FOURTH PLATE.-General characteristics. Fan with pearl; no trees on hill; bale not inscribed; ground shaded across; no dot in corner stars. (1.) Paper hard, dull white, unwatermarked; dull blue, blue, bright blue. (2.) Paper hard, blue, unwatermarked; pure blue, dark blue, dull blue. (3) Paper blue and dull bluish, laid; dull blue, blue. (4.) Paper thin, blue, unwatermarked; ultramarine. (5.) Paper thick, yellowish, laid vertically; dull blue, light and dark. Prominent varieties. A. Fan with six segments. SOMETHING MORE ABOUT THE NEW CALEDONIAN STAMPS. OUR Parisian contemporary, Le Timbrophile, published last month an article on the above stamps, giving further details respecting their preparation. En passant we may observe that the writer, whilst he refers to the letter signed "Wild Hunter," which we extracted from the Queen, and gives us credit for "Wild Hunter's" statements and opinions, takes no notice of M. Berger-Levrault's paper in reply, wherein the same are confuted. We published "Wild Hunter's" letter, because we deemed his narrative worth investigation, and not because we in any degree coincided with his views. But to return: When postage stamps became a want in New Caledonia, the governor addressed himself to a sergeant in the little garrison, named Triquéra. After a rather long search, Sergeant Triquéra found, at eight or nine kilometres from Noumea, near Pont-desFrançais, a grey limestone, bluish, soft, slightly clayish, and of a fine grain, which, in default of a better, might be used as a lithographic stone. The discovery of this stone was made in 1857. In 1858 appeared the first numbers of the journal of the island, which we ought to add, are nearly illegible. The stamps also left much to desire as works of art, having been engraved with the point of a pin on a little stone which contained one hundred, and from this cause were all different. Moreover it should be remarked, that Sergeant Triquéra had not the wherewithal to transfer the design to other stones, and so if one stone did not succeed, there were months of delay, and of work to perform over again in obtaining another from the district, and in recovering the design which had been adopted for this stamp-a design which was an uncouth copy of the 10 c. stamp in use in France. After making all deductions, however, the stamps were, it must be admitted, much better than the island journal which appeared about the same time, and they served from 1858 to the commencement of 1860, since which the French colonial stamp with eagle has replaced them. Sergeant Triquéra, when he had finished his term of service, took his discharge in the colony, and remained there as lithographer, until bad health caused him to leave for France, but he could not support the voyage, and died en route. After his death, which took place in 1866, an inventory was made, such as is always taken of the goods of passengers dying on board government vessels, and among his effects were found a large number of plates [stones] of the old 10 c. stamps, which he probably expected to sell on his arrival in France; for he had heard of the famous sale in Paris, at the price of 1000 francs (£40), of one entire stone-a sale which had rendered celebrated the postagestamp merchant of the Rue des Canettes. The heirs in France of the late lithographer, Triquéra, had had the stones reprinted from by him before his departure from the colony. These are the reprints which for some time past have made their appearance in the market, and are offered by a person at Marseilles to all the dealers in Europe and America, and it is this which has given occasion for the statement of "Wild Hunter," who sees in the matter nothing but the dishonest speculation of the captain of a Marseilles vessel. In conclusion, we trust M. Mahé will pardon our infringement of his rights, as the article, which we have in part translated, was in fact a reply to one which had appeared in this magazine; and having given currency to an erroneous version, we deem it our duty to correct it by the true history. NOTES ON PENDRAGON'S LETTER. BY AMATEUR. IN the September number of The StampCollector's Magazine, the writer exposed the untruth of certain matters alleged by Pendragon as facts, in a paper which appeared in August. Last month's magazine contains a reply by Pendragon, in which he states the writer has made "several inexact assertions respecting certain opinions expressed by me.” It is a favourite, if not novel- line of defence with a certain class, to attempt to justify on the ground that their accuser is guilty of the same offence as themselves, the resort to which is commonly supposed to afford a sure indication of the truth of the accusation. Independently of the light thus thrown on the merits of the case, it is ill advised to adopt this style, when the foundation of the charge being in writing, the party making it can be convicted beyond the possibility of evasion. The writer stated, that admitting the postoffice Mauritius to be a variety, there existed two dies. Pendragon had asserted, "on one die" the words were used in error. Charged with the blunder, Pendragon does not venture to deny in terms-though he would, to a reader who did not scan his words closely, appear to deny-the truth of the writer's assertion. In the witness-box, a person who thus answered would be called a shuffler; and Pendragon's letter is certainly not direct or clear. He says, "I merely quoted the exact words of Mr. Pearson Hill, when writing in an old number of this magazine." This is neither more nor less than the reverse of the truth. Pendragon did not quote from Mr. Pearson Hill his exact words, as he asserts he did; probably, making the assertion from a mere random recollection. The only letter or paper by Mr. Pearson Hill, on this subject, appeared in The Stamp-Collector's Magazine for June, 1865, p. 94, vol. iii. In it Mr. Hill speaks of there being a difference in the position of the words in the plate, and in the background, referring to the wellknown distinctions pointed out in Mount Brown's catalogue, the then authority; and Mr. Hill deprecated collecting more than one specimen of the series. It is entirely untrue to say Mr. Hill ever wrote, "on one die," &c. (or words equivalent thereto), as Pendragon asserts he did. It is not to be supposed that Pendragon intentionally wrote what was untrue; but what is to be thought of the accuracy of any one who writes thus? How can he speak of "inexactness" in others? It is scarcely worth while to follow this writer further, ex uno disce omnes; but a person who pretends to instruct others-the chosen "champion of a school," who is so carelessly inaccurate, deserves to have his gross blundering ignorance publicly demonstrated. Let us see what sources of information were open to him. The first attempt to bring the stamps of Mauritius to a proper classification was by the writer's esteemed friend, M. George Herpin, of Paris, in a paper published in Le Collectionneur de Timbres-Postes, in March, 1865. There M. Herpin says, "Il existe des exemplaires où on lit POST-OFFICE," &c.; he does not describe them, or say more. In consequence of certain views held by M. Herpin on the value of the Britannia stamps, a long correspondence ensued between him and the present writer, and between the latter and Mr. Pearson Hill, whose letters are now in the writer's possession. Following this question up, M. Moens, to whom the writer conveyed the statements made by Mr. Hill, published a paper in Le Timbre-Poste, May, 1865, No. 29, in which all the stamps of Mauritius are elaborately dealt with; and M. Moens, referring to the alleged variety, post-office, states that, while not denying their existence, he never has seen them, and rests in doubt. Thus the authorities stood, till November, 1865, when M. Moens' doubts were resolved; the pair in question was found, and in Le Timbre-Poste, No. 35, Nov., 1865, in an article expressly devoted to them, most accurately and minutely described. Prior to this, in April, 1865, The StampCollector's Magazine, vol. iii., p. 56, had spoken of the native stamps of the isle ; and giving an engraving of one, had by error engraved the legend, POST-OFFICE, in lieu of POST PAID. This discrepancy did not escape Mr. Pemberton's notice, for in the same volume, p. 95 (being the page after that which Pendragon says "he quoted " from), he points it out, and explains that the varieties in the plate were caused by Barnard's engraving. To The Stamp-Collector's Magazine, vol. iv., the writer contributed a paper "On the English-printed stamps of Mauritius," in which he maintained the theory of value that Mr. Pearson Hill had enunciated, and M. Moens had adopted, but purposely did not deal with the native-printed stamps. No paper, in any of the British or foreign stamp magazines, has appeared touching on these "post-office" stamps, which does not in terms mention the pair. From this it follows, that this self-styled champion of a school," 1st. Has made his original assertion without consulting any of the authorities. 2nd. Without any knowledge of the fact, and 3rd. When the inaccuracy is exposed, has fathered on the writer's friend, Mr. Pearson Hill, that which he never wrote. The writer will only add, that immediately he saw Pendragon's letter, he wrote and offered to produce the pair of stamps to him, and to this letter received a reply, that he did not desire to see the stamps, but merely to know if both were obliterated. Comment on the above is superfluous. Assertion is never argument, nor can its iteration convince anyone but a mere child; but when assertion takes the shape above disclosed, it is time, for the sake of all the community, to point out the offender. As to the other inaccuracies and the blunders charged on him, which he ignores, it is not worth pointing them out after the above, or the writer might well enough inquire, whether calling the red anna India, the Peru cornucopia on white ground, and the Liberia 24 c. lilac, varieties of colour, are, in addition to the mistakes Pendragon admits, “little sceming errors"? NEWLY-ISSUED OR INEDITED As the year draws to a close, we shall, no doubt, receive information of various changes, and forthcoming emissions. We are already informed, by a Wurtemburg correspondent, than an alteration is being made in the series for BAVARIA.-A new value will shortly appear -7 kreuzer-which will appropriate to itself the colour which now distinguishes the 6 kr. This latter, deprived of blue, will fall back to brown, but we are not informed what change will be made in the hue of the 9 kr. The new stamp was to have been ready by the 1st October, but not having yet seen it, we presume its appearance has been delayed. BADEN has forestalled Bavaria in this instance, its 7 kr. being already in circulation, and with it a new 1 kr. The general design is the same, but it has been re-engraved, and there are some visible differences in the detail. The word BADEN and the value are in much thicker letters than before; the arms also look smaller. Moreover, the word KREUZER, instead of being written in full, is now represented by the abbreviation The colour of the 1 kr. is a clear light green; of the 7 kr., a rather thick deep blue. For further particulars respecting the design, we have pleasure in referring our readers to the specimen which accompanies the present number. The emission of these stamps, we should however add, is, no doubt, caused by the necessity or the wish to place the Baden and Bavarian series in accord with the kreuzer series of the North German Confederation. KR. BERGEN.-Annexed is an engraving of the INDIA. These stamps, which, like the foregoing, we described last month, will, we think, win our readers' admiration. Though only "transmogrified" bill stamps, they have a very fine appearance, owing to the delicacy of their execution, and their tints. M. Moens, together with these, makes mention of an 8 pies lilac, showing the word POSTAGE in small black letters; and a half anna blue, with the same word in large black letters. We presume this word is imprinted over the face of these two stamps, but as they both belong to the ordinary postal series, we do not see the utility of this addition. ROUMANIA. It is stated that on and after next New-Year's day the foreign postal service in these principalities will be abolished, the government taking the entire manage ment of the post into its own hands. In consequence, no doubt, of this change, and the necessity of emitting higher values, we learn that stamps of the value of 25 and 50 bani will be issued; and at same time, one of 10 bani. We have no information of the colour or type, but presume the latter will remain the same as at present. WURTEMBURG.-Annexed we give an illustration of the election stamp we described last month. In the opinion of M. Moens, it is not worthy to be called a postage stamp; granted, but it is certainly a curiosity of more value than many which find a place in our albums. MEXICO. From the Belgian magazine we learn that the old half real black on chamois has been recalled into currency; it has the marginal inscription in gothic letters. In addition, he chronicles the emission of an entirely new series, comprising the following values: : But for the notice in Le Timbre-Poste, so poor is the execution of this stamp, we should have been ready to pronounce it spurious. It is not always possible to decide off-hand on the mode of engraving of a stamp, as extremes meet, and impressions from a fine wood-block and a coarse steel-plate approach very nearly in appearance; but we hardly think we can be wrong in judging the stamp before us to be no other than a wood-cut. The design itself is by no means bad; in the centre of a lined circle, about the size of that on the French stamps, is the full-face portrait of some worthy unknown to us,possibly, however, Juarez himself. The face is that of a middle-aged man, and has a pleasing, intelligent expression, which is enhanced by a high and well-formed forehead. The circle containing this figure overlaps the side border, extending, in fact, to the outer edge; in each corner are appropriate ornaments; and in the upper and lower margins, the inscriptions, which are in dark letters on a shaded ground. The upper margin contains the word MEXICO; the lower, the value in the stamp before us, 50 CENT. The impression of this value is in black on yellow; and the perforations which surround the stamp are probably the finest specimens of the perfect kind-that in which distinct circular holes are punched out. On again examining our stamp, we find the name of the state, as in the preceding series, at the side in gothic letters, but very faintly impressed. NEW GRANADA.-The above is a representation of a lately-discovered stamp for this republic. Its employment is the same as that of the well-known vignettes, which it resembles in size, viz., to cover and so seal the backs of letters; but this new type is only placed on official epistles. It is printed in black on a lined blue paper, and the inscriptions are surrounded by a border composed of typographic designs, the size of which is indicated by the above doubleline frame. PERU. A correspondent of ours informs us he recently saw a specimen of the embossed 1 dinero of Peru printed entirely in green, imperforate, and postmarked, LIMA, 13, AGO '868. Both Le Timbrophile and Le Timbre-Poste allude to this stamp, but neither are able to give any explanation of its re-appearance under an altered guise. The latter suggests that it has been provisionally re-issued, and this is probably the case. The fact of its being printed in green leads us to think that the stock of the 5 centavos being exhausted, this stamp has been re-issued to represent that value, until the completion of a new supply. It may, however, be, as a correspondent in Valparaiso suggests, that the return of this stamp into circulation is the work of a new government, unwilling to allow the creation of its predecessor to remain current. This |