NEW ZEALAND NEWS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XL, Issue 6887, 18 May 1883, Page 2

NEW ZEALAND NEWS.

SUMMARY YOH TfIK MONTH. ffor tranwii.vion hi/ thr I'.fif.S. Co.'s from A iuklan‘l., on May •//■), via Han h'rawiwi, to £v.roi>‘: J Since! llio last San Francisco mail left, affairs of all kinds have .been of the dullest in New Zealand. Farmers and woolgrowcrs having gathered in their season's harvest are resting awhile before recommencing operations, and jiniii khans arc awail ing tho opening of Parliament, which is now definitely fixed for the 14th June, before untm"dening themselves of the schemes and ideas that they have been cogitating over during the recess. Out-of-session speeches have been comparatively few. Scarcely any members, except the occupants of the Ministerial benclnss, bavo met their Constituents, and of these the Premier and the Minister for Public "Works have, as yet, maintained a complete silence. Mr I’kvge. the Native Minister, after successfully and without any opposition traversing the King country, mado one or two post-prandial orations in which he dwelt upon the success of his policy, and answered the various objections that had boon burled at it by public and independent writers, and did not forecast any new scheme for the management of the natives themselves or their lands. In fact, it may fairly now bo anticipated that tbo days of trouble with tbo aborigines are past, and it is only a question of time before their land falls into European hands. Already great companies are formed —- and are forming every day—for the purpose of getting hold of the land and putting it through the legal mill that makes it the property of white men, in order that they may retail it to new comers and others desirous of becoming run holders or farmers. Those Companies pay the Maori holder a very fair price for his land ; in fact, the natives now are quite wide awake enough not to part with it under the’ market value, and they are by no means robbed of their possessions, but by parting with the greater portion of them, obtain means the better to cultivate the lands they retain. Since the close of last session there have been three elections —-viz., for the Peninsula, for Selywn, and for luangahua —-which have resulted in the return of three gentlemen who will take up their position on tbo Government side of the House. The election for the Inangahua seat was a most excitingcontest, between Mr Wakefield (late M.U.R for Geraldine) and Mr E. Shaw, barrister, of this city, and resulted in a victory for the latter by the small majority of 4(5 votes in an electorate of some sixteen hundred voters. It is perhaps a little premature to forecast the strength of parties in the House during the coming session, as there are always a few members who sit on a rail until some particular question topples them over one side or the other, but the result of these three elections has decidedly strengthened tho Ministerial hand. In our last month's Summary we noticed tho abnormal character of our autumn weather, which, instead of being as it usually is, calm and mild, has been unusually wot, cold, and stormy —in fact, much more resembling an English November than a New Zealand April. In Canterbury severe floods have occurred, which for some time completely stopped tho tradio on tho main trunk line of railway, washing away its embankments and smaller bridges, and seriously endangering tho safety of some of the larger structures. At one time it -was feared that the lower parts of the township of Terouka would go ; but, happily, the waters subsided before any serious damage to house property was done, ami no human lives wore lost anywhere. A number of dead cattle are, however, being found, and amongst them hundreds of dead hares, which are especially abundant in that part of New Zealand. Considerable excitement was caused by the bumping of a ship, the Monarch, upon tho bar at the entrance to the harbor of Port Chalmers—the port of Dunedin, commonly known as the Otago bar. Tho vessel was drawing 20ft at tho time she passed out, and the fact of her striking the sand is attributable not to any carelessness of those in charge of her, but to the fact that a considerable swell sprang up suddenly, as it will do upon these coasts, just as she was crossing tlm bar. The importance of being able to take largo vessels over this Otago bar is, of course, of vital interest to the citizens of Dunedin and the settlers in the whole province of Otago, more especially now that a direct lino of steamers has been established with Great Britain. These steamers are of the largest size, about 5000 tons, and it is a great drawback to the mercantile capital of Now Zealand, that one of these vessels cannot leave its harbor when loaded. Every effort is being made to secure a greater depth upon the bar, and some .£300,000 has already boon spent on the harbor in one way and another, but hitherto with little success. It is slated that a few miles farther up the coast there is a bay, "Waikouaiti Bay, that, with tho expenditure of oue-tonth of tho money that has been spent on tho Dunedin Harbor would make a first-class port. One by one the natural beauJ.es of New Zealand and the grandeur of her Alpine scenery are being brought more prominently under notice, and now objects of interest in that great untrodden region of giant peaks and glaciers that lies to ttie west of the province of Otago are being brought to light. It will be observed by a paragraph in another part ot this paper that an enterprising photographer, penetrating into the country at the back of tho Sounds, has viewed and described a waterfall which is probably the highest in tho world. It is stated to be no less than 5700 ft in height, leaping 3000 ft in one bound. Without giving in an unqualified adhesion to these figures, a knowledge of the vasi scale upon which Nature is constructed in that part leads to the belief that only a few feet will bo taken off tin’s great height when the theodolite is brought to bear upon it. At present tho Eall is quite beyond the reach ot any but alpine climbers, being thirty miles from the head of Milford Sound, and without tho slightest sign of any track to it. A sad event occurred in Auckland a ’ few days ago. Through the capsizing : of a pleasore-boat, Professor Walker, who had just arrived from Homo to

take an important post in the Auckland University lost his life. His body was not found for a day or two. but it eventually was recovered, and .every honor was paid to the deceased gentleman at his funeral.

Residents in Wellington are anxiously watching every detail in the development of the gold mines at Teravvhiti, a district only some fifteen miles from tho city. At present the operations have only been on a comparatively limited scale, but enougn has been found to warrant the erection of crushing machinery, which will, when it is completed, put at rest the debated question as to whether the rock, which is decidedly auriferous, contains sufficient of precious metal to make it worth while to extract it, Tho first trial, of course, will not bo conclusive, as tho ground has been by no means completely prospected, and tho veins that have been found have been only, so to speak, tapped, and there are signs that their further development may prove them to bo as rich in tho precious metal as tho reefs upon the other side of the Strait, of which no doubt these Terawhiti formations are a continuation. Tho locality is a. rough one, composed of steep and lofty hills, covered to a considerable extent with thick bush, and as yet there is no road to the mines, but strenuous efforts are being made, which will before long undoubtedly be crowned with success, to have some means of access formed. Tho geological formation in which these trials have already been prosecuted extends right up to the walls of Wellington, and once tho paying qualities of the field are proved, those bare and bleak bills to the west of the city may yet swarm with busy miners, and animpetus will be given to the trade of Wellington of which it is difficult to foresee tho limit.

While on the subject of the increasing trade of this city, the railway connecting it with the Wksst Coast deserves mention. This line, tho AVellington and Manawatu Railway, is being rapidly pushed forward, and already the most difficult portion, viz., that between Wellington and Jobnsonville is nearly completed, and as part of the scheme provides for the reclamation of a largo part of the harbor, every truck load of rock or earth taken from the cliffs along the Huttroad alters the appearance of that part of the town known as Pipitea Point. From the Thorndon Baths to the end of Tinakori-road there is now an extent of level land where once the waters of the Kaiwarra Bight lapped the beach at the back of Hob-son-street. This railway will in effect bring the whole of the West Coast as far north as Taranaki into easy reach of Wellington, and the present large trade that is carried on with Wangaganui, Foxton, and other places along the coast by means of small steamers cannot fail to be considerably increased when greater facilities are provided for its conduct. Tho question of connecting Auckland and Wellington by railway is again exciting considerable attention, and the route that lies through the more central parts of the Island seems to be generally admitted as tho best one, both as opening up rich country and also as being tho shortest. The second of tho direct steamers from Horae, the British Queen, arrived in port on the 13th May, and was immediately ordered off into quarantine. All fears and anxiety, however, were soon allayed when it became known that it was only to land some halfdozen cases of measles that there were on board her. An account of her passage will be found in another column.

His Excellency the Governor is still in Auckland, which city, in consequence, is undergoing a round of gaiety quite unusual in the Northern capital. Sir William Jervois is not expected to return to Wellington until immediately before tho session.

Tawhiao, tho so-called Maori Xing intimates his royal intention, like the child in the story book, of going to London to see the Queen, as if tho terms were synonymous, but, unfortunately, unlike the child, the dusky monarch is perfectly capable, as far as pecuniary affairs are concerned, of carrying out his intention, or at least that part of it relating to visiting tho capital of Her Majesty’s dominions. Our readers will recollect that in our last Summary we referred lo a socalled Royal progress that this chief had been making in the North Island, which was nothing but one continuous debauch, and we therefore trust that should he carry out his intended voyage, he may not be seized upon by those well meaning but thoughtless persons who know not the true side of native character, and set up upon a pedestal, as it were, to pose as injured innocence and as a specimen of the suffering native from whom ruthless Europeans have torn his lands and possessions and hurled him stricken and penniless, from tho homes of his fathers into the fastnesses of his mountains and forests. Should Tawhiao proceed to England, we shall have something more to say upon the matter.