and placed in the midst of forceful conditions of life such as they had never been accustomed to, and with the necessity laid upon them to rely upon their own resources, they earlier or later broke down under a pressure too great for them. Indulgence in intoxicants is rightly said to be a large factor among the causes of insanity, but it is not unreasonable to assume that in the first instance the hard struggle for existence and the nomadic, comfortless life in which many homeless and friendless men in the colony have been involved, leads to that intemperance which completes the mental wreck. Even now, after the lapse of the years that have intervened since free immigration ceased, the number of men absolutely adrift in the colony is appalling, and in many instances they find their way into asylums, where they are cared for, or prematurely and as strangers end their lives in the hospitals or benevolent institutions, with none of their kith or kin present to cheer them in their last days and hours, and with no one save the Chaplain or other minister to follow their remains to the cemetery. If during the operation of the immigration scheme something like a proper system of selection had been adopted, many of the unsuitable persons brought to the colony would have been allowed to remain at Home, to their own and the colony's advantage. Still further, it has to be borne in mind that many of our asylum inmates, such as epileptics and silly, useless, but harmless creatures, would not in the Home country be ranked as lunatics or be placed in asylums. To a large extent they are retained in their homes, and when they cannot be managed or maintained by their own relatives, the poor-house becomes their home, and they consequently do not appear on the lunacy list. Here, however, many such are committed to our asylums and rank as insane. All things considered, therefore, in the matter of insanity New Zealand compares favourably with the British Isles.
Reference has already been made to the change Seacliff estate has undergone since the pick and the grub-hoe were first brought to bear upon it. In addition to the extensive gardens, and lawns, and paths, and water-courses that have been formed, a very large portion of the forest has been cleared, and the many acres under cultivation are steadily increasing in number. Ornamental trees here and there dot the ground, and long belts
