CANTERBURY.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 83, 16 December 1864, Page 6 (Supplement)

CANTERBURY.

The following items are from the Press of the Ist. instant:— .■.'-. "A meeting was held yesterday afternoon, at the old Town Hall, for the purpose of swearing in members for the cavalry corps. Forty -nine ineni-. bers were sworn in by Adjutant Armstrongs 'and towards the latter end of the meeting many: more came forward who were desirous of joining the corps, whose swearing in was postponed till the next meeting, the adjutant having retired. A suit of the proposed uniform was exhibited, consisting of . a loose tiinic of blue cloth with scarlet facings, bound round the edge with yellow cord. The trousers of blue cloth, with, a double scarlet stripe down the sides. The cap is also of blue cloth, with a yellow brand round, and a knot o£ the same color on the top. On the motion of Mr. M'Lean the number oi? .the committee was incveased to nine members, besides the officers. The following were then elected members; — Messrs. C. OUiver, St. Quentin, M'Leau, Innes. Coleman, Oaks, Cuff, Brooke, and Fysh. Capt. Eeader informed the meeting that the price of uniform and necessary accoutrements, together ■with, the annual subscription of . £2, would amount to about £12 10s. He proposed that the privates should subscribe £2, and the, officers £10, toward* the drill expenses, and that their ordinary saddles and stirrups, covered with, sheepskins, should be used. The arms and aecontvemenls will shortly be served out to those who enrolled themselves." "We have been permitted to make the .following cxtaact from an official letter from Mr. Kcvel to°the Provincial Government, dated from tho Grey, November 2L : — ' Tho rush which took pi ice to the Totara Kiver, about a fortnight ago has, up. to the present time, proved v. failure owing partly to the continuous rain on the ranges at this timo of the year, which keeps the rivers aud their tributaries full and subject to frequent freshes, and also to the high price of provisions, which have io bo packed from the Grey, a distance of forty miles, with three largo rivers aud several small creeks intervening, all moro or less affected by the tide. Flour id £s 'per 1001 b. afc the Tolai-a, and other goods; at a" proportionate rate. Two-thirds of tho minors have returned to the Greenstone, whilst; others — about, fifty or sixty — are leaving the coast either by the overland track to Chnslchurch, or by steamer to Nelson. The miners generally speak favorably of the locality about the Toiara, and arc of opinion that in February or March next, when the /me weather sets in, it will prove remunerative. It appeai-a that the original prospectors got theiv gold, in crevice ', and on shallow bars about si<c or seven miles lip tho river; they have done very little on their claims since, four to five dwls. a day being all, and they have since sold out for £25. About 100 miners have remained on the Totara prospecting the various creeks, which run into it for a distance of fourteen miles inland from the coast, the first five or six miles of which have to be traversed through tho water, which 'reaches up to the waist. The Greenstone is si ill the favorite resort of miners, most of whom had good payable claims, and have therefore returned to pro vent them being jumped. The Mftori claim on the Greonstoiic sold for £20.'"