AUCKLAND.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 7, Issue 336, 26 March 1863, Page 3

AUCKLAND.

A fire broke out on the evening of the 13th at the Artillery stables, which by great exertions was subdued with the loss of only three tons of hay and 30 sacks of corn. -One man was said to have been seriously r injured by the fall of a piece of timber. The- fire is supposed to have teen caused by the liay having heated. The Heron was nearly lost on the 7th inst. in entering the Manukau Bay. She arrived off the bar about 11 a. rri., and lay off and on waiting for the tide, till, on the signal being given., at 5-30 4 p. 111., she entered jdie south channel. Bore up about 7 o’clock, getting close down the middle bank, when signal was made to stand to- the southward. Immediately tacked ; before .the. ship-gathered way, three blind rollers rolled up. Finding the ship was going astern, immediately let go both anchors. Before the ship brought up within the breakers, she commenced striking heavily. The crew then rushed to the boats, but were restrained by the captain, who convinced them of the impossibility of a boat living in the heavy surf then prevailing. Fortunately the, ship drove a little and got into a swatch way where there was deeper Avater, and ceased striking. : Being fearful that she would break up at next low water, it Avas determined to abandon her, so towards high'wqter, the break of the sea becoming

less, the small-boat w_as hoisted out,.when all Lands (ten in number) .got .'into - her. The captain, finding that the .boat, was overloaded, declared that there was more safety iti, remaining on board the vessel, and immediately jumped on board, taking with him his wife. One stockman and two of the crew then volunteered to stick to the captain, and the remainder pushed off for assistance. : It was then about a quarter past. 9 o’clock. During the night torches and blue lights were kept burning in the hope of attracting the attention of those on shore. At the time of the accideut Capt. Hunt of the A von and his engineer were walking along the beach and observed the position of the vessel, they immediately proceeded on board, got up steam and started to render assistance. They proceeded out, but, being unable to see the lights were returning, when, near the South Head, they fell in with the boat from the Vessel, which was taken in tow, and they-proceeded to her assistance, Capt. Wing, the pilot, and his crew being on board the A you. In the meantime, those left on board awaited the return of the boat with the greatest ; anxiety, expecting every moment that the chain would part, and in that case not a soul would have been saved. Fortunately, about half past, ten o’clock, a breeze sprung up off shore,, and. all sail was at once made on the ship, the shackles were knocked out of the chains, and .they were in the act of slipping, when a light. , wus observed, upon which, supposing that it was their owii boat returning, they held on a short time, and were soon able to make out that it was a steamer, which sent a tow line on board, arid towed the Heron to above Paratutai. "Capt.* Hunt deserves credit for his promptitude in rendering assistance ; and there can be no doubt that to the presence of mind and coolness of Capt Laing is owing the safety both of liis vessel and her crew. The crops around Auckland seem to be bad. At-Wangarei potatoes are scarce and selling at Vo per ton ; in.the Waipa the potato crop has failed and .there is so little wheat that flour will have to be brought from Auckland; the same-story comes from the north of Auckland—the Mongonui district for instance suffering in a similar way. The firing for the Government prizes by the Auckland. Rifle Volunteers took place on Friday last The wind was high, and the weather on the whole very unfavourable for shooting. Eleven members only were present, of whom Mr. W. M. Hay made the best shooting, scored 38 points as follows :.—3OO yard range, 13 ; 400 yds., 7500 yds., 5 ; hits, 13. Total, 38. Five, rounds were fired at each range. Average of the total score made 22 3-11 points. The firing was continued on Saturday, when Dr Dalliston scored 31 points, being 7 below Mr. Hay. It will be perceived that the length of the ,range has been considerably increased on that of last year, and that with increased difficulty our Auckland marksmen have' exhibited increased: skill.

The highest number of poiuts made by the Nelson champion last year,- who now wears the belt, was, if we recollect rightly, 32 ; and. that too at ranges of 100, 200, cud 300, yards / whilst the highest score for Messrs. Hibbert’s prizes was only 30 points. It is more than pi'obobie, therefore, that tins badge of honor will again be carried oft’ by an Auckland marksman.—A itcklcinder.

TARANAKI. [From the Herald, March 14.] The deputation appointed at the public meeting on tlie 26th February, waited upon Sir George Grey by. appointment on Wednesday last, Mr. Domett and Mr. Bell being present, at tlie interview. After a feAv preliminary remarks, they submitted to the Governor the first of the questions they had prepared. His Excellency said this question Avas of such great importance that, he could not answer it without serious .consideration, but desired that tlie.Avhole of the questions should be read, which Avas done. His Excellency then requested to have them in writing. Tlie deputation stated that if His Excellency wished, the questions to be put iu Avi iting,, they Avoukl reAvrite them, as in the present form some of them Avere contingent upon answers that His Excellency might give. The GoA-ernor said he wished to have them in Avriting, as. he could then give written ans Avers to them, so that all misunderstanding would be avoided. The deputation thanked His Excellency, and said that would be the course that they would, prefer. His Excellency said the questions Avere of such great importance that they would probably take a considerabletime to answer. He regretted tlmt. the usual course Avhich had been always followed in every other place lie had been in, was not followed in. tliis instance. The custom he referred to was for the leading gentry of the place, whether appointed by a public meeting or not he could not tell, to wait upon him and acquaint him with the state of tlie place, to. tell him’ wliat Avere their grievances and Avliat measures’ they thought, would remedy them. In tins instance he Avas quite in iguorance of the state of things here, and wished to be made acquainted with* them and what the deputation would suggest as a remedy. He Avishecf to hear the matter discussed by persons having' local knowledge ; e\’en where difference of opinion existed he often gained much useful knoAvledge. The deputation replied that they thought Bis Excellency Avas fully acquainted- with theposition of the settlement, both from thememorials ancl addresses to His Excellency and Her Majesty, and also from his OAvn officers but that if lio Avas ignorant of the State of the Province, the, deputation would willingly give him ; a written statement of it. • With regard: to there-.

teedy to be applied- to the disease, they had not dared to triggest any, as they understood it to be their duty to lay their grievances before His Excellency, and for him to devise measures to give them redress. f ' The Governor said he had seen in a memorial to the Queen that Her Majesty’s representative had been forbidden to make roads on the Queensland. This statement was Untrue, and he should be obliged to contradict it : he had not been forbidden to make roads on European lands. The deputation said that it was not their duty to defend the memorial ; that if there were any incorrect statements in that memorial, the settlers %vonld, of course, have to suffer for them.

With regard to the case referred to by ■ His Excellency, the settlers knew this much, that the men were ordered to commence the road, that the order was countermanded, the rebel natives telling the settlers at the same time that they had forbidden the carrying on of the roadThe several members of the deputation then related facts that were within their own knowledge, illustrating the state of the settlement, at some of which His Excellency expressed much surprise, saying he had never known them before. The deputation replied that had the settlers supposed that his officers were so remiss in informing'His Excellency af what curred, they (the deputation) would - undoubtedly have ipgde made him acquainted with it. The fact of armed natives crossings the bush from north to south within the last day or two was mentioned to His Excellency, who said he was assured that these natives had gone south with the most laudable intention The subject of the murder of the boys at Omftta was then spoken of, and His Excellency said that, with regard to Manahi, he had every reason to believe that he was not concerned in the murders. If Maniahi, co.uld be advised to come in and stand his tidal, he thought it would be a very good thing, which, if he was innocent, he no doubt would do. With regard, to the stolen property, he was decidedly of opinion that any one found with any should be dealt with by the civil powers as the law directs ; but thought it very douhtful how the law would deal with such a case. With respect to the case mentioned by the chairman, which was brought before him as a Cattle Ownership Commissioner he did not think that- as the owner had recovered the bullock, it would be advisable to proceed further in the matter, [The case referred was one in which a butcher in this place had bought of a native a [bullock, afterwards proved to have been stolen during the war.] The deputation replied that now they knew His Excellency’s desire in the matter, they would use every endeavour to. secure the man who had sold the bullock in this ca3o and sqy other similar case that might occur. Excellency repeated that he did not consider this at all a good case to try the question upon : if done, if would be quite against his advice. His Excellency said the whole question was involved in great difficulty ; lie had found some goods in possession of a native at Waikato, and was going into the matter at once, but was met by the natives, who said “ You can’t punish us for thieving while you allow the pakeha to keep, our property ; there is Commodore Seymour riding about on one of our best horses and Colonel Gold has just sold turn.: you can’t punish us and not the pakeha.” He felt the foi*ce of this, and did not proceed further: He thought the law would perhaps cut both ways, that perhaps the best plan would be to find au European with some native property, and then try the question. The deputation replied that they saw no'objection to the question , beiug tried in any way that His Excellency thought best; they must tell him that, they knew, not a horse or cow taken from the rebels was held by the settlers ; every one that was taken was, by a brigade order, directed to be given up to the military authorities. All property taken, during the war was considered t ( o belong to Her Majesty, and applied to the uses of Her Majesty’s troops, while all the property lost belonged to the settlers ; the settlers therefore were veijy anxious that' the question should be brought to an issue.

In the course of conversation the deputation complained of the thistles growing on native lands, which the 'settlers could not, and the natives lyopld not keep down, and which did the former great injury. His Excellency said an opinion had lately been given by the law officers of the Crown to the effect that the natives were not legally the owners of any land, and he expressed a doubt therefore, whether they could be called upon to, perform the duties of land owners. Respecting the £200,000, along Conversation took place, which can bn only summarised. His Excellency stated that he must take the opinion of the law officers upon its bearing, and then submit it to the Executive Council. He was of the opinion, which he. still holds, that the settlers should have received compensation in full for their.lo.sses, and said as much to Ministers during the Session The case was not analogous to that of Kororareka. That was a sudden attack upon a town ; whereas, here. Taianaki had been . deliberately chosen by the Government as the field on which certain questions should be tried which it was deemed necessary to the .welfare of the colony tp have tried. It was not fair that men should be used

like chess-men, and thrown away - when not wanted He had grave doubts, how- - ever, whether the Loan Act granted compensation. Hi« Excellency to show the interpretation he put upon it, and that he had thought it might be applied to other purposes thani Miking good the • settlersy losses, saidtbat at one time hie

had formed a plan involving a large civil and military expenditure, which be had only not brought forward because he found the .£200,000 would he insufficient to carry it out. He believed it could be appropriated to other purposes but would tuke the opinion of the law officer, by which he must be bound. Mr. Bell sta.ted that if the Executive Council differed upon this subject, he snould advise the Assembly being called together, an 4. the sense of the House taken upon it, to which His Excellency agreed. On stating his intention of moving troops to Poutoko on the following morning to make the road, His Excellency said in answer to remai*ks about the danger to be apprehended by such settlers as were away from the towq, that he *felt so sure that he was doing what he had a perfect right to do, that he co.uld not believe there would be any objection He said, also, that we must, indeed, be in a degrading position if he could not move Her Majesty’s troops to aqy part of Her Majesty’s land. His Excellency stated that the national opinion of the Maori jieople was that Tataraimaka should be occupied, and he thought these Southern natives might see the advisability of it. : A peace brought abou t quietly aud gradually was better than hostilities.

In answer to a question, His Excellency stated that he was prepared to assist those who wished to go away, to the extent of a free passage, but deprecated this action on the part of the settlers, as the abandonment qf the settlement would be the deepest degradation to the British name, and he would be ashamed to govern a colony if such occurred ; in fact he should not continue Governor, he should most probably resign his commission. Mr. Hulke said it all arose through bad government.

After nearly four hours’ conversation the deputation withdrew.

It will be seen that though much information lias not been gained of what we have.yet to expect, several noteworthy thiug.3 have been put on record. Hi; Excellency’s ignorance of the state ot the place until he came here—his doubts as to the nature of the transaction by which the Natives became possessed of the settlers, property during the war—the opinion of the law officers of the Crown as to the Natives’ title to their laud, and His Excellency’s conclusion from it that it was hardly fail* to expect them to cut their thistles—his comparison of the Kororareka and Taranaki cases—are all points of great importance and interest, but which we shall not further touch upon until we get the corrected report. One thing there is which should be clearly ascertained before the Governor and his advisers leave. If it is necessary that Taranaki should be sacrificed for the sake of the Colony, we have at least a right to know it. We must not be understood as saying that itis likely Taranaki will b but merely as providing against the possibility of such a thing.

It is said, on authority only too good, tnat the pay of the Volunteers and Mili tia. now on active service, is to come out of the £200,000. Marching men about the country in the dark with guns not loaded is one way of reinstating the Province, if.not the inhabitants, and may perhaps be the very way contemplated by the House of Representatives when they voted the money, but it is certainly not what the people of this place were led to expect at the end of. last Session.

Military Movements.— Some excite ment prevailed in Town on Wednesday last, when it transpired that a force of Military were under orders for Waireka. On that day bullock-, and eax'ts were pressed for immediate service, and other signs given which meant that a movement to some part of the Province was intended. On Thursday morning at 8.30 o’clock, 300 of the 57th Regt. under Colonel Warre, 0.8., Captains Woodall, and Gorton, Lieuts. Brnttou, Thompson, Tragett, and Waller, Adjutant Clarke, and Asst. Surgeon Hope, together with Lieut. Ferguson and a detachment of the Royal Engineers, paraded under Mount Eliot and marched off by the Great South Road towards Omata, preceded by several carts laden with baggage and camp equipage in charge of Lieut Cox, 57th Regt. His Excellency Sir George Grey," General Cameron, and suite, followed. The troops reached Waireka at 10 o’clock, and encamped on Wilkinson’s farm, near the southern boundary of the Omata blo.ck, where a Stockade is to be erected. A number of the Taranaki tribe have been for several days at Wairavi, a native settlement between Omata and Tataraimaka, who no doubt were surprised by the sudden occupation of the territory said by them to be theirs by conquest in 1860-61, and it, ha§ given rise to considerable conjecture as to their intentions. The smoke of large fires, supposed to be signal fires, was seen at Tataraimaka and beyond it after the. arrival of the troops. It was. bringing back old times when the well-remembered picket bugle call of the Volunteers was sounded on Thursday evening, and 120 men were told, off for inlying picket and block-house duty, and were marched off to their res pective posts. The regulation system cif guards and pickets, has been re-estab-lished, the Volunteers alone having as yet been called upon, but as some of the blockhouses are now garrisoned by them, a .portion, of the Militia, we presume, will have tp. take a share of the duty. The detachment of the 65th, under Cap-, tain Gr&ssqn, came in from the rifle, practice greund at Waiwakaiho op Thursday, and i s stationed io tEft Bill barracks and Mqqnt Eliot- of the Volunteers, under Sergeant F. Mace,

;have been appointed mounted orderlies to attend upon the Governor and General Cameron. : We understand that the road will be at once made by the military between the Poutoko pah aud the Onrata Stockade. It is quite iihpossible to /say what will be the issue of His.. Excellency’s movements at. Omata, or. whether the natives will interfere with him, blit it is not probable that they will. , ! Sir George Giey, General Cameron'and staff, together with the Colonial Secretary and flm Native Minister, have daily visited the camp and the Putoko- It is said that on Thursday two delegates from the Taranakis met the Governor at the Putoko. We have no,t been made acquainted with the object nor of, the, result of their mission, but hear that they told His Excellency that they claimed all the European land around the. town, when Sir George replied that they had better also claim the sun, moon, and stars. We hear also that they informed His Excellency that they should be willing to give up Tataraimaka if all the the runangas north' and south wished it and if he gave Waitara to them. The. Latest from the Camp —-The military have commenced a redoubt. On Wilkinson’s farm, on a hill' overlooking tfie Poutoko and surrounding country, which they are rapidly constructing. Natives are to be seen on one of the spurs of the ranges. By the Sea Gull, we have the A\ ws, the 19th inst., which contains the fol* lowing : The Harrier morning-just before our hour of publication, bringing 200 of the 70th Regiment. We have been favored with a sight of the . • eiv Zeal nder of yesterday’s date which states that 100 men of the Artillery are also destined for Taranaki to serve as a mounted force. They, however, have not arrived by the 11 an ier, and there is a report that the ,/iredale has b t een taken up for an intermediate trip which may have relation to bringing them. There is no other news of importance. *,

OTAGO, By the courtesy of Capt. Carte, of the Corio, we have the Daily Times, from 14th to 18th inst, . We extract thefollowiug from the summary for Europe, published on tire latter date. Public attention has been concentrated during the past month on the approaching election of Superintendent. This and the Champion Races winch were regarded wjtlj much interest, may be said to have been the leading topics of the month. The gold fields have oeased to be novelties, and are less spoken about than formerly. The surprise seems to diminish as each month adds to the confirmation of their astonishing permanence and productiveness. The yield of gold in Otago is fast approaching to that of Victoria, and probably in the course of a year or two, the younger gold country will be the larger producer. Judged by the comparison of the number of persons relatively employed, the Otago fields ai*e many times more productive than those of Victoria. The gold is much more easily obtained, and without the enormous . utlay for machinery which has characterised the Victorian gold workings during the last few years The Lake Gold Fields are probably the richest that have ever been discovered. During the thirteen weeks that they have been opened they have yielded over 107, 000 ounces exclusive of amounts brought down by private hands, to a population averaging not more thau 7,000 miners. ,

The two candidates for the Superinten dency met on the hustings on Saturday last, at the nomination. Major Richardson was proposed by two of his old personal friends, Mr. Barr and Mr. Todd, without any further remark than the mere moving and seconding of the nomination. Mr. Harriss’s proposer, Mr. Gillies entered moie fully into the subject. The Major demanded a poll. The election will take place on the 9tli of April- According to present indications there is scarcely a doubt of Mr. Harris’s success. By what appears to be a blunder of the Registration Officer, a new roll has been prepared for the Bruce district in which the names of eight hundred miners who had qualified in the first, were struck out. Although by an Act of last session the miners were deprived of their power to register as voters for the Superintendentship, there was nothing said as to those whose names were already on the list for the roll of the current year. The striking them off. seCms to be altogether an unauthorised act;; .and is likely enough to lead to legal proceedings.

We havO said nothing about the political views of the two candidates, because there is little difference between them in regard to their principles. The election seems to turn on their personal fitness for the administrative duties of the office. Under the Major’s regime great abuses have sprung up. The financial the Province have been allowed to fall into an unsatisfactory state, large sums ha\e been wasted on bad roads, and the pushing on of public works has been neglected. Mr. Harris sees the faults and promises to remedy them. The Major justifies the past and will not recognize the necessity for reform. Mr. Harris is candid in the statement of his views ou all subjects, Major Richardson appears to think the Land question the only one worthy of attention. In regard to the Land we. should mention that the General, Govern-, m,ent having refused assent to the Ordinance for taxing unimproved lands, the. Provincial Government has sent up request to raise the price of land to ' £% pef. acre. This is most likely to be dofie.

#n<l no. doubt the- Council next Session., will pass. ,a recommendation that purchasers be immediately permitted tlieir title deeds, instead of being?;/subjected to \ present vexation and. prolonged delays. The General Government have also disallowed tjje Panama-Subsidy Ordinance on alleged technical grounds, but apparently for fear of exciting political hostility. The Executive Council Ordinance, Dunejip Municipal Estate Ordinance, Sunday Observance Ordinance, and Criminals Ordinance, are also disallowed. The following Ordinances have been left to their operation:—Otago Loan Ordinance (£SOO 000), Sheep Importation Ordinance, Harbour Endowment Ordinance, Thistle prevention Ordinance, Turnpike Ordinance Dog Nuisance Ordinance, Appropriation Ordinance.

We are gratified to be able to say th,at the Separation cause appears about reviving. Mr Moorliouse, the late Superintendent of Canterbury, recently publicly,stated himself to he strongly in its favor ; and Mr. Harris the Otago Superintendent elect, ia its ardent supportei. There cao be no question that the supineness exhibited, in Otago during tho : last few months in the cause of Separation .is due to the mismanagement qf the Provincial Government and the abuses permitted by it. People began,to regard the General Government as standing between them and the illegality and incapacity of the Provincial Government. With improved local government, the desire for. separation never abated, will not be counteracted by the fearof the consequences to follow by losing, temporarily even, the Central Government control.

THE LAKE COUNTRY. Queenstown, 10th March; 1863. The Escort started yesterday/ with 11,500 oz. being 2,000 oz. in excess of the amount anticipated. It being only foi one week shows an increase upon the previous fortnightly one; The increase is due to Fox’s, where large sales and deposits were made at the last moment Two serious boat accidents occurred on the Bay yesterday. The Manola upset ir. a squall, and though all the passengers escaped, some of them had a narrow chance. She had twelve passengers on board, and a crew of three ; and is owned by Mr. Helmsham. The last letter of your correspondent was on board, and narrowly escaped being lost. Thatcher had a song about the affair in the evening, and attributed the accident to the weight oi this despatch. About 1 o’clock this morning the stea mer Nugget ran on a reef of rocks within site of the pier, and lies on her side with an ugly sharp rock sticking through her bottom. There is a harrow passage in this reef which many of the boats make when racing against one another, as it saves a detour of nearly a mile and a half. The night was bright and fine, and the breeze only moderately fresh, and no clear account is yet given how the accident took place. She had on board/ upwards of ten tons cargo, which is all damaged/ and the consignees refuse to accept delivery, holding the owners li able. ,

There is no fresh mining news or any other change of importance to notice. The weather is*delightful, and business brisk. Eighty pounds have been offered to float the steamer off, but if a gale springs up she will go to pieces. She has now two holes in her bottom. The man at the helm was the cause of the accident, and is charged with gross oarelessness Miss Bye, has been received with greater cordiality at Dunedin, and some additional accommodation given to her protegees in consequence of the Timet * remarks. The li'iiness, of the 14th inst., states that the following shows the total amount of gold from the several fields, brought down by the last fortnightly escorts :

It will be observed that Tuapeka and the Woolslied are not included ; and we understand there will probably be no escort thence this week.

The fleet of the Intercolonial hoyal Mail Steam Comprnv is to be augmented by three additional steamers, One of these, the Phoebe; is expected to arrive in Sydney from Bermuda direct in about a month ; a second, the Paulet, is expected to arrive in June, and the third is being built The l ord Ashley has been laid on the Sydney and Otago route Times. t

The New Zealand Steam Navigation Company have purchased the well known and favourite steamer Ladybird, which will be placed on the Otago and northern porfcs route.- Times,

or. dwt. Wakatipu ... 20,447 2 Dunstan ... 8,588 0 Tuapeka Waitahuna 428 10 Woolshed 252 17 31,439 14 The first weekly escort arrived in town on the ITth. It brought the following quantities :— or. dwt. Wakatipu and Arrow. . . 11,522 5 . Dunstan . 3,358 5 Waitahuna . 272 5 15,152 15