The official returns published on February 2nd show that during the week ended January 30th, only 436 deaths were primarily attributed to the malady, as com pared with 506 in the previous week, and that there is a corresponding decline in cases in which influenza has been noted as a secondary cause of death. This is the first time since the epidemic assumed a serious iorm, towards the end of last year, that there has been a decline, the numbers having, until last week, risen continuously from 19 to 506. Last year, when influenza prevailed, a similar movement was noted : that is to say, the numbers rose from nine in one week to 319, and then gradually died away. The turn having once been made, the decline was as steady as the rise. Thus it may be hoped that the acute stage of the present visitation has beeu passed. The present epidemic has been more serious, in respect to the number of deaths weekly, than that of last year. There are still nearly 30 members of Parliament and more than a dozen peers suffering from the malady, and the mere names of other dis tinguished persons who are or have beeu " down" with it would make a very for midable list. We take the following from the Alataura Ensign : Recently a strange phenomenon (writes a correspondent) was observed at Lake Te Anau. The occurrence was noticed at 5.30, about a mile and a half from the south end of the lake, the writer's attention being first arrested by a noise resembling the explosion of a bomb shell almost beneath the spot where he was standing. About 15 minutes later, a sharp shock was felt, similar to what would resulc from the discharge of a heavy piece of ar tillery. Twenty minutes afterwards the lake, which at the time was perfectly still, and as clear as a mirror, showed about seven distinct streaks of brilliant color, in parallel lines, running horizontally across che lake. The color was that of a rich ochre, and in the rays of the setting sun shone as burnished copper. Unfortunately the writer was fully two miles distant from where a boat could be obtained, and conse quently could not get on the water to more closely observe the nature of its appearance. 