CORONER'S INQUEST.

Colonist, Issue 12, 1 December 1857, Page 3

CORONER'S INQUEST.

An inquest was held at the Emigration Depot, on Saturc?ay, the 28th ult. at Ip. m on the body of Timothy Donavan, aged 26 years, belonging to the Dun Mountain Mining Company, before Dr. Wilson and 13 Jurymen—Mr. Robert Crawford

The iury was sworn, and proceeded to inspect the bocty. The face of the deceased was much swollen and without any bruises, and there was every appearance of the deceased having been drowned. , James Smith sworn.—Am a labourer, and engaged on the roads at present. Knew the deceased for a fortnight, having engaged him fourteen days past on Friday for the Company s works, and worked as a mate with witness. Sent deceased on Wednesday last for provisions to Mr. Daly s house, and if he did not succeed in procuring them there, if the rivers were passible, to proceed on to Nelson. Accompanied deceased to the road, and heard nothing of him till next day. On the day of his leavin "there was a great flood, through which deceased had to cross. It was not supposed dangerous as there had been a fallen tree over the stream ; but this, unknown to witness, had been swept away by the flood of which lie became aware when he saw the body next morning. Deceased was not expected home till Thursday. About one or two o clock ot wliicn day a man come holloaing to witness, who called out holloa Timothy ; The person however was a man of the name of Fleming who informed witness Donovan was drowned, and that we were to go and take deceased to Mr. Daly's. Fleming had not himself discovered the body, but another man, who had seen a bit of blue shirt floating about the water He gevc notice to Fleming and others. Cross-examined - the tree was safe to cross— part of the tree has been carried away, llie stream is supposed to have gone over the tree and washed the same away. Witnesswent down and found him on the river bank, and with the assistance of his mates removed him to Mr. Daly s. Un the return of deceased from Mr. Dalys without rations he must have been drowned—the time when he left Mr. Daly's must have been about / o'clock in the evening. He was discovered next John Daly sworn: Is engaged as overseer at the mine. About half-past i on Wednesday afternoon deceased came to his house on his way to get provisions about 4 miles further down; or it there were none there, at Nelson—ordered him not to go down as the fords were impassable. There were no provisions at witness' house. The man was very much wet through, and the ram falling in torrents—gave him nothing to eat^ the afternoon being late, and as he would be able to <*et home soon, and Smith would start next day by the overland route over the hills for provisions. Witness did not apprehend any danger in his recrossing the river to get home, as himself had crossed the river the same day. Deceased stayed about ten minutes, and the rain continued to tall in torrents. He went away with the intention ot gom" back to his mates. Witness was up at the crossing place, about an hour afterwards, but saw nothing of the body. Witness came down to Nelson on Thursday morning at the Company's office, and heard from two men that the man was drowned, and in their company witness informed the coroner Nfthp t.

of the even ri , ■. , ■. Cross-examined. Heard nothing of the body being found before he left for Nelson. A man of the name of Mulier found the body. The flood was abating, but still very high. The time of his informing the coroner was about 11 o clock on 1 hursday morning. The fallen tree, within about an hour after witness went up, was still standing ; but the original half-constructed bridge had been washed away. " „„ , r. i The Jury returned a verdict of Founed Drowned.

Mr.- Daly stated a paper was found in the man's pocket, which had the address of a cousin in Sydney. The money, 9d. 4d., which was in Jus pockets, belonged to his mates, and was for the purpose of buying provisions.

A Substitute Fon SiLKwroiwrs. —Happily, there would seem now to be little need of the eria, ov the Chinese silkworm, or of the cocoon of commerce, for the production of silk will ere long in all probability be derived, not from the worm, but the leaf on which it has hitherto existed. It is now not the breeding of the insect, but of the mulberry tree that species which was its only food, and ■which from that circumstance gave the savant the cue that led to his making the intimated discovery. His name has not yet been announced, although we should imagine it was none other than Signor Lotteri, who in the course of la*t year fully ascertained that a silky substance could 'be procured from the bark of the mulbery tree, and that by maceration good silk, an I paper also, could be easily prepared therefrom. The sanajit in ques-^ tion, ruminating, it is said, on the circumstance o£ the silkworm living on one descrption of food, came to the conclusion that " the silky substance must lie not in the animal, but the vegetable matter" which supported it. He therefore " analyzed the composition of the mulberry-leaf, and by boilng it it to a thick paste, produced every discript ion of silk in immense quantities." Such a substance being obtained from that species of leaf it is not at all unlikely that from the Chinese oak and the castor oil plant a somewhat similar result might be obtained. Be that as it may, and the truth of the other being shortly eoVrborated, neither More-ton-bay needsigh for the introduction of the cottton plant, nor the northern and southern States of America shed their blood for the suppression or in the defence of slavery, nor England much longer play the hypocrite by condemning that accursed ** institution" with one breath and with another admitting the expediency of, at all hazards, strenuously upholding it. This is the land—every within the temperate zone is, more or less—favourable to the rearing of the vine, the mulberry, and the olive. Every one, therefore, the possessor or occupier of a small spot of ground therein may rear the great substitute lor cotton, and, in so doing, weaken more and more this lamentable and apparently indispensable adhesion to slavery. He may " put money in his purse ;" and, cloth his family and himself in " silk attire "—such has Imperial Caesar had not cared to wear —drawn from the branches tliat give him shade and refreshing sustenance by day, and by night afford him the sleep of contentjnent, he may well thank Heaven that he is permitted to reap the fruits, though he have shared not the labours, of the thoughtful and perhaps illrecompensed analyzer of the enigmatical phtses of nature* He may cheefully and confidingly believe thenceforth that in the varied productions that she snrrounds him with lie hid the main causes of the world's progress and the renewing sources of peace and goodwill to men.— Sydney Empire.

This Homr of the Golden Eagle.—Here, amidst these gusty peaks, yet undisturbed by man, is the home of the noble golden eagle, once common throughout the West o£ Ireland, but now principally confined to the fastnesses of Kerry, Clare, and Mayo. For, although naturalists state that the golden eagle permanently inhabits several of the most lofty mountains in Ireland, it is but too certain that this magnificent bird has become very rare. Yet you will probably see one or more sailing majestically over the rocks. I have seen many during excursions among the Kerry mountains.; and once I had the good fortune, while lying amidst the heather, near the summit of the Purple Mountain, to witness a magnificent fellow wheeling in continually decreasing circles, within easy rifle shot, and gradually, dropping towards the ground, until he suddenly made a swoop, and disappeared in a gorge. His purpose was soon apparent, as before I reached the brink of the defile the eagle re-appeared, grasping in his talons what 1 supposed to be a hare; and scared by my sudden appearance off over the mountain tops, screaming and yelping.— Weld's Vacation in Ireland.

Macatjlay.—The gushing richness and fulness of his eloquence absorbs, fascinates, and carries away his auditory, making them utterly oblivious, or, at least, dwregardful of the occasional too great evidences of art and study. He never showed himself ready at an impromptu speech; but the sparkling brilliancy of his prepared efforts excused, covered, and most abundantly atoned for the attendant delays and infrequencies of "their exhibition.— -John' o'Gannett.