AUSTRALIA AND TASMANIA.

North Otago Times, Volume XI, Issue 347, 18 September 1868, Page 3

AUSTRALIA AND TASMANIA.

The " Tasmanian Times" of a late date says : — " We are sorry to havo to report that the fresh in the Dcrwont has proved too strong for the nets laid down by the Commissioners for the purpose of trying to catch a salmon, to verify the fact of the success of the experiment. It in now intended to abandon all attempts, for the present at any rate, of catching a fish, and the matter will rest until mid-summer -when by nets and line-fishing it is hoped that some salmon will be caught." A correspondent of the " Deniliquin Chronicle" reports : — " A fow days ago a hurricane of extraordinary violenco passed over this district j it crossed the river about five miles above this plnco, destroying everything in its course. At the spot mentioned, where it entered the river timber, it seems to havo been about sixty yards wide, and has literally formed a track, felling in its path tree3 two feet in diameter, whilst others of a larger size have been torn up by the roots ; limbs of trees of immense size havo also beon carried a distance of 200 yards. Its passuso through the timbered country was something awful. The roaring of the wind, the crash of falling timber, and the large quantities of sand and water forced up above the tallest trees, formed a scene seldom to be witnessed. It travelled from north to south, and I may mention that the weather was otherwise calm and cloudy." A Mr Anderson, a squatter of Brighton, h:is becomo insolvent. The liabilities in his estate are stated at L200,061 5s. 5£d., and the assets only L8! We learn from a contemporary that the Bilver mines recently opened in South Australia promise well. A new lodo three feet wide has been discovered at the Potosi Mine, quartz from which yielded 27ozs. of silver to the ton. Favorable intelligence has also been received from the St. Arnaud Mine, the manager of which has brought down an unusually large quantity of bullion. An extraordinary meeting of the shareholders has also been called for the purpose of making arrangements for prosecuting operations as vigorously as possible. A great curiosity was recently discovered by a miner near Opossum Valley, in the neighborhood of Ararat, of which the following account is given by the " Advertiser :" — " It consisted of a piece of wood, apparently honeysuckle, well-pohshcd, and displaying, besides the grain of the wood, which was beautifully brought out, the lines (m white) of what looked like the skull and beak of tho ibis. It appeared as though the skull had, by some means, been embedded in tho branch or trunk, and that the timber had continued to grow round it until tnoroughly encased. It is certain tliat the lines were distinct, tho curves of tho skull, as nearly as wo could judge, being perfectly defined, and therefrom a long curved beak, which bore more resemblance to tho ibis than to any other known bird." The following appears in an Adelaide paper : — An individual at Wilhamstown, bearing tho outward semblance of a man, but having evidently a largo proportion of the hog in his composition, recently undertook to eat two juvenile relations in the shape of sucking pigs, for a wager of LI. Tho htttle gruuters weighed before being cooked ten and a half pounds, and the old hog demolished them in an hour and twenty minutes, being ten minutes within the stipulated time, fairly cleaning the bones. As they were fat and rather rich, our hero found it necessary to take a great, deal of vinegar towards the close of his meal, and, wo are informed, used a bottle full. As for other fluid, we understand lie only drank a single nobbkr of brandy. He soon after was seized with pam, and continued ill for some hours. We are informed that he offered, after having succeeded so admirably with this gastronomic feat, to devour a whole kangaroo dog for wager of L5. We should recommend this individual to secure a passage aa soon as possible for the Cannibal Islands. In tho " Colonial Monthly" we find tho following allusion to the precious stones found in Victoria. We would recommend our miners to be more careful in examining the contents of the tin dish before throwing them away, It is possible, naj> probable, that many precious gems may also bo found m the washings in Otago -. — '• In Victoria, tho diamond has been found for certain only in the neighborhood of Beechworth, and mainly on the Woolshed Creek and streamlets flowing into it. It was frequently associated with black sand, sapphires, zircons — and in a neighborhood yielding many fine cairngorms and agates. The whole of this country, from Beechworth and Tackandaudah, round by the Indigo Creek, Chiltern, and Rutherglen seems most likely to jield diamonds. Whenever a claim is bottomed on the bed rock in the&e localities — especially if either sapphire or black sand be present, or have been observed in the course of sinking — one would be justified in keeping a sharp look out for diamonds when washing for a pi ospect of gold. In fact, any whitish or yellowish little stones, at well as any of a blue or red color, which have held back with the gold, should be put aside and carefully examined ; for, on account of their specific gravity being higher than quartz or such like rubbish, they may be at least suspected of being something precious, though perhaps not diamonds. Owing to this obstinate portinaciny in sticking to the tin dish in tho las toperation of washing out the gold, we possess all, or nearly all, the diamonds yet discovered in Victoria." Mr Ilarrison, of Carcoar, has submitted for our inspection, eays the " Carcoar Heralds" " a bottle of Hartley kerosene oil, which ho claims to have deodorised by a chemical process known only to himself. The sample submitted is free from that unpleasant smell usually emitted by tho Hartley kerosene when in a state of ignition, neither is the photic power of tho oil diminished ; on the contrary, it burns more freely, the flame being whiter and clearer than in tho undoodonsed state." A startling discovery, says the " Talbot Leader," was mado on Satarday by a man named Withers, who, while ploughing some laud near the Big Waterhole, unearthed some human bones, and the circumstance was duly reported to tho police. Mounted Constable Sullivan exhumed the remains and found them to be those apparently of a full-grown man. In connection with the discovery, curious rumors are afloat in the neighborhood, that some twelve or thirteen years ago a traveller suddenly disappeared m a suspicious manner after a short stay in tho locality. From the fact that remains of clothing were found on the skeleton just exhumed, it is believed that it is that of tho individual in question. The facts, however, will no doubt bo elicited in evidence at tho inquest. The " Pastoral Times" has the following : — " A selector, a few miles north of Doniliquin, is greatly troubled by the nightly visits of kangaroos. They eat up his crops as fast as the young sprouts appear above the ground, so much so that he or his man is obliged to keep watch against their depredations. He baa a dog which ho uses for the purpose ; but the other day the selector, his man, and the dog met with a tough customer in an old man kangaroo, that fought hard and long for his pre-emptive right. Tho dog first attacked him, but having wrongly laid hold of the knngaroo, the dog was severely maimed, and placed liors de combat ; the settler and his man tackled the tripod, which immediately seized the settler — a powerful man— who felt himself in a kind of ' vyce,' or press, not at all human, from which the settler's man assisted to extricate his master, when the kangaroo, nothing daunted, seized the farmer's mtin, and in tho wrestling men and beast rolled over, and when the men got the old fellovr down, there J they held him, throttling him, the kangaroo making every effort to free his hind legs, by the toes of which he inflicted such gashes on his atagonist. The dog having had enough of the fight, the two men had now their hands full in the fray, their opponent fighting with such game strength and agility. Eventually the kangaroo had to succumb, and the settlers skinned their gallant opponent as a trophy. Tho kangaroos, since tho destruction of the dingos, have increased tenfold, so dmgo was of service after all. If he helped himself to a sheep now and then, the settler did not complain, but dingo was not content to dine off one or two sheep; he would destroy a score or two for a meal, picking off the dainty bits, and washing the solids down with the warm blood of his victims It is, however, questionable in tho main whether the settlers benefit much by destroying the cunning dingo ; the kangaroos have multiplied so fast here as to eat up much of the grass on the runs where the grass iB scarce. A sportsman can knock OTer a hundred or to in a day near Deniliquin,"