THE FARMER.

Pedigree Shorthorns for New Zealand.

“ The Times ” reports that the Hon. T. Bussell, of New Zealand, was a buyer of both Clydesdales and shorthorns at Lord Dunmore’s sale, and he also bought two Valuable fillies at Mr Martin’s important ■ale in Dumbartonshire, which was held on Thursday, the day following that at Dunmore. Mr Bussell, however, made a ■till more noteworthy purchase of four very high-class young shorthorn bulls of fashionable pedigrees from the herd of Mr B. Oliver, of Whittlebury, consisting of one of the purest bred Oxford in the Kingdom—Oxford Bpyal, by the 3rd Duke'of Glbster, Mr Cheney’s celebrated Duchess bull, and from 10th Maid of Oxford, a cow sold to Earl Bective at the l«ht Qaddesby sale for 1600 guineas ; prince Wild Eyes and Duke Winsome, "two exceedingly well-bred animals of the Wild Eyes tribe, the former by Grand Duke 22nd and out of Velvet Eyes, the latter by the same sire, and from Win some 6th, bred by the Duke of Devon shire, and so highly prized at Holker ; n !«r> a son of the 7th Duke of Tregunter and Grand Duchess Fawnley 3rd, the fomsr a pure-bred Duchess bull, bred by tifflpw*! Gunter, the latter a well-bred cow of mixed Bates and Knightly blood. Mr Bussell has one of the largest shorthorn herds in the world in New Zealand, and a herd of pure-bred Herefords almost as large, and for the latter he has been enabled to select some of the best-bred in England of the white-faced breed, such as Cuomassie, the Royal first - prize calf at Kilburn. and who has been unconquered at all other shows this year; Horace 2nd, who won a Royal second prize at Bristol j and a full sister to Leonora, Mrs Edward’s champion cow, who has been first in the Royal lists since calfdom.

Stoats and Polecats for New Zealand,

The following letter, signed “ Curtis H. Anderson, New Mexico,” appeared in a late Issue of the “ Held ” :

Sir, —Seeing two letters in your issue of July 6 with regard to the importation of utoate «"<i polecats into New Zealand for the destruction of rabbits, 1 should like to say a few words on the subject of an experiment which, if successful, would be of the greatest importance to the land owners and holders, and to the general prosperity of the southern portion of that colony, and one which, I think, neither Professor Newton nor Mr Harting—to judge from their letters —are sufficiently well acquainted with. In a matter of tins kind it is to be hoped that 1 little attention will be paid to the opinion of private individuals at home with no interests at stake, who do not un derstand the state of affairs there, but that the welfare of a large community will he fully taken into consideration: and, as the now general depression in those parts shows, the rabbit nuisance question none which can by no means be lightly

—Not iw- tKS-pR?SBTTr aa|ffeaßroii ihw tirely owing to the rabbits ; bad seasons have put the finishing stroke upon the unlucky squatters whose runs were al ready much impoverished by their depre dations

It would take up too much of your valu able apace to go into statistics, showing tits almost incredible number of rabbits killed in Otago, and the cost incurred with in the last few years ; how the stock - carrying capability of the province has been diminished, and how the whole southern portion of the Middle Island is suffering m consequence. Suffice it to say tb«t many men formerly in good circum stances have been utterly ruined, mid many more are on the verge of ruin, while all their efforts have been as yet fiitile in anything like extirpating the vermin or preventing them from increas ing. One who has not lived in a rabbit infested district can form little idea of the destruction they work, and the way in which formerly well grassed, fattening country is made desert Every means that could be thought of has been tried in vain, to, get rid of them. In aome parts where the ground i* more favorable for working, they have been kept in check for a time, hut only to appear in larger numbers from the more inaccessible breeding grounds. J g |t to be wondered at that the suf ferers are anxious to import any animals that are likely to aid in the destruction of such enemies 1 Are the pheasants and other game to be considered in a crisis sush as this ? , , And who, pray, "are so simple as to think that any of the Musteliadse will con fine their destructive operations to rab bits ?” It is certainly deplorable to think that the game will go too, but what, again I ask, is that compared with a calamity of this kind ? and much exaggerated it can not be. I do not consider that the benefit to accrue by importing polecats and stoats, even in as great numbers as possible, would be felt for a considerable time, but anything that can be looked to even in the far future as a means of eradicating the rabbits ought to be hailed with joy. However enthusiastic a sportsman may he, he loses somewhat of his ardor when he finds he cannot make bread and butter for himself and family on account of the preservation of the game. Would Mr Newton or Mr Harting kindly place himself for a few moments in the position of a,Southland squatter. Say he has a good run, and his sheep or cattle, as the case may be, are doing well and multiplying, , ’ . • , Soon he looks forward to a little shoot ings a"d say his pheasants and Californian quail have increased and multiplied in like manner. Then rumors of rabbits come, and shortly a few outrunners themselves, which, he does his best to find out and kill; then they begin to come more thickly and in pieces in the bends of the creeks and rivers the grass begins to show signs of being decidedly eaten down. In two or three years from that time he finds that, notwithstanding all his efforts, however strenuous' the rabbits have increased, the grass Is destroyed and eaten out; in place of -20,000 or 30,000 sheep he has „.ly shoot- .balf that number, and these am w-etched’y poor and flying J scarcely auy.'a-iibiua, and little wo n in the worst efniditinn. He does not know what to do to help himself. SeU hh property be

cannot j tharc are no buywi, He still struggles on, trying everything in his power for the eradication of the pests— the same as he hasdone from the beginning. The hawks—and they are numerous—are strictly preserved, and likewise the wood hens, which occasionally kill the young rabbits. The children are encouraged to look well after the cats and kittens in the winter time, and these are turned out in the spring, conveyed in sacks with much mewing to distant parts of the run, from which they seldom return, having a good time of it and plenty to eat. Needless much longer to spin out the story. What are the pheasants and quail to him now ? A thorough sportsman at heart, what are they compared with his prospects in life? Would he not be only too glad if the place was overrun with polecats and stoats, so long as the rabbits were gone, and he saw the grass growing and his stock thriving once again 7 ■ The bank carries him on as long as it can,’ and when this can assist him no longer, he has to go out, as many a good honest fellow has lately done in Southland, ruined, and with a wife and family on his hands. Would Mr Newton or MrHarting then write two such letters as those published in your issue of July 5 ? I think not. No doubt pole cats will in future years become a nuisance in New Zealand, if they increase in the same way as almost every hardy imported animal does there ; but, at the same time, in however large numbers,' they can hardly affect the wel fare of the country in the same way the rabbits are now doing, and most assuredly the two cannot exist together in numbers. Bunny must at last go to the wall and high time too.

Mr F ewton seems afraid of the poultry. But why should the poultry become a prey to the polecats 7 lam living at present in a country infested with skunks in great numbers, much more impudent and ruth less enemies of the fowlhouse than pole cats, and yet my hens live and lay eggs, and why 7 For the simple reason that my fowlhouse is built so that skunks can’t get in.

As for the rare native birds Mr Harting mentions, the kakapo, kiwi, and native quail, I fear they have little chance of surviving in any case, and they will soon disappear with the advance of civilis ation without the aid of polecats If they would climb the mountains, and catch some of the keas, and other rare birds, perhaps the squatters about the Wanaka Lake would only be too glad, as this peculiar bird, although not much bigger than the common green parrot, is very destructive to sheep in the high mountain ranges, and particularly in that picturesque part of the country. My letter is longer than I intended, and I now close with the hope that nothing may be done to try and prevent the un fortunate laedowners in Otago from intro ducing any animal into the country that may be of help in exterminating the rabbits ; and I cannot call it by any other name than short-sighted policy, seeing that a large part of the island will have to be abandoned, and the colony will suffer in consequence, if something of the kind is not attempted soon.

Farmers and Protection.

fFrom the Australasian.)

Mr Thomsen; In -t!te~*nterview-wmi-»tr- Bryan O’Loghlen, briefly formulated the farmers’ claims as follows :—“ What the deputation asked for was that all duties should be removed from their implements, machinery, &c., and they said they were willing to have the protection taken away from agricultural produce,” to which Sir Bryan O’Loghlen, on behalf of the Go vernment, replied—“ That is entirely op posed to the fiscal policy of the country, and the Government has not the slightest intention of doing it. . . . The Go vernment were determined to carry out the policy of protection, and if any change was to be made, the country would have get other men to carry it out.” This is explicit and tangible, and the Attorney-General is to be thanked for the perfect frankness with which he re pudiated the demands of the farming class. The Government was brought to the point' that it had to choose between the support of the farmers and of the protective classes in town, and it deliber ately and decisively electa to stick by the latter. The farmers now know exactly how they stand, and unless they choose to forego their claims and content them selves with the crumbs of concession doled out to them by the Government, their next appeal must be to the ballot box.

It was the very extravagance of impu dent assurance that dictated Sir Bryan O’Loghlen’s prayer to the farmers to re frain from taking a “ selfish class view." Selfish class view ! This, indeed, comes well from men whose whole scheme of policy has been the systematic sacrifice of jjie interests of the community at large to those of a limited class, who are sup ported by being enabled to carry on their industries at the expense of the colony in general and the farmer in particular. Sir Bryan O’Loghlen proceeded to tell the farmers that “ the protectionist policy had provided them with an enormous home market.” But this is what the evidence of statistics shows, as we have recently pointed out, protection has utterly faded to accom plish. The official statistics of the various Australian colonies show that not only is the import and export trade of this colony falling off rapidly as compared with the other colonies, hut that our rate of growth of population during the last six years has been less than half that of New South Wales and South Australia. In those colonies where the farmer Is not mulcted in protective duties, the expansion of (he home market for his produce is at more than double the rate than it is in Victoria. These facts are beyond all possibility of dispute, and in the face of them what be comes of Sir Bryan O’Loghlen’g unblush ing, assertion of the “ enormous home market,” protection provides them with ?

CORRESPONDENCE.

We do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions expressed by our correspondents.

AN EXPLANATION.

To the Editor.

Sib—My attention has been called to a paragraph headed “ ungentle manly behaviour” appearing in the last issue of your morning con temporary, and to avoid any misunder standing between the cricketers of Mount Somers and Ashburton. Perhaps you will allow me to state more fully the cir cumstances there alluded to. A cricket match between Mount Somers and Ash burton has for some time been regarded as an annual fixture, but unfortunately this season cricket has not flourished in the former district. However, Mr Lovell kindly promised to endeavor to form a team to meet a few private friends from Ashburton on the Bth inst., and about the Ist inst. wrote to MrM a i nwar i n g a dvisiug that he had succeeded in his efforts. In the meantime I had endeavored to collect a representative team from Ashburton, but owing to prior local engagements I found it impossible, and on Mr Lovell’s letter being handed to me I wrote the fol lowing reply on 3rd inst :—“ I regret to find that it will be impossible for us come up for cricket match on Saturday, but if the following Monday, 10th inst., would suit you, I should be happy to bring up a team on that day. I trust that this altera tion will not cause you any inconvenience, and that the later day will suit you." To this Mr Lovell replied in a letter which I have not his permission to publish, and on the 6th inst. 1 again wrote as follows : “ I am favored with yours of date, and regret to learn that you will be un able to meet us on Monday. I hope, how ever, that later in the season we may have that pleasure. Please note that 1 am alone to blame for any misunderstanding in this matter.’ - Hoping that this ex planation will be satisfactory to our Mount Somers friends, and not too great a tres pass on your columns, I am, &c., S. Saunders.

THE EARTH’S HEAT.

To tub Editor. Sib, —In your issue of the 30th Oct., a correspondent disposes of the thermo metrical observations taken by the mana ger of the Magdala Mine, Victoria, in a very summary manner. He seems also to assume that your judgment was at fault in allowing the article he refers to, to appear in the columns of your paper ; and concludes with thinking you ought to be pleased with having it corrected. Now, however, unorthodox it may ap pear to Mr Westbrooke, I for one believe that the manager of the mine in question is pretty nearly correct, and as there can be found on the goldfields of Victoria as clever experts, and as correct instruments, as elsewhere in the world, the matter can very easily be put at rest. lam about to write to the manager of the Magdala Mine on the subject, and I know that if he is likely to encounter any difficulties in his thermal investigations, the Minister of Mines for the Colony will—in the interest of science—be delighted to afford the Tiacewafliy moans to have the question seftle3^eyon3lsavn.

Perhaps Mr Westbrooke will have to admit that our scientific knowledge always has, and will yet continue to, require modification from time to time. If the heat of the earth increased—as a good many learned men have affirmed, at the rate of 100° per mile as we descend towards its centre, what condition would the bottom of the ocean be in at the depth of 6 or 7 miles ? I would imagine that it would resemble the bottom of ■ water in a frying pan over a great fire ; and the consequent oceanic disturbance arising therefrom would bring about whirlpools and currents, compared with which the Gulf Stream would he but an . infant. In place, however, of such dis turbance existing at great depths, the observations, of Commander Maur’y, of the. United States Navy, and of the officers of her Majesty’s ship Challenger, fully establish the very opposite condition of things. Mr Westbrooke will, I think, see that he himself is rather misleading where ne says that at 100 ft from the surface we find the mean temperature of the earth. The depth of meen temperature varies with the latitude, though not in a very uniform manner ; following in a measure, but inversely, the isothermal lines. At Stawell, Victoria, it will, I believe, be found somewhere about 40ft from the surface. Ido not for a moment doubt the accuracy of the recorded heat of European mines ; but I have the strongest doubts as to the uniformity of that heat at the same level all the world ever.

I will conclude with assuring you that all articles appearing in your valuable paper, bearing on recent scientific dis coveries, will be read with much pleasure by many of your subscribers, whether such discoveries have had time to receive the unerring si amp of mathematics on the face of them or not. 1 am, sir, Your obedient servant, *|~) OIiIVBR Westerfield, Nov. 10th, 1879.

Municipal Corporations Act Amend ment Bill.

(From the Post.)

The Bill introduced into the House of Representatives by Mr Hutchison to amend the several Acts relating to Muni cipal Corporations, contains several very useful provisions. These are mainly in the direction of simplifying or consoli dating existing enactments, or of render ing them more precise in their language. The most important provisi 'n in the whole Bill, and One which has our heartiest ap proval and support, is that relating to special funds and loans. Section 11 is as follows : —“All moneys raised by a special loan, and moneys belonging to the borough which are appropriated for special pur poses, shall be paid into a separate account, at the bank where the borough funds are kept, to be called * The Special Fund Account,’ and shall not be drawn out of such account except for the special purpose to which such moneys have re spectively been appropriated or intended to be appropriated. This is precisely what we have always contended for, anil it gives us great pleasure to be able for once to award unqualified approbation to a course adopted by Mr Hutchison. We have pointed out again and again the gross

impi'opi'lety of the City Council's auiioß in seizing a sum of borrowed money en. trusted to them by the ratepayers and the lenders for a specific purpose and for no other, and using it to liquidate an illegal overdraft which they had on their general account. It is notorious that only very recently the City Council laid forcible hands on a little sum of £30,000, which was part of the unexpended balance of a drainage loan lying at interest in the Bank, and handed it over to their bankers in payment of an overdraft which they had no right to incur, and in respect of which they were threatened with legal proceedings. We denounced that trans action as a grossly improper one, as a most unjustifiable misappropriation of what were really trust funds, and as it was held that the letter of the law actually per mitted such a proceeding, we urged the necessity of altering that law at the earliest practicable date, in order to render such actions impossible. We are very glad to find that this suggestion is being acted upon, and we hope the result will be to avert any future danger of municipal in stitutions being d scredited by so grave a scandal as this to which we have just alluded. The other provisions of the Bill may be summed up briefly. It provides that small boroughs whose annual income does not exceed £IOOO may pay larger interest on loans than that authorised in the present Act. It is proposed that the maximum rate in such cases may be 8 per cent instead of 7 per cent as at present. Another proviso is that whenever any special loan has been duly authorised under the Act, and it is found that the sums intended to be raised will not suffice for the ol jects of the loan, aud the bur gesses of a borough by a subsequent reso lutlon|approve of a larger sum being raised than was proposed in the original loan, the Governor, on receiving such second reso lution, having satisfied himself that it has been legally carried, and that all charges and liabilities in regard to the original loan have been duly cared for, may, by Order in Council, declare the former proceed ings void, whereon the larger sum would be taken to be'tho special loan authorised under the Act. This, too, may prove con venient in many instances. Another feature in the Bill is the proposal to re peal the special enactment in existing Acts as to private streets, and to place these on precisely the same footing as public streets, when once accepted and proclaimed by the Council as such. This doubtless would remove much of the present dissatisfaction in regard to' the management of private streets. The Bill also deals with the sub division of boroughs, the control of private lands in boroughs, the position and duties of inspector of nuisances, and concludes with several miscellaneous provisions. Chief among these last are sections 21 to 24, inclusive, which provide that the Council shall not be liable for forming streets according to levels fixed ; that the Council may amend the rate-book when necessary, may lease lands by public tender, as well as by auction, and may make bye-laws for regulating the sale of meat, and preventing dangerous growth in hedges, &c. The Bill, generally speak ing, is a good and useful one, although it is susceptible of some improvement in details, which doubtless will be made in Committee.

A Gorilla in Liverpool

('From the Liverpool Cottrer.)

A young gorilla, captured in the central wilds of South Africa, has just become, immediately after being landed at Liver pool, the property of Mr William Cross, the well-known naturalist, of Oldhall street, Liverpool. The animal has been seen since its arrival by Mr Moore, cura tor of the T>erby Museum, who pronounces it to be a genuine specimen of the gorilla class of apes. The newly arrived anthropoid is from a year and a-half to two years old, and is in point of stature as well, yet in the baby stages of gorilla dom, being about three feet in height when standing erect. The most elaborate arrangements have been made in Mr Cross’s establishment for its accommoda tion, and it occupies a sitting-room in common with a companion in the shape of a chimpanzee, of somewhat older growth, which performed the journey from Africa at the same time in the same vessel. The two animals are much attached to each other, and besides having the same lodg ings, enjoy the same board and bed. Both sleep in a square wooden cage, fitted with bars and an entrance door, which the animals are as adept in opening as any human wisdom could make them. There is, however, no danger such as implied by the use of cages, and the only attention necessary is the continual presence of a male attendant, not only to prevent the gorilla from meddling with the fire, which keeps the air of the room at the necessary temperature, but also to place gentle checks upon his roving tendencies, and prevent the baby gorilla from breaking any more furniture, his first exploit o n introduction to the sitting-room having been the pulling down and smashing of two large vases. The distinctive peculiari ties of the two annuals —the gorilla and the chimpanzee—and their vastly dif ferent positions in the ape family are seen at a glance. The chimpanzee has a very projecting muzzle, long out-stretched ears, and altogether a more animal physique than his companion. The gorilla’s face, apart from the color of it, is not unlike some of the extreme varie ties of the negro type, were it not that the animal’s nose is altogether unhuman, exposing the nostrils in front instead of below. The ears lie close to the head, and the hair is much finer than the coat of the chimpanzee. In walking the gorilla strides along in a cm ious manner, leaning half forward, and using both feet and legs in locomotion. The habits of the animal are singularly human. Retiring to rest about 10 p.m, it awakes about 8 a.m, and forthwith partakes of its morning allow ance of food, its rations consisting of milk, Indian corn, dry rice, sugar, or hard bread. The day is partly spent in that “sweet doing nothing” of which even apes know enough to appreciate, and when their simian highnesses are tired of this they amuse themselves by t ossing about a couple of skittle balls which have been provided. for their use. After midday meal, there is a short siesta, during which the animals are only to be seen in their sleeping apartments, reclining on soft hay. The nap over, they descend from their bed with the celerity' of boys dropping over an orchard wall. Should hunger be felt between meals, the gorilla at once seizej the am of the attendant, and by squeezing that member conveys to its

owner a knowledge of what la wanted. The attendant has little trouble with his charge, and both animals follow him about like children, but it is a significant circumstance that they are fonder of each other than of their thoughtful guardian, or of any other variety of human society. When not otherwise actively engaged, the chimpanzee squats in his favorite sitting attitude on the carpet, his long arms folded, his chin resting on his knees, look ing weirdly unconscious of all that is going on. The gorilla, on the contrary, is rarely motionless, and stalks ever and anon with that measured, deliberate step peculiar to it, along the floor, peering about with its large brown eyes, as if in search of objects upon which to exercise its capacities for mischief. Although its food is chiefly vegetable, an occasional bone is not, re fused ; and if you select for your visit, the time when it is enjoying fragments a mutton chop, and endeavor to remove tno meat in order that yon may obtain a fail look at the brilliantly white teeth that, have been masticating it, the gorilla will snap at you, and being victorious, will re tire to a comer with something on its face which an enthusiastic Darwinian would call a smile of triumph. It should be added that this gorillaship is tailless, and when emotionally excited, gives utterance to a cry not unlike that of a child. We understand that failing a purchaser, Mr Cross, who claims to be the only natural ist in this country who has ever had in his possession one of the gorilla class of an thropoid apes, will make arrangements for the exhibition of the animal in Liverpool.

From the Frozen Zone.

Iceland Immigrants to Chicago. (From the Chicago Times, Aug. 11.)

The arrival of over two hundred Ice landers on Wednesday evening, was a most welcome vistation at this season of the year. The temperature has been entirely comfortable since they struck the town. In counteraction of the summer solstice they beat the Manitoba wave out of sight. The were a cool-looking crowd. This party went by sailing vessels from Iceland to Glasgow, where they took the steam ship Yaldensia for Quebec, where they arrived on July 13th. Their destination was originally Mani toba, but, being captivated by the oily speech of an emissary of the Chicago and Northwestern Railway, the party were in duced to change their programme, and, instead of going to the Canadian province, they proposed locating at Minnesota, a border settlement on the Win na and St. Peter Railway. Not a soul among the 200 immigrants from the frozen zone un derstood a word of English. Of course an interpreter accompanied the party. But for him they would have been obliged to lay over at some station until they could pick up a little English education. The children, of whom there was a good sized grist, were sleek-looking kids, with blue eyes and “tow” heads. The men and women all had white hair. There wasn’t a black eye among the whole 200. A few of the women were quite handsome, and all were passably good-looking - v appearance away ahead of most foreign immigrants. They appear to have sue ceeded in raising children in Iceland i nothing else, for one middle-aged woman was trying to take care of 13 youngsters, the oldest being only 15 years of age. The men wore sheepskin overcoats, or cloaks, with a headgear, or hood, attached, the garments being sewn together by the sinews of the reindeer. The lower ex tremities were encased in sheepskins leg gings, their feet were dressed in wooden clogs. Someof the overcoats had sleeves, and some had not. These people carry an enormous bulk of baggage. One old fel low who hobbled around on two canes, was growling because he couldn’t find his seven trunks. In one respect they re sembled tourists more than immigrants.

Yellow Fever Incidents at Memphis.

(From the Indianapolis Journal, July 23.) John Taggart of this city, who has just returned from Memphis, yesterday related to a “ Journal ” reporter a number of in cidents in regard to the yellow fever scourge in that city which have a melan choly interest. Mr Taggart lived at Mem phis during a considerable part of the epi demic last year. He said : Judge Ray, who was the first to die this year, lived in a beautiful house, apparently in a most healthy situation. There had been a death from yellow fever last year in the Judge’s household, but every pos sible precaution had been taken in the way of disinfecting and cleansing to prevent a reappearance of the disease. Judge Ray was seized with the fever while pleading at the bench, and was obliged to adjourn Court.

Whatever else may be the cause of yel low fever, I feel sure that the question of dirt or cleanliness has little to do with it. I know every part of the city of Memphis, and its condition this year is one of ex ceptional cleanliness.. The city was quite as clean as Indianapolis is to-day, and much cleaner than Louisville.

The quarantine against Memphis by the surrounding towns, however necessary it may be, is in itself a dreadful hardship to a great many. Men are stationed on every road all around the towns, with double-barrelled shot guns, and ordered to shoot any person coming from Memphis who attempts to pass them. Families are often divided in this way, and parents and their children are shut off from each other. I had a man in my employ last year who was left in Memphis with one of his children (a little girl a year or two old) when the quarantine was declared. He rode as far as he could on cars, but it was only after walking a long distance across country and risking his life several times that he reached the house where his relatives were stopping, only to bo told that if he came anywhere near the house he would be shot. One of the most distressing features of such an epidemic is the utter callousness with which the dead are treated. People become so hardened that they handle the dead body of a human being with as little respect as they would a dog. Coffins are just slid down flights of stairs like an or dinary express package. When I arrived at Memphis last summer one of the first sights that attracted my attention was a pile of one hundred and fifty coffins, ranged on either side of one of the princi pal streets ; and I found that the under standing was that everybody came and took a coffin, just as they needed, without asking anybody. The bill of the city u dertaker for bur ing paupers amounted to over 14,000 dols., and the one drug store that kept open all summer made more than 30,000 dols. net profits.

The Study of Music.

It has been often said that one of the black spots on colonial life is the taste shown for expensive amusements, cv ; rather excitements. The hugely dispropor- | tionate frequency of public-houses to the number of the population ; the fact that every little community has its racing club , the interest taken in and money exchanged over, any trial of running speed, or other physical qualification, find in any contest on the result of which money can be staked ; the rush that takes place to any light and even trashy entertainment, ./lien those of a higher class are neglected —all these are pointed to as showing the extravagance of colonials. We are not going to say that this colony is not inno cent of the charges laid against it in the above category, nor are we going to de fend it for being to a great extent guilty ; but we contend that those who make these charges should first ascertain that older countries are more pure, or with an equal amount of money in the hands of the Toms, Dicks, and Harrys of the people, they would not, with the better opportunities at command, be more spendenrift and more vicious. We do not deny the colonial’s fondness for amuse ment, nor his acquired taste for the ex citement that a spice of mild gambling gives. But we contend that little is done by the leaders of our social life to coun teract the effects or remove the cause of this incipient depravity by a more attrac tive substitute. In the larger towns, it is true, there have been healthy institutions started with a view to raising the tone of the mass, and creating a higher taste amongst them, and to a certain extent these have been successful, as indeed every good thing must to a certain extent be successful in exercising a good influ ence. But in small towns like our ow n it is remarkable that, almost nothing don ; by the better thinking of ourcicize..- to show a nobler example to their fellow tawnsmen

We have no wish to attack the advo cates of manly healthful sport, nor the promoters of innocent amusement of any kind, but we would like to point out how much one of the most fruitful sources of human enjoyment is neglected. We do not point to the colony as a whole in doing so. but to our own town in particu lar. Wo refer to the study and practice of veal and in** "amenta! music. There : is no a human being wholly insensible to the charms of music, and we have met but few who did not very much enjoy a well sung song, or well played piece of music. But it has often been to us a matter of surprise that men and women, full ot j natural melody, and possessing remark ably good voices, do not put themselves to some little trouble to master the rudi ments of the theory of music so that they could take a useful pan in the pro duction, as it ought to be produced, not only of the music of the great masters but of the simpler and more directly heart appealing strains of our ballad lore and hymnals. Take for instance any ordinary music hall song that for a time takes the mass by the ear; not one in a hundred of the untaught voices who sing it as they have caught it from the ecliDOS of the concert room, renders it, as regards either tune or time, as the score of the composer has it. The same with Sankey’a hymns, and the music of the churches. Just look the choirs of our churches at this moment, and see how poorly they are found in members. If we were a musical community, as in these days of sol-fa sight singing we might in a few months easily he, every congregation would be iff, itself, and the the choir proper would be fifc to fellow townsmen with the most vansj|6d treasures of the world s minstrelsy. write in the hope that parents will take the hint, and look, as we look, upon music as a great source of real enjoyment as a study properly followed that will holdits own against the many counter attractions of an inferior character that are so apt to lead young people away from the paths of rectitude. We note with pleasure that the sol-fa class recently instituted in the town by Mr Savage is making good pro gress, and we do hope that it will be so taken advantage of as to leave the im press of its work upon not only the con gregational singing of every church in the district, but in a very short time upon the whole musical taste of the community. Without a practical knowledge of music, though sweet sounds are undoubtedly de lightful, the real enjoyment as it is w o found in the legacies that the masters . have left us, is a sealed book.

A Woman laughs Herself to Death.

The Providence “ Journal ” records an extraordinary death at Newport. It appears that Joshua Walker, a colon red man, had bought some pork which he in tended to saH down for winter use. lie went to the cupboard for some salt with which to make a brine, and took from a jar which he supposed was the required article, and proceeded to use it. His wife, Rosa, a young woman less than 20 years, discovered soon after that he had taken granulated sugar instead of salt. The discovery set her to laughing heartily, and she could not stop. She laughed and laughed, her merriment getting more boisterous each moment. Finally the husband became alarmed and sent out for assistance, and soon his landlord arrived, witnessing in a few minutes the poor woman’s departure, it is hoped, for the better land. She had positively laughed herself to death. The husband’s horror at this extraordinary result of his innocent mistake can he better imagined than des cribed.

Ponolope

Pt ne’op“ has lofty <>i • Is very pro»d and haughty ; V. ad the comm m pc i;i!o All trading neople she thinks low fSbe urn-; : -'d .1 i icli And quite forget* wo kno. y• u Know, She was a grocer’s daughter. Penelope affects the “ ton,” And acts to admiration, So pompously she carries on To show her lofty station. Her quondam friend she passes by, For this false p' ide has taught her She must not notice such small fry As any tradesman’s daughter. Jemima is both good and wise, A very graceful c eature ; Her soul looks out from soft brown eyes, Love lurks in every feature. Penelope admires her too, And lately would have sought her, But then—no, no, io wouldn’t do. She’s but a draper’s daughter. And Mary is a lovely girl, With cheeks like blooming roses; Grace twines itself in every curl, And on her neck reposes. But then she sometimes milks the cows, And that good health has brought her; Penelope is shocked, and vows She’s but a farmer’s daughter. Penelope thus walks in pride, And holds herself exclusive ; The fashionable world her guide, It’s dicta quite conclusive. And when she dies (if ere she go Across death’s gloomy water) In heaven, I wonder, will she know Her common neighbor’s daughter. Rakaia. J. O.

What Stanley did for Geography.

(Y ram Harper's Magazine.)

Stanley gave nine months to the ex. ploration of the Luaiaba, or rather to the Livingstone, as he called it, and as it must he called for all time. Before he went out on this mission we knew there were two rivers—the Congo and the Luaiaba. We knew that the Congo ran into the At lantic Ocean, hut its source was lost in the cataracts. The Portugal's- • ••••.• ■ content to scatter a few sctUe a a >out its mouth, and trade fov •• J ivory along its hanks. P> w . i -.known river beyond the ■ '•» a knew there was a river ’.Jo of Africa cal V-d the .‘.fv.; v c knew it had a swift current, that it was a river of Luge volume. Ih.i' hovond chat ■vo know no thing. Ivo .1 1 a wl 'CiC then:others hua ar :ii;er. ’ . l \;i; v (-v o v,as convinced that it ran into the Nile, was ready the source i"! the Nile ; and who would question even the theory of so great a master i What Stanley did was to show th it the Congo and Luaiaba were one and tne same ; that the Congo, instead of losing itself among the rapids, was to force into the very heart of the continent; that the Luaiaba, instead of going north and submitting to the usurping waters of the Nile, was to turn to the wes: and force its way to the sea ; that the two rivers were to disappear from the map, and be known as one river —the Livingstone ; that this river was to be 2,900 miles in lencryv.; ykfr.Lfor_p£irrly ten degrees of it was to be coti 2- tinuously navigable ; that its volume was to be I,Boo*ooo cubic feet a second ; that the eontire area it drains is 800,000 square m*lea ; in other words, that here was an / immense waterway 3,000 miles into tlvre centre of Africa, navigable, with ■Wc;'exception of two breaks, which engi neering science can easily surmount—a waterway into a tropical empire, rich in woods aud metals, and gracious soil, in fruits aud grains, the sure home of a civilr *Wied empire in the years to come. As Pe- the eminent German geographer, put* B it, Stanley’s work was to unite the of African exploration—the achievements of Livingstone, Burton, SpekaS Du Chaillu, Baker,. Cameron, of all the vieroic men who had gone before him—inV"° one consecutive whole, just as Bismarcfe unitedthe fragments of the Ger man peoiple, lying about under various’ princes alffd dukes, into one grand and harmonious empire. Even as Bismarck had createoi imperial Germany, so Stanley created geographical Africa.

The Great London.

(From Ike. Spectator),

London, said Lord Carnarvon, had, in many great patriotic struggles always' been on the winning side—so that if, as Mar* shal Blucher had said, it was the finest city in the world to plunder, it had never had to undergo that uncomfortable process but had become instead not only the great shop but the great counting-house of the world. In the eighteenth century Hume, the 'philosopher, bar v lectured that no great city woo’d v. a population of more than 700,0b'! -peculation, which he tried to demons’,’:.ro f ,, mn citing the casrs of London and Paris. In fact, London has now a population of 4,000,000, “a population approaching that of Scot land,” [sorely Lord Carnarvon should have sc id exceed; ng it,] “and 1 venture to say, with a : ! raspc. t for Scotland, almost ■is into’’’you 1.’ Prance is alraid to scat her parliament in Pan-*. 'Cue United States are averse to seat theirs at Wash ington. England feels no anxiety about seating hers in London. In spite of a great professionally criminal class, a

handful of police effectually keeps order while the mighty self-acting mechanism by which the 4,000,000 of Londoners are fed, and fed s rely, and without oven the chance of mishap, is one of the wonders of the world, and one of those which is least wondered at. In Borne, you catch Roman fever. In Constantinople, you wake up and find that a third of the city has been burned down while you slept. In a single twelvemonth and but a few years ago, Paris suffered two sieges, fa mine, and civil war. In the great cities of America you hear of vast conspiracies of corruption, which make your hair stand on end but London, so much bigger than any of them, goes on her own way, not, of course, without great blunders, but still, with a certain uniformity of peace and progress.” Lend Carnarvon is right London is a great-marvel among cities. And her strength consists not in intensity of social feeling, like Paris, nor in splendour of historic memories, like Home—but rather in the sagacity which comes of sober, practical energies, and of a sedate and solid, but sometimes both slow and frigid judgment.

AAU&V 6dA,ufcit/tNi;

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4



Serious Accident to a Presbyterian Clergyman.— The Rev Mr Patterson, of St. John’s Church, Wellington, while at Kaikonra last week celebrating the open ing of a new Presbyterian church there, met with a rather serious accident. Mounting a restive horse, the animal threw his head back, hitting the rev gentleman in the eye. Immediately after wards the horse reared and fell, and the rider was thrown violently among some logs. Mr Patterson, in addition to «nnt" severe brio sen, had hi s shoulder dislocated. His place in St. John’s is being supplied by his fellow Presbyters.



The Bill for confirming marriages celebrated on board her Majesty’s ships has been read a second time in in the House of Lords. An Aged Ethiopian.—At the County Hospital a few days since, there died a negro named Silas Golphin, who claimed to be 115 years old. When questioned as to his birthday lie gave it always as in February, 1764, and no amount of ridi cule or expressed doubt on the part of any one to whom he told his story could induce him to change it. He was the only real rival of “ Old Mose” in this State so far as known and his death has left the latter at the head of the list of aged negroes in California. Golphin was pot a body ser vant of the late George’ 1 Washington, although he distinctly remembered him.— Sacramento Bee, Aug. 8,