The Lyttelton Times.

Lyttelton Times, Volume I, Issue 23, 14 June 1851, Page 5

The Lyttelton Times.

SATURDAY, June 14, 1851. Rugged mountains, rising precipitately on all sides, drifted snow crowning their summits, wild wreaths of mist clothing their sides, angry foam lashing their bases :— - -TOoden summer-like houses looking wet a^d disconsolate in the pelting rain ; a fine schooner stranded on the beach; the wrecks of broken boats lining the shore, large ships straining their cables with their top-gallant masts struck; —this surely must be a clieer- .. less scene : and this will the new comers * by the " Duke of Bronte " and the " Steadfast " describe to their friends in England, as the inhospitable welcome to their new home at Lyttelton. And they will not exaggerate. We can hardly conceive a more disheartening termination to a voyage, than to lie at anchor for two days, cut off from all communication with the shore, unless it be to land in cold and tempestuous weather, in a country where even common shelter has yet to be erected. The ordinary and natural feeling of most immigrants upon landing in a colony is disappointment. The very intention to seek fortunes in a new country is one of enterprise: accounts of successful settlers have excited hopeful anticipations ; the troubles of the voyage have been cheerfully borne, because they were leading to the promised land beyond ; expectation has been at work for months, busy with the future; when at last the present comes; and, with it, the tension to which the mind has been subject for so long a time is at an end, and despondency inevitably succeeds : it will often follow under a bright sky and a warm sun, when nature wears the most enticing aspect; it is not likely to be lessened amid cold and rain, and storm. These remarks have occurred to us because we think it likely some of our newly arrived friends may be somewhat cast down at the unfavourable appearance of the new settlement, and. may regret the step theyhave taken ; and it does not seem unbecoming in us to offer them some little encouragement, so far as to remind them that the experience of one day is not that of a life : and to assure them that the weather of the past week is not that which we are accustomed to at Canterbury. If any one is inclined to be disappointed, let him ask the settlers on the plains, what opinions they have formed after a few months' acquaintance with this country, and let him think how little inconvenience he will suffer from such another week, when he is settled in a tolerably comfortable house a few months hence. We have heard that some are also alarmed at the price of provisions. It is as well to know, what we believe is the case, that there never was a new settlement yet formed in which provisions were so cheap as they are here at present —even here prices are probably not yet as high as they will be. But a high price of provisions is by no means an unmixed calamity in a settlement like this. The high price of agricultural pi #oduce in a country where there are no taxes, poor rates, county rates, tithes, or perhaps rent, is not a bad prospect for the farmer. We mustrecollect that all our pro- - visions at present are imported. Every shipload of immigrants which arrives will increase the demand, and probably therefore the value. Therefore the prospect of a return is certain. The cultivation of the ground is a sure speculation. We cannot too strongly urge on the capitalists, large and small, the wisdom of ploughing and digging to the utmost of their means at once. /Every farthing of capital which a man intends to expend on his farm, will pay better now than at any future time, because the failure of the Australian crops, and the steady influx of population, must keep up the prices here, and therefore insure the farmers gains.

For the same reason let every poor man hire his acre or two of land, and cultivate it during his spare hours. There is an abundance of land in the neighbourhood of Christchurch to be hired on very moderate rents, which may be cultivated at once with the spade, and.with little more trouble than an English garden ; and which before this time next year will have yielded a rich return. Believing these things, we are well convinced that our sadly inhospitable reception of the passengers by the "Duke of Bronte" and the "Steadfast" will only serve for matter of conversation, round many a cheerful fireside, in many a snug cottage, before its first anniversary shall have come round.