The Sun.
London, England, 1832-09-17 00:00:00

MOUNTAINS IN ASIA.

Among the nurnerons,4;eteuJared groups of moun-
tains that cover the surface of central Asia, we may
distinguish four great chains or systems, which lie
almost in a parallel- direction, ranging nearly front
west to east, or from South-west to north-east. These,
Iwginning with the mo.si` northern range, are—lsr,
The Altai; 2d,' The Thian-chan; 3,1, the Kuan-
TIM ; and 4th, the Himalaya Mountains. The last
and best known of the four great chains is the Hi-
malaya. The general direction of this system is
from north-west to south-east. It is consequently
inclined at a considerable angle to the Kuen-lun,
with which it unites between Kashmir and Fyz iban.
Following this range to the east, we find it forming
,he northern boundary of the English territory in
Hindostan, of the kingdoms of Assam and Aga, and
penetrating to the Chinese province of Yun-nan.—
It then takes a direction to the north-east, and ad-
tanees in a series of snowy peaks to the eastern
ocean, opposite the island of Formosa, which indeed
may be regarded as the termination of the chain.—
The mountains of this island are covered with 9,lol'V'
during a great part of the year, indicating in that
latitude an elevation exceeding 12,000 feet. To the
west of the Bolor, the united chains of the Hima-
laya and Kuen-lun form the range of the Hindoo-
kho, which Humboldt regards as a continuation of
the Knen-Inn, though it is generally considered as 14
prolongation of the Himalaya. After following the
direction of the parallel through five or six degrees,
this range inclines to the north-west, and passing
between the plateau of Iran and the Caspian, is at
length lost in the province of Adzerbaidjan, about
45 degrees to the cast of Paris. If, therefore, we
regard the Hindoo-kho as a continuation of the Hi-
malaya, the last will form a continuous system, ex-
tending from the west of Persia to the eastern sea,
or thtdugh 73 degrees of longitude. Some of the
summitsof this stupendous range are known to have
a greiter elevation then any other points on the sur-
face of the earth. Djavahir, on the western side of
the country of Nepauf, attains the altitude of 4,026
toises, or 25,746 feet; while Dhawalaghiri, on the
eastern side of the same country, rises to the enor-
mous height of 4,390 toises, or 28,096 feet above
the level of the sea.--Foreign Quarterly Review.

THE HARVEST.—The labours of the field
are now rapidly drawing to a close in this neighbourhood.
Some few farmers have already entirely finished; and al-
though sottre grain yet remains to be cut, it is now, even
on the most backward lands, quite ripe, and will reqtrito
the speedy use of the sickle. The weather continues upon
the whole highly favontable, a strong breez, generally pre-
vailing, which quickly dries the grain, and tenders it fit
for Musing very shortly after being cut down,,,— Corlisle
Journal.

ANY THING To OBLIGE. --410 rig.
CONET was called to a lady whose disease existed only in
her imagination. She admitted, in answer to his clack..
Lions, that she ate well, drank well, and slept well ; that she
had, indeed; every appearance of being in perfect health.
" Very well, then," said Monsieur, " you have only to
follow my directions, and I will soon remove every appear-
ance o' he Ith."— The Doctor,

A PLURALIST OF 1504.-1 n 1504, HUGH
OLDltaat, Bishop of Exeter, and founder of the Manchester
Pree Grammar School, held the following livings :
Dean of Winihorn Minster ; Rector of Cheshunt ; Rector'
of S% Mildred's, Ltharlon ;, Prebend of St. Paul's ; a Pre-
bend of York ; Master of St. Leonard's Hospital, Bed,
ford ; Rector of Shillington ; e Vrebend of Lichfield ; and?
lastly, Bishop of Exeter.—Church _Examiner.
DR. JOHNSON.—The Doctor met a gentle-
man in Litchfield, who had lately buried his father. Aft,;''
the usual salutation, he addressed him in these Ovoids
" I have not seen you, Sir, since the death of your weart/sy
father. He was a man for svbom I had a great respeel,
as a parent and as a clergyman; and I doubt not your hav-
ing paid every ft sal duty and respect to' his latter :lays,
alleviating, as far as human consolation ie able, the strv,-
gles of the mind under the ruins of the body. If is pleas.
in;; to relict on the due discharge of our duty to over pa.,
rems—yon fiel the happy tffects et it. I, from that
source, derive no comfort. You well know, Sir, my
father (and he was a good father) was a bookseller-4
bookseller of most inferior order. He kept market, Sir,
and he ordered tne to get ready to attend him at Uatoxeter.
I refused, for I did not like the office. He entreated,
was obstinate, and so it passed. S ime time after my fa-
ther's death I ri fleeted on this act of disobedience. I
thought some contrition was necessary for such a breach
of duty. I went to Uttoxeter ; it was market day ; I
went to the place where my poor father's stall stood ; it
was a rainy day, Sir; I pulled off my hat and my wig,
and stood there for two hours drenched in rain ; and I
hope the penance was expiatory."
A PIRATE.—SeIdom has there been a more
atrocious villain than MITCHELL, whose story is told in
the United Service Journal. His conduct puts rather a
strong negative on the proverb which teaches that " there
is honour among thieves." MITCHELL remained at his
encampment upon the island of Cuba till he had obtained,
in adventures of daring piracy, money sufficient to load that
sixteen-oared boat to the water's edge, and their deters.
mined to leave off his piratical career and pass into the/
United States ; he now thought, however, that a biratt,
load of money, though a good fortune for himself, or even
for himself and his lieutenant, would make a small figure
when divided atno-g the entire gang of twenty men. The
Lieutenant was of the same opinion, and thought that on
a calm day Captain MITCHELL and himself might easily
carry the sixteen-oared boat and the boxes of money to
the Florida shore without any assistance from the gang,
and moreover it would be quite as well to cut off pursuit,
lest these fellows, when disappointed of their share of the
booty, should revenge themselves by turning evidence
ageing. them ; " but, on the other hand, dead men," said
the lieutenant, " tell no tales." The two officers then de-
termined upon destroying the whole gang, and by ordering
them in various detached parties for pretended purposes of
bringing wood, water, and other supplies to the camp,
MITCHELL and the Lieutenant actually murdered them all.
They then set off with the boat, and reached the coast of
Florida, whence they coasted along to the Mississippi
River, for the purpose of ascending to the city' of New
Orleans. Here, however, their golden dreams were sud-
denly dashed to pieces ; for the strange appearance of a
sixteen oared boat, loaded with boxes, and navigated by
tally two hands, attracted observation from the hooka of
the river, and when MITCHELL and the Lieutenant landed
for supplies at a village a few miles below New Orleans,
the boat was suddenly filled with a body of police, and the
two worthies were glad to leave their ill-gotten treasure,
and escape into the neighbouring woods.
WEST LINTON. —Very considerable im-
provements have lately been executed in this part of the
country. About six miles of excellent new road have
been formed, extending from a point on the south side of
Mendic Hill east to Ninemileburn, and a great part of the
work is done for two miles farther in the same direction.
By this new cut the grievous inequalities of the old road
are avoided. A Dumfries coach, which formerly went by
Noblehouse, now passes through Linton, and a number of
new houses are building in this village, and at various
points along the new line. An excellent road has also
been made from Linton into the interior of Pentland Hills,
along the line of what was formerly a drove road for black
cattle, but which was quite impassable for a man on horse-
back. It terminates at present at a bed of limestone,
which Mr. FERRIER has recently found in the heart of
Pentland Hills, about four miles north of Linton, but
hopes are entertained that it will be carried quite across
the hills, so as to join the Lanark road about Little Van-
tage, or at some point between the llth and 14th mile-
stone from Edinburgh. If the road were completed, la-
dies could visit in a coach, and pass comfortably through
the wildest and most secluded district in the whole range
of the Pentland.. The district we allude to forms the
basin of the river Lyne, and may be called Lynedale. It
consists of a circular hollow, about three miles in diame-
ter, edged round by a wall of lofty rugged hills, and pre-
senting over its whole extent a scene of dreary savage wild-
ness and grandeur perhaps not to be p iralleled on this
side the Grampians. Nearly in the centre of this hollow
rises a hill, mailed Mickle Knock, round topped and ex-
ceedingly regular in its form, as if nature had intended it
for a watch tower, from which the eye might survey
every spot of the surface to the mountain horizan which
bounds it. A single shepherd's but in a dell at the side of
the stream, renders the solitude more sensible. With the
bed of lime, however, discovered here, Nr. FEWER IS
working wonders; and the traveller, as he approaches the
south corner of the wilderness, will find good pastures,
and fields covered with excellent crops of hay and oats,
taking the place of the brown heather. Lime is of great
service in reclaiming peat bogs, and the supply of found
on the property of Bedingill is likely to give a new aspect
to a great portion of this dreary waste. It is chiefly ow-
ing to this gentleman's exertions, we unders'and, that the
road we spake of has been made ; and it is admitted that
it would be of great benefit to all the surrounding country,
if it were carried quite across the hil B.—Scotsman.