Interprovincial Items.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 15, Issue 759, 7 February 1870, Page 3

Interprovincial Items.

AN EXCURSION TO RANGITOTO. The Auckland Morning Advertiser of tho 29th January contains the following inter-, esting account of a trip to the summit of Eangitoto, an extinct volcano in the immediate vicinity of Auckland : On Tuesday afternoon a party of gentlemen and ladies—l 6in all, in three boats —left St. George's Bay for Eangitoto, the intention of the party being to make sketches, from the summit at sunrise, ■which, from the elevation of this hill—96o feet—is likely to be peculiarly beautiful from the great expanse of island-studded coast that is visible. The parties were headed respectively by Major Heaphy, and Lieut. Molloy, R.E. Messrs. W. Churton, G. J. Nation, A. J. Nation, J. Churton, C. Na tion, J. Campbell, W. E. Churton, and the Rev. Mr Dudley also were of the party, which likewise comprised four ladies. lhis island is generally supposed to be rather difficult of ascent, and occasionally accounts appear of failures of very determined parties organised to make the ascent. It is also said to be very difficult except at the north-west side—that oppo site Takapuna Lake. The object of the present'party was to try nearer to the inlet known as Drunken .Bay, and a landing was effected on the south or south-south-west side, opposite to Mr C. J. Taylor's residence at the Tamaki. Owing to the difficulty of properly securing the boats, which had to be anchored out with a southerly wind and swell pre vailing, the party did not leave the beach until about 5 30 or 6 30 p.m., and some of them very much later. It is needless describing the very rough walking that must be made on the slopes of this island, as it has been related over and over again. As it was, the bush was very dense and the scor a sharp and ridgy, with parasites and dead scrub impeding the way at every step. Perhaps the very worst side was taken for the ascent, a circumstance which caused the party to find themselves only halfway through the bush by nightfall. It was now open either to proceed feeling the way, wait until the moon rose at n idnight, or camp out without attaining the summit. They determined to proceed. Each gen tleman curried a blanket, a bag of.provisions, and a bottle o' water, and each ladv a shawl and small bottle of water, so the p.irty was pretty well weighted for a night march. Every five minutes the summit of the is land came into view, and then its position was observed in relation to a star, which became the guiding mark through the vcod when the summit v\as obscured. VV'tih various mischances, such as amateur somersaults (or, as the schoolboy ol the party termed them, "sprawlers"), way was gained over the ridges and through the bush, step by step,—each fathom of the ground being carefully felt by some one in advance for the guidance of tiiose behind. Aft* r four hours of this night march all tho time sturdily steering for the summit —the cone was reached, and about one a.m. a large fire kindled on the highest point; wneri, after a iighc supper, the blankets were spread, tho party slept until jdav break, except those who were told oft to keep up the fire. At sunrise the view was surpassingly beautilul, and well repaid the trouble of the ascent. All the eastern sea, from Cape Rodney to the Thames, with the Tamaki, Manukau, and Waitemata, were in a panorama around. All the islands of the Gulf, "with promonotory, creek, and bay," were gloriously lighted up, and a mosquito fleet of schooners and cutters lay becalmed in the smooth water in the various channels, while the light at Tiritiri paled as the day grew brighter. Rut most singular of all, in a fog-bank opposite to the sun, and hanging on the Takapuna Lake, appeared the shadow of each one of the party standing on the summit —the realisation in New Zealand of the "spectre," called of the Brock'en. It has not been generally known that this illusion is visible in any other place but the Hartz mountains, but it has also been seen at VVhata VVhata, in the Wai kato. when the mists are lying in the Whipa Yalley, as the sun rises clear ovei the Aroha mountains. There it was. In tho midst of an al most circular halo, reflecting the sun, bm of great diameter, appeared the top of the shadow of the cone, and on it the gianl figures of the persons observing it. It apappeared singular that each person could only see his own figure in the halo, and not that of his companion at a short dis' tance. As or.e moved the figure stalked along, and when one stopped the figure also stopped. There was just time for eacl o;ie of the party to see it before the alti tude of the sun became so great as to throv Hie halo below the fog bank, when tin figures disappeared, though the uppe curve of the halo remained for a few mo ments longer. The party returned to Auckland abou 11 a.m. yesterday. With reference to the ascent of Rangi toto we (Daily Southern Cross) have re ceived the following from a correspondent —tiir, —A doubt being expressed abou ■who was the first white man to reach th summit of Eangitoto, I submit that a part, formed of mjself, and Me.-srs. Cornisl: Towgood, and Wilson, were the first wh succeeded in scaling the volcano. Our tri ■was on the eve of 24th of May, 1853. W found a boat harbor between Rangitot

and Motutapu, camped for the night, and, after four hours' hard travelling similar to tint experienced by the late party of ex plorera, we reached the summit; when, after satisfying ourselves with the view, we descended, which oocupied ahont 2£ hours. Should anyone have achieved the feat pre vious to this time, I should like to know, as we made extended inquiries at the time, and could discover no one to lay claim to a previous ascent. —I remain, &c, B. D. DANr.fc.KS.

Mr Michael Murphy died at Spring Creek, Marlborough, on 11th January, aged 100 years. From Timaru we learn that as much as 5s an acre is being paid for the right of cutting green Oax in that district. The Southland Coal Prospecting Association have r .-solved to renew boring operations in the vicinity of Taipo Bridge. The Ven. Archdeacon Lloyd, minister of St. Paul's Church, Auckland, intends very shortly to leave the Colony, considerarions of failing health influencing him in relinquishing his ministerial labors in New Zealand. At Auckland, on Jan. 28, a seaman be longing to the ketch 'Eagle,' named Fredrick Kading, died suddenly whilst sculling a boat near the breakwater. An inquest was held the same day, when the jury returned a verdict to the effect that deceased rlied by the visitation of Cod in consequenee of the rupture of an aneurism. In some parts of Auckland rats are becoming a complete pest. They penetrate through the hardest wood, and ensconce themselves in every nook and cranny. Only a few days ago one of those voracious animals gnawed the arm of a child of Mrs Grant's, Nelson-street. The child was asleep, and the rat had succeeded in doing > serious injury before the mother awoke. The Lyttelton Times, in an article on the prospect of the coining harvest, says—[n forecasting the price of grain for the ensuing season, it should not be forgotten that the Australian colonies will commence the year with unusually short stock. It is, we think, almost a certainty that oats will be high priced, and that barley will qlso maintain its value. The price ot wheat will depend, to a considerable extent, on the ultimate yield of South Aus- i traha. There is not, so far as we are in a position to judge, any substantial reason for thinking that it will fall very low. The natives are said to be good judges of character, and not without reason, as the following extract from an account of the Governor's reception at the Thames will show :—''Pinihi Marutuahu said: Welcome, Governor, Governor! Welcome to Hauroki! All the other Governors before you were not so quiet in their manners as you are. Welcome to Hauraki!" A cruel "sell" has been perpetrated at Hokitika. A number of diggers hid made up their minds to have a large, rich, real Christmas pudding, full of plums and currants and lemon peel, with plenty of eggs and spice and sugar, and everything else that was nice and good for a pudding. They made a subscription, bought the material, and set to work ; one storied the plums, another washed the currants, and a third beat up the eggs and so on. When the pudding was liwished —it was a pudding and no mistake. Then a very large pot was borrowed and a large fire was made The pot being filled vvith water, two men succeeded in lifting the bag which contained the pudding and dropped it in ; what a plop and a splash it made! The pudding had boiled all day, but as the men had been told that a Christinas pudding could not be boiled too much, it was agreed to put a rousing fire under it and let it boil all night and till dinner time nest day. It was a three-hundred weigh pudding and required all that time. Dinner time came and the pudding had to be lifted. This was done by the joint aid of all hands. But there was not ihe delicious aroma experienced which generally assails the nostrils when a rich plum pudding is about to be denuded of its outside covering. There was a foreboding ol sornetning wrong ; and so it turned out, for when the string which bound the bag was untied, the pudding was discovered to be a huge bag of sand. During the night three scoundrels had played the most foul trick. The marks of the pudding stealers' feet were tracked some distance into the bush and then all signs , disappeared. Tho diggers have vowed a vow that if they can only catch the thieves they will so serve them that they will never be able to repeat the trick. The cry now through the south beach diggings is, " Who stole the pudding ? " A very distressing accident, says an Auckland contemporary, occurred the o her day to a young lady, Miss Mary Coultas, aged 13 years, the only daughter of Mr John Coultas, proprietor of the Whangamarino fl<»x mills, Waikato. It appears that on the evening of Friday, 14th 1 January, Mr Coultas started from home about half past 11 to proceed to Auckland, ' and as it was a beautiful and moonlight * night, his daughter accompanied him Joi ' some distance on the road, and after leaving ' him, proceeded accompanied by ayoungei brother, to the creek in order to indulge in a bath before retiring to bed. It is supposed that she must have been euddenlj seized with a cramp while bathing, foi almost as soon as she entered the water - she disappeared from her brother's sight : Although a very diligent search has bcei t prosecuted, the body has not been found e and it is presumed that it must have beei V carried by the stream into the Waikati j river. Deceased was quite accomphshec o for her age, having frequently conduotec P Divine service on Sundays for the bemfi e of the workmen engaged at the flax-miLt-o with whom she was au especial favorite.

MILITARY MUSIC.

[Evening Post.] Fjiom time immemorial music has been one of the adjuncts of warfare, and the drum and the trumpet have been for ages associated with the sword and the gun in warlike deeds and martial tale. The Highland and the African tom-tom alike have." bid the battle rave;" and the noble work of slaughter has never been performed with spirit when the strains of music were wanting to inspire the valiant, and sooth the souls of the dying. Of all the instruments which have ever sounded on the field of glory, perhaps the bugle has been most extensively used. Its notes have given out the word of command, and ordered advance, retreat, fire, cease firing, and so on, so long and so often, that the impossibility of fighting without a bugle is almost received as an axiom ; however, it seems that a revolution in this respect is about to be effected. Our new demilitarized Constabulary, to mark their superiority over all other organised forces, as well as the contempt of their chief for everything military, are to depart from this established rule. No bugle for reveille or tatto is aijain to sound within the sacred precincts of Mount Cook Barracks, but in lieu thereof a bell—in prison style, suggestive of handcuffs, cells, and leg-irons—will ring solemnly at stated times; and when the forces take the field the bell will accompany them, and, hung on a triangle or a tree, as the case may be, will toll the advance, the charge, the refeat, the rally, and, in short, guide all '" the current of the heady fight." jS t o buglers will be attached to this force, their places being supplied by the Otago bellringers.