SUMMARY.

Colonist, Volume IV, Issue 379, 11 June 1861, Page 1

SUMMARY.

OUR Provincial Councillors have been ay the tug ot war. The principal business ha£ been to pass the Estimates. We thpugljj| of making a few remarks, on the variouij items, but we must defer that purpose for^j the present. j The other business of the session since our last has been pretty amicably disposed of on the whole, with two exceptions, which we shall dwell upon more particularly presently. The following is a summary of the business performed since our last: —Cattle and sheep branding. Various local roads, in which the members for the different districts fought the battle stoutly for their con■tituents. In connexion with the port it may be mentioned that a new iron lighthouse is now shortly, expected from England ; coasters are to be signalled, and a new additional flagstaff is to be erected for the benefit of the people in the country, to whom the present one is of no use. Quesjtions. too have been put to the Executive concerning the amount of dues collected oh the new government wharf. '. A long debate, resulting in a Select Com;mittee, has talsen place on the construction of a bridge across the rapid Wairoa riyeri, about twelve miles from town. An iron bridge was proposed, but the expense prejvented the adoption of this idea, and we believe a wooden one will be built; the Go} vernment allowing the sum of £3000 towards th« same. . i

In the last session of Council the sum of £500 was granted by Government for building a market-house: the money was handed over to the Nelson Board of Works, who very adroitly built themselves a Bnug office, put up a few stalls; and enclosed a small space of ground with the money. "Whether the site chosen, was suitable or not, it turned out a complete failure. The promoter of the scheme made; an indignant protest against this, as he called it, misuse of the money. However, he was thoroughly beaten, as what man would not be in battling against a corporation; for it has well been said of such bodies that corporately they would commit a deliberate crime, whilst, individually; they would shrink from any disgraceful act. It seems that the promoter of the market should have been the one to support it by sending his produce there, but did not.i This caused some smart sparring in Council,! in which in one case we thought it was the tale of the pot calling the kettle a name' which must not be mentioned to ears polite.,; So for the present the market is en-i tirely in the hands of the Board of Works. If we might be allowed to suggest a destination for it, we should propose that it be used to contain the Naval Artillery big guns— when we get them !

Among other matters taking up the time of the Council way be mentioned the appointment of a Select Committee to take into consideration what should be done with some red deer, which had been sent out as a present. This present recalls to our .miml that of a sacred elephant, which some Rajah of India gave to Clive while he was a simple clerk, and before he became a lord; ihe animal cost more to keep than Clive's ■salary altogether. The Select Committee made a long report, recommended £400 to be expended on them; and we believe they are to be given in charge to Mr. Mackay, ofDrumduan, Wakapuaka, who has promised to do the amiable for the interesting animals.

The district of Takaka—in the electoral district of Massacre Bay, represented by Mr. Gibbs—has excited some attention from the fact of one of the town members having at least half-a-dozen motions on the paper in one night relating to that part which is supposed to be represented by Mr. Gibbs. We quote the remarks which we made on the subject at the time, especially as the Father to the Son has again gone out of bounds,; and simply observe that the town cemetery has since been ordered to be enclosed; and that there has been a slight movement among the dry bones of the Government schools; the market business we have spoken of above :—

If oar readers will look at our Council columns, they will see with surprise that the Highland Hercules had some half-a-dozen notices of motion —like the' four-and-twenty fiddlers all in a row 1 — oh the paper, and all relating to the Takaka district, which, as Mr. Mackay is a city member, looks somewhat peculiar and ' omnioas,' as Mrs. Partington would say. What the supposed real member, Mr. Gibbs, (not the two-and-two-not-four Gibbs of .Metallurgies Greenwood notoriety) will think of the matter we know not; but it shows that his, constituents have but little frith in him when they fly to a city member to do for them what Mr. Gibbs has been chosen to do, and in fact is paid for doing. It shows, we say, a want of faith in their representative by the Takakians, or a slight defect of taste on the part of Mr. Mackay in assuming the functions of another and legitimate person. We must<p*ttest 'in totj? against even the minority of the electors of a district applying to any but their legal representative to make their wants and grievances known in Council, unless that representative be incapacitated, or has shown his unwillingness to do so, which we cannot believe tp be the case in this instance.

We know that Government pluralists exist in this province to a greater extent than in any other, if not to the detriment of the public service, to the great pecuniary advantage of the Kicky favorites of our patronising minister; but we trust the evil will be nipped in the : bud when our legislators take more upon' themselves than what is proper and in accordance with good taate and regard to the feelings of others. Mr. Mackay, as city member, will find plenty to be done for his own constituency; and when he has discharged the gratuitous duties—including lockups and pounds, ferries and fingerposts, courtrooms and accommodation-houses—to his tural Takakian friends, we trust he will turn his attention to city matters. We will point out a few things which might well engage his ever-active mind. * The market-house business is in the hands of a representative of Wakanuaka, wiiere it in likely to be well handled, but "we hope Mr. Mackay will not fail to come to his rescue if wanted. The Board of Works, it is admitted on all hands, require a little attention at the hands of the city members.

The city schools claim minute attention, and we Ihink should, not be left quite bo much to a familycompact Jfiud; with tht sum of ueady per ';■'■'■■ ■•■■■■ " ' ' W-

annum paid to the teachers of the boys' school, jvc do not see why boys of any age should be sent to the girls'school, which we have heard to be tjie case; nor do we see why parents who live !in Toi-toi and Washington Valleys, and far away bn the beach, and up and down the Waimei Roajd, should be compelled to send their children^ to the Eel-pond, where so many children are jammfed together, that neither moral, mental, nor intellectual training can be expected to result from }t. We believe the same remarks are applicable to the girls'school, except that k does not cost above one-third the money. The Central Board of Education, and its doings too, require a little attention, and|the InspectorrSecietary might,be kept a little better up to the mark by; having a little more care paid in Council to the reports and the accounts. Our cemetery too is in such a disgraceful and disgusting state, that we wonder Mr. Mackay has not noticed that as well as the new one in the Wakapuaka-rpad, about which he a short time ago dispftyed'such a fussy anxiety; let him move at once that.it befenced in, and a good hedge and belt of trees planted round that portion where bodies are deposited, arid ins cad of its being looked upon by strangers as a nuisance and a standing disgrace to us as citizens, it may be made a sightly place, and the feelings of relatives will not be harrowed by the brutal neglect of the sanctuary of the dead. We are glad that Mr. Horn has taken the subject of lunatics up, though why our city members, among whom may be noticed two medical' men and some justices of the peace, neglected so important a subject we know not. , , We have notified but a few of the things which a good, and an energetic, and a single-minded member of the city might bring before the notice of the Council, with some prospect of remedying or modifying the home evils, without running some scores of miles away and poaching on ani. other man's ground. We do not go the whole way with the poet, but we heartily say in this case—

JVc tutor ultra erepidam,

Immigration, ferry boats, jetties, recreation grounds, on which the honorable members of the Amuri became quite raphsodical, and quoted Dr. Watts or some other poet on the occasion; insolvent debtors; waste lands regulations; agricultural association; separation of electoral district; alpacas; central board of education; impoundings, monument to the victims of the so-called massacre at Wairau many years ago; dog tickets; Tasmanian Maid steamer; com- ; pensation; roads to Wangapeka gold-field; gold- fields in general; powder magazine; printing; the district of Amuri; Golden Bay; maps for the benefit of councillors; audits; water supply; cattle disease;, rivers; coal; fee, &c, have all received due attention, and therefore the reflection! cannot be cast on the Council that they have done nothing. We thought the Council would have passed off rather flatly, especially as most, of the big guns of that body have gone to Auckland at representatives in the General^ Assembly; but luckily two subjects have been brought on the carpet, which have brought out the oratorial powers of some of our most potent, grave, and reverend seignors. We extract below the observations, on giving land to military and naval settlers. The member for the Amuri, Mr. Elliott, moved * that this Council is of opinion that the erasure of the clauses in the Nelson Land Regulations of giving land scrip to military and naval settlers was an impolitic act, and that it is desirable the question should be now reconsidered with a view to a return to the principle, even though the amount of scrip to be given should be of less amount.'

Mr. Parker did not agree with the mo- • tion, when he said it would be an advantage to have these military gentlemen settled ;among them, he must totally disagree with jhim. Of all Classes they were the worst of settlers; when he ; sa)'s they will bring capital, he must differ from him, for he (generally found on their arrival they had ltd be famished with it, or situations given jthem. He had known some who had received tiieir 4300 worth of land, and they jwere not a great acquisition to the pro- ! jvince. [ The Provincial Solicitor was opposed to jihe motion. No clauses when erased gave him more pleasure than the ones now in question. The sum of £3000 had already been given to twenty-three military in scrip, and where had they derived that persons amount of benefit from them? They had,, just as jjood and useful settlers who had some without. He did not say one word Against the parties who had already availed themselves of the scrip, but why should they pick out military and naval settlers ? Did they bring any capital among us? They must judge of the future by the past, »nd he should like to hear why they would make more useful settlers than any other class. If the Government had more land than they know what do with they could dispose of it better—to medical men for instance, they were wanted here. j Mr. Saunders said, what was the motion riow proposed by Mr. Elliott but a gross attempt at class legislation ? Why attempt to give soldiers a privilege above all pther classes? or if you must ,do so, why..give ! £300 to an officer and only £30 to a private ? Was not a private likely to make as valuable a settler as an officer? Soldiers of any kind did not generally make the best settlers;'their education was calculated to unfit them for industrial pursuits; when a man was awkward, or indolent, or unsteady, he was spoken off as an * old soldier.' If they wish to make class distinctions at all they should make them in favor of the most useful and not the most useless classes. If they have land to give away let them offer it to the best ploughman, the best mechanic, or the best manufacturer, or any other class who would benefit the province. He supposed the hon. mover was finding that class

distinctions were difficult to keep up *nl a colony, that they, natur,ally,wpre out, arid thought the best way to maintain them was to introduce som6 military< officers, tyith all their stiffness, formality, a^., pride,.most of whom adopted the practiced looking down upon those who did not happen to hold a commission, as if they were bgings of a naturally inferior .oxder. Or perhaps tfee Sheriff [who has been a captain, and is now chief post-master]/ was, igetting; short of what he thought the right sort of men to put upon our grand and special juries to at* sist in the administration qf justice; and if so, he, (Mr. S.) should ;regret it; he should like to see the sheriff obliged to put a few^horiest, radependent .meQ. on. those fifrfes,Tnenl. who ; woulq tvave wm\n&J>f their own,, men to whom their fellow settlers could confidently entrust their liv.es and their liberties, and that he should be able to obtain no more of those who may be seen sitting on our grand juries one day, and affectionately cuddling, a bottle in a ditch the next.

Jibe motion was carried by 10 to 4 after a very animated debate, in which poor Dr. Renwick floundered about in the rotten debris of ' fighting our country's battles in all parts of,the globe,' '.claim- to gratitude,' 1 glory and honor of Great Britain; 1 4 British flag, 1 &c, &c. The doctor came out of his perilous position with a few slight abrasions and ecchymotic spots. Mr. Curtis, too, said that he at the present moment employed an old soldier, • and a better servant he could not wish for.' We can easily believe it; for according to all accounts. the ' joke is easy and the burden light,', but we may still presume that there are some good lay servants without being accused of casting a star on those who wear her Ma-, jesty's livery. A public meeting took place, on this subject on Friday evening, for an account of which we refer to another part of the paper. ■ ... ■■ Another subject of graver. importance was debated on the evening of June 5. There has been some trouble of late years in selecting a proper site for a cemetery— those hitherto selected with one, exception,; being the most preposterous imaginable. At last, after much discussion, and,the for-, mation of committees on the point, two sites: adjoining each other were selected, and the, Provincial Engineer, who had just received, his appointment, and was a perfect stranger ! to everybody here, sent in his report,'which we gave at the time, pointing out the ad-; I vantage of the one farthest from the town.' | Now the other section belonged to a member of the Council, who, after the lapse of nearly twelvemonths, seized the opportunity; of the sum of £300 being asked to improve; the road to the cemetery to say, *as to the' estimate laid on the table by the Provincial i Engineer, he did not.consider it worth- noticing; he had no faith in him; he did not believe any of his reports since he had seen his report on the cemetery site ' r . that was a onesided report, it had no ap- \ pearance of truth about it. Why were all the advantages of the one site so fully stated and none of the advantages of his si^e mentioned ? After such a report he could have no faith in any report of the Provincial En--gineer; it was a shameful report; he did not hesitate to say it -was a perfect job; and he would never believe anything that was;, said by,.the PrflK ; vincia! Engineer; he would speak out, he i -would say what he thought; he. no; (Jpubt ifelt strongly upon the subject; but the. Council could now see that all this great expense for a road to the cemetery was caused by not choosing the nearest site.' Now we believe, from all we have heard, ; that Mr. Blackett is as incapable of committing the dishonorable act sj indecently attributed to Him, as Dr. Renwick is of performing an act of liberality. We do not know what course the Provincial Engineer will .pursue; but we believe there is not another being in the province . that will coincide .with Dr. Renwick in his chagrined aspersions. Mr. Blackett, we believe, holdi the Queen's commission, and so does Dr. Renwick—will ; the affair then terminate here ? We give the views of the members of the Council on such conduct.

The Provincial Solicitor said he thought the gentleman who had last spoken was laboring under considerable excitement or he would not have said what he had. He jiacl charged the Provincial Engineer with being prejudiced in his reports, now he maintained that there was not a more unprejudiced gentleman in the Province; he had come amongst us a comparative stranger, aud since he had been here he had gained the respect of all except, the hon, gentleman who bad just sat down. With regard to the site, he had been in favor of No. 2 until he visited the ground, when., he altered his opinion, as any person with their,eyes open must have done. He considered the charge against the Provincial Engineer most unjust and unfounded. .

Mr. Dodson said he could not understand how any gentleman would make use of such language as that which had been applied to* the Provincial, Engineer by Dr. Ren wick; and as to the accusations brought against the unfortunate members (or Suburban North, he was going to say something very strong but he would not say that; he would only say that it was an ungentlemanly and a base and unfounded insinuation.

Some discussion likewise took place on the water supply to the city cf Nelson, the promoter! of which deiixe the Government

to guarantee ten per cent, profit on the speculation besides other little matters. It was objected|.bat a? this was merely for a local purpose the Government would not be justified in doing anything of the kind. The Report of the Select Committee was adopted. In this report the formation of a reservoir in BrooWtreet VaHey is recommended j,it will be four acres in area, with an average depth of twelve feet, at an elevation of .about two hundred feot above high-water mark; It is supposed that when the works are completed that portion of the city which it.is intended to supply with' wajfer at.firs\will contain 450 houses. The cost is eitimated at 416,000; while the t-eveo^u&ii calculated as follows :-r v * 430 teneim*t», including Government ««.■.«<.... and .other'public buildings, breweries, # . hotels, Uyery- stables, &c, taken at, a presumed average rental of £40* with _, 4 a rate of 6 per cent, on;, such rental, give £1090 Supply of Shipping—s«y 150 tons per month, or 1800 tons per annum, at Sa. pef "ton, the present charge" being 10s. 450 Board of Works, for .public purposes, fire

hydrants, <fee,

£1630 The above will give some idea of the labors of the Council for the past month.

The proceedings in our Magistrate's Court have scarcely been varied since our last report; for though the city police cost the country over one thousand pounds ayear, the extent ofc their zeal is principally shown in the seizure of a few erratic horses or cows, or pouncing upon a publican because the high winds of New Zealand happen to blow out his light; or finding out a foul chimney when it is in a blaze. A case of horse stealing has been refer led to the Supreme Court, which will sit next month. In connexion with this subject it may be mentioned, we hope as a sympton of increasing abstinence from strong liquors and improved morality of our city, that1 two public-houses have been closed^ one at either extremity of the town, and that the advertising columns have a pretty good sprinkling of 'public-houses to let.' In Tasmania twenty-nine houses were closed through non-payment of the license, which, we believe, is only twenty-five pounds per annum there. A case of a butcher killing pigs within the precincts of the city was visited with the very, heavy fine of £10. We are glad to see that the excessive charges of this Court has at last attracted the attention of the members of the Provincial Council, especially as ir relates to its operation on the country district*. One member stated that he had known as much as thirty or forty shillings charged for the service of a summons when the amount perhaps had not exceeded ajpound. Another member said that the charges were enormous, and that 'it was not justice, but oppression.' Now the * enormous charges' are not confined to the country districts— for who will say that, the sum of six shillings and sixpence is not a monstrous charge for a summons, especially when it is considered that a heavy staff of overpaid police have little* else to do.

i Of accidents we are- glad we have none ito record. One melancholy case of suicide, I under very distressing circumstances, has I taken place in ; an outlying district: the deceased was a fine young man, and much respected by .all ..who .knew him. A fire jtoo occurred at Richmond, by which a valuable stack of corn, estimated to contain nine hundred bushels, was-destroyed. Thii : stack .■ belonged to Mr. Saunders, •'■ who, it j will be remembered, suffered irorft the same cause, at the same place, a few months ago. Great exertions were made by thbse'.present', ,and the Nelson fire engine' w"as quickly; on ; the spot, and worked' away with great effect in prese^rying the; adjoining property.

. Another gold-field has to be added to our list. A vessel has been.chaptered to take down diggers and stpres to the Bailer ißiyer, on the West, poast. Some Maoris; have been working at this gold-field for some time, with pretty good, success.: We are therefore glad that a more energetic movement is made in that direction. We have received no news from Golden; Bay since our last, owing, we believe, to our intelligent correspondent making a trip "to the West Coast to spy out the fatness of the land in that region; The report of our Provincial Engineer on the roads to the new diggings of Wangapeka, has been published, by which we learn that they are getting on as well as can be expected. We have received one com munication from thatdistrict, supplied by a friend on whom we can rely. It is dated as far back as May the 20th. In it was stated that about' 120 were »t actual work there, most of them averaging thirty shillings a day.' This number is now, we believe, augmented to three. hundred. The writer thinks that the becis oi the. rivers are most profitable, as, from his pwn experience, he says that only in a ' few cases have the banks turned out well.' There are great complaints of the dear ness of stores, but this will be remedied by every mile of road that is formed, Our correspondent furnishes his letter thus:—*l have not heard of any heavy find: one two ounce nugget being the largest found, but all those who are at actual work seem quite satisfied.V Mr. Long Wrey, too, has written to the Superintends bid the roads to the various gold districts.

In this communication he states that a ' very great alteration in die course hitherto pursued relative to them' is an absolute necessity, for the * present system of forming mud tracks, miscalled roads, is wiiolly inadequate to the desired end,' and winds up by recommending macadamisation, and eventually railways.

- The Queen's birthday was celebrated by members of the Volunteer Companies on Friday, May 24th. 3?hier weiat through the various complicated; movements with creditable skill, and fired a /«< de joie. They were afterwards addyeased by Lieut.-Oolonel Richmond; #ho regretted that arms had iiot been suppiiedto U»m by government, when, had it b?»» 4o?e he should now be addressing ten times the number of men under arms.

The Rifle shooting for the General Government prizes, varying from: i£l4o to £5, commenced on Monday, May 27th, and three following days; an additional day was appointed (June 3), for those who declined to shoot in such unfavorable weather as the second day turned out, which prevented many intending competitors putting in an appearance. The following is a score of the shooting; the figures following the names denote the conipany.tb which the competitor, belongs; N.M. means Nelson Militia* and N.B. Naval Brigade:—

First Day. Robert Malcolm, G ~11 Edwin Mead, 2...,.. 7 Henry Flowers, 4,.., : 7 David Livingstone, 4 .13 Alfred Wooley, 6..., 7 John Southerly, 8.... 10 John Powell, 4...... 2 James Hooper, 1 .... 4 Henry Lewis; 1...... 15 AndreasJacobsen, N.B 3 Manson Sinclair, 2.... % Wen. Stallard.l .... 6 Joseph Harley, 1 .... 7 Hans Fanzelow 12 Thomas Snow, 1 ..., 6 W. C. Hodgson, 1.... 12 John Ayera. 6 , 3 Win. Alborough, NJf. 1« James Livingstone *f, 8 Alex. Hunter,2 .... 10 Alex. Wrag gi 4 4 Nathaniel Edwards, 2. 14 Thos. Tunnicliffe, 7.. 10 Arthur Barnett, 4.... 12 John Msckay, 1 .... 7 H. J. Goodman, 2.... 5 Second Dat. H. H. Knowles, 1.... 10 William Page, 4 .... 5 Thomas Cawthron, 2.. 9 W. Lane,l ........ I W. Wastriey, 4 ....... 8 John Percy , Jt- vi..'.« .12 Charles Balme, 2.... 11 John Blackett, 2 .... 10 John Saxon, 6 12 Henry Tunnicliffe, 7.. 9 HenryLange........ 8 Arthur Baigent, 7 >t .. 15 Henry Garner, 1 .... 3 Samuel Young, 2 .... 7 John Berry, N. B. .. 9 John Endicott, 4 .... 3 A. Lyford, 4 2 Frederick Lange, 8 . 9 Alfred Baigent, 7 IS Wm. Frost, 4 10 Joshua Webley, 1.... 3

George Frost. 4 14 Third Dai. H, R. Young, I. 9 Joseph Baigent. 1$ George Blanchett, 4.. 15 G. W.Pauling, 1.... 8 John Bungett, 4 .... 7 Samuel Baigent, 7 .. 13 Wm. Edwards,! .... 14 Wm. Maiben.4 7* Joseph.Webb, I .... 13 Thomas Gifford, 6.... 8 John Aiken, 1 16 George Sparrow, 6 ~ 9 Thos.. Askew, N. 8... 5 Edwin Snow, 1...... 11 George Clarke,'l .... 7 Thomas Neafiett,l.. 7 George Wooley, 6.... 5 Thomas Leech. 1.... 7 J. T. Catley, 1 13 Daniel Dixon, 4.-...,. 8 J.B. 5add,1........ 7 John M'Vicar 1 .... 6 John Charles, N.B. .. 12' Wm.Lightfoot, 1.... 9 J. Bird, ..;......;.. » John M'Lauchlan, 4.. 5 Daniel Slater 4 11; Nathaniel Leaper, 1.. 7; Fourth Dat. Charles Martin, 9.... 10 W. H. West, 1 ...... 12 H. W. Ferryman, 7.. 11 Packer Martin* 1 .... T VVm.Hiiarrtlh, 9.... 6 H. Windlebourae, 6.. 4 Wm. Northam, 4.... 1 John Locket, N. M.. 9 John Squire-, 7 ...... 4 John Price, 6 ...... 10 Thomas Brown, N. B. 9 Roderick M'Rae, 1 .. 15 John Sigglekow, 6 .. 9 James Wallace,€.,,, 1 W. W. Barnes,9 .... 6 Samuel Holt, 7....... 13 C. Maling, ........ 9 John Lang*, 8...... 17

Wesley Jackson, 1..... 7

E. Thomas .. 12

Thorn as Doughty, 4,. 7 Thomas York, 1 .... 10 John Connal, 1 16

J. Fisher 11 W. Kerr.... #, 5

In our last summary we noticed the completion and opening of the new Nelson Government Offices. It is our pleasing duty 'in the present sheet to congratulate our I readers on the opening of the new Nelson Literary and Scientific Institute and . Museum. When Nelson is progressing in ; material wealth, gold, chrome, coal, and wool, all native products;, she is at the same time adding to her. acquired stock in the matter of population, machinery, literature, and science; and it is to be hoped that learning will soon take up an honored posisition in our genial province, and'also in its turn become a staple.

■ Our enlarged museum has now received from Europe, at the cosi; of £300, 1500 beautiful geological specimens, which are now classified and arranged in glass cases for public inspection; and the ship mast be hearing our shore with its welcome freight of several hundred volumes of select works of the best authors.

, The building, externally, is shaped like the letter J. with a projection in the centre pf front, forming a porch, with a room above lighted by side windows and front oriel window, and supported by pillars. The front is fifty feet in length by twenty in, depth, and the walls are twenty feet high. The rooms, five in number, are reached by a vestibule 19 by 13 feet, containing stairs to reach the upper rooms; this part of the building contains the library, class and committee rooms. The back part of the building, forming the stem of the letter, ii 38 feet in width by 36 feet in depth, divided into two room*, the height of each from floor to ceiling is 14ft. 6irV., and are lighted by bay windows; one room is set apart for the museum, containing specimens of natural history, minerals, scientific apparatus, &c.; the other is the reading rooms open every day from 10 a.m. till 9 p.m., used not-only a« a place where the library books can be consulted and read, but where all the principal periodicals and newspapers of Britain and the colonies can be obtained.

The comforts of the members, cqmjnittee, classes, and all those connected with the institution have not. been forgotten in the design of the building, six fire-places shed their exhilarating influence around. The men^rt ol the liuu'tulton may pride themwlvet in having a building A

their.,pwn,. and let it. bei hoped that the Institution #illnot Be ctependMt on the cxl traneous aid of the general public, howlever indulgejnft iri(| generous this public |may be, but on the energy and perseverance of the working committee, the influencejof. the individual members,band the I efficiency of its teachings on the community, whereby its numbers may be supplied and augmented and its, revenue raised through its own.prosperity.

, Almost every, month we have to give some account of explorations into hitherto unknown parts of the province. Last month we extracted the most interesting parts of the report made by Mr. Haast to the Government. Mr. flandyside has just reported to the Government the result of his survey of the somewhat notorious Waiau-ua district, which excited so much discussion twelve months ago, on account of a gentleman, with only an absence of a fortnight from town, returning and pronouncing that he had discovered half a million acres of gtasi land. M&.Handyside says:—.

It i» with considerable hesitation that I have undertaken to write '<aji2 illustrate with pencil sketches a full and detailed report of my survey of the Waiau-ua district, extending from the H anmer plain westward to lake SuoMier^aoi nothward to Lake Tennyson, comprising^ area of 40fr square miles. ~ Great have been the .expectations of many respecting what proportion of this acreage is fit for depasturing purposes, and tta result of my labors wiU,l fear, disappoint many. All isWgold that glitters; nor is all grassland, or rather hill-tops covered with snow-grass, likely to prove a valu-' able investment, and; as" sitch, certainly not available country. The inexperienced explorer has sometimes paid a summer visit to these and similar regions, where, from the top some grassy hill, 5000 feet above the level of the sea, his eye has. roamed over a vast confusion of sister hills, all more or less grassed, and extending in .unintelligible infinity into' an almost endless' space of mountain territory. The result of such cursory explorations has hadj in my opinion, a mischievous tendency to mislead. Few gold-fields were ever rushed with greater zeal than the Waiau-ua and Grey districts during the early part of 1860; and I believe the bubble might have gone on increasing, had not the Government discovered that one of the last applications was sixteen miles put at sea, where, unfortunately, the province does not extend. Many have as hurriedly withdrawn as they entered into this speculation, and there will doubtless be some anxiety amongst those who have quietly awaited my return.

Oar readers will perfectly understand the drift of the following observation :—

Although no geologist, I have collected specimens from all parts of the survey, which will give a tolerably correct idea of the general formation of that part of this province. I shall also omit to fill the pages of this report with statistics of how often I got wet, or how many wekas I ate or rather did not.- The curious in such matters will find-them written by a more facile pen than mine, in a late official report to the Government of this province.

Mr. Haridyside then takes us through this most singular country in an easy descriptive manner, evidently truthfully written, the pen not being too much influenced by the imagination. With him we cross the Clarence, the Acheron; we gaze on the Spenser range, and get a sight of Mount Una, Lake Tennyson, and other bold objects, till we come to the smaller fry of Adas, and' Henrys, *nd Amies, till we come to the hills :—

Embraced by the junction of the two streams, Henry and Anne, which hills are undulating and grassy to their summits, with a considerable quantity of bush along the river bases; high above the rest towers the hill known as Travers's Peak, as from this elevated situation Mr. Travers made his pastoral discoveries.

In following the river Waiau-ua, Mr. Handyside came to an impassable rocky §prge, about five miles down, which impeiments abound in that part; and he says that though he would not say that it was 'impossible to form a track through this mass of timbered hills,' yet no equivalent benefit would be derived from it, (as nature has provided an easier means of access to this district/ Mr. Handyside, speaking of this part, says, •In the distance will be observed the commencement of .the available country applied for by Messrs. Rough andTravers.' Mr. Handyside is opinion that— !

The whole of the eastern side of the Waiau-ua-Valley beyond the Seven-mile Gorge, to Maling's Paw, is without a doubt well adapted for depasturing purposes, and towards the southern extremity of this side an extensive, open, and grassy valley exists, communicating with the Clarence by a low saddle. This valley I have not surveyed, consequently I am not qualified to give a more explicit description of it.

; Mr. Handyside then takes us through rivers and over mountains—the Hope, Kakapo, the Boyle, the Doubtful, and others. Of the table land on the western side of the Kakapo creek he says :—

Embedded between the main range and a small grassy hill, slumber the waters of a small lake, sixty feet above the level of the river, on whose surface may be seen floating not only the various species of aquatic, fowls peculiar to New Zealand, but also one of those rarities in nature, a floating island, which, like the nautilus, obeys the impulse of every changing wind. To those who become the proprietors of this locality, the vicinity of the lake will offer every advantage as a site for a rebi4ence. . ' '■.'.'."'.'. JV .V V 3" ..

, Mr. Handyside thus concludes his interesting report:—."■■■'■■■■ ■■'•■■

I must now brin? this report to a close with a few statements respecting the amount of available land which exists in the large extent of country I have surveyed. Out of 400,000, acres, only 118,160 acres are available for depasturing purposes. To achieve this, I have been obliged to chain^ ninetyseven miles, a great portion of which was in water for weeks together. In laying down the line of available country, I have been extremely careful not to exaggerate either its quantity or quality.

We are sorry that we cannot give our readers any of the numerous sketches which Mr. Handysidehas sent in with his report.

s The Railway to the Dan Mountain is being rapidly completed* The waggons have been put ashore; labor is plentiful on account of the winter preventing gold digging operations; and it is confidently expected that by the end of the year that chrome will be deposited on the wharf through the jnoediuiii of the railway, of which there are about seven miles to finish to bring it into-the limits of the city; and what has already been done^nas withstood the late trying weather we]).