376

THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.

G. GREY, Governor.

ORDER IN COUNCIL

Revoking an Order in Council of 18th September last,
and otherwise Regulating the exercise of the
Miners' Rights Franchise.

At the Government House, at Wellington, this
twenty-ninth day of November, 1865.

Present:

HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR IN COUNCIL.

WHEREAS it is expedient that, in pursuance of
the Acts of the General Assembly respectively
entitled "The Miners' Representation Act, 1862,"
and "The Miners' Representation Act Amendment
Act, 1863," and "The Miners' Representation Act
Amendment Act, 1865," an appointment should be
made by the Governor in Council of a distinguishing
mark or stamp, to be impressed upon every Miner's
Right in respect of which the Miner's franchise shall
be exercised, and that a regulation should be made
for the use thereof:

And whereas it is expedient that the Order in
Council made on the eighteenth day of September
last for the above purpose should be revoked:

Now therefore His Excellency the Governor, with
the advice and consent of the Executive Council, doth
hereby revoke the said Order in Council, and doth
hereby appoint, order, and direct, that from and after
the first day of December next, the Stamp to be
impressed by the Returning Officer, or person ap-
pointed by him for that purpose, at each Polling
Place, upon Miners' Rights and Business Licenses,
in accordance with the provisions contained in the
said Acts, shall be a Stamp bearing the words
"Miners' Franchise Exercised," and the date of such
exercise.

FORSTER GORING,
Clerk of the Executive Council.

Colonial Secretary's Office,
Wellington, 29th November, 1865.

THE following Report by the Master of the
Steamer "Southland" of the recent trip of that
vessel to the Auckland Islands in search of persons
supposed to have been shipwrecked there, is published
for general information.

E. W. STAFFORD.

Invercargill, 11th November, 1865.

SIR,—I have the honor to report the safe arrival
of the Steamer "Southland," after having made
search in the Auckland Islands for shipwrecked
persons, and found none. An outline of the incidents
of the voyage is as follows:

The "Southland" under my command, left New
River on the 14th ultimo, having on board seventeen
souls, including Dr. Moncton, Mr. Baker, (Chief
Surveyor,) and Mr. G. Fred. Richardson, as reporter
for the Press. After getting into Foveaux Strait a
fresh gale sprung up from south-west, bringing with
it a considerable swell, which caused the vessel to
roll her sponsons under water and threaten to wash
away the wing-houses placed on them, which had not
been very securely fastened. As the gale appeared
to be increasing I put into Port Adventure partly to
obtain shelter and partly to get the wing-houses and
paddle-boxes better secured.

This last having been accomplished as far as was
practicable, and the gale having eased, we left Port
Adventure at six o'clock p.m., on the 18th, passed
the south cape of Stewart's Island at 10.30 p.m., and
on the morning of the 19th at 9:30, passed within
three miles of the Snares. The weather being clear
at the time we would have seen any ordinary signal
made on these islands by shipwrecked persons, had
any been there.

Next day (20th October) the wind freshened from
west-north-west, with a high sea, thick haze, and
rain. The density of the haze prevented our seeing
the land until four in the afternoon, and before we
got inshore the weather thickened again, and as night
was coming on, I preferred to keep clear of the shore
and keep under canvas till morning.

At daylight on the 21st we steamed slowly round
Enderby Island, and into Laurie Cove at the head of
Port Ross, closely scanning the shore with our
glasses as we went along. This anchorage is easy of
access and perfectly safe, being entirely land-locked;
but with westerly winds it is subject to violent gusts
of wind which come through a deep gully at the head
of it. We remained in this place till the morning of
the 26th, and during the time visited all the shores
and bays in the neighbourhood without meeting in
with any traces to show that shipwrecked persons
had recently been there. The weather very much
prevented our explorations, for it blew hard the whole
time with snow and hail squalls. The body found by
the crew of the "Flying Scud" we disinterred, and
putting it in a wooden box, buried it near to the
mounds of four graves which we discovered a little
distance off, and placed over it an inscription painted
on wood, stating who had originally found the body
and by whom it had been buried there. The opinion
of Dr. Moncton on examining the skeleton, was, that
it must have been dead at least a twelvemonth. The
only indications of castaway persons having been
there were on Ocean Point, and these must have
been some twelvemonths old: they were the remains
of a hut composed of small branches and grass. Near
to the hut lay a large heap of limpet shells giving
evidence of the nature of the food the unfortunates
must have principally subsisted on. A little to the
westward on an eminence commanding an extensive
view of the ocean to the northward lay prostrate a
rude representation of a cross, probably put up
originally for a signal staff. On the beach a short
distance from the point was the wreck of a small
boat which had been made of small sticks interlacing
each other like wickerwork and fastened with narrow
strips of seal hide, and this last-mentioned material
had probably been used for covering the outside of
it with.

From Ocean Point all along the shore to the place
which had been the head quarters of the settlement
there were evidences of former occupation, such as
remnants of huts and patches of ground which had
been cleared and cultivated but now all overgrown
with luxuriant vegetation.

About two miles down the bay, on the south side,
we found an old ship's boat, square sterned, about
eighteen feet long, entirely weather bleached and
overgrown with moss inside. There was no name on
it. I should have mentioned that on our first
landing we saw a large trunk of a tree which had
been smoothed to admit of the following inscription
being cut on it:

H M C S Victoria
Norman
in search of shipwrecked people
October 13, 1865

and placed in a hollow of the tree was a bottle
enclosing a letter, of which the following is a copy:

"H.M.C.S. 'Victoria,' 17th October, 1865.

"The above ship arrived in this harbour on the
13th October, having searched every bay from Adams'
Island to the Sandy Bay on Enderby's Island, for
traces of shipwrecked people. She will leave here
to-morrow to continue the search round the western
shores of this island to Carnley's Harbour and from
thence to Antipodes Island and Bounty Island. On
Enderley's Island have been landed some goats and