NEWS FROM NEW CALEDONIA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIII, Issue 4487, 31 March 1876, Page 3

NEWS FROM NEW CALEDONIA.

By the arrival last night of the schooner Favourite, Captain Savory, from Noumea, New Caledonia, we have received a file of newspapers, from which we extract the extract the following :— HURRICANE. On the night of the 22nd February the barometer kept descending, and at daybreak the light and hot air which blew from the east rendered breathing difficult. They were the forerunners of the hurricane. Every precaution was taken to' prevent damage being done. Immediately after noon, the wind began to blow with a violence which kept increasing until 8.30 in the evening. After 9 the wind gradually died away, and the rest of the night was comparatively calm. Considerable damage was done among the shipping. A three-masted vessel, the Pac- ; tole, was driven ashore near the wharf, destroying a large portion of the wharf and completely crushiug the Annette. All in front of the quay was covered by debris of boats, and the wharf in front of the Customhouse was totally destroyed. The Petites I Ajjiches gives a long list of damage done in I Noumea and its environs. In the interior, j houses were unroofed, plantations devasI tated, and trees uprooted. Among the j vessels blown ashore was the Nil Desperandum, but it is hoped^that she will?soon be i floated off. ♦ NICKEL. Nickel was discovered in considerable quantities some time back in New Caledonia. Mr. Heiggiuson erected high furnaces at Point Charleix for the purpose of separating nickel from the strange-metals with which it is mixed. Last week (February 16) an experiment was made in M. M. Car- 1 bonnoau and Co.'s workshop, by the ordinary system, a block of 3 kilograms 500 was obtained, and, after polishing, thero remained 3 kilograms. RAVAGKS OF GRASSHOPPERS. Letters arriving from the interior complain very much of the ravages caused by grasshoppers —so much so that the Government is advised to offer a premium for their destruction, as it is thought that the natives might thus destroy great quantities while yet young aud unable to fly.