AUCKLAND. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Otago Daily Times, Issue 159, 20 May 1862, Page 6

AUCKLAND. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Auckland, 9th May, 18C2. " Own Correspondents" had need have special cifts, to fit them for the arduous task of reversing the well known Horatian proverb, concerning the' mountain and its offspring, for making, iv short, if possible, "A Mouse somewhat ridiculous to bring forth a Mountain." Little, it may be, is this understood in Otago of to-dny, and, as little may it be understandable in the Auckland of to-morrow, but it may as well be frankly admitted, that hitherto it has needed but little demonstration. More brilliant times •eem however to be yet iv store, both for Auckland md its special news-collectors, and the dawn of these brighter days, even now, sheds some light upon this letfer; not indeed that there is much to tell of, as having happened, but, the prospect of such a condition seems both nearer and more certain than it has done hitherto. Before I say anything about the progress of the Native policy of our present Government, I may as well mention, that one of our city members of the Assembly, has resigned his sent, primarily, upon the ground of private business interfering with public ; and secondarily, as he has informed his Constituents, because he sees good reason for believing that Sir Gfor"-e Grey's policy will ittain the object which it aims at, although, "it may be by means which 1 c would hesitate to approve of, so that Ire thinks it may be better to withdraw, a reason which, although sneered nt by some nameless writer intheTveiO Zualandcr, seems nearly the same ns that given by Mr. Richmond for his own resignation. Since" my Ust letter, I took advantage of an Easter holiday to make a short excursion into the country, which enabled me to learn some more particulars of what was going on in that direclion, than I could otherwise have done. The most striking feature of that progress, is the formation of the Military road towards the Waikato. This great work has approached nearly to its completion, nnd now, with the exception of a few short gaps where working parties have not had time to meet, presents the appearance of a splendidly-formed and metalled road, extending nearly twelve miles through a country for the ino«tpnrt exceedingly hilly, and densely wooded. The gaps which I have mentioned, ns existing in the metalling of this road, cannot, it is reared, be filled up this winter, on account of the rains, but a very short, time in the early spring will amply suffice for its completion as far. as the bunks of the Waikato river. .What Sir George may inteudtodo next is, of course, unknown to the public, or how far he may carry out his present system of road warfare. Some, indeed, say that the General is averse to this, but I hope that this report, so derogatory to his character for wisdom, is .without foundation. And, indeed, I can better believe that General (Jameron has conceived the desire'to emulate that worthy predecessor of his, to whose lot it fell io invade in like manner the'native glens of the Caraerons, and in whose honor the rude verses were composed, in the justice of which, we of New Zealand can well believe, viz. :—

" Had you s=een this line road before it was mivle, Yo" would lift mJ jour hands, aud bless General Wide.'" May such blessings, and if lie desire it, such a memorial, hand down General Cameron's name to the latest posterity. A stockade is now in course of erection at the further end of this road to servo as winter quartern for five hundred soldiers. Thus, we have already gained the advantage of establishing a powerful force upon the very outskirts of our territory, nor are the natives in the immediate neighborhood at all averse to their presence; on the contrary, the greatest wod will has generally prevailed between them. This happy state of things is subject, however, to interruptions sometimes of an amusing character. As, for instance, a f«w days ago, a Maori sold a pig to a soldier, received the money, and. like one of John Bunyan's characters, " went on his way, and they saw him no more." Shortly after, and before the pig was killed, (a Maori lady inaile her appearance and claimed the animal upon the ground that it was stolen fromher by the pilgiiin but just departed. The soldier folt some natural reluctance to believe this tale, and resisted the demand. The fiiir one endeavored to carry off the pig, The soldier held on by its leg. Her cries (and, perhaps, thp pig's), brought Maories to her assistance. Still the soldier he|d on, and the pig could not be rescued. Seeing this, the natives took their resolution, and one of them his seat upon tho pig, so shutting out all hope from the now hot mid angry ■ soldier, who thereupon drew his bayonet and stabbed, not indeed the Maori, but the pig. The uproar who shall describe ? The yells of the pi?—its fair owner—and her friends —must bo imagined, for language would fail to convey any adequate conception of its intensity. Nor wns it until after a judicial examination and the delivery of five shillings and the carca.se, that the fair one's feelings were at all soothed. Upon the Upper Waikato, where the Maori King party have their stronghold, the feeling is said to be very different, and unmitigated distrust seems to exist of all that the Government may do or propose. Mr. Grorst, the Commissioner of that district, has just left Auckland, having come down, it is said, to consult the Government in consequence of the prevention by the' natires of all exercise of authority by him. ' The cas«, as reported, was very glaring, being that of a half-caste man whom he liad committed to prison for contempt ot court, and who was immediately set at liberty by the natives, who had'probably induced him to contemn the court s authority in the first instance. The man had always been looked upon rather as European than Maori. If this be true—and there seems no reason to doubt it— it does .not show that the-system is a, failure; but, rather that it has already proved bo'far successful as to rouse 'the most intense fear and jealousy in the [ minds of its' opponents, who may indeed, it appears to me, be" expected to become more bitterly and openly, hostile to it, until, left utterly alone, they sink at once and for ever. This seems the more probable, from the fact that Mr. Worst says), ho does not expect to sec any desire to fight with us manifested by them ; but lie docs expect, ere long, to Bee them fighting amongst themselves.

With regard to our diggings, I am happy to say that the news is decidedly of a more encouraging character ; and the whole question appears on the ere of a so'ution, andono as favorable as we could well de«iro. In my last, I told you that the Government rations wore about to be withdrawn, and that I r.illier Io >k«l forward to the event, as likely to test the matter. They have now benn vithdnivn-froni all but a iuleet few, who are engaged in deep" sinkings, and who are to get assistance fur another fortnight. Tho effect, as I expected, lias been good ; much more work is now being done, and much greater success has been, and is the result. In the alluvial divings, very good success has been obtiiiue.l by several pit-Lies ; and some of the finds have even been what wo may term rich. I hear, indeed, ofno <!is:i)i|ioinlei.l diggers leaving Onroinandel now ; aud Air. Turlon, tha magistrate, states that many, are now preparing to pais the winter there, by putting up better huls, and so on. Ons peculiarity of the alluvial diggings, however, is that most of the sold found is in. pieces, mixed with quartz ; the gold, however, bearing; the large proportion of, from CO to 75 per cent, of the weight. It is said, upon apparently good authority, one of these pieces weighed 11 pounds. Encouraging as this is, it yet seems to poiut to'tlie quartz as the real source of wealth for these diggings; and perhaps the most premising sign of all, for Coromanuel's prospects now, is that Murphy's party, who have been following the leader for so long a time, have at last got to gold-bearing quartz, from which they can extract at the rate of 2A ounces to the fain. They are, consequently, in the highest possible spirits, expecting daily to come to something even much richer. This, indeed, seems very pronable, from the character of all the detached pieces which have been found in the alluvium. I hope in my next to give ■ you news of the fulfilment of these not unreasonable hopes. In the meantime, however, I have no hesitation in deprecating a rush of diggers to Corornandel, as the winter has now fairly f.ct in, accompanied, as is always the case here, with a good deal of rain, which will, no doubt, much retard operations ; and as, moreover, the native difficulty—with respect to the land of the late chief " Paul"—seems yet unsettled. [ should lather' advise them to await better weather and more complete information than I can yet afford them. The Auckland Provincial Council came to a staudstill on the evening of the 7th, after signalising- their •approaching departure by one or two acta of foliy surpassing even their former selves (if possible)—ono of them being the appointment of two of their number who were perhaps, from their violence and general impracticability, the most distinguished of their distinguished body, as commissioners of public worts, to superintend things of which they knew nothing, and to act with the Superintendent whom they had systematically abused in the coarsest and most stupid manner; and lastly, they refused to grant £1000 demanded by the Provincial Engineer to supplement the former estimated cost of repairing roads, because the Executive were unable to tell them upon which pieces of road tho money was fo be expended, a thing which of eourse_ no man could say, until the effect of the winter's rain makes it apparent. So now they are happily shelved, and may bear home with them the Sroud conviction, that of all the stupid c mncils which Tow Zealand has given birth to, and as tho poet says, " Heaven has given our share " —they stand preeminent for tht systematic and thorough manner in which they h:.vo outraged common sense, common decency, and even common stupidity. A more pleasant subject is the opening of a new concert hall, of a size and appearance greatly in advance of any frmcr attempt of the kind in this city. Its length is 100 feet, its breadth.4o feet, and its height 27feet. Tt was opened with' a concert for the benelit of Mr. Joseph Browne, professor of music, and conductor of the Choral Society of Auckland The audience, which numbered nearly SOO, greatly 'exceeded anytime which could have been seen in Auckland before, as no other public hall could have contained anything like the number. This, I .hope and believa, is only the fir»t of a number of fire buildings which are about to take the place of the exceedingly unmetropolitan-looking buildings which have hitherto been our best architectural efforts. The census returns of this Province are now made up, and show an increase both in population and material prosperity which we may be called wondersul when :we consider the crisis through which ,the Province has so lately passed.- ' With 'war and rumours of war / around us, and rich gold fields at no great distance from us, both causing a very considerable exodus from tho Province, it would not have been surprising had-we remained stationary, or even retrograded in these respects. The results, how ever, I have good reason to believe, are as follows : — European Population of the whole Province, exclusive of the Military and their Families. Males. Females. 'Total. In 1831 .., 13,494 10,926 24,420 „ 1858 ... 18,177 Increase ... C,243 Population of the City of Auckland and Suburbs, included in the above. Males, Females. Total. In 1801 ... 5222 4984 . 10,203 ~ 1853 ... 7,330 Increase ~ 2,fe70 Land Fenced and.under Cultivation. Acres in Crop and Sown Acres Fenced. with Grasses. 1801 ... 112,318 . 75,916 1858 ... 00,367 00,201 ... 21,0-31 15,715 Stock. . Horned Horses. Cattle. Sheep. Pips. Poultry. 1801 .. 5G31 30.483 07,800 12,020 82,8Urf 1858... 38rfO 31,730 58,702 11,4(51 notgiven Increase 1742 4,753 9,014 1,159 Considering the enormous increase in the number of cattle and' sheep; slaughtered, consequent on the increase of the population by immigration and otherwise, and the presence of some four thousand additional soldiers with their followers, the increase of slock is remarkable, thero having been no importation. When tho act for prevention of pleuro-pneumonia was under discussiun iii the House of Representatives last session, many doubts were expressed'of-tho possibility that the Province could, without importation,: supply the i increased doinand for meat.