AUCKLAND.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 155, 22 February 1845, Page 202

AUCKLAND.

Whale Fisheries. — We understand that a company or association of persons accustomed to whaling is about to he formed for carrying on the fisheries on the East Coast. We have no doubt of their success, as black whales are very abundant during the winter season ; and, as oil and bone are articles in great demand, considerable profits must be the result of such a speculation. Our mines and fisheries will soon bring capitalists to New Zealand, and we may yet hope to see debentures superseded by gold and silver. — Auckland Chronicle.

Cattle. — The schooner Sir John Franklin arrived on Monday afternoon with a cargo of cattle from Waitangi, Bay of Islands. They were formerly the property of Mr. Busby, and are, we understand, of a superior breed. Our enterprising townsman, Mr. John Scott, purchased them, together with a quantity of stores, at a price which will allow him to acquire a handsome profit by the speculation. — Ibid.

Copper Ore. — The Tryphena sailed yesterday, for Sydney, with a valuable cargo of ore from the mines at the Rarrier; and the schooner Lady Leigh is under charter to convey one hundred tons of copper ore from Kawau. — Ibid. Cattle. — The brig Guide has brought round from Hokianga a cargo of cattle, the property of Mr. P. Monro, who has been a resident of that district for a number of years ; but now intends, we understand, to set himself down in the vicinity of Auckland. We are glad to find intelligent and industrious persons accustomed to colonial pursuits, giving a preference to the country around our metropolis ; and look upon Mr. Monro's judgment, from long experience, as another proof that the land near Auckland affords the best situation for a selection or purchase by those who may be disposed to change their residence. — Ibid.

Mechanics' Bay. — It is astonishing what a wonderful difference a little time has made in the appearance of this part of the town. Those enterprising merchants, Messrs. Grahame and Wright, are enlosing a dry dock for the purpose of laying the keel of a vessel of 140 tons burden. Messrs. Lowe and Motion have nearly completed their water-mill, with its extensive appurtenances. This and Mr. Robertson's rope- walk, roofed through its whole extent, are evidences of rapid improvemejit ; while the multitude of

cottages occupied by the Scotch emigrants, the boat building on the beach, and the presence, just now, of upwards of two hundred Maories, who have pitched their tents, — all these things give the place all the appearance of the life and activity of a fair; instead of its former dull monotony. — Auckland Times.

In the Auckland Chronicle is a paragraph stating that thirteen families, consisting of sixty persons, were taken to Taranaki in the Government brig Victoria. This eclipses all the former proceedings of the Local Government in the crimping line. We know nothing more disgraceful than that emigrants, whose passage was defrayed out of the price paid to the New Zealand Company for our land, should be taken from the Corrfpany's settlements to bolster up Auckland, in the Government brig, the yearly expense of which is defrayed by the settlers. And as if to crown the injustice, that there might be no circumstances in mitigation or extenuation of their treatment of the Southern settlements, no ray of sunshine through this murky cloud, we have not yet a Crown grant for a single acre, nor even possession of an acre which has not been purchased by sacrifices and privations that make the price too dear. And for what? Will these emigrants find rest in their new home ? Is Auckland so prosperous as to become the centre of attraction to the other settlements ? So .far the reverse of this — that at a meeting held there to consider their bankrupt state, a memorial was agreed to be sent to Lord Stanley, praying him to give or lend them £100,000 to be spent at Auckland ; and to be repaid of course from the surplus taxation wrung from the " distressed settlers in Cook's Straits." — New Zealand Spectator, Feb. 8. The Tryphena sailed from Auckland with thirty-five passengers for Sydney, the cabin passengers paying £12, and the steerage £8 each, which is a much higher price than has ever been paid here ; so anxious were those who could pay for their passage to leave the devoted capital. — Ibid. We understand that the Governor, seized with compunctious visitings of conscience, has sent back the cranes in the Victoria. — Ibid.

Odd Fellows. — The origin of Odd Fellows is of very great antiquity. This order was established by the Roman soldiers in the camp during the reign of Nero, in the year 55. At that time they were calle J fellow-citizens j the name of Odd Fellows was given them by Titus Crasar in the year 79, from the singularity of their notions, and from their knowing each other by night or day, and for their fidelity to him and their country. At the same time, as a pledge of friendship, he presented them with a dispensation, engraved on a plate of gold bearing different emblems, such as the sun, the lamb, the lion, the dove, and the emblems of mortality. The first account of the order being spread in other countries is in the fifth centiin , when it was established in Spain ; in the sixth century by King Henry in Portugal : and in the twelfth century it was established in France ; and afterwards by De Neville, attended by five French knights, who formed a loyal grand lodge in London, which order remained till the eighteenth century, when a part of them formed themselves into a union, whose object it was to relieve its members who, through distress, were compelled to travel in search of employment, which was supported by a v'untary subscription, calling themselves Loyal Ah«,'°nt Odd Fellows. — English paper.

American Steam-Boats. — "Talk about your northern steam-boats," said a Mississippi fireman the other day, " you haint had a biler burst for five years. Don't require no spunk to navigate them waters ; any fool can do it : bui it takes a man, stranger, to ride one of these alligator boats head on to a sawyer, high pressure and the valve soddered down, six hundred passengers on board, and every soul endangered." — Halifax paper.

Country Sports. — Baron Alder^on lately addressed the following remarks to the grand jury of the county of Suffolk : — "In a neighbouring county, uhich I passed through on the circuit this lime, I had what I am afraid I shall not have here — a day of rest. Aud I went out into the country, and had the pleasure of seeing a match of cricket, in which a noble earl, the lord-lieutenant of his county, was playing with the tradesmen, the labourers, and all around him, and I believe he lost no respect from that course — they loved him better, but they did not respect him the less. I believe that if the upper classes were to associate more with the lower classes, the kingdom of England would be in a far safer, and society in a far sounder condition."

The Political Pecksniff. — We have heard that Mr. Charles Dickens is about to apply to the Court of Chancery for an injunction to prevent Sir Robert Peel continuing any longer to personate, in his capacity of Premier, the character of Mr. Pecksniff, as delineated in Martin Chuzzlewit, that character being copyright. We hope this rumour is unfounded, as the injunction would certainly be refused. Sir Robert Peel is in a condition to prove that the part in question has been enacted by him for a long series of years, and was so long before any of Mr. Dickcns's works appeared ; in short, that he, Sir Robert Peel, is the original Pecksniff. —Punch.

Antique Enactments. — In 1721 an act was passed imposing £5 on the wearer, and JS2O on the seller, of a piece of cotton cloth. In 1 726 calicoes were tolerated, " provided the warp thereof was entirely of linen yarn." In 1774 the Legislature tolerated calico ! both weft and warp ! ! Nt a duty of 3d. a yard; but in 1806 the Legislature, alarmed at its l.berality, added a $d. to the protective 3J., together with some salutary stamping on the calicoes, to legitimize them. In 1813 madness ended, and calicoes were freed. — J.C.Symant.

Immensity of the World. — Herscliel esti mates the star Lyra to be more than 51,000 times larger than the sun, which fills a cubical space equal to 861,471,000,000,000,000 miles; 100,000,000 oi such stars lie within range of the telescope, and between every two there is an interval of more 200,000,000,000 miles of space. Who can thinli of what lies beyond the telescopic view ? In sucr a thought, is not the mind lost in sublimity and grandeur ?