86 
FROM SYDNEY TO TORRES STRAIT 
alpine valleys and glacier regions of the Southern Island, and the remarkable volcanic district 
of the North Island, made known through the interesting labours of the “Novara” Expedition. 
Port Nicholson communicates with Cook Strait by a narrow channel, and widens out 
into a broad basin surrounded by hills, and having an island in the centre. Wellington 
overlooks the western end of the basin, and the general appearance of the town bears witness 
to rapid progress during the last decade. The houses, however, are all built of wood, even 
such important structures as the Houses of Parliament, Government House, the Roman 
Catholic Cathedral, and other churches. It may be premature to criticise the style of 
architecture in the case of a city which is, as it were, but the creation of yesterday, and 
where the first desideratum must be to obtain the shelter of a roof; but it seems a pity 
that the builders of Wellington, in striving to imitate the appearance of stone, should 
neglect the great constructive and ornamental capabilities of wood. A hint might be 
borrowed from the Maori, whose well-known skill in carving might be further developed 
under the white man’s direction. The Wellington Museum contains many beautiful specimens 
of native art. 
A railway follows the western shore of Port Nicholson, connecting the capital with the 
township of Hutt, situated at the head of the basin, and on the banks of a river of the same 
name. Hutt is a fair illustration of England at the Antipodes. The immigrant, as he 
surveys it from the bridge—with its houses and gardens, its steeple and its winding river, 
its cultivated fields and timbered hills—might fancy himself at home, and forget that he has 
put half the earth’s compass between himself and his native land. 
The Maoii, thanks to his valour, has not yet been improved out of existence. He 
may still be met in the streets of Wellington, disguised, however, in the garb of civilisation. 
The faces of the older men are elaborately tattooed according to ancient custom ; but the 
younger people have apparently given up this mode of personal adornment. The Mao i 
King and the bulk of his whilom subjects, we were told, now occupy the north-eastern pan 
of the island. This courageous and intelligent branch of the Polynesian race may possibly 
learn to adapt itself to the conditions of civilised life, and thus escape the fate of the 
