The Express.
London, England, 1848-06-05 00:00:00

COLONIAL.

CAPE, oft, ut;,:l HOPE.
DISASTROUS [MORI!:
We have received news from the Cape of Good
llope. The dates are from Cape Town Aeril 13, and
Graham's Town April 18. Sir Harry Smith issued a
manifesto on April 13, in which he stated h:s deter-
mination to exercise authority over the emigrant
Boers en Orange River. The authorities were making
every effort in their power to acquaiutthe Boers gener-
ally with this determination. The tut accounts
from Orange River were of a more favourable nature.
It was stated that Protorius was urging the people
to disaffection, and impugning the good faith of the
governor; but on learning the truth the Boers were
more placable and seemed dispoßed to be peaceable.
Mr. Burton, the master of the Supreme Court, is dead.
There had been dreadful weather eastward of the
Cape, and along the southeast coast, between April 4
and April 6, resulting in several awful shipwrecks.
The barque Joanna and the brig Martha, and it seems
almost certain the barque Julian, were wrecked in
Algoa Bay. The Waterloo, a coaster, was wrecked
in Cawoods Ilay, and the schooner Barry, in Struiss
Bay. The schooner Nancy was lost in Mussel Bay;
on April 6, the ship Sutlej, from Calcutta to London,
put into 'fable Bay totally dismastad, part of the
cargo having been thrown overboard during the
storm. The ince of Wales, from Calcutta to Lon-
don, and True Briton, also put into Table Bay much
damaged; as also the Countess of Durham. Fears
were entertained that terrible disasters had taken
place at sea. News had reached the Dupe of a terri-
fic hurricane at the Mauritius, on March 8. Several
vessels were driven on shore, but got off again. The
vessels Mail and Duke had been blown out to sea and
not since heard of. H.M.S. Euridyce was sent in
search of them.

NEW SOUTII WALES.—Advices received yes-
terday at the Home-tittle°, from his Excellency the Governor
of New South Wales (Sir Charles Fitzroy), communicate
the particulars of several revolting murders, alleged to have
been perpetrated by Mr. Thomas Coutts, one of the moat
wealthy settlers in the colony. The shocking transactions
took place at Grafton, in the district of the crows lands, on
the banks of the Clarence river, where, it should be ob-
served, hostilities have existed between the English emi-
grants and the aborigines for • lengthened period. It ap-
peared that for some years great depredations had been cow-
spitted on the property of Mr. Coutts, and some of his
adherents and a child of his had been murdered. These '
losses, coupled with the destruetien of their crops, and
other horrible atrocities, led to • feeling amounting
to revenge against the aborigines, and it is stated,
though not clearly substantiated in evidence, that all
means to detect the nngleadershaving failed, secret poisoning
was had recourse to, and a great ninny, particularly ou Mr.
Coutt's estate, fell a sacrifice. The number of deaths reach-
ing the ears of the commissioners of crown lands, they
immediately proceeded to the district with a party of police,
under the head constable, and instituted • searching inves-
tigation, the result of which led to the apprehension of Mr.
Cuutta on the charge of being implicated in the eases of
wholesale poisonings. In a camp on Mr. Coutt's land were
discover. d eight bo ties, whose death, it was ascertained,
was caused by the administering of poison. Several more
bodies were found in other parts. It was shown in evidence
that the poison had been mixed with flour, and Mr. Coutts
was seen to distribute it to the parties whose bodies were
viewed by the oominifaioners. The cases having been fully
gone into, Mr. Canna was committed on the capital charge
to the Sydney Criminal Court Sessions. On the 7th of
February the prisoner was brought up before the Chief
Justice of Sydney, and admitted to bail till the trial, him-
self in 1,0001., and two securities of 5001. each. The
attorney-general there had received instructions from his
excellency the governor to prosecute. The excitement the
affair has produced in the colony is intense.—Swiday paper.

JA"NIAICA.—GeneraI Santa Anna arrived in this
Wand towards the end of April, where he and his lady pro.
{writd to remain two months. The general has taken up his
residence at Torrington-house, and attends the theatre and
other places of public resort. s
The Jamaicans continued urgent with Sir Charles Grey to
convene the legislature; hut his excellency contrived to
evade all their representations. Sir Charles is a manosuvrer,
but he may manientyre too long and too much. He affects
to coincide in opinion with the colonists as to what ought to
he done for them tl keep them in good humour, and rre.
vents the House of Asseml ly meeting in order to deprive
public opinion of a centre of action. Such trickery never
can do good.
With respect to the general state of the island, Derardora's
Mercantile Intelliyencer states
The condition of our market has not undergone the slightest altera-
tion for the better since our issue of the:nth ult., and matters wear
the mine features of meertamty and deprismon a• they presented at
that period. We fear that this unhappy and distmming state of things
is likely to be of some contintuince, and that there Is every probability
of its becoming worse alter August. The crops which are now on the
upland, and In the taking off of a loch some thousands of Labourers are
employed, will then have been gathered in—the occasion ley their ser-
vices ceasing to a great extent, almost the whole of the operatives at
present in employment will be throws cut of work —a large amount of
money will be withdrawn from carculation, and every interest in the
island will Puff, to an extent which its distressing to reflect on.
. .

HONDURAS.—From this settlement we hare no
direct intelligence; but the following ‘tatement in that able
wad respectable paper, the Jamaica Morning Juurnal, calls
forinstent end earnest attention :
. . . .

We are in receiyt of Honduras papers, but they to not contain any
political intelligence of importance, Mr. Fitzgibbon, the editor of
the Gone 1 ne,, Moor, and fiery tr.', who had tarn deed 1001. and
committed to gaol for six month, fora contempt of court, in publish-
ing various elocuhe nts connectril with the matter In disputa between
the jurors sod the judge of the settlement, was still a prima. The
merchante of Be:ire on behalf of, and Mr. iltag.bboulnowelf. we are
told, petitioned the court, but without A petition had
also been predated to the nuperintendent, who, whilst he de-
clined interfering, forwarded the acne to his Fnoellency sir
Charles Urey. Tn. 04,. cc mentions the following as the
restrictions under wheli Mr. /1, agibbon is placed in the gaol : "To
be ethtlned separately in a room, and not b • permitted to converse
with the other prisoners • not be permittedto me his friends except
in :he presence of the genie, or his maietant ; nor to be allowed the
use ef wine or ',Orin, nor the use of pen*, ink, nr, p2per, except to
address her Majeart's Superintendent or the gaol hood, and nut be
permitted to receive any Inters or papers from without the gaol un-
less the contents were karma to the gaoler." We can hardly believe
that Sir Cli ales Grey will permit the continued incarceration of a
lirittah subject in a British colony, oubjet t to such restrictions, for
merely publishing retain ilmements :end communications of per.
Laps a libellous nature, for a single day longer than cannot be
avoided. Os the merits of the cam we offer no opinion, not having
seen the document. alluded to, or are Iwe lti•palled to justly c sn.
duct of the juror. or Mr. Fitzgibbon. They may have acted very im-
properly and unjustifiably. We complain, however, of the cruel re-
strictions which have b en euperailded ti imprisonment -•rerrictione
which are unknown in the mother country, and, we are proud to add,
in this island. How far Mr.Tesnple's late visit to our shores wan con.
nested with thle mutter we have no lacunae owertaining. We hope,
however, he wee nitrified that the majesty et the law had nen suffi-
ciently vindicated, and willing that Mr. Fitretilchon should be libe-
rated. The Central .lesertenis Times of the :lard March mentions
that "not em than ten individuals are now confined in prison for a
contempt in having refined toe•rve as jurors at the February Grand
Court. If the jurors persist, and the court is determined to mares
them, there will be a scarcity of accomnioCe:ion in the gaol for the
olatinate gentry, ads few more keeper. will be required."
GUIANA.—The following are the leading item' of
intelligence in the Review for Roma Readers of the Royal
Gazette :
We mentioned in our last renew, which was written on the thin
ult., that in two days from date the Combined Gout would meet.
That ariembly did, aecordingly, meet on the Zith ; and great was the
curiosity of the community to know what would be done after the
avo•ralS made by the unofficial section of the Court of Policy of the
inability of the colony to nine supplies for the service of the year.
Flu excellency the governor openesl the court with an ahainnie
addrria, at the conelw.ion of which he ordered the !secretary to lay
the estimate, which, it will be borne in mind, bad been carried a few
days before by his excellency's casting vote, on the table,
and then, at the request of the vice-president of the
Intends! College, adjourned the court from the 20th to
the 2Gth ultimo, for the purpose of affording the mem-
bers an opportunity of preparing a reply. On the Bab the
court again met, when the reply was read, by the minor elective
member of the Court of Policy, the lion. J. T. Wkite. The proemial
was then submitted to the governor for a renewal of the calming tax
ordinance fur six weeks teem the of its expiratien, the lOth
June, a proposal which was declared by the attorney-general, in the
name of the government, to be inadmialble, but which, neverthelera,
bin excellency was considerate enough to exprem himself unwilling
definitively to reject, until he should hove given it mature reflection.
For that purpose his excellency ordered the court to be adjourned till
the next day, when he read a brief minute containing his ultiniatie
which was that ho could not allow any tax ordinance to be renewed
fur a lees period than three months; eves that was a great COWS-
Rion. The members being unwilling to renew the ordinance
for that period, and an they could, therefore, proceed to
no benison at all, his excellent. v adjourned the court inv. due.
Hut what, we may be asked, in the • pinion of the community! (*-
canny in favour 'of the government decidedly adverse to the nom
anejaanee by the elective members of the combined court of hie
excellenc Oa sine Ina non of three menthe. By ineleting on their
offer of six weeks, they have jeopardised the public revenue, und, as a
morequence, the public institutions. The rink run is not worth the
temptation. Mince cur last the following vessels have arrived with
coolies, the Tamerlane from Calcutta with 210, the Appellee from
Madr is with 271, and the Candahar from the Mine place with 300,
making the cum total of coolies remind to date Iron the commence-
ment of thin year, 1,525. We are wary to say that there were
six cams of email pox on beard the Appoint, which is still In quaran-
tine, and that fifty deaths from that names clocurrodon board during
the panage.
The Word Hungerford, from Moir., in now coming in. To-day the
Una came in from sierra Leone, with Ib9 Africans. 210 were
embarked, 51 died on the pining; and of the remainder who have
arrived, 34, we are sorry to my, are to he sent to the hospital. none
who are In health will bee at to Bernice on Monday monistic. There
were 167 more in the African yard, who roused to go usi Mew.
A very fine property (plantation Mulgretout), on the west bank of
the Demerara river, WM ,old It few days ego at execution sale for
13 earl dollars. 'MI, estate formerly belonged oten firm of MCRITII.
W S. Hamilton and Co., of Dublia, which win, to the great regret of
the cotenant, one of the unfortunate victims in the fearful Went ludic
cress at the close of last year. The price given for Malgretoul, hot as
may be the times, is, by general acknowledgment, far below Ito
value. This rale cannot be taken its u eriter ion of the value of pro-
perty In the colony, became it took place under peculiar eircuro.
names. The condition of the IWO was payment of the purchase
money down on the knock of the marshal'. hammer. Had the usual
credit of a year been given, the prier would have been, at the very
least, double that actually paid. Indeed, the wonder Is, that in
the present unexampled 0r... re of the mosey market in the colony,
any person should have been inund capable of paying 13,000 dole. at
a moment's notice. In the agricultural dietricts things are slowly,
but eteadily mending. The opinion, indeed, of mod observers Is,
that the dapper of the aisle le pun, and that, with Its almost =-
rivalled natural advantages, the colony, like a brave vessel In a
tempest, will right herself, and things go on well in the end. The
weather has toen excellent, and tho relate, are once more busily
$1 work.