

OCEANIA. 



and south, called North Island, Middle Island, 

 and South or Stewart Island, and the area of 

 the whole is estimated at 102,000 square miles. A 

 great portion of the surface is occupied by moun- 

 tains, among which there are many extinct, and 

 a few active volcanoes. Many of the summits 

 are always snow-clad. Ruapahu, an extinct vol- 

 cano, is 9000 feet high, and the active volcano of 

 Tongariro is 8500 feet. Numerous hot springs 

 and earthquakes testify the existence of subter- 

 ranean fires. In the North Island, the moun- 

 tains are mostly clothed with forests of luxuriant 

 growth, interspersed with fern-clad ranges, and 

 occasionally treeless grassy plains ; while exten- 

 sive swamps, overgrown with flax and reeds, 

 occupy much of the low-lying ground. In the 

 Middle Island, a range of mountains runs along 

 the west coast, of which the highest peak, Mount 

 Cook, is 14,000 feet in height ; the eastern coast- 

 line, at a varying breadth, is well adapted for 

 agriculture ; while the interior affords excellent 

 pasture. The climate is humid, and the moun- 

 tains feed numerous streams and rivers, none of 

 which, however, are of any considerable length, 

 or of great importance for inland navigation. No 

 country, perhaps, is more abundantly furnished 

 with excellent harbours. 



New Zealand, formerly divided into eight dis- 

 tinct provinces, has now one central government, 

 the names of the provinces being retained for 

 the ' provincial districts,' as they are called. The 

 most notable is Otago. Founded in 1848 by 

 Captain Cargill, as a settlement in connection 

 with the Free Church of Scotland, it has grown 

 to dimensions which the original colonists could 

 hardly have anticipated within so brief a period. 

 Considerable progress had been already made in 

 agricultural and pastoral pursuits, when in 1861 

 gold was discovered. The discovery was made 

 near Tuapeka in Otago, and subsequently in 

 Auckland, and at Hokitiki on the west coast. Min- 

 ing operations are conducted on a large scale in 

 the various localities in which gold occurs. Coal 

 is found here, as in the other parts of the country, 

 in large quantities. Dunedin, the capital of 

 the province, with a population of about 27,000, 

 is picturesquely situated at the head of a bay, 

 about 9 miles from Port Chalmers, the chief port 

 of Otago, with which it has railway communica- 

 tion. The scenery in the vicinity is very fine. 

 Oamaru, in the north of the province, possessing 

 a good harbour, with cultivated farms in the 

 immediate neighbourhood, and sheep-runs to the 

 north and west, is one of the most promising 

 places in New Zealand. From Oamaru to the 

 river Clutha, the country, including Otepopo, 

 Hampden, Palmerston, Goodwood, and the plains 

 of Taieri and Tokomairiro, is more or less farmed 

 to great advantage. Otago has a fine lake-district 

 in the interior, the principal lakes being Wakatip, 

 Teanau, Manissori, and Wannika. On Lake 

 Wakatip is situated Queenstown, a township with 

 about 2000 inhabitants. The province is well 

 watered. Otago, as a whole, along with the rest 

 of the Middle Island, is hilly, and almost destitute 

 of trees, which at first sight makes its aspect rather 

 disappointing to the British emigrant The popu- 

 lation of Otago is 60,578 ; its revenue exceeds 

 .520,000 ; it has more than a million acres under 

 cultivation ; the number of sheep is upwards of 

 4 millions ; of horses, 20,000 ; and of horned 



cattle, I ro,ooo. Its chief products are gold and 

 wool. The provision for the educational and reli- 

 gious wants of the people is nowhere better than 

 in Otago, which has a university, a first-rate high 

 school, and an admirable system of public schools. 



The province of Auckland, in the North Island, 

 has a population of European descent of 62,335. 

 The staple products of the province are preserved 

 meat and wool. Of the 2,702,582 acres held by 

 Europeans, only 2455 acres were under wheat in 

 1872. In the same year there were 181,521 acres 

 under artificial grasses. The Maoris own 1 1,275,036 

 acres in the province, 2,587,350 of these having 

 been fixed by the recognition of the crown. Gold 

 was discovered in the province as early as 1852, 

 but not in payable quantities ; in 1867, a rush 

 took place to the Thames River. The city of 

 Grahamstown is the capital of the gold-fields of 

 Auckland. The export of gold in 1871 was valued 

 at ^1,888,708, and, in the same year, kauri gum 

 was exported to the value of 167,958. The 

 province of Auckland is famed for its lakes and 

 hot wells. The principal lakes are Taupo, Iti, 

 Kakiki, Tarawera, Kaiteriria, and Mohana, with 

 its white and pink terraces. The Waikato, the 

 chief river in the North Island, rises in Lake 

 Taupo, and flows into the sea on the west coast. 

 The town of Auckland, with a population of 

 20,000, has a capacious and fine harbour, and was 

 for some time the seat of the general government. 



Canterbury, inclusive of Westland, has a popu- 

 lation of 62,158. Westland is the gold territory 

 on the west, of which Hokitiki is the capital 

 As a wheat-producing province, Canterbury excels 

 the rest of New Zealand. In 1870, it exported 

 to the other provinces corn and flour to the value 

 of ,127,000. Christchurch has a population of 

 12,000. The port of Christchurch is Lyttelton. 

 Timaru is the other principal port of the province. 



The other provinces of New Zealand are Well- 

 ington (pop. 24,000); Nelson (pop. 22,501); Hawke 

 Bay (pop. 6059) ; Marlborough (pop. 5235) ; 

 Taranaki (pop. 4480). The whole population 

 of New Zealand, in 1851, excluding aborigines, 

 was 26,707 ; in 1878, it was 414,412. 



In 1879, tae Maoris, as the indigenous in- 

 habitants call themselves, numbered 42,819 a 

 decrease of over 4000 within four years. Dur- 

 ing the ten years, 1858-68, they had decreased 

 at the rate of 30 per cent They are all 

 nominally Christian, and many of them c.\n 

 read and write. On the whole, they have shewn 

 themselves more susceptible of the influences of 

 European civilisation than any other aboriginal 

 race. They are of Polynesian extraction. They 

 are of average height, with black hair, broad 

 nose, and large mouth. Of excellent physique, 

 with good minds, skilful in the use of arms, and 

 availing themselves of their natural fortresses, 

 they were able, when, owing to misunderstand- 

 ings about the land, wars arose, for a long time 

 to withstand the British forces. Witnessing the 

 occupation of their country by a race of foreigners, 

 and imagining themselves defrauded of their 

 ground, they flew to arms, and many Europeans 

 fell victims to their vengeance. To some con- 

 siderable extent, they were themselves the vic- 

 tims of competing interests and different policies. 

 While the British troops remained in the colony, 

 intermittent outbreaks continued ; since their 

 withdrawal, the colonists have found themselves 



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