there as far back from the shore as my sight could follow,
and the wreaths of smoke curling up in all directions from the evening
fires: it is still bitterly cold at night, being very early spring. The
river Hokitika washes down with every fresh such quantities of sand,
that a bar is continually forming in this roadstead, and though only
vessels of the least possible draught are engaged in the coasting-trade,
still wrecks are of frequent occurrence. We ought to have landed our
thousands of oranges here, but this work was necessarily deferred till
the morning, for it was as much as they could do to get all the diggers
and their belongings safely ashore before dark; in the middle of the
night one of the sudden and furious gales common to these seas sprang
up, and would soon have driven us on the rocks if we had not got our
steam up quickly and struggled out to sea, oranges and all, and away
to Nelson, on the north coast of the same island. Here we landed the
seventh day after leaving Melbourne, and spent a few hours wandering
about on shore. It is a lovely little town, as I saw it that spring
morning, with hills running down almost to the water's edge, and small
wooden houses with gables and verandahs, half buried in creepers, built
up the sides of the steep slopes. It was a true New Zealand day, still
and bright, a delicious invigorating freshness in the air, without
the least chill, the sky of a more than Italian blue, the ranges of
mountains in the distance covered with snow, and standing out, sharp and
clear against this lovely glowing heaven. The town itself, I must say,
seemed very dull and stagnant, with little sign of life or activity
about it; but nothing can be prettier or more picturesque than its
situation--not unlike that of a Swiss village. Our day came to an end
all too soon, and we re-embarked for Wellington, the most southern town
of the North Island. The seat of government is there, and it is supposed
to be a very thriving place, but is not nearly so well situated as
Nelson nor so attractive to strangers. We landed and walked about a good
deal, and saw what little there was to see. At first I thought the shops
very handsome, but I found, rather to my disgust, that generally the
fine, imposing frontage was all a sham; the actual building was only a
little but at the back, looking all the meaner for the contrast to the
cornices and show windows in front. You cannot think how odd it was to
turn a corner and s