The Sun.
London, England, 1856-12-15 00:00:00

THE ISLAND OF MADAGASCAR.

There are few countries which have been less visited
by modern travellers than the Island of Madagascar.
Those who are interested in the history of this country,

its natural productions, and its numerous inhabitants,
will be glad to learn that the Rev. Wm. Ellis, who left
England last March, at the express invitation of the
Queen of Madagascar and the Prince, her son, has suc-
ceeded in reaching the capital, after an adventurous
journey from the coast, a distance of about 300 miles.
With the same attention and kindness which awaited
his arrival at Jamateve, Mr. Ellis was conducted through
all the stages of this journey, and finally arrived at the
capital on the 27th August, with the respect and con-
sideration befitting to a guest of the Queen.
More than a hundred men had been appainted by the
Madagascar Government to convey him and his pack
ages, as being carried by hand, himself in a kind of pa-
lanquin, in which the traveller reclines for the gr eater
ease of the bearers, and his property portioned out by
weight, a certain amount being allotted to each car-
rier. Every precaution was necessary for strength
arid safety ; for such roads, or rather such tracts, to
be traversed without roads, Mr. Ellis states he could
never have imagined. Much of the way was through
swampy districts, and shallow rivers, in crossing which
the palanquin had sometimes to be raised upon poles, on
one occasion the men shouting as they went ; and when
asked the cause of the noise, it proved to be for the pur•
pose of frightening off the crocodiles. In one instance the
party crossed a broad lake in fifteen canoes. At other
times their way lay through dense old forests, perfectly
awful in the majesty of their giant growth, and the still-
ness of these vast solitudes. Sometimes the way was so
narrow and precipitous that only one man could pass
abreast, and where more level the bearers had often no
better footing than a considerable depth of soft mud. It
was the rainy season ; and Mr. Ellis describes this por-
tion as being justly designated the " fever district."
Indeed, he was often reminded of one amongst the
many shrewd sayings of the late King Rodama, who
used to boast that he could trust any invading army .to
his two generals, " Wood and Fever.' The party passed
on, however, and were halted occasionally for a day,
without any attack from this malady, except in the case
of one of the bearers.
Throughout this portion of the journey Mr. Ellis was
much struck with the beauty and variety of the ferns,
with some heaths quite new to him, and with many luxu-
riant creepers bearing beautiful flowers. The ropier palm,
so valuable to the natives in their manufactures, was
abundant, as well as the traveller's tree, a palm peculiar
to Madagascar. The remarkable properties of this tree,
from which it derives its name, is that of yielding, when
the branches are pressed, a perfectly clear and pure
liquid, in quantities sufficient to allay the travel'er's
thirst—sometimes not less than a quart from one small

On emerging from the fever country, and reaching a
more open and better-cultivated country, the ropia and
traveller's tree were no longer found. The indu,try of
the Hovas was then more perceptible in the cultivation
of rice grounds and in many other kinds of produce, as
well as in the weaving of beautiful fabrics of native silk,
chiefly the lambs worn by the chiefs as a kind of mantle,
with a broad striped border, often of bright colours,
arranged with the greatest taste.
At all the different halting stations the party were re
ceived with kindness, ample provisions supplied, and if
any of the bearers absconded, as they sometimes did,
their packages were sent forward by the chief of the place
with the greatest exactness and certainty. Frequently
during the course of the journey messengers arrived from
the capital to express the friendly anticipations of the
Prince and his friends, and on advancing towards the
last stages these marks of attention became still more
frequent. At last three chiefs, on horsenack, approached
as a final escort ; and the traveller was then conducted to
a house appointed for his use, which he found exceedingly
commodious and comfortable, being fitted up with many
of the conveniences of European life.
Mr. Ellis being obliged to despatch his journal by the
bearers wbo were returning to the coast, had not had
time for his antioipa'ed interview with the Queen ; but
his letter closes with an account of a visit from the Prince
of a most interesting nature. He was accompanied by the
Queen's secretary, who speaks English, being one of those
who some years ago received their education in this
country. The Prince is described by Mr. Ellis as being
extremely agreeable in his person and manner. He
was dressed in the style of a European gentleman of
rank, and spoke and conducted birwelf with a frank and
open ct:rdiality, blended at times with evidence of deeper
feeling, all indicative of that sincere, humane, and gene.
rous disposition for which he is so universally beloved.
In those respects in which Mr. Ellis is most deeply
interested, he states that the condition of things exceeds
even his highest expectations ; but the same stringent
laws against Christianity remain in force, although there
has not of late been any active persecution. Already he
has learned enough to confirm the impression that it was
his duty to pay this visit, whatever the ultimate issue
may be, and he earnestly solicits the prayers of all Chris-
tians that his mission may not be in vain.

THE REOORDERSHIP OF BRISTOL.-111 consequence of
representations made by the town-council of Bristol to
the Secretary of State for the Home Department, the
salary of the Recorder, with the concurrence of Mr. Ser-
geant Kinglake (who recently succeeded Sir A. Cock-
burn iu the office, and who left the matter entirely in
the hands of Sir G. Grey), has been reduced from 6001.
to 5001. per annum. In connection with this subject it
may also be stated that an application has been made by
the Bristol Corporation to be heard before the commis-
sioners recently appointed to inquire into the practice
and proceedings of the superior courts, for the purpose
of laying before them the great inconvenience and ex-
pense at present entailed upon Bristol in being obliged
to send prisoners committed for offences requiring to be
disposed of at assizes to Gloucester for trial. There is
at present au annual Nisi Prius assize held at Bristol,
which it is suggested should be held half-yearly, with a
criminal assize in addition.
VAGUE NOTION OF NUII/SER.—When[once at Carnar-
von I learned hew vague are the ideas of number in
unpractised minds. " What number of people do you
think," said I to an elderly person, " will be assembled
this day at Carnarvon ?" " What number ?" rejoined
the person addressed, "what number ! Well, really,
now, I should reckon—perhaps a matter of four mil.
lions." Four millions of extra people in little Carnar-
von, that could barely find accommodation (I should
calculate) for an extra four hundred.—Confessions of an
Opium-eater,

A late chaplain to the army in Turkey, in writ-
ing to a contemporary, says :
" I see that it is determined to reopen the Paris
Conferences.. I trust that certain apparent over-
sights in the first Conference will be reernsidered.
If you will permit me I will mention one—l dean
the present coedition of Christiaus iu the Turkish
empire, as set tied by the late Conferences ; for the
Conferences made a very serious change in their
condition—the Western Plenipotentiaries being,
1 firmly believe, overreached by the Turkish. The
change I allude to is this, that now no foreign
Christian Paieer shall have any right to interfere
between the Porte aed its Christian subjects. Be-
fore this, when any outrage was committed on a
Christian, the Foreign Ambassador (I may men
tion particularly our own) used means for their
safety and protection. At the Conferences so
eager were the Western Powers to keep out the
Russians from claiming a right to protect the
Christians that the Turkish Plenipotentiary
got a clause inserted, that no foreign Power
should have a right to interfere. The formerly
protecting arm of the English and French Am-
bassadors is now paralysed. It will probably be
replied that, nines the publishing of the Hatti-Hou
mayoun, giving liberty to the Christians, this is
unnecessary. I reply byasking if this edict has ever
been published beyond the shores of the Bosphorus?
I answer that it has not ; the provinces know no
thing of it. Dr. Sand with could hear nothing
about it in Armenia, but, on the contrary, found
all the old oppressive and tyrannical proceedings
against Christians in full force. I beard. at a large
public-meeting of the Turkish mission. Dr. Ham-
lin, Who had been missionary iiii Turkey Tor 18
years, say publicly that he believed that this edict
was not carried out, and never was intended to be
carried out ; a statement fully corroborated by my
own inquiries at Constantinople. While at Scutari
this spring I made frequent inquiries among the
Christians—both Greeks and Armenians about it.
They unanimously declared that they would he in
a far worse case through this edict than they were
before it. Before they paid the haratch, and were
exempt from the duty of serving in the army ; now
they' pay the tax and are liable to serve, without
being permitted to enjoy the privileges of citizen-
ship ; nay, I believe that they are now treated
worse by the Turk than before. The latter knows
his power and the weakness of his victim, and we
may be sure of this, that no Turk will ever he
punished for violence on a Christian unless
through the interference of a foreign Power.
The well-known case of the Pasha of Varna
and the gill Nedele will be remembered by
all. I was at Scutari at the time that the
investigation was going on, and I well remember the
indignation expressed by the Turks at the
French for their interference with their liberty to
do what they liked with their own—i. e., the per-
sons and property of the Christians."
The following account, which I have translated
out of a Greek newspaper, the Sun (Helios), will
show that the Turk is still the unchanged Oriental
despot he ever was :—" At Philippopolis a certain
Christian celebrated the marriage of his son, to
which he invited all his friends and relations ; for
six days they kept up the rejoicings with music
and dancing. Ou the fifth day the Pasha of Philip-
popolis happened to pass by and saw
the ladies elegantly dressed, adorned with flowers,
jewels, and strings of pearls. On learning the oc-
casion of the festivity from the father, with whom
he was acquainted, his Excellency was angry be-
cause he bad not been invited ; he was therefore
invited on the following day, and was a spectator
of the profusion and wealth of the family. About
midnight be attacked the house, carried off every-
thing, and slaughtered twenty-five persons. On
the following day, which was Sunday, the
neighbours, consulting together, knocked at
the door, but'there was no reply, or sound of
anything within. At last they broke open the door,
and became spectators of the 25 corpses, with their
fingers mercilessly cut off—a sad sight for Philo-
TUrks. Immediately a statement of facts was drawn
up' and the Pasha hastened to view the place with
his own eyes. He then left, mounted his horse,
uttering curses and imprecations on the perpetra-
tors. He rode up and down, and set a guard over
the house, and sent out his soldiers to pursue and
take the midnight plunderers. But there is nothing
dope in secret that shall not one day be brought to
light. One of the servants of the Pasha gave an
account to the Christians of his share in the hor-
rible murder. Upon this immediate information
was given to the Pasha of Adrianople, who, coming
to the house of the Pasha of Philippopolis, instantly
drew up before him all his soldiers, afterwards the
soldiers of the place, so that the latter should have
ue guards, and accompanying him caused search to
be made in the houses of the neighbours of the
murdered man. Then he returned to the Pasha's
house, when, on being searched, was discovered in
a 'private apartment occupied by his servant a large
iron chest ; this he opened, and there were found
heaped up bracelets, necklaces, and rings belonging
to the amputated fingers, Ate. The Pasha was
taken to Adrianople, where ho remains in oustody.
The other inhabitants are seeking out the terrified
witnesses with all diligence ; but the fear is that
this Pasha will get off as the Pasha of Varna did.
They have written to Constantinople, and are
waiting orders from head-quartets."

THP, GIGANTIC FRAUDS ON THE GREAT
IVO i,THE.RN RAILWAY.

We find the following letter from Lord Hotham
in erapath's RailwayJournal:—
" My attention has been called to your paper of
the 29th ult., containing an article headed
" Leopold Redpath," in which is the following
statement, referring, as I am given to understand,
to myself :
" One day while Mr. Denison, the chairman of
the Great Northern, was talking witti Lord H.,
Red path passed, and as a gentleman should do to
to his superior, bowed, which the chairman is said
to have acknowledged by a stiff ' How d'ye do,
Redpath ?" Whether the chairman told the noble ,
lord that Redpath was one of his men of honour
and gentlemen, deponent saith not, but he was
presently astounded to see Redpath and Lord H.
in conversation as two old friends and equals. The
wondering chairman, going afterwards in the train
with his lordship, is report( dto have said, Do
you know Red path ?" Know him ! that I do, and
well too ; I've dined at his table many a time • and
capital dinners he gives. He is very fond of
articles of vertu ; gave a large sum for one. He
is indeed a capital fellow. "
" I desire, therefore, in order to prevent the pos-
sibility of misconception, to state what and all
that I have known of Mr. Redpath.
I have never had, either directly or indirectly, a
business transaction of any kind whatsoever with
him. On two or three occasions I have met him,
when paying a morning visit to a friend in London,
and if I had seen him afterwards, on one occasion,
at the station (which, although it has escaped my
recollection I have no doubt, from what Mr.
Denison tells me, is the case) I should certainly
have spoken to him, as I should have done to any
onf• under similar circumstances.
This being the sum total of my acquaintance
with Mr. Redpath, it will be evident to you how
little foundation there is for the statement made
to you by your correspondent.
It would, indeed, have been strange if I had
described myself as being on terms of intimate
familiarity with one of whom I knew no more than
is above detailed, or that I should be guilty of
such a monstrous falsehood as to declare that I had
dined " many a time" at the table of an individual
with whom or even in whose company,'l have
never dined in the whole course of my life.
Requesting that you will be so good as to publish
this note in your next paper, I remain,
Hull, Dec. 9, 1856.
HOTHAM.

AUDACIOUS ltoneEnv.—On Thursday evening, about
7 o'clock, three men entered the Crown Tavern,
Jamaica-street, Bristol, and sitting down in the par-
lour called for some drink. The parlour is divided
from the bar by a partition, and upon Mrs. Poole,
the landlady, going into the parlour, one of the men
placed a chair against the door and prevented her
from returning to the bar. Another went from the
parlour into the side passage, and beskoned to a
comrade in the street, who elme in, and both entered
the bar, and attempted to carry off a desk which was
there. The desk, however, was screwed down to a kind
of counter, and they began wrenching it off. Mrs.
Poole, seeing what was going on, managed to get into
the passage, but was followed by one of the men who
had remained with her in the parlour, and who struck
bar a violent blow on the head and knocked her down.
She had no sooner recovered herself than the second
man came one, knocked her down again, and kicked her
several times. The other fellows succeeded in wren... chainnag
off the desk, from which they obtained between 10/
121. in gold and silver, which they secured, an dthe whole
gang then made their escape. A full description of the
thieves has been given by Mrs. Poole to the police, and
hopes are entertained. that the fellows will be appre-
hended.

DUBLIN, SATURDAY MORNING-`2l:*
ENCUMBERED ESTATES COMMISSION. -!?
There has been, it would seem, another change in •
the Ministerial mind with respect to the propriety
of appointing a third commissioner in place of 1!
Baron Richards. It appears that in the course of
some proceedings yesterday in chanab•r Mr. Com-
missioner Longfield made a few casual observations,
from which, as well as could be collected the
learned gentleman intimated that it was not 'the,
intention of the Government to fill up the vacancy;
created by the return of Baron Richards to the
Exchequer berg' "7' ' being the case, the other'
commissioners -4 , but little idle time, as the
pre=sures of business is said to be on the increase
daily. The extensive estates of Mr. William Arm-
strong, situate in the counties of Clare and Galway,
were put up for sale on Friday in 22 lots, and pro-
duced the sum of 54,0001., or somewhere about 23
years' purchase on the net rental.

THE BROA.DSTONE TRAGEDY.
Another pause in the unravelling of the plot ;
but the discovery of Thursday has completely re-
vived the painful state of excitement which, under
the pressure of continuous failure, had nearly died
this i s
copied morning's
from
the Mail of last
out in the earlier part of the last week. There was
papers than the
night
"The discovery of the money before alluded to is
following nothing
newer
statement,
likely to be productive of most important results. The
position in which it was found, taken in connexion with
the fact that the hammer with which the murder was
committed was one belonging to the same department of
the terminus, strengthens a suspicion which the police
hate entertained from the day of the inquest with al-
most certainty. The bag has been clearly proved to
have been the property of Mr. Little by his sister, who
made it for the purpose of holding coin, so that no doubt
can be entenained that its contents formed a portion of
*he money abstracted on the occasion of the murder.
This will go far to show that the assassin was no stran-
ger. As to whether the bag was merely dipped in water
for some unknown object, or whether it had remained a
lengthened time .aturated, is not easily deter ,inable,
for a quantity of oilcloth on which it lay would have
conduced to the retention of the water. However this
may be, every single coin bears marks of having been
wetted, just as if the mouth of the bag had been held
open anti the water pours 'Zi 'in. A moat searching in-
quiry to ascertain the persons who had access to the
place where the basket was deposited, or who, not having
business, were seen in its neighbourhood, has been set
on foot, but it is said that this is merely a precautionary
tneamre, for the police are in possession of facts which
will go further than anything which can be elicited by
such an investigation to point out the guilty person.
Doubts having been entertained whether any money was
taken from the cashier's room on the evening of the
murder, it is now positively stated that by a document
in the handwriting of Mr. Little it appears that the sum
of 3341. in gold and silver was carried off by the mur-
derer."