AUCKLAND.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 827, 15 August 1864, Page 5

AUCKLAND.

(fbom. our own correspondent.) Wednesday, 3rd August. There appears every likelihood that peace is to be brought about at. Taivranga, if one may judge of the number of rebel natives who have come in and surrendered, and the tone of those who yet remain opposed to us. Since I last wrote, a few more natives have come in; and it is stated that William Thompson was desirous of surrendering, if he could first have a short " Kbrero" with his Excellency the Governor, to' satisfy his mind upon a few points which have been troubling him for some time. He is said to have quite recovered from the serious illness from which he b.2s been suffering for sometime past; and now to be thoroughly^ alive' ; ' to the advisability of submitting to the Queen's authority, providfd he can do this" with, pood ■ grace, make his submission pa*s off with 6clat before a real live Governor, and escape from the penalties anH punishments for his misdeeds as easily as aid Wi Tako, the renowned, at the hands of Mr Fox, a very short time 'ago. His Excellency the Governor appears thoroughly impressed with the idea that there is no mistake aboiit Thompson's determination to surrender ; and he is going down to Tauranga to-day in the Miranda, being, accompanied by "General Sir D. A. Cameron, K.C.B, and P'rsonal staff, consisting of Lieutenant-Colonel M'Nfeill, A.D.C., and Heutenant St. Hill, A.D.C The General is at present at the Kawau, but the Miranda will call there for him, and the party will then proceed direct to TauraDga. The general steff will proceed to Tauranga at a later (lav-, ia H.M.S. Pa!eon,: as it is expected 'the visit will last, for some time; The Hon. F. Whitaker, the Attorney G-aneral, and the Hon. W. Fox Colonial Secre'ary, will also leave for Tauvanga to-day, on board the colonial gunboat Sandfly; and it is understood a lesal gentleman will accompany them to draw"up any formal documents that may be necessary in their dealings with -the natives. It will thus;be seen from the.extra- j ordinary arrangements made for receiving the snbmission of the rebel natives, that very important results are expected io arise therefrom; and as it seems to Joe generally believed that. Thompson and many of his, followers will submit to the clemency of the Governor, we may, with some show of reason, en--tertain the hope that in this Province at least, we shall not have much longer to wait for the blessings of peace and all its concomitant advantages. It is also to be hoped that tie peace, when made by the Governor, may be such as the Ministers on the snot can give their full sanction to, and there will be little doubfc then , that it. will be ore which the colony can approve of, and which will prove a lasting one. His Excellency's visit to the inland of tha Kawau has been mainly owing to his anxiety to have comfortable quarters provided for the Maori prisoners on the Marion hulk, whom it has been decided to take thither. For this purpose the hulk was loosened from her moorings yesterday morning and towed down to the Kawau by the steamer Beautiful Star. The Maoris will have a piece of ground set apart for cultivation by them, and to all intents and purposes will he as free from restraint as when cultivating their native wilds, and, according to Mr Cardwell, pighuhting in the fastnesses around thc-ir settlements. There are to be no soldiers keeping guard over them —the detachment cfWaikato militia, which has for months past had the honor of watching their movements on the Marion, having bpen withdrawn, and is now on its way to Port Waikato to join the regiment. From the camp up the Waikato, no news has come to hand of the presence of rebels in their vicinity having been noticed, and it may be reasonaMy expected that the Maoris yet remaining in thfse districts are too busy attending to their cultivations to give our troops iiiuch occupation at present. From Goromandel, information has come to hand that all the claims continue to be worked satisfactorily. The Southern Gross Gold Mining Company, No. 4, has racommenced crushing, but the result has not yet been made known. The White Swan claim has been turning out some good stone; and in the Albion claim they have been obtaiaing B|ozs of gold from about 18^-lbs of specimens. "The present population about the diggings numbers about 350 persons, , and within a radius of twenty miles, more than I 500. The Union Bank of Australia shipped for Sydney, by the steamer Prince Alfred, which left here on Monday, 2210z9 lldwts of gold dust. Whilst on mining operations, it may be mentioned that the Provincial Government have determined to test the Bay of Islands coal; the land on which the coal ia found having1 been recently purchased by his honor tHe Superintendent. Two practical miners from Leeds, with their wives and AT THE ROOMS OF

faunae?, have biea se'it up 111 the (ieueral Camecon to Russell, employed by the Government to thoroughly prospect the coal deposit. They are to l)f unddr the direction of the .Resident Magistrate. The miners in question ore practical men, and will be able to form a correct opinion, or at least their researches will enable the public to iorm a coirect judgment of th<; value of these coa!s. They are a cessible, and situated at Auckhnd is at present it would be of the utmost conseqiunce to procuie a regular supply of fuel. TUe Wailmihoi pits do not seem to be of any servico in supplying Auckland with coals, and the sooner we are able to look elsewhere in the province for a steady supplyof this commodity the better it will be. Ib is impossible to state when the works for the Auckland and Th'ury railway will be commenced; but the initiatory steps may almost be said to have been made on Monday, ns some 'mm were on that day engiged in boring on ihe elevated | ground between the top of Parnell and ivowraarket. It will be necessary to construct a tunnel under this, coming out at the head of the Rully. separating Parnell from the Domain ; and the boring was for discovering the nature of ihe ground through which the tunnel will pass. The character of the ground was clay and rotten sand-stone, of wHcb thfre were about 40ft. in one place. The tunnel, it is said, will be about one-eighth of a mile in length. The Commissioners to decide upon t'>e seat of Government, namely, Sir Francis Murphy, Mr Dockc, and Mr Gunn, will leave Auckland this morning by the Lord Ashley, their destination being Wellington. A Permanent Building and Investment Society has sprung into existence here; aud although we have three or four building clubs already in full working operation, it has received a fair amount of public support. The shares are LlO each, payable by 10s per month, aud on the opening night 204 were taken up, and a total of L 493 18s received on account. i There has been a collision between the s.s. Susannah Cuthbert and the schooner Sylph, the latter suffering considerable damage, but fortunately no lives were lost. An inquiry is to be held; Foley's circus still continues to draw most successfully At the Prince of Wa'es Theatre, Mr Shiels Barry and Mr Mauly are starring it, and have been very successful. 10 a.m. The New Zea'ander's correspondent at Maungatautari thus writes :~ Maungatautari, 24th July. The natives hereabout seem tacitly to have made a truce with us concerning the-, occupation of the Waikato. The chief Teraihi, of the Jtfgatihaua, Thompson's tribe, is not averse to driving in bullocks from Matamato and the Piako fur sale to the Commissariat; and officers on shooting excursions after ducks or wild pigs, on meeting with natives parley with them on not uniriendly terms. The King, it; Matutaera still wars that title, i* about ten miles above Te Kopua, the Key. Mr Reid's station ou the Waipn. Rewi Maniapot.o is there also, with a considerable number of Tsranaki-natives, probably an embassage. The Waikato tribes appenr to consider the country conquered, as gone, and' have given over all idea of contesting its possession, unless they pet great assistance from Cook's straits, meaning Wangauui and Otaki, whici is not likely to be forthcoming. The leaders of the fanatic sect, the pai marire, are at Hangatiki, with Hewi and Matutaera, and are actually getting followers. They still profess to hold a charmed life against English lead and stepl. , The kiugites do not like the idea of the occupation of their land by military agriculturalists, and they swear vengeance against the surveyors who ■are* now cutting up their land. About a week since Maori spies were detected in the aurveyov's. camp, about four miles from this, on the eastern bsnk^of the Waikato, where the village is beisg laid out for the 3rd Segment of Waikato Militia. Major Heapy, whose party was unarmed, made application to Colonel Lyon for a covering party, and a small force under Lieut. Hensen has been sent to Cambridge," as the site of the village is called, and are now entrenching themselves there. This place is immediately below the first rapids of the Waikato.