Page:Tales-of-Banks-Peninsula Jacobson 2ed 1893 cropped.pdf/106

the 14th of August they reached Akaroa, for they feared the French must have been before them and taken possession of the place. What was their delight, then, to find that no foreign keel had ploughed the waters of the bay. No time was lost, the English flag was at once hoisted, and the country claimed for the British Crown. It was not a moment too soon, however, for the following morning Commodore Lavaud arrived, just a few hours too late, But the new colonists knew nothing of this. The Commodore held a conference with Mr. Robinson, and it was agreed that whilst the French man-of-war remained in the harbor, the English flag should not be hoisted, and the fact of their having taken possession before the arrival of the French be kept a secret, for fear it should lead to disturbances between the English and the new comers. The secret was well kept, and though of course many rumors were current, it was not till years afterwards that the arrivals by the Comte de Paris were aware that they were living in an English, and not a French Colony. As soon as possible after the landing the land was allotted to the settlers. As before stated, the bush came down almost to the water’s edge in many places, so there was little clear land, It was therefore arranged to divide the land facing the sea into 2½ acre blocks, giving one to each emigrant, and to let them select their other 2½ acres where they liked, it being the condition of the tenure that the land should be cultivated within five years of the arrival, or revert to Captain L’Anglois. The colonists all avoided selecting land in the bush, but took up the clearings which they found here and there, which were then covered with toi toi. They lived altogether in the tents for about a month, but by that time they nearly all removed to the wharès they had built on their respective sections. The six Germans who were amongst the emigrants found that they could not get their