by Samuel Butler INTRODUCTION By R. A. Streatfeild Since Butler's death in 1902 his fame has spread so rapidly and the world of letters now takes so keen in interest in the man and his writings that no apology is necessary for the republication of even his least significant works. I had long desired to bring out a new edition of his earliest book A FIRST YEAR IN CANTERBURY SETTLEMENT, together with the other pieces that he wrote during his residence in New Zealand, and, that wish being now reali

Embarkation at Gravesend—Arrest of Passenger—Tilbury Fort—Deal—Bay of Biscay Gale—Becalmed off Teneriffe—Fire in the Galley—Trade Winds- -Belt of Calms—Death on Board—Shark—Current—S. E. Trade Winds— Temperature—Birds—Southern Cross—Cyclone. It is a windy, rainy day—cold withal; a little boat is putting off from the pier at Gravesend, and making for a ship that is lying moored in the middle of the river; therein are some half-dozen passengers and a lot of heterogeneous-looking luggage; among the

Life on Board—Calm—Boat Lowered—Snares and Traps—Land—Driven off coast—Enter Port Lyttelton—Requisites for a Sea Voyage—Spirit of Adventure aroused. Before continuing the narrative of my voyage, I must turn to other topics and give you some account of my life on board. My time has passed very pleasantly: I have read a good deal; I have nearly finished Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, am studying Liebig's Agricultural Chemistry, and learning the concertina on the instrument of one o

Aspect of Port Lyttelton—Ascent of Hill behind it—View—Christ Church- -Yankeeisms—Return to Port Lyttelton and Ship—Phormium Tenax—Visit to a Farm—Moa Bones. January 27, 1860.—Oh, the heat! the clear transparent atmosphere, and the dust! How shall I describe everything—the little townlet, for I cannot call it town, nestling beneath the bare hills that we had been looking at so longingly all the morning—the scattered wooden boxes of houses, with ragged roods of scrubby ground between them—the tus

Sheep on Terms, Schedule and Explanation—Investment in Sheep-run—Risk of Disease, and Laws upon the Subject—Investment in laying down Land in English Grass—In Farming—Journey to Oxford—Journey to the Glaciers— Remote Settlers—Literature in the Bush—Blankets and Flies—Ascent of the Rakaia—Camping out—Glaciers—Minerals—Parrots—Unexplored Col— Burning the Flats—Return. February 10, 1860.—I must confess to being fairly puzzled to know what to do with the money you have sent me. Everyone suggests dif

Ascent of the Waimakiriri—Crossing the River—Gorge—Ascent of the Rangitata—View of M'Kenzie Plains—M'Kenzie—Mount Cook—Ascent of the Hurunui—Col leading to West Coast. Since my last, I have made another expedition into the back country, in the hope of finding some little run which had been overlooked. I have been unsuccessful, as indeed I was likely to be: still I had a pleasant excursion, and have seen many more glaciers, and much finer ones than on my last trip. This time I went up the Waimaki

Hut—Cadets—Openings for Emigrants without Capital—For those who bring Money—Drunkenness—Introductions—The Rakaia—Valley leading to the Rangitata—Snow-grass and Spaniard—Solitude—Rain and Flood—Cat— Irishman—Discomforts of Hut—Gradual Improvement—Value of Cat. I am now going to put up a V hut on the country that I took up on the Rangitata, meaning to hibernate there in order to see what the place is like. I shall also build a more permanent hut there, for I must have someone with me, and we may a

Loading Dray—Bullocks—Want of Roads—Banks Peninsula—Front and Back Ranges of Mountains—River-beds—Origin of the Plains—Terraces—Tutu— Fords—Floods—Lost Bullocks—Scarcity of Features on the Plains— Terraces—Crossing the Ashburton—Change of Weather—Roofless Hut— Brandy-keg. I completed the loading of my dray on a Tuesday afternoon in the early part of October, 1860, and determined on making Main's accommodation- house that night. Of the contents of the dray I need hardly speak, though perhaps a fu

Taking up the Run—Hut within the Boundary—Land Regulations—Race to Christ Church—Contest for Priority of Application—Successful issue— Winds and their Effects—Their conflicting Currents—Sheep crossing the River. There was a little hut on my run built by another person, and tenanted by his shepherd. G- had an application for 5,000 acres in the same block of country with mine, and as the boundaries were uncertain until the whole was surveyed, and the runs definitely marked out on the Government ma

Plants of Canterbury—Turnip—Tutu—Ferns—Ti Palm—Birds—Paradise Duck—Tern—Quail—Wood Hen—Robin—Linnet—Pigeon—Moa—New Parroquet— Quadrupeds—Eels—Insects—Weta—Lizards. The flora of this province is very disappointing, and the absence of beautiful flowers adds to the uninteresting character which too generally pervades the scenery, save among the great Southern Alps themselves. There is no burst of bloom as there is in Switzerland and Italy, and the trees being, with few insignificant exceptions, all

Choice of a Run—Boundaries—Maoris—Wages—Servants—Drunkenness— Cooking—Wethers—Choice of Homestead—Watchfulness required—Burning the Country—Yards for Sheep—Ewes and Lambs—Lambing Season—Wool Sheds—Sheep Washing—Putting up a Hut—Gardens—Farewell. In looking for a run, some distance must be traversed; the country near Christ Church is already stocked. The waste lands are, indeed, said to be wholly taken up throughout the colony, wherever they are capable of supporting sheep. It may, however, be a