OE SCANDINAVIAN IMMIGRANTS.

21

D.—No. 3.

It will be seen by this classification, and the great preponderance of single men, several of whom are very young, that this batch of immigrants has not been as carefully selected as were those from Norway. Immediately after the arrival of the " England," Mr. March, the Immigration Officer, from Canterbury, visited the ship for the purpose of selecting from the immigrants a certain number for removal to tho Province of Canterbury. Of those so selected, only three were willing to leave the rest of their countrymen. Among those who left for Canterbury was, unfortunately, the interpreter, whom I was most unwilling to lose, as his absence necessarily entailed considerable inconvenience and has occasioned some extra expense to the Government. The remainder of the immigrants were at once removed to the Barracks at Te Aro, with the expectation that the " Luna" would be shortly available for their conveyance to Manawatu. AVhile at the Barracks two of the unmarried women found places as domestic servants. The third had engaged herself during the voyage to a Norwegian sailor, who worked his passage out in the " England." As he bore a good character, was a sawyer by trade, aud the relatives of the young woman agreed to the match, the couple were married at my house by the Rev. Mr. Paterson, and, for purpose of settlement at Manawatu, I treated them on the same footing as the other immigrant couples. Two married couples and two singlo men, whose previous avocations unfitted them for bush life, found employment in Wellington. The negotiations connected with these arrangements, the necessity of frequent communication with the whole party, and the loss of the original interpreter, obliged me to eng.age the services of Mr. Toxward of this city, whom I found most useful in communicating with the immigrants and aiding me in their removal and location. After a dehay of three weeks, the "Luna" not being avaihable, the steamer " Go-ahead" was chartered by the Government at the cost of £120 (reduced to £104 Bs. by a payment for private freight) to convey the party to Foxton, Manawatu. They arrived there safely on the Bth of April last, and on the Monday following I proceeded with them en route for Palmerston. Since my previous visit with the Norwegian party, the difficulty of transport was increased tenfold. The ten miles of road from Ngawhakarau to Palmerston had been rendered so bad by tho unusually early rains, that three good horses required a long day to struggle through with a very lightly loaded dray. The cost of carriage had risen in consequence from £2 to £7 per ton, and it was sufficiently evident that all traffic would shortly be impossible. AYe camped for the night at the Oroua Bridge, close to a Maori pa, and on moving next morning the following interesting incident occurred : —The Maoris at Ngawhakarau having learned that a second party of white strangers were on their way to take up their abode at Palmerston, brought out in the early morning a number of kits of potatoes, and a great quantity of pumpkins, amounting to several tons, and piled them on tho roadside. When the party came up, the chief of the pa addressed them with words of welcome; said the Maoris were glad they had come to make roads and live in tho country, and as he learned they had no potatoes, asked them to accept this present of food and seed, saying, at the same time, that at some future day some poor Maori might have need of a similar gift at their hands. After a suitable reply from a gentleman who happened to be present, the Scandinavians proceeded, their fears of their future neighbours being much lessened by this little event. Tho whole day was occupied in getting through the ten miles to Palmerston, where they took up their quarters for the night. Next day they moved on to the land which had been selected for their occupation, and on which they are located on the same terms as the Norwegian immigrants —-with this exception, that twenty acres only have been allotted to each single man. Owing to the delay in AVellington, the heavy rate at which the "Go-ahead" was chartered, the necessary employment of a professional man as interpreter, and the greater cost, difficulty, and risk of carriage, the locating of these immigrants upon their land has been attended with greater proportional expense, both to themselves and the Government, than was incurred in the case of the Norwegians. This will be seen by a reference to Enclosure 1, which shows an expenditure of £418 2s. for advances in rations, and for tools and cost of conveyance charged to emigrants, and of £111 4s. 3d., or £1 13s. lOfd. per head, as expenses charged to Government. Notwithstanding this, however, I trust the Government will not consider the result shown as otherwise than satisfactory. I have, Ac, The Hon. the Minister for Public Works. A. Follett Halcombe.

Enclosure 1 in No. 23. Memoeakdum of Disbursements for Scandinavian Immigrants (No. 2). £ s. d. £ s. d. E. W. Mills, goods ... ... ... ... ... ... 177 13 8 E. M. Cleland, stores ... ... ... ... ... ... 118 4 9 W. Eeeve, carting ... ... ... ... ... ... 7 19 0 J. Sanders, carting ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 10 0 J. Symonds, firewood ... ... ... ... ... ... 4 11 6 C. Cole ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 5 3 7 J. Morgan, house hire, &c, at Foxton ... ... ... ... 0 15 0 A. Grey ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 18 0 3 Cash for potatoes 10s., leather £10, marriage license £3 2s. ... ... 13 12 0 Cartage (still due, July 2, 1871) ... ... ... ... ... 30 0 0 Steamer "Go-ahead," £120—less £15 12s. ... ... ... ... 104 8 0 Carried forward ... ... ... ... ... £476 17 9 6