POSTCEIPT TO LETTER SENT YESTERDAY BY OMEO.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 111, 25 March 1862, Page 6

POSTCEIPT TO LETTER SENT YESTERDAY BY OMEO.

'fJherje is very little , news yesterday, but twhat ifitile there is is of a very cheering character. 'Sfhe Victoria war steam-sloop sent round ioiiihe,s6rtfljf<of Carpentaria to discover any traces of Bufke'Jws returned successful to Brisbane. She arrivedafll well at the Gulf, and fell in with' Walker's bverisnd party who had made the journey successfully from Rockhamptoh to the mouth of the Flinders river, and there, met in with the Victoria. On the banks of this river Mr Walker •discovered the tracks left by, Mr.. Burke on the trees, &c. The land party on board the Victoria, smder the leadership of Mr Landsborcugh were ■thfn.'left !to follow up the track, and no doubt would reach Carpentaria, where they will possibly fall in with Howitt's party: It is now a most painful' source of regret the- Victoria or some other .vessel was not sent round to Carpentaria to jawait'-Burke's arrival,, as it is just as likely they would; have; met, as Walker's party has dohe v But regrets are now futile, and the sad lesson may, ,' in future save other valuable lives. :. . ■ We learn via. Alexandria that Mace, the English prize-fighter, won the Champion Belt in 42 rounds.

The following fetter should have come by the Aldinga, but has only reached us by the Omeo. We, however, publish it, as it contains very interesting' particulars:—

Melbourne, Saturday, Bth March. At the lime my last letter was written, we irere in hourly dread of hearing of -war with America,! and great preparations werebeingmade both here and at Sydney to put our defences on as warlike a looting as possible. It was surmised ghat the first we should hear about it would be

nition were attended to; and sure enough a Califoruian vessel did take us by surprise on Tuesday last, when she arrived at the Heads with tidings of peace, and that Slidell andMasou, were given up. It was too good to be true; and a variety of circumstances kept the colony in hot water for the whole day. The vessel was Dutch, the captain Dutch, and could not speak very good English, and on being boarded at the Heads told the reporters that Messrs. Slidell and Mason were on their way to England, and that there would be no war. The reporters wanted papers, but the Dutchman said he would not give up any till he got to Melbourne. "Me give you de information, but no papers." As the matter was ot great importance, the Government received a telegram from their Health Officer at Qneensehff to the effect that the papers had been examined, and contained no information corroborative ot the captain's statement, aud this tended to throw some doubt on the news, until the vessel arrived in the bay, when it appeared only one copy of the Alta contained the news, and the other odd papers the captain brought had not the slightest comment on the matter. It appeared, however, a. I fact that America, with all her boasting, had eaten the leek, and yielded to the demand of England . The fact of this sailing vessel bringing the news of peace only showed how much we were at the mercy of steam privateers from California in case of war. The news is hailed with great satisfaction by the colonists generally, although a few of our sharp wide-awake merchants were rather taken aback. They confidently expected war, and had made great speculations in tobacco and other imports, which would have increased in price greatly had peace terminated, and when they saw their visions of profits to come thus quickly vanish, they appeared to wish the news had been of a less pacific nature. , Parliament is: now fairly settled down to business, although the gross amount of work yet done is very little. The Upper House has so little to do that they have been discussing whether thentitle of M.L.C. should not be altered to M.P., as many^members of petty municipal councils, and other corporations, are in the habit ot putting similar distinctive letters after their name, whereas the M.P- has alread a high signification, and is looked upon as one of great distinction. The Assembly have got well through the Land Bill, having got to the squatting clause, the 68th. On it Mr. Service intends to have a pitched battle, and to try whether the runs should be divided or not. It is however easy to tell the result. The present Government, with their squatting friends have a powerful organisation with plenty of funds, aud any member, needy, and of easy principles, is kindly accommodated with a draft. O'Connor and Cathie have openly gone over, and others secretly engaged. O'Connor has been in receipt of pay from the Association for some time, and is one of its recognised officers, and the Association (always alive during elections) has despatched him to Grenville with money and letters to assist a Ministerialist. The Heales party are now so poverty stricken that they look on with the most supreme indifference, and not having a good cry on the present occasion, are content to see every vacancy filled up with an O'Shanassyite. There are various ways of buying up members; situations are given them or their friends; and although the officials in Parliament Act renders a member liable to fine, there are exceptions where the fine cannot be enforced. Chapman's was a clear case of this nature; and there is now rusticating amongst you, a member of our Assembly who expects to get an appointment of eight hundred ayear and expenses paid, as a home lecturer on emigration. There are unfortunately a great number of members on either side so wretchedly poolthat the chance of profitable employment on any terms is looked upon as a regular god-send. Some of our celebrities have lately been doing queer things. Colonel Pit, the commander of the Volunteers, has resigned his appointment, and leaves for your colony or some other part of New Zealand. The Government and he had a quarrel. His successor is Colonel Anderson, whom everybody supposed to be a man of fortune, but who recently, along with his partner, suspended payment, with liabilities to the tune of one hundred thousatd. Another gentleman, of the same surname, a warden and police magistrate on the goldfields, a nephew of our worthy Governor, and recently married to the daughter of Henry Miller, one of our most wealthy colonists, has made him-self-scarce. He was always looked upon as a harum scarum young fellow, but having high connections, a comfortable and responsible billet was provided for him. Kunior says he had rendered himself liable to criminal prosecution by committing a crime of gross nature, and the rumor is well authenticated, but any evidence on the point is hushed up and he was allowed to decamp. A very old colonist, at one time in a wealthy and prosperous condition, and very lately au Aiders man of the City of Melbourne, Mr, George Hayward, committed suicide yesterday, by shooting himself thioiigh the heart. It appears that for some time back he had lost the greater part of his property, and had got into pecuniary difficulties. Ho had also some quarrel with a woman with whom he had formerly lived, but left for another and had recently taken to drink heavily. He left his usual residence at seven in the morning, purchased two pistols, went to the Clarence Hotel, had a nobbier of brandy, and went into the closet and fired the two pistols simultaneously through his heart. The Coroner's jury returned a verdict of "died'by his own hand whilst in a fit of temporary insanity." The All England played a match called Surrey v. the world. There were six of the English on either side. The Surrey side lost by several wickets. The All England then proceeded to Ballarat, where they are playing twentyi-two of that place. The Ballarat team made 122 in their first innings, and the All England have already 136 to their credit, with eight wickets down. The railway to Ballarat will open next month. The Governor of South Australia, when on a visit, performed the journey by rail from Melbourne to Ballarat. •

Some very expert coiners have lately made their appearance here, and as it is quite likely you may either have a visit from them or their productions, I think it important to call the attention of your readers to the fact. They are spurious half-crowns of the George the Fourth stamp, dated 1821 and 1834, and of Victoria 1845 and 1848, The coins are remarkably well executed, and can easily pass without detection. ; Some of our, newspapers are pleased -with the return tide asthey call it of the New Zealand rush. There is no disguising the fact that great numbers are arriving, but I find amongst these considerable numbers have come for their families with the intention of at once returning, and becoming permanent colonists amongst you. Others intend to pass the winter here, and there is great inducement to do so, as some of our claims are astonishingly rich; the Great Extended Company on Ballarat'washed out-2,160 ounces of gold as the produce of one fortnight's work. > The Western, a new steamship, brought out by the Messrs. Henty, the proprietors of the Lady Bird, and intended for the Portland trade, has been laid on for Otago, and sails to-day at the same hour as the Aldinga. There will no doubt be a face between the two boats, which may be very exciting to the passengers and crew, but the interest of the general public would be better attended to if a short interval between the sailing .of rival steamers was adopted.

: i Mr. John Thomas Smith, MXiA., formerly Mayor for five years, has been presented by his brother Freemasons with a most handsome and costly insignia. He is Provincial Grandmaster of the Irish Constitution. . On receiving this mark of esteem from his fellow masons, he remarked that through the course of a long colonial career, he had endeavoured to do as much good as possibl 3, and though he had been assailed frequently by the Press, and portions of the public, he had quietly submitted without remark, and this testimonial was one wliich amply compensated him, for any libels he might have endured. There are worse colonists than John Thomas. : Torrens' Real Property Act is very likely to be passed by our legislature. • The lawyers are spraining every nerve, but petitions are beginriingto pour-in, and- the'greater numbers are distinctly pledged to support the measure brought ia by Mr. Service.