The Sun.
London, England, 1866-12-11 00:00:00

Mr. ANDREW, a gentleman connected with one
of the Indian railways which has the harbour of
Kurrachee for a terminus, controverted the opi-
nions expressed in the paper, and adduced seyeral
facts to show that the harbour has greatly Cpproved
and is improving; as an instance of which he men-
tioned that as many as 300 ships, bringing materials
for the railway, had come into the harbour within
a short period. The town of Kurrachee has been
extending and improving, its imports have largely
increased, and it :resembles an English town more
than any other town in India. Mr. Parker, a civil
engineer, who assisted Mr. Walker in improving the
harbour, explained the nature of the works that had
been effected. The chief work was the construction
of a wall two miles in length on the east shore ex-
tending out to sea, which had increased the depth
of water at the bar, and rendered the harbour more
accessible. He denied that there was a current
towards Kurrachee, and contended that the south-
west monsoon blows directly against the coast and
not obliquely.

Captain CONSTABLE spoke to the same effect, and
from comparisons of the actual state of the harbour ,
as recorded at different periods during the last 40
years, he•showed that instead of filling up, as Colonel
Tremenheere predicted it would do, it had greatly
improved.
Capt. MAURY said that judging from the manner
in which the bars were formed at the mouths of the
great rivers in America, he conceived that where
there is a current, as at Kurrachee, the silt would
be carried away, and he inferred, from what had
been said by the preceding speakers; and from the
direction of the shore, that the current would carry
the silt from the harbour and not into it.
Major GORDON, R.E., briefly defended his fellow-
officer from some of the attacks that had been made
on his paper.

A second communication was then read on Pan-
gong Lake, Thibet, from Captain Godwin Austen.
The lake lies in 34 deg. north latitude, and about 79
deg. east longitude, and is situated among the lofty
mountains of Thibet, at an elevation of 13,900 ft.
There is an upper and a lower lake, connected by a
small stream, the former of which is 43 miles long,
and the latter about 30 miles. tending in a direction
from north-west to south-east. The most remarkable
fact concerning these lakes is that at such an eleva-
tion, among granite mountains, they are brackish,
the upper one being too salt to be drinkable; the
lower lake is less 5). They are only supplied by
small rills from the glaciers and the surrounding
tuountains, some of which arc 20,000 feet high. It
was in the month of July that Capt. Austen visited
the lake, in making a survey of the country, and at
that time the water was not froam; one of the lake=,
indeed, contained abundance of dbi resembling
tench. There were no inhabitants, and the only
animals were two wild asses.

At the conclusion of the paper the meeting ad-
journed to the 14th January.

Agricultural Prospects.

The week opened with a wet morning ; it was
afterwards fair for the most part of the day, but
rain set in at night. Monday was an unsettled and
showery day, wind south-west. Nothing in the
shape of out- door work could be done, where there
was yet anything left to do. The early-planted
wheat has become tolerably strong where not too
much attacked with the slug, and there are instances
of its having become patchy; but sharp frost of the
previous Friday night was very useful in checking
the ravages of this enemy. Tuesday was an ex-
tremely wet day, blowing a gale throughout from
S.W.; thermometer 52 deg., ',barometer 29.60 in.
From Northumberland our advices stated :—" The.
weather since our last report was fine up to Satur-
day; since then it has been dull and showery, wind
varying from N.W. to S.W. and S. With this sort
of weather, and so thick an atmosphere, wheat
thrashing could not be proceeded with to advantage;
yet the farmers are anxious to secure the present
such satisfactory prices, being s as they have not ex-
perienced for a long time past, and a favourable
change in the weather would be very acceptable for
Our Suffolk correspondent, on that
this process."
" Mild weather." From the East
day, merely says,
Riding of Yorkshire our advices states :—" 'Weather
continues mild and open, and a good deal of rain
has fallen during the week. The wheat plant
comes forward slowly, especially on heavy soils,
and farmers complain of its appearance." An-
other very wet day on Wednesday, with a strong
gale of wind from the S.S.W., still continuing to
blow, causing great disasters at sea, flooding the
country again in all the low-lying districts, and
tending to injure the wheat plant where covered by
water. From the west coast of Scotland it was
stated : " The weather continues wet and boister-
ous." Farm work has gone on pretty well north of
the Tweed, and a good portion of the wheat has
been sown : one dry week more will finish it in
Scotland, and a greater breadth than last year will
have been planted, in the expectation of good prices
ruling next year, from the closely worked up stocks
at harvest time ; at least there is a prospect of that
looming in the distance. Our present position is
that the wheat at sea from various places,, added
to the stocks on hand at the outports, here and in
the farmers' hands, may carry us safely over to the
end of April, when spring shipments from the north
of Europe will commence. Thursday was a wet
and boisterous day, being the fifth in succession
with more or less rain, and a good deal of water out
again in many parts of the country. During that
remained with fou.,
time the barometer any material
variation, and in some parts of the country it has
been steadily rising. On this account a correspon-
dent in the Isle of Wight wants some one to explain
how this comes about. So far as our experience
goes, we should say it forebodes frost at no great
distance of time. Friday was the first dry day of
the week, wind being W. to N.W., but yet the baro-
meter had gone down here. Saturday morning was
cold, the day proving fine, thermometer then 37
deg., with a rapidly ri,ing barometer all day. This
would prove a favourable day for the thrashing of
wheat, and a supply may now be looked for, to pay
the rents coming due at Christmas. From Warwick-
shire our advices stated, " Weather this week
has been very foggy, wet, and miserable. Except
on the heavy and wet lands, where the early wheat
plant is not very promising, there are good reports
of its condition and growth to the pre-
sent time. The deliveries of barley have this
week been 4,325 qrs. more than wheat, showing
that the former grain is being pushed to market
whilst such excellent prices can be made, and the
Burton ale brewers are still buyers of the most
choice qualities, at comparatively high prices.--
] Mark-lane Express.