THE COLONIST.

Colonist, Volume V, Issue 470, 25 April 1862, Page 2

THE COLONIST.

NELSON, FRIDAY, APRIL 25, 1862.

Our mail service seems to have deviated from the even tenor of its way, and our usual monthly steamer to have been lost in the fog with which the late proceedings of the Postmaster-General have been obscured; and the penetrating light of our Chamber ol Commerce, or the vigor of its expostulations, appear to have had but little effect in clearing the postal horizon. When the Honorable the Postmaster-General gave an exposition of his views to the Wellington Chamber two months since, respecting the contemplated change, he said that it would involve the taking off of the usual monthly steamer to Nelson, and that two trunk lines would be substituted—one from Melbourne to Otago, the other from Sydney to Auckland ; the interprovincial steamers being so arranged that Canterbury, Wellington, and Napier received by way of Otago, and Taranaki and Nelson via Auckland. He also said that the Superintendent of Nelaon and the Chamber of Commerce here had offered no opposition to the 'proposed alterations.' But the question becomes—what were in reality the alterations proposed to those two referees ?

From what has since transpired there appears to have been some misunderstanding in the matter, proceeding from disingenuousness on the one side or obtusity on the other, and we do not think it was the latter reason. At all events, at a special meeting of the Nelson Chamber on February 26th, the Chaiman stated ' that the scheme piopounded by Mr. Ward at Wellington was very different from that which he had spoken o[ here;' and that •it was clear that if this province was to be supplied with the English mails by way of Sydney and Manakau, the service would be extremely unsatisfactory ; but if the plan which Mr.Ward proposed to him (that Nelson should be supplied by Melbourne via Otago), and upon which he asked for the opinion of the Chamber, were efficiently carried out, there would only be a delay in the arrival of the mails of about two days, and a corresponding acceleration of their departure.' The Chairman further said that if the Manakau route was adopted for our mails instead of coming by the way of Otago, • this province would be placed in a very unfair position.' On these grounds an explanation was forwarded to the Wellington Chamber; and a report subsequently drawn up and forwarded to the Postmaster-General, reiterated this view. Wellington appears, on the whole, to be satisfied with the new arrangements, but the Independent says, ' the removal of the present steamer fioin Sydney to Cook's Strait is not at once to take place, he (M>'. Ward) having engaged lo pay a subsidy for the continuance of the steamer from Sydney to two of the following three ports, namely, Nelson, Wellington, and Canterbury, until

permanent arrangements can be made.' How does this agree with the non-appear-ance of the usual Sydney steamer at Nelson ? The Victorians have something to say in the matter, and ask—* Why should the English mail be sent to Sydney, three hundred miles due north, to be overhauled by the Postmaster-General there, when they ought to be three days on their way to New Zealand ? ' And the superiority of Melbourne as a first commercial entrepot is superadded to the argument. In the Auckland Council lately Mr. J. O'Neill moved that a condemnation of the Intercolonial Steam Navigation Company service be expressed ; that the postal system be completely revised; and that arrangements should be made with the Royal Mail Company to establish the Panama line of steamers. The opinions of those who followed will be seen by our extracts in another column.

In Melbourne a proposition has been made for the establishment of a mail service (to supersede that of the Peninsular and Oriental Company) by way of the Cape of Good Hope, and the assistance of the Government solicited. It was proposed that the Government shou ]d guarantee four per cent, on the capital employed, and that they should pay a subsidy of £4000 per trip for carrying the mails. Against that, the Company would carry Government immigrants, 350 each trip, at £12 per head; and the probability of making some arrangement for the New Zealand service left with the Government, who should nndertake the whole, and make any separate arrangements they thought fit. Six ships were calculated for, which would leave two in repair. Cost about £1,500,000. The promoters had estimated £30 per ton for the cost of the steamers, allowing a consumption of 80 tons of coals per day. The Government has given a favorable answer to the promoters, and it is possible that another course may offer before very long for consideration in postal affairs that will at least suggest the impolicy of long contracts in any direction at present. Floub.—The last Adelaide advices inform us that' Flour had slightly improved in demand, and sales bad been effected at ten guineas; wheat 4s. 26.' The Lord Ashley.—This vessel i 3 advertised in the Sydney papers to sail for Auckland direct on the 17th instant, under the new postal arrangements. Fatal Accident. —On Sunday evening, March 2nd, as C. D. Caigou, Esq., of Campbell's Creek, Castlemaine, Victoria, was taking a ride his hat fell off; when dismounting to get it, the horse started aud threw him on his head, dragging him about twenty yards with his foot in the stirrup, by whioh the base of his skull was fractured, and he expired on the following Friday. The Castlemaine Advertiser says:—When picked up be was perfectly insensible, and bleeding profusely from the ears, nose, and moutb. He was at once conveyed to bis own residence on a litter, and attended upon by Drs. Gow, MGrath, and Hierones. Strange to say there were no external bruises, yet the blood continued to flow, one ear giving a continual stream of arterial humor without intermission for four j hours. Dr. Caigou and family only returned from a trip to Eugland about twelve months ago, but has been a respected resident of the Creek several years. The Gold Districts of California.— The Academy of Sciences of France ha 3 received an interesting communication from M. Laur, ' On the origin aud distribution of gold in the various, soils of California.' The Califomian Sierra Nevada, the author tells us, which skirts the gold districts on the eastern side 13 a spur of the Andes; its average height is 9000 feet, and on one side it presents a slope seventy-five miles in length, while on the other it has au abrupt descent of about 5400 feet, overlooking large sandfields intersected by masses of mountains as yet but little known. The region east of the Sierra Nevada ia of a volcanic nature, which is not tha case on the western side, where the chief feature is an extraordinary abundanco of auriferous quartz rocks. M. Laur believes these silioious deposits to be derived from successive eruptions at a very early period, the only remaining manifestation of the eruptive power at present being the existence of hot springs; those for instance, of Steamboat Valley, at the foot of the Sierra, and fivo miles north of Lake Washoe, situated at au altitude of 4680 feet above the level of the sea, issue from a series of fissures, formed by an eruption of basalt through granite. These fissures, not aioro than a foot in breadth and occupying a strip of ground about 3600 feet in length and 200 feet in breadth, are all filled with boiling water, whioh overflows in winter but not in summer, when its presence is only perceptible by its bubbling noise and the steam it constantly emit?. The water is strongly alkaline, and deposits silex, oxide of iron, and sulphur. In another series of fissures, about 6000 feet to the west the silex is deposiieJ under the form of quartz, containing irou, copper, and metallic gold. These'silieious deposits are abundantly spread over the surface of the soil aud extend to the depth of from four to six fe«t. The auriferous quartzes of California seem all to bave originated in the mauner above described ; and in BOrne parts, as at Grass Valley, Bear Valley, aud Aquafria, in Mariposa county, the auriferous clay and talcous schists, which contain no quartz, bear evidence of a similar origin.