VICTORIA.

Wellington Independent, Volume XVI, Issue 1696, 24 December 1861, Page 4

VICTORIA.

[From the Otago Daii.v Times Correspondent.] SUEPOSED DISCOVERY OF LEIGHARDT's REMAINS. REVIVAL OF THB RUSH. ! ; .^Melbourne, sth Dec. Banquets have lately grown an institution here. It does not matter muoh whether a candidate is defeated or eleoted, the. occasion is "considered worthy of a banquet.- Two' of these celebrations came off yesterday, one at Warruambool to celebrate the return of J. D. Wood, Esq., the late President of Land and Works. ... The latter affair was quite an ovation in its w a y. The large hall of the Meohanios* Institution was crowded. The ' Mayor presided; Amougst the guests were Messrs. Heales, Grant, Aspinall, aud. about a dozen of the supporters of tbe late ministry. It would not be any surprise to have- seen the whole of the f present Opposition there, as they travel free on the Goverument railways and coulo\ enjoy; their trip -without any ex- - petite and could have a good " tuck in " 1 to the bargain/ "> tho" lotfail papers des- ' cribe the banquet as " economical but , substanti^4^sjatw/ying/' 7 Mr. Brooke i was reoeiVed^witfii "tremeuo'bus applause, • and after thankiug them for the honor, ''. &o>? made- $ long speech in defence of his

s liale policy, and a°h attoCk upon^and exj posure of the policy of the -pr6sent go--1 vernment. The occupation licenses and " protection was the. key note of all the ' speeches until lovfards the close, Don , made rather a savage attack on the per- ! sonnet of the present address of his Excellency. If it were possible to give an i impartial opinion it would be that the present having been, all returned dan J afford to smile at: these lame attempts 1 to 1 traduce their character &c. ; they can \ claim to have .the opinion of the country with them quite aslmuch as the late government, It is notorious that the Heales' ministry, however good intended, were not the men oapable of taking advantage ol their position. Thoy brought in a bill, about six weeks ago, to allow your gold to be exported from this colony j free of duly, and instead of passiug it as they ought to have donein. a few sittings, they delayed it for the purpose of trying to reduce the duty at the same time. The result was the bill, never passed, and Otago gold is only' allowed to be re-ex-ported duty free by sufferance instead of by law. Several parties conliuue industriously prospecting the Hughes Trush, near Geelong, nnd a little — but very little . — gold has. at last been discovered.; and some are sanguine that it. may turn out after all payable, 7.^ 7« The provincial papevs^all speak of ; the late news from your colony^ as having caused considerable excitement, ahd the coaches and trains arriving.in town have a marked increase in passengers bound Otago-ward. ?i?:< - - v /- ,-y Intelligence from Adelaide woultl lead to the belief that the remains found by M'K'nlay met srith very savage natives — compared to those Wills and Burke found, They made an attack on M'Kinlay's^party. led on by a blackfellow, who bore-, the marks of severe gunshot wounds, M'Kinlay fired uponUhem, andescaped without any damage to himself or party. ', There ia little or no change in our markets. New Adelaide wheat is coming in, and for milling purposes commands a somewhat higher figure, A large sale of sugars was held yesterday, wheu the prices realised were very satisfactory — former rates being fully maintained. "The cry is still they come!" — From the Argus of the sth December, we extraot the following:—" The effect of the late favorable news from New.Zealand, is beginning to show itself once more. The coaches to Geelong last evening were crowded, aud the number of « swags ' t that were pitched on the top as welt as strapped on behind were self-evident facts that there are yet some who are venturesome euough to give the new gold ; fields a fair trial,'' The Inglewood Advertiser says : — .«• The favorable news from. New' Zealand has apparently quite- eclipsed the Lachlan in the estimation of the miners. Yesterday morning the coaches crammed, and we understand that nearly all the available seats are engaged for this morning and to-morcow.' vF r °nX the the letters last ".week; it would appear that%he Inglewood mefrhave been pretty fortunate, and most of*t_etn speak well of the prospects of the diggings- 1 Yesterday's Bendigo advertiser says : — " A well known and respedtefd quartz reefer, in the Bendigo district, informs us that five Germans, returned to Sandhurst yesterday, from the. Lachlah, and are unanimous in pronouncing the place a "duffer," hot a whit better v ,'than the Snowy River. We expect tone in possession of particulars shortly. A returned- miner from the Lachlan diggings, writing ,to the Ballaarat Star, states that the glowing accounts from that quarter are not reliable. The wh6|erfaoe of theNsouutry is swarming with diggers, and the greatest privations must be endured by persons going.therei Htf'never was able to make more than] 17 pennyweights of gold per week, and this he expended in the purchase tlf pro visionjß,7 ; o,e speaks in very harsh terms of the conduct of the squatters in that locality, whq)/appear to have a greal antipathy to the miners, and even refuj| to sell them .provisions. — Age. 7 ? i ; ' { _ r The Syduey correspondent of -the Argus telegraphs :— Mr. Cowper announced last night the^reoeipt of an official telegram from the'Lachlan, to, the effect that the Northern lead has raited, but the southern was still traceable. — We learn from a reliable source, that Governor Grey has determined there shall be no more fighting in New Zealand, The fleet is being broken up. Three vessels have alreudy been sent away. The Great Champion Race in Tasmania has been deoided iv favour of, Viotoria, The other colonialcracks, Kyogle, j Talleyrand, &c, appear to have, beenl rather over estimated, as they made but a sorry figure in the .race ;- whilst the winner (Mormon) was. considered by mauy to be too lame or to. short of work. Tho ground was very heayy, ; aud tbetime slow (6 mm. 14: seo.) The following is the order in which the horses were plaoed: — - I Mr. Henderson's 'b h Mormon, by the Premier — Dataware Gall, 6yrs, 9st 2ib (Simpson) W....... 1 Mr. S. Blackwell's b h Shillelah, „by. Vanish— Matilda, aged, 9st 51b (Dallon) 2 Mr. S. Blackwell'B.b h Panic (imported) 1 by Alar, dam by Melbourne, 4 yrs, ,Bst6lb (Wellon) ....*., Mr. J. Tait's eh g Talleyrand/ by Cossack, s yrs,>Bst slb, (^shwoj-th) .4 The great Cricket Match with lhe All ■ England Eleven is fixed'ifo'r the 9th, 10th ° and 14th ot next month. The All Eng- > land Eleven will afterwards make a tour r through the colony, and prior to their » departure will engage with the United ' Eleven of Sydney and Viotoria,