TO THE EDITOR OF THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.

New Zealand Gazette and Wellington Spectator, Volume I, Issue 21, 29 August 1840, Page 3

TO THE EDITOR OF THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.

g IRj — i ii m ye lately heard that many persons in this place are thinking of leaving it for the projected settlement at the Thames. I think those who leave without any other reason than a vague idea that the Thames is a better place than this will repent of it. I have thought that my observations on the comparative merits of the two places might be of some little use at the present time, hi order to counteract the mischievous influence of those who have been advising uninformed people to act in a way which must be prejudicial to their interests, and at the same time to those of the colony. Last year I travelled over a great part of the interior of the country which is drained by the Thames or Wahio river, and afterwards resided for more than a month "on the island of Waikeki, situated in that great hilet commonly called the Thames, but called in the late charts the Gulf of Hauriki * during the time I was there I was constantly passing from one part of the Gulf to another, and am consequently tolerably well acquainted with Us shores.

That part of New Zealand commonly known as the Thames, is not the river Wahio and its banks, but the Gulf of Hauriki and ifs shores. The Gulf being so large as to contain several islands of larger area than the harbour of Port Nicholson, is of course no harbour in itself; it however contains several harbours for shipping, only one of which is as yet wall known', however it is the only one which has been visited by large vessels. This is Coromandel harbour, it is on the south side of the Gulf, and about thirty-five miles from the mouth of the Thames, and the commencement of the available land. At the back of the harbour the mountains rise very abruptly to about4,000 feet, and there is no passage by land" from thence to the level lanl at the head of the Gulf. The* land hereabout is all asstee£ as the coast between Britannia and Thorndon', and tlie shores so bold and rugged, that it is impossible to walk any distance along them.

The only other harbour Which is wortE mentioning at present is Waiteraati, the intended new settlement. It is a good harbour, hut very little known'; 'when I was there I do not think that any large ship had ever entered it. The land hereabout is much more level than that on the southern side, bbutt t the soil is "bad, very swampy, and wood eve© itft

fuel is very/scarce ; it is about thirty miles from theyrich level land which is held out as an injtucement to draw settlers to the Thames, andiaud carriage between the two places is at present impracticable. The mountainous land in the Thames is generally covered with timber, and oa the hill sides on barren land is found the cowrie pine ; it is a scarce tree everywhere, and from the very rugged nature of the ground where it grows, its value is greatly diminished, the cost of its transport to the water's edge being of course great over a country such as I have described. The soil in which the cowrie- grows is always a poor stiff clay, very inferior for agricultural purposes .to any of the laud around Port Nicholson. '"The river Waiho or the Thames joins the sea on the south shore near the head of the Gulf, the land is very level and swampy for many miles from the mouth of the river, which cannot be entered by any vessels larger than about ten tons. There is no cowrie here, but the forest is composed almost entirely of kaikatea, which there grows to Far greater dimensions than I ever saw it here. Most people now know that the Thames runs through a larger extent of level country free from limber ; I have travelled over h considerable portion of this, and consider it to be about SO miles long from north to south, and with aii average breadth of lo miles. The Arrohau mountains bound it on the east like a wall, which they resemble in steepness and in their perfectly level top. They are the same I have spoken of as the background of Coromandel harbour ; they gradually slope downwards towards the south, and abruptly curve at about 30 miles S.S.W of Roturoa, when th.y are about 20^ feet high, and still preserve their curious wall like appearance. At their termination they are quite perpendicular for about one third of the distance from the top, and the remainder is so steep as to look like an artificial embankment.

Although the top of this range of mountains appears when seen from the plain of the Thames like a vale, and of course gives the same idea of narrowness, yet it is in genera about lo miles broad, and is connected with splendid forests of totara, and other trees not including the cowrie. Although the soil of this table land is rich, and the land remarkably level for New Zealand, it can never be settled from the plain because of the utter impracticability of its western face. The eastern slope is more gradual, but until a good harbour is fouivl in the Bay of Plenty, it will be as little use as the other. On the western side of the plain there is no such well defined boundary, but a number of round hills of no great height shut in the view; the highest visible is one near Cariia, which is about 2300 feet high. The volcanic range of Tongadido, which when seen from this direction appears to consists of* fine snowy peaks, closes the view to the southward and although I have never reached Tongadido, by this route I have no doubt that the ascent would be veiy gradual till close to the base of 'the mountain. The Waiho is a river about the size of the Thames at Windsor, it runs with a steady rapid current and is nearly free from logs and other obstructions its average depth is about five feet, and it is too rapid toallow of boats being rowed against its stream. The plain cannot be considered as properly the valley of the river, but as a portion of original table land through which the river flows; the proper valley of the river is about half a mile wide, and follows the course of the stream through the plain ; it is very rich land, and is covered in general with flux from 10 to 12 feet high, mixed with a few bushes and small kaikatea and water trees. Fully one rail' of the plain is an almost impassable bog covered with rushes, the largest remaining portion is poor fern land, and there is a considerable quantity of wet stouey land covered with rank vegetatiou without bushes. Scattered at con-ideralle intervals aie small groves of tall kiakatea trees ; but these spots are so few, that in general the plain may be described as perfectly free from timber. There is no doubt that in time this will be a fine country, hut I cannot help thinking that at present the land round Port Nioholson offers greater advantages. It is true that the rouud the vall°y of the Hutt will cos' JHlch -labour to prepare it for cultivation, but it is undoubtedly rich, and will make good and speedy returns for the outlay made on it Now the land in the plain of the Waiho which will not cost much money to work, is no better perhaps, nor so good', as the bare hills at the south end of Port Nicholson. The swampy lands covered with rushes will cost almost as much to drain as heavily timbered land to clear, and it is well known that bogs do not immediately become useful land, but that several years must elapse after they are reclaimed before they will bear crops of any grain. The small quantity of land covered with kaikatea is not worth mentioning, as it is evident that it would cost as much to clear as the same kind of land here. The river although much larger is not more useful than

the Hutt,.<is it will only serve for the downward conveyance of produce, for which purpose the liutt is equally capable; and in Port Nicholson the farmer will have the advantage of a sea port town close to him, whereas at the Thames he is 30 miles from his port and consequently from his market. The almost utter absence of timber at the Thames will be a serious 3ilh'culty to the farmer, as In will be obliged iv most instances to bring his wood for all purposes a distance of several railcis, besides winch he would generally be obliged to buy instead of cutting it on his own land. One great advantage the Thames possesses over this place, the plain is admirably adapted ior the rearing of herds of cattle without the trouble of cultivation, and I have no doubt that in a few /ears it will he so occupied by people from New South Wales who are accustomed to that kind of employment ; but I apprehend there are few people in tins place who would be disposed to emuark iv such a speculation at present.

I can say moreover that from all I have seen or heard of the different harbours in New Zealand, Port Nicholson appears to me the best for the first settlement of a colony, not only from its geographical situation, but because the site in the town is much superior to any other that has yet been found in the country, and there is abundance of excellent land for the employment of ail the population that may be expected for the next ten years. At the Bay of Islands it is almost impossible to find a place at all fit for even a moderate village, and the country bad and so rough that there is no means of going from one part of the bay to another by land. The shores of the lower part of the Gulf of Hauraki are more mountainous than those of the Bay of 1.-l.inds.

At Port Nicholson there is a good harbour, and on its shores a considerable quantity of useful land, us well as a very tolerable site for a town. But even these advantages ought to be of less consideration than some others, to those who think of leaving this place for the Thames. There are here at present about fifteen hundred people, among whom are many who have capital to employ, and of course cause a demand for labour, which it would be ridiculous to expect to find in the Thames, where there avc as yet no emigrants, and where it is very certain none will be sent by Government ; where, indeed, the population will be made up entirely by emigration from New South Wales, and by the disconteutcd spirits from this place. The natives at the Thames have always been known as a very bad set ; and those who were here at the beginning of this settlement will understand what trouble an ill-disposed set of natives may give to a new comer, who has everything to do, and none but those to help him. This place has been most absurdly cried down in Sydney ; but it is evident that these prejudicial reports have originated with people who were interested in the welfare of the other settlements, because they had laiul there and none here. I saw the other day in the Sydney " Colonist," a letter from a person they calle.l their Kororarika correspondent. Tins veracious, and at the same Lime highly imaginative, individual, described Thorndon as liable to be washed away by floods from the hills after heavy rains, " uulese a great outlay was ma;le to prevent it." Such ridiculous nonsense would not be worth noticing, except from the danger of its being believed by people who have no means of hearing the truth. The situation of Thorndon is of all others one most perfectly exempt from all dansrer of iloods ; and one hardly knows how sufficiently to admire the impudence of the person who could state as tiuth such a visible impossibility. 1 think it of very little consequence what people in other parts of New Zealand say of this place at present, as I am satisfie.l that no long perioi will elapse before it will become, as it deserves, the place of greatest consequence in the country ; for even now its advantages oniy equal with thu c of the otlier places. The colonists here are v so much superior in character, and all things requisite to the fiual success of a colony, to the Europeans resident at other parts of New Zealand, that it cannot fail to prosper if persevered in, and the colonists do not suffer themselves to be led away by any new scheme for a further emigration, which they may be very sure will do them no good, and will at all events throw them back iato the same state of discomfort and privation as they must have experienced on their first arrival here. If what I have now said shall fortunately be the means of rendering persons more satisfied with their present situation than they were before, my purpose in writing this letter will be fully answered ; and as 1 believe you to be a weil-wisher to your fellow adventurers, I feel that 1 need not apologize for troubling you With it.

I am, Sir,

Your obedient servant,

J. C. BIDWELL. Port Nicholson, August 24, 1840,