A CHAPTER OF ROMANCE.

Colonist, Volume IV, Issue 436, 27 December 1861, Page 5

A CHAPTER OF ROMANCE.

(From the Home News.)

An extraordinary story, which reads mnre like a pa^e extracted from the Mysleries of Paris or of London, thaw an occurrence in what we are usually accustomed to look upon as real life, comes to us from llugby. It concerns a young child not quite ihvoe years old, and the heir to £14,000 a year, who has just, been rescued from a loathsome den in the purlieus of Drury Lans, after having been suckled and fed from its birth among thieves, prostitutes, and beggars. The father of that child was brought up on September lGth on a warrant before two of the Warwickshire magistrates to answer the apparently mild charge of having "wilfully made certain false statements concerning a male infant, born of the body of one Amy Georgina Hill, by Richard Guiness Hill her husband." The prisoner, Mr. Hill, married Miss Burdefcfc, a granddaughter of Sir Francis Burdntt, a lady in whose welfare Miss Burdett Coutts, by whom she had been adopted, took the liveliest interest. For several years after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Hill are repivseiited as having lived most affectionately together; so much so, that the latter devised the whole of her property, which is of very considerable value, to her husband in the event of no issue surviving her decease. Butan event which in ordinary cases would have increased this happiness suddenly turned it, into bitterness. When on her way from Dublin to London to be confined Mrs. Hill was obliged to remain at Rugby, and there the child, who has formed the subject of tlw present enquiry, was born at the commencement of January, 1859. This child the prisoner registered as " Robert Hill, son of Robert Hill and Mary Hill, maiden name | Seymour." About a week afterwards, having prevai'ed upon his wife to place the child out to nurse, he came to London to make the necessary and proper arrangements, as it was supposed, for that purpose ; and in a day or so the child, in the care of a young girl, named Catherine Parsons, left for London by train, and waa met at the Eus-ton-square station by the father. From that time up to the last few weeks, a period of more than two years and a half, the mother could obtain no tiding.-? of her lost child. She had been informed by the girl, Catherine Parsons, that it had been placed in improper hands; but the prisoner succeeded for atimeiu allaying both her anxiety and her suspicions by fallacious reports of the satisfactory manner in which the child was progressing. At length, when Mrs. Hill would boook no further delay, she was informed the child was dead, then that it bad left England for Australia, an! finally, after having, us it is alleged been subject to ill-usage, a separation took place and the weak woman's rights were confided to the care of those who were better able to look after them than herself. A couple of London detectives soon succeeded in obtaining a clue, which, though it eventually turned out a correct one, might have led to the discovery of any forsaken little one in St. Giles's. A woman informed them that 18 months ago she lived on the same floor with another woman, who had no children, but who had in her room a child which shi had received from a gentleman at a railway station. This woman with the child was tracked, through some of the vilest dens imaginable, to a house situated in a filthy alley, not more than five minutes' walk irom two ot the greatest thoroughfares in London. In a small apartment on the second floor, in one corner of which lay a man, nearly dying, and around whom were squatted several 1 women, in the. most ragged and miserable condition, the whole place reeking with filth and stench, the detectives found the woman Andrews, and the heir to £14,000 a-year. The child, almost in a state of nudii.y, was covered with filth and vermin, sores and wounds, a dreadful picture of the degraded state into which neglect aud ill-us-age can reduce humanity. And now the story in all its darkness was brought to light. Andrews with two children—one in her arms, the other in the gutter—was begging in Windmillstreet, and on one wet Saturday night was accosted by the prisoner. He asked her if she would take care of a child—to treat it Ike her own—like the little one with bare feet standing in the gutter on that cold, raw, wet Saturdayevening in January. If she liked, he added, she might dispose of it perhaps to another beggar, to attract by the display of such touching misery, the sympathies of the passers-by. The bargain was struck on Sunday night, and the night afterwards the father delivered his child, at midnight, to that woman, in the presence of a friend, who is now in gaol for theft, and the servant girl who brought the child from Rugby. The child, then about ten days old, was wrapped in a shawl, which the mother peculiarly valued. That shawl, which the mother Andrews pawned, has been identified by Mrs. Hill. The box in which the 'child's linen had been packed was found in in Andrews' possession. In short the identity of the child is said to have been made clearly manifest. [The above extraordinary story was made public several days ago by the friends of Mrs. Hill. It must therefore, betaken as an ex pane statement. It is not contradicted, however, on any material points by the evidence which has been tendered as yet on the examination of Mr. Hill, who was brought in the custody of the police to Rugby. The only important inaccuracy relates to the amount of property involved in the case. It is stated above that Mrs. Hill's fortune may be estimated at £14,000 a-year. The truth is that the properly in bulk, whether in possession or reversion, does not much exceed that sum. Mr. Hill's examination began on the 16th September, and was continued on the 2lst. On the latter occasion, he was represented by Counsel. After evidence had been heard with reference to the alleged falsification of the register, Mr. Pilbrick, on the prisoner's behalf, objected to the production of evidence on the question of identity of the child as having nothing to do with the charge ; but the magistrates overruled this objection, and both the woman Andrews, in whose hands the prisoner is alleged to have placed the child, and her confederate, Mary Anne Idle, were examined as to their share in the transaction. The little boy wa* produced in court, and his appearance excited much commiseration. The prisoner was remanded till September 25th. The Dublin Evening Post has ascertained that Mr. R. Guinuess Hill is not related, as at first asserred, to Mr. Benjamin Lee Guinness, and states that Mr. Hill, who bears the Christian name of Guinness was a relation of the late Messrs. Darley, and Nicholson, at Stillorgan. For some years after the death of Mr. Darley, and the cessation of the brewery establishment >,{.r. Hill carried on a malting establishment there. Some years since as stated in the report of the proceedings, Mr. Hill married in Bru.-.sels, Miss Burdett, ayoung lady of great personal atti actions and large fortune, the granddaughter of the late Sir Francis Burdett, for many years member for Westminster, and niece of Mies Burdett Coutts, who had taken a great interest in her welfare. For some time after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Hill resided in Ste-phens-green west, in Dublin, and Mr. Hill carried on the business of maltster, making sales occasionally at the Corn Exchange.] In another portion of our columns will be found ihe details of an extraordinary case which has just been investigated by the magistrates at Rugby. The adjourned and final examination of Richard Guiness Hill took place yesterday. The marriage certificate of the parties was first put in, and evidence identifying them as husband and wife was also submitted. The nurse who attended on Mrs. Hill during her confinement at Rugby expressed her belief that the child^who has been discovered is identical with the one wtio was born on that occasion. The case for the prosecution closed with a brief examination of Sergeant Brett, the detective officer, who traced the child, and discovered the links proving its iden ity. So far the evidence-of the prosecution appears singularly complete. The birth of the child ai Rugby is proved by the nurse and surgeon. The entry in the register has been produced, the girl who brought the infant to London, the woman who received it—all aud each have contributed their several links to the evidence. One of these women has sworn that she has never lost sight of the child during two years, except for one week, shea she was in. prisoa ami tha child was sent

into the workhouse. The child itself bore witnen?, at least by visible repulsion, to its foster mother. Enough of obscurity and uncertainty, however, still hangs about certain points of the evidence to exercise the skill and quickness of an ingenious counsel. The child is there, but the mother cannot swear to its identity ; the father will not; it rests on the oath of the woman who received £15 two years ago for its keep, and who never lost sight of it for more than a single week. ]t appears from the marriage settlement that the wifeY fortune—which was settled in trust for the benefit of the children of the marriage, if any, and after the death of the survivor, husband <>r wife—was, in default of issue, to be held in trust, lor the benefit of the wife absolutely in case ol her surviving her husband ; but in case of the husband surviving and the power of appointment not having been exercised by the wife, one moiety of the trust fund was to go to the husband, and the other half in due course to the wife's next kin. It is therefore not impossible to conceive the husband's motives in' disposing of this first - born child, alter accustoming himself to expect no issue of the marriage. Bin one of the points which Mr. Philbriek, the counsel for the prisoner, insisted upon in his speech was that the pecuniary motive alleged was utterly insignificant. Mr. Philbriek said: — If Mrs. Hill survived the defendant she had the whole, and if she did not, still she had full power of appointment over it if she chose fto exercise it, and by a stroke of her pen could prevent his touching one penny of the money. The suppression of the fact of the child's birth, therefore, so far fVom producing any pecuniary benefit to him, would have been perfectly useless; and in. this way the motive which had been brought forward on the part of the prosecution was a doubleedged sword, which recoiled with force upon those who used it. Mr. Philbriek asked the magistrates to follow out the case in its other aspe-its:- - Mr. Hill, it appeared, was married in the year 1852 to Miss Burdett, who was then about 19 years of age. She was a Londoner, and he was an Irishman. They lived abroad upon the continent until she was 26 years old before there was any hope of issue. A young wife and young husband living together for nearly seven years, and no issue. Then they were told that the lady suddenly proceeded from Dublin to London in January, "1869, to be confined; but what they heard about the matter by no means corroborated the statement made by the solicitor to the prosecution. It appeared she went to Ireland some time towards the end of 1858, to visit her husband's friends; but instead of staying there where she was known, and where every attention would have been paid to* her, she left, and came ou towards London to be confined, and under cirumstances of such pressure, and so close to the period of her confinement, that she was taken ill by the way, and compelled to stay at Rugby, where at a little public-house she was confined, where i not a single friend or member of her or her husband s family could be present. It was a singular feature in this case that no friend or connection of the lady's had been called to prove that she ever said she was in the family way, or that a word was ever heard before she was at Rugby of the expected birth of a child. "Why did she leave the place where she would have found triends in that most trying and critical period? It must have been for the purpose of concealment, aud concealment on her part. Then the confinement having taken place, they found her left by her husband, who went to London. He did not want to call attention to what Mr. Hill did there; but it was quite clear that while he was away she sent off her child, her first born, an infant 10 days old, in the dead of a cold winter's night, by railway to London. She sent it by a girl 14 years old, and by a train which arrived in London at eleven o'clock at night. Could the court believe that that child was sent in opposition to the mother's wish? That was the point; that was what it came to, and here was the explanation of all the care that had been taken to get up a prejudice against Mr. Hill; and here they had some clue to the reason why it had been attempted to charge him with having been actuated by pecuniary motives. Pecuniary motives there could not have been ; and as to other motives, the wife must have participated in them to the full extent. Could it be believed by any man or woman that, without the knowledge of the wife, the child could have been consigned to the persons with whom it had been placed ? The facts spoke for themselves. The wife must have known all that was done and all that was proposed to be done; and her conduct at this stage of the proceedings afforded a pretty clear index of her bona fides throughout. The learned counsel, after a further enforcement of the position that Mrs. Hill must have known of everything that happened to the child, alluded to an " indication of the motive" which led her to join in this prosecution against her husband : — For a mother, under the circumstances stated, to suppress and conceal the birth of her child, aud that child her first-born—to allow it to remain for more than two years without a word of inquiry as to its fate—showed that she must have had the strongest possible motive for that concealment, and it must have been a motive of the deepest possible pressure to have thus overcome the natural yearnings of a mother's heart. What that motive was it was not bis business now to inquire. He would not go into the question whether it was to conceal her own shame or hide the dishonour which she might have brought ou her husband's nuptial couch. These were matters that must be gone into hereafter; and if the object of the prosecution was, in the course they had adopted, to elicit what facts might be forthsotning at some future period to sustain a charge of adultery against the wife, they would be disappointed. Those were circumstances which must be examined before Sir Cresswell Cresswell, and no part of the evidence that might be brought forward in the prosecution of ulterior proceedings would be even alluded to on the present occasion. At the conclusion of Mr. Philbrick's address, the magistrates retired to a private room, and during their absence, which lasted little more than five minutes, an intense feeling of anxiety was evinced by the crowded court to know the result. Their worships having returned and taken their seats, The Chairman said—The magistrates, having considered the case, are unanimously of opinion that the defendant should be sent to take his trial for the offence with which he stands charged. They are also of opinion that, should bail be asked, the bail should be himself in £500, and two sureties in £500 each. Mr. Cooke, who has acted as Mrs. Hill's solicitor in the case, was bound over to prosecute. The prisoner, who began writing a letter as soon as he heard the decision of the magistrates, was removed by the police, in the first instance to the station-house in Rugby, where he has hitherto been confined, but afterwards to the county gaol.

Incident Extraordinary. — One day lately a returning digger was on his way to Town, and being fagged with the weight of his swag, asked a horseman who overtook him on the road to relieve him of its weight by taking it on the horse. The man's request was acceded to; but after thehorsetmn had travelled on for a few miles, and the owner of the swag not having come up with him, he hung it upon a fence by the road side and came on into Town, thinking the owner when he came up would see the swag and bring it on with him. The man came up, passed the swag without noticing it, and, thinking the horseman had bolted with it, gave information to the Police. While in the act of doing so, the missing horseman passing by; was at once recognised: and stated what lie had done with the swag. A party was at cnce made up, and a vehicle hired, for the purpose of testing the truth of the statement; and when they arrived at the spot, true enough, there was the swag imtonche 1 in the place where it had been left, about four miles and a half on the Half-way Bush Road. The strangest part of the story is that the swag contained ten ounces of gold, besides a considerable Rumber of valuable 'gold I receipts.

(HBO* ■•^■*~ ■" "^TTT-r ■■ PROVINCE OF CAN ThlliSUllY. LA.ND RBG-ULi.TIO.V3 -^3 AMMNDI3D. BKGULATIONS for the Disposal, Sale, Letting, and Occupation of tbo WASTE h\XD* of UieCROvVN, in the PiIOVINOE of CANri<;il3LJlU r. 1. All Regulations now in forco in the Province of Canterbury for the sale, letting, disposal, and occupation of the Wasto Lands of the- Crown are hereby repealed. 2. All such Waste Lands shall, from and after tho davon which these Regulations shall come into force, be" sold, let. disposed of, and occupied according to these .Regulations, aud not otherwise. ;$ Every -Vet which the Supariutendont is hereby authorised or required to perform lie shall perform sololv in aecordanc • with the advice oi his Executive Council for the tune being, and such advice shall be recorded on the minutes ot the Council. Ii. —Tub Waste Lands Board. 4 There shall be established a Board to be called the' Waste Lauds Board, to consist of one Chief Commissioner, and of not less thau two nor more tHn'iivo other Commissioners, all of whom (except Mv-h one as shall bo appointed to act as Treasurer) eblll bo appointed aud bo removable by warrant wider tho hand of the Superintendent. ', Ono member of the Waste Lands Board shall flsob" the Treasurer thereof, and such member shall bo appointed and removable by the Governor. 6 The Waste Lands Hoard shall sit at the principal I -iiid O':icß of the Province, at certain stated times to be determined by the Superintendent, and shall also sit for special purposes at such places and at such times as the Superintendent shall direct; of which sittings due notice shall be given in the Provin^'il Government gazette, and one or more newspapers published in the Province. 7 Tho Chief Commissioner when present, and in hia absence then some member selected by those present at any meeting of the .Board, shall preside thereat, and shall have a casting vote in all questions coming before the B.ard. 8 All questions coming before the Jioard shall be decided by a majority of tho Commissioners present thereat. . .. 9. All meetings of the Board shall be attended by at least three Commissioners, aud shall bo open to the public. 10. All applications for Land, and for 1 asturage, and for Timber Licenses shall, after hearing evidence when necessary^ bo determined by the Board at some sitting thereof. 11. The Board shall have power to hear and detorminn all disputes between the holders of Pasturage and Timber Licences respecting the boundaries ofruns and districts, and shall have and exercise all the powers which may be lawfully had aud exer- | cased by any Commissioner of Crowu Lands, under the provisions of the " Crown Lauds Ordinance," Bess. X., No. 1; and the "Crown Lands Extension Ordinance," Scss. XL, No. 10. 12. All tho routine business of the Land Depart-ment-shall he transacted by the Chief Commissioner, sulrect to such regulations as may be made by the Board in that behalf. ]•]. A Book to be called the "Application Book, eb:'ll bo kept opon during office hours at the Land Ware, in which the name of every person desiring to make any application to the Board shall be written in order by himself or any person duly authorised on his behalf. And tho Commissioners shall, during the sir-tin^ of the Board, consider and determine all applications in the order in which they shall appear in the Application Book. Provided that if any person shall not appear himself or by some person dii'ly authorised in his behalf before the Board when called in his turn, his application shall be dismissed until his name shall apx>ear again in the Book in order. Provided also that if two or more persons phali apply at the same time to write their names in the Application Book the Chief Commissioner shall bracket their names, and shall initial tho bracket: and when they shall appear before the Board, the Board shall determine the priority of right to be heard by lot. And it shall not be lawful for the Board to hear any application except such as shall bo made in accordance with this regulation. 11. The Board shall keep true and detailed minutes of all applications made to the Board and all decisions thereon, and of all sums of money paid to the Treasurer, and generally of all the proceedings of the Board ; and such minutes shall be signed by nil the Commissioners present at any meeting: And such minute.? shall be open to the inspection of all persons desiruig to inspect tho same at all reasonable hoars, on payment of the sum of two shillings and sixpence for every such inspection. lll.—Surveys. 15. There shall bo a Chief Surveyor, who shall be appointed and removable by Warrant under the hand of the Superintendent, aud as many Assistant Surveyors as shall bo necessary, who shall be appointed and removable by the Superintendent upon the recommendation of the Chief Surveyor. 16. All Surveys shall bo conducted in such manner as the Board by any regulations to be made in that behalf shall direct. IV.—The Land Revenue. 17. All payments to be made iv respect of land Bhall bo made to the Treasurer of the Board during the sitting thereof, and tho Treasurer shall thereupon give receipt-* fur the same. IS. Uy tho (J2nd clause of tho Constitution Act the Governor is authorised and required to pay out of the revenue arising from the disposal of the "Waste Lands of the Crown all the costs, charges, and expenses incident to the collection, management, and receipt thereof; and also to pay out of tho said revenues such sums as shall become payable under certain other provisional herein contained. The Treasurer of the Waste Lands Board gliall therefore pay out of all the funds coming into his hauls under thoso regulations all such sums for the above-named purposes, in such manner and to such persons as tho Governor shall direct. V.—PI.'UUC IIE.SEKVES. 19. Reserves for the uses of the Provincial GoYornment and for other public purposes may, upon the recommendation of "the Provincial Council, be made by the Superintendent; and shall not be alienated from the spccilic purposes to which they shall have been severally dedicated, except under the provisions of an Act of the General Assembly, entituled the " Public Reserves Act, 18)t:" and a full and complete description of every such re -erve and of the purposes to which it shall have been dedicated shall, Bit soon ai possible after it shall have been made, bo published in the Government Gazette of the Province, and set forth on the authenticated maps in the Lanl Ornce. Provided that the Superintendent m.ay, if the Provincial Council be not then sitting, temporarily reserve laud for such purposes until the next: session of such Council. 20. Reserves for public highways, bridlepaths, and footpaths, shall be m:ij.lo by the Superintendent, aud shall bo set forth on the authenticated maps in \ tho Lnn 1 Oilico. The Superintendent and the Provincial Courv-il may by Ordinance alter the line of any such highways, bridlepaths, and footpaths, and dispose of the lan I theretofore used for the same. 21. The Suporiuton lent may temporarily reserve any land for the preservation or sale of the timber thereon ; but such laud may ufc any time cease to be bo reserved upon a resolution of the Provincial Council. 22. Tho Superintendent may, upon tho recommendation of the Provincial Council, by proclamation in the Government Gazette, reserve from the operation of these regulations any tract of country in which the precious met.alfj may bs found to o*dst: and the land within such tract of country shall be dispose 1 of a'cor ling to regulations hereafter to be indued an I published in that behalf; in the same m inner and under tho samo authority as those preBout regul ilions. Vl.—Town* Lands. 2^. The sites of Towns shall bj determined by tho Snperin+endont, upon the recommendation of the Provincial Council, and shall be uoHfied by proclamation in the Government Gdzeit". of the Province. 21. Town Lands shall be- sold by public auction, in sections, the size an 1 up-of. price of which shall be | determined by the Superintendent and the Provincial Council ; and having been so delenniucd, for w\\ tf'U'ii severally, .'-hall not again bo al'crcd. 25. The time and place of ever/ auction sale shall be fixed by the Supcnncen lent, and shall bo notified in tho Government llazette, and one or more newspapers of the Province, at least thirty days before such salo shall take place. 2(5 No such n'ltilicali'in of any sale of t >wn lands shall be p-iblishul until a map of tho town signed by tho Chief Surveyor, shall have been laid open fur public inspection in the /'.and Oifiiso; and inch map shall set forth, accurately delineated, all the'own "sections numbered consecutive! v, so far as laid out, showing tho sections to 1 c submitted for shlo, aud tho public reserves in connoctiun with them. 27. Town Rec'i-'iis may be put up to aiction, either by Oi -lerof tho Superintendent, or v on the Application of sone por;on who shall, at tho 'imo of riß.'<;mj such application, deposit teupercet t of the unset price witi-i the Treasurer of tbe WaVe Lands J.;»n?d. Su"li deposit shrill, if no advaneo on tl.-o ir;s<?t prioo be male, bo o-.ur-iide'o;! as tha deposit upon tho salt* at saoh public auction.

25. The time and plaeo of over/ auction sale shall be fixed by the Superincen lent, and shall bo notified in tho Government llazctt^, and ono or more newspapers of the Province, at least thirty days before such salo shall take place.

2(5 No such n'ltilicali'in of any sale of t >wn lands shall be p-iblishul until a map of tho town signed by tho Chief Surveyor, shall have boon laid open fur public inspection in the /'.and Oilico; and inch map shall set forth, accurately delineated, all tho'own "sections numbered consecutive! v, so far as laid out, showing tho sections to 1 c submitted for shlo, aud tho public reserves in connoctiun with them.

27. Town Rec'i-'iis may bo put up to aiction, either by Oi -lerof tho Superintendent, or v on the Application of sono por;on who shall, at tho 'imo of riß.'<;mj such application, deposit teupercet t of the unset price witi-i the Treasurer of tbe WaVe Lands J.;»n?d. Su"li depo-ifc shrill, if no advaneo on tl.-o ir;s<?t prioo be male, bo'v.m-iide'o;! as tha deposit upon tho salt* at suolj public auction.

23. If any seetiun shall be purchased by other than the original applicant, the deposit money shall be forthwith returned on demand.

29. Ten days at, least before any such auction sale, a list of all the sections ab-mt to' be offered for sale shall be published in the Government Gazette, and one or more newspapers of the Province. 30. Every auction sale of land shall be held by the Commissioners iv open court, as hereinbefore provided. 31. The person who shall be decla.red the highest bidder at such auction shall immediately pay a deposit of ten per cent, of the purchase money to the Treasurer, and in default thereof, the section shall bo again immediately put up to auction. 32. The remainder of the purchase money shall bo paid to the Treasurer in full within one week after the day of sale; and in default thereof, the purchaser shall forfeit his deposit money, and also all right or title to the land ; and the section may be sold to any person applying1 for the same for the price at which it was knocked down at the auction ; and, if not so sold, the section may be again put up to auction at any future sale. 33. Upon payment of the purchase monoy in full, the purchaser shall receive from the Commissioners a " License to Occupy," in the form set forth in Schedule A to the Waste Lands Regulations, and such License shall be restored to the Commissioners upon receipt of a Crown Grant of the land purchased. VlT.—Rural Land. 31. All lands not included in any of the foregoing regulations shall bo open for sale as rural land, at an uniform price of forty shillings per acre. 35. Save, as hereinafter provided, no section of Rural Land shall be sold containing less than twenty acres; but any section so limited by frontage lines or private lands as to contain less than twenty acres may be sold by auction at the upset price of forty shillings per acre; the time and place of sale, and the mode of sale and payment of purchase money to be as nearly as may be "in accordance with the Regulations herein contained applicable to the sale of Town Land. , Provided nevertheless, that if any section so limited shall be included in a Pasturage License with Pre-emptive Right, the holder of such License shall be entitled to exercise such Pre-emp-tive llight under these Regulations, upon payment of the sum of forty pounds for such section. 36. Every section of rural land shall be in one block, and, except as hereinafter provided, of a rectangular form; and, if bounded by a frontage line, shall be of a depth of half a mile (or forty chains) from such frontage. Note. —A frontage line shall be taken to mean the boundary of a road, river, or public reserve, or any stream or watercourse which shall have been declared by notification in the Government Gazette to constitute a frontage for the purpose of selection. 37. Where, from the frontage not being a straight line, or from the interference of other frontage lines, natural features, or the boundaries of private lands, the above rules in respect of form cannot be accurately observed, the form of the section shall be determined as nearly in accordance with these rules as, in the judgment of the Board, circumstances will admit.

3S. In sections of land not adjacent to or bounded by a frontage line, all the sides may be equal, but one side may not be less than one-third of the other ; and such section shall not be less than half a mile distant from a frontage line. 38. Any person possessing a section of land may at any time select another adjacent thereto, of such form that the two together, being considered as one section, shall be in the form required for a single section under the foregoing rules. 40. Immediately on the payment of the purchase money, the purchaser shall receive from the Commissioners a " License to Occupy " in the form set forth in the Schedule B hereunto annexed; and as soon thereafter as conveniently may be, the land shall be laid off by a Government Surveyor, as nearly in accordance with the description given by the purchaser in his application as these regulations will admit • provided that whenever the lands selected lie without the surveyed districts, the expense of the survey and of connecting such survey with the existing surveys shall bo borne by the purchaser, who shall at the time of purchase deposit the amount of tho estimated cost of such surveys with the Treasurer of the Waste Lands Board, which shall be made as soon as practicable by order of the Chief Surveyor. Provided always that should any section when surveyed prove to differ in any respect from that intended by the purchaser, the Government will not be responsible for any loss or inconvenience which the purchaser may experience, nor will the purchase money be returned. Proviaed also, that if tho Surveyor shall find that tho wliolo extent of laud in tho selected locality falls short of the quantity paid for by the purchaser, the Treasurer shall repay so much of tho purchase money as exceeds tho price of the land to bo conveyed. Tho " License to Occupy " shall in any such case be amended by the Commissioners, in accordance with the report of the Surveyor, and the Crown Grant shall be made out in accordance therewith; and the " License " shall bo returned to the Commissioners when the Crown Grant shall be issued. 41. Any person making a ditch and bank fence to lands adjoining Waste Lands of the Crown may take out of such Waste Lands half the land required for the ditch and bank. Provided that no ditch or bank shall be more than six feet in width. VlJ.T.—Compensation Lands. 42. Whereas it is desirable that private persons should be enabled to receive portions of Waste Land in exchange for private lands taken for roads or for other public purposes; if any person shall be entitled to receive any compensation in respect of any land which shall have boen taken for the purposes of a road or of any other public work, or in respect of any damages done to his property by the taking of such land for such purposes, such person shall, upon application to the Waste Lands Board, be entitled to a grant of rural land in such situation as he shall select, subject to the conditions as to form and frontage in these regulations contained, to the extent of one acre for every two pounds sterling of the amount of compensation which the applicant shall be entitled to receive in respect of the land taken for such purposes, or in respect of such damage as aforesaid. 43. If any person shu.ll contract with the Superintendent, to make and complete, within a given time, any public road, bridge, or drain, or any part of any such road, bridcre, or di'ain, furnishing such security as the Superintendent may require for the due completion of such contract, and shall select such portion of rural land as he shall be willing to accept by way of payment or compensation, or by way of part payment or compensation for such work, it shall be lawful for the Superintendent to reserve such portion of land from public sale for such given time but no longer; and such person shall, on the completion of such contract, bo entitled to a free grant of such land, or so much thereof as tho Board shall adjudge, not exceeding ono acre for every two pounds sterling, which the Superintendent shall certify to the Waste Lands Board to bo the bnna fide value of the work so done by such person, according to tho prices for work and materials at. tho time of performing such contract current in the district.

Every such reservation of land from public sale shall bo published in the Government Gazette of the Province, as directed in clause 19 of these Regulations. No such reservation shall continue in force for a longer period than twelve calendar months from the date on which it shall have been made.

No laud included in a Pasturage License with Pre-emptive Right, shall, as against the holder of such Pre-emptive Right, bo so reserved or granted until he shall have baeu allowed the option of purchasing such land in the manner prescribed in clauses 01 and 66 to these Regulations.

No greater amount of land than 250 acre 3 shall under tho provisions of this clause be reserved or granted to any person under any such contract, unless ill payment of work for which a vote has been passed by the Provincial Council. No greater amount of land than 1000 acres in the aggregate shall, in any one year, be reserved or granted under the provisions of this clause, without the special sanction of the Provincial Council. Provided always that every parcel of laud so granted shall be subjected to the same conditions as to form avid frontage as any rural Land sold under these Regulations. Provided also, that no application for less than 20 acres shall be received under this clause, but that whore any amount of compensation awarded by the Hoard shall bo of less extent than 20 acres of land, the person entitled may pay the balance in cash, upon the samo terms as other applicants for the purchase of rural lands under those Regulations. DC.'— -XkV\L K*n MIMT.UIY BoU.VTIES.

44. Whereas the Superintendent and the Provincial Council, and other the inhabitants of Canterbur.*, are desirous to aid in making provision for the maintenance! of such persons of her Majesty's land and sea forces a<? may bo discharged as unlit for further service, iv consequence of wounds or loss of health incurred in tho present war with Russia, and also for tho maintenance of the widows of those who may be killed in such war : — Any such person or widow shall, upon application to the Waste Lands Board, and upon the production of satisfactory evidence from the proper iuthoritie3 as to such dischargo or death, be entitled to retoivo » froo grant, not exceed in;,- 30 acres, o

the Waste Lauds within this Province, subject to the conditions as to form and frontage contained in these regulations. Provided always that such application shall be made to the Waste Lands Board by such person or widow in person within three years after such discharge or death.

X.—Pasturage

45. Until sold, granted, or reserved for public purposes as herein provided, the Waste Lands may be occupied for pasturage purposes by persons holding licenses from the Waste Lands Board to occupy the same.

46. Auy person applying for a pasturage license shall state to the Commissioners what are tho boundaries and extent of tho run applied for, and the number and description of the stock which he possesses, or will undertake to place upon the run, within twelve months from the date of the license.

47. The extent of run allowed to each applicant shall be at the rate of 120 acres to every head of great cattle, and 20 acres to every head of small cattle. The words " great cattle" shall be construed to mean horned cattle, horses, mules, and asses, male and femalo, with their offspring above six months of age; and the words " small cattle" shall be construed to mean sheep, male and female, with their weaned offspring. 43. Every pasturage run shall be in one block, and, as far as circumstances will admit, of a rectangular form ; the frontage, under ordinary circumstances, shall not be greater than one-half the depth. 49. The fee to be paid for the license shall be at the following rates :—For every run containing less than 1,000 acres, twenty shilling's for every hundred acres ; for every run containing 1,000 acres, and less than .5,000 acres, two-pence per acre for the first thousand, and one penny per acre for every acre in addition.

For every run containing 5,000 acres or upwards, one farthing per aero for the first and second years, one half-penny per acre for the third and fourth years, three farthings per acre for the fifth and every subsequent year; provided that the first year shall be taken to be the time elapsing from the date of the original license to the first day of May next following.

50. ~Ba pasturage license shall be granted for a less annual fee than £2 10s.

51. The fee shall be paid to the Treasurer of the Waste Lands Board every year, in advance; for the first year on the issue of the license, and for the second and every subsequent year on any sitting day of the Board between the 20th day of April and the first day of May, inclusive; and every pasturage license not renewed by payment of the required fee on or before the first Say of May shall, unless good cauae to the contrary be shown to the satisfaction of the Waste Lands Board, be considered as abandoned.

52. Every pasturage license shall be in the form set forth in the Schedule C to the Waste Lands Regulations, and shall bo transferable by endorsement iv the form set forth in such Schedule, and such transfer shall be deemed to be complete upon notice thereof being duly given to the Waste Lands Board, aud not before. A pasturage license shall entitle the holder thereof to the exclusive right of pasturage over the land specified therein upon the terms above stated. Such license shall be renewed by endorsement from year to year, until tho land specified therein shall be purchased, granted, or reserved under these regulations; and the fee to be paid in respect of such license shall not be altered until the Ist May, 1870. Such license shall give no right to the soil or to the timber, and shall immediately determine over any land which may bo purchased, granted, or reserved under these regulations. A reasonable right of way shall be allowed through all pasturage runs. 53. If at any time during the first four years after the issu of the first license tho quantity of stock for the run shall be less th-m that originally required, or during the next three years less than twice that amount, or during any subsequent period less than three times that amount, the Waste Lands Board may declare the whole or a portion of such run to be forfeited; provided always that with regard to runs granted prior to the issue of these Regulations, such first period of four years shall commence from tho date on which these .Regulations shall come into operation ; provided that one or more runs held by the same individual or firm may for the purposes of this clause be considered as one run.

54. Jn an}' case in which a runholder can prove to the satisfaction of the Waste Lands Board that he is precluded by arrangements entered into previous to the passing of these regulations from actually, for a given period, placing his stock on his own run, it shall be sufficient if he prove to the satisfaction of the Board that ho possesses within the Province the requisite amount of stock, aud will undertake to place the sauio on the rim at tho expiration of such period. 55. Every holder of a license shall, at any time, upon a written order from the Waste Lauds Board to that effect, make a true and complete return of all the stock on his run; and if he shall wilfully and knowingly make any false return, the Waste Lands Board shall immediately declare his license to bo forfeited. 50. Every run or portion thereof which shall have been forfeited, as above provided, shall bo put up by the Waste Lands Board to public auction, after an advertisement in the Government Gazette, and one or more newspapers of the Province. A license granted after forfeiture shall be deemed to be an original license. Upon appeal from any person whose run has been forfeited, within 00 days from the date of such forfeiture, it shall be lawful for*the Superintendent to reserve or suspend such forfeiture either wholly or in part. 57. Every person taking out a license for a run which is not stocked will be required to deposit with the Treasurer tho sum of ten shillings for every hundred acres included in the license, which will be returned without interest as soon as he shall have fulfilled the conditions in respect to stocking tho run within the prescribed period; but if such conditions be not iu.lti.llcd, such deposits shall be forfeited. SS. The above rules in respect to stocking a run, aud to the lodgment of deposit money with tho Treasurer, shall not apply to runs containing less than 5,000 acres. 5'J. Every holder of a license may be required at any time to pay for tho actual cost of tho survey of his run at a rate not exceeding 20s. for every thousand acres. 00. Every holder of a pasturage license shall, upon application to the Waste Lands Board, be entitled to a pre-emptive right over portions of his run, as follows : —For a run of not less than 1,000 acres, and not more than 5,000 acres, over a block of land comprising and circumjacent to his homestead to the extent of 5 per cent, of the acreage of the run. For a run of 5,000 acres and upwards, over 250 acres of land comprising and circumjacent to his homestead or principal station. And for all runs, over all lands occupied by any buildings, enclosures, plantations, cultivations, or any such other improvements as shall in the judgment of the Waste Lands Board be deemed sufficient for the purposes of this clause, together with iiffcy acres comprising and circumjacent to the lands so occupied or improved. Gl. The Licensee shall at the time of his application to the Board give a sufficient description of the lands over which he claims such pre-emptive right, to the satisfaction of the Chief Surveyor. And tho same shall bo marked off on the authenticated Maps iv the Land Office.

02. The lands included in such pre-emptive right may bo of such form as the applicant shall choose ; but any land purchased by him in the exercise of such right shall bo subject to the regulations as to form and frontage heroin contained. 63. Tlio Waste Lands Board shall not receive nor entertain any application to purchase, from any person other than the ruuholder, the. aforesaid block around the homestead or principal station which does not include the whole of such block.

01. The righb of pre-emption hereby given shall bo exercised within one week for all lands within 20 miles of the Land Office, at Oliristohurch; and within one month for all lands at a greater distance therefrom; such time being reckoned from the date of service of a written notice from the Waste Lands Board, setting forth a copy of the application for any of the lauds included in the preemptive) right. Such notice may be served either personally on the run-holder, or by leaving the s.uuo at his lust known place of abode within the . Province, or at tiie principal homestead or station on the run.

05. The applicant for any rural land included in any pre-emptive right, shall deposit with the Treasurer of the Waste Lands Board, a sum equal to •Is. per acre of the purchase money, and the remaindor he shall pay within one week from the date of his application being granted, or forfeit such deposit. Such deposit, however, shall be immediajoly returned on demand, if the holder of the pre-emptive right shall give notice of his intention to purchaso any portion of the land applied for, and pay the requisite deposit.

(is. if (ho holder of the pre-emptive right decide upon purchasing- any portion of the land applied for, he shall forthwith pay to the Treasurer of the Waste Lauds Board a deposit of 4s. per acre of the purchase money of such portion; and, if ho shall not within six weeks thereafter have paid the remain lor of the purchase money, h9 shall forfeit

such deposit together with all right or title t the land.

If the holder of any pre-emptive right other than those created by clause CO of the Waste Lands shall neglect or refuse to purchase any portion of the laud applied for, such portion shall from and immediately after such neglect or refusal be released from all right of pre-emption, and open to purchase on the terms of these regulations, as if the same had not been included in auy pre-emptive right. 67. Pasturage Licenses with pre-emptive right in connection with purchased lauds, whether under the Canterbury Association or the Crown, shall, from and after the first day of April, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, be taken and deemed to be pasturage licenses over tho lands included therein, upon the terms of these regulations, with a preemptive right over all such land, to be exercised subject to these Regulations as regards notice of application, payment of deposit, purchase money, price of land, and sise and shape of blocks, if the land covered by such pre-emptive right shall be included within the limits of a run held by license under clauses 50 and 53, the holder thereof in paying rent for the same ma}' take credit for the amount paid by him in respect of lands covered by such preemptive right. 68. Holders of pasturage licenseswithoutpre-emp-tive right shall be entitled to hold such licenses or to have thorn renewed upon the terms of their contract with the Canterbury Association or the Crown, as the case may be but if any person holding a license under the Canterbury Association or the Crown, shall voluntarily resign the same, he shall be entitled to receive a license under these Regulations, and shall from the date of such exchange hold his run at the rate and on the conditions specified in these Regulations. 69. Tf any person exchanging his license shall for any period included in the new license have paid rent at a higher rate than would be payable under such license, such overpayment shall be adjusted at the next payment of rent. 70. In the event of improvements having been effected by the licensee of a run on any land which shall be reserved by the General Government or by the Provincial Government under these Regulations, the licensee shall receive payment of the value of such improvements, such valuej;to be decided by arbitration under direction of the Waste Lands Board, and to be paid by the Treasurer of the Waste Lands Board out of the land fund.

71. All payments on account of pasturage runs shall, in future, be made on or before the Ist day of May, in accordance with clause 51, at the Land Office, at Christchurch, and the Waste Lands Board shall sit at that place for the Treasurer to receive the same.

72. All payments to be made on account of pasturage runs before the first day of May next ensuing shall be made for the portion of the year only which shall elapse between such day of payment and the said first day of May. 73. In calculating the amount of the license fee and the stock required to be on the run, the year commencing on the said first day of May shall be deemed to be the same year as that for which such part payment shall have been made. 74. Notwithstanding anything contained in these regulations, it shall be lawful for the Governor, upon the recommendation of the Superintendent and Provincial Council, at any time, and from time to time, by proclamation in the Government Gazette of the Province, to reserve for the purposes hereinafter mentioned, any lands within the Province, adjacent to or in the neighbourhood of any town, now or which may hereafter be formed, and to declare that on and from a day to be named in such proclamation, all depasturing licenses issued under these regulations, in respect of such reserved lands, shall cease and be of no effect; on and from which day all such licenses shall, as respects such lands, cease and be of no effect accordingly. And it shall be lawful for the Governor at any time thereafter, by regulations to be issued in that behalf, according to the provisions of the Waste Lands Act, upon the recommendation of the Superintendent and Provincial Council, to regulate the occupation of the Waat e Lauds of the Crown within such reserved districts. Timber. 75. If any tract of land shall have been reserved for the sale of the timber thereon, such timber may be sold by public auction at an upset price, and subject to conditions to bo fixed by the Superintendent, and the purchaser shall agree to remove the same within a, certain time ; and all the timber not removed within such time may be again put up to public auction. 76. No person shall, without a license, cut or remove any limber from any Waste Lands of the Crown, except timber which ho shall have purchased under the last clause; and any persons so cutting or removing timber shall be liable to pay the cost of such license for one year, together with the costs of recovering the amount of the same. 77. livery license for cutting or removing timber shall bo issued for.one month, or for one year, at the request of the person applying for the same; and a fee of 10s. shall be paid upon every monthly license, nnd of £5 upon every yearly license. 78. A license shall entitle no one but the persou named therein to cut down standing timber, but it will authorise him to employ any number of persons during the term of the license, to saw, split, or remove the timber so cut; and such license shall not be transferable.

79. A license to cut timber shall extend only to the district named therein.

SO. If any person duly licensed shall have established a saw-pit for the purpose of sawing timber, no other person shall cut timber within 50 yards of such pit, without consent of the person first occupying such saw-pit. Provided that if thtr person establishing such pit shall not vise the same, and shall not cut timber within such distance as aforesaid from the pit for 28 consecutive days, it shall be lawful to any other holder of a license to enter thereupon, and to cut timber as though such pit had not been established.

81. If any person shall, for the purpose of removing timber, have made a road upon land being the Waste Lands of the Crown and not being a highway, it shall not be lawful for any other person to use the same without the permission of the person making the same first obtained ; provided that if such road shall not be used at any time for 90 consecutive days, it shall be lawful for any holder of a license at any time thereafter to use the same.

82. If any person holding a timber license shall be proved before the Waste Lands Board to have offended against any regulations herein contained respecting timber, or to have wilfully or negligently injured or destroyed by fire or otherwise any timber belonging to the Crown, suoh license shall be, and shall bo immediately declaied to be forfeited, and it shall be at the discretion of the Board to refuse to issue another timber license to the same person.