LOG LETTERS FROM THE CHALLENGER.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 28, 1 February 1878, Page 4

LOG LETTERS FROM THE CHALLENGE R.

A number of travellers to New Zealand hava published their opinions of the Colony, bat the shortest summary yet given to the public is from the pen of Lord George Campbell, a son of the Duke of Argyie. The young noble was a lieutenant on the Challenger, and leaving the scintifio portion of the voyage to abler hands, Lord Geo r ge has written a book descriptive of the social side of the expedition. His experience of New Zealand was unfortunately limited, and is summed up^as follows : — *" | " We have done New Zealand, aud i that miserably. At Wellington we found the Government staying ; so instead of remaining only a couple of days, and then going on to Auckland, we stayed the whole prescibed New Zealand time there, where there was nothing to be seen and lees to be done. . . . Earthquakes necessitate building the houses of wood, slight shocks frighten Wellington occasionally ; one in particular, 26 years ago, partially shook the town down, thereby causing panic. Handsome Patliament buildings, the Government House, and a Cathedral are conspicuous objacts in the town. Parliament opened while we were (here thus giving us an opportunity of seeing New Zealand's collected wisdom, including four Maori chiefs who are M. P.'s, tatooed, cannot are ik English, and are dressed of coure in European costume. An interpreter explains to them what is going onjin the House. We 'assisted' at two dances, thus giving us an opportunity of seeing Wellington's collected folly, and both were very pleasant ; and people generally were, as everywhere in the antipodes, endlessly hospitable and kind. Of course we were asked on all sidrs how we liked New Z.-aland, to which remark me could only reply that we thought the climate perfect (»s a fact it n.iued end blew almost the whole time we were in Wellington) and that we and only seen Wellington. Htiil we doobteJ not (knowing what was coming) that their mountains were grander, their scenery more beautiful, their beef and mutton much cheaper, their idees more advanced, and their fruit far better than anything in the old country, and finally that we were astonished at the hi"b state of Englishism in whibh we found them." — 'Wanganui Herald. The Auckland Herald is responsible for the following little pig store: — One of the most singular malformations in

pigs was brought to our office yesterday by Mr Sansom, of the Whau, in the shape of a creature which formed the sixth of a litter produced by Mr Sansom's sow. It is about the ordinary size of a no<v litter pig, but displays a most remaikably likeness to s minature elephant. Its head is of the form of an elephant's, and it has large pendulous ears. like those of that animal, together with a trunk descending from the forehead, and perfora'ei all the way up, differing from the prosbocis of an elephant, in that it terminates not with a finger - like appendage, but in shape somewhat like a sucker. The trunk is fully an inch and a half long, and is quite separate from the mouth. The mouth too is in form like to that of an elephant's, and presents, springing from the lower jaw, a pair of small well-defined tusks, white and sharp, The creature has four eyes — one a large dull-looking orb under the trunk in the centre of the forehead, two of the size of a pea, dark-coloured aud without lu9tre, one the right side of the head, and one of. smaller size on the left side. The body te quite hairless,, and .the. general form is like that of au elephant. Its hoofs are cloven, but singularly long, and there is-a embryo of a spur behind each. Altogether, this off-spring of a sow is one of the, most remarkable examples of Nature's freaks we ever saw, and is well worthy of a full and complete description from the pen of some student of teratology, or the science of monstrous births. Nolhin» we have seen in writioga on the subject describeds anything like this, where an animal is born resembling in miniature quite a different animal. Now-a-days, by means of evolution, inquirers seek to solve maniford difficulties in Nature's book, and pehaps some one will be able to show this is a case of going back to some original type, or going forward —which we do not pretend to say. Experiments were recently made by the German artillery with a new rocket which is intended to temporarily illuminate the seige or other works of an enemy. Fifteen of, these rockets were issued about two months ago to each regiment of fortress or garrison artillery in the German army, and the. reports Bent in a short time ago announce that the results of the trials made with them were exceedingly satisfactory. The head of the new rocket contains fiftyseven large and seventy-two smaller magnesium 6tars, which burn for fourteen seconds. The range of the rocket is 2,000 metres ; but it can be tilted to explode at any desired distance from its point of departure. The stars when burning give a white light of so great intensity that surrounding objects are as distinctly visible as by day. When it is desired to illuminate the enemy's works for a longer period a number of rockels are fired at [intervals of Bix. or seven seconds, two troughs being arranged for the purpose ten metres apart. The weight of the rocket is about 261bs. Some very successful experiments have been made with the telephone between Aberdeen and Inverness, a distance of 100 miles. Songs and choruses were distinctly transmitted, and conversation was carried on, at times with marvellous distinctness, notwithstanding the weather was unfavorable. The experiments were made with Professor Bell's instruments.