The Sun.
London, England, 1809-08-29 00:00:00

~COL,'RTS

A General Court-Martial Alas sat ten days in Ports-
mouth garrison, on. Mr...Moreton, Apothecary to.
t! e Forces, and Storekeepei at .Portchester Castle, on,_
charges of embezz.lipg public stores, .and. of burning,
public:papers. The Court broke up on Friday morn-;
jog,. hav,itig determined on their sentence'; and for.-
warded it tor his Majesty's approval.--Major-Gen.,
Porter, President.—captain Nixon (Atd-du-Camp to,
General Whetham our Lietitenaift:Governor), Judge-
Aiivacate. Mr. Moreton was .assisted by 11. W.
Missing, Esq. .Barister at Law, and Mr. Capel,
, - .

. . .
On Wednesday aCourt-Martial was heldiptTorti-
mom h, on•Lieunmant Amos '.l..reetuart Westropp, of
his. Majesty's ship .SuT'yeilli.;nte, to enquire into the
cause and circumstances attending a hurt; stated to
have-been received by John Louth, a pensioner in
Greenwieh Hospital, anct formerly a seaman belongt
log to the Surveiltante; occasioned by a beating he re-
ceived with the ends of ropes, by three Boatswain's
Mates at one time thrashing him, which wa.s inflicted
by order, and in the
.presence of, Lieutenant .West-
ropp, and to fry him for his condud on that oCca
tion.—The -Court having most attentively heatd all
the circumstances of the case, pronounced, that the
charge was not proved, and that Lieut. Westropp vas
Acquitted. Lieutenant W. is brother-in-laW to Lord
Clarina. The President, Captain Irwiti,.(alludingto •
the eitdordinary high character tor humanity, zeal
and 'skill, produced by Lieutenant.- W. on iiisdeL,
fence) in renaming Lieutenant W.:his-sword, said;
" it was the wish of the Court that, he may long con-
tinue to qse it, with the same honour that he had
done."
A. General Court-Martial has lately been:held at
Plymouth Dock, on. a private, Simon Pick, belong 7
ing to .the Dorset regiment .of Militia, " for haying-
deserted, on or about the Bth of December last, from
the-said regiment of Militia, and confirming absent
until brought back under an escort with a War.
Office mule." The Court finding shim guilty of the
critne.preterred. against him, sentenced him to serve
abroad, for life; in such corps as his Majesty might
be pleased to dire&.
- -

A General Court -Martial has also been held at
Belfast; on David Thompson, private in the 2d Bat"-
talion of the 72. d Regiment of Foot, for having de-.
serted frotn'tbesSaid Battalion on the 14th of No-
vember, 1807,•-highly aggravated by his having de- -
serted on a former occasion, for which otience he was'
pardoned."-2d, " For having persuaded James
-IVioody,'la boy, belonging to the same,battalion, to.
desert with him on the 14th of Nov. 1807.' The
Court having found him Guilty of the crimes laid to
his charge, sentenced him to be—iransportedfir
as afelon.

EXTRAORDIAARY ANIMAL.

The following account is' translated from the
French Moniteur of the 9th instant. • It is dared
Grenoble, August r, and contains int:resting par-
ticulars "reputing the pas Sage of at. unknown ani-
mal, supposed to be a reptile, but
_of a tremendous
size, through the common of Bernin. The account
was written by the Mayor of Grenoble : •
" During the night of the .14th of-July last, the
dogs in the village of Bernin were heard to bark in
an extraordinary manner. Those at the. lower part
of thp common began, and successively those be-
longing to the houses on the upper part betrayed the
same ign of anxiety, at More than half a. mile dis-
tance. The next morning the trace of an enormous
animal, of hich no one could form a just idea, was
observed, and led to a supposition of its being of the
serpent kind. It seemed to have issued from the
hati_ks of the Ler, and directed its course toWard4
the mountains, crossing a space•of two miles in ex-
tent, along which its path was plainly visible through
the meadows, corn, and hemp fields, ploughed
grounds, and even the public roads. It slightly
waved its inovetnents, and was from 12 to 10 inches
in. brea,.tth: . At its arrival in the neighbourhood of
the first village, it met with a hedge of deadwood,
and chose at a middle height, the place where the
branches were least entangled, to etfea its passage.
It crushed every thorn as completely as if they had
been intentionally destroyed, At a short distance
from this spot, it seemed to have rested itself under-
a tree, as a circular space seven feet-and a half in
diameter was observed, where the ground had sunk
a little under its weight. On resuming its course,
it altered its, direaion, which hooves es still pointed
towards the heights: On reaching the public road,
it was compelled to pass • through -a- quick hedge,
three large branches of which were found broken.
Its trace still-remained perfectly visible in the Mid- ,
rile of the road, and on, its sides. It proceeded as .
•far as the most elevated part of the common, where
:its trace was suddenly lost-in a torrent. Till thenit
•had followed. the inequalities of the ground, and in
-the corn and hemp•fields.Which it had-crossed, the
blades were found completely crushed, without ;any
,trampling on -the left dr On' the Tight, which •inight
have induced a 'belielthat merrthad oceaSioned -that.
devastation: - According to • the width. cif its-path,
which,giVes pretty accuratelythe.diannetexofitssize,
this-animal must be -upwards of direeleet in cireuro-
,ference: It has not _been seen by. any person; but
its trace has been .observed again on the-common of
Croll-dsl,:trOai which it way be; thought that it,has
once mote descended towards the river." .