The Express.
London, England, 1853-02-12 00:00:00

A CARGO FOR THE DIGGINGS.

The Screw Company's steamer Harbinger left
Southampton yesterday for Australia. She took out 60 pas-
sengers, specie (principally gold) to the value of 240,0001.,
jewellery, valued at 20,00 W.; and a miscellaneous cargo be-
sides, amongst which was a wooden house, and a large quan-
tity of spades and pickaxes for the gold diggings. Iler cargo
is valued at nearly half a million sterling. The Harbinger
Wok out ship loiter mails for the Cape of Good Hope, Ade-
laide, Melbourne, Van Diemeu's Land, and New South
Wales. These mails contained nearly 10,000 letters and
newspapers. The Harbinger only purposes to call at the
Cape, Port Philip, and Sydney, and the Adelaide and Van
Diemen's Land mails will be landed at Port Philip. This
It the first steamer the General Screw Company
have sent out to Australia. They purpose, as
soon as they have vessels sufficient, to establish
• direct iminesunVation monthly between Southampton and
Australia, even if they do not get a government mail con-
tract for such vessels. The Harbinger is not one of the
large aim steamers, but she is a commodious and very feat
vessel. She has made very good passages between this coun-
try and the Mediterranean and the Cape of Good Hope ;
and her last trip was a very splendid run between this
country and Calcutta and back. She is expected in South-
ampton main in July next. All her passengers' berths are
occupied, and her space for cargo was engaged fur a week
or two before she sailed. Many of her passengers have
taken out quantities of ironmongery and other goods for
SOU or awl at the diggings. There are now eight steam=
either going eat to Australia, or at the Australian ports,
or on their way from thence to this country via the Cape of
Good Hope, and four more stamen will leave England for
the gold regions during this month.

AUSTRALIAN AGRICULTURAL COMPANY.
A special general meeting of this company was
held yesterday at the London Tavern, " for the purpose of
considering, and if deemed advisable, of approving and
confirming an agreement made with the Peel River Land
and Mineral Company for the sale of part of the estates of
tbs said Australian Agricultural Company, situate in New
South Wales, and for purposes connected therewith ; and
also for the purpose of considering, and if deemed advis-
able, of approving and sanctioning a bill intended to be in-
troduced into the houses of parliament in this session for
the purpose of sanctioning and confirming the said arrange-
ments between the said two companies; and also for the
purpose of reducing the capital and nominal amount, and
Increasing the number of shares in the Australian Agricul-
' tural Company, and for altering the qualification of the
directors and auditors, and the principle of voting, and the
form of transfers in use by the said companies."
W. haowninoa, Esq., took the chair. The attendance
was numerous.

The CnaltileAlt (after the notice bad been reed) said, in
opening the proceedings, that he had to congratulate the
proprietors that their agreements were at last ;completed,
and that it now only required the cenfirmation of them by
this meeting to obtain full and complete registration. Ex-
planations of these agreements had already been given to
the proprietors, and he would not, therefore, go again into
the matter. Ile then called upon
The SOLICI2OI, who read to the meeting the marginal
notes of the agreement with the Peel Miser Lind and
Mineral Company. lite points may be thus briefly stated.
the capital of the company is reduced from 1,000,0001. to
500,000 L ; the number of shares are doubled, vie., from
10,000 to 20,000; and the shares, in future, will be only
251. each ; the qualification of the directors being of course
therefore lowered.

The CHAIIMAN then said, that as the particulars were
now known, these being the boils of the act of parliament
they would apply for, he was in a position to move the
necessary resolutions for adoption. He accordingly sub-
mitted two resolutions—" That the meeting approve of
the agreement ;" and, "that an act of pazhement besought
in the present session."
These were carried unanimously.

DESERTION FROM THE MlLlTlA.—Yesterday three
young men, named James Bridget, James Whiting, and
Joseph Jasper, the elder scarcely of age, were brought
before Colonel Elwood, Major Carr, John Barrer, Esq.,
William Partridge, Esq., and Forster Smith, Esq., the
sitting magistrates at the -Brighton bench, on a charge of
desertinir from the Royal Bu-sea Militia by enlisting into
the 43d Regiment of Infantry. The prisoners were natives
of Brighton, and were enrolled in the Militia in October
and November last, being attested by Colonel Paine and
Nontagla Scott, Esq. Captain Fuller, Adjutant of the
Sussex Militia, stated that having received a report that the
three prisoners had deserted in the manner indicated, he
laid the case before the Duke of Richmond, colonel of the
regiment of Militia, and received his grace's directions to
follow them. Accordingly be traced them to Cu kileW,
Sussex, where they had enlisted, to London, and thence to
Ireland, where the Ora Regiment is quartered. Ile was
in Dublin before them, and on their arrival he gave
such evidence as led to their being banded over to Lis cus-
tody. Mr. Borrer said this was a crime that must be put •
atop to ; and where the characters were bad the magistrates
had resolved to treat such cases with the utmost severity.
The crime was very prevalent all through the kingdom; to
' a certain extent Bridger and IVhiting stood before the pub-
lic as men of bad characters, and the bench were unani-
mous in awarding them the longest imprisonment which
the Mutiny Act permitted. Tau were thers lore corn-
=Mid fiat six months. The third man, Jasper, we, not
known to the police. This mast be Liken as a negatively
good character, and ho would be committed for four months.
And the prisoners would remember that at the end of their
terms of imprisonment they would still b, long to the Ord
lteg.meat, if that regiment chose to claim them.