Immigrants Landing

Immigrants Landing at Port Lyttelton, N. Z.

Lyttelton, a seaport on the east coast of the Middle Island of New Zealand, is a northern basin of Banks' Peninsula, and the chief port of the province of Canterbury. It was formerly known as Port Cooper, and is 170 miles south of Wellington, the capital of the colony, and 194 miles north of Otago. It is connected with Christchurch, the chief town of the province, by a railway seven miles long, which has been tunnelled through the hills with which Lyttelton is completely surrounded, excepting seaward. There is also a coach road to Christchurch, over the hills along what is known as the Zig zag. The harbor is easily accessible to vessels of any size, but those of large burden, such as immigrant ships from England, cannot approach the jetties, where there is only a depth of seventeen feet of water. Such vessels anchor, therefore, at some distance from the shore, outside the Breakwater, and the passengers are transferred to a steam tug, by which they are taken to the jetty and landed. A special train will be in readiness for the immigrants to convey them to the immigrants' depot at Addington, about two miles from Christchurch, where they are lodged pending engagements with employers. Our illustration represents the landing of the immigrants by the Waikati, from the tug on to the jetty. They are nearly all single young females, a few married couples only being interspersed, and they are all wending their way to the railway train, which may be seen at the extreme right.  

Illustrated Australian News (Melbourne), Wednesday 23 January 1878 page 11