PUBLIC DINNER TO DR. FERDINAND HOCHSTETTER.

On Friday last, the public diauer given to Dr. Hochstctter by the inhabitants of Nelson, in honour of his arrival, took place at tho Masonic Hall. The double tables, running the whole length of the hall, were crowded by thoso who had assembled to welcome their guest, and a full attendance of ladies in the gallery and a band of music in the entrance hall, gave additional zests to tho entertainment, which was of a moat grutifying and satisfactory description. Dr. Monro was in the chair, with Dr. Hochstetter on his right hand and Mr. Haast on his left, supported by his Honour the Superintendent, tho Rev. Messrs. Calder, Warren, &c. Mr. Elliott filled the vice-chair, supported by Messrs. Wrey and O. Curtis. Tho cloth being removed, the Chairman gave " The Health of the Queen," which waa drunk with the greatest cuthusiasm. The band played the " National Anthem." The Chairman next proposed that they should drink bumpers to the toast he was then about to give them, viz. : " His Majesty the Emperor of Austria, and His Imperial Highness the Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian," the latter of whom occupied theposition of Lord High Admiral of the Austrian Empire. He took a lively iuterest in the cause of acquiring and diffusing scientific truths, and he it was to whom they were now indebted for the presence of their distinguished guest, because he had been mainly instrumental in fitting out the Novara expedition [loud cheers]. The " Austrian National Authem " by tho band.

Dr. Hochstettee, who was received with long continued cheering, rose and said: Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen, allow mo to return to you my thanks for the toast to the health of his Majesty the Emperor of Austria and his Imperial Highness the Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian. The peaceful times, so favourable for arts and sciences, unhappily are interrupted in my country by a serious war. The imperial frigate Novara, sailing for scientific purposes from Europe in time of peace, before she cau enter into harbour on the fatherland's shore, has to pass perhaps through the lines of the enemy ; but she will enter respected and unmolested to her port. And I hope the objects of the Novara expedition, as intended by his Majesty the Emperor and his Imperial Highness the Archduke will be accomplished, and the results laid before you in instructive and interesting publications ; and my countrymen will read with pleasure of New Zealand, in which many Germans have found a second happy home. The next toast proposed was " His Royal Highness Prince Albert and the rest of the Royal Family," the Chairman passing a high eulogium upon the Prince Consort, for the great interest he took in, and the assistance he had rendered to, science, as was shown by tho now colebrated great Exhibition of 1851 [cheers]. By the band, " Rule Britannia." Tho Chairman proposed, " Tho Army and Navy," and said he trusted it would be a long time ere their sorvices would be required in active warfare ; but, should England unhappily bo drawn into tho present European commotion, he felt sure that her army and nary would still maintain their former reputation [cheers]. By tho band "Tho Red, White, and Blue." Captain Newcome, who was received with cheers, returned thanks, saying he was sure that, were tho army called upon to-morrow, it would do its duty bravely and nobly, as it had hitherto done [cheers], Mr. Cotteuell responded on behalf of the navy.

The Chairman' next gave " The Governor of the Colony, his Excellency Colonel Gore Browne," and said ho felt sure gentlemen would appreciate him much move, if they saw him more frequently [laughter]. This lie would say, that he was undoubtedly a most excellent gentleman, n good Governor, and most kind and hospitable to all [cheers]. Baud, " The King of the Cannibal Islands." The Chairman next rose and said : It is now my duty, gentlemen, to propose to you the health of our distinguished guest, Dr. Ferdinand Hochstetter [great cheering], and this is a duty I discharge with the greatest pleasure, alloyed only by the feeling that I shall fail to do justice to the toast, or to give adequate expression to the sentiments by which I know that we are all animated. Although we have had dinners here before ; dinners to governors, dinners to ministers, dinners to colonists about to leave us, and dinners to others, I doubt if any occasion has ever presented itself more deserving of this peculiar national festivity of ours, than the event we are this evening celebrating [hear, heav]. Dr. Hochstctter is not among us in any political capacity, but he has nevertheless a noble and a useful mission; for he comes to extend the boundaries of science, to enlarge the sphere of our knowledge, and to point out to us the character and position of the different substances of the mineral kingdom, which nature has so largely bestowed upon this Province [cheers]. When I add to this, that he has the highest testimonials as to ability and experience, and that he is a stranger among us, a native of another country, I am aure it would be quite unnecessary for me to say anything further, because I know that I could say nothing .vhioh could add to the pleasure you experience in seeing him among us, and the kind hospitality with which you hold out to him the hand of welcome [cheers]. It is, however, part of the duty of a chairman on an occasion like this, to hold forth at greater lengtli, and,l will therefore take the opportunity of making a few remarks suggested by the present event. I think Dr. Hochstettcr's visit cannot fail to be of much value to the public of this province. Now there are two points of view from which this question may be regarded ; there is the purely scientific, aDd there is the practical point of view. As regards the former, the visit of our learned guest will, I have no doubt, prove fertile in results. lie will clear away for us some of the first and greatest difficulties in the path of inquiry ; he will arouse a spirit of investigation ; and I trust that the stimulus and assistance thus obtained from him, combined with the operations of that Institution, the foundation stone of which we laid only a few days ago (I mean the Nelson Institute), may lead to valuable consequences ; and that, as our material position and prospects become more assured and definite, we shall be able, in some measure, to devote ourselves to the cultivation of the higher qualities of the intellect, and give proof of a successful pursuit of those branches of inquiry and study which are everywhere appreciated in proportion to the civilization of a people. And now, gentlemen, as regards the utilitarian view of the question. It is one of the attributes and prerogatives of aoience, that its conquests are seldom or never barren of practical results ; and while it attracts its disciples onward by the fascination of the abstract lore of truth, its effects are at the same time to extend the power of man over surrounding matter, and to add to his sources of comfort and prosperity. When the Arabian astronomers, to whom undoubtedly the first steps in the wonderful science of astronomy are due, observed the movements of the heavenly bodies through space, and the periods of their rising and setting, .they dreamed not of it perhaps at the time, but they were nevertheless laying the foundation of a soience which rendered possible the voyages of Columbus, of Vasco de Gama, and Magellan; by the rules, of which tlie enormous commerce of the present day is guided across a pathless ocean, and the enterprising explorer or Christian missionary Bteer their course through the unknown desert. By the avowal, of James Watt himself, it was the purely scientific researches of Black into the nature of steam, and the absorption of caloric, that led the former to the discovery pf the true mode of constructing the steam engine. But the most extraordinary practical application of science is one of the most modern, I mean the Electric Telegraph. In reading not long since tliat grand work of the illustrious Humboldt, the Cosmos, I found the following sentence relating to this subject. "When Aloysio Galvani first stimulated the neiTpus fibre by the accidental contact of two heterogeneous metals, his contemporaries could never have anticipated that the action of the voltaic pile would discover to us in the alkalies, metals of a silvery lustre, so light as to swim on water, and eminently inflammable ; or that it would become a powerful instrument of chemical analysis, and at the same time a tbermoscope and a magnet." Such are the practical applications of galvanism stated by Humboldt, for at the thne th*k he wrote, the electric telegraph was not in full operation. But if lio were writing now, what

an addition he would have to make to his statements ; for he would hare to add that this same agent is not' employed to transmit man's thoughts across continents, mountain ranges, and oceans with a rapidity second only to that of the brain which conceives them Nothing appeared less likely than that an agent first discovered by an Italian physician from its effects in producing muscular contraction in the leg of a frog, detached from the body, should render material service to man. Nothing ever appeared less likely thaithat man should subjugate to his uses an element so subtle, so intangible, so apparently uncontrollable as the lightning. Nevertheless, science, in the interest of truth, pursued its researches. It traced the currents of galvanic for , along metallic wires. It studied its effect upon the magnetic needle. It observed that its progress was barred by glass and resins. And now, in the hands of practical men, this very lightning ha 3 become one of the most obedient, one of the moat willing, ono of the least expensive, one of the most unerring, and one of the most astounding of man's slaves. The untutored savage prostrates himself before the flash of tho lightning and the roar of the thunder. He believes that he hears in it a voice of anger, and cowers under an apprehension of impending injury. The civilized man of the present age may experience an amount of admiration almost approaching to a similar awe when he witnesses the marvellous doings of this agent, now so obedient and beneficent [hear, hear]. The science which our distinguished guestraoreespecially cultivates, is one characterized no less by its purely scientific attractions than by its practical uses. As a science, it is one of the youngest, but one of the most vigorous ; rapidly progressing, aud daily adding to tho number of its votaries. For it not only presents to the mind the contemplation of existing order and adaptation of the mineral kingdom to the requirements of organized existence ; but it offers at the same time the attraction of the study of history. Guided by its light we travel back into the domain of tho past. We read by its assistance the leaves of the book of the earth's crust, and study those records and archives, and, as they have been beautifully termed, medals of creation which were struck long anterior to the days of Guttenberg or Cadmus, anterior to tho existence of man himself; in ages when the earth teemed with grotesque forms of existence, both auimal and vegetable, which have loug since become extinct, but which have left their impressions imperishably engraved upon the rocks [cheers]. Equally direct and palpable are the practical applications of this science. I speak on such a subject with tho greatest deference in the presence of our distinguished guest, and I trust if I make any mis-statements that he will correct me ; but I believe that throughout the mineral kingdom, a certain law, and order, and arrangement are found unij yersally to prevail. Each country it is true may have 'its distinguishing features and characteristic physiognomy. Certain strata may bo more abundant in one country and loss abuudant in another ; but nevertheless one general law restrains all these exceptions within certain limits. The constitution of the mineral kingdom is in this respect like the constitution of New Zealand [laughter]. There are provinces in geology, and there are provincial ordinances geologically speaking. But there is one grand federal geological law of the world which over-rides the whole, and prescribes a fundamental uniformity. It is further observed that the different minerals and metals are only found in certain positions and in association with certain rocks. It is only among the oldest rocks, and chiefly in connection with quartz, that (as every digger knows) gold is to be found in quantity. Then again, coal of the best quality, second only in value to gold, has its assigned position ; bo also has marble and roofing elate, and so also have most of the metals and the other mineral substances wliich man extracts from the earth, and which minister so much to his health and enjoyment. This is the class of subjects which our guest has more especially studied. He is here now to study them in our Province, and lie has promised to communicate to us the result of his observations ; and to this, gentlemen, I think we are justified in attaching the highest value [cheers]. But I have been perhaps wandering away too far from the subject of our toast, so I will now, if you please, come to close-quarters with it. lam enabled then to inform you, that Dr. Hochstetter, although in the service of Austria, is not a native of that country. He is a native of the kingdom of Wirtemberg. He studied at the University of Tubingen, where he distinguished himself greatly, carrying off what in English Universities would be called scholarships, and finally, after a highly successful academical career, graduated as a Doctor of Philosophy. He left the University of Tubingen with so high a reputation that he was very shortly afterwards taken into tho service of the Austrian Government, and was employed as Geologist-in-chief in examining into the mineral character of a portion of the kingdom of Bohemia, an almost virgin field. This work occupied Dr. Hochstetter for several years, and was executed by him with so much ability that when, shortly afterwards, a geologist of established reputation was required to accompany the Novara expedition, the Imperial Academy of Sciences, to whom the selection of this officer was entrusted, conferred the appointment on Dr. Hochstetter [cheers]. This scientific expedition has been now absent from Europe nearly three years. During that time, many countries have been visited and observations made, and finally the expedition reached the shores of New Zealand, where, fortunately for us, the regulations of their service allowed of their leaving Dr. Hochstetter for a time behind them [hear, hear]. What has been done by our distinguished guest since he has been in New Zealand we all pretty well know. In the Province of Auckland, he ha 3 let in light upon what was formerly involved in obscurity. His determination of the geological age of the Auckland coal and of tho rocks of that Province generally ; his observations upon the relative age of the different volcanic formations, and liis discovery of those interesting fossils of Kawhia, tho Ammonites and Belemnites, the first ever discovered in the Australian colonies, are all of importance as so many fixed points and facts of great significance to all who occupy themselves with mineral matters, either scientifically or practically. Since he has been in this Province, he has been most assiduous. He has visited some of the most interesting points in the neighbourhood of the town. He has been to our gold-fields, and has examined the coal at Pakawau, returning to Nelson overland from Collingwood. Of our gold-fields, I believe I am correct in saying that Dr. Hochstetter entertains a very favourable opinion, holding them to bo both extensive and rich [hear, hear]. This alone, gentlemen, is a great fact, and warrants us in turning towards the future a more cheering and hopeful glance than we have been able to give to it for some time past ; for we have all seen that there is no enchanter's wand so potent to produce prosperity, or to develop a colony into a nation, as that much coveted precious metal. Of the Pakawau coal, I believe lam also correct in saying that Dr. Hochstetter thinks highly, assigning to it a higher geological age than the Tertiary coals, and holding it to be a fuel of very excellent quality. This also is a fact of very considerable im» portance to us [hear, hear]. Since liis return from Golden Bay, he has visited that interesting metalliferous region the Dun Mountain, and, as several of us here present can testify, has subjected it to a careful and laborious exploration. Dr. Hochstetter has promised very shortly to make us acquainted with the conclusions at which he has arrived with regard to it. One thing I feel well assured of, that whatever we hear from Dr. Hochatetter we may rely upon as being conscientious, truthful, and dispassionate [hear, hear]. There is only one thing that is to be regretted about his visit to us, and that is that it is so short. I wish we could keep him two years, instead of two months. I am sure that he would be the first to tell you that he would find objects of interest in this province to occupy his attention, not for two years alone, but for five times two [hear, hear]. A reflection not particularly gratifying to our national pride arises out of the event we are celebrating. It is somewhat remarkable that it is to German savans that we are mainly indebted for ou iknowledge (such as we possess it, at all events), of the natural history of this colony. Solan, der and Foster, who accompanied Cook, were both of them Germans; and, iv later times, Dieffenbach, though not a profound naturalist, nevertheless made considerable additions to our knowledge of the productions of the country. The only systematic scientific work upon any department of the natural history of New Zealand is the very excellent and beautiful

; york upon its botany, by Dr. Joseph Hooker, though iron that Jmd been to some extent anticipated by the liscovcricß of tho naturalists attached to tho French Mtpedit ions, under D'Urville and Bcrard. The first scientific? geologist who, with a view to the prosecution of tliat science here, has landed on the shores of 1 New Zealand, is, without doubt, our guest of the . evening [loud cheers]. In future days, it is • to be hoped that we shall have a map of this country, as they have maps of England, in which he position of every formation and series of rocks will ■ be accurately and scientifically delineated ; and there can be but littlo doubt that this will yet be clone. But the future geologist or miner, when he studies this map and finds in ifc the information he requires, will know, or ought to know, who was its originator. It is Hochstetter who has designed its original and fun- , damental outlines [cheers]. Other observers will add fresh facts and fill up blanks, and it will be the work not of one but of many ; but the credit will ulwnys remain to Dr. Hochstetter of having made tho first certain steps in this hitherto untrodden region [cheers]. He must henceforth be regarded as having been to New Zealand in geology what Smith, Hutton, and Playfair were for England [great cheering]. I will make but one more remark, gentlemen, and it shall refer to the native country of our guest. He is not a countryman of our own 5 but we are not the less glad to see him here. Ab a German he belongs to tha nation which of all the European families is nenrest of kin to ourselves, resembling us in many points of disposition and habits 5 a country to which we have been indebted for tho best blood of the British people and our most valued institutions : a country to which the world has been indebted for some of the most important discoveries in the arts and sciences ; and those among us who like myself have visited that country will not be likely ever to forget the kind hospitalities of the earnest and warm-hearted German people. But as aseientific man, Dr. Hochstetter belongs to no country in particular. Science knows no local boundaries. Its worshippers are coextensive with nature, and foinn a nation by themselves. Among them I am happy to say, there is but littlo jealousy and no paltry distinctions. There is a rivalry among them of course 5 but it is a rivalry in an honourable race, aud the winning post is truth [cheers]. Such then is the guest whom we have mcL to honour. He is a man of high scientific attainments, and he is a German, and he has come among us to serve his government, but to serve us at the same time. That he is unassuming, affable, courteous, and ready to give information, I can vouch for. He is a man, in short, gentlemen, whom ! we may safely honour, because in doing so we are reflecting credit upon ourselves. [The toast was drunk with the greatest enthusiasm.] Dr. Hochstetter said : Gentlemen, I thank you heartily for the distinguishing and honourable manner in wliich you have drunk my health. Mr. Chairman, I thank you for the friendly and flattering words of your speech. I am far from appropriating all this honour to myself personally : I accept it as a member of a scientific expedition, which, I am proud to express it, from the beginning, in all their objects, was assisted by the English more than by any other nation ; I accept it as a member of a geological institution, which always was and is in active and most friendly intercourse with the centres of geological science in your own home, and whose favourite wish it is to have correspondents and friends in all parts of the world. The naturalists belong to different nations, but the results of science are the common benefit of the world. To nations belong different couutriea, but to the naturalist belongs the whole world : he is at home where he investigates. So New Zealand has been my home for the last eight months ; but it has been not only a home for rac as a naturalist— l have felt also at home through the kindness shown to me everywhere by the people. I was especially here in Nelson received with so much friendship on my arrival, and I meet with so much cordiality and kind assistance in my investigations, that I do not feel at all like a stranger, but as one who meets his old friends. Gentlemen, I express to you my sincerest thanks for the great honour which you have done to me to-day ; I express my thanks to the inhabitants of this province for their kind co-operation and hearty efficient help ; and I embrace the opportunity to express my tlnmks also to tho Provincial Government, and to all the officers of the Provincial Government, for the great assistance given to me in my investigations [loud cheers]. After a short interval, Dr. Hociistettee again rose and said : Gentlemen, allowme to address you again in a few words. The great interest with which you have followed the course of my geological investigations in your neighbourhood, leads me to suppose that you are anxious to hear something about the results. I have now visited all the principal points along the coast from Cape Farewell to D'Urville's Island. I entered tho Aorere Valley, the Takaka Valley, and I visited the Dim Mountain. I have seen the principal gold-diggings, the coal-fields, and your copper-mines. As the strata of the different formations are striking in a more or less southnortherly direction, I got instructive cross sections of the different formations by my excursions round the shores of the Blind and Golden Bays, showing a greater variety of rocks containing useful minerals and interesting fossils than I expected, from the information I had received, I shall now be occupied for some days in bringing all that I have seen and examined into a geological map, and in preparing a detailed account for the lecture which I have promised to deliver to you, and wliich I shall finish after I have visited, during the next few weeks, other parts of the province. I hope you will, therefore, excuse me, if, to-day, I give you only my general impression, and not, before I have seen more and finished my examinations, a detailed account or a distinct opinion on objects which, for a long time, were points of discussion amongst you. I express, with great pleasure, my conviction that the Province of Nelson — favoured by an excellent climate, rich in a variety of the most useful and valuable minerals, colonized and inhabited by intelligent and enterprising Bettlers— has a great and hopeful future. And I confess that I was wrong to-day, when asked if there were jewels in the province, I said no : looking to the gallery above us, I am glad to see that the welfare of this province has also good prospects by a richness of jewels, representing genuineness and beauty. Gentlemen, I propose to you to drink with me to the prosperity and welfare of the Province of Nelson, for which we have so many hopeful signs [loud cheers], Mr. Tkavees said, he had been requested to propose a toast, which he felt assured required no words of his to recommend it for their warmest reception, and not the less 30 because this task had undoubtedly been made the lighter and more easy by what had already fallen from their Chairman and their distinguished guest. The toast he had to propose was "The mineral resources of the Colony," [cheers]. He was happy to find that those who had framed the toast were not actuated by narrow views of the question ; that they had extended it to the whole colony, and not restricted it merely to the resources of their own Province. In addressing himself to the matter, however, he feared that he should do so very inefficiently, as regards the mining resources of the other Provinces j for, beyond the authentic and valuabla information afforded by their distinguished guest respecting the mineralogical productions of the Province of Auckland, contained in his most interesting lecture, they were only in possession of isolated facts, such as the existence of coal at Otago, and the possession by the Province of Taranaki of vast stove of most valuable iron ore. But the information which Dr. Hochstetter would impart, in reference to the mineral resources of this Province would be beyond any value they could set upon it. With reference to the gold-fields, he believed that Dr. Hochstetter, at the proper time, woul tell them that they were very valuable indeed [cheers] ; and, although they had not yet yielded what the enthusiastic had expected on their first discovery, yet, there could bo no doubt, that they held out every prospect of an abundant and rich harvest. All that was required was the industry and capital of Englishmen to develop them, and they might reasonably expect to find tho application of that capital and energy result in a vast increase of commercial aud political prosperity [cheers] ; that whilst he was willing to attach to the possession of gold-fields a due degree of importance, he was liappy to say that in their immediate vicinity there existed an almost unlimited supply of a more useful and more valuable mineral) now popularly termed on

these accounts, the "black diamond" [cheers]. At Tukaka and Pakawau they possessed immense stores of coal, and ho felt sure that tln-y would all hail with delight tho fact, that in tho opinion of their distinguished guest, this Province possessed extensive scams of coal, of a quality far superior to any which had yet been discovered in any other part of the colony [cheers]. Of the productions of the Dun Mountain, its chronio and copper ores, it would be premature to speak ; to many, doubts appeared to hang upon the ultimate value of those mines ; doubts, however, which he hoped might be partly put an end to by the report of Dr. Ilochstetter upon the District; that lie would merely allude to them as affording some probable future addition to the resources of the province. He would therefore merely call their attention to the fact that Great Britain owed her political and commercial importance to her manufactures, and her pre-eminence in these was due to her possession of unlimited stores of mineral wealth. These gave her tho power of creating and applying machinery in a manner unknown to other nations. From every quarter of the globe raw material was collected, which, in its manufacture, afforded employment to her capital and labour, and the produce of her manufacturing industry was to bo found in every spot occupied by mankind. In order to satisfy them of the importance of this subject he would quote a few figures [cheers]. The produce of coal in Great Britain he believed exceeded 40,000,000 of tons per annum, of the value of £19,000,000 sterling. The produce of iron which in 1750 amounted only to 17,000 tons, had increased to 3,500,000 tons, valued at £8,000,000, while that of copper he believed amounted to 1,500,000 tons. Those figures, representing merely the value of tho raw material, must convince them of the vast importance of mineral wealth [cheers]. He would, in conclusion, express his conviction, that the time was not far distant when the mineral resources of the Province would justify their most sanguine expectations, and that the possession of those resources was destined to raise this Province to the foremost rank amongst the communities of New Zealand [cheers].

Mr. Wbey said : It had fallen to his lot to respond to the toast just proposed on several former occasions 3 but at the present moment, he did so under a new aspect, that of addressing them in the presence of a highly qualified authority, their respected guest Dr. Hochstetter, and some degree of difficulty, because an impression had gone abroad that the researches made by Dr. Hochstctter would upset all that he (Mr. Wrey) had essayed on the subject. How far this might be correct he knew not, and was not aware that Dr. Hochstetter had expressed any opinion on the subject. For himself he would say that he had been forty years personally engaged in mining operations, and in that time must have acquired some degree of proficiency in the profession, and since his sojourn in this colony had studied its mineral resources, in fact he might truly say, there was no other man in the province so bound up with its mineral resources and consequent welfare, as himself [cheers]. It had not only been the business of his life, but the hobby of his heart, and he could assure them that although he did not disdain riches, yet he had no other desire to possess wealth then as a means to accomplish further achievements, set down perhaps by others as impracticable or impossible [hear, hear]. It was indisputable that they possessed a very large proportion of mineral wealth within the Province, and it was both their duty and their interest to turn those natural advantages to their onward progress [cheers]. Up to tiiia time, it had been truly said they had benefited but in a slight degree ; that their goldseeking population had decreased, and that their coal and copper ores were still in abeyance. With respect to the gold, there was little doubt, that an abundance of it was scattered over a large superficial area, but the natural and physical impediments respecting its discovery wcro so groat, on account of the inability to penetrate into the interior, that he, for one, could not look forward to that large concourse of people becoming simultaneously employed here, as in Australia, where the means of locomotion and subsistence \ were both more easy. Although they had a great abundance, and although it had been long a well known fact, yet no good had as yet accrued from it. Qveah expectations had at vuriuus times been held out upon the subject ; but he did not think it possible to damage a country more than was done by continually crying up its resources, which often terminated in a non-fulfilment of any beneficial result. If he did not say something on the subject of copper, he knew he should disappoint the present company, aid the shareholders generally. Their respected guest had refrained from any expression of opinion on the subject, with which, as far as regarded himself, he was well pleased, inasmuch as it freed him from the imputation of following his dictum ; and, although he did not pretend to know his opinions, yet he did not shrink from expressing hia firm belief, strengthened by recent observation, " that a vast body of ore does lio buried in the Dun Mountain " [cheers], which could only bo brought to light by labour and tho pick. He might be allowed to say a few words with respect to their highly talented guest, Dr. Hochstetter. lie (Mr. Wrey) had worked in the field with Dr. Buckland, Mr. Conybeare, and Sir H. De la Beche, and without flattery he could truly say he had never witnessed tho tact of perception of the character of a country and its bearing more than by Dr. Hochstetter, to whose talent as a geologist ho would most readily subscribe. He hailed his sojourn among them as a certain medium of great good to the Province, and he could truly say that, until his (Dr. Hochstetter'a) arrival, he had never seen the person for whose opinion he would give one farthing [cheers]. He could add much more on the subject, on which he felt so deeply, but fearing to tire their patience, he would now resume his seat, again thanking them for drinking the toast. Mr. Haast then said : He had been requested to propose the health of the ladies ; and, notwithstanding his imperfect knowledge of the English language, he would not evade the highly honourable duty, the more as the object was so agreeable, and he found by it the opportunity bo seldom offered to linn, to develop his personal ideas concerning the fair sex [laughter]. " Woman ! " What a sublime word. Every tiling liigh, beautifid, and noble that lived and existed in the world was with it in tho most intimate connection. From the oldest times till now the poets and prose writers, the philosophers and physiologists, had paid their admiration and acknowledgments to this the highest ornament of creation: praising " woman " in ardent verses or in glowing prose. Homer and Ovid, Dante and Ariosto, Shakespeare and Cervantes, Gothe and Lord Byron, and so many, many others had found the object of their immortal creations in the praise of " woman." He would ask them, what would Petrarch have been without liis Laura? He could give them many quotations, from the works of all centuries, to show the truth of his assertions ; he could toll them at length how the great Frauenlob, the German minstrel, had lived and died in singing tho praise of the ladies, and how they had mourned for him and earned him on their shoulders to his early grave. But it might be allowed to him to quote short parts from three of the noblest and most accomplished poets of the last and present century. Friederich yon Schiller saya :— "Eliret die Frauen, sic flechten und webeu Hhntnlische rosen in irdische leben : Flechten der liebe begliickender baud." M Honour to women, they twine and weave Celestial roses into terrestrial life : They weave the blessed tie of love." Berangcr, the French chansonnier, is much shorter, though not less true : —

" La femme esfc l'ange sans ailes." " Woman is an angel without wings." And Burns, the great Sootch poet, sings— "O ! what would be the life of man If it were not for the lasses, 0." •—[great laughter]. What had made the immortal glory of Raphael Saqzio P Not his historical pictures, nor liis cartoons. No ! Only his Madonnas. Every one — even tho most uneducated—understood, enjoyed, and admired these most accomplished creations, the liighest efforts of pictorial art. Yet they represented only a mother with her cliild. But was it not alao the most sitblimo image of the purest feminine nature, of the most disinterested love [cheers] ? A mother with her child 1 Could there be anything in the world more elevated for admiration P It was not necessary to speak longer ou this subject j every one would feel tho same like

t himself. On this occasion it might be allowed to Inn 3 to refute some of the gravest accusations against th li ladies with which the men came so readily forward i- Tho greatest accusation which had been made sine c the beginning of tho world had been against tliei [1 first mother, Eve, by asserting that they lost Paradisi c through her fault. It was true many hard days, ful n of caro and sorrow followed the first couple of huinai c beings after their expulsion from Paradise, and tliesi 0 trials had not yet left their children. But did thej 1, not believe with liim (Mr. Haast) that Adam, return 1 ing from his hard work to his self-built homo, \va* ; really happy, when his faithful wife dried the swent o ; his brow, when he looked in her loving eyes, when he c uto the food prepared by her own careful hands, sur- - roundeJ by his children [loud cheers] ? To be sure I Adam was liappy in spite of the lost Paradise, and 1 notwithstanding the great sorrows and liardships, 1 because he lived very long and there was not any 3 doubt that if he had been unhappy they would surely 1 have known it through old traditions. How many r Adams now existed, to whom their Eves had given , another apple. New Zealand, to eat? They had > lived perhaps in Europe, with a small income, a lazy, • vegetating life. But in arriving here another life had ; begun for this new Adam. He had to create a new f" home, and if he would succeed he had to make his ' way with perseverance and assiduity. With love and ; interest in his new creation, he found his house en- • large, his fields and gardens prosper, and he could i say with pride and consciousness " I have created all > this myself." He returned with the shadows of the [ evening to his new sweet home, and surrounded by [ his faithful wife and hia rosy children, he had, with . the whole strength of a newly-raiaed manliness, given ; his love to this self-chosen home, far, far from where ; his cradle had stood. Tins was also the reason that i the greatest part of the colonists, who had made their way here, and afterwards had gono to Europe, had again come back. England, or Europe, was only their fatherland, but New Zealand was their home [cheers]. Ho asked the ladies, would they become truly happy ? if so, they must come to New Zealand [great cheering]. Here their husbands really were their own; here there were no theatres or clubs, where the husband in Europe was more at home than in his own house. Here he stopped, and lived, and cared for his wife, and if he would go out he was punished enough because he could, as now in Nels>on, only go to the dogs — or monkeys [loud laughter]. It had been also asserted that tho ladies were curious ; but ho thought that the fact that they were more patient than the men was proof enough that this accusation was false. As the principal proof of this nccusation, they had cited Lot's wife ; but as this was partly a geological question, he would leave it to his learned friend, Dr. Hochstetter, to explain. But it was, nevertheless, his own feelings that the column was not salt, but sugar [great laughter]. Also, their loquacity was mentioned as one of the defects of the ladies. He (Mr. Haast) had only one question to ask them — " Is there more loquacity in the worid than exists in Parliaments and Councils ; more gossip than in the clubhouses ? What shows the best a great statesman ? Without doubt, taciturnity. Well, had they had in the world greater statesmen and rulers than Semiramis, Catherine of Russia, Elizabeth of England, nnd Maria Theresa of Austria ? And waa the gracious Queen of England not a model of a noble, and wise, and intelligent sovereign ? He thought that in one or the other province of New Zealand, they would go much better ahead, if they had instead of a' Mister Superintendent a MistrcssSuperintendent[great laughter] ; and who knows, if not in those provinceswhich go so well on, the Superintendent's lady was not the true Privy Councillor [roars of laughter] ? Also, in an intellectual point of view, the ladies were their superiors. He would ask every husband there, did he not strongly believe that he was the master of hi 3 house ? And in spite of it he would tell them all in their faces, they were not the master ; it was their wives, who seeming their subjects were yet their despotic rulers [laughter]. At last they reproached the ladies that they liked to be nicely dressed. What ungrateful creatures were we men ! The ladies did it only to please them. Were they dressed negligently and without taste, then they would call them slatterns. It was their own wish to see them dressed with neatness and elegance,and which, though admiring it in secret, they reproached aloud [cheers]. But would they not rather see flowers in a fine pot of porcelain than in an old fragment of earthenware ? Well, then, much more tho ladies, who were the real flowers of the whole creation. It was true thnt the hoops and crinoline had grown a little too much, though it might be that the greatest part of the ladies wore them, to keep their unfortunate admirers at a respectful distance. And for what had he tried to develop what was slumbering at the bottom of his heart? Only from a wish to please the ladies [cheers] ! Let them look above them, and there like the stars of the firmament they woidd see the pretty faces of the Nelson ladies chine and twinkle as they looked down upon them with their charming eyes, giving increased enjoyment to tho pleasure of the beautiful feast then before them [cheers]. Therefore ho would say, " Gentlemen, take your glasses ; I give you the health of the flowers of the creation, of our faithful companions in happy days, of our consolers and comforters in aad times — the health of the augels without wings— the health of the Ladies! " [loud and prolonged cheering.] By the Band. — "Here's a health to all good Lasses." Mr. Heppel replied that, after Mr. Haast's elaborate I speech in praise of the ladies, it was somewhat difficult jto return thanks on their behalf in an adequate manner. The Chairmau had told them that there were many sciences, having different objects, and requiring different methods of investigation. Amongst them, he would place the study of the ladies, which would well occupy a life time. Tin's study he had always regarded with interest, aud had, indeed, mastered some of the preliminary portions ; and, from this slight acquaintance with the subject, he felt certain that he might say on their behalf, that whenever we were engaged in any undertaking that was good or useful, they would help us with their sympathy and encouragement. Whether it was a time of war and disturbance, when men had to rise in defence of their country and homes, or whether, as at present, they were using their talents and time in advancing knowledge and benefiting mankind ; in either case, the ladies would say, We cannot fight, we do not know much about science, but we believe what you are doing is good and true, and we will give you energy, and hope, and strength for your work. And whilst the ladies thought thus, he would say that -we never should hope for success in our endeavours, if we began by leaving out of consideration one half of the world. Dr. Greenwood said: He was entrusted with a toast closely connected with the occasion that had brought them together that evening. It referred to the expedition of the Novara, and the cause of her visit to their part of the world [cheers]. They were all from their childhood familiar with teles of adventure and discovery, which might have something to do with that spirit of enterprise which had brought them as colonists to New Zealand. They had already heard the names of the great men who had discovered America, and first rounded the Cape of Storms 5 these were nob their countrymen ; but the first man who sailed round the world waß one, Sir Francis Drake ; ' and since his time Englishmen had left their names imperishably connected with discoveries in all parts of the world even to the pole ; and the strait which separated the two islands of New Zealand bore the name of Cook, one of the greatest among them. There were now indeed but few, if any, new lands to discover ; and England seemed inclined to slumber on her laurels ; but she should recollect that there still remained the immense, the inexhaustible Empire of Science, rich enough to yield an ample harvest to all comers. He knew that her scientific men could compete with any others ; that her Owens, Herschels, Airys, Favadays, Lyells, and Murchisons could meet on equal terms with the Aragos, Humboldts, Schonbeins, and Hochstetters of the continent [cheers] ; but they staid at home ; and he hoped that the Novara would return to Europe with such a rich collection of new facts and discoveries, as to stimulate them to undertake similar enterprises to that which had made them acquainted with such men as their present* guest, lie trusted that from the interesting results of his researches, Dr. Hoohstetter's first visit might not pvore to be the last [cheers] ; but that the founda-

n tiona laid by him would be not only those of their ie Institute, but of a love for scientific researches and *• pursuits; so that fact upon fact and truth upon truth :e might bo added to their knowledge of the land they ir lived in [cheers]. As their Chairman, bearing a name ie which three geuerations of learned men had made U famous in connection with the university of Edinn burgh, represented the higher branches of science, so ie he (Dr. Greenwood) might bo supposed to speak for v those who were learning its alphabet; and he hoped i- that, when their guest next paid them a visit, be s might find they possessed some little Hochstetters of >f their own [laughter and cheers]. It gave him great c pleasure to hear that the mission, of the Novara would - ensure her safety, and that she would be respected c even by those who were at war with the country 1 whose flag she bore. He would now give the health !> of her commander, with success to the Novara ex7 pedition and her noble freight [loud cheers]. Dr. Hochstettee replied: That he was quite sure that the commander of his Imperial Majesty's | frigate the Novara would have had much pleasure in being present with them this evening His intention ' bad been to visit Nelson, but the length of time occupied in the voyage hither from China had made 7 it necessary for him to leave New Zealand after visit- ? ing Auckland. It would, however, be with much pleasure that he should communicate the compliment j so warmly paid to him though absent [cheers]. Mr. C. Elliott said: The toast which had been ; placed in his hands he should give with great plea"T" T sure. It was about twenty years since the colonizal tion of New Zealand was begun in a systematic ! manner, but whether the success which had attended , that noble work had equalled the expectations of £ those who had beeu the instruments, he was unable , to say. It was true that the settlement of the colony I had not proceeded with the rapidity which had atr tended the settlement of portions of the United , States, and of other parts of America; but, neverthe- \ less, wherever a body of Englishmen had planted [ themselves in New Zealand, they had taken root and , prospered, notwithstanding the many serious checks encountered by the earlier bodies of settlers. After | twenty years' colonization New Zealand had an [ European population of about 60,000 souls, contriL buting a gross revenue of nearly £300,000. Now this in his estimation was by no means an nnfavour- | able result of the colonization of these islands, and looking forward into the future there was every reason . to believe that the progress of the colony for the next [ twenty years would far exceed the past. There wat '. one great element of success possessed by the colonists of New Zealand at the present day, which the earlier | settlers were totally deficient in, and that was expert- . ence. Many hard lessons had to be learnt, but there was one lesson, which, if learnt, was not everywhere practised —the readiest and most successful mode of settling tho country [hear]. Looking to the splendid tracts of country in the Upper Takaka, at theKaikora Peninsula, on the West Coast, and elsewhere in the province, adapted for settlement, but which were lying utterly waste, and likely to remain so for generations, under the existing system of disposing of the land, it did appear to him that some special inducements might be framed to plant the nuclei of population in such places; for, without population no country could become great. The present, however, was not the tirao to discuss such questions, but at a proper season, he should be glad to see attention directed to it [cheers]. It would be remembered that the Province of Nelson had received, in its early days, a considerable accession to its numbers in the persons of two bodies of immigrants from Germany, and he was glad to say that no body of people who had landed on our shores had prospered better than these immigrants, and this success they were justly entitled to, from their industry and prudence. At the time of their arrival, they were received by our own countrymen with every manifestation of satisfaction 5 and mutual good feeling followed, which was maintained until the Germans became so thoroughly Anglicised, that they ceased to be regarded as a distinct people. The success which has attended this first attempt at German emigration to New Zeaknd led him (Mr. Elliott) to rejoice that there was a probability it was soon to be renewed, on a larger scale. There was a gentleman then present in the room, who was on a mission to the colony from Germany, with a view to promote such an emigration. Mr. Haast had already spent some months in the Proviuce of Auckland; and, after making himself acquainted with the Province of Nelson, would, as he (Mr. Elliott) underetood, proceed to the remaining Provinces, so as to become thoroughly acquainted with the whole of them, and be able to report upon the field which each would olfer for German settlement. No doubt, that gentleman would find advantages in each, and it was his (Mr. Elliott's) hope that bodies of Germans would come out and settle in all of them [hear]. He would, therefore, propose the " Health of Mr. Haast, and the speedy settlement of the colony " [cheers]. By the band, " Cheer, bojs, cheer." Mr. Haast replied: That ho felt great gratification at the kindly feeling expressed towards himself in connection with the German settlers. He said that in Auckland there were not many Germans, but of those that were there, each, he thought, was doing very well. The mission confided to Mm had proved a very gratifying one, for from the descriptions he should be enabled to give of the New Zealand colonies he had already visited, he felt assured that his countrymen at home would be induced to form considerable parties for the purpose of settling here, and casting their lot among those hardy settlers who had already achieved so much in winning the fertile valleys and plains from the rugged state of nature in which they had been only a few years since [cheers]. He again expressed his acknowledgment for the 1 hearty manner in which his health had been drunk, and before resuming Ids seat proposed " The German settlers." Mr. Fedoe Kellinq replied: That he had always oxperienced the greatest kinduess and assistance from. Englishmen, aud that fifteen years ago, when he first came to Nelson he could not speak one word of English ; that had caused him much annoyance; but yet, he had always felt that he was experiencing kindness though he did not understand the language of his friends [cheers]. But now that he understood English, he felt that Germans and Englishmen were of one family. He was proud to meet there that evening the distinguished gentlemen whom they had assembled to honour. From one, he looked for the information wliich would develop their mineral wealth; while, from the information of the other gentleman he hoped a tide of German emigration would set in, which would yet make New Zealand a rich gem of the Southern Ocean [cheers]. Local Song —" Nelson Again." Mr. J. R. Hats then proposed the health of the Chairman, and said that before they separated he thought they were bound to acknowledge tho very able manner in winch Dr. Monro had presided over them [cheers]. Dr. Monro replied, and the meeting separated at about midnight.