THE NELSON EXAMINER. Nelson, December 1, 1849.

Jonrn»li become more neceawy aa men become more - mul and indhidnalum more to be feared. It would be to underrate their importance to auppoie that they aerre only to - •eenre liberty : they maintain cmlixttion. Dm TocauxTiLLß, Of Democracy in America, toI. it., p. 300. "We mentioned a fortnight since that -Mr. Fitzgerald, the Government roadsurveyor, had paid a visit to Waitohi, with ■ a view to examine the proposed line of > road from that place to the Wairau. We - then stated that we had been informed Mr. Fitzgerald estimated the cost of a - road through the Waitobi Pass at £10,000 .— a sum-very much in excess of the esti--mates of other persons who had previously - examined the ground — £$,000 having been named, we believe, as the probable cost ; -but then there is this difference between the two estimates — that one contemplates a dray-road the whole distance, and the other only a portion of the way, intending that water-carriage should be used as far- up the Tua Marina as. it is navigable- for boats of any size. By the latter arrangement a great saving of expense would be effected; but' on the other band it would cause- some inj| convenience to parties wishing to Tide or drive the whole distance. * As far as we can' learn, the chief difficulty in the -Waitohi road lies on the Wairau side, where a swamp of the worst description exists, which must be crossed, if a complete road through the Tua Marina and Waitohi valleys is made. But, avail ourselves of water-carriage, and a considerable portion of the difficulty is surmounted. Mr. Fitzgerald however has cleared up a point which it is wonderful has been suffered to remain so long obscure, .and which tends to show that something better than a Waitohi town may be formed (considering the means at our disposal, and the interests it will affect), both for the Wairau, and, what is of infinitely more consequence to ourselves, for the town and district of Nelson. It seems that what we have often suspected to be by no means an unlikely case, turns ' *&k sfljpfact-— that an easier communication between the Wairau and a shipping port may be made by the Kaituna valley into - the Felorus, then by the Tua. Marina and the Waitohi ; possessing also this important .advantage — that a ■ road made for such a purpose would -every yard of it be so much of a road made between the Wairau and Nelson. Before proceeding to state further the advantages .which Mr. Fitzgerald's suggested road appears to offer, it will be as well to lay before such of our readers as .may have little knowledge of the localities, a few particular* respecting the country about Nelson and 'the Wairau, and the difficulties which are supposed to exist of connecting the two districts. The eastern side of Cook's Straits, from Cape Farewell to Cape Campbell, is indentated with a number of deap bays and inlets of the sea, the 'five principal of which — BHnd Bay, Admiralty Bay (or Pelorus River), Port Gore, Queen Charlotte's Sound, and Cloudy Bay, may not unaptly be represented by the open right hand, which, if spread out with its palm downward, and the point of the little finger dr*sst towards the nibow, the tip of the thumb may stand for Cape Farewell at the norland the wristbone as the southern extremity or Cape Campbell-— the deep hollow between the

thumb and the forefinger being considered as Blind Bay, ■ and tbe hollow space between the tip of the little finger and the wrist as€loudy Bay. From the bottom of Blind Bay the valley of the Wairoea runs nearly south for about ten or twelve miles, from the head of which .a succession- of smallejvvalleys diverge to the eastward for nearly thirty miles further back. From the bottom of Cloudy Bayi (or at a point just behind the root of the little finger) the Wairau plain commences, and runs back in a continuous valley and gorge for about sixty miles in a south-westerly direction, so that the upper parts of these valleys, commencing widely asunder, are brought within a few miles of each other, and are separated only by a wooded hill, known as the Big Wood — the present road of communication between the two districts being -by this route — so that when at the top of the Wairau gorge you are about sixty miles from the sea, either at the bottom of Blind Bay, or Cloudy Bay. Situated as Nelson is, near the bottom, and on the eastern side of ..Blind Bay, it will be^een at a -glance from -this description, that the Wairau plain, lying within twenty -or thirty miles of the town of Nelson, is yet completely cut off from us, and can only be -reached by a long circuitous track of upwards of one hundred mites, quite impassable for wheeled carriages of any kind, and often highly dsttgerous even to travellers on horseback from the number and nature of tbe rivers which have to be crossed.^The hitherto supposed obstacle to a more direct road has been a high range of hills commencing (to continue the use of our illustration) near the tip of the forefinger, and running along its -whole length and' up the hand, or along the whole eastern side of Blind Bay, the Wairau valley, and the continuous valleys beyond, without any intermission until it reaches the Big Wood, fifty miles from Nelson. To find a track by which- a road could be made over this mountainous range, several expeditions have been sent out or undertaken, and notwithstanding parties have crossed at three different points from one district to tbe other, it has been considered that neither of them offered sufficient facilities for a road, particularly as two of the routes at least would not materially shorten the distance, and the third (that by the Maitai into the Pelorus, and through tbe Kaituna) bad been declared by a surveyor, sent out to examine it, as impracticable. It was these considerations which led Uftraons interested in the Wairau, either as or a? -proprietors of the land, poloek about for some port immediately in ' connexion -with that district, from which [wool atid other prdduce might be shipped, and where in time it was supposed -a town would .spring up. Two places seemed to present themselves with nearly equal claims to be considered as the natural ports of the Wairau district — Port Underwood, in Cloudy Bay, and Waitohi, in Queen Charlotte's Sound (the first represented on the hand by the hollow below [the root of the little finger, and the second by the indentation between the third and fourth fingers), and a j committee was appointed two year* ago to examine both localities, and report on the one most favourable for our purpose. After a careful inspection of both places, tbe choice was made in favour of Waitohi, which was found to possess many advantages, though on paper, Port Underwood, in Cloudy Bay, appeared the more eligible? The communication between the 'Waitobi aDd the Wairau is by a valley about twelve mUes in length, and it was through this that a road was promised to be made by his Excellency the Governor-in- Chief, when he gave his assistance to the Company's officers in purchasing the site of the Waitohi from the natives. We have said -that in the opinion of Mr. Fitzgerald, the Government surveyor, very considerable difficulties exist in the way of making a dray- road through the Waitohi Pass, and we are bound to say that in the opinions of other parties well acquainted with the spot, with whom we have converged within the past week, these difficulties are not over estimated. Tbe road must either pass over a swamp of the worst description, or be taken round the foot of a succession of spurs from tbe hills, which will lengthen the distance and involve the necessity of a considerable amount of side cutting and earth-work, and neither could be done without incurring great expense. We will suppose however, for the take of argument, that the Waitohi road was made — would that give all the facilities of communication required between the Wairau and the Waitohi ? We fear not. All tbe land of any value in the Wair»u, as well as the extensive adjoining district of Kaipantihan,

lies on the eastern side of the river, which would therefore have to be crossed to get to Waitohi at a -point where there is no ford. Knowing, as we do, the difficulty of getting bridges in a new- country-, -and even Hi establishing a ferry-boat, we fear that the completing of the Waitohi road would not relieve the Wairau settlers from disasters, and delays, and disappointments. Of-course- these would have to be submitted to, as are the present more serious . evils ; all we mean to rematk is, that a road between the Waitohi and the Wairau would not give all the facilities of communication required. 'But one thing it would do — it would completely sever the Wairau from Nelson. From the day a dray -road was formed between the Waitohi port and Wair&u, we in Nelson must give up every hope of benefits to be derived from the bulk of the land which by right forms part of our settlement. The communication between the Sound and Wellington is so much more easy than between the same place and .Nelson, that we must expect to see all our wool go to that port to be shipped, or be put into vessels chartered by Wellington merchants, and tne supplies for the district drawn wholly from the other side of the Straits. These evils, though not new to us, having been long contemplated as apparently inevitable, are not theiess evils on that account. But is there- a remedy ? Why, if *c may rely on Mr. Fitzgerald's statements/ to a considerable extent there is ; and it "almost seems as if that gentleman bad stepped in just in time to prevent our committing an act of self-destruction. About ten miles higher up the Wairau Plain than the Waitohi Pass, where the river is fordable, a valley exists named- Kaituna, which, only twelve miles long^in a westerly direction (crossing -the back of' the hand at the roots of the fingers), terminates in tbe Pelorus (the indentation between the first and second fingers), at a place about twentyeight miles from Nelson, to which a bridleroad may be made for a few hundred pounds — such a road for the whole distance Mr. Fitzgerald estimates only at £2,000, which would bring Nelson within forty miles of tbe heart of the Wairau Plain. -But -though, as we shall show, it maybe possible hereafter to bring a loaded dray into Nelson over abroad that shall not cost more in constructing than has been estimated for making the "Waitohi road alone, it is suggested, at present, to make use of the navigation of the Pelorus for shipping the wool produced in the Wairau. At the termination of the Kaituna, the Pelorus is navigable for vessels of seventy or eighty tons burden^ and three or four miles lower down, vessels of any tonnage may iie in perfect safety. From the same point there is an easy communication of four miles over a flat into the head of Queen Charlotte's Sound. A road through the Kaituna would be most easy of construction, no obstacles o"f a serious nature exist, and £1,000 is estimated as ample for the purpose. This valley also contains a large portion of good land, finely timbered, which would prove of value in a district where so little timber exists. From the western extremity of the Kaituna to Nelson, the distance, as we have eaid, is computed to be only about twentyeight miles. Mr. -Fitzgerald, travelling by -compass, came on here by the route which has generally teen used — that is, by the east bank of the Pelorus for a few miles, and then striking over the dividing range for Nelson, by the Moketap <$hll, and down the Maitai valley. This route, Mr. Fitzgerald reports, offers no obstacles to a bridle road, which might be made at an insignificant expense — in fact, the work would be perfectly easy compared with much which has been done in the same line in the other island. But the Maitai route to tbe Pelorus appears not to be tbe best which offers. Within the last fortnight it has been discovered, that from the pah at Wakapuaka (to which a road-already exists) to the Pelorus river is only eight or ten miles, over a wooded-ridge of no great deration ; and it is not certain that by following qp the course of the Wakapuaka river, a still easier communication might not be found. Mr. Tinline has however proved, by an expedition which he voluntarily undertook, that no serious impediments exist to a road being made from Wakapuaka to the Pelorus, by which route also the Wairau plain might be reached by a journey of forty miles instead of one of a hundred miles, and without encountering the present difficulties and dangers. Such are a few of the advantages which a road by the Pelorus and Kaituna to the Wairau would give to Nelson — but should the Pelorus be made tbe place of shipment instead of the Waitohi, the advantages we should derive from the more ready communication between the two places by sea

would be nearly equally great. To go from Nelson to the Pelorus it would not be necessary to encounter any of the rough weather of the Straits. By making use of the French \Pass (suppose the forefinger to be severed at the second joint, and there to be a passage through into the indentation between that end the second finger), even boats might ply between the two ports as easily as they now run across the Bay. The Wairau would by this means, both by land and sea, be linked unto Nelson, for with no other place would the communication be so easy and *ttsi> The Waitohi scheme, on the - contraipyycuts off for ever all hope of Nelson being beuefitted by the Wairau* forces into existence a rival town, and meanwhile will throw all the trade of the district into Wellington. As a .compensation for this, the founders of the Nelson settlement are to each get a quarter of a Waitohi town acre. As we said before, if there was no help for so suicidal an act, it must be submitted to; but now that it is shown to be no longer necessary, we would call upon our fellow-settlers to«xert themselves to the utmost to avert what mu9t for ever dwaif us down to a very secondary settlement, and destroy any future .probability of extending our narrow boundaries, for on all other sides we are effectually barred in. There are some further considerations which press upon our attention, which may be worth noticing next week. 0

The Weather. — The favourable growing weather of the present spring has not deserted us during the past month. Had our fanners and horticulturists been privileged to have had the ordering of the weather which they thought would have been likely to ensure them the best crops, they could not have improved upon what Nature has so kindly sent them. The consequence is, that the growth of vegetation of every kind has been exceedingly rapid, and, together with good pasturage for cattle, there is the promise of the most luxuriant crops of all kinds of grain. If no untoward event occur at the time of harvest!*, to lessen the quantity, the amount of corn saved this year iv Nelson will be very considerable. The gardens also are looking as fresh as the .fields. Vegetables are now plentiful enough — young potatoes of a good size may be dug. Tbe only fruit yet ripe is tbe strawberry, which, though rather scarce at present, will be very plentiful in a few days. Cherries will be gathered in about a week. The vines appear no wbit the worse for the prolonged winter, and promise fruit in abundance. There is one feature of the present season which strikes every person — namely, the profusion of flowers which the manuka has put on. The hill sides about town are a perfect sheet of white, and, looked at from a little distance, remind us strongly of tbe appearance of. the same spots last winter, when for the first time we saw the ground here covered with snow. This beautiful little shrub is the lesort of myriads of native bees, which seem to draw their food from its flowers ; and it is almost difficult to overcome the idea, in passing within a short distance of it that you are not in the midst of a swarm of honey bees from some neighbouring hive.

The following are extracts from private letters just received from Mr. E. Gibbon Wakefield, by Mr. F. D. Bell :— "'Reigate, 6 June, 1849. "My dear Francis— • • • I fullyintended to write anotherpublic letter by this ship, bnt have postponed the work in the.hope of being able to communicate some (pleasant news with respect to Constitutional Government Tor New Zealand. Private negotiations with that object are still pending *, and I am afraid to say a word about them tiU tbe reßultßhall be known. I have no confidence, and nqt much hope, that the resnlt will be very good ; but some good may probably be obtained. "The efforts of the Company m the way of " resumption of land-sales*' prove as I expected, almoat utterly fruitless. Men of property will not even look towards New Zealand till the colony shall have authority to govern itself. 1 ' " Reigate, 29 June. "The public letter which I send by this tbip (and should send to you for publication if you were likely to be at Wellington) will not tell you all that I wish the colonists knew about the prospect of getting a good law of colonization and government for New Zealand, because some of my information on the subject is not fit for publication. • • • • But you will take on credit my opinion on the matter— which is, that we have been very near to getting the object this year, and that it must be got nest year, especially if the advice contained in my letter to Petre should be acted on by tbe colonists. * * • I attend very seriously to nothing else. If I bad not been ill so long, the work! would loot remain to be done. • • • „ •• • &w*J "E.G.W.»4