THE OLD HOMESTEAD.

(By John Blackman.)

Previously to leaving my native land for New Zealand, I paid a last visit to the old homestead. A green overshadowed lane, edged by trailing wild roses and stately elms, led me to one of the loneliest nooks of old England where my earliest years were passed. I recognised familiar scones, but the friends I once knew, had left for " that bourne from whence no traveller returns," and yet I felt a strange fancy for the place and an inclination to linger in its solitudes. I can scarcely give a reason for this romantic attachment, or why the old homestead possessed such a poetic fascination over me. The inmates wore strangers. It must therefore have boon the memories of vanished years that wove a kind of fairy-like enchantment, and, like spiritual influences, surrounded the lonely spot. I have no more pecuniary interest in its green fields and out buildings than I have in the business speculations of the great world, or the gold mines of New Zealand. I have no personal expectations to bo realised in its physical progress, or frustrated by its natural decay. My love for the homestead must therefore bo entirely of a poetic and unselfish nature, and apart from pecuniary gain. The secret of ray attachment possibly lies in the fact that the homestead was intimately known to me in those unsullied years when the young heart dallies with the primroses, when a boy regards with reverence the robin red-breast singing his cheerful winter song on the naked hawthorn, and when the scenes of childhood are as so many dream-pictures in the light of nature, awakening guile less faith and child-like trust. Among those almost silent trees were voices — deep and spiritual — unheard by other ears — voices from the unseen land towards which all are hourly ad vancing, and where disappointments, calumnies, and petty jealousies shall terminate. In such undisturbed places we recall vanished forms, and feel amid the cold realities of life that we too .shall soon pass away for ever, and to a land where tho blight of sorrow never comes. Then the old homestead is so out of the way, so tranquil, so homely, and withal so far removed from vice, poverty, misery, and those numerous ills which arc in separable from busy existence. It is one of those "nestling places" for " poets made," untainted by social impurities ; a genial oasis where the serene and blessed in fluences of Heaven and Nature come balmily and soothingly over the hushed spirit, leading the devotional thought from " Nature up to Nature's God."

I ventured a "rat-tat" at the front door, ■which was- opened by the farmer's wife, a stout motherly -woman, wearing a kindly smile, and an out-of-date cap, which im mediately put bashfulness to flight. My nan>e was familiar to her, and in the parlour scrap-book were several poems which I re membered. Refreshment was offered, and the privilege of walking through the house and gardens. The welcome was hearty, and the result satisfactory. On the eastern side of the house is a woody ridge, covered in summer witli dark foliage, and in winter by warming snow. On the western side was a range of bluish hills, which shut from the guy/3 more distant objects. A refreshing strip of green sward was visible from the front-itjom windows, lying between elm orowned hedges, where myriads of golden eyed daisies sparkled among wild rushes and fern. Below, in the cultivated valley, where .sloping corn-fields, inter spersed with small patches of copse land, leafy orchestras of English singing birds, such as good old Gilbert White tolls about in his " Natural History of Selborne," while clearly visible was a shallow, pebbly stream, winding on in the bright sunshine towards the water-mill. The homestead was all harmony and peace, far removed from all political contention, and the hum of questioning voices, but not too remote for social intercourse and a neighbourly tea-party. The appearance of a stranger, •r an itinerant beggar, at the crude wooden gate, caused a feeling of surprise in the household; the mistress would peep through the window, and the servant girl round' a sly corner. The footstep of such an in truder would arouse the half-sleeping watch dog in the fuel-shed, who always had one eye open to strangers and the other apparently closed. The postman, with a folded sheet of news, once a month or so, might venture as far as the rose-trellised porch within view of the stately geraniums, but the unshaven mendicant in tatters must not cross the step of the outer gate without verbal permission from some known au thority. The last new novel would indeed be a novelty at the old homestead, and the sight of a newspaper almost as rare as a sight as the Great Seal of England in the keeping of the Lord Chancellor. The Home Calendar embraces most of the red-letter days and festivals of the year—at least, it embraced them when the home stead was more intimately known to me. The chief events of the seasons were those of sheep-shearing, haymaking, harvesting, and Christmas keeping, and these season able ingatherings were associated with feast and song. The celebrations of these thanksgivings were without stint, free and liberal as nature ; but they are over now, not only in my native village, but in the majority of English villages, passod with the years that were, and the merry voices which are heard no more. Other amuse ments, however, and under |>erhaps im proved circumstances, were taking their place. The poor children were receiving an education, and penny readings were established by the new vicar and the leading people of the parish. Still, the freehcarted nees which characterised the forefathers of the village had died out, and, with the encroachments of fashion and self-esteem, had come a separating, if not a pharasaical coldness among the people, on the " better than-thou " system^of the age.

The internal domestic arrangements of the old house were unique. Every thing was in pei-fect order, except on washing days, when things were slightly disarranged, and visitors not wanted. If a relation, perchance, thought lessly looked in upon a washing day, the mistress's usually even temper was slightly ruffled, and she would speak a bit of her mind, somewhat in this fashion: " I wish you would not come bothering o' washing days ; can't attend to you, call next week.; Molly, give cousin a glass o' wine and a slice o' seed cake," and they would part good friends.

The fire irons and pewter of the house were severely polished, and wore the tempt ing aspect of silver, while the tables and chairs, in their brilliancy, testified of the character of the careful housewife. The dairy with its printed butter, and the home made wine in the weird cellar, would have pleased good Mrs Primrose, and gi-atified the fastidious taste of the easy vicar of Wakefield.

A short distance from the homestead is a pleasant hamlet, called into existence by an increasing population. A ehapel-of ease has also been erected to meet the religious needs of the people. The cluster ing cottages in the midst of happy gardens, with woodbine, silver blossomed and grace ful rose trees twining about the doorways

and lattices, were specially interesting. These gardens, which a few years ago were waste and covered with brow-n heath, were now full of fruit trees, corn, and veget ables. The English peasant is placed by Providence in the very bosom of Nature, in the midst of the most beautiful scenery; yet he often experiences the pangs of hunger. He tills the land, plants the sapling, sows the seed, and binds the sheaves, while others enjoy the harvest of his ceaseless toils. The flower smiles by the wayside among per ennial grass, but he plods on comparatively hopeless, heedless of its silent teachings, and seemingly unconscious of its underlying beauty. He may have some faint conception of physical good, some idea of creative wisdom, as exemplified in the fragrant symbol at his feet, but of its higher uses in relation to health and intellect he has no adequate knowledge. Sunday dawned upon the homestead and the neighbouring hamlet, with its conse crated repose, and the bells chimed out their morning welcome to the listening in habitants. There was no undue lounging in bed at the old homestead ; all were up at lark-time, the upper windows were opened early to admits the wholesome morning air, fragrant with wild thyme and the perfume of wall flowers. A holy calmness reigned over all nature, the plough was motionless in the half-turned furrow, the sheep grazed unmolested in the field, others were snatch ing the herbage from the green hill-side ; the horses were in the stable ; the cows were resting in elm-shadows among the soft grass ; even the out-stretching oaks, with the warm, sparkling sunshine playing upon their beautiful leaves, seemingly conscious of arest, were still in that divine tranquility which hallows a Sabbath in the country. It was on such a Sabbath, the last I passed at the old homestead, that I sat alone on a mossy hillock in the sunshine watching the peasantry on their way to the tree-circled temple of their worship. The over arching sky could be seen in the distance, daisies whitened in tho sun, while those busy Sabbath breakers, the bees, were active in the clover blossoms and heather bells. I looked upon the sun-browned features of the people as they passed along the slippery pathway towards the church, yet not one seemed to recognise the boy of other years, who had often sported at the homestead. One generation and then another had suc cessively passed to nature's rest. The day was fine, and the scene was eminently one of sunny repose—" the bridal of the earth and sky." A small cemetery, or burial garden, moreover, had been planted in the immediate* locality, and a few headstones were visible under the drooping willows. Some of the graves were on a level witli the surrounding turf, others had flowers upon them. The scene, in its rustic simplicity, was strikingly suggestive of the mutability of all things earthly, and ere long a few friends will lay us low, and some loved one, perchance, will come softly at spring-time and plant a violet upon our grave. A few years will pass—a very few at most—and tho green hillock will be trodden down to the com mon level ; affection's memorial will have perished beneath the feet of the little ones, and our cherished lives, with their foibles, disappointments, pains, aspirations, and unfulfilled dreams, will have passed for ever from the world's memory. I arose from my natural seat of re%-erie, passed into the little church, and again went through the service which awoke and rekindled tTie purer feelings of bygone years. This rural sketch is not a fancy picture, but the view of an English farm-house in a locality such as I have feebly endeavoured to describe. A hundred years have quietly passed aver the old homestead; and although its former possessors have been removed in the course of nature, the farm presents signs, not of decay, but of physical improvement. Tyrants have fallen, sys tems of human government have changed, or have been modified to meet the exigences of the times ; kings have abdicated, nation alities have been paralysed ; education has brightened the cottager's fireside ; art and science have shed new light upon the stu dent's path ; archieology has woven anti quity with local history ; superstition has loosened its iron hand from the ancient faith of Christendom; institutions have been reared for the acquisition of know ledge ; and generations of men and women have returned to kindred dust. Yet, with all these changes, half a century of years has not, to any marked extent, improved the condition of the English peasant, nor materially changed the form and surround ings of the Old Homestead.

The Bad Boy Tries a Fenian Outrage.

" I guess your pa's losses in that silver mine have made him crazy, have't they ?" said the grocery man to the bad boy, as he came in the store with his eye-winkers singed off, and powder marks on his face, and began to play on the harmonica, as he sat down on the end of a stick of stovewood and balanced himself. " Oh, I guess not. Ho has hedged. He got in with a deacon of another church, and sold some of his stock to him, and pa says if I will keep my condemned mouth shut he will unload the whole of it, if the churches hold out. He goes to a new church every' night there is a prayer-meeting, or anything, and makes ma go with him, to give him tono ; and after meeting she talks with the sisters about how to piece a silk bed-quilt, while pa gete in his work selling silver stock. I don't know but he will order some more stock from the factory if he sells all he has got," and the boy wenton playing " There's a Land that is Fairer than Day." "But what was he skipping up street for the other night with his hat off, grab bing at his coat-tails as though they were on fire ? And what was the celebration down on your street about that time ? I thought the world was coming to an end," and the grocery man kept away from the boy, for fear he would explode. " Oh that was only a Fenian scare. Nothin' serious. You see pi is a sort of half Englishman. Ha claims to be an American citizen when he wante office, but when they talk about a draft he claims to be a subject of Great Britain, and he says they can't touch him. Fa is a darn smart man, and don't you forget it. JPa said a good about the wicked Fenians, and they that ought to be pulled, and all that, and when I read the Btory in the papers about the ex- Elosion in the British Parliament pa was ot. Hf said the Irish was running the whole world. He didn't dare say it at the table, or our hired girl would have knocked him silly with a spoonful of mashed potatoes, 'cause she is a nirish girl, and Bhe can lick any Englishman in this town. Pa said there ought to have been somebody there to have taken that bomb up and throwed it in the sewer before it ex ploded. He said if he ever should see a bomb he would grab it right up and throw it away where it woukwt hurt anybody. Pa has me read the papers to him nights, 'cause his eyes have got splinters in em ; and after I read all there was in the paper I made up a lot more and pretended to read it, about how it was rumoured that the Fenians here in Milwaukee were going to place dynamite bombs at every house where an Englishman lived, and at a given signal blow them all up. _Pa looked pale around the gills, but hesaid he wasn't scared. Pa and ma were going to call on a she-deacon that night

that has lots of money in the bank, to see if she didn't want to invest in a dead-sure paying silver mine, and me and my chum concluded to give them a send off. We got my big black injy-rubber football and painted 'Dinnymight,' in big white letters, on it, and tied a piece of tarred rope to it for a fuse, and got a big fire-cracker —one of those old Fourth-of-July horse-scarers— and a basketful of broken glass. We put the football in front of the step, and lit the tarred rope, and got under the step with fire-crackers and basket, where they go down into the basement. Pa and ma came out of the front door, and down the steps, and pa 'saw the football and the burning fuse, he said : ' Great Gosh, Hanner ! we are blowed up,' and he started to run, and ma she stopped to look at it. Just as pa started to run I touched off the fire-cracker, and my chum arranged it to pour out the broken glass on the brick pavement just as the fire-cracker went off. Well, everything went just as we expected, except ma. She had examined the football, and concludi-d it was not dangerous, and was just giving it a kick as the fire-cracker went off, and the glass fell, and the fire-cracker was so near her that it scared her; and when pa looked around ma was flying across the sidewalk ; pa thought the house was blown to atoms. Oh, you d a died to see him go around the corner. You could play crokay on his coat tail, nnd his face was as pale as ma's when she goes to a party. But ma didn't scare much. As quick as she stopped against the hitching-post she knew it was us boys, and she came down there, and maybe she didn't maul me ! I cried and tried to gain her sympathy by telling her the fire-cracker went off before it was due, and burned my eyebrows off,but she didn't let me up until I promised to go and lind pa. I tell you my ma ought to be engaged by the British government to hunt out the dynamite fiends. She would corral them in less than two minutes. If pa had as much sand as ma has got, it would be warm weather for me. Well, me and my chum went and headed pa off, or I guess he would be running yet. We got him up by the lake shore, and he wanted to know if the house fell down. He said he would leave it to me if he ever said anything against the Fenians, and I told him he had always claimed that the Fenians were the nicest men in the world, # and it seemed to relieve him very much. ' When he got home and found the house there, he was tickled, and when ma called him an old bald-headed coward, and said it was only a joke of the boys with a football, he laughed right out, and said lie knew it all the time, and he ran to see if ma would be scared. And then he wanted to hug me. but it wasn't my night to hug and I "went down to the theatx-c. Pa don't amount to much when there is trouble. The time ma had them cramps, you remember, when you got your cucumbers last season, pa came near fainting away, and ma said ever since they had been married, when anything ailed her, pa has had pains just the same as she has, only he granted more, and thought he was going to die. Gosh !if I was a man I wouldn't be sick every time one of the neighbours had a back-ache, would you?"

Best Thoughts of the Best Hen.

A MERELY fallen enemy may rise again, but the reconciled one is truly vanished. Schiller. The progress of rivers to the ocean is not so rapid as that of the man to error.— Voltaire. The reward of doing one duty is the power to perform another. The history of the world is nothing but a procession of clothed ideas. Some lives are like a footprint on the hard rock, enduring for erer; and some are like a footprint in the sand, to be erased by the coming tide. Conscience is harder than our enemies; Knows more, accuses will) more nicety. -George E'iiot. A certain amount of distrust is wholesome, but not so much of others as of ourselves ; neither vanity nor conceit can exist in the same atmosphere with it.— Madame Necker. Teach self-denial, and make its practice pleasurable, and you create for the world a destiny more sublime than ever issued from the brain of the wildest dreamer. — Sir Walter Scott. Stay, stay, at home, my heart ami rest; Home-keeping hearts Are happiest. For those that wander they know not where Are full of trouble and full of care; To stay at home is best- The withered leaf is not dead and lost. There are forces in it and around it though working in inverse order, else iiow could it rot ? Despise not the ray from which paper is made, or the litter from which the earth makes corn.— Carlyle. Kind words are among the brightest flowers of earth ; they help to convert the humblest home into a paradise ; therefore use them, especially around the fireside circle. Children, try the power of kind and loving words, not only when visiting among your friends, but when at home. Be cheerful. It is better to live in sun shine than in gloom. If a cloud i ests upon your heart, turn its silver lining to your friends, and the glow of cheer it" will cast cloud will give way before the brightness and jo^ its own light has begotten. Bower of repose! when torn from all we love Thro1 toil we struggle, or thro' distance rove; To thee we turn, still faithful, from afar, Thee, our hright vista, thee our inainet-sr.ir! Unfettered thought still roves to bliss aud thee! The general ministry of suffering and j pain is to lead us back from things wrong, to turn us away from misehevious tenden cies, to strengthen in us manly elements, to supplant our self-indulgence by heroic am bitions, to give us courage in place of cowardice, and to make of uk soldiers in the cause of the life that now is, and in the cause of the life that is to come. The everlasting God, who sitteth at the head and top of universal dominion, makes Himself the servant of the very least and lowest of His creatures. Should we. then, be too proud to help each other ? Should we scorn to lend our "help, or influence, or sympathy, to the least of our brothers ? How despicable must such a disposition in us look to God ! — Ward Btwchcr. Always add, always walk, always pro ceed ; neither stand still, nor go back, nor deviate ; he that standeth still proceedeth not; he goeth back that continueth not; he that deviateth revolteth ;he goeth better that creepeth in his way than he that moveth out of his way. Each of us ought to strive for excellence in one thing; but we also need a"a little knowledge" in many others. We cannot all be lawyers ; but we all need some ac quaintance with the laws of the land we live in. We cannot all understand medical science ; but we all need some general insight into the laws of health. We cannot all be politicians; but we all want pome cogni sance of our own public affairs. We cannot all be mechanics ; yet we shall all at times want to know how to use tools. "Don't be troublesome," says the busy parent to the intelligent, curious questions of his little child, forgetting that this kind of self-education plays so important a part in the history of all our great men and women. There are undoubtedly times when children should not be obtrusive ; but a wise parent will know how to curb this fault, and yet never clap the extinguisher, "don't be troublesome," at the wrong moment, on properly awakened curiosity.

SEW ZEALAND FISHERIES.

Report by Consul Griffin, of Auckland.

The fisheries of New Zealand have for many years been a source of great profit to the colony. It in true enough that the whale and seal fisheries have vastly de clined within the last twenty years, princi pally on account of the substitution of kerosine in the place of whale and sperm oil.

Last year the whale fisheries yielded a larger income than usual, but there was a great decline in the number of sealskins exported. The cause of the decline was the vigorous enforcement of the Act of Parlia ment for the protection of the seal fisheries. No one is now allowed to catch seals during the breeding season. There are several varieties of seals found here, including the sea lion and spa bear, the fur of which forms such a highly-prized article of com merce. The bottle-nose seal also frequents these waters. Amongst the rare fish of New Zealand, there is one deserving of estHicial notice. It is a species of ribbon fish, and as it is peculiar to the colony, Dr. Yon Haast has given it the name of the Pacifiaus Regulecus. One specimen of this fish, caught off the coast of the South Island, measured about twelve feet in length and thirteen inches in breadth. The entire skin was covered with a coating of frosted silver. Its head was a marvel of beauty, and possessed a. crest of bright red spines.

The swordfish found in the waters of New Zealand are especially worthy of notice. They resemble the mackerel in shape. According to Mr Cheeseman, ef the Auck land Institute, two specimens have been observed. One is the well-known Xiphius Gladius, to which species the term sword fish is usually restricted. It is found in most waters, and is plentiful in the Medi terranean Sea, and on some parts of the North American coast. It attains a large size ; specimens measuring from 12 to 15 feet in length, with a sword over 3 feet, have been obtained. The sword is formed by the coalescence and extension of certain bones belonging to the upper part of the head. It is Hat and oar-shaped, and is usually about 3 inches wide at tho base, tapering gradually to a broad, blunt point at the apex. The sword is a formidable weapon, and Dr. Gunther states that the swordfish does not hesitate t-o attack whales and other large cetaceans. The cause which excites it to these combats is un known, but it follows the instinct so blindly that it attacks boats or large vessels. It not unfrequently pierces through the boards of a ship. There is pre served in the British Museum a piece of two-inch plank of a whaleboat thus pierced, in which the broken sword still remains. The flesh of the swordfish is white in colour. It is well flavoured and nourishing. The tunny fishers of Italy frequently catch swordfish in their nets, and its flesh is as marketable as that of the tunny. Sword fish flesh has recently found its way into the New York markets, the fish being har pooned in Long Island Sound.

The second species of swordfish found in New Zealand seas is called Histiophorua Hersdicllu. It is rather smaller than the common species, rarely exceeding 10 feet in length. The sword is much .smaller, and round instead of being flat. Not much is known of its habits, but it has been observed at the Cape of Good Hope. The waters of New Zealand are also fre quented by the dolphin and grampus. The countless fiords on the West Coast ofOtago, more remarkable in some respects than those of Norway, contain many curious specimens of sea mammalia not'yet fully described on account of the imperfect know ledge existing in regard to them.

Dr. Hector is of the opinion that the various kinds of fish in the New Zealand seas represent the characteristic forms of the Southern or Lusitaniau Province of the European coast*. Of 33 sea fishes that are used as food in New Zealand, the hapuku, tarakihi, trivally, moki aua, rock cod, wrasse, and patiki are found in all parts of the coast. The schnapper, mullet, and gurnet are met with in the North. The trumpeter, butter-fish, and red cod appear to be confined to the South.

Of the fish that are jwlagic in their habits and roam over a wide range of ocean, the largest number such as the frost-fish, barra coota, horse-mackerel, kingfish, dory, ware* hou, mackerel, aud garfish are visitors from warmer latitudes.

There are quite as many kinds of edible fish in New Zealand as are found in Britain. About 193 fishes in New Zealand waters have been described, some of which are only known from single specimens of 140 -species enumerated by Dr. Hector ;G7 are peculiar to New Zealand, 75 are common to the coast of Australia, 10 are found in New Zealand and other places, but not in ti.e Australian seas. The hapuku in always a great favourite here. It bears some re semblance to the celebrated, Murray cod that inhabit the rivers in the in terior of Australia. The hapuku, how ever, never enters fresh water, but is a deep-seafish, although often captured near the coast. Its average weight is about 451b5., but specimens have been caught weighing 1301bs. The kahawa, often called the native salmon, .afford great sport to anglers. They sometimes -weigh between 7 and Slbs., but the flesh is dry in the large size. In the early stage of their growth they are spotted like the trout. The schnapper is another very valuable fish. It frequents shallow water, and is caught with hook and line. Its average weight is from 4 to ulbs. It is remarkable for its abrupt profile and brilliant metallic lustre of its scales. The trumpeter is the best-flavoured of all the New Zealand fish, and is very abundant. It is also found in Tasmania and Victoria. The frost-fish is often met with in the market. It is not obtained by fishing, but is found after cold frosty nights cast up on the shore by the long roll of the ocean swell. The barracoota, so called from its resemblance to the bara conda pike of the tropical parts of the Atlantic, is another favourite. There are three or four kinds of flatfish, all of which are of fine flavour. Tatiki is also a very common fish. The Maoris spear them in clear shallow water. The flesh is tender and delicious. There are some excellent fresh-water fish, such as the upokoro (the native name of the grayling), the kokopu, the family of galaxidae, manguawai, smelt, and others. The New Zealand smelt be longs to the true salmonidae. It was first described by Richardson. Dr. Hector, in a very valuable paper on New Zealand salmonoids, distinguishes two species of the smelt, the inanga and the proper smelt. His first acquaintance with these fish was in 1863, at the mouth of the Kaduka River, on the West Coast of Otago, in the month of September. He found the Maoris catch ing them with flax nets. One specimen was 7 inches in length. The smaller variety averaged about 2 inches in length, which he believed to be one of several young fish that are called whitebait. Both the large and small ones are delicious flood. Much interest is felt here in the electrical fishing apparatus of Professor Baird. It is hoped that the Edison light, enclosed in a hermetically sealed glass case, will be suffi ciently protected as to resist the pressure of the water. It has always been a favourite

p.ostime with the Maoris to search for fish at night by means of a torch. Thoy are not un frequently found standinginthe bow of their boats with a pan resting on their shoulders filled with burning kauri gum, which emits a beautiful light, and enables them to readily detect the rish and spear them. It is said that Edison's invention for illumina ting the surface of the sea will shortly bo introduced at Duncdin. The use of his light on board the new vessels of the Union Steamship Company hits given general satisfaction]] CALIFORNIA SALMON1. The value of the import,-! of Columbia River wilmon into New Zealand for the year ISS2 was $134,90f>,against 5153.500 for for the year ISSI. The growth of this in' dustry has been extraordinary. In IS7O the value of the'imports of American salmon into New Zealand was only §200. In 1873 the amount increased to 511,795. The sub1 joined table shows the value of the imports of American salmon into New Zealand for each year from 1873 to ISS2, inclusive :— A lab'e showing the value of the imports of American salmon into Anr Zealand for each year front. 1873 to l&K, inclusive:—

EXrOKT OK NEW ZEALAND FISH. The recent successful shipment of a largo quantity of New Zealand frozen fish to London by Mr Williamson, of Auckland, will very naturally direct attention to the fisheries of this colony. During the last few years the exports of dried and pre served fish have steadily increased. There are now 22 fish-preserving establishments, but none of them, as yet, is conducted on a large ."cale. The total value of the ex ports of New Zealand dried and preserved fash during the year ISB2 was Sfi.OGii, against $10,650 for the year ISSI. I give below a bible showing the value of the exports of dried and preserved fish from the colony of New Zealand for each year from 1873 to 18S2, inclusive. A table slwwiitfl the value of the c.rports of dried and preserved figlifrom the Colony of Siiu- Zealand for each year from 18"/;) to

The common grey mullet, Mur;il Pcrusii, forms the bulk of these exports. It is found principally in the North Island. It frequents the tidal rivers, going out to sea in summer, and returning in the winter. Theyarecaught either with nets or bait. Dr. Hector Kays that the mullet excels all othor New Zea land fish in richness. The natives capture them on moonlight nights by paddling their canoes close to the banks of streams. The fish are startled by the sound of the puddle, and leap out of the water, and fall into the canoe. Australia is the principal market for the mullet, although there is a growing demand for it for the Island trade. A favourite method of preparing the mullet for market is to dry and smoke them. The process is a very simple one. The fish are cleaned and flattened out, and smoked fcr about 24 hours. They are then put into a box about 3 feet in depth and IS inches in width, being carefully packed in layers, with a sheet of paper between each layer. The box is then nailed up, and ready for export. Some of the fish - preserving establish^ meats pursue a method of canning simi lar to that practised in California. The tins used by them, however, are much heavier and thicker than the American ones, and have not the attractive label of the latter. The firm of Peace and Co., of Whangarei, has won a well-deserved reputation for the superior quality of their S reserved mullet. The wholesale price of few Zealand mallet is 7s (§1.08) per dozen tine. The price of California salmon is 8s 6d (82.04) per dozen, duty paid. The duty charged on California salmon is Id (2 cents) per lb., or 24 cents per dozen lib tins. The duty on smoked, dried, pickled, and salted fish is two shillings per cwt.

The Alabama.

Tiik career of the Alabama was one long series of acts of plunder, pursued without glory (for there could be none in attacking defenceless merchant vessels), and resulting in no solid benefit to the Confederate cause. As? the Confederate States were not recog nised by foreign Powers, the prizes made by this marine highwayman could not he taken into any port, and there condemned according to the international custom. Most of the prizes were consequently burned, and the destruction of property was enormous. The Alabama has been described as having neither register nor record, neither ship's papers nor evidence of transfer. Her character and position were most irreeular : but this irregularity was no sort of hind ranee to the peculiar species of work for which she had been constructed. The captured crews and officers were often put in irons and roughly treated, and to the commander of one of these unfortunate vessel.o, who remonstrated with his enemies, Captain Semmes replied, " You Northerner are destroying our property and New Bed ford people are having their war meetings-, offering two hundred dollars bounty 7cr volunteers, and sending out their stone fleets to block up our harbours. I am going to retaliate." The retali ation was on so large a scale that the New York merchants were alarmed and dis tressed at the damage done to their pro perty. It was a favourite device to get British consular certificates for the goods ; but they were not always respected. The insurance companies advanced their rates for war risk, and after a while freights were placed in British bottoms rather than in American. The American carrying trade has never recovered since those days. Much of it has come permanently into Bri tish hands, and the anticipation that such Mould probably be the case may have liad much to do with the eagerness of the 290 British merchants who subscribed for the Alabama. English property, however, was in many instances destroyed together with American, so that the gain was not without a corresponding drawback. The Govern'! ment of the United States sent out several vessels in search of the Alabama, in addition to the flying squadron of Admiral Wilkes in the West Indies, and other ships of war en the European coast. But, unfortunately, they looked for the privateer' where it was not to be found, and it was June, 15(54, be fore CaptainSemmes's vessel was destroyed.' In some cases the Alabama released her prizes on a ransom bill being signed by the captain, but these were the exceptions.— "Cassoll's Illustrated History of the United States."'

The following is a literal copy of an an nouncement forwarded to a London news^ paper recently for insertion among the births of the week : " On Sunday last at Is Residence Mrs of a Sun and Air."

STAR SATURDAY SUPPLEMENT, SEPTEMBER 8, 1883.

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