The Sun.
London, England, 1867-05-09 00:00:00

THE SUN, LON IL ON, THURSDAY EVENING, MAY 9, 1867.

the show, and another contribution worth remark-
ing was the Iberis Carnosa shown by Messrs. Back-
house and Son, of York. The roses of Messrs. H.
Lane and Son, and of Mr. William Paul, of Walt-
ham-cross, vied with each other in size, form, and
prodigality of bloom. Mr. C. Turner's strength
was chiefly thrown into his fine array of
pelargoniums, but in the small display of fruit
he came out creditably with Muscat and
black Hambro grapes, while a neighbouring
show of strawberries by Mr. Merrett, gardener to
Henry Whiting, EEq., attracted many admiring
eyes and longing palates. In stove and greenhouse
plants Alessrs.Lee, of Hammersmith, fully sustained
their olden celebrity.

The grounds, under the careful superintendence
Eyler,of Mr. to put forth
beauty of
now
advanced bge it-1n beginning
spring
n and to tell of
coming summer. Advantage was taken yester-
dayall the blt a
of the magnificent weather to set all the
fountains and cascades in full play, and the
beauty of the scene was increased by a very full
and fashionable attendance, who covered the ter-
races and lawns in front of the conservatory,
sitting or strolling within sound of the excellent
band. Among the company were the Duchesses
of Sutherland and Argyll, Lady Besborough, Lord
Henry Lennox, Sir Thomas Troubridge, and Lord
Egerton of Tatton. A general meeting for elec-
tion of new fellows took place at three o'clock,
Mr. James Bateman, F.R.S., in the chair, when the
following candidates were elected Fellows of the
society, viz., Lord Cairns, Lady Dacre, Lady Maria
Fit zclarence, the Hon. Lady Pakenham, Christopher
Sykes, M.P., and eleven others; and the following
floral and horticultural societies were admitted into
union : —Basingstoke Horticultural, Bodmin Cot-
tage Gardening, Ludlow Horticultural, and Stour
Valley Horticultural Societies.

Stranding of the Ship Whirlwind.

OFFICIAL REPORT.

To the Lords of the Committee of Privy Council

for Trade.

"My Lords,—ln pursuance of your directions,
we have held an official investigation into the
stranding of the ship Whirlwind, which occurred
on the night of the 14th of February last. In this
inquiry we have been assisted by Captains Harris
and Swinborne, R.N., as nautical assessors, and we
now have the honour to report that the Whirlwind,
a ship of 868 tons, built at Dundee in the year
1854, sailed from the Clyde on February 14, at
8.30 a.m., bound to India, with a general cargo.
She was manned by a crew of 24 hands, all told,
and was under the command of Mr. James Gar-
dyne, who holds a certificate of competency. At
7.30 p.m. they took a departure from the Corse-
well Light, bearing N.E. by E., six miles distant.
The wind at this time was from the southward and
eastward, and -the
ship stood to the south and
westward till 10 p.m., when the Copeland Light
bore N.N.W., distance from five to six miles.
From this position they tacked to the eastward,
and stood across the channel for the Scotch
land, heading about E. by N. Between
10 and 11.30 the ship broke off to the
northward and eastward, and, the weather being
hazy, they suddenly discovered land. The helm
was immediately put down, but before the ship
could come round she took the ground, and did
herself considerable injury. The master put back
for the Clyde, and the ship having been repaired is
now ready for sea. In commenting upon this
casualty, we have only to observe that the master is
represented as being a good and very experienced
seamen. This was his first voyage in the Whirl-
wind, and it would appear that in tacking towards
the Scotch coast he did not make a sufficient allow-
ance for the rate at which the ebb tide was run-
ning. This, acting upon a clipper ship, put him
considerably ahead of his calculation, and the foggy
state of the atmosphere hanging about the land pre-
vented him seeing the coast till close upon it.
Soundings extend so short a distance from the land
that they would probably have given him no warn-
ing of danger. Taking Mr. Gardyne's long service
into consideration, and the absence hitherto of any
accident, together with the high character given L,y
the owners and others, the Court thought a caution
would meet the merits of the case, and returned the
master- his certificate.---We have, &c.,
WILLIAM M'LEAN, Jun., J.P.,
JOHN J. TIMM, J.P., Magistrates.
We concur—

Nautical Assessors.
H. HARms,
Glasgow,rHos. A.
A. SprlN;r2B47l'%,
.R.N.,}

ETHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY,

fiiTuesdaythecome
which three papers were read. The
Ir.adCiaunllsena,reonone
of the tribes of the
" The Indians of the
physical characters,
manners, and habits he described at considerable
much in contact with Europeans they are
accustomed to fire-arms and are good marksmen,
length. 'These
red men in America, and they are not distinguished
Isthmusag by
of Darien," whose Ael
from others by any remarkable peculiarity. Hay-
but their most common weapons are small poisoned
arrows, which are propelled through blow pipes
with great accuracy to a distance of 100 yards.
The animals struck by these arrows fell down ap-
parently dead within a few minutes, but it has been
ascertained that the effects of the ;
poison may be
counteracted by a copious administration of ammo-
nia. These Indians will not part with any of the
gold dust they collect from the river beds, nor will
they sell any of the products of their country for
money, but will only barter them for other goods.
Vegetable ivory is one of the products they dispose
of, and, from the abundance of the India-rubber tree
in that region, Mr. Cullen suggested that an im-
portant trade in that article might be carried on
with these Indians.

The second paper, " On the Civilisation of the
First Icelandic Colonists, with a general view of
their Manners and Customs," was read by Mr. Jon
A. lljaltelin, a native of Iceland. He stated that
when the Norwegians first settled in Iceland, in the
middle of the ninth century they found there the,
remains of some previous settlers from Iceland. Ile
conceived that the first Icelandic colonists were
driven to that coast as a place of refuge,
and they
settled there under various chiefs,
adopting to a
great extent the laws and customs then pre-
vailing in Scandinavia, which, owing to
their isolated condition, were continued to
a much later period than in more civilised countries.
Many of these laws and practices of the early set-
lers on that northern
coast were described by Mr.
Iljaltelin,which were curious as exemplifying the
adaptation of the rude state of civilisation existing
in early times in Europe
to the circumstances of an
Arctic climate, and continued to a comparatively
recent period. He did not touch on the present con-
dition of Iceland until stimulated to do so by some
disparaging observations of Sir A. Dillon, who had
visited that country and spoke of it as a sterile place
of residence, without vegetation, and where life is
supported with great endurance. Even a native of
Iceland can see beauties in the land of hii birth, and
Mr. Iljaltelin defended his country from these at-
tacks. Ile said that for nearly five months of the
year the climate is very pleasant, that he never suf-
fered more frem cold there than he had done during
the last winter in England,
and that even in Febru-
ary and March it wa4 not unusual for the inhabi-
tants to bathe in the sea. With respect to vegetation
and to the assertion that potatoes do not grow larger
than marbles, he stated that there were larger pota-
toes in Iceland than any he }lad s'en in this country.
The third paper, entitled
" Further Remarks on
the Ethnology of the Chiuere," was read by Dr.
Lamprey. The first portion of it related to the pre-
valence of eye disease in Olin a, which Dr. Lamprey
attributed to the peculiar conformation of the eyes
of that people. He stated th at, in consequence of
the small size of their eyes, it wss found very diffi-
cult to perform any operations for the cure of oph-
thalmia, especially operationA for cataract. In the
second part of the paper Dr. Lamprey advanced
some speculations respecting a sua,osed similarity
Dr.
between the Chinese and the Afriqata
Lockhart, who had practised in, china with Dr.
Larapiey, and spoke of tko gro;iit ben,zat4. gAt Va"