The Sun.
London, England, 1850-09-17 00:00:00

THE BRAEMAR GATHERING.

CASTLETOWN OF BRAEMAR, FRlDAY.—Yesterday,
this old Highland village presented an unusual aspect
of activity, owing to the annual " Braemar Gather.
ing" having been appointed to take place in the
vicinity of the old castle, celebrated in history as the
spot where the Earl of Mar displayed his standard in
1715. Since her Majesty selected Balmoral as her
" Highland home," this "gathering" has assumed a
more interesting feature than formerly, her Majesty
and the Court having graced it by their presence.
When her Majesty was seated the scene was re-
markably striking and grand. The castle stands on a
platform on the banks of the Dee, surrounded by an
amphitheatre of mountains, On the south the wild
chain of the Lochnagar range towers in rugged
grandeur, the waters of the Garwalt opening a pass
which leads through the Spittal of Glenshee ; on the
west the forest of Mar stretches far up the valley of
Glentilt, the scene being broken by endless screens of
the wild granite range which here rises up in majestic
grandeur ; on the north the Cairngorum mountains
tower above the clouds, their tops being covered with
eternal snow, while the background is filled in by
the more pastoral scenery of the property of Inver-
cauld.

The games commenced by putting the stone and
throwing the hammer, when one sturdy Highlander
distanced all competitors by throwing a 281 b. stone
2G feet, while another astonished many by throwing a
161 b. hammer a distance of 47 feet. Then followed
tossing the caber, and running a foot race up the face
of a mountain, where one would imagine that a deer
alone could climb to the summit. Nineteen men
started in this contest, and one of Prince Albert's
Billies gained the winning post in six minutes, the
distance being fully a quarter of a mile.
The royal party were then conducted to the hall
of the castle, to witness the sword dance, and a va-
riety of Highland reels. The hall was splendidly
decorated for the occasion with evergreens, amongst
which were interspersed the royal initials. The
first dance was a reel, in which several Highlanders
displayed great nimbleness of foot; thea followed the
sword dance, which was danced by three athletic
young men successively, and by Master John Ar-
thur Farquharson, one of the Farquharson's boys,
who distanced all the others ; then came the strath-
speys and the Higland fling to the music of the bag-
pipes, her Majesty evidently taking great delight in
the whole performance.

HER MAJESTY'S ASCENT OF BEN-NA-
BOURD.

The Perth Courier gives the following account of
this incident :—" Ben-na-Bourd is a lerge rugged
mountain on the verge of the 'Cairngorum range,'
rising to the height of 3,900 feet above the level f
the sea, and though sloping away on two sides in the
direction of Speyside and Cairngorum, presents on the
opposite direction an unbroken chain of almost perpen-
dicular precipices, with the exception of a neck or belt
that connects it with its brother mountain, Ben A'an
(literally the hill or mountain of the waters), proba-
bly so called from the fact of the Gairn, the Don, and
the principal tributaries of the Spey, rising in its hol-
lows. Friday being the day chosen for the ascent,
the Queen and Prince Albert, accompanied by the
eldest son of Prince Leiningen and the Marchioness
of Douro, and attended by a few gillies, left Balmoral
at an early hour in the forenoon, and drove up the
south side of the Dee till they reached the bridge of
Invercauld. Here the royal party crossed the river, and
after passing up the oppositeside fora couple of miles,
alighted from their carriages at the Slogan Burn
They then mounted ponies and ascended the Slogan
by an excellent pony track, which carried them up
a shoulder of the bill to within about a mile of the
top; but as the mountain from this point is, for the
most part, very steep and rugged, the ponies were of
no further use, and the party started on foot. During
the toilsome ascent her Majesty proved herself to be
a first-rate pedestrian, and had the advantage over
Prince Albert in more than one contest for superi-
ority in surmounting the more rugged points, where
the hands perform fully as important a part of the lo-
comotion as the feet, and eventually the Queen
reached the summit the first of the party. Ben-na-
bourd is principally celebrated for the very magnifi-
cent prospect it commands of the various chains of
mountains throughout the Highlands, and although
the view over the low country is not very extensive,
yet by the help of such a telescope as the deerstalkers
use, a person can distinctly see the ships upon the
Firth at Inverness, and even count the windows of
some of the farmhouses in Ross shire. The
summit of the mountain is almost void of vege-
tation, having the peculiar weather-beaten ap-
pearance common to our Scotch mountains
of like elevation. The corries near the top
are also famous for their veins of beautiful rock
crystals with which we are more familiar as Cairn-
gorum stones.' We may mention that while the
royal party were in search of specimens of these
stones, Prince Albert had the good fortune to pick up
what turned out to be not merely a specimen but an
excellent piece of Cairngorum, fully more than suffi-
cient to make a pretty large brooch, and worth two
or three days' toil to a Cairngorum digger. The
Queen conversed very freely with the guides and
gillies about her, and appeared to take great interest
in the scene, inquiring the names of many hills and
places round about ; and as exemplifying the interest
her Majesty also takes in the legends and traditions of
the country, it may be worth while mentioning that
while ascending the Slogan, she requested one of the
guides to point out the place where one of the earliest
of the Farquharsons of Invercauld (' Fiond ladh
Mhor') was born, stating that she was aware it was
somewhere in the glen. After the party had lunched
at the 'sappers and miners' cairn at the top, her
Majesty took a drink from a clear spring well at the
top of the 'snowy corrie,' and shortly after the royal
strangers left the summit, and by six o'clock had
safely descended from by far the wildest and sternest
region of the Highlands her Majesty had yet trod."

COURT CIRCULAR.
BALMORAL, SEPT. 14.
Her Majesty went out walking this morning.
His Royal Highness Prince Albert went out
shooting.
In the afternoon her Majesty, accompanied by the
Princess Royal and Princess Alice, drove in an open
carriage.
The dinner party this evening will include her
Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent, his Serene
Highness the Prince of Leiningen, Lady Augusta
Bruce, Lord James Murray, Baroness Speth, and Sir
Alexander and Lady Duff:

Dispatches were received yesterday at the Colonial-
office from the Governor of Canada, and albo from
the Governors of the other North American Colonies.

REMOVAL OF THE OLD TELEGRAPH AND SEMA-
rnonUE AT THE ADMIRALTY.—Instant communication with
the outposts by the electric wires having superseded the old
telegraphic system of conveying orders, &c., the building
erected on the south-west corner of the Admiralty, together
with the modern semaphore (altogether an unsightly board),
have been taken down, and in its place the Admiralty flag
floats at the top of the establishment. The building at the
corner was erected in the year 1794, for setting up the first
telegraph used in this country, and which communicated to
the dockyard at Chatham. It was the old-fashioned one,
with six shutters, each divided into three parts. The build-
ing was increased in 1796, and extra shutter telegraphs were
put up, communicating to Portsmouth and Plymouth. To
the latter place, from the difficulty of obtaining proper eleva-
tions, and in order to avoid as much as possible the London
fogs and thick atmosphere, the line was of necessity taken to
a hill near Banat t, and thence to St. Albans and Dunstable,
and then the stations were worked back from the north to
westward. All these, however, having been superseded by
the electric wires, and the old telegraphs and semaphores
having fallen into desuetude, the officers in charge have been
paid Mr, and the stations and their annual costs have been
abandoned

THE HON. W. 0. STANLEY, M.P.—We are happy
to state that our respected Member has recovered from the
effects of his late accident, and is now convalescent.— Chester
amide,

THE LATE LIEUT. GEO. B. GALE,
THP, APRON ;ITT.
(GRIEF
It was in the year 1809 that Lieut. Gale first sa it-
neszed a balloon ascent. At the time he had not the
remotest idea that he should ever make a balloon as-
cent, far less that he should eventually follow balloon-
ing as a profession.
lie afterwards witnessed several ascents made by
Mr. Sadler, and was also a spectator of the first ascent
of Mr. Charles Green, the veteran aeronaut, on the
19,h July, 1821.
A long lapse of years ensued, and the perils and
excitements of a nautical and otherwise chequered
career disinhsed for a time all thoughts of balloons
and ballooning from his mind.
In 1824 he was residing in the city of New Yosk,
and there was brought into communication with M.
Arnaud Robert, a talented. French aeronaut, and a
lineal descendant of the M. Robert who, with M.
Chalice, made the first ascent with a balloon inflated
with hydrogen gas at Paris, Dec. 1, 1783.
With M. Arnaud Robert Lieut. Gale formed a
somewhat close acquaintance, and eventually made
several ascents with him.
Of his first ascent, which was made at New York,
July 4, 1824, in company with Arnaud Robert,
Lieutenant Gale has said :—" I must confess that,
previous to my first voyage, I was as nervous and
perturbed as one might readily be supposed to be on
entering a battle-field, amid cannon balls and musket
bullets. I was nervous, indeed, to the extent of
priming myself with what is vulgarly termed "Dutch
courage," but when I had left the earth I regretted
having made use of any stimulant, or of anything, in
fact, which could obscure or alloy the wonder and
the admiration with which I was filled at the marvel-
lous panorama presented to my view. Some days
after my first ascent Arnaud Robert fell sick of the
yellow fever. An ascent was to have been made by
him from the Castle-garden, New York, on the 25th
July, but, in consequence of his illness, he was pre-
vented from carrying this into effect. He consented
that I should fulfil his engagement for him. This
was a memorable day for me. With a palpitating
heart, and considerable doubts as to my compe-
tency to manage the machine, I at length mus-
tered courage, and stepped into the car alone,
nobody caring to trust themselves with one so
inexperienced. The afternoon was very fine ; scarcely
a thud was to be seen when I took my departure.
However, as is frequently the case in that climate,
after ascending I perceived a bank of clouds very ra-
pidly rising from the southward, and in less than ten
minutes heard a distant murmuring of thunder. The
clouds increased, and at length the earth was com-
pletely hidden from my view. At this-period it would
be impossible to describe my sensations. Alone, in-
experienced, and never having witnessed such pheno-
mena as a mass of clouds rolling and tossing beneath
me, like a swollen and turbid ocean, with peal after
peal of thunder, I thought that to descend would
have been certain destruction. I looked at my com-
pass and at the clouds, but it was impossible for me
to descry what course the balloon was taking, until
after some time I perceived the tops of the Kaatskill
mountains, with the clouds rolling in billows over
them, occasionally obscuring them from view. The
sight of land in any shape gave me confidence. It
would be impossible to describe the beauty of the
clouds. The sun shining with all its intenseness ; the
air at one moment frigid, at another breathing warm ;
the silver hue of the topmost clouds breaking into
chasms, with the dark rolling masses beneath, tinted
here and there with sombre red. After passing the
peaks of the Kaatskill mountains the thunder
ceased, having seemingly spent its wrath. The sun
was setting and the chill of the upper atmosphere
caused the gas to condense, and the balloon
gradually to descend. I bad not up to this period in-
terfered with the valve line—the balloon acting for
herself—with the exception that as she neared the
clouds, or that the clouds ascended to her, I cast out
occasionally small quantities of ballast. Tue clouds
became thinner and thinner, and at length the surface
of the country was fairly presented to my view. I
still allowed the balloon to descend by her own specific
gravity, and, looking forward in the direction in which
she was proceeding, keeping the Hudson river as her
course, 1 saw the city of Albany, when for the first
time I took heart to use the valve line, and descended
safely at Green Bush, within view of the city,
though at the same time part of the river lay between
us. Here I soon obtained assistance. I had
left New York at four in the afternoon,
and it was nine o'clock when I reached the earth
near Albany, thus having travelled 190 miles in five
hours. I was hospitably received, taken to Albany,
and the following evening started per steamer for
New York, where I arrived on the morning of the
28th. I found my friends had entirely given me up
for lost, in consequence of the thunder coming on so
soon after my departure. All, however, were glad
to see me, and proposals were made for me to ascend
again, which I accepted. I subsequently accomplished
several ascents, in all eleven, four of which were
made with M. Robert, and seven alone, when the
death of that gentleman supervening the balloon was
claimed by his family and sent back to France."

From this time Lieut. Gale devoted himself to
other avocations, travelling in their pursuit in all parts
of the States and Upper and Lower Canada. In
1826 he was shipwrecked in the Gulf of St. Lamirence,
and had to travel 450 miles in the depth of winter,
with a horde of Indians, and carrying his infant
daughter, whose entire skin, when they ar-
rived at Quebec, peeled off as that of an
onion would do. In 1827 he returned to England,
where he remained four years, and then
returned to Canada. During his stay in Canada he
was occupied in lecturing on astronomy at Quebec,
dealing in furs, acting and managing a theatre,
hunting and trapping in the wide prairies, and occa-
sionally dwelling among the Indians. On one occasion
he was out eighteen months in a hunting excursion
in the vicinity of Lakes Huron and Superior, and in
company with a party of Chippewa Indians from
River St. Clair, wintered to the ric rthward of Lake
Winnipeg. After a tour of near four yeari, he at
New York met with some gentlemen who were about
to bring a party of Chippewa Indians to this country
to be' exhibited, and as Lieutenant Gale was acquainted
with the Chippewa language, and also with the
customs of this country, he was engaged to accom-
pany them. With these Indians he remained but a
short time.

Soon after his arrival in England, in 1835, he was
promoted to the rank of lieutenant (having in his
early career served as a midshipman) through the
interest of the late Sir Augustus d'Este, and accepted
service in the coast guard, in the pursuit of which
arduous duty he was stationed in the north and
north-west coast of Ireland during a
period of ten
years and four mouths. lie retired from it in 1845,
and determined to commence the profession of an
aeronaut.

At the Montpelier Tavern, Walworth, Lieutenant
Gale constructed his first balloon, which was formed
of silk, and about forty feet in diameter. It was named
the Prince of Wales. This balloon differed very much
from those previously employed in having supplemental
balloons or small bass of silk, which, by means of
pullies were to be hoisted up to the equator of the
balloon. These small balloons were connected with
the neck or mouth of the large balloon by means of
long tubes, and Lieutenant Gale's object in having
this additional apparatus was to preserve the gas which
escapes by expansion, and which would pass through
the long tubes into the small balloons, thus pre-
venting the waste of gas. To the balloon were attached
two cars, one fitting within the other like two cups,
and were so arranged that the lowest car could be let
down about thirty feet below the other. By means of
a rope-ladder the aeronaut could easily proceed from
one car to the other. The upper car had a hole in
the bottom sufficiently large for the aeronaut
to pass through. The first ascent of this new

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tht6bhoaetehlelnoAortin was announced' to take place . from
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pounced that they could not complete the inflation
that day, and consequently the ascent was postponed
till the following day, when Lieut. Gale, with a Mr.
Byrne, ascended successfully from the Rosemary
Branch Tavern. On reaching a great height the sup-
plemental oar was lowered, into which Lieut. Gale
descended by means of the rope ladder, and let off
some fireworks. Having ascended the ladder to his
companion, preparations for descending were soon
begun to be made, but the valve was frozen fast and
would not open. Ballast was thrown out, the balloon
ascended higher, and the gas poured from the neck
in large volumes, so that it soon began to descend, and
the aeronauts landed safely at Ash, in Kent. This
was Lieut. Gale's 12th voyage.
The second ascent with this balloon was made from
London, and on this occasion Lieut. Gale was accom-
panied by a Mr. Sharp. A new valve, invented by a
Mr. Sadler, had been placed in the crown of the bal-
loon, the springs of which each worked in a groove.
When the balloon was high in the air Mr. Sharp
pulled the valve spring so violently that the springs
were forced from the grooves and prevented the valve
from closing. The balloon descended with great
velocity, all the ballast and the empty ballast bags
were thrown out, but such was the rapidity of their
descent that both-the sand and the bags appeared to
fly upwards. In a short time the car came in violent
contact with the earth, but the aeronauts only received
a severe shock. The balloon in its descent formed
into a parachute shape, as balloons always do in de-
scending after losing a great quantity of gas. Bal-
' loons have frequently burst at great heights, but not
one case is on record of having terminated fatally to

the aeronauts.
Oa the 24th of May Lieut. Gale and Mr. Henry
, and such was the
were carried a distance
vCiooxlewneclel
oafsctehnedwedindfrtookt
!Bhreiystvvol

of thirty-two miles in eighteen minutes. On descend-
ing the grapnel caught the Iron rails on a railway,

and was instantly broke in pieces. The balioon was
also split from top to bottom, but neither of the
.v,ron•luts in zi-:o ,ens
Iv the course of the year Lieut. Gale made twenty
ascents with this balloon from London, Gravesend,
Manchester, Glasgow, &c. At the latter place he was
announced to make a second ascent on the 27th July,
but while the balloon was filling a sudden gust of
wind broke the netting, anil the balloon escaped into
the air. Two hours after it fell at Brandon, in
Northumberland, 160 miles off.
'lbis balloon is now in the possession of Mr. Henry
Coxwell, who made eight as,cents in company with
Lieu'. Gale during the summer of 1847. With this
balloon Mr. Coxwell has made many ascents in Bel-
gium and Germany.
During the winter of 1547-8 Mr. James Gaulson,
of Old lient-road, who had irequently ascended with
Lieut. Gale from London and Gravesend, constructed
a balloon of about 40 feet in diameter, the gores being
cut from the pattern of Lieut. Gale's balloon, "the
Prince of Wales."

The balloon was christened " the Royal Cremorne'
and Lieut. Gale was appointed to take the manage,
ment of it.

On the 26th April, 1848, " the Royal Cremorne
Balloon" made its first ascent from the Cremorne-
gardens, Chelsea.

- In the car were Lieut. Gi.le, Mr. James Goulston,
his daughter, and three sons. After a delightful but
rather cold trip they descended safely at Mitcham.
This was Lieut. Gale's 22d ascent. During this year
he made several ascents from Cremorne-gardens.
He also ascended from Leeds, York, Hull, &c. On
the 25th September, 1848, in an ascent made from
Cremorne, he took a lion up with him. The animal
was secured in a den constructed for the purpose; the
aeronaut standing on the top of the den during his
ascent. Both descended safely at Mortlake, but it
was with difficulty he coma persuade the country
people to approach him, they being terrified at seeing
the lion attached to the balloon.

In 1849 Lieutenant Gale made a great number of
ascents from London, Birmingham, Leamington,
Cheltenham, Norwich, Hull, Manchester, &c. In
October of this year he offe re .d to go in search of Sir
John Franklin. He propose d to make ascents with
his balloon in the Arctic re gions, and thought by this
means Sir John Franklin and his crew might be
rescued, if alive. His plans niet with much opposition,
the consequence of which was his offer was not ac-
cepted by the Admiralty.
He did everything in his power to carry out his
plans. He appealed to hiss Royal Highcess Prince
Albert, to the Lords of the Admiralty, to Lady
Franklin, and others, for wisistance, but without suc-
cess. He wished to show fkihe utility of balloons, but
was prevented by the interference of ignorant per-
sons, whose remarks on his plans had the effect of in-
ducing the Lords of the Aslimiralty to reject his pro-
posal. _ _

He commenced lecturing on aerostation, chiefly to
make known his plans far the relief of Sir John
Franklin, but few could he, found to listen to him ;
nevertheless he said the tincie would come when the
thing would be done, and another would reap the
glory he had hoped to win.
On the Ist of April, 185.10, he commenced the sea-
son's ballooning at Ipswich.. Here he made his 87th
ascent. He made many sr ;cents from Cremorne, and
also from Portsmouth, Dudley, Birmingham, Shore-
ham, Leamington, &c. In-. his ascent from Shoreham
he crossed the English Cbmnel and descended on the
French coast. The rage for balloons in Paris induced
him to go there, and from the French capitul he made
his 108th and 109th ascents. From Paris he pro-
ceeded to Bourdeaux, whe re he made his 110th ascent,
which unfortunately terminated fatally.
He was one of the mos t successful aeronauts that
has ever appeareil before the English public, and if
his ascents have not bee a of service to mankind in
general, he has at least gratified the people of this
country with his daring e: cploits, and the inhabitants
of the different places from which he hus ascended
cannot but feel intense sorrow at the lamentable
catastrophe of his death.

THE LATE LIE UTENANT GALE.
The remains of the unfortunate Gale were interred
on Wednesday in the Pr otestant Cemetery at Bor-
deaux. A large crowd attended the funeral, among
whom were many English,. An official investigation
made by the Mayor of Caudera confirms the details
of the fatal accident prey iously given. It is stated
that on Friday and Saturd‘ay Mr. Gale was exceed-
ingly low spirited, and was discovered weeping.
When asked what was the matter with him, be replied
that he could not tell, but felt sick at heart. On
Sunday, the day of the as cent, he was more cheerful.
His last ascent was the 114th he had made. Mr.
Clifford, director of the Hippodrome at Vincennes,
has organized a balloon ascension for the benefit of
deceased's family. Mr. Olifford, his wife, and the
Messrs. Goulstone, propril :tors of the balloon, are to
go up together. M. Melt er, one of the principal in-
habitants of Bordeaux, has commenced a public sub-
scription for the family. l'he conduct of Mr. Clifford,
who is, it appears, an Englishman, has, according to
the Bordeaux journals, been remarkable for kind
feeling towards Mr. Gale• before his fatal accident,
and for benevolence towards the family since his death.

UNIVERSITY INTELLIGENCE.
CAMBRIDGE, SEPT. 16.
JESUS C OLLEGE.
Edward Glover, 8.A., of Jesus College, has been
appointed a Fellow of St. Columba's College, Ireland.
THE C.auEcu.
The following appointn tents have recently taken
place :
The Rev. George Frederick de Gex, M.A., Pem-
broke College, to St. Paul's curacy, Knightsbridge.
The Rev. Robert Clerke Burton, M.A., to Taver-
ham rectory, Norfolk.
The Rev. Thomas Rict)ut Tuck, M.A., of Gon-
villa and Caius College, to Redmille curacy, Leices-
tershire.
The Rev. George Edward Haviland, MA., St.
John's College, to Warblet-on rectory, Sussex.
The Rev. William Murton, M.A., St. John's Col-
lege, to Sutton and Upton curacy, Northamptonshire.
The Hon. and Rev. Arthur Savile, M.A., Trinity
College, to Foulmire rectory, Cambridgeshire.
The Rev. John Leidger Walton, M.A., Trinity
College, to Silkstone vicarage, Yorkshire.
The Rev. James Gavin Young, Trinity
College, to Brigstock curacy, Northamptonshire.