The Sun.
London, England, 1848-11-29 00:00:00

NEW ZEALAND.

Files of New Zealand papers have been received, the
dates from Wellington extending to the 23d of August,
and from Nelson to the 22d of July.
The accounts from Wellington possess no very great
interest, the European news just received absorbing
general attention. Alluding to the return of the last
quarter's revenue, the New Zealand Spectator regarded
it as satisfactory, showing as it did an increase of 1,1661.
on the preceding quarter, and of 982/. on the corresponding
quarter of the previous year. The amount of ad valorem
duties during the last quarter was more than double that
of the quarter ending the 30th of March. " Bat if the
ordinary receipts," it is observed, " have increased, the
ordinary expenditure has increased also. The civil list
in almost every department is in excess, making a total
of 1,043/. more than the previous quarter; the civil ex-
penditure for the quarter ending the 30th of March being
2,226/., while that for the quarter ending the 30th of June
is 3,269/." The Governor-in-Chief and Mrs. Grey had re-
turned to Wellington from Auckland in her Maj esty's ship
Calliope, and it was reported that their stay would be of
some duration. Her Majesty's ship Dido was to leave
Auckland within a few days, her destination also being
Wellington, this being her first visit to the southern
settlements. Mr. Fox had resigned the appointment of
Attorney-General for the southern province. All ap •
peered to be quiet at the north, and the Auckland papers
were destitute of any interesting information. The
news of the destruction of the Government-house was,
however, confirmed. The last advices from Wanganui
brought the particulars of a dispute between Mr. Brown
and a native of that settlement, which it had been appre-
hended might have led to serious consequences ; but, as
the chiefs had since promised to wait the result of
the investigation before the resident magistrate, the
natives continued quiet and had not molested any of the
settlers.
Before her Majesty's ship Calliope left for England,
the Executive Council passed to Captain Stanley, and
the officers and crew of that vessel, a vote of thanks for
their zeal and activity during the period of their service
on the southern coast of New Zealand.
The progress Nelson is making is illustrated in the
Nelson Examiner by the importation of stock which has
taken place in the last eight months, and which was
valued at about 9,5001. Nearly the whole of this intro-
duction of ewes, heifers, and mares, was for breeding
purposes, and much of the capital was sunk among the
community of 3,000 peopling the place belonging to the
labouring classes of the settlement. In the course of the
six months ending July, 34 vessels:had traded coast-
wise, an increase of 20 vessels over the same period
of 1847.
The following official dispatch gives the latest accounts
of proceedings at the new settlement of Otago:—
"Dunedin, Otago, July 24.
" Sir—l have the pleasure to report to you that coal
had been found at two places on the skirts of the Saddle-
back, and within about a mile of the navigable Tiera
River. The quality, the thickness of seam cropping out,
and the superincumbent gravelly matter, as reported by
Mr. Kettle, whom I sent down to examine, are precisely
similsr to those at the mouth of the Clutha, and lead us
to expect that coal will lyet be found within practicable
distance of the harbour. This discovery on the Tiara
is the more gratifying because of the scarcity of wood
for fuel in the greater part of that fine district, which
was remarked at the recent choice of rural allotments—
an objection which is now entirely done away with.
" The freestone quarry goes on successfully, and with
every indication that it will supply material fur building
cheaper than brick could be made fur.
" For these purposes I should wish to be supplied with
a few miners' pickaxes, and small wedges of good tem-
per for cutting stone. A quantity of oakum and some
sheet iron is also wanted, the former being for a fiat•
bottomed float, for conveying stones and other heavy
material at the head of the harbour. Our spikenails
and small rod iron are likewise exhausted.—l have the
honour to be, &c.,

" W. GA.r.cux, Resident Agent.
" Colonel W. Wakefield, Principal Agent of the
New Zealand Company, Wellington."
Respecting the operations of the New Zealand Com-
pany at Wellington, their dispatches received to-day
communicate the annexed intelligence:—
" Wellington, New Zealand, Aug. 19, 1848.

" Sir,—Her Majesty's ship Calliope being about to
proceed direct to England affords me an opportunity of
acquainting you, for the information of the Court of
Directors, that the Governor-in-Chief arrived hero in
that ship a few days ago from Auckland.
" I lost no time in obtaining an interview with his Ex-
cellency, in which he was pleased to communicate to me
the following satisfactory intelligence :--
"• The Crown grant of the Nelson blocks of land has
been duly executed, and will be delivered to me in a few
days. It comprises the lands at Massacre-bay and Blind-
bay, the Waimea, Motneaka, Wakapuaka, and Wairao
districts, and the unsurveyed district southward, as de-
fined in the map of that part of the island sent to you
some months ago. The natives' reserves are set out in
plans attached to the maps of each district, the execution
of which partly accounts fur the length of time since
they were sent to Auckland for signature. I have com-
municated the issue of the grant to Mr. Bell, at Nelson,
and directed him to at once establish a system of squat-
ting regulations for unsurveyed land in the block, based
on those drawn up by Mr. Fox. a copy of which I
DOW transmit in duplicate of the 9th instant. (No. 53--
48.) The want of such regulations has been much felt
during the late large importations of sheep and cattle
into the Nelson settlement.'

" With respect to my request that another effort should
be forthwith made to acquire the Wairarape, district for
the object contemplated by the directors, not, as before,
by an agent of the company, but by a commissioner
authorized by the Government, his Excellency was
pleased to express his desire that such purchase should
be attempted without delay He likewise
suggested the propriety of purchasing land as far as
Bawke's Bay, with a view to open a fresh field for the
present squatters in the Wairarapa district, out of the
way of the intending emigrants.
"In a subsequent interview his Excellency has ad-
mitted the propriety of the Government making the
payments in yearly instalments to the amount considered
a fair price for the territory to be acquired.
"These measures, I am assured, will be put in force
upon the return of Mr. Eyre from Nelson, now expected
every day.
" I have also been assured by Sir George Grey that
the settlement of New Plymouth shall forthwith be re •
placed by proclamation in the southern division of the
colony, for the purpose of examining the northern boun-
dary of which he visited the company's survey- office, and
pointed out on the chart what he considered a more ap-
bropriate boundary than the one indicated by the Court,
ut including Mokau on the west coast, and Ahoriri in
Hawke's Bay. Proceedings to make known the altera-
tion in the division of the two
.provinces will be taken
without loss of time.

" The Crown grant for the land in the middle island,
between the Nelson block and Otago, will be granted
immediately upon the native reserves being marked
off and shown to the owners, and the pa, ment made of
the second instalment of 5001., which is fixed for the
middle of next December.

" The district of Wanganui will also be matter for a
Crown.grant upon the return of Mr. Eyre to this place, and
I am happy to say that many applications to purchase
land belonging to the company have been made to the
agent whom I commissioned to offer it for sale.

" I have received from Sir George Grey an assurance
that no effort shall be Ranting on his part to obtain, and
place at the disposal of the
,company, all the available
districts of the southern division, with a view to facili-
tas the execution of the viewz of the directors, and to
put an end to iltegal squatting, and payment of rents to
the natives, two points calculated to create disputes be-
tween the stockholders themselves, and them and the
natives.
"Finally, his Excellency intends to direct the employ-
ment of all the European and native labour obtainable,
so that the road to the Wairarapa, by the Valley of the
Hutt, shall be concluded by the end of next autumn.
"I have the honour to be, &c.,
"W. WAKEFIELD, Principal Agent.
"To the Secretary of the New Zealand Company."

--
MILITARY AFFRAY AT CHATHAM.—On Saturday,
evening some serious effects were anticipated in conse-
qmuaennicfeesttg a oifisomemen belonging to the Royal Marines
disposition of violence at the White Hart
public house, in
that house,
Being, however, foiled
in their object at
tap room of the W house, they left, and entered the
ack, where some men belonging
to the 17th Regiment led some soldiers of the Provisional
Battalion and civilians were sitting. A soldier of the
Marine Artillery, and a
of the Marines, entered
first and asked who had rate to say about a " Pig
gaZrthuagreply, and the landlady
Mar;ne," and not meetin
refusing to draw them any beer
given, and
immediately from 30 to 40w1ditr
eivne.airgseinogtnearledvitahse
tap-rcOM,
and commenced fighting
ensued;
blood
Resis-
tance was offered, and a serious elLeelrrt,sent-
every sort of weapon was seized in defence,
flowed pretty freely from those who received
wounds
One marine had his nose split from the blow eewounds.er
s•
a
pot, and the tap-room tables and flooring wererisaiiZed
with blood in several places. The police-constables were
sent for, who seeing the violence of the soldiers, sent an
express to the barracks for assistance, and but for the
timely arrival of about a dozen pickets together with the
inlying picket, commanded by an officer, some lives
would have been lost, as there was nearly a thousand
civilians collected, some taking one Rut and some the
other; but owing to the orderly conduct of the men of
the several pickets the ringleaders were secured and
marched off to the guard room. No blame whatever
attaches to either the men of the 17th or the Provisional
Battalion in provoking the outrage. They were sitting
Tuietly and were sober when their assailants came in.
his affair is to be investigated by the commandant.
The landlady of the Woolpack has identified the marine
artillerymen and also the marine as the ringleaders.
MBLANCHOLY SUICIDE OF A TIMBER I‘AERCIIANT.
_Monday night, Mr. W. Payne held an inquest at St.
Bartholomew's Hospital, on the body of Mr. Thomas
Isaiah Ryder, aged 43, a highly respectable timber mer-
chant, lately residing at No. 19, Compton- street, Clerk-
enwell, who committed stficide on the morning of the
17th inst. by discharging a pistol, loaded with ball, into
his right ear. It appeared from the evidence of John
Ryder, the nephew of the deceased, and of a man named
Haskell, in his employ, that for eight or ten days pre-
vious to the melancholy occurrence his manner had be-
come very strange, his spirits low, and mind, at times,
bewildered. This deceased himself attributed to the fact
of another person having set up in the same business as
himself, in the same street, and selling at a lower figure;
also to the interference of steam-machinPi, which he
thought tended to depreciate his business. For this
fear, however, there was no ground, as his business re-
mained in a thriving condition. When found after the
occurrence he was not quite dead, and, in answer to his
nephew, he stated that he was a ruined man, and that
he had been mad all his life. Verdict--" Temporary in-
sanity."