23 April 1872
On Tuesday we left the Eden Dale for Invercargill. Most of the way to the Woodlands Meat Preserving Works is over the lands of the N.Z. and Australian Land Company. The Meat-Preserving Company here (as have others in Canterbury Province) have considerably raised the price of Sheep and Cattle, and made Land in the District more valuable in the. The roads are something horrible – mud ankle-deep all the way. After Lunch at the Meat Works we drove to Invercargill over the flat Country. The snow in winter is pretty heavy and the frosts hard; - the bush partial and orders rivers an sea coat. Invercargill is laid out with very broad streets altho’ the Town is not large in itself – some one with grand ideas must have been the local surveyor. A Railway 4 ft 8 ½ has been made from the Bluff to Invercargill and for 30 miles to Winton; it belongs to the Province and is a very poor speculation, having cost £11,000 per mile. Dunedin interests, moreover, prevent its extension or profitable working.