MISCELLANEOUS.

Wellington Independent, Volume I, Issue 47, 21 January 1846, Page 4

MISCELLANEOUS.

A SCOTCH SrrrLEll IN NEW ZEALAND

r>e'l hid managed to ljcite himself here, notwithstanding considerable opposition from th_ na'.ives, by an admirable mixture of firmness, good temper; and kindness, lie had first pid the natives for putting up the frame of a house ; and had then f 11-.-d up the walls w-th kareau and clay, and whitewashed them. A little garden had succeeded. IL- had then preceded to" clear off the flax, and fern and other scrub, which was waist high on the land which he meant to plough. When he bega 1 this o, e*ation, the interruption commenced. One perMJveringly annoying und ill t mpeied chief hea led tlm milcon'ents; but Bell had made a frie.id of another, by judicious presents and attentions, and oVained tome protection from him whenever the persecution became a little too serious. The friend wai Kiri Kwamu, the chief who had signed the ilc.d at Kapiti, and afterwards accompanied E Kutu a d myself hither to the giand sale. He was a re- ) of the bargain generally ; but had appreciated the advantages of having a .good pakeha to livdiieir him, and teach him lmv to plant potatoes and grow whea\ He never did more than remonstrancewlth E Waka, the troub'esome neighbour; sipparenily connivinj at extortions, though he would not allow violence to be used. During the progress of the ploughing. E Waka used to come and watch, and keep walking by the side of the old farmer, telling him he ilnul„ plough no more. But Bell pretended not to understand him, and smiled at him, aid geed the hillocks, aid-warned-E Waka to get rut of the way of them whm they turned, and pl-mghed oh. E Waka got furious; but Bell wouldn't look a hit frightened, and told him ha didn't unde stand him ; " He must g> to the boys," meaning Lis own sons ; " they'd t ilk Miori to him :" and be ge d the bullocks, and ploughcl on. The patience of E Waka soon got exhausted, and he retired sulkily tow mis the house, afrer putting in some pegs a few yaids beyond where Bell had got to, printing to that as his ultimatum. And while the good wife gave him a large mess of bread and milk, or a smoking dish of pork and potatoes, and the sons and daughter chatted good humoured'y to h m whi c they built a pigsty or put up a stock-yard, old Bell was ploughing on. And E Waka ate and smoked, and basked in the sun, wondering at the industry of the pakeha, till he got sleepy, and cre,t back to his village for the. day. The next morning, however, In w>ull be afoot p.-et'y early to besiege the pakeha .maro. or "lnrd white man," as he tailed lim But In was never eaily enough ; and toe fir. t si'ht that met his eyes was always his-ieVe moire, the team of bullocks, and the old mm trudging steadily along the fresh fuirows. J_ Waka would begin by looking for his pegs, and hunt about for along while, grurablii.g-and puzzling, before he found out that the plough must have gone over them some hours ago, if not the evening before. And ■while he was hunting, the plough sped quietly on. Then came the remonstrance, and the shrug of the shoulders, and the fury, and the good-humoured indifference, and the ref rence to the boys, and the me-.1, and the sleep'ness, and the return home, and the careful pegging of the ground as before. The same story over again ; no patience could stmd it j old Bell and the ttam'went on, slow, sure, and regular as the course of tie sun. And besides, on one occasion, wh«n E Waka had brought a large troop of attendants, and threatened to commit some violence, the old man had cdled his stalwart sons to his side, and, taking up a spade or a pi mglishare, had said, in broad Scotch, while h : s resolute looks and prepared attitutfe interpreted his words into a universal intelligible language, " Dinna ye think to touch a thing that's hee noo : for if ye do, by the G >d that's! abune us, I'lb-cleave ye to the ground'l A bargain's a barga n,; .I've paid ye richt and fair; and I'll gar ye keep to it." Then E -W.dca-wowW look frightene 1; and begin to think his good daily meal was bct'.er than a blow of old Beil's weapon, and peace was soon restored. And when the ploughing was done, the planting potatoes was too amusing to he interfered with ; for th y lidicu'ed the idea of expect ng any crop from potatoes cut into sm.ll p eoes " Bide and see,', said the old man, and they waited with anxiety for the time of crop, and the report spread far and wide that the old pakeha with the coivs was very good, and brave and industiious, but tint he was certiinly gone porangi, or mad, for he had cut up his seed p itatoes before he put ,them in. " Poor old man !" they said, "his trouble must have turned his head—such a,very absurd idea." But the crop came better ; than their o*n fiom whole potatoes, and.thsystared, and found that the foolish old man could teach them some le s ni in growing food ; and they s>on honoured him as much for his knowledge as they had learned to stand in awe of his courage and resolution. And though they have not yet allowed him to use the whole of his section, be has now fifty acivs under plough cultivation, sends grain and grass seed enough to Wellington to pay for the luxuries which his family require, owns several cows and a flock of sheep, call himself the '' Laird of Wanganui," and giv»js ha vest home festivals. He talked of buying a horse, and caring for no mm, when I iast saw him.—Wakefield's Adventures in New Zealand.

Nuw Zealand.—The man who end ay rs, however to diaw attention to the reoou ccs of a country, for the. purpose of encouragiag its inhabitants in industry, and promoting a profitable commeicial intercourse with the cobny, may at least expect that h's observations will be perused by the philanthropist as well as the speculative trader, therefore facts ought to be rigidly adhered to.

Most persons who have v sited New ZeaLnd, and who have resided there a sufficient time to become acquainted with its soil and climate, admit that few places are so feitileor better adapted for the growth of the substantial articles of food required by man than that country ; and the fact of its being populated with upwards of one hundred thousand active natives—who are r-ady to devote their energies to agiicu'tifal pursuits, could they be assured of a moderate remuneation for fieir produce—is a circumstance deserving of more att ntion than has hiih rto been bestowed on the subject. Every native of New Zealand is a farmer on a sina'-l scde. lie rears animals and grows crops for consumption and sale ; bir. hit he to he has only depended on an uncertain market for his surplus supplies, and in many instaiicis he has been unable to sell that chich he hid calcul t:d would be the means of procu ing certain articles of luxify and dres«, which a c now deemed i.-idispensable ; consequently he is discern-ajed fiom making that exertion to extend

cultiv ition which the certain said of hU produce would have induced ; and, like most other persons, perhaps devoted his leisure time to pl.iinii :g schemes' for mischief.

Let, however, a cer'a'n channel be opened for the sale of grain of any dei-cript on, and the New Z blunder will resume his labor with vigor, and reside contentedly in his district instead of rambling about in partial idleness, and in the course of a short period millions of bushels of wheat and birley will be grown, which may foim an export to England and other countries as well as a granary for this colony in seasms of drought. We ihould then have no occasion to send our cash to India and South America for wheat andfl iUr—as we could p cure it much nearer and ch-nper, and the natives of New Zealand would recuve our goods, instead of the dollars and Treasury bills which we were formerly compelLd to send to distant markets. It might be reasonably presumed that each Maori would raise from the soil sufficient to purchase two pounds worth of B.itish goods, and thereby create a trade amounting to upwards of £200,000 per annum. This interehangeof commodities would lead to industry and happiness in tba"; coun'ry, and afford employment and profit to some of the mercantile community of this colony, as the whole of the business might be transacted through the medium of the Sydney merchants. This is no unreasonable stretch of the writer's own imagination, for he has visited most cf the settlements in that country, and has closely observed the habits and dispositions of the people, and can, therefore, from personal experience, assert th«t no men can be more nady to exeit themselves, under a moderate prospect of reward than the N\w Zealanders. Labour in the fields is more congenial to their feelings than any other species of employment ; and men, women, and children adopt it. If they felt convinced that during next year wheat could be readUy sold, one -lulf of the whsle population would, on an average, each cultivate an acre, yielding, at thirty bushels to the acre, 1,500,000 bushels, which they would readily exchange for goods, at the rate of about two shillings per bushel, and so go on progressively each year. No men keep their gronnds in a b.tter state of cultivation than they do, and it is only necessary for them to receive a little instruction to ip.duce them to grow larger quantities of tobacco and barley—as th-;y are already acquainted with the mode of cultivating wheat. Indeed, it is asserted that a vessel or two could now be loaded with the latter description of gr.»in at a much cheaper rate than it can at present bs imported he c from Adela'de or Van Diemen's Land.

It would be well if we had now in New South Wales so much available labour as N w Zealand possesses, Maories would, in their own country, be'found careful and efficient shepherds and watchmen, and in all pursuits where activity and exertion, combined with a moderate degree of skill, was required, they are equal to European labouies, and, in some respect?-, supeho .. During the whaling season, many of them are employed in the boats on shore. They also saw and tquare timber and spars, The only employment which they consider irksome is the preparation of fitx, and although it is considered light, yd ie is tediou-i work, and is regarded by the m.n with much the same feeling as that which would occur to the mind of a buliock diiver, if he was employed to make baby linen. The wealth of India, and the i-lands of the East, is mainly derived from the industry of the native inhabitants, guided by European instructors, with the assisttnee of commercial capital. In like manner will the Islands of New Zealand become sources of wealth, through the fertility of its soil and the activity and in.lustry of its natives— aided by the capital of some of the enterprising traders of New South Wales. By the bye the hills of that country may be covered with sheep tended by native shepherds, and the operations of washing and shearing performed by the same men. In that country there are no wild dogs to destioy sheep or lambs—the abundance of riveis and streams render any consideration as to the difficu'ty of washing unnecessay, and for many years to come, the finest runs might he occupied without dread of Squatting Regulations. Whale fiShitig, which produegs the second important staple of our Southern wealth, might also be cirried on much more extensively than at present, with the aid of native labour; it is there only necessary that some parjy, posse s'ng the extensive means and expansive mind of our Sydney prince of traders, should apply judiciously a portion of his capital to the establishment of stations on the coast, for the purchase of grain, the prosecution of -the whale fishery, and the breeding of sheep, and the ou lay would be well repaid by large profits, bes dcs the satisfaction of having conferred a benefit on thousands individuals, by .inducing them to adop. industrious and settled habits.—Sydney Atlas.

The Ruisian journal Invilide, mentions the eruption of a volcano on the borders of the Caspian, abcut thirty five wersts from Schemakha, on the road toSaliany. About six in the morning the mountain suddenly vomited forth a great quantity of glowing matter, mingled with naphtha, which Cuvcu-ed a ciiccmference of 1,435 fathoms.

An Irishman, not long since, digging for lead in the district of Cubuque, Wisconsin, fell through the tiottom of his hole into a large cavern, and on looking round, found the inside of the cavern covered with pure lead. It was one of the richsst veins ever discovered, and the Irishman's fortune is made.

The Morning Herald states, on the authority of letters received from the Brazils, that more slaves have been landed on that coast during the last twelve months, than during any similar period for many previous ye.irs.

A letter was lately put into the Malvern Link post-office, containing the following articles :—One pair of gloves, one pair of mitts, one p dr of slippers, one pair of stays, lady's work bag, child's hood, and' a gentleman's night cap, which (including the envelope and note enclosed) weighed less than half an ounce. The whole of the articles, which wera of cotton, were make by the orphans at the Orphan School, Bristol, bs contributions for the bazaar (which took place in London lately) in aid of the lunds for the erection of the sch joi-rooms, Malvern Link.

There are only three ways of ge c ing out of a qu rrel—write out figlr. out, or back out, but the oest way is to keep out.

"Nothing/ siys Sir Joshua Reynolds, " is denied to well directed l'.bor—nothing is to he ala'.ned w.thmt it."

BoA Constrict, a-The Wow „ B = , the lanre snake lately Kill d Ita Kj.hr land, h«b Jpu the K-'-fir charac er and customs :-- , . Ayoun* man, namnl John ' IMiS country, and traditu or the,h-m of * >■> F.rd and Jeffries, win eon his wa, to 1, t P >» .P« .roompaued oy . K-li.- iu*e M»jal they «J t both on foot. /Hter passing through the Ma yum forest ab,u a mile and a half, M ,il. .pr«'« »v one side of the path and whispered to King, un, is that? oh uly.ugly!" King lo Jed and »-« h« knew not what. He proposed to MJ. > that they should both go to the nea est kra-1 to ask Kl * what it could le The Kafirs said they did no know, and became alarmed from the description given them. King then .esolved to load his gun , a single barrel, and fare the ugly mo:*ter alone, a his trusty man Majali with the rest ut tlieKahij bed taken to their heels and run away. King im the kraal, and while on his way was startled at seeing, the animal distinctly follow his fpoor m the clireciion which he look in going to the kraal, King then advanced towards-it, and found it to be a huge mo„ster of a snake, and as he advanced towirds it the animal was also advancing with its head majestically waving about like ih-hea lof an ostrich. Its head was about six feet from the ground, the rcjt ot its body glidi g along. King then approached to within ten yards of it, and while in the act of firing he trembled f lo _i head to foot but instantly recovered his self possession, and fired a charge ot 88, hitting the animal in the body. As.quick as lightning it coiled round in folds, and at that instant it protruded its head fiom amidst the coils and calling up its terrors to intimidate the aggressor extended its j <w=> with a horrid glnstly grin, and its wild globular piercing eyes as it were bursting from its s.ck=ts, and thrusting its two long black forks of tongue between its chattering teeth Now it was that a.white film clouded King's eyes, with a dizziness, a cold tremor thrilling 'hrough his body and his legs refusing their office; finding himselt thus he grounded his piece and supported himse.f upon it; here the animal showed iti possession of the power of facinating its prey by gazing at him so as to render flight incapable. On recovering from this sail enchantment, he observed the monster heaving like a ship in a head sea. Fortunately the snake took one bound fiom King, cleared the earth, and whippid itself in co ; U round a thorn tree. The act of entwining itself and contracting round the branches resembl.d the crackling of thorns under a pot. A moment before there stood a beautiful mimosa with its lateral branches extended, but an instant, and there stood before you the representation of a broom of large dimensions. King again loaded his piece with another doss of B B, during which the monster thru t his head f.om the centre of the tree to reconnoitre. King then went up within four yards of it and shot it near the back of the head ; this was the monster's mortal wound, aud in its dying convuls've struggles contracted the c >ils and c ushed the brances together. Shottly after it was killed King uncoiled it from the tree, and about an hour afterwards the natives having ascertained tha'. it was dead, King got one of them to skin it; he then took the skin and gave it to a petty chief with whom he resides, but this chief fearing to keep it, as by the the law of the country it becomes tha property uf the paramount chief, special messengers were immediately despatched to Rill to inform him of the great conquest. Rili sent men to bring tha tkin and.head i f the animal to his great place : tie skin was obtained, but on going to where the body of the snake was left the head was gone. A council was held, when it was decided th.it the man who skinned the animal should find the head ; accordingly a riem wis put round the skinner's neck, and he was,told ihatif he did not find the head of th? animal he should that day lose his own. A grand search was then made by about thirty people, hot the head could not be found King tl:en boldly stept forward on lhe poor skinner's behalf, saying " That man is innoc-nt; I saw him ikia the snake and the head was left with the body : I am \\=. man you have to do with —ask me." Tha Kafirs replied, ,' Ah, you are a whit man, belonging to the greet white king, otherwise you would be made to produce the head of the animal; but you are a brave man." A long pole was obtained, and the skin was wound round it; the pole was carried by two men, and a procession took place according to their superstitious ideas by marching twice round the kraal. It was then taken to Ilsli's great place, a distance of fifty miles; ills greater part of the skin was then ground down to a powdery the wri-ts of tha males of the royal family were seared and the powder infused ; women were not allowed to bok et the skin The head was required to ground down as possessing the greatest strength, and is supposed to be stolen for witchcraft purposes. The trail of another animal of the kind has since been seen. Every dog that came within scent wheeled about and bolted. Kin;* not having been jarticularly acquainted with BufFon, Cuvisr, or Lacepede, could not therefore furnish so distinct a description as would tend to properly distinguish the animal. The de.-cription he gives is-ground color brown; on the back from head t ■ tail, deep bright yellow, regular spots about the siz; of a half-crown ; belly from head to ta 1 pure white; from head to tail small scales along toe back and sid,-s ; under the belly the whole length of the body large scales the size of a shilling : the head and tiil of the animal are the only parts that resemble the Anacondi; large y.t black eyes. Ihe skin was pazged cut to dry, and in its contracted tU'-e measured sixteen feet and a half in length, and one foot and a halt in breadth. Had it been measured in the first instance it must at least have been 20 feet. The skin was thick as that of an ox. The s-jpeistiticus ideas of tho Kafirs are that this monger smke possesses greater strength than any other animal on eaith, and that on the animal's death it i-nparts its s-ten-th and power of cxoitetrwiit to him who k lied it, a-ul as no mm cm be allowed to possess gr.ator p'owr in the land than the king, he the king becomes \y, ssessed of that power by killing the slayer of the animal. The gre.t crisis of this affair was when thmonster flew from King to the fe», the tree buntheie saved him frcin sharing its fite.—Cape Fn°- lotier Times.

A Malay I fa __ which arrived here on Monday from v o- Aor, brough llire. Chinese passengers wh.ttite that they are tho only survivors of ih,' only survivors of the crew of a Ch.na Junk, which was lost on the passage from Java to China It appou- fnun ,h,ir account, th it this j mk left' Canton 1.1 1813, tor La'avu, where they arrived in clue

lim? .in I remained three mon'ln •, t on lliey went to Hanca, <»"<! received 11 ' pisseng n for China— next'reached where 10 i of the passengers dis-nibtirked. -"<! then left for Canton w.th ninety person* on bead. The day after leaving Hainan, the junk (X.erieiiei'il a severe typhoon, which oc casion (1 of the vesse!, and; all perished, exciting seven men, who kou>ht safety on the junk's water tank, carrying with them a small quantity of rice which lasted them ten days. U this si gular craft they state that they floated ub >utfor 50 days at the mercy of the wind and tid;, Mib isting latterly on sea fowli. which they cnuyhfc occasionally when they alighted on >it, or a few fish which they captured, and upon rain wa'er when they could get it- Four of their fellow sufferers died, and their square craft was at length drifted to Pulo Aor, where it was at length discovered by some fishermen, who took them into their boats, and conveyed them on shore, where they were treated humanely by them and remained .four months. Thejuuk was probab y lost in November, supposing that the survivois were fifteen days at sea instead of fifty as they state. One of the men pc gists very positively in his statement nf the number of days they were afloat in their strange ,_ ar que—the others speak less positively on this 'p'o a', appearing not to hive a very clear idea of the Ln"th of time, but in every other particular they A°Tiiemeseocs Hailstorm.—Tli3 dauk yesterday brought us the foil.wing account cf a tremendous hailstorm at Mymensing on the IDth instant:—" The station of Mymensing was last evening visited by one of the most tremendous storms of wind and hail within the recollec.ion of that most respected and venerable personage the oldest inhabitant. Amt 5 o'clock r m.. the clouds were to be seen gathering to the north as black a s thundar, und warning us that we should ere lmg be visited by a ga'e of no ordinary kind, the wind at the time bio.vmg ttrong from the east, which seemed *o act as a momen'ary to a threatened invas'on. About G or a little after, the wind veered suddenly round to the west, whin, scarcely giving us time to clo.-e our doors; the sorm came en in all its viol, nee such as certainly never saw be ore, and shaking our houses to such a degree, tint we momentarily expec ed them dow i about our heads ; the fury of the storm however a pc s to have wreaked its vengeance on the devo'ed head of the Government. The j til, above all other places, hiving been selected as the scene of destruc i.m ; the entire gaol, you must know, l.rms ii all three separate bu.ildU.gi, of which the principal or grand building has i:s entire south mi wa'l laicl with the ground ; both the northern and s.u'.hern walls of the second building are de.uolished to the last biick as well as the north wa 1 ol the third buildings, the wall of the Hospital is levelled, ami it is said, that a chuppured house for the purpose of dissecting bodies, was bodily c Trie 1 out of tin compound, one small fragment of it, alone being tracd to top of a .ree at v cot.derah.c d stance i fi'; the doors of one of the enclosures a-.-e to be see i lying at some di tance awiy oa the maidan. Of three extensive ranges of cooking sheds for the prisoners not a vestige is left standing, and a building erected for the m*nu r acture of paper has shared the same fa.c. Toe brunt of the s l orm appears to have been confined to a line of about 3-4 hundred in breadth and running from n-rth to south, -v/.tbin which nothing has been spared; n.ta branch of the stoutest tree remains, and otheis hav_ betn torn up root and branch ; plaintain trees and huts form one complete level with the ground, and the ' tout ensemble ' forms as desolate a scene as you can yell imagine.''—Englishman, Ape.il 26.

Cost of the i.!r!tish Ahmy —The sums voted for the military establishment th ; s year, are truly enormous, The accouu sare so m'teJ up that it is difficult to make out an accurate statement of the whoe; but the charge for the army alone will be double the sum p iid to the relief of the poor ! And yet, while we are told that the poor's rate is ruining the country, at the same time the army rate is increased almost without remaik. The charge of the army this year is over eight mill'ons of money, -ollectd in taxes chief!/ upon indu-try, and the wages of labour. 'J he effective force consists of 103,488 fighting men ! Added to which thero is a non-effe.tive force, numbering 102.078 men, making a total of two hundred and sixty.six thousand men, and this too, af.er twenty eight years of peace. What a complication of wickedn-ss is this! The navy estimates exceed ten millions! The ordnai.ee, and other military contingencies will swell the vast amount to twenty milions of money for one year ' An I for what? Tue British Government squandered on the Peninsuls r war 2 JO millions of treasure, and ,03,00') of our countrymen perished, miserably penned, while infl.cting death upon others 1 And yet Spain and Portugal are, to this day, the most unsettled countries in Europe. The following astonUhing statistics of the li.ltjstiiated London News, will excite feelings of astonisament in every reader. They refer to the pubhcationof that paper of the 11th January. The papers paced separately would reach 678 miles and b/9 yard., exceeding the distance from the Land's End to John O'Groat's. The weight of water abon !p, the I ,rcce3H of wetti "<>' was 4 tons 2 cwt. <2los. lhe paper w mid cover a surface of 307 803 «_u.re yards_ 10 feet, or 75 acres, 4.4GS square ya.ds. Cut mo slips of oneinch.it would ,each round the earth, a di.tancc of auont 24,000 mile*. Lxcise duty on paper, £305 ; duty for penny stamps, £1,200. The whole cost of the p. hit alone was up van's of £2,000.-Sidn E y Morning Chronicle.

A Heavy Rtß.-TheMAUMEE Express speaks ot a man from Connecticut whose wife i SBO fat that migrated g t>VO loaJs of **r when he