The Sun.
London, England, 1863-06-29 00:00:00

RAILWAY EXTENSION.

An inspection of that portion of the London, Chatham,
and Dover Railway between Horne hill and the Beckenham
junction took place on Saturday, preparatory to its being
opened for public traffic on Wednesday next. 1 his line will
then be, for the first time, in possession of the through line
running over their own property, between the two terminal
stations, London and Dover. The Dulwich station of this
line is situated about a mile from Herne-hill, and about
two miles from the latter place will be the temporary depot
for the Crystal Palace, and which will be used until the
opening of the Crystal Palace and South London Railway
in the beginning of 1865. This station, although three
quarters of a mile from the entrance to the Palace, will be a
great convenience to the inhabitants of Camberwell, Brix-
ton, Clapham, &c., who hitherto have had no ready means
of access to Sydenham. The line passes through the Syd en-
ham tunnel, which is 2,200 yards long. On account of the
treacherous nature of the London clay, through which it is
driven, it has been found necessary to arch it in several places
with 12 layers of brick, eight layers being the minimum in any
part. The total number of bricks used in its construction is
32,000,000, or 10,000,090 more than are contained in the
whole Exhibition building. At its southern end the nine
main lines of the Brighton and South Eastern are crossed,
but during the whole of the work no interruption of their
traffic took place. Just beyond this spot is the Penge sta-
tion, and about a mile further on the junction with the
main line to Dover is reached. The distance from Victoria
station to Beckenham by the new line will be 84 miles in-
stead of 111 by the present route, and from Beckenham to
the Elephant and Castle the distance will be 74 miles. Al-
though there will be a saving of three miles on the whole
distance, and the gradients are much easier than those on
the West-end and Crystal Palace Railway, the company
will not lessen the time in which trains run from London
to Dover until the new line is
perfectly consolidated.
Herne-hill will be the junction station for all the London,
Chatham, and Dover through trains. Those coming from
the Elephant and Castle will be united, and the up trains
will be separated at this station. Colonel Yolland inspects
the line to-day.

CAPTAIN GRANT.—Captain Grant, of Nairn, who
recently arrived in England, along with his fellow-
explorer, Captain Speke, will no doubt soon rejoin his i
mother and other near relatives at Dingwall, and t may be
reasonably expected that he will not omit to revisit his
native place, where his youthful life so much endeared him
to rich and poor. In such a case it will be for the people
of Nairn to evince, in some special manner, their apprecia-
tion of his services to his countrymen, and to show the
pride with which they regard him as a fellow-tewnsmen.
While it is gratifying to hear that his health has not
suffered from his trying travels, we regret to learn that he
is still annoyed with pains caused by the wounds he had
received at the siege of Lucknow.—Nairn lelegraph.
THE ADVENTURES OF AN EAGLE IN SEARCH OF
PREY.—A few days ago, while several dogs and a
lot of ravens were enjoying a feast on the carcass of a horse
end fithnee
rlaavregneseafigelwe,
eawt
awy,oesnee aopfh p
te
ha re a
Ina ct
at Braehour, they were suddenly disturbed by the
presence
d
ete
the dogs t
rd
roygins
The
carrying
raves
ran
eon
being unable either to separate or disgorgea
portion of the entrails, part being swallo off
emeoeunthaf.teTrhseuecacegeldeeodbsinervseinizgin
w her booty, she
had to fly away with about half a
yard dangling from' her
and in dragging both it and the raven to the ground, on
reaching which he struck and killed the raven, and soon
egandvoefethhaes ePie piece,
and
tghihs'oldo instantly
the
after madd a meal of it and the carrion, returning towards
the carcass. In the meantime, however, two of the dogs
had returned, and possession being nine points of the law,
ihey growled defiance at the invader, and prepared to de-
fend their rights. The eagle, bent on obtaining possession,
for a short time hoveNd near the spot, and suddenly de-
scending gave the dogs two blows with its wings and ex-
pelled them. It fed for a short time, ani then flew off with
a large piece of carrion, which it deposited on a distant emi-
nence, thereafter descending into the neighbouring loch,
and enjoying
a bath with evident relish. This, however,
did not finish the eagle's adventures of the day. After
slowly rising out of the loch, it descended upon a flock of
sheep and lambs, and carried offin its talons a young lamb
from the stock of Mr. Gunn, Braehour, disappearing on the
top of Dorrery. Mr. Gunn, having observed the theft,
gave chase, accompanied, strange to say, by the ewe whose
lamb had been taken away. Whether the mother had ob
served the direction the eagle took, or merely followed Mr.
Gunn after being deprived of its lamb, it is impossible to
say, but it is certainly singular that she should have at
once, without invitation, accompanied him in the chase
after her young one. On arriving at the top of Dorrery,
the eagle was observed resting, while the lamb was skip-
ping about uninjured. The eagle maintained its position
till Mr. Gunn was within 50 yards of it, when it took its
flight ; and Mr. Gunn, with the ewe and lamb, returned to
Braehour, the lamb being none the worse for its aerial
voyage in the talons of the eaglet-2YorthernEnsign.