The Sun.
London, England, 1858-04-03 00:00:00

THE WEST INDIA AND .PACIFIC MAILS.

The Royal Mail Company's steamship Atrato,
Captain J. Moir, arrived at Southampton yester-
day at 11 a.m., with the mails from the West In-
dies and Pacific, in charge of Lieut. Charlton, R.N.,
Admiralty agent. She has not brought the usual
mails from Mexico and the Havannah, the Solent
steamer not having arrived from the Gulf up to the
time of the Atrato 'a sailing from St. Thomas's. She
is supposed to be detained on account of the qua-
rantine regulations. The Atrato's dates by this
arrival are :
Puerto Cabal's ...March 8 Granada March 12
Santa Martha
Greytown (Mosquito) 5 St. Lucia — 14
Carthagena
Colon — 10 Guadaloupe — 14
Kingston (Jamaica) —l2 Dominique
Jacmel (Hayti) ... —l4 Antigua —l4
San Juan (Porto Rico) 17 Montserrat
Berbice — 11 Nevis — 14
Georgetown (Demerara) 11 St. Kitt's . —l4
Tobago
Port?! Spain (Tri..;.- La Guayra --8
- 11 St. Thomas's.. — 20

dad)
Bridgetown (Barbadoes) 13,
The Atrato also brings mails of the subjoined
dates from the West Coast of South America, re-
ceived at Panama by the steamship Valparaiso,
viz. :—Valparaiso, Feb. 15th ; Cobija, 20th ; Arica,
21st ; Tolay, 22d ; Callao, 26'h ; Payta, March
2d ; Guayaquil, 3d ; and from Panama, 9th.

The Atrato has had fine weather and fresh wes-
terly and north-westerly winds throughout the voy-
age. She brings 49 passengers, among whom are
Lieut. Dixon (11th Regiment), from Trinidad ;
Surgeon D'Arcy and Ensign Mahon (3d West
India Regiment), and Mr. Alexander (Royal Engi-
neers), from Barbadoes, ; also one naval in-
valid from her Majesty's ship Leopard, and two
distressed British seamen. Mr. Gordon, a passen-
ger from Callao, died on board on the 30th of
March. On freight she has :
Specie and goldduet received across the
Itthniud from the Pacific ports 5229,261
Ditto, from California 277,017
Ditto, from Carthageua
Ditto, from other parts of West Indies 104,532

Total value in dollars (of which $210,064
is silver and $427,187 gold)
Or say, 127,450/. sterling ; jewellery, value 1901. ;
pearls, value 2,500/. ; and 207 serous of indigo, 60
bales of bark, 2 tierces of coffee, 4 packages of hats,
1 package of vanilla, 6 cases of tortoiseshell, 92
bags of cocoa, 21. kegs of honey, and 63 packages
of sundries.
Tue news from the West Indies by this steamer
is of a very important character.
At Jamaica business (luting the last fortnight
has been most seriously affected by the large ar-
rivals of goods, particularly of American and fish
goods. The stocks of some articles were very ex-
cessive, and a general downward tendency pre-
vailed with almost all articles in the provision
market. Coffee was coming in slowly, and only a
small crop was calculated on ; sales were at 365. to
375. per 100 lb. for ordinary quality. Rica was
plentiful and dull, and the low prices quoted in
the English market caused a sympathetic action.
The money-market remained in a very stringent
state. The latest quotations of exchange were as
follow :—Jamaica Bank-90 days, 1 per cent. pm.;
60 days, I.A per cent. pm. ; 30 days, 2 per cent. pm.
Colonial Bank-90 days, 1 per cent. pm. ; 60 days,
1i per cent. pm. ;30 days, 2 per cent. pm. Com-
missariat bills, 1 per cent. pm. ; merchants' bills,
l per cent. die. to par. No political or general
intelligence.
The publio works at Barbadoes were progressing,
and the walla dredger was fast approaching com-
pletion. The Treasurer's abstract of income and
expenditure for the quarter ending the 31st Decem-
ber last exhibited a balance of 21,000/. on the credit
side, and the Auditor-General estimated the reve-
nue of the island for the current year, with the
balance in hand, at 99,0001. ; so that if the revenue
returns are any index, the colony is in a prosper-
ous condition. Sugar making was going on as
rapidly as the weather would permit. The quan-
tity of produce shipped to the 11th ult. was re-
ported to be 5,023 hogsheads, 232 tierces, and 693
barrels of sugar ; 21 puncheons of molasses ; 17
puncheons and 14 hogsheads of rum. The port.
continued crowded with shipping. A new red
buoy had been laid down, at a cost to the island of
1001., off Needham's Point, under the orders of
Admiral Sir H. Stewart. With the exception of
some catarrhal affections, the health of the island
continued good.
Granada has been very bare of noticeable events
since last mail; The island -araviteati.ny- and the
temperature pleasant. The planters were very
busy throughout the country, and the work of the
estates was progressing satisfactorily. A large
quantity of sugar was on the stancheens, and the
European vessels in port had already stowed a
goodly proportion of the fruitful new crop.
The statement of receipts and expenditure of
St. Lucia fur the year 1857 had been published.
The receipts amounted in the whole to 15,8681. 95.,
and the expenditure to 15,139/. 175., leaving a
balance in favour of the colony of 7281. 12e.
The Grenada Chronicle of the 12th of March has
the following in reference to the French islands :
"In the Chronicle of the 27th ult. was recorded
the death of Mr. A. Pecoul, one of the representa-
tives son t to France six years ago by the electors of
Martinique. The death of Mr. Cyrille Charles
Auguste Bissette, the other representative elected
at the Same time, is now announced. While await-
ing the corpse of one of our late deputies, to give it
the last funeral obsequies,' observes the Outre-Mer,
it devolves upon us to deplore the painful and cruel
end of our other representative. Mr. Pecoul died
on the 6th Jan. ; on the 22d of the same month Mr.
Bissette was struck down by apoplexy. The de-
ceased bore the decoration of the Legion of Honour,
and enjoyed a pension of 4,000 f. at the hands of
his Sovereign. The funeral was undertaken and
conducted by the Colonial Minister (at a cost of
about 1,5001.) much respect being shown to the re-
mains of the illustrious pitroit, which were interred
at the Mvntmartte Cemete,y, attended by a large
concourse of men of distinction. It appears that
the grave being upon.ground obtained on a lease of
five years, the countrymen of the deceased purpose
raising a subscription to purchase the ground and
to raise a suitable monument to the memory of M.
Bissette, the saviour of Martinique and Guade-
loupe from anarchy and coufusi.,n."
Bu-iness et St. Thy mas's has been in a very lan-
guid state, the island having sevetely felt the shock
of the commercial ciisis which has just p,s,ed over
the world. An iinproveinent, is, ii.avever, look. d.
fur botore lung.

SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE.
Her Maj
eStre ahipl 13aeiliek and Lila= were at Port