The Sun.
London, England, 1860-08-24 00:00:00

DAMASCUS.

A letter from Damascus, of the 4th of August,
published in the _Levant Berald, contains some de-
tails of the present state of the city and the pro-
ceedings of Fuad Pasha. The first execution of a
Moslem by sentence of the Extraordinary Commis-
sion took place on the 4th inst. He had some pro-
perty intrusted to him for
.safety by a Christian
woman ; he knew the place in which she was con-
cealed, and sent her some sweetmeats containing
arsenic, by which she was poisoned. He was
beheaded, after a very short trial. The Mussul-
man inhabitants of Damascus made no attempt
to resist the numerous arrests ordered by Fuad
Pasha, They rather assisted to make them, by
hastening to betray each other. One man, whose
name was on the list of an officer, helped to find out
30 criminals, and when he had finished was, to his
immense surprise, himself disarmed and arrested as
th e actual murderer of five persons. The condition
of the city is deplorable. A bombardment of a
month would not have reduced the Christian quarter
of Damascus to the state to which the fury of a mob
reduced it in a quarter of the time ; but few of the
walls even of the houses remain upright. The
gates leading from the Turkish quarter, with the
exception of one, are all walled up, and the melan-
choly desert—peopled only by the butchered dead
—is separated from the living city by a chain of
military posts. These precautions are used to pre-
vent people from exploring in search of valuables.
The dead are supposed to have been all removed,
but here an arm, there a foot, protrudes from the
charred ruins which were so lately palaces; and at
points innumerable another sense discovers traces of
barely concealed bodies, which tell how many yet
lie nearly where they fell in the terrible struggle.
A great quantity of buried treasure is being dug up
daily, the owners being accompanied by a guard and
witness to certify that the deposits were found in
. the places previously described. In the yard of
one of the churches there is a deep well, and as the
enclosure became crowded with fugitives, and the
outward tumult became nearer and nearer, those
who had money or jewels flung them into the well.
After the massacre, some bodies were also flung
into the same well by the mob, and when, some
days after, a man attempted to descend in search of
the jewellery, he was killed by the noxious gases.
Another subsequent attempt proved nearly as fatal ;
and the treasure, therefore, and its horrible pro-
, tectors remain untouched.

THE PRINCE OF WALES AT CAPE BRETON.

(From the Cape Breton News.)

Whilst we Cape Bretonians had been talking
and writing of the expected visit of the Prince of
Wales to Nova Scotia and its sister colonies, few
ventured to hope that his Royal Highness would
land on our shores. There were some, however,
who did think it possible, from the early departure
of the squadron from Newfoundland, that Louis-
burg might receive a flying visit from the Prince.
Ere this, doubtless, throughout this island and
elsewhere, it has become known that . the noble
harbour of Sydney, in Cape Breton, was honoured ,
with the presence of her Majesty's ships Hero I
and Ariadne, two of the Prince of Wales's
Atlantic squadron, with its precious freight, the
Prince, on board the former, and that Cape Breton
was the first land in the province on which his
Royal Highness placed his foot. To lay before our
anxious and expectant readers some.particulars of
the visit of the illustrious prince—of this royal per-
sonage, who so highly honoured our dear old island,
is this day our pleasing duty; and with feelings of
unbounded gratification, and grateful recollection
of the event—which it was our good fortune per-
sonally to witness throughout—we shall proceed to
detail, with all possible accuracy, the proceedings
connected with the reception of his Royal Highness
the Prinse of Wales at the Sydney Mines.
To the astonishment of all, the squadron was seen
coming into the harbour at half-past nine last
Saturday morning. We were on the road be-
tween the North Bar and the Mines when we
first saw the ships, at that time rounding Low Point.
Correctly conjecturing them to be the Hero and
Ariadne, we hurried our steps, and reached the
mines just as those vessels came to, and cast anchor
off the Block-house at the entrance of the harbour.
It was then about half-past ten o'cloCk. At that
moment the workmen at the mines were all em-
ployed in their usual occupations—the greater pro-
portion at the depth of 100 fathoms below the sur-
face. Orders were immediately given to suspend
all the works, and to muster the " volunteers" as
quickly as possible. This was a work of difficult
accomplishment, as many of the mcn had to go more
than a mile after getting out of the pits to dress
and equip themselves. At the mines a lively scent
presented itself, which place bore all the appearance
of a town besieged by an invading force—if one
could in imagination have changed the joy and glad-
ness which beamed from every countenance around
into dismay and alarm which such a state of affairs
would have produced ; officers in their uniforms
passing hither and thither, and volunteers hasten-
ing towards the armoury for their Enfield rifles.
In the meantime, Richard Brown, Esq., the gallant
lieutenant-colonel of the Sydney Mines Volunteer
Corps, accompanied by Captains Bridge and Bar-
rington, had proceeded to the beach for the pur-
pose of going on board to receive his Royal High-
ness's orders. They were met at the beach

by Captain Orlebar, R.N., the pilot of the
squadron, who came from the Duke of Newcastle
to say that the Prince had called specially for the
purpose of seeing the Sydney Minos Volunteers ;
and he would land with his suite at Indian Cove in
the course of half an hour ; and that he wished to see
as many of the Volunteers as could be got together
during his short stay—he wished to leave Sydney
in time to reach Louisburg before night, which place
the Prince was desirous of steaming past as near
as possible. Very shortly after, a beautiful barge
painted. white, was seen to shove off from the Hero,
in the direction of the Cove. A pretty large con-
course of persons had now assembled at the point
selected for the landing of the Prince. As the barge
neared the shore we distinctly recognised the youth-
ful and royal visitor aboard, who was dressed in
plain clothes, and surrounded by fire or six gentle-
men, similarly dressed. In the bow of the boat stood
two man-of-war sailors, supporting the royal
standard. The barge having touched the beach at
the landing-place at Indian Cove, Lieut.-Colonel
Brown had the honour and distinguished privilege of
meeting his Royal Highness and suite. Capt. G. H.
Seymour, of the Hero, and Capt. E. W. Vansittart,
of the Ariadne, landed at the same time. As the
volunteers had not yet reached the bridge, the
Prince and Mr. Brown remained standing at the
junction of the main road with the road to the land-
ing place for a few minutes. Shortly after about
half the volunteers, which had been got together,
came down to the bridge, on the upper side of
which they formed a guard of honour, and received
the Prince with presented arms ; after which they
were inspected by his Royal Highness, who walked
round the ranks, followed -by the commanding
officer of the corps and his Royal Highness's suite.
During this time a pretty large gathering of people,
some on foot and some in waggons, lined the oppo-
site side of the bridge, and the brow of the hill.
The Piinee having 'expressed a strong-rivlgh—fo-
visit the Inthan wigwams at the North Bar, it was
arranged that the volunteers should, in the mean-
time, march to their usual parade ground at the
Mines, where it was hoped all the men would have
time to muster before the Prince returned from
the North Bar. The Prince and his suite. were
driven to the Bar, accompanied by a host of officers
belonging to the Hero and Ariadne. Mr. Brown
was also one of the party.
Unfortunately nearly all the Indians were absent
attending their great annual festival at Chapel
Island, in the Bras d'Or Lake. There were only
three or four wigwams standing. The Prince
visited the one occupied by Mary Ann Gould and
another squaw. The inmates were surprised when
Mr Brown informed them that the Prince of Wales
had come to see them. One of the squaws said she
was very glad to see him, and caused much amuse.
ment to the Prince and suite when she added,
" Which is the Prince ? Is it the little un ?" The
party remained some time at the wigwams, making
inquiries, and some purchases of mocassins, the
only articles for sale.

From the wigwams the party proceeded through
the Bar, where the ships at the wharves were gaily
decorated especially her Majesty's surveying
steamer Margaretha Stevenson, and the Royal
Mail steamer Merlin—and thence as far as Mr.
Peppitt's, By this time there were at least twenty
waggons collected. The horses generally were
admired. The apparently frail waggons,. which,
during amazingly.
his
if not all of American build, resemble in struc-
ture the imported article were also much no-
ticed, Altogether, we believe, the Prince enjoyed
the drive to the Bar and
pbaaretlscHe
was cheered at various
pro
gross—but especially
Co.'s shipyard, and the Mining Company's wharves.
But we must not here forget to notice that the
Prince of Wales and the Duke of Newcastle ex
pressed their astonishipentat seeing such a large
proportion of pretty girls in every group as they ,
passed through the B
far. On arriving at the mines,
the Prince and suite inspected the Volunteers j
drawn up at their usual parade, where nearly every,

man had mustered, numbering in all, including
officers, 126. His Royal Highness was saluted by
the corps in the usual manner ; after which, in
response to the lieutenant-colonel, a right royal
cheer was given, in which the spectators, now
very numerous, joined heartily. At the conclusion,
at the request of the Prince, the whole of the
officers were presented to his Royal Highness by
the colonel, to whom the Prince requested him to
express his high gratification at the soldier-like
appearance and steadiness of the corps, and the
great pleasure he had derived from the inspection
of so fine a body of men. Major-General Bruce
and the Duke of Newcastle also expressed their
admiration of the corps. As the Prince proposed
taking a drive a short distance into the country,
the order for the volunteers to remain under arms
to escort his Royal Highness on his return to the
place of embarkation was, at the request of the
Prince, from the kindest consideration for the
men, countermanded, and the corps dismissed.
The Prince and suite then drove up to the top of
the hill near the old mines, which commands a fine
prospect of the entrance of the Bras d'Or ; of St.
Ann's Mountain, Smoky Cape, and the sea, with
the Mining Association's works in the foreground.
The Prince, we learn, expressed regret that he had.
not another day to spare to go up the lakes to view
its unrivalled scenery, with the extent and nature
of which he seemed well acquainted. The site selected
by Gen. Williams for a battery for the protection
of the mines was pointed out to- the Duke of New-
castle, and which it appears was the identical hill
which his grace had spoken of as the most suitable,
on his way into the harbour. There exist good
grounds for supposing that guns will be sent from
England for the mines, especially if a Volunteer
Artillery Company can be organised. His Royal
Highness afterwards returned and drove up to
Beech-hill, the residence of Mr. Brown. He ad-
mired the grounds and park-like appearance of
Beech-hill; and made many inquiries respecting
the different kinds of trees the island produces, and
noticed the prevalence of the rich and luxuriant
spruce. His Royal Highness and suite were much
pleased with the collection of fossil plants, and
were agreeably surprised to see such a variety of
rare flowers in the garden there : they little ex-
pected to find dahlias in bloom in July in Cape
Breton. We venture to hope that some of the erro-
neous ideas of colonial life will be corrected by this
visit.
The officers of the volunteers now arrived at
Beech-hill, where according to previous arrange-
ment, to which his Royal Highness had assented,
their address of welcome was read and presented
by their colonel, and which was most graciously
received by the Prince:
After taking some slight refreshment the Prince
and suite were driven down to Indian Cove, the
place of embarkation. At the very last moment,
just as the Prince was stepping into the barge, he
observed to Mr. Brown, that he had been much
gratified with his reception by the Volunteers and
people of the Mines.