NELSON.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 259, 22 January 1848, Page 4

NELSON.

[From tht Nelton Examiner, January B.] A great change has taken place in NewZealand within the last week — a change which though unfelt at present, and of which the majority of our readers are even now unconscious, is not the less positive and momentous. As the New Zealand colonists were totally disfranchised of all political power when they left the shores of Britain, and have since been living under a pure despotism, so the New Constitution, proclaimed at Auckland on the 24th of November last, to come into operation throughout the islands on the first day of the present year, enfranchises the settlers, and restores to them those privileges of which they have been so long unwisely and unjustly deprived. The charter is therefore now the law of the colony, and though it is not wholly free from defects, which indeed it would be unreasonable to expect of such a measure, it will be wisest in us to seek to get these blemishes removed, and turn the good parts of it to the best account. As so much, after all, will depend on Captain Grey, in working out the detail of the Charter, and as with him rests the power of adapting it to the local circumstances of the colony, we have strong hopes that his clear perception will so frame the machinery that it may work harmoniously for the benefit of all. Should we be disappointed in this, the people will yet be able to make their wishes known in a way that cannot be wholly disregarded, and though it may cost some labour as well as heart burnings, there is no fear but in a little time a full and complete system of representation will be secured to all the inhabitants of New Zealand. It is impossible to overvalue the importance of th|s great change, for though the colony is as yet but weak, and the institutions given us may at first sight appear cumbrous, and better suited to more advanced communities, yet the history of the world has shown that it \8 under such institutions that nations, early become vigorous and great. And we

hope, therefore, that the rapid growth of the colony will soon remove this objection — allowing it to be one at the present time. We cannot partake in the indifference which some few persons appear to feel on the subject ; their philosophy, like the shepherd in As you Like it, seems only to know that "the more one sickens the worse he is : that he that wants money, means, and content, is without three good friends : that the property of rain is to wet, and fire to burn : that good pasture makes fat sheep ; and that & great cause of the night is the lack of the sun." Whether these drones of the hive like it or not, the more active workers, who know what good government is, and the blessings which spring from it, will appreciate the Constitution given to the colony, and we shall be happy to assist them in perfecting it.

The Moa. — The Amazon, whaler, lately in our harbour, left behind her, in the hands of the landlord of the Wakefield Arms, some bones of the moa, or one of the varieties of dinorsis, which a sailor had picked up somewhere at the southward. These bones are the tarso-metatarsus (the shank bone of the leg), and the perfect bones of the foot. The length of the former is 15| inches, and 13 and 15 inches respectively in circumference at the top and bottom. The bones of the foot are 83 inches in length, this, of course, is independent of the base of the tarsoraetatarsus, which with the integuments, would have made the foot of the living bird nearly 1 4 inches long. The circumference of the first joint of the foot at the largest part is 6\ inches. According to the scale of Professor Owen, judging from the length of the tarso-metatarsus, the bird to which these bones belonged must have stood about 8 feet 2 inches high, and therefore could not have belonged to the giganteus order of the dinorsis, which Professor Owen has shewn to have stood 10 or 12 feet high.. The person who collected the bones now in Nelson, stated that they were so plentiful at the spot where he obtained them, that he believed he could gather the skeleton of an entire bird, and has promised to endeavour to do so, and bring it with him when the vessel returns here. The moa, which for some time must have been extinct, as there are no native traditions of its existence which can be relied on, is ronjectured to have been destroyed by the early inhabitants of the country to supply themselves with food.

The Influenza. — This malady, which is believed to have been first introduced here by H. M. S. Racehorse bringing it from Wellington, has since spread nearly over the whole of the settlement, and scarcely a family but some member of it has been affected, while in many cases it has attacked every individual. As far as we can learn, the disease has been of a milder form here than in the adjacent colonies, or even in the neighbouring settlements. We believe in no case has a death ensued from it, and the symptoms generally have been little more than those of an ordinary cold. In Auckland, as well as at Wellington, it has been more severe, but its greatest virulence has been exhibited ' in Australia, where its havoc has been considerable. As a proof that this disease is communicated by contagion, we may mention that, in addition to its breaking out here immediately following the arrival of the Racehorse, it attacked several of the party of gentlemen at the Wairau immediately after the arrival of a boat from Wellington. We learn that the natives along the coast are suffering greatly. The disease at present has, not we believe, reached Taranaki. The Crops. — We are sorry to say that a high south-westerly wind, which blew a couple of days last week, did some damage to the standing wheat. In some instances, we are told, as much as five or six bushels to the acre was blown out of the ear. Some description of grain suffered more than others, but the nqpst tender, we believe, was that known as " Fulton's Prolific." This is a point which is worth ascertaining. It is certainly unfortunate that, after the great promise which the crops gave, anything should occur to deprive the farmer of a portion of his hard-earned profits ; but we hope the loss will not turn out as great as it was feared.