R. M. COURT, QUEENSTOWN.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 160, 9 November 1864, Page 3

R. M. COURT, QUEENSTOWN.

(Before Richmond Beetham, Esq., R.M.) Tuesday, Nov. 8. Furious Riding .—T. H. Horn and J. Lloyd were charged with having ridden in a furious manner on the 6th inst., contrary to the 17th Sec. of the Town and Country Police Ordinance. The evidence of Constable Gallagher was taken, but as he producod no evidence beyond his own, to support the charge, and the defendants affirmed that they were not riding furiously, the Magistrate gave them the benefit of the doubt, and dismissed the case. civil cases. Dooley v. Owen.—£lo 4s 7d. No appearance. Robertson v. Rowley.—£7 7s; and Coutanche v. Hembling.—£6 Is. Paid into court. ♦ Captain Speke and the Fattened Queens. —ln the afternoon, as I had heard from Musa that the wives of the king and princes were fattened to such aa extent that they could not stand upright, I paid my respects to Wazezeru, the king's eldest brother—who, having been born before his father ascended his throne, did not come in the line of succession—with the hope of being able to see for myself the truth of the story. There was no mistake about it. On entering the hut, I found the old man and his chief wife sit ting side by side on a bench of earth strewed over with grass, and partitioned like stalls for sleepiug apartments ; whilst in front of them were placed numerous wooden pots of milk, and hanging from the poles that supported the beehive shaped hut, a large collection of bows six feet iu length, whilst below them were tied an even larger collection of spears, intermixed with a goodly assortment of heavy-headed assagais. I was struck with no small suprise at the way he received me, as well as with the extraordinary dimensions, yet pleasing beauty, of the immoderately fat fair one, his wife. She could not rise ; and so large were her arms, that between the joints the flesh hung down like loose-stuffed puddings. Then in came their children, al models of the Abyssinian type of beauty, and a polite in their manners as thorough-bred gentlemen. They had heard of my picture-books from the king, and all wished to see them, which they n« sooner did, to their infinite delight—especially when they recognised any of the animals—than the subject was turned by my inquiring what they did with so many milk-pots. This was easily explained by Wazezeru himself, who, pointing to his wife, said, " This is all the product of those pots. From early youth upwards we keep those pots to their mouths, as it is the fashion at court to have very fat wives." After a long and amusing conversation with Rumanika in the morning, I called on one of his sisters-in-law, married to an elder brother, who was born before Dagara ascended the throne. She was another of those wonders of obesity, unable to stand excepting on all-fours. I was desirous to obtain a good view of her, and actually to measure her, and induced her to give me facilities for doing so by offering in return to show her a bit of my naked legs and arms. The bait took as I wished it, and, after getting her to sidle and wriggle into the middle of the hut, I did as I promised, and then took her dimensions. Round arm, 1 ft. 11 in.; chest, 4 ft. 4 in.; thigh, 2 ft. 7 in.; calf, 1 ft. 8 in.; height, 5 ft. 8 in. All of these are exact except the height; and I believe I could have obtained this more accurately if I could have had her laid on the floor. Not knowing what difficulties I should have to contend with in such a piece of engineering, I tried to get her height by raising her up. This, after infinite exertions on the part of us both, was accomplished, when she sank down again fainting, for the blood had rushed to her head. Meanwhile, the daughter, a lass of sixteen, sat stark naked before us, sucking at a milk-pot, on which the father kept her at work by holding a rod in his hand; for, as fattening is the first duty of fashionable life, it must be duly enforced by the road if necessary. I got up a bit of flirtation with missy, and induced her to rise and shake hands with me. Her features were lovely, but her body was as round as a ball.— Journal of the Discovery of the Sources of the Nile; by Captain Speke.'

If half the breath vainly spent in complaints here over our want of progress was employed in endeavors to point out the various ways in which the colony might be benefitted, we should not only find a much more cheerful tone of feeling pervading all ranks or classes of society, but we should be individually reaping the fruits of this in our material advancement and social improvement. Grumbling does no good. Croakers are everywhere a pest. Aud when dawdling and croaking are combined, that makes matters infinitely worse. The latter is too often the offspring of the former, or takes precedence of it at all events, in point of time. But it matters little to which of the two we assign the precedence. Industry and enterprise are required for success in colonial life, and these form their very opposite. When uiffieuLies stare us in the face, we are not to be cowed, or to wait for their withdrawal, but to catch somewhat of the spirit with which the late Duke of Wellington inspired his men when he cried, " Up, guards, and at them." There is no other way, in fact, in which the difficnlties of colonial life can be fairly met in any of its departments, or in any of its separate branches. Industry and enterprise are everywhere demanded. A stout heart to a steep brae is at all times indispensable. Without these prerequisites, there is no getting on at anything. They are required in everything to which we put our hands. Corn will not grow without ploughing and harrowing, and a good sprinkling of seed. In order to succeed in the growth of ..uimal food and wool, there must first be a con.-i lerable outlay of capital, and next a large expenditure of time and patience, of assiduity and skill. All sorts of business, general or special, mechanical or mercantile—whether conducted with a view to home or foreign trade—demand the same qualities in those by whom they are carried on. In every branch of industry, the battle of li!e has to be fought, and to be fought keenly. In this war there is no discharge—no discharge at any time, or for anybody. Make ch-ice rf what branch of industry we will, it is all the same.— * Hobart Town Advertiser.' The 'Pastoral Times' of the 23rd ult., says : —" Upwards of half a million of sheep will be shorn this season, within thirty-five miles of Deniliquin. We expect from* this to have 1,250,000 pounds weight, or 416G bales of washed wool, which wiil occupy 207 bullock drays to convey it to the Echuca railway."