The Sun.
London, England, 1856-07-24 00:00:00

AFFAIRS OF NEW GRANADA.

The following circular has been issued by the Foreign
Minister of the republic of New Granada :--
BOGOTA, May 9.—The attention of the legislative body
has been devoted to two matters.
1. To the project for the reform of the constitution on
federal principles, which has already passed the Senate,
under the title of " Constitution for the Columbian Con-
federation," and which the House of Representatives is
now discussing.

2. To the examination, by the same housei of the con-
tracts of sale of waste lands, for the active and deferred
bonds of the foreign debt, entered into in August, 1855,
and which, in the judgment of some deputies, should be
submitted to the approbation of Congress. After long and
animated deba es, the discusssiou terminated without any
resolution having b'en adopted affecting the 'validity and
subsistence of the said contracts.

Amongst the legislative acts sanctioned and published
in the official Gazette, the following are worthy of having
attention called to them, for their influence on the material
interest of the country.
Firstly, Those acts which concede a prolongation of time
to the Contractors for a tramway from the fiort of Baena
VentOa, in th Pacific, to the valley of Cauca, and fur an
luterweanic Canal by the river Atrato.

The law of the 9th of April authorises the Executive to
contract for the construction of a canal between the port
of Sabonilla i❑ the Atlantic and the river Magdalena. In
the Gazette. of the 21st, an official adverti•ewent will be
fotuid for the contract. '

The law of the 30 h applies 30,000 dole, to make the
route to the Magdalena from the port 'a Santa Marta navi-
gable by steamers..
By the law of the 25th of April, the eastern portion of
the refiblic, comprising Casanare, San Martin, and Ca-
quota, had been declared free for commerce in imports and
exports. This vast territory, situated upon navigable tri-
butaries of the rivers Orinoco and Amazon, partly occu-
pied by industrious inlytbitants, and partly inhabited or
possessed by indigenous tribes, offers great advantages for
colonisation, cultivation, feeding of cattle, &c.
The state of Panama has been assisted with an annual
subvention of 50,00 do's , which during five, years will be
taken from the proceeds of the interoceanic parts.
On the 30th of April the constitutional session of Con-
gress expired ; but it continues, in ettraordinary sittings,
to despatch the remaining matters; amongst them the
bases of negotiation with the neighbouring republics for
the re-establishment of Columbia under the federate reform
of government. (Signed) LINO DE POMBO.

DR. RAE AND ARCTIC EXPEDITIONS.

The following letter had been addressed to a contem-
porary :
Sir, —As very few persons are in possession of Dr. Rae's
official despatch describing his last Arctic journey, I think
it highly desirable to let the public know through your
coluwus the authority that Lord Wrottesley bad for criti-
cising Dr. Rae's couduct and extraordinary apathy.
Dr. Rae says that it was not until the end of May that
he received information on the point that he was at one
time within 50 miles of the locality where the Esquimaux
stated the dead bodies of our countrymen had been found.
Now, in his official despatch he writes under the date of
April 21 :

"We were met by a very intelligent Esquimaux. This
man was very communicative, and, on putting to him the
usual questions as to his having seen white men before, or
any ships or boats, he replied in the negative, but said
that a party of Kabloomans had died of starvation a long
distance to the west of where we then were, and beyond
a large river. The substance of the information then and
subsequently obtained from various sources was to the fol-
lowing effest."

Dr: Rae tisen proceeds to narrate the catastrophe, and
that there may be no doubt as to his having learned the
intelligence thus early, he says, in a subsequent part of his
despatch, under date of May 21 :
" It was from this time until August that I had oppor-
tunities of questioning the Esquimaux regarding the in-
formation I had alro ,dy obtained of the party of whites
who had perished of starvation."
It would be easy to add more to prove, by Dr. Rae's
despatches and track chart, that he was in possession of the
above information when he was, as Lord Wrottesley justly
staid, within 50 miles of the spot where the reported catas-
trophe occurred ; but the foregoing extracts are abun-
dantly sufficient to enable the public to form an equitable
judgment respecting Dr. Rae's lame attempt to justify
himself.—l am, Sir, your humble servant,
July 23. VERITAS.