DOWN SOUTH BY THE EAST COAST. THE EMPIRE CITY.

Observer, Volume 7, Issue 353, 12 September 1885, Page 23

DOWN SOUTH BY THE EAST COAST. THE EMPIRE CITY.

By Voice-Hawkins.

NATURE was so- inviting this lovely, sunshiny morn, that, instead of going to listen to the monotonous voice of some bigoted Divine, I preferred to wander abroad under the blue cloudless canopy of Heaven, and ."worship the Great Creator out of doors, *> breathing an exhilarating atmosphere, with "~*fi&e wild birds and merry larks for a choir, and the boundless ocean, the mountains, and the silent evergreens, for the sermon. ■ We sallied out, two fellow passengers and myself, one of them a Somersetshire lad, fresh from school and. England, and the other a Ohristchurch business man seeking an extension of his trade these dull times. I led them, much against their will, to the .top of a hill commanding a good all-round * view of the New Zealand capital and harbour. "We passed on the way through quite an extensive fern-glade — a portion of the so-called Botanical Gardens — here, apparently, in primeval condition, all save the winding path that guides us out of this of overhanging native growth of scrub, and fern-clad soil. Whilst musing on what a pleasant place this to loiter alone, coming towards me I espy a man of thirty or thereabouts accompanied by a charming girl of some eighteen years or so. The expression on the maiden s face betokens the subject of their talk, for out of her lustrous eyes shines the love-light that writes the tell-tale story on her beautiful features. He was dark, and so was she, full of the happiness of their love, at least so . it.seemed to me to be. We are on the ridge of the hill one sees goino- into Wellington, above the houses, just in front of the pier. The first thing that strikes the visitor looking down upon . the town, and the water ie the lake-like appeafcance of the harbor, surrounded as it seems on all sides by high hills ; these ascending almost at once from the waters edge. The city is built along the western shores of the port, immediately below us, and extending to, the right and the left ; the Hutt is away on the northern bank, nestled under #he mountainous country towering far above *it, and there to the north-east is a chain of £- mountains, tipped with silver, glistening in sunlight. To the southward you get a glimpse over a shoulder of the high-land of the bright blue ocean ; while behind are the botanical gardens, and a suburb of the city lying between two hills. So you see, Wellington has its charms, though it does blow kind of hard at times; and her inhabitants who then venture out are obliged to hold on to their head gear most of the time. There's not likely to be ' any cure for this, as long as the Straits remain where they are, and unless some grand upheaval removes them, a Wellington man will ever be known, when he goes abroad, for it doesn't matter if only a zephyr's loose, he always holds his hat on going round a corner. The steamers' wharf is, as at Auckland, a great promenade on Sunday afternoons, and the girls and the boys run all over the ships alongside the wharves. Wellington also boasts its Salvation Army, with the invariable band and the cracked cornet man playing its followers on a musical journey to Heaven. Most of the buildings here are of wood, and even the larger and official ones are composed of the same material, but ■covered with a coating of stone-dust so as to make them look like the genuine article. A great deal of land has been reclaimed from the sea along the .shore of Lambton Quay. The berthing accommodation for vessels of the largest size is within a few yards of the principal street, which runs parallel with the - harbor at the foot of the hills, thus giving to Wellington a great name as a port. Wellington is a big centre of the Union Co.'s 'trade, steamers going thence direct to Sydney, while the whaling fleet finds its way there at some time or other; and just now a host of red funnels lie alongside the piers. The House is in session, and an observer'may notice now and then an individual pass him with pompous walk and important air. That man, my friends, is a member of Parliament. A crisis is on the cards at the present, ana a great question concerning the Middle Island occupies the political mind. The North and South Island members are at with each other over a railway, '"* ancf Canterbury and Wellington are exceptionally antagonistic. Canterbury's heart Hs wrapt up in a railway that shall connect *Aer with the West Coast, which she dearly hopes will make her people's fortunes when finished, and give new life to her commerce while under construction, Wellington says she shall not have the little truck, and is very jealous of her Southern neighbors endeavour to collect so much money out of ■the public purse. In fact there s the devil to pay in the windy .city, and the papers are kept full- just now all over the colony with little else but Parliamentary matters on this .all-important question. [To be continued.) In a recent billiard match at Adelaide, a mere boy named Lindrum made a break of 315 pocketing the red ball 105 times. In the same game Harry Grey made a,break eof 434. Grey is also a mere youth*