STEWARTS ISLAND AS A FIELD FOR SETTLEMENT.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 3247, 3 July 1872, Page 6

STEWARTS ISLAND AS A FIELD FOR SETTLEMENT.

Some months ago Hia Honour the Superintendent requested Sir W. H. PearBon, Commissioner of Crown Lands at InvercargiH, to indicate the roost suitable spots in Stewart's Island for the location of immigrants from the Orkney, Shetland, and Western Islands of Scotland. 3\fr Pearson's reports were presented to the Provincial Council during its late session, and from them we extract the following : — TUB FISHKIUKS. To experienced thrift, the fisheries around Stewart's Island promise, not only comfortable subsistence, but wealth. The occupation has hitherto been carried.on in a desultory manner by a few residents, most of whom, partly from imperfect knowledge, partly from inadequate mean*, have been incapacitated from properly cultivating the rich field at their disposal. That they have been able to subsist at all, support their families, and in one or two cases make "money, with the disadvantages they have laboured under, is the best evidence that the undertaking could be conducted to a most successful issue, by men whose life-training has rendered them adepts at the occupation, masters of the position. The fishing has been pursued entirely with set nets and fishing lines. The bays and harbours are, during the summer months, frequented by shoals of '* TramjHJter " and "Mold " ; both fish of rare. excellence. The latter will not take a bait, and can only be caught with nets laid in the shallow waters, along the edges of the bays, and kelp beds inside them ; these nets could be laid down with ease by the wives or children of the fishermen in any weather. I have frequently assisted in placing them in Port William, mid in two or three hours caught from fifteen to twenty Moki and Trumpeter (averaging in weight five pounds) to each net. The Blue Cod, a fair fish when green, and one which cures splendidly, though caught in the bays, is found in largest numbers all along the north and east coast of the island, from Hugged Point to Wilson Hay. The sea, looking through its clear pellucid waters, appears to literally swarm with them, off Smoky Cove and other favourite localities. I have seen thempulledup with lines, three orfourto each, as rapidly as the baits could be fixed and let down. I believe four good fishermen could fill a wlialeboat in three or four hours, at any of these spots, without moving- The Groper, :i lordly fish, is also largely caught with the hook on its favourite brinks oil'the s-'inie coast, and in the vicinity of Mason Bay. The head and shoulders of thia fish, boiled, equals the best home cod ; and smoVed or salted is excellent, It is <>f such size, and its flesh so firm and compact, it can be cut and cooked lilcr- a beefsteak. The White Cod also abounds, which, though, from want of firmness does not eat well green, is good dried and smoked. Those, with Barracouta, which cures well, and is of size, may be considered the staple fish of the Island, but I have .no doubt when the trawl net is substituted for the present imperfect fishing gear, new and good varieties will be discovered in the Strait and vicinity of the island. There is every evidence that the supply of fish, most of v very superior quality, is inexhaustible, and no season appears to affect it. Although the bays arc partially deserted in the winter, by their inhabitants seeking the deeper water round the coast i'or warmth, any fish which takes bait can bo caught as readily, and as numerously, in the middle of winter us in spring or summer. v Curing" is in its earliest infancy. No one of training or experience has hitherto been engaged in this branch of the business ; but the attempts, though imperfect, from ignorance and defective appliances, have been sufficient to determine the practicability of establishing a great and lucrative industry. There is abundance of timber in each bay for buildings, smoking the fish, making barrels for exporting the salt fish, and all the utensils appertaining to the tnwle. Vessels of any tonnage can be built on the island. Spars of size can lie obtained with ease, and in quantity, particularly from Port Pegasus ; as also naturally formed knees and ribs of one of the toughest known woods, the " rata," or iron wood, which clothes the shores of Ports Adventure, Pegasus, and Lord's River in great luxuriance ; while nature has supplied any number of dockyards in the numerous sheltered coves scattered throughout the various harbours. "Tinning fish" for export, ought, with moderately paid labour, to pay well. Tho Moki and Trumpeter, in exce'lence of flavour, would rival the preserved salmon so largely imported into the Australian Colonies, and with' the Groper, certainly surpass the American tinned fish, besides possessing the advantage of freshness. I have tasted some prepared in this manner, as an experiment, by an amntiflir. an imifl.t.n.h'ta. that f feel SUrO H

would prove a great success in exporienced hands ; while the cray/ish, which is of large size, and abundant in all the bays, fully equals, when tinned, the imported lobsters, and can be cnught easil in any quantity. The question of next importance to ob taining with facility any article of raerchandise, is its ready disposal at a remunerative price. The local market, Invercargill, is very limited ; the wholesale prices are as follow : Moki and Trumpeter, which average 51bs., and run as high as 1.01 bs. each, twelve shillings a dozen ; Blue Cod, averaging 41bs., though running as high as 81bs., six shillings the dozen ; and Groper, which average from 30 to 401b5., reaching as high as 801b«., from seven to twelve shillings each; smoked and salted fish, threepence per Ib • but sales are restricted by the sparsity of population and irregularity of supnlv * In "invitm" special settlement to dovelop a particular resource, a far wider field than this, for the consumption of its produce, must naturally be anticipated and there mil be little difficulty in findinir it Smart fore and aft cutters, with wells to carry live fish, could supply the Dunedin market, which is large ; and the prevalent wind, the south-west, would enable the owners to make the ran up in a few hours. In working back they could trawl, and bring the result to their homes on the island for curing ; and it is to this branch, of the business they must look for the full development of the industry, the chief reward of their Labour, Irrespective of driving out of the New Zealand market the salt and tinned fish imported at present from Britain, and America, Australia will absorb largo quantities. For some reason, or other, with the exception of South Australia, wherc the trade is, I believe, principall in the hands of Chinamen, Australia does not appear to have beon successful in it fisheries ; though the consumption, fro its mixed population, numbering largel Chinese and Roman Catholics, is far i excess of any supply from Tasmania, When I was in Victoria in 1866, havin in view the utilisation of tho Stewar Island fisheries, I made special enquir into the subject, and 1 feel convince that properly cured fiah, whether amoke

or salted, could be sold by tho cargo afe from threepence to fourpence a pound. While I was in Melbourne, a cargo from Newfoundland realised the last price. This ought to leave a margin of not less than forty per cent, for profit. Irrespective of its fishing banks, Stewart Island possesses a not incomider> able source of wealth in its oyster beds. These may be said to have hardly been touched, though the Stewart Island oyster has been known for many years in ihn^ New Zealand and Melbourne markefr. The trade, carriod on at first almost exclusively by Maoris and half-castes, has lately assumed wider dimensions. As the shallow beds, principally at Port Adventure, where tho bivalve could at low •water be easily obtained, became exhausted, deep BCa beds were discovered by European fishermen, and the dredge substituted for tho hand as menus for gathering them. Some two or three of these beds have been found in the vicinity of Port William, near, and running parallel to the crcast, apparently of great thickness, the oysters of which are remarkably large and fine ; but 1 have hoard of indications of others in the deep water of the harbour, and out in the Strait :u5 far as lluapuke, and have no doubt that with a large settled population, the bottom of the Strait along thecoast from Port Pegasus to Hugged Pointy and lluapuke to the Titi Islands, off Paterson's Inlet, will be found to be lined with this popular mollusc. The Stewart's Island oytt.rhas an o tablishcd reputation for superior excellence in every market it has been introduced into ; in Melbourne it commands a higher price than any other, and I see no reason why the greater part of New Zcaßnd, and the whole of the Australian Colonies, where tho oyster beds are being rapidly depopulated, could not be reglnrly supplied from the island—the fishing smacks running across the Strait to ihe Bhifl'to meet- the steamers, either going North or to Australia, wiJi barrels or kits of them, for shipment. The supply will always equal tho demand to whatever proportions the trade may swell—or, at any rate, can always be made to do bo by artificial cultivation ; for in no part of the world could greater natural facilities for the construction of aittticial beds be found than in the harbours of this island. Preserving them in tins would be an occupation to be pursued during the open season, bo as to secure a continuance o£ sale when, during spawning, the law forbids their being taken. Nearly fresh as they would be, they ought to command as ready a sale, and as good a price, aa the prcfierved oysters imported from America and Europe—the toughness and taitelcHsnoss of which are doubtless considered by the exporters to bo compensated in the respectability conferred by. a good old age.

MINERALS. Little is known of the interior of the island ; what is, favours the supposition that ife is rich in mineral wealth. Copper has been found, aa also lead-ore impregnated with silver. The deposits of iron sand are considerable, not only in the harbours, but, n& I am informed, in the interior—particularly in a species of rift between Half Moon Bay and Paterson Inlet, where the deposit is very great, estimated to exceed that at Taranaki. A parcel of this wan scut some time ago for oetiay to Melbourne ; and the assayors for the Victorian Government, and tho Oriental Bank, after smelting and manufacturing a steel bar from it, reported that it was not only superior to the Taranaki sand, but contained a Dufh'cient quantity of gold to pay tho exjKsnscß of smelting. This wind would form rich ballast for wool-ships from Otago, and could be put on board with case, and at no groat expense, iu> there is always deep water hi the harbours. With, plentiful labour at command, probably, such a course will be adopted by captains of vessels, and the export form another source of employment ; though 1 am inclined to think the richest dei-xipits will, when tho subject has attained greater notoriety, and leases can be granted, be worked by companion, obtaining tho coal required for the works at a reasonable cost from the main, whore it will, I am. sure, be discovered ere long. Quartz; Reefs, of Ki/.0, and well defined, have been discovered in various parts of thcjsland, more particularly at tho north, end ; and although the hasty, ill-advised and worse conducted enterprise, started from Invercaxgill a few months ago, failed to discover an auriferous reef, it was owing mainly to the fact that while a great deal of money was spent by persons entirely unacquainted with tho business, little or no real work was done. The few experienced reefers who went over at the time have all expressed their confidence in the undertaking ultimately proving a, aucceaa, and are only waiting to obtain a sufficiency of means to give it a good trial. If payable reefs are discovered it will prove in extent one of the largest, and, from its admirable water communication* most economically worked, goldfields in.

t j ic Australasian group. But the intro(]tion uc of a largo population such an that jj n contemplation will prove the best me . U)H o f testing thin, with the other supy p oHec i resources of Ibp island. Keeping this in view, I would suggest the advisa- ~ bUity of encouraging settlers from the coaH t o f Cornwall. They are not only } lSiY dy, oxpert fishermen and boat-build-erßj j )U t j uive a practical knowledge of. m j n i n g and metallurgy, which* as they wm i<l \ )e constantly in the localities, WO uld prove of greater service in diacover g n i an y mineral wealth which may exj^ y ian a higher grade of science visiting f^e island for a few weeks, though sent f or t ho express purpose. LLANBOOB mvwim ov occupation bwmm**** Stewart's Island is so singularly favonrably situated for the proper claes of settiers, that it is difficult to determine what tht>y could not do< Wlfc}l Sood cra™»* bold heartK, and skilful hands, the fiahcrman could, at tho proper season, vary the ordinary business of his Me by the more ; exeitingoccupatmn of whaling and sealingThe waters in the vicinity of the island were at one time frequented by largo numbers of the various members of the Cetaceous and Phocidie families. Indeed, at Wilson, or Broad Bay, thero was, years ago, a very considerable whaling settlement ; and, from what 1 can learn, the whales and seals are beginning to return to their old haunts. Though there is no* occasion for him to confine his energies to* his own territory, for, like tho Vikings ot okl, he can, but with a more peaceful intent, ateer his bark to foreign shores. He can wage v/ar on the seal at the Auckland, Campbell, and McQimrrio Islands to the south, or Heck it in tho nuraerous cavea in the deep sounds of the west coast of the main, from Presery vation Inlet to Martin's Bay. He. can cruise through Foveaux Strait s and round his bland home in pursuit m of tho richest fish the sea produces— y the whale ; or sail to the Snares for mufcn ton birds, and for albatross and other seafowl feathers. Mutton birds, dried ami g smoked, sell readily a* from four to five d j Bhillongs a down wholesale in the local y market, for exportation to tnc North ; d I arcd their feathers at fivepeace a pound ;, d ' albatxow for considerably more. With »

eraftof huowa, the Stewart's Islander can take hm mutton birds not required for home consumption to tho best market, the North Island, where the Maoris, I understand, give as high as twelve or more bhUiingv a dozen for them j and lie can, unlike the ordinary whaler, do all this without risk, danger, or lose of tame, always remaining within «i»y reach of his Lome. While trawling, if he ac-eaa whale, he can, if prepared, give chase, and., if he gets hia monster fish, tow it homo and try it out at hi* leisure ; if ho loses it, he can return to hia trawling, always sure of «ome remuneration- Ho liven in a genial climate, with the means of subsistence, nay, wealth at command, and surrounded with »uch comfort as few of his calling experience, either in the home country or the flitter winters of Nova Scotia. 'Jo the fishermen the Government propose to bring out, or to Nova Scotians, Stewart's Island will prove ft very paradise.