The Government House, Wellington, New Zealand, 1864. The town of Wellington, situated in the fine landlocked harbour of Port Nicholson, upon the northern shore of Cooks Strait, which divides the two main islands of New Zealand from one another, is likely to become a place of much importance. It is not only the capital of a thriving province of the same name, but, while it rivals Auckland as a commercial port, it has some pretensions to supersede that town as the metropolis of the whole colony, for which purpose Wellington has a great advantage by its central position among the several provinces of the north and the middle island. It has been selected by the Panama, New Zealand, and Australian Royal Mail Company as the port of arrival and departure for their ocean steamers; and it lies almost directly in the track of the homeward-bound vessels from Australia...The Provincial Government House [was] erected in 1857, and calculated for the sittings of the Legislative Council and the General Legislative Assembly of New Zealand, as well as for those of the province of Wellington. From "Illustrated London News", 1864.