The Express.
London, England, 1858-09-18 00:00:00

ACCIDENT TO THE UNITED STATES

STEAMSHIP ARIEL

(11 zLzentio Taizoweg.l
(11ON OVA OWN ooasperoxinorr.)

SOUTHAMPTON, BATMDAT.

The steam ship Ariel, which arrived last night
with the American mails, has gone ashore off stone
Point on a gravelly bed ; she will not probably sus-
tain any damage; buds likely to be ashore for sever%
days.

CENTRAL AMERICA.

(MOW 0171 OWN CONAZOIPONDINT.)

ORRY TOWN, AUGUST 19.
The Thames arrived at Orey Town on the 12th,
and proceeded to Blew&lds. What or where Blew-
fields is a great portion of the British public are, no
doubt, ignorant ; even those that go there are in the
dark, except that they proceed some ninety miles
from Grey Town along a low dangerous coast, and
finally anchor off a ' bluff' without any shelter,
a very small mail bag is landed on a little island at
the entrance of a lagoon, where, in a hut, the only
one on the island, dwell a white man and four or
five natives. To approach this island the
boat hu to cross the bar, where a heavy sea runs at
all times; frequently it is dangerous, and the lagoon
abounds with sharks and alligators. The ship re-
mains a night, that is to say, it she is not obliged to
get underweigh on account of the weather. Blew-
fields, the metropolis of his Moequitian Majesty, is
said to be some 5 or 6 miles up the lagoon. 'The
government, I understand, pay 1,0001. per annum
extra for this service ! I 'have inquired of many,
and none can explain this mystery. The mail, I
should say, was a mere bag of post-office forms.
There is, 1 believe, one Englishman resident besides
the one that receives the mail. By this arrangiment
the time so necessary fcr the steamers to put their
machinery and boilers to rights at Grey Town is cut
short, and I don't hesitate to say that on many
occasions the lives of those landing are risked.
You will thus see that Blewfields is put on a footing
with the important Brazilian ports, and Grey Town,
where there is neither freight nor passenger traffic,
has a fortnightly mail.
Grey Town is in every low state ; many are leaving.
The Costa Ricans and Nicaraguans have rejected Mr.
Vanderbilt's golden offer of 100,0001. dollars and the
opening of the route for the visionary scheme of M.
Belly, for such it is. No wonder—from the expe- •
rienoe the natives have had of the Yankees.

On the 9th Colonel Canty came down, and on
the part of the governments of Costa Rica and Nice-
took possession of Poets Arenas, the opposite
side of the harbour, but Captain Wainwright, of her
Majesty's ship Leopard, interfered, in consequence
of some old agreement, by which we are bound to
protect Mr. Scott, late of Morgan Grimson and Co.
Her Majesty's consul also objected on the part of the
Mosqlutian government. Colonel Cauty naturally
remarked that when American companies, without
any authority, even filibusteroe, bad occupied this
pant of land;he was not allowed to do so; that the
trade of Costa Rica might be opened out, as at pc-
sent all their produce goes by Cape Horn. The
State is anxious for an Atlantic port, and het
granted a sum of money to commence the formation
of a road from the coffee plantations to the river San
Juan, thence by boats to Grey Town. When it is
borne in mind that roads have been made to the
Pacific, and that Costa Rica was out of debt, and
had a surplus in the treasury till the unfortunate
filibuster invasion, and also that the state is rapidly
improving as an agricultural country, all this ap-
pears to be very feasible ; and the English policy',
while favourable to unprincipled adventurers, is
that of the dog in the manger to the lawful and in-
dustrious. All the natives hate the Americans ; and
no wonder, when they openly express the most
utter contempt for them, more especially for those
of mixed breed, of which many of them are. Col.
Canty is an Englishman, and, although quite a
young man, has seen a great deal of the world,
and is well informed on most subjects.
He is in the service of Costa Rica. I
may here mention a 'ruse' of the late
war with the filibusteroa. The colonel was in the
castle ; the enemy had the steamers on the river,
and were in strong force ; heaps of wood lay on the
banks at different points to supply the steamers with
fuel ; a party of Costa Ricans issued from their
stronghold, bored some pieces in each help with an
augur, and filled the cavity with gunpowder, plug-
ging up the end again. The consequence was, one
of the steamers burst her boiler and committed
great havoc, although it is not generally known
how the accident happened. Another English
man-of-war has been victimised on this deadly
coast. The Leopard left Grey Town on the
16th with many cases of fever on board.
The captain intended taking a cruise for the health
of the ship's company, but the disease spreading, he
resolved to proceed to Jamaica, via Colon and Car-
thagena. When she left the latter place, on the 24th,
there were upwards of 100 sick, but no very serious
oases ; yet the captain was wise to go to Jamaica to
land his sick, as the disease was known to
be the malignant yellow fever. The Leopard
has been stationed on this coast and Jamaica
months. To give you some idea of the Blew
anchorage : the Leopard, in getting under ;rarer?
shipped a sea on the upper deck, when a man was
washed off the forecastle and lost.