The Sun.
London, England, 1863-02-03 00:00:00

The Lady Explorers of the White Nile.

The fact that three adventurous ladies have as-
cended the White Nile, above Khartum, in a steamer
fitted at some cost, is already known. Sir Roderick
Murchison now publishes their names, and further
particulars.

The eldest, Madame Tinne, and her sister, the
Baroness van Cappellen, are daughters of the re-
nowned Dutch Admiral, Baron von Cappellen, who
was the coadjutor of Lord Exmouth in the memo-
rable capture of Algiers in 1816. The youngest of
these ladies is Miss Alexandrina Tinne, who is a
British subject.

As the daughters and granddaughter of the chi-
valrous Dutch Admiral, these ladies seem to have im-
bibed the spirit which he displayed in liberating
slaves. In the former letter alluded to, attention
was specially called to the touching scene in which
Miss Tinne procured the liberation of a negro
family, forming part of a cargo of slaves, who had.
been torn from their native village by the cruel
marauders, who, under the guise of being traders of
Khartum, pillage and burn villages, and tarty off
the women and children into captivity.
The following is an extract which I have been
permitted to take from the last letter of Madame
Tinne, which was finished on her return to Khar-
tum, and is a description of the environs of Gondo-
koro

I have not told you that, except for the illness
of Alexine, we liked Gondokoro very much. There
was a beautiful terrace belonging to a house the
Tyrolese missionaries had built, and deserted on
account of illness. Such fine citron and tamarind
trees ! We went an excursion of four hours before
Alexine was ill, to what they call the mountain
Ballaria, over a rich plain with fine trees, nume-
rous flocks of cows, sheep, and goats, and many vil-
lages, with negroes dancing and singing ,day and
night, as long as their corn lasts. They have a feast
by turns in every village, They are a fine, warlike
race, but rather quarrelsome. We also went a trip
wish the steamer to see if it was true that t:he river
was not navigable higher up than Goodokuro. We
went about five hours' steam, but then it
.got too
shallow, and as we could proceed no further, e came
home.

" As to finding the source of the Nile, people here
laugh at it. Once past tho river Sobat, then are a
hundred streamlets flowing into the Nile. A t Gon-
r
dokero there is rain every day for six o eight
months—not constant rain, but such showers ! that
there does not seem a want of any other sourc e. As
to mountains, there are some further up, as Te saw
them at a distance, but nothing striking—n+ othing
like a great European chain. They rise ab, ruptly
from a sandy or watering plain."
In the course of some further details and ren larks)
Sir Roderick intimates that there are masa nable
doubts as to the accuracy of the report of the, death
of Mr. and Mrs. Petherick by drowning.

THE INDIA AND CHINA MAILS.

-

The heavy portion of these mails, in charge of
Mr. U. Ronayne, of the General Post-office, arrived
at Southampton on Saturday afternoon, in the
Peninsular and Oriental Company's screw steam-
ship Pera, Capt. T. Jamieson, which also brought a
farther portion of mails and 54 packages of baggage
saved from the Colombo. The Pera brought 38
passengers, viz., 21 first and 17 second class, among
-whom were Commander Parkin, R.N., Col. Bruce,
Dr. and Mrs. Poole, Mr. Mongan, &c. On freight
she had five packages of specie, value not stated,
four packages of valuables, 1,504 bales of silk, four
casks of wine, 94 quarter-boxes and 183 boxes of
oranges, 40 empty casks, and 194 packages of
general merchandise.

The Pera left Alexandria on the 18th of January,
Malta on the 22d, and Gibraltar on the 26th. She
had strong gales from Alexandria to Malts, fine
weather with easterly winds thence to Gibraltar,
light fair winds and fine weather to Cape St. Vin-
cent, and along the coast of Spain and Portugal,
and fresh south-easterly and south-westerly winds
across the Bay of Biscay, with considerable sea.
On the 29th ult., in the Bay of Biscay, the Pera
spoke the Peninsular and Oriental steamer Delta,
with the outward Bombay mails of the 27th.

The only ships of war at Alexandria when the
Pera left were a French frigate and the usual
Egyptian fleet.
Her Majesty's ships Marlborough, Magicienne,
Psyche, and Hibernia were at Malta ; and the Fire-
brand, Procris, and Redpole at Gibraltar.
The Prussian screw frigate Gazelle, Capt. Heldt,
left Gibraltar for the westward at 11 20 a.m. en the
26th ult.

The American screw sloop Tuscarora, Commander
Craven, put to sea from Cadiz on the 18th.
The steamer Gibraltar (late Sumter) was cruising
up and down the bay this morning (says the Gib-
raltar Chronicle of the 22d),apparently with the object
of testing her machinery ; but, whatever her object,
the United States' gunboat Chippewa, at Algeciras,
was on thealert, and steamed at once to the entrance
of the bay, prepared to intercept the Gibraltar if
she had made a dash for the Straits. With a favour-
ing black " levanter," absence of moonlight, and a
bay five miles wide at the mouth, the chances seem
greatly in favour of the Gibraltar giving her inqui-
sitive enemy the slip.

A collision occurred in Gibraltar Straits at five
o'clock on the morning of the 22d ult. between the
British bark D. B. It., Capt. D. B. Robarts, from
Glasgow and Greenock, bound to Trieste, with gas-
pipes, &c., and the Spanish bark Cefiro, Captain F.
Clar, from Barcelona, with a cargo of wine, soap,
&c., for Cienfuegos and Havannah. The crew and
passengers of the Cefiro took to the two boats, one
of which proceeded to Gibraltar, and the other to
Algeciras. The Cefiro filled and turned over on
her side, but the buoyant nature of her cargo pre-
vented her from sinkingentirely, and she was picked
up about 20 miles to the eastward of the rock by
the Lion Beige steamer, and towed into Gibraltar.
The fore part of the vessel was under water, and the
stern projecting a few feet above the surface. The
D. B. R. lost jibboom, cutwater, &c., and would have
to repair before proceeding on her voyage.
The British brig Morning Star Capt. S. Delargy,
which arrived at Gibraltar on the 23d from Sicata,
with sulphur for 'Falmouth, was in collision with
the Spanish brig Recurso, of Barcelona, at 9 p.m.,
on the 21st, off Cape de Gatt, and lost sails, jib-
boom, &c.
The schooner British Queen, from Malta, with a
general cargo for Gibraltar and Liverpool, which
arrived at Gibraltar on the 22d, spoke the schooner
Lily, from Yarmouth for Venice, on the 19th ult.,
off Almeria; and on the 20th the schooner Excel,
Capt. Sprague, from Genoa for London, off Motril,
with loss of topmasts, 'yards, sails, &c.
The merchant steamer Memnon, Capt. J. Carroll
51-, days from Liverpool, for Malta and Alexandria,
arrived at Gibraltar on the 19th ; the Eva, Captain
J. Boylond, seven days from London, for Malta and
Odessa, on the 21st ; and the London, Capt. W. G.
S. Hall, eight days from London, with Government
stores for Gibraltar, on the 25th.

The following vessels, all laden with coals, had
also arrived out at Gibraltar :—Jan. 19, the brigan-
tine Tyre, S. Steward, from Liverpool ; the schooner
Zion-hill, W. Griffiths, from Newport; and the
schooner Magar, E. Jones, from Liverpool. 20th,
the schooner Gowerian, E. Evans, from Cardiff; the
schooner Crescent, J. Keusper, from Swansea ; the
bark Alice Wilson, E. Bold, from Cardiff; the bark
Despatch, A. Eastland, from Swansea ; the schooner
Alberta, T. Davies, from Cardiff; and the brigan-
tine Farmer's Lass, J. Ludwig, from Swansea.
22d, the bark Viking, J. Wiggins, from Newport.
25th, the brigantine Enterprise, J. Hughes, and the
schooner Duke of Cornwall, W. Phillips, both from
Swansea. The schooner Affines, J. Jenkins, from
Cardiff with iron for Gibraltar, arrived out on
the 22d.

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

THE ISLE OF WIGHT.

The line of railway which is to connect Ventnor
with Ryde has just been commenced by sinking
the shafts for the tunnel at the Ventnor end of the
line, and wilrbe complete and opened for public
traffic by Midsummer, 1864. The line, 11 miles in
length, will commence at the outer end of Ryde
pier, by a tramway from there to the station in the
town, so as to take passengers and luggage direct
into the carriages on disembarking from the steam-
boats without any intermediate changes between
the pier head and the main station in Ryde. The
line passes on its route Brading, Sandown, and
Shanklin, and will make gradual ascent from the
latter place until it has attained an elevation of
about 300 ft. above the level of the sea, where it will
pierce Wroxhall-down with a tunnel of 1,300 yards
(more than three quarters of a mile) in length, and
issue from out the south side of St. Boniface-down
within a short distance of the Ventnor terminus,
which will be situate about 500 yards from the
centre of the town. The capital of the company is
£125,000, with debenture powers for £41,000
more; and Mr. Bond, the contractor, is to con-
struct the line,including stations, &c., for £126,000.
The existing traffic between Ryde and Ventnor by
road is computed to be of the value of £14,000 per
[ annum.