The Sun.
London, England, 1867-09-26 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Stn,—laving just received a letter from 111 r.
Young, who commands the boat expedition sent out
by the Admiralty to ascertain the fate of Dr. Living-
stone, I hasten to inform you that on the 26th of
July, the party having been conveyed to the Kon-
goni mouth of the river Zambesi in her Majesty's
ship Peterel, Commander Gordon, were about to
cross the bar in their steel boat on the following
day.

They had been abundantly supplied with all
necessaries by the naval authorities at the Cape.
The expedition had been strengthened by the addi-
tion of two Kroomen and an English stoker from
the Peterel, Mr. Young, who brought from the
Cape two negro youths who had been formerly
liberated from slavery by Livingstone, and who, it
was believed, would be of good use as interpreters.
After describing the great changes which have
recently taken place in the relation of land and
water at the mouths of the Zambesi, the entrance of
the East I uabo being completely changed, and
Pearl Island having disappeared, the letter thus
con eludes :

" I have not altered my views respecting the
probable time of our return to the mouth of the
Zambesi, and have written to ask the senior officer
at the Cape for a ship to meet us there on the Ist of
December.

" In conclusion, I am happy to state that, as far
as I can judge, we are supplied with everything we
can need, are all in the enjoyment of perfect health,
and look forward confidently to a successful accom-
plishment of our undertaking."
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
RODERICK I. MURCHISON.
Buxton, Sept. 24.

7HE SPECIAL COMMISSION ON ENGLISH.
FISHERIES.

-_~

The Special Commissioners—Mr. James Patter-
son (Chairman), Captain Spratt, R.N., and Major
Scott (Secretary, Mr. T. F. Brady)—who, it was
stated in The Sun of the 17th inst., opened their
court on that day at Egremont, in Cumberland,
have now finished in that district (the river Ehen)
for the present. They were occupied two whole
days in hearing an important claim preferred by
Captain Irwin, of Calder Abbey, to a fish garth in
the mouth of the Ehen, which Captain Irwin claimed
under grants to the monks of Calder Abbey, temp.
37 Edward 111., and a grant to Captain Irwin's
predecessors by Henry VIII., after the suppression
of the monastery of Calder Abbey. The garth is a
wattled hedge placed across a considerable portion
of the sands of the estuary on the north shore, and
there was a similar claim for a garth on the south
shore by Mr. Stanley, of Ponsonby-hall. Lord Lons-
dale also claimed a garth at Starling Castle. Only
the case of Capt. Irwin, however, was heard for
want of time. This garth is left dry at the ebbing
of the tide, but when the tide flows fish are carried
into it, and, getting behind the hedge, are detained
by it when the tide ebbs. There is a grating with
perpendicular bars of tin. to 1 lin. at the deepest
part of the garth, which only permits the water and
small fry to escape, but detains other fish ; and evi•
deuce was given that the catch fluctuates very con-
siderably. At some tides nothing at all is taken,
while the best catch spoken to by the witness was
some 30 salmon and sea trout at one tide. Captain
Irwin's title-deeds not naming a fishery specifically
his professsional adviser, Mr. Lumb, of Whitehaven,
depended upon immemorial usage, and a number of
the " oldest inhabitants" of the district were brought
forward to prove that the garth is fished now in
the same manner as it was ever since their boy-
hood, and some of the old witnesses were verging
upon a century old. They also proved that, although
the garth had been repaired from time to time and
lengthened out as the river changed its course
(which it had done to the extent of 200 yards within
living memory), it was substantially in the same
place as it was 60 and 80 years ago. On the other
hand, Mr. Webster, for the local Angling Associa-
tion, submitted that the garth referred to in Capt.
Irwin's title was a garth of the same name ("Monk's
Garth") near Ravenglass, and that, if this was the
garth, there had been such a substantial alteration
of site as to render it illegal ; and he produced an
ancient History of Cumberland to show that no
fishery was passed by the grants of Henry and
Edward granting Calder Abbey. After a good deal
of learned argument pro and con, the commissioners
reserved their judgment. The Commissioners sat
yesterday at Broughton Furness to inquire as to
fixed engines on the Duddon.

THE BLAST FURNACE ACCIDENT.—TWO of the
three men so shockingly burnt by the bursting of a tuyere
at the blast furnaces of Mrs. Gibbons, at 31illfield5
near Wolverhampton, on Friday night, have died, and
the other is dying. Yertorday an inquest was held upon
the deceased. Ono was described as having been " lite-
rally shot by the metal and scorito," and the hospital
nurse said of the other that " his back was quite roasted."
Workmen and the manager of the furnaces deposed to the
accident having resulted from the bursting of the tuyere,
occasioned by the infringing upon the nose of the tuyere
of the burning mass inside the furnace as it gradually
settled down. It was, they said, impossible to prevent
such accidents. Two tuyerers burst on Sunday at neigh-
bouring furnaces, " with a report that shook the place,"
but with no accident to the workpeople. At the same fur-
nace at Millilelds, a few years ago, the front was blown
out, and seven men killed. At another accident a manager,
standing by the side of a man who was killed, had " big
hat, his coat, and his trousers shot off, yet escaped." The
jury found a verdict of "Accidental death."
A SOLDIER FLOGGED AT CHESTER.—On Tuesday
morning the head-quarter companies of the 18th Regiment
(Royal Irish), stationed at Chester Castle, under the com-
mand of Lieut.-Col. Call, were paraded in the inner yard
to witness the puuishnient of a comrade, Private Richard-
son, who had been tried by court-martial and condemned
to be dogged for striking a corporal named Holborn. Th°
culprit, who was a young man, and had only been one year
iu the service, received 50 lashes. His appearance on being
taken back to the hospital showed tigtt the puuisltineld had
bowl of a mod severe nature,