COLONIAL NEWS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume II, Issue 84, 14 August 1852, Page 8

COLONIAL NEWS.

'V ' CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. „|We have intelligence to the end of May. l^fothing of any particular moment had recently 3?" rred > tnouK n tlie frontier was the scene of federal petty Encounters, and the enemy far '' '/livci being subdued. USA most tragical act was perpetrated by a .^r and of Hottentot and Kaffir banditti upon a &<.. i

family of English settlers of the name of Clayton, living near the mouth of the Fish River. It appears that two sons, accompanied by a man of the name of Elliot and a Kaffir servant, went a short distance from the house to cut wood, when they espied a number of marauders whom thy mistook for friendly Kaffirs. The Kaffir servant made his escape by hiding himself; but the three unfortunate Englishmen were surrounded and shot down without the least chance of resistance. The murderers then proceeded to the house, where another son lay sick, attended by two sisters and their aged father. The son, hearing a noise, escaped by jumping out of the back window, followed by his sister. The ruffians ransacked the house, and contented themselves with insulting the inmates, and taking possession of whatever pleased them. They then proceeded to sweep off the horses and cattle.— Cape Monitor, May 29th.. VICTORIA. We have Melbourne papers to the 21st of July, they contain but little news, nine-tenths of their columns being devoted to advertisements. Great numbers are arriving: for the fortnight ending 17th July, 728 persons arrived in the colony, but the large number of 459 had left. The Government escort brought down the last week 38,033 oz., while eleven hundred and twelve thousand, four hundred and two ounces of gold had been shipped for London, and other Ports, being 46 tons, 7 cwt., 2 ozs.; which, at 60s. per oz., amounts to £3,337,206. Exchange on London on drafts against Gold, 10 per cent, discount by the Bank of Australia, and 12 per cent, by the Bank of New South Wales. Freight of Gold delivered at the Bullion Office, London, 4)-d. per ounce. Flour is quoted at £25, and seconds £23 per ton ; wheat 7s. to Bs. per bushel. Great fluctuations had taken place in the prices of gold, puzzling the most acute mercantile men. The latest quotation at Melbourne was 625. 3d. An abstract of the Revenue for the quarter ending 30th June is published in the Government Gazette, which presents a striking contrast to the corresponding quarter of last year. The increase is 231 percent.; the difference between £285,036. Bs. 2d.. and £123,868. 13s. 3d. £81,500 was realized from gold licenses. The Argus says, that with 60,000 to 70,000 diggers professing to pay SOs. per month each, the amount should be £270,000 at least, and requests some explanation from the Government. A correspondent of the Argus writes from Mount Alexander under date, July 10th:—The great fall in the price of gold from £3 to £2 155.. has created a general sensation among the gold finders, at least those who are compelled to turn the same into cash for the purchase of goods, &c. The next escort from Bendigo will bring an enormous quantity of gold to town. New Diggings, lam informed, have been discovered fifty miles from Bencligo, in the direction of the Snowy Mountains. The next grant discovery I apprehend will be at the Jim Crow Ranges, where I know it exists, having seen specimens of gold in quartz, with sulphur, as far back as last August. Indeed, it is hard to say where gold will not be found in all the Stringy Bark Ranges, of a similar character to those of Bendigo and Ballarat. By the bye, the proper aboriginal manner of pronouncing this word is Ballar-rat, and as we have been indebted to this unfortunate race of beings for the word, I see no reason why it should not be properly spoken. It may perhaps be out of place here, but I would remind those messengers of peace and good will to all men, the missionaries, that now is the proper time for them to make a stand for the furthering the interests both morally and physically of that long neglected race of men to whom we are indebted for the country, which appears to be destined to eclipse every other of Her Majesty's Austral-Asiatic Colonies. Let them, in a word, remind His Excellency, and those who have been appointed to rule the destinies of both their black and white brethren, that in the words of Corporal Trim : —" A negro has a soul ant please your honour," and request that a sum be set apart from the enormous public fund, to be expended for the furtherance of this very desirable object. In all sincerity, Ido think that old King Benbow, as the representative of the tribes around Melbourne, is at least fairly entitled to a hat and feathers. But a word to the wise, &c. We have seen several Letters from Melbourne ; all speak of the abundance of gold,

and the great prevalence of crime. We extract the following :— " With regard to the accounts of gold and crime they are not at all overdrawn, the gold coming down from tlie Bencligo diggings-in such quantities that it caused a decline in one day of Is. 9d. per ounce. There are now three escorts ; one Government, the others private, and they are obliged to leave some behind every week. Last week 50,000 ounces came down, leaving. 80,000 ounces at the Commissioners' tent. Crime, I am sorry to say, is very abundant, and a good deal of pistol work is going on. Business of all kinds is very brisk, but as for servants, the name is nearly obsolete: ask any one if he wants work, he tells you he wants a man himself, and has no objection to hire you; another says he has more money than you, and lie wants no billet. Such is life. Men who to my knowledge, six months ago, never had 20Z. in their lives, are now worth 1,500/. to 2,000 Z.; but as the saying is "it is an ill wind that blows nobody good"—it gets pretty well divided in a short time, and no doubt some of it falls into safer hands." We hear that several Indian officers are about coming to Canterbury to settle, not being at. all charmed with the state of affairs in Tasmania. One, a Mr. Patterson, has gone to Sydney to bring down sheep. NEW SOUTH WALES. We gather from the Melbourne papers that the Legislative Council was sitting at Sydney, on the 10th day of July last. Flour was very firm at £23 per ton; Wheat Bs. to Bs. 9d. per bushel. Great floods, accompanied with extensive loss of life and property, have taken place. At the Murrumbudgee upwards of 100 lives were lost, and the settlers have lost all their houses and crops. Further disasters are anticipated, as the floods which have occasioned the disasters, prevent the news from reaching Sydney. The price of Gold has fallen 3s. per ounce, and is expected to go lower, owing to there being a larger supply than is wanted for remittances.