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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IX, Issue 84, 9 April 1874, Page 2

A deserted fair one of tbo name of Sophia Hovsington, advertises io the ' Grey River Argus,' that unless her hußband (named Alfred), communicates with her within three months she intends to get married. The Latest fkom the Palmer Diggings. — The Australasian of March 28 says: — " The news from Cooktown etill affords very little encouragement to miners to proceed thither, unless they are prepared to incur all sorts ,o(/ dangerous risks and take their lives in their hands. Communication has been restored with the goldfield, the effect of which has been to drain Cooktown of flour, and 3,000 meu are now on the road between the Palmer and the town which is thusdcstitute of supplies. Great numbers of diggers are at the portwaitiog for supplies. The Brisbane Courier has an article putting in a strong light the perils involved in a journey to the Palmer; and showing, also, bow little inducement there is to go. Our contemporary says: — " The geological feaiures of the country forbid any well-grounded expectation of extensive alluvial deposits, the isolated patches which have beeu found being most capriciously distributed over a large extent of country, difficult to traverse, destitute of supplies, aud swarming with hostile tmtivis. . . . The scene of labor is situntad in a purely tropical region, where the burning rays of the sun are tempered by no shelter, The work, severe under auy conditions, is aggravated by the deprivation of every comfort. It necessitates constant exposnre to the falnl inflnences of wes and miasma. Coup dc soleil threatens fluting the day; fever hovers round the couch at night. Few even of the acclimatised escape, on the more settled Northern | fields, one or more annual visitations; and life itself when spared, is frequently but too deaily purchased by a complete wreck of the constitution, A groat deal of gold should be the certain reward of those who voluntarily incur such hazard; yet what, upon dispassionate inquiry, is there to justify the mad impulse which has spread from Cape St. Vincent to Queensland? SA. few rumore, gathering as rumors do. A few telegrams, emanating from no one knows whom. Though it is now more than six months since Mr Mulligan and his mates published the discovery, and more than four since a very considerable population were at work, no authenticated yields worthy of comparison with Gympie or the Cape River have been got, no appreciable increase iv the exports of gold 'from the Northern ports is perceptible." It is to be hoped that the repeated warnings that have been given by the press, and also by hard circumstances, will have the effect of deterring miners who have the means of a comfortable livelihood where they are from inconsiderately abandoning the certain advantages d| the present for the chances of a very uncertain future on the far off goldfields of North Queensland." The special correspondent of the Melbourne Argus writes from Fijis : — " Tax-gathering for the Government in Fiji is no joke. The people as a rule are very poor. They cannot pay the £1, but they pay one shilling or half-a--crown, or whatever it seems to them they can afford. I have heard the native and white Government officers say that when the men have to pay their taxes to the appointed persons on the day set apart for the purpose, they will rush into the room in a body brandishing their clubs, tbroV ' their money at the receiving officer, who often believes his last moment has come, and after a wild howl, make their exit as unceremoniously. But it is better to growl and pay than to complain and not pay. The native taxes ! have, however, got largely iv arrears. The financial affairs of the kingdom are in a great muddle. The hooks of the first Treasurer were mysteriously losr, and with them a sum of £30,000. No one can state with absolute certainty the condition of the Treasury, but tbo calculation of the Opposition has neyer been satisfactorily refuted." The body of Victor Angell was recovered this afternoon about half-past 4 o'clock, after a search of two hours, by George . Eskdale* a professional diver engaged at the Benalla-bridge, who generously placed his services gratuitously at Lottie's disposal. The body. was discovered at a depth of 25ft. in a spot known as Dead Man's Hole, It was imbedded in snags. An inquest will bo held to-morrow. Considerable sympathy is felt for the widow throughout the entire district. — Melbourne Argus.