The Sun.
London, England, 1863-07-15 00:00:00

Five ran.

ARRIVALS AT STAMFORD--TUrCOS, Aurelia, Sauterelle,
Neophyte, Midnight Mass, Revolver, Alliance, Procella,
Lady Maud, Tippler, Trap, Bohemia, Lady Abbess, Bal-
ham, Confession, and Grimstone.

It is officially stated that the rumour of M.
Hubert Delisle having been entrusted with a mission, to
Mexico is unfounded.

WASHINGTON IRVING'S characteristic was quiet
humour ; mild enough, but quaint ; as when he said
to a gentleman who, in a thunder-storm, declined to take
shelter under a tree, having promised to his father, who had
been once hit, never to do so,—" Oh, that makes all the
difference in the world. If it is hereditary, and lightning
runs in your family, you are wise."
ROGERS'S ANECDOTE ABOUT LORD ABERDEEN'S
SEA-SICKNESS.—WhiIe I was in Paris, in driving
I out, one day, with my niece in the Champs Elysees, we
nearly ran over my old friend Rogers. We stopped and
took him in. He was in one of his yearly epicurean visits to
Paris, to enjoy the Italian opera and other refined sources
of pleasure. The hand of age begins to bow him down, but
his intellect is clear as ever, and his talents and taste for
society :in full vigour. He breakfasted with us several
times, and I have never known him more delightful. He
would sit for two or three hours continually conversing,
and giving anecdotes of all the conspicuous persons who
have figured within the last sixty years, with most
of whom he has been on terms of intimacy. . He has
refined upon the art of telling a story, until he has
brought it to the most perfect simplicity, where there is not
a word too much or too little, and where every,word has its
effect. His manner, too, is the most quiet, natural, and
unpretending that can be imagined. I was very much
amused by an anecdote he gave us of little Queen Victoria
and her nautical vagaries. Lord Aberdeen has had to
attend her in her cruisings, very much against his will, or,
at least, against his stomach. You know he is one of the
gravest and most laconic men in the world, The Queen,
iso 1, :187 503
117
and
than
th the deaths
one day, undertook to reconcile him to his fate. ' I believe,
my lord,' said she, graciously, you are not often sea-sick.'
Always, madam,' was the grave reply.—' But,' still
more graciously, ' not very sea-sick.'—With profounder
gravity, ' VERY, madam l'—Lord Aberdeen declares, that
if her Majesty persists in her cruisings, he will have to
resign."'
HEALTH OF LONDON.—The deaths in London in
the week that ended on Saturday were 1,287. This
return exhibits an increase of 100 deaths on that of the pre-
u and it is also higher than any weekly number
gd corrected
fe number
returnedviosweek since; the end of May. The.62a)v,earne
e average rate of mortality had
prevailed.
ndaerr
increaseed from
ocorrespondingthereforem weeks r e ( b
population,
ey would
haveAint thelas prtweekare
been
if th
present time ssarlatina is the most fatal .of all the
while those from diphtheria declined to rose
from scarlatina occurred in the Kensington
epidemic diseases, and the deaths from it in the week
edtfloehalth..ld3istrict, six in the rectory sub-district seven. Five
of m aryi
aTb
oo snv:,
five in Islington east; It prevailssraaiPe to a considerable
wx
ex-
tent in the east division.
awatasdirsettrurintane.d
mace, 19 of which occurred in the
were nine deaths from this disease in the Westminster dis-
trict, four in the Tinhesres
Berwick-street sub-district, four in St. An-
drew eastern. Seven of the 65 deaths are stated to have
oecurred to persons who had been vaccinated, but it fre-
quently happens in
suchcases that the evidence of success-
ful performance of the operation is not much to be de-
pended on. Diarrhosa has been increasing lately, as is
usual in the summer , months • and last week the deaths
from •
it rose to 91. There were also 10 from cholera,
chiefly " cholera infantum." A widow died at the age of
9. 9 years. Last week the births of 989 boys and 994 girls,
In all 1,983 children, were registered in London. In the
en corresponding weeks of the years 1853-62 the average
number (corrected) was 1,777.
CHASING A HIPPOPOTAMUS. A hippopotoznus
Which was being conveyed in a steamer on the
Detroit river a few weeks ago jumped overboard and swam
for the shore. A boat was lowered and started in pursuit.
Ali, the Egyptian keeper of the brute, commenced calling
him by familiar names, and at the sound of his voice the
monster stopped, looked around, and seemed to wait for the
boat to near him ; but just as he approached within reach-
ing distance the hippopotamus gave a plunge and once
more disappeared, leaving a whirlpool of seething water to
mark the spot where he had gone down, Nothing was
seen of him now for a long tinie, and they were about
giving him up for lost when he suddenly made his appear-
ance about 100 yards off, but nearer the shore than at
first. Ali again rowed towards him, calling to him as be-
fore, but again the beast dodged him, and dived to the
bottom of the river. Ali now made a large circuit with his
boat, in hopes of taking him by surprise as he came up to
breathe; but, as if aware of his intentions, the hippopotamus
rose at a long distance off. For the third time . started in
pursuit with a remit similar to which that •
ch had attended his
other attempts to re-capture his pet. When
he went down
the third time '
Ali paused, evidently completely
Inan second,
the onp ussed,
and seemingly overcome by grief and
despair.
however, he seized the oars and rowed toward steamer.e
" Try de tog I" he shouted, as he came
alongside ; “ gib me
de tog 1" A large mastiff, which has been trained to sleep in
the cage of the hippopotamus, and for whom he had evinced
much affection,had been ke.eping up a continued howling from
the time his companion had escaped, was now loosened, and
he instantly plunged into the river and swam after Ali as he
moved off. In about a minute the hippopotamus again
stuck his huge head out of the water, ard, on seeing him,
the dog gave a wild bark and swam in his direction very
rapidly, Ali accompanying him in the boat. At last the
dog reached the monster, and, with a series of barks, com-
menced swimming round the animal, and finally struck out
for the shore, the hippopotamus following. The interest
excited by this scene was intense, which continued to in-
crease until the dog and the hippopotamus reached the
American shore in safety. Ali was not long after,_ and the
animal was no sooner on tetra firma than the Egyptian,
armed with a small rawhide, which he had taken with him,
jumped on the beach, and, going to the animal, spoke a few
words, gave him a few smarts cuts over his penderous rump
with the rawhide, and drove him without further di ;, eulty
to a place of safety, where be was at once secured,