CITIES AND PEOPLE OF NEW ZEALAND.
By Stephen N. Haskell
THE health of the inhabitants and the age of the country have led the people of England to plan convenience rather than present necessity in building. And as their nation has stood for hundreds of years, they live, plan, and build for generations to come rather than for present looks. America is, in comparison, like Jonah's gourd, grown up in a night, and present needs and present appearances are studied rather than durability. The cities of New Zealand are in some respects like those of America, but the English retain their own manner of carrying on business. The cities are usually well laid out in streets, sixty-six feet wide, and built a few miles inland, much as London lies on the river Thames. Auckland and Wellington are exceptions to the general rule, as they are directly on the coast. And these two cities especially resemble American cities built in a hurry. The country in the rear of Wellington is very mountainous, and the city lies on a wedge of rolling or hilly land between the mountains and the bay, which is as completely land-locked as could be imagined; and though they frequently have high winds at this place, it is seldom that any damage is done in the harbor. Many of the streets of this city are narrow, and wind around the hills upon which the city is built, and the houses present a picturesque appearance nestled snugly among the trees in the coves of the hills, while the main body of the city is upon the sea-shore. Wellington is the capital of New Zealand, and like the city of Tyre, its business is shipping. The queen's wharf extends quite a distance out into the bay, and there is scarcely a day but what a large number of vessels can be seen, lying at anchor, unloading, or waiting for cargoes. Wellington is said to contain the largest wooden building in the world. This building contains a thousand rooms. Until recently they were not permitted to build with brick or stone on account of the earthquakes, but there are now large brick blocks, as elegant and handsome as are seen in the cities of America. Auckland is a greater shipping port than Wellington, and the people seem to have more enterprise. From this point a line of regular trading vessels run to all parts of the Pacific Ocean, as well as to the old country, and there is no better point in New Zealand from which to send the truth to the islands of the Pacific Ocean than Auckland. The mail for many islands which lie nearer the United States than New Zealand is sent to Auckland, as from this city steamers and sailing vessels visit these islands regularly. These are mostly trading vessels, which bring from the islands the tropical fruits, and carry to them from the colonies the various things which they need. This part of New Zealand is hilly, and the city is built on hills. There are lines of horse and cable-cars in both Auckland and Wellington, and from them steam-cars run to other parts of the island. The cities with their suburbs, which are municipalities themselves, contain about forty-five thousand inhabitants each. Dunedin is another shipping point, but the harbor is Port Chalmers, situated eight miles from the city, and connected with it by a railroad. The bay also extends up to the city. This is the headquarters for the New Zealand Steamship Company, which runs a regular line of steamers to Melbourne, and also around the islands of New Zealand. Dunedin, like most New Zealand cities, is well laid out, and horse-cars traverse the various parts of the city; cable-cars are also employed as a means of conveyance over the hills. The scenery in this locality is the most beautiful that we ever saw. To look down upon the bay, and see the many boats and steamships, and then across upon the hills bounding the south side of the bay, where there are plantations varying in size from two to ten acres, surrounded by evergreen trees, is a picturesque sight indeed. This city is said to have a population of about forty thousand people. Beside Wellington, Auckland, and Dunedin, which are the largest cities of New Zealand, there are a great many smaller cities, varying in size from two to ten thousand inhabitants each. The entire colony numbered in 1850, 26,000; in 1860, 99,000; 1870, 256,000; 1878, 414,412; showing that the population has been doubled each decade. The statistics of 1880 we have not seen, but the general estimate is that there are over half a million. Of the 414,412 persons in the colony, March, 1878, it was found that 108,195 were born in England and Wales; 49,949 in Scotland; 43,758 in Ireland; 16,091 in Australia; 74,126 in New Zealand, of British parents; 4,840 born in other provincial possessions, and 18,505 were from countries not under British rule. The 814 post-offices deliver annually nine million letters, five million newspapers, sixteen thousand postal cards, and half a million of book packets. These are statistics given in 1878, nearly ten years ago, and if the increase has been as great during the last ten years, these figures would be nearly doubled. Christchurch is a city of about sixteen thousand inhabitants. It is seven miles from the sea. Lyttelton is the sea-port. Christchurch is in the midst of an extensive wheat country. Like nearly all of these cities, it was first settled26by one denomination, which bought up a tract of land and laid out streets and commenced to build. The influx of other settlers, however, thwarted their plan of having their city a denominational affair, and they are divided up into as many sects as any American city. Nearly every religious denomination in the world is represented in this colony, there being no less than six different kinds of Methodists. We think there can be no better field in which to plant the truth than the cities of New Zealand. The large cities rank about as follows: Auckland, Wellington, Dunedin, Christchurch, Invercargill,—ranging in size from fifteen to forty-five thousand inhabitants. Dunedin has been called the Chicago of Australasia. S. N. H.