and, after some inquiry, chose a place on the east coast of
the South Island, called Otago. With the consent of the Governor 400,000
acres were there bought from the natives, and it seemed as if a new
colony would soon be formed. But the news of the Wairau massacre and the
unsettled state of the natives frightened intending settlers for a time.
It was not till November, 1847, that the _John Wycliff_ and the _Philip
Lang_ sailed from Greenock with the first company of settlers. They
reached their new home in March, 1848, under the guidance of Captain
Cargill, an old soldier, who had been chosen as leader of the new
settlement. At the head of a fine harbour, which they called Port
Chalmers, they laid the foundations of a town, to which they gave the
patriotic name of Dunedin, Gaelic for Edinburgh. It was in a fine
district, troubled by few natives, and it steadily grew. Less than a
year later, it had 745 inhabitants, who could boast of a good jetty, and
a newspaper. The life of pioneers cannot be very easy, but these were of
the right sort and prospered, and more would have joined them but for
two circumstances. First came the news of the rich gold discoveries in
California; and the most adventurous spirits hurried thither. Not only
did this keep settlers from coming to New Zealand, but indeed a thousand
of those she possessed left her shores for the goldfields. Then in this
same year, 1848, a violent earthquake took place, which knocked down
L15,000 worth of buildings in Wellington, and killed a man with his two
children.

[Illustration: KNOX CHURCH, DUNEDIN.]

#2. Canterbury.#--Yet these unlucky accidents only delayed the progress of
the colony by a year or two, and in the year 1850 a new settlement was
formed. Seven years before this, Wakefield had conceived the idea of a
settlement in connection with the Church of England. A number of leading
men took up the notion, and among them was the famous Archbishop
Whately. An association was formed which bought 20,000 acres of the New
Zealand Company's land, to be selected later on. The settlers paid a
high price for this land, but the greater part of the money so received
was to be used for their own benefit, either in bringing out fresh
settlers or in building churches and schools. A bishop and schoolmasters
were to go out; a nobleman and other men of wealth bought land and
prepared to take stock and servants out to the fine free lands of the
south. Wakefield had enliste