AUCKLAND.

Colonist, Volume III, Issue 289, 27 July 1860, Page 4

AUCKLAND.

(From the Southern Cross.) Reinforcements foe, Taranaki.—From the Iris, 100 sailors and 50 marines of the Iris, Niger, and Elk, under the command of Lieut. Beut, R.M., are proceeding to the seat of war. Likewise from our Colonial friend the Victoria, 30 sailors under the command of Lieutenant G. A. Woods and-Midshipman W. Horn. The Prevailing Epidemic—lllness still continues iv the Wuikato. W. Naylor, we regret to say, is suffering severely, and many other nativfa, both at Waitetuna and Waipa. The Europeans in the same localities have suffered com;.ai\!lively little. It is gratifying,to find that on native visitors in Auckland are recovering under European treatment and with European e-jmfbVis in a few days from what they luimw. in their own lauugas, would have been tcrli.M^ cis-.s .-f illness. The Cu.-l C-M.-iiENcs of the Rebels.-— As will be.se; n •''• "■■■ accounts, the Rev. Mr. Wiiiu-lt-y \. •' tho rebel pah at Waitara after the lato ik'.. and was refused'admittance/ It appears further t,uat after leaving the pah 'he was recalled ar.u io formed that if he would hoist two ivljil.m :):.<** over the Wesleyan Institution in N-w Plymouth—for half-castes and others, we b' .:evo—they would kindly spare it! What, next ? Ka-ipa, su; v;i>sed to be dead, is alive and well again. '■ lioie is reason to think that ha has joined tho K'->a 'arty. He is reported to have said—--"T. i-Ih is rising, rising, rising; the Governor has set fire to the fern in Taranaki, aud the smoke will soon cover the whole hhtid. (From the Register.) Yvre give the-following report for what it is worth, neither throwing entire discredit upon it nor receiving it with implicit confidence. On Friday afternoon, some natives, residing beyond Howick, staled to a Reman Catholic Clergyman at Howick, that they heard heavy firing in the direction of Taranaki,—that they had counted forty distinct guns. This report was in current circulation in Auckland on Saturday. The distance between Howick and Taranaki is great: perhaps a hundred and twenty miles in a direct line ; but it must be remembered that there are times and conditions of atmosphere when sound travels clearly and fair. A Parisian, in Paris, reported having heard the cannonading at the Nile; aud another the bombardment of Sebastopol; aud both, we believe, were correct. The action at Trafalgar, was clearly heard at Gibraltar ; and to come nearer home, the tatoo, beaten in the Albert Barracks, was clearly heard by one of the most respected of our townsmen .when on board a vessel between Tiri Tiri and Kawau. It is therefore possible that firing may have taken place at Taranaki, and may have been heard; and iv that light we think the matter worth chronicling, more especially as the natives have long threatened an attack upon New Plymouth, and under the influence of recant success may have been led to make the attempt. Handels' Oeatorio.— "lsrael in Egypt," was performed by the Auckland Choral Society on Thursday evening—and this time ■'without interruption from fire or other casualty. The instrumental portion of the orchestra was weakened by the departure of the band of the 65th for Taranaki and had to consist entirely of stringed instruments. The chorus was very numerous and on the whole well balanced. The massive double choruses were given with great precision and vigour; aud the same reremark applies to tbe rendering of the choruses as a whole. Mrs. Corlett a gum rendered valuable sssisiance in the solos for soprano, and the Misses Hampton acquitted themselves very creditably in the solo and duett pieces in which they took part. Tho solos art d recitatives for male voices were sung by Mr. Rsid, Mr. Leech, Mr. Ely, and Mr. Strauch ; and the well-known duett, " The Lord is a Man of War," was sung by Messrs Strauch aud Carleton. Taken as a whole the performance was a very successful one and shows that the Society is not relaxing in its efforts at continued advancements in the practice aud performance of the highest order of musical composition. Captain Balneavis led, Mr. Fleetwood presided at the piano, and.Mr. J. Brown conducted. The attendance was very large, and the want of hall-stewards was much felt. (From the Auckland Examiner.) The Comet.—To the Editor.—l beg space in your journal for the following:—At half-past sis o'clock yesterday evening the Bth July, 1860, I saw a Comet with the naked eye. This evening—9 h—it was agaiu perfectly visible and had moved upwards (apparently) in the heavens, about three degrees. This Comet cannot yet have beeu seen ii> .England or the North of Europe, although it may have beeu seen in the South of Europe, America, &c, on account of its low attitude aud the prolonged twilight, at present, in Northern latitudes; for it will set ere it be dark enough to be visible. As there is an observatory at the Cape of Good Hope, it is probable that this Comet has been seen there ere this, and its motions properly noted. Any one having average eyesight may see it on a clear night, by looking to the northwest about half past-sis o'clock,—twenty-five degrees above the horizon near to two stars of the first The nucleus of the Comet looks like a star of the third magnitude, the tail somewhat dim and about three degrees in length. lam sorry I cannot point out its position in reference to the constellations, 'as I am not yet sufficiently reconciled to their altered appearances in this southern latitude.— Thomas Turnbull.