The Sun.
London, England, 1834-11-19 00:00:00

TOWN AND TRADE OF WICK.

If the Lord Chancellor had visited Wick, he could
scarcely have called it an ancient and flourishing burgh,"
terms which he applied to so many of our Scottish towns.
He would have been equally well pleased, however, to wit-
ness at the northern extremity of Scotland so large and re-
spectable a place, founded and reared within a few years by
honest industry and commercial enterprise. No town has
b,

,een progressing more rapidly than Wick, and, if the her-
rings had proved true, none promised more fair to attain
distinction and opulence as a successful mart for British com-
merce. The late failure in the fishing has, however, cast a
gloom over the plrce, and it seems to be universally felt
that a few more disastrous years in succession would com-
pletely ruin the town. At present business is more dull in
Wick and its neighbourhood than it was ever before re-
membered. There is absolutely nothing doing in the way
of trade, while many anxious forebodings are felt as to the
future. On his late visit to the north this season, Mr.
Loch, M.P., expressed his regret that the people of Wick
had not turned their thoughts to some other branch of com-
merce as well as the fishing, which from its very nature is
so fluctuating and precarious. It certainly is highly desir-
able that such an attempt should be made. Could nothing
be done in the way of manufacturing ? The Baltic is as
open to the men of Wick as to those of Dundee, Montrose,
or Arbroath, and they could have no difficulty in sending
goods to the American markets. There are hundreds of
young people in Caithness whose labour is entirely lost till
they are about eighteen years of age, and then, if they do
not turn coopers, they hang idly about till some re-
cruiting party penetrates so far north and picks them up.
Were manufactures established, this evil would in some
measure be remedied—capital once vested in trade would
soon flow into a hundred different channels, and besides af-
fording employment for the youth of both sexes would dif-
fuse numerous and substantial blessings over both town
and country.
The late election of town Councillors gave a temporary
fillip to the languishing business and conversation of Wick.
The two contending parties there are not, as in Inverness,
Whig and To! y, but are Churchmen and Dissenter. A
keen paper war has been waged by the billigerents, for
which two of our contemporaries, the Edinburgh Patriot,
and Scottish Guardian, have opened their columns, and a
constant skirmishing is also kept up by means of letters rnd
handbill,: • The- election of (leunoillors-fordod a put. lie.

arena for the combatants, and accordingly the 4th of No-
vember was looked forward to with no ordinary anxiety.
The important day arrived, and the Voluntaries have tri-
umphed ! The four gentlemen elected, namely, Mr. David
Sutherland, Mr. Andrew Auld, Mr. James Corner (fish-
curers), and Mr. John Cleghorn, ironmonger, are all, we
understand, attached to the principle of voluntary churches,
while the gentlemen displaced belonged to the Established
Church party.
_ _

There has lately been established at Wick a Society for
the Destitute Sick, which has originated chiefly in the ex-
ertions of Mr. David Davidson, of Dundee. Notwith-
standing the pressure of the times, subscriptions have flowed
in liberally towards the support of this excellent practical
institution, and coals, blankets, and other necessaries have
been distributed amongst the most necessitous. Oatmeal
is selling at present at 16s. per boll, and potatoes Bs. per
boll of four barrels. Altogether, the inhabitants have
evinced great spirit and benevolence in relieving the wants
of the poor, which, at this inclement season, heightened by
the failure in the fishing, have been unusually severe.—
Inverness Courier.

ASCENT to the SUMMIT of MONT BLANC.

(From the Scotsman.)

We have seen a letter from Dr. Martin Barry, lately
resident in this city, giving an account of his ascending
this prince of European mountains. The ascent had not
been accomplished for several years before, and as this is
only the 16th attempt that has been successful, we shall
present our readers with some of the particulars. Tho
party, consisting of Dr. Barry and six guides, left the
Priory of Chamouni at half-past eight on the morning of
the 16th of September, and at noon entered upon the
snow ; crossed the Boissons Glacier, and saw some cha-
mois. The fissures were found to be greatly widened from
the lateness of the season.—( It was the latest ascent by a
week that has been made.)—The dangers and difficult' el
were thus much augmented ; large masses of ice were met
with, over some of which it was necessary to climb, and
the peril was particularly great in attaining the rock called
the Grand Mulct, where the party slept. Next morning
they proceeded, attached, as they walked, two or three
together, with cords, and cautiously trying every step with
their batons. The fissures and blocks of ice now became
even more magnificent; the difficulties were so great, tl at
there was every prospect of having to return unsuccessful,
and but for a bridge of snow, by which they crossed an
enormous fissure, they could not have proceeded. 'They
breakfasted on the Grand Plateau, and saw the spot where
the avalanche occurred during Dr. Hamel's attempt in
ISA), by which four of his guides were carried away, only
one being saved, who was now Dr. B:s principal guide-
Proceeding forward, great thirst was experienced. At one
time they were oppressed by the heat, at another nearly
frozen, according as their progress was rapid or retarded.
On approaching the summit, so great was the exhaustion,
from the diminished density of the air, that only a few
steps could be taken at a time, and the Doctor felt faint-
ness and languor ; but at length his labours were repaid,
and he stood on the highest point. He remained on the
top an hour and a quarter. We have not learnt what o'3-
servations were made during that time, with the instru-
ments which he took up, but hope to be favoured with the
results. The party descended rapidly ; and on the way
Dr. B. was in imminent danger of falling through a hole
of unknown depth, which had been covered with recent
snow. They again slept on the Grand Mulct, rebuilding
a little cabin, and returned next day, when the enterprising
Doctor was gladly greeted by his brother, Mr. J. T. Barry,
who had ascended to Pierre de l'Echelle. The feelings of
Mr. J. T. Barry, upon seeing the party returning safe and
well from the summit may be appreciated from the circum-
stance that, on the day after their departure, and when in-
tervening rock and ice had hid them from his view, he ob-
served with his telescope an avalanche descending in its
rapid and destructive course, sweeping over between 2 and.
3 square miles of surface. Not knowing the direction which
the parties had to take after starting from the rock called the
Grand Mulct, where they slept the first night, he could not,
tell but the avalanche was precipitating itself in the very
direction in which they wei e ascending—but, providentially,
their course lay in another direction, upwards of a mile
from the nearest edge of the descending mass of snow, whose
course was down that part of the range called Mont Mau.
dit, or the Cursed Mountain. The whole party then re-
turned in safety to the Priory, where Dr. Barry soon re-
covered from the fatigue of this perilous and difficult enter-
prise. Since then it has been announced that a Count de
Tilly, a Frenchman, attempted the same exploit, and suc-
ceeded in reaching the summit, the first Frenchman that
i
ever did ; but it s added that his lower extremities werc
frozen, and that it was thought necessary his feet should
undergo amputation—the latter part of the statement we
would fain hope will not be confirmed.