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Otago Daily Times, Issue 18051, 27 September 1920, Page 5

SIXTY-FITE YEARS SENE. TO THE EDITOR. Sia,—ln view of tho recent arrival of an, immigrant ship in Otago, the followmir extract from tie Illustrated USmes (Ixjndon) of Juno 16, 1855, just G5 years .ago/ mav be of interest:— ■ ' " New Zealasd as a Home poa Ekigbasts " A young gentleman, who left Eteston about four years ago, and has spent about Hire© years in. New Zealand, during which period ha has often had to "rough it," thus \siitea home from Wanganui, in Hew Zealand to a friend ae to the prospects of persona' going to settle at the antipodes:— t "In response to your request for information on colonial matters, it is my dutv to state to you that the business you are now learning (printing) is not likely to be prodtable here. Carpenters, joiners, blacksmiths wheelwrights, niuhvriglite, et hoc genus omne' invariably do well; but as theso ports—ie' the southern—are much eubjecfr to earthquakes, I do not think that masons or bricklayers would succeed go well. This remark will not apply to the north, as no ehocka aro felt there, and substantial edifices are creeled. Blacksmiths and kbonrors of all kmds are wanted all over tie islands !Ehe former trade ensures a rapid fortune to %> steady man. Sawyers are at once the most improvident, dissolute, and beet-paid men in tho country. Their time is about equally divided—ono period of sis mouths they wozit" another they are occupied in drinking Isoodlewomcn are much wanted in a double capacity—in tho first and most important asi wives, in the second as dreesmaiors eto All young men should marry before emigrating. Many who come ont hero form matrimonial connections wiih the Natives My partner is a, Native, and though, faultless m form, her complexion is not more fair than black—in plain language, she is o lady of colour, the exact shade approaching nearer to a polished brown paper or mahogany than anythmg else I can remember. She canno' speak English, and is much addicted to -what you would call smoking, but what she elegimtly terme 'kai tupeka'—Angb'eo, tood tobacco. Her hair hangs in negligent <racefulness and is of a beautiful and briHianft bkick. Her eyes aro brown, her pewon tall and erect, and her carriage faultless, and aa dignified as that of any European. Fiom otic ear is suspended a ehaxVa tooth, and tho other is embellished with a bit of coloured worsted. Her feet were never tortured bv shoes, nor concealed by stockings; they are as free as when nature formed thorn. She swims to perfection, can manage a cano© in a sea that would appal a London waterman, and is such an adept in catching fish that Lwk Walton would have shrunk in competition with her. I have been induced to make these remarks, as they will apply l<, tho whole Native race. European women aro very scarce." —I am, etc., 31. G. ll'Lwks, o . , „ O'ago Boys' High. September 25. °