VOLUNTEERS FOR THE WAR.

Colonist, Volume VI, Issue 625, 20 October 1863, Page 2

VOLUNTEERS FOR THE WAR.

On Friday morning the Government wharf presented a more than ordinary amount of bustle and activity, on the departure of the steamship Phoebe for the North with the latesfgathering of volunteers from the South, and with a large number of the same class from this province. The steamer had been detained some time in consequence of the heavy weather, and Friday morning did not present a much more encouraging appearance. The wind, from'the usually ■fenny quarter, brought down scud and rain clouds that obscured the ■ sky, and gave a dark and foggy background to the white-topped waves, that .were tumbling about outside the harbor. On the wharf an animated scene was going .on. Adjutant Lockett and others were busily engaged in shipping the somewhat uncertain aspirants for military service, whose: erratic movements rendered the task anything but an enviable or an easy one. On the vessel, beside the ladder, stood a prospective officer who strenuously contended with the opporing wind and the obtuse ears of some of the summoned to draw attention to his voice while calling over the names on the roll, and thus reminding those of the province, who had embarked in the cause, of the engagements they had made, and of the first step towards their fulfil, ment. The, not over wide, staging from the'wharf to the vessel swayed a little with the roll of the steamer in the strong tide, which, though nearly at its height, was still running, and the reponses to the call of the names were, both by voice and Volition, very differently answered. One came on and ascended the rocking plank with a firm step, steady head, and thoughtful face and paying manly observance to the directions given to him. Another, with lustreless eye and unsteady gait, would impede progress and waste time by haranguing the whole assemblage as to his own special capacity for fighting the Maoris, and to show to the world at large that in the matter of true military usefulness there was not such a great difference between General Cameron and him-' self, as some of the bystanders would suppose. Amidst hearty laughter, a friendly hand was stretched forth and the speaker was dragged on board beforelio could put his fiery words to the watery test which appeared momentarily inevitable, while the flow of his voluntary eloquent* was contending with his increasingly shaking knees as he stood on the verge of the wharf. In one instance a man walked on board with handcuffs on him, and we thought the term "volunteer" anything but, in' place, but were afterwards told that he warn a deserter from the line.

Now and then on? of the " upper ten," in the shape of an M.H.R., would slip by and quietly disappear on board the crowded ship. As time got short—the tide having turned —the confusion increased, the decks got more crowded, and the rigging presented a pyramidal side of humanity, dozens apparently preferring to hang-on to a place above the crowd to standing in its midst. The cry of the pilot to " remove the staging " was followed by a general rush to encumber it, to and from the ship, .one or two thoroughly helpless men were brought to the side by any means except their own legs, and trucks and willing hands were in requisition. The band that had headed the march along the beach was interrupted at the outset of a tune on board and hurried on shore, whereupon, nothing daunted,,it forwith commenced a polka near the wharf capstan. It struck us, however, that the number of the softer sex who were present on the'occasion, would have suggested the adhesion to old usages and have inspired instant resort to the tune of "the girl I left behind me." As the Phoebe parted from the wharf she presented one of the most crowded shipfulls that wo ever saw leave this port, 'her deck and rigging load of passengers sent back cheer upon cheer in answer to that which greeted • her starting from the shore, and she swiftly passed down the harbor, rounded the boulder bank and dashed along into the white water outside, where the troubles of a sea voyage would evidently come upon the landsmen at once. Almost with the speed of a race-horse she glanced up, down, and through the rough waves outside, 'and quickly passed from view near the lighthouse, in a storm of rain and in a thick, fog, on her way to Auckland^with nearly 300 souls on board.