The Sun.
London, England, 1861-09-16 00:00:00

to Mr. Burke was, that he had gone to Eyre's Creek,
and from thence towards the Gulf. That he had
gone on expecting to find water, but had found the
holes dry. That in this way he had gone too far,
thinking to find water ahead, and was unable to
return, from want of water. He believed Mr.
.Burke
and his party were stuck fast. He was also afraid
that the party were attacked with scurvy ; but
there were no symptoms of it when they left. Mr.
Burke seemed to be in good health when he left.
He did not know if Mr. Burke had anything with
him to prevent scurvy.
It is needless to say that the Exploration Com-
mittee, upon hearing the above particulars, render-
ing the c )ndition of the exploring expedition one of
extreme peril, took steps at once to afford relief.
Prior to receiving this intelligence, Mr. Howitt had
been despatched with a party to Cooper's Creek,
but becoming acquainted with the state of matters
he returned to town, and his party was re, equipped
and strengthened. Another party, under the com-
mand of Mr. Walker, is to start from Rockhamp-
ton, to make for the Albert River, and a sea party
has also been organised, the chief secretary having
consented to place a sum of £2,000 on the estimates
for that purpose.

BRIGHTON FREAKS, PLEASURES, AND
IMPROPRIETIES.

(From the Observer.)
Brighton is considered, and very properly so, the
first watering-place in England. No town of its
character approaches it in any way in respect or
extent of the number of its splendid residences, and
of the opulent class who habitually frequent this
fashionable and delightful city. The residential in-
habitants of Brighton look down with an eye of
scorn upon such places as Margate, Ramsgate,
Herne Bay, and Southend. Dover, they allow,
may perhaps be passable ; Folkestone they consi-
der a dull place, and Hastings they set down as the
locality for religious misanthropists and incurables.
Brighton can constantly boast of high-sounding
names, from dukes downwards. The mercantile
magnates of the metropolis swear by it, and glory
in spending their thousands in the town. The air
is pronounced superlative, the drainage tolerably
good, and the water supply abundant, if not of the
purest quality. It might therefore have been anti-
cipated that with all these advantages Brighton, as
respects the conduct. of its frequenters, would be
far above such plebian places as Margate and Rains-
gate—that is, according to Brighton formula; and
the question then arises, are the frequenters of
Brighton more moral, more modest, or more decent
than in the places above referred to ? It is to be
feared that not only is there very little difference
between any of these places, but, if comparisons are
drawn, that the balance would be rather against
this most fortunate town. The freaks of Margate
and Ramsgate have been described over and over -
again. At Brightoa they are to be seen in the same
manner. There are just as many in proportion, if
not more, men who call themselves gentlemen, but
who would be horrified at being designated " gents,"
here, as in the more plebian watering-places; the
only difference being that they have more money
to spend, and therefore carry their follies to a greater
extent. These persons conduct themselves in the
morning, on the sands, as they would do at any less
distinguished watering-place, while at night they
are worse, although not quite so uproarious or so
drunken.

Turning from these to the " fair sex"—ladies who
pride themselves on their position in society and
on their decorum when at home—one and all seem
animated by the same spirit. Pork-pie hats and
crinoline prevail at Brighton as elsewhere: the
only difference being that the ladies dress more and
oftener. By ten o'clock in the morning the beach
and esplanade are crowded with young ladies,
"dressed to the eyes," with nether garments of so
capacious a character that, when the wind blows
—as it will blow frequently at Brighton—no one
is surprised if young gentlemen—aye, and old ones
too—look after them. Then as to bathing at Brigh-
ton, it is generally and particularly as bad as in any
place known, The whole beach is open to men
until seven o'clock in the morning, and this Lirectly
fronting the best houses in Brighton ; and no
decent woman of any rank can show her face until
after this fatal hour is past, and the finest and
purest time of day being thus lost to them, for no
reason in the world except that the authorities will
not exert themselves to put down the nuisance, by
issuing directions that no one should be allowed to
bathe from the beach on any part of Brighton east
of Palmyra-2quare. The authorities, no doubt, at-
tempt to shield themselves from blame by stating
that the young ladies and gentlemen do not object,
but on the contrary, seem to prefer indiscriminate
bathing, inasmuch us the most crowded part of the
beach in the morning is close to the bathing ma-
chines opposite the Bedford Hotel, where the band
plays. The ladies' and gentlemen's machines aro
in close proximity—in fact, they almost adjoin one
another—and yet these machines are more
highly sought after than any other. They
say ladies cannot object to see gentlemen in such a
position, or they would not patronise those machines
which adjoin them ; and they urge, if young ladies
will so far forget what is due to themselves, it is
not surprising that young gentlemen who are not
supposed to be brought up with staider morals
should forget what is due to the female sex. But
the worst part of the business is, these bathers pro-
fess to move in the higher circles of society, and
consist of young ladies who are never " brought
out," as the terms goes, until they are 16 or 17
years of age, in order that their young minds may
not be contaminated. Nevertheless, their own
mothers will countenance them in these absurdities,
extravagancies, and indecorums, which have made
Brighton the opprobrium of good taste. It is,
however, but fair to state that on one part of the
beach, beyond Brunswick-square, there are bathing
machines set exclusively apart for ladies, and that
these are always crowded by those who have some-
thing like respect for themselves. How it is that
husbands and fathers do not interfere is a matter of
astonishment. It is presumed that by constant
use they have become so habituated to these prac-
tices that they look upon them as a matter of course.
But, even viewing it in this charitable light, we
cannot understand why they should allow their
wives and daughters to be spectators of such a
scene as was witnessed the other day—a scene which
is of common occurrence, viz., that of a man in the
garb of a gentleman who took a boat, went some 20
yards off in front of the ladies' machines, delibe-
rately undressed himself, had his bath in the open
sea, and then put on his clothes in view of hundreds
of young ladies. The corporation of Brighton may
do much, but the visitors may do more if they will,
to bring about something like propriety.