ARRIVAL OF THE PHŒBE FROM THE NORTH.

Evening Star, Volume III, Issue 782, 7 November 1865, Page 2

ARRIVAL OF THE PHŒBE FROM THE NORTH.

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

By tlie Plioebe we have late papers from the Northern Provinces and the West Coast.

Mr Fitzgerald addressed his constituents at Christchurch on the 2nd. He defended the policy of the late Ministry, and the meeting passed a resolution pledging its support at the general election. Orders have been issued for staying the de-' parture of any more troops.

A serious and fatal boat accident occurred at Wellington on the 3rd instant. A waterman's boat, taking off passengers from the Phoebe, filled and went down. Eight persons were rescued, namely—Mr Kynnersley, Warden of the Marlborough Gold Fields ; Mr Houghton, Post Qfhce Department, Havelock, Marlborough ; Mr Beetham, of Christchurch ; Mr Cooper, Christchurch ; Mr L. L. Barnett, Dunedin ; Captain Carr, Mr Carr, and another whose name we did not learn. The ninth, we regret to say, is missing, and believed to be Captain Sleigh, of the Waikato Militia, whose wife and child fortunately remained on board the Phoebe; a pocket book containing money and papers belonging to Captain Sleigh, was washed on to the beach ; but up to the present the body has not bedn recovered.

At Kaipo'i a serious flood has occurred, and many families have been compelled to iiy from their dwellings. Great damage has been done to the crops, and the streets of the town were three feet deep in water. We take the following items from the Hokitika papers, to hand by the Phcebe : The Bruce had a remarkably narrow escape from shipwreck when crossing the bar yesterday. She was heavily laden with passengers and cargo, which she had shipped from the Claud Hamilton, and the bar having considerably silted up through the strong S. W. winds we have been favored with lately, there was hardly water enough even for her. The consequence was, she took the ground, and for some few minutes remained hard and fast. Full speed, however, was kept up, and we were glad to see this smart little steamer drag herself over the bar and get into deep water. — West Coast Times, Oct. 28. The store of Messrs Morrison, Law and Co. has been robbed of £2OO in gold and notes. Bruce Bay is pronounced a " duffer " by the local journal. The correspondent of the Canterbury Press writes as '■-' follows :—The Totar.a field attracts a great number of cur population—the auriferous ground being 'of vast extent. Already some 3500 men «%e located there, most of them doing well. Some claims of extraordinary richness have been opened;" and I hear of one party making £7O per day. The methods of obtaining the gold here are similar to'thoseof the Kanieri, paddocking and shafts varying, from thirty to fifty feet in depth. A considerable township has sprung up, and report speaks of the Totara as the most '' money-spending " - field of all , which, if a fact, augurs very favorably for the miners' success. The entire sea beach of Hokitika has been proved auriferous by a gentleman of .considerable experience in gold mining in the Brazils, who has, by a peculiar method, in which galvanic action bears an important part, succeeded in extracting gold in payable quantities from the sand. This, of course, of the purest possible description. The works are as yet in embryo, but I hear it is his intention, so soon as the apparatus is perfected, to commence operations on a far more extended scale.

Accounts from the Grey are as encouraging as ever, and the richness and permanency of the field established beyond question. I paid a visit to the township last week, and ■was completely bewildered at the rapid progress it had made. It is astonishing what wonders the auri sacra fames will effect. Where, four months ago, I recollect to have seen but one building, stands now a town of large proportions, rivalling, for the size and regularity of its business establishments, Hokitika itself. The Maori land, on which the township is chiefly erected, has all been leased to good advantage, and the " rentroll " of one of these quondam savages would challenge comparison with that of many of your largest landed proprietors. Commercial operations in this district have met with almost universal success. The market now is well supplied from Nelson, Otago, and other provinces.