The Express.
London, England, 1847-12-22 00:00:00

dortSl

N0.410.] LONDON,WEDNESDAY EVENING,DEC.22,IB .7 13d.

tries • day an awns is eonidered a rant wspopeler tax, and only
e. be tensed M dew shin sibs sewers ot means are too much
burdened with bops er erns mane enreerdbery maths are
wain k reeindad She FOND parse. la a mew emote, led this, •
passionate lbw manta the saner cashed ea by re meet re is
mon tlewatm la ha Oedema as soma trestle. white we shall
hila the Gar
presently astorlato, and whoUy moaned for tlrleasisbleeflharevecue,
y a wrgument that ma be dermal in its
favour is the necemity of putting the road. la a stab of re-
pair, to which purpose the government premien deeds the feats
that may be rained, should their prefect heeertedfamatst, MW
wood la, strictly speaking, the only exportable wade billeseaes to
the soil of Western Australia yet diaroveredthatybidea smonseellag
profit. Guth la in so small a dewed, sad ea meaty a Mars
as to he hardly worthy of cessideretlea; sad tbe *rah Umber hes •
not, hitherto, paid the exporter thee:mares larerred. Model wood
is procurable at a smalloutlay, and can be at once to the sex
Murata in the colony ; the price obUdaed for it has enabled many of
the settlers to extricate themselves from debta contrtered years since,
• and which, from the untoward elnumstazioes in which the °ohm,
Ma been placed, they hare never before been able to hau-
-1 date ; and it gives the merle, also, or keeping a greet num-
ber of the labouring claw in full employment. A duty
imposed me this article will have the immediate elite* at lowering the
price to the settler, so the merchant will deduetthe tax he Ins to pay
from the amount it I. valued at in the market. Thin however Is not
the full extent to which the evil may reach. The garmassent propme
a duty, my of 11. per ton ; what secerity has the niereheat this would
net be doubled the next session? lie will tberefortilla afraid to pm-
chore in advance, and the men engaged in the limb me Baled la
their muttons from mat of tools, clothing, Se. damn' paha most
not be lost eight of cla., that Who trees anent the eambann has to
go farther and further into the onatry ia sees* citron tlealssilen
labour and conveyance will harm men ansadoe, sad lhouselbst
amount of den Invent asy M sedleint to destroy say
allaislft at pen. At Os pent tbas it Is nibs ipsalselli
nee to hdb up no aptrits ot thesettleor. armed rather bore
by mob nose bans the We fiereim mg Ss bops Crew,
dll.
mates rdiseed thall'allsonles W smis of ems.
dust ha dine anbAsbnarnd nein that le bra Etshr4emait
tehe sin daillsiet wans, abs dieseinsted ine seam 10
emigrate, dew best kept In full work, at
In this trade. The pirmible pretext pat =II% isatillean=
ter drop of export duty, is that the proceeds shall le donna le the
repairs of the roads. Past experience is soadart to um the seillers
that no reliance can be pieced an any promise gleam try
The revenue derived from a duty on the deader at
wee voted on condition that it should be spend to the lahred=of
labour, but it has been diverted to swell the petal rename anolds.
standing a positive pledge that it sboald be aged for the muds Abet
before stated. • • • lye have been informed that 1,100 non sew
dal won ice now cut over the hills, and about SOO tons al Set ipmlity
ready trimmed. Forty teams are detained to York, at pelt, in
oonsequeoce of the roads not being in a fit elate for than to travel
upon. In the neighbuarbood of Yolk, the sound of tbo axe le lame-
iagly heard, and many spots that bad been deserted have hem band
to contain sufficient wood to repay the labourer, and the. tree dimmered
in many fresh placer where it was little expect., d. The farmers are
rapidly getting rid of the ineucubranaes on their property by the aid of
thou Mac, which has had the et•ect alto of raking the value of their
borees and draught oxen at least 70 per cent., they beingiouch wanted
for the COilve):loet Of 11101.161 WOOL
. .

At Perth, a company has been established for the purpose
of meintaining s steam-tug of 20 tons, to be used in the
rivers of Western Australia. 'lbis may pioneer the way for
vessels of a larger class, for which the presence of coal offers
every encouragew.ent. Whilst remarking on coal, it may
here be noticed that the overland expedition sent to trace the
contisoatien of a seam had been successful in tracing it to
within 50 miles southward of Free mantle. The natives seen
arc described as very friendly. The following official details
of the coal discoveries is from the pen of Dr. Von Sommer,
the head of the expedition:
Moor River, lat. 31 deg. I I ruin. 8 sec., long. 115 deg. 57 min. So we.
—Sir bare the honour to communicate to you, for the Information
of hie excellency the governor, the folheing brief and prelim :nary
account of the maw results of the ex igditbn I am honoured to kad,
as fer as the present day. I traced the great coal formation of Western
Aiotralia, on its moat western boundary, from the place where coal
and shale were first found by accident (which locality I fixed, by a
series of astronomical observations, to be 29 deg. 3 min. 43 see.--the
longitude I could not calculate, not bring in fens, salon of a nautical
almanac's) down to lat. .9 deg. 45 min. 30 sec., bearing
from the first plane to the second 8. 11 dg. 30 min. true, or
1734 deg. magnetic. I was prevented from following that Use farther
down on account of the very boggy nature of that formation In its
lower parts at this time of the year, but traversed on that tract more
than 200 square raile3 of very god d, well-watered, and wooded pa.
toral land, in one continuous tine, and I Oink It very probable that
the good land continue. in that direction, with the coal formation,
down to the south coast. From the aboire-marked prettier' I went
235 deg. magneto" down to Jurien lice, in order to ucenain the fact
that so western branches or detach, d coal-fields ran from the main
course. On that opportunity I found that Jurien Bay is surrounded
by a large tract of recently-formed diluvial soil, abounding with
lakee, and already producing, in many places, great quantities of
' good gram and wood. From there I went 145 deg. msg.
mac to the Moor River la order to cut the above-de-
mined western boundary line of the greet coal formation, and
in the hope of recognising, ou the deep cuts of the river, Ira-
reran; the country nearly from ea .t to tweet, some positive signs of
the presence of coed. In that count we met, lat. 30 deg. 43 min.,
after crossing a westward-nuaning brook of some conaderatiori, again
a long continuous tract of low hilly oountry, covered with an
open gum forest, and partly ea finely and nobly grassed as the beet
parts at South A Wald. Though the diameter or that tract appears
to run parallel with the run of the coal formation, and indeed fall
together with Its western boundary (besides the correspondence be-
tween their geological formatioa). I followed yet fee a con, our last
Mune, In upectanon of reaching the Moore River, where it le laid
down in the map; on that account we bat the good land in at. 30 deg.
37 rain. ; but arriving la limited. 31 deg. withoet seeing the river, and
falling in with a Innen (yellow clay sandstone) country, I changed
our course to 1731 deg., magnetic, and acing even then no signs of
improvement (having the good country still on our right), I wet, In
lat. 31 deg. 8 min, the course of 310 deg., merle* to that di-
rection we cut the Moore Riser, latitude 31 deg. II min. 8 see., being
here a broad and deep stream, with running from E.
by 8. to W.N. Is order to 'nominal:ha:ler of interesting river,
I thought It advisable to send Mr. IL Gregory to Gin& (ehorit 10 •
or 12 miles distant) to get of Mr. Brockman some fresh provisions, so
our oldstoch had bosoms very small; but I shall endeavour to reto'a
to Perth the first week in September, ae the Willer examination
and prolongation of the coal stratum to the south coast of Western
Australia would Tamale far more means and time than I coo at pre-
sent dispose of.—l have the honour to remain, Re., F. Vox Somas,
Dr. Med. atPhil.—To the Rom the Col. Secretary.
Heavy rains had fallen at Western Australia, and much
loss of lite and property had been caused by the overflowing
of the Swan. W. B. Andrews, Esq., a member of the legis-
lative council, and one of the earliest settlers in the coloey,
expired September 12th, after an illness (fever) of a few
hours' duration. When the Scout quitted Swan River,
Sept. 24, the utmost consternation prevailed throughout
the colony, arising out of the Sandal-wood agitation.
Since the above received (per Minerva) advice. from
Swan River to October 1. Agitation had performed its
work—the governor had succumbed. At a meeting of
the legislative council, September 23, the order of the day
for the second reading of the Sandal Wood Bill was read.
His excellency stated that owing to the strong expression of
feeling manifested throughout the colony and the opinions
of the members of the council, be would withdraw the bill
and introduce another in its stead. His excellency then
moved the first reading of a bill to provide means for the
construction of lines of communication by the imposition of
a toll of 10s. per ton (payable at the port of shipment) on all
sandal wood. The proceeds of the tell are to be vested in a
board of works, and thus afford security that the money col-
lected will be expended en the specific objects for which it
was levied. The colonists were rejoicing at their triumph
over the executive. The council adjourned to October 7,
when the new bill would be read &second time.

' ROYAL NAVAL Scnow...—Yesterday the Christmas
distribution of pries' took plaoe at the school, New Cross ;
Admiral Bowles, M.P.' the president of 'he institution, ec-
cupyirg the chair on the occasion. After a brief address
from the president, the head mister's report was read by
Mr. Eames, the secretary, from which it appeared that the
conduct and proficiency of the pupils was most satisfactory,
and that only two or three wire ohliced to discontinue thrtr
studies in consequence of the prevailing epidemic. The fol-
lowing are those who obtained prizes:—Hudson (Ist class),
Johnstone, Lowry '2nd), Inches (list), Rainier, Sanders
Ind), Roebuck, Helios, Stephens, Jones, Heather, Meade,
Watts, Tucker, flay (Ist).

COMMERCIAL A- MARKETS.