The Sun.
London, England, 1868-01-14 00:00:00

SKIPPING DISASTERS.

A telegram from Cork states that " the steamer Chien(
of the Union Company, lies on the rocks in Gyleen Bay,
inside Poor Head. She has not changed her position since
daybreak. The storm has since abated, and the wind
shifted off shore, permitting the recovery of specie, which
is now under escort to Queenstown. Passengers, luggage,
and parcels are being removed. No hope of getting the
ship off unless the m eather continues moderate, and allows
the removal of heavy cargo. After she struck a heavy
gale arose. The vessel and cargo are heavily insured at
Liverpool."
Another serious loss is also reported off the Irish coast.
The ship Oasis, 1,500 tons, belonging to Messrs. Fletcher
and Co., of Liverpool, which sailed from Calcutta on
the sth of August last, drove ashore on Newton Head,
near Tramore, on Sunday. The lifeboat of the district
went promptly to the ship. Before the vessel was reached,
however, the captain and three sick men had been
drowned, and five or six of the men had put off in the
ship's boat, and are supposed to have perished. The rest
of the crew were taken safely on shore by the lifeboat.
The vessel was laden with linseed, and was valued at
£25,000. The ship Ullswater is also lost upon that coast.
A large vessel is supposed to have been lost off the en-
trance to the Ribble on Saturday night, as masts, yards,
timber (cargo), and deals are floating off the Nelson Buoy,
Ribble. The ship Champion of the Seas, which ha
arrived at Melbourne from Liverpool, reports having expe-
rienced very heavy weather on the voyage out. She lost
her foremast below the cheeks, and all the stays from
mainstay up, &c. The foreyard in falling down did con-
siderable damage to the deck.

The Earl Fortescue is about to contract a mar-
riage with Lady Drummond, relict of Sir James Williams
Drummond, Bart.

A marriage has been arranged between the _Earl
Beauchamp and Lady Mary Stanhope, daughter of the
Earl and Countess Stanhope.

VESUVlUS.—Vesuvius is the great point of
attraction just now. There is a great migration of
foreigners from Rome to witness the eruptive splendours of
the volcano. The French Ambassador left for Naples a
few days ago for that purpose.
SAD CATASTROPHE.—A terrible occurrence is re-
ported from Mantes (Seine et Oise), in which nineteen per-
sons have lost their lives. A countryman named Fouchet
laid a wager that he would drive a heavily laden hay
waggon across the Seine on the ice. When half way over
the vehicle stopped, and twenty-eight persons went to the
aid of the driver. Suddenly the ice gave way under the
weight, and all were swallowed up. Two boatmen,
Bourdet Pinagues and Huttot, succeeded in saving nine
persons, but the others were drowned. Among the victims
was M. Canat, the mayor of Purtchville.

THE PALESTINE EXPLORATION FUND.—Those who
are interested in the exploration of Palestine will be happy
to learn that the undertaking is relieved from present pe-
cuniary anxiety. Mr. Grove, in announcing this fact in
the Times, states that Mr. Warren's recent explorations
had revealed the fact that the ancient city lies buried be-
neath the modern one. " The cliff which, Joab climbed,
the streets which David trod, and along which Athaliah
was hurried, the catacombs of the Kings of Judah, the
very Viet Dolorossa itself," which tourists have been told
they have seen, in fact lie buried, some of them apparently
to some considerable depth.
DISCOVERY OF A SMUGGLERS' CAVE. —A corre-
spondent of the Dublin Express, writing from Lisname,
Says : " A pier has just been finished on the shore below
Riikeel, where a small river empties itself into the sea.
The men employed to remove the shingle to enlarge the
accommodation came on an old cave roofed and full of
tobacco. Some forty or fifty rolls were perfectly useless.
It must have been upwards of twenty years buried, and,
strange to say, it is at the spot where the fishing boats
are drawn up. Nobody seems to known anything respect-
ing it.

Dn. LIVINGSTONE.—At the ordinary meeting of
the Royal Geographical Society, Sir Roderick Murchison,
the president, before the commencement cf the regular
business, read a letter he had received from Dr. Kirke
dated the 9th October, from Zanzibar, in which he men-
tioned that further rumours had been received of the
presence of a white man in the centre of Africa,
who there was good reason to believe was Dr. Living-
stone. It was stated that he had sent letters by a
trader who had not yet arrived at Zanzibar, and Dr.
Kirke expressed the hope that when he next wrote
his letter would be accompanied by letters from Dr.
Livingstone. He also stated that Moussa and the
Johanna men had applied to be paid their wages, which
had be,en withheld until it was asceit -tined whether
their reports of the murder of Dr. Livingstone were un-
founded. Sir Roderick said that Dr. Kirke had previously
been sceptical as to the existence of Dr. Livingstone, and
it was gratifying to find that he now entertained hopes
that ho might be alive. Mr. Crawford made some re-
marks vindicating Moussa, and throwing doubt on the
correctness of the rumours of Dr. Livingstone's safety,
though he admitted the evidence in its favour had become
stronger.