The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-03-14 00:00:00

THE CANTERBURY SETTLEMENT

A correspondent of The Guardian gives the following
interesting description of Canterbury Settlement, New
Zealand :--" Christchurch, September, 1853. —During a
half-year's experience in the Canterbury Settlement, so
much has come under my observation of a character cal-
culated to interest my countrymen at home in as great a
degree as it has interested and impressed myself, that I
propose furnishing them, as opportunity offers, through
the medium of your columns, with what has long been a
desideratum in England—a simple, exact, and disin-
terested account of a colony the abundant talk about the
state of which has been, hitherto, for the most part, in
an inverse ratio to the knowledge possessed by the talkers.
It may readily be imagined that an entirely new class of
sensations arises in the mind of the voluntary exile, as day
after day brings him nearer his former antipodes. In the
midst of all the vicissitudes, the turmoil, and the strange
incidents of the voyage, concerning which it is my inten-
tion to speak hereafter, fancy is incessantly at work, and
expectation on tiptoe, as if already peering into the pro-
mised land ; but experience alone can reveal whether the
reality exceeds or falls short of what has been thus anti-
cipated. This consideration leads me, previously to going
into more particular details, to give a general idea of the
aspect presented by the Canterbury Settlement ; and I
am further induced to this, inasmuch, as many of my
friends before my departure, and subsequently by letter,
have been urgent with me to clear up, as best I may, the
mystery which they say hangs over it. I therefore set
myself to the task, not, it must be confessed, under very
inspiring circumstances, considering the mud walls within
which self and party are doomed to be enclosed, till our
slowly-progressing new house, at Papanni, is completed.
The dreary extent, too, of all but treeless plain stretching
far and wide before us, is far from being either animating
or suggestive. Despite, however, these discouragements,
and countless others akin to them, no one with eyes and
ears well open can fail to acquire a tolerably correct no-
tion of the state of affairs. The sum total of the most
careful investigation and reflection is, that this present
time is the crisis of the colony. Every new settlement
has its crisis, and ours may be regarded with less of
anxiety and distrust than usual, though brought about
by unprecedented circumstances. The association ori-
ginally undertook to supply labour commensurate with
the wants of the colony. This engagement they for some
time carried out with remarkable vigour, and the result
fully answered to their exertions. Within an incredibly
short period a progress was made that excited universal
astonishment. No prospect ever presented more attrac-
tive features ; but, as if to show the instability of all
human hopes, the course of prosperity was suddenly
arrested in its full career. In less than two years every
work was effected that has been effected at all. A
wondrous extent of roads, very wide, and of the best kind,
was made. Lyttelton and Christchurch, with many
smaller towns and villages, rapidly sprang up; churches
were built,—of which more hereafter ; two newspapers (of
which only one survives) were established ; various hotels
erected, a bank, quays, terraces, bridges, public offices,
schools for boys, and indeed all public works appropriate
to a flourishing community. The land, too, was exten-
sively cultivated, crops of all kinds grown abundantly,
sheep and cattle innumerable imported ; the settlement,
in short, presenting the appearance of twenty years' pro-
gress rather than of as many months only. The sudden
stoppage and ultimate turn of the richly-flowing tide was
doubtless due in part to the mal-administration of the
funds of the association. This drawback might, however,
and probably would, have been counteracted by the in-
herent energy of the settlers, who had called into
existence around them all that constitutes a high state
of civilisation. But, when the fame of Australian
gold reached this little magical world, all was, as
it were, turned to atone. At the point to which
everything had advanced, there it stood, immovable and
unchanging, excepting that it was not undecaying. Un-
fortunately, not to go forward was necessarily to go back,
and our once beautiful roads have become so deteriorated
by neglect, that many of them are wholly impassable.
This is eminently the case with the most important road
of all, viz., that constructed over the hill between Port
Lyttelton and Christchurch, which is so far gone to decay
that passengers find themselves not unfrequently up to
their knees in mud, and generally prefer scrambling as
best they may through the furze and long grass on either
side. The association has ceased to exist, and the immi-
gration of the labouring class has ceased with it, multi-
tudes having made their way to the gold-diggings, and the
greater number of those who remained behind having es-
tablished themselves on land of their own, and thus requir-
ing labour in their turn, which is not forthcoming. Not-
withstanding these discouragements, the bold colonists are
far from despairing, but buckle themselves with renewed
energy to the task of supplying the deficiency of ordinary
paid labour ; and, aided by the invigorating influence of
the climate, acquit themselves bravely, and see their efforts
crowned with no small degree of success. They are further
inspirited by the bright hopes with which they regard the
approaching meeting of the Legislative Assembly—a mo-
mentous epoch in every colony, and in an especial manner
in this ; nor are they likely to be disappointed in their an-
ticipations of an important and speedy change for the
better. Nothing, surely, is more futile or unreasonable
than to assume that an adequate knowledge of the peculiar
circumstances and requirements of the colony, and the
complicated relations affecting it, can be possessed even by
the ablest statesmen or political economists at the opposite
. side of the world ; neither is it possible they should feel
any real, earnest, efficient interest in the matters which
most nearly concern its progress, and the treatment of
which is all-potent for good or for evil. But the essential
qualities in which those at home must necessarily be defi-
cient, as being altogether out of the scene of action, will
be developed in full force among the members of the Legis-
lature, whose interests are intimately bound up with the
colony, and who will bring to bear upon every question a
full acquaintance with its merits. The first measure is ex-
pected to be one for the ' importation of labour upon an
organized system, and I believe Shanghae is mainly looked
to as a district in China where ample supplies can be
readily obtained of labourers having the reputation of
being intelligent, active, industrious, and honest. From
this the most satisfactory results are expected, the soil
being one of the finest in the world for agricultural pur-
poses, no less than for pasturage. As a proof of the depth
of the soil, it may be remarked that horseradishes three
feet long are far from uncommon. Money is also to be
raised for repairing the roads, improving the harbour of
Lyttelton, and the navigation of the river between the
port and Christchurch; enlarging or rebuilding the public
offices ; and last, not least, adopting means for securing a
more regalr and frequent communication with other
noticed the actual
parts of the islands, and of the world; a blessing in which
cursorily
in my next
the Canterbury Settlement has hitherto been most lament-
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yoeffesailinw
formg .vessels anda ly
prospectivedeficient.
state
of thusee
colony,
to enlighten you on some of the adventures, not always of
which an emigrant
in in
ay
thise x Paef• services the most agreeable character, with
sideeampbelofyoerde
they start.