The Sun.
London, England, 1850-11-18 00:00:00

IRRIGATION IN INDIA.

We have of late had repeated occasion to notice the
magnificent schemes of irrigation the prosecution of
which has for some time past been in progress both in
the north-west provinces end in the Madras presi-
dency ; and in connexion with the subject of the
preceding article this leads us to turn our attention
to our own doors, where we have river deltas
scarcely inferior in anythine save magnitude to
those of the Nile, the Ganges, and Gudavery,
laying waste for want of water—rivers of the
most magnificent dimensions flowing past, and
pouring their unproductive treasures into the ocean.
The Indus and the Taptee furnish examples of our
meaning ; were the bounty of nature there made use
of, and the unfailing stream applied to the irrigation
of the fertile but at present unproductive soil,
every decade of years would pay back to us
the capital at the outset expended. A
single experiment v‘ ould in such cases suffice
to bring private enterprise into the field, were Govern-
ment not disposed to do more than show the example:
the example once shown, individual capitalists would
be delighted to relieve them of all future responsi-
bilities, and not only to improve the country for theta
without charge, hut to pay them for permission to in-
troduce improvements. We some months back
mentioned an enterprise of this sort commenced,
and to a considerable extent carried out,
near Kurrachee, by one of a race remarkable
for anything but peaceful pursuits. An enter-
prising Belooch of Kelat made an offer to Sir C.
Napier to bring water from the hills to the sea in an
underground tunnel or crease, after the manner of
his country, without charge to the public, or further
recompense for himself than permission to hold the
land he was able to irrigate for a term of years free
of charge. Several miles of the work were actually
executed, and may yet be seen on the line of road
from the camp to the crocodile tanks. We are not
aware of the reason of its discontinuance, but the pro-
jector, who would even in this way most probably
have found his reward, naturally preferred the plan of
his country to the much more economical plan of
bringing water direct from the Indus. The wonder-
ful tunnels that traverse Affghanistan are obviously
calculated, in the first place, to trap at a sufficient
depth below the surface the springs which,
when exposed, dry up before the summer sun ;
and in the second piace, to get over the diffi-
culty of surface undulations. The gain of avoid-
ance of evaporation from constant tunnelling, especi-
ally through ground where arching would be requi-
site, is much more than compensated by the primary
outlay and the limited capacity of a tunnel compared
to that of a canal. But if the less desirable system
satisfied a Belooch that it would pay, how much more
likely would the substitute suggested ensure an ample
return ? The unfertilised portion of the delta of the
Indus is as nearly as posible identical in all its cha-
racteristics with that of the Nile beyond the limit
of the inundation ; both to the casual observer pre-
sent the appearance of a hard barren bed of clay--
when more minutely examined both turn out to be the
rich alluvia of the primary rocks of the distant
mountains mingled with the detritus of the soft ter-
tiary limestones which wall in the basins of both
rivers ; both are identical wh-li those more favoured
portions of the delta tendered fertile by the overflow
of the etresin ; and both are capable °I. being made, by
the application of wider, equal in productiveness to the
most fertne of the lands which they adjoin. So it is with
the Taptee. From Domus by the sea to far beyond Su-
rat, and so southward towards Bombay, we have a vast
track of alluvial land—if less barren than the dessert
of Lower Sinde mainly indebted to the rains:for what
fertility it possesses—for the greater part of the year
yielding melting. The Court of Directors might
with perfect sefety guarantee 10 or 20 per cent. on
money expended on enterprises undertaken for
the cultivation of such lands as these, with-
out the smallest fear of being called on for
a shilling after the work was once well begun;
and with the perfect certainty that whatever they
might at the outset advance would be paid back in
full so soon as returns began to come in, and re-
turned ultimately a hundred fold in the shape of the
improved productiveness of the country. In both
these cases Providence has provided with means of
conveyance for the produce it only requires the in-
dustry of man to bring into existence. Along the
margins, or through the centre of the promising
lands reproaching us as the authors of their barren-
ness, sweep the waters of the ocean or those of navi-
gable rivers, and the boat or buggolow could at once
receive its frieght from the fields whereon it grew.--
Bombay Times.

THE ARCHBISHOP of NEW YORK.
In one of our morning contemporaries we find the
following very important official document, which
seems to have been the first issued by the newly-
created Archbishop of this diocese since he received
the pallium from the Holy Father of Rome :
" New York, Oct. 22, 1850.
" Dear Sir,—Having been present at the first ex-
hibition of your panoramic views of the Island of
Cuba, I take great pleasure in expressing to you the
satisfaction which I experienced on that occasion. I
regard the views as of high artistic merit, and I can
conceive of no entertainment more innocent, interest-
ing, and instructive, than that which your evening
exhibition affords. Wishing you every success,
"I remain with sincere regard,
" Your obedient servant,
" JOHN, Archbishop of New York.
"Mr. 0. B. Loomis, New York."
The Archbishop's approval of this exhibition is
very important and very satisfactory. It reflects the
highest evidence upon his good taste and critica
judgment in the fine arts. But there are a number
of other interesting exhibitions to be seen in this
city—there is a wonderful collection of strange and
curious articles in Barnum's Museum, for example,
for which the certificate of the Archbishop might be
of great advantage, in the present crisis. The woolly
horse, of course, needs no epostolical affidavit, he hav-
ing been duly examined and pronounced upon by
Colonel Benton at Washington. But, seriously, it is
a matter of regret that Archbishop Hughes should
lend his archiepiscopal authority to the puffing a
panorama. His positionis too high in the religious
world, and his duties too lofty to justify his de•
scending to such trifles as newsp,7per puffing of catch-
penny paintings.—. New York Herald.

ELOPEMENT EXTRAORDINARY.

The inhabitants of the neighbouring town of Bury
have been thrown into a. state of unusual excitement,
in consequence of a medical gentleman, of extensive
practice in his profession, and of considerable lite-
rary attainments, having suddenly disappeared from
the town and neighbourhood. Various conjec-
tures were entertained and expressed relative to the
cause of his unexpected absence; some attributing
it to his having business in London, others to the
indulgence of a capricious whim, while others
were suspicious that circumstances of a
more serious character would shortly be dis-
closed. The latter opinion proved to be the most
correct, for in a short time the Rev. Mr. Bell, Wes-
leyan minister in the Southport circuit, received the
distressing intelligence that his daughter, who was
governess in a respectable seminary in the neighbour-
hood of Southport, had suddenly taken her departure
without giving previous notice of her intentions; and
as a gentleman had been observed in the neighbour-
hoop of the establishment whose conduct had excited
suspicion, there was reason to fear that an elope-
ment,
had taken place. A combination of circum-
stances proved that the suspicion was not without
foundation ; for the family of the medical gentleman,
consisting of a wife and four children, were soon
made sensible that the husband and father had sacri-
ficed " home "and its relations" by seducing the
daughter of a Wesleyan minister, with whom the
family had been for some years on terms of intimacy.
During a period of two months previous to the
gentleman's departure this lady had been enjoying
the bracing air of one of the watering-places in
the northern division of Lancashire, and on ber re-
turn home she had the mortification to find that
her husband had on that very morning taken his
departure for London, having previously disposed
of his cattle, &c., as a means of increasing the amount
of money in his possession. In London the gentle-
man, whose name is Thomas Hatton Wardlewortb,
sold his professional practice to Mr. Fletcher, sur-
geon, and gave him instructions to go immediately to
Bury, and take possession. Mr. Virardleworth is
known as an author, and as one of the proprietors of
the Bury Observer, a monthly magazine, having as
extensive circulation in the locality. Several articles
from his pen have recently appeared, entitled " Home
and its Relations, by a Medical Man."—Mandester
Examiner.

A comparison of the present prices of wheat, flour,
and bread in London and Paris gives the following details:—
The highest price of wheat of the first quality in Paris is
24f. per 114 hectolitre, which is equal to 365. Bd. per quarter;
and the highest price of white wheat of the first quality in
London being 48s. per quarter, it follows that wheat is 3031, c.
dearer in London than in Paris. The highest quotation of
flour of the first quality in Paris is 29f. 95c. the 100 kilo-
grammes, which is equal to 295. :11d. per sack of 2801bs.
English ; and the highest quotation of flour in the London
market being 40s. per sack, it follows that flour is about 38%
per cent. dearer in London than in Paris. The price of bread
of the first quality in Paris is 27c. per kilogramme, which is
equal to per' 41b. loaf English weight ; snd the price
°,4tlbbs.r,eiat'l in Londonfollowsthut
than in Paris. atthe
bread ifs34llo-1/2pricpeedr esehnordebaerinerg 65
inl.do n. UT:lr

Lord Valletort's hirth•day fell en Guy Fawkes
Day, when some of the bonfires, supposed to be for the rope,
were lit in honour of the Noble Lord's natal day. A large
party of the Earl's tradesmen spent a pleaeant evening at
Mount Edgeumbe.7l)eronport Independent.
_ _

His Imperial .Highness the Prince Alexander of'
Hesse Darmstadt (son of the Grand Duke Alexander of
Russia) and suite, arrived at the Royal Hotel, Leamington,
on Saturday, and have since visited Stratford-on-Avon, and
Warwick and Kenilworth Castle. The new arrangement of
hunting the Warwickshire country siz Up 4 week is causing
LcailliDgt9ll to @IIITith.C9UIPOZYI