OTAGO.

Colonist, Volume II, Issue 166, 24 May 1859, Page 3

OTAGO.

A. correspondent of the Lyttelton Times of - the 14th instant furnishes the following items'of Otago news :—-On the 29ult the s. «. Pirate arrived from Melbourne via Bluff harbour, with a full complement of passengers and cargo, having made a favourable passage; she has also brought down a small steamer, the Pride of the Yarra. This is an,-iron:vessel, built in Melbourne in 1856, 75 feet long and 16 horse-power, with a draught of four feet when loaded. Her original cost appears to have been £2250, but it is said. that, she has now changed hands for £800.' She was brought down in two halves, her engine and boiler taken out; and she is now being put together, I hear, on the beach at Port Chalmers. This vessel will be a great boon to passengers iarriving and leaving, as, let us say what we will about our upper harbor at Dunedin, it wants b. good deal to make it useful; there is so little water that vessels cannot leave except at high tide, causing a great waste of time; and such vessels as the Pirate have to be put considerably out of trim to bring, them, to the proper draught. I believe about ten feet 6 inches is the greatest draiight a vessel can come up with, and that at high water, only. A great deal has been said upon this subject, and both the papers are urging the dredging ofthe •tipper' harbour; so as to permit vessels •of much larger size tb come up here; but I am afraid all the money Otago will have to spare for some years to come will not accomplish this object. There is one thing entirely lost sight of, viz.,—it is not every •owner will allow his vessel to lie aground on a mud-flat, tide after tide. At the end of our present jetty, long as it is, at low water spring** tides it is quite dry. However, with the Pride of the Yarra, all these difficulties will be obviated, and it is to be hoped •she will pay her spirited proprietor.—l learn that there, is another small steamer -coming down (in a Dutch galliot) called the Victoria; what she is to do I have not yet learned.—On the 29th the barque Melbourne arrived from Sydney with a •cargo ol horses and coals, having made an excellent passage, with very little loss. The long-looked for Lord Ashley arrived at Port Chalmers on the Ist May, at Ba.m., having made the heads the previous evening. Of course she brought no mail, and was off again before one-half of us knew she had arrived; she was to have sailed on Monday at five in the evening, but I learn did not get away till the following'morning. The Gloucester !has almost finished loading and will soon sail.—The Geelong appears to be very fully engaged running from place to place, generally has a full cargo and many passengers. —The white S.vvan arrived at ■about: eleven o'clock on the 7th, and the 'Queen on Sunday morning at about eight o'clock, I believe the former sails this day (Monday, the r 9th); at any rate the mail ■' -closes up here this morning early. Education matters are still engrossing .almost all the space of our papers, although ■ there does not appear to be any new light thrown on the subject; the principal point ■being—who is to pay the piper, and have all the power—a point that appears likely; *tp create some discussion at the next sitting •of the Provincial .Council. . A sale of Crown Lands too'kplaeeon; the 24th April, when 140 lots were sold, .realising the sum of £2041, being an .average of about £14 lis .6d. perfection. ; It appears that the Hon. J. H. Harris, the District Court Judge, is also to act as Resident Magistrate, and there is a rumour that A. 'C." Strode, Esq., our old: Resident, Magistrate, now on leave of; absence, is to come to your province. This is very much to be regretted^ both our losing the services of a Magistrate; well acquainted with the province and his duties, and the appointment. of Mr. Harris to any other office than that of District Judge; as .-.'it appears likely to cause much confusion. On ;the 3rd Mr. Harris -took his seat as Resident. Magistrate, and from what appears in the' tiolbnist in Barnes v Jones, does not appear to have kept up the dignity of the €ourt. J?or't' Chalmers appears to be in much aboutthe same state it was years since; sio improvements to; speak of going on. The inhabitants there, if they wish to see their town improve, should certainly take steps to friake some sort of roads, as they are much as'they were "8 or 9 years ago. A good jetty certainly (with steam communication) * * ought to-be carried out. Tfaey certainly have one advantage over us at Dunedin, as I am informed on good authority that at a jetty as long as ours here, a vessel like the Pirate might always He alongside afloat. . However, as the shipping increases I suppose all these things will be -attended, to.' ['_ Tenders are advertised for the erection of the New Gaol and Court House, a want very much felt by many, but the former, no "doubt, not wished for by the # fevy. There is a difference of opinion existing as to where they..should be.built,, .but I believe it is decided to erect both near the"site.'.of the.' present building used as a gaol;" it may be rather far off the centre of the town, at present, but buildings are constantly being' erected that, way, and before many years the town will be much in that district. It is a pity that all the government buildings are not built of stone, and more together. There is. also some probability of our having another. Church built soon; the Rev. Mr. Todd being on board the Mariner, and more/ accomnsodatidn being much wanted. A Church of England Minister, the Rev. Mr.; Edwards, is also, on board that^ vessel on his way to take charge of, the Episcopal congregation; The crops for the, season appear to have been pretty' generally harvested, and the accounts appear to be very, favorable; wheat in some peaces yielding 50 and 60

bushels to the acre, oats about the same ; but the general average will be about 20 or 30 to the acre. Some little barley has been grown, yielding about 50 to 55 bushels per acre; Hay, a very good crop—giving 35 bushels of seed and It. tons per acre. The turnips are looking well, but will not be taken up till about June : the promise is from 20 to 24 tons per acre. Potatoes will average about seven tons per acre, and from what I can learn will be pretty abundant. The weather lately has been rather showery, and we have had two severe gales, accompanied with hail and snow, on the 17th and 28th April. Business does not appear to be iexy: brisk just now, but still there is a good deal doing quietly; and a great many of our store keepers are importing their own goods, in place of buying from the merchants; a good trade seems springing up With Wellington and a large one with Melbourne. The markets are well stocked at present, but sawn timber is in demand. Sheep imported continue to readily command good prices, and cattle in the Province are fetching from £8 to £12 per head, a demand for stock being created from the necessity of-filling up the runs taken, to prevent their forfeiture. ." The Pirate is expected to sail on" or about Tuesday next, for Melbourne, and a full cargo is waiting her. p.S.—The new Education Ordinance has made its appearance in the papers of last Saturday, to which I must refer you , for information. The Revival has been sold, but what she fetched I cannot at present say ; I have heard that the hull and spars sold for £70 or £75, without anchors and chains.

The Colonist of the ldth instant publishes the . following results as ascertained by the.recent census, taken in December, 1858:— POPULATION. M. F. Total. Town of Dunedin 863 .. 849 .. 1712' Eaitern District (from Dunedin to Abbott's Creek).... 427 .. 398 .. 825. Western District (from Ab- . . bott's Creek to Blueskin, including Port Chalmers.... 494 .. 437 .. 931 Northern District 390 .. 230 .. 620 Between Clutha River and ■ . . Popotunoa 248... 180 .. . 428 Between the Clutha and Tokomairiro. 116 .." 83 .. 199 Between Tokomairiro and Waihola ................. 18 .. 150 .. 381 Between Waihola and mouth - of Taieri River ... 84 .. 67 .. 151 Taieri, from Abbott's Creek to the Waipori and Taieri ',. . River -518 .. 371 .. 889 Murihiku 553 ..'305.. 858. 3874 ..3070 .. 6944: Population Dee. 31, 1857.... 2584 ..2047 .. 4631* .Increase in 1858 1290 •.. 1023 .. 2313. CULTIVATION. . ' N.E.-. ': . A :. Districts. . Murihiku. No. of acres fenced .. 18J574i 491£ In Wheat........ 17871 43* Barley.... :108| --2 * Oats... 2729& . 48§ Potatoes. 393 82$ Grass 3671J 22* Garden ................ 223 39f Other Crop3 168 4 ST0OK. Horses 1358 322 Mules and asses 5 — Cattle ...16,882 4089 Sheep. .......169,605 . 53,984 Goats 206- 107 Pigs 1001 442 P.ed Tapeism.-—We cannot but express oue entire disapproval of a circumstance, which has just come to our knowledge, in connection with the Customs regulations at the Bluff. Tha steamer Pirate, it appears, called there on Thursday, and lauded several passengers from Melbourne. As it happens, there is no accommodation at the Bluff, and the only shelter which the newly landed passengers could procure was to erect a tent, with which view they had provided themselves with a bolt of canvas, which, however, tho officer at the Bluff would not permit them to land, on the ground that tho vessel could not be entered in. We can scarcely believe that humanity could be so greatly outraged, or the dictation of common sense so utterly set aside, by harrow-miuded officialism, as to prohibit a piece of canvas to be taken on shore by the few passengers, amongst whom were women and children, to erect a mere temporary place of shelter from, the wind and rain.— Otago Witness, April 30,