AVAR MOVEMENTS. (From the Auckland Register, March 11.)

Otago Witness, Issue 489, 13 April 1861, Page 10

AVAR MOVEMENTS. (From the Auckland Register, March 11.)

There have been several arrivals during the past week but no intelligence of interest from any quarter.- Our later English vessels are charged more with munitions of war than of commerce — the Sevilla, Norwood, and Bosworth having brought us extensive supplies of great guns and small arms, mortars, howitzers, Armstrongs, and rifles, witli large quantities of eight and ten inch shells, case shot, and almost every variety of modern projectiles. For days past our streets have been crowded with Gommissariat carts and fatigue parties transporting those munitions from the ships to Fort Britomart, from whence they have again been forwarded to Onehunga for transmission to New Plymouth, for which port H.M.S. Cordelia is expected to sail this morning.

Much interest prevails with respect to the Armstrong guns, and the service they are likely to render when brought into action. The number of guns received is seven, six of which belong to Captain Mercer's battery, the seventh having been forwarded to the Military Store-keeper. They are 12-pounders, with a large supply of their own peculiar shell and shot, both for store, and in charge of the men belonging to the battery. The shells, • which we have seen bear a good deal of resemblance, in shape, to the Enfield bullet; they are enclosed in an outer case of lead to fit the rifling of. the gun ; this case gives way ,when fired, and the forty-niae segments of which the shell

is composed ofs forced forward, thereby greatly enhancing the chances of death and destruction. .

The guns themselves, with th& exception of one, have not been unpacked, but remain in their well secured cases, which are puttied at every seam. Half a battery of three guns' go on at once to Taranaki, the other half batf efy remaining in Auckland.

If we are correctly informed, it has already been discovered that the purchase of Hbrses for this battery in Sydney, if not an egregious ■ mistake, has been at least a premature step. One hundred" and eighty horses have been bought at, as we are told, an average price of £35 per head, and the Light of the Age, a ship of 1300 tons register, haß been chartered, and is now on her way hither with them, The lowest amount of this purchase, supposing all the horses to arrive in safety, cannot be much under £10,000 ; but there are other expenses to be incurred here, where paddocks for their keep are required, and where, they must undergo the necessary training. It is surprising that the authorities in England should have made no inquiry whether horses could not have been procured in New Zealand. A reference to the Colonial Blue Books would have made them acquainted with the number of horses in this Province ; and had Colonels Nugent or Laye, or other officers of the 58th regiment been consulted, the authorities at the_ War Office would have learnt what,w'e believe, has now been discovered, that horses are unsuited for the transportation of guns in the broken ground around Taranali ; indeed we learn that poles are being fitted to the gun . carriages in order to the employment of millocks. ■ • " '

It is to be regretted that so heavy an outlay' should have been incurred, but possibly the stud may yet be turned to other and better account.

It is quite a sight to visit Fort Britomart, its yards, sheds, and storehouses— all are filling with warlike engines and missiles. The eight and ten inch mortars, with their massive beds, are stupendous pieces of ordnance, and it requires no little amount of toil and trouble to get them into position. The howitzers which arrived by the Sevilla have been urgently called for, and we presume they will be speedily, and we hope energetically, at work on the Waitara frontier.

On Saturday, the Albert Barrack Square, where the Artillery are camped, and their guns and carriages packed, was crowded like a fair — the curious of both sexes flocking to have a look at the *far-famed Armstrong gun, one of which had been mounted in the course of the day. Nothing could surpass the courtesy of both officers and men in explaining the operations of loading, sighting, and working the gun, which is a beautiful piece of mechanism, perfect in every detail, and highly finished. It is a 12-pounder, and weighs 8 cwt. 2 qrs. 12 lbs. The charge of powder is 1£ lbs., and the shot is used either as shot or shell, as occasion may require. It is in lead, with an iron disc at the butt end, from whence seven circles formed of seven pieces of iron, or 49 segments in all, taper towards a lion-faced apex, into which a plug is screwed, either with a fuse, if charged as a ihell, or without, if fired as a shot. The powder and shot are placed in at the heel of the gun, and then a plug fitted with a vent, in which to place the tube, is dropi edin through an aperture on the upper part of the gun, the breach is then screwed up against this plug, and the gun is ready for action. In the event of being compelled to abandon the gun, no spiking is required, all that is needed is to carry awaythte plug, when the gun is rendered totally useless

Militia Notice. — Placards have been issued calling upon trained men to volunteer. Lest the purport of this notice should not be generally understood, we beg to state that those men who are inclined to volunteer, and who attend drill from 6 to 8 o'clock in the morning, will be paid each day 3s. 6d. for sergeants, 3s. for corporals, and 2s. 6d. for privates, for their two hours of morning parade.