"No doubt it does," said the officer, in response. "Auckland is called the Corinth of the South Pacific; Corinth is now having a canal made through its isthmus, and we hope to have one for ours in due time."
The steamer made her way direct to the wharf, and as soon as she had made fast and the gang-plank was out, our friends stepped on shore in New Zealand. Under the guidance of a fellow-passenger, they entered a carriage and were driven up Queen Street, the principal thoroughfare, to the hotel they had selected for a resting-place during their sojourn in Auckland. They were favorably impressed with the activity that prevailed on the streets, and the general evidences of business prosperity. "A Missourian would call it 'a right smart place,'" said Frank, as they were alighting from the carriage at the end of their drive.
"Yes," responded Fred, "and even a New Yorker would treat its beautiful bay with respect after seeing it as we did."
"Where did the city get its name?" one of the youths asked Doctor Bronson.
AUCKLAND IN 1840.
"It was named after Lord Auckland, First Lord of the Admiralty, and afterwards Governor-general of India, by Captain Hobson, who founded the city. Captain Hobson was sent here, in 1838, to organize a colony. He saw this was a good site for a city, and accordingly he established the capital here. It remained the capital until 1865, when a royal commission moved the seat of government to Wellington, the latter place being more centrally located. Of course the Aucklanders were not at all pleased at the change, but their city is so well established commercially that there is no danger of their being ruined by it."
From various sources Frank and Fred found that Auckland had a population of nearly forty thousand within the municipality, and seventy thousand in the city and suburbs. "It has," said Frank, in his journal, "handsome streets, a great number of well-constructed public buildings, such as post-office, custom-house, exchange, courts, Government offices, and the other paraphernalia of a well-established city, and it has also a fine museum, a public library, and a park and botanical garden. No city would be complete without a cemetery, and Auckland is not behind in this respect, as it has a very pretty one, and, as the French say, it is well peopled.
"We were much interested in the Queen Street wharf, where we landed; it extends nearly two thousand feet into the harbor, and affords facilities for thirty or forty vessels to discharge or receive cargoes at once. There are several other wharves, including a fine one, nearly completed, at the end of Hobson Street. I have heard often of 'Hobson's Choice,' and never knew exactly what it was. This city seems to have been Hobson's choice, since Captain Hobson founded it; all I can say is, that I shall have more respect for the old saw than I ever had before.