The Sun.
London, England, 1803-12-24 00:00:00

Dec. to.

WE have a'ready adverted to a new system of
finance, of which the disenssion seriously occupies
an insatiable Tyrant and his wily Counsellors.-7
The Coisican calls loudly for the angmeotalion of
the indirect Taxes ; the extensive produce of
which, easily evading official inspetlion and corr.
troul, admits of great vexation to individtids, as
well as the most clandestine praAices on the wher
hand, and favours unjustifiable transaelions, the r:..
stilt of Which may be 'very convenient to the f4rri:yl
of the Despot, as furnishing additional means fot
supporting their unbounded ltotury. Hoivever, the
Economistes have presented Memorials to ob;ain an
augmentation, merely of those impoits which al_
tach to the produce of the soil. What will be the.
consequences of , these violent 'discussions ? Tint
both the dire and indired Taxes will be suddenly
augmented, which will bring an accretion of di
tress and misery, as well upon the Towns as on
the Country. This will ensue in Paris, mere
cially where the contrast which exists between the,
extreme distress of all those classes whom the pro.
fusion of Government does not reach, and the scan.
dalous opulence participated by all those who are•
its favourites or its slaves, prnent's syturoms froM
which the Nation revolts, and which shock the
feeling Observer. What becomes of all the eontri.
butions torn from the Conquered from
Tributary Powers, such as was to be e)vdect from
a Government, justly 'execrable in consequence of
its excessive exaelions ?

It was lately proposed, to answer a itiiiden
of which. we • know not the nattire, to • issue Bills'
payable at 20 days, without further tiotice, by the
different Treasurers of the Departments. Scarcely.
were they in circulation than they experienced
depreciation of 7 per cent. The Receivers.Generat
were also required to give bands for the amount of
the sums produced by the side. Of Louisiana, and to
content themselves with offering the guarantee of
the Treaty which secures the cession of that Conn,
try to America. It is true that the Government
have consented to lose 25 per cent. by the transact
tion, which will nearly indemnify the Receivers.
General. Those who have accepted the conduet,
the new projeet, find themselves so involved in the
embarrassments of the Gaverntnent, which has im-
posed upon them the hardest terms,. as Certain..
ly will entail ruin upon them.
It would appear that the Usurpei• wishes to .sur.
round himself with perils, and as if by an inevira.'
bit destiny he • was precipitating litnself towards.
his ruin, he alone seems blind to the dangers which'
threaten him, that his whole system totters to its
fall, and that the general hatred is even participated
in by some of his own partizans. No extravagance
can equal that of the idea of his promotion of Gene_
rats, at the head of which is placed the tinselled
squadron of the .Aids.de.eamp of the Consul, of
whom the most' distiuguished would be too hig!ly
henoured, .and extravagantly recompensed by tin:
title of Chef-de. Brigade ; and in otder to heighten
the contrast, all those arc excluded who have servel.
under the Generals %% hose names arr held in highct'
estimation, by real Miiitary julg,:!4, than that of:Bw.
NAPARTE. At least, AVG P.R ALY is cited as an in-
stance ; they insist that lie has been dis:;taced
titer than favouitd, and it is :Idled he has purcluscd
his Command at the dearest .rat.:. MAss a NA, after
six months 'of
..courtly.cOmplakance,lias contrived
to be placed on the list of Generals in favour, and
to he appOinted to dirt:B the I.),cent o:: Ireland,
Ile stipulated for the number of men to he employed
on Mot occasion : he wet; at first offered is,coo
men ; they afterwards went as fir as 2.5000 ; bllt
he required 40,003, and in consequence was struck
off the list of iteti ve Generals.

fe'vk days Since, the First Consul, in an addres4
to WS Privy Council, observed upon the pressing
necessity felt by their Government for money; and
proposed the following as an outs Inc of a temporary
financial project :—That every individual should
pay a franc per month, as an extraordinary contd.;
hution, until the embarraisments of the Government
should he at an end. Hip auditors were silent, un-
til length BAR BE .MA114(111 ventured to say,
that the Projed resolved itself into the syitim uf
other imposts, in which the Rich paid fur tie Poor,
and he could not see how the means suggested could
add a resource more easy or more prompt.
The CONSUL replied, he would consider of that
objettion, and renew the proposition 41 a MI CPUS].
cil of State:

On Sittirday evening last, about four o'clock, an
alarm, was given that the Cotton Mill in the G
bale of Glasgow, the property of Messrs. 111'I4o.
°ART, was on fire, and soon afterwards the flames.
burst through the roof, the accident which occasjon,
etl the calamity having taken place in the upper
floor. The Magiitrates bath of Ghtsgtiai, and the
Gorbals, with the city engines, immetliateiy, repair.
ad to the spot it was evident, however, that there
was no.hope of saving the mill, as thefire, from the
inflammable nature of the materials with which it
was fed, had attained a great height, and sent forth,
volumes of flame illuminating the whole, atmosphere
around to a great distance, and presenting an awfully
stiblime speetacle. The wind blowing strong front
Ate North, and several thatched houses, commoni.
caring with another Cotton Mill, bring in the up.
posite direction, the principal attention was direCital
to prevent the fire from spreading in that (patter.
About seven o'clock the fire having made its Way
through She rower fleas, was cont.. ed within the
walls, of the original building, and the apprelteriaiOns
of its extending farthet ceased. It still, however,
continuer to hurn till about one ti'cloek on Sunday
Morning, when, the front wall fell forward to the
street with a ttemenduous crash. An unfortunate
boy was killed on the spot ; another avo So severely
wounded, as to be still in great danger, and several
persons were much bruised, in which number were
twtoof the soldieri on duty. Two or three people,
we understand, .are••• still. missing. The back wall
fell in about five o'clock in tile morning. The
premises, we are sorry to learn, are ordy partially
insured.
Early on Thursday morning, the Warelvnise or
rinhon-weaVer, in .Wood.street, Cheapsitht.; was
robbed of several bales, of silk,amount,to,the amount
cif
aboUt 3001. One bale was picked up in. Wood.
street, by a watchman, ab.ntt five osc!i2l'.{.

~;
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a

FISHEAY,

IN Tit C DAT Or CONDATC.IIt, IN SIM ISLAND ('

CsEYLOV•

,
- Err.= Vekival's Account of Ceylon.
, .
.4 flu al o the searion, all the boats regularly
sail, aid return together. A signal:gun is fired at
Arippo, about ten o'clock at night, when the whole
fleet sets sail with the rand breet They reach
the hanks before diy.break ; and at sun:rise 'coin;
=rice flitting. In: this they Continue bosily,occupi
ed till the sea breeze, 'Which arises about noon,
warns them to return to the flay. Ac soon as they
appear within sight, another gun is fired, and the
colours hhisted, to inform the 'anxious owners of
their. Term. When the boats come to land, their_
cargoes aro immediatily taken out, as it is necessary
"to have them chmpletely tinhiaded before night.—
Whatever may have been the success of their boats,
the owners seldhm wear the looks of disappointment ;
for, although they may have been unsuccessful one
day, they look, with the most complete assurance
Of better fortune to the next ; as the
,Bramins and
Conjurers, whom they implicitly
.'trust in defiance
of all experience, nodeuoderstand too well the liberality
of a man in hopes of good fortune, not to promise
them all they can desire.
'Each of the boats carties twenty Men, with a
or chief boatman, who ails as pilot. Ten
ache men row and assist the divers in re.ascend.
ing. The other ten arc divers ; they go down into
the sea by five at a time ; when the first five 'Come
up, the other4ive gO down ; and 1)y this, meiliOd.Of
alternately diving, they give each other rime to re-
cruit themselves wr afresh plunge.
' In order to accelerate the desent of the divers,
large stones are employed': five of these are brought
in each boat for the purpose ; they are of a reddish
granite, common in this country, and of a pyramidal
Shape, round at top and bottom, with a hole perfo.
rated through the smaller end, sufficient to admit a
rope. Sonic of the divers use a stone shaped like a
half_moon, which they fasten round the belly when
they mean to desCend, and thus keep their feet free.
' rfhese people are accumstomed to dive from'
their very infancy, and fearlesly descend to the hot.
tom in from four to ten k'athortis water, in search of
the oysters. The diver, whe,n he is about to plunge,
seizes the-rope, to which one of the stones we have
described is attached, with the toes of his right foot,
while he takes hold of a bag of net-work with those
of his left; it being customary among all the Indians
to use their toes in working or holding, as well as
their fingers, .
.anti such is the power of habit that
they can pick up the smallest thing front the ground
with their toes as nimbly as an , European could
with his fingers. The diver thus prepared, seizes
another'rope with his right hand, and holding his
nostrils shut with the:left, plunges into the water,
and by the as3istance of the stone_speedily reaches
the bottom. Hg then hangs the net round his neck,
and with much dexterity, and all possible dispatch,
colleCts as many , oysters as he can. while is able
to remain. under water, which is usually about two
'minutes. lie then resumes his former ppsition,
makes a signal to those .above by pulling the, rope
in his right harid,.7,triti is immediately by this Means
drawn up anti ,brOught" into the boat, leaVing the
stone to be pulled up alterward's by the rope attach.

ed to.it.
The exertion undergone thnring this prOiess is
so violent, that upon being brought into the boat,
the divers discharge water from their mouths,
and nostiilN and frequently even blood. But this
does not hinder them from g9ing down again in their
turn.. They will cfivan make from forty to fifty •
plunges in one ,day,,
,tind at each plugge boring up
about a hundred oysters. Some rub their bodies
over with oil, and stuff their ears and noses,' to pre.
vent the water from entering, while others 'use no
precantions whatever. Although the usual time Of
remaining under water does not much exceed two
minutes, yet there arc instances known of: divers
Who 'could remain four and even five Minutes, which
was the case with a Ca'ffree boy the last year I
kited„ the fishery. The longest instance ever •
known was that of a diver who came from Anjango
in 1797, :tvid who absOlutely remained tinder water,
full six minutes. . .
s . This business of a diver, which appears so ex•
traortjin;+ryatidfullofdanger to an rinropean, becomes
quite familiar to an 'lndian, owing 'to the natural
suppleness of his limbo, and his habits Warn his
fancy, His chief terror and risque arise from fall-
ing in with the grOuruishark while at Viebottorii.
Thir animal' is a common and tertibleinhabitzint'of
all the seas in these latitudes, and is i'soarce of per.
petual uneasi9est to theadventurousi Indian. Some
of the divers, however, ate so skilful as to avoid the
Shark even when they remain under water for a con.
siderable time. But the terrors' Of 'this fire areio.
contion.6iy before their eyes, and the uncertainty
escapitig— him so great, that these iuperstitiOtif,
peoph-t seek fin. Safety in supernatural means. Be.
litre they begin diving,' the Priest, or Conjurer, 'is
always c;insulted, an,,t whatever he says to them
is
received With' the Most implicit ronftdence; The'
preparation, which he enjoins them Consists of ter.
fain eerenmies %%Cc:circling to the 'cast 'and sea ac
st'hich they belong, and on the eitA performanee of
t!utse they lay the gteatest stress, '!'heir belief if,'
the efficacy 'of these superstitious rites can never he
reiroved, herweVer different 'the event may befront
the prediOions of their deluders : Governmilint
thereforewiseii gives way- to their prejudices,- and
always keeps in p..tfy 'smile Conjurers, to attend the
divers itOd ,remove their fears, For' though these
peOpte ate so 6killul and so much masters of their
art, 'yet they will not nn any.accatint arsetind till
the Conjurer has perfOrtmiti his ceremonies. His
advic'es are religiously observed, 'and generally have
a tendency preserve the health% of:the devotee.
The diver ii usually enjoined to abstainfrornea`ting
before he goes to plunge-, and to bathe himself
,in
fresh water iMmediateafter his return &Om the
hitt-nits of the day.
The Conjurers are known" in' the Malabarlan,
guage ltY the nametof 'arras, or Binders of
Sharks.- During the time orthefishery, they stand
on the-Shore from the morning till the boat; rciurn

in the alienation, the while muttering and mu t*.
‘l)iing prayers) cavorting-nor Ladies into vario,
strange attitudes, anti performing ceremonies Vol
which no-one, ntireven themselves I believe, Can,
attach any meaning. All this while it is necessary
fin- them to absiain front food or drink, otherwise
their prayers would be Of no avail. These any
abstinence,liowever, they sometimes dispense with,
and regale themselves with Teddy, a species of li.
otter distilled from the Palm..tree, till they are no
'longer able to stand at their:devotions.
BefOre we leave the `Bay of Condatchy, it may
be aaniSing to take a view of the various objeas
which most attract the attention of a stranger dur.
iog 'he Pearl Fishery: The remarkable display of
.Indian manners, which are here seen in all their va-
rieties, is, perhaps, (lie ,most striking of these.
Every cast has its representatives; the arts praaised
by some, the ceremonies perfOrmed by others, and
the appearance of all, present the, richest repast to.
the curiosity of an European. •In one place he may
see jugglers and vagabonds of every description
their tricks with a. degree of suppleness
and skill, which appear supernatural to the inhabi.
tent of a cold climate; in another he may observe
Fakeers, Brahmins, iriests, Pandarama, ancl devo.
tees of every sea, either in order to extort charity,
or in consequence of some vow, going through the
most painful operations with a degree of obstinate
resolution, which -1 could scarcely have believed or
even conceived, had I not been an eye witness. I
hope it will not be thought an improper digression
from my narrative, it I mention a few of those cir.
curnstaeces which most, attratied my notice : they
• are not particularly connected withal description of
Ceylon, but they will certainly afford one source of
amusement tb the traveller who visits it.
The most painful kb of penance which the In.
diens undergo, are in *et to regain their cast,
when they have lost it,either by eating things for.
. bidden by the rules
,of their seer, or by having
such conoeCtion with people of a different description
as, is supposed to defile them. In this state they are
held in abhorrence by persons of their own sea, de-
. barred from all intercourse with them, and prohibit.
ed even to touch them. From such a dreadful state
of defilement they can be purified only by paying a
large suns of money, orby undergoing the most in.
credible penances. Among those which I observed,
I shall mention a few of the most remarkable. One
' of them will vow,to hold his ann elevated.over his
head for a certain number of years, without once
letting it down ; anti: this he4ill actually continue
to do, till ehe arm can never afterwards be recover.
ed to its natural position. Another will keep his
hands shut till the nails on his fingers absolutely
grow into the flesh, and appear quire through. at the
' back of his hand. Many never suffer their hair to
• be combed, .or their, beards :to be shaved : in this
state the 11:A10f-their heads, which is of a brown or
buint colour,- gets matted, and appears not unlike
the: mops we use in Europe.; or hangs down in long
dishevelled -strings; similar to that which grows on
aaspedea of Franck-late-dogs. Some will vow never
to' licdown ;•••while, at the same time they wcar
rOantiatheir necks a large iron instrument not unlike
a gridiron' without a handle.
''.Patt one of 'the most extraordinary of these ce.
remarries which I have witnessed is, swinging for
their cast, as it is termed, A very high and strong
post, or cocoa tree, is planted firmly in the ground,
crois.ways ; its top, another beam is placed in
suchrawer as to turn round on a pivot, and,made
fast to the upright post by ropes reeved through
both, like the yards to the mast of a shipa and from
the eed of the .traesvarse beam, ropes and ;sullies
are suspended 'to 'hoist up the devotee. lie Then
is brought out,., attended by a number, of people
&twin before ltim, and •is led thrice, round the
swinging post by the Bramins and his relations,
with loud shouts, accompanied by music. In the moan
time a sheep is tacrificed, and the blood sprinkled
about on,the surrounding multitude, who are eager
that it shall fall upon them. Barren women, in par-
are anxious—tO -catch the drops in hopecuf
being by this means rendered fruitful ; and, with a.
view to securathe efficacy of this charm, they con.
•trive to work themselves up, during the ceremony,'
to the highest pitch, of religious delirium, • tearing
their 'hair'and shrieking in the most dreadful man.
:ner. After the sacrifice is performed,' the devotee
is placed on his belly flat on • the ground, and two
very large hooks, vhieh have been.previously fixed
to the ropes suspended from the end Of :thee cross.
beam, are inserted deep into the flesh of his .back
just under the shoulders : other ropes are also placed
'under his breast and across his thighs, to help to
sustain the weight of his body. He is. then, by
itteans of the ropes and pullies, hoisted up in the
!croatalree' inutiediately ,under which he continues
'suspended a .and in this' position he is drawn round,
poet eve() or three dines. During this .painful
ceremony he repeals a certain number of prnyers,
;and colitiOuet to throw among she crowd flowers
whith lre.had taken:up 'with .hint for the purpose :
'these are considered as 'sacred .relielea 'which will
)teepaaway all disease.), and- ensure happiness ever
and- the 'sure hauling' multitude scramble for
diem as eagerly as'ao,English mob for monerahrown
among them. • •a— ,
This oaremooy is by.'n';means unfrequenta and,
I have had ,uceasioo to be present at more titan one,
daring my stay in Ceylon, The r last I saw per,
formed was at Colutulio, in teoo, when the cross
bealit'brokeLand the own falling to die ground was
cart :the spot. Moor* the Moply cast had
previoosly.obaerved to the crowd, ,who weraptin.
raptly Malabar., of the S4llle tied with the devotee,
that the timber was not. strong enottgli
,to bear the
man, .and weuld certainly break. This proving
to he the case, •the Malabars affirmed that
the Moor had by his prediaion °bewitched it ; and
in revenge they attacked him with.euch fury, that
he would certainly have been killed, had not I with
' a few other 'European offieers, and Sappy', whem
e6Ciinity had briiught, to eie spot, inteifered anti
rescued him out of their, hands.
The Priests WhO attend at Condatchy on ac.
count of these and, other ceremonies, as well as many
other seasoif religious Mendicants, are a gredt tint-
sanee there ; for, besidei being ekeeeditialy Lay
arid idle, they Ala likewise very impudent' ahsi tou.

ON DON: Printed by ilr.lC it ANA N M' 11t 1,1,A N, (at Dow- trect, Covent-( fatten) ; 410
At the Slirt.Ort ter. No. 112, Strand ; Achertisemrnts, Ordyrr for

't.ilesome... But ttey not the otlly peAci which
.annoy the mu!titiides eolitteted at the Pearl Fishery.
There are bosidesircrowd of jugglers, snakerratch-
ers, dancing, lioys and girls tf all descriptions„
:well as many who follow- no-otheroccepation but to
procure their livelihood•by. the,arts of filching and
thieving,
This praftice, however, is the more pardonable in
them, as ,it appears to be an inherent propensity in
an Indian. In their dealings with an EuroptLti.,
whenever, an opport;oity presents itself, they never.
fail to employ their skill in over-reaehing him. It
is only however by pilfering anti stealing that he
'suffers from them, ,for they Lardly ever venture to
rob or ~.ake his goods from Mtn by open force. So
great, indeed, is the awe which the achievcint•nts
of the Europeans have inspired into the natives of
India, that a black
.tn,in is scarcely ever known to
meet a white. man hand to hand, either in private
collet or in battle.

The. numerous Adventurers in the present Lot-
tery, is far beyond the Contradors' exile Cation ;
in consequence thereof, they have advanced the
price of Tickets nine Shillings.—The increased sale
of Tickets and Shares HORNSBY and Co. experience,
authdrizes them to receomMend to the Public an
early purchase. The Drawing commences on Mon.
day, the 9th of January, when Tickets will rise.—
HORlsthlY and Co. No. 2E, Comb'll, shared, in the
two last Lotteries, Capital Prizes of sool.
0001. i0,0001.' and zo,oool. ; and hope to have
the same distribution in the present Lottery.