The Sun.
London, England, 1863-09-19 00:00:00

THE SON, LONDON,',!SATURDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 10, 1863.

The Arab has a curious character ; the same man
who is paying interest at the rate of 36 per cent, a
year will spend £2O or £4O on a gold bracelet or
coins for his wife. I have heard of a woman
wearing £l3O in gold coins, plaited in among her
hair. The truth is, they have no saving banks of
any sort, they don't care for better dwellings than
their mud huts, furniture they would not know
what to do with ; and the only thing they do cars
for, and which would make them save, is land,
which they cannot hold (save by the will of their
master, who can turn them off it at any moment),
so that there is no inducement for them to expend
capital.
News from the Soudan reports that the Blue
Nile was at its full, the White Nile very high, and
that both, as well as the Karif, were rapidly rising,
while heavy rains were falling, and apprehension
was felt for the consequences in Middle and Lower
Egypt. The Government have, however, taken
every possible precaution ; banks have been
stronghened, dykes raised, and men stationed, day
and night, to watch. The Viceroy hi.s stated that
he has no fear it the water does not pass 25 pikes;
this would allow a rise of four or five feet more.
For some days the river has been stationary, but
it may rise at any moment during the next 18 or
20 days. A correspondent of mine, writing from
Minieh, above Cairo, describes the river as magni-
ficent, but adds that it has already swept away
several villages.
The murrain, unfortunately, still continues, and
will cause an immense loss to the country; it is
already estimated at £1,000,000 sterling.
Cotton is at very high prices, and the rich pro-
prietors who have hitherto kept back their stock
are now bringing it forward. Small pickings of the
new crop have begun to appear, both from Lower
Egypt and the new fields in Upper Egypt; and it
is certain that with the stimulating effect of present
prices, every effort will be made to bring the crop
to market as soon as possible.
While up the Nile, the Viceroy received two
petitions, numerously signed by the Fellahs, beg-
ging that they might have the same facilities of
transport for their produce as the people of Lower
Egypt, and asking for railways. His Highness is
now having surveys made. The line is not to run
close by the edge of the river, but at some distance
inland. The section from Cairo to the Favioum
and Beni-Soueff, about 60 miles, will, it is believed,
be the one first made, and then probably another
from Assouan to Berber, to shorten the great bend
which the river makes there, and also to connect
the chain of communication between Cairo and the
Soudan, which is there broken by the rocky barriers
of the cataracts.

The line in the Delta from Tantah to Samanond
has just been prolonged as far as Talkha, a village
on the bank of the Damietta branch of the Nile,
opposite Mansourah, and the centre of a great cotton
growing district. This has been opened just in
time to facilitate the transport of cotton to Alex-
andria,

DEATH OF COUNT ALFRED DE VIGNY.

Alfred Victor, Count de Vigny, whose death has
been telegraphed from Paris, was one of the most
conspicuous writers of his day, whether as novelist,
poet, dramatist, or feuilletonist. He was born at
Loches, March 27, 1799. His father distinguished
himself in the Seven Years' War, and his mother
was the daughter of Admiral the Marquis de Baran-
din, and cousin of the Baron de Bougainville, the
adventurous navigator, who went on the track of
the unfortunate La Pey rouse. One of his uncles,
Hilary de Vigny, a devoted Bourbonist, returned
to France with Louis XVIII., but, the lady to
whom he was engaged in marriage dying sud-
denly, he became a Trappist monk. His other uncle
was a great Chinese voyager, who assumed a man-
darin's habit and character. Young de Vigny was
sent from his mother's house in the Faubourg
St. Honore to the school of a M. His. Here he
caught the French infection of " glory," and he and
his schoolfellows were passionately enamoured of a
military career. M. His said that if he persevered
in his military ardour he would die a Marshal
of France. And these precious young stoics,
when they heard of the death of one of their
old schoolfellows in battle, used to say, " Weep
not ;he died on the field of honour"—a charming
but very ridiculous sentiment for schoolboys. Giro-
det Triosan, the painter, was De Vigny's drawing
master, and the Abbe Gaillard his private tutor.
His mother, a noble-minded woman, in vain tried
to wean him of his military passion by withdraw-
ing him from school. In 1816 he entered the ser-
vice in the regiment of the Red Musqueteers of the
royal household. During the 100 days he was with
Louis XVIII. at Ghent; he served in the Royal
Guard, and in a regiment of the line for some years.
In 1823, as captain of the 55th Regiment, he made
the Spanish campaign. Ia 1828 he resigned his
commission. From the age of:16 young De Vigny
aspired to the reputation of a poet. So far back as
1815 we find him indulging in a Theocritean strain
—in his " Dryade et Symeta." in 1822 he pub-
lished a volume of poems, including " Helena"
"La Sonnambula" " Jepiatha's Daughter," " The
Woman taken in Adultery," &e. Between 1824
and 1826 he produced several poems on ancient and
modern subjects, as " The Deluge," "Moses," "The
Trappist," &c. In 1826 appeared Clnq Mars,"
which at once gained De Vigny a very high repu-
tation. It passed through four editions in three
years, and is now one of the most popular works_in
the whole range of French literature. " Othello'
was first acted in 1829, but its success was not un-
equivocal. In the following year appeared "La
Marech ale d'Amore," which had hardly a "clear
stage," owing to the troubled nature of the times.
In 1832 De Vigny produced " Stello, or the Blue
Devils," and three years later he brought out
" Chatterton," originally a part of " Stella." " Chat-
terton" made a great noise in Parisian circles. Its
truthfulness and its morality were warmly disputed,.
but the eloquence of its style and the talent of
Madame d'Orval triumphed. " Chatterton" was
revived in 1857. In 1841 he wrote a letter on lite-
rary property, which made some stir. in 1843 he
published "Philosophical Poems," " Savage," " The
Death of Wolfe," &e. Many of his best poems ap
peered at this time in the Revue des Deux Mendes.
In 1845 Alfred de Vigny was received into the
Academy in the room of Etienne. In 1833 (May
1) he had received the decoration of the Legion of
Honour, and June 14, 1856, he was appointed an
officer of that order. The count had been ill for
a long time, end his death, though it has been heard
of by the Parisian li"terateurs with deep regret, has
been expected for months past.

SINGULAR MARRIAGE CEREMONY IN MALABAR.
—Their marriage ceremony is very simple, but it
is also employed by some of the other inferior tribes, at
certain times, although quite contrary to their rites. A
large round building is made of leaves, and inside this the
bride is ensconced. All the eligible young men of the vil-
lage then assemble, and form a ring around this hut. At
a short distance sits the girl's father, or nearest male rela-
tive, with a tom-tom in his bands, and a few more such
musical instruments complete the scene. Presently the
music begins, and a chant, which may be translated as fol-
lows, is sung by the father :
Take the stick my sweetest daughter,
Now seize the stick my dearest love.
Should you not capture the husband you wish for,
Remember 'tis fate decides whcm you shah have.
The young men, each armed with a bamboo, commence
dancing round the hut, into which each of them thrusts his
stick. This continues about an hour, when the owner of
whichever bamboo she seizes becomes the fortunate hus-
band of the concealed bride. Amongst the Nicoraars, the
bridegroom on his marriage invariably kills and eats a cat,
in which he is assisted by the bride.—Day's _Land of the
Pennons. _ _

The lliontleur de la lifeurthe states that a whole
family was poisoned at Ladres, near Nancy, two days sinco
by eating mushrooms which the father had gathered in a
wood. Antidotes were promptly administered, and all the
parties recovered after much suffering.

A SWELL DESCRIBED IN ALEXANDRINES :
Airlie descended the last, effulgent as god of Olympus,
Blue, half-doubtfully blue, was the coat that had white silk
facings,
Waistcoat blue, coral-buttoned, the white tie finely adjusted,
Coral moreover the studs on a shirt as a crochet of women ;
When the lourwhcel for ten minutes already had stood at
the gateway,
He, like a god, came leaving his ample Olympian chamber.
—Vide "Mr. Clough's Poems : "
A Tobacco, Cigar, and Snuff Company (Limited)
is talked of ; capital, £lOO,OOO, in 20,000 shares at £5 each.
A new military prison is about to be erected in
Southwark upon the site of tti9 old Queen's )30chl)riso/i,