The Sun.
London, England, 1860-08-30 00:00:00

• rilE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, AUGUST 30, 1860.

213 E PRINCE'S VISIT To CANADA.

(From the Special Correspondent of the Times.)
HER MAJESTY'S SHIP FLYING-FISH,
OFF QUEBEC, AUG. 18.

The real visit to America may be said to date
from this day, for, with all their hearty loyalty and
all their intensity of welcome and devotion, the
provinces through which the Prince has just passed
are but the outworks of the mighty colonial empire
he has yet to traverse. The real progress, there-
fore, may be said to begin to-day, and, if the future
may be judged by the past, the reception accorded
to her Majesty's eldest son, not alone in Canada
but in the United States, is likely to be such as has
never yet been offered spontaneously to the greatest
monarch of modern times. At Prince Edward
Island, poor and small in proportion gait is in com-
parison to the other provinks, far more was done
than could ever have been'expeoted. Before the
• ball, which took place there on the night of the
10th, his Royal Highness reviewed the Volunteers,
and in all relating toequipment and discipline their
appearance would have done credit to any 'colony
in her Majesty's dominions. After this military dis-
play every one made up their minds for the fete of
he evening, which, if all I hear is true, must have
been anxiously looked forward to since Christmas
last. The ball at Charlottetown was, in its way,
therefore, a very gay affair.. Of course it was very
crowded, and not many could get in, or, being in,
get out; but people like being crowded at a ball,
especially when dancing is not their forte, and thus
even the most critical at Charlottetown could not
detect whether the bewildered individuals pushing
here and there were really involved in the mazes
of a quadrille or only trying to gain the door.
The Prince was there, too, laughing and dancing
as much as any, and the Governor, Mr. Dundas,
second only to the Prince in popularity, was
equally gay, and equally complicated in the crowd.
So the whole thing was voted a decided suc-
cess, everybody enjoyed themselves, and " the
festivities were prolonged to an advanced
hour." Saturday, the 11th, was a quiet day—that
is, the Prince only received visitors and embarked
in state on board the Hero, which, with the Ariadne,
Cossack, and Flying-Fish, and the French 42-gun
frigate Pomone, were all dressed in colours and had
yards manned. This made a good spectacle of the
departure, and the crowds of people lining the
shores finished the effect, and made the whole cere-
mony one of considerable state and eclat, in spite of
the rain, which had been dropping all the morning,
and which the thunder of the guns brought down
at last with drenching vehemence. At 2 p.m. the
signal was made to weigh anchor, and in half an
hour afterwards the squadron was steaming quickly
down the river, with light winds, thick, rainy
weather, a little moss sea, and a decided prospect of
each and all getting worse as the night drew on. The
course was across some dangerous shoals between
Prince Edward Island and the mainland, where the
channel for large ships is narrow and intricate, and
where, on that night at least, there was but little
prospect of getting sight of any bearings by which
the Squadron could judge of its whereabouts. For-
tunately the rain kept down the wind, as) indeed,
it seemed capeble of keeping down anything ; for
except on occasions of great public festivals and out-
door rejoicings in England I never before saw any-
thing like its density. It was a wretched night, and
by 10 o'clock the vessels were slowly creeping in,
sounding their way with the lead lines, as they ad-
vanced, and hoisting groups of lights at the main-
yard whenever any was fortunate enough to find
some water deeper than the rest. Thus moving,
stopping, sounding and signalling, the vessels crept
slowly on past the Escumenar light and Mirimichi
Bay till daylight broke, when the open sea was
gained at last. Sunday was at first as bad as
Saturday in point of weather till the evening, when
the breeze' fell and the rain ceased as the ships
steamed in towards Gaspe Point. To see the bold
magnificence of the coast to the best advantage, all
the squadron stood into the narrow channel be-
tween Bonaventure Island and Cape Gaspe, where
the huge cliffs of steep red sandstone, lit up by the
setting sun, seemed like mountains of fire, in which
the dark shadows caused by rents and chasms stood
out with a black distinctness that was almost ter-
rible. Just beyond Cape Gaspe is an insulated mass
of fiery sandstone, known by the name of the Perce
Rock. It is caverned into a heap of rents and holes,
some of which penetrate its entire mass, and allow a
faint daylight to peer through it, showing like spots
of dirty chalk upon its straight blood-coloured sides.
The Hero ran close to this to enable his Royal High-
ness to see its rough magnificence at the best, and
passing across Mud Bay stood straight for Gaspe
harbour. It was night again, however, before this
was gained, and as the last rays of the sun were
overpowered by darkness the Auroraßorsalis seemed
suddenly to spring into light and life in the sky, and
kept playing across every part of the heavens, as if
the active principle of the light which had just de-
parted was rejoicing over its release from work.
Sometimes it would entirely vanish with a sudden
blink, as if the illumination was blown out, and
then come faintly streaking down the sky in thin,
lambent, pencilled veins, which spread out in sudden
shoots, now brightening, now fading, till the whole
lit up in one vivid blaze, and died out to reappear
again in another direction. The squadron reached
Gaspe Bay soon after dark and anchored for the night
alongside the Victoria and the Lady Head steamers,
which had come down with the Governor of Canada
and the chief members of the Colonial Government
to meet his Royal Highness. Early in the morn•
ing of the 13th, after a visit had been duly paid to
the Hero by the chief Government officials, the
squadron was signaled to 'get under way and fol-
low the Hero into the inner harbour of Gaspe. The
whole coast line of the North American provinces
abounds with natural and almost landlocked har-
bours, many of which are superior in size and
security and depth of water to the most vaunted
harbours of Great Britain. Milford Haven,
Queenstown, Bantry Bay, or Plymouth are below
any standard of comparison with these magnificent
refuges ; and Gaspe, though far from one of the
best, is still immeasurably better than the best of
ours. A long chain of richly-wooded undulating
hills encloses it on three sides, and its broad capa-
cious mouth, some five miles wide, has a natural
breakwater across half its extent in the shape of a
sandbank, which, stretching out in a sharp curve,
stops the angry water from passing into the inner
harbour. The Hero, followed by the Ariadne,
Flying-Fish, Victoria, and Lady Head, steamed up
this basin till the little town df Gaspe ' with its
stiff-loOking white-washed houses, its cleared fields,
and regular sharp outlines of small trees, for all the
world like the villages children build with a box
of Dutch toys, came close in view. There was still
the inner harbour of all to enter, and to this the
Hero was, of course, to lead. On a high, command-
ing spit of land a heavy battery commenced firing
a Royal salute as the vessel approached, and the
echoes went reverberating among the hills in a
deep, sustained roar, as if the very mountains were
shouting to each other in tones of thunder. All
this time the Hero, with the Royal standard
flying, seemed unaccountably still. The last gun
was fired, and the uproar which it called into
'Ewing waxed fainter and fainter, till it ceased
gently in a hoarse murmur, the shadow of its for-
mer self, and still the Hero continued quiet and
motionless as a rock. At last a cloud of little sig-
nitls were hoisted with the Ariadne's pennants,
and went down again before a landeman could well
Count their number. But, quick as they'went up
and down, they had been read by the squadron,
and it was " Hands up—stream cables !" for the
Jicro was ashore. In trying to c:,ter the inner
harbour she ha,-;
taken the ground on a low spit of
.shoal, at.d there she remained hard and fast. In a
few minutes the Ariadne went ahead, an d, skimming I
round the bay with a speed which no ocean-going
frigat has ever yet surpassed, turned in her own
length anti hae:,.ed in, stern foremost, to assist the
flag-s Lip, inat ez,:uvre Was beautifully executed,
though cure in rain, for where the Hero gets
aground the/ 9 is not much water for the Ariadne.
She, too, tone: led the shoal with her stern, but of
course went on'againy and got out her boats at once
The Commodore then six_
all hawser to tow.
nailed the Flying-fish to close, and in a minute
or
so afterwards that pretty little sloop was brought
under the stern. of the Hero with such skill and ease

see li

that, though the vessels actually touched, the dis-
tance was calculated with such minute care and
nicety that, as sailors say, the two ships would
scarcely have broken au egg between them. In. a
very few words Commodore Seymour gave his in-
structions, and in a very few minutes Commander
Hope carried them out, taking the Hero's stream
cable through the stern port, and dropping it with
a bower anchor in the very spot where it was ne-
cessary to haul on. Simply as this may be said in
words, it was, on the whole, a difficult thing: to do
properly; but the Flying-fish did it, an& did it
well, too. Hauling upon this, and steaming full
power astern till the water was in a foam, the
Hero made a desperate effort to clear herself, but
all in vain. Nothing moved her, and there seemed
at one time a strong probability that she would
have to run her guns aft, if not to lower
them into the Flying-fish entirely, before she
floated. During this interval of time a number of
gaily-dressed boats had come out from Gaspe town,
and, quite unaware of the untoward circumstances
of the case, collected in a crowd under the Hero's
bows, their crews cheering and waving handker-
chiefs as if his Royal Highness had purposely gone
ashore to receive their ovations at his ease. At his
ease, indeed, the Prince certainly seemed to be, sky-
larking about the quarter deck of the Hero with
the younger officers with as much good humour and
sang froid as if he visited Gaspe every day in the
year, and was rather in the habit than otherwise of
getting ashore in a line-of-battle ship. At last, after
an hour or more had been spent in useless attempts
to move the Hero off, the Ariadne passed two haw-
sers out astern, and taking the flagship in tow,
pulled her out of her difficulties bodily and set her
afloat once more in deep water. The set of the tide
while waiting for high water to enter the inner
harbour had taken her ashore in the only shoal
place in the harbaur. That it was .not due to the
want of careful pilotage may be judged from the
fact that Captain Oreibar was in charge of her, and
this officer, with the late Captain (now Admiral)
Bayfield, has been ir the last 30 years engaged in
making the Admialty survey of the whole coast
line of the provinces, from Nova Scotia to Labrador.
As may, however, easily be guessed, no more at-
tempts were made to enter the inner/harbour, and
as soon as the Hero had recovered herself, recalled
her boats, and in a manner resettled her plumage,
the signal was hoisted, "prepare to weigh." In 10
minutes afterwards the squadron was steaming
down the bay as fast as they could run, for a huge
Atlantic fog bank, dense as a shoal, came pouripg,
in, and safe as the harbour is at all times, it was
not thought quite advisable to keep large ships
tacking about in it in fog which was quite of the
colour and almost of the consistency of butter.
All therefore made haste to get out at once, the
Hero leading round Cape Gaspe—a tremendous
headland of limestone rock, gray and solemn-
looking, with its massive brow furrowed into
deep chasms, like wrinkles, by the action of the
elements upon it for ages past. The Flying-fish
was afforded rather a close opportunity of studying
this awful rock, for in the fog the Ariadne suddenly
made her appearance close astern, and compelling
the Flying-fish to turn almost into the rock to avoid
a still more dangerous collision. Outside the har-
bour the fog was, if possible, even more dense than
before, and in half an hour the ships were any-
where but together, and all most cautiously feeling
their way up the Gulf of St. Lawrence, guided
partly by the guns which were fired at intervals by
the flag-ship. That night the squadron made very
little progress, for with the fog was its most dis-
agreeable accompaniment—a heavy deep fog swell ;
so that, on the whole, the weather was decidedly un-
pleasant. On the 14th it cleared a little, and the
ships went ahead fast—so fast, indeed, that the
Flying-fish was soon making a long stern chase of
it, and though her heavy guns were brought aft,
and all other nautical devices adopted to increase
her speed, she continued dropping astern till she
would have been left behind altogether had not the
Commodore signalled the Ariadne to take her in
tow. To a frigate of such speed and power as the
Ariadne it makes very little difference whether she
has a line-of-battle ship in tow or only a
sloop like the Flying-fish. Oa the voyage out,
when the Hero fell short of coal, the Ariadne not
only took her in tow for a couple of days, but
towed her at the rate of nearly 10 knots an hour.
With the Flying-fish, however, she was less suc-
cessful. Scarcely had she got her well under way
before the bearings of some parts of her engines
heated to such an extent that the white metal ran
out, and the Ariadne came to a dead standstill in a
minute. There was nothing for it therefore but to
leave her to beat up under sail till she could repair
the accident, while the Flying-fish pressed on full
power to rejoin the Hero—an effort which took her
the whole night to accomplish, and which she never
would have accomplished at all if the flag-ship had
not slackened speed as she neared the mouth of
that most awful-looking of all rivers, the Sagueniy,
up which it was intended the squadron should
steam. The Saguenay is only some 120 miles dis-
tant from Quebec ; but, as the river is of its kind
the most extraordinary in the whole world, it was
arranged that the Prince should spend at least two
days in fishing and • boating between the tremen-
dous cliffs which hem it in on every aide. While
the Hero was preparing to enter the river the
Ariadne rejoined the squadron. She bad repaired
the damage to her engines by 9 o'clock on the pre-
vious night, and had steamed up a distance of 122
knots in 11 hours.

All the vessels were preparing to enter the mouth
of the river when the Hero got ashore again on a
very little shoal, but one on which she managed
to get ashore, and pretty firmly too. The water
round the entrance to the Saguenay is deep enough
for any line-01-ba.ttle ship that ever floated, except
in one small spot called the Four-fathom Patch, the
only spot in the whole bay where she could take
the ground, and on this the pilot contrived to run
her rather hard. The buoys which indicated the
presenee of this danger had shifted considerably—
so considerably, in fact, that it is said the pilot
should have seen at once by their bearings that
they were not where they ought to have been. He
was thought at the time he was engaged to be one
of the,best pilots for the St. Lawrence, but it would
seem that he had never taken a large ship across
the stream from liiviere de Loup to the Saguenay.
This fact, coupled with the nervousness arising from
having such a ship in charge, may account for his
getting her ashore; b4O, whatever the cause, it is
pretty clear that he managed to ground her on a
rather rocky bottom, and one on which the Hero
could hardly have got off without some damage.
The amount of injury she may have sustained, how-
ever, is a mere on dit. It is not likely to be much,
and the only fact which admitted of no doubt what-
ever was that the Hero was again ashore. As the
tide was falling fast there seemed to be very little
probability of her being got off for some hours. The
Ariadne was preparing tripull her off again, or pull
her in half, and the Hero was beginning to get her
guns aft, when suddenly, to the astonishment of all,
she moved a little, then bumped a little, then
moved a little more as the sweep of the tide pushed
her, and at last, as she went full power astern with
her screw, she worked clear off the shoal, and was
once more quietly afloat. This made an end at once
of the chance of the squadron going up the Sague-
nay, so the Prince and his suit disembarked and
went on board the Governor's steamer, which had
followed them from Gaspe, and this the first day's
tour was made up the wildest river in the world.
The day was about as wretched and unfavourable as
could possibly have happened for any other trip.
The wind was high and rushing in fierce. sharp
squalls which drove the rain like small shot in your
face. Gloomy black clouds rested on the mountains
and seemed to double their height, pouring over the
ragged cliffs in a stream of mist, till, lifting sud-
denly with the gusts of wind, they allowed short
glimpses into what may almost be called the terrors
of the Saguenay scenery. It is on such a day above
all others, that the savage wildness and gloom of
this extraordinary liver is seen to the greatest ad

vantage. Sunlight and cicar skies are out of place
over its black waters; anything which recals the
life and smile of nature is not in unison with its
huge naked cliffs, raw, cold, and silent as tombs. An
Italian spring could effect no change in its deadly
rugged aspect, nor does winter add an iota to its
'mournful desolation. It is a river which oneahould

only to know what dreadful aspects nature
can assume in her wild moods. Once seen, however,
few will care to visit it again, for it is with a sense
of relief that you emerge from its sullen gloom, and
look back -upon it as a kind of vault—Nature's sar-
cophagus, where life or sound has never entered.
Compared to it the Dead Sea is a blooming garden,
and the wildest ravines look cosey and smiling. It
is wild without the least variety, and grand appa-
rently in spite of itself, while so utter is the solitude,
so dreary and monotonous the frown of its great
black walls of rock, that the tourist is sure to get
impatient with its sullen reserve till he feels a posi-
tive antipathy to its very name. Some six miles
above it is the little town, or, as in England we
should call it, village of Tadousiac. It is more than
300 years since Jacques Cartier, the discoverer of
Canada, the adventurer who, through his misinter-
pretation of the Indian word " welcome," gave the
present name to the country, landed here. It was
almost his first real resting-place, and the first men-
tion which we have of the Saguenay is one which
now well befits its savage aspect, for Cartier sent a
boat and crew to explore its rocky chasm, which
were never more heard of. From that clay to this
the river has had a name which. allowing for the
difference of times and 'creeds, only the Styx can
equal. At the mouth of the Saguenay the water varies
in depth from 10 to 16 fathoms, but once between
the walls of the river and the depth from end to end
is never less than 100 fathoms, generally 150. On
either side, at a distance of about a mile apart, the
cliffs rise up thin, black, and straight, varying in
perpendicular height from 1,200 to 1,600 feet, and
this is the character of the river Saguenay from its
mouth to its source. On the right bank the cliffs
are poorly mantled here and there with stunted
pines, but on the left there is scarcely a sign of life
or verdure, and the granite rocks stick up white
and bleached in the gloomy air like the bones of an
old world. At two places, St. Maguerite and be-
tween Capes Trinity and Eternity, where smaller
tributaries pour their contributions into the deep,
black stream, a breach occurs in the wall of rocks,
as if some giant hand had torn them forcibly
back, and left them strewn and baffled of their
power in uncouth lumps over the valleys beyond.
But these are the only openings, the only means
of escape, if they may be so called, from the silent
gloom of this dead river. The Saguenay seems to
want painting—wants blowing up, or draining—
anything, in short, to alter its morose, eternal, quiet
awe. Talk of Lethe or the Styx, they must have
been purling brooks compared with this savage
river, and a picnic on the banks of either would be
preferable to one on the Saguenay ! On the occa-
sion of the Prince's first visit, on the 15th, the mist
and rain hid half its gloom, but enough was seen,
and they returned to the Hero at about 5 o'clock
wet and dull. There was rather a State dinner on
board the flagship that evening, and the Prince,
having to be up early the next morning, retired at
12. Before turning in he made a bet with one of the
officers of the ship that he would be up before four
o'clock next morning—a bet, too, which he won,
though tired with the fatigue of the previous day.
He overslept himself so far that he had barely time
to make his appearance on the quarterdeck of the
Hero in a hurried and very imperfect toilette before
eight bells (four o'clock) was sounded. Before six
a.m. he was again on board the Governor's steamer
and away up the Saguenay to fish. Before he left,
Captain Hope, of the Flying-fish, had received
orders to get up steam and take all the officers of
the squadron on an excursion up the river. Of
course, everybody wished to go, and, as the day
was bright and glorious, everybody that could
come came. The Flying-fish has the honour of
being the first man-of-war that ever passed up the
Saguenay, and if they send the whole navy of Eng-
land I am sure a merrier party will never enter
its waters than steamed up on that occasion.
Even the Saguenay could not depress their spirits,
and if that is not a proof of the zest with which all
entered into the day's enjoymtl it would be hard
to say what is. From St. M.V•guerite the smart
little sloop steamed on to where the wild scenery of
the river culminates at a little inlet on the right
bank between Capes Trinity and Eternity. Than
these two dreadful headlands nothing can be
imagined more grand or more impressive. For one
brief moment the rugged character of the river is
partly softened, and, looking back into the deep
valley between the-capes, the land has an aspect of
life and wild luxuriance which, though not rich,
at least seems no comparison with the previous
awful barrenness. Cape Trinity on the side towards
the landward opening is pretty thickly cloOed with
fir and birch mingled together in a colour contrast
which is beautiful enough, especially when the
rocks show out among them, with their little cas-

cades and waterfalls like strips of silver shining in
the sun. But Cape Eternity, which well becomes
its name, is the very reverse of all this, and seems
to frown in gloomy indignation on its brother
cape for the weakness it betrays in allowing any-
thing like life or verdure to shield its wild, un-
couth deformity. Cape Eternity certainly shows no
sign of relaxing in this respect from its deep savage
grandeur. It is one tremendous cliff of granite,
more than 1,500 feet high, and inclining forward
some 200 feet, brow-beating all beneath it, and
making as if at any moment it would fall and over-
, whelm the deep black stream which flows down so
cold and motionless below. High up on its rough
gray brows a few stunted pines show like bristles
their scathed white arms,giving an awful weird aspect
to the mass, blanched here and there by the tempests
of ages, stained and discoloured by little waterfalls,
in blotchy and decaying spots, but all speaking
mutely of a long-gone time when the Saguenay was
oid, silent, and gloomy, before England was known,
or the name of Christianity understood. Unlike
Niagara and all other of God's great works in nature,
you do not wish for silence or solitude here. Com-
panionship become doubly necessary in an awful
solitude like this, and, though you involuntarily
talk in subdued tones, still talk you must, if only to
relieve your mind of the feeling of loneliness and
desolation which seems to weigh on all who ven-
ture up the Saguenay.
The Flying•fish passed under this cape slowly,
with her yards almost touching the rock, though
with more the& a thousand feet of water under her,

•
and oven the middies and youngsters from the
squadron were awed by the scene into a temporary
quietness. The solemn and almost forbidding
silence at last became too much. The party had
not come out to be overawed, chilled, and subdued
by rocks, however tremendous, so it was carried
nem. con, that, dead and stoney as they were,
they must have echoes, and the time was come
to wake them. In a minute after, and
Captain Hope having good-naturedly given his
consent, one of the largest 68-pounders was cast

oose and trained aft to face the cliff. From under

its overhanging mass the Flying-fish was moved
with care lest any loose crag should be sufficiently
disturbed by the concussion to come down bodily
upun her decks. A safe distance thus gained, the
gun was fired. None who were in the Flying Fish
that day will ever forget its sound. For the space
of a quarter of a minute after the discharge there
was a dead silence, and then, as if the report and
concussion were hurled back down upon the decks,
the echoes came in crash on crash. It seemed as if
the rocks and crags had all sprung into life under
the tremendous din and as if each was firing 68-
pounders full upon us, in sharp crushing volleys,
till at last they grew hoarser' in their anger, and
retreated, bellowing slowly, carrying the tale of
invaded solitude from hill to hill, till all the dis-
tant mountains seemed to roar and groan at the in-

trusion. It was the first 'time these hideous cliffs
had ever been made to speak, and when they did
break silence they did it to some purpose.
A few miles further on the Plying Fish passed
under Statue Point, where, some 1,000 feet above
the water 2 huge rough Gothic arch gives entrance

:o a cave in which, as yet, the foot of man has ncvcr
rod. Berore the entrance to this black aperture a.

gigantic rock, like the statue of some Titan, once

stood. A few years ago, duri►►g the winter, it gave
way, and the monstrous figure came crashing down

through the ice of the Saguenay, and left bare to
view the entrance to the cavern it had guarded
perhaps for ages. Beyond this, afrain, is the Ta.bleau
Rock, a sheet of dark-coloured granite, some 600
feet high by 300 wide, as straight and almost as
smooth as a mirror.
After passing this the interest in the scenery de-

clined, so the Flying Fish turnell 'round and madi;
the best of her way down the river at full speed.
Passing St. Marguerite the Prince was still busy
with his frilling, and a Royal salute was fired, the
echoes of which, I believe, are still wandering in
search of rest to this very hour.
His Royal Highness returned to the Hero at
about nine O'clock. His sport, owing to the fineness
of the day, had not been very great, as a few small
trout were all the whole party had to boast of.
Somebody hooked a large salmon, and gave it to
the Prince to land, but his attempt was not
successful, and the only fish which would have been
a trophy broke awiy. Fishing, however, was not
the only sport enjoyed. A number of Indians waited
at St. Marguerite with their canoes, and in these the
Prince, the Duke of Newcastle, and others of the
boldest of his suite embarked and ventured up the
rapids which pour down from that tributary into
the main stream, Sitting in a canoe is a trifle more
difficult than Pitting in a Turkish calque, which I
hold to be the whist 4iagomfortable means of convey-
anoc ever resorted to. Xoloody but an Indian ever
liked a canoe, or felt at ease it. l.ts hark is so
thin that the very ripple of the water may be felt.
through \it as through a blanket, while in ap-
pearance the tiferveftecnce of a bottle of Allsopp
would be more than enongh ,to overact it. hi
reality, however, they are safe efiX4ii ae innips one
keeps quite still. In one of thee() the Prince who,
to do him mere justice, knows as little 6f fear as
any man that ever lived) ascended the rapids of St.
Marguerite. They were not, of course, equal to the
rapids of the St. Lawrence, but up even these his
Royal Highness, I think, would venture had he
only one of his Oxford crews on whom he could de-
pend to back him. In eammon parlance, as he is
spoken of on board the Hero, he crams " game to
the backbone," and it would be impossible to name
any gentleman who is so liked on board his ship as
the Prince of Wales. His popularity is not at all
the effect of rank, for anyone that knows a line-of-
battle ship's ward and gun-room knows how much
mere rank, however high, goes for there. He is
liked for his kindness and perfect joviality, and for
nothing more, except his " dash" and love of fun.
As he came alongside the Hero the ship burnt
blue lights, and in an instant, as if in rivalry of
their pale bright fires, the Aurora Borealis sprang
up into the sky, playing such fantastic tricks of
light and colour as shamed all terrestial illumina-
tions into nothing.. The squadron anchored for the
night off the mouth of the Saguenay, and at 0 a.m. on
the 17th got under way for Quebec. There was rather
a fresh breeze and strong tide down the St. Law-
rence, so that quick progress was not possible, and
about 7 o'clock the vessels anchored 20 miles below
Quebec, the first, the oldest, and the strongest of
all the cities of Canada, The Prince will land in
state to-day between one and two. More Than this
it is impossible to write, for the mail is coming
down the river, and this letter must go on board at
once. The preparations and decorations of Quebec
will, it is said, be on a grand scale—but it is at
Montreal, the real capital of Canada, that they will
culminate. Each town seems more wild than the
last about the Prince, and in what extravagant de-
monstrations of loyalty it may not end in it is hard
to say. The departure of his Royal Highness from
New York is fixed for the 6th • October, and this
date will, of course, be adhered to. From New
York the squadron goes at once to Bertnuda, when
after a stay of four days his Royal Highness will
return to England, so as to arrive early in No-
vember.

LOSS OF t VESSEL 4N.7) DREADFUL
SUFFERINGS OF HER CREW.
A good deal of excitement was caused in North
Shields on Monday by the arrival of Mr. W. Arm-
strong, late chief mate of the barque Kitty, of
Newcastle; belonging to Mr. Brooks, of Wallsend,
it having been supposed, for many months past,
that the vessel and the whole of the crew had been
lost. The following is the report of Mr, Armstrong;
—The ship left London on the ;ssth 1une,1859, with
a general cargo belonging to the Hudson's Bay
Company, and hound for York factory? in Hudson's
Bay. All went well until the 12th 'August? when
they entered Hudson's Straits. At o p.m. they
passed Cape g.esolgtion, with strong breqes from
tie south-east, arta very buy weather. At 11 p:m.
got jag Ng) ice, from which they were never extri-
cated until they lost the 04. Pr! the I4st August
a little clear water was observed to windward, upon
which they got the ship Tinder way with set canvas.
In endeavouring so
stay the ship she missed stays,
and coming aetprn struck a heavy piece of ice, which
broke the rudder 4n4 three SIOUPPRO, awl started
the rudder post. The ship, in eiiSequenee, became
very leaky; they therefore tried to secure the lowg
part ofthe rudder with chains. On the 3a Sepiember,
at 10 a.m, there were strong breezes from N.W,,
with rain. The ice drifting in all directions, the ship
being then past .1p a Pieee of ipe, witi4 0,,f4 4z
ehorg, a heavy piece pt ipe 41.94 her on the stern-
post, and broke the rudder short of, The ship then
became §9 trto nump3 were resorted to,
and kept constantly going until the crew were com-
pelled to abandon her, On Sept, 4, they 40 light
wOO4 frpm yitb tine w'cather. In the
morning, on going into the held, the Water was
heard riphing in the ship aft, They broke the
cargo out of the 4,ftpr hog q and cut away several
parts of the ceiling in endeavouring to, discover the
leak, lit 4i121- not syeeet34 in q01,4a sA, 011 the
sth, at two a.m., the ship broke adrift from the
ice; they ;Pt thP main trysail; still Ifeeping the
pumps constantly going. At a.m., while haul-
ing the chain cable on deck to put the ship down
by the head, with a view to get fit the leak aft, the
ship going with her head in for the land, and all
fore and aft canvas set, struck a piece of ice for-
ward and knocked her forefoot off. Elhe in eon,
sequence made a very great deal more water, so
much so that the pumps would not suck. The
water gaining fast they endeavoured to stop the
leak forward, but it was too far below the water-
mark. They then made preparations to abandon
the ship, getting the boats ready with provisions,
&c. At noon there were three feet water in the
hold, all hands still keeping the pump constantly
going, At six p,m, the water increased to 6 feet,
At 10 30 the boats, with provisions, were put over
the ship, the water having risen over the whale
beams, and the ship lying on her broadside. On the
the 7th the crew landed on Saddle Back Island, and
and prepared their lioats for sailing up to the Yorlt
Factory. On Saturday, the 10th, at four p.m,' they
left Saddle Back Island with two boats--,Alexau-
der•Ellis, master, with 10 men, in the long boat, and
Mr. Armstrong, with four ()then, in the skiff.
During the forepart of the night it became very
thick, with the wind increasing to a strong breeze.
Mr. Armstrong bailed the longboat at midnight,
advising them not to sail too far off the land, the
long-boat having alight with the compass.. About
an hour afterw4MS: during a snow-squall, they lost
sight of the long boat, and never saw her akerward.
On Sunday, the 11th, the sea re.;;,' po high that they
were obliged to µuship the mast, which, with the
sail and oars were pat overboard to drogue the boat.
On the 15th, at noon, the weather being more mo-
derate, they steered in for the land on the north
side of Hudson's Straits, 4;14 on the 13th landed
about 17 miles sAlitl Af Oaddle Back, on the north
side of Hudson's Straits, Mr. Armstrong then made
up his mind to steer for the coast of Labrador. They
were picked up by the Esquimaux, at Amitok, on
Nov. 5, and on the 9th arrived at the settlement of
the Moravian missionaries in a weak and wretched
condition, and more or less severely frostbitten.
' They remained at different stations until May 15.
All the provisions they bad when they parted with
the long boat consisted of 701 b. of bread and 5 pieces
of pork. This lasted 59 days, and for the remaining
8 days they had nothing to live on except sea-weed.
They had a quadrant and epitome, but could make
little use of them. On May 15th, Mr. Armstrong
arrived at the Hudson's Bay settlement at Kibokok,
where he stayed till the Ist of July. He then
went to another station on the North-west River,
where he remained till the 10th. Thence he went
to Cartwight, in Sandwich Bay, where he found
the schooner Lottery, which conveyed him to New-
foundland, from which place he arrived in Shields
, yesterday morning, much to the surprise of his wife
and family, who did not expect to hear of him more.
The only person in the long boat, whose name he
knows, is Alex. Ellis, the master, who belongs to
Shields. In the skiff with him were Benjamin
Groom, a Dane; Martin Monson, a Norwegian,wh'o
were left at Okok badly frost-bitten ; the other two,
viz., George Stewart, of Greenock, Scotland ; and
Jacob Markham, of Hamburg, got employment as
fishermen, and stayed behind. Mr. Armstrong de-
sires us warmly and heartily to thank the Moravian
missionaries for the exceedingly kind and hospi-
table treatment which he and his companions in
misfortune received at their hands during their,
long stay in that inhospitable region. He also re-
quests us to state that neither Abraham nor Okok
are marked on the charts, and thinks it very desir-
able that this should be done immediately for the
benefit of any one who 'may be placed in a similar
position.—Northern Daily Express.

Till? NETT/. SHERIFFS OF LONDON AND

_MIDDLESEX.

We extract from the City Press the following
biographical notices of Mr. Alderman Abbiss and
Mr. Lusk, 'recently elected to serve the office of
Sheriff for 1860-1.
MR. ALDERMAN ABBISS

Is a " self-made" man, and has attained to his pre-
sent position by enterprising industry and an un-
varying course of probity and conciliation in all
his transactions of private trade and public duty.
He was born on the 3d of June, 1812, near Walls-
worth, where his parents occupied a farm for many
years. He commenced business in Gracechurch-
street in 1834, and by steady application has at-
tained his present position of pecuniary competence,
and the esteem of his fellow-citizens. After the
frauds of Paul and Manini were discovered (in the
investigation of which Mr. Abbiss took a very ac-
tive part), he was chosen chairman of the Board of
Guardians of the City of London Union ; and on
the resignation of Sir Chapman Marshall, Mr.
Abbiss expressed his willingness to place his ser-
vices at the disposal of his fellow-citizens, and the
unanimous vote of the electors at the ensuing
Wardmote conferred on him the high dignity of
Alderman of the Ward of Bridge.
Mr. Abbiss has taken an active interest in the
subject of education and mental improvement. Not
long since he purchased a building for the benefit
of the working classes at Powder's-end. This vil-
lage was without gas, and he bestirred himself, in
conjunction with other gentlemen, in establishing
gas works, and had the pleasure of seeing gas
burning in Ponder's-end for the first time on the
11th of November last. This is working on the
local principle through and through. He has also
been a subscriber and active member of the Board
of the Asylum for Idiots, at Earlswood, almost from
its commencement, and at the last election, on the
26th of April, had the pleasure to see a proposition
of his own—viz., " To receive cases for life, instead
of five years," carried into effect. Those who know
Mr. Abbiss will not need to be assured of his ur-
banity, intelligence, and stern uprightness at heart,
but the general public may like to know that these
qualities meet in the chosen Sheriff of 1861.
MR. ANDREW Lusx.
Is also, to use the hackneyed but useful phrase, a
" self-made" Man, and of the right mental and moral
substance for the office which awaits him. Mr.
Lusk comes from " 'ond the Tweed," a farmer's son,
with just enough of the Caledonian blood to give
firmness to a character which is thoroughly Eng-
lish in its geniality and freedom. Ho has, perhaps,
had to fight harder for his way than the majority
of successful citizens, and has been thereby the
more completely taught the great lesson of self-
reliance. The loss of his father at an early age, his
friendless condition, and the want of opportunities,
were the chief circumstances that opposed him ; but
he found friends and made opportunities,. and the
sequel was success of no common kind.
Mr. Lusk, however, is no mere money-taker.
Acting on the proverb that the hand of the diligent
maketh rich, he also acted on that other proverb,
" Seek wisdom," and by indefatigable exertion he
stored his mind with knowledge, and thus became
what he is, an enlightened as well as a prosperous
citizen.

Cum:mere° early became his sibyl, and called him
away from the homestead in his native village, and
he began life in a little northern town as "an active
lad" behind the counter. There must be genius,
though the world does not always call it such, in
the rim: who begins behind the counter, and
honestly works his way into the costume of a sheriff
of the thief city in the world.
ion don, was, of course, the pole star of the young
man. With dreams of London were also mixed up
dreams of fine in literature. He saw himself in
pript•.r.-the first ambition of a hopeful scribe—and
is a reporter and contributor to newspaper, found
constant and profitable occupation for his mind and
pen. He would, long ago, have been up to his
neck jn literary enterprises had not a good spirit
whispered that trade was his proper :vocation, and
forthwith be gave his mind to trade, and made
(Timis as fortune gave him opportUnities, and in,

due time found himself where he now is, at 62,
Fenchufeh-Street—a shipowner and provision mer-
-chant, representative of Aldgate Ward in Common
Council, the helo of a' hundred fights against diffi-
culty and circumstance, and every time a conqueror.
Mr. Lusk entered the Corporation in 1856. In
politics he is a' Whig, and "something more," a
staunch free-trader, and a friend of literature and
education. lie is possessed of much decision of
character, and has all the acuteness and cool judg-
ment that belong montially to successful men of
business,

POLICE INTELLIGENCR.--Aug. 29.

MANSION-lIOUSE.—Mr. Wm. Story, who was
stated in the police-sheet to be a merchant, carry-
ing on his business at No. 36, Crutched-friars, ap•
peered before the Lord Mayor, upon hail, to an-
swer a charge of assaulting William Shaw, one of
the City police eonatables.
solicitor appeared for the defend
The complainant, who has tie
haracter of a
very evict, wall-conducterl offizim, stated that on
c
Tuesday afternsou he '‘;itst on duty in Thread-
nee4street, [6°1,4 tire o'clock, and was standing
elese to tl.OO kerla-stone, when he received a vio-
-40 blow from a man's hand on the small of the
hack, and tclr4iz: round immediately, he saw the
def;,naant in the act of drawing his hand away.
to told him that he had acted very foolishly in
assanitihg him, and that he deserved to be locked
np. The defendant said, " What for P" and he
told him for striking him on the back, and the
defendant, in reply, said " You are a liar." Witness
told him he could not submit to be assaulted and
told that be was a liar, and the defendant must ac-
egnapany him to the police-station. On their way
there the defendant wished him to take a glass of
ale with him and say no more about the matter but
he declined to do so. The defendant was the worse
for-liquor at the time.
In answer to questions put by the defendant's
solicitor, the constable said he should not have
pressed the charge if the defendant had expressed
the slightest regret for his conduct.
The defendant's solicitor, in answer to the com-
plaint, said he was not instructed to dispute the
constable's statement that an assault had been cam.
mitted, but he was informed that it was quite un-
intentional. The defendant, who was in eompP.,ny
with two or three other gentlemen, had tur-,ea out
of Bartholomew-lane, and he ace4lentPLy-
came in
contact with the constable, but
uad no intention
to assault him.
The lord Mayor, to the defendant—What are
you P
Defenclaht—l am a merchant, and I think the
pub licit.? that will be given to this affair will be
61,1).1"ce sufficient punishment.
The Lord Mayor—You should have thought of
that before you acted in such a manner. It is most
disgraceful for a person holding the position of a
merchant of the city of London to be drunk in the
streets in the middle of the day, and I shall fine you
ss. far being drunk, and ss. for assaulting the
officer.
Defendant—My Lord, I would much rather put
the money into the poor-box, if you would allow me
than be fined ss. for being drunk.
The Lord Mayor—I dare say you would, but you
should have thought of the odium that was attached
to it before you conducted yourself as you did. I
shall not alter my decision.
The defendant then paid the money, and as lie
left the court addressed the Lord Mayor, and said,
" The next time I meet you, my Lord, I hope it
will be in better company."—(A laugh.)

MARYLEBON R—CHARGE OF CONSPIRACY
TO DEFRAUD THE GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY
COMPANY.—Mr. Thomas Revell, 6, Mornington-
plate, Hampstead-road, engraver and printseller,
and Mr. James Strickland, wholesale picture-frame
maker, 251, Gee-street, St. Luke's, appeared on
remand before Mr. Seeker, to a summons, charged
with unlawfully conspiring to defraud the Great
Western Railway Company of money by declaring
goods to be conveyed by the company to be of a
different description than they were, whereby the
goods were conveyed at a less rate than they other-
wise would have been, and by which the company
were defrauded.
The particulars of the case have already been
given, and on this occasion Mr. Child, from the
firm of Wire and Child, attended for Mr. Strick-
land, in addition to the counsel who were present
on the former examination, and Inspector Acason
was present to watch the proceeding on the part of
the company. The case was adjourned to give the
magistrate time to consider his judgment, which
he promised to give yesterday.
Mr. Seeker now in delivering the same entered
fully into the examination of the evidence adduced
and referred to the letter written by the defendant
Revell in answer to the one sent to him by the
company, in which be admitted that he took the
course he did as he could not obtain compensation
from the company in case of damage done to his
property carried by railway. The worthy magis-
trate took a review of the various clauses of the
company's act of incorporation, and concluded by that in his opinion there was a combina-
' tion on the part of the defendants to act as they
did, and that their conduct came within the meaning
of the terms of a conspiracy.
After some further proceedings,
Mr. Seeker said that he was bound to send the
case for investigation before another tribunal, and
that he would remand the defendants till Monday
next, to have the depositions read over.
Bail was applied for, when
Mr. Seeker consented to receive the recognisances
of each of the defendants in £lOO, and one surety
for each in £lOO.
Mr. Alfred Jones, wholesale tobacconist, 132,
Holborn, was charged on a summons, taken out by
Inspector Acason, with having unlawfully sent, or
caused to be sent by the Great Western Railway
Company a box containing goods of a dangerous
quality—to
.wit, matches, called Vulcan Lights—
without distinctly marking or stating the nature of
such goods on the outside of the box, and without
giving notice to the bookkeeper or other servant of
the said company, with whom the box was left.
Mr. Robinson, from the firm of Messrs. Maple,
Pearce, and Co.' who attended on the part of the
company, as he did in the former case, stated that
for the offence for which he was charged he was
liable to a penalty of £lO. It was the duty of per-
sons who sent goods by rail to let the company
know if in any package there was any combustible
matter. In the present instance the defendant had
sent some Vulcan Lights without giving notice to
the company that he had done so. Had the box
been packed up among other goods the .Igihts
might have ignited, when a serious destruction
might have taken place. By the 168th section
of the act of the company combustible matter,
such as aquafortis and oil of vitriol, must not be
sent by rail without notice being given to the
hook-keeper. He (Mr. Robinson) was directed to
say that if the defendant pleaded guilty he was not
to press for an extreme penalty.
The defendant said that the lights were placed
in the box without his knowledge, and that his ser-
vant put them into the box by mistake.
The defendant was fined 205., which penalty was
paid.
ROBBERY OF BANK-NOTES, S.:c.----Xlildred Lock
and John Deverell, the former housemaid and the
latter butler to R. H. Parkinson, Esq., 14, Cleve-
land-street, Hyde-park, were brought up for re-exa-
mination, charged with being concerned in stealing
£3O in bank-notes, and other property belonging to
their master,

The particulars of the former inquiry have al-
ready appeared. Some additional evidence was gone
into, implicating the prisoners, when they were
both committed for trial, the prisoner Lock upon
two charges and Deverell upon one.
THE GAS EXPLOSION IN TIM CALEDONIAN-ROAD.
—COMMITTAL OF THE MAN BROWN ON THREE
CHARGES.--George Brown was brought up on re-
mand charged with having stolen gas pipes from
the houses of several licensed victuallers, and it will
be remembered that on former inquiries it was
shown that on Thursday evening, the 17th inst.,
the prisoner went to the house of Mr. Overend,
landlord of the British Queen, Ferdinand-street,
Hampstead-road, and after he left many gas fittings
were missed. He (prisoner) was followed, and the
property was found in his possession. He was re-
rartnded, and in the next examination Mr. Wilby,
landlord of the Crown Tavern, Winchester-street,
Caledonian-road, Islington, identified the prisoner
as being the man who on the 3d inst. entered his
house, from which a number of gas pipes were
stolen. The gas was turned on at the usual hour and
an explosion which took place resulted in serious
injury to him (Mr. Wilby), his wife, and 19 other
persons, many of whom were taken to hospitals,
and some are considered to be in a dangerous state.
It was further shown that Mr. Ashby, of the Old
Eagle, College-street, Camden-town, had been
robbed in a similar way by the prisoner.
The case excited a great deal of interest among
the members, of the trade from the commencement
of the proceedings, and yesterdaytheeo urtfowrams ars
.
much crowded as before by licensed victuallers.
• Mr. T. Beard, solicitor, now attended
Wilby and other parties.
The first charge, that of Mr. Overend, having
been clearly made out,

Mrs.. Wilby now stated that she recollected the
prisoner e ming to the house on the 3d inst., in the
afternoon. The prisoner went into the tap-room,
and wet.; there about seven or eight minutes. When
he came out she observed that he appeared es if he
had something bulky under his coat, and she men-
tioned the circumstance to her husband. No other

( person that she saw entered the tap room. In about
three hours after he left an explosion took place.
After the explosion she discovered that the gas fit-
tings had been taken away.
Mr. Wilby corroborated the evidence of Mrs.
Wilby. Ile further stated that by the explosion he
was knocked down, and that all the hair on his:
head was burnt ar. Ile was also unable to see for
four days. Eleven persons who were in the house
were taken to the hospitals, and some of them were
unable to see for some days. Hia wife was also se-
riously injured.
Mr: Iviiilby—lt will eost
Mr. Seyker—What was the
v!
M glue of the pipes ?
tem, but I think the "P;ri
ine about £1 to replace
than is. 6d. kr the:,3.soner would not get roore
Rowland, 37 'I
S, proved takin theisoner into
pr
, custody o" g another charge of a similar nature, when.
- .
he st
P:Led that it was his first offence of that cha-
7.acter, as he had not been in London since May last.
Farrell, 425 A, stated that on the 25th of July
he saw the prisoner in Baldwin's-gardens.
The prisoner, on being asked by Mr. Seeker what
he had to say, replied that he was not guilty.
Ile made the same defence in reference to the
charge of the robbery at the Old Eagle, the house
before referred to.
The prisoner was committed for trial on three
charges.