The Sun.
London, England, 1836-12-30 00:00:00

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THE SUN, LONMN, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1836.

XtIE SNOW STORM.

1. • • L.'
ryeehttrot annohnce any pesitive
but, on the contrary, rather an increase, of the snow
yesterday, vet there is a 'decided change ih th Weather,
which holds but the expectation of diminution of the
sudden and eenhart'asSing Visitation with Willa We haVe
been ever Whelmed. Yesterday &ening the ainteSphere
became decidedly milder, and the kind Vecti to the West-
ward. The elonds•, Ifnive\'et• aN still heaVy, and have the
appearance 4 h "i";ontinuance of the snow. But it will be
some advantage if a thaw comes so strong as tO plat an
stop to the drift, which has bneen hanSe of the
obstructions to otir 'C'ohithiliVications with the provinces.
By the PtAt t_,‘ce return, which we subjoin, it will be
sett that at eight o'clock last night all the mails from the
interior of the country, which were reported absent; nu the
previous day, had arrived with the exception of ewe. At a
later hour the 117tA:rt-tecer trail also arrived, after a very
tedious and diflicult journey. Stage coaches also froth dif.
ferent parts of the country, which had Weft due for some
days, began to make their ntiptzttance, and the intercourse,
after some days nf hhally total cessation, is now resuming
somethift tiLe its ordinary course. Much inconvenience,
however, is still felt, and still more is apprehended, from
the effects of the unusual and unlooked-for irregularity in
the arrival of remittances. It is said that there is now an
accumulation of dishonoured bills at the various banking-
}tenses in town, so much beyond precedent or expectation,
that it leaves no doubt an enormous majority of them are
from the delay of remittances in consequence of the snow
storm. An Fivening Contemporary states that one banking-
hot-,e In the City had to note 182 bills on Wednesday night,
which had no names, in case of need, attached to them. A
considerable number of them had, however, been taken up
yesterday, by the arrival of the snail-bags of Monday and
Tuctdtky.
Very general fears were entertained that there would be
considerable loss of life, or at least of property, and inquiry
has been made, with a view to ascertain if these fears were
well founded. We are happy to say that, as far as our in-
formation goes at present, the lamentable occurrence at
Lewes is the only one calculated to support the apprehen-
sions which were excited. But in the absence of any authen-
tic information, a great many rumours of a sinister com-
plexion were afloat. Among other reports which were cur-
rent in the City, it was stated that the guard of the Brighton
mail, whose illness was before mentioned, was dead ; but
the report, we are happy to say, has not been corroborated.
The few accounts received from the provinces during
yesterday were of rather a gloomy description. The at-
mosphere still appears to be loaded with snow, and a se-
cond heavy descent is feared. The quantity that has fallen
since Monday morning is not great, but the storm com-
menced in the country earlier than we had it in the me-
tropolis.

The Dover mail sent out on Wednesday night only
reached Rochester, and then turned back. Beyond the
country is deeply buried in snow, and there has been no
communication by horse or foot downward since Sunday.
By Chatham Lines the snow is from 30 to 40 feet deep.
Application having on Tuesday been made to the Com-
mandant of the Forces stationed at Chatham, by the Sur-
veyor of Roads, for assistance, all the military were ordered
out, and about 600 men have ever since been employed
in clearing the roads. They are principally sappers and
miners, and commenced with the road upwards, which in
the hollow of Gadshill and other vales was very deep in
snow. Between Rochester and London the roads are now
reported to be good, and the flies and omnibuses have re-
sumed their traffic between Rochester and Gravesend.

The Stroud mail, due on Tuesday morning, did not ar-
rive till a quarter before six o'clock_on Wednesday evening,
and then in a post-chaise and four from Benson.

Between Witney and Cheltenham the ground is exceed.
ingly heavy with sncw, but by the exertions made in clear.
ing the roads, the Gloucester mail was brought in by 1
o'clock yesterday morning.

The guard of the Hull mail came in with the mail due
on Monday, at 22 minutes before two o'clock yesterday af-
ternoon. The coach had been left beyond Lincoln, bu-
ried in snow, and from Lincoln the journey was performed
in a post-chaise. Between Watton and Stevenage the
chaise was fast stuck in snow, and a delay of two hours and
a half took place before it could be dug out. At Bal-
dock the guard was again stopped by a drift, and was
obliged to return to the inn and wait till the road could be
cleared.

The Hope Halifax coaches, due since Sunday, have no
been heard of.

The Red Rover, of Liverpool and Birmingham, arrived
yesterday afternoon.
A gentleman who was at Maidstone on Wednesday
states that on that day he walked thence to Chatham, and
by diverging from the road, and keeping along the ridges
of hills, or by the side of the Medway, he managed tolerably
well. The hollows by Blue Bell Inn, and by Kits Cotty
House, were deep in snow. He returned from Chatham
to Gravesend yesterday by coach, and found the road ge-
nerally well cleared. From Gravesend he reached Lon-
don by the steamer. There is no ice on the river ; but
from the high winds much damage is reported to have been
done to the fishing smacks of Harwich, and to the colliers
and other craft.

At Stroud, near Rochester, at the bottom of the bill near
the milestone, a cottage was completely buried in snow'
and the inmates had to be dug out.

The first delivery of general-post letters commenced yes•
terday at 11 o'clock, and a second took place at 3 o'clock,
and it was announced that all letters received after the last
hour would be sent out by the two penny post.

It was likewise announced that all tile.mails would be
sent out at the usual hour.

At four o'clock yesterday afternoon, a second list was
exhibited at the Post-office ; but the only alteration was
the announcement of the arrival of the Bath mail, due in
the morning.
No further official notice was posted up to the closing
of the office gates last night.
The last account of the Leeds mail leaves it fixed be-
tween Melton Mowbray mid Northampton. Two passengers
from it got over to Stamford, and continued their journey
by the Glasgow mail.
The Glasgow mail, due on Tuesday morning, arrived
between five and six o'clock yesterday evening. The guard
left London on Sunday night, and had a most arduous
journey down to Grantham, where a fresh guard took his
place. On his return up the great difficulty was the want
of fresh horses.

The post-horses are generally reported as dead beat on
the various roads, and those post-masters who have fresh
horses are not disposed to let them out.
All the mails went out last night.

Coaches were started yesterday afternoon and evening
from most of the principal inns on an experimental journey.
They mostly went out well loaded.
No coach has been able to make the journey from Maid-
stone to London, by Footscray since Sunday.
In none of the suburban districts of the metropolis have
the effects of the late dreadful snow storm been more
severely felt than in Chelsea, Battersea, Wandsworth, Mer-
ton, Fulham, Hammersmith, Teddington, and Richmond.
The poorer classes of these places had scarcely recovered
the disastrous consequences of a hurricane which long will
be remembered by them than they had to contend against
the effects of another, which, at present, are likely to be-
come infinitely more calamitous. The condition of the fisher-
men and their families, who principally reside in little huts
along the side of the river, especially at Battersea Marshes,
is truly distressing. The major part of them, from being
unable to obtain employment, are in the greatest state of
destitution, and suffering the pangs of cold and hunger.
These poor creatures are also in great dread that when a
thaw takes place their dwellings will be washed away
by the high tide of the river. The watermen, lighter-
men, and bargemen are also prevented working their
craft from the severity of the season, and considerable losses
have been sustained by merchants and others above
bridge, in not being able to obtain conveyances for their
merchandise to the several wharfs and docks on the river
below bridge. The masts and spars of the barges and
lighters are covered with ice, and the rigging and canvass
completely frozen. In Chelsea, where there are a gryat
number of boat-builders, the workmen employed at this
business in repairing and getting ready noblemen's and gen-
tlemen's yachts and pleasure-boats, for the ensuing aquatic
season are unable to follow their occupation from the incle-
mency of the season, it being necessary for them, in some
instances, to work on the river. The market-gardeners of
the before-mentioned placos have been particularly embar-
rassed by the late snow-storm, and have sustained heavy
losses from being unable to obtain an expeditious transit of
their carts and wagons, in consequence of the roads from
those districts to the metropolitan markets being rendered
almost impassable from the effect of this unprecedented fall
of snow, and by which circumstance they have been pre-
vented obtaining quick and ready sales for their several com-
modities. The operative gardeners are almost starving,being
prevented working on their employers' grounds from the
snow, which is in many places some feet deep. The roads of
the above-named places, especially the King's-road, Chel-
sea, are covered with snow, which in many sheltered situa-
tions facing the south has melted, and afterwards frozen,which
has rendered walking on them extremely unpleasant and
dangerous to pedestrians. The grounds and parks of noble-
men's mansions and gentlemens' villas, for miles West of
London, are in a sad state, and many valuable plants and
shrubs have died from being buried in the snow. The
gardens of the squares of the West-end of the town, parti-
cularly Belgrave, Eaton, Grosvenor, Cavendish, and Hano-
ver squares, present a melancholy appearance, and it is an-
ticipated by the gardeners and keepers of the same that,
on removal of the snow, it will be found that they
have sustained considerable damage. It is, however,
gratifying to find that a subscription has been commenced
by several benevolent ladies and gentlenien of Chelsea

towards the relief of their miserable and destitute fellow-
ttetures; This subscription, we are happy to say, goes on
piotperbUsl atA it is Undbisibbd that the benefits of the
§aitie are ottlS extended to residents in the districtS thel-
Sea. It is to lie hbped that sit-1111r undertakings will be set
'on foot in the btlibr phiceS hattled at the commencement of
thiS pati-agi-aph; the hutillilet. 61' arb equally,
if not ltiore dts4esseet...

tth Whiiitta.oonsidei'rible flocks of fieldfares, star-
lings, and rnipes hai,e been seen in Hackney-marshes the
last fetV days; *Mt oetaSi'phall? tviid dtibicy and geese—a
tiroht Ot the i'nOethency of tlai WeatilePi and a tirdLitiogiicii-
tion idf its continuance:

Yesterday morning theho4 of ah old intim Of the name
of Mason, who was occasionally eniployed as a pt3rter to
brokers was found in a loft in Montague•street, White-
cltapeli where he was accustomed to sleep. From the rigid
appearance of the muscles it is supposed that he died from
the inclettleney nt thti wnattieh thn phut heihg rr much.
et:posed.
HULL.—On Friday we were visited by a storm of snow
with a sharp frost, which, accompanied by high winds, fre-
quently amounting to a hurricane, have continued to the pre-
sent time, almost without intermission. The fall of hail and
snow exceeds anything we have witnessed for several years.
Since Saturday all the mails have been either delayed or en-
tirely stopped. The London mail, on Saturday, arrived nearly
two hours after time. The Leeds mail, due on Saturday
noon, was not received until Sunday, and the London mail,
due on Sunday afternoon at three o'clock, did not arrive
until seven o'clock last night. The mail which left York for
this town at half-past seven on Sunday evening, arrived at
Market- Weighton at nine, beyond which plate, from the
depth of snow and the danger of the roads, it was not practi-
cable to take the coach. Two guards took each a horse and
set off with bags for Beverley, the next stage, but did not
arrive at that town until nine o'clock yesterday morning,
having lost their way, and been out in all the dreadful storm
of Sunday night. They finally arrived at their destination
about half-past 11 yesterday—nearly twelve hours beyond
the appointed time. During yesterday the squally clouds of
hail, snow, and sleet have occasionally been almost sufficient
to blind us in the streets. But quietly domiciled in tom n,
even with the evidence of eyes and ears which the above cir-
cumstances afford, we had no idea that on the entensive
plain surrounding Hull, the effects were at all equal to
what they appear to be from another fact. At four o'clock
the chaise and four which had arrived with the mail from
Beverley, a little before noon, was despatched with the
return bags, but proceeded no farther than the toll-bar, a
distance of two miles, when they found the road impass-
able for wheeled vehicles. The bags were forwarded on
horseback, and the chaise returned. The driver states
that a cart of Mr. Rudston's, together with the shaft •
horse, were completely embedded and covered with snow.
Poor Cockneys, how ye are doomed to be abridged in
Christmas festivities ! Last year a steamer, loaded with
prime wether mutton and fowls, prepared for many a Lon-
don dinner, took fire before she left the Humber. On this
occasion, having a cargo of well-dressed turkeys, no way
inferior to former consignment, the same steamer, having
been despatched on Saturday, was fortunate enough to re-
gain this harbour on Sunday, with loss of bulwarks, B:c.,
having encountered, off Norfolk, such weather as baffled
her experienced commander to discover exactly where she
was. Trifling aside, it is feared more serious effects are
yet to be heard of the extraordinary severe weather, which
still continues with unabated fierceness. The London bags,
despatched yesterday morning, were returned to the Post-
office in the evening, the guard having been able to pro-
ceed only six miles after crossing the Humber.—Hull Ob-
server of Tuesday.
MANCHESTER.—On Saturday and Sunday last a very
heavy fall of snow caused the obstruction of several roads
in the counties of Derby, Warwick, and Leicester, and
thus led to a temporary cessation of the communication
between this town and the metropolis, and indeed between
Birmingham and London, and between this town and
Sheffield by one of the roads, that by Glossop and through
the Woodlands ; but the Woodhead road to Sheffield
continues open.
The fall of snow here on Saturday was considerable, but
not so heavy as to give rise to any apprehensions as to the
state of the roads south of this town. But the delay of
the mail and other coaches on Sunday was so considerable
as to cause no small sensation in the town.

The state of the roads, as evinced by the delays, was
made much more difficult of passage during Sunday night,
and the south coaches due in this town on Monday either
did not arrive till yesterday, or had not arrived at all up
to midnight. The London mail, due at a quarter before
three o'clock on Monday afternoon, did not get in till three
o'clock yesterday morning. The Derby mail, due at half-
past four o'clock- Monday afternoon, arrived about half-past
une o'clock yesterday morning.
_

Yesterday this state of the roads appeared to have con-
tinued, and up to this hour (Tuesday midnight) the Lon-
don and Derby mail, due yesterday afternoon, have not ar-
rived. The north mail, due at half-past seven o'clock yes-
terday morning got in about eleven.
The principal roads which have thus been rendered, for
a time, nearly or wholly impassable, are the road to Sheffield
by Glossop and the Woodlands, which is choked up beyond
Glossop, in the wild district of the Woodlands ; the London
road in the south of Warwickshire ; also between Ashbourn
and Derby (where one of the mails is said to be stopped) ;
and it is also said to be impassable a short distance south of
Leicester, where some coaches are stated to be detained. On
Monday the London and Liverpool mail was stopped near
Newcastle-under-Lyne ; but it was subsequently cut out of
the snow, and dragged out of the spot in which it had become
imbedded by several strong draught horses. Its appearance
as it entered Newcastle, was very singular : large masses of
snow adhered to it, and altogether it looked as if it had been
overwhelmed and buried in some drift. Seventeen coaches
(and it is probable that the Estafette and eight fast coaches
running between this town and the metropolis, are of the
number) are stated to have stuck fast at or near Dunchurch,
which is about a stage south of Coventry. The road be-
tween the town and Leeds, and that between here and
Birmingham, are free from any considerable obstruction ;
but we understand that in consequence of the stoppage near
Dunchurch becoming known yesterday morning at Bir-
mingham, the proprietors of the coaches running between
that town and the metropolis determined not to run their
coaches, and we are assured that not one coach left Bir-
mingham for the metropolis during yesterday.
In this town during Sunday and Monday the frost con-
tinued to be severe, with a keen north-east wind, and occa-
sionally a slight shower of snow ; towards evening yester-
day there were some indications of a thaw, but it is possible
that they were only the local effect of a heavy fall of snow
somewhere in the neighbourhood.
Up to the time of our going to press (four o'clock this
morning) the London mail due yesterday afternoon bad not
arrived, so that we have received no London newspapers of
Monday evening. Even the morning papers of the day,
which come through Birmingham, and which ought to have
been in Manchester yesterday morning at half-past six,
have not come to hand, being no doubt stopped between
London and Birmingham.—Manchester Guardian of
Wednesday.
BRISTOL.—A very heavy fall of snow, accompanied by
most violent gusts of wind, took place on Saturday and
Sunday last, which had the effect of obstructing and ren-
dering impassable the road betwixt this city and London.
On Marlborough downs and neighbourhood the drift had
accumulated the snow fourteen feet in depth in some places,
and it became necessary to remove it by manual labour to
the extent of four miles. 'With this object large gangs of
men have been employed, without effectually opening the
communication ; for although the early coaches, which
reached Devizes before the snow fell, reached this city
yesterday morning, yet neither the mail nor one of the
evening coaches which left London on Sunday has yet ar-
rived (Wednesday noon) in this city. On Monday night
the guard brought the Sunday's bags by a circuitous route
through Wooton-Basset, &c., to this city ; and this morn-
ing MOnday's mail and newspapers arrived, but the coach
has not come on ; and the passengers upwards and down-
wards by different conveyances, to the number of 100 per-
sons, have congregated at two small public-houses, in ono
of which only three beds can be made up.
THREE o'CLocs...—The mail is just arrived, but neither
passengers nor luggage. To-morrow it is expected the road
will be opened.—Bristol Gazette of Thursday.
BOSTON.—Yesterday (Monday) the mail did not arrive
till nearly one o'clock, instead of ten minutes past eight ;
on Saturday it was four and Sunday three hours later than
it should have been. During the gale o❑ Sunday the brig
Elizabeth, Captain Reid, drove ashore near Wyberton,
and will with difficulty be got off. A smack was blown
over on the same spot and greatly damaged. Owing to the
immense fall of snow, even the steamers cannot get up with
their vessels. The mail-bags were yesterday forwarded on
horseback, the mail remaining here. A post-chaise at-
tempted to proceed to Spilsby, but was obliged to return to
this town, it being impossible to go on.—Boston Herald.
SUNDAY.—It is now, we believe, a histrum since the
ground was covered with snow on Christmas-day. We
have at last, however, " a white Christmas." There was a
severe frost last night, and the falls of snow are heavy, but
intermitting.—Dublin F•eenzan of Monday.
NEWCASTLE.—The weather, which had for several days
been more of a spring than a wintry character, changed on
Friday morning to a keen frost, and became exceedingly
stormy, the wind blowing in strong gusts from the N. to
E.N.E., accompanied with a considerable fall of snow and
hail. It has continued much the same up to the present
time (Monday evening), and the fall of snow has been so
great that the roads are almost impassable. The south
mail, which should have been here by two o'clock this
morning, did not reach Newcastle till within a quarter of
nine, and the other coaches have been all more or less im-
peded. The mail went out drawn by six horses.—Tyne
Mercury.

ROCHESTER, TUESDAY NIGHT, llx,_ 07.—Dreaaful
effects have been occasioned at this port the surround-
ing town by the tremendous snow-st orml vhich seems at
the prysent moment to increase, and the olt,st
do tint heavy a fall of snow asve have hill.:
It has been blowing tI 1.,-o.ticzwe from the which
intllie',l ~tesst fort feet. has drifted the snow in some
Da-
ring the night a number of vessels have :i)a:t riven into
harboti PkS:of anchors, masts, bulwarks, Cd,
night the mail, whiOtitt's_? proceeding to London,was re-
gularly blocked up by the slitii;') tttr4 three hundrd men
were immediately sent to make a passage eittilrh thtsnow,
tiattpers, and miners, and after some iittitt They
succeeded in feaellitig' tilt( mail, when the letter-bags ,ere
taken btit and forwarded to iituttlott 17 express. The coeh
cannot at pfest!ni
,proceed further ;it Is km-0, that Lis
weather will last far rbtrie time,

NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNV, O.—MONDAY NIGHT I
—During the whole of last week svc mete visited by a
fall of enowi which partially covered the. earth ;
but on eltflattriti4:4aY gurtday) the wind- rose from
N.N.E., and blew a fiiittieane, the snow at
the same time filling very heavy, Mid eteatinued all
the day, night, and Monday, without intermissioti. The
mail from London, which generally arrives at St. Ni-
chcl's-square, at the Post-office, at one o'clock, did
not arri‘ e in town till noon, when we were informed
by the guard that the road from London in some
places was totally impassable from the drifted snow, and
they were compelled, with the assistance of some persons,
to cut a passage through the snow, to allow the mail to
pass. Numerous other coaches from the Turk's Head and
the Turf Hotel, Collingwood-street, which had started
since to Edinburgh, London, Durham, Alnwick, Sunder-
land, Berwick, Shields, and numerous other places, have re-
turned with their horses nearly exhausted, in consequence
of the state of the roads from the snow. At about three
o clock this afternoon, a coach from London arrived five
hours and three quarters behind the usual time ; and the
passengers, owing to the severity of the weather, left the
coach at Durham for the Sunday night. There was only
one of the passengers who accompanied the coachman, and
sat on the seat behind the coachman, and was so numbed
with cold that he could not move a limb, and was obliged to
be removed from the coach and placed in bed, where he
soon recovered. No intelligence as to what has happened
with the Edinburgh mail, neither had it been heard of.
The snow still continued to fall, and the ground is covered
in some places even in town 12 feet in depth.
DUBLIN, SATURDAY.—WC do not remember two days
more intensely and bitterly cold than this and yesterday.
At two o'clock yesterday the sky darkened almost to
twilight—shortly after there were heavy showers of hail,
rain, and snow. The night turned to frost, and with the
morrow came the darkness, the cold, and inclemency of
yesterday.
STROUD.—The snow storm on Sunday night will be re-
membered as one of the heaviest on record. It began to snow
heavily at 7, p.m., and increased until midnight, when it was
accompanied by a tremendous hurricane from the S.W.,
which in a short time drifted the snow to the depth of ten or
twelve feet ; the Stroud mail, the horsing of which does the
proprietors the greatest credit, stuck fast several times after
it had passed Maidenhead, but the high courage of the
horses always brought it through when the depth was not
more than the height of the forewheels, but after the mail
had passed Benson the snow triumphed, for the mail and
horses were literally buried in it. Tomkins, the guard, im-
mediately hastened to the nearest village and farm-houses,
and in about an hour returned with six cart horses, and a
force of labourers with spades, who soon dug the mail out
of the snow, but with little benefit to its progress, as it was
found that for a long distance the snow was ten to fifteen
feet deep on the road. Tomkins, and Ricketts, the coach-
man, now resolved to make their way through the fields ;
and over hedge, ditch, and wall they went as merrily as if it
had been a fox chase, the labourers running with their
spades should the game take earth ; at length the road ap-
peared clear, and they got on again, but were again obliged
to quit it near Polton, and they took to the fields again
with the same success. They soon after met the Stroud
day-coach going up, and advised it to return, as it was im-
possible to get on ; it tried, however, but failed, and re-
turned to Cirencester. The mail arrived at Stroud before
twelve, suffering only a delay of about four hours, owing to
the very great exertions of the mail-guard and coachman,
who deserve the highest praise, and the cheerful co-opera-
tion of the peasantry, who, at four a.m., did not scruple to
leave their warm beds to aid the poor travellers, who were
not unmindful of it before they parted.
BOULOGNE, DEC. 27.—A violent hurricane, accompa-
nied by heavy falls of snow, commenced here on Saturday
evening. Two steam-boats in the harbour, the King's
packet Crusader and the Duke of Wellington trader, had
intended to cross at midnight, but the violence of the wind
induced them to postpone their starting till Sunday morn-
ing. The snow continued to fall during the night, and the
north breeze to increase in intensity ; so that when the mo-
ment of trial came the Duke of Wellington for the first
time faltered, and the Crusader, having on board the de-
spatches of Lord Granville, which had in the mean time
come down from Paris, set out for some English port, all the
old sailors protesting that it was impossible she could reach
Dover. One or two persons only would venture with her. She
stood bravely over the bar, but at the moment she reached
the open sea, agitated by a furious from the northward, she
began to heave and labour, hiding her prow one instant in the
waves, and seeming lost in the next instant in the deluge
which poured over her stern. All the people of Boulogne
flocked down to the pier to witness this bold attempt of the
crusader, and exclamations from the old boatmen showed
their astonishment at the daring of the Captain. With the
wind right in her teeth she struggled onward, gaining by
slow degrees her course, insomuch that one of the persons
who had come from Paris, and who had been dissuaded
from tempting fate by going in this steamer, seeing how
admirably she was now working, expressed his great regret
that he had not embarked in her ; on which an old sailor
told him to know when he was well off, and explained that
the Captain of the Crusader, though he might fling his
despatches into a fishing-boat, and thus land them in Eng-
land, could not so easily dispose of a passenger, and that he
might be the whole night at sea, unable to make any port.
Notwithstanding the inclemency of the weather, the
Telegraph coach, which starts every evening for Calais, set
out as usual on Saturday, full of passengers, but after
advancing about a league was compelled to stop for the
night at the little village of Verville. The next morning
the coachman again endeavoured to proceed, but, after
two hours' effort, found it impossible to advance further
than Marquise, about two leagues further, the roads here
being utterly impassable. The passengers, having alighted
at. the little auberge, were soon afterwards joined by those
who had left Boulogne on Saturday afternoon by the dili-
gence, that vehicle having been abandoned in a snow-
drift a little beyond Marquise. The diligence company
were loud in their complaints against the conducteur.
They had, it seems, stuck fast in the snow not half a
league from Marquise, at eight o'clock the night before,
and the postilion and conducteur, quietly taking off the
horses, had left the diligence in the midst of the tempest,
and the passengers to take care of themselves. Some
of them had tried to retrace the road, but in the darkness
of the night, and in the midst of such a storm, it was impos-
sible to do so ; and the whole party had been compelled to
remain in the crazy machine, if not absolutely exposed to
the weather, enduring is great share of its severity. The
windows did not, of course, shut close, and the snow found
its way into coupe, interior, and rotonde ; the wind also pe-
netrated with it ; and the situation of the passengers may
be best conceived by stating that a foot deep of snow was
cleared from the different partitions where they had spent
the night.
What a fuss did this arrival produce at the inn of the
Grand Cerf, at Marquise. How did the fat mother, and
fat daughter, and the coarse kitchen wench bestir themselves,
to get coffee and cutlets ready for the new importation !
How many additional logs were thrown on the fire, and
how gradually did the ill-humour of the travellers thaw, as
various comforts were applied, until at last they began to
laugh at the oddity of each others appearance. , One could
not fail to remark how much better the ladies bore their
uncomfortable situation than the men. There were two
who did not seem in the least discomposed by their long
night of endurance. Their countenances had less the ap-
pearance of fatigue, and they did not clamour with com-
plaints so much as their male companions.
While the Diligence company, joined to that of the Te-
legraph, filled the parlour of the inn, the °Veer Telegraphs
came up at its regular hour from Boulogne, equally unable
to proceed.

The new coach company also rushed into the parlour,
and every corner was filled with coats, hat-cases, and um-
brellas. A young and awkward Frenchman, whose um-
brella had the evening before been taken from the Tele-
graph, amused and tormented every one by the vivacity
with which he questioned them about his-loss --" Mon-
sieur, avez vous vu mon parapluie ?" " C'est drole,
quelqu'un a vole mon parapluie ?" " Conductcur—Avez
vous un parapluie de trop ?" " Mais, mon Dieu, ou est
mon parapluie ?" Nothing was heard but his lamentations
and inquiries, and he lost the best part of his breakfast
while looking after his parapluie.
The scene acquired now a fresh interest by the e3tafette
from Paris driving up. This i 3 a little carriage, with only
place for one person and the despatches in it, and every one
exclaimed, " It will serve as a pilot ; if that can pass, we
may have some hope of finding out the way." The csta-
fette did pass ; but in a quarter of an hour it returned,
though the courier had unharnessed one of the horses, de-
termined to force his way, if possible, to the post-office at
Calais with the bag. The failure of the estafette gave rise
to a fresh scene of despair. It was now evident that to
get on was hopeless. This was a truly comfortable position
to those bound for England—for packets might sail from