Dunedin

Dunedin, the capital of the district of Otago in South Island, New Zealand, was founded in 184S by the Lay Association of the Free Church of Scotland. It stands at the head of the harbour of Otago, on the S.W. shore, about 18 miles from the sea, and Port Chalmers, 9 miles lower down, affords anchorage for the largest vessels, while large sums have been expended in rendering Dunedin itself accessible. Regular steamers run to Melbourne and to all the New Zealand ports, and the coasting trade is very considerable. The city is beautifully placed, well-built, and surrounded by pleasant suburbs. It contains the University of Otago, free libraries, schools, churches of all denominations, a provincial council hall, supreme court, and all the other buildings of an administrative centre. The public gardens are particularly fine. In 1861 the settlement received a great impulse from the discovery of gold, but the prosperity of the colonists, who are mainly Scots, is based upon the enormous development of the wool trade, and upon the growth of the shipping interest.