The Sun. — 1857-06-08 (London, England)

FIRST THREE MONTHS. 1854 1855 1856 1857 oz. oz. oz. oz. Receipts by escort 382,901 407,394 748,303 527,154 Shipments "The greatest falling off this year, as compared with 1856, is, it will be observed, in the escort returns. The shipments, under ail disadvantages, still keep up to the average of 10 tons troy per month, or 120 tons per year, a sum total not to be despised from a colony so sparsely popullted. The decline'in the escorts is to be attributed to the fact that the improved state of the roads enables coaches to run through to Melbourne in a day, quite as much as to the undoubted temporary flucteation in the yield. "When tha wet weather has set in sufficiently to flood the creeks and the old water holes, the escort returns will show a decided improvement. At present comparatively few puddling machines are at work, and large boards of rich ' washing stuff' are in the hands of the miners. Some fine nuggets were brought into town last week from Korong and from Dunolly. The departures of gold ships since last summer have been— " March 3, JosephTarratt, for Bombay, 1,576 ounces ; 7th, Sussex, for London, 47,844; 80, I'. A. Cole, for Hongkong, 7,260 ; Bth, Persia, for Bombay, 1,445 : Bth, Lancaster, for Calcutta, 2,669 ; Bth, Monarch, for Sydney, 45 ; Bth, Stebonheath. for London, 5,254 ; 14th, Walmer Castle, for London, 38,123; 14th, European, for Suez, 10,704 ; 20th, Francis Henty, for London, 24,732 ; 21st, Tudor, for Liverpool, 14,502 ; 21st, Royal Shepherd, for Launceston, 20 ; 23d, Jeannette, for Hongkong, 2,831; 25th, Kent, for London, 69,221 ; 29th, Day Dream, for Calcutta, 2,311; April 3, Challenge, for Hongkong, 675 ; 6th, Champion, for Liverpool, 32,831; 7th, Roxburgh Castle, for London, 30,267; 9th, Cornwall, for Hong Kong, 596. " The population of the colony on the let of January was, according to official returns, 351,000 souls. To this, if we add the balance of arrivals over departures since, and the increase of births over deaths, we shall arrive at the following calculation : Population Ist of January, 1857 351,000 Balance of arrivals, January • 5,214 Ditto, February. 7OO Ditto, March Increase by births over deaths for three months 1,400  Total 362,152 "A census was taken on the 29th of March last, from which, when completed, valuable statistics can be drawn. Hitherto it is admitted the information on the subject of population has not been very accurate. " All our politicians are looking forward with strong interest to the events of the next tew days. Parliament reassembles to•worrow, and the Parliamentary verdict upon the O'Shanassy Ministry will then be given. Hitherto, since the sudden and unexpected overthrow of the Haines' Administration, which we chronicled in our last summary, almost all political topics have been purely prospective. Speculations have been rife as to the reception that Mr. O'Shanassy will meet with, and indications have been abundant that the country has no faith in him as the head of the present Cabinet, but whether he will be tolerated for the present still remains to be decided, and round that question the political feeling of the time accumulates.  "The most engrossing topic of the past month—one before which even the interest of the Ministerial crisis grew dim—has been of a very melancholy kind. On the 26th ult., the Inspector-General of the penal depart. ment, Mr. Price, was brutally murdered by a number of convicts at Williamstown, who set upon him and maltreated him with such ferocity that he never fairly recovered his senses, and died the day after the onslaught. " The excitement among the convicts both in the stockades and on board the hulks became exceedingly great after Mr. Price's murder. The greatest insubordination prevailed, and on board the SUCC,B3 this reached to such a height that the warders were unable to go among the prisoners, who maintained a continual uproar for several hours. It was deemed necessary to place the Victoria war steamer with shotted guns alongside of the Success, and there can be no doubt that had the mutiny among the convicts gene much further, orders would have been given to fire into the hulk, Since then quiet