The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1819-02-12 00:00:00

li.lllGßATl►►\' TO AMERICA.

Extract of leiter from New York. to II IreM
tlemem in Erlisiberry,h, dated December 41. 1811:
" I have fatten the opportunity to write to you by
the Isusy, enrich mule fur Greenock to-day, and
aceordeog to my promise, I will give you atone ac-
count of thus country. When you ititd I were
erguieg the day before I left Edinburgh, on
this point, I thought I was right ; but now I
confess metelf beat in a great measure, for this
is by no mean. the country that I expected.
We weighed anchor Irons the Clyde on the 7th
of Senn-inner, and after a pretty rough passage,
and stone disagreement in our ship hetwetan the
Cowan' ei.d eramen, priced at Ssiodyhook; stud
cant anchor at the mouth of Hettlsots's river on the
November, and got tip to New Yuri, a distance
of 30 miles from the Ronk, on the 3il, in the after-
noon. This is a large city, as large as Glitsgow, the
hr rows all brick. anal woodeu buildings palmed
white rod red ; the street* are very dirty, with hots
of swine r ig about and wallowing nn the mire.
~ cootie-al sight to a Scotsman. Provisions are about
the mine rate here as in the mother country; but
house rents, clothing, firing, Ike. are as dear again.
Reef here is 8 I. sterling per lb. ; niuttoo the same
price; pork eight dollars per cwt. Bread Is. tel.
*writing the quartern loaf. Sugar, cauelles, butter,
&c. the same as in the mother countrys and not
half so good. Runt mini gin 3.. 6d. sterliieg per gal.
lon, but then it is Alaimo's stuff, distilled from bea-
ch,. A good hat ten dollars; a pair of pantaloons
eight and nine dollars; is good coat 71. or 81. ster-
ling ; good shoes, live dollars ; aid every other ar-
ticle of wearing 'pour! in peoportion. Then for
tradesmen's vr.igi•:—Mill•virirclits from 7. to 12
dollars per week, shoemakers from 6 to $ ditto,
calidlermikerie !runt 4 to 7 ditto, tinnier* from 61
if, 71 ditto, tinowass (rum 6 to 10 ditto. blacksmith*
trout 8 to 9 ditto, house wrighte 9 ditto. and all
sober trades get from 5 to 10 dollars, inure or Ina;
hut the half of them would be idle cue half the
year were tiery not cootinually going and coining
between this city rod Charlerlou, StiValaball, New
o.leatilt, anti cities in the southern states. from 7 to
1,400 miles from hoine.W hen I say home I mean this
city, because many of them have wives lad families
here, foreigners as well as Yunkies; mid this is
the way journeymen tradesmen in America most
do fur a livelihood. If they be careful they may
may save a little money, and this very few of them
do, as the expense of egress and ingress is
very great. With regard to tlw soil and rye
of the country. I cau by no means speak jo ib
favour ; the soil is sated, and tire lace of the route-
try altogether a desert wild, except • few spots
of Imitate corn and rye, which relieves Vie eye a lit-
tle. *Lies on the land, and rocks projectiog from
the surface, make the heifer it isiciii.atele of cul-
tivation, Regarding the Yat.kies, they are the most
lower:int, and at the same time the most convened
of below., Mr. Yankie is as Jealous of au old
country man as he would be of a serpent. Conscious
of his neferwerity, he views him with a jealous eye,
triumphs in his late naval successes, as he calls
them, depreciate. British women, when in fact it
was British seamen tied fought their battles, and
glories in his own. Its bed is without curtains, his
house without a grate to hold his fire ; even iu the
middle circles they have only two pieces of iron
pot in the fire-place. with • few *ticks ou
them, which made au Indian-like fire. I have
atom the Washinvon man of war, rated 74 gun.,
carries 90, a tine ship, said well manned ;
the men are good-looking fellows, mostly Euro.
pearls. The people -here say that one of their
Lieutenants is a Prestoupens mum Happy are
they who eau gain an hottest livelihood in Scotland,
my old respected mother country, without being
towed to yaw the ocean for a precarirois subsist-
eacri"..-( I'dedortiror Mercarq.)

MELANCHOLY .ACCIDENT.--OD 'Wethwarhay
ae'insight, the foliowiug drradlul chiast.uphe took
01111 di Holehou.e, IleUl' FlAlloUrli, in the county
1.1 Durham, a yolitig wan moiled PEARSON, re-
!isnot% from a crow-shouting excursion, gave hie
gnu to his sister with directions to put it by. In
the set of getting on a tlll,l' to kilig It UV, the
tr.gger by wine Inc ills WWI drawn. and the contents
of the piece plosttid through the heart of her mother,
who expired. An inquest i•as been held
the lowly, Rod the Coro:ices verdict was—.Ac-
( idental heath.

~

BELZONI.

(Firm " The Quarterly Reeiesr.")

We have a few words to add respecting Belzoni,
whose death hail hero announced. prematurely we
Ititiw, in the public prints. Every inquiry which
we hare been able to make leads us to believe that
the report itt not correct ; it was brought from
Constantinople, and most probably meant to it I'rr
to the lamented Burckharde : we trust, therelore,
that it is not yet time to insert his name in the •!ti-
entre of those valuable men who have lost their
lives in the hosardous career of African enterprise.
Our readers may, perhaps, not be displeased to
learn a little of the history of this extraorditiary
mail. Belend was horn. we believe, in the Papal
Stairs'. Of his youth no particulars have come to
our knowledge; but about nine trans ago he was
its Edinburgh. where lie exhibited feats of strength.
expehinents ut hydraulics, musical glasses, and
phantasmagoria. Ile repeated tlw same court., ~f
experiments iii Ireland and tie Isle of ;
whei.ce: lie proceeded to Lish.m. Bong then al t
tweicy-live years Of age. of the extraordioary height
of six feet seven inches, %ern wade and stout to
proportions, with lii usiiinattO au' preposseA,iiig
coontelower, he was at our e eitg.iged, by the
manager of the Theatie of S4ll Carlo., to appear
its the play of Valentine and (/rum, and again, dur-
ing Lent. in tile sacred adenoma of Sampson
both of which, by feats of stieligili and activity, he
gained the highest applause. At !Madrid he per-
Wined lwfore the Kiiig arid the Court. Leaving
Spain he proceeded to Malta, where he fell in with
Ismael Gibraltar, the agent of the Pashaw of
Egypt, who persuaded hint to visit Cairn. here
the Pashaw engaged hlot to construct a machine for
raising water out of the Nile to irrigate his gardens,
for which he was to be paid at the rate of 800
piastre* per month, besides a considerable reward,
provided it sl Id Really be f Ito answer
the purpose. in the course of three mouths it was
put in operation. 'The Pashaw attended ; and
three Arabs, with ass ltish lad whom Belzoni had
brought front Edinburgh, as a servant, were put
into the large wheel to walk round and keep it in
notion : at the second or third turn the Arabs be-
came giddy and jumped out; the wheel, wanting
its counterpoise, flew back, awl the Irish servant,
in attempting to escape. broke his thigh, and must
have been killed, had not Belzoni caught hold
of the circumference of the wheal, and, by his ex-
traordinary strength, stopped its motion.
This accident was equivalent to a failure, and
Belzoni now determined to try his fortune in search
of antiquities in Upper Egypt ; but just as lie was
prepiring to depart, Mr. Salt arrived at Cairo.
This gentlemait, on the representation of Sheik
Ibrahim, who hail witnessed hie extraordinary pow-
ers, conceived him at owe to be the person most
proper to employ its the arduous attempt of bring-
iog down the head of the youtr, Memnon from
Tlwbes. Belzoni, tartar some conardi.ration, accord-
ingly relioquislwd the plan of travelling on his own
account. and engaged himself to Mr. Salt and the
Sheik, on an enterprise that was by many deemed
hopeless, but which, as we formerly stated, he suc-
ceeded in accomplishing (after six mouths of un-
remitted exertions) by his uncommon dexterity in
the management of the Arab peasantry, by whom
alone he was assorted. From this time the was
regularly employed by Mr. Salt in waking dis-
coveries, the result of which we have already com-
municated.

An instance of his determined perseverance, and
it the confidence which lie insiiiirs in tonere, well
deserves to be mentioned. fai his Kuhiaa jultrairy,
lie was accompailoit i, Mr. lieechey. The front
of the temple of Iprriubul, with its colossal sta-
tors just raising their gigaritic heads above the 131.1116
of sand lii which the whole front was nearly buried,
was too tempting an object to be left unexplored.
lle immediately engaged a party of natives to .ct
about uncovering it; they laboured at at a hew day.,
making very little progress, when they stopped,
alleging, that the-feast of Rhemadais bad commenc-
ed. and that it was unlawful to work : the Sheik,
or Aga, who had permitted him to engage these
people, corroborated this statement ; and it soon ap-
peared that no arguinesit would prevail on then, to
continue their labour. Belzoni, therefore, with Mr.
Beechey said the servant, determined to set
shout the laborious operation themselves; but
they soon discovered that the Aga, to deter them
f the further prosecution of the enterprise, had
prohibited the supply of provisions of every
description, hoping by this measure to induce
them to depart, and return the following reason
to spend name money among his people. Recol-
lecting, however, that they had still remaining in
their boat a hag of durrali the little party
determined to persevere in their work, and after
twenty-one dies of very severe labour, during
which they had trilling but durrali and Nile water
to live upon, they succeeded 111 tnicuv. nog fond pe.
netrating into the interior of the temple of Ipsaiii-
bul. which M. Juniard is pleased to s-iy had been
previously visited by Mr. 'flionins Legli, though
Mr. Thomas Legh, when he wrote his book, was as
unconscious of its existence, as M. Jotnard himself
was, until lw rend the set:Gout of it in the letter of
Belzoni to AI. Visconti.

Vie twenty-first anniversary of the Morayshire
Farmer Club ads held at on the /Marquis
of lIENTLY'S .2,1 instant, as a public
mark of the attachment and trowel in which his
Lord,hip i 3 justly held by every 31ember of that
Society. Thirty-six ;4.1114w:it bat down to an OP+
cellent dinner, Sir JAMES DUNBAR, of Boat!),
Bait. iu the Chair. Alter the usual lo,al toasts,
the health of tile day was proposed by the Chair-
man, in a concise speech, iti•playing the well-known
public mid piiviate coin-, of the Noble Lord,
with 'ouch point and brilliafcy, which was received
by the party in the spirit of cordiality end warmth
due to the subject, of which it may he truly
said, tfot his Lordship lives in the hearts of the
Merubero.--" Vie 111,orektaae4s tf floss/"--
" The Duke of Cordon"—•• ',lie Aleatory if file.
illexesteder B'udie"—" Mr. I ol.e"--tis$41 " The
friends tf the Marquis erf Iluatly, wholly,- as-
sembled to celebrate skis huppy day"—were all
given with true riatliusiasni. The affairs of this
respectable Society were never 111 a more tiourish•
ing state.

TILE CIRCULATING MEDIUM.