The Sun.
London, England, 1821-10-11 00:00:00

AFRICA.-RI %TER NIGER.

The ascertainment of the source of the Niger,
near to our colony at Sierra Leone, or of a stream
which can be navigated to a junction with that
great river at or dbout Bammakoos, would; by the
common course of trade, even in the, imperfect
state in which trade is carried on in Africa, place
in the hands of the colonists the benefit of sup-
plying European commodities to all the nations
on the banks of the river through an immense
range of its course. All the productions of the
country which are given in return for the articles
imported, would coma hither, and these are the
most valuable productions of Africa. Informa-
tion collected from liberated negroes, brought
originally from the vicinity of the place to be
visited, has led the persons wbo conversed, with
those negroes, to concluck, that the source to be
discovered there_is 4.105 e to the source .of the
river Caramanea, which is the southern bounthiry
of the colony.. It was supposed, therefore, that
the shortest course to arrive at the object would
be by tracing the Caramanca upwards. By this,
or by some other direct course, a much nearer
communication with Bammakoo may be esta-
blished at a future time ; but at present it would
be better to proceed through Fontah Jallon ; for
in that way there is some intimation of a known
path, and the influence of the Foulabs could give
protection. In. the other line, thq way itself,
and the dispositions of. the people, would be al-
together matterof experiment; consequently we
must, on the principles of prudence and practica-
bility which have governed all our reasonings on
this subject, revert to the propriety of establish-
ing a communication with Teembo, and a good un-
derstanding with the Foulah chiefs,before any ulte-
rior enterprise shall be undertaken from the colony.
According to an observation taken, by PARK at
Marraboo, a little further down the course of the
Niger than Bammakoo, the river flowing east-
ward, the latitude of that place would be about
12 deg. 30 min. North. The latitude of Teembo
is about 10 deg. North ; that of Port Logo pro-
bably about the same as the latitude of Sierra
Leone—we will say nearly S deg. 30 min. Thus
Bammakoo would be about four'degrees more to
the northward, and Teembo one degree and a
half; the difference of longitude we are not en-
abled to calculate ;''hut as Teembo -is stated to
be_distant ten days' jduruey, or about 200 miles
from Port Logo, we may conceive the excess
above the difference of latitude to be in an
easterly line ; Bammakoo will probably be in
the same proportion east as well as north of
Teembo. The fountain of the river to be ascer-
tained is to be supposed ten days' journey from
Teembo; and the way thence to Bammakoo,
partly by land and partly by water, ten days'
journey more ; thus thirty days' travelling would
be sufficient to arrive at Bammakoo. The return
would not require so much time. Allowing for
accidents and delays, voluntary as well as invo-
luntary, the whole expedition, out and home,
may be accomplished in four months. We hope
to see the time when it will be done in one
month. With respect to the supposition that
the Niger passes into the Nile, the informa-
tion obtained in the Colony, by inquiries
among. Africans brought from the borders of the
Niger, as tar as Houssa and Bornou, is against
that supposition. It must be admitted, that this
information is very indistinct and indecisive; for
Africans, at best, are but confined travellers, and
by no means acute observers; and those who are
sold into slavery are to-be generally regarded as
by no means of the first class of their respective
nations. But the chief priest of Dallah Maham-
madoo's settlement on the Bullom shore, oppo-
site this town, who has travelled from the shores
of the Red Sea', on the borders of Egypt, through
Houssa, and who appears a very correct, as well
as a very intelligent man, declares that he did
not pass any large river until he 'caxe to the
Niger, on his way hither from Hougsa. Accord-
ing to the supposition in the extract from The
Quarterly Review, he should have crossed it as
he passed towards the junction with the Nile :
he thinks the Niger flows into the Red Sea.—
The communications obtained from this person
are very interesting ; we hope that his Majesty's
Government may order the publication of them,
together with the other similar tracts collected
in the office of the Colonial Secretary.

SCARCITY OF WATza.—ln a former paper,
we noticed the very unseasonable hours at which
the water is put on at some of the public wells
in the city.. We understand that this is entirely
owing to its deficiency, which, at present, is so
great, as to make it absolntely necessary for the
different wells to he served- progressively, as
there is not a sufficient quantity to permit the
whole being put on at. one time ; and that the
water cannot be turned on at the wells COM-
plained of at a more. convenient time,
_without
making•an equally late delivery in other parts of
the town, where a greater supply is wanted.
The,proving of the water-pipes, which has Also
been objected to at this time,- when water is so
scarce, has been discontinued by order of the
Directors of the Water Company.--(Edinburgh
Courant, Oct. 8.)

There is, s.-,`,;j;:jhe French Papers, a man named
Cret, living in the commune of Challeno near Gex,
who has reached the age of 111 and some months,
and is still so robust as to do the work of an
agricultural labourer.

On, Friday last a -considerable quantity of
French silks, &c. were seized at Eastbourne, in
the dwelling-houses of two individuals, by two
officers from London, and deposited in is Ma-
jesty's stores.

Nl_

LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE.

[PROM VARIOUS SOURCES.]

Nd.

NUMISMITOLOGY.—(Extract of a. Leitei- pion.;
Dr. Sickler.)—" I have great pleasUre iii ac
quai-nting you, that we possess 'in this neighbour
hood a collection of coins, which may becalled
-unique in its kind. • Mr. Von, .Douop, Vice;;
Chancellor in Meiningen,- has now in his hands
the whole collection of silver coins found in
Jersey, amounting to nearly a thOusarid: -Among
these, there are scarcely 80. totally intelligible,
but 300 in perfect preservation, and about 200
with characters, which do not so much resemble
.. •
the old, Irish alphabet, as they are remarkably
similar to the Sauscrit. Besides this, we find
upon these coins several ancient Egyptian hiero-
glyphics ; among others in particular, the sacred
Tau, sometimes standing alone, sometimes -in-
closed in a circle, the spiral, the half globe, with
ray-s issuing from, it, &c. I think I may justly
assert, or at least hope, that these coins will most
probably, when theyhave:been carefully and ju-
diciously studied, throw•great light not only upon
Celtic - antiquity, but also upon Germany, and
the whole North of Europe. I shall-not fail to
communicate, in due time, farther- accounts of
this most valuable collection, .-'which has hitherto
been kept in England, and, as it were, buried a
second time."

HORIZONTORIUM•—This instrument affords a
pleasing optical illusion, anti, was invented by a
person named Shires. The illusiod is produced
by the picture of a castle, projected on a hori-
zontal plane, whence its name is derivea. The
picture• is laid flat on the table, with the light
on the left of the Spectator. In front there is a
small perpendicular parchment sight, with a grove
in it, to which the eye is applied, and the effect
is, that the whole appears to be solid building ;
the walls of the castle, the ruin of a well,
&c. &c. being, in every respect, like a model, in-
stead of a coloured horizontal projection. By
removing the candle to the floor, that which was
a sun light becomes a moon-light scene.. The
illusion, though very pretty, in its principles. is
not entirely new.

GREEN PAINT.—Gas tar, Mixed - with yellow
ochre, makes -an invisible green paint, very use-
ful for preserVing coarse wood-work, or other
articles, where more ornament is required than
tar alone. 0

IMPORTANT DISCOVERY.—Mr. Lister has dis-
covered a simple method for letting the hydro-
gen gas out of coal-mines before it becomes ex-
plosive. lie asserts that all the coal strata pro-
duce this gas when exposed to atmospheric air;
that he has visited many mines that are not liable to
explosion, which arises from their peculiar situa-
tion in the earth. He has found that all coal-
mines, whose entrance is betwixt the horizontal
line, and the angle of forty-five degrees, are not
liable, to the accumulation of hydrogen, the cause
of which he proves from a law of nature in the
gravitation of fluids. The explosion of hydrogen
in a coal-mine, he calls the ferocious rage of a
fiery dragon, the safety lamp a muzzle to the
dragon, which too often leads the miner to: his
destruction, as it induces him to work where the
hydrogen has accumulated. The lamp not af-
fording him sufficient light to shew the fissures
of the falling coal, tempts him to remove the
gauze, by which not only himself, but his fellow
workmen are immolated in a moment.

THE PARISIAN COUNCIL OF HEALTH .!•as just
published the result of its labours during 1820.
Among the discoveries which have particularly
attracted attention, Are, a fermented liquor
called claret, extremely refreshing and economi-
cal, and calculated to be a substitute for beer
and cider; and a liquor for keeping eggs fresh
for the space of a year. The aid administered to
drowning and suffocating persons, last year pre,
rented the most satisfactory results;• of sixty
drowning persons, forty.-seven have been. restored
to animation. It is expected that the loss of .Im.
man life will be still further diminished on the
adoption of the new plan of stationing well
trained Newfoundland dogs, under the guidance
of intelligent keepers, along the banks of the
•Seine. A new method of ventilating theatres
and crowded rooms, has, on the recommendation
of the Council, been introduced at the Opera.
By this new plan, the air may be continually re-
newed without lowering the temperature, which
May always be regulated according to the season
and the number of spectators.
EGYPTIAN WHITINGS.—At a late meeting Of
the Royal Academy of Inscriptions; at Paris,
M. Champollion presented to the Academy a
part of- his-work pn Egyptian writings, designed
to form au, appendix to the two volumes already
published. After noticing the Egyptian modes
of writing in 'hieroglyphics, and in what has been
thought alphabetical or Merengue, he comes to
the Conclusion that the Egyptian MSS. of the
second kind are not alphabetical. 9411 y, That
the_second,mode of writing is only a simple mo-
dification Of the 'hieroglyphic, and differs_ only
in the form of the signs used. 3dly, That the
second species is the hierelique of Greek authors,
and should be regarded as a hieroglyphic,
graphy. 4thly, That the hieratic characters are
signs of things and not of sounds. M. Chanlpol-
lion enthavoured to find the numerical signs
in this species of and he was not a little
surprised to discover- that some of the characters
corresponded
.with the cyphers of. the Hindoos
and Arabs, and like them derive a value. Crom
position.

GYANOTUS _ELECTRICUS.—A symizotus elec.=

PRICE SEkriNPEIVCE

trac s, or electric eel, lately arrived 'alive and sit
food health, from Surinam at the Jardin des
Plantes, at Parts. The savans -and naturalists
4,,re. alt-in; motion, and hastened to see. with their
own eyes, and: touch with their o\in.hands. this
living electrical machine. The greater number
Were satisfied with a single touch an&c:onsequent
shock ; but one Doctor, either urged. by a greater
'zeal for science, or governed by, a moreinsa-
tiable curiosity, resolved to try the uttrioSt ekten't
of the animal's powers, and seized it with both
his -hands, but had quickly reason to repent.his
temerity, for he immediately felt a rapidly repeat-
ed" set ies of the most violent and successively' in-
creasing shocks, which forced him to caper about
in the most extraordinary manner, and to utter
the most piercing screams from the agony that he
felt. He then fell into convulsions, in conse-
quence of which his muscles became so contracted,
or 'from some strange property iu the fish, it
became impossible to detach the animal from.
his grasp. In this situation he remained a con-
siderable time, and would in-all probability have
expired under the 'agony of his sensations, if
some one of the persons present had not suggest-
ed the plunging of his hands in-water, when the
eel immediately dropped off.—He. (the doctor)
has been since most dangerously ill. .

NATURAL- ISTOR Ir.-A heavy shower of snails
was reported to have fallen lately near Tocking-
ton, in Gloucestershire. Ground, to-the extent of
two acres, is said to haie been covered with
them.. ' These supposed" specimens of the -sideral
systems were eagerly purchased by the curious
and the credulous, who will probably be some-
what surprized to learn, that they may pick up
bushels of sinailaf rarities favourable situa.
tions, any morning between- the hours of four
and six o'clock. The natural history of this
snail is accurately given in: Montague's Testac'ea
Britannica, Its name is Felix z,irgatiz; or .Zoned
Snail. Shell. ". It may be considered," he
.says:,
"as a local species ; but is found in prodigiou.s
abundance iu some sandy or barren stony situa-
tions,, most plentifully near the coast, especially
about Whitsand-bay, Cornwall, and in the South
of Devonshire, where
.it is believed they contri-
bute not a little to fatten sheep, the ground be-
ing covered with them." This snail occurs also
abundantly in the neighbourhood of Bristol,: and
County of Somerset. On approaching heat they
are observed to leave their hiding-place near
the roots of grass, crawling upon- the leaves
and plants near it, •and thus- becoming visible
to, the superficial observer. From this remark
Of Montague, -and the well-known fact that snails
furnish much nourishing matter, it would be;
perhaps, best for the farmer' belonging to the field
at Tockington, to tura into it a flock of sheep*
which would soon crush the snails, in' eatilig-
them with the grass, and they would: doubtless
improve thereby. In this phenomenon the phi-
losophic mind will easily trace the provision of
nature to render these snails (fattened near the
roots of C:e succulent grass) a pasture, ,V, hen
parched by the rays of the sun, of a most nou
rishing nature to herbaceous animals. A. Kimilar
circumstance occurred in the same field about
three years ago.

PENTATEUCII.—Moses Samuel, Esq. of Bold-
street, Liverpool, has presented to the Library
of the LiverpoolAthenoeum, a Manuscript Pen..
tateuch, or Sacred Law of the Jews. This sin-
,gular curiosity is of very great value, and beauti-
fully written on a roll of tine vellum, four inches
wide, and upwards of 45 feet long ;it is attached
at each end to an ivory roller, and the whole is
inclosed in a splendid case of crithson, velvet.. A.
special meeting of 'the Committee was summoned
for the purpose of receiving this valuable present;
and an ark was, ordered to be prepared for its
preservation, under Mr. Samuel's directions.---;
Rich as this Library has always been in literary
treasures, it is now indebted to' the generosity of
Mr: Samuel for its greatest rarity. • •

RECEIPT FOR. PRESERVING MILK.—The fol-
lowing method. of preserving milk at sea, during
the longest voyage, and in the warmest climate,
equally sweet as when it was 'first drawn from
the cow, ought to be more generally known
Provide a quantity.of pint or quart bottles (new
ones are perhaps. the best); they must be per-.
fectly sweet and.,clean,. and likewise verydry.
before they are made use of. Instead of diaw'
in g the-milk from the cow into the pail as usual
it .is to be milked into*the bottles ; as soon as any,
of them are filled sufficiently, they shoufd be.
immediately well corked with the very best
corks, in order to keep out the external air, and
fastened tight with packthread or wire, as
.the
corks in bottles which contain cider genera'ly
are. Then on the bottom of an iron or copper
boiler spread a little straw; on that lay a row Of
the bottles filled with milk, with some:straw be-.
twixt each to prevent them from breaking, and
so on alternately, until the boiler has got a suffi::
cient quantity; then fill it up with cold water
Heat the water gradually until it begins: to boil;
and as soon as thatis:p,erceivable draw _the fire ;
the bottles must remain undisturbed in the boiler
until they are quite cold; then take them out
and afterwards pack them in hampers, either
with straw or saw.-dust and stow them in the
cooliest part of the ship. Several years since the
writer tasted some milk on board a Swedish`or
Danish ship in the harbour of Liverpool, which
had b.een carried twice to the West Indies? and
hack to Denmark. The Captain said it was
milked into the bottles at Copenhagen upwards,
of eighteen months previous to that time ; it was
.as sweet pr more so (we imagined), then when
first milked from the cow.' The perpetual motion
of the sea in time improVes milk equally as
much as it does. Madeira -wine.

10REIGN IN'FELLIGENCE.

FRENCH PAPERS.

Letters-froth Marseilles of the Ist of this month
state, that the minds of the 'inhabitants are more
composed respecting the yellow fever. The
warm weather has ceased, and the winds now
prevalent will" remove. this scourge from their
coasts. Since this epidemic was introduced into
the lazaretto, it has attacked nineteen persons,.
including the individual who w-as lately removed
from Marseilles to the lazaretto. This man is
doing well, and of the whole number eight' only
have died.— ( Moniteur.)
Letters from Perpignan of. the 29th of Sept.

announce, " that he fever continues to make great
ravages at Barcelona and Tortosa, where it-ifl no
longer possible to reckon the number-of deaths.
Equally destructive is it at Traga and Mequi-
nenza in Arragon. Private letters of the 14th,
received from Palma, the capital of Majorca,
mention its appearance there,: and we know that
it exists at Xeres de la Frontera and Port
-Mary, in Andalusia. The Bulletins „published
at Barcelona report that from the 19th to the
1.25 th of Sep.teniber iuclusiVe, there were at:,

D:p.t4s.
224
141 .

New Cases.

13arcelonetta
Bare:lona

339
303.

"1E is now evident that this disorder is of an

uncommonly Malignant character ; it is epidemic
and contagious ; it resists all the efforts of art;

and the nil:Tiber of its victims are daily increasing

in ihe,infe.ctecl:towns.r

The superior authorities of Catalonia• have
taken 'up their residence at Espanaguera, situated
at the foot of Mount-Serrat. A proclamation
it.stied by the Political Chief of the province
states that. a Cordon has been established beiore

Tortosa, and expresses great uneasiness relative
to Upper -Catalonia, in consequence of the ex-
istence of the yellow fever at Merquinenza. An
appeal is made to the Catalonians to give assist-
ance to the unfortunate inhabitants of Barcelona.
The details of the horrors committing at Barce-
lona are truly frightful; and as if the disorder
was not" sufficiently destructive, some wretches
avail.-=themselves .of the stupor .and depression
of the inhabitants to increase the number of
victims by poison and • -aSsassination.. The
water of two wells has been poisoned
• .
and two monsters were .a-pprehended in the
act of throwing
,arseniC':on, Some fish exposed
for sale in the market. Not a day passes with-
out the perpetration of some criminal act of this
nature, for the purpose of enabling the.per'petra-
tors to plunder the houses, the
.inhabitants of
which are thus carried oii; The inhabitants or
Barcelonetta, who were first attacked with the
disorder, made three weeks ago a forcible irrup-
tion into the, town, to which may chiefly be attri-
buted the infection of Barcelona; A similar attempt
was made on the 26th_ of this month, but fully
aware of the evils that might be the. con.Se,
quence,. the Militia of Barcelona repulsed them,
with the loss of fivemenkiled, and eight wound--
ed.—(Gazet4e de France.)
The Memorial Bearnai affirms that, the yellow
fever.does not extend beyond Mequinenza. The
ravages of this disorder at that town aril :in Tor-
tosa have been exaggerated.—According to re-

spectable authorities, there exists no symptoms of
the yellow fever in Andalusia.—(Jou' .ale Paris.)

VIENNA, SEPT. 27.—1 t is said, the King. of
Naples has iecalled Prince Ruffo, his. Ambass-
ador at our Court.—A courier arrived the day
before yesterday. from Petersburgh.—We have
news from Constantinople of the Bth, by the w.z_y
of Jassy; they are of no importance. •
AUGSBURG, SEPT. 30.—1 t seems that all the
reports-respecting a fresh naval action betw.een
the Greeks and Turks are void of foundation.
,
FRANKFORT, OCT. 2.7—Letteri from Vienna
state, that the King of England is expected in
that capital in the middle of November.; but
this event is not very probable, according to
accounts which have reached us.

SEMLIN (HUNCIAAY) SgPT. 16.—We learn, by
letters from Salonica, of the 23d of August, that
almost .all the Greek merchants had" been im-
prisoned by order of the Pacha, at, the battle
of Cassandra. The .Greek quarter. was given up
to plunder to the Janissaries and Jews, who
profaned even the churches and carried off the
sacred vessels for which they paid a fixed sum to
the Pacha. Several streets were burnt and the
Russian Consul took refuge on board a ship.
The last caravan which arrived at Belgrade
brought the said sacred vessels which the Jews
offered for sale. The Servians have.shewn symp-
toms of insurrection.

PETERSBURG, SEPT. 9.—His Majesty the ERI-
- will leave this city on the 19th for the
army of the South. The general opinion is there
will be no war.

ODESSA) SEPT. 14.—1 t seems certain that the

Emperor Alexander, in visiting the (Efferent
corps of his army, will honour our town with his
presence.

Several vessels have arrived here which left
Constantinople on the Bch. They' report that
the family of Prince Callimachi, who had been
previously banished, have been put to death, but
we have no certain advices on this point. Exile
is generally under the Ottoman Government the
precursor of death, and the extinction of all the
families termed Ettnariotes appears to, have been
resolved on by the Grand Signior from the be-
ginning of the troubles.

Waggons loaded with 20,000 tents passed
through this town the day before yesterday on
their way to the army of the Pruth.
MADRID, SEPT. 27.—A. commission, composed
of the principal off►cers of the troops of the line
in garrison at Madrid have sent a message to the
Chiefs of the National Milita, explaining their
sentiments on the subject of the misunderstand..
ing which the disaffected were desirous of creat-

ing between these two corps.
The mystery which envelopes the conspiracy at
Saragossa, against the Government will .shortly be
laid open, for the 'trial of the principal conspira-
tor, Villarnor, began on the 21st of this month.

According to a letter from Seville, of the 19th,
the Farnese regiment of cavalry, with 40 horse
artillery and 50 infantry, are carrying on a war
of extermination against
.Zaldivar, whiCh we
hope to see concluded by the death or capture
of his hand.
The National Militia of Madrid have trans.
milted Addresses to the. King and the Perma-
nent Deputation of tire Cortes, declaring their
devotion to his Majesty and the Constitutional
system, which. Yillamor and the other conspira-
tors of Saragossa endeavoured to subvert.