would be fed ashore, and the hospital authorities supposed they had been fed on board. He had fed the poor fellows sometimes himself; he had once carried a man up to the hospital; he had assisted to take off their filthy clothing, covered with vermin as thick as the letters in a page of small print. The sick could not be landed without Admiral Boxer's permission, as the hospital had no boats. Sometimes the communication was interrupted for three days. The medical authorities applied for a steamer: at first it was refused by Admiral Boxer, a seaman of the old school; but afterwards one was put on. Mr. Stafford spoke very favourably of the medical men; who, he said, were overworked. Speaking of the hospital at Balaklava, Mr. Stafford said"The doctors there were of opinion, that while the diet of the army remained as it was, no medical skill could avail them. That was a constant remark; and, indeed, they appeared to be acting under a kind of fatalism. One doctor, pointing to a poor soldier, said, 'There is what is called a case of cholera; but it is in fact the result of a vicious habit of body, feeding entirely on salt meat, without the benefit of any succulent vegetables.'' As to the green coffee, he said, "If you wished to excite the most phlegmatic soldier, or to irritate the most patient sufferer, you had only to name green coffee. It was a perfect by word: the men said, You might as well give us pebbles.'' Mr. Stafford thought it was a great mistake to place the hospitals under Lord Stratford: the unlimited power to provide supplies should have been vested in the superior medical officer at Constantinople. Dr. Andrew Smith, inspector-general of the medical department, was examined at great length on Tuesday and Thursday the 20th and 22nd. His evidence consisted partly in a narrative of the various supplies of medical stores sent out to the East from the commencement of the war, and partly of replies to questions arising out of his statement. Dr. Smith bore strong testimony to the conflict of departments. His immediate superiors were the commander-in-chief, the secretary at war, the minister for war, the board of ordnance, and he did not know how many more. The perpetual reference of representations and matters from one authority to another interfered most seriously with the efficient performance of the duties of his depart ment. He specified the dates at which medical stores had been sent out. At the outset of the war, the surgeon of every regiment sent to Malta reported to him that his medicine chest was complete and his instruments in order. Mr. Wreford, the purveyor at Constantinople, was authorised by him to get whatever was necessary, and Lord Stratford had authority to spend whatever money might be wanted for that purpose. When he told Mr. Macdonald that the relief fund would not be needed, all the reports he had received justified him in saying so; for ample supplies had been sent out, and at that time he knew the medical authorities were expecting the entire equipment, for a large hospital left at Varna would have been carried to Constantinople. But, notwithstanding repeated remonstrances from the medical officers to the transport service, passage for it was not obtained, and it did not arrive until the 10th November. Dr. Smith read reports from medical officers, showing that there was no want of lint after the battles of the Alma and Inkermann, and that no application was made to the French for lint; that up to the middle of November there had been no want at Scutari of medicines and surgical appliances; and that the statements in the newspapers on that head were false. The officer who was responsible for any deficiency of stores, and for the cleaning of the hospitals, was Mr. Wreford the purveyor. The supply of medical comforts comes under the authority of the medical officer, and the purveyor is bound to purchase what the medical officer requires. Mr. Wreford is sixty or sixty-five years old-he served in the Peninhe frequently complained that he was unequal to supplying the demands of the hospitals. There were constant disputes as to authority between purveyors and medical men. Since the months of September and October he had to supply all the medical comforts of the army; and from that time he could tell when they went, where they went, and when they were sular war: delivered; previously to that time he could not tell. He thought that the control of all the stores for hospitals should be with his department; but this is not the case at present. The total number of medical officers sent out to the East was 559; of whom 29 had died, 58 had been invalided, and on the 7th of March there remained in Turkey and the Crimea 469 army medical officers, a number which would give about 30 sick to each medical man. With respect to clothing for the army suitable to the East, he had acted on a report from Dr. Dumbreck in Bulgaria, received early in 1854. The first steps were taken in the matter early in May. With difficulty large supplies were collected and sent out in August; and unless there was some unaccountable delay it must have arrived before November. It was different from the ordinary winter clothing of the troops, and was not the supply sent out in the Prince. The Rev. Sidney Godolphin Osborne was examined on Friday, the 23rd. He had gone to Scutari to render what assistance he could in the hospitals there. The general drift of his testimony strongly confirmed the evidence of Mr. Stafford and Mr. Macdonald. The condition of the men's linen was as dirty as was conceivable. He had seen men take off their shirts and hide them about their beds, so ashamed were they of them; and he had given them the shirt off his back, The dead-house was so situated that the dead were obliged to be carried along one part of the hospital amid lines of beds on which the living were laid. He had not the least doubt that the great amount of deaths in the wards arose from the irregularity with which the poor creatures were fed. He had known some of them not get food until five or six o'clock in the day. He had also seen some of the sick lying on the beach for six hours before beds were found for them in the hospital. He met Lord Stratford at the hospital a few days after he arrived. He had some conversation with him as to the state of the hospital; during which he turned round to Dr. Macgregor, who was present, and said-" Did not I say to you, that for whatever was wanted in the hospital you had to apply to me?" Dr. Macgregor intimated assent. Mr. Osborne believed no man worked harder than Lord Stratford did in his capacity of ambassador. One day, for instance, when witness called upon him, he took up a large bundle of papers and said, "Look here; this is a plan for putting down extortions in the Turkish dominions, and I have to look over and consider the whole of it to-day." Mr. Osborne thought it was altogether wrong to have put an ambassador in the position of Lord Stratford in reference to the hospitals. He should not have been put in a position resembling that of a commandant, as it were, of an army hospital. On Monday, March 26th, Dr. Andrew Smith, and the Rev. G. S. Osborne made several additions to their previous evidence. The witnesses on Tuesday, March 27, were Mr. Flower, assistant-surgeon to the 63rd Regiment, and Dr. Menzies, inspector-general of hospitals. Mr. Flower described the dreadful mortality which almost destroyed the regiment to which he belonged, and explained its causes. Dr. Menzies was examined at great length as to the proceedings of the department under his charge. THE following is the list of the New Ministry :THE CABINET-Lord Palmerston, First Lord of the Treasury. Lord Cranworth, Lord Chancellor: Lord Clarendon, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs: Lord Panmure, Secretary of State for the War Department: Sir G. Grey, Secretary of State for the Home Department: Lord J. Russell, Secretary of State for the Colonies: Sir G. C. Lewis, Chancellor of the Exchequer : Sir C. Wood, First Lord of the Admiralty: Sir W. Molesworth, Chief Commissioner of Woods and Works: Lord Granville, President of the Council: Lord Canning, Postmaster-General: Duke of Argyll, Lord Privy Seal : Mr. Vernon Smith, President of the Board of Control: Lord Stanley, of Alderley, President of the Board of Trade: Marquis of Lansdowne, without office. NOT IN THE CABINET: Earl of Carlisle, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland; Mr. Horsman, Chief Secretary for Ireland: Mr. Danby Seymour, Secretary to the Indian Board. Mr. NARRATIVE OF LAW AND CRIME. this outrage was sentenced to be transported for life, and his companions for fourteen years each. William Wright was convicted of the Murder of Ann Collins, at Lydiard Tregoz. She had lived with him, but left him for a time; on her return, he killed her, and attempted to destroy himself. He was sentenced to be hanged. At Lincoln, Elizabeth Lownd, a girl of eighteen, was tried for the Murder of her Illegitimate Infant. She appears to have buried it alive-placed it on the ground, and covered it with earth and sods. She was in great distress when she committed the inhuman act. The jury gave a verdict for the lesser offence of "manslaughter," Sentence, fifteen years' transportation. AN action tried in the Court of Queen's Bench on the 26th ult., illustrates the practice of Selling Presentations to Livings. Messrs. Simpson, clerical agents, At Oxford Assizes, on the 5th instant, Dr. John Allen sued Edward Augustus Lamb to recover damages for Giles, curate of Bampton, was tried for Feloniously refusing to sell the next presentation to the living of making a False Entry of a Marriage. The whole West Hackney, for 30007., according to agreement. The charge was fully made out. On the 3rd October, at six Reverend Josiah Rodwell applied to the Messrs. o'clock in the morning, Dr. Giles married Richard Pratt Simpson, in consequence of an advertisement in the to Jane Green: there was no license, though he entered Times in November last, respecting the sale of a living. in the register that there was; no banns had been pubMr. John Simpson demanded a fee of two guineas lished; the parish-clerk was not present; Dr. Giles before he gave any information. This being paid, he wrote in the book that Charlotte Late, his servant, witsaid the living was West Hackney; the income 550l. a nessed the marriage, though she was not present. Pratt year with a house; the price 3000l.; commission to the was an apprentice, a young man nearly out of his time; Messrs. Simpson 5 per cent. If everything had been Jane Green was servant to Dr. Giles himself; Pratt had satisfactory, Mr. Rodwell would have purchased the been courting her, and she promised shortly to give living. Mr. John Simpson showed that Mr. Lamb had birth to a child. When this illegal marriage was given him authority to obtain a purchaser for West bruited about, Dr. Giles attempted to escape the conseHackney, but that Lamb continually delayed the comple- quences by false statements, and he induced Charlotte tion of the contract. It was shown, however, that Lamb Late also to declare she was present at the ceremony. was not the owner of the advowson, but that in the After legal measures had been taken against him, he month of August preceding he had been negotiating for managed to get the Pratts shipped off to Australia: but the next presentation with the patron's solicitor, and this did not prevent their depositions before the magisthat it was valued, not at 3000l. but 8007. or 9007. Mr. trates from being received as evidence on the trial. As Lamb's defence was, that he had not authorised Mr. Simp- to Dr. Giles's motive for his extraordinary conduct, son to sell the property, or said that he was the patron, nothing came to light during the trial to show that it or that he would give possession in a given time. Lord was other than a desire to oblige the young people by Campbell said the defendant's conduct was unaccount- secretly marrying them, to avoid exposure of the able it seemed as if he had some speculation on foot woman's frailty. In his speech for the defence, Mr. with respect to the living; and it was clear that he had Clarkson urged that the prisoner had made an error as instructed the Simpsons to look out for a purchaser in case to the date of the marriage, though he admitted that it he became patron of the living. It would be for the was an uncanonical one; and he pointed out that he jury to say what remuneration the plaintiffs were had no bad motive. He enlarged on the scholastic entitled to for their trouble. The jury gave 507. damages. abilities of Dr. Giles-a double first class man at Oxford At the Central Criminal Court, on the 27th ult., at the age of nineteen, afterwards Head Master of the William Alexander Morland, a youth of nineteen, City of London School, and the author of many works. pleaded guilty to Uttering a Forged Bill of Exchange Several clergymen and publishers gave the accused a for 3001. The bill purported to be accepted by Mor- high character. Lord Campbell summed up; and the land's employer, and made payable at Smith, Payne, jury returned a verdict of "Guilty," as regarded the and Smith's: Morland presented it, and it not only whole charge, but added a recommendation to mercy. passed as genuine, but the cashier paid him 500l. The prisoner then addressed the court at some length instead of 3001. Morland had got connected with some in mitigation of punishment. He referred to his early bad women, and he speedily squandered part of his ill-life, and his toilsome devotion to literature, which had gotten cash upon them; but nearly 4007. had been resulted in the publication of as many as a hundred and recovered by the prosecutors, and they recommended twenty volumes. He had entered the Church, a vocaMorland to mercy. tion for which he was entirely unfit, in obedience to the wishes of his father; but he had been chiefly devoted to literature; and he suggested that his devotion to his studies had rendered him unfit for the common affairs of life, to which circumstance he attributed the errors which he had committed in connexion with this transaction. He implored the court to deal mercifully with him, and afford him an opportunity of redeeming his character and becoming a useful member of society. Lord Campbell said it was a most painful case. believed Dr. Giles had no immoral motives for his original act; but he had flagrantly violated a law of great importance; had got rid of witnesses; had violated truth in his letters, and had called on his servant to state a falsehood. The sentence was one year's imprisonment. On the 28th, Frederick Drew, a solicitor's clerk who applied cancelled stamps to deeds in Chancery with a view to Defraud the Revenue, was convicted. The case was peculiar. Drew was defendant in a Chancery suit; he was very poor; he was compelled to put in certain documents, stamped; to save expense, or probably as the only way to meet it, he took stamps from old deeds and applied them to his papers. The jury recommended him to mercy on account of his previous good character, and because he had "the misfortune to be defendant in a Chancery suit." At Salisbury assizes, Henry Farstone pleaded guilty to Stealing a Pollard. The theft was committed soon after he had been liberated on a ticket-of-leave, and while he had yet money in his possession given to him when he left prison. Sentence, six years' penal servitude. Four soldiers of the Royal Artillery were convicted of Shooting at and Wounding John Fowler at Devizes. There was a row at a public-house between soldiers and civilians; two soldiers were taken away by the police; the other soldiers became still more riotous: first they got their swords, with intent to use them on a mob, but were prevented; then they obtained a carbine, and the four prisoners repeatedly loaded it and fired at the crowd-Fowler was wounded. The worst offender in He At Carlisle assizes, Thomas Munroe, a miner, only eighteen years of age, was convicted of the Murder of Isaac Turner, at Lamplugh. Turner, an elderly man, was in the employ of a mine-owner at Whitehaven part of his duty was to carry money to pits to pay the men. Munroe appears to have waylaid him in the fields when he had some 101. in his possession; and to get this money he murdered Turner, by cutting his throat. The assassin was recommended to mercy by the jury, "on account of his previous good conduct." He protested innocence. He was sentenced to die; Mr. 1 2 MARCH, 1855.] SOCIAL, SANITARY, AND MUNICIPAL PROGRESS. Baron Parke holding out no hope of a remission of The farm-buildings of Mr. Richard Featherstonhaugh, NARRATIVE OF ACCIDENT AND DISASTER. MAJOR Charles Colville Young, a distinguished officer of the Royal Horse Artillery, who had just returned from the Crimea where he has wounded, has been Killed by a lamentable accident at Portsmouth. His wife and children reside at Ryde; on his way to join them, he arrived in the evening at the Fountain Hotel. On retiring to his bedroom, he told the boots to call him at seven next morning. When the boots left him, he had partially undressed himself. The bedroom was at the top of the hotel, facing the street. About two in the morning Major Young hailed a policeman from the window. He said he did not feel well, and wished to get quietly out of the house to a chemist's shop opposite, without disturbing the people, as it was so late. The policeman went to the inspector, to see what assistance he could give; and when he returned the major was lying bleeding on the pavement. He was fully dressed, and had his hat, great coat, and umbrella. When found he was unconscious; he never rallied, and died in less than two hours, apparently from the rupture of a blood-vessel. Major Young was a tall man; the height of the window-sill from the floor was only two feet four inches: it is supposed that the major was seized with vertigo while leaning out of window, and fell over this low sill. The verdict of the coroner's jury was "killed by accidentally falling from a window." Captain Johnson, superintendent of railway police, was Killed at the Warrington station on the 6th inst. He had been engaged superintending the transit of a troop of artillery from London to Liverpool, whence they were to start for the Crimea, when, just as the train was starting he endeavoured to regain his carriage while it was in motion; missing the step, he fell down between the platform and the train, and before the latter could be brought to a standstill, the hapless man was crushed in an awful manner. He survived the fearful accident only a few minutes. 65 burnt as to resemble more the appearance of shrivelled mummies than living human beings. A calamitous Fire occurred in Clipstone-street, Portland-road, on the night of the 7th inst. The flames were first perceived by a police officer. Before he could make the residents sensible of their danger, the flames had gained a considerable ascendancy. Several persons, however, managed to gain the street by rushing through the fire on the staircase, when two women, one between 70 and 80 years old, made their appearance at the windows, begging assistance from the bystanders. One of the Royal Society's men succeeded, by means of the escape in rescuing these women. Hearing that several persons were still in the third floor, the conductors kicked in the window, but they were unable to enter the rooms owing to the density of the smoke. The roof was next scaled by the conductors, but was so hot they were obliged to make hasty retreats. As soon as the flames were sufficiently subdued to allow the firemen to enter the ruins, they proceeded into the third floor, when they found in the front room the bodies of three female lodgers, and in an adjoining room the body of another woman, the whole being shockingly burned, one having the legs and hands off. The origin of the calamity has not been ascertained. A young man named Kendall was Killed on the South Coast Railway near Bermondsey, on the 5th inst.; while he was at work, a horse dragging a heavy chain passed him, and before he could get out of the way the chain caught him across the body and threw him on the ground. He struggled to extricate himself, but without effect, and the pressure of the chain across his body was so great as to cause his death. On the 8th inst. a Fire broke out at Mr. Rouse's eating-house, Farringdon-street. The flames spread with such terrific fury that the inmates upstairs could not effect an escape; two women jumped out of the window, one of whom was so seriously injured that she died shortly afterwards. The cause was the overheating of the oven. A frightful Explosion of Gas took place on Saturday night the 24th instant, in Portsmouth Dockyard. A number of the dockyard police force were waiting in the large station-room at the entrance of the yard, to go on duty, when the smell of gas seemed to them to be stronger than usual. To ascertain where the escape came from, one of the men applied a light to different crevices in the flooring boards, &c., and at length doing so at the one from which the gas actually escaped into the room, a terrific explosion took place. The whole of the floor of the room was blown up, together with its furniture, and all the unfortunate men who were sitting in it. In addition to this, the roof of the building, only consisting of a ground-floor, was blown into the air. The sufferers were found to be Inspector Henry Stroud, both legs broken; Sergeant Thomas Ripley, leg broken; privates James Giles, arm and leg broken and internal injuries; George Lane, arm and leg broken; James Wassal, thigh broken; T. Sydenham, leg broken, D. Palmer, Henry Neville, W. Elmes, and W. Miller, seriously injured. With the exception of Miller, all the poor fellows required to be taken to hospital, and they were at once conveyed to Haslar. After enduring great suffering, private Giles died, next morning. Inspector Stroud is in a most dangerous state. Should he survive, he must undergo amputation of both legs. SANITARY, AND MUNICIPAL PROGRESS. A frightful Explosion of Naphtha, by which two persons lost their lives, viz., Mr. Chas. Blackford Mansfield, M.A., Cambridge, and a law student of the Middle Temple, aged 35, lately residing at Weybridge, and George Coppin, a practised chemist's assistant, aged 18, came under investigation on the 3d inst. at the Middlesex Hospital, before the coroner. Mr. Mansfield, SOCIAL, who had studied at the College of Chemistry was, on the day of the catastrophe, trying experiments with a small model naphtha apparatus which he had invented himself and patented, in an old detached building, THE first anniversary of the Central Association in situated in Agar Town, and abutting on the Regent's Aid of Soldiers' Wives and Families was held on the Canal, when, about one o'clock at noon, a loud explo- 7th instant, at Willis's Rooms; the Duke of Cambridge sion was heard, followed by the falling of the building. in the chair. In his opening speech, the Duke declined The unfortunate men were observed directly afterwards to say anything on the conduct of the war-it would ill escaping from the ruins, and making towards the canal, their clothes all on fire. Assistance promptly arrived, when, by rolling them on the ground, the fire was extinguished, but not before they had been so fearfully become his position; but he protested against his silence being understood as tying him down either to approval or disapproval. This did not preclude him from attending the meeting, in order to contradict the statement that T 66 come. THE HOUSEHOLD NARRATIVE, the soldiers had been neglected by their officers. literary men; and he moved that Mr. Hallam should be The annual general meeting of the Royal Literary The Statistical Society held its twenty-first annual Among the members present meeting on the 15th inst., Mr. Thomas Tooke, VicePresident in the chair. The report gave a very good account of were Lord Harrowby, Lord Stanley, Mr. Farr, and Dr. Waddilove. the society's progress. There was an increase of 65 per cent in the sale of the Statistical Journal; the index by Mr. Cheshire, the acting secretary, giving an abstract of every paper in the journal, had sold largely and profitably. A classified catalogue of the books had been compiled by Mr. Wheatley: the library contained 2000 distinct works (2600 volumes), besides blue-books. Among the members whom the society had lost by death, the most distinguished were M. Léon Faucher and Mr. Joseph Hume. The existing members of the council were re-elected, with the addition of Mr. J. G. Hubbard, Mr. Herman Merivale, Mr. T. H. Sutton Sotheron, M.P., Lord Stanley, M.P., Mr. John Walter, M.P., and Lord Wharncliffe. PERSONAL NARRATIVE. THE QUEEN, Prince Albert, and two of the children, 3th inst. to Fort Pitt, and afterwards to the Invalid accompanied by the Duke of Cambridge, went on the Depôt, and there saw and conversed with the men who have lately returned wounded from the Crimea: her Majesty saw no fewer than 450 patients. On the 9th the Queen and Prince Albert paid a visit to Woolwich: after reviewing a troop of horse and a battery of foot artillery, they proceeded to the hospital, and saw the artillerymen who have returned wounded from the Crimea. The Queen also went through the arsenal and laboratory, and inspected the new ambulance wagons. The Queen held the first levee of the season on the 7th inst. at St. James's Palace. There was a very full attendance of foreign ministers and of naval and military men. Major Charles Nasmyth, one of the heroes of Silistria, has been admitted a burgess and brother guild of the city of Edinburgh. In his address on the occasion he spoke in vindication of the patient endurance and unsurpassed courage of the Turkish troops in moments Mr. of danger. Sir William Burnett, K.H., after serving thirty-three years as chief of the naval medical department, has placed his resignation in the hands of government. 20 3 Mr Layard has been elected Lord Rector of the The Royal Geological Society have awarded the Mr. Henry Reeve has been appointed editor of the The Earl of Cardigan; has succeeded his Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge as Inspector-General of Cavalry of the United Kingdom. Mr. C. H. Darling, late Governor at the Cape, has been appointed Governor of Newfoundland, in the room of Mr. Kerr Baillie Hamilton, appointed Governor-inChief of the Leeward Islands. Obituary of Notable Persons. VISCOUNT PONSONBY, who for many years represented this country at the Porte, died on the 22nd ult. at Brighton, in his eighty-fifth year. LORD KENYON died lately at Gredington Hall, in Flintshire, aged seventy-eight. He was son of the distinguished ChiefJustice of the Queen's Bench. ult., aged eighty-seven. He was a director of the NorthMr. BENBOW, M.P. for Dudley, died at Hastings on the 24th Western and the Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railways. CAPT. SIR PHILIP BROKE, BART., R.N., died at Broke Hall, Ipswich, on the 24th ult., aged fifty-one. He was the eldest son of the gallant victor in the fight between the Shannon and the Chesapeake. Mr. C. R. DOD, the author of the "Parliamentary Comcharacter, died in London last month. panion," and many other highly useful works of a similar EARL STANHOPE died on the 2nd inst., at his seat, Chevening, near Sevenoaks, in his seventy-fourth year. DON CARLOS of Spain, the younger brother of Ferdinand VII., and the pretender to the Spanish throne, died at Trieste on the 10th inst., in his sixty-seventh year. Mr. COPLEY FIELDING, the celebrated water-colour painter, died lately in his sixty-ninth year. SIR GEORGE LARPENT died in London on the 8th inst., aged sixty-seven. GENERAL PRINCE ANDREW GORTCHAKOFF died at Moscow on the 27th ult. COLONEL SIR F. HANKEY, G.C.M.G., died on the 13th inst., in London, aged eighty-one. LORD ERSKINE died at his house in Sussex on the 19th inst. COLONIES AND DEPENDENCIES. by day they died or were shot down. The women and children rushed out to get water, and many died drinking it. At length possession of a part of the caverns was obtained; and much of the property of the murdered men was recovered. But the stench rising from the dead Caffres-900 bodies were found-compelled the Dutch to raise the siege on the 21st November. Prætorius next led his men against another Caffre chief, Mapala, who fled at his approach. In the kraals the remains of the murdered men were found cut up and roasted with fat! Mapala took up a position where he could not be assailed. By the arrival of the Overland Mail we learn that | Dutch. This reduced the enemy to extremities. Day tranquillity, with one or two trifling exceptions, prevailed throughout India.-The ambassadors from Ava, who had lately visited Lord Dalhousie, at Calcutta, were so hard pressed for money at Rangoon on their journey homeward, that one of their number actually sold a gold watch, presented to him by the Governor-General, for about one-quarter of its value. The opening of the Exhibition at Calcutta took place on the 25th of January. Numbers were present at the inauguration, who were highly delighted with the display and arrangement of the pictures, and the other objects of art.-The railway was opened on the 3rd of February, and the distance to Burdwan and back (132 miles) was performed in six hours.-The Madras railway was progressing fast, and an experimental trip had already been made.-The Exhibition in that city was to be opened on the 29th of February. Subscriptions to the Patriotic Fund in Bombay amounted to 10,000%., and the Bank of Bengal had given 5001. The West India mail brings little intelligence. From St. Thomas's we learn that yellow fever had again made its appearance, principally among the shipping.-In British Guiana the weather was very changeable, and symptoms of earthquake were observable. Several houses had been blown down by the strong winds which prevailed, and so violent were the seas which broke over the coast, that the whole of the seaward defences had been washed away. The district of Kingston was entirely submerged at every tide, and many of the inhabitants were compelled either to remain at home or use boats as a means of transit.-The West India islands are reported to be generally in a healthy state. The recent arrivals from the Cape of Good Hope bring no fresh intelligence of the state of the British Caffre frontier. A dreadful tragedy has taken place on the Dutch frontier. The Caffres, under Makapan, had murdered Field Cornet Potgieter, and several men and women, with revolting cruelty. Prætorius collected 500 men and four guns, and hunted the Caffres to certain caverns, 2000 feet in length and from 300 to 500 feet wide. Not liking to venture an assault, he attempted, on the 30th of October, to blast the rocks above, and so to crush the enemy. But this failed, owing to the loose nature of the soil. He then resolved on a blockade. On the 6th October, CommandantGeneral Potgieter was shot by the Caffres, and his body fell within the outer defences; but they were instantly stormed, and the body recovered. As the siege went on too slowly, he blocked up the openings of caverns with loads of stones and trees, brought and thrown down by friendly Caffres, coöperating with the The advices from Melbourne contain accounts of serious disturbances at the Ballarat gold-diggings. On the 29th of November a monster meeting was held at Ballarat; the Australian flag was hoisted; the leading agitators addressed some 2000 persons, many of them well armed; but the meeting passed off quietly. Two clergymen from Melbourne endeavoured to persuade the committee to give up a project they had recommended of barning the gold-digging licenses; but without effect, and a large quantity was burned. Next day, November 30, the Commissioners Rede and Johnson appeared at the head of a body of mounted and foot police, having their swords drawn and their bayonets fixed, to collect the licenses. Mr. Rede first essayed persuasion: he told the insurgents that if they memorialised the Governor they would gain their rights; that a commission had been appointed to investigate their grievences; and that Mr. Fawkner was one of the number. This name the diggers received with three cheers. But the tumultuous assemblage cried, "We will not have drawn swords and fixed bayonets"-"Where is the Governor ?-send up Sir Charles "-"We want justice, and we will have it." When Mr. Rede said he must collect the licenses, they replied, "We have burnt them." Amid great excitement and noise, Mr. Rede read the Riot Act; and expressed his determination to apprehend all who had not their licenses. A great cry then arose, "To the camp, boys, to the camp!" For some distance the diggers followed towards the camp the retrograding military force; when suddenly there was a shout of "Not to the camp, boys, not to the camp! Back to our own ground on Bakery Hill." During this period a detachment of the 40th and 12th Regiments had formed near the bridge. Of the diggers some went to the Eureka, some to the Red Hill, where they hoisted the flag-"The Southern Cross;" while the commissioners and commandingofficers were holding a consultation on the new road, at a loss as to the intentions of the diggers. At length the military and police formed themselves into divisions |