The Sun. — London, England, 1812-11-13 00:00:00

AFRICAN INSTITUTION. C. TRACT . FROM THE, REPORT OF . THE COMMIS- STONERS 01' AFRICAN INQUIRY. (Cigitintied from our Varer of the 31st ult.) Although wars are prObably not frequent among 'them, yet the Kroomen . of different towns have sometimes very serious _quarrels. One took place lately between the people of Willstown- and . those 'of, one of the other towns. It originated in a private quarrel between two individuals, Tom Niminee and Jumbo, the people of each town taking part with their townsman until it became an actual war. between the two towns. The war is suspended for the present, but the quarrel is not yet. deeided. The Kroomen say, that the " king has not spOken, yet." The following are all the partictilars I have.. been able to collect of this affair. Jumbo appears-to have been by right : the head of all the Kroo? ; he was at least a man of bigh consequence among them._ The father of Tom Nirninee * was chief of Kroo Settra, and Jumbo deprived him of his dignity. -The old Man retired into the woods and died. , His son deter mined to be avenged-on Jumbo, and,engaged the people of Wappoo (the next town.. south of the Kroo country) to make war on him., They were successful, and Jumbo was obliged to fly to Rock Sesters (a place at some distance to windward, that . is, northward), where he reniftined seven years. Daring hi p s stay at this place, he seized a chief who had been yen into the river Sesters by Tom Nitninee, and killed him. Nimiriee sent to require pecuniary satisfaction for the Murder, cording to custom, but was refused ; and Jumbo has since found himself strong enough to return to his own country. • Some of the people farther inland (Bushmen as they are called by the Kroo men) were hired to help him . ;. and it is. chiefly by means of mercenaries that the war has been pro secuted by both pv.rties ; " Kroomen not liking to fight against Kroomen." It appeared that hi this war. all Kroomen who happened to be made prisoners were released on paying a ransom, or rather making a present according tb the ability of the captive; and.-this, I apprehend, is the common practice with respect to Esooriten,though I have been informed that in some cases they pu nish them by a severe whipping;, and then send them.home. It seems clear they neither kill nor sell them. How they proceed with respect to pri -s6ners of other tribes is not so clear: The submisSion of Kroomen to their superiors is carried so- far, that when one of these commits a theft, fur instance, the rest will run every ha zard arising from judicial peijury, and resist every temptation of reward, rather than reveal it; and if there be no other mode of, saving their su perior from disgrace and punishment, they will take the crime on' themselves, and suffer its pe nalty. Many facts of this kind occurred at Sierra Leone. Among thernzelves, theft is punished by whipping. , The punishment of adultery is by fine. - Murder ny-.y he punished with death, but it may ;also be always atoned for by a pecuniary flue. Witchcraft is always punished capitally, but I knoW °illy one instance of it. Among Kroo men no offence:is punished With . slavery; nor is any Kropnufn permitted to be sold on any account whatsoever. While the Slave Trade lasted, they were notoriously in the habit of kidnapping and selling the ." Bushmen" who came down to the coast for thepurposes of trade ; whom also, in their capacity of factors, they were in the regular practice of defrauding to a considerable amount. In respect to the external appearance of the Kroomen, they are seldom very tall ; but they are lvell made, muscular, vigorous, and active. They wear no, clothes,' except'a small piece of East- India eloth wrapped round their loins ; but they arc fond of obtaining hats and old Woollen jackets, which they are allowed to wear in th?ir own-coun try in the, rainy season. A few wear European clothing .while at Sierra 'Leone. They are ex tremely sensible' of the cold during . the rainy sea-, son, tut never appear to suffer from the heat.— The form of the African head differs in general from that of the European ; but I think this dif ference is less in the Kroomen than in any other natives whom 1 have seen. In their temper, they are generally gay and cheerful ; and this leads them to he very noisy and ta4kative. They some times shew a talent for miinicry. They seldom learn to speak English well, and of course they must understand it but imperfectly ; the few who do understand it become, I think, mare readily expert at whatever business they are employed in than most other natives. They are very fond of adopting Elglish names ; but their choice is some times very whimsical, such as Pipe of Tobacco, Bottle of Beer, Papaw Tree, &c. They arc quick in feeling insults, or even harsh and angry ex pressions, and they immediately become sulky and untractable. But they will bear any censure, even a sharp blow or two when their negligence deserves it, if it can be so contrived as to seem given more in jest than in earnest.' In their ge neral course of conduct, they are rather delibe fate than impetuous ; but they: are far more cou rageous than the generality of the natives about Sierra Leone. - I presume they are hospitable, from the readi ness with which, when absent from their coun try, thoSe who are employed, and consequently are receiving wages, 'support those who are un able to obtain work. When hired by the month, their wages . depend ing on the time they arc at work, not upon . the work performed, they are apt to be very indolent, sinless carefully superintended. But they are fond of task work, or working by the piece"; and exert themselves 'exceedingly when the reward is proportioned to the labour. 'When I first arrived in Africa in 1797, it was .deemed a gross absurdity to imagine-thata Krooman would do any kind of work inkonnected with boats grid shipping, as in that way alone they had hitherto been employed ;, and it was supposed their prejudices against inno vation could' never be overcome. ' 4 Tom NixtlinZ•e is a short but stout man. He was dressed very gully when I saw him, in a piece of showy handker chiefs of English manufacture. A silver plate was suspended from his neck, -with an inscription, purporting that it was given him , by ft. flume, owner of the John and Sarah (I think), •lor hi i4allautly recovering that vessel when cut off '15% the crew, a;:(1 the captain killed. It is, however, a very sf,a;,be plate, and=the orthography of the inscription not very 47..%rr5cl • (To be continued.) MADR I D. As this cit' is at present in.so interesting a - the following account of "it; as given by Rehfues, Librarian to the Eing of Wirteln berg, may be acceptable to onr Readers. • On approaching Madrid, M Rehfues Was struck With the contrast between the heat , of the vallies and the snow - of. the mountains. The city is in a low situation, and its approaCh is not animated by country-houses or gaadens : nor was it till the tourist advanced towards the e middle of the city that they perceived the appeatance of trestle. The men continued, notwithstanding the heat, to wear woollen cloaks, fOr the purpose of " keeping off the sun." The women were &eased in blatk, and • their large dark eyes were fixed with eager curi r osity on the strangers. It was a disgusting spec tacle to see beggara ranged in rows before the doors of the convents, to receive he offerings of that false charity,which is one of the curses of this country. -A more cheering sight presented by a nuniSer of book-shops :• but they furnished no sale-catalogues, and the books were, in 'general, of old date.eThe carriages rolling along the streets were heavy andsold fashioned, and the most lively part of the scene consisted in the crying and- selling of newspapers, to which recent events had awak= ened the public attention. The streets of Madrid arc seldom either wide or straight ; the pavement consists of small stones, which are very fatiguing to the feet s and the squares are, in general, small •and irregular. 'The houses ire low, and provided with balconies ; while the window-gratings bring to recollection the ancient traditions of conjugal jealousy and romantic adventure. The town staiids Yin a vast plain, bordered on the North by lofty mountains, and open only to the South.. Hence arises .a considerable inequality in the climate; M. Rehfus having experienced, by a sudden change of wind, a considerable. degree of cold in the Middle of Jilne., To delicate persons. these rapid varia tions . are dangerous : but people in good health are accustomed to speak favourably of the climate, which, in fact, is seldom severe in winter. No city contains a larger proportion of idlers than Madrid ; a circumstance which is owing • to that peculiarity in the character of tlie,Spaniard, which leads him him to cultivate no acquaintance but among a few intimate friends. In conse4imence, a man out of business has a large portion of-time for loitering about, which he divides between the public squares and the coffee-houses, passinghis hours in the latter with nearly as little conversa- - kidn as in the former. After having addressed a few words to one of tete persons present, he sits down alone, and betakes himself to his cigar or pipe, the use of which is alldwed in all Situations.t The Spanish ladies have little turn for figuring in large parties, or for dividing their attention among a number of guests. Their character partakes greatly of the .national seriousness, their passions being strong ,and constant ; in which, as in other respects, they form a considerable contrast to their French neighbours. Rehfues has not the va nity to boast-of engaging the affections of any of these ladies, but he speaks with admiration of their baauty of person and elegance of manners. — In ail their public appearances, the Spaniards are studious of dignity : which is 'particularly' striking in the solemnity of, the church-service ; and in the silent attention, of the, auditors. Here, as in Italy, lovers who have no opportunity of meeting else where are said to kneel side by side': but they do not, as in that country, allow a spectator to ob serve their inattention to Worship, nor make the church a place for the exchange of billets-doux. POPULATIPN.-With . regard to this disputed topic, M. Reid - nes appears desirous ofespeaking truth without possessing sufficient information to make up his mind decidedly on the matter. Being a believer in the reported populousness of ancient Spain, and aware, at the same time, that the thin ning effect attributed to American emigration is a delusiOn, lie is puzzled to account for the wonder ful falling-off in recent ages : but he believes that to the political misfortunes of this country we must have recourse to account for its loss of people.— This idea leads him -to dwell on the expulsion of the Moors and Jews.; but all these considerations will not give him the supposed 20,000,000 inhabi- • tants of the fifteenth century; nor -the 78,000,000 of the Moorish age, when Grenada alone was said to contain 3,000,000. In Spain, as in this coun try, nothing like accuracy appears to have been attained in the population-estimates, till the begin ning of the last century. The number was then 6,000,000, and it seems to have gone on in a course of progresSive augmentation. so as to be . come double in the lapse of one hundred years. — The discovery of this important fact, joined to some other- observations, has checked M. Rehfues . in his mistaken calculations, and has preserved him from the common error of supposing that Spanish affairs had been in a coursa of uniform de cay down to time present time. We are presented with a specific list of the population-returns ofthe year 1788 from which we are inclined to set down the present number of the principal provinces as follows : Andalusia, about... — . 2,000,000 Arragon. ... 700,000 Galicia 1,500,000 Astnrias • 400,000 Castile, Old and New, 2,500,000 Biscay , 350,000 Catalonia Valencia 900,000 Of these, the most populous for its' extent ap pears to be Galicia, and, next to it, Valencia and Asturias ; though both Catalonia and Biscay, which we regard as the sinews of Spanish indepen dence, are more thickly inhabited than the majo rity of the other provinces. The number of peo ple is thus - greatest in the mountainous tract of the North ; a complete proof, were any wanting, that the cultivation of, the interior is in its infancy. (To be continued.) On Sunday evening lasi, between the hours of six and eight o'clock, whilst all the family were at Chapel, the house of Mr. J. Evans, of the Bo rough High-street, was entered by means of pick lock keys; the drawers of the.sideboard and cel laret were opened by the same ineanz;, and eight silver talcle spoons, two gravy spoons, twelve de sert spoons, a set of silver castors, a wine strainer, and several other articles, were taken away. O n the return of the servants, the doors were foun open, and the picklock keys remaining in them. LONDON: Printed by THOMAS WOOD, of N 0.35, Maiden-lane, Covent-garden; 11'1 At ,the SUN Or 119,4, No. 112, kitranj'•, where .ifdyertisementr, Orders-to. CORK ELECTION. 'The following observations respecting . .the Cork Election are extracted from The Cork Advertiser : - The detected attempt to procure a 'vote . by . fraud, in the 'case of the man who was brought to the Hustings to personate another; we leave to the, reflection of the public; , and proceed to observe upon the speech of an'honOurable Candidate, 'of whom it may be said that he possesses - satis elo qttentLe sapientix pa7'nm. On the style of his charges against the Diike- of Richmond and the Lord 'Bishop of ,Cork, it is unnecessary to make any comment. it is such 'as may be expected. from the eulogist of Sir Francis Burdett and Cobbett. As to the matter, they may be easily refuted. The Lord Lieutenant is accused of. exercising an un due influence in the elections for Tipperary, _Lime rick, and this city. But mere assertion is not a proof of the charge, and may be met by an un qualified denial. Admitting, however. the inter ference of Government in those elections, is' Mi nisterial influence on such occasions so nnuSual an occurrence ) On the dissolution of Parliament, by that Administration ironically termed the Ta lents, Were there no exertions use4,to strengthen' the hands of Government at theensuing elections ? And are the declared enemies of Ministers to enjoy the exclusive privilege of ransacking every corner of the country to promote their own views, while their friends are to be interdicted from every ex ertion in their behalf ? But the wise and just, the mild, temperate, and coneiliatQrrAdministra tion . of the Duke of Richmond, requires not our 'feeble advocacy. liThile his conduct is sanctioned with the approbation of his-Prince, and of eyeryi man who dimly appreciates the blessings of our happy Constitution, he has nothing to apprehend from such inn - otent hostility. " The imputations against our upright, vir tuous, and truly Christian Bishop, pre equally un founded. We have authority to deny his having attempted . to influence even the Clergymen of his own Diocese on the present contest. , He resolved 'to keep himself aloof from every species of inter ference ; and -.then his son, the Rev. Thomas St. Lawrance, began to canvass for his friend, Sir Nicholas C. Coulthurst, his Lordship forbade him on any occasion to make use of his name, as he was determined that a vote given by a Clergyman should nev el-influence him in the distribution of his patronage at a future day, provided that vote .was given with the' spirit, and in a manner becoming of a Christian Minister. At an early period oldie Election, his Lordship called upon Mr'. Hutchin son to tell bias this determination, 'in conse quence of which, this Ct.ndidate got two or three Clergymen's votes, which would not otherwise have been the case. One of them -was Curate either to the Dean or Archdeacon, who can vouch for the truth of this statement, and for the since rity with which his Lordship followed up his de claration. " So much for the justice of those charges,-- a few words more as to the Kobable motives for preferring them: The Candidate, mortified at his anticipated and certain defeat, might have -wished to attribute it , to any cause that may sooth his wounded pride. ButNthe truth is, that he has been rejected by the most respect ble petition of our corporate, landed, and commercial interests, which have been united by principle, and not by undue influence, to oppose the ejection of a luau to represent this city in Parliament, of :tile, whole course of Whose Parliamentary conduct they have had so much reason to disapproved," We lately mentioned a regulation .by whi,ch all Lieutenants who have been ittrthe command of prison ships for three years, are to lle superseded.. This is solely occasioned by a wish .to ;ive oh! Lieutenants, on half-pay, an opportunity to have the command of a prison ship.. It is ,supposed: this regulation will take plate at Portsmouth and . Plymouth next month, as the ships, with very few exceptions, will then have been full three years under the Transport Board, S having been paid off, and transferred to the Transport Board in the month of December, 1809. The aforesaid regulation has, been acted upon at Chatham, where the i prison-, ships have all along been continued in commission under the Board of Adariralty. 'A like • regulation , to the foregoing took place some time since in the . impress service ; and we understand it is to 'be acted upon at Portsmouth in regard to Lieu tenants whose command under the . Admiralty and Transport Boards make more than three -years, (having held the command of the ships previous to their being paid off in 1 . 809)„ and in consequence of which the following arrangeMents have taken place, Lieut. W. COET, to command the Guild ford, in lien of, Lieut. CRONCII j Lieut. JAll,l'2. HARLEY, to command the S i ffblJc, in lieu . of Lieut. GILMORE j Lieut. A. CHArMAN, to com mand the Prothee, in lieu of Lieut. BIRD; and Lieut. GRANT ALLEN to command the Pegase, in lieu of Lieut. DECOURDOUX. It is with pleasure we some time since noticed the exertions of the Bishop of the diocese in aid Of 'the fund for the relief of the widows and or phans of his clergy. Of all the situations in which the calamities of life distinguish among the sons and _daughters of affliction, none could be more suitatle to the known benevolence and philan thropy of our diocese than that of the orphan and widow. The state of the orphan is greatly to be pitied, as being destitute of the guide of his youth, and deprived, by a premature stroke, of him to whom nature directs he should look tip to as his guardian and support. The widow is a still greater object of commiseration, who, besides the affliction of having been bereft of her dearest earthly friend, is left to struggle alone with the difficul ties of a family and the world :—to educate with --maternal solicitude the party that became an or phan by-the same calamity that made her a wi dow : to aid in 'the relief of Such we are earnestly called upon by every tie of humanity. We are in formed his Lordship has recommended to his clergy to preach 4 sermon in their respective churches and we trust his recommendation will be attended to, and that their labour twill not be in vain.—Plymouth Telegraph. The , Waterford Mirror of Saturday last, ascribes the arrest of Mr. Trotter_ to a very different cau;te from that assigned to it in some of the Dublin papers. It says it was merely for a trifling debt. • oblisbed by WILLIAM ARMIGEB SCRIPPS, South Molton-street, Grogronor-sfrate,. r the Paper, Letters for the Editor, 4kt. (post paid), must be addressed, , BRIGfITON, The enormous large fish caught and brought on shot yesterday sold by the roprit of their Of othei fi by the naznec: a louteh at 1501. and kept reducing came to 701. when it was nu ler, who exhibited it during procured him lii a tty ,pounn d Which this anin'thl has produ has been very large ; we are that they 1.2.ve received b e t hundred pounds. In the of hand-this, announcing tha opened this day, were distril and numbeis of Gentlemen the opi4ation.. Phis fish is the Squolgs shark, as described in the P tions for 1808, and:is also d Zoology, vol. iii. p. 78. t company present were rot enormous size of the liver, lobes, mcasnring in length u each being sixteen inches tl] to weigh considerably above has been made, and the oil . p superior quality, yielding an of pure oil. Tuesday, at a Meeting a Peace for the county of I FRANCIS-JEFFREY, Esq. tvas in behalf of the journtymen tion for fixing a rate of w after due deliberation on tl cause, unanimously resolved day first, then to pronounce At Norwich Corn-market was a good supply of wl 'heavy„ at a reduction of 2s last week's prices. There v Scotch cattle, &c. at market pens, but very• little liusinA chases were made, and the price demanded by the drove A fracas took place at the Rochester, on Thursday se'u Ot:leers of the Navy and the a — youth of the name of Acre open, btit is likely to du wel] taken into custody. On Tuesday se'nnight, in servant of Mr. Brumfit, the tween Leeds and Skipton; wa between Burley and Ilkley, some Villain unknown, .throl ball_perforated the crown of in some hay which he bad pi to keep out the rain. Wednesday one of the escape from the, depot at Pe the wall of his own jail, int adjacent, which is yet unocc past the sentinels nnsuspeetec immediately given, 11, , had no outer gate: W.l:cu he was ..sei; to his OH quarters. Early on Monday m ornini were confined in Ayr jail, or base money and forged r escape. They ,found means of the cell in the steeple, . lodged, and to perforate the the apartment which is visit the psrsou who rings the from thence to the foot of th behind the door till the_ arriv whore they hurt severely in I They wliked through the g military being present to iu to the • late elections, walks standing an eager pursuit, heard of since. - . Two ceutinels on duty at t gaol, were fired at, about morning of Tuesday se'nnit gaol ; the centinels returned • effect. The gaol was afterw diseovery made. On Sunday last, the rive,• swelled by heavy .. rains. A of Ireland, having gone int boar, for the sake of picking ber, which were floating tit his balance, tumbled overbc no more.—What added to sceue was the circumstance with other spectators, stain] unable to yield the smallest has not yet been found. BIRTHS On Friday last'', at his house in LI trianvel!, of u Son. On Sunday last, at Viscount Cu: La 4 of the ilou. Robert Curzon, c MARR[LI On Saturday, the 16th •of .11a1 Lieutenant Oliver, _ Atsistant - Mil Anne, second daughter „of the late On 'Monday,- the sth of October, in the 43d,Li4ht Infantry, to Maria Phillips, Esq. British Vice-Consul, . . . On the 7th inst.. William Irving _street, \Vt thijuster, to Sarah, onl;1 ton, Esq. of Leominster; Herefoi:ds DIED. On the :Id inst. at Invcrg4rdon,l betb,daughte.rof B. .Eavas Mu On'Saturday last, aged 63, Mrs. Palace; and on Monday her son, 17 formerly Of the Norwie . h Theatre. 17esterday morning, suddenly, Surgeon, of Hatton-garden. PRICE OF STOC Bank Stock, 9.16 i Navy 5 per Cent. 91-ilif 4 per Cut. 74/ :s parr Ce:st. Red. 534 581 3 pe: Cc Lt. Cons. 5903- Bank L. Ann. 15 1-16 f 1-13 Stink, India Bonds, par, ls. dis. Dii On Ixn Co HIGH WATER AT LONDON I Morning, 30 uiinutees after 9. I Ei