Colonial.

Lyttelton Times, Volume X, Issue 626, 6 November 1858, Page 5

Colonial.

AUCKLAND,

By the Sarah we have news from this province to the 23rd ult., and indirectly news from Sydjney to the 1 lth October, on which day the second 'mail was overdue. ■

| The news from Auckland announces the arriival of the Lord Ashley on the 14th ult. j The Drury coalfields in the neighbourhood of iMahukau are indisputably, a success. Great i attention has been paid to the subject both in ;a" scientific manner to determine the quality of ithe, product and in a practical manner to bring '■ it most easily into use. Lengthy and lucid reports of all investigations are given in the 'New ;Zealander,' in which paper we find the following 1 short resume of the operations :■— j We are able to state that the more the coalifields of Drury are explored, the more promising :is the prospect of an abundant supply of exceljlent;coal, superior to any imported from Australia. The singular manner in which some of the jcbal is'over and."'underlaid'with'.kauri gum, ia -thought by geological students to throw doubt upon the generally received theory as to the agency of heat in the prod action of" coal. Specimens of coal from different diggings, and procured at different depths, as well as ofthe oehreous 'earths, will be sent to England and to Sydney for analysis by competent authorities, and from the latter place we hope soou to receive reports fully.confirmatory of the expectations we have been led to entertain as to the vast importance to the Province, of Auckland of the recent mineral discoveries. ;

The ninth Session of the Provincial Council was opened by the Superintendent on the 4th ult. with an able address, in which he recapitulated the striking events of the recess, and summarised the course which he aud his advisers proposed to pursue. Mr. Busby, a Member of the Council, has brought forward a motion for a committee to prepare a petition to the Queen for separation of the Province of Auckland from the rest of the colony. After long debates, in which Dr. Pollen, the Secretary of the province, opposed the motion, it was finally carried by a majority of 13 to 3 on the 19th of October, one member (Mr. Merriman) not voting.

' The ' New Zealander' seems to anticipate from the energy with which a certain party in the Council is urging its opposition, that a design is entertained to push the province to a sixth election of Superintendent.

Fuller details we must reserve for a future issue.

The following concerns Hawke's Bay:—

Mr. Ferguson, M. G. A, has arrived from Hawke's Bay by the Henry, bringing with him the petition to the Governor, praying for the separation of that district from Wellington and its erection into a distinct province. The number of signatures is 202, and Mr. Ferguson hopes to be the bearer back, on his return, of the momentous piece of parchment assuring to the people of Hawke's Bay the realization of their aspirations after independence.—^ls. ZealqnjUr*. .