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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume I, Issue 185, 8 October 1866, Page 2

Mr. Th. Mabille informs us that he has received a letter from the French consulate in Melbourne, to the effect that about the j time the murders were taking place on the Maungatapu, the French Consul was engaged ; in taking information about the unfortunateFelix jViathieu, as he had been instructed to do go by M. Antoine Gueydau, of Forcalquier, Department of Basses-Alpes, France, Avho is brother-in-law to the late Mathieu, as he was very anxious to hear of his whereabouts. We understand that before Felix Mathieu met with his fate he used to speak freely of his only sister in France in termsof great affection, and we therefore suppose that the said Gueydau was brother-in-law to that same sister. It may be imagined what pain the reception of the sad news of Mathiou's death will cause to his distant relations. i The Grey River Argus has received reliable information of an important character from Wyndham Creek. The party known an the Cornish party, who have been tunnelling into a high terrace, struck gold a few days ago, after driving 70 feet; the prospects varying from 16 grains to 1 dwt. to the dish. There is plenty of similar ground, and a small rush took place, about 100 men having arrived. The latest accounts from the Teremakau rush arc satisfactory. On Saturday week about 14 chums had been bottomed, in each instance on payable gold, while in some prospects of from I }, to 2 dwts. to the dish wereobtained. The population is increasing, and numbers of new arrivals have taken place i within (he last few days. The W. C. Times states that Mr. Audley. the chief clerk at the Post r office, Hokitika, was arresled. on a charge of embezzling monies contained in letters passing through the post-office. j A fatal and sudden accident occurred at Duffers' Guliy on Tuesday, the 25th ulf. A man named Neil Beaton, a carpenter, was crossing the puily on some logs, when he slipped and fell down into the gully. When picked up he was found to be dead, his neck having been broken by the fall. The policeheld an inquiry into the matter, when the facts as above stated were elicited. The deceased was well-known in Greymoutli. Hokitika and Bunedin. Kis friends reside at Liverpool, England ; and Launceston, Tasmania. The G R Argus learns from the "Wellington / | papers, that a natural curiosity of very great / value has been received from Gtago, by Diy Hector, F.R.S., and is now undergoing examination. It consists of the larger portion of a moa's egg, containing the "bones of a chick in an advanced state of incubation. The egg shell is of a different texture to that forwarded to Europe by Mr. Fyffe last year, and belonged, it is inferred, to one of the largest known species of the genus Diuornis. The public will look forward with much interest to Dr. Hector's account of this remarkable discovery. The G. R. Argus says : — A month or two ago a very fine nugget was found at the Little Grey, weighing'about 9 ozs. We have bow to announce that a much finer specimen has been obtained in the same locality, and has been purchased by Messrs. Broadbent and East, of this town. It weighs 14 oz. 6 dwt. 12 grs., and is almost entirely pure gold, of a rich dark color. It is much water ■worn, and about the size of a large pear. The following; mining intelligence is from the Westlajid Observer.: — Several instances of the extreme richness of the Okavita.

beaches, and of the good fortune of diggers • in this neighborhood, have recently come "under our notice. Not a few of these have been furnished by the Three Mile Bench, which every body had latterly concluded was only indifferently rich, and now nearly wrought out. Comparatively small as that Leach is, it has proved to be one of the richest on the coast, and those who have secured a .competency out of it, believe that it yet contains enough to afford high earnings to many more. Several of the passengers who went away by the Kennedy this week were men who had made small fortunes at the Three Mile, and this week some large parcels have been sold from the same place. On Wednesday a party of three men were seen wending their way along the beach towards the township, one of them carrying a swag, the weight of which -was very disproportionate to its size. They made their way direct to the Bank of New South Wales, and ■we believe they disposed of a parcel containing close upon 700 ounces, the result of three men's work for a few months, clear of all expences. By the same party weekly parcels have been sold for four months' past, mid previous to that they disposed of several hundred ounces in one lot. From the same beach, on the same day this week, two small parties disposed, between them, of 250 -ounces. From the Five Mile, where the parties are larger and more numerous, large parcels continue to be received, and we know ■of two men who recently left town, each with £1700 in pocket, after four months' work. Even from Gillespie's Beach, parcels varying from 70 to 90 ounces have, from ■lime to time, been received, and we know of a hundred ounces of rough gold having, in a very short time, been accumulated as purchases from a few parties wo are working in some of the creeks of the neighborhood. The Auckland Herald has the following account of the way in which Mr, Hallett improved his wheat: — Acting upon the conviction of hi? own mind in respect to the feasibility of greatly improving the yield and quality of wheat by careful selection of seed and a proper system of culture, Mr. Hallett commenced operations and persevered in them until he had perfectly succeeded, on a large and small scale, and got what he calls pedigree wheat. In 1857 he planted only from ears 4:', f inches lonir, containing 47 grains. In 18.38 his fiiicsc ear was 6| inches long, containing 79 grains, and there were 10 ears j from the first plant. The best stool from these, sown in the same way, bore | 22 ears iv 1859, the finest of which measured 7/ji- inches, and contained 91 grains. In 1861 the finest, ear was B.f inches long, containing 123 grains, and the number of ears iv the | iiuest single plant was 52. These results were brought about in five years by carefully selecting the grain sown, and thus constantly improving the breed, so to speak, of the wheat. John Bullock's saw mills, on Stewart's Island, have been totally destroyed by fire. A new Presbyterian church has been erected at Patumahoe, the land was given by Mr. Finlay, brother to Mr. Thomas Finlay. The prospectus of the iuter-proviucial rowing match to take piece at Heathcote, on the 17th December next, states : The prize for the first match is to be a cup valued at £50 and 100 sovereigns; and as the province in which the competition is held subscribes for the prize, the expenses of the visiting crews are to be defrayed by their, supporters in. the different provinces which they represeut. Four-oared boats of any description, with coxswains, manned by amateurs, are to compete ; the entrance fee to be £5 ss. for each boat ; no race unless entries are made by at least three provinces ; any number of boats may enter from each province ; in the event of six or more boats being entered, the race to be run in heats of not les3 than three, or more than five; and the selection and. length of the course to be left to the stewards and committee. The value of property in Hokitika, says the Evening Star of the 29tli ult, keeps up wonderfully, in fact, is on the advance in anything like business positions, and during the week several sections and houses have

changed hands at a great increase ou what the owners would have sold for, some few months ago. Busiueas generally has been brisk, the digging stores keeping up their orders, and cash bus been easily obtainable in a majority of instances. A great many improvements are being made, and fresh buildings spring up in all directions. It is with no little -pleasure, says the I Auckland Herald, we have received intelli- • gence from Canada by the late mail, announcing that our esteemed fellow-citizen. Dr. S. Stratford, who left here for England in medical charge of a portion of her Majesty's troops, is now actively engaged in Canada as an immigration agent of the Provincial Government of Auckland. Dr. Stratford's ten ov eleven years' residence amongst us will enable him to give a faithful picture of what such men as those he is now in communication with may achieve in a country such as this, while his still longer residence previously to that period in Canada "West, will give weight to his representations. He can point with pride to the successes of those settlements of dSTova Scotians which have grown up under his own eye at "Waipu, at "Wangarei, at Omaha, at Kauriohore, and elsewhere, where men with every difficulty to struggle against, with scanty means, but with stout hearts and willing hands have hewn, first food and shelter, then plenty, and now competence from the forest, and amongst whom failure, if not altogether unknown., has been rare indeed. Smith, late steward of the Barwon, who was convicted of being concerned in the gold robbery from that steamer, was on the 15th ult. at Sydney, sentenced to sixteen months' imprisonment, dating from the 9th of May, ! the day that he was first remanded. This light sentence was passed upou him in conI sequence of the high testimonials as to character which were given by friends of his, ' wlto knew him on Emerald-Hill. The Chief Justice, in passing sentence, said that the conduct of the persons in charge of the gold was scandalous in allowing those on board to be exposed to such temptation. On the same day Bertrand was placed in the dock, when the Attorney-G-encral announced, through i the Crown Prosecutor, that he had received j by the mail from England the necessary auj tlioriry to stay any further proceedings, and lie (Bcrtrand) w;is, thereupon, remitted to his former custody, to await the final decision of the Privy Council in his case. The prisoner looked healthy and well. I From a blue book issued by the electric I telegraph department at Adelaide, we glean : some interesting data as to the progress of ' telegraphic communication in the colonies. Victoria had the honor of initiating the system, the first Australian line having been I laid down between Melbourne and Williamstown in 1854, extending to Geelong, Queenscliff, and Sandhurst, the following year. In I another decade — that is, in 1865 — there were no less than 2517 miles of telegraph in full work within the Victorian boundary. South Australia laid down her first line in 1556, i and at the close of the last year she had 835 miles open. !New South Wales did not commence till 1857, when Parliament voted a sum of £38.000 for a. line connecting Sydney and Melbourne. At the close of last year her entire length of line was 2545 miles. Queensland has 1131 miles of line in operation al- ' ready, and is still extending her works. It is a significant proof of Australian progress that,' at the close of last year, a complete chain of telegraphic communication had been effected between all the colon ; es. An experiment of a private nature, which proved a decided success, took place, at the light-ship, Williamstown, in the presence of Captain, harbor-master, and Messrs. Campbell and Elder, to try the lifting powers of Mri S. W. Macquay's patent for raising sunken vessels. A frame-work of iron, 6 feet long by 2 feet' wide, to which was attached an iron' cylinder. 9 inches in diameter by 15 inches in height, which contained the chemicals for • inflating an air-tight bag at the other end, the whole mass when complete weighing about 84- cwt., was submerged ' and sustained the weight. It was afterwards towed to Ann-street pier, and on arrival had not diminished the least in its buoyancy.

Gipps Land seems- likely to prove a real copper Eldorado. A splendid" cargo of copper ore was brought to Melbourne, lately by the I Charles' Edward, from the. Thomson River mine. While others were doubting and denouncing, the prospectors braively toiled on, and the result has exceeded their most brilliant hopes. That the mine is- "incalculably valuable, both in . quantity and quality, has been stated by competent cogperSrtirners ; and the shareholders have consequently felt themselves justified in entering'' into" arrangements to supply 1000 tons for shipment every month.