INTERPROVINCIAL NEWS.

Grey River Argus, Volume IV, Issue 257, 5 September 1867, Page 2

INTERPROVINCIAL NEWS.

A "sea devil" was captured recently . on tlie.beacli below Messrs Taylor's pro- ■£• perty, Saddle Hill Dunedin.. The animal I" was sleeping just clear of .the s\irf, ancU-.^ attempted to escape; but it was quickly" ;-j despatched by a few blows on the snouts, with an axe. It measured Bft. in leugj&fi I "\ and had 2|in. thickness of; blubber yjjfc the stomach being opened it was $m.\ ' • ' cull of small eel-like worms, 1 * quite ali\y ■:. jvlso some fish bones and small ground fistf^, The liver was as large as that, of a 'fulPK^ frown bullock. The skin is very beautiful, \fc lut it will be 'difficult to clean on account Yp If the quantity of oil containedslh it. I The labor market in Auckland appears I) be in a very bad state at present, many lises of absolute destitution having cpmo ; lider public notice. Stone breaking has lien provided by the Government. and I feny other plans are being triedfp'r pfotfeing work, but the most notic^^te is le formation of a " Flax HackleSj»|jellent Society." By means^tftiu^Uar Ary man may provide him u^wkSß^"'* tttkle, which is a small i achine foi^^ slighly dressing flax, and m y "bring the ?m nlult of his work to the s iciety,. who j| allertake to buy it at a certf n price. By "1 blj means, the distress has been much f lyiated, and as improvemi nts are sure ■ f lie made in the present m chinery it is* * '■improbable that what has een adopted r li mere temporary exped ent may bet |c a permanent local industry. * : I large seal, measuring seven .feet ten t He's. in length, was discoye||dlon the i- Biouaiti Beach a few days ago. The - mid says -.—The seal was found by a Bew of Mr John Drumm,X)f this -place, '. ■ riding along the beachat high tide. «>serving it he at once %ent for assis- * M y and returned in company with / 4in Marshall, who, in the absence °£.f % effective weapon, had aormed him/ s ßith an axe handle. On reaching ty b*- the seal was half in.andjhalf ovv/ tftter, struggling, , but unsticcessf wh ■' t4ch deep water, and on perce*' tM a pproach him, he atonce^^ -'■„-..■.:, .-..■.:

fight. After a severe struggle, which listed fully twenty minutes, the seal was finally killed, and in a much shorter space ■- of time his skin was taken off for preservation. We learn that later on in the day the carcase of the seal was taken possession . of by the Maoris, and afterwards by them roasted and eaten. The Dunstan correspondent of the /jVaily Times gives the following report of prj: that mining district :— On the ranges, the ' large accumulation of snow seems to suffer no visible diminution, and, doubtless, it will not melt till we either, get rain or have much warmer weather. That troublesome and fickle stream, the Molyneux, is again going down, and in all probability mil once more reach a low level. The continual frosty nights keep the flow of the mountain streams within a very narrow compass ; the Wanaka and Wakatip Lakes are also very low— the latter "especially—so that, unless a violent change takes place in the weather, river beach ■workings will again this season be prosecuted with profit. Mining matters at Alexandra are in a highly prosperous con•/.•fcdition, and, with the exception of - workings at a high .elevation above the sea level, they are beingvigorouslyprosecuted. Frenchman's Beach is a veritable "Tom Tiddler's" ground ; such quantities of gold were never taken from off so small a ' Bpace of ground before, and, strange to relate, the more it is worked the greater -seems the supply of the precious metal. The fluming spanning the rocky gorge of the Manorburn, once the property of the unfortunate Rose, Thistle and Shamrock Mining Co, will . shortly be re-erected. Messrs Jonesand Co, the now proprietors, are using all their euergies to utilise this work again ; and'it will not be long before it will be the means of contributing to swell the amount of the fortnightly escort returns. The Imperial Flume, crossing the Molyneux at -Butcher's Creek, is also being restored to a state of usefulness,, and will shortly be in a position to supply the claims on the Point with water for sluicing purposes. Butcher's and Conroy's gullies are turning out remarkably ■well.