The Sun.
London, England, 1840-03-31 00:00:00

COWES, ISLE OF WIGHT.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
ROYAL -17 A CHLS_QUADRAbiIta.ELLIG.E44IO
Colonel 'William Markham' as. sold his cutter., yacht
Antelope, of 90 tons -O.M ,`to' Visconnt Powerscourte:„
The.farOwing yachts haveVeri ;hauled ,bff from aids;
winter quartem preparatory to fitting out for the season :
The Earl of Yarborough's yawl Kestrel, 202 tons; and
Earl dc Grey's cutter Nautilus, ip3 gogs., .
1
Desart's cutter. iv-en ton'els'nearly;
~may, and will sail for Gibraltar in a few days.
. ill.. A. Hill's schooner Ariel, II S, tons, and Mr. Neil's
schooner Louisa are in a very forward state.
Mr. Delme Ratcliffe's cutter Fanny, 75 tons, will haul
off ;teat spring tides ; as will Mr. Fottecue Horner's
cutter Heron, 46 tons—she is fitting for 'a voyage to
Gibraltar.

Prince Albert is 'reported to be in treaty for the pur
chase of Mr. Acker's schooner yacht Dolphin, of 217 tons.

'Earl de Grey is expected to spend the summer at his
villa in the West Cliff.
The Parade at West Cowes, so long in disgraceful
ruins, is to be rebuilt with all possible despatch. = The con-
tractor engages that it shall be finished by the ehd of
June, for the accommodation of visitors. The front is to
be paved six feet wide, and seats placed at eoncenient
dis-
tances. Mr. 0: 11. Ward is to furnish the material, and.
the Commissioners for improving the tctwn tot ay for the
labour.

TIER MAJESTY'S VI,SIT.
It has for some time been rep9rtcd that her Majesty had
expressed a wish again to visit Norris; at first this :vita
looked upon as only having ,a foundation in the probability'
of her Majesty's having very naturalty no wish to be[
confined to London and Windsor, and ler knovin dislike
to Brighton, WhiCh would not bear a comparison with
beautiful woods-and views of Norris grounds and Castle;(`
but these had passed into other hands, and were to be con-I
vetted to other pdrposes; the present proprietors proposedi
to convert the' Castle into an
,inn, ad the woods int
villas. On a suddch all these fine:protects are abandone
(for the present): The Nor its
e;C6tle Hotel, svl*
we were promised should be
,th piosksplendid establish
ment of the kind in*Englancl,.ll n 4 ly Europe—tfte
Tavern and MeWs, which"were tt accommodate the thou-
sands brought from London by ti e,,'SctutliamptOti Railroad!
'—standing for one: hundred •dairtagcs,add fiye hundred
horses—the terraeccr gard'ensi and alks Amongst the
richly timbered slopes, laid out Ate! French, Italian;
Swiss, English, andOrientatseyleS,Jembellished with the
productions of rock-and lalle; fotintaint, jet d'eaux, water-
falls, statues, vases, scats, andbowers,mansions and villas
all give place ; the cry nctiv'44 The ' Queen ! the
Queen !" and Norris must be as -Norris was in 1831 and
1833, the favoured retreat of Englancra hope : nor is this
all—an official notification has• reached the Royal Yacht
Squadron, that looks very like an expression of the inten-
tion of the Regatta being honoured by the presence of the
illustrious, and of our nautical sports receiving the patron.
age of Britain's Queen., The tars are in high spirits at the
prospect of seeing Victoria, the sailor's friend, afloat again,

In passing aleng, our guide stopped, and. reaching tip
his hand, pointed to a trees the trulik,of whtels was-coated
with mud. at. least .as fee as •nine" feet fiom the ground;
this showed us the height. of the elephant of which we were
in pursuit, and iitio had been lately using this tree as a
scratching post: A little furthur on,'and.the natiVe•who was
leading suddeuirsteppee, anti betiding bit Feld atetist to the
ground, pointed to a small open swamp, and the same
time drawing in his breath, and repeating rapidly in a
whisper, "fhere ! There !' kneeling down among legions
of leeches, I was just in time to see a huge elephant
slowly raising himself from his luxurious mud-bath in a
shady quagmire ; for a moment I hoped he was about to
charge at us; and I was the more impressed with this
opinion from the instantaneous shifting of our guide from
the front to the rear of our party. The animal, still but
indistinctly seen, paused for a second, then blew sharp
through his trunk, curled it close up, wheeled round, and
took through the thick-set bamboos which appeared to
yield before, and close behind, his ponderous figure."
One of the greatest annoyances in Ceylon is the land-
leech, which abounds in the jungles and forests, and
besets the traveller at every step of his progress.
Major Forbes thus describes these pestilent reptiles :
" On our return to the rest-house, we commenced di-
vesting ourselves of the leeches, and then tried to staunch
the bleeding of their wounds ; we had been warned against
plucking off these creatures forcibly and suddenly, tao
tending to irritate the wound ; but we found that touching
them with brandy instantly made them drop off; salt, gun-
powder, or lime-juice, produced the same effect, but not
quite so quickly. The Ceylon land-leech is incredibly
numerous on the hills, and such parts of the interior as are
exempt from a long continuance of dry weather; they are
of a brown colour; their usual size is about three-fourths
of an inch in length, and one-tenth of an inch in diameter ;
they can, however, stretch themselves to two inches ii
length, and then arc sufficiently small to pass through the
stitches of a stocking. They move quickly, are difficult
to kill, and it is impossible to divert them from their bloody
purpose; for in pulling them from your legs they stick ti,
your hands, and fix immediately on touching the skin, as
they are free from the scruples and caprice which is some-
times so annoying in their medicinal brethren. They draw
a great deal of blood ; and this, with considerable itching,
and sometimes slight inflammation, is the extent of annoy-
ance which their bites give to a man in good health; but
animals suffer more severely from their attacks, and sheer
will not thrive in pastures where there are leeches."
Speaking of the Ceylon serpents, Major Forbes tells
us that the piinbera, a species of python, is not uncom-
mon, adding, " the largest I saw measured was seven-
teen feet in length, but I have been assured on
good authority that they reach a larger size; they
twine round their prey like the boa, are not much
dreaded by the natives, and seldom seize any animal
larger than a jackal." Of the insect called the "tick,"
which is the curse of all tropical climates, and not un
frequently makes a lodgement, and takes up its residence
beneath a man's skin, where it hatches and educates a
large family, our author speaks as follows :-
4. While stooping down to examine the sluice at the
Kalawa tank, 1 suddenly found myself completely over-
spread by that greatest of living torments within the tro
pies, viz., ticks. From the effect of their bites I suffered
much inconvenience for several weeks, and was obliged to
leave this very warm part of the country immediately.
Ticks are to be found in all the dry parts of Ceylon ; often
handed together in lumps containing several thousands,
they remain attached to some leaf, which, if touched bs
some unwary passenger, discharges a shower of these pes-
tilent vermin, which soon make their presence known bs
bites resembling the application of red-hot needles, fol.
lowed by intolerable itching. Ticks, although sometimes
much larger, are in general about the'size of a pin's head ;
they are round, hard, flat, and adhere with wonderful per-
tinacity to the skin of men or animals, into which they oc
casionally contrive to introduce themselves. They disre.
give Parliamentary d:nners on
gard all attempts to kill or remove them by any application
That excellent '
except actual force ; but the natives having the benefit or
sfqauvaorueriite at the Surrey
mach practice in putting them to death, pick off, and sub-
jectthe Victoria this
them to interdigital trituration with much ability and
zest."
idll commencelio,:
tibli NIN,-,iutirte
ea:
and entirelyo
In the tanks and sluggish streams of Ceylon, crocc- comic
dUes are, it seems, to be found in great numbers. They a,tile:hteoei‘Tar4i.ttrihßle::arrnSv.wdpiAlNleil
aaLt
litielF:eok, Speaker
ess
oAwßhpliisoErl
nil INgb,
benefit
iialFseEfilgtiar,te.o_aantt-
ne even.w e
are very shy, cowardly creatures, however, and seldom Theatre,
exceed seventeen feet in length. Of that brilliant in- burletta, translated from the French, in which Valelllnree"
re-
sect the fire-fly, which Moore has turned to such poeti- i presentTaheclpiaerrafoLlneraneenetsit.6le.
cal account in his Lalla Rookh, Major Forbes gives us with The if en Boys, a popular melodrama, never acted at
that theatre. In the course of the evening Mr. Sloan 11 •
these particulars :—Pleasures twill sing
of same Irish songs, and Mr. Vale promis • " 'l'l
" At tiangwella, I wag delighted with the softness
Matrimony," to which he ought to add, as The or
the scene, and the wondrous blaze of the fire flies; as the
that immortal aii, " Adam
breeze shook them from the dark foliage, and they again
• humour and effect. and Eve,"which he sings with such
strove to gain the shelter of the surrounding trees.
.Notlnonlg-
It was currently reported yesterday that Mr. H.
. 1 .
can he imagined more enchanting than the refreshing co
Rich had been dist • • d from his •
approach the moun- russe situation of groom in waiting
ness and beauty of ti, nights as you .
, upon her Majesty to
tains in the interior of Ceylon; for even if the surpassing r the vote which he gave on Friday in op-
position to her Majesty s Ministers,• .
ty son the motion of Mr.
lustre of the moon and stars be obscured by clouds, the
flume for confiscatingi the property of the King of Hanover.
innumerable tire-flies, with brilliancy only inferior to
whichthe The severity of Ministersontbs occasion is :aid to have
lights of heaven, serve to realize all. those ideas arisen, not from the loss of a vote to their own party, but from
The brilliancy of the fire•fly
fancy forms of fairy-land. the indignation they felt on account of the insult to her Ma-
was on one occasion the cause of an accident to a gentle- jesty which the vote ireplied.—Morning Pest.
man who, on emerging from the heat of a mess-room, ima• A new petite comedy, In two acts, to be called
before him, to be a lanthorn ,
gined a fire-fly which started
.. .
(.. the Baronet ;or Female Society, was yesterday put into cc-
borne by s servant ; the eccentric motions of the insect were hearsal at Covegl:Marden Theatre, the principal character by
set down by the master as the vagaries of the domestic, Mr. Chas. Mathews.
until a volley of oaths and a rush at the refractory bearer, STATE OF TRADE.—Business remains in much
were cut short by a headlong plunge into the cold lake of the same state as last reported. The hands remain to the same
Kandy." extent unemployed, the mills are working short time, and
We must find room for one more extract ; and it shall yarns (although little wool can be obtained from theugeerodwtilelriss
be a description of a landscape near a lake in one of the at a less price than 335. to 333. per tod) have beeved
t d for
•' them down to 3 -• per 0
more level parts of Ceylon : wcek a penny per lb., bringingeh farmers maintain their present
~ On reaching the lake, its placid surface, lighted by wools
of heeding their wool, this penny must go on
the evening sun, reflected the varied foliage and forms of determinationas it is admitted on all hands that without wools are con-
the clumps and trees on its promontories, capes, and again, as
cannot be produced at the reduced rates.
sidera y lower, yarns
islands; narrow creeks pierced far into the overarching —Leicestershire Mercury.