70
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.

accoutrements, or other property, shall be Hebrides, furnished by Mr. Thomas Kerr,
paid by the Volunteer in whose charge they Master, R.N., are published for general in-
were; such fine to be fixed by the Adjutant formation.
and the Captain of the Company, upon con-
sideration of the circumstances, and if not
paid to the Adjutant on demand, may be REMARKS ON THE BANKS' ISLANDS, PORT
recovered by him on behalf of the Govern- PATTESON, &c., &c.
inent in any Resident Magistrate's Court in
the Colony.
9. Volunteers enrolled under these Regu-
lations shall be subject to the provisions con-
tained in the following sections of the "Mili-
tia Act, 1858," namely, sections 1, 3, 5, 6, 7,
9, 18, 19, 20, 21, (except the proviso thereto),
23, and 24; and of Sections Nos. 10, 11, 12,
13, 14, and 15, of the "Militia Act Amend-
ment Act, 1860."

F. G. STEWARD,
Clerk of Executive Council.

Colonial Secretary's Office,
Auckland, 11th March, 1861.

HIS Excellency the Governor has, in Her
Majesty's Name, summoned
The Hon. JOHN JOHNSTON, of Wellington,
and
The Hon. WILLIAM DOUGLAS HALL BAILLIE,
of Erina, Wairau,
to the Legislative Council of New Zealand, by
Writ of Summons under the Seal of the
Colony.

E. W. STAFFORD.

Colonial Secretary's Office,
Auckland, 11th March, 1861.

HIS Excellency the Governor has, on
behalf of Her Majesty, been pleased to
accept the resignation by
THOMAS HENRY FITZGERALD, Esq.,
of the office of Superintendent of the Pro-
vince of Hawke's Bay.

E. W. STAFFORD.

Colonial Secretary's Office,
Auckland, 11th March, 1861.

TENDERS will be received at this Office,
until noon of Wednesday, the 27th inst.,
for constructing a Bridge across Oraki Creek,
Hobson's Bay, in accordance with Plans and
Specifications, which may be seen at the Office
of the Inspector of Public Works (Royal En-
gineer's Office, Albert Barracks).
Tenders to be endorsed on the covers "Ten-
der for Oraki Bridge."
The Contractor will be required, with two
sufficient sureties, to enter into a bond for the
due performance of the work.
The Government does not bind itself to ac-
cept the lowest or any Tender.

E. W. STAFFORD.

NOTICE TO MARINERS.

Colonial Secretary's Office,
Auckland, 11th March, 1861.

THE following sailing remarks respecting
Banks' Islands, Port Patteson, and New

Banks' Islands.
So named by Bligh in his remarkable boat
voyage.

True Position.
They are usually placed about a degree too
far East, their true position having been first
ascertained in 1856 by the Bishop of New
Zealand in his missionary schooner "Southern
Cross."

Discovery by Quiros.
These Islands and the New Hebrides were
discovered in the 16th century by a Spanish
expedition under Quiros, the record of which
fact is preserved in the Spanish names Santa
Maria and Espirito Santo.

Quiros, however, had no idea of the real
nature of his discovery, but imagined it to
be part of the Great Southern Continent so
eagerly sought after in those days: It
remained for Boujainville and the immortal
Cook to describe the character of this
Archipelago.

Number.
The Banks' Group consists of 9, or if the
Torres Islands be included, of 14 Islands.

Appearance, Barter, Communication, &c.
Their general appearance is bold and
wooded, presenting combinations of red earth,
coral, and metamorphic rock, the hills rising
from 500 to 1500 feet; they are thickly
populated, and abound in yams, cocoa-nuts,
and bread-fruit.

With the exception of Santa Maria the
natives are very docile and quiet and anxious
to barter their produce-yams for small
hatchets and pieces of flat iron, cocoa-nuts
for empty bottles-a missionary having lately
lived amongst them, probably calico will now
be in request.

Pigs are seen, but being eaten here chiefly
at religious ceremonies, the natives will not
barter them readily.

Fish are very abundant at the North Rocks,
but no where else.

Landing is always easy on the lee side of
an Island, and when the natives desire to
trade they make a signal smoke.

Firewood and water are not difficult to
obtain.

Navigation.

During the winter very pleasant, with a
fresh S.E. trade wind, rocks and shoals very
few and all visible. In the summer N.W.
winds are said to be common with an occa-
sional cyclone towards autumn.

Star Peak Island or Meralaba.
Named by the French, is the southernmost
of the group, about 1500 feet high and very