The mean height of the Barometer at Auckland was 29·83.
Ditto at Wellington was 29·82.
Ditto at London is 29·88.

The number of days on which rain fell at Auckland was 144.
Ditto at Wellington was 115.
Ditto at London is 175.

The mean annual quantity of rain at Auckland was 43 inches.
Ditto at Wellington was 53 do.
Ditto at London is 24 do.

The mean temperature of the hottest month in New Zealand was 67½ Fhr.
Ditto at London is 64 do.

The mean temperature of the coldest month in New Zealand was 51½ Fhr.
Ditto at London is 37 do.

The elements of the climate of New Zealand would be very imperfectly stated if I omitted to mention that the atmosphere is seldom stationary for twenty-four hours, and in no country is the air more frequently agitated by winds, sometimes violent.

It has been usual to compare the climate of the North Island of New Zealand with that of Italy, and the fine Southern climates of Europe, but there is little resemblance between them, beyond the fact, that the mean annual temperature of both is about 60 Fhr. New Zealand is distinguished for an even temperature, Italy and the Southern countries of Europe are subject to great extremes.

In Italy there is a winter as far as regards labour in summer—a summer-winter it may be called—during which for three or four months, for several hours in the day, all out door work of man and beast is suspended and interrupted by heat. During the summer months in Italy, cattle must be provided for, in-doors, as in winter, and it is also the cause of Malaria, out of which spring fevers among the working people exposed to the heat and dews of the climate.

There is no summer-winter in New Zealand; cattle grazing in the fields may seek the shelter of the forest during the heat of the day, but man and beast can and do labour without injury during all hours of the day. Cattle have never yet perished from drought, and they can always find food in the driest seasons, and houseless labourers may sleep exposed to the dews of the climate without being laid up with fevers or agues.

It may be said, the Italians are an indolent people, that Englishmen could labour during the whole of an Italian summer, but this is a fiction. From great cold man and beast have a relief in hard work, but from great heat there is no relief but bodily inaction. If, however, labour is carried on by men having the European constitution among the hot months of summer in countries having a high temperature for several hours daily, they do it at an enormous waste of human life, a waste which no return will repay. This great fact the European settlers in the Southern States of America know right well, for, without the Negro, their lands would remain uncultivated.

5.—EVIDENCE OF THE BENEFICIAL NATURE OF THE CLIMATE OF NEW ZEALAND DRAWN FROM THE PENSIONER FORCE.

In the neighbourhood of Auckland, there are four Pensioners’ Villages. These settlements were established in 1847 and 1848, and are occupied by the two Battalions of Pensioners enrolled in England for service in New Zealand. Each man has a Cottage built on an acre of land, most of the men are employed in agricultural pursuits; and many of them are now owners of cattle and land. They are only called out to drill for a few days every year, but they are inspected every Sunday Morning at Church Parade. All of them are old Soldiers, and have seen service in widely different parts of the Globe. In every village there are men who have spent years in Canada, Ceylon, the East and West Indies, St. Helena, Mauritius, Corfu, Malta, Gibraltar, Cabul, Africa, and Australia. All the men have been invalided from the Army on account of disease or length of service. They were found unfit for the more active duties of a soldier’s life, but were selected in England as fit for seven years Garrison duty in New Zealand. There are many healthy men among them who were rendered unfit for the Army by liver complaints contracted in the burning plains of Hindostan, by the fevers of Jamaica, by the snows of Canada, and among the mountains around Cabul, in short, there are many among them who have been invalided for every disease which tropical, frigid, and temperate climates can produce.

I came out to this country, as Medical Superintendent of one division of the New Zealand Pensioners, and have ever since watched the influence which the climate has had on their health and strength with much interest, and Major Kenny, Commanding the force, has kindly furnished me with some statistical information relative to them.

The average age of the men on the 31st March 1853 was about 47 years, and they range between the decennial period of 40 and 50. During the four years ending March 1850, 1851, 1852, and 1853, the average strength of the two Battalions was 545 men, and the aggregate strength 2180, out of which number 37 men died from disease, 3 were drowned, 1 cut his throat when insane, and 1 died by an accidental injury. This shows that the mortality during these years was at the rate of 17 men annually out of every thousand from disease, and 19 from all causes.

The enrolled Pensioners in Great Britain and Ireland during the eight years ending March 1852 died at the rate of 22 men annually out of every 1000 living. The deaths among all the Pensioners in the United Kingdom enrolled and not enrolled between 40 and 50 years of age during the same period were 32 per 1000. The English Peers between 40 and 50 years of age die at the rate of 27 annually out of every 1000, and the Northampton table makes the mortality between 40 and 50, to be 24 per 1000.

It is therefore obvious, that the mortality among the Pensioner force in New Zealand has been very low, a result which not only indicates a healthy climate but also affords a clear indication of the comfortable condition of the men.

I will now examine into the nature of the Maladies which caused the deaths of the 37 men. Table Number 3 shows the number of deaths which occurred from different classes of diseases among the Pensioner Force stationed in the neighbourhood of Auckland, New Zealand, during the 4 years ending March 1853, together with the annual ratio of deaths per 1000.

• Notes of a Traveller by Samuel Laing, Esq., 2 Edition, London, 1842.

† Lieut. Col. Tulloch and Dr. Graham Balfour’s report on the Sickness, Mortality and invaliding in the Army presented to both Houses of Parliament by her Majesty’s Command, 1853.

‡ Lancet 1848. Mr. Edmonds.