The Sun.
London, England, 1866-06-26 00:00:00

is a matter of doubt, for the lines in Hanover are not
supposed to be in workiug order.

The patrols of Austrian troops which have ap-
peared in Upper Silesia have not been followed up to
the present time by any columns of invasion. The
time which has elapsed since their apy earance seeme
to augur that they were not the precursors of an
attack ; it appears more probable that they were
either sent forward purely to gain information, or
that, as Austrian troops were being moved from
the district about Cracow to the west, they made a
feint, en passant, against Silesia, with the object of
drawing the attention of the Prussian commanders
from the real point of attack. Where this real point
will be no one on this side of the frontier can know
for certain. The issues of thepasses are well watched
on this side, and beacons are established on every
hill, and beside them sentries stand constantly ready
to set them on fire and so flash from hilltop to hill-
top the news of the enemy's approach. These bea-
cons are made with straw wrapped thickly round
tall poles and daubed plentifully with pitch ; beside
each stands an improvised sentry-box, also of straw,
which affords in the meantime shelter from the sun
or rain to the sentinel, and which will also serve in
case of necessity to add to the brightness of the
flame of the beacon. The roads leading to the fron-
tier are constantly patrolled both by night and day;
while vedettes and pickets are found on the rise of
every knoll and the corner of every wood.

The Prussians have not been careless witnesses of
the great struggle in America. The organisation of
the army shows that its administrators have
eagerly noted all the results of modern science and
advanced civilisation which the contest between the
Federals and Confederates called into the service of
war. Orders and reports are no longer conveyed
tardily by aides-de-camp or orderlies ; they are
flashed from corps to corps along the wires of the
telegraph, for to each head-quarters a field telegraph
division is attached, which as soon as head-quarters
are established connects the temporary bureau of
the chief of the staff with the nearest permanent
telegraph station. _ _

We have this evening received intelligence that
the harbour of Bremen has been occupied by the
Prussian gunboats, but we have still no authentic
news of the Hanoverian army.

Prussia is about to raise 40,000 men in Holstein,
and is said to have called for the contingents of
Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
This, with the capture of the Hanoverian army, will
place nearly all the fighting men of Northern Ger-
many in the Prussian ranks. Either side has now
done its best to enter with as strong an army as
possible on the campaign, the issue of which must
decide whether the supremacy in Germany is to
belong to the Protestant and progressive North, or
to the Catholic and Conservative South.

Royal Geographical Society.

Yesterday evening the last meeting of the session
of this society was held in Burlington House—the
president, Sir Roderick Murchison, in the chair.
A very interesting paper was read by Mr. BAKER,
describing his researches in Abyssiniaand his attempt
to trace one of the chief affluents of the Nile to its
source, some years before he explored the sources of
the White Nile to the Albert Nyanza. Mr. Baker
started from Kartoun in 1861, and endeavoured to
trace the courses of the Utbarra river, which flows
into the Nile about the 14th degree of north
latitude. He stated that the White Nile, which
takes its rise from the great equatorial lakes
of Africa, is a turbid though continuous stream
until it receives the waters of the Blue Nile, and
that the increase in the quantity of water in
those two rivers during the rainy season is not
sufficient to account for the extent of the
periodical overflow. It was with the uiew of ascer-
taining to what cause that overflow is to be attri-
buted that he undertook to explore the other princi-
pal affluent which flows into the Nile not far from
Kartoun. In early spring, when he commenced his
exploration, the bed of the river was quite dry, but
its course could be traced by the mimosa trees grow-
ing on the banks, the intermediate space resembling
the sandy desert on each side. In pursuing his
course in a south-easterly direction towards Abys-
sinia he occasionally came to large 'deep pools or
lakes, one of which was a mile long, wherein all the
animals that had lived in the river thronged, in-
cluding great numbers of crocodiles and hippopo-
tami. Mr. Baker gave an interesting account of
the conditi.in of those lakes, and of the animals and
birds that resorted to them from distant quarters
for drink, and of the plans adopted by the natives
to kill them. After having progressed for several
hundred miles along the banks of the dried up river,
he was disturbed during the night of the 23d June
by a great commotion in his encampment, and a
loud noise was heard approaching, which was occa-
sioned by the rush of water. In a few hours the
bed of the river was full, and a stream 20 feet deep
and 500 yards broad flowed where there bad been
only a sandy hollow. The rainy season on the moun-
tains of Abyssinia had commenced, and the country
which before was arid became suddenly covered
with herbage. This continued until the end of
September, when water began gradually to decrease.
It is a curious fact that the natives are obliged to
leave the country as soon as the water flows, on
account of the swarms of flies that accompany it,
and which destroy all the animals. These flies are
about the size of a wasp, their bodies are striped,
and their bite is so virulent that the animals they at-
tack are killed. Mr. Baker mentioned that millions of
them settled on the body of a cameleopard he had shot
andprevented him from skinning it. He penetrated to
the mountains of Abyssinia, -where the river took its
rise,and found the country most beautiful, though an
extensive tract of land was a wilderness in conse-
quence of the hostility of the tribes to each other.
He stated that one of those tribes is distinct from
Arabs and from Egyptians, being quite black, with
woolly hair, and between them and the Arabs there
exists a deadly hatred. Mr. Baker gave an• amusing
account of the manner in which he had been received
by one of the chiefs, who sent a minstrel to receive
him, accompanied by a man bearing a violin, on
which he performed and sang an ode recounting
many fabulous adventures that Mr. and Mrs. Baker
had passed through, for which there was no foun-
dation. When Mr. Baker returned to the Nile, he
observed that nearly at the same period of the year
that the river•he had traced became flooded the
waters of the Blue Nile also increased ; and he in-
ferred that the principal cause of the periodical over-
flow of the Nile in Lower Egypt is the drainage of
water from the mountains of Abyssinia during the
rainy season, for many large streams from those
mountains flow into the affluent Mr. Baker explored
before it enters the Nile.

Another highly interesting paper connected with
Abyssinia wasread, being a communication from
Mr. Rassam, the
gentleman appointed to deliver a
letter from the n
Queen to Theodore, the King of
Abyssinia, for the deliverye ofthe English and other
Europeans who were in captivity there. The ,
and it described com-
munication was addressed to Colonel nayfair,
Bri-
tish Consul at Zanzibar, very
minutely the reception of Mr. Rassam by the King,
who treated him with great attention and profuse
hospitality, and insisted on making him a present
of 10,000 dollars. The King received
- -- him reclining
on a couch within a silk tent, and when the letter
from the Queen was presented to him, he received
it with great respect, but as there was no inter-
preter present, it was merely laid on the couch.
On the following morning Mr. Rassam was
sent for again, and the King, after having expressed
much desire to be on friendly terms with the Queen,
consented to the liberation of all the captives-18
in number. The cause of their being placed in
captivity was afterwards read to them openly, and
they admitted that they were to blame. The King
seemed to be anxious to make it appear that he had
isliaddinsig:leca sufficient t cause for detaining them prisoners.
They were
at the date of the letter in April last re-
means of leatvhiengbsonrders of a Lake, not far from the
and royal residence,
~
ytwhaserine
jawhealldtnreoattbedee,
nthaocucgoihdteldie.
Ar.Rassa
rn
honour was
a thAienbKine meantime treated with the
same lg himself,
and on one occa-
sion a procession of 80 priestscame to honour him.
Dr. BEKE made some remarks ks
on the subject, in
which he mentioned that it was a project of the

Sing of Abyssinia to direct the course of one of the
affluents of the Nile to the Red Sea.
Colonel PLAYFAIR stated that the communication
was not intended to be read in public, for it was
only a private letter to himself, which, however, he
thought it would be interesting to make known to
the Geographical Society.
The PRESIDENT congratulated the Society on
having had a very successful session, and adjourned
the meeting to November next.

Railway Intelligence.

LONDON, BRIGHTON, AND SOUTH COAST.

A Wharncliffe meeting of this company was held
yesterday at the International Hotel, London-
bridge ; Mr. P. N. Laurie in the chair.

Mr. Slight, the Secretary, having read the notice
convening the meeting,

The CHAIRMAN said he had two bills to submit for
their approval. The first was for defining the un-
dertaking and railways of the London, Brighton, and
South Coast Railway Company, and for defining
and regulating their capital and mortgage debt and
their powers of raising moneys, and for authorising
them to make and maintain new lines of railway,
and for other purposes. The present company was
incorporated in 1846, and during the last 20 years
they had obtained different Acts of Parliament,
making altogether about 60 Acts and it was some-
times difficult to find the powers conferred on the
company. The bill he had to submit would define
in one Act the stock and borrowing powers of the
company, the powers of voting, and other matters.
The preamble alone occupied 25 pages. The various
powers were consolidated in the bill, in which they
had authority to issue 5 per cent. consolidated pre-
ference stock. They had at present 16 different
stocks, including 7 per cent., 6 per cent., 5 per cent.,
and 4I per cent. preference stocks. They would
have power to convert the different preference stocks
into the 5 per cent. consolidated stock he had men-
tioned. So that any proprietor receiving £lOO a
year from his holding in those stocks would be able
to convert it into £2,000 of the 5 per cent. consoli-
dated stock, giving him exactly the same income.
They had power to make a few short junction lines.
One at Worthing by which they would be enabled
to bring their friends direct to London over the
Henfield ani Mid-Sussex branch.

Col. ThiP,TTELOT, M.P., seconded the motion, ap-
proving the bill, and it was carried unanimously.

The CHAIRMAN said the next was a bill to enable
the company to make new railways in substitution
for portions of their St. Leonard's line, a new rail-
way at Hastings, and other works. It authorised
about four miles of railway, and by means of an
arrangement with the South-Eastern Company it
would be unnecessary to make the new line between
Hastings and St. Leonards. They would have the
joint use of the existing line and a joint station at
Hastings, which was so far satisfactory.
A formal resolution approving the bill was unani-
mously adopted.

The CHAIRMAN then alluded to the company's
campaign in Parliament respecting the Lewis and
Brighton Bill with disappointment and regret, but he
said they were by no means disheartened, as they
hoped to'have justice done them in the House of
Lords. A new principle seemed to be adopted in the
Commons, of aiding competition between two ter-
minal points, as no intermediate or additional ac-
commodation was wanted between London and
Brighton. The directors would do their best to de-
feat the decision in favour of that bill, which was
founded purely on competition. There was, unfor-
tunately, no fixed or settled principle of legislation
on railways. A principle upon which a bill seemed
to be approved in one committee would be rejected
in another. They,opposed the Clapham and Ken-
nington Bill of the South-Eastern and London, Chat-
ham, and Dover on financial grounds, showing that
the object of the line was opposition, and not for
the purpose of meeting the requirements of the dis-
trict, and the bill was rejected. But the committee

on the South-Eastern and London, Chatham, and
Dover (Lewes and Brighton) Bill would not allow
the Brighton Company to tender evidence on any
of the points which in another committee caused the
rejection of the Clapham and Kennington Bill ; in-
forming them that if they did not tender evidence
on these points it would have Ito effect on the deci-
sion. This excluded what the directors considered
was important evidence. As to the statement by
the chairman of the South-Eastern 'Company, that
the directors of the Brighton Company did not meet
him in a conciliatory spirit, it was not exact. They
felt that the projected line to Brighton wag a hos-
tile line, and that it was their duty to oppose it.
They would soon open a second line to Brighton, and
if more accommodation was requisite they would
soon after have a third line available for Brighton
traffic. So the directors of the Brighton Company
could not possibly admit that there was any neces-
sity for a competing line to Brighton, nor could
they take any part in its construction. Neither
the South-Eastern nor the Chatham and Dover
Company had any right to go to Brighton. They
could not possibly receive them in a conciliatory
spirit on such a subject. The Fenians were not re-
ceived in a very conciliatory spirit in Canada, and it
was not to be expected that the invasion of those
companies could be received in a conciliatory spirit
at Brighton. They were quite as ready as those
companies could be to make arrangements for a
lasting peace ; leaving it to be settled by arbitration
with respect to places, such as Hastings and
Dorking, to which they both ran trains. They had
given notice to the Chatham Company, who were
under a Parliamentary obligation to accommodate
the Brighton Company's trains to Ludgate. jiVith
respect to the user of the Charing-cross and Can-
non-street stations the terms asked were of such an
amount they could not be acceded to, but if left to
settlement by arbitration, that would be a different
thing. They fully anticipated that the Brighton
Bill would be dealt with differently in the House of
Lords. They had already undertaken to complete
55 miles of railway in East Sussex alone, at a cost
of £1,400,000, and in addition to that the Brighton
Company two years ago had considerably reduced
the rates and fares on their lines. Supposing the
present Brighton Bill lost, there would be access
to Brighton from Kensington station, Victoria
station, Pimlico, Ludgate-hill, and London-bridge,
and also by means of the East London line from
Broad Street, city, through the Thames Tunnel, to
the Brighton line at New-cross. They would leave
no effort unexhausted to promote the interests of
the company, and no doubt they would be
successful.

The proceedings concluded with a vote of thanks
to-the chairman.

GREAT WESTERN.

The adjourned Wharncliffe meeting of this com-
pany was held yesterday at the Paddington station;
Mr. Gooch, M.P., in the chair.
The CHAIRMAN said the only business left was
the consideration of a bill for the amalgamation
of the Vale of Neath Railway Company with the
Great Western Railway Company. This bill had
been fully discussed last year. He had merely to
move a resolution approving it.

Mr. LANCASTER wished to know if it affected the
Great Western Company.
Mr. YOUNG (the solicitor) said the clauses pro-
vided for the amalgamation of the Vale of Neath
Company with the Great Western. The priority of
preference dividend of the Vale of Neath Com-
pany was protected, and the capital of that com-
pany was to be kept distinct from the capital of the
Great Western Company. The bill also provided
for the appropriation of the surplus lands of the
Vale of Neath.

The CHAIRMAN said the agreement was that the
Vale of Neath Company should have 5.26 per cent.
of the net receipts of the amalgamated companies.
ft was agreed that the Vale of Neath was not to
receive less than £85,000 per annum.

A resolution approving the bill was then unani-
mously carried, and a vote of thanliS to the chair-
man concluded the proceedings.

BEDFORD AND NORTHAMPTON.

A Wharncliffe meeting of this company was held
yesterday at the offices, Westminster-chambers,
Victoria-street—Mr. J. Howard in the chair.
The Solicitor read the heads of a bill authorising
the company to construct new lines of railway, to