PORT PHILLIP.

New Zealander, Volume 2, Issue 98, 17 April 1847, Page 2

PORT PHILLIP.

The Latf. Melancholy Case on Board the "Shamrock." — Yesterday afternoon, at 2 o'clock, his Worship the Mayor and Messrs. Westby and Heape proceeded to enquire into the circumstances of the melancholy death of Nancy Robinson ltobcrts, on board the Shamrock, on the passage from Launceston to Melbourne. The husband of the deceased, Charles Roberts, was placed in the dock, charged with being an accessary in removing a convict clandestinely from Van Diemen's Land, and also with being an accessory to the death of the said convict.— Nancy Robinson Roberts, on board the Shamrock. Captain Gilmore, of the Shamrock, stated, that that vessel left the wharf at Laun ccston on Sunday, the 13th instant; the prisoner was a passenger by that vessel j the vessel left George Town at seven o'clock in the morning, on the following Monday, prior to which the clearing ofllcer came on board and mustered the passengers and crew ; after leaving George Town, a most offensive smell was observed in the niter-cabin, and in consequence of some information which he had received, he desired the chief officer to search the after-hold of the vessel, to ascertain whether that information were correct. A trunk was brought up from the after-hold, and opened in the presence of the passengcis, and was found to contain the dead body of a female in a dreadful state of decomposition— the body was quite black. The prisoner said that the body was that of his wife, and that she was a prisoner of the Crown ; he said that the object of secreting her was to bring her from Van Dicmen's Land, and that she was carried on board at the wharf immediately previous to leaving Launceston ; after the box was brought upon deck, u bottle was token-ont-by-ilio-pvUonor-j-no-par-. son named Nancy Robinson Roberts was cleared out by the vessel. During Saturday, Sunday, and part of Monday, the after-hold was closed with hatches— when the hutches were closed, and a person confined in a trunk deposited in the after-hold, suffocation must speedily ensue ; the arm of the deceased was raised as' if she endeavoured to force open the lid ; the body was buried at sea, and the burial service read over it, it being impossible to keep it any longer. Two or flircc gentlemen of the commission of the peace were on board, who recommended it being buried. Henry Moor, Esq., deposited to having been a passenger by the Shamrock, and to observing the dreadful effluvium referred to by the previous witness. On the body being being discovered, the prisoner came forward to identify it as his wife ; an oath was administered to the prisoner, who stated that the deceased wa» his wife, that she was a prisoner of the Crown, and that the authorities had refused to allow her to leave Van Diemen's Land, in consequence of which she resorted to the expedient of purchasing the trunk in which she was found, and in which she was brought on board. The prisoner said he was accessary to her being brought on board, but there were others concerned in it whose names he refused to give up, stating that he would take the responsibility upon himself. After the prisoner had made this deposition, he was asked to sign itj or put his mark to it, but this he positively refused. — William Wells, chief officer of the Shamrock, deposited that on Monday afternoon the prisoner came to him and lold him that there was a box below containing his wife, who was dead ; I ordered him on deck to come with me to show me where she was, and he went to the afterhold with me ; we took the hatch off, and went into the hold, and on removing a truss of hay, beneath which was a box, the prisoner said that was it ; the box was on some flour, close to the bulk head ; one side was lying against the side of the ship, and the other side could be seen ; between the lid and the top of the box there was a space sufficiently lar,go for you to put your fingers in ; there were no other air holes ; the after-hold had been opened on the morning of Monday to get some liayout; the box came on board *as personal luggage, md was wheeled on board on a wheelbarrow.— Richard Uatherley, a seaman on board the vessel, stated that on Saturday evening, when the vessel anchored at George Town, two boxe» came on board, which he was desired o stow below in the after-hold, and on taking the hatch )ff he heard a faint cry, but tliinking it was one of the children in the cabin, he took no notice of it ; this witless stated it to be his opinion that the deceased must lave died on Saturday nightr as he felt assured that no icrson shut up in a box could live the night through in he after-hold, owing to the intense heat of the boilers —Henry Smith, a passenger by the vessel, stated that he had known the prisoner and his wife for some years ; on Friday lafat he saw Roberts and his wife in Georgestreet, Launceston, and'spoke to them both ; he saw the body when it was discovered on board, but from its decomposed state, it was utterly impossible to identify it ; the prisoner and his wife always lived happily together. — This was the whole of the evidence, and the prisoner, who appeared deeply affected, sobling bitterly throughout the examination, and alternately kissing his two jouiig childien, by whom he was attended, was re-

nuuidcd until this morning, in order that the dopositions might be laid before the Crown Prosecutor, for that officer to deal with them as lie might think proper. Prior to the discovery of the body, the poor fellow was obsctved to be in a dreadfully nervous and disordered condition on board. The box in which the unfortunate deceased was placed, was not more than three feet in length, and two fuet six inches in height ; singular to say, no evidence has yet been brought forward to show by whom the box was stowed. — In the case was a bottle of gin untouched, and we -arc told- that -at the time the deceased went into the case, she was in a state of imoxication.—Port Phillip Patriot*

Rara Repens in Nklsokio*.— Three speciinemofthe Hatteria Punctuta, or "New Zealand gigantic lizard," have recently been found on one of the Admiralty Islands* and are now in the possession, of Mr. Dale, at Auckland Point, being the only specimen's that have yet been found to the south of Cook's Straits. This species of reptile hus been twice before desTibed ; one specimen having been put into the hands of Dr.Diefienbach, aiid another, from Some's Island at Fort Nicholson, having been dissected by Dr. Knox of that place. Dr. Dietfenbach gives the following description of it :— " Olive j sides and limbs with minute white specks j beneath yellowish. The spines of the uuchul and dorcal crests yellow, of the caudal brown; the scales of the back, head, tail, and limbs, small, granular, nearly uniform ; with, irregular folds in the skin, which are fringed at (he lop with a series of larger scales. An oblique ridge of larger scales on each side of the base of the tail, and a few shorter longitudinal ridges of ruther smaller ones on each side of th» upper part of the tail. There is a young specimen of 'this species more brightly coloured in the Museum of llaslar Hospital, Gosport, 1 bad been apptized of the existence of a large lizard which the natives call luatera or wjarara, with a general name, and of which they weie much afraid. Aut, although looking for it at the places where it was uaid to be found, und offering latge rewards for a specimen, it was only a lewdays before my depai lure Horn New Zealand I obtained one, « hich had been caught at a small rocky islet called Kurewa, which is about two miles from the coast, in the Bay. of Plenty, and which had been given by the Rev. W. Slack, in Tauranga, to Dr. Johnson, the colonial s'irgeon. From all that 1 could gather about this luatera, it appears that it was formerly common in the islands ; lived in holes, often in sandhills near the sea shore ; and the natives killed it for food. Owing to this latter cause, and no doubt also to thn introduction of pigs, it is now very scarce j and many .even of the older residents of the it* lands have never seen it. The specimen from which the description is taken I had alive, and T<eipt'forsomo-tiino-iii-captivjtyj_it L wa| extremely sluggish, and could be handled without any attempt at resistance or biting/ The largest of the present specimens is 17 J inches in length, being thus divided :— Length of head, 2\ inches j of body, G inches $ of tail 9' inches. There is a ridge composed of 11 scaly crests, over and corresponding to the U first dorsal processes of the cervical vertebras ; 23 similar crests over the same processes of the dorsal vertebra) ; and 30 over the processes of vertebrae of the tail ; fioin, which it may be inferred that the spine consists of 72 bones. The iris is black, with a yeljow metallic lustre, and contracts to nearly a liiie in the light. From the several circumstances of these am* mals eating fish which arc supplied them j from one having died upon exposute for a few moments to Ine heat of the sun's rays $ and from their always being found upon islets, it appears that they are amphibious, and, if so, the niueu Guana, which has been given to them, is inapplicable. — Communicated. — Nelson Examiner, Feb. 20. Explosive Cotton. —Several gentlemen have^re ceivcil, by the lute arrivals from England, sample* of explosive cotton, invented by Professor Schonbein, to serve as a substitute for gunpowder. The cotton is chemically prepared, but its appearance is not altered. It is perfectly white, and the least spark serves to ignite it, when it explodes noiselessly and with a clear blue flame. It creates' no smoke, and leaves no smell or stain ; indeed a small quantity exploded on a sheet of writing paper, did not leave an appearunce of fire. A small quantity put into a percussion pistol in'jieu of gunpowder, was found to propel the ball with equal force, and to explode, «• quiqkjy, and it list the, advantage of leaving the barrel perfectly clean.— & Htra(d. • The marriage oj tbe Duke dc Bordeaux, notwithstanding the political importance of the event, does not seem to cause much attention iv France. Tbe Duke hud scut 20,000 francs to Paris tor the relief of the jioor.