The Sun.
London, England, 1850-12-28 00:00:00

THE INDIA MAIL.

Another brief stroll south, and we start from South-
ampton, and in an hour have quitted " the Wight,"
rolled through the Bay of Biscay, seen, afar off—
" The cork-trees hoar, on Cintra's craggy height."
telescoped the Tagus, Parifa, and Trafalgar, and got
inside " the Pillars of Hercules." This is pretty sharp
work, but better remains behind. Southward we
sight Algiers, then make Malta, and form a personal
acquaintance with all between Alexandria, Cairo, and
Sup z ; the Red Sea, Aden, Ceylon, and Calcutta are
made familiar to our eyes, and thus we drink in more
knowledge by our optic nerve in two brief hours, than
our fathers could have attained by a careful study, or
yet more painful travel, in two long years. The Over-
land Route is, to our taste, the most usefully instruc-
tive of these monster pictures.

BREES'S NEW ZEALAND, AUSTRALIA,

AND BENGAL.
The empire rising in the Pacific, there planted by
English enterprise, is one of those phenomena which
never fail in attracting the eye of the inquirer, and
fixing the attention of the philanthropist. The pre-
sent state of the vast island of New Zealand, of Van
Diemen's Land, and the continent of Australasia (for
its magnitude deserves the title of a main land), are
here picturesquely, and, as we are told, most accu-
rately, pencilled by the late surveyongeneral.

THE APOLLONICON.
This wonderful combination of musical and mecha-
nical skill, so long at its builders' premises, is now
open near the Lowther Arcade. Some improvements
have been effected, and in its present form, none who
4% ould wish to hear the finest music adequately ren-
dered, should miss a visit to the Apollonicon, just to
regale their sense of hearing after the fatigue of
sight-seeing.

GALLERY OF ART, ADELAIDE GALLERY.
The automaton bellringers, gorgeous pearl-eaters,
mechanical figures, golden singing birds, jewelled
trees, and the like, here set children of a larger
growth, as well as juveniles, agape at their elaborate
wonders.

THE BRITISH MUSEUM.
On Thursday, from ten o'clock in the forenoon to four
o'clock in the afternoon, which is the time of admis-
sion in the winter season, there was a continued
stream of visitors to the British Museum, the galleries
of which were thronged throughout the day. The
number of visitors, inserted in the hook, amounted to
17,035, which is above the average. Another gallery,
near the sculpture room on the ground floor is almost
completed, and which is also intended for the exhibi-
tion of sculpture. A new gallery has been constructed
for the antiquities from Nineveh, the relics from
which, wherein pieces, will be joined together. S Nen-
tfen policemen of the A division, under Sergeant
Neale, did duty in the various galleries. From four
o'clock to about a quarter of an hour after above 2,000
persons left the Museum.

DIMINUTION or PAUPERISM IN LEEDS.—What-
ever free ;trade may have done for other towns, it has cer-
tainly done much for the commerce of Leeds, which was never
in a more sound and flourishing state than at present. In
nothing is this more markedly shown than in the gradual
diminution of pauperism, as proved by the last two or three
half-yearly accounts of the poor-law guardians. Tne last
half-yearly statement, which has just been published, is
audited by the district auditors. It contains an account of
the whole expenditure up to Michaelmas-day. The in-door
maintenance amounts to about the same for the last as it did
in the preceding half-year; the inmates being mostly old or
infirm people, their number does not vary with the state of
the times, and therefore the cost of maintenance remains
pretty stationary. The relief given to the out-door poor
affords the best test of their state, as the amount of relief
given varies according to the want of employment in the
various branches of trade. The accounts just published con-
tain the expenditure for the half-year ending 29th September
last, as approvee by the district auditor; and from these ac-
counts it appears that the amount expended in out-door relief
was 7,2081. Gs. 5(1., whilst for the corresponding year of
1849 the amount was 11,320/. 7s. 9d.; and for the half-year
ending 25th March last it was 10,757/. 12s. The reduction,
therefore, amounts to 3,519/. ss. 7d., as compared with the
previous half-year, and to 4,11 1. ls. 4d., as compared with
the corresponding half-year of 1849.
A judicious silence is always better than truth
spoken without charity. —Eliza Cook's Journal.
A BARBER OUTGENERALLED.—In a private letter
from Lyons an anecdote of an amusing kind is related of
General Castellan, which any one acquainted with the bold
and somewhat eccentric character of that distinguished
officer will not find much difficulty in believing. A few days
since a barber and hairdresser of that city, well known for
his Socialist opinions, was in the act of operating on a" friend
and brother." While holding between his thumb and fore-
finger the nasal organ of his Socialist customer, and passing
his razor over his chin, he cried out, " What would I not give
to have at this moment the head of General Castellan as I
have yours! I should soon settle his business !" The next
morning, at an early hour, to the great amazement of the
perruquier, who should be seen but General Castellan himself
approaching his door, followed as usual by a mounted or-
derly The General never appears but in full dress, and de-
corated with all his orders; and this is so invariably the case,
that the same story was told of him when he commanded in
Perpignan, that was related of the Laird of Dumbiedikes and
his laced cocked hat—namely, that he goes to bed with them.
Be that as it may, the General dismounted from kis horse,
entered the shop, and sat down in the chair set apart for
customers. " I understand, my good friend," said he to the
gaping barber, " that you have expressed a wish to have my
head between your hands. Be so good as to shave me."
The affright of the artiste and the sang froid of the General
may be more easily conceived than described. He said not
a word, but set himself mechanically to prepare his imple •
ments. The general remained fixed like a statue, though
the trembling of the barber's hand might have unwittingly
executed the patriotic threat he had uttered the day before.
The general, however, escaped without accident. He washed
and dried his face : put a five franc piece into the hand of
the dismayed and speechless scraper of chins, and looking
him straight in the face, said '• lifon deer ami, I was anxious
to prove to you that 1 am not the man to be frightened by
threats of any kind. Be so good as to be convinced of the
fact, and to mention the same, with my compliments, to
your friends. Bon kir !" The general then bowed very po-
litely, quitted the shop, and remounted his horse.

OUTItAGE AT BARNARDC ASTLE.—A disgraceful
oittrage took place at the Bridge-end, Barnardcastle, on
Christmas Eve. On the Yorkshire side of the river, at the
west end of the bridge over the Tees, there is a public-house,
the So-au Inn, where Mr. Thomas Donald, cattle doctor, met
with a party of drunken youths, from thirteen to sixteen
ye..rs of age. The landlord and his wife, being unable to
restrain the youths, who were outrageous, Donald gave them
some money to induce them to be quiet. During the row,
several of them seized Donald, and took him along the pas-
sage to the back door, which opens on a balcony, below
which is a buttress supporting an outhouse; and at the dis-
tance of twenty-four feet or upwards from the top of the
railing lies a gravel-bed, which at the time was partly co-
vered by the river. When the youths got him there, Donald
says that one of them attempted to pick his pocket, which he
resisted ; they threw him over, however, and he fell from
the buttress to the gravel-bed, his thigh being broken by the
fall, and other parts of his body much bruised. Ile is sup-
posal to have lain there from a little after ten o'clock until
between twelve and one, in the cold and rain, when his
cries were heard by a drover, who found him with his legs
in the river, and quite conscious, but suffering extremely.
Steps are being taken to have the matter investigated.—
, Sunderland Herald.