The Express.
London, England, 1853-12-13 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, TUESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 13, 1853

arrivals from every other iliggicgs, caused by the pr.Litic
yields that have been turned up principally in Prince
Regent's Gully—a portion of the Canadian gully hoc of
gold. At one stop, called the Jeweller's Shop, I am told
by a ci derma chum, that he saw two nom was: out 90lbs.
before breakfast of the precious metal. Some dozen holes
will each yield, it is said, from 4,033!. to 5,003/. each ;
others in the same line are now turning out •' shysers"—
i. e., yielding only a few pennyweights to the tub. Such is
the uncertainty of gull-digging that many may sink near
where gold is being gut, yet few of them
may get beyond mere wages for all their toil.
In the spot where these immense quanti-ies have been pro-
cured the sinking is Irons 100 to 120 feet, and so wet that
thoee employe-1 are obliged to work in gangs night and day.
I say this much, lest any romantic beings may leave their
homes and position in England, fancying they have only
to dig to become rich. lam little inclined to return to the
scene of my former toils in the diggings, although I admit
when these tempting fishes of luck occur it unsettles me
for a time. I em still in the post I held when last
I wrote, and I am only waiting for something to
spring up more advantageous to leave it, either to
return to England or to try some other country. An
event of some import is is come off neat week, no less than
the turning of the first sod for the first railway in Vietorta,
t a run from Geelong to Melbourne. Latrobe is to handle
the spade and barrow on the occasion, supported by the
Legislative Council and a great host of °finials. I have
• ticket fur the &Maw and the ball in the evening, and
in my next I shall be able to report progress. Trade of
late has been dull, both here and in Melbourne, partly
attributable to the glut which has taken place in all the
general commodities. Flour at one time was freely sold at
from 61. to 71. per ton. Now it has jumped up to 231, and is
still getting dearer. Potatoes are now 27!. to 301. per ton, and
very scarce at that figure. Beer is also getting up in price; us
party in this town holds 7,000!. worth, and will not sell a
bottle of it for another month. Gold, on the contrary, is
falling in price, and can scarcely be sold at 31 161. the
ounce, partly from the uncertainty whether an export
duty will pus the legislature. We have not had
any letters from England fur two months. How is this ?
Some are in doubt as to the safety of the Stratford, wLich
is reported to have a large mail for this colony. Talk of
the pleasures of this place. We have had violent rains sad
winds for more than a week, and the result is that scarcely
a street is passable. The refusal of the Queen to
sanction the act of legislature relating to pardoned *convicts
being excluded from the colony of Victoria is causing some
talk, and great dissatisfaction is felt that she should par-
don any man transported even for life, with the proviso
that such pardoned criminal do not return to Eaglaud.
Thinking and welLdisposed persons ask why they
should be allowed to rush into Victoria to begin
again their crimes. It is shown that seven out of ten
of the men convicted in Melbourne and here
have been pardoned criminals from Van Diemen's Land—
is strong feet against this colony being subject to the intru-
sion of such men. The Duke of Newcastle has lost ground
' here from the strong expressions used iu his despatch
relating to this matter.

THE PASSES OF THE BALKAN.

- . -

At the third ordinary meeting of the Royal Geo-
graphical Society, held last nignt at the rooms of the Horti-
cultural Society, in Regent•treet, Sir It. Mt. mei'lsms in
the chair, the second portion of • paper by Lieut.-General
A. Joeirmes was read, entitled "A elouraey into the
Balkan, or Mount Homes, with a description of the defiles
through this celebrated mountain range, end a comparison
of the routes pursued by Darius, Rystapet, Alexander the
Great, and—Marshal Diebitcb. The first portion of this
paper, which was noticed in the Daily Nears of this day
fortnight, ended with a sketch of the communication between
&Aimee and Kasen, and the continuation read last evening
proceeded to describe in military detail the pass through
the range ftom Salymni to Starika, thence to Belrove,
which was described 14 being in parts very difficult, espe-
cially between Salymni to Starika. At Takowitz the
general says there is a long defile, an hour long, while in
other places the pass is confined to narrow bridges over deep
ravines. Near Shumla, at Kilwoga, the difficulties are
stated to he less considerable, and here it was that the Rus-
sians, under Diebiteh, forced the passage against the Turks
in 1829. Pasting the route of Alexander, 33G nc , the
paper minutely described the locality on the banks of the
two lakes of Dewna, the lower and the upper, end the
writer hazards the opinion that the isthmus between them
was the ground of the battle between the Macedonians and
the Triballians, and that the Parawaddi River was the
Lygisos of Arian. The advance of the Turks themselves
through these districts, when they extended their conquests
northward, was then partially referred to, and some com-
ment was made upon the fact, that the routes of Darius,
Alexander, and Diebitch, had proceeded by the same lines.
The CHAIRMAN in expressing the thanks of the Society
to General Joehmus for his communication, stated that he
had been told by Col. Cheney, that it was regarded by
military men as particularly viduable at the present time,
acd he (the chairman) had no doubt if it were arranged
and systemmatized, it would be found so. Perhaps Col.
Everest would give his opinion as to h.,w, in ancient times
large armies, like those of Darius and Alexander, could
traverse such aistricts as the Baleen, witheut those cam-
minariats, which in modern times were considered indis-
pensable
Col. EVEIMAT could only suppose that the invading
army availed itself of the stores of provisions hoarded by the
inhabitants of the villages and towns which were scattered
through the mountains, and that its progress was facilitated
by the divisions amongst the tribes by which the district was
peopled.
After some conversation as to the geological formation of
the Balkan range,
Admiral Lord RanaTocK asked fur information as to the
possibility of forming a clime:ion between the Danube
(near Silistria) and the Black Sc.,where it was understood
that the Romans had attempted to cut a camel. Re nal
anxious upon the subject, because such a communication
would obviate the inconvenience sf closing the mouths of
the Danube by the Soudan.
Dr. COIAII:HON paid a high compliment to G 1 Joch.
mus. The ic'sa of a canal between the Danube and the
Black Sea he regarded as a myth, the high range of the
land rendering it, as he believed, impossible to carry out
such a work.

A number of very beautiful paintings of scenery and
event► in South Africa were exhibited at the meeting by
Mr. Thomas Baines, draughtsman to t►e forces undue
Oenersl Somerset.

Among the donations to the library, reported to have
been made since the former meeting, were a number of
charts of the Raglan and Turkish ports in the Black See,
&e., recently published and presented to the society by the
Hydrographic Office, and a very valuable folio volume,
containing some beautiful illustrations of scenes in Ethiopia,
drawn and described by John M. Bernate, artist to the late
B h mission to the Court of Shoe, presented by the
author.

Amongst the company present were Admiral Lord Rad-
stock, the Earl of Sheffield, Lord de Mauley, Sir David
Doodas, Sir R. Peel, Captain Fitzroy, Colonel Everest, and
Professor Herman Abich, of St. Petersburg.