The Sun.
London, England, 1835-04-18 00:00:00

6,76
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Cup, aarttuk with r. dt-i-de 4an r 4110 1"e)
marked that he was unusually depressed in spirits."-M-r.
Alexander asked him the cause of his melanchOlY-moOd, but
the deceased declined to reply. He left abruptly, and
went home. Having undressed himself, he went to bed.
and cut his throat with a razor, which was found in the
bed by his side. It was not discovered till the next morn-
ing, when the servant found the bed saturated with blood.
He was a widower, with four children whotly dependent
upon him for support. The Coroner having summed up
the evidence, the jury retired to consider of their verdict.
and having been a few moments absent, they returned into.
the room, and delivered a verdict of " Te;npOrary derange-
ment."

On Thursday evening an inquest was holden at the
Black Horse Tavern, High-street, Poplar, before Mr.
Baker, on view of the body of Henry Allen, a seaman,
belonging to the Alfred, a West Indianian, who came by
his death under the following circumstances :
Prom the evidence it appeared, that on the previous
morning, while the vessel was going down the river, and off
Blackwall, a block, weighing 561 b., through the snapping of
a link of the chain that supported it, fell from nearly the
top of the mainmast, a distance of 70 feet, on the head of
the deceased, who was unfortunately walking across the
deck at the time, and instantly deprived him of life. No
blame being attributable to any person, the Jury returned a
..-erdict of " Accidental Death."
A second inquest was holden at the same place and time
on the 60.:•.- of a middle-aged man, name unknown, which
was picked out o' the river on the day before. The de-
ceased, who, from hL; dress, appeared to be a mechanic, had
no property about him, of any thing that would lead to his
identity, and there being no marks of violence about him,
the Jury returned a verdict of " Drowned."

ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOC:7TY,

ARIL 13

COLONEL LEAKE IN THE CHAIR.

At the preceding meeting, R. E. Murchison, Esq., in
the chair, a communication was read from Mr. Pentland

on the physical configuration of the Andes, including that.
portion of South America between three degrees and 27
degrees south latitude. A description was given of the
celebrated lake Titicaca, which is from 3,500 to 5,000
square miles in extent, situate at a height of about 14,000
feet (or equal to that of the Pyrenees) above the surface
of the sea. The water in this lake is brackish, and it is
supposed that it must not only derive its supply, but that
this supply must also be again dissipated from it byevapo-
ration, the only outlet being through a ravine of the ama-
zing depth of 18,000 feet, from whence it proceeds, as a
small stream, a distance of 120 miles, where it is finally
lost in a small lake. An island in the centre of the lake

was formerly abounding with Peruvian antiquities, contain-
ing one of their great temples of religious worship, though
on the final overthrow of this great and unfortunate nation
by their savage conquerors, they destroyed almost every
vestige, by throwing them into the lake. The lower limit
of perpetual snow Mr. Pentland assigned as 15,720 feet.
The paper took notice of several important geographical
observations, which Mr. Pentland has made during his sur-
vey, he having determined the situation of upwards of se-
venty places, the position of which had been previously
inaccurate or uncertain.

Captain M'Konochie next proceeded to read a report
that had been furnished by Mr. Woodbine Parish, written
by M. Hanke, a German, who was sent out, by the Kin.-
of Spain, on a special mission to Peru, for the purpose of
inquiring into the then state of the mines, with the plans of
working them, but who died in Bolivia. The paper was
dated 1799, and was an official document forwarded to the
Spanish Government. The writer states that the interior
portion of this part of the continent, between the same la-
titudes of 3 deg. and 27 deg., are but little known on ac-
count of the alniost inseparable barrier which the Andes

interposes, the great heats, venomous insects and reptiles,
and the, unknown and uncivilized tribes which inhabit it.
Whatever is known has been attained by following the
course of the rivers which have burst the natural boun-
daries, which otherwise would wholly preclude inquiry. The
difficulty of crossing the Andes has rendered the produc-
tions of the interior almost valueless, at least twice en-
hancing their cost. The productions of the province of
Chiquitos must be carried a distance of 200 leagues
to Lima, or 600 leagues to Buenos Ayres, before they
are available, and the communication being _ necessarily

imperfect and rude, it is no wonder that hitherto -this
should have been confined to the precious metals and stones.
To the false and unnatural system long carried on by
the mother country was to be ascribed the apathy of
the inhabitants, which had prevented their endeavouring to
better their condition, or avail themselves fully of the
advantages of their soil. The most interesting part of the
communication was that which related to the numerous
sources of the Amazons—this sea of fresh water traversing
more than 1,000 leagues across the country, and watering
all the provinces of Peru. This was deeribed as offering
the means of opening a commtinicaiion between Europe
and the interior, the rivers being navigable to a great ex-
tent, and the falls being too trifling to impede the pas-sage
of vessels. The productions of the country are very ri3h,
consisting of gold, cocoa, cotton, indigo, sarsaparilla, and
cascarilla, cinchona barks, and a variety of gums and spices,
not inferior to those of the East ; and besides these advan-
tages, a knowledge of the interior might bring to civiliza-
tion and Christianity the many unknown tribes who inhabit
it. Captain 111‘Ketiechicstated, that although the date of
the paper was by no means'recent, yet, in fact, it embodied
all that was known upon the subject. The Bolivian Con-
sul, who was in the room, pointed out the several positions
on the map, as they were referred to by the Secretary, and
by him we were informed, that his Government had offered
a premium of 20,000 dollars to the first steam-boat which
should penetrate the highest up the rivers Maranham, Ma-
deira; or any other branches of the Amazons.
Captain M'Konochie next proceeded to read some ex-
tracts of a letter received last Saturday from Captain
Alexander, who is now exploring the southern parts of
Africa, dated Cape Town, 20th January, 1833. He had
just received information that the Foulahs had obtained
possession of Delagoa Bay, having fallen upon and surprised
the Governor and Staff at a considerable loss of life to the
Portuguese. The Caffres had hitherto been very successful
in their attack oa the colonists, and Colonel Somerset had
retreated to Graham's Town, the force under his command
not being sufficient to repel them. The quarrel had arisen
from the old Commando's system of retaliation upon a tribe
who had committed a robbery upon a settler, but so fearful
had been the system of the Caffres in return, that it had
bcon calculated that 50,000 head of cattle and 1,500 of
horses, with sheep innummerable, had been lost to the
colonists. The unsettled state of the country preventing

the prosecution of his researches, he had resolved at pre-
sent to join the expedition. He had just heard of the
existence of a large body of water, two day's journey
west of Matakoo, which had been communicated to
him by a native chief. There are many streams which
run into it, some of which are about a quarter of a
mile wide. The people who inhabit the borders of the lake
are a Macoobah tribe of Caffres, dressing like Bitchuanhas.

They make boats about eighteen feet long and five wide,
for the purpose of navigating the lake, and•these are con-
structed of boards fastened together with wooden pins. He
described. the passage across the lake to take from six to
eight hours, and that when in the middle they could see no
land, not even the highest mountains in the vicinity. Their
current medium of exchange is hunches of beads, though it
is not known from whence these are obtained. They are
very affable to strangers, and no men are stolen in the
country for slaves. They are tattoed on the nose. The
country contains a good deal of copper and iron, and ele-
phants are likewise numerous. A larger collection of water
s said to be within a short distance.
In the room, amongst many other geographical contribu-
tions, we noticed a map of the United States, by Mr. Lay,
an American hydrographer, which excited much approba-
tion, from the minuteness and apparent accuracy of its de-
tails. It has received the approbation of the British Asso-
ciation at its last meeting, and since of several high geogra-
phical names.
•

A patient in the Hospital, Brighton, named
.Richard
Reed, put a period to his life by suspending himself from
the pully of his bed on Monday last. He had been long suf-
fering from a spinal complaint, and various acts of mental aber-
ration having been adduced in evidence, the Coroner's Inquest
returned a verdict of Insanity. _ _ _

ROBBERIES.—One of those robberies of late so
numerous, in which houses have been plundered without traces
being discoverable of the means by which the thieves gained
access, was committed a night or two ago on the premises of
Mr. Born, landlord of the Crown Inn, Smithfield. Market,
near Hosier-lane. Mr. Born on retiring to rest, left every
--grt of the house apparently well secured, but on coming down
the next morning he was surprised to find that the shutters
which s.—arpted the bar from the rooms below had been torn
down, and rirawers in the bar forced open, evidently with
two chisels which th- thieves had left behind. In the one
drawer used as the 0r,....:ary till, there was only a small quan-
tity of copper money, the having been taken out at night
by Mr. Born, and, according to i. i custom, carried up stairs.
Unfortunately in the other drawer was a 1-ag containing about
forty sovereigns, which Mr. Born had fork, :`ten. This the
thieves possessed themselves of, but left the cooker behind.
The .bad likewise the self-command to refrain from the i
eating liquors around them. From the iron bar cn the insiuc
of the street door being taken down, and the bolt withdrawn,
it is evident they made their escape that way, shutting the door
after them. How they got in can be only conjectured. On
careful inspection, frontward and rearward, there was not the
slightest trace to be found of a breaking in; neither were there
any lodgers in the house who could. have- admitted thorn, and
it is believed that the thieves were acquainted with the intericr
of the house, and, aware that Mrs. Born and part of the family
were absent, had stept into an unoccupied room'or place, aed
there remained till a _convenient time for effecting the robbery
bad arrived.

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