AUCKLAND.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 173, 5 June 1862, Page 5

AUCKLAND.

PRO3I OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT;

I takp advantage-of the first trip of the Inter'provinciul steamer, under tlie new Mail contract, to ■put you. in possession of, nil the news which I cau collect for you in this city. X frar, ■however, that tlio amount,thereof will neither prove si great, nor the matter so exciting as .that to which'your senses, nttiined to tlie pitch of n gold colony, are* accustomed. This may perhaps bn owing- in part to tlie depressing influence of the. weather, which lias now put on an aspect altogether proper to winter, It may be, we have received erroneous impressions regarding the climate of Otago, but the feelings in our minds here, is, that no ordinary amount of rain, hail, snow, and sleet, seems at all unnatural in Ounedin. With ourselves, however, il i ;dift'.;rc:it, and whateverourtheories may be when our jjriKs is scorched and dry in March, our practice certainly is to fee! not a little annoyed when thn rain pours down in May, and indeed to feel actually ill-used when, as happened the other day, an exceedingly sharp hail-storm reddened our faces, and whitened those of tlie fields in a very few seconds, and in a very unusual degree. No wonder then, that news is rather dull, —that is, reliable news, for of manufactured, the supply is always large: but it is a curious fact, th'ifc t\v; news whii-h is first communicated by a man wet to the skin, to his friend in the same plight, is that it is " moist weather," or a " soft day," according to the country of the speaker Although, however, the weather is quite wintry and most unpleasant, we have as yet had a great proportion of dry days, so much so indeed that the military authorities have not yet-called in the troops from tlie road-making, and I am credibly informed that they expect to. finish the road entirely, as fur as I'okinor ; that is the furthest, point ro.iched by them and within two miles of tlie Waikato. If these expectations are realized, the benefit will bo very great, as it would certainly have been a mutter of the very greatest difficulty to keep five hundred troops .supplied with all needful stores during the winter, had it been nese.ssars' to leave the gaps in the metalling of the ro:v.l, which I mentioned in my last letter. The plan by which so much work lias l>O3!i, and is being got through in the end of the season, is the simple and coinrnon-sense one of letting' out the work in pieces to the soldiers, a plan which, hnd it been taken at tlie beginning of the operations, would have enabled them to finish ths whole road with eaie before this time. It is, however, I aui told, quite contrary to military precedent, and as such, we ought, perhaps, ratlier to give General Cameron credit for breakiug through the adamantine chains of rod tape, than blame him for being-so bug restrained by them. With regard to the natives, the news is not very certain, nor i-:o far as I can learn, of any very startling import. The neivs which I communicated last mail ou this .subject as anon, (lit, is now confirmed upon the very beat evilence —:that, namely, of Mr. Gorst himself, the Magistrate from whom the rescue was made. 1 imagine that no action will be taken upon it, in which case, of eonrse, all will go on quietly. Tltis, although rather trying, is, I don't doubt, the wisest policy. When you will not punish, not to notice must cost the least sacrifice of dignity. From what I 1.-am in a'l quarters, it is very evident to me that the break up-of that exot'c Maori nationality, which seemed likely at one time to become a serious danger to the quiet population, is very near —indeed, ha= fairly set in ; and this vary fact will ac-' count for the excited state in which the King Maories (that is, those tribes whose honor seems ple.lged to the King) now are ; indeed, I quite expect that they' will became much more troublesome before they finally succumb to their certain fate. There have lately"been published in the Maori Messenger a number of letters from Chiefs principally of tribes concerned in the late war, which they have sent t) the Governor, indignantly renouncing all connexion with the King and his party, and complaining bitterly of their duplicity, principally manifested in their representations to Sir George Gr:-iy of the manner in which the King hal been established, as they said by the all but unanimous voice o the people of New Zealand! These leiters, however, form but one indication out of many that the Ngatimaniopoto and Ngiitiawa tribes will soon stand alone as the champions of Maori sovereignty in the island. All Sir George's talent for maiming people lias quite failed in convincing these tribes that he means peaceably towards them. One of them lately expressed in a. characteristic way the light in which, they viewed his proceedings. "It is," he said, "Just as if we, free Maories, and our lands and privileges, were the eggs in a bird's nest. Governor Browne came like a strong rough mau and put his band boldly in, from above, to take t"lem. And now Sir George Grey comes, and he too wants the eg<;s, but ho is too cunning to put his hand iv at the top, so he slips it up quiedy from below and breaks away twig after twig of the nest until at last the eggs drop" through the "bottom." While this is their view, we cannot wonder at their holding out as long as possible. Regarding the gold question, I had hoped by this time to have had some some satisfactory and authoritative statements to communicate for the guidance ef any restless gold seekers in your Province, but I am sorry to say that as yet the certainties are not miich greater than before. One of the few-things that we know as true beyond dispute, is that finding of gold " oh the sly" has gone on to some considerable extent upon the block of laud which the natives still refuse to sell or lease. This tract of country amounts to about seventy thousand acres, and is said, apparently not without.good reason, to give indications of abundance of gold. The diggers have generally paid a respect quite beyond expectation to tho rights of property in this case, hut it is nevertheless well known that many individual case 3of .prospecting .with very solid results, have taken placs. So well was this ascertained both by natives and Europeans, that a good deal of exoitement was produceJ, and Mr. Fox, accompanied by the Superintendent, went down to .make another trial to get the laud from the natives. They were unsuccessful, although they o/lered them ten thousand pounds and all the fees tlis diggers might pay. This would have been a fortune to the proprietors, who number thirtysix in all—men, women and children. The negooiation=, howevjr, are not yet broken off, and they still hope for some success. Until then, of course, as little will be said as possible of the finds made, in

case of enhancing the value in the eyes of the natives. It is stated that gold is being found in fair quantities upon the Government"-land, by the. various parties. At all events the diggers are all in high spirits; and asthe Govtrnmeutrations are .stopped, that says something. A Quartz Crushing Company has been formed amongst the miners themselves, and their workgjes on with vigour and apparent success. Another quartz reef has been found cropping out upon the surface and containing gold. Jt 'has hseti named Kevan's Reef, after the person in whose employment the party were who discovered it. From what I have here said you will pe-ceiye that no astounding success has been achieved by any one. A story indeed was rife, about tea days ago, a,nd was gravely, repeated in the Auchlander, that qne party had got one hundred and thirty ounces of gold fro,m one bucket of earth. This was, I need scarcely sj\y, an invention ; but although no wonderful hauls' have been made, it is quite certain that all the diggers at Coromandel ara in high spi> its, and express themselves well satisfied with tlieir success. Whilst this in the case, we have every reason to feel confident that greater things are in store, and can well afford to wait patiently for the fulfilment of our golden dreams. The Waihoihoi coal company arc once more in lull operation, having com pleted their tramway from the pit derail to water's edge. The coal too is said to be improving as they get deeper into the hill. Closely connected with this renewed activity in rezard to coal mining, is the proje.ct r^ovj mooted of an Auckland Gas Company. A Ineetmg has been held this week, at whieU a. committee of gentlemen was app j.ited to make preliminary inquiries and arrangements, with a view I suppose to the bringing in a bill in the Assembly for incorporation. None here doubts its paying well in this city, and still less the need that exists for it.

This week has seen the publication of the first daily paper ever printed in Auckland. This esiterprl.su ha j been undertaken by the prop.rie.Sors of the Southern Cross, which, has'now" prefixed -'Daily "to its title 5' it [a a bold proceedirig on their part/ but is generally looked \\p:m as likely to be successful. I observe that your contemporary, the Wtinessi,seems much puzzled and surprised at the address.-of the Auckland Provincial Council, praying for Separa-. tion, a cause of surprise, which although most 11a-, tural to poople imperfecty-acquainted with Auckland and its public men, is the simpler.*; matter possible to those who know both. Mr Busby, the gentleman who moved that address," is the largest au3 most troublesome.of all the old land chii'mants of this Province, and lie having tried in vain to induce every ministry which has yet existed in New Zealand to view matters in his light regarding those claims, he" indulges a hope (not indeed unnatural) that could he, but install the Auckland Provincial Cou,h"c(l in the: supreme government ofthis Province, he would stand abetterolian.ee from their weakness than he could hope' to do from the. compassion of men better fitted for their ofticc. And as regards the majority of tho.sewho supported this modest petition, Auckland people at least are aware that they are the men who would most covet and least adorn seats in a supreme, or indeed, any Assembly. In this city, the thing called forth scarcely any notice.' Sir George won't pay anyattention to them, ■being. % common remark which satisfied most 'T^n. Indeed,' the feeling in Auckland is'h'liuiy'roote'd, so firmly as to, need no assertion that we have a vested right to ; be the capital city of New Zealand, or, at all Events the scat of Gavernment; and,.that on the ground. th,at :Wheh the Go-, vernmeint proclaimed ir..ns sueh,.;and. ;iipon that asBurance sold its lands—to^n and country—at a much? greater price tiian would otherwise have been pos- J

be (which price helped to purchase the sheep-runs : f Canterbury and the troi.l 'fi-jlJa of Ot.igo), they bwiiiiie" bound iii'hmiof TiTfc^ep faith with us, the purchasers, who would otherwise Kufl'er.a great wrong. In one respect your contemporary wrongs us Aucklamlcrs. No one here supposes that any Southern Province is to pay any porUon-of the cost of military ro id-making in this Province. Whatever claims the Homo Government establish against the Colony on that iicc mnt, ■we perfectly understand must come asaiust this Province. Since writing: the above I have seen a letter which came this morning from Coromandel, written by the leader of the party working- at what is called Kevan's 'Reef, on land in the hands ofthfl Government. He says they have bottomed the reef, and find it (bur feet thick where they struck it; that, on breaking it, gold is plainly,to be seen in the quartz, and that undoubtedly it will'pay first-rate. They intend to sink deeper and drive westward in the expectation of finding another leader. '