Star. — London, England, 1821-12-15 00:00:00

7 , . -• .%%**l . t. . - ---N r --.-3- AMkSEMENTS OF TIIE EXPEDITION AT CVO ER LA ND. .....nvs , ".% • ‘-% - - In our last account of the progress of the Land Arctic Expedition, under Lieutenant, now Captain . Franklin, we mentioned that they reached their win . tering-ground in the beginning of October, at Cum berland Fort, from whence they were to set out in the proper season. upon the more important .and ha-. zardous remainder of their journey. Mr. Williams, the principal Agent of the Hudson's Bay Company, and dignified with the title of Governor, being re solved to prepare his visitors for some of the scenes which were to become part of • their future occu pation, proposed to Mr. Franklin and Mr. Richard son A wolf hunt in the beginning of January,— Those Gentlemen having practised the necessary accomplishment of running with snow-shoes, were qualified to join in the hunt, and the wolf, against whom the attack was meditated, had already roused the anger of the inhabitants of the fort by killing several of their dogs. Indeed, upon one occasion the ferocious animal had attacked two of the C o mp an y 's • servants as they were crossing Cumberland Lake with a quantity of fish, and obliged them, after having torn one of them in a desperate manner, to leave the provision behind. At the time the hunt was proposed there was a great fall of snow upon the ground, and the track of the formidable white wolf, which had so long persecuted the fort, was observed cn the outside of the stockade. The thermometer at the time was 39 below Zero ; and the wolf had just abandoned the lake in despair of getting hold of any living crea- 1 tine with which to satisfy his ravenous appetite. The hunters set out with three dogs, and u ere well armed. —Having followed the track of the wolf through the woods about two miles, they started him as he was devouring the bark of a tree. After a most toilsome and disastrous excursion for upwards of two hours, three of the half-breeds succeeded in destroying the wolf, which had been completely harassed by hunger and fatigue. The officers of the expedition and ot the Company, who had not been in the habit ot -.touring the woods in snow shoes, presented the most miserable spectacle. In their efforts to get through the thickets their faces had been frightfully scratched, and their dufile coats and chin cloths—the latter being put on to keep their cheeks and chins from heirsg fo.sen— were torn to pieces. Under these circumstances, it was felted necessary to kindle a fire with all possible dispatch, and even before that could be accomplished, it was feared that the intense cold would more woo- fully disfigure some of the poor adventurers. The' warmth ot the blaze from the brambles and trees soon removed this gloomy apprehension, and the wolf was immediately skinned and drawn, for the purpose of being roasted: the animal, however, was so old and weather-beaten, that not one of his hungry pursuers could put a tooth in the most delicate part of him. A report had some years prevailed, within a circuit of some thousands of miles, both amongst the natives and the British settlers, and the servants of the two companies, that an Indian conjuro;, named Ka-ka wa-rente, who resided far away amongst the most distant northern tribes, was reverenced asone of thei r deities by the surrounding people, and was actually capable of petforming the greatest wonders, in conse quence of hi, intercourse nith supernatur tl agents. Mr. Williams, who had learned that this extraor dinary person was within .500 miles of the f .rt, and that be had very recently foretold some Lernai kable calamities that soon °mined amongst the ti ibes,sent a messenger to him, requesting that he would, as soon as possible, appear at the fort. The conjuror gladly accepted the invitation, and reached the post at the latter end of January, accompanied by two mortal ageks, named Wappisthaw and Tappotum. Upon his arrival, the hall-breeds paid homage to him, and even several Officers of the Company placed implicit reliance in his power, so high was his character throughout the land, for an intercourse with the world of spirits. Wagers were laid upon the effect of his magic. and the Officers of the expedition were stir prised at the readiness with which their ridicule was answered, by the proposal of considerable bets. In reply to a goes put to Ka-ka-wa-rence, as to what he was able to dq, be said " Everything. He could bring hack a wife to a husband, or separate man and wile for ever. He could, in fact, reconcile things the most contradictory in their nature. It was in vain that attempts were made to weaken his power with his agents above or below, and as absurd to try to imprison his body as his mind." Mr. Williams said he should be content with an experiment upon Ka ka wa.rente's body, and the next evening was fixed for the trial. Ka-ki-wa-rente, not thinking it respect ful to the invisible powers with which he communi cated to request their assistance within the walls of' those who doubted their infallibility, pitched his lea thern tent in the woods, within half a mile of the fort, and called upon the Governor to put him to the test. Wappisthaw and Tappotum stood at the door of the tent, the former blowing a whistle, the latter beating a drum, when the principalinhabitants of the fort sallied out with lighted torches in their hands.— The conjuror was rather struck with the preparations at first, but he soon laughed away the fears of some of his admirers, who had observed that he was not insensible to the cold. The Governor then produced a quantity of stout new ropes, and having served in the Navy for several years, and placing some reliance in his own strength, undertook to imprison the conju ror in the tent. With this view, having stripped Ka ka-wat-rente naked, be tied his arms and legs together, and pat so many seamen's knots upon the ropes, that the efforts to get out of such thraldom could not but be attended with excessive pain to any one not under the immediate care of the Gods. The conjuror was then placed on his back within the tent, at the top of which was a small hole for the admission of the par ticular genius who was to release him. In a few mo ments a great bustle was heard within the tent: the whistle and drum played up, as it were, with the very spirit of inspiration ; still the Governor and the Offi cers of the Expedition had such reliance upon the emulates twist, that while others looked to the top of the tent in the expectation of seeing the ropes fly out of it, they kept their eyes uponWappisthaw and Tap potum, in order that the magician might be under no compliment to human agency. A quarter of an hour was occupied in this manner, when a loud cry was heard from the tent, and immediately after Ka-ka wa-rente was pulled out in a state of insensibility, pinioned as before, 'and frozen almost to death, uot- withstanding his laborious efforts to anticipate the work of his invisible frieni. The publication of this circumstance had the effect of removing from the minds-of the thousands of In dians who had placed such confidence in the power of the conjuror, all respect for his former exertions. He sli4 nk back to his own people,but was no longer received as a superior. A few months afterwards, he was seen hunting with his companions, whose hardships be was compelled to share from the moment he was proved to be a liar. It was a wish expressed with a great deal of fervency by Mr. Franklin, upon ob serving the exceeding docility of the Indians, and their contempt of all attempts at imposture, that the religious Societies of England would send out amongst them some of those excellent men who are so easily procured to visit other countries, for the purpose of giving religious instruction where it would be most gratefully received. • DOUGLAS, ISLF. OF MAN. Saturday Evening, Ten o'Cloct, December N. Friday night, the 30th ult. this island was visited with the most tremendous gale ever remembered by the oldest of its natives. It began about eleven o'clock, and raged with unceasing violence during twenty-four ' hours, from the south-west, resembling more one of those convulsions of nature termed a hurricane in the western hemisphere. Its fatal effects appear to have been general throughout the island. The produce of it has everywhere been scattered like chaff before the wind, and in many instances scarcely a vestige of the I well-piled corn or hay-stack is visible to its former proprietors ; numerous dwelling-houses, out-houses, and, what is still more lamentable, the huts of the poor cottagers, have alike been sacrificed to its dead ful fury. Even very strong substantial. built houses, such as I have the good fortune to be an inmatliof, were in jeopardy. Some very large trees have been torn from their roots, and so heavily violent was the force of the current of wind, that a farmer in this neighboui hood, endeavouring to fasten the loosened ropes of his thatched barn, was whirlid directly over the shattered roof to a considerable distance, where, lighting in a bog, it had neatly cost the poor fellow his life; however, it ended without the less of any lives that I have heard of on shore. One poor fellow, in the act of securing his boat at Peel, was carried away by the surge, and on Sunday was taken up about two miles northward of the harbour. He has left a wife and six small children to mourn his loss ; his comrade saved himself by catching hold of a rope. A most melancholy case of shipwreck occurred during the same dreadful night off Peel ; the vessel is a total wreck—all hands lost. No appearance of a human body was discovered until noon next day, when one of the poor unfortunates was seen amongst the rocks. Soon after, part of the wreck and the Captain's writing-desk were washed ashore, since which four bodies have been picked up. The desk contained some papers, from which it appeared she was the Marion, of Ayr, James Good master, bur den 125 tons, and eight men, having a cargo of hay on board, bound to Ayr from Cork, where she had been landing a cargo of coals. The Triton, Captain llcadon, a regular trader be tween this and Whitehaven, a man universally re spected, unfortunately put to sea on the afternoon previous to the storm, with twelve or fourteen pas sengers, and a valuable cargo. Great apprehensions', were entertained for her safety, which have been re moved by the arrival of the Lady Elizabeth, who brought accounts of her having, after losing her jib boom, been run adiore on some part of the Lancashire coast—all hands, passengers, and cargo, safe. The long-looked-for regular trader between the Isle of Man and Liverpool, the Douglas, was off this port on Thursday evening, since which, until one o'clock to-day, they have been beating about in the Channel. About a month ago, the Mercury, of Whitehaven, from Liverpool, bound to Dublin, with a troop.of the 16th Lancers on board, was driven in here in distress; on landing them she returned to Whitehaven, and from thence with passengers back to Dublin; went down in a storm. The Triton was driven over her, and at low water her masts may be plainly seen. There has been a tremendous row here between the Governor, his Grace the Duke of Athol, and the douse of Keys ( Manx Parliament), on the subject of the late riots, &c. &c. I was present until strangers were ordered out. Manx constables have been sworn in within these few days; and a company of the 29th Foot, which were sent here during the:slots, are or dered for Dublin, and will sail the first fair wind.— Before the winter is passed, mark the result ! A letter from Nuremberg, dated November 3, says, " The vintage, say the accounts from the Rhine, has been everywhere bad, or to speak more properly, there has been none. Our distress, already so great, is not a little aggravated by this circumstance. To this may be added, that we have been also deceived in the hope of seeing other articles of produce rise in price; even wine, of which the Kock is still large, has not risen, notwithstanding the failure of the vintage. There is a want of purchasers, because the consump tion daily diminishes, from the stagnation of trade. To this may be added, the impediments thrown in the way of exportation by high tolls and duties. It is easy to see what will be the end of all this. The most lamentable is, that though this incteasing dis tress has been so long represented in Journals, Memo rials, &c. in lively colours, no relief appears from any quarter. It is remarkable that a complaint has lately been heard from the North, like that which has so long resounded in the South of Germany. " It is true that it would be folly to expect the ex isting evil to be entirely relieved ; but as no effectual step has yet been taken by the Governments to afford any kind of alleviation, this is extremely discouraging, and it is certain that if any measure of this kind in dicative of good will should be put in effect, it would be a great encouragement to the citizen to induce him to take the best advantage of the relief afforded, and to submit in patience to what cannot be altered. Our attention is directed to the negociations at Darm stadt, and we look impatiently to the result. We may expect that something will soon transpire, for this subject, which is of the highest importance in the economy of all the States, must necessarily be brought forward in the Assemblies of the States of some of the States concerned, and it is to be hoped that ob stacles not hitherto to be removed will become known, so the means be investigated to remote them." LONDON. . SATURDAY: DECEMBER 15, 1821. TRICKS OF STOCKS THIS DAY AT ONE O'CLOCK : Bank Stock 237-3 per Cent. Consols 76% 34 3% per Cent. 87%-4 per Cent. 96% % Bank Long Annuities 19% 7-16 India Bds. 70s. 71s. pr.—Exch. Bills £lOOO, 2s. pr. par Do. (Small) Is. 3s. pr.—Cons. for Acct. 78% 'is. The Midge-street, or “ Consaittioaal Association,' as it is called, met with a new defeat in the Court of King's Bench, yesterday. In the cause the KING V. DOLBY, the Counsel for the defendant challenged the array, en the pound that the Sheriff who impanelled the Jury was himself a prosecutor. The issue was referred, as a preliminary question, to two chosen tryers, whether Mr. Sheriff GA Ram, who, in that capacity, returned the Jury which should try the case, was not at the time a Member of the Association ? The tryers returned their verdict in the affirmative, and thus vitiated the whole of the proceedings. After so many defeats as this Association has sustained in Lotidon, it might have been expected that it would pause in its career of persecution; and this, we doubt not, many of those who have contributed their money to its support would gladly do, but the business is in the hands of agents, who, stung by disgrace, and ex cited by gain, will not abandon a single prosecution: - Hence we find that these trials are only postponed until new Juries are prepared—Special Juries, with which the Sheriff has nothing to do. As, however, it rarely happens that all the Special Jurors attend, and the deficiency is made up from the Common Jury Lists, the whole of which, for the next ten months, will be liable to the same objection as that of yester-, day, we trust that, should the prosecutions be revived, they will prove equally abortive. Much has been said on the illegal and unconstitu tional character of a body of men combining together l and furnishing funds, sufficient to ruin any person against whom their agent may choose to bring a pm secution. It is a species of imperium ix which is not called for either by justice or necessity. The Libel Law in this country is sufficiently severe, and the Officers of the Crown are not wanting in vigilance, as the records of our Courts of Law, and his MAJESTY'S jails throughout the country, abun dantly prove. If seditious libels are published, the ATrox x EIf•GENIMAL is the pi oper prosecutor in every point of view. He is also responsible for the faithful discharge of his office, and having a legal as well as a moral reputation at stake, he will not hazard it by vexatious or untenable prosecutions. There is also a respectability of character in his subordinate legal agents, whi:h is a security to the accused. None of these securities attach to the Bridge-street Associa-' tion, which, though possessing among its members many Noblemen and Gentlemen whose characters are strictly unimpeachable, is, through its agents, rendered one of the most odious and oppressive com binations that ever disgraced a free country. We have received a file of Gazettes from Sierra Leone to the 14th October. Much activity continues to be shewn by the British ships of war on that coast in the suppression of the Slave Trade, though we are compelled to add that it proves wholly inadequate to the object. About the middle of September, the Por tuguese schooner Adelaide, with upwards of 200 slaves on board, was brought into the harbour of Sierra Leone by his Majesty's ship Pheasant, and con demned as a lawful prize to the Crowns of Great Britain and Portugal. The slaves were liberated.— Another Portuguese vessel, called the Conceicao, with 54 slaves on board, was brought in on the 24th of September, prize to his Majesty's brig Snapper, Lieu tenant Knight, Commander. The vessel last named had returned from a cruize to leeward, and the infor mation given by her Commander fully corroborates the statement formerly made regarding the increase of slave-vessels on the coast. A great number of French and Portuguese vessels, fitted for slaves, were found securely riding at anchor in the different rivers visited by the Snapper, while their cargoes were col lecting in the factories on shore. In the course of her cruize, the Snapper, in pro ceeding down the coast, and when off Cape Mount, chased two schooners under French colours, that made every exertion to escape; when, from the vicinity to the share, they found that impossible, they separated. so that only one could be boarded. The largest vessel was the object of attention, and was brought to by the Snapper s when she was found to be the French schooner l'Etincelle, of Bourdeaux, fitted out at that port for the Slave Trade her equipment was of the most superior description, and her cabin superb— French mirrors and scarlet curtains. The C a pta in auxnestly begged of Lieutenant Knight to accept some presents, and wished to have put some cases of cham pagne into the boat. The other schooner eluded search, owing to the lateness of the evening. When the Snapper was at Calabar, she found, besides the Portuguese schooner sent up for condemnation, a Spanish felucca and two French schooners, the Hy polite and le Neptune : the Spaniard was so fast a sailer that they entertained no fear of her capture when once clear of the river ; she is a constant trader between the Itivannah and Calabar. The late visits of the men of war and their boats had made the 'slave-trat!ert.at that place so r atit i oes. that, with the exception of the Conceicao. All aver t keeping their slaves in factories on shore, u nti l the very day of their departure. Lieutenant Rtlight veil informed that a French schooner had lately sc e i with 200 slaves for Cayenne, which vessel, frog, t h e sharpness of her building, for the advantage o f sal ing, could only carry at the rate of nine &l s,* water per slave, and her Commander had no ;oto. tion of touching at any other place before he read, e l his destination. to pre etit, It is stated, that in the river of Cal a b ar thereto recently several slave-vessels,' moo re d together, springs on their cables, in suc h a po:ition as at a short notice, a half-moon battery ; and they w ere determined, as they said, to support each other t o r h e last. They went to quarters every night, a n d 1, 4 guard-boats for some miles down the rive r i n e munication with each other, and they threaten e d ts hinder the sailing of the English cil ships until d iet were all off themselves ; but they did not p, t i i making such an attempt. Tne Gazette of the 13th October, contains a stage. meet of the number of slave-vessels, with t h e sr& culars relating to them, examined by his Maje st y' s ships Snapper and Pheasant in the month of J u l y . l from which it appears thit the t o t a l number ens sixteen ships, of which twelve were Portuguese, d uet French, and one Spanish ; and these vessels, it i s sap, posed, on the most model ate calculation, would early . from the coast 6000 slaves. Besides which, in Ile same month, his Majesty's ship Alyrnridon, in same period, in the Bight of Benin and its neighbo nt . hood alone, examined sixteen vessels carryin g ting e detestable traffic. 'these vessels, on a moderate cols putation, would carry from the coast 3400 victic s; though only one of them, the Adelaide, accordinsa the tenour of the Treaties, could be captured. In :he beginning of August, there sere three ha. maphrodite brigs and two schooners under the Fiend i flag, waiting for slaves at the Gallinas: and aboutthe end of September four other vessels, under the same flag, came to anchor off the bar, and were prepalig to send their cargoes on shore to exchange for s!ares Advices from Cape Coast Castle state, Ithat pt hope is not correct, that the Dutch Government Fare sent out to the Governor and residents of their sat. Clement of Elwina Castle, full permission to soil ca. noes to the Portuguese and other slave-traders, their affording great facilities to that traffic; and that, consequence, many slave-vessels had anchored at that port and been amply supplied. The settlements on the Gold Coast had been tra usually unhealthy this year. Among the deaths an these of the Governor-General of the Dutch sena ments at Elwina, the Governor-General of the Daitir settlement at Accra, and Mr. GORDON, Governor the English settlements of the same place. Extract of a Letter from Sierra Leone, dated 24th of September : " The sickly season is now well advanced: it has him proved the most fatal one ever known in this relay. Hint Europeans have already fallen victims to the fever: a these were new corners, but several old standers are ale ply In fact, every second European is no more—many of Ma. loured settlers have also died. The Gambia has been seeks bad : Mr. and Mrs. Humors, Mr. and Mrs. Sucre, Sere Giuma and Queens, and several others, are dead!" The Duke of DEVONSHIRE arrived at haps two yesterday afternoon, at Devonshire-hou-e, fog Brighton ; after changing horses, his Grace set ON his seat, Chatsworth, Derbyshire. The Duke of RUTL A ND is howly expected ;non from his seat, Belvoir Castle, on his way to the Pali lion, Brighton. Yesterday, the Duchess of BUCCLEUGH anirea Montague-house, in Privy-gatdens, from a tour. Lord and Lady Nuoatir are among the distil. guished visitors at Mr. COKE'S seat in Norfolk: FASHIONABLE ARRIVAL& Countess Willoughby and Miss Fitzroy, at Whitehall, kto Leamington ' Warwickshire. Hon. W. B. Gray, at his mother's, the Dowager Countezil Stamford's, in Charles -street, Berkeley-square, from Woks Hon. Mrs. Robinson, in I'rivy Gardens, from DurniordAll The Earl of Albemarle and the Ladies Keppel, in St. Jan square, from Sir Robert Harland's seat, Ipsw:ch, Suffolk. Hon. Colonel Lygon,front Farmington, Gloucestershire. The Bishop of Ely, in Dover -street, from Ely Palace, OD bridgeskire. R. Jukes, Esq. and Mrs. Worthington and family, at Thal Hotel, Berkeley-square, from Leamington, Warwickshire. Captain J. Forrest, and Chevalier Franchi, at the Clara" Hotel, Bond-street, rom France ; and Edward U,:win, Esti' ditto, from Hertfordshire. TheJtiarquis and Marchioness of Waterford, in :Vasski% street, from Ireland. Viscount Melbourne, at Melbourne House, Whitehall, fro Brighton. Earl Morley, at Kent House, Yorkshire. Orby Hunter, Esq. in Grosvenor•place, from Sufro'. DEPARTURES. The Marquis of Salisbury, for I latfield. From the Claremont Hotel, Bond-street—Sir It. Clifton, fit Clifton Hall; and Captain Delaney, for Ramsg ite. Count and Countess St. Antonio, from Wimbledon forßrigko The Earl of Essex, for Cashiobury Park, Watford. Ministerial arrangements. are now, it is slid, a state of completion: the GRENVILLES are to coi in, by their rept esentative Mr. Cu A RLESWYNN. Gentleman is, no doubt, to go to the Board et Car tmul. And not only is Nlr.WrNs to become l'resdro of the Indian Board, but being, it is said, ail' with the rest of the GrteNvatts for the succes o, the Catholic Question, he has stipulated that he hl be allowed to support the emancipation with and*. influence of his office. Dr. PIItLLrMORE is talkedo as a new Lord of the Admiralty. There are also certain chznges in the Law der t menu in Ireland. Mr. Sit on s, it is reported, es succeed the Lord Chief Justice NO RB U RY, Wilt) " 6 ' 6 in order to make way for Mr. PLuNKErr as A wog: General ; and this latter Gentleman's succes,i4 the Attorney-Generalship in Ireland is surmiA know not how correctl)) to be plepArato!Y I" ks transfer to the eminent station of Lord Chanceila , England, whenever Lord ELDON retires.-1114 THE EVENING` STAR. 1 : I I . amo dii awl r &A da dm' " " or em t Th I Coill Piewl Coq rept' pine to di isulg top, Sae VP , ' km has 1 betn COlll CO lO lad Tike , L ' Li Ids i tiosi date Cola bas I MAJ his / of L uy Is II tion 29t1 to tion et tl owl dal Go IA ho to tilm S ti g