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Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 19, Issue 1294, 10 April 1872, Page 2

The Patea correspondent of aWanganui paper writes :—When Mr M'Lean was here, a few gentlemen waited upon him to ascertain his views with regard to the confiscated land, and asked him when it was to be sold. Mr M'Lean, in reply, stated that he had been led to suppose that the Government were possessed of a large, confiscated estate on the West Coast, but upon visiting the distiict ho was surprised to find that the amount of land really available for settlement was comparatively speaking very small; in fact, the magnificent estate of 180,000 acres had dwindled down to 36,000 or possibly 40,000. acres ! It had been found necessary to give the natives back something like 144,000 acres because Mr M'Lean paid they had as good a right to it as any European who had obtained his grant from the crowu. The majority of the natives alluded to were engaged in the last rebellion under Titokowaru. What would people have said if such a proposition had been made in 18(38 1. Great complaints are being made it* England of the scarcity of silver coin. Beetroot sugar is being imported into New York from Scotland*

Peat is largely used in locomotives in the United States. A scientific American journal predicts that the sun will burn out in 44,389 years. No one is likely to live lon** enough to prove the prediction false. During the past summer Professor Tyndall made the following experiment on a rectangular bar oi ice cut from the Morteratsch glacier. This bar was supported at the ends and weighed at its centre, while the temperature was several degrees below the freezing point. After the lapse of ten or twelve hours a perceptible curvature was noticeable —thus showing that ice is flexible. Speaking in Good Words recently of an idol festival which he witnessed in Calcutta, Mr Macleod states that one procession especially arrested his attention. "It consisted," he says, "of about eighty persons, all dressed with tartan kilt, hose, plaid, and bonnet, in imitation of Highland soldiers. *I could hardly believe my eyes,' as astonished people say. My native guide and interpreter said he knew no other reason for this European costume having been adopted on such festal occasions than that the impression made upon the native fancy by the Highland regiment which they had seen on parade in Calcutta was peculiarly strong, and had been increased by -vhat they had heard of their brave deeds during the mutiny." Barham (Tom of Ingoldsby) was at a dinner where they were telling about an invention for extracting the ink from parchment, and reducing the parchment itself to pure geJatine. " Good," said Barham ; " now a man may eat not only his words but his deeds."