New Zealand Spectator, AND COOK'S STRAIT GUARDIAN. Wednesday, November 17, 1847.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 240, 17 November 1847, Page 2

New Zealand Spectator, AND COOK'S STRAIT GUARDIAN. Wednesday, November 17, 1847.

Wx have at length received intelligence from Auckland. The Julia arrived on Monday bringing news to the' 30th inst. A mail for Wellington had been sent by a small vessel which sailed from Auckland on the 19th tilt., but which has not yet arrived. The following is a summary of the news from the North. The Minerva and Sir Robert Aa/ehaii arrived at Auckland with General Pitt, the Commander of the Forces in New Zealand, and with pensioners and their families. A considerable body of the veterans have, now arrived in. the colony, they have been located atOnehunga andTamaki, ' both places within five miles of Auckland, the intention to station them at Mahurangi and the Bay of Islands having been abandoned. The Legislative Council closed its labours on Saturday, the 16 th ult., having passed the Currency Bill and a Bill for settling an annuity on Thomas Walker Nene. In the debate on the latter Bill, while approving the principle of rewarding our faithful allies,. Mr: Brown objected to the attempt to establish a pension list in this colony, and .considered that the. pension should be paid by British funds. - In the committee an amendment was carried that the pension to Walker Nene' be increased to one' hundred' pounds instead of fifty-two the sum originally named, and that another hundred pounds ' be added to be distributed amongst the other chiefs who had distinguished themselves by their services to the Government during the disturbances at the North. 1 In the committee on the Currency Bill the Governor denied that he had engaged not to carry this .measure by his casting vote, andlprofessed himself to be so warm an advocate of the scheme that he intended at onetime to have introduced it in another colony. The 15th clause, which makes the' notes jrlegal tender, was amended on the motion of the Governor by striking out the words "<so long" as the said Colonial Bank of Issue shall continue to pay such notes on demand/ and the Governor intimated that the bill after being passed should stand over until it should have received the Royal confirma* tion, in order that any discrepancies and inaccuracies whiehit contained might be cor- j rected before it came into operation, so that the practical effect tof the bill is suspended for the next twelve months, In closing the business of the session the Governor in explaining that the estimates would not be ; laid before the Council said, that as the New Constitution was likely to be soon proclaim-" ed he thought it better that the Executive Government at the South should prepare its own estimates, and he would therefore leave the Southern estimates for their own adjustment, giving them at the same time all the assiitanceinhis power in thepreparationofthem. Thcsjettlera are thus led on by indefinite

promises, which seem to be thrown oat to amuse them, and restrain their impatience* On the arrival of his Excellency the Lieu-tenant-Governor in this district, we "were informed that the New Constitution would be proclaimed in a very few wefeks, but some months have since elapsed, and it is still in abeyance. The Council was then adjourned sine die, the Governor alleging as his reason for adopting that course/ that instructions might possibly arrive by the next mail, which might render it necessary for him to call them together again before the introduction of the New Constitution. A fearful murder had been committed at Auckland, which appears to'have 'Created a very great sensation. , Lieutenant Straw, his wife., and child, were murderied pn /f tiie 23d ult.v ftyMte hoase i$ which t ti^yjgjred was subsequently set .on fire; and, burnt to the ground, evidently with the intention of de* stroyirig all evidences of the dreadful crime. The New Zealander, from which we have taken the published particulars, alter describing it as the most frightful and appalling tragedy which has yet stained the history of the colony, considers it to have been committed by natives, but no certain information has yet been obtained as to the per* petrators of these murders.

An overland communication between Wellington and Wanganui has recently been .carried on by native policemen, who usually travel between the two places in three days. Delays sometimes occur at the different large rivers, .from the want of canoes or other convenient means of crossing. At Patea beyond Wanganui the maori who carries on the mail from that place to New Plymouth makes a raft of raupo,-, and by means of this raft and by swimming,crosses the river, carrying the mail in his teeth. It would be found useful -to pay a small yearly gratuity to chiefs residing Qh the^bahks of rivers on the route,, to provide, the Jntans of crossing for messengers and travelled along the coast, thus establishing a, fer^y at a cheap rate:' and the allowance |)bpuld be discontinued if the chiefs failed 'in fulfilling their part of the (agreement. ',* „,„

Debentures.- — A notice. ,has been ; p£blishcd at Auckland in the Gov&htnentKGazette of the 26th October, that :the Government will be prepared, after the fifteenth day. of November next, to pay off 1 , at the Auckland or Wellington Treasuries, the outstanding five and ten shilling debentures ; and - also the debenture certificates, which were issued in acknowledgment of debts of the local government, outstanding at the time that hi» Excellency Governor Grey assumed the administration, with the interest due. thereon for complete years ; and that interest is now payable on debentures issued under the regulations of the 18th June, and 24th November, 1845.

Programme of to-day's Performance by th» Band of the 65th Regiment : — . , ■ 1. (torture*— Mataniello Auber. 2. CaYatina— Charia di Rosemberg .... Dices. 3. Homage la Reine Quadrille * Mark. 4. CaYatina— -AhLaiciatina — llFvinoio.Donixetti. 5. Bridal Waltx r ;/n//i«i. 6. Choral— Vire lo Roi ..,Bdlf: ■ 7. German Galop .S'Waleh. 8. Polka w ....ffirons?*

In a number of the Australian recently received is a long article, written after tjie arrival of the Bee 'fcn£ Cqmit\ , rtfejrssffco the afiairs of tKis, SettlementT (C^uV "coijtemporaryis unusually diffuse oh i^urJGoldburn's petition, from which he, infers ihat a prima facie case "of considerable suffering is made out, which he states is confirmed from sources of private information^ ; The present, high rate of wages in this Settlement (from 3s. 6d: to 4s. 6d. per d*y)— arate, we suspect, much higher than is paid in', New South Wales for labour— is a sufficient refutation of this .statement : ' we m?iy add, that it is more difficult to obtainlaoourers even at this high rate 'than it was in Cap* 'tain Ifttzroy's time,' at the' irate 'bf r tirp shillings a day ; and that so far 'from labourers being "in danger of perishing from lack of employment," there is Ir positive want of hands in the settle meirti it want we trust to be remedied shortly by the re. hewal 'of emigration-. On follows our contemporary appears to be better informed, and we 'need hardly say thatrwe entirely concur in the following observation^ 'Jwhieh we have great pleasure in ti^nsferriiig lo'our columns,- those referring to Capt. Stanley were occasioned by a-nodeewhich app^eared'iathis Journal, of his receipt of an official leWtr of .thanks from the Ldrd»«f the Admiralty and

the Admiral on the station for his gallant , conduct during, the late disturbances. ' ** Col. Gold is winning ' golden opinions' by permitting the performance, once a-week, of the 65th's Band, on Thorndon Flat. The newspapers regularly pre^advertise the music wherewith the visitors are to be regaled : a ; welcome intelligence which we ourselves hare vainly endeavonred to accomplish for the gratification of our fellow-citizens frequenting the domain." • • • • " Without the most remote desire of being . invidious, we must still, as a simple act of justice, contrast services and their recompenses. Whilst the ' Castor was the senior •hip; what arduous or distinguished service n did Captain Graham perform ? Was he preeminent on the ocean, or conspicuous in the r cabfneU Did he adventure the wear and '" iear' of 'watching ' and Warding, amid eternal ' "gales, the port* and inlets of the stormy Cook's 1 i^foVbe. **•«* oareftrlly avoided that : B! <ds^d OTchantedhnle^ -sir in puafionsfy *P*" „ signaled Port Nicholson, preferring a "quiet . Tun to Sidney, ta, cobble a main-yard (much more easily 10 be compassed at Auckland) — 1 atad a* jovial 1 trip to' Hobatt Town; to exchange , '' amainniast : a more congenial mode of ruba bing through his service, and which formed , ■ delightful breaks in the sad monotony of New Zealand port duty. Has. the Calliope had any such' relaxation? Far from- it. Since the hour of arrival on her cruising grounds, through fair weather and through foul, she has safely maintained her station, and that in bights and bends which Captain Graham to be extremely hazardous for any "man-of-war to risk. She has volunteered where she might have most consistently de- ' dined. - She has performed duties' more pro* K perly pertaining to mere coasting sloops — » (duties, or rather generous kindnesses, which nineteen captains out of twenty would have superciliously spurned), — and has done her work when coasters were afraid to show oue "of harbour — proving, at once, the fighting. , "ship, the guard-ship, the troop-ship, and the "store-ship of the Southern Province. Her services have been perilous and incessant. Afloat and ashore — with boats or with bag- ' g*£ e > hier officers' and men have been as indefatigable at brave. Yet has any one of them ■experienced a tangible mark of royal consideration t " " ' ' J The seijjtor officer, Grab^amXfor whose war services one would Kiirit up Marshall or Allen, j .or James, in vain), being, non-officially, preJ sent It Kuap&apeka (which 1 Captain Stanley, -present «? an amateur, offered to destroy it with red-hot shot), has been rewarded with a C. Bi, whilst his first and second lieutenants, Otway and Falcon, have likewise respectively been made commanders. For unwearied and harrassing service, in a dangerous ses, and on -an extremely hazardous coast — for his personal presence and example' in every boat affair, anJ on every possible occasion, Captain Edward Stanley (a worthy scion of a chivalrous race), and his gallant fellows, have received but a common-place letter of cold 'and common-place thanks. If a badge were due to the man who merely kept his pennant snug over head, surely it was no less due to him who was ever on the alert, ever in the 1 thick df danger — who bled at Algiers, and whose heroism in the Malacca Straits procured him a triumphal sword, a public dinner, • «nd a letter .of public approbation. Why should not this officer have been equally corawith the C. B. ? Why, upon the d#parture of the Castor, should he not have been honoured with the seuior command of a < , station where his courage was unquestioned —-his conduct the theme of official and-well-merited commendation ? Why should not his first lieutenant (Thorpe, invalided) have ex- - perienced a consideration similar to that of ' llesirs f , Otway * and falcon ? t ',. ■• , • " ; •• With Respect to Mr. Edward Holmes, n6W th* Calliope's First Lieut., it would be im- ' possible to say too much ia praise of bis many slid meritorious services. Shortly after the 4 establishment of .a camp, at Parramatta Point, beheld the onerous command ofthegun-boat in " P.orirufi River, which river he staked up to the raaori pa. Again,' at Wanganui, he was materially instrumental in expediting the building of the stockade for the troops, by constructing a tram-road on the sides of the steep acclivity, upon the brow of which it is situated, and up which the immense pieces of timber forming the stockade were dragged by means of three and four fold blocks, made on tht.spot, by one of the seamen. These jponderous masses of timber were procured from . . the opposite bank, of the Wanganui, and transported by the gnn-boat and her indefatigable crew to . the elevated position the stockade -When the settlement and stockades wert attacked, the gun-boat lay for six hours exposed; to the enemy's fire, in the centre of the, enemy : and, hy the prompt alacrity with which , hercarronade was, plied, she was mainly inin saving the- troops from the vi- . jjftTJ||f4%* of th* assailants. ,On lbs carrisgs

becoming disabled, Lieut. Holmes gallantly transferred bis 12-ponnder to the little schooner Governor Grey, from whose unbarricaded decks be continued the fight until the enemy retired. Yet services arduous as these, performed against one of the most artful and warlike of people, and in a clime where angry elements, as well as a vengeful population, must be braved, obtain no promotion — achieve no decoration ; and that, too, almost in the same breath that rank and ribands are profusely lavished for frightening a parcel of dastardly, pig-tail-ed, Chinese — a battalion of whom would "be annihilated by a score of New Zealand warriors — the best natural skirmishers in the world. — Australian, Oct. 19.