PURAKANUI HARBOR.

Otago Witness, Issue 851, 21 March 1868, Page 2

PURAKANUI HARBOR.

The Harbor Master, Captain Thomson, has furnished to the Superintendent the following report upon the facilities for shipment at the small harbor of Purakanui : —

Harbor Office, Port Chalmers, 11th March, 1868.

Sir— Agreeably to the request of Hi* Honor the Superintendant relative to Purakanui Harbor, I do myself the honor to report that the entrance to that harbor 13 nearly dry "at low water, but with the rise of neap tides being not less thin 4ift.. vessels of such draft may always enter (weather permitting) with perfect safety. It is better sheltered from the S. fcl. sea than Otago Harbor, and preferred as a harbor of refuge by the fishing craf ■ when the entrance to the litter is dangerous. The channel inside is narrow and tortuous, suitable only for vessels not ccceedin^ 70 fees m Jenath. It is an available landing place for a large district, in wnich I find at present 23 families occupying their o '.'n lands. Such a steamer as the Peninsula would be very suitable t ply to Purakanui Harbor. — I have* etc., Wji. Tmomson, Harbor Master. The Provincial Secretary of Otago.

A brakeman in Canada recently fell from a train in motion, but cauyht by a rail and hung down, his feet dragging on the sleepers. When he was rescued, h s boots were worthless.

A good story is told of the vigilance of the spn tries at Os borne. Two persons were challenged by a sentry, and being unable to give the countersign, were marched off to the guardhouse. One of them was a prince on a visit to the Queen, and the other her Majesty's gamekeepar. There is (says the Sieclc) at the presen moment a regular congress of Rns-ian diplo matisfcs at St. Petersburg. The Ilussian am • bassadors at Constantinople, Paris, and Vienna — General Igu itieff, Count Yon Budberg, Count St ickelberg, and Count yon Berg, are as-e:nhled under the pres.dency of Priuce Gorfcjhakoff.

Mr Dickens lr>s agreed tn write a story for the pages of the Atlantic Monthly during the now fast appoachin" N<-w Year. The story will be entitled "George Silyermau's Explanation " Mr Dic'cens will contribute to another New York serial. Our Touwf Folks, a "Holiday Romance," to be il.ustrated withlarge full pane woodcuts by Jobn Gilbert. Mr Watts, whose election to the Royal Acxdemicianship at the earliest opportunity under the amended regulations promises well for the future of the institution, has recently finished a picture of Orpheua and Enrydico, the moment represented being that when the lyrist and his recovered wife have reached the terrestrial surface. — Atltenmum.

Food Prices in Canada. — On Saturday, the 16th ult., the following were the market prices of poultry at Kingston, Canada :—: — Geese, Is to Is 4d each ; turkeys, Is Id to Is 3d each ; ducks, Is Cd a pair ; chickens, Is a pair ; and, ailds our contemporary, beef, mutton, and pork were proportionately cheap — that is to say. beef was selling for about 5 cents per lb, mutton at about 4i cents, and pork at 4 cents per lb. Kingston, it is true, is a cheat* market as comnaral with Montreal and Toronto ; but, with these exceptions, the above prices may be taken as the average of the Canadian markets generally. — Canadian News.