The Sun.
London, England, 1846-02-02 00:00:00

being, like the preceding, a terra incognita, our advance
became slow and irresolute, and on the descent of the
Rosehorn, our difficulties seemed to increase instead of
diminishing.

" The fragments of rocks and the detached stor es
continually rolled beneath our feet, and fell like the
shower of rain into the precipice, at the bottom of which,
at a frightful depth, we were able to distinguish the
great blue crevices and the points of the glacier of Rosen-
lani. After having quitted the rocks, we again found
ourselves upon inclined plains of snow so rapid, that eve
were obliged, for a length of time, to descend backwards
as if upon the steps of a ladder ; the hatchet was then
in constant requisition. At the foot of one of these steep
slopes the snow gave way under our feet, leaving a large
crevice, about fifteen yards in breadth, the opposite edge
of which was twenty feet lower than the one on which
we found ourselves. This difficulty appeared at first
utterly insurmountable, the very guides themselves were
disheartened and discouraged, and all offering our advice
in the midst of a pause, we at length set our backs against
the snow, close to the brink of the precipice which yawned
beneath us. At length lann conceived the hazardous
plan of leaping it at one bound ! He put it into execution,
and reached the lower edge safe and sound. The ropes
having been detached, the remainder of the pa. t)
screwed up their courage to the sticking point,' and
despair lending up fresh courage, we darted forward by
turns above the precipice, off the smooth surface of the
snow which lay beneath. Our fortunate triumph having
vigorously excited us, we prepared to traverse a narrow
slope of ice, in which our conductor carefully cut out
some steps, when► a low noise suddenly arrested our at-
tention. The guides, who happened to be hindmost,
violently pulled back the remainder of the party, by
means of the ropes, and a second afterwards, an immense
avalanche rolled down upon the slope that we were pre-
paring to cross, leaving all petrified with dismay at the
dreadful danger which we had so narrowly escaped.
"The cloud of snow in which we had been enveloped,
having dispersed, we resumed our descent, and continued
it during three hours, upon a succession of vertical walls
of snow and ice, and reached the glacier of Rosenlani at
five o'clock. The passage of this glacier mnch res palsies
that of the famous glacier at Bossons, on Mount Blanc ;
the crevices there are so numerous, that there is merely
a furrow of ice between them ; these furrows being the
only path by which the wanderer can advance.
"We had every moment before our eyes icy preci-
pices, which, at every step, seemed ready to swallow up
the unfortunate wretch, whose presence of mind might
have failed, whilst the pinnacles of ice which rose above
us, often tottered upon their very unstable foundations.
" In our present state of fatigue, the passage of the
glacier was very perilous ; but the minute care and
courage of the guides, skilfully prevented the occurrence
of any accident ; and at eight o'clock in the evening,
we bade an eternal farewell to those plains of snow and
peaks of ice, upon which we had trod for seventy con-
secutive hours. All danger was now over ; and the ex-
citement having ceased, the difficult descent of the rocks
and overthrown peaks, became insupportably fatiguing.
The baths of Rosenlani were still far below us ; the
sombre aspect of the pine forests, which extended them-
selves at the bottom of the valley, formed a striking con-
trast with the continual light of the preceding hours.
" Night gradually extended her veil over the sur-
rounding objects, the lights in the houses soon became
perceptible, and at nine o'clock, P.M., we all arrived safe
and sound at the baths of Rosenlani, where a great ex-
citement had prevailed, for several hours, at the dis-
covery of the flag that floated on the summit of the peak.
After having seen four black specks, at a prodigious
height, and having observed those specks change their
positions, the inhabitants of the valley had justly con-
cluded that ene of their gigantic mountains was on the
point of losing, for ever, its reputation of inaccessibility.
" The following morning, I took leave of the two in
trepid chamois-hunters, to whom I had been indebted
for my preservation, on several occasions, during the
perilous adventures of the preceding days. Soon after-
wards, I heard that these two unfortunate men had been
attacked by a disorder, arising from the hardships of
their last exploit; as for myself, I escaped with the usual
consequences of so long a sojourn in the midst of the
snows of those elevated regions—that is to say, with the
loss of the skin of say face, and an inflammation in my
eyes. We recrossed the great Schiedeck, and arrived at
Interlacken, on the 20th of July, myself and my guide,
who was also in a very pitiable condition; and thus con-
cludes the history of my ascent of the Wetterhorn."

PROPOSED LINES OF RAILWAYS
AFFECTING THE METROPOLIS.
Mr. Fowler read a paper at the Royal Institute of
British Architects last Monday evening, on the proposed
lines of railway which affected the metropolis, about to
be submitted to Parliament. He stated, that he was in-
debted to Mr. Austin, the engineer, honorary secretary
to the Metropolitan Improvement Society, for the facts
that he was about to lay before the meeting.
who, with a laudable zeal in the cause of im-
provement, had been at considerable pains to pre-
pare a plan of the whole of those lines for which the
deposits had been completed. He need scarcely say,
that there had been a whole host of other schemes, which,
fortunately, had not survived the fatal effects of the, late
panic. Of those that remained, it appeared from the
plan, that there were twenty-one different lines,
comprising 100 miles of proposed railway, within
a circle of five miles from St. Paul's. The
spaces scheduled for termini, within a circle of
miles of St. Paul's, together with that necessary for
the construction of so much of the lines, constitute an
area little short of 200 acres. To form a more vivid
idea of the extent of this area, it may be stated,
that it exceeds that portion of London extending
from High-street, Whitechapel, to St. Paul's
Cathedral, included between Leadenhall-street,
Cornhill, the Poultry, and Cheapside, on the north,
and the river Thames on the south. It constitutes an
area equal to one third of the city of London, and little
less than one-half of that devastated by the conflagraii )11
of 1666.: On a moderate calculation, it would in-
volve the destruction of between 9,000 and 10,000
houses, and cause an expenditure, for the purchase
of property alone, of about 15 millions sterling ;
Mr. Fowler stated, that a memorial on the
subject had been forwarded to Lord Lincoln, first Com-
missioner of Woods and Forests, by the Metropolitan
Improvement Society, praying that the Metropolitan
Improvement Commission would take the subject into
their earliest consideration ; and it behoved, not only
professional men, but all who desired to see a
right direction given to this extraordinary
movement, to second the prayer of the society,
that this branch of the general subject of railway com-
munication should be considered as a separate and dis-
tinct whole, in order that a comprehensive and sys-
tematic plan might result from what was now a heap of
confusion, arising from the fact, that each line had
been separately laid down by its respective Company,
without reference to, or knowledge of what was being
proposed by the other.— The Builder.

MANSLAUGHTER.

-
ABINGDON, FRIDAY A YTERNOON.—ThIS town has
been in a state of considerable excitement for a day or
two, in consequence of the death of a man named Thomas
Burnett, who was struck a week ago by his employer,
Mr. Thomas Fowler, corn-merchant, of this place, and
died on Wednesday last of the injuries he sustained. An
inquest was held yesterday, and adjourned to this day,
at the Red Lion inn, Abingdon, by Mr. E. Cowcher,
when a numerous and highly respectable jury was sworn
in. From the evidence it appeared that Mr. Fowler,
having reason to doubt the honesty of bis servant, who
had been in his employ about two years, discharged him;
and on Thursday week, the 22d instant, the deceased
called at his house, and, in a very imperative mode,
demanded the sum of Is. 6d. as due to him. Mr.
Fowler denied he owed it, and told the deceased that
if he chose to apply to the mayor, he would pay
whatever his worship decided he was entitled to. Mr.
FoNler then left his office, and was going to his
granary, when the deceased followed him, threatening
if lie did not pay him, he would break his head,
putting himself at the same time in a fighting atti-
tude. Mr. Fowler was alarmed at the violent conduct
of the deceased, and stepped back till he came back
against the ladder in the granary, close to which was an
ordinary stable-shovel, which he seized to defend him-
self with, and struck the deceased on the head with the
back part of it. He immediately fell, and on being as-
sisted up, had not sufficient strength to stand. He was
afterwards conveyed home in a wheelbarrow, and lin-
gered till Wednesday last, when he expired. A post
mortem examination took place, conducted by Messrs.
Hester and Box, and they were of opinion that death
was occasioned by the injuries which the deceased sus-
tained from the blow he had received from Mr. Fowler.
There was a considerable fracture of the skull, which
was remarked as being particularly thin. The evidence
adduced by the various witnesses confirmed the facts as
to the disagreement between Mr. Fowler and the
deceased, as well as the latter's violent threats and
conduct towards the former. The Coroner bestowed
great pains in calling the attention of the jury to
the facts which had been submitted to them, and
strongly urged upon them the necessity of dismissing
from their minds any prejudice towards either party,
but to weigh well what had been placed in evidence
before them, and return such a verdict as that warranted.
The room which was very crowded was then cleared, and
the jury, after deliberating a short time, returned a
verdict of " Manslaughter" against Mr. Thomas Fowler,
who was immediately committed on the Coroner's war-
rant to Abingdon Gaol. Mr. Charles Curtis, solicitor
to Mr. Fowler, left soon after with a copy of the deposi •
tions for London, to get a judge's order to bail the de-
fendant. Mr. Fowler has been in business at Abingdon,
as a corn-dealer, about three or four years, and is a par-
ticularly quiet and inoffensive man ; he is upwards of
60 years of age, and suffers so much from lameness, that
he is obliged to walk with a stick, but on the occasion of
this unfortunate occurrence he went without it from his
office to his granary, and was therefore at a loss for
something to defend himself with, until his eye caught
the shovel with which he struck the deceased. A strong
feeling prevails against the defendant among the work-
ing portion of the community at Abingdon, and to such
a pitch was this carried, that on Thursday evening when
the inquest was not concluded, they dressed up an effigy,
and taking it in a boat opposite Mr. Fowler's house,
which is by the water side, they burnt it amid yells and
execrations.

A NEW VENTILATOR.—Dr. Aldis, physician to the
London and to the Surrey Dispensary, deploring the usually
vitiated state of the air in the habitations of the lower
classes, has contrived a new ventilator for windows, cheap
and simple, which promises to be serviceable. At this time
of the year the poor cannot be led to open the windows, and
the object is to bring in fresh air, without producing per-
ceptible currents. The ventilator in question consists of a
small pane of glass in a hollow tin frame, in the outer face
of which frame are openings; these communicate with a
wide flat tube on either side, attached to the two upright
sides of the frame, curved inwards, and perforated with small
holes on the under side.—The Builder.

The Duke of Buccleuch left town on Saturday for
Thames Ditton.