The Sun.
London, England, 1834-11-14 00:00:00

TEA TRADE.

The following communication has just been received by
R. Wallace, Esq., M.P., from the Secretary to the Trea-
sury, in reference to the memorial from the Greenock
Chamber of Commerce, respecting the bonding of tea at
that port :
" Treasury, Nov. 7.
" Sir,—With reference to your note of the 24th ult., on the
subject of the memorial from the Chamber of Commerce,
Greenock, I have the pleasure to inform you that the Lords
of the Treasury have given directions to the Customs for the
approval of floors in bonded warehouses for the deposit of tea,
on condition that there should be no outlet in the floor, or any
communication with any other part of the warehouse ; but
their Lordships do not consider it would be consistent with the
security of the revenue to comply with the request contained in
the memorial, for the approval of parts of floors for the de-
posit of tea. " Faithfully yours,
" Robert Wallace, Esq., M.P." " F. BARING.
The opening of the China trade, and the eagerness with
which capitalists in the leading outports of the kingdom
have embarked in it, have proved exceedingly annoying to
the London traders, who have hitherto exclusively enjoyed,
in one way or other, the advantages resulting from the traf-
fic in tea ; and they have lost no opportunity of insinuating
that it is only through London the business can be properly
carried on. One of the most recent attempts is made in a
paragraph, which has gone the rounds of the journals, in
reference to the Camden, lately arrived here, and in which
it is gravely asserted that more than three-fourths of her
cargo were unsuited for this market, and would have to be
sent to London to find purchasers We understand the
assortment contains a great many packages of the higher
qualities of teas ; but the assertion that they are not ex-
pected to find buyers is conclusively refuted by the fact
that the whole cargo is to be exposed to sale at Glasgow
towards the end of the month, and the result, we have no
doubt, will prove that as good judges of the article, and as
spirited a competition are to be met with there as in the
metropolis itself.—Greenock Advertiser.

(Prom the Liverpool Times.)
During the last week we have had the pleasure of
inspecting the two iron steam-boats building by Messrs.
Laird, of this town, at their yard, on, the opposite side
of the river, for the navigation of' the .Euphrates..
Great progress has already been made with them, and
they are expected to be ready in five or six weeks.
When finished they will be remarkably firm vessels,
and well adapted for the purpose for which they are
designed.
Most of our readers are aware that a grant of
20,0001. was made during the last session of Parlia-
ment for the purpose of exploring and surveying the
river Euphrates, with a view to ascertain whether a
shorter and more expeditious route to India might not
be discovered along its waters than even by the Red
Sea. This great river, which was probably the first
route followed by the nations of Western Asia in their
expeditions to India, has, since the fall of the Caliphs,
been closed against European commerce, owing to the
barbarism and bigotry of the _Turks and Arabs who
reside along its shores, or occupy its approaches, and
to the ignorance as to its course and capabilities pre-
vailing among Europeans. Of late years, however, it
has been partially explored by Captain Chesney and
others, and a more civilized government having been
established by the Pacha of Egypt along part of its
banks, and in the north of Syria, by which Europeans
approach it, the idea of re-opening its waters to com-
mercial enterprise has been suggested, and there is
reason to hope that, by the beginning of the month of
May next year, the steam-boats now building in this
port will be floating down its stream to the Persian
Gulf. They are to leave Liverpool in December ;to
proceed in the first place to Scanclaroon on the coast
of Syria, from thence up the river Orontes, past An-
tioch, for about a hundred miles ; are then to be taken
in pieces, conveyed across the north of Syria in wag-
gons, to Bir, on the Euphrates, where they are again
to be put together, in time to proceed down the Eu-
phrates in the_spring of next year.
The first object of the expedition will be to make
a more accurate survey than any that has previously
been Made of the whole course of the river, from Bir
to the Persian Gulf. It is pretty well ascertained that
the water is sufficiently deep for the purpose of naviga-
tion in the lower part of the river, from Hillah, near
the ruins of Babylon, to Bussorah, near the mouth of
the Euphrates. Above Hillah, and below Bir, the
depth and practicability of the river is less certain. It
is known that there are several rapids in it, and a
number of embankments, erected across its stream in
ancient times, for the purpose of irrigating the neigh-
bouring lands ; but these, it is believed, are only
formidable in the dry season. The object of Captain
Chesney, who accompanies the expedition, is to quit
Bir with the steam-boats, as soon as the river becomes
flooded with the melting of the snows on the moun-
tains of Armenia, that is in the month of May, when
(if at any time) the river must be navigable along the
whole of its course. In the voyage down, accurate
surveys and inquiries will be made. The present belief
is, that the river is navigable for seven or eight months
in the year, but there is some doubt as to the summer
months. The length of the voyage, from Bir to
Bussorah, is 1,143 miles. If the stream should be
found navigable, then the steam-boats will begin to-
ply regularly between Bir and Bussorah. The Egyp-
tian and Turkish Governments have both promised
to give the expeditions every protection in their power.
The boats building by Messrs. Laird are so con-
structed as to draw as little water as possible, being
flat-bottomed and light. The largest, which is 105
feet in length and 19 in breadth, draws no more than
duce feet ; the smallest, being 87 feet long and 16
broad, draws two and a half. They are built in such
a manner that they may be taken to pieces, and con-
veyed in waggons from the Orontes to the Euphrates.

THE WITCH OF LOCH KATRINE.

A case of rather a novel nature was brought before
~. .. ___

he Sheriff at Dunblane, under the Small Debt Act, on

Wednesday the 22d October. Peter Clark, boatman,
at Ardkenacroiclikan, brought an action against John

Campbell, waiter at the Trossachs Inn, for " repara-
tion, damages, and solatiurn," sustained by him, in
consequence of Campbell's having, on the 9th ult.,
falsely and maliciously accused Clarke of having stolen,
or, at least, in being accessory to the stealing, of a sum
of money from him, &c. Damages laid at 8/. 6s. Bd.
Mr. M'Gruthar, writer, appeared for the defender, and
began by stating that his client denied having ever
alleged that Clark had stolen the money carried away
from his trunk. The defendant had given in loan to a
fellow servant a pair of trousers, to attend a wedding
in Dumbarton. A few hours after he had so given
them away, he discovered that some bank notes were
missing from his chest, and, suspecting that the money
might have been in his trousers, he went after the per-
son who had got them, and, overtaking him at the
head of Loch Katrine, soon satisfied himself that the

money had escaped otherwise. The defender, subse-
quently to this, having occasion to visit his friends at
a distance from the Trossachs' Inn, upon returning
back on the third day, was informed by his fellow
servants, that, by the " magic stone of Conal,"
(abraxas?) they had found out the person by whom
the money had been stolen, the particulars of which
story being recited to him, he only laughed heartily at
their absurdity. Mr. M'Gruther then begged the at-
tention of the court to the particulars of the spell,
' which had been practised to discover the author of the
theft, and he was sure that every one who should hear
them would either feel interested or amused to learn
that such a relic of primitive Celtic superstition had
survived to the present day, so near to the Lowlands
as the parish of Callander. An old sybil, residing in
a remote hut in the neighbourhood of the Trossachs,
called there one of the evenings in the defender's ab-
sence, along with the pursuer, at a time when the
" lost money" was an interesting subject of conversa-
tion among the defender's fellow servants. Mause,
with her companion the pursuer, having mingled with
the servants at the kitchen fire, the subject of the
stolen money was resumed, when the sorceress, taking a
stone from her bosom of a peculiar form and brilliancy,
observed, that, by obeying her directions, she could.
tell them whether any present at least was the offender,
to which all seemed anxious to assent. The old
woman then demanded a Bible, with the key of the
door of the apartment where the defendant usually
slept. These being obtained, she opened the Bible
at the fiftieth psalm, then putting the key, together
with her abraxas, upon the Bible, so that the ring of
the key should project over the head of the book, she
shut it, and raising it upon end, in a careful manner,
upon the table, so that it stood alone, she bade each
of those present touch with the fore-finger the pro-
jected ring, intimating to them that the key should
fall at the touch of the guilty, and vice versa. Mr.
M'Gruthar admitted, that, when the pursuer touched
the ring, the key dropped, and that, next day, the
common bruit among the unsophisticated inhabitants
of the Vale of Loch Katrine was, that " the boat-
man" had certainly been guilty of the theft, seeing
that the spells of their favourite spae-wife, which had
long obtained amongst them implicit belief, had so de-
cided that matter. But his client's creed was of a
purer kind ; and he declares that he never accused
the pursuer as being either principle or accessory in
the theft. _ .

Mr. Malloch, on the part of the pursuer, admit-
ted the statement made by Mr. M'Gruthar, regarding
the sorceress, her amulets, and spell ; together with the
currency of the accusation which that spell had given
rise to in the vale of Loch Katrine : but averred that
the pursuer was accused by the defender in terms of
the complaint. The Sheriff then sent parties to proof.
Three different persons were then adduced by the pur-
suer, who only established Mr. M'Gruthar's details re-
garding " the witch" and her spell ; which particulars
they severally repeated in a most lugubrious solemn
manner ; and that the defender only said it was a very
curious thing, that the key fell at the pursuer's touch,
more than that of those who preceded him. The
Sheriff immediately assoilzed the defender.
During the trial, the Court was crowded to excess-
-Perth Courier.

In the cathedral at Saragossa is the tomb of a
famous inquisitor : six pillars surround it, to each of which is
chained a heretic as preparatory to his being burned. If ever
Jack Ketch should be rich enough to have a splendid tomb,
this might serve as a tolerable model.