AUCKLAND INSTITUTE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIV, Issue 4900, 31 July 1877, Page 6

AUCKLAND INSTITUTE.

Tiik ordinary monthly meeting of the Auckland Institute was held on the 23rd July, iu the Council Chamber, Museum Buildings, Princes-street. A considerable number of ladies and gentlemen woro present, tlic former outnumbering the latter. Mr. it. C. Barstow occupied the elixir. New Mi:Mm:its.—The following list of new member.-; was read: A. Aitken, C.E., Thames; J. V. Barnard, (ii.-sb'jrno ; G. Black, Thames; \V. H. Oolbcck, Auckland ; H. E. Cotton, Auckland ; \V. Elliott, Auckland ; J. James, ttpsom ; I' , . Larkins, Iteniuera ; W. Mcl.aiiglilin, I'apatoitoi ; J. Howard, Auckland; I). 11. Mackenzie, Auckland ; J. Newman, Uumuera ; (.:. W'ndo, Auckland; A. E. Whitakor, Auckland. Donations to the MusEL'M. —The donations to the Museum during the month were enumerated v.a follows : L:irge .specimen of the encrustatiou on the pipes of the Pumping Association, G. Black ; rock specimens from the Thames, stone axes and sling-stones from Savage Island, T. L. White ; antimony from the T'liameu, cobalt ore from N'jv." Caledonia, J. A. Pond ; cuttle fish, R. Cox; red r.ur.il, •!. I , ', liussoll ; Maori widow's cap, hat made from kiekie, ball used in Maori chant ing, C. O. Davis ; lignite found in excavating the Graving Dock, Jones and Ware ; wood i:iiibed.'lcd in tho tertiary strata in llobsonstreet, Dr. Purchas; MS. of an early pro ulamation of Governor llobson, J. Gordon.

'I'iiE l'L\iii.v Hr.cor.Ds or Alx'ki.anh.— No one evincing a desire to discuss tho questions upon which papers had been given at t!io last meeting, Mr. Justice (;ilii-a road the appended essay on the " Karly Records of Auckland :"—The preservation of the early records of :i country ia, in my oj.-iiiion, of very importance. Ueininiseences, however valuable, are seldom entirely trustworthy, beiiiq unconsciously tiu«ed liy tlie views of tho'writer or by the part which he took in tlie events he narrates. A great nmi;> of the early ofliuiol records wore lost in the White Swan, but there, no doubt, exist in tlie possession of private individuals, many records of the early history of the colony, which arc of little, value to the i mli viilti:tl, but which in tlie course of a few yearn wiil \ccomo of great interest and value to the community at large, if they weiv only collected together, lu the hopes: of utimulatiii" others who posHessi sued n cord-, i;n.th«:ithen) together t.nd thein in imr MuHeuin, where they will ho aeeHsiblc to tin; public, 1 havo put together a few which havo

corao into my possession and now prosent them to tho Institute. I proposo to enumorato them, and offer a few passing remarks upon their contents. I. Nine sheet alirv-nacs for tho yeara 18-12, ISi I o-O-O, I.S.MM. Tiio >.rie o' 1542 is called " Moody's it ;>>■:■.! Almaii.v, , ' and purports to bo the first n'm;in.\.; ever priir j<l in New Zealand. It •■":,: .in:: th'.: D.'iin- , and addresses of over a '■iMi'rcd }fv"' ■■■■ finn.'i in business in Auck[:i;, ■ ,v. .;1,-,.r l::-.., and it is sad to think !,,>.. ■:■.■■, ~r ;i., :■-. re still in our niidut, 13rown - ■ ' ' .musii'ii ' ■ ivid Nathan, James Wil '•■'.- .v,i bini';' I'olleii, Thomas Outhwaite, i, u ,:.,-|... ; .-.•!.,• :crj \V. Goodfollow, James George, Thomas Henderson, XV. Swainson, aro about the only representatives of that long list. In IS4sancl'-lG tho Government appear to have published an almanac for themselves, copies of which aro herewith. '2. For the benelit of tho statisticians of the Institute I present tho following:—(1) A return o£ Customs revenue collected at the various ports in New Zealand on wines, spirits and tobacco in the yeara 1543 and 184-1. '(2) Aroturnof tho British population in New Zealand in tho years IS-10 to IS 11. (•'!) A- return of tho Government expenditure in 1544, amounting to under £38,000. (-1) A return of tho mines workod in New Zealand in February, 18-15, being principally copper and manganese, (5) Return of trade between Now .South Wales and "'•• w Zealand for the years from IS2O to •-• ;2, (0) Koturn of tho colonial revenue : . expenditure for tho nino months from ■-■- January to 30th September, 1815. (7) • ■:'- financial statements from January, iv-.:., to December, 1555. (S) Three Go- .. .:. nent debenture forms for £5, £50, and ■'',;■ respectively. They had already in days initiated tho great borrowing : '■ • , though on a modest .scale (9) The : ■ "1. report of the New Zealand ISanking I i'■-. : l '-..ny, which gives an interesting history in,' .'.-.-bank, and recommends tho inimedi- :-.'.• .!.".solution of the company. That is f d.iici IS-15, at which time the liabilities of : ;.!:■ i. ..: c wore only £7003, their assets being . :.!.■. :)Y.. They had only .C-175 of notu.-s in ' :>■ ■:!:..:.m, £712S of deposits, and £10,-152 1.. 1 .L..oeu on bills and mortgages. (10) A copy of the original prospectus of tho A'civ Zedlander newspaper ISIS. (11) A return, evidently compiled about IS-13 or 181-1, of tho newspapers which had up to that time been published in Now Zealand, giving tho dates of their respective births and deaths, namo of reputed editors, and their circulation. 3. Tho next series of documents which 1 havo to present you with is of documents connected with tho foundation of the colony and Heko's war in tho North :—(1) A copy of the Treaty of Waitangi, printed about the time the treaty was made, at the Mission press at Pahia, which is, I believe, now scarce. (2) Ho Wakapuakanga by the Governor, also printed at the Mission press at Pallia. (3) The Governor's address t<. tho chiefs at Waimate, 2nd Sept., 1544, and their replies. (-1) Governor Fitzroy's proclamation of 15th Jan., 18-15, in Knglish aim Maori, offering a reward of £100 for the apprehension of Heko, to which it is said that Heke retorted by a similar reward for tho apprehension of the Governor. (5) A native address by tho Governor, dated 24th March, 1844. (f>) The proclamation of martial law iu, and for GO miles round, the Bay of Islands, dated 2Gth April, IS-15. (7) A proclamation of the same date, assuring the public that, as soon as the Queen's authority was re-established, all rights of those who had not gone into rebellion would bo recognised. (8) Of the same date, a proolamatiou of the blockade of the Pay <jf Islands. (9) A proclamation of amnesty t> those who would retire from the rebels, dated 20th Sept., 1545. (10) A curious circular, addressed to the Civil S-rviee, warning them against duelling; the reason for that circular 1 leave others to explain. (11) A circular to the Civil Servants enjoining civility to the public ; which would scateely bo out of place even in these days. •1. 1 have now to present to you a series" of charts and plans, some of which may, I fancy, prove not only interesting, but useful. (1) A chart of tho harbour of Auckland from Auckland to the Saudspit, then called Prince Regent's Inlet, published in Sydney in 1539. (2) A plan of tho town of Auckland, without date, but evidently of a date anterior to the plan which has been adopted. It is, I fancy, what is called Felton Mat thews' plan, and shows a large amount of prevision which, I think, some of our local bodies might have wisely availed themselves of. (3) A chart of the Waitcmata Harbour in.-vlo in IS-10 by JI.M.S. Hritomarfc. On the back of that chart is a very interesting report of experiments made in ISSO in Franco as to ihe comparative strength and flexibility of kauri, Florida pine, aud liiga pine. (-1) A woodcut from the J llu.itmlcd JVcw.i of -what Auckland looked like whilst tho first intake in front of Fort-3trcet was being made. (5) A chart of Manukau Harbour m.-.de in 1844 by Mr. Ormsby. (0) Six plans of the native pahs of Motutnpu, Okaihau, Oliuowai, and Ruapekapeka, and of the route taken by the troops in thir march to attack the latter puh. 5. Tho last lot of documents which 1 have to present to you is of a lighter and more amusing character. (1) A voting paper in favour of Colonel Wyuyard as lirst Superintendent of Auckland, and headed

" Unity and Peace." (jow much of uaity and peace we have had since then, most of you know. (2) A Parliamentary squib, setting forth a set-to extraordinary between " Pedagogos the Greek and Gibbon the Wide Awake." (3) Uy liming squibs, en tituled "The House tint Hay Built," ar.d "The Illustrious Stranger," which to old settlers will no doubt bring back reminiscences of old times. (-1) A couple of Progress chaunts of a somewhat dreary description. (5) X r ive programmes of public dinuers in those early .times, illustrating how they did things then. One is of a St. Andrew's Day dinner in 1851, another of tho farewell dinner to Sir George Grey in 15">.'i, another of a farewell dinner to W. Urown, ! sq., in 1555, another of a St. Andrew's Day dinner in 1553, and the lifth of a dinner to the captain and officers of the Pandora, oil their departure from New Zealand in 185 U. X o'oserve that our friend John Logan Campbell is almost the onlj survivor of those named at the earliest of those social meetings. Ladies and gentlemen, what will it be with us some 20 or 30 years hence ? (0.) 1 close this series by a playbill of private theatrijals at Government ilouse, in lSu'O —worthy of remembrance from the fact that two of the actons (members of the Assembly) married two of tho aetrcssec soon after. —

The Chairman eaid he U:lt sure that all prosent would concur in tho opinion th.. Mr. Gillies deserved their warmest thanks for the highly interesting paper ho '*ad read, and also for the valuable and curie us papers and documents he had presented to the .Museum. They were curiosities which would be of increasing value year after year. Sow; of the events to which the papers referred had t:\kon place before he (tho speaker) arrived in tho colony, and in others of those of more recent date ho had tak-rn part. If no remarks regarding the rare collection nil the table wero offered at that meeting, he hoped that at the next those of the. actors iu those bygone scenes who wore yet amongst them, would favour them with a narrative of the historic events of which they preserved a recollection.

The other papers read were one by Mr. J. A. Pond, on the presence or JVickol in the Auckland district, and one by Mr. F. G. Kwington, upon " Reason of the Lower Animals."