The Sun.
London, England, 1853-12-30 00:00:00

LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 30, 1853.

LAURENT'S CASINO, ARGYLE Rooms,
(Lessee, CHAS. C. Larrawr, Ohslow-house, Fauiam•road),
-The above Booms are nbw OPEN FOR THE SEASON.
and will continue open every evening, with LAURENT'S
CELEBRATED BAND. Admission, Is. Doors open at half-past 8 ;
Dancing to commence at 9 o'clock, and terminate at half-past 11.

THE SEAT OF WAR ON THE DANUBE.

_,,-___

It may be premised that what is termed the
general valley of the Danube is naturally divided
into four hasini by...chains of mountains, which suc-
cessively become detatched, extend away to the
right and left, then meet and enclose the valley of
the Danube in three different places, force the
river to change its bed, and to pass over four vast
slopes. The third of these great enclosures is
formed by the junction 'of the Veliki-Balkan and
the eastern Carpathians, in the direction of Orsova,
the point where the Danube issues from the Aus-
trian dominions, and rolls away on its course to
the Ottoman territory.' It is at this point that its
fourth basin commences, which only terminates in
the Black Sea. To the north extend the chain of
the Carpathians and the successive heights which
rise between the Pruth and the Dneister, and to
the south of the -Veliki and the vast chain of the
Balkans. The fourth basin through which the
noble river rolls its huge volume of waters,
swelled by many navigable streams to the Euxine,
comprises the whole of Bulgaria on the south,
Wallachia and Moldavia on the north, and a por-
tion of Bessarabia. While yet the Danube waters
the Hungarian plains its bed is generally regular,
deep, without torrents, and is intersected by many
islets ; its banks are mostly low, and its width
in some places from two and a half to three Eng-
lish miles. But when it approaches Orsova,
where the Carpathians and the Balkans approach,
it becomes completely changed ; it struggles
through that _formidable barrier 3 flin.sTritiwlf with
the fury of a vast torrent through the gigantic walls
of granite which 'close in upon it ; it returns on
itself, coils and winds, as if in convulsive rage
against the rocks and shallows which bar its passage ;
and where it cannot undermine these adamantine
barriers, lifts its waters and -dashes in fury over
them. Some of these whirlpools and rapids are
passed by the hardy natives of the mountains in
small boats in certain spots ; but the steamerswhich
navigate the stream thus far from Vienna there ar-
rest their course, and the merchandise with which
they are laden is transported on the backs of men
and animals through a road cut in the rocks, from
Orsova for some miles done to Kladova, while the
tortured river passes away to the east. The spot
where it is thus strangled, as it were, is known by
the name of the Iron Gate, or the Gate of Trajan.
New Orsova, in the Servian territory, is situate
in an isle of the Danube. It forms nearly a rect-
angle, and is defended on the right bank by Fort
St. Elizabeth. It was taken by the Austrians in
1789. Kladova, a little to the south, is also a
Servian town ; and, like most of the small towns
near the Danube, is encased by an earthern ram-
part, with a ditch, and pallisades of oak sufficiently
strong to resist all but cannon shot. Kladova was
taken by the Russians in 1829. To the north, and
not far from Tchernetz, are the remains of Trajan's
bridge, originally of 20 arches, but of which five
only remain, and which was flung across the river
when it measured more than 3,000 feet in width.
To the south of Kladova, the river, escaping
from its more formidable girdle, rolls more freely
between the rocky steeps, and forms the boundary
between Servia and Wallachia ; it has on its right
_ _

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wINTER OVER-COATS and CAPES at
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And 75, Westminster-bridge-road, Lambeth, London.—Shawls, Fars,
%Unties, Family Mourning, &c.

THE PRESTON STRIKE.

(From the Times.)

At this moment public interest is divided
between two struggles, which, different as they
may be in their general aspect of circumstances,
present some features of resemblance. Between
Preston and Constantinople,—between millowners
and artisans on the one hand, and Russians,
Turks, and we know not how many tribes of semi-
barbarians on the other,—what community or
likeness can there possibly be ? Yet in both in-
stances it is a point of honour, and little else than
point of honour, which has created a deep hostility
between two mighty Powers, and led to a pro-
tracted and still unfinished mixture or negotiation
and war. In both cases it is a long-standing,
deep-seated, quarrel—a war of classes, in which
the difficulty is not so much the question imme-
diately at issue as ancient prejudice and supposed
rivalry of interests. Strange to say, Lord Palmer-
ston, who might with more propriety have been
invoked as the arbiter between the ambitious Rus-
sian and the high-minded Turk, and who, in that
capacity, would doubtless have carried all the arts
and delays of negotiation to a still greater length
than we now see, has been invited to assist at the
settlement of our domestic feud. The turn-outs
of Lancashire have submitted their case to him,
in the hope of eliciting a favourable response
from the oracle of the Home-office. The response
has been given tardily, yet fully, and, though
courteous to all, is by no means ambiguous. If any-
thing, it is rather too philosophical for an official
document. Lord Palmerston favours the opera-
tives with a chapter of political economy, inter-
mixed with a homily on peace and forbearance.
The operatives should go away better Christians
and sounder philosophers, but if they are not much
improved in either point it is no more than we ex-
pect. They are not in a condition to listen to ar-
gument just now. There is nothing, indeed, in
Lord Palmerston's letter that is not trite and
familiar to every full-grown operative, though pas-
sion has long rendered him proof against its just
influence. His Lordship, as if he were trying,
with his usual sleights of diplomacy, to induce two
nations to forget their quarrel, and- surrender
themselves to a maze of negotiation and an inter-
minable series of protocols, urges a silent and gra-
dual action of general causes, in equitably adjust-
ing, from time to time, the proper rates of the
money reward for labour. He can scarcely doubt
that, by forbearance on both sides, and by mu-
tual and- reciprocal good feeling, ie proper ar-
rangements might generally be effected. To be
sure, as his Lordship says, the workmen might,
meanwhile be subjected to undue privations, just
as at this moment, while the friendly Powers ere
interfering for Turkey, she is losing her fleet and
her thousands by actual war. But, as half a war
is better than a whole war, so Lord Palmerston
thinks any discussion, however tedious, however it
may try the patience and fortitude of the operative,
is better than. a strike or a lock-out, which consigns
.a whole population, not to low wages, but to none
at all.

Berza-Palanka, a fortified town, and there receives
the waters of the Timok, which comes up from the
south, and separates Servia from Bulgaria. The
Danube then rolls through a vast plain, but still
bears the impress of its previous struggle, for it
rolls rapidly, but not tumultuously, along. It
grows wider and wider, and its waters are inter-
spersed with isles, which are covered with brush-
wood. It next reaches Widdin, a considerable
town, with a population of about 26,000, and a
garrison of 8,000 or 10,000 men. Widdin is one
of the important fortified places of the military
line of the Danube. It covers the approaches of
Servia, Commands Little Wallachia, the defiles of
Transylvania, and, above all, the opening of the
road which leads through Nissa and Sophia on to
A.drianople. Its form is an irregular pentagon ;
it is strongly bastioned, possess a fortified castle,
with two redoubts in the islands, and its defences
are completed by an extensive marsh. It was
before the walls of Widdin that the Turks were
defeated by the Imperialists in 1689 ; and it was
under cover of its guns that the Ottoman army
effected its passage to Kalafat, which is on the
left bank, and established' itself in Little Wal-
lachia. Below Widdin the river makes a bend,
and then flows on to the east, and waters on
it right bank Argul-Grad, Loin, Zibroul-Palanka,
and Orova, all situate at the confluence 'of the
streams which come up from Veliki-Balkan on the
south, and at the points where the right bank be-
comes lower and ceases to command the left. These
towns present no serious means of defence, but are
sufficient 'to annoy an enemy crossing the stream.
The Danube flows on to the east with some wind-
ings till it reaches the town of Nicopolis, which
was founded by Trajan. Nicopolis is an import-
ant place, owing to its position at the point where
the Oswa enters the Danube, and to its being al-
most right opposite to the Aluta, which also enters
it on the Wallachian side. Its population is 10,000,
and its garrison between 2,000 and 3,000 men. It
has been strongly fortified by Omar Pasha. Oppo-
site, on the Wallachian bank of the river, is the
town of Turna, which served formerly as its tete-
du-pont, until it was dismantled by the Russians
in 1828. It was by that tete-du-pont that the Turks
used to penetrate into the valley of the Aluta, while
Nicopolis covered the route to the Balkans, and
which leads by the defile of Gabrova. It was
taken by the Russians in 1810, and again in 1829.
The ground near it has been the scene of many
battles.
After Nicopolisthe Danube reaches Sistova,where
it is large and &Op enough to bear vessels of 500
tons burden. Its population is estimated at about
12,000. Sistova has a wall flanked with towers, and
a castle; but it is of secondary. importance. It'wa.s
taken and dismantled by the Russians in 1810.
From Widdin to Sistova, the Danube flows from
west to east without many or considerable wind-
ings ; but at Sistova it makes a northern direction.
In its gradual course upwards it reaches Rustchuk,
one of the three most important places of the line
of the Danube. It is situate at the confluence of
the Kara-homf at the extreme point of the great
route from Russia to Constantinople by Vassy, and
Bucharest in Lower Wallachia, and of the two prin-
cipal routes of the Balkans, those of Gabrova and
Shumla. Rustchuk has a fortified castle, which
commands the town and the river, and has been re-
cently fortified. Its population is 30,000, and its
present garrison abotit 7,000. In front of Rust-
clink, and on the left bank is Giurgevo, a Walla-
chian town, which was formerly its tete-du-pont,
and which layed a great part in most of the wars
between the Russians and Turks. It was dismantled
by the latter in 1828.
From the Danube, which up to Rustchuk had
flowed regularly in one bed, issue at this point
several streams, which inundate the country for
eight or ten miles distant. The last slopes of the
Bulgarian mountains dip down towards one bank,
while the other is bounded by patches of low
marshy soil, cut up by other vagrant streams, or by
pools of stagnant water, interspersed with islets
covered with brushwood or with thick reed-
grass. The river, however, soon again gathers
itself into one undivided stream, and rolls on to
Turtukai, situate opposite the point where the
Argisch, flowing down from Wallachia, enters the
Danube. Turtukai which, owing to its important
position, has been regularly fortified, connects the
two important towns of Rustchuk and Silistria ;
and it is, moreover, between these two towns that
both banks of the Danube are equally low, and pre-
sents the points where its passage is without diffi-
culty. Opposite to Turtukai, and about a mile
and a half from the left bank, is the Wa.llachian
village of Oltenitza. It was there that in 1810,
and again in 1829, the Russians passed the Danube.
At the commencement of the war they were also in
force there, when the Turks boldly crossed the
river and beat them.
Silestria is the next place of importance which
the Danube waters in its gradually northward
course. It is situate at the extremity of the prin-
cipalpsclwase7uanstat3ltteigiurma,oaol
ancnreusadrstuipesoalcaofncsenoe:
extensive
th.
ist
oelneal
barracks,nl
proportion
and, after
id:
0,
deaenadenbor
laytnaoobbntSyil
hgethse l itscarriesirhmimei
evglpaeoeon:l wut fortifications,aissannalsisctasetaan ordin-
ary.
pre-
sent annt.
NEW CEMETEY FOR ISLINGTON.—Last night an Ma-
-111 1829. Rustchuk t •
the angles of a triangle which forms, as it were, the
, is ria, and Shumla aro at
citadel of that part of the
oarruTti
havu,ertrwthiseaihdlßevtaaieltnkr
again
niegtsaos,
n.r y which
jteounr,nwedasvehsetlray meetingin th e parisho f th e parishehu reho feSnt.
theM a ry,l
subjectsli ge
2 authorisingo
0001 .
fni.
the
ee
purchase Burial Baonadr d
otherto borrowexpens e
stheef
the
em newof
cemetry at Finehley. The Rev. D. Wilson, the vicar, liesg
r aT idebnaeavt
nyea,e between
so twahiaesits
towards
aa
hutebhnee
presided. Mr. Waller's resolution was that the sum but still
above-mentioned be authorised to be borrowed, repayable
in twenty annual instalments, and the amendment moved out branches, the most considerable of which is
by Mr. Lewis, that arrangements may be made with n . •
orcincoa,
50 miles, but at a distance of from 15 to which flows along the parent stream for
existing Cemetry Companies for the burial of paupers more than
20 ; after which it unites with it by various chan-
ments, and that the subject be referred back to the and that other persons be left to make their own arrange-
Burial Board. A long discussion took place, and on a nels, forming marshy islets
show of hands being taken the numbers were declared whole of the left bank of the—so much so that the
Danube up to Hirsova
to be for the amendment, 63 ; against the amendment, is impracticable. The river then passes to Rassova,
41 ; majority for the amendment, 22. A poll of the a small fortified town, defended in front by impas-
parish was then demanded, and arranged to take place sable marshes. At Ws spot, it is said that the
on Monday and Tuesday next. Danube, in times now remote, continued unvary-

We believe the truth to be very much as Lord
Palmerston puts it. The operatives, at all events,
have been much too precipitate in their recourse to
the last appeal, and do not take sufficient pains to
find those common grounds on which the difference
might be settled, not merely once or twice, but for
good. The present result has undeniably proved
the workpeople to be in the wrong, inasmuch as
the declining course of trade shows that the mas-
ters could not have carried on up to this time a high
rate of production at the same wages as heretofore.
In order to obtain a sale for their stock, low as it
is, they are obliged to submit to a large reduction,
and this reduction they must distribute over the
expenses of the manufacture, particularly on wages,
as the most reducible item. Had there been no
strike, long ere this the masters would have
been obliged to reduce wages or have recourse to
half time. Nobody at this moment can fail to
see the truth' of this. Now, had the operatives al-'
lowed themselves to be warned on this point, which
was, indeed, foreseen—or, at least, thought highly
probable before the commencement of the strike—
it is hardly credible that they would have com-
mitted so suicidal an act as to insist on a rise of
wages at the very time when it was no longer com-
patible with profit to continue the existing rates.
As it is, the operatives have been unwittingly
playing into the hands of their masters ; for, though
the latter did at first lose by the suspension of
work, they are losing no longer, for it is very
doubtful whether the mills, once closed by the
strike, could now re-open with benefit to their
owners, even if the operatives were so disposed.
The same result almost invariably follows all
schisms between the belly and the members. The
members suffer the soonest, the worst, and the
longest. It is possible that the blame does not lie
wholly with the operative. The manufacturer is at
the head of the commercial community ; he is the
captain, the pilot of the vessel, the chief of this
great battle of industry, the king of this busy
industrial realm. But, why are there some men
with more head, more authority, more moral force
than others, if they are not to use those gifts
for the good of mankind, and exhibit a wise,
righteous, and potent pro-eminence in public dis-
cussions ? Much may still be done, doubtless, to
repair the long neglects of the past and bring mas-
ters and men into reasonable communication with
one another. To the fact of those long neglects
we owe the present strike and the credulous and
ignorant character of our working population.
If, instead of the quarrel being pushed to an ex-
tremity at once, it had been referred to something
like free and friendly discussion, with a view to
bringing out all the facts of the question, we are
inclined to think that at this moment the opera-
tives of Lancashire, instead of holding out for
higher wages, would have been submitting with a
very good grace to lower.
It would, of course, have been greatly to their
advantge to do so, as no loss they could have suf-
fered would have come near what they have brought
on themselves by four months of idleness. The
particular ways and means for effecting this ami-
cable adjustment of difference is a question of ex-
treme nicety, which time alone can solve ; but,
doubtless, much may be done by a wish to agree
c —by a proper sense of the mutual obligations of
master and man, and, above all, by a resolute de-
termination not' to be managed and overruled by
designing agitators, who are busiest when others
nate clients are starving.
are unemployed, and best paid when their unfortu-

gb
its
wuet s
tt
he rant
icourseec mto e
bloc
cs
kt ee nd duj ep,
bi ny
lt
ohne g Ba
ecuk.
iraSneiale,sfrom which it is only separated about 50 or 60
monntllantt. At
in gsandbanks,ita itnow
sssor and was forcedatlla ton vseenetlsz a
turnsnew
sharply to the north, and traverses a space of 80
leagues before it empties itself into the Euxine.
In the time of the Romans a wall and ditch, which
extended for 50 miles, from Rassova, to the sea, re-
pelled the invasions of the Dacian, and of that bar-
rier, the Valium Trajani, traces may still be seen.
A canal which would unite the Danube with the
Black Sea at that spot was once projected, and re-
cently plans have been furnished of a railroad,
which would make Rassova the station for vessels
descending the Danube.
The mighty stream after quitting Rassova once
more quits its bed, and scatters it waters, which
flow along a low soil cut up into a maze of
marshes. In this .state it reaches Rirsova, which
is defended by a fortified castle, and has a garrison
of about 2,000 men. This place was taken by the
Russians in 1809 and 1828. Though small, it is of
considerable importance from its position on the
very spot where the Berchicha, returns to the
Danube, and the river itself resumes its course. It
covers the points where a passage might be effected
in the Dobrouscha: The Dobrouscha is the rec-
tangular peninsula comprised between the Danube,
from Rassova to the mouth of the Kilia, Trajan's
Valium, and the Black Sea. It is in many parts
inundated, but has good pasturage for the excel-
lent horses which constitute the sole wealth of the
Tartars who inhabit it. If the Danube be then
passed, the routes by Varna and Shumla to Con-
stantinople are open to an enemy.
After Hirsova, the Danube again loses itself in
many streams, and thus scattered reaches Mathine,
a town protected by two fortified castles and a wall,
and which has now a garrison of about 4;000 men.
Its importance in 1809 and 1828 was considerable,
as its tete-du-pont was the Wallachian Brailow,
though separated from it by four or five acres of
the river, about four or five miles in breadth. In
the latter year it was dismantled by the Russians.,
By means of it Wallachial was turned, and the
entry into Moldavia secured ; and it covered the
Lower Danube and the Dobrouscha. It was many
times besieged, as the Russians could not venture
beyond the Danube with such a place in their rear.
Below Bmilow the Danube again recovers its single
bed, and flows on to Galatz, which is on the left
bank and near the confluence of the Sereth ;—it is
the only port Moldavia possesses on the river.
Once more the waters are divided ; but the Danube
reaches its highest northern point at Reni, where
it resumes its original direction from west to east.
It passes through a district almost entirely inun-
dated, and it hurries on its way through vast lakes.
It is again confined nearly to one bed before it
reaches Isaktchi, where hostilities were commenced
iu the present war by the attack made .n the place
by the Russians. With a fortified castle, and a
garrison of about 1,500 men, Isaktoni is but a post
of observation on the embouchures of the river. The
same may be said of Toultcha, which is the last
fortified place held by the Turks ox the Danube,
and which has a garrison of 1,200 men. Above
Toultcha the river is divided into a great many
arms ; the three most important of which form a
vast delta, which belongs in great part to Russia.
The first division of the delta begins at the island
of Tchatal, where the Danube separates into two
large branches—the first of which, called the Kilia,
takes a northern direction, and reaches Ismail and
Kilia, both taken by the Turks from the Russians,
and which now command the whole of the delta
of the Danube. In former times Ismail was for
the Turks 0, position of the same importance as
Brailow. Its capture by assault, under Suwarrow,
in 1790, when 35,000 of the inhabitants were
involved in a general -massacre, has been celebrated
in prose and poetry. The Kilia, divided and
subdivided into several branches, is scarcely
navigable • at its mouth the water is from four to
seven feeedeep. The second branch is the Sulina,
which flows to the south-east, and is divided into
the two streams St. George and Dunavitz—the lat-
ter, more to the southward, flows into the maritime
lake of Rassien. The Sulina is easy of navigation,
it is from 400 to 600 feet in width, it ought to be
18 to 22 feet. in depth, and flows in an undivided
channel to the sea. The St. George branch is
about 30 feet deep, but its mouth is almost entirely
blocked up with sand. The Dunavitz is not navi-
gable. The mouths of the Danube extend over 70
miles of coast. The delta is formed ,of isles Tchatal
and Leti, between the Kilia and the 'Sulina, of the
Isle St. George, between the Sulina and the St.
George, and of the Isle Portitza between St. George
and the Dunavitz. This last only is possessed by
the Turks, all the rest belong to the Russians, who
intentionally or through negligence, have since the
recent quarrel with the Porte, allowed the sand to
accumulate at the mouth of Sulina so as to do in-
calculable injury to the navigation of the most im-
portant river of Europe. The whole of the delta,
with the exception of the Island of Portitza, which
is a mass of sand, is neither thinly populated nor
poorly cultivated.
The Danube being thus traced in its varied
course from Orsova, where it issues from its rocky
belt to roll its waters through the vast territory
whose eastern boundary is the Euxine, it may
be added that in this, its fourth basin, its passage,
though a difficult operation by reason of the
many isles, the marshy soil of the banks, and
the sudden and frequent inundations, is generally
successful, owing to the immense line 'which an
enemy is forced to guard. The passage from the
left to the, right bank is especially difficult, from
the fact of the former being almost throughout
commanded by the latter, and the want of fortified
positions and bridge-heads to protect such difficult
operations. The spots considered by the Russians
as the least dangerous or uncertain for crossing are
Braova, near the confluence of the Timok, the en-
virons of Widdin, the confluence of the Schyl, isles
near that of the Alnta, Flamounda near Nicopolis,
the ground, contiguous to Giurgevo and. llirsova,
and Brailow, Galatz, and Isaktchi. The Russians
have passed in all these places, but they have never
advanced far into Bulgaria, or towards the Bal-
kans' without being first masters of the forts of
the Danube ; and before these they have invariably
encountered long and formidable resistance. At
the time the Turks were in possession of the
tetes-du-pont of Turna, Giurgevo, Brailow, and
Ismail, they easily commanded all the left bank of
the Danube, which was constantly open to them ;
and the stream, crowned by 18 fortresses, covered
in front by the Dneister and the Pruth, defended
in the rear by the Balkans and the forts which pro-
tected its defiles, formed a magnificent offensive
line. It is, however, now so weakened by the
dismantling of the tetes-du-pont by the possession
of the mouths of the river by Russia, not to s'eak
of the semi-independence of Wallachia and Mol-
davia, that it is merely one of defence.—Times.

MILITARY FUNERAL OF A CLERGYMAN.—A singular
tribute of esteem was paid by the soldiers of the House-
hold Brigade to the memory of a clergyman, whose death
took place at Windsor on the 17th inst.--the Rev. John
Hawtroy, vicar of Kingston Seymour, who had in the
early part of his life been in the
thniDragoongenlgyintimatedmilitaryhpi e
proceeded
eGwt
ehui
ei
entdahi rergdaawss
re, i
ara,. .snorotdamnol
for some time
teaching
aeal
gentleman,
past,
the
hndt elg
cortegeue
ermibsntaygena Ica presenting
temporaryhooserfeydnti
his son, the Rev. Stephen Hawtrey, one of the masters
of Eton, had preached and lectured at the military
church of the Holy Trinity, in the borough of Windsor,
that they
lastth their appreciation
tribute
te
o i rega
regard
thellifhatcoonoirsmdi spiritualntfmhhadtmheasi
osdeidsrl gratifyingisyeot
to
e df
the t h
officers,
cemeteryffic er s deceasedin tafotulEton
bet allowedmilitary
as
follows to
uniformparticipate:
:.—Mutes
ouftthe
si
e;
the funeral ceremony. This being promptly accededn
the hearse, drawn by four horses, with ten of the non-
-Ist Life Guards, walking at each side, by whom the
coffin was afterwards borne to the grave ; four-morn'ing coaches containing the relatives and friends of the
deceased, followed by 16 of the non-commissioned
officers and 1 privates of the 2d Life Guards, from
Regent's Park Barracks, who, at their own request,
formed a deputation from this regiment. The service
was performed by the Rev, the Provost of Eton, cousin
Aithisost aonfcti ehnet
shopsseat in the
closed,ye ars
.
of the deceased, whose family has been connected with
memory of the deceased,
whose a mark of respect to the me.m . .,
versal esteem. A tablet to his memory will be erected
in the military church by the voluntary subscriptions of
the soldiers of the Household Brigade.
the congregation eogatthioenass e i n b
callingl e d i n
—On
whose piety and amiable disposition had gained him uni-
versal
a certain burgh to the northward of
the parish church of
minister f
parish
r ilo learningclEinEeoNf upwardsGp procession ssAi o noefwi 1 were .
this, was disturbed _
EXTRAORDINARY
aloud to his assistant. He was at the time conducting
the service, and had proceeded so far as to give out the
Sunday, th.etlulrbtheciiiibsytatnhtye
text, when he was ordered to desist, and como down
from the pulpit : on which a portion of the congregation
rose and went out. The cause of this was the minister's
desire to conduct that particular part of the service
himself, which the assistant would not allow. On Wed-
nesday, which was observed as a fast day, a somewhat
similar scene took place in the church, a part of the
congregation rising and going out when the minister en-
tered the pulpit,—Aberdeen Free Press.

[PRICE SD.

A SETTLER'S LIFE IN AUSTRALIA.

The following interesting letter has just been re-
ceived from Victoria, in Australia. The writer is
Mr. Henry Edwards, a son of the respected soli-
citor of the same name, at Ross, in Hereford-
shire

" Merrivale' Merri Merri Creek, Melbourne, Sept. 15.
" We landed in Australia on the 22d of June, after
a very delightful voyage of 88 days—a voyage which
I greatly enjoyed, and to which I shall always re-
fer with great pleasure. Three months passed at
sea with the same wide waste of waters' always
around you ; the same face every day before your
eyes, and one unvarying mode of life continued day
after day, may be monotonous, but they bring to
a mind at all capable of receiving beautiful impres-
sions thoughts and feelings which cannot easily pass
away. The sight of lands with the names of which
we have been frmiliar from our very infancy, but which
have existed in our minds only as a far-off vision, the
numberless strange birds and the ' wonders of the deep,'
the gorgeous sunsets, and the no less beautiful moonlit
skics,—all afforded me much food for reflection, and
upon the many objects of deep interest which our voyage
presented to me I shall long dwell with much real satis-
faction. On my arrival here I inquired for my brother,
and on the day after my landing I was so happy as once
more, after four years' separation, to press his honest
hand and to be greeted by his old and cheerful smile.
I need not tell you how much delight this union
has occasioned us both. You well know how deeply
attached to each other we have ever been, ad
you -will easily understand how many a laugh and
many a cry we had, what • tales there were to
tell, what news to communicate, what plans to con,over
for the &tame, whet bright, ensiles we were to,build, np
and what sweet remembrances *We had to recall to each
other other of the happy days passed so pleasantly long
ago in merry England. I am happy to tell you that he
is situated in a very nice farm on the banks of a rather
pretty creek about 8 miles from Melbourne, and that
he is doing and likely to do very well. Farming is a
most profitable occupation in this country, and I have
arrived at a very opportune time for William, as many
occasions call him frequently away from home, and
he has been long wanting some one to superintend
matters in his absence. He has assured me over and
over again that had I been here three years ago we should
both have been rich men now. I have learnt to drive
bullocks, to plough, and divers other such accomplish-
ments which are available here. I find lam able to do
mu eh harder work than I anticipated, and let me assure
you this is the very place in which men must labour if
they intend to succeed. It is very likely that in the
course of a few months or so we shall open a store, either
in town or at the diggings, which I shall take charge
of. People hero do not care what they do in an honest
way to get money, and even since I have been here I
have met many gentlemen of good families and superior
education engaged about what in England would be
regarded as menial occupations. Still, do not fancy
that we cannot find any time to enjoy ourselves. We
do so as far as our circumstances will allow us to do,
and, by greasing the wheels of Time's chariot, we
manage to make it run on merrily with its burden,
We take our guns on a day when we have little else to
do and enjoy some sport, or wander off among the
forests of gum trees in pursuit of plants and insects,
which, as you know, always possessed for me such
' lasting charms. Our house is a tolerably large and
comfortable one. Will's wife is a good, kind, intel-
lectual woman, and his little boy one of the sweetest
children I ever saw. You will, therefore, easily
believe that we are happy together. We only want a
few of the treasured friends of home around us to
complete our comfort, and a glimpse now and then of
the busier world among which you are moving.
This is a strange country. I can call it truly the
land of liberty,' but not the land of grandeur and
of beauty.' The district for many miles around Mel-
bourne is (with here and there exceptions) either in the
shape of farms or vast arid plains, one unbounded
forest of gum trees and a few other tall shrubs.
Near the town, and, in fact, for 12 or 14 miles'
distance, every way the country is somewhat thickly
populated, and small townships are springing up every
week around us. As you advance further towards the
interior you find fewer houses and more of the bush or
primeval forest, as it existed before the white man set his
foot upon the shores. There are few hills, and, conse-
quently, few scenes which would strike the beholder
as being at all beautiful, when compared with the
lovely valleys and mountains of the old countries. The
bush itself is everywhere the ulnae, the trees all of the
same character, and presenting but very few distinct
species. They are mostly ill grown and shedding their
bark, instead of their leaevs, have a very curious ap-
pearance. There is no underwood of any kind whatever,
but thousands of strange and beautiful plants spring up
in the sward under our feet, rendering the country
one of deep interest to one, like myself, an enthusiast in
botanical pursuits.

"The siving is now coming on, and every day as I
walk along I meet with some treasure or other, most of
which my brother is able to name for me ; with the
warm days, too, swarms of insects of the brightest
colours and most singular forms appear, and at every
step you take upon a stony bank you startle sonic little
lizard which has been basking in the sun, and darts like
lightning from the gaze of the' intruder. Snakes, too,
many of them venomous, are numerous, but as yet I
have not made acquaintance with any of them, nor do
I much desire an introduction. In the gum trees about
our house hundreds of those curious little animals—the
opossum—are found ; they appear only at night, and we
frequently amuse ourselves, when the moon is bright,
by shooting them for the sakel of their skins, which are
much valued for rugs and coats.
"The curious duck-billed platypus is found in our
creek in the summer in considerable quantities, and loads
of quail and wild ducks are always to be had by dint of
a little of that exertion which is always so pleasing to
the sportsman. The birds of the colony possess great
attractions for me. I have taught myself to skin pretty
well since I have been here, and have already managed "
to get between 40 and 50 species. Parrots of the most
brilliant plumage are so common that I have frequently
brought home from 20 to 30 in my pockets, the work of
one afternoon's slaughter. They are delicious eating,
and when well-cooked are a perfect treat. I often
think, when I shoot a parrot, how glad may of my
friends in England would be to have him for a pet.
The lemon-crested cockatoo, also, which is so often kept
in England in cages, is extremely abundant in the sum-
mer season, and is very destructive, to the crops, doing
more harm than the rooks at home. They are very wary
rascals and have made me very often in an unamiable
humour. I have seen some thousands since I have been
here, but have never been so fortunate as to kill a single
bird. A flock of them have taken a great fancy to a
patch of barley which has been recently sown near the
house. They generally make their attack upon it in the
morning, and my first act for the last few days has con-
stantly been to seize my gun and rush outside. lam
sure to find my friends, the cockatoos, at their feast, but
they never allow me to get nearer to them than about
150 yards. I put a couple of bullets among them yes-
terday morning, but only frightened them away. I still
hope in a day or two to make an example of some one of
them, and, if I do, I think I may be tempted to forego
the pleasure of skinning him, and hang him up in the
field instead, as a warning to future depredators. We
went last week to a range of hills on the River Plenty,
about 30 miles from Melbourne, to cut down poles for
fences, and from this journey I got some fresh ideas of
the Australian productions.
"We went in a new district, or a new geological for-
mation, and consequently found new birds, new plants'
and new insects. We were out three days
from home,
as we had our bullock-drays with us, and the bullocks
are but slow travellers. lam beginning thoroughly to
enjoy the somewhat rough life
peculiar to
and think, in time, I shall make a very g I
hall then post thisood bus
fhtenhei:.
let-
man.
the country,
I go into town about once a.week, and frequently oftener.
I hope to be there to-morrow with Will, to dine with
is
old friend, Major Davidson-s
ter. Melbourne, for its age,
is a most wonderful place.
It is tolerably well, thoug" irregularly built ; the streets
badly paved, and the shops
very good indeed• Wide
awake straight and wide,
thoughawake hats, high boots, red
and blue shirts, long
beard,V and short pipes are common
though the in nts of Melbourne itself dress ex-
actly as peoP.-, in price, but I believe are on the
all kinds are very
Put to much inconvenience sometimes
decline. We are d little to which
• enable to procure things
by not being
in England we have been accustomed, but, like the eels,
eve become used to it.
"Gold is still being found in prodigious quantities, and
it is more than likely that by the time this reaches you
I shall have joined the hand of diggers, for the sake of
seeingwhat the diggings are like more than with any
thought of realising a rapid fortune. If we can manage
it, Will and myself will go together for two or three
months, by which time our crops will be fit to cut, and
we shall return home. You shall hear of our doings
there, if we go. A new Lieutenant-Governor is ex-
pected daily here, though we know not who he is to be.
Latrobe is not popular among the masses. It is said
that he truckles too much to the Government at home,
but it is my opinion that no human being would please
the whole of the colonists. We shall see whet his suc-
cessor may turn out.
" If you know of any one who thinks of coming out
here, tell him that he must be prepared to endure priva-
i tions and hardships which at home he has never dreamt
of ; that he must work as hard as any day labourer if he
wishes to succeed ; that he will come among a lot, of
men, for the most part very low in the intellectual stan-
dard, bent entirely upon making money, and selfish to
the worst degree ; that he must rid his mind of the idea
of a pleasure trip ; that the climate of Australia is not
what it has been painted, but that it is bitterly cold and
wet in the winter, and burning hot in the summer ; that
employment, except in such occupations as carpenters,
farm servants, bullock drivers, blacksmiths, &c., is very
scarce ; that gold is not found upon the surface of the
ground, and is only to be obtained by much and labo-
rious toil ; that many of the comforts of civilised life
must be dispensed with, and, in short, that if he is well
settled at home, with anything like a good prospect be-
fore him for the future, he had better stay, unless he may
have a capital of 3001, or 4001. and can make up his
mind to endure hardships, in which case, with a little