The Sun.
London, England, 1868-04-30 00:00:00

TO LICENCED VICTUALLERS.

ESTABLISITED 180.
VVILLIANI HOLDICII and CO.,
V LICENCED VICTUALLERS' DRAPERS, No.
105, Fleet-streot, corner of Farringlon-street ; and at No.
5, The Pavement, Clapham-common (Southorn Branch).

EXCELLENCE COMBINED WITH

THE SUN, LO

of Mataka, about 50 miles from Lake Nyassa,
containing 1,000 houses. Mataka, the chief after
whom it is called, is the most powerful chief in
the country, and evidently a man of some intelli-
gence and characer. He wished to be shown how
to make use of his cattle in agriculture, and was
anxious that (some of the freed African boys
who followed Dr. LIVINGSTONE, and who had been
educated at a school in Bombay, should remain with
him, but they would not do so. Dr. LIVINGSTONE
promised to get for him some other boys
acquainted with Indian agriculture ; some of MA-
TAKA'S people having, without his knowledge, com-
mitted some acts of plunder, he ordered the captives
and cattle to be sent back. 'This was done before
LIVINGSTONE'S arrival, and was his own independent
act. The expedition having accidentally fallen in
with the strangers, Dr. LIVINGSTONE heard of the
affair, and MATAKA was much pleased at his
approval and the present he gave the chief as a
token of it. Dr. LIVINGSTONE remained in this part
from the middle of July till the end of September,
and thinks it the best point he has seen for an
influential station. This is highly satisfactory,
since the cbaracterof .IATAKA will be a great assist-
ance in establishing communications with it.
Further to the north-west the travellers found a
very hospitable people, though there are many vari-
ous tribes, and the Mazitu enjoy an unenviable re-
putation. It was the fear of the Mazitu that made
the .Johanna men take to flight. After crossing the
Soangwa river, and emerging from the valley, the
party ascended the plateau of Lobisa. The hills in
one part rise 6,600 feet above the sea,
and in these highlands no grass is to be
found. The people are poor and wretched'
having been decimated by the slave trade, and here
the party suffered actual hunger, having to live
chiefly on an indifferent kind of mushroom. 'Down
on the banks of the Chambeze they came again to
animal life and fared better. Dr. LIVINGSTONE has
happily retained his health, but unfortunately the
party have lost all their medicine.
The news in this letter is not the latest we re-
ceive from the travellers, since Dr. KiuK, writing
from Zanzibar, on the Ist of March, reports that
LIVINGSTONE had been at Ujiji in the middle of last
October, where he would meet the agent in charge of
stores and letters. Dr. KIRK bad sent Sir SA3IIJEL
BAKER'S map, with an account of all he had ex-
plored, for Dr. LIVINGSTONE left England before
Sir S. BAKER'S return. No doubt this information
will afford valuable assistance to the enterprising
and indefatigable traveller, whom we may hope to
welcome home to his own country crowned with
still greater laurels than he has yet won.

The Customs Parliament in Prussia seems to have
been very busy in arranging various matters, and
some decisive progress has been made. The Navi-
gation Treaty between the Zollverein and Spain
was laid before the House, and also the Commercial
Treaty between the Zollverein and Austria, toge-
ther with the drafts of bills affecting modifications.
It is stated by a semi-official organ that in conse-
quence of the refusal of the North German Parlia-
ment to pass the bill treating of the public debt of
the Confederation, it will be necessary to reduce
by three million thalers the naval estimates. The
result will be very mortifying to the vanity of the
Prussian Ministry, and it certainly interposes a check
upontheir grand scheme of constructing a navy. The
failure, for the present, at any rate, is most com-
plete, and the more we dwell upon the several de-
tails of the matter, the more we can realise its force.
The immediate discharge of one thousand sailors
and marines will be rendered necessary in the first
place, and also the disarmament of seven more ves-
sels that were to have been employed in cruising in
the East Asiatic waters in the North Sea, for the
purpose of guarding the Elbe, and also to relieve
,offaai
and
tuahreecacouofsrevtehttheteebAugusta likewise
involve
a eys
tsoleifles.l‘.
" entire
iree
xrerai
oe
e
page" of the harbour works of Kiel, which is a most
significant thing. The works in the Bay of Jande
must be i,idefinitely postponed, or at least for a
considerable period, and no means
will be left in
the hands of Government for building ships. What
with one thing and another Count BISMARCK has
not been fortunate of late, and his
disappointments
have been for the most part sudden and unex-
pected. This last affair is a serious thing
in all re-
spects, for it directly militates against the favourite
project of the Berlin Government.

There is no occasion for Prussia to become a
naval power, and therefore no actual blame
attaches itself to the North German Parliament

for the course they have taken, but at the
same time one cannot help thinking of the
bitterness of feeling it must have caused in certain
quarters. For many reasons the NJrth-German
Parliament may be congratulated upon having
shown proper spirit, and they have shown that they
intend to judge for themselves, and not to be dic-
tated to. So far Count BISMARCK and his friend
have been caught in a trap for a time. We heard
of nothing but the great benefits that were sure to
ensue from the establishment of this Parliament,
and yet some of its first decisive steps have been
to invalidate the policy of its promoters. It is diffi-
cult to say what next will be resolved upon
by the Prussian Minister, for he is always
very ready in reserve, and can generally hit upon
some expedient or other (when affairs look
the blackest ; but, be his future course what it may,
the present discomfiture is certain and complete.
It is folly to attempt too much, and in the instance
of Prussian success has been as trying to her states-
me❑ as misfortune and defeat have been to other
politicians in different countries. The harbour and
works of Kiel have been a project so near the hearts
of the Prussian authorities that it seems scarcely
probable that they will reconcile themselves with-
out an effort to their cessation. Were there any
real reason to give for all this anxiety to set up a
navy on a large scale we could afford to be sorry
for the disennifiture that has befallen them, on na-
tional grounds, but as it is it is
but the

vain endeavour to appear
something that nature has not intended
them to be that has met with a check, and hence
curiosity may employ itself in wondering what will
be done. The best advice that can be given to the
Berlin Government is to counsel them to give up
their idle projects, and expend the time and money
thereby saved in developing resources that are
natural to the country. It is doubtful if disap-
pointed ambition and vain desires will conform to
such wise but unpalateable projects, and it will be
no real cause cause of wonderment if we find that
the wily Count at the head of affairs has devised
some ingenious scheme for gaining his end, and
outwitting the Parliament, if he does not defy them
openly.

The-Lea River Conservancy is a subject of great
interest to the public, and all that relates to it is
sure to bo regarded with attention. The Select
Committee, to which the bill to " make better pro-
•zision for the preservation and improvement of the
River Lea and its tributaries" was referred, has
been holding its sittings for S 0 121 C days past. The
purpose of this bill is of a comprehensive character.
it is promoted by the Board of Works, and is also
a accurdaina with the Royal' Comminioners of