The Sun.
London, England, 1840-08-31 00:00:00

IMPORTANT DISCOVERY IN THE

INTERIOR OF AUSTRALIA.

( Fsom the South Australia)? Register, March 14.)
Since the announcement in our last of the discovery
on the north-west coast of the Victoria and two other
large rivers, we have received, through the kindness of
Captain Grey, the following deeply interesting account
of the expedition, furnished to the Swan River paper,
we believe, by Lieutenant Stokes, of her Majesty's ship
Beagle :—" The Beagle sailed from Sydney last June,
making the passage through Torres' Straits, by the inner
route, one that should always be chosen for a single
ship, from its being safe ; whereas the outer never can
be so, without greater precaution than is generally taken
by merchant ships. On the passage up the north-
east coast, many parts of it appeared a fine coun-
try ; high peaked mountains, 1,000 to 2,000 feet,
with rich green valleys. Where this occurs, native
fires were invariably numerous. A small fresh-
water river was found on the low shore west of Cape
Upstart, which at 'some seasons is a large stream, but
only fit for boats, the mouth being almost closed up by
a long bar of sand. The Beagle passed a little outside
the shoal off Cape Croker ; it lies from three to seven
miles N. ,i W. from the Cape. Few persons can enter
Port Essington without being struck with the truly
grand sheet of water it is, and its situation is so central
and well adapted for a settlement. Many accounts of
the young town of Victoria have already aeached Swan
River, and from those who have better means of giving
one than the writer of this. A good substantial mole.,
overlooked by a small battery, with some respectable-
sized houses in the rear, gives the settlement rather an
imposing appearance from the water, which 1 imagine is
the object at present aimed at to make an impression
on the visiting Malays, the success of the colony de-
pending so much on them. With such a know-
ledge of the Malay nation as Sir Stamford Raffles
possessed, it would soon be a second Singapore.
From Port Essington the coast has been strictly ex-
amined as far as Cape Groze. This comprises the
shores of Dundas and Clarence Straits. On the south
side of the latter, Adelaide River was discovered, amid
traced upwards of seventy miles in a south direction.
The water was fresh twenty-five miles from the mouth,
and navigable for a draught of twelve feet for fifty
miles. The banks for several miles were fenced with
bamboo, and the country on each side extensive alluvial
flats, in some spots thickly wooded, in others open
plains. From the furthest position of the Adelaide,
some low hills, about 130 feet, were examined to the
south-west, the only high ground seen. Alligators and
wild fowl were numerous. Between Clarence Strait
and Cape Groze the coast is much broken, forming
three deep bays. Tortuous mangrove creeks emptied
themselves into each. The water in them was
salt as far as the Beagle's boats could examine,
which, in many, was thirty and forty miles from
the coast, generally in a south-east direction.
The large opening south of Point Pearce offered
a fine field for the speculative reasoner, and had always
been looked forward to as one of the most interesting
parts of the voyage, in a great measure from the opinion
the Surveyor-General of Western Australia enter' aired
of its being the mouth of a large river. This idea must
strike every one in passing Point Pearce, from the muddy
disturbed state of the water, and the strength of the
tide (flood setting to S.E.) ; and the correctness of it
hes been proved by the discovery of Victoria River—a
discovery that promises to be the high road to the inte-
rior of this vast continent. It has been explored 170
miles in a S.E. direction from Point Pearce. Fifty miles
! from the latter, it becomes a narrow rapid stream, rush-
ing between ragged rocky ranges, from 500 to 600 feet
high, with a velocity varying from two to six miles an
hour. The country improved as the distance increased
from the sea-coast ; and at 80 miles from Point Pearce
the river crosses a valley, 16 miles wide, of alluvial soil.
A pedestrian party explored the last 35 miles of the
Victoria in five days, in a temperature between.
05 and 110 degrees, and carrying, between eiebt
persons, 143 pounds. At this season of the year some
parts of the river were found dry across ; but at those
places, if we may judge from the inclined growth of the
trees, there must sometimes pass a large body of water.
Many ot the reaches were steep and picturesque. The
valley through which the river takes the latter part of
its tortuous course, is from three to seven miles, between
rocky level topped ranges from 500 to 600 feet high:
The soil is a mixture of bad and good, lightly timbered
with the white gum. Kangaroos were very numerous,
and fhb
plenty—a kind of bream, common in the river
near Sydney. Muscles, similar to those noticed by
Oxley in the Lachlan and Macquarrie, were also found.
The last seen of the Victoria was in lat. 15 deg. :Ski
min. S., long. 130 deg. 52 min. E., flowing from the
southward through a wide verdant valley. Its continued,
magnitude made every mile it was traced of greater into.-
rest ; added to which was the satisfaction of knowing the
centre of Australia was only distant 500 miles, the
nearest approach that has yet been made by laud. By
water, the head of the Great Australian Bight and
bottom of the Gulf of Carpentaria are about the same
distance. To show how the country abouuds with
game, a list of what was killed by the officers ot tne
Beagle, the month they were in the Victoria, is here
added .—One alligator, 20 feet in length ; 22 kanga-
roos, 15 brace of ducks, 24 brace of pigeons, two of
quail, and two of a large kind of white ibis ; besides
several rare birds, among which was a beautiful rifle-
green ibis. The number of natives seen did not ex-
' need 40, in small parties. A specimen of their
treachery was experienced just before leaving the river
by Lieutenant Stokes, who was very dangerously
wounded ; another instance of their not being the
harmless, inoffensive race that many suppose them
to be. Owing to the strong tides and numerous sand-
banks, entering the Victoria will at all times be attended
with some risk. At the full and change of the moon,
the tide rises 30 feet, and runs at the rate of five miles
an hour. The fact of all the rivers discovered blr the
Beagle on the N.W. coast, and those before by Captain
King on the north-coast, flowing from the south,
strongly indicates the drainage of the whole continent
being to the north, and the existence of either an inland
sea or extensive swamps ; probably a succession of t'ae
latter joining the marshes the Macquarrie was loet in
also running to the northward. More light will be
thrown on this subject when the great w tnt of low
coast lying to the N.E. of Exmouth Gulf is examined.
On the passage to this place some sperm whales were
seen, 80 miles off the N.W. Cape% and two American
whalers the week following."

BRIGHTON THEATRICALS.—There has been
a slight theatrical war, en paper, at Brighton, which, at
this dull season, has afforded some degree of amusement
to the vacant idlers who frequent that fashionable water-
ing-place. The belligerent parties are Mr. James WO-
lack and a Mr. Holmes, the acting manager of the race.
trc Royal. The cause of the quarrel may be rerkfiy
stated :—The calamitous fire which destroyed Ms. \Vai-
lack's property at New York, and with it his welt-founded
hopt of speedily realising a fortune, rendered it necessary
that he should endeavour, as far as it was possible, to
alleviate his loss by the constant exertion of his profes-
sional talents. He accordingly entered into an engage.
ment with Mr. Holmes, the acting raanager, to perform
for a certain number of nights. So far all went on well,
but now comes the extraordinary part of the affair. No
sooner does Mr. Wallack announce his intention
to open his engagement with Richard the Third,
' than Mr. Holmes writes to inform him that
that character was tabooed, as well as those of
Shylock, Hamlet, Macbeth, and Sir Giles Overreach ;
that those parts'ne must not think of playing, becauso for-
sooth, Mr. C. Kean had stipulated with the stag' manager
that the aforesaid characters should be exclasiv,ely reserved
for his performance. Not one word of this, supposed pre-
engagement had ever been hinted at by IV..r. Holmes during
his negotiation with Mr. Wallack, acid the latter gentle-
man very properly insisted on his right, in common with
his professional brethren, to perform the interdicted cha-
racters, and remonstrated strJngly against so monstrous
and preposterous an agrcFn-..ent as that which secured for
Mr. C. Kean, a monop'iy of certain first-rate characters.
He (Mr. NVallack) al.so declined appearing in certain parts
which the acting r.lanager had pointed out to him, because
several of 91e,dn he had never performed, others of them
were operat%c characters, and some of them were weak,
trashy, a:id worn out. The consequence was that the en-
gagew.ent was annulled, and Mr. Wallack has not per-
forrAed at Brighton at all. That gentleman, in his own
:justification, has published the correspondence, which is
rather lengthy ; and it is evident that every unprejudiced
man must, on reading it, arrive at the conclusion that Mr.
Wallack has been mu.t unfairly dealt with, especially its
not being apprised until the "eleventh hour" of Mr. C.
Kean's extraordinary engagement.
SUFFOCATION BY FOUL AIR IN AN ICE-
noUSE.7A melancholy circumstance occurred on Wed-
ncsday night at Southampton, which for the time spread
an intense feeling of gloom over the whole town. Mr.
Stephens, confectioner, residing Above Bar, a tradesman
very deservedly respected by his neighbours, ventured into
an ice vault, containing foul air or carbonic acid gas, and
being overpowered, fell to the bottom, where he was suffo-
cated by the operation of that deadly foe to anima( life.
The Jury found a verdict of " Accidental death by suffo-
! cation."

'SINGULAR COINCIDENCE.—It is a singular
coincidence that both the baptismal names of the royal
Lady are uuited in a beautifui little shrub called the
Alexandrine or victory laurel. It is the same that used
to be gathered to wreathe the brows of the Greek heroes
after their victory ; for which purpose it naturally presented
itself, as it grows profusely all over Greece and Asia
Minor. It ought to be considered as a plant peculiarly
devoted to Victoria the Firat.--Queen Victoriafrom her
Birth to her Bridal. _

—.....
,Ithuntfil hBoetinweatsitsneeized as
SUDDEN DEATH.—The Rev. Dr. Giierson,
Duni,lane, was seized suddenly, Near his own house, on the
mviieserdihneqgauite sensible until he had
afternoon of Thursday last, the 20th current, with what
was supposed to be a shock of apoplexy. lie had been
past,
tabca:busrniotexvcwpteolaenamsidanet ihhnanttotgtivaaognenlkheotdmni.tnioenwtebhi iheoeaecrlesionecceoki evening,on andFti d
ay be
morning,
h eexpired. His remains were accompanied to the place of
interment in Dunblane churchyard by a numerous cirri: if
friends and acquaintances.

The Countess of Durham, with the youthful
Earl, and Ladies Lambton, will leave Howick-hall, where
they are still staying with Earl and Countess Grey, the
week after next for town; and after p.ssing a few days ;n
the metropolis, will take their departure for the Cfrn-
tinertt.