AUSTRALIAN ITEMS.

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 164, 30 March 1871, Page 5

AUSTRALIAN ITEMS.

Melbourne " Argus."

Qnartz from New Caledonia has been tasted at Sydney, and ha,s been found to contain payable gold.

It is stated that a well-known fanner on the Alma Plain 3, South Australia, has reaped 430.) bushels of wheat from 300 acres of self-sown land.

A. comparative st itoment of the revenue of the clony of Tasmania for the quarters ending respecn vely 3ist, Deceiub3r, 1839, and 31st December, 1870, has hr-en officially published. Under the head of general'revenuo there is a net increase of £4395 2s Gd, while the territorial revenue shovra a d crease of £3033 133 4d, of which £2172 Jin Qd occurs under tho he.ids deposits, renta, and foes under the goi-ifjelds regulations. The stiiCiiu-nt < t tho rsoti,)ts arid expenditure of the lanJ fund for <he quarter ended 31st December, 187O ; shows the rsctiipta to have

been £19,G72 19s 2d ; and tha totnl prynienfs <.n account of ISG9 diiil IS7U, £23,919 3-> 7n\ The tJrsfc Parliament ever elected and called together in Western Australia has just been prorogued. Considering hownew both Govtrnment ;<n-l representatives were to their task, they got through their work pretty well. They have passed measures for the establishment of_ local governing bodies, for the construction cf Uno-J of telegr.-iph, for the borrowing of money for public works, and the enlargement of the representation of the peopie. In tho two latter cases the local Legislature has come somewhat into contact will thj Imperial authorities, and* 'the b.lls the-ieanent which have been passed are therefore resen ed for her Majesty's . pleasure. The questions of railway .con- . struc iou, t-eluc icion, and immigration have been touched, but not to any effect. 'I he proposition respecting railways is- to pay fur ihvm with land grants, which proceeding must be dependent upon the c 'ii^eut of the- Imperial authoiilies. .

Tho "South Australian Advertiser"prints a letter from a correspondent wl 6 is engaged on the central sections of the Port, AugU3td and I'oit Darwin telegraph. The writer dates from Thring's. Waterhole, hit. oOdeg. 3min. losec, January 9, and says :—": — " The mad has been -very good to here, and well watered ; but for the iv xt GO miles on te» ihe Finke we have to force our way through a piece of country with a good deal of band aiidsj inifex, and only a little siuface water at about 10 miles. This is the tir&t difficulty we have h.id ; but we are ab!e to get over it c u-ily enough, I think. Once on the Finke we will he all right for water, but tiie travelling will be very rough. We have found the largest and finest body of springs, 1 suppose, iv the Australian Colonus. As far as we have seen them (15 miles in length) they must cover something like 100 square miles of country, and appear to be stretching far away to the N. and l<". They are fine large running springs, and throw out an immense quantity of the best water. They have been named the Edith Springs, after Lady kdith Ferguson."

bmcQ tho departure of the last ma'l three vessels have left the port of Melbourne with stores and passengers for Fiji, one of them, the^ Springbok, carryi ig a steam launch for use in the islands. L'he local newspaper, which has doubled its size, and is now published twice a week, gives some statistics showing the progress of the group during the past year. Tt seems, as regards the white population, that in IS7O, there were 1003 arrivals, of whom 7C3 "were men, 148 women, and 92 children. The departures in the ye ir numbered 257, and iin,l>ii.led 239 men, 2G women, and 32 children ; thus sh'.wihg the increase in ihe resident population ior the year to be 7ib". There were 1700 foreign labourers imported, chiefly from the New Hebrides, with a few from the Solomon and Kin gm ill groups, 15S vessels, with an aggregate tonnage of 19,520 tons, entered the]ort of Levuka. Uf these, 43 were from Sydney, 43 from New Zealand, 42 from the New llein-idea, 8 from Melbourne, 8 from Tonga, 7 from Samoa, 2 from San Francisco, and 1 from Honolulu, with four m-on-of-wax. Ot these vessels 113 again left the group, leaving 45 in the island trade. r lhe exports of the year were .—. — Cotton, £35,733 ; cocoa-nut oil, £5775 ; and miscellaneous items, £1000 ; making t.he to tdl exports for 1870, £92,508. Amongst the signs of the march of civilisation iv Fiji is a pr >ject for the establishment of a theatre in Levuka, in which performances are to be given by an amateur dramatic club, which already numbers over 20 members.

A glance at some eighty reports on the result of the harvest, furnished by our special correspondents in the principal agricultural districts, has more than served to confirm the current impression that the yieLl will fall lamentably short. Tt is now quite evident that in certain districts the supply of locally grown breadstuff's will be insufficient, and that although, there may be an exces3 in other places the surplus ihere will be comparatively trifling. We read of extensive areas that have not produced enough to resow the ground ; of fields given over to the cattle in order to keep down tho weeds, which have attained great strength owing to the thinness and weakness of the crop ; and still again, of other crops that are left to be disposed of by the fire-stick. Unless, however, a change occurs in the character of the weather, it will not be possible to destroy in this desirable manner the rusty crops thus abandoned. Autumn appears to be setting in unusually early ; rain occurs almost daily in varying quantity, but the temperature has not yet exhibited indicationse-fpcraiaie.it change ; it still ranges from 7odegs. and Boele»s., on rare occasions it has risen lOdegs. higher, but the season has been remarkably free from hot winds, and the most aggreeable that*, has been experienced for many years. Agriculturists are not learning for the hist time 1 hit pleasant summer weather is not the best for cereals ; the history of Victorian fanning shows that some of our largest and best crops have-been produced " in seasons that were characterised by great heats.

Berlin, Feb. 13th.— The "Prussian Cross Gazette " judges from the result of the elections in France that the resumption of the war need not be expected. It thinks there is scarcely a doubt that the armistice will be pi'olonged.

Versailles, Feb. 13to. — Hostilities continue in the Department of Jura and Doubs, the French refusing to accept the armistice.

London, Feb. 13th. — Pari3 has been authorized to contract a loan of two hundred million francs, and levy a municipal war tax.

Bobdeaux, Feb. 13 th. — The President read a letter from Garibaldi, in which he declines the seat in the ' Assembly offered him by the Departments.

Favre, for himself and iv the sams of his colleagues-of Bordeaux aad Paris, resigned the power confided to them as the Governmpat of National Defence. He stated that tho Minisfars would remain in olfice to maintain oi-der unii' the Constitution of the ns-ysr Cfovyrii .„ meat was adoptod. " f