LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

New Zealand Gazette and Wellington Spectator, Volume I, Issue 25, 3 October 1840, Page 2

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

Sir, — Certain scandalous falsehoods having been in circulation in this place, and which were most detrimental to my character, I beg your inserting the enclosed note from the last person to whom I could trace them. I remain, Sir, yours Sec, Britannia, Sept. 29, 1840. JOHN J. THOMSON. " Port Nicholson, " Monday, Sept. 28, 1840. " Sir, — In reply to your letter of yesterday's date, I have not the least hesitation in committing to writing what I believe I told you verbally on or about the 10th instant, viz. : that lam sorry to have spread a report of you in this Colony to your detriment, and which I now find out is false. " I am, Sir, your obedient servant, "D. SINCLAIR. "John J. Thompson, Esq., Port Nicholson." Sir, — As I had the pleasure of accompanying Mr. Thomson's surveying party, to discover a road over the hills which form the western boundary of Britannia, called the Tinakora range, I trust a slight sketch of the excursion will not be uninteresting to your readers. On crossing the range we came to a beautiful plateau of land, (by the chain) one and a half miles off the town, and containing at least five or six thousand acres of rich open timber land, almost free from underwood and karewau', covered with the finest spars I have seen in New Zealand, many of them being upwards pf ninety feet without a branch, chiefly kikatea and moy, or the white and red pine of the sawyers. The land has' an elevation 'of four or five hundred feet above the sea, with a gentle descent northward, and intersected by several rivulets of clear water running in tlint direction, all of which unite and form a considerable' stream. Here the hills on either side closely confine its course for a mile; we traced it by walking in the bed to its embouchure, half way to Mama, a distance of twenty-five miles. Along the entire river, which again becomes serpentine, are flats of rich alluvial soil, varying from ten to one hundred acres. The beauty and fertility of this tract of land, its sunny aspect, the great value of the timber and water power, its being in the immediate vicinity of the town, combine to render it a most valuable acquisition to the township of Britannia, and independent of the available land in the valley of the Eritonga. Yours respectfully, SAMITET, MTtONNEM.. Britannia, Port Nicholson, Sept. 21.