The Sun.
London, England, 1837-07-27 00:00:00

GALLANTRY OF THE ENGLISH.

—We were here sharply engaged. To my left I saw
beautiful charges of cavalry, which, of course, I thought
was ours ; but you may imagine my astonishment when I
saw the fellows charge our flitches (fortifications), leap into
the ditches, and send our Portuguese to the right about.
They were followed by heavy columns of infantry, who now
made themselves masters of our lines, excepting the two
redoubts of Pas:.eleiro and Saldanha. At this time an
officer came to ask me how he was to retreat ; I just looked
him steadily in the face, and then said " Bah !" as much as
to let him know there was to be no retreat. We were now,
in my opinion, cut off. The flitches which had been taken by
the enemy had been occupied by the tenth, our most famous
Portuguese regiment. I had asked as a right to hare this
fleche for my men, but the Chief of the Staff, Col. Gil Guedes,
did not like to trust the drunken English !!! I said," Well,
I will not let you have the credit, for I shall say I held
Lordello when unfortified, and perhaps you will find it no
such easy business even when fortified." We had a good
deal of quizzing ; and, when standing alone with my bugler,
all this came across me, and I exclaimed in an excited
state, " If I die for it, I shall show them that I was right."
I was standing above on the ruins of the picquet-house,
looking through a cannon-hole below on the men doing their
duty. I called out " Cease firing. Who wants the Tower
and Sword ?" An officer and thirty Scotch volunteered
(at this time English and Irish detachments had been sent
to me). A Mr. Morgan called out, " There are thirty of
us all ready." " Then do you see that unoccupied fleche
in the centre of the enemy's present advanced line ; dash
forward and seize it, and fire away so as to make a noise
and show the red coats." They dashed forward splen-
didly, we cheering them. I waited to see the effect pro-
duced ; the enemy's cavalry first began to retire slowly,
and I saw the infantry looking where the firing was coming
from. I instantly formed another party (I had now my
sabre), and we proceeded up the hollow road leading into
the fleches, with fixed bayonets, I taking the precaution,
while leading, to have a famous sergeant with me, and
Captain Ricardson, of Dodgin's regiment with ten men.
Before reaching the large fleche, we fell in with four fellows,
who were disposed of very quietly. I took one of their
great coats on my left arm. I knew every inch of the road,
and as our party (23) approached the spot, the enemy
began to fire on the rear, thinking they were the front.
Now the row began ; I hallooed, " Now is your time—
dash among them." We found about 150 in the ditch,
terribly crowded, but intent on firing on those who were
dilatory in coming up, not seeing us. The serjeant dashed
his bayonet through one, and I slashed a fellow to the bone
in the back, cutting his belt as with a razor : he roared out,
which frightened the others, and then such confusion—hud-
dling over each other, we bayoneting and pricking them.
I am ashamed to say the serjeant and I laughed, and I
threw the great-coat to trip them ; we could not follow
very well, the ditch being very narrow at the bottom, being
shaped in this way—V. We inflicted about thirty
wounds. At this moment I saw a great cocked French
hat through an embrassure ; I made a dash with one of
the men, but he bundled up his heavy great-coat, I hal-
looing., " Corre,corre." At this time the tenth were en-
gaged with the Miguelites between us and them at the
sprung n g
blow."upo
covert way. Their balls were striking about us ; so to let
tthheentlospe,ectahllaintal
oa d
trhee- t apkiepne
rthe ,
üblaotwte, blast
r
t
y lp
you,
We then ran towards the tenth, picking up prisoners ; and
I felt proud when I now said to the tenth, " Hurry back to
your post, and let the Chief of the Staff know what the
drunken Englishmen have done."—Shaw's Memoirs.

On Saturday evening last, between the hours of
eleven and twelve, a cotton-spinner of the name of Smith, a
nob, in the employment of Henry Elouldsworth, Esq., imme-
diately after leaving a shop in Clyde-street, Anderston, was
dogged and shot by a ruffian in the open street, in presence of
his wife and children. A few individuals near at hand having
heard the report of fire-arms, hastened to the spot, where
they discovered the unfortuuate man weltering in his blood.
He was removed to the shop of Dr. Charles Paterson, where
every attention was paid to him by that gentleman and his as-
sistants. A consultation was held by Drs. Paterson and Jack-
son. On examination a wound was discovered in the fore-
head, and on endeavouring to raise the patient it was found
that the limbs were powerless. On further examination a
wound was found penetrating at least three inches into the
back, and most probably communicating with the cavity of
the backbone. After the most minute inspection of the wound
the ball could not be detected. Another wound was also ob-
served perforating the fleshy part of the arm, which clearly
proved that the gun must have been loaded with two slugs,
Dr. Paterson had the unfortunate individual removed to the
Royal Infirmary, where, we understand, an unsuccessful at-
tempt was made yesterday to extract the ball. We believe
.that the case is at present undergoing all the necessary inves-
tigation by the Procurator Fiscal. We are reluctantly com-
pelled to state that the police authorities of Anderston were
extremely remiss on this occasion. The prompt and energetic
conduct, however, of Captain Henry Miller, of the Glasgow
establishment, not only after receiving information, but during
the whole of yesterday, the public are deeply indebted for.—
Glasgow Courier.
On the 18th of July, his Majesty the, King of
Hanover honoured with his presence the grand shooting match
given by the inhabitants of his metropolis. The King himself
fired a carbine, and struck the target. On the same day her
i
Majesty the Queen and the Prince Royal arrived n the
capi-
Their solemn entry was made amidst joyous acclamations ;
their reception was indeed truly characteristic of the sentiments
of love and admiration which the Hanoverians have always che-
rished for the family of their Sovereign.—/Iforning Post.
ANECDOTE.—A gentleman who had been a few
months bound in Hymen's silken fetters, after great exertion
and trouble on his part to procure the fair lady's consent, found
he had " caught a tartar." His wife being shocked at the
discovery that he had never gone to a place of worship since
his marriage, expostulated with him for his conduct, " My
dear," said he, " I have three very sufficient reason* for not
complying with your wishes." After some persuasion, he was
induced to declare them :—" First, my love, I never can bear
any society where one gentleman monopolizess theh6d k
etnteirelcon-
versation." " you terrible man l" ig
4. Then, I hate singing when there is no drinking " Dear
me, shocking 1 exclaimed hia Meek, partner. " But above
all, I was married to yott there, " Oh, you vile wretch, you
ere lest 1" ilAblled _

A•
owgErty.—On Friday night some thieves broke
into the mansion of the Ladies Fitzpatrick, called Farming
Woods, and broke open a bureau, in which the steward bad
deposited nearly 2001. in notes and gold for the purpose of
paying the haymakers, &c. ; the burglars took all the gold and
silver, leaving the note3l-49olictityten

BEES

The training of bees, which, in the greater part of Eu-
ropean countries forms an unimportant branch of rural eco-
nomy, is hi Russia, on the contrary, a source of existence to
many entire communities. So large a quantity of wax is
collected in the Russian empire, that, independent of the do.
mestic consumption, from 12 to 15,000 pounds weight are
annually exported to foreign countries from the ports of the
Baltic alone ; while honey is no less an object of national
importance, nearly the whole of Siberia being indebted for
its supply to European Russia. The best honey is that
which the bees extract from the flowers of the white litV
(len, and it is gathered in great abundance in the distri'M
where those trees abound,. as on the banks of the Oka and
the Don, in White, and Little Russia, in loland, and the
southern parts of the Oural, situated in Europe. Although
hives are to be found in almost all the governments of the
empire, their numbers are infinitely exceeded by thf;se of
the wild bees, which have their dwelling in the trs.vernment
of Orenburg, more particularly in the extensive forests of
the Oural. Beyond this range of mountains, and throughout
Siberia, no wild bees are to be met with. The tribes who
chiefly devote themselves to the occupation of rearing and
training bees are the Bachkirs, (who take the lead) t)-,e
Tartars, the Tehouvaehes, the Tcheremisses, ae.i the
Mechtcheriaks, especially in the governments of -Kazan and
Orenburg. Amongst the first-named t. oc, it is no unu-
sual circumstance for an individu;°. to possess a hundred
hives of bees within theli~.',~sof his own garden, and as
many as a thousand
1
the adjacent_ "..'ives, or hollowed trees, of wild bees in
forests, annually deriving from them forty, and
gf.'::Ctimes even one hundred, pounds weight of honey. The
greater part of the swarms of young bees are found in the
woods, where they establish themselves of their own free
will in the hives that have been prepared for their reception.
The Bachkirs having selected, for this purpose, those
trees which are of the strongest and straightest kind, as
well as of the hardest wood, fix the dwellings of the bees at
about thirty feet from the ground ; they then hollow out
the tree, smooth it internally by means of a chisel, and close
the chief opening, leaving only some smaller apertures for
the free passage of the busy insects. Maraldi, and other
writers have maintained that there is seldom found in a sin-
gle hive more than 18,000 bees. Rytchkof, having weigh-
ed at Orenburg some dead bees, found that seventy-five of
them weighed a solotnick ;# but, to be sure of not exceed•
ing the average, he reckoned them as only fifty. In tbr,:se
parts a good swarm weighs generally from ten to twelve
pounds, the worst varying from three to four : frequently
two or three swarms congregate in the same hivr,, and there
are swarms weighing from nineteen to twenty pounds each.
According to the above estimate, there 3:-.ould be at least
57,000 bees in a hive of twelve pounds, and as many as
112,000 in one of nineteen pounds. If this observation
does not disprove Maraldi's, it shows that the bees of Oren-
burg and those of other European countries are different
species. It is generally supposed that bees compose their
honey solely from the sweets which they extract from
flowers ; but in the environs of Orenburg there is every
reason to believe that they suck blood, flesh, and other mat-
' ters of a filthy nature. Rytchkof being desirous of ascer-
' taining, by his own experience, if bees were really consu-
mers of fleshy substances, caused a dead fowl, plucked, to
be placed within a hive. For the space of three or four
days it remained there untouched by the bees, but no sooner
did it begin to decay, than they eagerly devoured it, leav-
ing nothing but the bones.—Bistorisch-Statistisches
malde des Russischen Reich:.

96 Solotnichs make a Russian pound, which is equal to
6,3181 English grains. Hence, ono solotnick is about equal to
65 English grains.

BRIDGE OF THE NILE.—The construction of
the gigantic bridge of the Nile, so long projected, is at length
about to commence, and will be completed, it is said, in less
than six years. This colossal work is to be erected at the
point of the Delta, fire leagues beyond Cairo, at that part of
the river where it divides into two ybranches. During winter
and a part of spring the waters of the Nile are too low to be
turned to the account of agriculture ; the bridge will there-
fore be made to form a kind of lock, to keep the waters at
all times at the necessary elevation. The husbandman will
thus be spared an infinity of labour, and will only have to di-
rect the irrigation into the canals of absorption. The prelimi-•
nary works of rectifying the bed of the river, raising dykes,
and digging the lateral canals, will require 24,000 labourers,
besides which the arsenal of Alexandria is to supply 340 smiths
and 650 carpenters. As Egypt cannot easily furnish so great
a number of arms it is in contemplation to employ four or five
regiments of infantry upon the works. The stones aro to be
transported by a rail-road, to extend to the mountains of Mo-
katarn, which are two leagues distant from the Nile.

EFFECT OF LIGHTNING.—A flash of lighting
caught a very handsome now farmhouse, on part of Mr. Fox's
property, Bramham Moor, and completely burnt it to the
ground, with all its contents, last week. It stands on the
Bramham Moor property, granted to Lord Bingley by Queen
Anne.—York Gazette.

AN AFRICAN FETE.—I had been about a week
at Fundah, when the King sent a message, inviting me to ac-
company him to witness a fete which he was celebrating out-
side the walls. It was a beautiful morning ; the beat was tem-
pered by a pleasant breeze, as I was carried out by my kroo-
men to the eastern gate of the King's house. After waiting a
few minutes, listening to the most horrid noises that the yeo-
men of the King's band could perpetrate, out sallied from the
interior square about twenty eunuchs as the advance guard ;
the King followed on horseback, surrounded by his musicians
and body-guard of about fifty men, armed with
also b
iathbowsandy
hisar-
ar-
rows, and six of them with muskets, accompanied
chief men and a number of Mahomedan rnallams• The King
graciously shook hands with me, and asked me, with a smile
of satisfaction, if ever I had seen in my own country such a
sight as this ? I answered him with great sincerity that I
never had ; for certainly the wildest concert of Ducrow never
approximated in the slightest degree to the figure and appear-
ance of his sable Majesty and his companions. Their clothes
were all stuffed, so as to make them appear of an enormous
size, and their horses being mit, seemed so completely over-
laden, that if I had not been aware of the want of solidity in
their burthens, I should have wondered at their lively prancing
under their apparently enormous riders. I took the lead in
my hammock; and after proceeding about a mile and a half
from the palace, we halted under a magnificent wild cotton-
tree, in the shade of which the King and his courtiers seated
themselves. The whole scene was novel and inspiring ; tho
walls of the town were crowned with spectators, and the road
leading to the town was lined with an immense multitude of
persons. The sport commenced with horse races; three or
four horses started from the gate, and galloping about half
mile past us, they were pulled up with a jerk, which threw
them on their haunches, when suddenly wheeling round, they
came back, and their riders made obeisance to the King. Tho
racing was succeeded by sham fights, the parties alternately
retreating and advancing ; and the whole was closed by a ge-
neral dance, when the best performer was he who kicked his
heels the highest. During the whole time in which theso
things were going forward, the drums were beat, the trumpets
brayed, and the fifes squeaked, producing altogether a discord.
ance of sounds utterly indescribable. My kroomen afterwards
trotted out with an air of conscious superiority, exhibited their
own national dances to the accompaniment of a drum before
the wondering natives. After the dancing, I was politely in-
formed that I had better withdraw, as the King was going to
offer up his devotions privately, in a small hut near us.
Laird's Narrative of the Last Expedition into Central Africa.
THUNDER STORMS.--"The counties of Nortnuni-
land and Durham were visited, at intervals, for four days suc-
cessively, commencing on Wednesday, the 12th inst., and ter-
minating on Sunday last, the 16th inst., by a succession of
thunder storms. These visitations were exceedingly capri-
cious in violence and duration, as regards paiticular districts;
but the most awful storms appear to have occurred in Newea,-
tle and Glanton, in the latter of which places, Miss Donkin,
of Showdon Wood House, was killed by the electric fluid.
nNe
gmhebroouurs ih
o on
ds toa
fn
tche have al
es
destruction
re
oo
of cattle._
in
..othe surrounding
cmtieourno

SILVER WATCHES TWO GUINEAS EACH.
An Assortment of Second-hand Watches, all of them vvarrtated,
and of various sizes, may be selected from, for the above price, at
T. COX SAVORY'S,
application.
Working Silversmith, Goldsmith, and Watchmaker, 47, Cornhill,
London.
N.B. A pamphlet, containing a detailed list of the prices of
Ws
vba, ter hteo aCs ,
post-paid loeks'
!ze., may be had gratis, or
NPvillalteb,ePfolartweadrdGedooicnlsa,n

BIRTHS.
Strat On the ,
of a d 2.5 th inst., in .
New-street, Spring-gardens, the Lady
hedenaughter
On the 24th inst., at Abbott's Anne Rectory, the lady of the
Hon. and Rev. S. Best, of a son.
On the 25th inst., in Bernard-street, Russell.square, Mrs. B.
W. Powys, of a daughter.
On the 25th inst., at Lambeth, the wife of the Rev. E. Miller,
of a daughter.
On the 22d inst., Mrs. Wm. Hunter, West-street, Finsbury-
circus, of a son.

On the 25th inst., at TempIeMARRIED
Balsa% Warwickshire, the Rey.
John Couchman, of Elmbridge, Worcestershire, to Mary, the ortiy
child, of the late Robert Turner, Esq., of New Park, Hants.
On the 24th inst., at Government House, Isle of Man, St.
George Cromie, Esq , late Captain of the 34th Regiment, son of
the Rev. Jahn and the Hon. Mrs. Crombie, of The Neale Rock,
county of Mayo, to Mary Jerne, only daughter of Colonel John
Ready, Governor of the Isle of Man.