South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900), Friday 24 December 1852, page 4


VICTORIA.

By the Anna Dixon, we have Melbourne papers to the 15th instant. The ship Bombay, 1270 tons, Capt. Flamant, with 706 Government emigrants, from London, 114

days out, anchored inside the Port Phillip Heads on the evening of Saturday the 11th instant. From information received by the authorities, it appeared that no fewer than 24 deaths had occurred on the voyage, two from drowning, four from typhus fever, and the others from various diseases. Capt. Taylor, of the ship Bienzi, from our port, had appeared to an information laid by the Assistant Emigration Officer at William's Town, for a breach of the 8th clause of the Passenger Act, in allowing a number of his passengers to leave before being boarded by the Emigration Officer, and also declin-ing to give the necessary information when required so to do. The Bench considered the offence fully proved, and fined him £10 and costs. Masters of all vessels, coastwise, would do well to remember, that according to the port regulations, ' No boat is to be allowed alongside any vessel coming from any port not in the colony of Victoria, until such vessel shall have been properly secured at her anchorage, and declared free by the Health Officer or otherwise. The captain of the ship Gloucester, in Hobson's Bay, jumped overboard on the 13th instant, in a fit of delirium tremens, and was drowned. Under the head Commercial Intelligence, we find the following, dated the 15th December : — Little and Co. sold yesterday Magarey's Adelaide flour £25 per ton ; Wilkie's Sydney biscuits, 30s per 100 lbs ; oats, of first class, 16s per bushel ; inferior ditto, 15s ; English and Adelaide cheese at Monday's quotations ; .bacon, 1s 1d per lb ; sugar, tea, coffee, and rice, in small quantities, at prices regardless of current rates, to close asssignments. E. Gilbert and Co. sold yesterday, bacon, at 1s 2d per lb ; rice, £14 per ton. On the previous day the price of Gold was quoted at £3 10s., and the following notices published : — Dobdon and Gill sold yesterday, Brown's River potatoes £11 to £13; inferior ditto, £6 17s 6d per ton ; joists, 6X3, 41s to 43s; ditto, 5X3, 38s to 41s ; quartering, 32s to 33s; shingles, 31s to 33s ; laths, 45s ; paling, 52s to 55s. Stubb and Son sold yesterday, on the premises, Geelong, the Royal Oak Inn, and two houses adjoining in Mooraboolstreet, for £5 10s; also leased for seven years, a plot ofground ground in the same street for £7 15s per foot, per annum ; also, the Diana, lighter, was sold for £500. W. M. Tennent and Co. sold yesterday, part of the cargo of the Epaminondas, as follows : — Hams from 10½d to 1s, cheese at 1s 1¾d per lb ; crackers in half-barrels 39s to 51s, ditto in qr-ditto 25s to 35s; salmon in tins 2s 7d to 2s 11d, lobsters ditto 2s lO10d ; cider in bottles, per dozen, 16s to 23s ; table salt in boxes, per dozen, 13s; flour in casks, 54s to 56s ; chairs in cases, per dozen, 96s to 150s ; tubs in nests, per nest, 37s 6d to 39s 6d; brooms, per dozen, 12s; miner's shovels, 6s each ; flour pails in nests, 5s 6d to 7s 6d ; willow baskets in nests, 14s ; camp chairs, per dozen, 45s ; matches, per gross, 12s 6d ; portable bedsteads, 2s 6d each ; Colt's revolvers from £10 to £11 ; tartane acid from 9s to 9s 3d ; carbonate of soda 6½d to 8½d. Ross and Co. sold yesterday, quartering 30s to 32s; Van Dieman's Land flour, £21, fine ditto, £24 10s; oats 16s to 17s 6d. Among the numerous arrivals noticed in the papers before us are the Rival, from our port on the 11th, and the Margaret on the 1 th. On the 13th inst. the Orpheus cleared out for Port Adelaide, with 146 passengers, and the Victoria, the Candahar, and the Chatham were to sail on the same day. The Ballengeich was advertised to sail on the 20th. With respect to the Gold-fields — we learn that the improvement at Ballarat is steadily progressing. The most explicit intelligence from the Ovens is that transmitted by the Argues correspondent, from which we gather the following : — Spring Creek, 10th December, 1852. Since my last despatch the Escort has started for Mel-bourne, and will probably have reached town ere this comes to hand. The large quantity of Gold which it has taken down will no doubt have the effect of inducing many to leave town for the Ovens; but, notwithstanding the fact that this Escort has taken down nearly three times as much Gold as either of the two previous Escorts, I would still caution intending diggers against being too sanguine in their expectations in hastening to this quarter. As stated in my previous communication, it is the general opinion among the most experienced hands here that the best diggings in this neighbourhood are not yet discovered; prospecting parties are scattered over a very wide extent of country, and rumours of partial success in almost every direction are daily current. The fact that nearly 4,000 licences have been taken out this month, speaks well for the opinion that those on the ground have, of the ultimate prospects of this Gold-field. It is with much regret that I have to inform you that since I last wrote more than one cool and deliberate murder has been perpetrated in this neighbourhood. The first case I have to report is the murder of George Stone, of Mel-bourne, aged 21 years, who, together with his younger brother and brother-in-law, formed a digging party at the new Gold-fields on the Reedy Creek. The deceased left his tent on Sunday last, to take a ride, and was expected to return within a few hours ; he was not, however, heard of till Wednesday, when his body was found in the bush, the throat cut, and the head severely mutilated, his saddle had been placed over his head, and the bridle thrown by his side, his packets had been rifled of about £40 of cash, and three ounces of Gold. The bay mare which he rode, branded G 2 on near shoulder, has not since been seen. Several parties, within the last four days, have been bailed up by a gang of four ruffians, within a few miles of the place where the body was found, and there is every reason to suspect the same gang to have perpetrated the murder. Accurate descriptions of the parties are in the bands of the authorities and the Police-Magistrate, toge-ther with the Coroner; and four troopers have been out for

the last two days in pursuit. This morning news came in that another body had been found in the same neighbour-hood. Another set of police have been despatched there, and have not yet returned. The locality, which has been the scene of these tragic exploits, is a few miles on the road leading from Reedy Creek to Albury, and not far from Reed's Mill. The son of Dr. Keating, J. P., of Albury, was yesterday bailed up near Reed's Mill by some bush-rangers, one of whom seized his horse and mounted it ; but the animal not admiring the change of musters, ' bucked' and threw the bushranger, and Mr. K. was enabled to catch it, and returned to his father's tent at Reedy Creek. On the 8th December, Mr. Justice Barry, accom-panied by the Attorney-General and other officials, arrived at Mount Alexander, escorted by a score of the Mounted Police, and took up his quarters at Castlemaine. On the 9th, Mr. Justice Barry took his seat in the Castlemaine Circuit Court, and the Jury having been empanelled His Honor delivered a very long and exceedingly interesting address, ex-planatory of the novel circumstances under which they were called together, and of the recent enact-ments. It was said that Mr. Chapman, the late Colonial Secretary of Van Diemen's Land, was likely to be the new Colonial Secretary for Victoria. Mr. F. Sinnett, late of this city, had become the Editor of the Melbourne Morning Herald. We find the following obituary notice in the Argus of the 15th instant: — Death of J. C. McLaren, Esq. — We have to record the rather sudden death of John Cunningham McLaren, Esq., of the firm of Flower, McLaren, and Co., merchants of this city, who expired at his residence, South Yarra, at 5 o'clock yesterday afternoon. On Saturday last Mr. McLaren received severe injuries to his spine through a fall caused by a tether-rope becoming entangled with his legs ; this ulti-mately caused his death. The deceased gentleman was 44 years of age, and much respected m this city. Mrs. McLaren is now absent on a visit to Sydney. Mr. McLaren was the first Inspector of the Union Bank, and mainly assisted in founding that establishment. MELBOURNE LIVE STOCK MARKET.— Saturday, December 11. Cattle and Sheep. — There has been no alteration in the price of sheep or cattle during the week, on last week's quotations. The markets continue to be fully stocked. Horses have slightly advanced on previous quotations, but the market continues overstocked. Some horses lately imported from Van Diemen's Land are on their way back.