The Express.
London, England, 1853-08-17 00:00:00

It will be read with feelings of

pleasure and of pride, mingled only with the unWel-
ease sense of popular perplexity at finding its author
as assenting party to a policy which, when vindi-
cated by Mr. Couoz on the only grounds of which
it is susceptible of defence, his lordship feels bound to
repudiate and condemn. From the first, the tone
assumed both by Lord Jolnt RrSSELL and Lord PAL-
MERSTON has created the impression that they re-
luctantly abet the course which their colleagues have
pursued; and assuredly their speeches of yesterday
will not tend to shake or to remove that conviction.

RENEWAL OF AUSTRALIAN DISCOVERY.
A question put last night by Sir J. PAKINGTON
elicited from Mr. PEEL the information that govern-
ment intend to settle the question respecting the
right of tenants of rior.' 7-- Z. Australia to
claim leases before the waste lands are handed over
to the local legislatures. The mere mooting of the
question is one among many pleasing indications
that have of late met us that the violence of the gohl-
hunting fever is beginning to abate, and men re-
awakening to the sense that there are other things
in Australia as good, or better, than gold. No better
moment could be seized than this of returning
sanity to invite attention to a gallant enterprise on
the eve of being commenced in these antipodean
regions.
A plan for exploring a portion of Northern Aus-
-1 1 balls has been for some time under discussion; it
Au received distinguished sanction ; and indeed it
merits all the attention that is paid to it. The
proposal is, to start from the mouth of the Vic-
toria River, to trace that river to its sources, and
thence to proceed eastward as the nature of the
eountry and the facilities for travelling may permit,
until the party strike the upper waters of a stream
flowing into the gulf of Carpentaria. Subsequently
the party would probably strike across the Conti-
nent, and re-enter the civilised world by some of the
older settlements. A few days since, the President
of the Geographical Society and a deputation from
that body waited upon the Duke of NEWCASTLE, to
lay the project before him; and we believe we may
say that he at once appreciated its merits, and did
not withhold his sanction. Several leading colonists of
Australia have expressed the deepest interest; and
some of the moat distinguished explorers of that
island-continent lend the aid of all their experience
and sympathy. But it is necessary to secure the
moans before starting; and the enterprise, we be-
lieve, only awaits the result of an application to the
Treasury, under the very highest sanction which
such a project can claim.
On such enterprises in general, it may be re-
marked, that they can never be undertaken, save
from an ardent and disinterested love of science, sti
=Wilted, perhaps, by a noble ambition for distinction ;
but that they are never accomplished, without re-
paying the cost and trouble. Even such as those
into Central Africa and the Arctic Seas have made
valuable additions to science; but the mo-e cognate
expeditions of VANCOUVER, or of Lewis and CLARKE,
have added empire-provinces to the powerful
states of America and Great Britain. Com-
ing closer to the scene for the proposed
expedition, COOK added new regions for our trade,
and gave new colonies to the British Empire ; FLIN-
DERS gave us our knowledge of the Australian
toasts, and the expedition of STURT opened to us
the river of theMurrayu and the province of South
Australia. The proposed expedition would extend
the survey of the interior in a quarter too remote for
the unaided curiosity of adventurous colonists, yet
so far connected with the rapidly-expanding coloni-
sation of Australia, and with the trade of the East,
as to be certain of speedy returns in the shape of
substantial advantage. fhe great commercial im-
I penance of the Indian Archipelago is seen in the
extension of our Chinese trade, in the establishment
of a steaming station at Singapore, new commercial
enterprises developing themselves to British specu-
lators in Java, commercial colonisation in Borneo,
and many other ways ; to say nothing of the expan-
sion which will follow the altered relations of India
and the eventualities of tke great social movement in
China. Already an eye has been cast upon the
mouth of the Victoria as a proper place,
at least, for a commercial settlement ; and
should nothing else offer, the trade in trepang
or beche de la titer, a sea slug, would amply repay
' the first settlers. This delicacy is highly esteemed
among the Chinese, and is priced accordingly; it is
found in large quantities on the north of Australia,
and hitherto the trade has been monopolised by the
Malays. Already colonisation has been attempted
in the north of Australia, but the settlement at Port
Essington was faulty in principle: a more thoroughly
colonising and commercial place is wanted. The
capacities of the north for the rearing of cattle, how-
ever, have been vested at Port Essington. The
climate appears to be excellent : on the southern
coast of Carpentaria the thermometer sank to Si
degrees during Captain STOKES'S expedition. But,
in fact, by hook or by crook, settlement is sure to
extend towards that region, where British free trade
is already engaging in combat with the old Dutch
monopolies that have hitherto reigned supreme.
The expedition would rendezvous at Singapore in
time to start from the mouth of the Victoria with
the beginning of the south-east monsoon. Singapore
is chosen because it would be nearer to the starting
point from Sydney, and would be a convenient sta-
tion *hence to procure a few camels from Arabia :
that beast, with bullocks and mules, being contem-
plated for the use of the expedition. Against any
enemy that the travellers are likely to encounter a
very simple armament would suffice—in style not
unlike that of the handful of Texan rangers who
soequered a force of eighteen or twenty thousand
Mexicans at the battle of San Tacinto—revolvers,
Masa, and bowie knives. But the true strength of
the party would lie in its courage, temper, and pa-
tinae—qualities not likely to be wanting in the
MR SMOM. A few Hottentots or tame Kollin
might recruit the force of bullock drays. A photo-
graphic apparatus to record the striking
features of the country daily, with its
plants and other natural objects ; seeds from
Kew to be planted expe 'mentally, like the potatoes
and figs with which Coo= enriched New Zealand;
and apparatus for testing the mineral resources of the
part of the continent, are matters of course in
spier
outfit of the expedition. The idea of the expedi-
tin originated with M. ERNEST NANG, its proposed
Issisr—a man in every way qualified for the enter-
A soldier by education, a geographer by pre-
a gentleman in every menu of the word, a
traveller, a linguist—he adds to all those
a frame active and robust, a cheerful
gtm,itand a frank and engaging address—the last
big far from one of the least qualifications for such
a . The fact that he has personally won the
of all parties in our party-divided land, the
approbation of colonists as well as Colonial
Ministers, are attestations of his fitness to
lead in a species of enterprise where con-
fidence in the leader and cheerful obedience,
without harshness of restraint, are such essential
elements of the safety, comfort, and even the wealth
of the expedition. Sir RODERICK MURCHISON hoe
given a golden test of his own fitness to judge of a
question in Australian geography by the fact that
he foretold the existence of the gold on Bei, ntific
data ; and the zeal which be has thrown into the
furtherance of this project, while it proves his own
public spirit, is also a certificate of the importance
attached to the expedition. If we observe that emi-
nent and far-seeing statesmen have been free to en-
courage expeditions of discovery, from Pi ince HENRY
of Portugal to JEFFERSON, the American constitu-
tionist, and the patron of Lewis and CLARKE, it is
not to detract front any merit which the Duke of
NEWCASTLE may claim fee his intelligent sanction of
the present plan, but to *ark his order amongst
statesmen.

THE GREAT FIRE AT DOVER.—DOVER, TUESDAY
ETININO.—From the inquiries made this day respecting
persona missing from their boom since Sunday night, there
,seems not the least doubt, now entertained, but that several
men were prematurely hurried into eternity when that por-
tion of the cliff fell on Monday morning, alluded to in our
journal of yesterday. Three or four persons who lived in
the neighbourhood of Limekiln-street and Snaresbrook-
street, and one near the Theatre Royal, have not been
heard of since Monday morning, although they were all
seen near the spot where that portion of the cliff fell a few
minutes before the alarm was sounded. There appears to
be now strong ground for concluding that several persons
were crushed to death when the issmsams fall of chalk took
place. A very considerable period Rest elapse before the
authorities a- the tows will be able t• amens the mass of
chalk. .la t emir isit. link that IA so as to enable
awn le kat% esistalafg how raw wises have perished.