A LIFE IN THE BUSH.

Otago Witness, Issue 498, 15 June 1861, Page 10

A LIFE IN THE BUSH.

There is very considerable misapprehension in the general mind as to what " A Life in the Bush " means, and who are suitable parties for it. It is very generally looked upon as a life of toil, hardship, and privation, and doubtless in many cases it is so ; but it is by no means necessarily so in all cases. Call it simply a country life and perhaps it might be better understood. To the man with .very smallmeans and little but his own .labour ,to depend upon for present existence, it is, there can, be no doubt, for a time at all events, a life of toil and hardship, but to the man with fcapitajl a life in the bush may be as happy and cortifortable a state of existence, and as freefrom haid* • ship and emb,arjjas9.ments as any .man-coird wish for. - > Lcannot conceive a more delightful' life for a man with, say £3000, than a bush or country life in New Zealand. To a man so situated I should say put out £2000 of ydur, capital at interest to give you a permanent income of £250 to £300 per annum. Select! a good bush farm of £100 acres in a nice district; do not be over particular whether it cost you 205., 30s:, or 405., per acre* .-'lt; is .fyeguently worth while paying the bighjer-i price for land in a good locality which your j grand object is to convert into a happy home. Clear a sufficient quantity for a good homestead, surrounded by a few grass paddocks, and this with all the requisite fencing, a comfortable cottage, the necessary stock may cer-

tainly be obtained for your other thotisand pounds. Thus you would be in possession of as beautiful a place as many an old. park in England. Your cattle, horses, sheep, ' pigs, and poultry, your - producth r e garden and orchard, and with a certain income from the interest of capital upon which you conld live not only with ease and comfort, but with considerable luxury, and without reckoning any profit from your farm, and this with the capital I have named might be obtainable within three years of your setting your foot in the colony. Of course with a lesser capital, say :£IOOO, the same thing might be done in a lesser degree. What is there, even of luxuries, that the most fastidious could not obtain, if he. possessed the means. The ordinarj- expenses of a bnsh life are so moderate that much is left to obtain comforts which many persons' suppose not obtainable in the bush. Be it remembered that £200 in the bush would be fully equal to £600 in or near Auckland. The various socialities of life are kept up, and perhaps with greater sincerity and certainly with less nonsensical etiquette than near town. Newspapers and letters now reach you 40 or 50 miles up the country twice a week. The various periodicals and publications of the day monthly from England, the store room well stocked with various commodities for creature comfort, and thus all that a rational man could wish for even in an old and civilized country. But the grand secret is, secure by investment a permanent and safe 1 income. If you are a practical farmer, grazier, or possessed of a thorough knowledge of agricultural pursuits, perhaps your capital might be more piofitably invested than by merely ' putting it out at interest. But I am now writing for those whom I suppose to possess no such knowledge, and who would prefer a life free from the struggle and anxiety attendant upon scraping up an income. Thus a man with £3000 may live in the midst of his own property and possess all the enjoyments and comforts of a country gentleman in England worth £20,000. " A Bush Life "is therefore not necessarily a life of toil, hardship, and privation. — Oj-d Practical, in New Zealander.