NELSON

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 5, Issue 273, 19 December 1861, Page 3

NELSON

; 'Cbe-Kt -Wj.sr

e ** ' • <*> gence brought yesterday from the -;;\Vos.t; Coast, by the Jane, 13 highly important: It appears that gold is being found on the Waimangarolia, and'the B«jlier, in considerable quantities; 'ami : that European as-well as native diggers have considerable-quant;-; ties which have not been sent to Nelson simply because no persons ou tlie spot were prepared to purchas'd quantity of auriferous court try between Cullingwood ami these western diggings js •very great, and extends-' in- nearly an unbroken line for ninety ..miles,. k '- : , -if * (From our oum Correspondent.) '

The Buller river gold-fields are jijjggres-; sing satisfactorily, aiid large quantities; of gold are in the poSsessfon ofjciiggers.- - Some natives offered no less'tlian l ,twelye..po.uudß weight fin;, sale. Jast;, jnd . two Euro-.

7’iie best diggings lit the Waimangaroh,," and much-, more gold would,djiy'e. beeu pro,-., cured ‘-frdrff A, and'heavy freshes in .the; river. , f A kpugget weighing four ounces six p'Uinywf.iglits, was, procuretl by Sin)psp,ifs,party, : at the river. Y’he ' Ihilier Viverdmd cenfiiins large quantities of gold, hut it cannot he easily-got at on account of the depth of the river; there ‘are, however, some. good . claims -on , ; its banks-, but hot so good as at the Wainiangaroa. . .. . . ‘

1; * Gold;' in payable• quantities,.has been discovered at Waiiakere, about - twenty miles south of the Buller; and at Kanunea about fifty miles north bf; thejLJtilietv -After Christ mas the , nativbs \nll 'nmve to Kai’a* niea ami Waiiakere, and, -should these last; mentioned diggings ' prove,-; apmuneratfyey provisions caii be ea-ily supplied,‘- ‘as both the /Fa i take re and Karamea will admit. ■■Vts-els of considerable .tonnage. 7’l i ere-" is ‘ SivfficienWavailaUe- landcoiinocted with ■ . Uicr-Karamya tp form a : large ■•settkinoi'it. ’’ ' -

Mr. KHyr-oft'”bas;succeeded in finding a; good rou e for'-a bridle track irbm C'ollingwood via the 7/eu'pliy- to Kmimea,' by the line -indicated by Mr. Maekuy, who acam* panied Inin on the expediti--.il. Mr. Mackay has also visited the BuHer .for the put pose of arranging some disputes among the natives, which he succeeded in doing, and -has left things there on a satisfactory footing. Many diggers, both European and natives seem desirous that . a Magistrate; should be appointed to the Bailer district, as, at present, there is no person to whom they can appeal in case of dispute. •Messrs. Iviiyvett- and .d/ackav, report that the Goulaml, Downs.,..lying betvyeen Gollingwood and the //eaphy ure of an auriferous character which corroborates Mr. Mackay’s provious statement relative to that district.- — Examiner, Dec. 12.

JFe have received the following letter from a correspondent-, containing tlie latest news from Duller nver :— .. tVelson, Dec. 11.

Tiie schooner Jane arrived in port to-day from tiie Buller river, bringing.-138 ounces of gold. 7’he gold lii'oug it on this occasion is more nuggetty. than that found hitherto, the largest nugget Weighing 4 oz. <3 dwt-s. Zhe.i’e were alioutciyO diggers at work, nvo-t’nirds of which were natives and the remainder EuippeatiS;;. ;. : The ojieratioiis tuive ;'l»e'4 v o * priucipaliy .conducted.'in the led of the river hy stiiicinq. and hut little prospecting had been done in the interior, in consequence of the difficulties of the country in tin: transport./of provisions, se. r i’wo natives alone, it was reported, had accumulated nearly 18. lbs, weight of gold in three months. It is difficult, however, to attain an approximate idea of the yield of gold, as many of the diggers refuse to sell at the prices offered,, and as there is' not yet any steam commit-: nication direct, they will not risk thentreasures in coasting vessels.

OTAGO. - PBEBBYTEBIANxCHURGH DF ' • w ;. ...NEW ZEALAND."- * COXFEREXQP. A conference "of 'office-bearers of„-,the Pfesbytei-iari” 41irifch.es . in . New iZffiiJari'd began its sittings e Church. Among the members'present we observed the Kev.D.- Bruce, and ' Messrs. A. Clarke and; Forsaith,'Auck-.-iarid Rev.-Pi Oakler arid ( Mr. M, McCrae, Nelson : Revsd/T. Duriban; D. Hogg, J'.Moir, and Captain Campbell, Wellington; Revs. Dr. Burns, Will, Urie, Todd, M’Nieoll, Bannerman, Stuart, Hon. J. H. Harris, Messrs. J. Gillies, J., Duncan; J. Wilkie, A.‘Livingston, J. M’Glashan, and G. Matthews, Otago, Rev. A. Stobo, Southland. it

Dr. Burns having been chosen President, and I l ev. Mr. Moir and Mr. For-_ saith, Clerks, the former opened the proceedings with a suitable sermon and address. The conference having declared that the union -qf Die: different branches j of the Presbyterian Churches in 'this-? colony into ' the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand was desirable. arid practicable, proceeded to congnierdtlfe -jbasis -.gf.* union. After veiy free and :Tull discussion, a basis on which a union might be effected was unanimously adopted. • This important document, togetherMth--ft>oopy. % of the-meetings of the several sederunts, we hope to publish next week. . THE PUBLIC ; MEETING. ; According to notice, the Public Meeting was held in Knox Church on Wednesday evening, to hear the result of ihe de- 5 liberations /of. Conference, -and-listen to addresses from the miuisteri; and

upon ;fche preseiijb state fat religion in the world in general,' and ’ the 1 colony of 'New Zealandv-in particiilktv, ••JPheJqhair was occupied by-the; Rev. Di\ Burns, who was/ surrounded on the platform ty alarge; numbep bf ministers aiid-,delegates from a distance, together^-with most pf .the gentlemen. who usually" take: a ' pfoihinent part iii local affairs. _ ‘k 1

The proceedings* were commenced by singing and; prayer, after which thfe chairman.delivered an address upon the general .aspect of religion, in'the World. The rev. gentleman" having first 1 touched upon the past history, position; and future' prospects of ..Uie-Bapaey ■ and Mahometanism, dwelt-at some length upon the flood of GbQnan. Neology which ( had emptied itself upon, the soil of, Great Britain, and then settled dowh ufjon khe/Univer-. sities'of Oxford and Qambridge, the latest 'fruits' of the celebrated volume entitled “ Essays and Reviews.” In op- ; position, and/ chbering 1 Contrast to the view 'thus presented,’the' variblis rdirect means employed by .. the -.various Christian Bop . cieties for the pf opagatiri g of the Gospell together with the •- incoirie "bf, the ■ variou a •’Societies,'/were passed.in/fiupid. -,y4«w.-- -;.Llie address concluded with a reference to ojfen? air ;pfeachiiig';’"ipreacli.-. Tng' in ’ theatres; united prayer meetings, and'rfevivals ; frony which was deduced encouragement ; for the present, and hope ■for the fhture. ' . .. -.. W- :

The Bev; Mr. Bruce stated, that the part that had been assigned to him was Briefly to state by what successive steps they had been led to a conference at Dunedin, and .what had been . the. result of their deliberations. ; .Hithei’tb . the several branches- of the Presbyterian OhnrcLiij Ne’W’-Zealand had remained in. a disjointed and unconnected state. They "had representatives of all tile sections of the church ais they existed at home, and all holding, more or less tenaciously :te> their peculiar and’ distinctive. differences: 'Still; it'had’ lo'ng been’’felt. Ihat if some" broad basis :could : Be hit lipbn, on which all could conscientiously -staiid,’it'would s be ; the means offenabling tlfeiii tb'liusband -their resources bqth as .regards -and. 'mbiidy;- besides‘affording a bbnd of “unionthat would strengthen each other’s hands and hearts. The pHucipal-practical difficulty they hacl knticijpkted, was'a geographical one, arising from the extent and, unsettled character of the country oyer.-, which they were shattered '; but iliis difficulty had now been solved. They proposed to , divide the ' whole into convenient districts, for district synods once" a year .bi’softener as circumstances might require, and all unite, ,say once in two or three years, 'in a General Assembly at some place previously fixed upon. From the adoption of. some such plan as this, great benefits were expected to accrue. As to the basis of union, lie might say ; that ; they approached the subject with some fears, but. was happy to say they had all been chased away like a dream of" the morning'. When tliey came to compare notes, they" found that they all sawpretty much eye to eye, and that they could all cheerfully and heartily unite; agreeably to. all, without sacrificing - the principle of- any.p; He, could not then go into particulars, as the document had tobe revised. ; Separate;’copies, would then be forwarded for approval .to the several Bresbytferies, arid returned, for; adoption at a; future' Syri'od or General-Assembly., Mr. BiTiee:I;theri'‘riiade’ipme 1 ;theri'‘riiade’ipme 'remarks illustrative of the benefits of union. Mr. A. . Clark next rose to offef/a few .remarks ,uK?n..'-;;Foreigr^ and. "stated tliat- he would take the opportunity mSfe'es|iecTally to advocate the .claims of’ the New Hebrides Mission';' ‘ It was in a peculhik serise a “ Presbyterian-’. - mis non.. -Ik 3yap .<only .’some., teiif.or :tv.'eiity . days’ sail, and they had frequent opportunities of communication. By the . courtesy and ’ kindness of the Bishop of New; Zealand, they had often had Opportunities of com- : municating .at little trouble and expence. Mr. Clark then read a printed statementof the position and prospects of the missipri,- 'and,.concluclbd "by rirging upon the meeting"the. duty-arid privilege of sharing;-, in the missionary enterprise. ; ' The Bey. Mr. Moir next'rose to speak-, more especially abbut' and .^to ; :. tell them a little about vvhat they wjere . doing, and wanting "to be doing there. . He would hbwevbr"first say, often been painedby-whai he hbjlfd bf-tli"e '.'pbeple of - Otago before-he-canlp~afiibhgst 'them Why,.from, .these. > fled :'to, believe ’ tjhet. if-,he got amongst 'them he -would ;^riieet‘ J It certain Miv “ Bigotry. ”' at every . turn and corner ; but liis experience' had convinced., him that they had been./ misrepresented, for ever , since he had .been, amongst them he had been in, the. hands ’of good . Samaiitans. He ’riejciced .to say that lie had found the' ministers and' brethren assent * bled one in object and one in council, and that they had?, thistday laid the founda-'

tion of a lasting -union. Now about •Wellington or Ihe Middle District. Well, it included about 7,000,000 square acres of lands ; had some. ,250 ,miles ‘of 'sea 1 ' coast; and a* population- of --Ma'ofi' Europeans combined of some 20,0 00. Of these; about 2000 only were Presbyterian, ..and. they were far scattered. In they- had' enough, but d?hey Very :V muchl xi'efedbd ' e _, help ■ to -supply.; the' destitute inlaid dis-‘" .tricts;- and; he hoped that as .Otago had been drawing, off jdpulation from .Wellington tliat the people. - of would. remember their obligations, and'ia rittfrn--send them'a portion of theii’ gold: ; tQ awlin •suppiying^th : .with s .. the means ;of,.grace. i : ' t^his, 'Sf\piddf4 i e. J the • best practical demonstration “bf,' tance of thatyinion of which they heard so much.. •- and Pev. Mr. Will then addressed the. meeting, which. ’separated after a vote ; of thanks to . the* brethren from a distance ‘ for their attendance.Quiffo .Vqt. -V;