INQUEST AT TUAPEKA MOUTH.

Tuapeka Times, Volume II, Issue 103, 29 January 1870, Page 5

INQUEST AT TUAPEKA MOUTH.

On Thursday the 33th instant the body of a man was found on the banks of the Molyneux, about a mile and a-half above Mr. Morrison's saw mill. The body was first discovered by the raftsmen engaged in connection with the mill, who at once communicated the information at Tuapeka Mouth, when a messenger was immediately despatched to the camp, Lawrence. Constable Henderson then went to the Mouth, and, accompanied by several of the residents, proceeded up the river, and brought the body down, and placed it in one of Mr. Taylor's outhouses to await the coroner's inquest. Some dissatisfaction was expressed at the delay of the coroner, who did not put in an appearance for two days after the constable returned to Lawrence. On Saturday afternoon an inquest on the body was held before Mr. Simpson. The only evidence given was by Mr. John Taylor, who stated that while proceeding upthe river in a boat with M'lntyre and Rennie one remarked "there's a dead bullock lying on the bank," the other, "a swag;", to ascertain which they backed the boat, and discovered the body of a man in a decomposed state. The body appeared to have been exposed for

three or four weeks. On the suggestion of one of the jurymen, one of the deceased's boots, which waß of a peculiar make, was kept, in the hope that it might lead to his identification. The jury returned a verdict of "Found drowned, name unknown." The foreman (Mr. Mailler) on behalf of the jury, objected to the body being interred at Tuapeka Mouth, there being no place of burial set apart there, but the coroner overruled this objection by stating that the expense to the Government would be too great to have the body interred in Tuapeka. The deceased was therefore buried at Tuapeka Mouth.