MISCELLANEOUS.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 291, 13 May 1848, Page 3

MISCELLANEOUS.

The House of Commons. — Changes in the Personnel. — It is hardly possible to persuade oneself that it is the House of Commons at all, so altered does it seem in its separate components and its aggregate groups — Quantum mutatusdb Mo — whose deeds and whose misdeeds we have had to chronicle during the past six years. We naturally turn to the piotection side first, to single out our friends. There we miss Lord J. Manners, Mr. Colquhoun, Mr. Borthwick, Mr. W. Collett, Mr. Ferrand, and, we may add, Mr. J. Fielden, the operatives' champion. Glancing at the Radical benches, the eye seeks in vain for the little bilious physiognomy of Roebuck ; for the stolid countenance of " Double Billy," late of Coventry, the ambitious pupil and rival of Joseph Hume ; for the facetious lineaments of John Collett, the Bishop-hater and licensed jester. Looking towards the Ministerial quarter, what gaps appear ! what novi homines have sprung up to push the old red-tape men from their stools ! Where's the fine after-dinner visage of Sir John Hobbouse T The fussy self-important corpus of Benjamin Hawes ? Where's " the First Cabinet Minister," Thomas Babington Macauley ? Where's the fons et origo of Education — the Irish schoolmaster, Thomas Buonaparte Wyse 1 Where's the handsome Colonel Fox, and the not over-beautiful Sir Winston Barron? Gone — all gone. Regarding the Peelite coterie, only a wreck is visible. Bickham Escott is not there ; nor Colonel Wood, the father ; nor Colonel Thomas Wood, the son ; nor Sir Howard Douglas, nor Lord

Sandon, nor Sir Walter James — nor the score? of "other " honest turncoats." But whom have we got instead of all these worthies ? Gladstone is back again to obfuscate the ears of listening senators ; Bailie Cochrane is also in his old place, to rouse attention 10 the state of suffering Greece ; Sergeant Talfourd is here once again to pour out his rapid floods of eloquence, and to watch over the interests of literature. Lord Ashley i« again at bis post to advocate the cause of humanity. Then Fox, the Unitarian preacher, is here to astound the wise men of the land with his transcendant philosophy, and yet more to amaze them with the originality of his long iron-grey locks, that hang down his back in dishevelled luxury, and give to the " reverend" an»l the gentleman the pictmesque look of an intellect tual and very hirsute baboon. Feargus O'Connor is likewise once more on the floor to urge the five points of the charter ; J. M'Gregor, the lord of statistics, George Thompson, Mr. Urquhart, the O'Gorman Mahon, Colonel Peyronett Thompson, Charles Pearson — a league of new membeis crowd upon the sight. But we must have done with the enumeration. It is, indeed, a curiou3 House of Commons ! perhaps more honest at heart, but certainly more rugged in outward seeming than the last — coarser in its features, less polished in its ensemble. What its physical and mental development may be, time must show. — From the Post.

The Great Copper Rock.— Every science seems to be in its infancy, even in this enlightened age of the world, when wonders are multiplying, until one would believe that the great secret of man's search was finally found. Theory, in every branch of science, stands aghast as one fact after another comes to light, exploding and annihilating the preconceived opinions of our forefathers, whose conclusions (like many of our own) will not stand the test of experiment. But the march of truth is onward. We refer to the immense mass of native copper which may be seen at 64, Castle-street, brought to this country from the newly-discovered, yet inexhaustible, mines of Lake Superior, in North America. It was taken from what is known as the Cliff Mine, belonging to the Pittsburgh and Boston Company, in the spring of 1847. On three sides (as may be seen) it was cut from a mass of pure copper, about 16 inches in thickness, which was estimated, by measurement, to weigh 30 tons. The weight of the piece now exhibitingis just 38521b5., being about 500lbs. heavier than the famous Ontonagon Rock, now in the National Museum of the United States, at Washington, and it is, consequently, the largest piece of native copper in the known world. This enormous mass taken from the mine just as we saw it, surpasses anything of the kind which we had supposed to exist. When the first feelings of surprise are over, the mind of the Leholder becomes lost in contemplating the size of the parent rock from which it was taken. Neither Europe, nor, indeed, any other country, save the one from which this was brought, ever produced anything like it. It would be a rich prize to our national museum. John Heyes, Esq., a member of the company from whose mine it was taken, is the proprietor, and comes to tbis country bearing letters to the American Minister and other gentlemen of respectability. The public may, for a trifling outlay, indulge themselves by a sight of this curiosity without fear of imposition. A large collection of other silver and copper specimens, from the same mine, render the cabinet of Mr. Hayes most complete and interesting. The immense mass of copper, however, forms the principal point of attraction, particularly for all who are in any way interested in mines. It is well worthy the attention of all, showing as it does the incalculable wealth of this new and interesting region, that only waits for enterprising men of capital, to make it the richest mining region in the world. — Liverpool Albion.

Deer Stalking in the Hibialayaas. — The Jerrow, or maha, is the noblest specimen of the stag to be met with, and may be ranked as the elk of the Himalayha. He stands from four to five feet in height ; his colour is a rich brown, and his antlers, branching into six an each side, have obtained for him the name bara singh in the plains. During the day time, they usually lie in the heaviest jingle ; but at morning and evening they may be seen grazing in the rich pastures, and usually in pairs. The Jerrow, as he stalks majestically through the woods, bearing proudly aloft his high branching antlers, looks the undisputed monarch of the mountain forests. The next in size to the Jerrowisadeer about three and haffeet in height at full growth, and termed the Surrow. He \s of a darkhuej'with short deflected boms thickly built, and with coarse bristling hair, much like the wild hog. His head and shoulders resemble a donkey ornamented with a horses's mane and a goal's horns. This scarce and singular beast has a spirit in proportion to his deformity. His habitation is among the gloomiest rocks and caverns, and when roused from his soli-

tude he prepares readily for the conflict, and charges with desperate ferocity. I remember an encounter between a brother officer and a sportsman, in the hills, * nd a sorrow, which he had wounded, which nearly proved serious to the gallant and athletic soldier. M threw himself upon the wounded animal, wb,en he charged, and seized him in bis iron grasp, so as to pinion the surrow and prevent his making use of his deadly antlers. The struggle continued a long time ; the deer ultimately succeeded in getting bis head free, and immediately struck savagely backwards with his horns, when M narrowly escaped the fatal stroke, and casting himself sideways, grasped the surrow's neck with one arm, so that he could not use his horns with effect, while with the other he succeeded in drawing a clasp knife, which put an end to the contest. — Adventures in the Far East.