The Press. MONDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1867.

Press, Volume XII, Issue 1582, 2 December 1867, Page 2

The Press. MONDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1867.

The Native news which, after a long interval of silence, we have during the last week received from the North, is of the most satisfactory character. It is some time now since any actual hostilities occurred, but though fighting had ceased the war had left behind it an uneasy feeling among many of the Native tribes that it might break out again at any moment, and that the peace which had succeeded to it—or rather the suspension of active operations ; for the war had been ; allowed to die away by common consent rather than formally concluded — was due, less to the good intentions of the Colonial Government, than to the fact that the colony had grown weary of the struggle. The Maoris remained in a state of sullen neutrality; knowing themselves to be beaten, unwilling to resume the offensive, but with little confidence that an excuse would not shortly be found for a further attack being made upon them. Yet they did not want to recommence fighting, unless in selfdefence. This was their answer to the emissaries from the Hau-haus of the East Coast, who sought their assistance early in the present year during the troubles in that most disturbed part of the island respecting the survey of the confiscated land. They refused to take up arms again unless they were attacked first * then they were ready to fight to the last. This reply showed that their apprehensions were far from being removed. It was something, however, to have gained even that much; something that even the whole island, with the exception of a few outlying stations,, ; at Opotiki and elsewhere, the Natives had made up their minds to await the course of events, and were prepared to follow the lead of the colonists whether for peace or for war. Time, the great vanquisher of difficulties, was thus made our ally. Ever since then the restoration of friendly relations has been quietly but continually going on. The work of settlement has been carried onward; large tracts of land have been bought or leaßed by CQlonists from the Natives; the two races have once more been brought into familiar contact, and once more the civilization and law of the European have been made an influence over and an object of the desire of the Maori. Most striking of all was the measure passed by the General Assembly admitting representatives of the Maoris into the Colonial Parliament. This was an open declaration on behalf of the whole body of New Zealand colonists that the past should be buried in oblivion—a convincing proof of the sincerity of their desire that the two races ehould form part of a united people, with equal laws and equal rights, and that no privilege extended to the one should be withheld from the other. The result apparently is that the confidence of the Natives has been entirely regained. One of the last; mails from the North brought word that Matutaera and his principal

advisers have resolved on making peace, and throwing open the interior of Waikato, from which Europeans have been excluded. To-day we publish a telegram from Wellington, stating that the Uriweras, the most warlike tribe on the East Coast, have sent to Napier proposing peace, which will secure the safety ot the settlements on that side of the sland, and quoting a remark made by the New Zealand Herald, that " undisurbed occupation by Europeans of the nterior may now be considered accom-

plished." No doubt the nevrs of the approaching visit from his Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh has had a great deal to do with this. The Maori chiefs, accustomed to pay respect to rank aud genealogy, would naturally be much impressed by the prospect of receiving so distinguished a visitor ; while his presence would supply an excellent opportunity for coming in without compromising their poeition among their own followers. Their personal dignity, which they might conceive impaired by yielding to the Governor or his Ministers, could suffer no derogation from submission to the son of their Queen. If this feeling exists, as is very probable, we hope the hint will be acted on, and that arrangements will be made while the Prince is in the North Island for holdiug a large gathering of Native chiefs to welcome and do him homage. A meeting of the kind was talked of, but we fear it has been broken off by the inopportune change of Governors and the consequent retirement of Sir George Grey. It may not, however, be too late to resume the interrupted plan, and we certainly hope that steps will be taken to carry it into effect., Eightly used the occasion might be turned to valuable account, and be made the means of securing on a lasting basis the peace which seems at length to have been happily established.

' Cbickbt.- —A meeting of the Tnterprovineial Match Committee will be held this afternoon, at five o'clock, at the Clarendon hotel.

Supbeme Cot/bt.—The criminal sittings of the Supreme Court will be held in the old Town Hall this morning, commencing at eleven a.m.

A.O.F.—A meeting of the members of the Court Star of Canterbury Lodge, for the nomination of officers, will be held this evening at eeven o'clock.

Births and Deaths. —The number of births registered in the Ohristchurch district for the month of November last was as follows :—Males, 43 ; females, 33 ; total, 76; and the number of deaths during the same period was 6.

Kangioba Voltjktebbs.—On Friday last this company was inspected by Adjutant Rookes. The officers present were Captain FTebden, Lieutenant Dudding, and Ensign Merton. The men passed through the battalion drill very much to the satisfaction of the inspecting officer. The attendance of rank ar.d file was twenty-seven, and the band, under Bandmaster Merton, musiered very ctrongly.

Magistebtal. — At the Resident Miigistrate'e Court, on- Saturday, before C O. Bowen, E«q., Thomas Jftques was brought up on reinandj charged wilh assault, witli intent The depositions were read over to the prisoner, who made a lame statement in denial of thp charge. Hβ was committed to take his trial at the nexi session of the Supreme Court.

Kaiapoi Rivbb Resebves.—We are pleased to notice the rapid improvements made on these reserves', so far as they have been let. They will in time become very valuable property to ithe municipality. Messrs Belcher and Fairweather have in their portion already done a good deal towards reclaiming the section taken up by them, on which we hear a large scoring shed, sixty feet by thirty-five feet, is to be built shortly.

The Cottnty op Wbstlaito.—The " Grey River Argus" says—"We have reason to believe that the appointment of Mr Sale, as Chairman of the Council of the County of Weßtland;and Delegate of the Governor, is a certainty,jf not already conferred. The Hon. John Hall is expected in Westland daily to complete the arrangements for initiating the new local government. We uuderatnnd that the office now filled by Mr Bonar will be dispensed with, and that the present Goldfields Secretary ;will resign office at the end of the yerfr."

Kaiapoi Institute.—The monthly committee meeting in connection with this institute took place on Friday evening last; the President in the" chair. The Treasurer reported' that the balance in hand was £42 18s 6d, against which there were some outstanding acoounts, and a certain sum was to be reserved to pay for a consignment of books expected from England. A letter was read from Mr Merton, offering to give a concert in connection with the Rangiora singing classes in aid of the institute on Friday next, which was accepted ; and after acknowledging Mr .Merton's kindness, arrangements were madV for the concert to be held After the transaction qf eqme routine business the meeting adjourned.

An ISxtka ordinary MATdH. —In a cricket match between the Gentlemen: of/Eent and the Gentlemen of Sussex, played on the 30th August last, the former made no lees than m ,,,one in which several ver**nfga -ngQ.TW~wem- Obtained Mr W. W. Eodgem made 50;« Mk> Ml <A/ Troughton, 130; Mr H. A. Eichardeon, 111 ; and Mr< W; S. Norton, 44 (not out). The extras amounted to the unprecedented Hum ber of 102, in which there were 68 byes and 22 wides. There were also scores of 23 and 26, but they appear small in comparison. The other side were put out for 127 and 29, including extras. .

PBOsKsbrciiG nr Stewart's Isiand.—The accounts #f the discovery of gold at Stewart's Island, recently published in the Southland papers, have Jled to the formation of a prospecting party,, who are about to start from Invercargill. The".News" says:—-" The cutter Pilot, owned by Sir Wild, Dee street, is being prepared for a prospecting party to take a «ruise round the island. We understand that %he members of the company are experienced miner*, determined to find gold, or other , minerals, if such exist. A good'stock of provisions, and all the appliances necessary sor giving the ground ajjopplete, overhauling have been provided. The , ' adventurers are sanguine 6f having their labours crowned with success-- The craft will leave on its crufeein a few days." /^* :

' Fieb.—About nine o'clock last evening the whole town was again disturbed, by the ringing, of the Council's bell, the old fire bell, and the bell at St. Michael's Church, At the station our reporter was informed that the fire was in liichfieM street, but its whereabouts was not known. There was a rush at once made down Colombo street, which—owing to its being Sunday night—was thronged with pedestrians. Arriving at the City hotel the throng broke into two, some eaying that the fire was at the eastern end, and others that it

was at the western end of the street. Having reached the street, however, no fire could be discovered. It appears that a small building, situated at the extreme western portion of the street, hnii been observed by the neighbours to be almost, full of sm>ke,"and on the door being burst open a lighted r.ii* was found. The rat* was at once put out. Ion:* before the absnn could have been given at the station, and the first bell rung. Two single men were living in the hut, which wis composed of mud with timber uprights. The hand-engine was quickly brought out, but was of course not required. The bell was nor rung in the manner decided on by Captain Wilson, and the consequence was the usual confusion of ideas about- where the fire existed.

TiiEtTBB Royal.—On Saturday the long promised play of " East Lynne " wii3 pro-.lu.-ed .it the" theatre. The nor.il has, we

should suppose, been read by almost every playgoer, and it i< therefore unnecessary to diMuil the plot. The present dram* is the w-irk of Miss Bowrinsj. It is alwiys vecy difficult properly to adapt a pay from a novel so ne to preserve whit m;iy be called the rotillv teltinsf incidents without at. the same time throwing most of fhn minor parts in «he shade. "Aurora Floyd," '• Lady Audley'e Secret," and several novels have been dramatised, but no one from seeing the pieces placed upon the stage could imagine the real power of the book. Generally epeaking the minutiae of the piece are entirely neglected to make room for the sensational scenes, which are drawn out to an undue length. This fault Miss Bowring has avoided in her adaptation, in which she seems to j have preserved many of the chief features of the subordinate characters, all of which are necessary, and at the same time to have stopped short ofthat point at which highly sensational acting becomes a farce. The death-bed scenes of the child and mother, which admit of coloring to any extent, are not made too much of, but the language is natural and affecting, as shown on Saturday evening by several of the audience whose feelings were at all susceptible. We have witnessed many performunceaatthe theatre which have been considered highly sensational, but have never seen any which seemed to go so thoroughly home to the hearts of the people. The play has been divided by Miss Bowring into five epochs, each of which constitutes an act. The first period is that in which Carlyle marries the Lady Isabel, and the murder by Thome, which expels Richard Hare from home, is discovered ; the second act is that in which the jealousy of Lady Isabel is portrayed, and she is induced to leave her husband with Levison ; in the next, the repentant woman, after having been divorced, returns to find her former husband married to her supposed rival, Barbara Hare; the next act is that in which the Lady Isabel is engaged to attend as governess to her own children, and includes the deathbed scene of the boy, in which her disguise is found out; and the last is the act in which she becomes reconciled to her husband The principal part is of course that of Lady Isabel, and we scarcely know in which character Miss Bowring is most admirable in her acting. At the first she is the proud daughter of the Lord Mount Severn, who consents to marry the upright, village attorney, Mr Carlyle. In the next the jealous wife, led away by the artful wiles of the seducer Levison. The third act shows repentance and a desire for reformation, and in the fourth and fifth the desire is carried out, the latter act winding up with the death of Lady Isabel and the detection of Levison as the murderer. In all of these parts Miss Bowring showed herself last evening a genuine actress, and the manner in which she carried the house with her speaks more for her delineation of the part than anything we could write. The next character in importance is that of Archibald Carlyle, played by Mr Steele. It is one that requires that a thorough gentleman should be portrayed. Mr Steele did this. Barbara Hare, the lady of whom the Lady Isabel is jealous, is a part which becomes Miss Shepparde well, and one glance a , ; Barbara Eare is sufficient to account for the feeling of jealousy entertained towards her by the Lady Isabel. Mr* B N. Jones acted the part of the old maid, Cornelia Carlyle, very effectively, and received a call. The other parts, with the exception of Richard Hare, which was not taken by the person eet down in the bill, were very fairly played. The piece will be this evening.

A ftEW SEtTLEMENT IN OTAGO.—The Government of Otagoare making great efforts to establish a new settlement on the West Coast of that province. An expedition has been organized for the purpose of exploring tiie country. The " Daily Times," referring to this as virtually a prospecting venture, enys : —" It ia true that the prospecting is not to be for gold only. It is true that, in at 1 *ngth paying attention to this part of the country, the Government is only fulfilling, somewhat tardily, the duty of ownership which iijtaches to ifc. But it is often a greater'effort to perform that which has been much postponed than to boldly dash into it at the first suggestion. There have been, from time to time, sundry explorations of the West Coast which have dove this much—dissipated the old idea that the western part of Otago was a hopelessly-inaccessible inhospitable waste. Dγ Hector, Mr M'Kerrow, Mr Caples, Mr Alabaetar, Mr Pyke, and others have all reported otherwise. Their accounts have varied in promise ; but from the least, aa from the most favourable, there was to be gleaned the assurance that the country between the lakes and the ocean was not meant to be always unsettled. From some accounts there was promise of coal, gold, and copper, and other minerals ; from others there was to be gathered that the country was not a sterile, rugged mountain waste, but that tracts of good land were to be found. Yet all this excited only a nine days' wonder ; no enterprise worthy the name has been displayed in verifying the reports and taking of them. The only exception, perhaps, is that lately a few persons have gone to .considerable expense in searching for coal at a particular part of the coast. For all practical purposes the land still continues unknown. The narrow atrip of country remains a mystery, but we are glad to think it il to be solved. We tike it, the expedition now proposed is meant for something more than mere exploration. It is designed as the forerunner of the establishment of one or more settlements on the coast, to be connected with the rest -of the province by tracks yet to be opened?op/> If such is really the intention, we are sanguine ienougli to expect vast gopd will arise from it to the |mmnce. There is no one really interes%jd^ : :M Otago who can afford to look without interest on the departure of the expedition, and to follow it without hopes of its proving the pioneer of new fields of enterprise." . '■■■';('■'

The Beach at Hokitzka.—Great alarm appears to have been' caused by the washing away of a,considerable portion of the beach at Hokitika, by which the residents have sustained much damage. The " West Coast Times," of the 27th ult, states that the sea has made further havoc with the buildings at the rear of Revell street. The surf is described as being at times " really awful, coming as it did with a perpendicular face of from fifteen to twenty feet. One monstrous roller washed into Moffrttt's righfc6f-way and'absolutely topped the houses on either side." One or two were burst Ih'bytßTe'slioc'k, "and ,tbe same wave nearly carried away the office of the " Evening Star." Measures were at once taken by the proprietors to guard it from another assault by digging a deep trench and laving down a short line of fascinee. ' When the tide had sufficiently receded, strengthening and protecting the. beach was proceeded With 1 by the Government, fully one hundred men being put on to lay down another line of fascines outside, and parallel with the Bret. The work was hurried forward, but was hardly finished 1 when the tide reached it. It proved an immense success, and much do we regret that similar vigorous efforts were not taken a few weeks ago to preserve the beach, as many thousand pounds worth of property would in that ease have been saved. Of the scores of buildings that once thronged the beach between the two right of waye not one. Ie left standing, and the back premiaea of

the principal hotels that have frontages to Revel street are nearly destroyed. The .lama™ already done is roughly estimated' :t t £15,000. The same p-uior, of the 2Dth ult, thus describes tho stito of tho bnauh at that time when it was rapidly nviking up :—" Tho first of thti lliriMi groins contracted for by Mr Hurst win placed on tho beach oppMto Mount's right-of-w iy yesterday evening, without that dilH-ulty which -ittonded the Living of the j»roin further north, as w« urn glad to say the beach his consider iblv made up, and nt low water in free from surf It* re-construction ha? fairly commenced, and is proceeding »o mpUly that tho first groin luid down sit the. buck of tho " Evening Star" office is hi.Men from view for, we may add, the first time. The height of the bench has increased between two and three feet, and the bench is iil.»o extending seawards, and calculating by this rate of increase it should regain its oriuiiml dimensions in the courao of v month, irrespective of weather, for the heavy sea of yestonliiv was oonstrucUre rather than destructive in its effects. Wβ hulieve the extreme danger point is pns*el, and that when the protective works are completed the resistance olTered to the surf will prove effectual. We may congratulate the Government upon the sue'eess which, under the active superintendence of the District Engineer and hie assistants, has attended their efforts to preserve Revell street, and we moreover incline to the belief that the difficult problem of beach protection has been satisfactorily eolved."

THE QffKENSLAND GOU>FIELD3. —Respecting these diggings the " Australasian " says : — At length we have something official about the new Queensland goldtield on the Mary river, known as Gympie creek. Mr W M. Davidson, the Queensland gold commissioner who is understood to be no mean adept in geology, informs us that the country being worked consists of a low greenstone ridge, the surface of which is strewn with loose ftones and the top covered witli quartz, pebbles, and boulders containing particles of gold. The ridge is intersected with a number of small shallow rocky water-channels, snd it is in these small channels that the bulk of the gold baa been obtained hitherto, the miners having confined their operations simply to " gully-raking," by which is understood laying bare the bed rock, picking out. the courser pieces of gold found in the debris occupying the crevices, and stacking the debris and surface earth on one eide for puddling and cradling as soon as a sufficiency of water can be obtained for the purpose. From one of these small water channels, during the preceding week, three men have obtained 180ozs. of coarse gold, including a nugget of four pounds weight. A little rain had fallen, enabling the miners to wash some of their stacked-up staff, and tho yield was, in some cases, as high as six ounces to the load. Of course, as on all goldfields, there are many unlucky ones who get nothing. The Queensland papers have as a rule shown extreme caution in praising up their new goldfield, having, no doubt, a very vivid remembrance of Canoona aid other later failures in permanency of yield."