NEW ZEALAND AT THE EXHIBITION.

New Zealander, Volume XVIII, Issue 1726, 24 September 1862, Page 5

NEW ZEALAND AT THE EXHIBITION.

(From the "New Zealand Examiner," July 15.) In our previous notice of the New Zealand Court wo took a genera] survey of the appearance of the products sent from Ingarania. We now propose to consider in detail the different articles exhibited, and to enter into a closer examination of their various merits. The exhibitors from New Zealand may be divided into three classes: the senders of minerals, the senders of timber, and the senders of wool and flax. There- are, of course, many articles shown which do not come within anv of these classes, but the staples of New Zealand arc as plainly shown in her wools and flax, her minerals, and her woods, as those of England are in iron, cotton, cutlery, and woollens. Those who ajjreo with the wise man "of antiquity, and prefer iron to gold, will behold the future power of New Zealand in the iron sand from Auckland, from Taranaki, and from Nelson. This extraordinary sand, which is peculiar to the colonv, differs considerably in its purity and value. As far as it is possible to judge from the various specimens, the sand of Taranaki far exceeds that from Nelson and Auckland in freedom from admixture with common sand. Since our last notice, Messrs Moseley, the well-known cutlers and steel manufacturers of Covent Garden, have placed a case of steel instruments made from Taranaki iron sand. For temper and tenacity of fibre Messrs. Moseley asserts this steel cannot be equalled-a circumstance which they attribute to the presence of as much as from 11 to 18 per cent, of tita?'um in the iron. This titanium imparts a superior toughness to all steel with which it is mingled, and, being ex- • tremely dear and scarce, is consequently but seldom used. "Providence has, in this instance, placed the two metals in combination, and thereby put it in the power of the New Zealanders to make the very best steel. In the case shown by Messrs. Moseley there are penknives, hunting-knives, daggers, swordblades, razors, and scissors, of first- rate quality. A penny piece, transfixed by one of the daggers, without the slightest damtgc to the point, shows the temper and hardness of the metal, and the skill with which it has been worked up. A Company was formed to work the enormous mineral wealth which lines the coast of Taranaki; but, owing to the breaking out of the war in that district, was, unfortunately, wound up under the Bankruptcy Act, and, up to "this time, little or nothing has been done to develope the trade in iron. We hear, however, that another company, under better auspices, has taken the matter up, and will soon proceed with activc%perations. So plentiful is this sand, and so valuable on account of its purity, that we believe it would pay to ship it across from Nelson to Sydney, or Victoria, and for ships to bring it home in ballast. Spreading along the coast for miles it takes the place of our yellow sand, and the sailor who lands from his boat near New Plymonth jumps up to his ankles in this black iron dust. Nothing is wanted here but capital and labour—fuel is abundant. In Nelson coal is found with lime close to to the sand, and in Taranaki dense forests run into the interior for many miles. The difficulty in a thin and new colony is to obtain at a remunerative price the labour to" work up the raw material for common use. With these resources of iron, not hidden in the earth, and requiring the miner's constant toil to dislodge and bring it to the surface, demanding little dressing or smelting, New Zealand ought to supply not only her own wants but those of the whole of "the Southern hemisphere, and be to Australia and South America what England is to Europe and North America. W. Arrowsmith, Messrs. Coombes and Daldy, and C. Heaphy, exhibit specimens of the Auckland sand, and C. Weisenhaven shows specimens of sand from Blind Bay, Nelson, while Messrs. Moseley show in all its bright black purity the sand from Taranaki. The specimens of gold are to us of far less interest and value, although representing at the present time more of the prosperity of New Zealand than this wondrous iron sand. Soon the surface gold will be exhausted, and then the slower and more laborious method of crushing the quartz will be resorted to, and the returns will, as in Victoria, gradually decrease. But of this iron sand the supply is illimitable. Of the specimens of gold exhibited by the New Zealand bank all are waterwora, and show little or no action from fire. The gold from Nelson, which is often found in close proximity to the iron sand, shows the oxidyzing power of tiie iron from the black streaks which may be traced on the yellow metal. It is impossible to gain an idea from the specimens, however, in what shape it is found by the miners, as the purity and fineness of the gold shown is evidently the result of much preparation. Leaving the case dedicated to gold, we find ourselves dose to the beautiful selections of colours made from the chrome ore of the Dun Mountain Company. These preparations from the ore, the result of London skill, show a wonderful brilliancy of colour. The colours are extracted from the rough ore by the agency of chromic acid which, combined with lend and other pigments, produces this great variety. When combined with benzoil or with aniline distilled from coal tar the ore produces the fine dyes known as mauve and magenta. The value of the ore is from £8 to £lO a ton, and the value of the bichrome from £BO to £9O per ton, or about Bd. or 9d. per lb. Among preparations from chrome ore is a fine blue extra«ted from Nelson chrome by Mr. L. Nattrass. This extract, which is of good ordinary colour, is remarkable more as a specimen of colonial skill in extracting it from the ore than for any extreme'brilliancy or beauty of shade. Viewed in this light it is more interesting than the very beautiful specimens exhibited by the Dun Mountain Company, although in no respect can it otherwise be mentioned in the same breath with those exquisitely delicate preparations. These brilliant dyes are in great demand by calico and other textile printers, especially those of a green colour, on account of their freedom from mineral poisons, and especially arsenic. Copper ores are also shown in every variety of richness by the Great Barrier Copper Mining Company, and several other exhibitors. It would havo much conduced to the understanding of the value and quality of . these ores if the exhibitors had given more detailed information on the labels. This remark is applicable to every article in the court, with the exception of the specimens of flax shown by the Baron de Thierry, who, by means of labels, has given carefully prepared and very useful information. In spite of the great efforts made by Mr. Morrison, the acting commissioner for New Zealand, to make the various productions intelligible, and ♦or which the colonists owe him their very best thanks, most of the articles shown only puzzle a spectator instead of conveying any knowledge to his mind. This is especially the case with various samples of coal, both from Auckland and All we can say of these coals are, that they are very black and not very hard—some samples being inclined to run to grit from thsh frisbilitjr, white ethers ?how signs of slate wr

stone in their structure. It would have been exceedingly interesting to have had some knowledge as to tho powers of the coal for steam and domestic purposes, as to their price per ton and the cost of extracting them, and whether better or worse than the coal from Australia, which was sent for analysis about a year and a half ago to this country. But ot such information there is none, and none we are informed has been sent. Nelsou sends specimens of plumbago, from Paknwau, but has not sent any information as to quantities in which this mineral so valuable for crucibles, &c exists. A very complete collection of minerals is sent by C. Heaphy, of Auckland, while the specimens of building stones, pumice, and clavs, from the same province, are not without interest. *A very large specimen of petrified rimu wood, shown by the Rev. G. Preece, is very perfect and attracts much attention, in a country where petrifications on such a scale are unknown. A. Scott, of Auckland, has verv wisely sent for the notice of European buyers samples of Kauri gum, tho value of which is becoming more and more recognised every day. This strange product is found only in the Northern Island, and never south of Auckland. The popular belief that it exudes from trees is fallacious.' lhe gum is found in wild and almost desert tracts of ! country where there is not a tree to be seen. Beneath the surface of the earth the gum is to bo found, and is ; almost as difficult to discover as truffles. Armed with a rod of some length, tho searcher goes forth plunging the rod into the earth until ho knows, by striking against a hard substance, ho has come upon his object. Ho then sets to work with spade and pick and disinters the gum, from the position which it has occupied for ages past. Many theories have been started to account for tho. peculiar position in which the gum is found. The most plausible is that at some time back, many centuries perhaps, tho forests of the North Island were devested by fire, and that tho gum is the result of the exudation caused by the intense heat on the trcos before the fire reached them. Some confirmation of this view is found in pieces of gum half charred, or in pieces of half-burnt wood adhering to tho gum when it is discovered. As an article of commerce, for varnishes, it is most valuable. Some oils recently extracted from tho different species of tho Eucalypti in Australia have been found to dissolve this gum with ease, and have thus solved the principal obstacle to its extensive use. In our last we took praticular notice of the various maps which adorned the sides of the court. The largest and most pretentious of these we accidently omitted. It is an immense map of the three islands printed by the authority of the Admiralty. If we were to judge of the whole from a part, it is singularly bad, and singularly calculated to mislead us as to the configuration of the country. The river Waitangi which, as colonists knoMi but too well, is an exceedingly rapid and dangerous stream, broken up into many channels near its mouth, is_ actually laid down as a broad navigable river without let or hindrance right up to Lake Ohou. Other rivers of like character run through extensive plains, and rise in quiet nooks, instead of in the spurs of the Southern Alps. So that from this map no one would possibly understand that the streams he Avas looking at came with all the rush and fury of tho mountain torrent, and utterly precluded navigation. To turn from censure to praise is always a grateful task, and we willingly do sd to notice a very good picture of " Pegasus Bay and the Canterbury Plains from the Hills above Port Lyttelton." This is by far the best picturo from New Zealand, and is really a very good specimen of art. There is in it a grasp of a large subject and a happiness of choice which proclaims the artist a man of talent and power. The spectator is supposed to stand on the hills rising above Port Lyttelton. Far below him the Canterbury plains, watered by the silvery streams of the Heathcotc, are spread out; while beyond the meandering of the Avon pleasantlv breaks the green colour of the picture. Par, far off, just in the distance, tho Courtney, or Waima-ki-riri is seen. The background is formed by the snowy peaks of the central range, among which Mount Grey towers forth. Somewhat nearer are seen the Kaikora Mountains of Nelson, and on the right of the spectator the blue line of the sea and Pegasus Bay is represented. On the Heathcote we faintly discern the town of Christchurch, while beyond rises a white smoke, indicating the burning of the land by the settler. Close in the foreground two cabbage palms show, perhaps, the strangest specimens of the New Zealand trees—and nestling down by some flowering plants of the phormium tenax, two natives are lazily contemplating the landscape, and scanning the road just visible which leads from Christchurch to Port Lyttelton. The picture is of very great merit, and is a very good specimen of landscape painting. Not far from this some cotton from Karotonga, in the South Sea, is exhibited by Messrs. Combes and Daldy, of Auckland. This cotton is of very fair quality, and has been valued at Is. 2d. per 115. We arc glad to sec New Zealand paying attention to imperial wants, ibr by supplying them she is laying the foundations of her own prosperity. We are sorry to observe that the magnificent cabinet made of New Zealand woods, which several colonists from Auckland have sent as a testimony of their loyalty to Her Majesty, has not yet arrived. The awards of tho juries having been made, this is to be the fnore regretted as it cannot now receive the medal which, in all probability, would have been awarded to it. Visitors to the New Zealand department must not fancy, because the name of West Australia flaunts at the back of the court, that they are surveying specimens of West Australian industry. The way in which the name of West Australia is placed is calculated to lead to this impression, and, if not corrected, will inspire a greater respect for the products of West Australia than they merit. The West Australian Court is at the back of that devoted to New Zealand.

Our next and concluding notice will be devoted to the examination of the fibers, plants, the staple of wools, and the value of the timber, shown by the New Zealand settlers.