The Sun.
London, England, 1858-12-10 00:00:00

ON, FRIDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 10, 1858

" We understand that British magistrates are to
be appointed to reside in Basutoland."

THE NIGER EXPEDITION.

By the African mail advices have been received
from the steamship Sunbeam, attached to the Niger
expedition, dated off Rabba, Oct. 6. The Sunbeam
entered the Niger on the 30th of June, reached
Ebo on the 15th of July, where she remained a
month, and arrived at Rabba on the 2d of October,
with the loss of only one European—the cabin
steward. After embarking the collections of Dr.
Baikie, R.N., and his assistants, she was
to leave on her descent of the river, and
may be expected to arrive at Fernando Po
in December. A great portion of her native
crew had deserted the steamer on the second day
of her entering the river, carrying off some of
her boats ; but notwithstanding this untoward cir-
cumstance, no opposition or difficulty was ex-
perienced from the natives, either in the Delta or
the upper parts of the river, and the different
tradints factories established last year were in full
operation. Dr. Baikie and the government mem-
bers of the expedition were in good health after
their twelve months' encampment on the banks of
the Niger, during which period there had not oc-
curred the slightest disagreement with the natives.
The comparative impunity from African diseases,
whether among the crew of the Sunbeam or the
party at the encampment, is to be ascribed to the
free use of quinine, with which they were abun-
dantly supplied. The Rainbow was daily expected
at Rabba, having. been heard of above the Brass,
and the river having abundance of water.

THE NEW GALWAY LINE OF
STEAMERS:

BELFAST, THURSDAY NIGHT.
An important special meeting of the Belfast
Chamber of Commerce was held this day, at which
Mr. J. 0. Lever was present, accompanied by Mr.
Pliny Miles, of New York, and Mr. Alfred B.
Richards, of London. Mr. Lever made a statement
concerning the operation of the undertaking so far,
its present position and future prospects, urging
the Belfast Chamber of Commerce to use its in-
fluence with Government for the grant of an ade-
quate postal subsidy to the line. After some
inquiries had been made by the President, a series
of resolutions, strongly advocating the project were
unanimously carried.
The Atlantic Telegraph was next discussed by
the meeting, and a resolution was passed empower-
ing the council of the Chamber of Commerce to
memorialise the Government togivea guarantee for
a moderate per tentage on new capital required,
irrespective of risk.

ARREST OF .RIBBONMEN INIRRLAI%rD.

CORK, THUR SDAY.
The second edition of the Daily _Reporter of this
day contains the following :
"At half-past 11 this day 15 prisoners charged
with being members of an illegal society arrived
by the Bandon train, under the escort of a large
party of police. They are all young men and of
respectable position in society—twelve of them are
from Skibbereen' and three from Bantry. The
captures were effected last night, while most of the
parties were in bed. They are members of the
Plicenix Society, and the informations have been
sworn against them by one of their body named
Sullivan. The object of the society is said to have
been for the purpose of obtaining an invasion of
our country by American filibusters."

TELEGRAPH BETWEEN LIVERPOOL AND HOLY-
IIEAD.-At the meeting of the Mersey Dock and Harbour
Board, yesterday, it was decided that a telegraph cable
should be laid between Liverpool and Holyhead, the Liver-.
pool end of the cable crossing the Mersey at Woodside, in
order to avoid the danger of being subject to injury by the
numerous anchorages of flats and other small'craft south of
that point.

Lass OF A LIVERPOOL SHIP.—The ship Science,
Capt. Gibson, from Buenos Ayres to Liverpool, was aban-
doned on the sth Dec. in lat. 50 N., long. 10 W., having
experienced tremendous weather for the last month. The
crew were picked up by the ship St. Patrick, which arrived
yesterday from New Orleans at Liverpool.
DEFENCE OF THE COAST.-=A special meeting of
the Town Council of Hartlepool was convened on Tuesday
evening, to consider a communication received from the
War-office relative to the leasing of two portions of corpo-
ration ground on which to erect powerful batteries for the
defence of this part of the coast. This communication was
supplementary to one received some months ago on the same
subject, when such information relative to the ownership of
the ground in question, &c., as was required by the
authorities, was duly supplied, and upon this the pre-
sent application was made for the sites pointed out
on plans 'forwarded with the application. One of
the sites proposed is a little to the northward of the
Heugh Lighthouse, being a portion of the Town-moor,
and comprising an area of about 7,493 square yards ; the
other site is in the Farwell-field, about three-quartcrs of a
mile further north, and containing 2,363 square yards.
Both sites are on ground belonging to the corporation,
having been purchased by them from the freemen of the
town for annuities terminating with the lives of the annuit-
ants. A unanimous desire was expressed on the part of the
council to aid the project as far as possible, and a resolu-
tion was agreed to granting a lease of the sites at a merely
nominal rent for the term of 31 years, that being the
longest period for which, by virtue of the Freemen's Lands
Act, the corporation can grant a lease, except by the special
consent of the Treasury, which in this case will doubtless
be immediately granted, if it be required.

28s to 305., according to mark. Meal from the
western province, the usual source of supply to this,
has been to a large extent superseded by success-
ful attempts to grow wheat throughout the frontier
districts, and since the removal of so many troops,
these districts are found equal to the local supply
and the quality known. as " golden. ball meal" is
plentiful at 30s. to 335, the 1961b5. English, in-
cluding bag. The exports from the colony for the
year ending 30th of June last are returned at
£1,835,609, and the imports during that period
£2,129,097, showing a balance of £1,093,588
against the colony, made up of course from sources
not shown in the Government returns. The influx of
immigrants, of whom we have received 1,749 to date,
will, we trust, force the colony to a greater develop-
ment of its resources, by reclaiming its wastes and
by enlarging the breadth of agriculture. A go-
vernment system of irrigation is much needed ;
some comprehensive scheme, under which, by a
union of talent and capital, the waters of our several
rivers may be retained for the purposes of irriga-
tion, instead of running to waste as now. By Go-
vernment debentures of £1,000,000 sterling, a mil-
lion of acres of land, now profitless, might be made
to yield at least one pound's value of produce per
annum, clear of all expenses.
" The state of the frontier is not so settled as it
was a few months ago, and this is attributable to
the removal of troops. A strong front, and
tho means of coercion to employ when needed, is
indispensable. Several thefts of stock have
been committed throughout/ the frontier districts
during the month, and small bands of plunderers
still harass the farmers from their bushy lairs. The
mounted police are still energetic in the pursuit of
these marauders, but the strength of the force is
quite unequal to the immense and incessant duty
required of it, and ought to be augmented and better
paid. The Kaffirs are known to be conciliating
the Fingoes within the colony, it is feared with
some sinister motive. A few years ago the latter
were considered by the Kaffirs as dogs ;' but
now, the barrier is so far removed that intermar-
riages take place. The colonists dread any com-
bination of the coloured races, and look upon any-
thing tending thereto with well-founded apprehen-
sion. To watch these movements and to prevent
their ripening into mischief and disaster a local
government is needed.

" The trial of the chief Umhala has, by the
mouths of witnesses from his own people, estab-
lished the complicity of that chief in warlike
attempts against the colony. The witnesses de-
scribe how men were sent to wade into ponds up
to the neck, and to hold the heads and horns of
oxen over their heads, and to low, in imitation of
kine, whilst a prophetess, duly instructed thereto,
was made to explain to the poor Kaffir dupes that
these cattle were rising from the dead, and that their
chiefs and deceased relatives would so rise, provided
the people killed all their stock and destroyed all their
corn. The evidence then went most conclusively to
show that this slaughtering of cattle was for the
purpose of reducing the Kaffir tribes to starvation,
and thus to incite them to a bloody war upon the
colony ; and that further, having no flocks to tend,
the whole force of Kaffirland would be available
for a general descent on the colonial farmers. The
plot, although at the outset disbelieved by many,
especially of the western coloni3ts, is now fully
proved to have existed,. and the able administra-
tion of Sir GeOrge Grey, under the blessing of God,
has alone saved us from a Kaffir war of the most
fierce and bloody character. To this day, these
tribes are so unsettled and uneasy, both those
within and without the colony, that the utmost
caution is needed to preserve peace, and the with-
drawal of troops under these aspects imperils the
colony. The ready and rapid combination of
these people renders them a formidable army. •
" The sister colony of Natal is producing sugar
to some extent. Many Germans, it is said, intend
to remove from British Kaffraria thither. The
cotton interest of Manchester has made some defi-
nite proposals for lands to cultivate that staple.
An association, with a capital of £2,000, has
been formed for the importation of improved breeds
of sheep, to be sold to farmers at cost price, and
upon credit, paying interest.
" Sir George Grey is said to have handed to
President Boshof the draft of a feasible federative
system.