The Sun.
London, England, 1839-01-16 00:00:00

UNION-HALL.

Yesterday the wife—Of a man named Gould, who bad de-
serted her, came before the Magistrates for their advice and
assistance.
Mr. JEREMY regretted that he could render the applicant
no further assistance in the unfortunate affair than advising
her to make known the circumstances of her husband's disap-
pearance at the different station houses in the district, which,
together with the probability of some notice being taken of
her application in the newspapers, might lead to a discover/
of what had really become of her husband. The applicant,
having thanked the Magistrate for his advice, then withdrew.

On Monday morning, a little before nine o'clock, a
very fine young woman, respectably dressed, apparently of
the age of 19, was observed walking to and from the banks
of the Serpentine, seemingly in a very dejected mood. Soon
afterwards she was seen by the sentinel on duty at the Ma-
gazine in the Park, advancing towards the bridge near
Kensington-gardens, the eastern parapet of which she
hastily ascended, and immediately plunged into the Serpen-
tine. An alarm was given, and men belonging to the
Royal Humane Society hastened to the place with drags,
but did not succeed in finding the hod? for half an hour.
Endeavours were then made to restore animation, but
without success, and the body was conveyed to the Half-
way House, Kensington.road. The deceased was dressed
in a black silk gown, a dark figured shawl, and wore a
white straw-bonnet, lined and trimmed with puce-coloured
silk and ribbons. Nothing was found upon her person that
could afford a clue to her identity.

THE FOREST AND PRAIRIE.—If there be any
men whose lives present more striking scenes of adven-
ture, hardship, stubborn endurance, and imminent peril,
than those of the Red Indians of North America, they
will be found among the backwoodsmen, and other settlers
in the Far West, whose encroachments are gradually an-
hihilating the aboriginal tribes. The white hunters, trap-
pers, and squatters, in their daring expeditions are perpe-
tually surrounded by danger in every form. Exposed to
hostile surprises, desperate encounters, and withering pri-
vations, their career furnishes the rarest elements for ro-
mantic narrative, such as Mr. Hoffman in his new work
" Wild Scenes in the Forest and Prairie," has provided for
the wonder and gratification of his readers. The scenery,
too, which forms the back-ground of the story, enhance*
by reason of its vastness, and its wild and strange charac-
ter, the attraction inherent in the mysterious incidents
arising in almost every page of this singular work, rocky
glens, treacherous morasses, enormous lakes, thundering
waterfalls, mighty rivers, huge and tangled forests, and
prairies as solitary and seemingly interminable as the great
African deserts, are fitting localities on the one hand for
the prowling savages who steal, like midnight ghosts, on
the frail cottages of the white settler ; and on the other for
the daring expeditions of the half civilized hunter or fores-
ter. It has seldom, indeed, been our lot to peruse a work
of more varied and absorbing interest than that now beinre
us.--,, Naval and Military Gaztfr.