NELSON.

Lyttelton Times, Volume III, Issue 111, 19 February 1853, Page 6

NELSON.

By the " Mary" we have files of the Examiner to the oth instant. Harvest had commenced, and such luxuriant crops had never been witnessed, and the turnip and potatoe crops hold forth the promise of equal abundance. The weather, as here, has been very unsettled, and unless it mended some damage Avould be sustained by the crops before they are secured. The Examiner says, we are not at all certain that a further experience of our climate may not prove that the weather of the last twenty-four months is as much to be expected as' the drier seasons preceding them. A. young man named McMurdo, apprehended in the Wairau, on a warrant from the* Resident Magistrate of Lyttelton, for stealing a watch, made his escape from the jail by picking the locks; he was subsequently recaptured near the Pelorus, and has been, sent down in the "Mary." No intelligence had been received at Nelson from Wellington later than our report to the 15th January: we are still, therefore, in the dark as to what is transpiring at the seat of Government with respect to bringing the new Constitution into play. The Examiner mentions a rumour in circulation to the effect that the Coal field at Pakavaii has turned out a blank. A report, however, from the gentleman employed by the company to inspect the field, was to be delivered to the Directors which would clear the matter up. Gold is said to have been discovered, and- a sample sent to his Honor the Superintendent, but no reliance seems to be placed in the story. Shocking Accidext.—lt is our melancholy duty to record a fatal accident which has occurred at Massacre Bay. It appears that on the Bth Jan., Mr. H. EUot, a gentleman well known to most of our fellow-settlers, took his gun and went out for the purpose of pigeon shooting. As he did not return that evening or the following morning, his wife became alarmed, and expressed her fears to a neighbour, Mr. J. Novell, who, in company with Mr. Packard, immediately started out to look for the missing gentleman, but returned in the evening • without finding him. The search was continued on tlie two following days, in company with some Maones who had been engaged to assist, and at noon on the 11th one°oi the party returned with the tidings that the dead body of Mr. Eliot had been found about two miles away from his house. It would seem that the deceased was climbing a rock, and hud left his gun resting against the base of the rock, •and that while in the act of reaching down -to hit the gun after him, it exploded, the contents' shattering the brain, and causing instaut death — Examiner. VICTORIA. , We (Nelson Examiner) have received advices from Victoria, via Sydney, to the cud of Dec. We copy the following extracts from the cuuvspoudt'Ut of the Empire: —

Mount Ax-exasder. —From the number of persons migrating here from day to day, it is impossible to form a correct estimate of the yield of the several claims that are at present worked, but from what I can learn few are earning anything like reasonable wages. The principal scene of action, at the time I write, is at Fryer's Creek, about four miles from the Commissioners' head quarters: there are some thousands at work at this place—the Murdering Flat, and the Spring Flat and Gully, adjoining. About a week ago only a few holes were sunk at Shepherd's Flat, and now there are upwards of three thousand. Several persons have got down, but nothing of an extraordinary kind of good luck has attended the operations. At the present time there is not much gold obtained, and there is a reduction in the amount sent by the escorts weekly of about 9000 ounces. The diggers are of a very roving disposition : you can one week see thousands- in a certain locality, the next not a soul : the numbers that work together soon turn up the ground, and in every instance the locality gets a fair trial. It is an utter impossibility that gold can escape discovery, if at all in the place. The water is a great impediment to many, and the claims cannot be worked for a month yet. Provisions have fallen very much in price: carriage to this place is reduced to £7 a ton : flour is selling at £5 per bag: sugar, 6d. per lb.: potatoes, 6d.: tea, 2s. 6d.: coffee, 2s. 6d.: and the 21b loaf at Is. 6d. Hawkers are allowed to go about the diggings, which causes the reduction to be so great: and many are well fleeced by them, the j flour being invariably bad—the top of the bag containing good flour and the remainder damaged. A number of persons are vacating this place for Sydney diggings, and unless some place turns up soon, Victoria colony will be lessened much in its fame as regards the gold fields. Sly grog selling prevails to a very great extent—and the lemonade shops are the principal sellers— parties calling for the latter beverage ask for a " stick" in it, for which they pay the moderate charge of two shillings. Numbers of seizures take place, and the defendants are mulct pretty heavily—as many as forty-five were fined for this offence last week, in sums varying from £50 to £100. The fine is readily paid, and the offender commences selling again immediately to bring back the fine—one of those parties I have heard say, could well afford it, they had been selling for the last six months, and never were fined before/ This is the principal sort of work the police are at from week to week, and any other want of the diggers remains very much unheeded. The weather is fine, and has been so for some weeks past —with the exceptions of a few thunder showers, very little rain has fallen for the last five weeks. Dkeadfui, Muhdees at the Ovens.—This evening I received -intelligence through a returned digger, who left the Ovens on the 15th December that a number of barbarous murders had been committed in that locality, by a party of armed men, probably consisting of some of those diabolic wretches'that have long been the terror-of the traveller in the Black Forest. The information conveyed by my informant is very scanty, but I hope to hear direct from the diggings iv a day or two, when I will inform you further. The first murder was committed on Mr. Marcus, who formerly kept a public house in Sydney. He was met on the road by the party I have alluded to, who fancying one of the hovses in Mr. M.'s team, made a compulsory ; exchange, leaving in place of it a saddle horse, i Soon after they left, Marcus got upon the exchange horse, and rode after the scoundrels. On coming up to them, he remonstrated and threatened to have them apprehended. This exasperated them so much that they took him into the bush, and tying him to a tree, shot him ! One of the bullets entered the unfortunate man's forehead, between the eyes. Information was conveyed to the Commissioner, Mr. Clow, who proceeded immediately to the spot, and while in pursuit of the murderers, he fell in with the body of Mr. James Sinclair, late of this town (Goulburn). The unfortunate gentleman had been on his way from the diggings to Albury, with a considerable sum of money (it is said £300 in sovereigns). He was met by the bushrangers, and tied up to a tree and shot through the head. The bodies of Mr. Marcus and Mr. Sinclair were about 8 miles apart. The body of a third person was found by my informant, lying in a creek, on the Woodonga creek road. There were many pistol shot wounds in the head. The Commissioner pursued the bushrangers as far as Tarculta, where all trace of

their route became obliterated. The diggings are described as being in a most lawless state: tents are cut open during the night, for the sake of even an ounce of gold. The police force is very small. The depredations of the greatest consequence are committed on the Sydney side of the Murray, owing to most of the gold coming thisjway. The yields continue to be very large. One party in a week got 80 pounds weight. Another party made £200 a man in three weeks. A public meeting was held at the South side of the Yarra, near the tents, convened by Capt. Harrison, the gold digger's delegate, as the Argus says, for the purpose of " memorialising, the Executive Government to afford facilities for the purchase of small lots of agricultural land by gold diggers, newly arrived immigrants, and others." A somewhat animated discussion took place among the crowd of people who had assembled upon the ground, around1 a waggon placed for the accommodation of those who were expected to address the meeting, and which was brilliantly decorated with the colours of vavious nations — as to whether the " stripes .and stars-' of Uncle Sam, which by accident flaunted in the breeze, high above the heads of all the rest should be permitted to take precedence of the-*' Flag that's braved a thousand years!" The discussion eventually terminated in a motion being carried, which was put to the meeting by Captain Harrison, to the effect that all the flags should be taken down, and that the meeting do now adjourn. Three cheers were given to the indefatigable Captain Harrison, who expressed himself heartily willing to be foremost on every occasion that presented itself in the cause of the gold digger, whom he should ever esteem it a duty and a privilege to serve to the utmost of his ability.