The Sun.
London, England, 1837-10-20 00:00:00

ISLAND OF JUAN FERNANDEZ.

The celebrated island of Juan Fernandez has become the,
object of a singular enterprise of an American citizen, who
has taken it on a lease for a considerable term of years from
the Chilian Government. The island formerly served as
a place of exile for criminals condemned to transportation,
but the expenses of the establishment and the increasing
number of prisoners, determined the Government to
abandon it. The present possessor is about to emigrate
thither himself, carrying with him 100 or 200 families from
the Sandwich Islands, with the intention of cultivating it
and of rearing cattle, and he will himself exercise an abso-
lute and exclusive control over the administration of the
island. His projects are, however, said to be more extensive
than the mere colonization for the sake of cultivation, and
that he has the intention of improving the principal harbour,
and of laying down buoys for the safety and advantage of the
whalers in the Pacific, whom he proposes to attract thither by
the superior accommodations he will provide for them. In his
stores they are to find an assortment of every kind of provisions;
he will discortnt their bills of exchange at the current rates of
interest ; and he proposes to furnish them also, without
charge, with tow-boats to facilitate their entrance and sai'-
ing. There will be no port-charges, and what is of mole
importance, they will be protected against those desertions
among the crew which occur so frequently when putting
into ports on the continent or larger islands, where the fa-
cilities of escape and concealment are greater, and cannot
be so vv4l guarded against. By a system of police rendered
e isy and practicable from the small extent of the i:1 md, the
American possessor of this petty state proposes to make it
the interest of captains of whalers to put in these to refresh
and refit. The island, it is said, in the mountainous parts
abounds with sandal and other valuable woods, and the
interior is remarkable for the beauty of the country,
and the salubrity of the air. From the perseverance and
enterprise of the party who has obtained possession, it is
considered that this extraordinary project has sonic chance
of success, and that it may prove of advantage to the pro-
prietors and masters of vessels engaged in the South Sea
whale fishery.

By a singular coincidence a project similar in its object,
and having reference besides to direct embarkation in the
fishery enterprises of the Pacific, has been latterly engag-
ing attention in this country. This is a " Falkland Islands
Commercial, Fishing, and Agricultural Association," pro-
posing to be established by Act of Parliament. Among
other details in recommendation of this scheme are stated
the facilities it would afford to the vessels trading round
Cape Horn, many of which are in the habit of touching
there for fresh water and such other supplies as the unin-
habited state of the islands affords, being, however, for the
most part obliged to put into St. Catherine's, where they
are more readily procured and more abundant, but where
vessels also are subject to heavy charges for the stotes
and provisions which, if settled and cultivated, the
Falkland Islands are so much better situated for yielding
and supplying. It is urged that it would thus form an
intermediate station for vessels trading with Van Die-
men's Land, Australia, and South America, and whalers
in the South Seas, and so constitute a naval depot generally,
the want of which is felt by British shipping, as nothing of
the kind is possessed either in the Pacific or the Atlantic
within 3,000 miles of Cape Horn. Besides being of easy
access for whalers for refreshment and repairs, island fisheries
would be established with the facility of preparing the
blubber and bone on shore. Among the catalogue of re-
commendations put forward in behalf of the project, it is
calculated that the islands might with time engross the
supply of the South American markets with flour, to the
exclusion of the United States, and that the wool grown
there by an enterprising individual has already been sold in
Liverpool for nearly double the price obtained for that of
Buenos Ayres. Such is an outline of this proposed un-
dertaking, in its main features the same as that of Juan
Fernandez, but upon a larger scale, and with a more ex-
tensive territory for action. Like all projects, however,
the prospects held ottt are of much too sanguine a cha-
racter.

The annual meeting of the proprietors of the Star
Gravesend Steam-packet Company was held at Gravesend
on Wednesday. The rivalryof the Diamond Company, t
appeared, had been the means of greatly increasing the ex-
penditure and diminishing the receipts, and the report an-
nounced a deficiency of four thousand pounds. This an-
nouncement was received with loud marks of disapproba-
tion. It appears that the Mayor and Corporation of
Gravesend have brought an action against the Star Com-
pany for the pier dues, which amount now to five thousand
pounds. This claim arises from a local Act, authorising
the Mayor and Corporation to demand one penny from
every passenger landing or embarking at any part within
the villages or parishes of Gravesend and Milton. The
Directors of the Star Company took their boats lrom the
Town Pier to the Terrace Pier, in which they were inte-
rested, and the claim of the Corporation is resisted, on the
plea that the ground on which the Terrace Pier is erected,
is extra-parochial. A resolution was moved by Mr. G. F.
Young, M.P., and carried unanimously, to the effect that
the present state and future prospects of the Company
were far from satisfactory to the meeting, and that a full
inquiry into the whole subject should be made by a Com-
mittee to be appointed by the meeting. A Committee was
accordingly appointed.
DUTCH NAVY.—The Amsterdain Papers give the
following account of the state of the Dutch Navy at the
beginning of the present month, viz. :-2 ships of the line
of 84 guns ; 6 of 74 ; 1 of 64 ; 2 of 60 ; 1 of 54 ; 14 of
44 ; 7 of 32 ; 16 of 28 ; 2 of 20 ; 10 of 18.; 4 of 14 guns ;
and some smaller vessels, besides 3 steam-boats; and 104
gun-boats of different descriptions. The ships actually in
service are,4 of 44 guns; 2 of 32 ; Bof 28 ; 1 of 20 ; 5- of
18 ; 1 of 14 ; 1 of 12 ; 3 steam boats, and
_42 gun-boats.