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Southland Times, Issue 1065, 30 November 1868, Page 2

The brig Jane, Capt. Fox, which arrived at the Bluff from Hobarton, on Saturday last, brought a number of perch for the Acclimatisation Society. Eighteen were put on board, but four died during the passage. Capt. Fox also brought a number of kangaroos with him for disposal here. The same vessel brings six days latter news, which, will be found in our other columns. A meeting of gentlemen favorable to the holding of a Caledonian Gathering on New-Years-Day, was held at the Albion Hotel on Friday, the 27th November. It was resolved to carry out the proposal, if possible, and that the Southlaud Agricultural and Pastoral Association be solicited to grant the use of its yard on the occasion. A number of gentlemen subscribed towards the object, and Messrs Ferguson and Scott were appointed Secretaries, with instructions to make preliminary arrangements. It was currantly reported during Friday and Saturday last, that an old man known as John Gradsou, who was knocked down by a horse in the Show Yard on Thursday, had since died. We are enabled to state that such report . is entirely without foundation. The injury received was but slight, and he is now quite recovered. Agricultural settlement has received a great impetus in Victoria, through the now celebrated 42nd clause of the Land Act. New regulations came into force on the 2nd inst., authorising free selection on all land lying within a radius of thirty miles from any goidfield. Commissioners were appointed to provide against the land thus thrown open being seized by speculators. The rush for allotments is described in the ' Australasian ' as follows : — For the choicer plots of land, which were surveyed in blocks ranging from twenty to 160 acres, the applications were eager and numerous, in some cases amounting to treble the number of lots open to selection. On Phillip Island upwards of 7,000 acres were taken up. In the neighborhood of Winchelsea more than 8,000 acceSj comprising two extensive commonages, were allotted to 113 applicants, while nearly 280 persons were disappointed. At Keilor, about 5,000 acres passed into the hands ot 6S allottees. At .Rochester, 2,50 C acres were taken up ; aC Both well, 7,250 ; and ia various other parts of the colony there was a greater or less evidence of earth-hunger on the part of the population, its intensity varying with the quality of the land which had been proclaimed eligible for selection. A valuable seam of coal is reported to have been discovered on the Waimongaroa river, near Westport.

Q-old in small quantities is being obtained at Fingal, in Tasmania. At one part of the goldfield two parties havo b.?en at work for some time past, and have obtained sufficient to pay ■wages, while at another, a party of nine men obtained 4oz. sdwt. during one week. All the men at work expressed themselves as being sanguine of doing better in a week Or two. A ne^ rush of some magnitude has taken place at Nelson Greek, near (xreymoUth. The gold is found in a terrace which is said to extend for four miles in an unbroken line. The excitement is described as being very great, and it was impossible to leave a claim for even a few minutes without its being jumped. The correspondent of the ' Grey River Argus ' says that in his opinion this will be the greatest rush which has ever taken place in the district, and from the extent of ground opened, every chance is afforded to new comers. Messrs Kichmond and M'Lean, on the occasion of their recent visit to Wairoa in the , St Kilda, arranged for a meeting with the | Frendlies. The following accdtiut of ifc we take j from the ' Hawke's Bay Herald' : — At this meet- j ing, upwards of 500 friendly natives were presant The chiefs were unauimous in their desire to crush the band of fanatics under Te Kooti. They only, they said, wanted authority to be given them, and they would speedily free the district of the pest which threaten to overrun it. A council of war followed, at which, it was supposed, the conclusiou was arrived at that a native force, unaccompanied by any Europeans, should start on Wednesday morning to find out the whereabouts of the enemy and attack him. The ' Herald' remarks, in connection with this proposal : — The offer of Hotene and Bopata, on, this side of the Island, and of the Wanganui frendlies, on the other, will doubtless have some influence upon public opinion. Should the Imperial Government, regardless of every principal of justice throw upon the colony jthe whole onus of quelling native disturbances, the colonists, in their present state of impecuniosity, must do it in the way likely at once to be the cheapest and the most effectual. Our native allies would do the work in their own way — which probabiy implies a defective knowledge, or at all events an imperfect recollection, of the laws of civilised warefare — but, we are persuaded, they would do it cheaply and effectually. Since this was written, an engagement has taken place, in which Te Kooti is said to have been killed. Business is very dull in Hobart Town just now. The stores are glutted with produce,, while on the wharves there are thousands of feet of timber of excellent quality, and thousands of tons of firewood awaiting a purchaser. A dark picture of the present state of affairs in Wanganui is given by the ' Grey River Argus' of the 14th inst. That journal says : — " We learn that the town of Wanganui is at present in a most confused state, and alarm everywhere prevails. The streets fswarm with settlers who i have been driven from their homesteads, and friendly natives, who roll about drunk, with their rifles and ammunition. The Second Clas3 Militia, consisting of married men, was to have been called out for active service this week. The men vrho ought to be at the front — the two companies of the 18th Regiment — remain in barracks in town, while the Militia and Volunteers do all the fighting. The ' Daily Times ' says : — A large and beautiful meteor was observed at Port Chalmers on Saturday evening, close to the group of the Pleiades. It shot in a westerly direction and disappeared. It was also seen very plainly at Duuedin. The 400 Friendlies who were recently disbanded at Wanganui were allowed to take their arms home with them. The ' Wanganui Times ' assertthat if any attempt had been made to take the arms from them, bloodshed might have resulted. This assertion indicates a state of matters the contemplation of which is far from satisfactory. The • Tuapeka Times ' states that at a public meeting held in Tapanui, on the 17th inst., resolutions were passed to the effect that the Gorernment should be memorialised to declare 30,000 acres into hundreds, and that the Tuapeka Laud League should be requested to establish a branch in Tapanui to carry out these resolutions, which were unanimously agreed to. The new Presbyterian Church at Forest Hill was opened on tJabbath, the 22nd in3t., by the Rev. A. Stevens. Notwithstanding the inclemency of the weather, the attendance was very good. Divine service in that quarter has been held, for some time past, ia Mr Oamerons' dwelling-house, but so soon as the necessity for a more commodious place of worship was felt, the people belonging to the district entered heartily into the proposal to have one erected. Free votes were readily and generously placed at the disposal of the Committee of Management. The one considered most eligible was that offered by Mr Livingstone, on which there now stands a neat and substantial church, built by means of local efforts, along with contributions solicited from, and kindly given by, parties at Invercargill and Winton, interested in the cause. The building is only partially finished — when completed it will be seated for about one hundred persons. The workmanship has been well executed by the contractors — Messrs Lindsay and Robertson. It is likewise pleasing to notice that the church in its present state is entirely free from debt, and it is earnestly hoped that the settlers connected with the locality may soon be in circumstances to enable them to raise additional funds, sufficient for completing what, in such a good spirit, they have commenced, and so far carried forward. We have been requested to publish the following correspondence on the subject of the Orepuki Mail Service : — " Invercargill, 24th November, 1868. — Io the Chief Pos f master, Southland. — Sir, — I have the honor to forward to you a petition signed by 130 inhabitants of the Orepuki G-oldfields and Itiverton, its outlet, praying for the establishment by the Government of a weekly post from Itiverton to the Orepuki, and beg to urge i;s favorable consideratioa on the following grounds. The field has been established since January, 1866, and judging from the enclosed account of the receipts and expenditure to the 30th June last, furnished by the Warden, Mr Henry Rogers, the population has not decreased. From it you will gather that the revenue derived from 3rd July, 1866, to 30th January, 1868, has amounted to £3137 12s Od ; the expeuditure during the same period on salaries, roads, public buildings, and cutting tracks, conducive to the still further development

of the field, to £1802 4s sd, leaving a balance to the credit of revenue over expenditure of £1335 7s 8d sterling. 2nd. The digging on the Goldfield may now be looked upon as a permanent industry, not an ephemeral oeccupation, and the digger 3 a settled, not a nomadic population. I believe few who originally started there have left it, and of those who did— attracted by the allurements and supposed advantages of the Westland Diggings — most have returned. But it is not merely as a diggings that this reproductive segment of the population ought to be looked at. The locality in which the diggings are situated is as you are aware well adapted for agriculture ; possessing good, level, well sheltered land, with a large tract of available bush adjoining ; thus, when the G-oldfield '^Regulations, presently prevailing, are altered to the more liberal ones of Otago, agricultural settlement may be profitably undertaken to the manifest advantage of the whole community. To foster such a settlement in the extreme western verge of the Province, and to encourage its progress i 3, I would submit, so manifestly the duty, as well as interest, of a wise and disinterested Government, that I have no doubt of the request of the petitioners being acceded to with that spirit of liberality which has invariably characterized the conduct of the General Government in its treatment of this Province.—l have the honor to be, Sir, your most obedient servant, Waiter H. Peasson." (Reply) . " Post Office, Invercargill, 25th November, 1868.— T0 W. H. Pearson, Ksq., Invercargill. — g*lr-, — In answer to your letter as per margin, I have the honor to inform you that a copy of it, as -well as the petition from the inhabitants, as per copy,prayingfor the establishment of a weekly post between the two places, -will be forwarded to the Postmaster-General by to-morrow's mail for his decision. — I have the honor to be, Sir, your most obedient servant, Edwabd D. Butts, Postmaster."