The Sun.
London, England, 1852-06-10 00:00:00

L iTE HART ti1i.1'..%

A VOYAGE TO CHINA. By Dr. Buncastle.
In these volumes Dr. Berncastle gives an animated
account of his eastern voyage, together with an in-
teresting and instructive descriplion of Bombay,
the Mahratta country, S:n?;apore, and Western
India and the Cjestial Empire. Many amusing 'in-
cidents are narrated of the str,zoge customs of the va-
rious nations rand tribes which the author reet•with
in
his travels. One day, whilst examining the ruins of
a Dutch fort in Cie neighbourhood of False 134 Y,
during his resi&nee at Cape Town, he
perceived
close by at an ina, 'yclept " The Gentle Shepherd
of S,d6l.rary Plains," having an appropriately painted
sign-board with the following • inscriptien and
verses :
" Lif!'s but a journey, lot us live well on the road,'
says the Gentle Shepherd."
Underneath which are these verses—

" Melt= in pseve, pro bone .publico,
Entertainment for man beast all in a row;
Lekker host (nice victuals) as much as you please,
Excellent beds without any *
Nes patriam fueimus! - Now we are here,
Vivamus, let us live by selling beer;
Oa donne n Noire et I manger ici,
Come in and try it who ever you be."
His graphic and picturesque description of the ascent
of the Table Mountain, and the account of his previ-
ous ascent of Mount Wellington at Jiopart Town,
which, from its resemblance to the Table Mountain
at the Cape, is commonly called by the same name,
of which the following in an extract, are well worthy
of perusal
Aware of the dangers attending the enterprise, I had
fully made up my mind to uusertake it, and guard
against them by proper preesutioes. Having kindly
been offored by the ex-sheriff, Mr.. Beaumont, the ser-
vices of his servant as a guide, we started three in all—
Mr. Beaumont, jail., the servant, and myself—at noon,
expecting to reach the -top before dark. We were
equipped with fowling-pieces, a telescope, and pocket-
compass (most indispensable), a tin kettle, a few kitchen
utensils, and provisions for two days.
" Oar clothing was light, the heat being excessive; hut
we had reason afterwards, on reaching a colder tette-
perature, to regret not being warmer clad. The first
part of cur journey was easy enougo, there being a broad
footpath through a partially cleared forest for about
three miles, on leaving which the steepness increased
considerably, and we arrived at the intricate part of our
route. The track ley along a ridge, on each side of
which were deep gullies covered with tall sassafras trees,
and so thickly studded that the eye could scarcely pene-
trate them. It is here that there is most danger of
lcsiug oneself, as it is impossible to see which way to
turn to get to llopart Town. We pushed on for about
two miles through an almost impenetrable forest, here
called bush, consisting of gum, peppermint, oak, and
sassafras trees, of great height, many reaolaing from one
to ono hundred and flay feet. Oar march became much
impeded by a stubborn species of grass, breast high,
rendered still more interesting by our guide iuforming
us that it abounded with splice, which in this country
are very venomous. . . .
" The mountain now presented an irregular appear-
ance. The stones, instead of following any sort of
order, were heaped pail-moll upon each other. They
were all nearly square, and each one detached
from the rest several tons in weight, we had to clamber
from one to the other and clitg to each for our lives;
the leastfaux pas. would have sent us roiling headlong
several hundred feet beneath. It is at this part that
many who undertake the ascent give it up, thinking it
becomes more than a joke, Hero we felt that our bag-
gage was a great encumbrance, and before we got half
through cur task our boots and our clothes were all in
tatters. At last we reached the top of the basaltic por-
tion of the mountain, and entered into the same kind of
bush as that we had left behind, with the exception that
our path was obstructed by quantities of largo trees torn
up by the roots and lying prostrate in all directions.
Such is the force of the hurricanes from off the moun-
tain that the 'roots of some of the trees torn up were
twenty feet deep. We had now accomplished three
parts of our task, it was getting dark, nay incubil atra,
and but for the cheering hope of soon obtaining water
and bivouacking round a.good fire, that kept up our
spirits and renovated our energies, we could not have
completed it. Our physical strength was quite exhausted,
and had we not been tantalized by the spring that our
guide promised to find on the summit, if we could only
muster courage to reach it before dark, we would not
have stirred another inch. We came to a second ridge
of baysalt, but not so steep nor closely heaped together
as the former, so that it was comparatively easy. At this
height a very great change had taken place in the tempe-
rature, and we clearly tell that we were entering a more
ratified atmosphere; the cool air was rather favourable
to our desperate condition and enabled us to hasten our
pace. At last we saw btfote us the clear well-defined
margin of the summit, and attained it at 8 P.M., having
been seven hours performing the ascent. The cold
here became very intense, and our great solicitude now
was about finding the spring, which to me appeared im-
possible, as it is not bigger than a hand baisin.
Oar guide did not despair, having often been there
before. However, after many fruitless attempts, he
began to doubt; but at last, when on the point of giving
it up, we had the good luck to fall in with it. Our joy
may be easily imagined when it is considered that we
had drunk one bottle of brandy cut of sheer necessity
only to wet our parched lips, which had the effect of
rendering us still worse, by adding fuel to the flame,
and for years afterwards I had an antipathy to that
spirit, which originated entirely from this circumstance.
flaying filled our kettle and bottles, we proceSded in
search of a favourable place to pass the night. The
proper way is to descend the mountain for a few hundred
yards, where the cold is less severe, but the darkness
rendered this step dangerous, so we were compelled to
remain on the top. At last we found three large square
stones, forming a partial inclosure. Having collected a
large quantity of fire-wood for the night, we lighted a
large bonfire, and set about cocking our provisiens."

After giving the reader a history of the Mahratta
tribes, and a description of the inland country, and
a full account of Bombay, its defences, the military,
the hospitals, &c., Dr. Berncastle conducts him
through the Straits of Malacca to Singapore, and
thence to the Celestial empire, into which he gives him
an insight as far as the Chinamen will allow, and
gives a long account of the depredations of the
Chinese pirates, and the apathy of the Chinese Govern-
ment with regard to their suppression. Re describes
the celebrated edible birdsnest, which is considered
such a luxury, and is found in Java, Sumatra,
and in most of the rocky islets of the Indian Archi-
pelago. It is the nest of a small swallow, and is
composed of a mucilaginous substance resembling ill-
concocted fibrous isinglass. The method of procuring
these nests is not unattended with danger, the caves
in which they are found being sometimes many
hundred feet down the perpendicular side of the rock,
which are reached by ladders of bambOo and rattan,
over a sea rolling violently against the rock. After
the nests are obtained they are carefully separated
from feathers and dirt, are dried and packed, and are
then fit for market. The white or best quality com-
mands an extravagant price, costing four thousand
dollars per parcel (about one hundred and thirty-three
pounds avoirdupois), which is nearly twice their
weight in silver. Oa the author's visit to Macao, be-
longing to the Portuguese, he remarks :
" One of the most remarkable things in Macao is the
Cave or rather Grotto of Camoens, where that celebrated
man wrote the greater part of the ' Luciade.' It is situ-
ated in the middle of an opulent Yorteguese domain, is
taken great care of, and is surmounted by a bust of the
poet, the rocks being covered with suitable inscriptions
and verses to his memory. The owner allows free no-
cesi to all visitors to the cave, which is by far the mort
interesting spot in Macao."
Although from the title one might be led to believe
that this work is *hut a narrative of a voyage, it is in
reality a very useful and amusing history of nearly
all the important stations from Europe to China.

ROYAL MARINES.—WOOLWICU, JUNE B.—Eleven
volunteers from the Woolwich division, and sixteen from the
Ciatham division, will leave Woolwich to-morrow te.r Ports-
mouth to join the artillery companies. One corporal from
Chatham to act as schoolmaster, and six privates from the
oulwich division, volunteers, are to embark it the David
iNTalcolm freight, ship, for service at the Island of Ascension.
Lieutei aat Delacombe will take charge of the volunteers for
the artillery companies to Portsmouth.

FAILURE OF THE HUNGERFORD BAZAAR.—The
very extenSivebazaar and dioramic exhibiting theatre, re-
cently erected out of the old fish-market at the Hungerford
Suspension-bridge, has, after several ineffectual attempts to
keep it going, turned out to be a complete failure,
place is now shut up, the large dioramas, with atff and the
their
chinery, are advertised to be sold, under the hammer, in ma.few days- There was a report some time since, that the
a
matter had passed into the hands of an English proprietary,
who were about to open the place again, under more attrac-
tive arrangements, but the announcement seems to have
been nremature, as there is not the least sign of animation
about the building. There must have, been a considerable
sum of money lost by the speculation; for, after the throng
of the Great'Exhibition passed from the metropolis, this
new editiOn of the Lowther Arcade soon became deserted and
tenantless.
The accounts; of the country trade througns idehout the
past" week state that business has been
to the i
considerably
interrupted by the holidays, which, owing in-
interrupted prosperity
of the people, - have never been'
continue
more -generally kept, or been attended with a greater
1 amount of rational enjoyment. tkt Manchester prices
firm, and transactions bare been chiefly
in connexion with the
there- has been
.little workof kind, and the ,railway.ex-
cursion trains have r
'the revival any
The ales of non
borne demand. At Birmingham...
are large,
and
quotations
heavy profit:. s ~.
In the
.woolle G gRUAN Y.
pears to be maintained. al3-1 A letter from Vienna, of the 2d inst., i
ports of both the lace From Nottingham the re-
vlaurhofer.coirenfipdroevneeras nit,.
gt The ordinances on the just sa-
s.:—
, press promulgated, cone
satisfactorY than those' and
hosiery departments are .
from the United States are extensive.ast
reeetved,• and the orders tams enactments which are less severe' than were ex-
moreket has been rather less active. rr T liberty .v - '
The Irish linen mar- pected. 4EI of the yiep is subjeded to some
I gration to Australia is felt in all heimpulse towards ems- restrictions. Copies of the journali must be deposited
Ithe departures, which are partsnumerous Would
of the kingdom, and in the Wag of the authorities one hour before their
were it not for the want of hands at h be much greater i` t. ti and for works; three days revi
p ow. The
facility of obtaining eMpioPlient. "" and the counqueat pub.ica to ,
iney 'deliver •
i Government permissions for the sale
, . .