GENERAL NEWS.

The word " Hurrah," ia purely SlaYOBiao, and is commonly heard from the coast of Da'maia to Behring's Straits, vhen-any of the population within thfse limi' • ai c called on to give proof of courage and valour. The origin of the word beloncß to the primi'ive idea that erery man who dies heroicnlly for his country goes straight to heaven, "Hu raj" (to Paradise) ; and so it is that in the shock and ardour of battle the combatan s utter that cry, and as the Turks do that >n " Allah!" each animating himself, by tl c Cartainty of immediate reward, to forget earth and despite death. A London paper says: Lord Stafford intends to retire from the representation of Sutherlandsbire, because he finds that he cannot comply with the crofters, who seem to have entirely lost their wits during the last year. The Duke of Sutherland has returned from America to find hii vast estates in a condition of anarchy. Sir Arnold Kemball, the " Commissioner," has resigned, and, in consequence of the proceedings of the crofters, the leases cf several large sheep farm* have been thrown up. The Duke has commenced vigorous legal action action against the crofters, and he baa no al'ernative, unless he is to surrender to them all the best land in the county, and suffer his propepy to be practically managed by their organisations. The Court of Sef'sion will soon clear their heads of the nonsenpe with which ihey have too lone been oiled. Naval coirts martial are notorious for their undue seventy, says a London writer, but the sen'er.cejust passed on John Tozer, Carpenter of the Cora »?, isnnpreccdcnUdly 1 harsh. Having obtained leave to visit his wife, who wis lying dangerously ill at Devonport, be found it impossible to leave her side, and very naturally remained with her until her death, shortly after which he was apprehended, charged with desertion, and sentenced jto lose three years' seniority and to be dismissed from bis ship. I fail to see, under the exceptional circumstinces, wby absence beyond the stipulated period should be punished as wilful desertion, there being no proof whatever that Tozer did not intend to return to his ship ; in fact the evidence was to the contrary, and I doubt whether there is an officer on board either the Comus or any other vessel who would not have iimilarly absented himself in his place. Four violins, each of them an authenticated Stradirarius, hive just been sold by auction in Paris for the sum of £1,808, They cost their late owner, M. de St. Senocb, £2,640. Upon the rise on wool the Australasian stya :—": — " The importance of thio partial recovery in the value of our greatest staple product can bardly be estimated too highly. During the falling of the market buying from hand to mouth has been the actiou of all prudent men. Stocks have, consequently, become low, and, as ma/jymilli both on the Continent and in Great Britain have been working ihort time, Blocks of woollens have been gradually reduced until the demand began to exceed the tupply. This position having been obtained, the ju-np presaged became inevitable. Wbilst thtre are not wanting indications of the influence of the increasing supplies of South American wools on the market tor inferior samples, the position now taken by the Australians may fairly be regarded with satisfaction." By the J a8 t mail (says thegNapier Daily Telegraph) one of our staff received a letter from bis brother in Sydney, in which the writer thus refers to Kimberley :— " You say there are a lot of people going from j&lew Zealand to Kimberley. They don't know where they are going to, or thty would stay where they are. I "»t down at the steamer on Monday, the 7th JuDe, and most of the intending passengers were trying to sell their tickets at two pounds less than what they had given for them. Horses and men are dying every day on the road. It is over 900 miles from where I was in Queensland. You can't go from Sydney with les« than .£l5O. "¥ou want to take with you five horses — two for riding, and you must take six months' provisions as well as horse feed ; for after you leave the steamer you have to go 400 miles through swampy country. Yoa want any amount of ammunition and a revolver, for there are a lot of blacks up there. The heat is 140 in the shade, I was talking to Jack Allen, the digger that found the big nugget at Temora. He went up to Kimberley, but he coon came back ; he sold bis claim at Temora,. for £2000, and it Kimberloy was any good he would bave stayed there. The water to drink is stagnant, 10 God help the men that go unprovided with plenty of money and horses. If you hear of anyone going, tell them to wait till there is a road aud the country opened up a bit. It will be plenty of time to go at Christmas, as it is a gold bearing coun<ry for a radius of 120 miles. There was a chap wanted me to go. and only for Allen I would have gone. If it turns out any good, I may try it by and by There is plenty of lever and ague, and men are dying like rotten sheep. There are nanny good men and experienced miners there." The following must be taken cumgrano : — " As toon ac the news reached Home of the recent eruption* at Tarawera, the London .Times sent a cablegram to the proprietors of one of the leading journals in Auckland, a*kiug them to wire a full accoune of the catastrophe. That they really wanted as detailed a description as was possible is proved by the fact that the amount up to which tho Auckland journalists were authorised to gu lor the purpose was no less thin £8,000.