Christchurch is very prettily situated; for although it stands on a perfectly flat plain, towards the sea there are the Port Hills, and the town itself is picturesque, owing to the quantities of trees and the irregular form of the wooden houses; and as a background we have the most magnificent chain of mountains–the back-bone of the island–running from north to south, the highest peaks nearly always covered with snow, even after such a hot summer as this has been.