MONTHLY SUMMARY OF CURRENT EVENTS.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Volume I, Issue 21, 11 July 1863, Page 5

MONTHLY SUMMARY OF CURRENT EVENTS.

Among the many subjects which have engrossed the attention of the residents of the Lake district during the past month, the great case of Frankton v. Queenstown stands first on the list in both magnitude and importance. The struggle between official despotism and constitutional freedom has been severe, and it was for some time doubtful which side would gain the victory—the Superintendent standing on his divine attribute of infallibility, and the people insisting on the duty of the Government to consult public convenience rather than official caprice or private interest. Naturally, it strikes to the hearts of those Jacks in office to have their dicta questioned, and a parvenu, especially, objects to bow before that "multitude" of of which he was but a short time back an integral part. The arrogance of "beggars on horseback" is proverbial, but whether they are to ride roughshod over the inherent right and privileges of Englishmen remains to be seen; and wg are bold enough to avow our intention of resisting with all our strength the impertinent presumption of the equestrian mendicant now in possession of the official revenues, and in this determination the Queenstown public unanimously concur. After a number of complaints, remarkable even for the ever-grumbling Englishman, which the Government treated with the most sublime indifference, matters came to a crisis, and it was officially notified that in future the Courts would be held at Frankton, the official buildings having been at length completed. The " camp" accordingly, about the beginning of last month, shifted their quarters, and the roomy and commodious tent in which justice had formerly been meted out was pulled down, to avoid all chance of another case being held therein. " Over the mountains to Frankton" became then the cry of litigants, and long strings of suffering and swearing humanity used regularly to toil to that delectable township to get their little affairs settled, to the intense gratification of those loyal and enterprising individuals who had erected stores and hotels under the j shadow of the official wing. It was "no go." j however. Miners objected to tramp an additional five miles, half-a-dozen times multiplied, to obtain a registration or any similar trifle; packers could not see the object of going an additional distance to get goods at a higher price than was charged at Queenstown,; even though they gained the prestige of pur- 1 chasing in a properly-qualified township; and litigants and the public generally were disgusted and indignant at being called upon to fritter away their time and capital in ministering to the vanity and conceit of official} harlequins. Smarting therefore under the sense of unmerited oppression, meetings were held, at which the narrow-minded policy of the Government was declaimed against in a manner sufficient to raise the hair erect of any one possessing an official status, from the Superintendent himself down to the youngest and most impertinent clerk in the post These were with truth styled ' i meetings, and were held not only at Queenstown, but at several places up the Shotover River —the diggings J par excellence of this district. The miners of that locality are particularly badly treated—in some places they are thirty miles distant from the post office, the warden, the magistrate, and till very lately, the police ; it being besides the most rugged and inhospitable of all the roadless diggings of Otago. Resolutions were passed condemning the conduct of the Government in removing the camp; and a memorial prepared, and numerously signed, praying forj the establishment of a warden, police, and a j post-office on the Shotover, and likewise for ; the construction of roads. A memorial was also drawn up and signed by the inhabitants of Queenstown; but the general fate of petitions having been pointed out, it was re-! solved in addition to send two delegates to represent the case personally to the Superintendent, and Messrs. Bradshaw and Gordon j were accordingly elected; while the Shotover j miners, not to be behindhand, despatched one of their number to act as their representative at the deputation. " On the 15th of June the delegates succeeded in penetrating to the presence of " that Power which is alike our hope and our dread," and the petitions, as may be supposed, j were rejected. His Honor refused to receive them on account of their not being sufficiently j respectful, and so no course remained for the | delegates but meekly to kiss the rod, withdraw | the petitions, and proceed to argue the case | on its merits. The general tenor of his Honor's j remarks was rather against than in favor of the

prayer of the deputation, and lie expressed his sovereign dissatisfaction at the tone of the Wakatip Mail. No wonder, after the officially-inspired lucubrations of Mr. Julius Vogel, editor of the Daily Times, and the present M.P.C. for the township of Jonjoncs, Waikouaiti! However, after suffering a proper chastisement for their presumption, the Superintendent graciously promised the deputation to consider of it, and thus the matter rests at the present time.

While we were anxiously awaiting for something to " turn up," and before the result of the visit of our deputation had become known, Mr. Vincent Pyke, Secretary for the Goldfields, arrived at Queenstown on a tour of inspection. A deputation immediately waited upon him for the purpose of detailing their grievances ; and put him in possession of the facts of the case. Greatly to the astonishment of the deputation, Mr. Pyke informed them that "officially he knew nothing of the removal of the camp, and it should not be imputed to the Government." Mr. Wood, the Warden and resident Magistrate, received the lion's share of the blame; he, according to Mr. Pyke, being the cause of the removal. How it was that the Secretary of the Queenstown committee had received a letter from the Provincial Secretary just before, stating that it was the intention of the Government to make Frankton the township, Mr. Pyke did not explain,—nor why an officer was sent up from Dunedin in April to superintend the erection of buildings at Frankton and the Arrow !

However, till the ultimatum might arrive from Dunedin, Mr. Pyke gave instructions that the Court should be re-transferred from Frankton to this township. Nor did he rest satisfied with this; but to ascertain what were the real requirements of the district, he started on an expedition up the Shotover. There a deputation also waited on him, and again did he promise innumerable reforms. After a flying visit to the Head of the Lake and the Arrow he left for Dunedin, first being entertained at a public dinner given in his honor by the residents of Queenstown. In connection with his visit to the Arrow, there " hangs a tale." For at a meeting held at that township on the sth instant, Mr. Ecclesfield, one of a party of gentlemen who formed themselves into a deputation to wait upon Mr. Pyke, stated that they went to the camp, and were requested by that hon. gentleman to " call again" in about two hours, when he would grant them an interview. They did so, when, to their surprise and chagrin, they learnt that Mr. Pyke, with a proper official horror of " the mob," had left them in the lurch, and bolted off by a back door to Queenstown; as he was well mounted, small hopes were entertained of catching the runaway, and so he was allowed to go his way. Whether his promises will ever be fulfilled, it is hard to say; but at least we are to have permanent camp buildings here, as well as at Frankton, the contract having been taken for their erection.

The claim of Mr. Rees to his pre-emptive right of the land on which the township of Queenstown is erected, promised a short time back to give the inhabitants and the Government no little trouble and annoyance, and certainly tended greatly to retard the progress of the district, as no sane man would erect permanent and expensive buildings without possessing some guarantee more certain and reliable than the mere word of a private individual that, if he were successful, they should be gently dealt with. After a considerable amount of jealousy and heartburnings, Mr. Rees, perceiving that it would be useless to push the subject further, waived his claim to his pre-emptive right, and announced his determination to apply for compensation. To that course there can be no possible objection, for in fact his Shotover run is rendered utterly worthless for pastoral purposes; and while we assert the right of the public to be independent of the caprice of any private individual, we have no desire to advocate a course that would be manifestly indefensible and unjust. We have thus the prospect of becoming owners of the land we occupy, instead of being merely tenants at will, and this is one step in the right direction.

Though neither in population nor wealth of our fields have we any reason to complain, it is evident that our prosperity will be of comparatively short duration unless there is some disposition shown by the Government to settle the people on the agricultural lands in the neighborhood of the Lake. The high price willingly paid for every description of garden produce, is a sufficient proof of the remunerative nature of a farm or market-gar-den in this district; and there is no lack of good land that would well requite the efforts of the cultivator. The difficulty is in getting the Government to sell or lease such land, and to this they seem to have a most decided objection. The law is equal to all the demands made by the miners of the

district. The land now occupied by Mr. Rees is required for settlement: he acknowledges this, and expresses his willingness to accept compensation; but the Government plead difficulties to every request on our part, though what they consist of, it would be hard to say. That they have the power to lease the land is evident by a communication from the Attorney-General to Major Richardson, published in the Provincial Government Gazette of the 3rd April, 1862 ; and we are, therefore, reduced to the alternative of presuming that they have not the wherewith to pay compensation: in other words, that the revenue derived from the gold-fields is too much needed for the purpose of beautifying Dunedin, for any surplus to be left for the requirements of the gold-fields themselves. But even then, the revenue which would be obtained in one year from the land in question, if leased, would pay the fullest compensation stipulated by the Act. The Head of the Lake is attracting considerable attention among the miners, and a steady influx of population is taking place there. On Friday week the steamer " Wakatip" took up over thirty diggers. About 300 men are working on the Rees River; and from what we can ascertain, all engaged are well satisfied with their prospects. Several specimens and parcels of gold have found their way into Queenstown, the character of which is generally rough and heavy. From the proximity of the Head of the Lake to the West Coast—that semi-mythical Dorado —great opinions are entertained of the permanence and importance of the place; and as all eyes are directed to the west, numbers have wended their steps thitherward, to be as near as possible to the anticipated golden country. Much difference of opinion exists as to the probable mineral resources of this terra incognita, and the Daily Times, of Dunedin, published an elaborate article to show that the West Coast is entirely worthless, either as a pastoral, agricultural, or digging country; while on the other hand, everything possible to be required or wished for is to be found on the East Coast generally, and in Dunedin in particular. But the reasons of this opinion of our contemporary are sufficiently obvious. He knows as well as we do with what feelings the miners regard our Dunedin rulers, and lie dreads even in thought the formation of an independent settlement on the West Coast, that will practically destroy the much-loved nest of the Old Identity. Such a consummation is neither impossible nor improbable; and however much it is to be desired by us in our distant and neglected solitude, as a chance of escaping from our present thraldom, we can scarcely be surprised at receiving a little cold water from Dunedin. The Head of the Lake is only about twenty-seven miles from the sea, and a harbor on the West Coast will bring us within three days of Victoria, and two days nearer than Dunedin to our principal port of supply for the necessaries of living and other commodities; it is not at all unlikely that a road will be formed from the Lake to the coast; and we know that Victorian enterprise will not be behind-hand in bringing this desirable undertaking to a successful issue. With regard to the question of its being auriferous, of course in the absence of specimens absolutely obtained there, it is impossible precisely to determine; but, if geological features are to be depended on, in the slightest degree, the West Coast is undoubtedly auriferous. Dr. Hector's opinion, it is well known, on his return from his first exploring expedition, was favorable to that supposition; and subsequent information is corroborative of it. Mr. Caples, a practical miner, started from Stony Creek, Shotover, not so much for the purpose of prospecting as the finding a passage to the West Coast. His first trip was by the Dart j River, at the head of the Lake, but falling • short of provisions, he had to return for a I fresh supply. His second journey was by j way of the Greenstone River, also at the Head ; of the Lake, and he successfully penetrated j to within sight of the sea. He is strongly of! opinion that the gold gets coarser as we approach the westward; and in this opinion he ; is confirmed by the practical experience of j every miner working on the Lake gold-field. | Mr. M'Kerrow, as well as Mr. Caples, describe j the geological features of the country to be j the same as those of the most famous gold- j fields in the world —whether in Australia, j California, or Nova Scotia; and in respect to that country with which we are most acquainted—Australia—the indications of gold j in the West Coast are of the same character ! as those of Ballarat, Mount Alexander, Mount Blackwood, Tarrengower, and Mount Korong; j Lake Omeo, in the Australian Alps ; the Braidwood and Araluen Diggings in the! Shoalhaven district; the Abercrombießiver,at j the head of the Lachlan; and theTuronandthe Corobalus, on the Macquarie, below Bathurst. 1 It is thus, judging from appearances, almost! impossible that we should be wrong in our; anticipations.

i Besides the land expeditions to the coast* | two or three parties have gone round by sea, after in vain plaguing the Government to give ! them some assistance. The ketch Courier* ; chartered by Messrs. Symes, Sutcliffe and Co.. returned to Port Chalmers on the morning of the 11 th ultimo, after an absence of i about six weeks, having cleared Port Otago Heads on the 28th April. They left Riverton on the 7th May, with a fine easterly breeze, which continued till off the West Coast, when she encountered a heavy gale from the westj ward for two consecutive days, after which j she had fine weather to Thompson's Sound, which lies about seventy miles to the northward of Preservation Inlet. Lay in Thomson's Sound twelve days, during which time they prosecuted their researches inland, but | were unable to penetrate the country, in consequence of the incessant rain flooding the rivers. Some of the party went in a boat to the head of Bradshaw Sound, which is an arm i of Thompson's Sound, running twenty-three | miles inland, above which the boat party I went five miles further inland; but in conse- ! quence of the floods were unable to proceed | any further. The bed of the river is composed !of quartz, granite, and clay slate. Finding it I was useless to remain there, the party em- ! barked and started for Charles Sound: during i • \ the passage fine weather was experienced, but a heavy sea rolling in on the coast, they had : to tow the vessel into the anchorage at the I head of Charles Sound. Remained there nine days, while the party went in about three miles, and went inland twelve miles, where they found the country precipitous and rug--1 ged; during the greater portion of the time it rained. Finding no chance of penetrating ' they again embarked on the 31st, and arrived | at Bligh's Sound on the following day, the I distance being about thirty miles. During | the whole of the time there it rained in torrents. The character of the country being similar to the other Sounds, they found it impossible to penetrate. The party, therefore, I determined to return, but four of the char- ! terers and two of the seamen being of a different opinion, as they wanted to remain there for a period of three months, and having plenty of provisions and no motive to return, ( remained, notwithstanding the remonstrance jof the captain and the others on board. The j party left have a good life boat and nine months' provisions, intending to winter and commence their operations in the month of October. The remainder embarked, and left Bligh's Sound on the 6th June. They report that the ordinary N. W. and westerly gales do ; not blow home to the coast, but lose their J weight two miles off the land, for which dis- | tance, in ordinary westerly weather a belt of calms and variables exist; the heavy westerly gales only reach the coast. Plenty of ducks, woodhens, and fish were found in all the Sounds, only groceries being required for good living about five miles above the head of Charles Sound. Hot springs were discovered running in the river. The temperature on the coast throughout averaged about 60 ° , being much warmer than on the East Coast. The party intend starting again about the middle of October, when they are of opinion that the country can be penetrated to where the gold exists. One of them, speaking of Bligh's Sound, says: —" The scenery is much the same as the others visited by us—truly grand, bold, and imposing at this dull season of the year; and in the summer, would afford a treat to tourists and sight-seers which, I think, it would be almost impossible to excel; but, even now, in its worst appearance, it has some scenes not to be overlooked or despised; and after a night's heavy rain it is a curious, if not an altogether pleasant sight to see some fifty or sixty stupendous mountains, one towering above the other, with their heads alone just crowned with snow, and their lower extremities robed in the most luxuriant and beautiful evergreens, all appearing like a group of hoary-headed giants, guarding the smooth and deep blue waters of the lake-like Sound below. I may mention that what is rain at the base of the hills, is frost and snow on their summits ; and it is not an unfrequent circumstance, after an hour or two's rain, to see the tops of the mountains all covered with snow, where there Mas not a particle visible before. I do not hesitate to state that I think the' Government have not done all they might have done for the opening up and developing the hidden resources of the West Coast. Had they been less parsimonious, and obtained a steamer when it was talked about last year, they would certainly have taken a step in the right direction; but they allowed the best season of the year to slip away, and only when private enterprise had started, did they at the worst season of the year, in one of the worst crafts that could be chosen for such an expedition, despatch a tried, energetic, persevering, and indefatigable public officer."

On the Shotover River there has been a considerable amount of excitement and com-

motion anenta decision of the Warden, J. N. Wood, Esq., in defining river and beach claims ; and at one time the dissatisfaction and angry feeling was so great that serious disturbances were anticipated; but as a powerful and well-organised body of the police-force were located on that river—consisting of one sergeant and a constable—to say nothing of the orderly character of the miners generally, nothing serious has occurred. The origin of the disputes was the attempted application of the new regulations passed to meet the requirements of the Molyneux River to the Shotover. By the old gold-fields rules, the miners could take up a certain amount of frontage, by the entire width of the river, as a river-claim. But as the Molyneux was considered a trifle too difficult to turn, a new code of rules was prepared, by which beach claims were allowed, from high to low water mark. These regulations were attempted to be put into operation on the Shotover—a river of a widely different character, and the result has been a wretched mess. The difficulty was—how should high and low water mark be decided : of course there is no tide, and what is low-water mark to-day might be high-water mark to-morrow, and vice versa, and then only # 0 supposing that we allow floods and freshets to constitute high-water mark. We will endeavor to illustrate the peculiar difficulties of this remarkable production of our Dunedin pundits:—For instance, suppose that A takes up a beach claim to-day, from high-water mark to the edge of the river, and B obtains a grant from the Warden for a river claim to-morrow; a few days after this the river recedes, and A, not having his fall claim, takes advantage of this, and shifts his pegs to the water's edge; the river again recedes, and A shifts his pegs till he monopolizes perhaps nearly half the width of the stream. C, who holds a similar beach claim on the opposite side, adopts the same method of obtaining his full amount of ground, by which means the river is taken up by A and C, and B finds—by the time that he has perhaps expended a good deal of his capital, that he has next to no claim left. Although —judging from the present humid, and so far as we can ascertain, thoroughly exceptional winter—considerable doubts are now entertained as to the subsidence of the Shotover River to the level of last year, unless the usual frost very soon sets in and continues for some time, —still if such should be the case, and it must happen eventually, of what value would river claims be, if low water mark cannot be defined! Here lies the difficulty—in the utter impossibility of the Warden defining low-water mark, which is set forth in the new regulations as the boundary of beach claims; and therefore it is quite impossible to define, at any given time, the boundary between river and beach claims. To escape from the dilemma the unfortunate executive officer is placed in by the intelligence of our law-makers, it was decided by Messrs. Wood and Beetham, after mature deliberation, that an imaginary line should be held to be the centre of the river, and each party taking the line for a boundary should be entitled to fifty feet back, with thirty feet frontage to the river. A deputation waited on Mr. Wood shortly after the announcement of this decision, of those parties who held river-bed claims; but on his refusal to alter his determination, a memorial was despatched to his Honor the Superintendent, requesting him to instruct Mr. Wood to adhere to, and enforce the printed rules and regulations. The object of the Warden was undoubtedly laudable; and forsceing the confusion and dissatisfaction likely to ensue through the contradictory nature of the rules, he altered them to suit the exigencies of the case; but whether such decision was in accordance with the strictly laid-down letter of the law is of course another matter, as is the question of its beneficial or injurious tendency to the interests of the miners and general community. To show the strength of feeling on the subject, and the difference of opinion among the miners themselves, we may mention that while, on the one hand, motions were carried in favor of Mr. Wood's decision, on the other it met with the most determined opposition, as the following resolutions, passed at a meeting held at Butcher's Point will show, the miners considering jumping to be the enforcement of Mr. Wood's decision

1. That in the event of any of our claims being interfered with, or any party or parties unlawfully jumping or taking possession of any portion of a claim belonging to any of us. such party or parties so doing shall first be notified that they will not be allowed to work such ground, and if they do not leave off immediately, the owner or owners of the claim shall give notice of the same to each of us, if they think it necessary; and furthermore, we shall use force, if necessary, to expel all intruders or jumpers from the said claim or claims. 2. That any miner or claimholder who shall fail to attend or assist when called upon, for the purpose of preventing or removing any party or parties who may be interfering with the claim of any of us, snail be struck off the list, and no further protection will be granted to him.

Mr. Pyke, on his visit to the Shotover, informed the deputation who waited on him that instructions had already been issued to the Warden to carry out the rules in their integrity; and that as soon as possible the Mining Surveyor would make a chart of the river, defining the width between various points, for the guidance of the Warden in granting river claims. The election of goldfields' members for the Provincial Council has engrossed a considerable share of public attention lately, though there has been a remarkable lack of that excitement inseparable from an election in Australia and the old country. The reason for this is partly owing to the absurd and oppressive provisions of the Miners' Franchise Act, which requires that every elector must be in possession of a miner's right or business license of a date six months anterior to last October—that is to say, more than a twelvemonth old! partly to the few members to be elected—three, to represent a goldfields' population of at least eleven thousand! and partly to the absurd qualification necessary for a candidate, which is similar to that requisite for an elector. Two or three gentlemen, in every way worthy of the confidence of the electors, were debarred from entering the field by this ridiculous provision, and eventually there were only four who contested the election—Messrs. Baldwin, Brodie, Hughes, and Moses. As there were but comparatively very few miners who possessed a vote, those who were on the Tuapeka field almost monopolizing the right, of course the result was supremely ridiculous. The announcement of the discoveries of Hartley and Reilly, and the subsequent opening up of the Arrow and Lake diggings, have all taken place since last August, and it is to these discoveries that Otago chiefly owes her present large goldfields' population; therefore all those who flocked hither from the adjacent colonies, and have developed the vast auriferous resources of this Province, since the publication of Hartley and Reilly's success, were entirely shut out from any share in the formation of those laws they are expected to obey. The injustice of this is apparent by the result, if by nothing else, and the three gentlemen elected—Messrs Baldwin, Brodie, and Hughes—are in truth the representatives of about 200 men and not 11,000 as they should be. Thus these gentlemen take their seats with but limited authority, as they cannot be supposed to really represent the mining interest, and the weight they are supposed to carry will be proportionately reduced. The election may be characterised from the commencement to the conclusion as a mere farce.

In strong contrast to this imperfect representation of the most important producing element in Otago, stands forth the election of a representative for the pastoral interest in the Provincial Council. If any thing could open the eyes of our fellow-colonists to the disgraceful manner in which their political rights are bartered away in empty pretences, this shadow of a legal election ought to do so. The " District of Wakatip" electoral-roll comprises five names, of whom, we understand, two, at least, are absent! and yet this constituency is reckoned to be on a par in importance with a third of the whole body of miners in the Province, and as such entitled to send a member to Parliament. If ever a Reform Bill were needed, surely Otago requires one: and the socner some colonial Peel consigns these rotten representations to oblivion, the better it will be for the Province. We do not object to the pastoral tenants of the Crown receiving their share of representation—far from it; but we think that this great disparity in the numbers of the electors should be noticed, and some steps taken to remedy a system so palpably absurd. Our North Island lawgivers seem to be at their wits' end in attempting to discover some means to solve that eternal Native question. Now—after having in vain knuckled down to the Natives, and swallowed a greater amount of insolence than we expected any John Bull could reconcile to his conscience—they find that the sword must be the arbitrator between the two races, they are looking in all directions for extraneous assistance, instead of depending on themselves. Having canvassed in turn the expediency of obtaining more regulars, then German military emigrants, then Sikh irregulars, and then some other equally luminous project, they have hit upon the dodge of employing the Otago diggers to assist them. A letter was sent by Mr. Domett to the Superintendent of Otago, informing him that the Government had determined to take posesssion of the block of land between Omata and Tataraimaka,in order to form a military settlement thereon, by giving to each settler " able to protect himself" fifty acres of land, to be held by a system of military tenure ; and the Government thought that there might be many " active young men in Otago qualified to form such a settlement," who would be willing to avail

themselves of these advantages. The Northern press, almost without exception, are in ecstasies at the proposal, and think this solution worthy of (Edipus himself. No doubt, the Otago miners would prove a very excellent catspaw to recover the fruit endangered by Northern faulty and blundering legislation ; but we mistake the disposition greatly of the bulk of the miners if they consent to be made the tools for repairing these mistakes, and for such a petty reward too. Undoubtedly there are many amongst us who would be willing to accept these terms; but it is our opinion that our Northern cousins would have as little reason to rejoice at the accession to their numbers of this class of men as we should have to regret their loss. The true digger, as a rule, is peaceably inclined, and is more likely to stick to his occupation of gold-seeking with the chance of making an independence, than to thrust himself forward with the Quixotic intention of fighting other peoples' battles. In truth, the digger has no reason to congratulate himself on our relation to the North Island, when he sees so large an amount of his hard earnings carried off by them on a false pretence ; and we have no hesitation in asserting that those who may follow this New Zealand jack-o'-lantern will be of a class whose room is more desirable than their company. About 200 applications have been made to the Provincial Government for further particulars, but as yet no more has been heard on the subject. The lack of police or magistrates on the Shotover diggings was a short time back brought rather prominently before the notice of the authorities. The Lake goldfields, though certainly as orderly as the majority of diggings in New Zealand and Australia, are not free from the pestilential presence of those wretches, who, objecting to work for themselves, have no compunction in living on the labor of others. " Jumping" is the course adopted here by those gentry—more serious crimes being the exception rather than the rule, though minor violence is the common result of any refusal to obey the orders of these miscreants. The extraordinary richness of the Shotover river offers special inducements to jumpers, and the peculiar seclusion of the different workings along its banks—in some places only affording room for half-a-dozen men, divided by almost perpendicular rocks from other claims—are particularly favorable to the operations of the gang, armed with their " lawyers," viz., shovels and picks. Of course, it is not to be supposed that the miners submitted to these outrages quietly; but in the absence of the proper authorities, they had to meet their opponents with similar weapons. It was attempted at one time to form Vigilance Committees for the detection, &c., of these social burrs, and application was made to Messrs. Wood and Beetham to sanction their formation ; but those gentlemen not being empowered to do anything of the kind, promised the diggers to recommend to the Government the establishment of an additional body of police on the Upper Shotover. As the result one sergeant and one constable were sent up to Maori Point, while to all intents and purposes they might just as well have remained in Queenstown: as the protection they could give to 2000 men scattered over an area of twenty miles of the most rugged country in New Zealand may be readily imagined. When, therefore, it was reported that a murder had been committed, and that no clue existed of the murderer, there was little surprise manifested, though plenty of indignation. It appeared that a man while out hunting cattle between Fox's and Sandhills, came upon the body of a man lying apparently dead, with a gunshot wound at the back of his ear, and with his trousers and boots off. He gave information to the police, who went to the spot indicated, but the body had mysteriously disappeared. After a vain search, the affair was allowed to drop, without any further attempt at an investigation of what appears to be, to say the least of it, a most suspicious occurrence. The police aver that it is a hoax, but we most decidedly dissent from this supposition. Sundry petty thefts, and one case of " sticking-up" have occurred, but in no single instance have the offenders been captured. In some measure to provide for the administration of justice on this river, Mr. Pyke, on his visit, appointed Mr. Charles Williamson, a gentleman wellknown on the goldfields, as Warden and Magistrate at Maori Point. This appointment of course has yet to be approved, and it is to be hoped that it will meet with the approbation of the Superintendent, as it has given great satisfaction to the miners and residents on the Shotover.

While on the subject of crimes and the police, we may mention that considerable interest has been manifested in the late trial of Job Johnstone for the murder at Miller's Flat, as the supposed culprit was for some time working in the Lake district, and was

well-known to many here. This was one of the most remarkable cases of mistaken identity that has for some time come under our notice. All the witnesses for the prosecution believed Johnstone to be the mate of deceased at the time of the murder, and two swore point-blank as to his identity. Step by step, and link by link the chain of evidence was completed, till, at the conclusion of the case for the prosecution, the prisoner's life was not worth a straw; and perhaps there was not one who attended the Court during the entire two days his trial lasted, who did not believe in the unhappy man's guilt. His counsel, Mr. Barton, however, succeeded in proving, beyond the possibility of a doubt, the innocence of Johnstone, in establishing one of the most perfect cases of alibi on record; and the witnesses for the defence swore positively as to the whereabouts of Johnstone on the day in question. In the course of his remarks, Mr. Barton said:

In September, 1862, Johnstone arrived here with £3BO. He deposited £3OO in the Union Bank, and went to the diggings, taking with him £BO. Of this he deposited £ls at the l)unstan Bank. About five months ago, at the Arrow Kiver, he fell in with his old mate, Calvert, who was a mate with Halliday, Peter Sheil, and others. They all travelled together to the Shotover. On Friday, March 13th, Johnstone left off working his claim at Moke Creek, on account of ill-health, and went to Queenstown. Some remarkable events occurred during the week, which will be useful in fixing dates. Firstly, there was a great flood, and a man drowned. Secondly, there were St. Patrick's Games, and Thatcher's local songs ; and thirdly, there were two inquests—one on the 19th of March, on the same day that Abbey swears the man was at Yorkey's. Johnstone served as a juryman at Queenstown on that day, and signed the inquest paper. This brings us to the 19th, on which day the murderer is seen at Miller's Flat, The shortest route from Queenstown to Miller's Flat is 100 miles, and is four days' journey on foot, and at least two, if not three, on horseback. This makes it impossible that Johnstone, who sat on the jury on the 19th, and the man who was at Miller's Flat on the 20th, are one and the same person. But the Crown Prosecutor will answer thus:—The Job Johnstone whosat on that jury is not the prisoner. Either there is another man of the same name, or he has assumed it. If that be the argument, how could I discover the existence ot' the evidence without a miracle ? How could the prisoner have a deposit receipt for .J3OO, and have signed his name in the same handwriting as that to the inquest paper without a miracle ?

Meetings have been held in Dunedin, Invercargill, and Queenstown, to devise means for the purpose of raising a fund to reimburse Johnstone the cost of his trial—for the Crown, though it may dismiss a charge, never pays expenses ; and had it not happened that the prisoner was a steady man, and in the possession of funds to defray the expenses of his trial, it might have gone hard with him; and when he was acquitted, though he " left the dock without a stain on his character," he was a ruined man—mentally shattered, and pecuniarily destitute, without even the means of paying for a bed or a meal left to him of his carefully hoarded earnings of many years of hard labor. Surely there is something radically wrong when the Government have such unlimited power to do a vital injury, and are yet rendered so incapable of repairing tha f injury.

Among the difficulties and drawbacks that have attended mining matters during the past month in this district, the most serious have undoubtedly been the floods, which have from time to time rendered abortive the efforts of the miners to turn the Shotover river, so as to get at the incalculable wealth lying hidden within the bed of that remarkably auriferous stream, the richest perhaps in the world. This assertion will not be gainsaid when we affirm that out of one claim a short time back, when the river was at its lowest level, a pound weight of gold was washed out of one shovelful of dirt! That this is not a solitary instance of the richness of that golden river, the miners will allow ; and it is therefore not to be wondered at that they stick with such tenacity to their claims through every misfortune and discomfiture. Time after time, when their preparations were nearly completed, and the reward of their arduous labors was almost within their grasp, a shower of rain has sufficed to turn their rejoicing into disappointment, and banish their visions of wealth and happiness. Fed by innumerable mountain streams and creeks, which owe their source in a great measure to the rain and snoV of the higher regions, the Shotover thunders down, destroying all before it, carrying away in its furious course mining implements of every kind, flooding claims, and filling up with debris the races cut with such an expenditure of time and labor. One of the most serious of these floods happened on the Bth ultimo, following a gale of a severity happily rare in this district. The day on which we were favored by this unwelcome visitor, had been remarkably warm and genial, but shortly after night set in, the wind, which was from the north, and

quite warm, gradually increased in force, and by midnight blew with an astonishing degree of fury. It came in sudden gusts, splitting canvas, tearing off roofs, and destroying every building not made of the strongest materials. Sheets of iron and zinc, boards, stones, and even empty bottles were flying in every direction, and few places were left undamaged by the storm. At the Shotover, the Arrow, and Kingston, the effects were similar, and the craft on the Lake suffered severely. The mail steamer " Expert" was sunk on the beach at Kingstonand it was with difficulty that the " Victoria" was kept afloat, while minor accidents to the sailing boats were frequent. A perfect deluge of rain followed, which lasted till the evening of the next day, with the usual consequences to the workings on the Shotover. This was the heaviest flood known up to that date; and the bridge, erected only the week before, was destroyed for the third time.

Another phenomenon, of not quite so serious a character, happened on the sth ultimo—viz., an earthquake. Though these are common enough in the North Island, they are happily little known in Otago; and though this was felt throughout the whole of Otago and Southland, but little damage was done. It took place at about a quarter past eleven p.m., and lasted for about half a minute, consisting of a quick, spasmodic trembling, preceded by a peculiar rumbling, murmuring sound. The publicans were the chief sufferers, the bottles and glasses appearing to be seized with a sort of St. Vitus's dance, and performing a series of fantastic evolutions; but with this exception, the effect created was more surprise than anything else, with perhaps a small infusion of fright.

Notwithstanding the ill-effects of bad roads, defective legislation, floods, storms and earthquakes, the generally prevailing opinion is that of unbounded confidence in the resources

and prosperity of the district, both on the part of the miners and business men; and taking all things into consideration, there are undoubtedly ample grounds for this confidence. As a " sign of the times," we may remark the erection of permanent and expensive buildings in the township, in lieu of the canvas tents lately so exclusively patronised. The Union Bank has established a branch here, and erected a commodious building, costing certainly not less than a thousand pounds; the Freemasons have formed a lodge, and are busy in putting up a hall for meetings, of stone and iron. The new Church of England, after undergoing a perfect series of trials, was opened for Divine service on Sunday last, and though the weather was exceedingly inclement, it was crowded with an attentive and orderly congregation. The construction of this edifice is mainly owing to the exertions of Mr. Rees, who supplied the necessary materials for the purpose with but a very faint chance, at the commencement, of being reimbursed for his outlay. During the gale we have just mentioned, the church was literally levelled; but it is now rebuilt, and is rapidly assuming a very orthodox appearance. The necessity of a place of worship in so considerable a township—the centre of a t populous goldfield—is sufficiently obvious, and we are glad to see the exertions of the committee crowned with success.

We must not forget to mention, in conclusion, a very important subject—being no less than a reduction in the price of two of the staple articles of lood on every goldfield. Granted that bread and beef are essential to the welfare of the inner man, it is obvious that the cheaper these articles of consumption are, the better. The high price of both meat and bread have been the cause of keeping many men of small means from trying their luck on the Lake; and of driving away many who were unfortunate in their first attempts to obtain a good claim. An enterprising baker, shocked at the notion of charging the public the same price for bread, with flour at £SO a ton, as he did when it was £9O and £IOO, announced that he would sell the fourpound loaf at 2s 6d. instead of 4s. The other knights of the dough, regarding this as an unwarrantable liberty with their vested rights, determined to reduce it to 25., which was done with a great flourish of trumpets, and at that price it at present rests. Captain Howell, an old Riverton settler, doubtless pitying our hungry and forlorn condition, established a slaughter house at the foot of the Lake, and sending up his meat by steamer, sold it to the butchers here who were willing to deal with him, at a rate which enables them to sell at a shilling per pound. Without going into statistics and endeavoring to find out the means by which such a consummation is effected, ■we are content to accept the reduction with thankfulness, and heartily wish both butchers and bakers every success in their very laudable endeavors to provide the inhabitants of the Lake district with food "at the shortest notice and most reasonable terms."