The Sun.
London, England, 1864-12-28 00:00:00

Lost in the Snow.

A very melancholy discovery was made last
Wednesday, in a wood about two miles distant from
111.,j0r Gordon Duff's mansion of Drammuir. It
appears that Major Duff and party were roe-h anting
in this wood, which is not a very great distanee
from the farms of Cacbenhead and Mains of Towie-
beg. A roe was observed to make cut of a copse,
which occasioned a general cry to fire. Mr. Charles
(.3heyne, head gamckcepr to Major Duff, imme-
diately fired at the frightened animal. On turning
rolled he stumbled upon something of a yielding
nature, from which he had partially shaken eff the
snow by the suddenness with which he had come
in contact. The gamekeeper at once saw that ho
had stumbled on the feet of a human body--the
limbs having been divested of their snowy covering
by his coming against them. The body was that
of a woman rather under the middle stature (about
sft, 3in.), and is supposed to be about forty years of
age. The remains of this poor wanderer had evi.
dently lain for three weeks or a month—at least
such was the opinion of those who saw the body.
Decomposition had not taken place to any great ex.
tent, save on the feet, which, not being so thickly
covered with snow as on other parts of the body, had
begun to exhibit symptoms of decay. She was poorly
clad, having only a winsey petticoat, stays laced in
front, end en under garment on her body. This last
mentioned article of apparel, as well as the checked
"slop" lying beside her, afford some clue to the
poor wan derer'a history. On these things were
marked the letters " G. City P. 1i.," which, no
doubt, mean the Glasgow City Poor House. We
know not whether it is a practice with the Glasgow
parochial authorities to allow the paupers to leave
with the house clothes upon them ; if not, then it is
certain that this woman, who has come to such an
untimely end, must have left unknown to her legal
guardians. Near the body was a small basket, with
half an ounce of tobacco and an ounce of tea un•
touched, just as they had been-carefully tied by the
merchant who supplied them. The medical gentle..
men were most' careful in their examination, and
the verdict which they eventually pronounced was
Perished from exposure." The stomach was found
quite empty, save a little water, and the digestive
organs were in a very bad state. One or two people
in the district remember a woman, attired in a
similar beggar's garb, calling about three weeks
previous, evidently making it her vocation to beg
from door to door. Except some articles of attire
however, little recognition could be made, as no one
in the quarter can speak with any certainty of ever
seeing the deceased before. It is the general
impression that the poor woman had lost her way
on that stormy Saturday about three weeks ago.
She must have wandered on, in the teeth of the
blinding storm, until, unconsciously, she entered
the wood crowning the brow of a mountain to the
northeast of Drummuir Castle. There, perhaps,
in the vain endeavour to reach the open country,
she had plunged deeper into the wood ; and,
having wandered till benumbed, or unable, from
want of sustenance, to proceed further, she had
lain herself down under the branches of the yew
tree—from whence her voice, however shrilly it
might pierce the drifting storm, could reach no
human ear—and there, alone and unseen, with.
the cold snow gathering over and around her, the
poor wanderer had passed away to another world.
—lluntly Express.

" BLOUNT TEMPEST." By the Rev. J. C. M.
Bellew. 3 vole.—" The scene of this novel is laid in the
neighbourhood of Lancaster, and the characters are mostly
old Lancashire county families. The background of the
story is extremely well laid and described; evidently the
author knows every foot of ground he mentions. There is
an immense amount of care an I painstaking evident
throughout the work, and the story is interesting and full
of incident. The book is well written, and the accounts of
the various families and old family places are extremely
well dcne. The picture of life at Ilanapton Court is very
good, and there is an amusing accDunt of a Commemoration
Day at Oxford."—Athomuin.

SLAVERY IN CUBA.—"
The inhabi:ants of Cuba,"
' •n
says the Opin?o
--Tationa/e, "it is known, have for
some time past manifested feelings favourable to the
emancipation of the ncgroes. The administration of Spain
is almost the only one that maintains the scourge cf slavery.
We now learn from Cuba that a petition, signed by up-,
wards of 100 planters, has been pit:seated to the Captain
General Dulce, in which they call on him to obtain from the
Queen of Spain the abolition of slavery in the island.
General Duke replied that before he transmitted the wish
of the petitioners to the Madrid Government he should wait
to learn the result of the President's election in the United
States, as that would decide the fate of slavery in the
great American Republic. As Mr Lincoln has dcolartd
strongly against slavery, the hope may be entertained that
a condemnation Of the natitution may soon be pr; claimed
in Cuba."