CANTERBURY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 117, 1 April 1862, Page 5

CANTERBURY.

We are in receipt of "Canterbury papers, per Omeo, to March 29. We make the following extracts : —

We have reccived an authentic account of the destruction of the Timaru Hotel, in the occupation of Mr. S. Williams, by fire, about 2 o'clock on the morning- of the 7th March. The fire was first observed by the cook of the hotel, who immediately gave the alarm, but it had already commenced to burn the roof of the verandah rooms, and although an attempt to extinguish it was made by the people, who very soon assembled in large numbers, it was given up as hopeless, and then energies directed to saying Mr. Beswick's store. There were no less than fifteen people sleeping in the hotel that night, and although they had time to save themselves, yet the uncertainty of the whereabouts of the fire (for the house was filled with smoke), gave them no time to think of saving their property, consequently most of the lodgers suffered more or less loss. But the greatest loss has fallen upon Sam Williams, who is absolutely ruined, having saved nothing but his books. He could have saved some of his property had not his whole, thought and energy been directed to getting his lodgers safe out of the burning building ; and great credit is due to him for the manner in which, laying aside, all thought of his own property, he exerted himself to prevent any chance of the destruction of human life. The flames, when first seen, were coming out of the window and through the roof of a small parlour at the back of the house, partly formed by the verandah, and which had not been used for a day or two. Although' there was little or no wind at the time, it. soon became evident that nothing could save the building. The progress of the flames was so rapid that in about a couple of hours nothing remained but the two blackened chimneys, rendering desolation more complete by looking like monuments erected to its memory. The house, which belonged to Messrs Rhodes, is insured, but the furniture, which belonged to Sam Williams, was not. Suspicion of incendiarism having fallen upon a man named Hugh Williams, who had been threatening Sam Williams the night before, to blow him to blazes, and other places, he was taken charge of by the police, and lodged in gaol that morning. The only account he could give of himself was that he had been sleeping under a tussock. Next day a coroner's inquest was held, and several witnesses examined, Hugh Williams among others; they all agreed that the fire commenced in the little parlour mentioned before, and the evidence of the servants of the house went to show that after ten o'clock, no one had been in that room, and that when the house was shut for the night the window of the parlour was shut by Mr Williams himself, and when the fire was observed, the window was wide open. The examination of other witnesses went to show that threats had several times been used by Hugh Williams against Sam Williams, and also his very strange behaviour during the fire. The jury, after sitting from 11 till 6 o'clock, hearing witnesses, came to the decision that "the fire was the act of an incendiary, and that in their opinion Hugh Williams was the man that set fire to the building. He has since been examined by the Resident Magistrate at Timaru, and committed for trial at the next sessions.

There has also been a very aggravated assault on a young married woman, down at the Waimatimati by a negro named James Small, commonly known by the name of" Jim," who succeeded in getting down the chimney of the house and assaulted the woman and robbed her of some money ; he was traced to Giles's accommodation house on the Waihoa and then taken to Timaru and tried before the Resident Magistrate, who committed him tor trial at the next sessions, and sent him up to Lyttelton by the Geelong. There were two or three meetings while the Superintendent was down here ; the affairs of the natives were settled apparently satisfactorily. Groat exertions are being made by some gentlemen down here to get all the voters to register their votes. There is a rumour of some one being drowned in one of the Waiiaki Lakes, but no name has transpired as yet. An accident occurred in Lyttelton on Thurday morning, which had nearly terminated fatally. A son of Mr .Genet's, a lad of about eight years of age, is supposed to have been fishing off the end of the wharf, when he fell into the sea. His fall was unobserved, but a gentleman of the name of H. Gerrand, who had just landed from the City of Hobart steamer, noticed something floating in the water which attracted his suspicions, and immediately threw of his coat and jumped in; rescuing the child from certain death. Accidents of this kind have been of such frequent occurrence in Lyttelton that it is desirable for the wharfkeepers 'to have authority to : . forbid children to loiter about or play on the wharves'. MR. HAASt's EXPLORATION. ' We extract the following interesting account of Mr. Haast's recent movements, from a private letter, received from that gentleman, dated 14th inst.:—- ' "I have lately made a most interesting exploration of the main feeders of the Lake Tekapo. Although I was delighted with the wild grandeur of the mountain chain whence the different glacial streams issue, forming the Rangitata, I must confess that the sublimity of the scenery at the head of the main feeder of the" lake far excaeded anything' I have yet seen." ;The glaciers descending from the different snow-clad hills, which branch off from the central range, unite here in a mer de glace of more than a mile in breadth. I have never seen anything, either in the European Alps or in New Zealand, which can compare with it for-grandeur for one moment. The stream, or rather 'river, issuing from it is equal in size to the Rangitata on the plains. I named this glacier the ' Great Godley Glacier,' and the river issuing from it the ' Godley River,' as a tribute to the memory of the founder of Canterbury. I here discovered a low snowy saddle, from 7000 to 8000 feet high, a true Alpine pass to the west coast. I ascended this glacier and travelled over it for several mile, to a certain if it was available as a pass to the coast. A mountaineer, knowing how to use the Alpine stick, could here cross the central chain in a: single summer's day, but the glacier-is much crevassed, and I had to cut steps frequently on the sides of the crevasses, and walk over sharp ridges, with deep fissures on either side. '

The approach to the Godley glacier is difficult and it took me two days to surmount it, as another glacier of nearly equal dimensions enters the 'valley from a lateral gorge, the terminal moraine, of which comes within four or five chains of that, the godly glacier, thus forming a wall of move than two miles in extent. I cannot hope to describe what I saw, as it is impossible for words to convey, an adequate idea of the grandeur of this scene. The river could 'only be crossed from four to five miles below the point of issue, where the glacial stream comes from the second glacier uniting above. Here we scrambled up the terminal face of the glacier, and had to go down on the other; side, which was rather dangerous work, owing to the large blocks rolling down. On returning in the evening, we found a passage in the stream before it unites with the Godley river ; it was deep and rapid, as well as being full of large boulders.

The leather, throughout the journey, has been fine. On one occasion we were visited with a north-west thunderstorm the effect of which was grand in the extreme, followed by a south-wester. Snovr was lying on the ground before the storm commenced, but disappeared in the- morning but, after the south-wester, the mountains were covered to their base for two days. The thermo-' meter stood at 3° below freezing point (29 ° Farenlieit), and some waterholes near the tent were frozen over; rather sharp work for the 3rd March and a summer campaign! As a specimen of the savage grandeur of the scenery, I may mention that the mountain chain near our camp is now covered with ice and snow to its base on one side, while the other is so perpendicular that not a particle will adhere to it. presenting to the view a nearly vertical wall 7000 feet high, on which you clearly discern the 'striped' appearance of the alternating sandstone and slate formations."

Mr. Haast states in his letter that there is no likelihood of gold being found in this district; the geological features of the country being unfavorable to its existence. It was Mr. Haast's in-: tention, at the date of his letter, to visit the dis trict around Mount Cook, and, if the weather permitted, ascend the mountain.-Lyttelton Times, March 29.