||; Mr. C. Hobk, (who presided,) ; said that,the. barwhichhad passedsin'ceour ar.rival would p remembered as. one- of strange;sc,eties and experiences, and we mightno^.appropriately hsk o irselves how. far the realities of" New Kealand emigrant life", correspond, with pur tepee tations on leaving, England. In some Rspects those expectations have not been *eaalized, buton the other hand, we have rea son to acknowledge that what we had heasrd and read of as the attractions of the country was not overdrawn. We.expected to find,, peitber toads nor tax-gatherers, and we had feet with either; we expected more liberty, the old country, and we have found that also; the climate hasfullyjustified what mi had heard in its praise,;and to those of us eff^cially who have lived.in London or other, large English cities, is very healthful and de-; lightful. The advantages expected from thd organization iu connection with which, we ctmne out have not been realised, but still some benefits have been secured Which are hot .usually within the reach of the isolated mm : settler.' Again the ;expence, incurred in tran- H'sit to the Settlement,,and for, supplies since, HI have diminished oir resources to a much lar ■ker ex. ent tlianwas expected, but we hope ■ff|' industry and perseverance to overcome |^Beu this formidable difficulty. HtfMv: Wilson then read this following Report: ■If " It will be well to stale in the outset that ■ffhe title -Paparoa Special Settlement,' is the ■ title which will best designate this.Settlement.. ■ As we are physically separated from the Oru ■ awhai-6 or Albertland, and must exist under ■jksej.arate local government, and be respon- Hlfcie for our own social arrangements and Hiif vancement, we decline to adopt the term ■ A'lbertland. Paparoa forms a settlement, and B sot a limb of any other settlement. WW" The first Sale of land in this Parish(?) took ■ place Dec. 4th last year, so that the Settle ■ ment has been in existence but about ten ■ months. Immediately subsequent to the sale ■ those settiers who had been waiting nearly ■ three months on the to unship lands, necesss ■ rily impovenshinx themselves, eoramenced B opera!ions on their various sections, with ■tfeelings somewhat relieved, and even glad- HKome that at last they were entered upon the ■■task so long looked forv.-ard to, on the bests ■fcf land, and with every prospect of ultimate quantity of land brought under culti ■. vation up to the present time, cannot be said I to be large, and our friends readiug over this I report might think we had made up our minds I to do things easily, or that during pur long H. holiday .at'the township we had learned how , to be idle, j_ut we inustexplain—much of the Marly partSbf the year was : spent in the erec • tipn of dwellings, clearing for gardens, and iu removing goods and families- to the sites of. • their future homes; then tlie land is with very slight exception, heavy mixed bush, fewhich it is next to impossible to burn except lain the proper length of time, and it ought also to be remembered that about one -1 half the settlers ha e had a H ing to earn for themselves and their families, in addition to the work they have done on their homesteads. v |,There are at present 28 landholders, num ' bering with their families -80 souls, the ma .jt^ity of -these are lo ated on the Paparoa river within one mile of each other. About ,'9O acres of land have b-en cleared, besides a "very large quantity of rails and sawn timber which have been exported. ' Various important questions have occupied (the attention-of the settlers during; -the year, which it-would-Ve-well to;notice in-order : -

. 1. Oh the settlers am their allot ] meiits, it; was' felt "thatV^spme, .temporary, arrangements ought to.bemade'for assembling-' "the people on .the Sabbath for, religious ,wpiS.. ship. It was, at'mice deterrhiried' to meet at the two most central houses alternately, and service to. be conducted-by seven of theset tlers in turn. This arrang ement has been successful, and service has been,held every Sunday with two exceptions, through the winter. The erection of a permanent place of worship is now seriously thought of, assis tance it is expected, will be received from , somereligious body to meet, the money "outlay, voluntary .contributions of material and labor; by the settlers supplying the rest; 2. r __n effort has been made to render the riyer navigable asfarupas at preseht settled. Tlie stream was cleared and a daiti erected, but unfortunately from some defect or other, ' the dam gave way, and as yet the labour expended has been productive of no beneficial result. , |3. The establishment of postal communica tion was petitioned for, and a weekly service liberally granted. !Tne greatest felt want at present is better communication between the extremes of the block; roads are in course of formation, and it is expected that others will be speedily entered upon, and the want disappear. Tn conclusion it may be stated that amidst the various trials and privatrous incident to the first year of an emigrant's life, none seem to have lost heart; the health of all has been uninterrupted, and the land is such as will well repay the labor of the cultivator." Mr. Parsons moved the following resolution "That the settlers pledge themselves to assist the Wesleyan or any other body of christians in the erection of a place of wor ship, provided that body supply the money outlay, and that the building be open for the use of all bodies of orthodox christians." He said that although himself aii Episcppa- . lian,he cold readily join with other deno minations in worship, would give a site and otherwise assist in. accomplishing the object. Mr. Wilson seconder! the resolution, and urged tho importance of regular public wor ship as a means of preventing that degeneracy . which too often accompanies a neglect of such duties. Mr. G. Calvert moved "That this meeting respectfully request Mr. Haiues to reain possession of the library books now in his care, until some arrange ment, be made concerning them satisfactory to ourselves and fellow-settlers on the Mata kohe, whose unavoidable absence to-day we much regret." ,_..-, He observed that our Or.:awharo friends seemed to entertain the mistaken notion that all the books contributed to form a library, were for their exclusive use, a Tid^ that the> Paparoa settlement was some insignificant village entitled tO nO considera:tiohin connec tion with the matter. • Mr. G. Cliff seconded the resolution. : It.was then moved' by Mr. Co-kayne, and Seconded by Mr. Copley— ,:'."": . ■ ' "That an Annual Meetingof the settlers be held at Christmas in each year.".; . The proceedingswere agr eably interspersed by several pieces of music, vocal and instru- . mental, by Messrs. Wilson, Symonds, Worral;; ;and Miss Hobki who presided^at the piaiio. : ; The resolutions were carried-unanimously;: The Chief Mahukau'aud niaiiy other natives; .who were preseht eritertairied the meeftrigby Ringing arid; Hctih^ several^ Maori ;^oii^s and _ -'compo'sltionsS---"^- !v};; ■■;.• -'•,:--' ■■ i ■■: "■;.".-,..•.■. i i-i,r.r'- ■ •-'~ f■' ■ v • .-'-"''r: ' -.■.■.'.'■"

TRUSTEES' MEETINGS.

The following is anabstractofproceedings at meetings held" bh Nov 7th^nd^th;,; ■ i The Secretary feporte'd-th'e;newrdad fo'the beach as completed.":-;;;'Resdlve.d.:';tha''tit.';be ria-'; iried Graham Street, also that" the;; te treet fori* the northerly side ofy and running 'parallel to Market Street be called Florence Street.'On !i the application of MivEdgeiv; N6.;27, was re-allotted to H. Watts; on the application of Mr. H. Marcroft, No. 3 wasVe-allbtted to- G Shaw; also the following"app'icatibris for v Suburban lands' were granted: T. Inger, -No;.:' 104, 5 acres; L. Edger, : N6. 110, 5 acres;' J.:. Broughton, No:io7, about 5 acres; Missv Carpenter,'No,'ill,'s acres; that all land be- ' tween No 103 and the suburban-road be re reserved ; that the land;•bounded' by the suburban road,- the" cemetery; site, and the govt, road; together' with all bush;' sites, be reserved ; that tlie office map as respects the - river frontage reserves on the town land-is"; hereby declared correct; that all allotments ' becoming forfeit be reserved for the present; ■/ that it be an instruction to Secretary toihforni ■■■ ......that he cariribt be allowed to clear, the road in front of suburban land iri payment for ; an allotment; also that written'applications'^' must in all cases be received prior to an.'al-: lptmeht being made- and that he prepare'a . proper form.

Local and District News.

The Church.'—A meeting was held on Nov... 17, when a committee was appointed to make arrangements for the erection of the/Church, consisting of Messrs.H. Marcroft, Bucktpn,,. Johnson, Bailey and'Beecroft. We shall be' in a position to give particulars iu our next issue, in the meantime we may say operations have been commenced. We regret to aimnunce that instead of any; positive arrivals this month, we have lost'thef four members of the Rev. H. W. Cottle's par-, ty, in consequence of his buying an estate at. Whangarie. His house is however going up,. and is we understand, for sale when finished,... We hear that Messrs. Barton and Cutler are, making arrangements for locating at ;he Ka-- : karia end of the block. ";f' f "ff Our elder brother, the New Zealander ;oithe^ 31st ult. contains an article favorably critici-' sing our humble efforts for which we'thank him. The article is rather humourous in its'; tone, but the mos important mattertofthe; settlement is, that the Editor endorses all we: said respecting the Town Lands in our Oct. f issue, he approves of the " conditions,", arid; hopes we shall uphold themj'« thus making a real and not a nominal town." ' So'me'pf pur friends will find their advertisements repro- . ducedinthe article alluded to. f We fare glad to see our paper quoted so .freqiieiitly ,oflate, showing as it does that there is, contrary/to what some would make us believe, a real iir— terest taken in the progress and ; welfare of the settlement: .'"... . ff." 'f'.ZZZ.. The Advance, 40 tons, Capt. Dodd, arrived here on Nov. 4, tothe great satisfaction of the.', people; left on 7th for Paparoa aud Wairoa, 'returned here on the 18th for^avquantity of .; KaririG'rim consigned by Messrs.. Dudding and Nicholson & Co., to Auckland, she finally left on the 25th. She is a fine vessel in every res-.; pect, and rightly named. Ihf future she will, run by.way of the North Cape.' ff;; ';f .fV. The Market1 wa s a failure on Nov.' 4, as far "as the natives were- cone'erried;" they having: no produce ready. They inifbrm us ; t!iey will:; bring a'good supply for this dafe; ; ; .; ; ■;;.-:

3

THE ALBERTLAND GAZETTE