The Express.
London, England, 1860-06-12 00:00:00

(Stamped Id. Additional.)

AUSTRALIA•

We have received advioes from Melbourne to
April 24th, six weeks later, owing to an accident
which betel the Emeu and her detention for repairs,
than those brought by the last mail. Dates from
Sydney (by telegraph), April 23.; Adelaide, April 20.
The legislature had resumed business after the
Easter holidays; but beyond the completion of
the discussion on the Land Bill and the passing
of the estimates, little bad been done during the
session. The Land Bill had only to pass the third
reading and then to be remitted to the Upper House.
Great doubts of its fate wens entertained out
of doors.

The lifelbourne Herald says
•A temporary dulness in commerce has set everybody
upon prophesying the downfall of our national fortunes.
We of this journal have all along protested against the
reality of these alleged evils either in the present or in the
future. We have pointed out, spla and again, that tl,e
resources of the country are as prolific and as permanent as
ever ; and we have oonneedled confidence in the colony's
, destiny. The temporary dechiss from the highest flood-tale
of prosperity is but one of the inevitable fluctuations
in human affairs at every period of the world's his-
tory. We have also endeavoured to show in what
torpedo the general pemperity at any given time
is dependent upon the efficient administration of public
.affairs. And these views, we have every reason to believe,
!we sow rapidly pining sound m the community.
lit4airi. .sh. inters*
Very popular a while up ire jially becoming mac
brighter. One great practical reniedj for • fall in the for-
tunes of the country a, we have shown, a continuous and
ample stream of immigration. A while ago the govern-
! ment, the majority in the assembly, and almost the entire
public out of doors, were dead against any further grants
for encouraging immigration ; but now the whole weight of
public opinion leans decidedly in the opposite direction.
_

Much excitement was felt about the outbreak of
natives in New Zealand, dignified in the papers by
the title of " The New Zealand War." The Herald
states the "difficulty" as follows :
One of the greatest of the alleged grievances of the na-
tives relater to the bind, and to the mode in which it is
disposed of to the British government by the native chiefs.
Under the native law, all the Laid, it seems, is held by the
tribes in con on. Hence, if the chief sells the land, they
compromise the interests of the people, and the wiexpected
value wluob it has acquired has excited disputes which are
incapable of being determined by the government. The
natives have no clear or well-defined boundaries—no
written remits. And halos, while the British authorities
intend acting fairly, and pay • considerable price for the
land purchased, there is great danger of their beaming the
dupes of Maori impostora Partly from this cause, but still
more from others, some of the native tribes in the Tarankai
district have bound themselves by oath to sell no more of
their land, and the attempt to adjust this point with them
has been one of great perplexity to the government.
There had been one or two skirmishes, the prin-
cipal of which took place at the mouth of the
Waireka, and is thus described :
The natives were aware of the approach of the enemy,
and gatbbred to oppose their pimage, and then began a
battle the most obstinate and the most successful on the
side of the English that has taken place Siam the British
occupationiee of these islands. It would be idle to attempt
of • long skirmish in land unknown to your readers.
Suffice it to say, that the whole took place among the flax
gullies at the mouth of the little stream before named and
ea the flat above ; that the natives and the militia and
riflemen showed on both sides great daring and able shoot-
ing, and that but for the want of ammunition, the superior
weapons of our riflemen, and their excellent use of them,
would, men spinal these odds of at least three to one,
have insured a victory. The ultra! brigade gave excellent
assistance, dashing into the hush, and driving a party of
the natives before them and back on their pah. the
soldiers for the most part remained at long mega some-
what in advance of the position arranged for them, a small
party being detached to join the civilians for a time. Bo
full , however, did the swarms of natives fill the Waireba
!tidy, that after the naval own had passed across, the
ormer were able to enclose the militia and volunteers on
the right and rear ; and the detached party. of the 65th
having been recalled, they were also cut off in front from
the support ; the flank towards the beach alone was epee,
and, without ammunition, their position was critical. A
diversos, however, was effected by Captain Critoroft sad
fifty men from her Majesty's steam-ship Niger, who, elliy.
ing late, rushed and took the pah with outlaw, bayonet,
and revolver, carried off the flsgs,and returned on the troops
by the road, and with them came into town, where they
arrived at about half-pant six p.m. The volunteers, not
perfectly aware of what was happening, except that the
support had been drawn off, prepared for the worst,
fortifying their position by a low breastwork of straw
and loge, from the stacks and firewood of J ury's house,
close by. . . . .

The following telegram contains the latest intel-
ligenee :
SYDNEY, Amu 23.
The City of Sydney returned on Monday from TarankaL
No more fighting yet, but au engagement is hourly expected.
Wireanu Kings tells the troops ho is ready to fight them
when they please, aid that he will confine himself to legiti-
mate warfare. There were strong rumours of a probable
rising in the Auckland district. The governor lea sent to
the native camp to ascertain the inteutions of the Maories
but in the meantime expresses confidence that peace will
be preserved in Auckland. The native loss at the battle of
Waireka was ascertained to be very grata
Sumo the last mail on the 17th March six escorts
had been received in Melbourne. They brought
altogether 221,637 ounces of gold, while those of
1859 brought 250,395 ounces. During the same
period 192,689 ounces were shipped, while during
the corresponding period of 1859, 248,515 ounces
were exported. During the last few days heavy
showers had fallen, and it was believed the escorts
would speedily assume larger proportiona.
The Snowy River Diggings are the great feature
of the mining intelligence. The Herald gives the
following account of them :
The Snowy River Diggings have been proved to be the
richest auriferms discovery that has yet taken place in the
New South Wales territory. The most extraordinary finds
of gold have been made even on the surface and nuggets
varying in weight from 20 to 70 MUMS have been exposed
to view a little below the ground. Many persons who were
only at this new El Dore& for a few days returned to Syd-
ney with hundreds, and in some came thousands of pounds'
worth of gold. It was to be expected that news of this
spiriug nature would soon cause a great rush. The news
speed through all the colonies, and persons flocked to this
lead of gold, not only from Sydney but from Melbourne,
South Australia, and Tasmania. In a comparatively
short space of time, there were no less than seven
or eight thousand persons on the ground, and re-
ports of rich finds daily appeared in the Sydney and
Melbourne papers. This caused great excitement in the
majority of our mining districts here, especially in those in
the northern districts, from which the Snowy River is most
acceesible. large numbers left the Indigo, and rich claims
on the Inglewood, which promises to be one of the richest
of our Victorian gold fields, were deserted for this land,
said almost to be made of gold. A reaction, however,
shortly set in. In the first place, the area of auriferous
pound discovered was not sufficient to employ the
population which had suddenly been brought together.laTf:
sing's had secured all the available ground,which wee
principally in the bed of the river, and claims of unusual
size, being eighty feet in length, and the whole breadth
of the river, had been measured out to them by
the commissioners, to the exclusion of those who
came afterwards This, of course, was made a
cause of grievance. Again. it was found that
the cost of provisions from the distance the Snowy River is
from Sydney, were extravagantly high. Many came un-
provided with necessaries, and were dependent on the
storekeepers for supplies. Again, it was found that in •
few weeks the winter would se in, the ground would be
covered with snow, and digging would be impracticable.
These combined circumstances induced numbers who had
come from great distances' to re-urn ; and by the 2nd
April last, out of seven or eight thousand persona who
were on the grimed, only between two aid three thousand
remained. Even since then the population hoe greatly
diminished. The Snowy River diggings are distant from
Sydney about a hundred and thirty miles, and are
twenty miles over the Victorian border. They are
more aoccesible from this colony than from Syd-
ney, and consequently a large proportion of gold
must necessarily find its way into Melbourne. The nearest
route from Melbourne is through the Ovens by way of Gon-
da/pi, from which place the diggings are distant about sixty
miles. That the Snowy River dings are likely to rival
some of our richest Victorian gold fields there can be little
doubt, but the so erity of an Australian alpine winter, the
ground covered with snow from April to September, will
necessitate the suspension of operations until the spring
roommates. Then, no doubt, them will be a large rush
from this and the adjoining colonies. Now, all excitement
in this colony has subsided, from the generally acknow-
ledged fact that digging will be impracticable on the
Snowy River during the winter months. This has been
confirmed by the return of the majority of the Victorian
miners who set out on the first rush, and who have
now settled down in their own districts. The follow* is
the quantity ofoinoil,reported by telegraph to have arrived
arrived at Oe i, by escort, en mac to Sydney, and at
Sydney from, or Snowy River, up to the beginning
of April :—The total wan 27,1142 oss., added to which the
agent of the Commercial Dank was said to have brought down
, ti,ooo, making in all 36,542 oss. In contradistinction to the

[TWOPENCE.

Isla,ve, which, it must be borne in mind, is not an official
statement, we may say that up to the 26th ult., not more
than /3,500 ounces had been despatched by escort from
Kisadra, and the next escort, which was to leave in a day
or two, was not expected to Mks more than 4,000 owe.; so
that, allowing for the quantity of gold that might be con-
veyed by private means, the total would fall far short of
36,000 oss. Be this as it may, the subsequent returns have
fully verified the report of the almost unexampled richness
(excepting Bendigo in its palmier day) of the Snowy Rim.