THE TIMES & SIR JULIUS VOGEL.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XL, Issue 219, 6 September 1876, Page 2

THE TIMES & SIR JULIUS VOGEL.

To TnE Editor of the 'Evening Mail.' „^ I1 }>~ ln this morning's 'Times I notice that in the debate re the Agent-Generalship oir Julius Vogel, no longer Premier, is noticed as Vogel this, Vogel that, and Vogel the. other. What, does it all mean ? Has Her Majesty the Queen been pleased to remove her past favors, or that our local Autolycus " in a fit of jealousy robbed Sir Julius of his title in exchange for the late Premier's unintentional theft at the late dress ball in Wellington, for, if not, ifc is a, gross piece of ignorance on the part of an enlightened editor who dared not have done so before Sir Julius' resignation. I would suggest to him a few lines of Yours, &c, Auld Lang Syne.

A writer in the Marlborough Advertiser describes the mode adopted on the Queensland const for capturing dugongs. He eays:—-" The crews of the boats are chiefly colored men, and I was much struck with Ihe great skill which they display in their work. Tbey are remarkably quick in detecting the animals where unskilful white men do not perceive them, and they hurl th'eir harpoons a great distance with wonderful Accuracy, very seldom failing to strike the animal at which they aim. The dugongs are herbaceous animals, and at certain stateß of the tide come into shallow water to feed upon tbe weeds growing on the rocks, and it is then that the men go about to capture tbem, and see them sporiiog about in the water in great numbers. The old dugongs have such great affection for their youog that if a young one is captured the mother will not go away from it, but may be easily taken also; and likewise, if one of the pair be killed, the other will allow itself to be killed also rather than leave the dead budy of its mate. A great number of dugongs are captured without difficulty by the natives, through their remaining close to the carcases cf their dead mates or young ones. They are large animals of the herbivorous cetacean tribe— i.e., warm blooded mammals like whales or seals, feeding on seaweeds, &c. In length they range from 10ft to 20ft.; their appearance is by no means pleasing — rather the reverse, for they are very uncouth looking animals; there is a great resemblance between them and the manatees, found along the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean. Projecting from their foreheads they have two tusks about lft in length, wbich assist them in grasping and tearing up the seaweeds upon which they feed. At times we see numbers of these animals floating about the bay with their heads out of water, as they frequently come up to the surface to breathe for a time. The dugongs are exceedingly useful animals, every portion of them being turned to good account in this colony by Mr Cbing. Their skin is used for various purposes; their flesh is very nice for eating; their bones are excellent for knife handlee, &c; while tbe ivory of their tusks is very valuable. Bur, above all, particular mention should be made of the useful oil extracted from the dugoug, which is undoubtedly very valuable." " Dryasdust" writes in the Daily News under June 20: — "As Queen Victoria to-day begios the fortieth year of her reign, it may interest some of your readers to be reminded that she has now attained a very high rank on the roll of our Sovereiogs lor length of reign; haviog lately passed Henry the "VIII. and Henry VI., she now stands fifth in or ier, being still junior or inferior only to Elizabeth, and tbe three long Thirds, Edward, Henry, and George. Of our early English, or ante-Norman Kings, no other reigned so long as Ethelred the Unready, but his 38 years are already exceeded by our present Sovereign's 39 years. Elizabeth's reign, from the death of Mary, Nov. 17. 1558, to ber own death, Mar. 24, 1603, lasted 44 years and 126 days, bo that Victoria has to reign 5 years and 126 days beyond to-day before she will equal her great forerunner. There will remaiD ahead only Edward 111. 50 years and nearly 5 mouths; Henry 111., 56 years and 19 days; George 111., 59 years and 3 months. But of course even these long reigns look short by the side of the 72 years of Louis XIV of France. Probably no two successive kings of any country reigned over so long a space of time as Louis XIV and Louis XV, who from 1643 10 1774 made up together 131 years, or an average of rather more than 65 years per reign. How long will it be before France enjoys or suffars 131 consecutive years of rule under two persons, or even under two forms of government? 1 '

fe^A moat extraordinary attempt at suicide was perpetrated at Waipori, Otago, last week by a miner named Maxwell. Maxwell, who had been suffering from tbe effects of drink, becoming seriously ill, was removed to the hut of one William Cleaver, a neighbor. A man named Ellis proceeded on the 9th instant to the township to procure some brandy and the assistance of the police. On returning to the hul Maxwell was found in a bunk covered with blood, and when questioned by the constable replied, " I was ordered to kill myself with a tomahawk." An axe was found outside the hut, close to tbe chopping-block, covered with blood, and with this it waa apparent tbe injuries bad been done. On examination Maxwell was found to have been frightfully injured, and the constable therefore ordered his immediate removal to the hospital, where he arrived in an unconscious State on Thursday night. Dr Stewart wag in immediate attendance, and found a large circular wound on the crown of the heal, and the skull literally smashed, several pieces of bone having to be removed in the dressing, leaving the brain visible. Tbe injuries must have been inflicted with tbe greatest determination, as the severity of them plainly shows. When Maxwell was questioned, he gave bis mate aud the -constable to understand that he had given himself repeated blows before -succeeding in his object, which is very apparent, a8 tht part injured is completely battered. The unfortunate man's lifo is despaired of. A woman in New York says that when her hijsband is a little drunk he kicks her, and that wben he is very drunk ehe kicke bim; and she adds 4but she does inpßt of the kicking.

Lieutenant Camerson, R.N., C.B , who has recently returned from a most successful exploration of Ceotral Africa, urged, in a recent lecture belore the Colonial Institute, the commencement of a colonization scheme, after the manner pursued by the East India Company. He said that a large portion of the country round Lake Tanganyika was very fertile, and produced large, crops of. cotton. The inhabitants were, however, uncivilised; and the surplus population was kept down by cannibalism. Through the country which he travelled he came across mines of various sorts, such as to render the land, one of tbe richest countries producing metal in the world . There were gold mines, silver mines, iron mines, and last, but not least, coal mines. The whole of the country westwards of Tanganyika was a marvellously fertile and well-watered couutry, and after leaving Tanganyika he had only five or six attacks of fever. But it must be said tbat he never gave the climate a fair chance, for he had not got proper things to eat or sufficient shelter. The climate in many parts was somewhat similar to that in British India; and anyone who could live in the South of Europe could live in the parts where he had been. At present the whole of Africa was one vast slavefield i the slave trade was increasing, and whole districts had been rendered desolate by this inhuman traffic. By placing steamers in the river Congo they would have connection with the whole of the African rivers, and would be abler to open up trade! with the ivory merchants from Europe. As regarded the traders on the West Coast, they were cruel men, and guilty of every species of barbarity; and the ivory brought from there was stained by the blood of thousands of poor creatures wbo had been slaughtered. While admitting that a great deal of good had been done in Africa by missionaries, he was of opinion tbat many men who, having failed as cobblers and hairdressers, and who suddenly fancied that tbey were moved by the spirit to do good to the poor negro, did more harm than good. An African knew a gentleman as well as anyone, and he was of opinion that African missionaries should be gentlemen both by birth and education.

The Hindoo girls are graceful and equid ely formed. From tbeir earliest childhood they are accustomed to carry burdens on their heads. The water for family use is always brought by tbe girls in eartheo jars, oarefully poised in tbis way. This exercise iB said to strengthen the muedes of the back, while the chest is thrown forward. No crooked backs are seen in Hindustan. Dr Henry Spry, one of the Company's medical officers, says that " this exercise of carrying small vessels of water on the head might be advantageously introduced into our boarding-schools aDd private families, and that it might entirely supersede the present machinery of dumbbells, backboards, skippingropes, Ac. The young lady ought to be taught to carry the jar as these Hindoo women do without ever touching it with their hands." The same practice of carrying water leads to precisely the same results in the South of Spain, and in the South of Italy as in India. A Neapolitan female peasant will carry on her head a vessel full of water to ihe very brim over a rough road, and not spill a drop of it; and the acquision of this art or knock gives her the same erect acd elastic gait, and the same expanded cheat and well-formed back aod shoulders.

The Centennial Commission appears to be somewhat perplexed over the question of distributing free passes for the exposition. Every politician in office, every newspaper man, in feet, everybody wbo can conjure up tbe shadow of a reason for the privilege, deems himself entitled to enter tbe Cenfenoial grounds free, aod the consequence is that' the Commission is unable to fix any limit as to -where the deadheading shall terminate.

Tbe journals of Sweden publish details of a revolting scene at an ezv cution in that country. Two men named Hjert and Fekter were guillottined for the murder . of b railway engineer, whose carriage they had mistaken for the mail, which they intended to rob. A large crowd <f spectators assembled round tbe scaffold, and alter the criminals had been dispatched, drank or licked the blood, taking it up with spoons or with their fingers from the wood of the platform. There appears to be a belief among tbe people tbat the blood of a criminal is a remedy or preventive against many diseases.