The Lyttelton Times.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XV, Issue 851, 5 January 1861, Page 4

The Lyttelton Times.

Saturday, January 5,1861. Ijst order to give to readers at a distance an intelligible idea of the progress which Canterbury has made in the business of colonization, it is necessary to present as clearly as possible the results arrived at, rather than the details of the process by which those results have been attained. With this object, in attempting to review our past year's affairs for the information of friends elsewhere, and especially of intending colonists at home, we purpose to give, not a reproduction of articles and paragraphs from our own back numbers —which is sometimes in newspaper phrase termed a " summary " —but a brief synopsis embracing the chief points of interest in the province as they now present themselves, narrating the circumstances of the past origin or change of each only as they may bear incidentally upon the main fact of its existence. Canterbury, geographically speaking, is more widely separated from the rest of the world than any other province in New Zealand, except Hawkes Bay. Though possessing nominally a seaboard on the west coast of the Middle Island as well as on the east, yet from its available country lying entirely on the eastern side, where also, of course, it is alone accessible, the province may be said to turn its back upon the Australian colonies and upon that communication from the older world which flows from the same direction. The disadvantage under which Canterbury labours in this respect may be put down mathematically at one day of greater remoteness from the world than the majority of her sister provinces. Setting out by acknowledging this geographical drawback, it is worth while proceeding to note what consequences seem to have already resulted from it. In the first place, it is more than probable that the original choice of the settlements of New Zealand was largely affected by their position; and that Canterbury remained unselected and unsettled to a later date than Auckland, Wellington, Taranaki, Nelson, or Otago, as a main reason because her port is further from any centre of commerce in the south seas. Other causes may have contributed to the same result: but whatever they were, the Canterbury Association's settlers had reason to be well pleased that Nature or accident left open to them so fine a country to so late a period. But the effect of its position continued long after the foundation of the settlement. Maintaining for a long* time a constant and intimate connection with the mother country, Canterbury had comparatively . little to do with the Australian colonies. The country .was taken up almost exclusively by the 'pilgrims' and by those who followed from the same source. It is true that, prior to the gold discoveries in Victoria, a few transmigrants from that part of the Australias were tempted down here, and, exhibiting an acute perception of the profits to be derived from our' pastoral lands, acted as a brisk leaven "to the body of settlers from England, stimulating them to enterprize in sheep farming1. The ' pilgrims' were not long in learning the lesson taught them by the older colonists, and lost no time in spreading themselves over the land, which they still hold in a large majority over settlers from other quarters. What we have said of sheep farmers is still more true of all other classes of our population. By this time no one seeks for or would recognize any distinction between one settler and another: but the predominance of those who, coming direct from England, have made Canterbury their first and only object, has had a marked effect upon the social, political, and material organization of the country. The great intercourse which has always been maintained between S3 Tdney and the extreme northern province, and of late years between Melbourne and the extreme south, when contrasted with that which has fallen to the share of Canterbury, has already produced a marked difference between them and us—a difference which we venture to predict will for a long time in the future distinguish these three chief settlements of the colony, long even after other distinctions shall have been swept away. Many advantages arise from a close Australian connection, which we regret that we are without: but, on the other hand, we are free from some annoyances—absentee proprietorship amongst the number—which are certain to result from it to a great extent. On the eastern coast of the Middle Island, then (to begin at the beginning) between the range of Alpine mountains on one side and the Pacific on the other, bounded by the river Hurunui on the north and by the river Waitangi on the south, there are six million acres of land for the greater part flat and fertile, and this is the settled part of Canterbury. More than an equal amount of acreage of mountain top, valley, and river bed, belongs also to the province, but as yet is turned to no profitable use. Half way down the eastern coast line stands the nest of hills called Banks Peninsula, on the inner edge of which is the port of Lyttelton, where in a general view of the province we naturally commence our observations. Lyttelton is surrounded by an immense frame work of hills, whose steep slopes and extensive outlines present such proportions to the eye, looking from the water, as make the town, spread along the sloping base, appear quite insignificant. Grow a3 Lyttelton may for a hundred years, it will always seem but a small gathering of petty cottages when viewed from a little distance against the enormous bosom of the mountain which surrounds and looks down upon it. The real grandeur of the one must destroy any appearance of importance in the other. During the past few years, however, the town has been considerably enlarged. The number of houses built, and the character of the new buildings, are indications of a very satisfactory progress. The population numbers now somewhere about 1,800 persons within the limits of the town, being an increase of a hundred per cent, in about four years. The business done is of course proportioned to the advancement; of the province at large; and the large merchants' stores. lining the streets, with the fleet of .shipping at anchor in the harbor, may be said

to be solely dependent upon the plains. But the erection in great numbers of private houses, and of large and small retail shops, with the planting- aird garden cultivation which continue to add to the beauty, comfort, and value to the place, with the flourishing character of the social institutions established for the benefit of the inhabitants, all prove^ a prosperity intrinsic to the port town itself. Within a year or two, Lyttolton has been much improved by the formation of several streets which were previously impassable, and by the construction of a new jetty find the enlargement of the old one. A. pretty and capacious stone church has been built at a cost of over £3000. The Union Bank of Australia and Messrs. Miles and Co. have, as it were, formed a gateway to the entrance from the western side, by the erection each of a good looking and substantial stone building, one on each side of the way—a sort of commencement of a new stone town. The Gaol, Post-office, and Custom-house are being added to, and the erection of one large building for the accommodation of the Gfeneral Government offices is in contemplation. The Order of Freemasons and that of Oddfellows have each a neat hall, close together. The Church of Scotland has a meeting house and school. And the Wesleyan congregation has grown too numerous for the temporary building hitherto used for divine service, and is about to erect a large and handsome chapel, the foundation stone of which was laid on the last day oi 1860. The fund for the building of this chapel has been greatly added to by the taste, liberality, and industry of the ladies, by whom a fancy bazaar was got up and held in Christmas week, realizing to the fund upwards of £400. The enlarged commerce of Canterbury is best marked in Lyttelton, where every year more and more tonnage comes to bring supplies and to take away wool. At present two fine ships, each of about 1,000 tons register, the Mermaid and the Evening Star, are lying in port, filling up fast with wool from the Heathcote, the Waimakariri, the Saltwater Creek, and Timaru—the great shipping ports for this produce. These vessels may be expected to take away nearly £100,000 in value between them ; after them the splendid clipper Blue Jacket is expected, and other vessels will be found to complete the means of export, which this year may be calculated at quite 9,000 bales of wool, worth £225,000. In addition to this evidence of increasing commerce we may mention, as a proof of its expansion, the late establishment in Lyttelton of a commercial house from Boston, doing a direct trade with the United States.

Before we leave the liill country, we may glance at those parts of Banks' Peninsula which are either materially separated from the rest of the province or are connected more closely with Lyttelton than with the plains. At the upper part of Lyttelfcon harbour are bays where dairy farming1, gardening1, and general agriculture are pursued with great success. Here are some of the prettiest and best sites for residences in Canterbury, and from these spots the town of Lyttelton is supplied with the greater part of its requirements in connection with the farm and garden. One of the most striking features of the harbour, presenting itself immediately before the eyes of the stranger who enters it, is a mass of cultivation at Diamond Harbour, on the southern side of the anchorage, immediately opposite Lyttelton. The beauty of the spot,1 with the neat house, pretty garden and green fields about it, immediately arrest the eye; and the great extent of operations in progress, —nothing less than turning the whole foot of Mount Herbert into English pasture land, —indicates at once the ornament which the place will become to Port Cooper within the year now commencing. Rhodes' Bay, too, though more remote from view, comprises a great deal of nature's richness and beauty developed by the hand of man.

Banks' Peninsula is partly covered with .the finest timber, and partly with grass. Sawn and split timber and cheese and butter are therefore the staple commodities of its export. These it produces in great abundance and of the finest quality. The cheese made on the Peninsula is unequalled throughout these seas, and under the name of "Port Cooper" in all markets meets with constant demand at a price considerably above other qualities. About 60 tons of cheese per annum ai*e produced on the various dairies round the Peninsula, from which also the supply of butter and bacon is considerable. The chief timber producing districts are Akaroa, Pigeon Bay, and Okain Bay, from each of which ports a great quantity of the best building stuff is shipped to Christchurch and Lyttelton. The actual shipments we have no means of giving: but it is certain that such a supply of live timber exists in all the districts, that were communication opened by land and the trade properly taken up, no part of the large sums which are paid annually for timber need be sent out of the province. From several other bays on the Peninsula besides those named, sawn timber, split stuff, and firewood are produced, and agricultural produce exported in large quantities. On the whole this part of the province is one of its richest districts, and is the more valuable from its resources being such as are wanting over a ( great part of the plains. Owing to various causes the settlement at the township of Akaroa has not much extended during the past few years; there are only bridle tracks of an indifferent character communicating over the steep mountains between it and the other districts; and steam communication, for which its harbour is so well adapted, has not yet become an established fact in its waters. When made accessible Akaroa will no doubt equal any other part of the province in the rapidity of its progress. On the south side of the Peninsula is Little River and Lake Forsyth—a beautiful district— and several rich and fertile spots used as dairy Stations, but not often visited by strangers. To get fairly upon the plains we must return to Lyttelton. The old bridle path, first constructed in 1850, is still the best used means of transit between the Port and the Plains. The bridle path has been scratched over by the public works department several times, and is now receiving the most extensive

iimendmonts yot made upon it. So long as the body of tho road retains tho smooth surface given to it, tho path may bo considorod passable; but its tendency is to wear into not only tho semblance but the reality of a mountain torront. All passenger and parcel traffic, and sometimes merchandise, crosses tho hill by this road and will probably continue so until tho railway shall supplant all other forms of communication.

The much talked of Sumner road is really of very great service to the traffic, even in its present state. Drays are always on the road carrying full if not very ponderous loads of merchandise and baggage. During fine weather the road is quite good ; and, were it not for the steep zig-zags by which Evans pass is surmounted on the harbour side it would be a very easy mode of conveyance. At tho present time a traffic is going on between flhristchurch and Lyttelton by this line which may be fairly put down at 15 tons per week. The water transit between the towns is conducted by three small steamers and innumerable sailing vessels over the Sumner bar and up the river Heathcote. This means of communication has increased wonderfully of late, and it is said will shortly be still further added to by the steamer Lyttelton, built in London, which sailed out, spending 15 months on the way,' and arrived at Wellington after all hope of her safety had been given up. Sumner was orie'of the earliest selections un der the Association, and a township was laid out here. The cultivation of a few acres as a farm, and the erection of a house of accommodation are all the improvements which it has received.

The two roads'and.'the river meet at the Heathcote Ferry, and hence to Christchiirch the chief traffic of all sorts is along* the Ferry Road, though sometimes horsemen take a route which crosses the river a few miles higher up. The Ferry Eoad has an agricultural district on each side, and boasts of an extensive show of houses and stacks. At five different points of the road where the river meets it there are five; shipping places, with warehouses for the stowage of goods inwards and outwards. Drays constantly about these wharves and passing along the road prove the existence of a large business. The chief farms in this neighbourhood have existed since the first years of.the settlement, but during the past year a fair instalment of fresh land has been broken up and occupied, and in some parts a number of new cottages give evidence of fresh enterprize.

The c Hills lload' to which we have alluded passes through a rich agricultural district, and where zt nears the hills presents choice spots for residence. In many of these places there are already gentlemen's houses, with lawns and plantations, which have become a feature of the road. At one point on this road, where it crosses a spur'of hills about two miles from Christchiirch, by far the best obtainable view of that town and of the settled part of the plains generally is to be had. Further on round the chain of hills, beyond the point where the road\ turns towards Christchurch, the same characteristic features—fat farms and handsome residences—are to be seen.

Wo are now approaching1 Christchurch, the capital, town of, the .province, in itself the type of the rest. of'l!the. flon ntvy.- Here—private euterprize has really done wonders, for the details of which our limits are quite insufficient. At a distance the towers of public building's show themselves above the rest of the houses standing on the level. A goodly growth of trees, rising chiefly from Wilson's nursery garden, but also from many private grounds, .show their handsome heads, distancing quickly the timber edifices which gather in around them. Here the progress made tells differently from that in Lyttelton. In place of being, dwarfed by surrounding objects, each new house, standing on a level, has power to shut out from view many miles of country. Every cottage tells up in the size of the town. The town contains about a thousand acres, and is, in point of form, a square with sides each a mile and a quarter long. Over all the surface houses are dotted at greater or smaller distances from each other, and in some places are pretty thickly stowed. The .resident population must be now above 2,000 souls. The town has been improved in various ways under the hand of the Public Works Department: the principal streets are well formed and metalled j there are three good cart bridges over the Avon, and several foot bridges j and the hand of enterprize is visible in many other particulars. The Government Buildings form a large and striking object. They are, generally speaking, handsome in outline, though some object to a superabundance of attempted ornament which they display. The Provincial Council Chamber and the apartments of the Government comprised in these buildings have been for some time in use; and are spacious and comfortable. A handsome clock tower, of iron and encaustic tiles, has been manufactured in England and sent out, and is now in course of erection on the tower above the Council Chamber, at the southern wing of the building. This "will give this portion of'the work a finish which it has very much wanted.

Christchurch has not much to boast of in the way of churches. The two Church of England edifices are very plain buildings. The first has been in use for nearly the whole ten years of the settlement; the second was opened for divine worship only last Sunday. The Wesleyan chapel is good in outline, and imposing, standing as it does on a good site; but like all other buildings of any pretence, it ought to have been in stone. The Presbyterian church is a neat structure.

The semi-public buildings—hotels, stores, shops, breweries, &c, are far too numerous to be catalogued. There is, however, a Town Hall worthy of notice, comprisingl the apartments of the Mechanics' Institute, built and maintained by a company formed from the residents in the town, who are about to add to its dimensions; and a Market Hall, built by and rented from the Government. There are a Free Masons' Hall, an Odd Fellows' Hall, and a Foresters' Hall; each offering the advantages of space and accommodation for public meetings; and there are now rising from the ground the walls of a very handsome building that is to be the habitation of the

Christeliurch Club, hi addition to these thoro is a wilderness of private establishments old or now, or in course of building; there is no street of Ohristchurch whore tho saw and the hammer are not heard. Not the loast agreeable sign of tho improvement going on in the town is tho fencing and formation of grass paddocks in those parts where the builder has not yet put his ruthless hand. Of establishments out of tho ordinary line of trade there are five breweries, two printing offices, a wind mill, a water mill, a foundry, and a pottery, each seemingly doing a flourishing business. But it would be endless to go through all the industrial statistics of Christchurch.

From the town as a centre the country roads spread out like the spokes of a wheel. We entered by the south-east corner from the Ferry road. On the north-east, a riverside road runs down each bank of the Avon, and opens up a district watered by that pretty stream. Here agriculture is carried on to some extent, but the pervading feature of the neighbourhood is the number of gentlemen's residences which deck each side of the stream. The road leads to nowhere in particular, unless it be on to the run where store cattle are kept for the butcher; and the access to most of the houses down the river is obtained by water. The little steamer Avon, plying out of Lyttelton, was intended for this trade, but has been gradually withdrawn.

On the South of Christchurch a road leads down to the district under the Lyttelton hills in continuation of that which we have already mentioned; another, a little more westerly, leads to the Lincoln district. Here may be said to be fixed the head quarters of the agricultural interest, which this year has made great strides. A great extent of new land has been broken up, and a large additional breadth of wheat, oats, barley, and potatoes is growing and looking remarkably well. On the West of Christchurch the Riccarton road goes out, leading through Hagley Park, sacred to cricketers, and past the ancient and model farm of Riccarton. Not much has been done during the past few years in the immediate neighbourhood of the town ; but a little way out a very extended field of operations has been entered upon latterly, and field adjoins field, full of growing crops, with houses at convenient intervals, many miles out of town. Gradually the older homesteads are left behind with the hedges of thorn and gorse which line the road, and the eye follows long lines of ditch and bank lately excavated and built up from the soil; then follows a space over which no crop as yet grows, and where the workman is busy building his interminable walls of sod ; then even the imperfect fences cease, and fields that are to be, where the plough has gone over to break the surface against the next seed time, are exposed to uninterrupted view; then even this forerunner of cultivation is. left behind; a few houses are seen at some distance off to the rig'htand left, and ultimately nothing meets the view but the brown'yellow grass of the plain stretching away from the horse's feet over five thousand square miles of dead flat, to the dim hills in the far distance". To all appearance the country here is as desolate as before the time of its colonization, and the stranger who is -told -that--these»,\yild lands are thickly and profitably occupied by~~a~paslural population may well be excused for doubting the fact. This road leads southerly to the Springs district, forking also to the Great South Road, and westerly to the Malvern Hills. We will go no further at present in this direction.

From the north-west corner of Christchurch issues the Great North Road, by which the whole country north of the Waimakariri is brought into communication with the centre. Passing out of town the same agricultural features may be observed as on the other roads, save that a portion of this district is spoiled by the too near neighbourhood of a deep swamp. Papanui, three miles from Christchurch, a village almost as soon as the latter was a town, stopped a while in its growth when the bulk of the wood which formed its staple commodity was cut down. It is, however, possessed of too vigorous a principle of life to decay altogether, and business and industry are still prominently displayed by its residents in the occupations which they pursue. Almost the last tree of the forest on which Christchurch for several years depended has now fallen, to supply building stuff and firewood for the town population. If one may judge from the majority of houses erected at Papanui during its busy period, the inhabitants pursued their business with such determination that they sold all the boards and built their own houses of bark slabs; sold the firewood and kept the twigs to warm themselves.

Proceeding along the road, we pass through a.very fertile country (swamp accepted, till drainage shall have done its work), to the eighth or ninth mile from Christchurch, the greatest portion of the distance being laid out in farms in full tillage. Here is seen some of that rough living and energetic farming which no. doubt contributes in the largest proportion to the exports of the country and to the profits of the farmer. Here also are many German immigrants well suited to that style of living; men of painfully industrious habits, but certain not to improve the country they occupy, their own though it be, beyond a certain low limit. In the district, nevertheless, are some large proprietors, whose lands are well cultivated. In enclosed grass paddocks in this neighbourhood, a few choice sheep, imported two years ago from Auckland by the well known breeder Mr. George Rich, have been running till last shearing*; multiplying during the time at a rate quite unparallelled, and clipping at the end of the period an average of eight pounds of clean wool all round. With this fact, remembering also that English grass will carry in this country at least four sheep to the acre, who will say that laying down grass will not pay, or that the pastoral capabilities of the province are limited? In connection with this subject we may mention here that the same famous Mr. George Rich will send home by the Mormaid, sailing this month, a number of rams and ewes, the choice of his Auckland and Canterbury flocks, to fulfil an engagement which he made the year before last with

the Director General of the French -Emperorl renowned establishment at Kambouillet, if send the latter some New Zealand blood t| iinprovo the brood and condition of the I bred flocks in France. There can be no fjiietion that the pastoral interest of tho colony i deeply indebted to Mr. Rich, not only for tl. skill and care which ho has brought to be-, during the last score of year? upon the prat tice of sheep breeding, but also for the energ;. and talent with which he has advanced a home tho fame of the colony in its most_ important feature, and established the credit o ; the climate and soil of New Zealand.

About nine miles from Christchurch, crossing the Waimakariri by one of two ferries, we come to Kaiapoi Island, to which Natim has given solely an agricultural destiny. 1% nearness of a shipping port has made this district very valuable: a very large breadth of land is now under cultivation/ ,and the extent increases every month. Kaiapoi, tin town, has not quite kept up the velocity o: its earlier progress. The bad state of th* road past the Maori reserve, and the riva, claims of the Saltwater Creek, to the northward, have diminished the rate of its Dipgress, without, however, having powßr w tp Rawest it. Near Kaiapoi is a large timber tifstrict, the greater part of which is in the hands of the natives. When this was open for use, the timber trade gave a great share of businesto the town; but the native bush is now closed against sale, and the restriction add* to the general depression. From Kaiapoi we can go northwards through still more continuous agricultural country to the Ashley and beyond it, where the Saltwater Creek, already mentioned, forming a shipping port which can be used for the shipment of wool from the north, gives occasion to the establishment of a township, and is in process of becoming the centre oi| one of the finest new districts in the province. Northward again, passing over available, landj as far as the Double Corner downs, the road then gets into the very paradise of sheep farmers, and, after crossing the Weka pass, reaches the the boundary.of the province at the Hurunui.

Or, from Kaiapoi we can go in a morel westerly direction to Rangiora, which is I reached either by a roundabout road, intended for drays, or by a direct road, at present only available for riders and walkers. passingl through and opening up a piece of country previously inaccessible by reason of the surface water. The real character of this \ so-called swamp may be imagined from the fact that since the opening up of the roads about 5000 acres in the neighbourhood have | been purchased. What has been done .here| may no doubt be done again elsewhere?" f Rangiora is a thriving village, depending';)! good deal on its bush and its fine piece of fertile! and well watered country adjoining. The| district is well settled by men who have laft out large sums in the judicious improvement of their lands. It has a neat church and I population of about a thousand. We find, passing through Rangiora, a road leading westerly to Oxford at HarewooJ forest. Many miles of this road pass through pastoral country which will probably alwaje remain so, and many miles also through tracts which are almost ready to spring into wheat at the sight of a plough. Harewood foresl itself is now becoming the scene of a settlement. The timber is plentiful and good, mucli beautiful pine of the best kinds being found in patches surrounded by black birch. There are at Oxford some two hundred souls, with the appropriate number of houses, gardens in good cultivation, and some patches of farm land in crop. The sawyers are busy in the bush, and a steam saw mill is doing great things in the hands of men who have enterprise and skill enough to improve their own fortunes and the face of the country at the same time. Perhaps there are few districts in the province of greater immediate promise than Oxford.-

We have done now with the north, though much more might be said did space permit; we must next proceed southwards from the point where we left ourselves on the Great South road, upon the open plain, out of sight of cultivations. We do not dwell upon the silent empty laboratories where grain is transmuted into wool, afterwards to be turned into gold. The Customs returns at the port show what this apparent wilderness can do; but in the process of doing it, untamed nature seems to bear the principal part, and the hand of man is almost invisible. Crossing the Rakaia, Rangitata and Ashburton, of which the latter is said to be approachable from the sea, we pass into what is called, widely speaking, the Timaru district. In many places tracts of country fit for agriculture are discernible, but the process of occupation to any extent does not present itself till we come nearer into the neighbourhood of the township itself. Timaru takes its immediate importance from the roadstead there, where vessels can lie to take in wool and discharge stores; but it has an j additional value which every year will help to develop in being close to a fair agricultural district, and having at no great distance fertile tracts of land even better fitted for cultivation. The town is increasing fast in size and importance; it has a church newly erected and many other signs significant of consequence. Land here has fetched high rates and is still rising. A Resident Magistrate rules over, the district and is located at Timaru, where he fulfils other miscellaneous duties of Government. Proceeding southward from Timaru, we come at last to the Waitangi, the southern boundary of the province. All this is an immense sheep district at the present time • but over a great deal of country on the Waitangi, both high up and low down towards the south, a fertile soil exists, fit for any crop. A fact in natural history has been remarked here, of which there is ample evidence also over the rest of the country, that the natural growth of the soil improves very much by being fed upon. Such weeds as the spear grass, very injurious to the wool and takingup a groat deal of room on some runs, disappear before fires and feeding, and the natural grass becomes finer and more compact. That this is a fact, the experience gained during the past seven or eight years of sheepfarining-in the province amply testifies, ,' \

- } . The Waitangi, which waters a rich pastoral .district, and one which might bo rich iv agricultural wealth, is a deep and rapid stream. At its ®outh it has a deep lagoon, or wklo channel, where of large burden might lie alongside the biink in safety and discharge or load. Whale boats -We gone into the river, ami the only objection is siid to be the rapidity of the current. The 1 rovincn\l Council has therefore sanctioned a bonus to any Steamer which will open up the navigation ot this river, or of any other on this part of tho coast. Wherever we have taken the reader a regular mail is now running, or is immediately about to bo established. That on the north communicates with the mail through to Nelson: that on the south runs across the" Waitangi to Dunedm, and thence to Invercargill. Thus the extreme north and south of the Middle Island are connected by an overland line of post. , . . • 1 c The only part of the province lying outside ot the boundaries which wo have described as including the settled districts, which is at all likely to become the centre of a settlement, is a district lying close to the mouth of the ltivor Grey on the west coast. Here a seam of coal has been discovered by Mr. Julius Haast, of great richness and superior quality. There is also on the Grey some little ! extent of country fit for settlement. Belles this I there does not appear to be any available country ' bordering on the west coast. We have now taken the reader at a galloping pace through the length and breadth of tho settled : districts of the province, and pointed out to him 'where the chief points of settlement are, and ot what their advantages consist; and we have indicated some of those districts whose advantages still remain to be developed. It needs but a cursory glance at the map to show what abundant room there is for an industrious population, and what scope there is for the future progress of the province. Wherever wo go we find that Nature meets man more than half way. In what we have said we must have omitted much, but even a faint outline of the present condition of the province and ol its inhabitants in their various districts contains ample evidence of the results which industry can achieve both for the settler and the land he has chosen to live in. We must now proceed to look at our province from another point of view.

So far as a great majority of the inhabitants of Canterbury turn their attention at all to political matters, the General Government is nothing and the Provincial Government is everything. Ex nihilo niliil fit. It is a result of the common indifference to general politics that even now, when a general election is impending, the business of representation occupies no one's attention. It would be wrong to say that the public knowingly throws the affairs-of the colony to the winds; but it is the fact that affairs of a more local character and the proceedings of the authorities who are upon the spot absorb nearly all the attention which any one airipng us cares to give to the Government as a whole. Were we asked what is the feeling among theipeople of Canterbury upon the important colonial questions of the day, we should say that there is a general prevailing impression that the present iMinistry is endeavouring to injure the prosperity (of the" country by unfairly embarrassing the Provincial Governments in the exercise of their important functions of colonization. This being the case ifciis prooable that men will be selected as representatives whose opinions are opposed to ultracentralism or the absorption of power into the hands of a distant Ministry. There will be nine seats to be filled up in Canterbury, but the candidates yet mentioned as likely to stand do not nearly reach that number.

As to Provincial politics, ifc may be mentioned as an understood fact that the Council has been in session for about four weeks, but it is not so easy to pronounce with the same certainty upon its acts or. intentions. .Two or three useful measures, including one to restrict the Trespass of Cattle, and another to permit the formation of municipalities in towns and settled districts, have been; already passed, and when the Estimates are finished, the business will naturally come to an end. In the meantime the Council has petitioned for a dissolution, in consequence of a difference of opinion with the Superintendent about the great question of the day—the Railway. ■-.■.. The Lyttelton and Christchurch Railway enterprise was proceeding with every prospect of a satisfactory termination, until the end of November. An Act authorising the formation of the line had been got, and another legalizing the loan to be raised for the purpose of its construction; and contractors were in the country ready to carry out the work for a given sum. Everything seemed favorable, when at the end of November the contractors declared off. Their contract up to this time had been a conditional one, and was now about to be ratified. They appear to have been frightened by the presence of a peculiarly hard stone in the trial shaft which had been sunk for the purpose of in-' vestigation, and they declared that they could not do the work for the money. The immediate reply of the Government was that no higher price would be given. At once the ex-contractors handed over everything to the Provincial Engineer, closed their books, and went about their business. The Government declared their, intention to raise the loan, find new contractors, and go on with the works in the meanwhile that time might not be lost. l>ufc when it came to put this proposal before the Provincial Council, it appeared that' going on in the meantime with the works'meant spending some £45,000 during the current year, by small contracts, before the raising of the loan. Several members disapproved of this proposal as imprudent, and the answer given endorsing his Honor's message on the subject was carried only by the casting vote of the Chairman of Committees. The Superintendent declined to accept this vote as a sufficient approval of his proposal, and suggested that to settle such an important point ifc would be well to go straight to the country. ..The Council agreed to the suggestion,and resolved to petition the Governor to dissolve them, the Superini&ndent vacating his office at the same time.. No action has yet been taken upon this resolution j and in the mean time the works are going on with the same stall' which has been employed upon them during the past twelve months, no extra expense ,being encountered. The question come 3 under the political head in as much as it is one in which the public and the Government of the province are chiefly interested. The public will be appealed to on the question, which will become one of Railway or no Kailway,' but which'is really 'How shall the Railway works best be prosecuted.' No one can doubt the answer which the country will give to the first query : though it is more than probable that if the second were fairly put, the Superintendent's view would not meet with many supporters. After all, the question i« an Executive one, ,and concerns the administration of those powers with which the Government i« already clothed. _ Whatever answer the elected Council may give, the prosecution of the works will rest with the Superintendent. If the present holder of that office is reelected the railway will be, proceeded with in his own way; if an opposition candidate by chance be successful the works will be abandoned, whether the Council like it or no.

The question which proved a stumbling block to the intending contractors for the railway, Messrs, Smith and Knight—of what does the hill consist P —has been solved by the researches of a talented geologist, Mr. Julius Haast. His report, in which he pronounces the verdict that no difficult rock will be.met with, will bo found published in the'Lytteljxm Times' of December 2G, and to it we refer

our readors who mo curious on the subject. With this very satisfactory roport to roly 011,110 difficulty cut! exist to prevent our obtaining tho sorvicoa of a contracting linn ol'oqual ominonee with tho gentlomen whom wo have lost with .so much regret. There is scarcely any other item to bo noticed nuder tho political head, unless wo go into tho vexed question of how tho money is to bo spent. The details of this question tiro mutters for discussion in committee of supply; but 0110 broad fact stands prominently forward. Tho General Government and every provincial government, including1 our own, has always found it easy to spend public money without appropriation, and a perfect readiness to go on spending has generally accompanied tho discovery of the power. It is certain that the constitution is sot at nought and eolf-govornmont a perfect farce unless tho people's representatives can resume the real control of the expenditure—that power of tho purse which is tho foundation of all their influence. One of the first duties of the General Assembly in its next session will be to devise a check upon the crying sin of all governments in New Zealand—unauthorized expenditure. We have proceeded thus far without mentioning a subject which nevertheless engages a great deal of everyone's attention —the war at Taranaki. We cannot give tho latest news, nor has it had any effect upon this province which calls for notice. We are not socially or materially affected by it in the slightest degree. Shortly after its outbreak a subscription was raised in this province in aid of the sufferers at Taranaki, and the result has been the contribution of £2000. This is in addition to tho proceeds of a ball given for the same object, said to have realized £150. and of a fancy bazaar in Christ* church, which met with astonishing success, and realized above £750 to tho fund. The application of this handsome contribution from the province is not yet decided upon, the Government of the colony having stepped in to bear the whole expenses of maintaining and relieving the sufferers by the war. The sports and amusements of Canterbury are good of their kind, if few in number. The Jiace meeting is an annual festival for all classes. It takes place this year on the sth, 6th and 7th of February, when the prospects of sport are good. The Kaiapoi races come oif on the 9th inst. The Timaru race meeting is fixed for the 26th and 27th February, and tho Waitangi meeting for the 19th and 20th March. At all of these excellent sport is to be expected. Cricket is a pastime taken up in good old English 6tyle in Christchurch, where during the season practice goes on continually and matches are of frequent occurrence.

An organization of a much superior degree to that which produces race meetings and cricket matches, but still one of pleasurable interest, is the Volunteer movement. The formation of a Volunteer Ilifle Regiment was commenced in Christchurch early in this year, and the example was soon followed in Lyttelton and Kaiapoi. Five strong companies are now in existence, waiting only for the arms which the Government will supply to make themselves perfect in drill. The weather during last winter was exceedingly cold, the fall of snow being great, and lasting on the hilltops far into spring. The early summer up till this time has been fine and warm, with showers of rain about Christmas. The wheat crops accordingly look well, especially those which were sown early. The later crops look scarcely so well as they should do, and in one or two cases we have heard of farmers clearing their fields in despair of the crop coming to anything. The great bulk, however, of the wheat and other grain crops—this year covering much more laud than ever before—is in very fair condition and promises an abundant harvest.. Fruit gardens are this year uncommonly prolific both in the small fruit, which is already come to maturity, and in the promise shown of apples pears and peaches. The great increase of garden cultivation together with the abundant produce gives us this year what we never had before, the luxury of -fruit cheap and plentiful.

„ _COMMEftGIA-li.

Since our last summary, the trade of the Province has not been remarkable for anything but a steady state of progression. • The dealings during the past year have been conducted with caution on all sides, and very little has been done in the way of speculation. A large amount of overdue liabilities have been met during the time, and though money is dear throughout the country, and the demand for accommodation active, the present state of commercial matters may be fairly pronounced as more favorable than was the case a year ago, and there is every probability that the coming wool crop followed by, let us hope, a good harvest will finally set matters straight and enable those who have suffered by the difficulties of the times to recover lost ground. Indeed considering the violent check which followed the action of the bank and the stoppage of government expenditure, it must be considered a striking proof of the innate soundness of the Province that no greater disasters have followed. In our previous summary we gave the particulars and probable value of last season's clip of wool, the greater part of which had then been shipped; it is therefore only necessary now to state that it consisted of 6,898 bales, valued at about £190,000, which, with the other produce of the season estimated in the rough at £20,000, would swell the total to close upon £210,000. It would be somewhat premature at this season to give an estimate of the value of the present season's clip, but from the best information we have been able to gain it might be fairly taken at 9,000 bales, of the value of £225,000. The imports during the last seven months have been of the usual character: an occasional heavy cargo from London, with perhaps rather less than our usual supplies from Sydney and Melbourne. The list of vessels includes three from London, two from Bristol, eight from Sydney, six from Melbourne, four from Hobart Town, and one from Boston, United States. The number of emigrants brought by these vessels amounted to 1,123, which with 1,052 in theprevious six months of the year gives a total for the year .just ended of 2,175. The emigration from the Province may be roughly estimated at 537, the net return being 1,638 in our favour, against 3,000 in 1859, and 1,550 in 1858.

The state of the labour market shows evident signs that at least the present rate of immigration is a necessity if the work of the country is not to be. brought to a stand-still. Wages have recovered from depression, and the tendency is again upwards. The last batchof immigrants were quickly engaged; the single men arid women within two or three days after arrival, and the married couples within a ,week, the supply being barely sufficient to arrest a rise in the current rates.. As only one small ship is likely to come out with immigrants during the next four months, it is not difficult to predict that wages will rise. The following are the current rates :—

Married Couples, £70 to £90, with rations Shepherds, 45 to 55, « Ploughmen, 45 to 55, " Farm Labourers 40 to 50, " Day Labourers 6s. Gd. to 7s. 6d. without rations Government rate 6s. "

Carpenters & Bricklayers 10s.

The prices of imported articles in the wholesale markets arc not liable to much fluctuation, and from the limited nature of the trade it is difficult to give anything like a reliable price current. We subjoin the following as an approximation:—

Tea, best Congou; £10 to £11 per chest. Ditto, medium, £9 to £9 10s ditto. Sugar, Company's pieces, 55s to 57s Gd per cwt. Ditto, Mauritius, 52s Gd to 55s ditto. Ditto, counter second, 50s ditto. Ditto, ration, 36s ditto. Ditto, snowdrop, 60s ditto. Tobacco, negrohcad, 2s to 2s 3d per lh, in bond. Ditto, Cavendish, Is 2d to Is 8d ditto, ditto. Brandy, Martell's, 14s to 15s per gall., in bond. Ditto, Hcnnessy's, 14s to 15s ditto, ditto. Ditto, case, 38s to 40s per dozen, ditto. Geneva, red case, 18s to 20s per case, ditto. Ditto, green case, ditto, . ; ditto. Rum, W. 1.,30 dog. 0.p., 6s 6d per gall., ditto. Ditto, do., 10 ditto, 6s ditto, ditto.

Porter, in bulk, 48 to £9 per hhd. Ale, ditto, £8 per hhd. Bottled boor, 13a per dozen. Candles, Is 8d por lb. The retail prices of articles of consumption in Lyttolton and Christohurch are as follow:— IA'TTIJLTON. OUHISTOHUItCII. ' Flour, 27a per cwt «« «« 24s per cwt Dread, Is 2d per 4lb loaf ~~ Is per 41b loaf Cheese, Is 4d per lb ~~ ~v, is per lb Bacon, Is 4d per lb «,, *™ Is. 2d per lb Hams, Is 8d per lb Eggs, 2a por dozy«. ~~ Is 9d to 2s per doz Milk, od per quart w« 4d per quart Butter, Is 6d to Is 9d per lb Is 4d per lb Beef, 7d to 8d per lb ~« «« 4d to 8d per lb Pork, 8d per lb 8d per lb Veal, 8d per lb ~~ 8d per lb Mutton, Gd to 7d per lb~~ 5d to 7d per lb Lamb, 7s Cd per quarter w , 7s 6d per quarter Firewood, 36s to 39s pr. cord deld. 55s per cord dcld. Coals, £4 4s per ton, delivered^, JE4 10s. to £5 pr. ton PRICE Olf BUILDING MATERIALS. | Sawn timber — 18s to 20s per 100 feet Scantling (V.D.L.) 12s to 15s ditto Palings, slt —> 20s to 25s per 100 Ditto 6ft— 25s to 28s ditto Ditto 6ft. box .~» 30s to 35s ditto Shingles, V.D.L. -«. 30s to 35s per 1000 Ditto N.Z. 10s to 20s ditto Bricks «« _ £4 to jE4 10s per 1000 Slates, Countess^, U, JElltojei2 ditto Ditto, Viscountess ■■uztktJty, to £10 The pastoral interest is in-'a quiescent state. The available country is now pretty well taken up | and partially stocked.: The early trials and hard work attending that process are beginning to bear fruit, and the sheep farmer is every where emerging from his first straitened circumstances and becoming a man of capital. To those who study human nature it will not appear wonderful that under these circumstances he should begin to cry out for something more: and accordingly we find" that a meeting of sheep owners was held in Christchurch a few months ago to claim certain privileges1 and effect certain changes in the laws affecting their business. Nothing more came of' it than the formation of a committee which has jnot exhibited any signs of activity at present. The lambing has been unfavorable during the present year, owing to the severe winter, but the (loss appears to be unequally divided, some stations not apparently exposed having suffered severely, while others, seemingly unsheltered, escaped without'loss. This, coupled with a large exportation of sheep to the south, will interfere in some measure with the calculations as to the time the province will be fully stocked. The farmers have had a good year; with an over average crop they have had a brisk demand throughout the year for all kinds of produce at remunerative rates. The estimated value of wheat exported since the harvest is £17,850, consisting of 55,000 bushels. There have been about 8,000 bushels of barley exported, valued at £1,800; and 10,000 bushels of oats, worth £1,750. The steady price given for wheat, &c, by exporters during the past year, coupled with a fall in wages, has given an impetus to farming, and we may fairly calculate the amount of land under crop this year at 8,000 acivs, shewing an increase over last of no less than 2,000 acres. The general appearance of the crops is excellent, and there is every promise of an abundant harvest, the early sown wheat promising to make up any deficiency which may exist in the later sown, which was more or less damaged by the rain. The crop of hay has been extraordinarily heavy, and nearly twice the amount of meadow land has been cut for hay. The present price of new hay is £3 to £3 10s. per ton; wheat .65.6 d.-to 7s. 6d.; oats, 3s. 6d. to 45.; barley, none; potatoes, nominal. The Customs Returns for the past year give the following results:— i • » REVENUE. Duties received, quarter ending March 31 „ Ditto ditto Juno 30 .. 8,658 Ditto ditto September 30 .., 7,580 Ditto ditto December 31 .. 7,978 ■-• ' .■■-'.•• ."'..<:■■■■ ■■'„. ••■'•..•....-' ■•- j*32,206 - „_-r » ..m - ~,.-^.~~~_ .™—-i-M.-ro»^-arf— --———-<4_ ••...■..■■' Quarter ended March 31 ..■<.. .. ■ Ditto Jane 30.'. .... .. 73;974 Ditto September3o .. .. ... 61,399 Ditto December 31 ■.. .. .. 583,037 4f 302,376 EXPORTS. - Quarter ended March 31 .. .. .. Ditto June3o .. .... .. 59,437 • Ditto September 30 .. „ .. 8,009 Ditto December 31 .. .. „ 2,686 .£209,487

1858, at Gttteshead-upon-Tyno; eho measures 240 ieet in length, registers 005 tons without her engineroom, and has auxiliary screw power equal to 100 Horses. Her lower masts and ripging are of iron, and the mizen mast does double duty as funnel to the (Ire of tho after saloon. The fittings of the Omeo arc tho most complete and comfortable of any stoamer which has yet visited us. Her main saloon is amidships, out of the motion, and her sleeping accommodation for passengers cannot bo surpassed, bhe carries beneath every tiling .300 tons of coal, and lias room besides for 500 tons of cargo, part of her stowage room being constructed as an immense tank into which 300 tons of water may be pumped at pleasure as ballast. Tho Omeo put ashore 200 tons of cargo, 1,100 sheep, with 30 passengers, in six hours at Port Chalmers. She returns this afternoon to Melbourne via Otago, and will visit this port next month, having a contract to make three trips with stock to Otago.