followed in 1840. The Middle Island is the size of England and Wales; the North Island is half as big again as Scotland; and for practical purposes there is no South Island at all.
"Nearly all the public works of New Zealand," says the official guide, "are in the hands of the Government of the colony, and in the early days they simply kept pace with the spread of settlement. In 1870, however, a great impetus was given to the progress of the whole country by the inauguration of the 'Public Works and Immigration Policy,' which provided for carrying out works in advance of settlement. Railways, roads, and water-races were constructed, and immigration was conducted on a large scale. As a consequence, the population increased from 267,000 in 1871 to 501,000 in 1881." This is the discreet (or official) way of saying that Sir Julius Vogel adopted, as Sir John Forrest has adopted in Western Australia, a bold policy of borrowing British money, with the difference that Vogel was provident enough to help to meet the interest, by introducing population to lighten (by sharing) the burden. However, the policy was pushed too far; and the country suffered from a terrible reaction, from which it has only lately recovered. The inhabitants of the colony now number nearly 750,000. But they seldom mention the name of the man who doubled their resources, and their population, in ten years: preferring to point to the steady perseverance (for which they are undoubtedly entitled to admiration) with which they set themselves to work, as did the Victorians after their disasters, to redeem their credit by increasing their output.
To the newcomer, in the summer time, the climate appears to be warmer than in England, especially as you go north. The air is not relaxing, and hot winds,
