Volume 14 Australasia - dana ward's homepage

TOrOGHAPnT OF KEW ZEALAND. 451wind in all directions amid the surrounding forests and recent plantations.Knijiarrihas been called the " Eden of New Zealand." South-east of Auckland are the twintowns of Shortland and Gra/iamstown, v/hich. are now united under the name ofThames, and which lie on the east side of the inlet improperly called the Firth ofThames. Farther south is Tuumnga Harbour, the landing-place for travellers proceedingto Lake Tarawcra and " Wonderland."South of the little haven of Ghbornron Poverty Bay, the only coast town on the east side is Xapicr, capital of theprovince of Hawke Bay.Napier is well situated on a peninsula between a windingestuary and a semicircular bay which, like so many others, has been compared tothe Bay of Naples. Although its port, the Ahiiriri of the natives, is of difficultaccess for large vessels, the yearly export trade of Napier in wool, prcser\'cd meat,and cattle already exceeds £>^00,000.WelUngfon, capital of New Zealand, dates from 1840; it occupies a centralposition on Port Nicholson on the north side of Cook Strait, and holds frcqu^-ntcommunication with Blenheim on the opposite side.Wanganui, another busy seaportin the same province, lies at the mouth of the navigable river of like namesouth of the King's Country.North-west of AYanganui the coast railway is deflectedinland by the peninsular Jrount Egmont (Taranaki), and thus TeachesNeirPli/nioiith,which is probably destined to become a flourishing seaport when the constructionof the neighbourin-g Moturoa breakwater will enable skippers here to ship the produceof the " Garden of New Zealand."In the South Island Blenheim, over against "Wellington, is still a small placealthough capital of a province and converging point of two railwajs. On thissouth side of Cook Strait the most commercial town is Nelson, which lies at thehead of the hill-encircled Tasman Bay. Farther on the north coast presentsnothing but villages and hamlets ; but on the west side a few little towns havesprung up in the neighbourhood of the gold and coal mines. Weslport, shelteredby Cape Foulwind, has the advantage -of possessing a safe and deep harbour,whereas the more southerly ports of Greymouth and Ilokifika, capital of the provinceof Westlahd, were of difficult access before the construction of jetties and otherharbour works. GrejTuouth,' formerly a centre of gold-mining, is now the " NewZealand Newcastle," and in 1886 no less than 120,000 tons of coal were shipped atthis place.Ilokitika, the town lying nearest to the regions of snows and glaciers,still retains some importance, thanks to the neighbouring gold-fields, which in1866, the year following the discovery, yielded over i'1,300,000 of the preciousmetal.The east slope of South Island being more gently inclined, presents bj^ far thegreatest extent of arable and fertile lands, with the largest centres of populationand most flourishing seaports. Here arc found the two chief cities, Christehiirchand Dinicdin, the former of which lies not on the coast but in an extensiveplain watered by the river Avon and about eight miles from its f)ort of Li/ll'eton,formerly Port Cooper. Christchurch, capital of the ijrovineo of Canterbury, is themost English in aspect of all the New Zealand cities, and as the see of the Anglicanprimate, it also contains the most sumptuous religious edifices.In its museum is a