The Sun.
London, England, 1857-04-06 00:00:00

" THE GOLD ESCORTS.

" The quantity of gold dust received by the escorts
from our gold fields during the month of January has
been 14,087 oz. 19 dwt. 12 gr. ; during the correspond-
ing month of 1856, 5,578 oz. 18 dwt. 11 gr. This shows
an increase of 8,509 or. 1 dwt. 1 gr. ; or more than 150
per cent. on the receipts of gold dust for the month of
January. The following are the amounts delivered by
each escort :

1856.

1857.

oz. dwt, gr.

oz. d wt. gr.

Western 4,803 18 19 ... 8,428 8 6
Southern 774 19 16 ... 1,297 18 9
Northern ... 4,361 12 21

5,578 18 11 ... 14,087 12_12

" The Western and Southern escorts delivered during
the first week of February 1,745 oz. 9dwt. 9 gr. of gold
dust, making the total quantity received by mod from
the gold fields during the present year amount to
17,8330 z. Bdwt. 21gr.
" In addition to this quantity 8420 z. were received
by post during the month of January.

" CUSTOMS.

"The amount of revenue collected by the Customs for
the port of Sydney during the month of January was
44,8571. 19s. sd. ; for the same month of 1856,
31,502 f. 345. 2d. ; this, therefore, shows an increase of
13,3551. 53. 3d. on the revenue received during the
month of January."

amendments in our commercial Code. - -
"The idea, long entertained, that the climate and
we
extract oit e Melbourne Age of
MELBOURNE.
soil of New South Wales were only one degree better From h
than those of the regions of the sunthe 13th of February
:
proverbial for sultriness and aridityAas been fora beeoenn.
"Feb.l2the following
siderable period exploded. It remained, however, to only to 31oz 75Tdhwet entries of gold for export amount
the present season to prove that not only is the climate sdwt. for Otago, andvz
28oi"
zsl;zwi.sfdorwti for
London.
onSydney, 2oz.
of Australia temperate, and its soil fertile, but that here The following list of gold shipped perlgo.rning Star
also we have the cloud, and the mist and the shower, has been handed to us by the agents :—Union Bank,
which are so effective in calling forth the rich spirit of 13,000 z. ; Victoria ditto, 13,6730 z. ; New South Wales,
fragrancy, and diffusing fertility throughout the land. ditto, 5,1060 z ; Australasia. ditto, 10,000 oz. ; Banks
"The three months which have just expired, and Brothers and Henderson, 6440 z, ; Mrlee, Kin gton and
which are usually known as the warnest mouths in this Co., 4,213,z. ; sundry parties, 5990 z. ; Oriental Bank,
climate, e'save been marked by a degree of moisture such 1,1450 z. ; total, 48,3800 z.
as has seldom favoured the colony. Nor have the bane- " The mail for Melbourne, per European, reached the
Scent rains been t2nfirl..ed' as they sometimes are, to a General Post-office at 80 30 p.m., on the evening of the
particular locality. ;n om the west, the south, and the 10th inst., and consisted of 10 bags, containing 33,700
north the intelligence is .
fraught with accounts of the letters, of which 1,262 were registered, and 75 bage,with
swelling of rivers, the overlie wing of creeks, and the 41,200 newspapers. The contents of the above mail,
fertilising of entire districts, together with those of the Black Swan, from Tasmania,
..
'e that the present and about 50'inland mails, made a total of 37,000 letters
" The result of this state of things
If this class (1,500 registered) and 45,000 newspapers. The lette-s
is literally a golden season for the farmes.
it is that by_ the above were prepared and a delivery effected by
of the colonists have any cause to comptalse
their crops are too abundant—that the great,,,ss of the 11
out 30 a.m. on the following morning, the number taken
production has had the effect of limiting the at:land.
u by letter-carriers at the time being upwards of
:000, or about one-third, while the remaining two
In some parts of the colony the price of wheat, accoi.d-
ing to our latest intelligence, is unquestionably below the thirds were nearly equally divided between the general
delivery at the office and tke despatch to the country
remunerating standard. The prices paid in some localf- I
diitricts.
ties are so low that, were not all experience opposed to
the principle of protection, the advocates for a protective I
duty in favour of the farmer would be likely to receive
many converts to their ranks. In one district we bare
wheat quoted at 4s. per bushel ; in another at Gs. These
are discouraging prices when we consider that two years
ago wheat was purchased at many mills in the interior
at 20s. ; and low as is the present price of grain a further
reduction is anticipated.
"It is encouraging to perceive tbat the result of the
abundance which has characterised the present season
has been to show the settlers and the public generally the
urgent necessity which exists for that ready communion.-
Gold.
Lion between the metropolis and the distant interior _
..ezeU,37B 10 0 ...
which railways can alone supply. One or two more such ..
agricultural seasons and the demand for railway com- seeylon
11. g"
munication would be loud and long—from one extreme Madras .
.9,alcutta
of the colony to the other. The pressure for an improved
r
system of communication is already, indeed, beginning
to make itself felt. The communication established by
the successful navigation of the Mnrray has effectively
directed the attention of the colonists to the value of the
hitherto neglected rivers of the country. Already the
Murrumbidgee has been surveyed, preparatory to the
ascent of steamers during the approaching season. This
stream, we aro told, has five feet of water in the shal-
lowest part during the dry portion of the year. Then the
Edward River is to be made one of the highways of com-
merce. A meeting, numerously and influentially at-
tended, has been held, at which it was resolved to memo-
rialise the Government for a sum of money sufficient to
clear this stream of obstructions with the view to its
navigation by steamboats.
" Everything tends to show that the colony is begin-
ning to assume the character of a great agricultural
country. One fact, however, which has been established
by the remarkable diversity in the seasoes is that in this
colony the farmer must not look to the produce of his
farm merely as a means of subsistence. To be successful
the eerioulturist must be sufficiently independeot to be
capable of occasionally hoarding the produce of one year
for the market of the next. If he does not acs time, it
is quite evident that he will not be true to hinee.l.f.
Indeed, the interests of the country, not less than the
individual, demand the exercise of some management of
this sort. If the farmer sell his wheat one year for 4e.
a-bushel, and the next year, when the price is 20s. has
none to sell, it is evident that agriculture would soon
come to a standstill.
" Another fact which is now clearly demonstrated is
that Now South Wales must eventually become an ex-
porter of grain. If, with our defective internal commu-
nication, the competition of the gold fields, and various
other drawbacks, we can already produce a superabun-
dance of bread-stuffs, what may we not do when we have
railways intersecting every agricultural district in the
colony, and when our population is doubted ? When
that period arrives, the colony, aided by such seasons as
the present, will become a vast granary, as remarkable
for hergolden grain as she already is for her golden fleece.
Nor will a market ever be wanting—whether a cluster
of European colonies each as the French settlement at
New Caledonia, stretching across the great Pacific„or
new Sydneys studding the yet untrodden sboresl f New
b© Holland ; whichever of these may happen to calfor
created.
extra extra produce, the demand will infallibly
But far beyond even this vista does the mind's eye see
those who will yet look to New Holland as their hope
against want. Already does China, our near .neighbour,
begin to feel the pressure of superabundant p opulation.
Who will say that in 50 years she may n strip her
heathen temples to purchase for her swarming millions
the harvest of the Murray and the Murrumbidgee l
The races of India, too—lndia, which lies at our door
—may not always irecontent to subsist on rice and
such meagre diet, if indeed their over-wrought soil will
continue to supply an abundance even of their present
dietary conamoditieo. Here iii alwther warliet which

THE MAILS.

SouTlikatri6s, April 4.—The Peninsular and
Oriental Company's steam-ship Colombo, Capt. J.
S. Field, left to-day for Gibraltar, Malta, and
Alexandria with the India and China mails, up-
wards of 100 passengers, and a full cargo, including
2,926 boxes of specie and valuables for the fpllow,
ing places, viz. :
Silver. Jewellery.
Bombay
23 ... £306 0
110 0
Ceylon
Madras 11,614 0 0 ... 4,998 ... 913 9 0
Calcutta
Penang 12,109 ? 6 ... ... .. 285 0 0
Singapore 31,516 13 4 ... ... ... 41 5 0
Hong Kong 121,217 4 2 .- ... ...
Canton 6,297 0 0 ... •••
Shanghai 101,709 0 0 ...

161 0 8

£780,686 15 0 £7,998 £2,441 14 0
Total value of specie and jewellery for India and
China, 791,1261. 9s. The Alhambra leaves this
port on Tuesday the 7th inst., with the mails for
Vigo, Oporto, Lisbon, Cadiz, and Gibraltar ; and
the next mails from those ports will be brought by
the Tagus, due here on the 14th inst. The Indus,
with the heavy portion of the India and China
mails, is not expected before Tuesday or Wednes-
day. The Royal Mail Company's steamer Teviot,
Capt. Moir, leaves on the 9th with the Brazilian
and River Plate mails, and the Parana on the 17th
with the mails for the West Indies. The next
homeward. steamers, with the Brazilian and West
India mails, are the Medway, due on the 14th from
the Brazils, and the Atrato, due on the 16th from
the West India Islands. The United States mail
steamer Fulton, Capt. Wotton, leaves here on
al m Weai d-
day next for New York. The Belgian Royl
steamer Leopold 1., Capt. Michel, and the United
Skates mail steamer Hermann, Capt. Higgins,
which arrived off Cowes from New York on Friday
night
imme-
and the Antwer
inroceeded on thaessirenregseprese:(tvce voyages
didtely tu:er landing p sand
ton, the fol. en The Leopold p
the latter for .L'remt •
liter for
forA:twerNp
tnp
New York On the 21st,
on the 22d inst.
atondletahvee
iiSocurnatt

ELECTION OF INCIIMBE2T OF ST. JAMES, dLERKEN-
IYELL.—At the close of the st:cond day'spoll the numbers
stood as follow :—For Mr. Magcire, 838 ; Mr. Ball, 7 ;
and Mr. Herbert, I.
PRESTON AND WYRE SHARES,—RESOLL 'TION OF COM-
MITTEE OF STOCK EXCHANGE.—The orlgina.v 251. Shares,
and the Halves A, Con,-olidated Half B, and Gth Shares,
to be taken and delivered indiscriminately— whole shares
for the corresponding fractions, and the f; -actions for
whole shares.
WirE•PorsoNpra AT CIIORLEY.—On Friday,. :Edward
Hardman, a shoemaker, of Cherdley, Lancak ibire, was
committed to Lancashire Gaol on a charge of N vilful mur-
der. Hardman's wife died early in March, and was
buried in Brindle parish church ; but as some su spiciona
existed as to the cause of her death, the body was -exhumed
on the2oth ult., and the stomach and other TIS, 'era were
examined by an analytical chemist, who four Id arsenic
and antimony in them. In order that the 1 mart a
and
lungs might be also examined the inquest was a djhe eoura-
death
xe
till Friday, when the gentleman who had made the
mination expressed his opinion that the wont' n'S
had resulted from poison.