The Sun.
London, England, 1857-06-22 00:00:00

ENORMOUS EXPORT OF SIL TER.

The Peninsular and Oriental Company's steamer
Pera, Captain Joy, left Southampton on Saturday
with the heavy portion of the fortnightly India
and China mail. The mail was a very heavy one,
consisting of 180 boxes and bags of letters and
newspapers. The Hong Itong portion was con-
tained in 34 boxes, amongst which were 9 boxes
for the British admiral of the China station. This
part of the China mail increases in size as the forces
destined for the war in China continue to arrive
out there. The Pera took out 74 passengers, and
specie, chiefly silver, to the amount of nearly a
million and a quarter sterling, or hard upon
6,000,000 dole. worth. The bulk of this specie
was brought to Southampton from London by a
special train of 17 waggons, and the whole of
the specie weighed upwards of 80 tons. Precious
metals to so large an amount were never,
perhaps, on board a single ship at one time. The
export of enormous quantities of silver is exciting
the greatest interest, not only on account of the im-
portant commercial and political circumstances with
which it is connected, but also because of the for-
tunes which are being made by all those who are
merely concerned in its transit, and because of the
vast extent of. British commerce which it reveals.
Nearly 3,000 bales of silk arrive in England every
fortnight with the overland India and China mail,
every bale being worth 1001., besides the silk that
reaches England in sailing vessels by the long sea
route. As much profit as 25 per cent. is made by
the sale of silver for the East. The insurance paid
on the specie sent out in the Pera could not have
been less than 30,0001., and the freight would pro-
b ibly amount to about 25,0001. The following is
the manifest of specie for India and China shipped
per steamer Pera, viz., 984 boxes of bar silver,
dollars, and 5 franc pieces, valued at 252,304/.
15s. 2d. for Bombay ' • 1 box of sovereigns and
watches, worth 8621. 12s. for Ceylon ; 81 boxes
of sovereigns, 5 franc pieces, and bar silver,
worth 22,9841. 12s. for Madras ; 530 boxes of 5
franc pieces, bar silver, and gold lice, worth
134,6831. for Calcutta ; 30 boxes of dollars,
worth 7,4261. 13s. 4d., for Penang ; 355 dollars,
worth 88,270/., for Singapore ; 1,304 boxes of dol-
lars, worth 6,0301. for Canton ; 1,113 boxes of bar
silver, dollars and gold thread, worth 301,3121., for
Shanghai. The total number of boxes was 4,422 ;
the total value of the specie was 1,144,912/ 13s. 7d. i

A SINGULAR NESt—Birds sometimes select curious
places in which to rear their young. Swallows have
built in dwelling-houses, and redbreasts amid the noisb
and bustle of a school. The writer once saw a wren's
nest lodged in an angle formed by the diagonal bar of a
gate, which was opened and shut well nigh every hour.
But, perhaps, the most audacious instance on record is
that of the sparrow raising a family in the pocket of an
old coat, forming part of a figure which was placed as a
scarecrow to frighten them away. At the present time,
in a cottage garden at Walberton, there is a family of the
common tittnt,ule safely domiciled at the bottom of an
invalided spirit jar, standing under some currant bushes
scarce half a dozen yards from the door. The young ones
are nearly prepared for fli,ht ; but how they are to fly is
a problem the parents birds have yet to solve. They
will, of course prove equal to the task—natural instinct
seldom or never failing in the feathered tribes ; but the
peculiar shape of their birth-placs, with 'an orifice little
more than an inch in diameter at the top, will make the
first journey of the inexperienced fledglings a puzzling
affair.— Wca Sussex Gagtte.