TARANAKI.

Wellington Independent, Volume XVI, Issue 1689, 7 January 1862, Page 2

TARANAKI.

[fhom our own cor respondent.] j • Taranaki, DccMdlh, 1861. At the present time most of 'our tin fortunate settlers 'are engaged', etrlf&Ttri Qestroying the thistles or in saving hay, the only crop that cij^ enmstances will allow of being . gathered ■ this beautiful season. Fyr years we have never known so abundant a supply of grass, but alas the greater poriiim will bo of little use as we have no stock to consume it;

A limited number of the soldiers are allowed by the Colonel commanding, to participate in the,payment offered by the Provincial Government for the irradication of thistles. This at first may appear to corroborate the idea, that the Taruuaki people are lazy — a little explanation will suffice to cast aside this stigma. We as a settlement of small farmers have been accustomed to work together in cliques, formed according .to our districts, which all the difficulties attendant on the war X am happy to say has been unabled to break up, consequently the labor supply finds ample scope through private individuals. Another question may arise if utter ruin reigns predominant, from whence is the means derived for carrying on these agricultural pursuits. If you were to accompany me a short walk into the country I could point oat paddock after paddock strewed with deod thistles, the expense attendant on the uprooting of which had obliged the owner mny be to part

with live stock which would otherwise be th<: meaVis of increasing his income— every i;n provernent is effected now by a decrease in oni ciipitn'. No amount of money circulated by the Coinmissuriat Chest can benefit any but the shop keeper, to all intent aiul purposes are our resources thoroncfbly oxhaustcrl, Aui'lst ;i'! this-it is with m-'ic'i pleasure that I am cnabie.l to favorably notice our moral stale. Drunkenness is iihnjst unknown, it is true we have constables, hut in. reality they have nothing to flu. - We hare al=o an extra strong Provost p;nard of mi!iti:i and v.>lu M toers, who spend their twenty four hours inarching 1 before the Gaarrl roo-n witliout the ghost of a prisoner in charge — but this h of no consequence a-5 you are aw ire that the \yisp"rniUtary customs of our forefathers, .srnil'ir to Oiiurch D )cttines that have !>een stumped willi,Ant : iq'tity raust be held sacred. j A> Cbi'istMiis approaches picnics are becotn"inar of the. flay,' but they arc sndly ■wantinor in %lie quite happin«fs that mirked, those of former days, the rural sfthplicily being 1 replaced by tin .hollow military bombast of a smill irani^on town. I hear tint steps are to be taken towards syslcrnatically . , registering nieteorolofrieal clioncfes. If a set of observations are properly curried out throughout the whole of ihc Southern Hemisphere great- good will result. To effect this, arrangements onghi to nvule with some of the men-of-war on our coast, so t^'it a comparison of instrumsnts could occasionally be made. No (rood cm result without a fixed bend quarters, at which is kept a carefully regulated apparatus by which the men-of-war could adjust their own instalments and be the means of enabling observers to do the same at the various ports they may call at — without something of this kind is fione meteorology will still continue a mere philosophical toy, for no two instruments will.be found exactly alike and it is only by allowing for the computed error in our calculations that anything likeaccur.icy can be arrived at. I do trust that my next communication will contain something definite as to our future position. W. I. G.