Local Intelligence.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XIII, Issue 751, 18 January 1860, Page 4

Local Intelligence.

Rumour has during Ihe past week informed us of the discovery of gold; in,this .province. Long ago we knewj by more than report, that'natives in the neighbourhood of the Grey river, which bounds Canterbury and Nelson, had picked,up specimens of the precious: metal j'and by: Dr. Hochstetter we have been taught to expect; its presence on one side or other of our main mountain range.: The late rumour to which wo refer meantj of course, that gold had been found in an; accessible place,in a quantity and condition to pay. , But there was the usual indistinctness in.the report—the how, when, where, and how'much of the discovery were omitted; and we could discover no authentic source from which, to derive intelligence nearer than from : the alleged field itself. We therefore refrained from any idle notice of the rumour until after taking p.uch steps as are usual to obtain real information; and it is with the greater satisfaction, therefore, that.we insert the following noteßon the subject from the pen of a special correspondent. The time referred to is the.end of last week:—

" On arri\'til at the site of the supposed gold fields ■ —the country on and about the ' head waters of the ' Teremakau and .Paliau—l found. the reports with regard to the numbers at work to be without fouu-

dation. A tow jia ftieVof "fi 0111 three to eight personswureTscattered over a large area of country, prospecting; and ■■•from the information I could glean from them, I am indisposed to believe in the existence ; of. gold- in., that locality. A large party were packing provisions and tools up the llurunui, preparatory to making a more careful examination; but of their ultimate destination 1 could ascertain nothing. I may ao"d that I did not sec a single specimen of the g<>l<l alleged to have, been found, during the whole time I have been away, in spite of my most diligent enquiry. ".Several parties have been at work prospecting up the Pahau; but as they have left within the last f'esv days we may reasonably suppose them to have been unsuccessful. "The wliolu,of those engaged in the expedition are entirely unprovided with the necessary tools to prosecute their search in a manner calculated to set at rest the vague rumours now current. " In the neighbourhood of the Teremakau (Buller) quartz rocks abound, and in my opinion that is the only spot where there is any probability of finding deposits. " There are hone of the usual features of gold regions to be found on this side of the ranges." Captube of a Sperm Whale.—A fine calf sperm whale, having got on shore near the month; of the Salt Water Creek, was captured by Mr. Wm.; Orchard a week or two ago. * Mr. Orchard, who was with his family pic-nic-ing onthebeach at the time,' succeeded-with great difficulty in killing the animal with a pocket knife. It yielded upon' trying out' about two hundred.gallons of oil, estimated to be worth one hundred pounds—a nice little sum to make out of a day's pleasure.

Ah inquest was held tit Cashmere, near Christchurch, on Thursday, before Dr. Donald,. the coroner, and a respectable jury, on the body of; Narain, a Bengalese woman "in the service of Mr. J.Cracroft Wilson,.who had died on the previousl day, it was supposed from eating the poisonous leaves of the tutu plant. The.evidence offered was' very distinct as to the facts. Solitnan, the husband of deceased, and Bassawan, her cousin's husband, stated, through Mr; Wilson as interpi*eter, that about half-past nine on Wednesday morning deceased was observed ;to "be seized with a violent fit of vomiting, in which a quantity of chewed leaves were discharged. The likelihood of these leaves being tutu at. once suggested itself, and the fact was communicated to the 'sahib,' Mr. Wilson, who; administered some tartar ,emetic and other medicines, and at once^sent for medical assistance. Spasms, Mr. Wilson stated, of a violent character, and similar to those of cholera, occurred with convulsions about every ten minutes. Dr. Turnbull, who arrived soon after; .found the unhappy woman in a comatose state, breathing convulsive, -and cold, with a rapid weak pulse, and presenting every appearance of approaching death. She died in about . half-an-hour. He attributed, her death with certainty.to the effects of a narcotic irritant vegetable poison ;' the convulsions were tetanic; but he had ; never seen tutu exhibited and therefore could not refer with certainty =to ib.as the producing cause.: The husband of deceased stated that she had got; up in the morning quite well; they had been married in May 1857; they had had no words together; and in his opinion she must have taken the tutu under some momentary irritation. Mr. Cracroft Wilson said he examined the tutu plants near, and found the ends of the young shoots nipped off. Bassawan said they had all been warned that tutu was dangerous. The verdict of the jury was that deceased died1 by poison administered by herself, but that there was no evidence as to the motive .'for' taking it. . ' ' '''..'•"''■