COLONIAL NEWS

Lyttelton Times, Volume II, Issue 69, 1 May 1852, Page 3

COLONIAL NEWS

By the arrivals of this week we have papers from Sydney up to April oth. We beg especially ! to acknowledge the regularity and dispatch with which the Empire is forwarded to us from Sydney. We received no Melbourne papers by the " Tory," but have kindly been furnished with some copies of the Melbourne Argus by one of the passengers who arrived by that vessel, from which we have extracted Mr. Westgarth's able address to the Chamber of Commerce at Melbourne, which our readers will find in the sixth page. The columns of the Australian journals are filled with accounts of the gold diggings and their consequences. Speaking generally, the gold harvests in New South Wales have decreased in abundance, but are being reaped from a larger extent of country. In Victoria, on the contrary, the supply is only limited by the number of diggers, of whom nearly 50,000 are hard at work. The papers are filled with records of outrage —even Judge Lynch has made his appearance upon British soil. It is fair, however, to say that private accounts represent these statements to be in some measure exaggerated, so far as regards the scene of the " diggings." Melbourne itself and the neighbourhood is stated by all accounts, both public and private, to be in a state of disgraceful lawlessness. The following is the account given by the Melbourne Argus of the attack on the barque " Nelson," to which we alluded last week.

DESPERATE ATTACK ON THE BARQUE NELSON, BY PIRATES. Yeaterday morning, at an early hour, two boats, with muffled oars, containing twenty-two men, armed to the teeth, proceeded from the beach at Sandridge to the barque " Nelson," lying off the lighthouse at Williams Town. This vessel, which has recently arrived from Geelong, en route to London, had on board 3183 oz. of gold. Notwithstanding so large an amount of treasure was deposited in her, no watch was kept, and the pirates succeeded in boarding her, and securing two men and a boy, who were in the forecastle, before they could raise any alarm. Having dispersed themselves over the vessel, some went aft and seized the chief officer and a friend, together with the carpenter, who were asleep in the cabin, whilst others employed themselves in throwing overboard all the small arms within their reach, as well as the swivelguns mounted on the poop deck. Mr. Draper, the chief officer, received a slight wound in the thigh, from a shot fired by one of the robbers, before they succeeded in overpowering him and his companions, which they soon did, and having lashed their hands together, they commenced plundering the Lazarette, of the position of which they "appeared to be well acquainted. Captain Wright, the commander of the vessel, yvas ashore, and seven only of the crew remained on board. Having secured the treasure of which they were in search, and deposited it in the boats, they took the precaution before quitting the vessel, of imprisoning all hands in the Lazarette, where it is difficult to conjecture how long they might have remained had they not been released'by a seaman, who, in the early part of the fray, during the confusion which ensued, succeeded in secreting himself, and who emerged from his hiding place when well assured of the departure of the assailants

So soon as the chief officer was liberated from his confinement, he proceeded to Williams Town, and gave information to the proper authorities of what had occurred. The Harbour Master's and Water Police boats were immediately manned, and proceeded to sea in the hope of overtaking the plunderers; but they could discover nothing until daylight, when they found one of the boats half a mile from the beach towards St. Kilda, broadside on the sand, together with the tracks of dray wheels brought there to convey away the plunder. Another boat was found on the beach at Williams Town. Upon the arrival of Mr. Lovell, the inspector of the Water Police, in town yesterday morning, with intelligence of the occurrence, Captain Start started off with a body of the mounted police and scoured the country, with the view of discovering what direction the dray had taken after leaving the beach. Up to the time of going to press last night, we regret to say, no tidings had been heard of them ; but it is expected that, in the event of their capture, some of the number could be recognized, though many of them had the lower part of their faces disguised in black handkerchiefs, with caps over their eyes. The precise amount of the booty they have taken is, it would appear, twenty-three packages of gold, containing 8183 ounces. — Melbourne Argus.