Page image
Page image

D.—s

18

No. 24. His Honor the Supeeintendent, Westland, to the Hon. the Ministee for Immigbation. (No. 170.) Sic, — Superintendent's Office, Hokitika, 15th February, 1875. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the sth instant (No. 23), on the subject of the special settlement at Jackson's Bay. With reference to the tramway, jetty, &c, I am having plans prepared which I will submit for your consideration before taking any definite action. In the meantime, lam pushing on the surveys and the construction of the road which will connect with the township at the harbour, these being the most urgent works required. The number of immigrants already sent down will be barely sufficient to push on these works as fast as I could wish, but I do not propose to send more of our Coast people down after this steamer, and by her there are only a few going to whom promises had previously been made. I have, &c, Jas. A. Bonae, The Hon. the Minister for Immigration, Wellington. Superintendent.

No. 25. His Honor the Supeeintendent, Westland, to Hon. the Ministee for Immigbation. Sic,— Wellington, 7th July, 1875. I have the honor to forward, for your information, copy of a report upon the Special Settlement at Jackson's Bay, from its first inception up to 31st May ultimo, which I have lately received from Mr. D. Macfarlane, the Resident Agent. I have, &c, J. A. Bonae, The Hon. the Minister for Immigration, Wellington. Superintendent.

Enclosure in No. 25. • Mr. D. Macfaelane to His Honor the Supeeintendent, Westland. Sib, — Resident Agent's Office, Jackson's Bay, Ist June, 1875. I have the honor to lay before you the following progressive report of the Jackson's Bay Special Settlement, from its first inception up to the 31st May, 1875. On the 25th November, 1874, Mr. Browning aud party commenced survey operations, which have resulted in the laying out of the town of Arawata, the principal port town of the settlement; the 10-acre suburban block, upon which the present settlers are now located ; and the 30-acre sections, lying between the Arawata and Wiototo rivers, on which the surveyors are now employed. The first consignment of settlers, numbering twenty-two men, together with store and offices, twenty two-roomed cottages in frame, and a supply of stores, tools, &c, were landed on the 19th January, 1875. The work of clearing, levelling, draining, and road-making on the reserves was commenced forthwith ; and at the same time temporary shelter and protection was provided for the men and goods, by making use of the building material to hand. The erection of buildings proceeded in due course, and we have now on the Immigration Reserve twenty cottages, blacksmith's and carpenter's shops, and tool house. On the Government Reserve we have store, Survey and Resident Agent's offices. From time to time our population has increased, until we now number 60 men, 25 women, and 72 children ; total, 157. Since the formation of the settlement, we have had two births and one death. With this one exception the general health of the settlers has been good, only trifling ailments showing themselves occasionally, which yielded to simple treatment. But, notwithstanding being in possession of a very complete medicine chest, there is a certain amount of uneasiness felt, and naturally so, amongst men engaged in following dangerous occupations, as, in the event of any serious accident taking place, the absence of a medical man might be productive of fatal consequences ; and seeing that the population will be very largely increased during the summer, it would be well that this matter should receive your most earnest consideration. With the exception of four men who have taken to mining pursuits, the whole of the settlers have been employed in clearing, draining, road-making, house-building, and boating, the number of day work performed for the Government being 2,252 days, at a cost of £982 Bs.; the rate of wages paid to labourers being Bs. per day of eight hours ; and for skilled labour, from 10s. to 12s. per day. A good pack-track, 84 chains in length, has been completed round the bluffs on the bay shore: for particulars of this and other works, see Schedules A and B attached. The completion of this track facilitates communication between the town and settlement very much. Hitherto, the whole of the stores and personal effects of the settlers had to be boated across the bay and over the Arawata bar, at great risk and expense. On the 6th March the first allotment of sections in the suburban block took place, when forty-six were allotted: up to date, the number being fifty-four in all. During the time the men have not been at work for the Government, they have been busy erecting houses and clearing their land. Twenty-four houses have been completed, and others are in course of construction, and a considerable amount of clearing is being done, preparatory to putting in crops in the spring. A few of the settlers have got cows, goats, and pigs, but the cost and risk of bringing stock here is a drawback that can only be overcome by the opening of the track via the Haast Valley. All stores, tools, and seeds are being supplied to the settlers

Log in or create a Papers Past website account

Use your Papers Past website account to correct newspaper text.

By creating and using this account you agree to our terms of use.

Log in with RealMe®

If you’ve used a RealMe login somewhere else, you can use it here too. If you don’t already have a username and password, just click Log in and you can choose to create one.


Log in again to continue your work

Your session has expired.

Log in again with RealMe®


Alert