talking of wool, I should be very much obliged if you would send me a dozen pairs of little socks for Arthur; some of fancy colours, if convenient. I am sure you will guess the size near enough, and perhaps I could have some of them ribbed. I hope you will not mind this commission (Tom Cocks will pay you). I generally write them all to Louisa, that you may not have the trouble even of reading them. John is, I am thankful to say, still page 184very well, but he says if he gets less so he shall go off to a warmer place for the winter, probably Moreton Bay, north of Sydney, and leave me here. This makes me wish. if it were possible, more than ever, that he may keep well. Elisabeth goes on very well. I have just made her begin to wear caps again, which is very uncolonial, but I like it. Instead of "Jacky Fly" (who found out, on the plains, he could make more by building houses, and living in the bush with other Maoris, than in doing what we told him, and so left us), we have got a girl called Charity, who is rather nice and does three times as much work as poor Jack. I don't know whether this will arrive before, or after, my letters to Uncle Robert, but please to thank him a great deal in the meantime. A great deal of love to everyone. I am writing to Sara by the other road, and to C. Pollen. Best love to my Father, and to William and Heneage, when you write, and to John, and now my dear Mother, good-bye. God bless you all and please take care of yourself for

Your very affectionate daughter,

Charlotte Godley.

1 Her father-in-law.