. . . It is said that on that occasion he was not assisted by more than two men at the head of each horse—but it is very difficult to get at the truth of these rumours.” At any rate, the Superintendent safely accomplished the journey, and was able to preside at the inevitable banquet which was held at Lyttelton.
The Band which accompanied the expedition was not so adventurous, and left their conveyance at Sumner, finishing the journey on foot.
The Superintendent announced that the road had cost less than £7,000. The Provincial Council had been dissolved (July 14), and the elections of a new Council and a new Superintendent were imminent. Mr. FitzGerald’s health did not permit him to seek re-election; it had prevented him from attending the previous Parliamentary session, and he had made up his mind to return to England. The opportunity was taken to appoint him Immigration Agent in London, where his services were greatly needed.
For the past two years Great Britain had been engaged first in the Crimean War, and then with the Indian Mutiny. The files of the Christchurch papers were full of stirring events, often to the exclusion of any local news. In them can be read the contemporary account of the Charge of the Light Brigade, and the horrors of Cawnpore. One effect of the troubles through which Great Britain was passing was to divert attention from the Colonies, and the tide of emigration almost ceased. Labour was badly wanted in Canterbury, and there was ample scope for Mr. FitzGerald’s energy in securing it. He sailed about the end of September amid very general regret. The “Lyttelton Times,” with which, in its early days, he had been so closely associated, declared in an appreciative article, that he belonged to the same dynasty as Mr. J. R. Godley.
