I ,aa A USTR. I LAS/A ILL USTRA TED. 



three acres. The entire breastwork of all this reclaimed ground may be used for the 

 U-rthage of vessels, as there is a sufficient depth of water; but the largest craft are 

 accommodated at the Queen's Wharf, a powerfully-built wooden structure, but of no 

 great length, extending from the heart of the city, and amply furnished with shed 

 accommodation for cargo. The Railway Wharf is a more recent work, and derives its 

 name from its proximity to the Station of the Wellington, Hutt and Wairarapa Railway. 



As a capital city, Wellington is not likely to impress the stranger. Its streets are 

 narrow and tortuous, the footpaths of proportionately contracted width, and the buildings 

 of all sizes and designs, are built principally of wood and galvanized iron. Some years 

 a- 1) nothing more durable than timber was used, for the very reason that the preva- 

 lence of earthquakes then made people afraid to build with brick or stone. That 

 dread has, however, vanished, owing to extended immunity from such alarms, and within 

 the last decade many substantial edifices have been reared at considerable cost. If 

 the odd assortment of buildings produces a mean opinion of the city from an archi- 

 tectural point of view, the bustle of traffic and the general appearance of business 

 activity must go far to convince the visitor of the commercial importance of the place. 

 An ample avenue, planted down the centre with a long double line of pines, with broad 

 asphalted footpaths at the side of them, and seats disposed at regular intervals to tempt 

 the traveller to rest, leads directly from the water-side to the Basin Reserve, and it 

 certainly is the best promenade in the city, while the row of trees practically converts it 

 into two thoroughfares. Where Lambton Quay and Willis Street join hands, Manners 

 Street strikes off to the east, along the sweep of the fore-shore, and carries us into 

 Courtenay Place, which also hugs the Harbour, and leads round the " Rocks " by an 

 easy and picturesque walk to Oriental and Evans Bays. Just at the back stands Mount 

 Victoria, crowned by its signal-station, alluring the wayfarer to scale its side for the 

 sake of the view to be obtained from its summit ; while a fine panoramic survey of 

 the neighbouring landscape is to be had also from the brow of the Botanical Garden 

 Reserve, behind the elevated stand of the Terrace. 



Passing up a right-of-way at the side of Barrett's Hotel, the visitor mounts to Boulcott 

 Street by several steep flights of wooden steps furnished with hand-rails. These are 

 well-known as Plimmer's Steps, and are a fair type of the original nay, even of many 

 of the present means of access from one street to another lying above the narrow 

 strip of flat which forms the heart of the city. In fact, the Terrace is approached at 

 half-a-dozen various points from the leading thoroughfares by these rude and primitive 

 stairs, which, if ill-accordant with the pretensions of a capital city, arc at any rate 

 genuine and interesting relics of early Wellington. After mounting Plimmer's Steps we 

 pass the head of Boulcott Street, and hold straight on up the hill to Wellington 

 Terrace, and thence we rise by a gradual ascent to the hill whereon is the Roman 

 Catholic Cemetery. From this point we gain a comprehensive view of the Te Aro end 

 of the city, where reside the bulk of the population, and especially the industrial portion 

 of it. There, too, are situated the Asylum, the Hospital, the College, the Armed Constabu- 

 lary Barracks and the Basin Reserve. Beyond Te Aro, the eye encounters Mount Victoria, 

 while more remote still, but hidden from the gaze, the shore curves into the recess of 

 Evans Bay, with its patent slip capable of accommodating vessels up to a capacity of 



