AUCKLAND. (FROM THE DAILY TIMES CORRESPONDENT.) September 2.3,1862.

Otago Witness, Issue 567, 11 October 1862, Page 2

AUCKLAND. (FROM THE DAILY TIMES CORRESPONDENT.) September 2.3, 1862.

1 take advantage of the Aii edalc steamer's departure from the Maniikdii, iv tho morning, for Dunedin, to communicate what items of new.s have come to luuid since the despatch of my last communication. First and foremost then, let me placo the arrival in our harbor of two of tinvessels chvrfccrcd for the conveyance to our shores of the large body of Nou-ConfonnisK Shortly aftor the the <l>»spitch of my la.l letter to you, the good s'..ip Matilda. Wat ten bach, with the head quarters of tho lomr-cxpeote 1 Non-Con-formist body, macb its appearance in harbor, with 352 soub on board, on their way to their special settlement, at Mangawai, where .'in cxtomive tract of laud has been set apart by the Government for their use. Their arrival litre r.ativaily excited a little stir and commotion amon^ Uic religious as well as lay fraternities oc .the city, and on the third day of their .slay, un address of welcome was presented in the name of the inhabitants of the city to the new arrivals. The proceedings called forth the liveliest interest in the city, several of the leading tradesmen closing their shops, and the ships in harbor being profusely bedecked with flays. The addresa was expressive of tho interest the old settlers took iv the prospective advancement of New Zealand, by the extension and foundation of new settlements ; and whilst predicting the ultimate success, of tho now settlement of AlbevHimd, if conducted on the principles laid down for the guidance of the emigrants, did not conceal the diinedties and tae impediments which would ever be found ob-,tuict-ing the progress in tho formation of a new colony. Several addresses were deliu-rod in support of tho welcome. Mr Lamb, a pettier in the Kiiipara District, and a future near neighbour to the emigrants, detailed a little of his experience in colonial Hie. Honiara, a native assessor in the same disfrie 1 -. cordially weloo-ned them to the hind, and expressed his desire that that part, of tiie country should be colonized by IV kebivs. Mr W R Brume, the conductor of the settlement nndlhe Hey s. Edgar, Ihe future minister, whilst expressing their h-'artfolt tlnuiks for the cordial milliner in which t!i",y had been revived, adverted to the bright hones w.iieh reigned ii>,ihc breas's of the emigrants to overcome every natural ob«taclc which should impede their onward course ; and to found a city on the Oruawhuro which should soon make itself noted. The interesting proceedings were" brought to a close by a prayer of thanksgiving for safe conduct so far, and solicitations for divine ( asbistance on the eliorts of the emigrants for the time to come/

The ship Hanover, with the second detachment of the Nonconformist body. 340 iv number, came into harbor on the night of the 17th of September. Steps were promptly taken by the Committee who had tho management of their location on the lan], to deport them to the head of tho Waitemuta, an. l the paddle-wheel steamer Tasmauiau MaiJ, was laid on for the transport worje.

We have news of a varied character, relative to the proceedings of the natives, At Wai pa the llev. Mi: Morgan has been challenged by the native congregation, during divine service, as to the propriety of having inserted in our form of church service a prayer for King Potatau 11. and royal family. The question was well put — seeing that Europeans prayed for the Queen and royal family, why should they not do the same for their King ? In those portions of the service where the Queen was mentioned, the native congregation refused to respond. Information 1 has been received that a chief has killed Tin? wife- ; butit is uncurtain what steps will be taken to bring the criminal to justice, being aware that • in a preceding iustanco of homicide no proceedings were instituted against the murderer. It is vaguely hinted that should any attempt be made to capture the chief, his friends will fight to the la-it. The process of road-making in the Bay of Plenty has ensued in a dispute among the natives, and protection has been sou«:ht from the King by one of the chiefs interested in the quarrel. A King Hag was granted ; and some Kingites have been despalehed to tluj scene of commotion. The road at T'aglari is progressing favourably under the spirited exertions" oi' the Government engineers, though tho natives, who arc mainly relit-cl upon to do the woik, do not seem over-anxious to make it a fait acrompli. The labour is monotonous to their sprighfiy and unsettled habits, and they do as little as eon- ■ venient to secure the payment/>'f money granted to tbeni — wo will not sny earned. At Wan/aiei a native named Ilirin Tamehana has been found guilty of burglary, committed at the house of Mr Wm." Bedlington, Fern Hill, on the 6th Sept. It appears Mr. Bedlington was ab.-cnt at his camp in the bush at the time ; Mrs. Bedlington being the only person in the house. About 11 o'clock at night on tho date stated, the j\[aori went to the house, knocked an 1 asked for admission, Sirs. Bedlington however, niu<le no reply, but .put out the light, anil the Maori then wont round to the front door, which is partially glazed, ami smashed three panes of glass. He then forced his body tbromjh the broken portion of tho door, when Mrs, Bedlington urn out by the back door, and made her way to the house of a neighbour, distant hali-a-mile. Mr. Bedlington returned home on the succeeding day, and found the furniture in his house tumbled about and much damaged. He subsequently found his wife at the neighbour's house, and gleaning from, her the facts of the case, at once put himself in communication with Manihera, the native assessor, who on going to the house picked up a straw hat which had belonged to the intruder, and taking from the broken door, some human hair which had apparently come from 'he head of the burglar, he started in pursuit and apprehended him. Prisoner acknowledged the bat was his; but said he had got so drunk after sclliug some pigs in the settlement on the day in question, that he was quite unconscious what had happened afterwards. lie was committed for trial to the Supreme Court, but subsequently liberated on bail. Whi'.st the trial in this case was proceeding, some person or pev&uiid entered Mr. Bcdlingtou's house and abstracted L 2, and the contents of the provision sale. A statement appeared in the Daily Southern Cross of the 20th Sept., that a large body of the King Nalivcs at Wainku had gone over to the Roman C itholic Church; with the view it is belioved of recommending themselves to' the .Emperor of the French, should the English come to hostilities with them. The Roman Catholic priests have for several years been strenuously Avorking to accomplish this desideratum, and the other day I had the opportunity of seeing a translation from the Maori language, of a pastoral letter addressed by the Right Rtv. Dr. Potnpallier Bishop of Auckland, to Malutacra Potatau, a native chief of Waikato, called "The King" by the natives. The Bishop, it appears, had been favored with the receipt of a letter from Potatau, and in answer rejoiced " because light has been shewn" to his eyes and to his heart. God spoke within the church by the mouth of tho bishops and priests. The letter continued — " Matutacra, it is then with grounded reason that my heart has felt great consolation, because thou hast adopted the doctrine and direction of the mother church — the church of the living God, of which church the nature has been more aud more explained to thee by the priest sent by me to thy country," and ended "by wishing to theo and to all thy tribes, the blessings which God gives to the persons Hving'in tho bosom of the moth civ church, Catholic, lloman. As a token also of my love, I send a new priest of mine for thee, and for the tribes of Waikato. My Vicar-General conducts him to you ; be all good to him, as a pastor for you all."

Tho news from Coromandel has not been of a very exciting nature since my last. There are certainly not so many diggers upon the ground as could be counted eve the Dunstnn rush- took place, but those who remain are a well-tried set of fellows, who are not in such a hurry to rush off- at a tangent, on the mere announcement of another gold-field being discovered, however difficult of- access, and insufficiently provided for the sustentatioa of life. So long as the diggers

find that quartz of the quality taken by Gibson's party from their leader, is obtainable, little fear cm be entertained of the diggings being deserted. A friend writing on the 3rd September, states that about slbs. weight of quartz had been added to the 170ozs. of last week. 1 ' But what stone ! Should there ever be found a, reef equal to that leader, he fears there would be danger " of g6ld becoming a drug in the market." An attempt has been made by the new coiners to take advantage of the labors of the older hands, and pick up gold without the labor ,of mining for it. It appears the leader spoken of crosses the high road of the creek, and the other Saturday night, a party of eight thieves betook themselves to this spot, and commenced digging on their own account, in the belief that two of the owners wore absent, and they would not consequently be heard or surprise I in their nefarious practice. GibiJon and Owens, ho.vover, two of the company, heard their picks, crept npon them, and succceled in capturing one of the thieves named John Ilagerty, who was tried for tho offence aud committed to Auckland Jail for two months. Oases like this, which would he called "night fossicking" in Austral! i, cannot be too severely punished, and no miner's claim would be secure were he not always at work or on the watch. The punishment under the circumstances may be considered light, but may have, the effect of deterring others from following in the nvil-pmcticc. The true value of Coroman.lcl can never be known until quarts-crushing machinery be at work. Even with the quartz now discovered, only from the Shore rc'f aud the leader? in the Driving Creek, a very different effect on the Coro niiindel share market would be produced by the crushing of ton weights to what pound crushing enn do for a country new to quartz speculations. It is, therefore, with great satisfaction 1 am now enabled to announce that the Kat-s with the whole of the machinery for Kevcn's reef has arrived here, an 1 the stamps, will doub;less,s>oon be at work at Commanded A s^iaft is being vigorously pushf.l iv the Fern Hill by Mr Cole — of Pupakura — and party, and it is confidently expected some good paying results will follow. The steamer Tasinanian MaM has been plying regularly between Coromandol and Auckland: On her first trip she returned with 130oz of clean gold, which had been crushed by hand. One of the partners of No. 13 claim brought to town 4 lbs of gold ciushed from 16 tons of quartz !

We hive been singularly free from accidents since my last, a. id the general news cannot be considered in anywise important. On l,hc 15th September a nurse named Anno Hart was committed upon the coroner's warrant to tike her trial, at ths Supreme Court, for poisoning an infant named Samuel D.iy, who had been placed under her charge. The deceased f.hild was only a week old, and on the FrHay night precedin'. its death, in consequence of not fa'ling to sleep a . ihe nur.se could wish, she administered to it six or seven drops ot" laudanum. Shu was well aware of the dangerous eilvcts ot opiates, hut considered twelve drops of laudanum was the propvr close for a child. The dec-easel expired the next d.iv ; although cvory effort was mide by tho medical gentleman who had been called in, to counteract the effects of the poison. From the doctor's evidence it appeared that a proper dose for a child of deceased's age would be half a drop.

There was a sitting of the Supi'ome C rart held on the 18th instant, fir civil business, but not a rase called on for hearing.