The Sun.
London, England, 1861-09-04 00:00:00

THE MAILS,

MAILS DUE.
Australia, Ceylon, and Mauritius (via South-
ampton) .. .. .. .. Sept. 18.
Do. (via Marseilles) Sept. 12.
Brazil and Cape Verds .. .. .. .. Sept. 3.
Buenos Ayres, Monte Video, &c. .. • •
Cuba and Mexico .. .. ..Sept. 28.
Canada, &c. (via L'derry)
..
• • • .. Oct. 1.
Cape of Good Hope, &c... • • • •
' to) Sept. 1.
China, Penang, and Singapore (via S amen s
) Sept. 12.
(via Marseilles) e
Do . • .... geepPt. 4.
..
Gibraltar (via Southampton) • • Sept. 1.
•
Southampton) Sept, 1.
. Sep
ndia (Calcutta), Ceylon, &O. (via .marselles) Sept.- 12.
Do.
(via
India (BoDmob.ay),
(via
aa
Southampton) .. .. Sept. 10.
Marseilles)
. . . . Sept, 4_
Lisbon .• • • • • •• •• .. Sept. 1.
Malta, Egypt, and Men (via Southampton) .. Sept. 1.
Do. (via Marseilles) .. Sept. 4.
Vigo, and Oporto .. .. .. .. .. Sept. 1.
United States, California, &c. .. .. .. Sept. 4.
Western Coast of Africa, Madeira, Teneriffe .. Sept. 10.
West Indies and Pacific, Cartitagena. Cuba, &o. Sept. 13.

EXPLORATION OP LABRADOR.—The expedition
which was sent out in June under the auspices of the
Canadian Government has returned. The party landed at
the mouth of the Moisie River on June 6. A few days
afterwards they set out in canoes for the head waters of that
river, which is supposed to take its rise from lakes on the
summit plateau of Labrador. In three weeks the expedi-
tion reached a point so near the height of land that the
canoes, although not drawing more than bin. of water, were
unable to ascend any further. The country is described as
very mountainous, and to a great extent destitute of trees.
The Moisie River is a rapid torrent, absolutely un-
navigable for canoes or other craft. The route conse-
quently lay through an ancient path, long pursued by the
Indians, from the interior to the coast. It follows a chain
of small lakes extending from the main branch of the Moisie
to the east branch of the same river, thence to the height of
land. The entire plateau of Labrador, which is very broad
and uniform, is full of largo lakes, and the rivers flow for
more than 300 miles on this Watteau or table-land into the
Atlantic on the north-east criast of the Labrador, havtng
general direction parallel to, that of the coast on the Gulf
of St. Lawrence. The information which has been obtained
by this expedition respecti'ag the hitherto unknown interior
of know-
ledge of Labrador will be an addition to our
ledge of British North America of much interos CYana.
dian iff4fs, geographic

2HE SEARCH FOR A SERV..iNT.

A country gentleman who has been searching for
a servant writes to a morning contemporary as
fog lows :

" I selected the most prominent advertisements
in your columns, and wrote to appoint the adver-
tisers to meet me in town. The first that called
Was a butler. He was a man of some personal
appearance, which he evidently thought it his duty
to cultivate. His loose-fitting coat was of irre-
proachable cut ; his waistcoat, no reach-me-down,'
but fitting without creases and of spotless purity ;
his gloves ('twas a miracle how he got into them)
were buttoned at the wrist ; his collar was turned
down, and his narrow magenta tie the nearest ap-
proach I ever saw to what Mr. Slick called the
tithed ends of nothing whittled down.' On being
ushered into the room he said ho had embraced
the earliest opportunity of obeying my summons.'
I perceived at once, like Agag, he' must be
was
he not
wowu hl the
ap-
proached delicately, and should have felt some
d
hesitation how to catechise so refined a personage,
but that I soon found the question
whether
I should engage him, b
en-
gage me. Did he pay the bills ?, Had he the
entire charge of the cellar, or was there a sanctum
aaldue not
o f
sanctoruin or which I alone kept the key ? Day
answers were not satisfactory. Had I groom of the
chambers ? No. In such case he concluded I had a
encouragedvalet?
Isuppose
in y
notionof m
of yd dress v
s had
rleipvleyryi, ng
and that
offieeiabteudtl s
r
wmays'tehxeuornicel; man out
for,
onmy
yof
my valet, I was a doomed man. For form's sake,
the
hewever, he kindly consented to give me one more
trial, and inquired whether, under these circum-
stances, it would be expected of him to bring in tea
and coffee after dinner. I told him that I regretted
that such would be the case, and he must, indeed,
be prepared for any emergency. That I did not
think it likely I should ever ask him to make the
fourth in a quadrille, but that he would, in my
house, be expected to do everything he was told—
except feed the pigs. ' That,' said T mildly, I do
myself. On looking to see the effect of my last ob-
servation, he was disappearing in the doorway. It
is my firm belief that had I attempted to detain him
he would have fled like Joseph, leaving his gar-
ments behind. The next applicant was a cook and
housekeeper. She was pleased slightly to touch on.
her autobiography, just sufficient to inform me that
she had 'always lived in the best families,' and then,
like the Cutler, proceeded to ascertain whether I
should suit her. Her first question, also, was--
Did she pay the bills? Did I come to town every
year ? When in the country did the farm supply
the house, and did I kill one sheep or two per week ?
When in town did I have hampers of fruit and.
vegetables up regular, which was mostly very ill-
convenient ? When my examination was at an end.
I said, Mrs. Jones, you were only three months at
your last place, nine at the previous one, eleven at
the one before that. It seems to me these are rather
short periods.' Oh!' said she, they were such
dooses of missusses ; but in course your lady is a
real lady, and keeps hirself to hirself.' Now, sir,
in declining Mrs. Jones's services, it is possible I
may have lost a valuable servant, who could have
cooked for me all my days, taking root in my estab-
lishment like the coachman immortalised by Dean
Ramsay in his Reminiscenes of Scottish Character,'
who, on receiving notice from his mistress, quietly
replied, Na, na, my lady, I druve ye to your
marriage, and I shall stay to drive ye to your burial.'
Still I am glad I did not take for her a first-class
ticket into Northamptonshire. This is no coloured
statement. The whole system of service as at pre-
sent understood in England, is rotten at the core.
All play and all pay' is the cry, and meat meals
five times a day and port and sherry kitchen wines,'
the only maxim of the servants' hall !"