WAIKATO HEADS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume II, Issue 355, 31 December 1864, Page 7

WAIKATO HEADS.

[rKOM OOIt OWX COUUKSI'ONDKNT.] December 7, ISG-1. Tin: long expected relief for the detachment of the 11th Hegimei.t si ationed here arrived per h.f. 'Ahuriri' oil Saturday. It consists of OS) men of all l-anks of No. 10 Company oOlh (Queen's Own) Keginient, under the command of Captain Thompson and Lieut. Floury. After binding her passengers, tho 'Ahuriri' left again for the South. The rf.s. ' Alexandra' also got away 011 Saturday, having the t.chooner ' Daring' and ' j\lary '1 honipson' iu tow. Tho - Abeona,' si hooner, Captain King, arrived on Sunday, with Hour for commissariat supply, and is now discharging. There being nothing more entertaining to note than the arrival and departure of vi'sreTs, 1 shall not tiesj ass further on your columns, ex opt to state that the Hthhave not jet left us, aa they are waiting for a steamer to convey them to Oneliunga which is expected to arrive hourly. Arrived sin ee my liust: —' Abedoa,' from Oneliunga, and ' Aquilla,' mtler, on Sunday; ' Bluenose,' tfunicr, on Monday, from Nyaruawahia; 'Nebuchadnezzar,' from Onehunga, on Monday. December 21, ISG-I. On the loth instant, William Newell, a privato ill the 12th Itegiuient, and attached to tho Commissariat here, was brought up before lv.. O. Stewart, Esq., K31., charged with desertion. It seems lie was missed at tattoo the previous evening, and his absence being repotted, a search warrant was obtained, it being suspected that ho was on board the ' Princess Alice ' brig, just cleared for Adelaide. Constable Canny and a sergeant of the Commissariat Department were sent on board, and discovered him secreted in tho hold, with some barrels and sticks over him. He lias been handed over to the military authorities, to be dealt with according to martial law. It is but right to state that Captain Clarke, tho commander of the ' l'rincess Alice,' was totally ignorant of his being stowed away, and lent ovory facility to the otiieers sent in search of him.

Tim < Alexandria/ s.s., Captain Williams, arrived on the 1-Uh, with a consignment of compressed forage for tho Commissariat, and afkr discharging cargo proceeded to sea on tho loth, having the brig k Princess Alice/ for Adelaide, in tow, with tun passengers. We arc prej u-ing. for the sports promised at Christmas, and as .the subscription lists aie filling up pretty freecly, wc anticipate a good day's amusement. Tho oflicers of the 50th, the Commissariat department., and Colonial Government employees, are all liberally represented, so that they will not fail for a host of patrons. The l*l«th December being the anniversary of tho foundation of this settlement, the 4 Alexandra.' s.e., '.■apt. "William?, was gaily decorated with (lags ; there was also a display of bunting at tho Court-house ; but as the Knowhdge of the event was conlined to a few old inhabitants, no further display took place. The Commissariat Stores here seem to be full to overflowing—so much so, that a large quantity of supplies are lying alongside the Magazines, covered With tarpaulins. I believe the wants of the inhabitants of the up-river stations are at present urgent, a*id though the Colonial Government atlb r d every taeility in their power for the transmission of supplies, their means of transport are not suilieient to m-jet the demand; t-litre is a great want of badges, two more large ones would be a great boon to all parties concerned

The 'Prime A : fred,' p.s., Captain Muirhead, arrived last evening, with s') men 01 JS'o. 1 Company, 2nd bat. 11th Regiment, in charge of Lieutenant Luwrence and Ensign lioward, to relieve the detachment of 50th Regiment, under Captain Thompson. This arrangement took every one hy surprise; as we fully anticipated the 50th would make a long sojourn amongst us. They embarked at 4 o'clock this morning on board the 4 Prince Alfred/ and sailed immediately for Onehunga, their ultimate destination being, I believe, VVanganut.

Professor Parker, tho celebrated swordsman, and Miss Annie Beaumont, arrived here from a professional tour of the Upper Waikato, and aro to give an entertainment this evening, which, I have no doubt, wili bo well attended, amusement of any sort being at a premium amongst us.

December 28, 1804. Nothing of any importance having; occurred since writing you on Hist inst., I sent no communication by Saturday s mail. \Y e have, however, been visited by t he i Crtmdagai,' colonial steamer, now lying alongside the wharf, undergoing ail overhaul, previous to being sent to AYatigaimi for service there. Her loss will be very much felt on this river at this particular time, as tho pressure for supplies on the commissariat- department is still very heavy ; fortuibjfi.'ly the depth of water has been much increased, owing to tho heavy rains wo have had lately, and which wilt enable the 'fcSlurt* to perform her trips up and down more regularly. Tho p.s. 4 Prince Alfred" arrived on Saturday, bringing u few men, 37 women, and 95 children of the 4th Waikato Regiment, under the care ot 3)r. Cnrey. They were at once transferred to a barge, and the ' Sturt' towed them the drsfc portion of their river transport, as far as the IHufl, starling early on Monday morning, and returning the same evening. A most melancholy accident took place in connection with the arrival of these passengers. Jt seems that many of tho married eouplcs preferred sleeping on the deck of the barge, cncttmbcred as it was with baggage of every sort incidental to migrating families, to enduring tho stilling atmosphere of t he hold, crowded with so many children, and amongst, those so sleeping were Corporal Middleton of the 4th W. K., his wife and six children. About halt-past eleven o'clock on Saturday night the husband awoke, and iinding the covering over his little ones had been disturbed, proceeded to make tliem comfortable, when from some unexplained

caupc, he lost his footing and fell overboard. There was a strong ebb tide running at tho time, and the wind blowing freshly from tho north-east, bo that the unfortunate man bomg encumbered with his hotw watch-coat, was rtrmvnocl before any assistance could reach him. C.nplain liitehie, of tlie steamer 'Gunilagai immediately put off in a boat on hearing the alarm, and searched the river nearly o 8 f„ r a s the Bar, without, however, finding any trace of him, and ai .er an absence oi some hours, returned to his vesll"-' '' & W also yutoff a boat to insist in the eai eJi ; but. the suddenness of the accident, tlie p n usion necessarily attendant on the efforts of men only just aroused from sleep, and the strength of the current, rendered all attempts futile. Tlie deceased was n remarkably sober man. and an excellent swimmer, having on two occasions been instrumental in saving r. fellow creature from a fate which has now so suddenly overtaken himself. As might be expected, (lie anguish of the bereaved widow was intense, and the whole alliiir, so suddenly trarn'oal threw quite a gloom over our small community. 0 To their honor be it said, tlicy were not wanting in the hour of need, and an impromptu subscription on behalf of the atlierless and the widow was liberally supported. A question arises in connection with this sad affair, whether barges intended solely for the transport of goods are (lie proper vessels in which to embark liuman beings for a journey of perhaps several davb' duration. There are necessarily no bulwarks "or ra.ls to such vessels, and tho slightest false step or a slip 011 a wet. deck sends the unfortunate (o his last ae.ount without winning, t-'vdney Smith used to say that railway accidents would never bo properly enquired into till a biiho] ;™d been killed. I hope tho same rule will not hold good in this instance, bu that proper means will be taken to pi event the recur 1 rence of such accidents without waiting for tlie sacri" iioo of any nioro valuable lives. We had no mail from Auckland on Saturday, very much to the disappointment of everybody. " I believe it got mislaid in some unaccountable manner, lbe body of tho unfortunate man. drowned on Saturday niglit, was picked up this morning, about two miles above where the accident took place. It was found by two Maories who were fishing. The search was directed downwards, as the tido was running out at tho time, and it was never expected to have 'gone up tho river. An inquest will bo held this day.