The Sun.
London, England, 1842-11-23 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF 7'HE SUN.

SlR—Reading your account of the loss of the
Reliance East indiaman, I am induced to beg of
you to give publicity to the suggestion that all
ways crosses my mind, in reading accounts of si-
milar disasters, viz., that the owners or captains
of ships should be obliged to have on board a
trunk of India rubber floating belts ; according
to the number of the passengers and crew; they
would occupy a verysmall space, would cost only
a few shillings each, and might be strapped on
and inflated in a much shorter time than it takes
me to write this note, and would have saved the
lives, in all probability, of not less than 100 hu-
man beings in the case of the Reliance alone (for
the carpenter and five or. six of the crew,_ it ap-
pears, reached the shore without any such assist-
ance.) I need scarcely suggest also, that the con-
fidence given to the crew, by having such a belt
strapped on them, would make them much more
efficient in such imminent danger, and to the very
last moment. To understand the matter more
clearly, let us suppose ourselves in such a situa-
tion ; what would we not give fur such a belt (if
the Captain had them to sell after the ship had
struck), and what sailor would refuse the chance
of security they offered him ? The necessary
box of belts would not cost the owners more than
some one of the vessel's articles always taken out,
and save the lives of hundreds; but if, by calling
the attention of individuals going to sea, to the
prudence of supplying themselves, you thereby
saved only the lives of a few, I am sure you will
consider yourself amply repaid, as should,
Sir, your obedient servant,
THOMAS BROADWOOD.
Holmbush, Nov. 19, 1842.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
SlR,—Being a subscriber to your valuable paper,
you will perhaps excuse my troubling you, but I
think it only due to the skill of Mr. Cronin that some
publicity should be given, for the benefit of the com-
munity, to his method of cure in cases of consump-
tion, asthma, &c.
I had been nine months under a medical man with
confirmed consumption, and given over by him as
incurable. I have now been five weeks under Mr.
Cronin, and am not like the same person, as my health
and strength are rapidly returning.
If you can find room for this in your next publica-
tion, I think it will be conferring a benefit on those
similarly afflicted.—l remain, Sir, your most obedient
servant, ADOLPHUS CARTWRIGHT.
Navigation and Sloop Office, Customs, Nov. 21.

the transport ship
MEMOIRS Waterloo, was providentially on shore at the time of
her loss.
OF TILE LITERARY ENGLAND.
LADTES OF
—A new work under this title is announced as imme-
diately forthcoming from the pen of Mrs.
Elwood.
f
A more attractive production in the eyes of
sex could hardly be imagined ; and i
indeed thet
mustair
possess great interest for all classes
ve adorned
the numerous distinguished females who ha
our literature, even during the past century, we may
number Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, Lady Murray,
the Duchess of Somerset, Mrs. Delany, Mrs. Elizabeth
Carter, Mrs. Talbot, Mrs. Catherine Montagu, Mrs.
Sheridan, Mrs. Chapone, Ilra.'rrimmer, Mrs.Barbauld,
Smith, Mrs. Inchbold, Mrs. Piozzi, Madam Charlotte
of readers. Among
Miss Seward, Mrs. Hannah More, Mrs.
Mrs. Grant, of Laggan, Mrs. Elizabeth Hamilton,
Mrs. Mary ‘Vollstonecraft Godwin M. Radcliffe,
Miss Jane Austen, Miss Elizabeth Smith, Mrs.
Brunton, Mrs. Ileums, Miss Jane Taylor, Mrs.
Maclean, Miss A. M. Porter, Ice. It is scarcely
necessary to observe that the varied lives of these
ladies afford materials for a succession of biographies
as interesting in a social as a national point of view.
eD'Arblay,
We regret to record the death of a sergeant of
Marines, named Thomas Tatchell, under the fol-
lowing melancholy circumstances, offering another ex-
ample of the fatal effects arising from the incautious use
of fire-arms. On Thursday morning last, about 11
o'clock, the deceased, with two persons, named Thomas
Spuraway and Jas. Kemp, the latter a grocer,:residing
in 'William-street, Morice-town, who had been spar-
rowtown, Kemp, carrying the gun, which was loaded
with small shot- Spuraway observing it was cocked,
said it was dangerous to carry it in that state, took
the gun from Kemp, and, after showing him
shooting together, were returning to Morice-
the way to uncock it, Kemp not knowing how to
do it, this being the first time he had ever fired a gun,
returned it cocked into Kemp's hands, that he might
do it himself. The deceased was
sud-
denly exploded, and the contents entEred the deceased's
side, who cried, " Oh, oh ! you have killed me," and
ground. staggering about fell to the • then a short distance
ahead. In Kemp's attempt to uncock, the gun
ound. He was taken
home
Paper.
mrr and after expired.—Ply-
mouth Pap Epps on Friday evening last deli-
vered his second lecture on
human physiology, in
ciiA:l_mposrt. immediately
the large hall of the Rising Sun Inn,
Lower Toot-
ing, to a numerous, respectable, and attentive
audience. His first lecture, on Thursday, Nov. 10,
was
anumerouslywas filled to overflow, numbers of respectable
females of the
p lac tend
and from the surrounding vil-
lages, were present, and all bestowed the greatest
eaet,ed ; 14ut the hall on Friday
attention upon the important truths advanced, and
the practical application
so clearly and happily
made out. The learned lecturer clearly showed
nourishment in early youth,it Was impossible that a
healthy structure could be obtained ; and condemned
the
C,
oirfn
-tlhaew
sh human a frame had not a sufficiency of
onen of the
and of a short and unhealthy frame -
and denounced
n causes
of
crooked legs
;
in no measured terms the conduct of a person resi-
dent in the neighbourhood, who ; -11 his progress to
church on the previous Sunday, had pulled down and
destroyed the bills announcing the lecture. He con-
cluded his second lecture (of two hours' duration)
amidst loud applause. The profits arising from his
lecture the Doctor has kindly promised to the Anti-
Corn-law Association.

attempted tyo
having
nat in
at bPrtlitingLe7 MAR-.
in g i nems thattueester-
day,-
MAR-
KET-PLACE.—At ET
..E. CUTTINGLaCE
.A—At
the WOMAN'S
T 43Twilnitrari 1 , I
Cambridge,
day, Charles Triplow, a greengrocer,inliNhe
evening,
prisoner and
bdoerrouhgish,wmi,fase chhyargenedttiwngithhleiary
market-
place, on Saturday. Charles Wilderspen the
:loasveed
been
the de
heon wasin Saturday,the market,bee whensix and
h e sseavwe n
his wife standing against their stall. The prisoner
went up to his wife and pushed at her two or three
quarreling. A woman called out to Witness, " He's
times, as if angry, and they appeared to
cut her throat." He hastened to the prisoner's wife,
and saw her bleeding from the neck. The prisoner
turned off, as if to run away, when witness collared
him. Some one then said to the prisoner
, ~, you
have been cutting your wife's throat ; and he replied,
" Yes, I'll cut her -- heart out before I've done
with her:' The prisoner was not drunk. Charles
Gunn deposed to having seen the prisoner and his
wife wrangling. She struck him on the side of the
head, to make him get away from the stall, when he
went up to her and jobbed something into her neck.
Witness saw a great gash in her throat. Another
witness deposed that the prisoner caught hold of his
wife's throat '‘‘ as if he was going to choke her, and
held her a short time, and then cut her throat." The
woman was conveyed to the hospital. One of the sur-
geons to the hospital deposed that the wound was
three inches in length, and one in depth; the external
jugular vein had been cut through,
Onn
'his way to
the station-house, the prisoner said he meant to kill
his wife, and if she was dead he should be happy ;
he intended, after killing her, to kill himself. The
knife was produced with which the wound had been
inflicted ; it was a very large clasp knife, with a sharp
point. As the woman was dangerously ili, and not
able to give any evidence against her husband, he was
remanded for a few days.

GLOBE.—The conclusion of the war with China
has diffused unmixed satisfaction among all classes.
The melancholy carnage of the Chinese, by which
every conflict with our troops was attended, bringing
no glory to our arms because of the inequality in
skill and prowess which was evinced by the van-
quished—this succession of victories without glory
has been happily brought to a termination. A treaty
has been concluded by which all that we demanded
has been conceded, including indemnity for the ex-
penses of the war, into which we were coerced by
a succession of provocations and injuries on the
part of the Chinese Government, that left
no alternative but war, which was adopted as a dernier
resort. The manifest advantages which the treaty has
secured to our commerce are, of course, the theme of
general congratulation. A vast extension of demand,
it may be hoped, will be created for British manufac-
tures among the immense population of the Chinese
empire ; now that new ports, opening communica-
tions with provinces which were previously almost
hermetically sealed against the introduction of
British produce, are assigned by the Chinese Govern-
ment for the reception of our trading vessels. The
intelligence—coming, as it does, at a period of
almost unprecedented commercial depression and de-
spondency—has raised the drooping spirits of our
manufacturers and merchants, and will, we trust, be
the -commencement of a new era in the history of
theirAnng,discouraged pursuits. The twenty-one
millions of dollars, which the Chinese have under-
taken to pay, and for payment of which security is
held, although anything but indifferent either to the
British nation or its Government, in the present state of
our finances, is but as dust in the balance, when viewed in
connection with the immediate,remote, and interminable
advantages which will accrue from the increased faci-
lities afforded to trade by the possession of ports com-
municating with the various provinces. The influ-
ence of recent events on the Chinese character, and
on their long-cherished notions of superiority over
every other people upon the earth, cannot fail to pro-
duce vast beneficial results to that people. The silent
march of ages could not have effected so powerful a
change, so perfect a revolution, as will flow from the
acquaintance to which they have been brought with
themselves, and with Europeans, by means of the now
terminated war between Great Britain and their Go-
vernment. The wall of separation which the Chinese
had succeeded in building around themselves, and
by which they had shut themselves out from the
intercourse which civilised nations, in a state of amity,
cultivate for the purposes of mutual advantage—this
barrier, the work of ages, has been shaken to its base,
and a breach made in it which it will be found im-
possible to repair. China will, doubtless, ere long,
take her place among the nations of the earth; her
Government holding regular intercommunication by
means of recognised representatives, with other Go-
vernments ; and her people, not merely members of,
but feeling that they are members of, the great hu-
man family.
STANDARD.—The opening of four new ports to
British commerce, each of these ports a better port
and in a richer country than Canton, the only port
hitherto unsealed to Europeans, is an event the im-
portance of which can scarcely be estimated by any
accessible analogy. The opening of four new ports
in France, the largest and the richest state of
Europe, would be a matter of little interest,
because, notwithstanding its extent, France has
already established communications with a suffi-
cient number of ports for commercial purposes ;
but the opening of four new ports in China is the
equivalent of the opening of commercial rela-
tions with four rich States, each as large as France,
and with any of which we have never before had any
commerce whatever. To the Chinese the benefit will
be even greater than to us, as opening their whole
coast to the trade of Great Britain ; for it amounts
to this. They open their commerce to the uni-
versal factors and carriers—that is, to the whole
world. A trade established with England will
enable them to have the product of the looms of
Manchester or the forges of Birmingham, or of
the industry of France or Germany transmitted
through British commerce in a few months to China
—and China has been too long in peace not to be rich
and luxurious. These things are the guarantees of a
long peace. We must, however, abruptly conclude for
the present, to give place to the authentic information
upon which our remarks are founded ; and before
concluding, we will ask one question—Was not
the fire of London in 1666 a good ? Did it not
lead to immense improvement in the appearance, in
the accommodation, and the health of the British
metropolis (we have had no visit from the plague since
the great fire) ? The question must be answered in
the affirmative. Then we add another—are the incen-
diaries who burned a city, whether, as we believe
them, zealots of Romanism, or, as others think, Libe-
ral thieves, entitled to grateful praise for the conse-
quences of their crime? If not, neither are the Whigs
entitled to plume themselves upon the consequences of
the Asiatic war.

MONEY MARKET and CITY NEWS.

FROM THE MORNING PAPERS OF YESTERDAY.

TIMES.—The intelligence from China of a settle-
ment of our dispute with that country caused a per-
fect panic among all parties interested in the prospect
of affairs in the East. It came so suddenly upon every-
body, that most people, till they had well scrutinized
the contents of the telegraphic dispatch, and the terms
upon which peace is said to have been concluded, ap•
peared rather incredulous ; recollecting most probably
the trick on a former occasion played off by a section
of the French press, in the publication of the fabri-
cated extract of the letter from Marseilles ; which,
although its auttor was never discovered, has ever
since retained a notoriety of the most questionable
character. When, however, due consideration was
given to the communication, there was a change of
opinion, and the dealers in the public Funds dis-
played the feeling with which they were disposed to
receive it, by doing business on an extensive scale for
an advance. The consequence of this was a run upon
the Consol market, where prices improved one-half
per cent., the figure for Money and the Account
reaching 944. The purchases in the early part of the
morning were general ; it was not the bargains of a
few of the jobbers that influenced quotations, it was
the desire manifested by the majority to come in as
buyers that brought them up to the position they
now maintain. This to a certain extent is strong evi-
dence of the view in which the news is regarded. The
quick transit of it appeared to have been a question
sorely puzzling to several of the gossips of the City
as
nw: wouldre a
nal bloye
favourable epr xre P eoc ve cii
sNoed( s
coffee-houses, but of the possibility and probability of
i
such a mail coming to hand not the least doubt is en-
ttehrat:ii
nn
teedil
ifgoernicne coefrstaoimneqdueasrtecrirsptijot
fromb
plagt
light
th
bCpyhri
proposed
most
tendr
commerciali
anft
ohrem in middlegm te hn
eo; fb basist
uh te disappointmentmo
fotnht
eh
treatyy a
spe-
cial conveyance overland. The teydrertndhsait:thich the dis-
tLvpereensstehde
btywosomPoevcaTtrtsheardeiscroeNga,err
n
has been made for the appointment of a British Resi-
dent at the Court of Pekin. The Government will, it
is on all hands admitted, receive a proportionate re-
turn for the expensive disbursements by the payment
of this 4,500,0001., should it be religiously adhered to,
which, with the sources of trade opened at the new
ports of Ningpo, Amoy, &c., cannot fail to compensate
the country in some small measure for the long and
harassing warfare in which it has been engaged, leaving
for the while unconsidered the merit of the achieve-
ment of the subjection of this nation to terms of equa-
lity with ourselves.
The failure of Messrs. Bell, Brothers, and Co. a
firm of old and respectable standing in the Irish trade,
was announced on 'Change to-day. Beyond the
mere fact of their stoppage no well authenticated par-
ticulars have transpired.
CIIRONICLE.—The decided triumph of Whig
policy, as consummated in the important intelligence
received this morning of a treaty of peace with
China has produced great buoyancy in the English
Funds, and is justly looked upon as calculated, be-
yond all other acts of foreign policy, to restore
vitality to trade, and to refresh tke springs of our
national industry. The immense population of
China—its vast resoures and varied products—its
endless wants and means of paying for them—all
form new elements of trade, boundless in their re-
sults, which cannot fail, at the present low prices, to
demand for goods, and afford em-
ploymentour manufacturing classes. Several
rs
mi sepl up a s
samples
of C y
in the City of the very finest quality, and a rather
topeheidnese tobacco have been lately exhibited
recent venture of 100 pounds of gold lace, sent to
the flowery land, was sold at a profit ,of 50 per cent.
to adorn the State robes of the mandarins. The influx
of 7,000,000 of dollars of specie annually, for three
years, will absolutely glut the coffers of the Bank,
and it is expected that Peel will instantly convene
Parliament to take off the Income-tax, and repeal the
sliding scale, so as to give the country the full benefit
of this glorious change of prospects.

DUBLIN, Nov. 20.—For the first time blood has
been shed in consequence of resistance to the levy of
the poor-rate in this country. The facts I have re-
cently noticed, respecting the growing spirit of hos-
tility to the Poor-laws, especially as manifested by
the tone of Conservative journals, one of which actu-
ally put forward a requisition for a meeting to resist
the payment of the rate—all this must have in some
measure prepared the public for such deplorable events
as the following, from the Cork Examiner of Friday
evening :
" Through Mr. Hurley, driver of the Skibbereen
coach, we learn the following particulars of a melan-
choly transaction, accompanied with loss of life,
which took place at Skibbereen. It appears that a
party of police, under the command of Captain Gore
Jones, S.M., proceeded about three miles from the
town' to afford protection to the collectors of rates for
that district : but having met with some resistance
from the people, who were labouring under great ex-
citement, they returned to town to augment their
force, which having done, they proceeded once more
to the scene of action. The people were now pressing
on them, and one of them unfortunately threw a stone
at the police, when they immediately turned round
and fired on them, when one man, whose name we
were not able to learn, was shot dead, and three others
wounded. We give the above hurried particulars as
they have just been communicated to us."
A statement of this calamitous occurrence, exactly
similar to the above, appears in the Linzerick Chronicle
of yesterday, with the exception that the locality is
described as Desertserges, about three miles from
Bandon, and not Skibbereen.
DUBLIN, SUNDAY, QUARTER TO FIVE, P.M.—We .
copy from the Southern Reporter of yesterday, the
following afflicting details :
" We received at mid-day yesterday, letters from
correspondents at Skibbereen, giving an account of a
most lamentable transaction, of which the neighbour-
hood of that place was the scene, on the preceding
day, and in which one man was killed and two badly
wounded.

" It appears that there has been considerable oppo-
sition, by the country people in that district, to the
collection of the poor-rate, and that it was deemed
necessary to send out a large police force, at the head
of which Mr. Gore Jones, stipendiary magistrate, and
a Mr. Alymer, the nephew and agent of Lord Car-
bery, who resides in that country, placed themselves
in order to enforce the collection.

" It is impossible to accompany any statement which
has been yet received of this affair with an assurance
of its accuracy, and we therefore wait for further ac-
counts from the place, which we may receive in the
course of this day. The letter, which we subjoin, is
from a most respectable gentleman, and was written
with a full reliance that what is stated in it was faith-
fully true ; nor is there anything in it, to lead to any
doubt or distrust of its accuracy. Still we wait for
further information :

" ' Skibbereen, Nov. 17, 1842.

" Our town to-day presents all the appearance of
warfare. On getting into the streets this morning
nothing was to be seen but Magistrates, amongst
whom was Mr. Gore Jones, S.M., police, foot and
mounted, commanded by sub-inspectors, making pre-
parations to proceed to the parishes of Creagh and
Tullagh, to assist in distraining for poor-rates (which
the farmers are determined not to pay). This mo-
ment my attention is arrested by the marching of this
force past my window. I have counted seventy foot
police, four horse, and two sub-inspectors, under the
command of Mr. Gore Jones and Mr. Aylmer, Lord
Carhery's agent. who, I understand, goes out to use
his influence with the people (the greater part of whom
are that nobleman's tenantry) to induce them to pay.
I cannot help pronouncing this step of sending out
large armed forces amongst a quiet peasantry, who
are resisting a tax passively (which they imagine is
oppressive), as impolitic, unwise, and uncalled for, and
one only calculated to increase every opposition with-
out compassing any object, unless that which I fear
will be the result. Should any unfortunate occur-
rence take place I will inform you. From the bon-
fires which were last evening lit on all the surrounding
hills, I fear large masses of the people will show in the
direction of the destination of the police.'
. _

" ' Five o'clock.

" I have this moment got particulars from a gen-
tleman who was at the scene, and upon his statement
you may rely. One man, named I3awn, a widow's
only son, was shot through the back in the act of run-
ning away, forty yards in the rear of the police, the
ball passing through his heart. Two others were
shot—the thigh of one dreadfully fractured, and an-
other through the calf of the leg. This took place at
almost the chapel door of the parish of Rha. The
particulars are stated to be these :
" As soon as the police arrived at a place called
Old Court, they were joined by a large number of
country people, who shouted as they passed along,
and who, as they proceeded, were joined by crowds,
until the concourse numbered about 2,000 ; and as
they reached Rha, Mr. Aylmer attempted to arrest a
man who had a stick in his hand, and who resisted ;
upon which a mounted policeman rode up and made a
cut with his sword at him, when two or three boys
threw stones, and thereupon orders were given to fire,
without a word of expostulation, advice, or caution,
upon which the police obeyed, and a firing was kept
up until the face of a being was not to be seen.'
" The Constitution of this morning has the following
version. Of the conduct of the Magistrates as herein
represented, who met on 'Wednesday, after the ad
journment of the sessions, and of the resolution to
which to which they are stated to have come, it is
mpossible to speak but in approbation and praise ;
and it is greatly to be lamented that the wise and
humane determination to which they came, of using
advice and remonstrance only, on Thursday, through
Messrs. Aylmer and Jones, without the attendance of
the police, was subsequently so totally departed from
—to which the deplorable results that ensued may
he attributed."
The Constitution's account is this :

" Of particulars we are not in possession, but all
that prudent men could do was done by the Magis-
trates to induce a quiet compliance with the law.
After the adjournment of the petty sessions court on
Wednesday, the following gentlemen—A. o 'Driscoll,
Hugh Lawton, Richard IL H. Becher Michael Gal-
way, A. P. Aylmer, D. O'Donovan, and Gore Jones,
S.M., Esqrs.—retired to their private room, accom-
panied by G. B. Drew, Esq., and William Gardiner,
Esq., Sub-Inspector. Under the command of the
latter, there had been assembled in Skibbereen a large
portion of police for the purpose of levying the rate due
Of a portion of the estate of Lord Carbery, near Bal-
timore, and where, on the_
The
7thinst., were
the police
,rh
resisted and assaulted. object of the meeting of
Magistrates was to confer on the best means of exe-
cuting the law without recourse to force, and we un-
derstand the following humane resolution was unani-
mously adopted :
" ' That A. P. Aylmer, Esq. (agent and nephew to
Lord Carbery), with John Gore Jones, Esq., S.M.,
shall accompany the collector of poor-rate (Mr. Do-
novan), on Thursday, the 17th, to the lands in ques-
tion ; and, if advice and remonstrance fail, shall pro-
ceed, on Friday, the 18th, and put the law in execu-
tion ; first, without a policeman, or any show of hos-
ility whatever; and each Magistrate volunteering to
attend in person, should that not prove effective.'
" The first who volunteered was Mr. Lawton, but
neither he nor any of his brother Magistrates seem to
have been called on. As far as we are informed, Mr.
Aylmer and Mr. Jones were the only persons with
the police. Resistance, we presume, was offered ; in-
deed, it is said that the police were pelted and severely
struck with stones. Eventually, they were obliged to
fire, and one man was shot, and three others, if not
more, were wounded. Particulars may reach us be-
fore Tuesday, but at present we have nothing further
in our possession."
"REPORTER OFFICE, ONE O'CLOCK.—At this hour
the coach which left Skibbereen at a very early hour
this morning has arrived, but we have received no fur-
ther account from any correspondent there.
" A sergeant of police, however, who came up by
this conveyance, and was the bearer of letters for- the
police department here, states that up telaasnstdunffie_grhedt
the ascertained number of persons who had
in the melancholy fray was two killed
four
severely wounded. Two troops of hussars, from
Ballincollig, passed through Bandon last
rein_forceevmeneinntsg, are
required for Skibbereen, and further
required from Cork. The Coroner, Franklin Bald-
win, Esq., has gone down this
mdona
morning, to make ar-
rangements for the inquest on
hay. The scene
of the fatal affair was about five-and
aAltiam-orelf. miles from
Skibbereen, in the direction
of B
cc HALF-PAST ONE O'CLOCK.
been received by the police authoritidiessPhaetereh, directing
the the immediate transmission
of
men of the East Riding constabuaillaroyffifocercre,atend Skib-
bereen. The messenger states that the country for
tmiles round continues to be grestly excited. A re-
port reached Skibbereen last night of the death of a

THE LATE STORM AT MADEIRA.
The following letter contains, probably, the best
account that has hitherto appeared of the storm which
has devastated Madeira:—
FUNCHAL, OCT. 29.—Tc enable you to enter into
the statement I am about to make, it is necessary that
you should call to mind the physical character of the
island of Madeira, which may be described as a chain
of volcanic hills, ascending one above another, to a
height of about 6,000 feet, and intersected in all di-
rections by precipitous ravines, into which thousands
of mountain-streams find their way, and are thus con-
ducted to the sea in torrents, varying at different sea-
sons in size and velocity. Of these large ravines three
pass directly through the town of Funchal, and hare
bridges thrown over them at suitable distances. They
are called "ribeiras," and are distinguished by the
names of St. John, San Luizia, and Our Lady of
Calhao. In the• more elevated parts of the mountains
these ravines, or fissures, are manyhundred feet in
depth, but as the hills decrease in height the ravines
diminish-in depth. In the upper
hi;parlts. of Funchal
they may be 30 or 40 feet d e
hoirn thelower
hih .
they come out on a level withp ;thwe s
strewed with boulders brought down fromeiheweis
moun-
tains during successive centuries. These are wl
rounded by the long journies they have made, and bye
the buffetings of the angry torrents which originally
disturbed them from their natural beds, and :la' h
are ever unceasingly, though gradually,- propellinge
them onward towards the sea.
After a heavy fall of rain the torrents rise with as-
tonishing rapidity, though, as their depth is great and
the fall so rapid, they can dispose of almost any ordi-
nary quantity of water which may flow into them
from the mountains. To form an estimate of how
great this quantity must sometimes be, you should
remember, first, that in this semi-tropical climate all
the rain falls at particular seasons, those seasons
being singularly short and the rains proportionately
heavy while they last ; and, secondly, that from the
nature of the country, whose rocks resist the infiltra-
tion of water, nearly the whole quantity of rain
diffused over a surface of about thirty square miles
is brought into these three ravines passing through
the town.
Funchal stands on the sea-shore, facing the south,
and climbs the amphitheatre of hills which rise about
it majestically with bold and angular outlines. The
streets, following the slopes of the hills, are all more
or less steep. They are narrow, and paved with large
shingle pebbles, slightly inclined from the sides to the
centre, to conduct the water from one street to another,
till it finds a suitable egress in a ravine or in the sea.
Through several of the principa streets, partly in na-
tural fissures of the rock, and partly in artificial con-
duits, some of the clearest and purest of the mountain
streams are conducted undergrounkfor the supply of
the town. In summer these " levadas," or aqueducts,
are -always abundantly supplied; and, after rain, the
rush of water through them is sometimes terrific.
The rainy season, which generally lasts three or
four weeks, set in on the 13th inst., since which rain
has fallen for several hours every day. On the 17th
and 18th it fell in torrents, accompanied by storms. of
thunder and lightning. During?. the three following
days we had intervals of sunshine ; but the ribeiras
had already swollen into rivers, which rushed with
angry vehemence along their stony beds, forming a
succession of foaming waves and cataracts. It was
reserved, however, for Saturday, the 22d inst., to con-
vince us, by terrific example of the mighty power
latent in that element by which the world was de-
luged, and ever ready to be exerted when it pleases
God to " open the floodgates of Heaven." From
morning till night, and from night till morning, the
rain fell almost perpendicularly in steady, heavy
streams. During Sunday and Sunday night there
was little or no intermission. The sun and the moon
were darkened. There were no clouds, but the sky
was veiled in a mantle of waters. There was no fog,
yet the sea before us, and the mountains immediately
above, were, even in the day-time, hidden from our
view, for the rays of light passed through falling
streams of water. If anything beyond our windows
were visible, it was rather in the night than the day,
when the liquid fire ran from peak to peak, mimicking
in its jagged course the rugged outlines which it re-
vealed—but revealed only for a moment, to be again
enveloped in their shroud of waters and of thunder
clouds.
On the morning of Monday, the 24th, hope was
still deferred. The sky, which had been discharging
itself for 48 hours, yet lowered heavily, and the rain
descended without intermission. The barometer con-
tinued to fall, and gave indications of something
worse yet to.come. Apprehensions now began to be
Excited. All were on the alarm. In some less pro-
tected parts of the town destruction had already corn.
rented its work. In the higher quarters most of the
windows and many of the roofs of the houses proved
an insufficient protection against the wet : in the
lower, the ground floors were under water, and all
moveables were stowed in the higher stories.
Through the day the flood of waters continued.
Alarm was converted into terror, and fear into the
assurance of heavy calamity. In the afternoon, as
the crisis approached, it was impossible to apply the
mind to any casual occupation. The war of elements
increased, and we could scarcely avert our eyes from.
the windows, where the indistinctness of all we
saw enhanced the terrors of the scene. About
four o'clock the fury of the rain reached its climax,
and never surely was the assurance conveyed by
God's covenant bow more needed than new. For
nearly three days it had rained in torrents, but now
seas of war descended from the sky. It was no
casual and passing waterspout, whose violence is
quickly spent, and its effects, however dreadful, as
speedily known; it was rather one continuous fall
with the violence of successive water- spouts pro-
longed through several hours. It seemed as though
the fountains of the great deep had been broken up
and inverted over our heads. Nature's self was dis-
organized. The air was exchanged for an atmosphere
of water, and this fair portion of God's creation, this
bright oasis in the watery waste of the Atlantic, was
threatened with dissolution—with being once again
submerged under the ocean from which it issued at
the fiat of the Eternal. The horrors of this awful day
were enhanced by the unnatural sounds which met
our ears. The noise of the water was deafening, as it
poured into the streets from the elevated spouts on
the roofs of some thousands of houses. The wind
howled as it rushed down, from the mountains and
whirled round the corners of the buildings ; while the
torrents in the ribeiras thundered, as they rolled impe-
tuously down their inclined and rugged planes with
the velocity, and almost with the precipitousness, of
waterfalls. Not a human being was to be seen, ex •
cept where a drowning man, whose house was under
water, fled to a neighbouring abode for succour, or
where a half frantic parent was hurrying in wild and
fruitless search after his missing child. In these rare
case the contest was short and decisive. Human
strength was quickly prostrated in combat with the
' elements ; 'and the sea above, and the sea below, soon
drove back the venturous sufferer -to his miserable
dwelling.
In the course of the night a sudden rise of_ water
in the streets took place, not to be accountrdoorf eventhe
by the continuous rain ; and the destruction for
cause
lower part of the town seemed inevitable.
was soon too obvious. The immense pressure o:
water in the levadas, or subterranean acqued uet
above referred to, had caused them to burst, carryingho
away the pavement and the wallsofseyeal
and leaving, instead of streets, deep chasmsseveral houses,
filled_ up by huge stones and tragments of fallen
buildings. At the same time one of the ribeiras, that
of Calhao, no longer able to contain the accumulating
water, broke away the thick parapets raised on the
surface on its rocky natural barrier, near the embou-
chure, and inundated the lower portion of the town.
Imagination can ill conceive, much less can words
describe, the terrors of this moment. streetsWho-le
of houses were evacuated. Their -occupants fled
the roofs, and saw their property carried off into the
sea. The warehouses (or, as they are called, stores)
of some of the merchants participated in the general
destruction, and pipes of wine floated along the streets.
One gentleman is said to have lost 50, but no estimate
can as yet be formed of the total loss of property.
A subscription for the sufferers was immediately
set on foot, in which the English are the chief movers.
Many of our countrymen have contributed up to, if
not beyond, their ability ; and, though only 200 or
300 in number, they have subscribed, tip to the pre-
sent hour, six times as much as the whole Portuguese
gentry and middling classes; who, however, it is to
be hoped, will follow their liberal example. Such a
calamity has never been known in the island, nor any
thing approaching to it, within the last forty years.
In the early part of this century an inundation oc-
curred, ever since known by the name of " the Flood,"
in which more lives were lost, and some entire houses
carried into the sea; but an Englishman who has
lived here more than half a century, told me that the
fury of the elements was less on that occasion than
on this ' • and that if the town had now been con-
structed as it was then, not a vestige of it could
have survived. In those days the ribeiras were nar-
row, and no drains existed to convey into them the
water from the streets; the houses were built of wood,
and plantations of trees stood within the limits, or in
the immediate vicinity, of the town. These, being
carried down the ribeiras, and encountering masses of
rock, formed embankments, which early dammed up
the beds of the torrents. Thus a comparatively small
quantity of rain made them overflow their banks, and
the wooden houses, severed from their foundations,
were floated bodily into the sea, and traced by their
lights (for it was night) as they gradually sank lower
and lower into the devouring element.

The Earl and Countess of Jersey and Lady Cle-
mentina Villiers, returned to Middleton Park, Oxon,
on Monday.