Inside the harbour are many pleasant anchorages for yachts, especially Quail Island and Ripa Island; also Governor's Bay, a favourite holiday resort of the people of Christchurch. It should be borne in mind that with a north-easterly wind a heavy swell comes rolling up the harbour, but a secure inner harbour of 107 acres has been formed by moles of rubble, where there is perfect safely for vessels of every kind. There are many pleasant cruises to be made from Lyttelton to the various bays and harbours in the peninsula, such as to Port Leny and to Pigeon Bay, formerly a favourite station for whaling vessels; but the most interesting as well as the most beautiful is the harbour of the old French settlement of Akaroa. This harbour penetrates the peninsula to a distance of eight miles. The town of Akaroa is the centre of a fine pastoral district, most picturesquely situated on the slopes of green hills turned into fertile gardens. The French language is no longer to be heard in the streets, but the green 'persiennes' and the white fronts of the older houses bear witness to the nationality of their builders. Lucky it was for the Anglo-New Zealander of to-day that Captain Hobson, Lieutenant-Governor at Auckland in 1840, was both of hospitable intent and impressed with the necessity of 'pegging out claims' for the future of the English race. Lucky, too, that Captain Lavand, on his way to prepare for a shipload of French colonists, stayed to enjoy Captain Hobson's hospitality in Auckland, while the latter, having ascertained his guest's intentions, had time to despatch H.M.'s brig 'Britomart' with all possible speed to Akaroa, so that when the gallant Frenchman arrived he found the smart sailors of the 'Britomart' sitting at the foot of a recently erected flagstaff admiring a Union Jack flying from the top; by virtue of which they claimed the South Island of New Zealand for Queen Victoria in the same manner as Captain Hobson had recently done in the case of the North Island. These same French emigrants, stopping at St. Helena on their way out, visited the tomb of Napoleon, and piously preserved sprays cut from the weeping willows that surrounded it. From these sprays, planted and cherished on their arrival at Akaroa, sprang all the beautiful willows which grow with such rapidity, thrive so remarkably, and are so conspicuous a feature throughout New Zealand. In December of every year a regatta is held at Akaroa, and yachts from all parts of New Zealand, as well as boats' crews of one of H.M.'s ships, come to take part in it. The yachting grounds proper of New Zealand may be said to be completed by the exploration of the peninsula below Christchurch, and yet the most remarkable waters of the colony remain unvisited.