The Sun.
London, England, 1863-08-28 00:00:00

EVENING, AUGUST 28, 1863.

trom us. Seeing no cause for such separation, ar
believing that our Government and Legislature are
much too enlightened to commit the error into which
our ancestors fell when Britain lost her North
American settlements, we are, I rest satisfied, never
likely to estrange our Australian colonist by similar
treatment. It has been well said by a late Govet nor
of South Australia that the loyalty of Australia is
an homage to the enlightened rule of Engler d, of
which her statesmen may be proud. On my own
part, I am indeed persuaded that if judiciously and
considerately treated, Australia, which affords by
far the finest possible field for the emigration of
our superabundant population, will long continue
to be a source of wealth and strength to the
mother country, and will, I trust, fur ages hold
out a proof that the people which lives under
a constitutional monarchy enjoys muele truer
freedom in its best sense than those which have
formed part of any democracy, ancient or modern.
And now let me say a few words on the last grand
geographical feat—the discovery of the sources of
the Nile. The first act in this portentous operation
was the discovery, by Captain Speke alone (when
he left his leader, Captain Burton), of the large
African lake which, in the year 1858, he named the
Victoria Nyanza. Iu his late expedition, when ac-
companied by Capt. Grant, he has proved (as he
said he would before he started) that this great bed
of fresh water is the main source of the White Nile,
and in this exploit we hare one of the greatest geo-
graphical triumphs of all history. For age after age
had rolled on—traveller after traveller, from the
days of the Egyptian priests and of the Roman
Emperors, down to modern periods, had endea-
voured to ascend the Nile to its sources, and all hod
failed ! By reversing the line of research followed
by all former travellers, and by proceeding from the
cast coast of Africa, near Zanzibar, to the central,
lofty, and flat plateau-land forming in that meri-
dian the watershed between North and South
Africa, these gallant Indian captains reached the
true reservoir from whence the Nile flows. Thence
they traced the mighty stream northwards into
Egypt, and demonstrated that while the White
Nile, which they followed, is the Great Nile, the
so-called Blue River, joining the parent stream at
Khartum on the frontiers of Egypt, is, like the
Atbara and other waters, a mere tributary. As the
outlines of the long walk of Speke and Grant across
those vast interior and equitorial regions of Africa
have been given to the public, first in my address
to the Royal Geographical Society, and subse-
quently in various periodicals, it would be out of
place to say more on the subject until their own
full account, which they are preparing with many
illustrative sketches, shall have been published. In
the mean time it is gratifying to know that our gra-
cious Queen has shown by her own kind expressions
how truly she is proud that two of her own gallant
officers should have sncceeded in performing what
the people of many a European nation have failed to
accomplish. We may .therefore be sure that the
British people will rejoice with all geographers, if
the travellers should receive due honours and re-
wards for such glorious services. Among foreign
Sovereigns the King of Italy has taken the lead in
the desire to commemorate the great event, by or-
dering two gold medals to be struck on the occa-
sion. The first, which immediately after its com-
pletion was presented to the leader on the Royal
Geographical Society's anniversary, had on its re-
verse the words, so well known to Englishmen as
the motto of Nelson, " Honor a Nilo." The second,
which the Italian Minister, the Marquis d'Azsglio,
since put into my hands, and which has been de-
livered by me to Capt. Grant, has on it those preg-
nant words, "Al Capitano Grant, divine col Capitano
Speke gloria e pericoli." Thus do these medale re-
mind us that, through the enterprise of her sans,
England has won glory through many a danger at
the sources, as at the mouth of the Nile. Among
the geographical communications which have been
already sent in to be read at this meeting, and of
which I have any acquaintance, I will now allude
to four only. Referring still to Africa, we hope to
be favoured by Dr. Barth with a translation from
the German of the ascent of the lofty snow-clad
mountain of Kilimandjaro, in tropical Eistern
Africa, as carried out by that energetic Hanoverian
traveller, Baron C. von der Decken. In relation to
China, you will, I doubt not, be much gratified
with the memoir of Mr. R. Swinhoe, a practised
Chinese scholar, and formerly a British vice-consul,
on the large, but little known, island of Formosa,
and the numerous islets between it and the main-
land. While the publications of the last few years,
including the "Narrative of the North China Cam-
paign of 1860," by Mr. Swinhoe himself, have ren-
dered us well acquainted with large portions of the
interior of China—and whilst Capt. Blakiston has
laid down on a beautiful chart the course of that
mighty stream the Yang-teze-Kiang to a distance of
nearly 1,000 miles above the highest point previ-
ously reached by our countrymen—the great island
of Formosa, off the eastern coast of the Chinese
mainland, has remained comparatively unknown.
Since the days when parts of its west coast were
surveyed, the outline of those shores has, it appears,
undergone a great change by the rapid increment of
silt and sand washed down from the mountainous
interior; so that a new survey is imperiously called
for, to render some of the ports accessible to com-
merce. Near the north end of the island, indeed, the
port of Tam Sui is not liable to these dangers, and is
indicated by Mr. Swinhoe as being best suited for
commercial dealings ; and this part of the coast was
so well surveyed by Captain (now Admiral) Collin-
son, that his charts thereot may be entirely depended
on. In short, now that Lord Elgin's Treaty of
Pekin has thrown open to British enterprise all the
ports of China, it is to be hoped that by the comple-
tion of accurate surveys of the south-western coast
Of Foi mosa, its present unapproachable harbours will
soon be frequented by British vessels. We learn from
Mr. win hoe that these extensive lands are very rich
in natural productions; and he will interest you much
by a description of his personal adventures, and of
the habits, costumes, and peculiarities of the Chinese
occupants. The aborigines—a Malayan race—still
Occupy all the mountainous districts, or eastern side
of the island, and live among the great forests that
yield so much camphor. The subject of Formosa is so
novel that this communication willprove very attrac-
tive ; while you will, I doubt not, be struck by the
coloured drawings which the author has made of the
Chinese inhabitants of this great island, and after
whom, particularly the women, the Portuguese may
well be supposed to have named it "Formosa." If,
as I have been led to believe, my accomplished friend
Sir Harry Parkes should join our Section on this
occasion, it is certain that he will give us a lively
and accurate description of the Chinese people, as
well as a solid and trustworthy account of our poli-
I Heal and commercial relations both with China and
Japan. Turning to Central America, you will
have a very interesting memoir by Mr. Osbert
Salvin on the physical geography of Guatemala, in
which the author will particularly notice the geo-
graphical distribution of the various zoological pro-
ductions of that country. Ile will also give us
accounts of its virgin forests, volcanoes, and lakes,
as well as of the Indian remains and buildings which
ho has traced in it. Another Americau subject to
be brought before us will doubtless bring to our
halls many persons interested in the triumph of
mechanical k kill when practically applied to the
overcoming ofgreat difficulties presented by physico-
geographical features. Mr. Wm. wheelwright has
eomettenced the execution of a most important en-
gineeriut work, called the Great Central Argentine
Railroad, to which be formerly called the attention
of the Royal Geographical Society, which is des-
tined to connect the great port of Buenos Ayres, on
the Atlantic, with the city of Copiapo and the port
of Caldera, on the Pacific. Sterling from the town
of Itesaria, on the right bank of the great navige
eble waters of the Parana, about 250 miles above the
city oo3uenos Ayres, the fleet section traversed is
to the importent city of Cordova, distant 247 miles
,

and situated at an elevation of 1,240 fact above the
r'ver ; thence by a circuitous line through the pro-
vinces of Santiago, Tucuman, Catamarca, and Rioga.
Passing up a fertile valley, and along the celebrated
mountains of Famatina, it is to reach Fiatnbala, at
the foot of the Cordilleras, at a height of 5,161 feet
above the Pacific at Caldera. From that point the
road will ascend the eastern side of the Andes with
practicable gradients, until it reaches the culmina-
ting point, in a depression of those mount ains,at an
elevation of 16,023 ft. abbve the Pacific Oscan at
Caldera, and in a distance of 133 miles, or at abcut
80ft, per mile. From this pass cf San Francisco it
will dcseend the western side of the mountain
through the valley of Paipote, and reach the city
of Copiapo, 1,300 ft. above the ccean ; and thence
continue to Caldera, one of the finest ports in the
Pacific, after a descent of 246 miles from the cul-
minating point of the road in the Andes. Mr.
Wheelwright does not apprehend any insuperable
difficulty in traversing this immense elevation,
which he thinks can be accomplished
with locomotive power, excepting one in-
clined plane of five or six miles. Mr. Wheel-
wright has already had a railroad canstructed
from the valley of Copiapo to the mineral district
of Charmacillo, on which the trains run 12 miles an
hour, ascending 1,930 feet in 9 miles. At the last
Manchester meeting, we interchanged questions
and answers with the philosophers of S. Peters-
burg during an evening assembly—and since then
great advances have been made in transmittibg
telegrams round the world. In this way a vast
stride will be made in the ensuing winter by the
extension of the telegraph from Constantinople
through Asia Minor—and thence via the Persian
Gulf to the country of Mekran, at the head of the
Indian Ocean, and so to the British possessions in
India. At the same time their efforts are in pro-
gress to carry a system of telegraphs from Russia
through Siberia, and thence even across the Desert
of Gobi to Pekin. The great desideratum, however,
co: connecting Europe with America, by a subma-
rine telegraph remains to be accomplished. With
a view to that desirable end, the Council of the
Royal Geographical Society warmly supported a
proposal by Dr. \Vallich to effect a complete survey
of the sea bottom as a precursor to the actual lay-
ing down of a cable upon the vast unknown • irregu-
larities of the submarine surface. We naturally
supported an effort like this, which was certai n to
throw much light on natural history and physical
geography-7and we rejoiced in the preliminary re-
searches which have been made towards the esta-
blishment of an electric line overland to British
India; because, they, for the first time, laid open to
European knowledge countries which, though un-
known to the moderns, were seats of war when
Alexander the Great and his lieutenants invaded
India. The soundings which ascertain the nature
of the bottom of the ocean, not only give us the
outlines and characters of various sunken rocks,
sands, and mud-banks, and of vast and deep cavi-
ties, but inform us where undercurrents prevail,
and where at vast depths the surface is tranquil
and unruffled in some places, while in others sub-
marine volcanoes disturb the sea bottom. Nay,
more, these submarine operations have taught us
that animals can not only live, but flourish, pre-
serving even their colours at the enormous depth of
one mile and a half. We thus see how the efforts
of the nautical surveyors and the engineers to
spread the electric telegraph are not merely
destined to be useful to mankind, but also to elicit
great and important truths in natural history, the
development of which is specially connected with
the pursuits of the geographer and the ethnologist.
In adverting to the consideration of the other
science which this section embraces it gives me
pleasure to be able to report that our sister society,
the Ethnological, is in a prosperous and satisfactory
state, having within the last three years greatly
increased the number of its members, and improved
its financial condition. This satisfactory result is
in great measure due to the vigorous exertions and
numerous contributions of my eminent friend, its
last president, Mr. John Craufurd, whom I am
happy to she among us at this meeting. Under his
auspices and in the past season the society held no
fewer than 15 different meetings, at which 25 papers
were read and amply discussed. They embraced
such topics as the following :—The human remains
found at Wroxeter, in the ruins of the Roman city
of Uriconium ; the African cannibal tribe of the
Fans; language as a test of the races of man; the
aborigines of Australia ; on certain wild tribes in
Southern India; on the commixture of the races of
man in its influence on the progress of civilisation;
on certain ancient relics from the coast of the State
of Ecuador; the native tribes of the British Pro-
vince of Burmah ; on the Jews of Aden ; on the
psychological differences which exist between the
different races of man ; on the history of the gipsies ;
on the ethnology of the Island of Formosa; on the
wild tribes called Yadis in the district of Chingle-
put, Madras ; on the brain and skull in the various
families of man ; on the antiquity of man ; on the
native inhabitants of Vancouver Island ; on the wild
tribes in the interior of the Malay Peninsula; on the
institution and origin of the Hindu castes; on the
languages and races usually called Celtic; on the
ethnology of the African nations and 'tribes visited
by Captains Speke and Grant, from the island of
Zanzibar to the source of the Nile; and on the pre-
paration of figures of typical forms of human
crania. Among the papers which aro to be corn-
muicated to the ethnological branch of our section,
the following may be named :—" On the History
and Migrations of the Tamil Nations of India," as
communicated in person by that very accomplished
Cingalese gentleman, Mutu Coomaroo Swamy, a
member of the Legislative Council of Ceylon, end
now, I am happy to say, a barrister of Lincoln's-
inn. Mr. Joseph Craufurd will give us one memoir
" On the Domesticated Animals, and their Influence
on the Progress of Civilisation, and another " On
the Origin and Antiquity of Man," both of which
will attract many listeners. If time permits, the
same indefatigable ethnologist will also give us his
analysis of the so-called Celtic languages and reeve,
and a paper " On the Commixture of Races of Men
in Central and Eastern Asia." A memoir "On the
Tribes and Nations inhabiting the British Province
of Burmab," Lieut.-Col. Phayre, her Majesty's Com-
inissioraer in that region, promises to be of great in-
terest. As the Ethnological Society of London has
had the good fortune to see the place vacated by
the retirement of Mr. Craufurd filled up by the ap-
pointment of EO skilful and philosophic a naturalist
as John Lubbock and as Mr. Francis Galton,
the president of this section at the last meeting of
the Association, has kindly consented to act as the
Ethnological Secretary, we may reasonably calculate
on receiving much sound support from men like
these, who can so well connect the sciences which
we cultivate with many other branches of human
knowledge."

This evening, when the business papers of the
day have all been got through, there is to be a
great soiree and COl2VerB(lZiOne iu thcExchange news-
rooms. Both for its size and its internal architec-
ture this fine meeting-place would do credit to any
part of the metropolis; in truth, the metropolis has
nothing of the kind like it. Built in the form of a
largo semicircle, and lit from above, with its tine
roof, supported on a series of handsome columns, it
is one of the largest, and certainly one of the finest,
interiors to be found in any building in Newcastle.
Hero has been gathered together a sort of local
exhibition, model specimens of mining and steam
machinery, fossils from the coals and limestone, and
magnificent samples of lead and iron ores, and works
if art manufacture in aluminium, the ehyrnical pro-
cesses necessary for the reduction of which are car-
ried
works of it
on almost ens most populari
entirely in thist own, and chiefly at
the mayor,
Mr. Bell,
who exhibited so largely at South Kensington last
year. In such a rich mineral district it is almost un-
necessary to sav that the selected specimens of ores
are wonderfully fine,
worthy ct a piece in any na-

2d.
TAJIIPED ....sd.

tional collection. One single ingot of silver is shown
rough as it came from the
mould, which weighs 371
cwt., and is worth Upwards of £8 000. This splendid was all recovered by the late' Mr. Pattinsoa's
desilvering process, applied to the common pigs
of Spanish lead as imported into this
country.
During the excursion to Mr. Beaumont's great Icd
mines at Allenheads this simple process of
desitver-
ing the iced to its last grain will be shown to the
visitors. Sir William shows a beautiftil series o;
sections of his percussion and time shells, with a
section of one gigantic 600-pounder shell, a number
of which have recently been manufactured at Els-
wick for the approaching trials with the groat 600-
pounder at Shoeburyness. The Mayor shows some
splendid specimens of works of art in aluminium,
and these, with a variety of fine models of various
apparatus used in the different mines and manufac-
tories of the district, make this portion of the exhi-
bition exceedingly intzrosting to the many visitors
now drawn from all parts to this town. There is
ono small wrought-iron model of what the pump-
ing beam to mines should be if coalowners wish to
guard against a repetition of the tremendous Hart-
ley catastrophe. That terrible pit is now disused
and drowned in water, but there are other single-
shafted pits in the neighbourhood over which the
great cast-iron pumping beams still swing slowly
and are ominously suggestive of other similar
calamities if cast iron is used for this purpose.
In addition to these objects, a collection of
paintings, lent for the occasion, also adorns the
walls of the Excbange-rooms. These works are by
no means of a local character, but, on the '
contrary, include some of the masterpieces of
Turner, Louis Gallait, Gaiasborough, De Wint,
Hunt, Millais, Faed, Etty, Patrick Nasmyth,
Ward, Copley Fielding, Goodall, &c., with a small
but fine collection of water colours. All these, as
we have said, are lent by the gentlemen of New-
castle, for in this town, as in Manchester and Bir-
mingham, art finds its most liberal . patrons in the
possessors of the great wealth which is here won as
freely from collieries and iron mines as from mules
and spindles.

A great many special visitors have already in-
spected the foremost among the sights of Newcastle,
the magnificent series of workshops and factories,
which compose Sir Wm. Armstrong's ordnance
works at Elswick. To speak of this series of facto-
ries—the casting, welding, fitting, rifling, and shell
making departments—as the property of on© pri-
vate individual seems almost ridiculous, for the
magnitude and extent of these buildings, their im-
mense development, and perfect organisation make
them rather resemble a great national arsenal than
a mere commercial adventure of a few individuals.
Some of the boring and rifling tools used here are
the largest and most perfect specimens of their kind
ever made—they may, in fact, be said to be almost
automatic in the power and intelligence with
which they perform their task when once they are
set in motion. Everywhere throughout the long
series of factories is on the same perfect and exten-
sive scale, and some idea of the extent of the concern
may be gained from the fact that the new plant alone
has cost upwards of £200,000, and that recently,
when in full work in gen making, 3,700 skilled
artisans were employed there. At present the shell
shops are almost empty, and nine out of ten of the
long rows of machines are standing. The Govern-
ment having completed their full complement of
field guns from Sir William's factory, have for the
present stopped the manufacture of the large breech
loaders, such as the 70 and 100-pounders, until such
time as Mr. Whit worth will consent to submit his
guns to the long-talked-of competitive trial against
Sir William's—a competitive trial which is appa-
rently as far off now as when it was first determined
on 12 months ago. In the meantime Elswick re-
mains idle and useless to the country, for whose
benefit alone will Sir William let it work, for
we believe there is not a single Government in
Europe that has not applied either directly or indi-
rectly for guns to Sir William Armstrong, but
always applied in vain. A number of the new guns
which Sir William has just completed are now show'
at Elswick, in which the difficulties of the breech
piece are, it is believed, entirely overcome. This is
a side-loader, in which the breach is composed of
massive wedges, working in grooves, which prevent
their getting out of place or order, and in which,
from the solidity of the wedge-pieces themselves,
no crack or yielding is likely to occur. An exceed-
ingly simple but most ingenious piece of mechanism
connected with the touch-hole prevents the piece
being fired till the breech is closed, and on the
whole this side-loader seems to combine all the ad-
vantages and none of the failings of the old 100-
pounder. Its trial on board the Excellent has
only rendered certain slight modifications neces-
sary, and the general opinion of artillerists leans
strongly in favour of this new gun, which will soon
be used in exper:ments at Shoeburyness. As a mat-
ter of course all parts of the factory at Elswick
abound in beautiful examples of hydraulic ma-
chinery, by means of which all the heavy work of
lifting and moving large masses about is performed
through the agency of a boy who starts or stops the
hydraulic cranes.

PRELIMINARY EXAMINATIONS,
BEFORE ENTERING INTO ARTICLES OF CLERKSHIP TO

Attorneys and Solicitors.

- -- -
Pursuant to the Judges' Orders, the Preliminary Exa-
minations in general knowledge will take place on the fol-
lowing days, viz., the 27th and 28th Oct., 1863, and the
9th and 10th Feb. 1864, and will comprise- -
1. Reading slow' a
passage from some English author.
2. Writing from dictation.
3. English Grammar. .
4. Writing a short English composition.
competent knowledge of the first four
5. Arithmetic—A.
rules, simple and compound.
6. Geography of Europe and of the British Isles.
7. History...... Questions of Englis History.
Latin—Elementary Knowledge
8. L of Latin.
9. 1. Latin. 2. Greek. Modern and Ancient. 3.
French. 4. German. 5. Spanish. 6. Italian.
The special examiners have selected the following books,
in which candidates will be examined in the subjects num-
bered 9 at the examinations in October 1863, and nbruary
1364 :

OCTOBER EXAMINATION.
In Latin—Cicero, De Officiis, books 1. and ii.; and
Horace., Odes, book iii.
In Greek—Homer, Iliad, book i.
In Modern Greek.—BexXael" Irept 'AStxrip,circov
xal lloeviov p,„opacriLtvov a7r6 Tile IraXtxiv
Ilcocrcrav 17-30 ;
or, Burarcig eicrropla
130X1" C7'
In French—Guillaume, Gaizott Alfred le Grand, ou
r Angleterre sous les Anglo-Saxons; or Jean _Racine,
Phedre.
In German-- JurVran von Orleans, or Ges-
chichte des 30-jahrigen Rriege, 1 volume.
In Spanish—Cervantes' Don Quixote, capit. xxx.—llV.;
or, Fernandez de Moratin, El Si de las Nenas.
In Italian—Manzonfs Promessi Sposi, cap.
or, Torquato T4SSO'S La Gerusalemme, 6,7, 8, and
9 cantos.
FEBRUARY EXAMINATION.
In Latin—Sallust, Jugurtha ; and Virgil,2Eneid, book vi.
In Greek—Xenophon, Memorabilia.
In Modern Greek.,—BEXXafi" re P 1 'A890111,"v
xal Homo pteraybpcursuEvov cirO rrly 'lraXixi)v
rXwro-av, 1-12; or, BEvrorijr •Icropla nir
sigxtov C.
In French—P. Corneille, Cinna ; Ftlnelon, Teltimaque
(Lea aventures de). Liv. i.—vii.
In German—Schiller, Don Carlos: Ist and 2nd Act.
'Beck's William Lovel, books i.—iv.
In Spanish—Ccrvantca' Don Quixote, capit. i.—xx.; or
Dom liartzonbusch La Coja y el Encogido.
In Italian —Manzon's Promessi Sposi, cap. i.—x.; or,
Torquata Tasao's La Gerusalemme, first 4 cantos.

With reference to the subjects numbered 9, each candi-
date will be examined in one language only, according to
his selection. Candidates who select Latin will be examined
in both the works above specified. In Modern Greek,
French, German, Spanish, and Italian, candidates will
have the choice of either of tha above-mentioned works.

Candidates are required by the judges' orders to give one
calendar month's notice to the Incorporated Law Society,
as registrar of attorneys, of the language in which they
propose to be examined, the place at which they wish to
be examined, and also their age and place of educa-
tion. All notices and inquiries should bo addressed to the
Secretary of the Incorporated Law Society, Chancery-
lane, Y.C.

E. W. WILLIAMSON, Secretary.
Law Society's Hall, Chancery-lane,
Londop, August, 1.60.