A SKETCH IN PARLIAMENT DURING THE DEBATE ON NEW ZEALAND.

Colonist, Volume VIII, Issue 799, 23 June 1865, Page 4

A SKETCH IN PARLIAMENT DURING THE DEBATE ON NEW ZEALAND.

The Illustrated London Neivs in its "Sketches in Parliament," has the follow-

ing paragraph: —

" The debate on New Zealand, which occurred on the last sitting day last week, was an illustration of that goodness of debate above alluded to. It is singular that it should not seem to be necessary that members should differ in opinion on a given subject, in order to produce apt and suggestive talk upon it. Here was Mr. Arthur Mills starting by saying that he was prevented, in what was meant to be animadversion, by the acceptance by Ministers to the very policy he advocated, and one after another, members on all sides were only able to contribute to.unanimity, and yet there were good and useful things said, and everybody was- in earnest. The exception to the general tone, it need hardly be said, was Mr. Roebuck, who reproduced his perpetual theory of the moral cannibalism of the white man, whose mission he asserts it is to eat up the brown man (he does not say the black man —a tougher morsel, mayhap) ; and who was quite dramatic in his way of showing palpably, and on the floor of tlie House, what a savage man is, even although he may not be a brown man. Truth to say, Lord Stanley's intense devotion to the practical got him very nearly abreast of Mr. Roebuck in his theories on New Zealand government, and obtained from him something akin to rebuke from Mr. Cardwell, in those portentous tones for which the Secretary for the Colonies is distinguished, ancl drew upon him the honor of being controverted, in his most opinionated and decisive manner, by Lord Robert Cecil, who is probably unable to see why Lord Stanley should be a leader m the Conservative party, his only qualification for that function being that he is the son of Lord Derby, against whose general policy he is a standing protest."

Aw Acqtjatic Feat.—A Tub. dbawn by Geese. —The Sydney Morning Eerald says that one afternoon lately, a feat, frequently seen on the Thames and other rivers in England—that of a man being drawn in a tub by four geese —was performed by Mr. H. Nelson, in the presence of an immense concourse of spectators. The tub with the geese attached was taken on board the steamer Vesta and convej'ed to within a short distance of Fort Denison, when they were placed on the water, and Mr. Nelson took liis .place in his novel conveyance ; he was provided with a small pair of sculls, and the geese were fixed four-in-hand by means of pieces of wood placed over their necks. He commenced at once to paddle away, and the geese sailed along, driven by the progression of the tub. In about half an hour Mr. Nelson completed the journey from Fort Denison lo Lady Macquarie's Chair, where he was received by the spectators with hearty cheers. Tiie illustrious navigator, his barque and geese, were taken on board the steamer again and conveyed to the Circular Quay. The performance of this novel feat created a' good deal of amusement on shore.

The County Court, in Swanston-street, in Melbourne, was nearly destroyed by fire on the 13th May.

What is an Inch of Rain?— The last weekly return of the Registrar-General gives the/following interesting information in respect to rainfall: —"Rain fell in London to the amount of 0*43 inches, which is equivalent to 43 tons qf rain l per acre. The rainfall during last week varied from 30 tons per acre in Edinburgh to 215 tons per acre in Glasgow. An English acre consists of 6,272,640 square inches ; and an inch deep of rain on an acre yields 6,272,640 cubic inches of water, which at 277;274 cubic inches to the gallon makes 226225 gallons; and, as a gallon of distilled water weighs. 101b., the rainfall on an acre is 226,225 lb. avoirdupois; but 2,2401b. are a ton, and consequently an inch deep of rain weighs 100.993 tons, or nearly 101 tons per acre. For every 100 th of an inch a ton of water falls per acre." If any agriculturist were to try the experiment of distributing artifically that which nature so bountifully supplies, he would soon feel inclined to ." rest and be thankful."

A Chamber of Commerce has been established ct Port Elizabeth, in South .Africa. During last year 99,548 hales of wool, worth £1,665,795 was exported from that port.