PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

a , January 19, 1564. Mr A. O'Neill moved an address request-: v ing the Superintendent to place on the sup- plementary Estima es £50 in aid of the Mahurangi Library to purcha-e agricultural 1' works, <fee, and referred to =£700 having been . granted t* the Auckland institution at various ■times. Motion carried. - A similar frrantdf£2s for (lie Waipu settle • ment was asked, but the motion was lost. Estimates'. —Council in committee, when the item "streets; branch roads, &c. to meet con • tributions and rates, £6000," was considered and after.some discussion was carried. Mongonui, £250. Mr Ball, (themember) moved the addition 'of £100, and on the motion being put, there were —ayes 9, noes 8, carried. JJay of Islands, £250. Carried. Kaipara road, £500 • # Mr Daudy moved that the word'ro?.d'be B'ruck out. Thiß was done, and the mo (ion passed. Wangarei, £100. Carried. Waipu, £100/ Carried. - -, Mangawai, £100. Carried. Matakana,£so. Carried. .Mahurangi, ,£SO. Carried. .! - Boad and Bridges at Kaukapakapa, (ad ■ ditional.)'£lOG. Carried. Kaipara Tramway survey, £70, carried. On Jan. 26. .under the head ."Special," a vote • was carried-in favor of Mangapai road, £80. Feb. 5. Representation of the county of Marsdsih — - Me?sage No. 37, respecting the representa tion of Marsden-was then considered. The message enclosed a petition from a 1 'number of residents in the electoral district of Marsden, praying for the division of the district into three. The petition havins? .been read, Dr Pollen moved that this order of the day be.discharged, as the general subjretofreprc ' sentation must come before the Council next session. Mr Wynn seconded the motion pro forma and said he tho 'ght tt would be better for the council to give the message some consi deration rather than simply todisch'ir:e it, he moved as an amendment, "That in the opinion of this Council message 37 should be - considered when the whole question of rp prrsentation is brouprht before this Council." Dr. Pollen withdrew his motion in favor of Mr Wyrin'a. After some remarks from Mr Skecn, the resolution was. agreed to, and ordered to be foavardedto the Superintendent.

ADVANCE ALBERTLAND!

. It appears from what transpired in the Council thp other day that " certain " petiti oners-j»re anxious to divide the county of Marsden into three parts ; as it has already three members, Messrs Ross, Me Kenzie and Slfeen, all resident in the north-east part of the ccr.nty, we Albertlanders have no objec tion to make, unless by this proposed division -they mean to prevent us"{rbni having a Mem ber: Whoever signed 'this' petition, we are sure,uone of onivpeople did," and it must.have been done very" quietly for i s representing about three-fourths of the population of Mars den,not to have heard anything abou,t it till it reached the Council. -.We have a right to a Member to represent us in the' Council. We have not hitherto been represented, if it be

'true a3 we have been informed, lhat our '" County." members have never spoken,,or everi voted for us" We need a :member ; to see to bur .interests': any "'little set lemenfr can have a..grant in aid. of roads if it has! but someone to speak for it, ,as for iustan.ee, "Mongonui, £350!" We are landlocked and' withbuh a passable communication witli Auck land, and our County members never say a .word .■■:'.'""■'■'" ■■:'-..'. ■ ■ '■":'■. ■ ■ We trust that the Albertlauders will not forget that all Claims for Registration as Voters must-be' made during the present month, and Aye trust our fellow-settlers on the brnawharo, Paparoa Matakohe and Wai rau will ,each and alLpetition the Council to grant a.member for the Electoral district of Albertland. The whole'q estion ofrepresen tation will be entered upon next session in October, and another opportunity for Regis try will nofcdccrir for a year.

THE THREE SETTLEMENTS

It has always appealed to us an unfortu nate ciro^mstance that, ihe Sptlers actually locating themseU'os qn their land shou'd be spr arliOvijr three distinct and distant blocks of land. If instead of this their energies had been concen'rated upon one, rapid progress must have been the result This was the view entertained and. advocated by a few of us before and sit the distribution of the land ; and we still think it would have been fairer had those .intending-to remain ,in Auckland : taken thair land together,, and those deter-, mined to .encounter the; difficulties of first■ 'clearing-the bush been permitted the mutual advantages of each others society. It is pos sible however that ultimately some good results may arise out of the present arrange ment, to counterbalance's serious.disadvaa- The three blocks bear but little resemblance to each other, and the mode of operation? on each is as di.similar. The Papar.oa and Ma takohe which are contiguous, lie to the north' of the Oruawharo, about, 30 miles by any 1 oute at present available. It is to be hoped howe-er that < the V; may .before ilon'ar be bro'iiht considerably nearer, by.the openin r of fresh lines of communication.: The Oruawharo is the m-ist accessible of the three, and has by far .the largest rnmbrr of sutlers. Its accos^ si'-'ility proVaW renders it l: able .to the inoon-. e.nience of a greater fluctuation in its inhabitants. It consists mainly uf open fern andii'i-ht ti-tree land, ofFerin? extensive runs 'fortciittleVand accordingly the efforts of .the settlers have chiefly taken this direction, (here bern;? already kcattered'bver 'hi-! block upwards of 103 head of stock, while'single settlers possess a^.many as,can,be found on the cwhole of the Paparoa. The settlers s ■f fer-theinconvenien'e ofbeitig located very. wi^ely:apart, ( perhaps an advantage indie keeping of cattle,) excepting the/immediate neighbourhood of Port Albert, and the district commonly known as. Kakaraia, or more pro perly TeWheau. The of the land varies ureatly from the very best to the very work. Thcrs are sections of land which we he'ieve cannot he ■ urpassed in the province of Au kland, and: there are somri hundreds of acres in the..cultivation of which.a fortune would, be. vainly .spent. From the open and hilly c.havacter of the country, with the splen did Oruawharoiriver and its; tributaries run-, ning for some. 12 miles aalongithe. north of the block, the scenery is verytioev.inimmerable suites of unsurpassed ibaaiity presenting them- selves in all directions. , *y^

■':\No .contrast could be greater than that be .tweenJhe Oruawharo generally, and that part of the Paparoa on which the .majority of the ' settlers.are.located. Ascending,the Paparoa - riyerabout 6 miles you, find yourself in the midst of steep hills thickly covered with; mo- j ' derate heavy bush. Amongst these wood-clad hills the ■'wincling.river presents on each si <c a number of flats, of (apparently) alluvial de posit. '. Upon these.choice little; piecesof land . the settlers .have judiciously -expended, their efforts, and so,successfully that we have not heard of a- singlefailure in their crops., The patient energy displayed in clearing- away the." bush and making this land productive _could not fail to excite the admiration of any visitor. So literally are they buried in hill and wood that you are in the midst of some ■fifteen neat and comfortable homesteads as soon as you are aware of the proximity of any human being, the settlers, though each is on his own land, having contrivedso much compactness .in their arrangements that, we. should think, '•■any one of them might make his voice heard: through the whole of what they call, not in appropriately the Paparoa village. , The sce nery from these pleasant dwellings.is of course not extensive, a quarter of a mile would be f , ■its widest bounds, yet it has a beauty of its. own from the richness of the foliage, the / abundance of the gracefal tree fern, and the ever present winding stream. On the whole this is the most unique settlement we have either seen or heard of in New Zealand. A smaller number of settlers arelocated on the Pahe.riier, which runs for/.G or 7 miles ntarly parallel^witfi the Paparoa, both of these two rivers falling into the Arapou in close proximity, leaving between them an extensive tongue of land, which constitutes the choice portion of the Paparoa block, the point of which is reserved by government for ihe future town. This Pahe river strikes us -^ as bein? the most romantic we have yet seen.. f Were it in Englaud, it would be the resort of thousands of annual visitors. Amongst Ihe whole body of Paparoa set tlers we"hive experienced unlimited hospita lity and the prevalence of a hearty good will that wo-ld obliterate the last trace of any feeling of ri v airy. If we were called upon to . judge between the two settlements we should 'find it a difficult matter. Being1 settled on the Oruawharo our iudgment would seem. imrtial. We should scarcely be disposed to forego the accessibility of the Oruawharo, with its fine runs for cattle, for Ihe sake of ' the romantic solitudes, and the spots of deep alluvial soil on the Paparoa, while we mast acknowledge that something on this latter settlement has secured (or It the palm m res pect of iudjstry and patient toil. It would probably be an advantage to each, it it be came more thoroughly acquainted with the other. Respecting the Matakohe we can say much less. It is a very extensive block of land lying between the Paparoa and the Wairau. It is°sair3 to contain some very fine soil, but the great difficulty of approach will, we fear, long prevcut much progress. We shall not readily forget our experience of the mud-banks here ' There arc 7' families located on that part of it which' borders on the Paparoa, and which can readily be reached at high-water from the Arapoha. These settlers we think, ■ of all the Albertlanders, have had1 the most to . endure, and stillhave the greatest, difiicultica ■ to couq-er;: We do not think they are be-- - hind the Paparoans iv hospitality or energy, ; and we sincerely hope then- patient endurance ■

THE iLBERTLAISiX G.^EfXEL.