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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VII, Issue 205, 28 August 1872, Page 4

The origin of the phrase •" Mind your P's and QV is not generally known. In ale houses, where chalk scores were formerly marked upon the wall or behind the door of the tap-room, it was customary to put these initials at the head of every man's account, to show the number of pints and quarts for which he was in arrears; and we may presume many a' friendly rustic to have tapped his neighbor on the shoulder, when he was indulging freely in his potations, and to have exclaimed, as he pointed to the score, «' Giles'! Giles ! mind your P's and Q's." According to the Bendigo Advertiser, there is not much reality in the Roper River movement : — " The number of Sandhurst people who are 'really going' to the Roper is increasing every day, while the number of persons who are ' thinking about it ' is very great. ' Parties ' are formed easily enough, consisting of 'six young fellows,' or 'ten of us,' or 'a lot of us chape/ contributing at the rate of £25 per head each, for the purpose of chartering a vessel 'to go round.' When the time comes for * action' in this 'going round' business, somehow or other the bottled. up enthusiasm — or the £25 — has vanished into thin air. The .party does not go to the Roper after all, and the members of it are found very soon excusing themselves for stopping in Sandhurst in various fashions. One says, plainly enough. s Oh, hang the Roper.' Another says, ' I'd go if I waa sure that oue would not have to carry a pistol to shoofc those enormous mosquitoes.' There was a meeting yesterday again, of ' gentlemen anxious to fit out,' &c. It was held in the Bath Hotel, . and the number of gentlemen ' anxious to fife out' — with the view of setting out — was almost bb great as on the previous occasion. But nothing definite came of the meeting, and . we think it is pretty certain that nothing definite will come of it, or of any similar meetings at. the present time. We. , understand that Mr James Ross arid J a ! Wall party of three or four others~will start Soon from Sandhurst for Port Darwjh,- ajid^with this expedition we think we shall "have to content ourselves, for the v^resent 4t least?' " ! ••■•<•■ The Ballarat Conner has been favqred ; with an/extract from a letter which has just been receiyedfrom Mr. Simpson, at Pertby relative r to the Pearl' Fisheries of , West Austral)a.v Mr. 'VSimp.soir writes. .'k^;ery..... favprUtilyf ojf f thesei • fi^sher^es."^"^'^^^; '? saya^a^easpKnad •jus^returned from New on board of* which ■ : , «lear^d:fic:6ai £s^S^^0 ff a^rding to eg-jrti^s^are ;}^M^S^oS^^i^7-!^.&^ '. ; .'"' ; iV».si!.'/s'''j ■S.'"fs"''-: '-O :,*' Y( '','•■ ■'■ ' .V-s^AirJ'-'- ■■■-' /■'.'"■'.' ,•. ■•*, ■ j *'?' ■.• ■■' ■' • •

of the pearl shells obtained during the present trip of. : the, vessel, which only lasted. aitogether,abp.ui's.even months. ' The natives are employed as divere, and they workfor a mere subsistence; but to avoid desertion, some of the vessels bring natives from the. Coromandel coast and Java, and Java, and these men are paid two rupees •a month and fed free. These meu never land on account of (he hostility of the natives to them. Mr. Simpson says that a 'ton, and a half of shells -will pay the whole expense of tho trip, and that it is not at all uncommon for a diver to bring up to the boat 301 b. of shells after one dip. The value of tho shells is from £7 to £9 17 6d. per cwt. Sometimes pearls ure alighted upon, and in that case the profits of the Benson are very^ materially increased. The South Australian Register publishes an interesting letter of Mr M'Hcnry's, which was written by him in Egypt on his voyage to England. He describes tho Suez Cnnal, and speaks highly of some of tho results of its existence which have as yet been too little noticed. The doctor says, among other things : — "The Sweet \Vater canal is about SOffc wide, full of fish, and all .round it appears vegetation where before nothing was visible but stones and sand. M. Lesseps during twenty yeat'3 has planted here more than a million of trees, including date-palms, olives, and mulberries. Already hundreds of square miles appear as green as English meadows in June, interlined with fruit trees of different kinds, where twenty-five years ago 20f. were paid for a vessel with fresh water for house uses. The whole country of • Goshen ' ia being resuscitated from its sandy desert bed. Formerly it scarcely ever rained at Cairo. Since the construction of the Suez Canal and other watercourses for irrigation purposes, the atmosphere has become cooler. Since my arrival we have had every night a shower. Last night a heavy rain fell. Hence it becomes plain that the construction of canals, etc., and the planting of trees will change a dry climate. During the day the boat is great, the nights are cool and refreshing — almost too cold. Tho Viceroy of Egypt spends millions on the improvements, and especially on {he planting of trees. The roads in all directions are planted on both sides with large umbrageous trees, and Ausfralia should learn from Egypt and California to plant and cultivate trees, especially along their roads and highways." i