The Sun.
London, England, 1850-10-08 00:00:00

Ft. In.
... 267 0
... 40 6
... 27 6
... 2,128 78-94ths.

Length of keel fore and rake
Breadth of beam
Depth of hold
Tonnage ... ...
Now measurement—

Length on deck ... ... 265 0
Breadth on ditto at midships ... 37 2
Depth of hold at ditto ... 27 9
Tonnage ... 2,226 24-100ths.
A pair of side-lever engines of 814. horse nominal
power. Diameter cylinders, 96 inches by 9 feet
stroke; paddle-wheels, diameter, extreme, 37 feet
7 inches, and 26 feet 10 inches effective ; 28 floats,
9 feet 2 inches by 3 feet 2 inches; three sets 'of 28
arms,'S floats in the water of 19 feet draught of
water. Four flue boilers, 20 furnaces ; bunkers
to hold 890 tons of coals ; 38 hands in
the engine-room. The Africa is built of the
best British oak, and planked double out and
inside, and between the frames is filled up, from the
keel to the gunwale, with rock salt, to preserve the
vessel from the dry ret. The number of her berths
will enable her to carry 180 passengers. She will be
manned by a full crew of chosen men, giving about
one-third to each department. The quantity of coal
she is estimated to carry is 900 tons, and she has
capacity for the transit of 600 tons of cargo, not in-
cluding the stores of ships and passengers.

Oa Tuesday the Africa left the graving-dock and
proceeded on a short trial trip to the Crosby Light-
ship. A select party, including Mr. M'lver, Captain
Bevis, Mr. Moody, the Government inspector, &c.,
were on board, and were highly pleased with her
performance. The engines worked with great free-
dom, and though there was a strong spray tide against
her, she sailed with ease at the rate of thirteen knots
per hour.

The Europa sails for New York on Saturday
next—the Africa proceeding on her first passage on
the 26th of October. The Hibernia, which will
shortly arrive here, has been sold to the Spanish
Government, and will run from Cadiz to Cuba jointly
with the Caledonia.

WRECK OF THREE INDIAMEN.
By the arrival of the overland mail from India on
Friday afternoon the underwriters at Lloyd's were put
in possession of information relative to the melancholy
loss of three first-class ships employed in the East
India trade, namely, the Manchester, 600 tons, bound
for London ; the Ariadne, 700 tons of Greenock, bound
for Liverpool ; and the Nereid, 700 tons, of London.
That of the Ariadne created the deepest regret, the
intelligence leaving very little doubt that all hands,
together with some passengers, met with a watery
grave. The unfortunate chip, we are given to
understand, sailed from Calcutta for England in
the latter part of July, with a valuable freight
on board. About three weeks afterwards, some
vessels, bound to Calcutta, in passing near Palmyras
Point, on the India coast, discovered a wreck,
which, on examination, proved to be that of the
Ariadne. No living creature, however, was to be
seen on the wreck, or in any other place near it.
and she was fast breaking up. Immediately on the
melancholy news reaching Calcutta, the authorities
dispatched a Government steamer to the spot, with in-
structions to ascertain, if possible, the fate of the crew.
A few hours before the mail steamer started for Eng-
land_the steamer returned] to Calcutta with intelli-
gence confirming the loss of the ship and cargo, and
that great doubts existed regarding the fate of those
belonging to the ship. The chief mate of the Ariadne
was picked up on a spar by the steamer off the coast,
40 miles southward of the place where the ship was
lost. The poor fellow was in a shocking state of ex-
haustion. He had been twelve days exposed, subsist-
ing entirely on some berries. As far as could be
gleaned from him, it appeared that the master and
crew had been carried out to sea on a raft in a
gale of wind. The steamer went in search, and,
after several days' cruising, returned to Calcutta. It
is reported there were from 30 to 40 per-
sons on the raft, and from the violent state of the
weather when it was driven out to sea it is doubt-
ful whether any of them survive. Still, hopes are
entertained that they may have been picked up by
some vessel. The ship and cargo are valued at
30,0001. The Manchester Indiamau was wrecked on
the Sangor Islands on the 6th of August, a few days'
sail from Calcutta. Several of her crew met with
injury by the falling of her mainmast, after the ship
struck, but all hands were fortunate enough to escape
in the boats before the vessel broke up. It is
considered a very heavy loss. She was the property
of Messrs. Wade and Co., merchants in the City,
who are said to be insured. The other unfortunate
ship, the Nereid, foundered on the morning of the
9th of July last, in lat 34.52 S. In a tremendous
gale of wind she encountered some days previous
she sprung a leak, and eventually the crew were
compelled to take to the boats, the ship going
down head foremost within an hour efterwards.
The gale had not abated when the boats left, and it was
with great exertions they were got to a vessel, the
Emperor, from Calcutta, the master of which had hove
his ship to and remained by from the previous night.
They were taken on board and received every kind-
ness. The Nereid belonged to Messrs. Phillips and
Co., of the City. The loss of the three ships is
calculated to exceed 100,0001.

CAIRN GORM.
A Grantown correspondent supplements with the
following remarks the account we gave a week or two
ago of this mountain and the scenes it presented
during the summer :—" Cairngorm just now holds
th© same relation to the surrounding country that
California does to the continent of America. Won-
derful stories of the discovery of masses of precious
stones of incredible size and unheard-of beauty have
been for some months past floating down the vale of
Strathspey, and found credence with not a few whose
curiosity was excited and cupidity inflamed by the
accounts of the marvellous riches, said to be every
day dug from the bowels of this celebrated mountain.
The consequence was that numbers forsook their usual
employment, and equipping themselves with all the
necessary accoutrements, marched—with knapsack on
back—to the new diggings, to try the latest royal road
, to fortune—that fickle goddess being supposed to have
for some time back deserted the agricultural plains, and
pitched her tent and held her court amid the wilds
of Cairngorm. It is strange that the fortune-hunters,
generally speaking, aim first at reaching the top of
the mountain, whether led on by the commendable
ambition that prompts all the sons of Adam to rise in
the world, or by the conviction that the lady of their
search, if lurking on the sides of the mountains might
be more easily descried from the summit—l cannot
say. Certain, however, it is, that all think the highest
point of the hill the first point they should try to
reach. Numbers on reaching the top have vainly
gazed around for a sight of her ladyship, and when
they failed in this, proceeded to dig into the bowels
of the mountain, supposing she had taken shelter from
the keen winds which almost always blow there, in
one or other of the numerous caverns which abound
on the slopes of the mountain. Proceeding on this
supposition, the stroke of the pick-axe soon disturbed
the solitude of the mountains, startled the eagle, and
made the glens re-echo with unwonted sounds. By-
and •bye dispatches from the mountains confirmed the
previous rumours and increased the numbers of the
diggers. Partly fur pleasure and partly to satisfy
ourselves of the truth of the reports flying about, a
party of six, of which I was one, left Grantown at
nine P.M. on Tuesday last, and having walked all
night (with the exception of a short rest at Nethy
Bridge and another at Sleaghich), succeeded in
coming near the top of the mountain by six o'clock
on Wenesday morning. There we found a dozen
men' in parties of twos and threes, digging away
with all their might. We, of course, inquired about
their success, and the answer was, that from Mmiday
morning till Wednesday noon they had succeeded
in digging up—how many think you ? Take a
moderate estimate, and not be led away by an imagi-
nation more fertile than Cairngorm itself. In that
short time, two days and a half, they had got—
nothing ! 'We then amused ourselves by removing
some large stones from the moutain side and rolling
them down the precipices, and returned. I beg to
conclude by giving you my private opinion on the
digging. It is this—seeking for Cairngorm stones is
like searching for a score of needles in an enormous
stack of hay. Some, no doubt, have found fine spe-
cimens of great value, but for every one whose toil is
rewarded, there are at least twelve who get nothing.
One may be enriched by good luck, and a score pau•
perised by a loss of time that might otherwise be pro-
fitably employed.—lnverness Courier.