The Sun.
London, England, 1860-09-11 00:00:00

FOREST OF BONDY.

About the time, and even since the time, when
Bagshot and Hounslow and Wimbledon were unsafe
travelling at nights, the Forest of Bondy, at a short
three leagues from Paris, was proverbial as the
haunt of robbers. The French highwayman of 50
or 100 years ago does not seem to have enjoyed that
romantic prestige attached to certain renowned
English knights of the road. One does not read of
him careering, in gallant attire and mounted on a
first-rate " bit of blood," along the crown of the
causeway, and, single-handed, by the terror of his
name as much as by his means of offence, levying
blackmail on a whole coachload of travellers. No
picturesque traditions attach to him of ladies losing
their hearts at the same time as their purses, or sav-
ing their jewels on the easy condition of stepping a
minuet with him on the high road. His modes'
oporandi was different ; he looked to substantial
gains rather than to a chivalrous reputation,
and bequeathed few materials to the pens of a
French Bulwer or Ainsworth, While his English
contemporary was the hero of a district and the
admiration of the fair, was sung in popular ballads,s
and almost pitied when a rope put a period too_ la
a lventures, he lay in wait at the corner
dr f
than
wood, and thought far more of plunder
of generosity or fame. Of the woodsiebrated than
quented not one has been more
recesses he found
that of Bondy. In its dense
vicinityr was long
oriet'odtehßisodnadyy,
ehe fre-
quented
and impunity, and
avoided by all who had auffheintt
to say that you find yourself that you have fallen
is equivalent to deelaring
nwa
theod ibny-
sort of cutthroat terror hung
grhtthoer oeuxttlearwmsi
among thieves.
around the place long tsioilel eitsief.
fested it had been .
endarmes—just as the prosaic
justice and theg
19th century is f
civilisation of the
of the fast sweeping
the last vestiges romance A put toatg
ance of robbery.
away
The •
heaths and commons over which a Duval, a
Turpin, and a Paul Clifford pranced in the days of
our ancestors are now secure and cockneyfied, and
one would as soon expect to be stopped and robbed
in Hyde-park on a summer afternoon as sight in of
Hounslow villas and of blue-coated police. And so
we learn, without surprise, that Bondy has had its
day, and is coming to the auctioneer's hammer and
the woodman's axe. It is a Crown land, and is
about to be divided (as was lately done with the
park of Neuilly) into a vast number of small lots,
to be sold to the highest bidder. It is computed
that it will make 15,000 to 18,000 lots of the size
proposed, and the first of these will be sold in a few
days. Some portions of Neuilly park have sold
very well, at the rate, I have been informed, of
20,000 f. the acre. The greater distance of Bondy
Forest from Paris renders it improbable that it will
realise such high prices ; but it seems expected that
it will find a ready sale at fair rates. The large
timber, of which there is a good deal, will be re-
' moved, but the brushwood, I understand, will be
left for the purchasers.

The Brighton Railway traffic return shows this
week an increase of £1,787; and the South Eastern an in-
crease of £1,120.

There was an active demand yesterday for the 5
per cent, preference stock of the London, Chatham, and
Dover Railway Company, which rose about 3 per cent.,
closing at 901 to 91±.
THE CORNISH FISHERIES.—At New Quay, Corn-
wall,on the
the
the pilchards have made their appearance
in great abundance. The fishermen have all
_hfrag°ismay
alert, and a successful season is anticipated.x
AcLapptsi.aE:liNeaswPand Atut the drift
the seines have not taken many fish as
boats have been bringing in from 1,000 to
shire,
in
PARTRIDOR SHOOTING.—In Nottinghamst
A week of the sports
consequence of the wet weather, the Bret
immediate neigh-
ing campaign has been a failure. In '
orting season has been
Y°31;000 per boat.
bourhood of Nottingham, the P
°impossible to shoot in the
deferred for a fortnight, it being
standing corn.
CUltt„ proceeded to Manchester from
SIONISTS FROM MANCHESTER.
re ous to
been accepted. -Unfortunately
his leaving again at five o'clock
in o clock
YesterdayGAniß
Liverpool, and P viersona had offered themselves as ex-
in the afternoon 47 p
ursionists to
c
there is a aeat want of funds to equip the party.
of silver,lead, The discovery:
n "tish Columbia, reoed in the American advices of
in —n • stated to have
yesterday, us , been made on the Lower Frazer
d also further
River, au in the interior. The silver ore is
Alin alieged to contain 5 per cent, of silver,
and mines of copper
~ blocks too large for removal,"' and equal to those on
Lake Superior, are also described. In succeeding accounts
these statements will perhaps dwindle to the point at which
it is " doubtful if the lodes will pay for working."