MELBOURNE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 384, 14 March 1863, Page 5

MELBOURNE.

(from our own correspondent.)

Bth March, 1863,

Owing to the approach of winter, and the absence of late of any of those sensational statements, which a lew months ' hack produced so much excitement, the efflux of population from here to your gold fields is beginning to perceptibly decrease. Yet, even now a stream of emigration of considerable magnitude is flowing on, though small in comparison with that which set in soon .after the Dunstan fields were opened. In addition to the regular steamships in the trade, there are now six vessels of various tonnage on the berth for New Zealand; these are the Joshua Bates, Andrew, Eli Whitney, Hydra, Red Jacket, and—as soon as she arrives—the Blue Jacket Three of these are however laid on ibr cargo. AH are advertised to sail within a fortnight of the present time; but little dependence can however be placed upon the advertised date of sailing, and their unpuno tuality in this respect may almost be regarded a3 a kind of thermometer of the number of persons leaving here. Two or three ships have of late been over and over again most vexatiously postponed, and the unfortunate passengers (who know from the experience gained by the notorious Maupertius swindle that they can hope for no redress,) have to bear their disappointment as philosophically as they cm—not that they forget to give vent to their feelings in language which admits of no double interpretation. It is principally for this reason that so many prefer travelling by the punctual though higher-priced steamers; and till the owners, or rather the charterers, can be brought to see the short-sightedness of this ship-detaining policy, this preference is likely to be continued

The trade between here and Otago continues remarkably brisk, and large shipments of all kinds of goods, particularly of provisions, are leaving by every vessel; and from the regular and. speedy means of transit which exists between the two countries, there is little fear of this trade falling off.

The Alhambra arrived here on the 4th March, but bringing little gold and no important news, her arrival created no excitement,

The interest and excitement c.iused by the Ilanify and O'Furrell case, is beginning to subside, and the public , mind is now on the gui vive for some other nine days' wonder. In this it will be shortly gratified by another libel case, to which I have previously referred, that of Dr Macadam v. the Argus —the latter haviug, as most of your readers will remember, charged the doctor with having a " wee drap in his cc," or, in plain English, being drunk when the bones of the explorers were placed in their respective coffins. I hear that as many as forty-three witnesses have been subpoened, and the cause is expected to be one of the most exciting we have had, not even barring the O'Farrell case. The Argus has put in a plea of justification; and the attempts to prove the' sobriety or inebriety of the doctor, will most likely cause some amusement. The case is expected to come on in the early part of the ensiling week. . : Thanks to the vigilance of the police, the damaged tea, ex Kate Hooper, concerning which I have previously written, is still in bond, and the buyer ia beginning slowly to find out that "Honesty is the best policy," even in tea dealing. As the expenses of storage will soon amount to a considerable sum, the owner, no doubt, will shortly make a move of some kind, but how I do not clearly see, unless he intends to remain quiet for some time, and then, when, the watch on his movements is relaxed, suddenly remove or re-ship the poisonous rubbish.

The arrival of the Russian corvette the Bogatyr here, making the second of his Imperial Majesty's fleet that has ever entered Hobson's Bay, has caused some little sensation; and some of our officials have had. ho little quizzing, from the fact that she was in a position to bombard Melbourne almost before her arrival was known. She is a fine vessel of nearly 2,000 tons, carries fifteen guns of heavy calibre, one of which is a pivot gun, traversing on slides, in the fore part of the ship, and-; bears the flag of Rear-Admiral Popoff. Thanks to the courtesy of this gentleman, the public have been allowed to inspect the vessel and numbers have availed themselves of this privilege. From an hour or so which I spent on board the vessel, I think the Czar of Russia has reason to be proud of his fleet, if the Bogatyr may be taken as a criterion of the remainder. I have never, even on board an English man-of-war, seen everything in better order, or the different appointments more scrupulously clean, and in every department there is sufficient evidence to show tl>at' the: training of the crew and officers has not been neglected. Though I noticed that many of the improvements in English ships of war have been adopted, yet in a few particulars they are behindhand. The old-fashioned wedges for elevating the guns are still adhered to, and the apparatus by which the pivot gun is worked appeared to be capable of considerable improvement. The whole of her armament is carried on the upper deck, and the'tween decks have thusa very roomy appearance. Her engines of 300 nominal horse power, appear to be in the highest possiple state of efficiency. They are constructed on the well-known trunk principle of Perm of Greenwich, and so far as I could judge, are well made and put together. The cabins ot the captains are very neatly fitted up, and the presence of numerous paintings and a piano show that there is a considerable degree of refinement among some of the officers. The comfort and: health of the crew seem to have_ been studied, and the arrangements for providing them with food deserve commendation. So far as I could form an opinion of their physiognomies, there seemed to be a large number of Fins among them. Had it not been for their strange dialect and slightly different dress, they might easily have been taken -at a dis-. tance for an English crew, from their jollity and rollicking behaviour. With the usual luck of their English confreres, several have managed to get into scrapes during their furlough on shore. Both officers and crew show every possible civility to their visitors, though the difference in language prevents the entente cordiale from being so perfect as it otherwise would. The Bogatyr leaves here early in the week when she will proceed to Sydney,, where the Admiral expects to find another vessel to which he will transfer his flag.- . , • ; Some of the "baser sort" amongst us are beginning to follow the example of the garotting portion of the English population, and the first attempt in this line has just come ta my knowledge. Particulars I have not heard, beyond that an individual was proceeding* through the Richmond paddockj when he was pounced upon by three fellows in the most approved garotting style, and would speedily have been eased of bis cash, had not assistance fortunately been at hand by which the garotters were frustrated and I believe captured. Such a result will, it is hoped, show these rascals the little hope they have of carrying I this game on successfully here,

The efforts to introduce salmon ova into the colony have again been unsuccessful. Ihe Montreal arrived here o day or two back from Quebec, and her captain reports, that shortly before leaving, a quantity of ova was placed on board; he had not been to sea more than two or three days before the whole died. The experiments seem to have been hastily carried ■-oiuvand the failure is clearly attributable to the-want of sufficient arrangement and care ■ "for reception of the ova. However, though .this adds another to the many' failures, there -..is- little: *to discourage anyone by its 111----1 SUX S3.- ■ '>.'■■ ', The -subscription in aid of the widows ami " qrplvan's'ofthe .Orpheus' officers and crew is " 'iiot being Very liberally responded to, though ' lists' are at all the banks and in the hands of V some Of most influential citizens. Many think • that the sufferers by the unfortunate Citizen and Comet have prior claim?, and that charity * ought in justice to begin at home. The contest for the south-western province promises to be n close one, though the events of the last few days show that Mr .Tenner is becoming the favourite. The nomination took place at North Geelong yesterday, in the presence of , about 250 spectators. Both candidates gave a short sketch of their political ' views, and were more patiently listened to than is generally the . case at this kind of meeting. When the show of hands took place, over two hundred were " a favor of Mr Jenner, and about half a dozen " we're held up for Mr Griffith, upon which the latter gentleman demanded a poll, which is to ■ take place in the course of the week. ■-. :The Assembly are making some progress ■with the Electoral Act, and last night managed . to dispose of some of the postponed clauses. " The clause that candidates may consent to the election of any one candidate without a poll was properly negatived without even a division. • The clause relating to the fit and proper person to exercise the rights of voting caused much discussion, and the small hours were ' reached before it was compromise'! thus—that1 a miner on applying for a right should also * obtain a voting right. The long postponed Intercolonial lantt •> Conference is likely to come off at last, Mr ' O'Shanassy stating in the House last night that arrangements would be made for its holding^ before the1 present month had expired. The " people's member" Mr Don is causing considerable amusement by the attentive way in which he attends to his con- ' stituent's interests—night after night finding : him •in the House wrapped in " Nature's sweet restorer, balmy sleep," and utterly oblivious of all things mundane and especially of politics. "