NEW CALEDONIA.

Press, Volume XXI, Issue 2381, 22 March 1873, Page 3

NEW CALEDONIA.

We (" Auckland Herald ") have received files of the "Moniteur de la Nouvelle Cal'edonie " up to the 15th February, from which we translate the following items :—

Frdm the Ist January to the end of that month, writes a correspondent at Cauala, no more than four days have ever been passable as regards the weather. On the night of the 18th,°lasting to the 19th, the weather was particularly bad, and on the morning of the latter day a large number of places adjacent to the establishment at Cauala were inundated. Durijg the following night the wind which had blown from the S.E. passed to the N.W., and from gales which had blown with great force with but Bhort intermissions, there was a" change to a complete calm, which bated for some time. Several cocoanut trees were uprooted, but no very serious devastation had been recorded.—The usual results of heavy rai_B were experienced at Bourailmore, especially the downfall from the 16th to the 19tb, which resulted in inundating the rivers J-but by the 21st they had returned within their channels.—The " Moniteur " states that the sailing frigate, the Sibylle, which sailed from Toulon on the sth of October, had anchored in the harbor of Noumea on the sth of February, after a voyage of 123 days, of which five were spent at Goree.— The transport ship Var, which set out on thelOthof October with the fourth convoy ■..-- of exiles (deportes), anchored in the harbor on the 9th instant, at two o'clock in the afternoon. The Var completed the voyage in J2l days, but this is inclusive of stoppages at Dakar and St. Catherine. She has brought 104 civil and military passengers, and 576 exiles. This convoy brings the total -of exiles who have arrived in the colony to 2078. Of this number 546 belong to the class who are to be incarcerated within the precincts of a fortress, while 1562 have been condemned to simple exile. —A late number of the " Moniteur " reports the arrival of the Depeche, with 524 ounces of gold, from the goldmines of Diabot. This quantity of gold had been obtained from 72 tons of quartz, showing a yield of a little more than 7 ounces to the ton.—Early In November four colonists discovered a copper mine, of which a large block was brought to Noumea. Some specimens have yielded as little as 33 per cent., while others l,go as high as 65 per cent.. The situation of the mine is said to be particularly fovourable. Water and the means of conveyance are within an available distance. A search party has been formed, with M. Doucin as director. The new discovery has inspired much confidence.