The Sun.
London, England, 1854-08-23 00:00:00

THE CHOLERA.

MILBANK PRlSON.—Yesterday afternoon Mr. Bed-
ford had two more inquests on view of the bodies of
pris • oners who died of Asiatic cholera. The first was
respecting the death of Thomas Brestow, aged 49,
who was a single man. Mr. Samuel M'lntyre, clerk to
the prison, said that deceased was received from Swaff-
bam gaol on the 30th December last, under sentence of
ten years' transportation, having been convicted of steal-
ing clothing and a quantity of food after several previous
convictions. The coroner read the order for his removal,
from which it appeared that the deseased had been re-
peatedly imprisoned, and that on the last conviction
he expressed a wish to be transported. The wit-
ness, in answer to the coroner, stated that 700 prisoners
had been transferred to the barracks at Dorchester, and
that there were 400 in the gaol. Mr. G. Attfield, resi-
dent surgeon, said that deceased came under his notice
on the Bth inst., when he was in the infirmary suffering
from diarrhoea. This passed into Asiatic cholera, from
which he recovered. He was again attacked, and died
on the 18th, at eleven p.m., in the secondary stage of
the disease, from low fever. The coroner asked if there
was any report forwarded from Dorchester of the health
of the prisoners who were sent there. Mr. Attfield
replied that there had, and there was not a case of,
cholera among them ; they were all in good health.
He further stated that there were only ten cases of cho-
lera in the prison, and that there had not been any one
attacked with it during the last three days. Juror—
Have there been many who bave recovered from
Asiatic cholera ? Witness—Yes, thirty-two. These
were distinct cases of cholera, and quite as severe as
were those of many who have died. Coroner—lt was
sati,factory to know that there were cases recovered
which were quite as bad as those that have terminated
fatally. The next case related to the death of Joseph
Bowles, aged 36, a married man, who was received into
the prison on the IBth of February. He was sentenced
to 15 years' transportation for stealing shawls and other
articles. Among the previous convictions were two for
breach cf the game-laws, in one of which he committed
an assault. Mr. Attfield attended him in the infirmary on
the 7th. His symptoms were the same as the last, and
he died on Saturday morning early of Asiatic cholera.
In the above cases the jury returned a verdict of " Death
from Asiatic cholera."

SPREAD OF CROLERA.—Th. Belfast Banner, of Satur-
day, contains the following report of the spread of cho-
lera in Antrim, Lisburn, and Larne :—" We regret to
state that since Tuesday last no fewer than thirteen
cases of cholera, five of which proved fatal, have occur-
red in the small town of Antrim. Every exertion is
being made by the inhabitants to stay the progress of
the malady. There has been only one case of cholera
reported in Lisburn during the week. The number of
cases in the town since the first appearance of the epi-
demic has been 120, of which 50 proved fatal. We
understand that cholera has broken out in Larne, and
that during the last week four cases have appeared.
Prompt measures are being taken to arrest the conta-
gion. Dr. Knox, M. 1., visited the locality within these
few days, and gave instructions to those concerned as to
the mode of treatment, &c."

ENGL/SHAIAN ABROAD.—An Englishman, living
in Russia, was perpetually annoyed for some time by
being summoned to the police-office. At last, after hav-
ing answered the same questions for the ninth or tenth
time, he mildly requested his friend at the police (for a
sort of intimacy had sprung up between them, from fre- '
quent interviews) to inform him, as a pure matter of po-
liteness, why he was harassed so often on the same sub-
jent. Thus gently pressed, the official raised his eye-
brows, and, as if by accident, opened a drawer which
contained a few rubles, and shut it to with a musical
jingle. The sound seemeul to put him into a cheerful
temper, and he gave a sort of smiling explanation, quite
refreshing, from its long words and total want of mean-
ing. The Briton, however, understood him ; and, after
they had shaken ,hands at parting, the man in office but-
toned up his pocket, and assured his visitor, agreeably,
that he would not be troubled any more—nor was he.
The means here hinted at, however, must be used cau-
tiously. An Englishman in Austria, who was sum-
moned before the police, without being able to under-
stand why, put his hand bluffly into his pocket, and
offered to fee the chief commissioner, without any cere-
mony but a wink. The next day he was sent to the
frontier, for an attempt to bribe a royal and imperial
officer in the discharge of his duty. His courier, how-
ever, used to say that the eyes of the royal and imperial
officer sparkled oddly when the offer was made to him ;
but looked round the room in despair at the number of
witnesses, and the light in his eyes died away.—The
Roving Englishman.
RllSSlA.—Anciently the country, now known as Rus-
sia, was called Sarmatia. It was probably peopled at
first by races of men who passed into Europe by the
country north of the Euxine. Their original residence
was along the rivers Kur and Araxes, or the mountains
between the Euxine and Caspian. The name of Ros,
Rua, or Russian may be clearly recognised in the Roxo-
lani of Pliny, Ptolemy, Strabo, and Tacitus. The two
last-named historians menticn the Roxolani as highly
distinguished among tne Sarmatian tribes, inhabiting
the countries between the Don and the Dnieper (Borys-
thence). Before the close of the fifth century Sarmatia
was overrun by numerous migratory hordes of Alans,
Huns, Avarians, Bulgarians, Ishudi, and Slavi, or Scla-
vonians. All these tribes maintained themselves by
pasture and the chase' and exhibited the usual barbarism
of ancient nomades. The Sclavonians, coming from the
northern Danube, and spreading themselves along the
Dnieper, in the fifth and sixth centuries, early acquired,
from a commerce with their sourthern neighbours, habits
of civilised life, and embraced the Christian religion.
They founded the two cities of Novgorod and Kiof,
which early attained a commercial importance. Their
wealth tempted the cupidity of the Verangians, a race
of bold pirates who infested the coasts of the Baltic. One
of their chiefs, Runic, who arrived in the country in the
year 862, united his people with those already occupying
the soil, and so laid the foundation of the Russian empire.
Taking the political boundary, Russia in Europe may
contain a surface of about 1,700,000 square miles, and a
population of probably upwards of 60,000,000. The census
taken in 1836 makes the number 59,133,566. This vast
population consists of many races, differing greatly from
each other, in language, in manners, and in disposition.
Slavonians, or Russians, properly so called, are the pre-
dominate race ; they chiefly inhabit the country towards
the Baltic, and eastward into the centre, and are esti-
mated at more than two-thirds of the whole. The Finns
in the north-west amount to nearly 3,000,000 ; the
Lithuanians 2,000,000; the Tartars rather more than
2,000,000 ; the tribes of Caucasus 1,400,000 ; the Ger-
mans and Jews about 1,000;000 ; the Samoyedes,
70,000. But the tribes in Asia and America are esti-
mated, or rather guessed at, in order to make up the
total population as above stated. From the Govern.
ment account it appears that Russia is upon the wholes
a very healthy country, and that the increase of it
population is at least as rapid as the averagel millions of
all
Europe. According to the census, nearly o
are the property of the crown, and 114 millionsthsetrict
pro-
perty of the nobles ; but though these are aa
glebce and can be bought and sold along with the lands,
in
they are not slaves, but peasants, most of them easy
circumstances according to their way of life, aondthe many
of y
of them rich. The popular namees siren t
this country is "Boors," from the German.bauer, a far-
mer of cultivator of the ground.--Rusts, time People,
Country, and Government.
THE LAKE DISTRICT.—AMBLESIDE, Aug. 19.—This
beautiful and romantic region has attracted an unusual
number of summer tourists this season ; Ambleside,
Witelermere, Bowness, Grassmere, Coniston, Ulverston,
and Keswick are quite full of visitors, and innkeepers,
lodginghouse-keepers, and coach proprietors are making
profitable season. The mountain and lake districts of
aaWestmoreland and Cumberland are impenetrable by
railway: and the nearest approach from the south is by
the Kendal and Windermere line, which has conveyed
above 1,000 more first-class passengers this year than
during any former season. The district is now very well
supplied with stage-coaches and omnibuses, and villages
well in the interior of the country aro becoming favourite
places of resort. A company has two handsome steam-
yachts plying on Windermere, which are well supported
by the public. Lord John Russell and family are
sojournins at Lowood, a pretty villages on the shores of
Windermere, near to Ambleside and-Rydal.