The Sun.
London, England, 1859-01-27 00:00:00

CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

By the Royal Mail steamship Phcebe, Captain
Clarke, we have received,Capenf Good Hope papers
to the 22d of Dedember. They do not, however,
contain much of interest. The Phcebe has brought
specie to the amount of £7OO ; copper ore, 1,995
bags ; wool, 37,6371 b. ; and sundry wine, horns, &c.
Among the passengers from the Cape were Sir
Robert Stamford, Captain Salmond, Captain Cress-
well, R.N., Mr. Hammersley, R.N., Major Morse,
and Major Fraser.

(From the Cape Argus of Dee. 21.)
Since our last summary for England was written
the designs of the Transvaal Republic upon the
neighbouring Bechuana tribes have been fully
developed, and they comprehend nothing less than

their total subjugation and enslavement.
Very little rumour of wars and cattle-thefts has
come to us during the last month from the Free

State.

British Kaffraria is tolerably quiet and uncom-
plaining ; but there are said to be (on the authority
of the Graham's Town Journal) at least 100,000
natives in the colony, of whom, as might be ex-
pected, an occasional complaint is heard; and it
would be as well if they could be put under a little
more restraint. A continuous stream of immigra-
tion from home will be the best corrective for this

untoward influx of Kafirs. -
We have late news from the neighbouring colony
of Natal, whose Legislative Council is sitting, and
carrying on, as usual, a fierce and not very elegantly-
worded wai,with a " despicable and despotic official
clique." Natal bids fair, as things are going, to
become a black settlement with a few white officials,

instead of a European colony. Sugar is doing ex-
ceedingly well, and it may now be considered to
have fairly " riz" as a sugar colony ; but its credit

is not yet equal to raising £lOO,OOO loan to carry
on its public works.
The vineyards throughout the country look ex-
ceedingly well. The vines are healthy and well
laden with grapes. There has been some fine
warm showers of late, and the fruit is swelling
beautifully. The vintage promises to be very fine

indeed.
The crops of oat-hay this season are very large,
and forage has come down by the run. Oats are
now selling at 9s. 6d. per muid, whereas, at the
beginning of 1858, they were realising 18s. per
muid. Oat-hay at that time fetched upwards
of 15s. per hundred, now it is selling from ss. to
6s. 6d.
The inhabitants of Graham's Town and Pert
Elizabeth lately presented to the captain of the
Royal mail steam ship Phoebe, H. Clarke, Esq.„ a
purse of £75, as a recognition of the well-working
of the line, and to reward him for making the
quickest voyages.

WRECK OF THE ARAGO.
The Hamburg bark Arago, 630 tons, D. C. Kt):

ling, master,from Memel for this port and Batavia,
went ashore on entering Table Bay, on the night
of the 30th ult. A court of inquiry, composed of
commander Gordon and Mr. Salfleet, of H.M.
steamer Hermes, Captain Tinley, shipping-master,
Captain Murison, and Mr. Poppe, acting Hambi:irg
consul was appointed to investigate and report
upon the circumstances. attending the wreck of the
vessel. The captain made a statement to them, in
the course of which he declared the error on his
part in entering Table Bay rose from his having,
after taking bearings of the lights, miscalculated the
scale of miles, and thus mistaken his distance feom
the land. The court, however, did not attribute
the loss of the vessel to this cause. The following
was their report to Government :—" That we are
of opinion, from the evidence produced, that the
loss of the barque Arago was caused by the wrong-
ful act and default of the master of the said ye ssel
in not taking soundings, or having the lead going,
or causing a proper look-out to be kept whilst
standing in for the eastern shore of Table Bay,
the ship being well under command, with a
fresh working breeze and a - clear atmosphere..
The master, moreover, does not appear to
have taken any bearings of Green Point light
after six p.m., just before tacking for the
last time, although the lights were clearly visible
when the vessel struck." The hull and cargo of the
wreck were sold by public auction, and realized
£2,200.
CAPT. BEDINGPIELD'S RETURN FROM THE ZAMBEZI.
Capt. Bedingfield, R.N., who accompanied the
Livingstone e xpedition to the Zambezi, returned to
Cape Town by' H.M. st. Lyra a week or two ago ;
and subsequently proceeded in the Sanspareil to
England. It mivears that some mutual misunder-
standing of a trifling character between Captain
Bedingfield ana, the leader of the expedition was
the occasion of lais withdrawal from it.
LO 38 OF THE MADAGASCAR.

The Cape an Natal mail steamer Madagascar
was wrecked o. a the night of the sth inst., off the
south-east emit, near the mouth of the River Beka,
on her passage from Last London to Algoa Bay.
From the publi shed accounts of the catastrophe, it
appears that at; six o'clock in the evening, the
vessel was competed to be six miles off the coast;
at nine o'clock live miles, and at ten, before the
captain's leaving': deck, he ordered her to be kept
still further seavir ard. The tops of the hills were
visible, but a misty bank hung over the land. At
midnight, whilst. the passengers were all in their
berths, the steam e r struck heavily up on.a reef of roofs,
on the edge of wl L ich she rode for 20 minutes, bump-
ing and straining., fearfully, and then got off into deep
water. The fora hold was immediately half filled
and the steamer was found to be sinking. Her
boats were at on .te got out, and provisioned, and the
captain, selectin, g a spot less rocky than the usual
run of the coast, hoisted the spanker, and ran the
vessel on shore. At about three-quarters of a mile
out she beached, amid a terrible surf, but was judi-
cously made a 't akwater for the boats, which were
kept under her lee until daylight. Whilst so
lying, the steam or rolled so much that the rigging
could be touched' by those in the boats. At day-
light the boats, it, great peril, crossed the surf, and
reached the lan d nearly full of water. On the
occasion of the di :s aster, coolness and judgment were
displayed by the • .master and officers of the vessel,
willingly and al Ih y seconded by the crew. No life
was lost, but the ) passengers and all on board lost
nearly everythii iv, including their luggage. The
officers' and crei p suffered a good deal of privation
after landing, b at this appears to have been una-
voidable. In c 'far first notice of the, melancholy
accident, we we re led to believe that the steamer
was well insur, tat, and so we stated it. We, how-
ever, have since learnt, upon the best authority,
that she was in Pared for a sum very considerably
below her value The loss of the Madagascar will
be a loss to the 'whole community.
The transport ; ship Clasmerden, now 'in Algoa
Bay, will conve yto India 80 women and children—
the wives and f ir,nilies of soldiers belonging chiefly
to the 13th Reg itnent, at present serving iu India.

SMALL-PDX.
The small-po: t epidemic, which prevailed here
with great fatal iit, yr for about three months, has now
almost totally d ist Lppeared. Our business relations
with the count- y districts are therefore improving.
Property sale s all parts of the country show a
favourable adva nc e in the value of land and build-
ings. Farms w hi ch were originally purchased for
a mere song, as the saying is, have realised very
considerable pric :CF. '.

U 111 )ER -SECRETARY.
Mr. W. de E ;m idt, formerly secretary to the
Central Road 1 fqq, rd, will shortly be appointed