Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Notes of a Holiday Tour Round the World: In 1883-4, Written for the Gratification of Personal Friends and Acquiantances
The ocean was calm and peaceful around us, and the muster of the crew on deck - Europeans and Asiatics - in their Sunday attire was a pretty sight. The Europeans, or at least the Protestant portion of them, filed down into the saloon, and occupied the two sides, while the rest of the space was filled by the passengers. The captains and chief officer's seats were converted into reading-desk and pulpit, and the Church of England service was conducted by the Rev. Mr. Sharp, a passenger. The responses - the chants and hymns - were all effectively rendered, and it was altogether a gratifying service. In the evening we had hymns and sacred pieces.
Early on Monday morning we found ourselves off the Northwest Cape of New Zealand, and as we kept all day within sight of land, we had some fine views of that striking coast line. Rounding the north-eastern shore we made for Auckland in a southerly direction. In the cruise down the coast we passed some remarkably fine islands and headlands - notably the Bay of Islands and its cliffs and promontories, Cape Butt standing out conspicuously. Then we passed "The Poor Knights," and later on Moro Tiri and Taranga, both extremely bold and broken, the latter especially, with its pinnacles and castellated eminences. There were multitudes of rocks and islands lying near the ship's course, which seemed to suggest a dangerous navigation.
We experienced a change of weather at Auckland, and landed in rain. After exploring the town, and posting letters to our friends, we drove up to the public gardens, from which a fine view is obtained of the town and harbour; and thence to Mount Eden, a lofty eminence, which commands not only Auckland and its bay, but the entire isthmus on which Auckland is built, and the numerous islands and headlands around. The extinct volcanoes of this district number about seventy, and most of them are visible from this Pisgah top, which is itself an old crater, though now covered with a rich sward of green. The famed hot springs of this northern island of New Zealand are evidences of the rather unpleasant proximity of internal fires and gases, of which there are also disagreeable reminders in the frequent terrestrial disturbances. Hence a peculiarity about the town of Auckland, which the visitor cannot but notice - namely, the prevalence of wood and iron in the construction of houses, churches, and public buildings.
The weather at Auckland was premonitory of something rough outside, and as we met an easterly swell, which caught the "Zealandia" on the beam, along her whole length of nearly 400 feet, she took to rolling, which made matters lively, and sent most of the new arrivals, and some of the other passengers, to their berths.
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