The Sun.
London, England, 1842-10-27 00:00:00

TRE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY MORNING, OCTOBER 27, 1842.

ficulties as to be afraid to :appear publicly, and that
the Captain appointed to supply his place having been ,
found blind drunk, and in the company of a prosti-
tute, was considered an unfit person to manage a ship,
upon the safety of which the lives of so many persons ,
depended. It had also been mentioned in the state-
ment made in the Justice-room, that a third Captain
had been chosen, who was considered unexceptionable,
and that he was in the ship at Gravesend.
Captain Pratt declared most solemnly that a
greater falsehood could not have heen told than that
which reflected upon his character as a man of sober
and steady habits. The object of those who uttered
such a calumny was merely to afford something like
a reasonable excuse for the course they were pur-
suing. It was the wish of the passengers that he
should go out as Captain, but he had peremptorily re-
fused to take the vessel under his command, as
everything connected with it was a dark mystery,
and there was no evidence whatever of the stability
and correctness of all the arrangements, notwith-
standing the high description given in answer to the
complaints of the emigrants who appeared before his
Lordship.
The LORD Maim supposed that a satisfactory ar-
rangement had taken place between the party who
contracted with the emigrants and the men who ap-
peared to complain on Monday, as he had heard no-
thing more of the matter. It struck him upon that
occasion, and he had mentioned the fact, that so
important a business as that in which the Association
was engaged, seemed to have been most loosely and
negligently transacted. Well acquainted as he hap-
pened to be, from the nature of his own commercial
transactions, with the means which ought to be
adopted with regard to the transmission of multitudes
of people to distant countries and harsh climates, he
certainly felt that there was something which de-
manded explanation.
One of the persons who accompanied Captain Pratt
here stated that five of the emigrants were in London
on the previous day, ready to make complaints, and
that no money was to be had. It was, he observed,
very extraordinary that an Association, boasting of
such wonderful patronage, and promising nothing less
than the making of people's fortunes, should be so
badly managed that tradesmen were apprehensive
est the credit they might give would leave them in
the lurch.

The LORD MAYOR said the superintendence of the
pecuniary affairs was evidently defective, and he had no-
ticed that as one of the principal objections, amongst
which another was the late period of the year for sail-
ing to such a climate.
Mr. Hobler—A climate that requires Buffalo hidcs
as a protection against the intense cold.
Captain Pratt—The emigrants were most anxious
that I should go, but I have withdrawn myself; and
lam anxious to get my clothes which are on board.
The emigrants have, I understand, already objected
to eat the meat given out to them
The LORD MAYOR—I cannot consent to hear any
more, except the parties interested for the Association
are present, and I would not have listened to so much,
if I had not been given to understand that they knew
of Captain Pratt's intention to be here to• day.
Captain Pratt assured his Lordship that he had
intimated to the gentlemen who had attended to de-
fend the whole of the proceedings on the part of the
Association, that he meant to apply to the Lord
Mayor on the subject of the slander which had been
uttered against himself, as well as other matters con-
nected with the contractor, the owner, and the Asso-
ciation.

The LORD MAYoß—Well, I shall not say anything
more about the business until I hear from his Grace
the Duke of Argyll, to whom I wrote yesterday.
Such an account of what took place here on Monday
has appeared in the press, as lam sure will lead to a
complete explanation, for some of the highest names
are mentioned as sanctioning the proceedings of the
Association, and the strongest assurances are given
that the Association was actually the child of the Duke
of Argyll, and that his Grace entertained the most
sanguine opinions of its success.
The Captain and those who accompanied him, said
they would wait anxiously for a communication from
the Lord Mayor on the subject.
Mr. Wm. Bennet, a young man of comparatively
small dimensions, was summoned by Mr. James Mil-
ler, an able-bodied six feet high, hulking Scotchman,
for an assault.
Mr. Miller said that he called at the house of the
defendant a few evenings ago, to inquire for some-
body, and no sooner had he put his head inside than
he received a whack on the head from Wm Bennett.
The LORD MAYOR—WeII, and what did you do?
You are big enough to stop that sort of play, I think.
Mr. Miller—He was higher up on the stairs, and he
caught hold of a broom and gave me a topper with
the handle.
The LORD MAYOR—And all for nothing ? Mr.
Miller—For nothing at all.
The LORD MAYOR—Pray, have I not seen you
before, Mr. Miller ? Mr. Miller—l dare say you
might, my Lord ; but that has nothing to say to this.
The LORD MAYOR—I don't exactly know that.
Perhaps we shall know a little by and bye. Pray,
who was the somebody you went to inquire for ? Mr.
Miller—Why, it was for my wife.
ot The LORD MAYOR—Oh ! it was for your wife ? You
have been here many times about her. I mean about
beating and kicking her? -Miller—That has nothing
to do with this whatever, your Lordship.
The LORD MAYOR—WeII, defendant, what have
you to say to this accusation ?
Mr. Bennet said that Mrs. Miller, having been
grossly insulted and abused by her husband, and being
apprehensive of some fatal attack from his brutality,
had placed herself under Mrs. Bennet's protection,
and was, when Mr. Miller called, in the house. He
(Mr. Bennet) opened the door when Mr. Miller
knocked, and told him his wife was not in the house ;
whereupon Mr. Miller, being full of drink and fury,
made a most desperate outcry, and used language too
dreadful to be repeated. Under such circumstances,
and as Mr. Miller seemed determined to force his way
up stairs, it was certainly considered necessary to take
up the broomstick, upon receiving a tap of which,
Mr. Miller roared like a bull, and ran out of the
house.--(Laughter.)
Mr. Miller—l was not in liquor, and I used no bad
language ; and I had a right to go where my wife was.
Mr. Hobler—You have been frequently here for
most violently assaulting the poor woman, who has
thrown herself away upon you, and who, it is evident,
ought to be here now, to punish you.
Here the defendant handed to the Lord Mayor a
published account of the last of numerous complaints,
made by Mrs. Miller against her husband, at the
Mansion-house. The report gave a particular descrip-
tion of the cowardly behaviour of Mr. Miller, against
whom the public indignation was warmly expressed.
The LORD MAYOR, at the conclusion, said, why
Mr. Miller, you positively declared upon this Occa-
sion that you would pack up your all, go off to Scot-
land, and never trouble your wife more, if she would
only save you from being locked up.
Slr. Miller—Now my Lord, you must know that
has nothing to do with this. What has my going to
Scotland to do with this man's knocking my head
about with a broomstick for nothing at all ?
The LORD MAYOR—You had no right to go like a
great ruffian,' as you are, into his house.
• Mr. Miller—But I wanted my wife.—(Laughter.)
The LORD MAYOR—And he was determined to
protect your wife against your brutality ; and he has
done it like a man. I dismiss the complaint, and I
advise you, Mr. Miller, to take care how you are
brought here again yourself.
Mr. Miller—Thank you, my Lord. Good morn-
ing to your Lordship.
The LORD MAYOR—I wish you a very good morn-
ing, Mr. Miller.—(Great laughter.)
for
Mr. Bennet subsequently assured the Lord Mayor
tfhee
disappointment afraid
makeby the
of the charge.
police
ee
must apprehend
YORrhiifm,heansd bringhould ahcitni here,badly andt
the
and I will deal with him. But I have given him a
hint which I think he will not forget.
BOW-STREET.

Thomas Smith, a tall powerful man, a private in the
Ist Regiment of Life Guards, was charged with as-
saulting Mary Limeberry, a respectable married
woman, residing at Chelsea, and also with assaulting
the officer who took him into custody.
Mrs. Limeberry stated that she was passing along
Pall-mall last evening, at about eleven o'clock, when
the prisoner, with four other soldiers rushed out
of a public house in a state of intoxication, and com-
menced taking indecent liberties with her. She re-
pelled them, and attempted to make her escape, when
the prisoner knocked her down. She screamed
" Police," and an officer came up and attempted to
take the prisoner into custody, bUt he knocked hi'al
down. He was, however, secured and conveyed to the
station-house.
The prisoner, in his defence, merely said that the
prosecutrix was a woman of bad character, wl-iom he
had seen receive money from gentlemen, while he was
on duty at the Palace.
The policeman was recalled, who stated th'it he had
been on that beat six months, and he had n ever seen
the complainant before.
Mr. JARDINE said he could hardly conceive a more
cowardly assault, or a more unmanly defence' and he
should punish it accordingly. He should fine the
prisoner 41. for the assault on the female, or, in de-
fault, commit him for three weeks ; and for the assault
on the constable, he should commit him for three
weeks to the House of Correction.
CLERKENWELL.
William Edwards, who had been remanded from
the previous day on the charge of robbing several
medical gentlemen under pretence of wishing to con.
stilt them for a " bid thumb," was brought up for
examination on the only remaining charge againSt
him, that of

Air. F. T. Basire, who stated that be was a resi-
dent pupil of Dlr. Phillips, surgeon, of 44, All*.

street, Hyde-Park. On the 6th of "September, at
about half-past one in the afternoon, the prisoner
rang the surgery bell, which was answered by wit-
ness. The prisoner asked to see Mr. Phillips, and on
being told by witness that that gentleman was not at
home, prisoner said he was willing to wait even for an
hour, as he, witness, would not do, for he had a very
" bad thumb." Witness thereupon invited him into
witness's study, which was also used as a consulting-
room, where witness left him alone whilst he went to
partake of luncheon with Mrs. Phillips in an ad-
joining room. There being but a very thin par-
tition, and merely folding doors between the two
rooms, witness distinctly heard the bolt of the
drawer-lock in the study.' click" as if turned by a key.
Witness then sent the footman into the room, telling him
to fetch abook,and to see what the prisoner was doing,
In some short time after this, the prisoner tapped at
the door of the parlour, in which witness and Mrs.
Phillips were sitting, and told witness he could wait
no longer, and would call again in the morning.
Witness attended him to the door, and was in the act
of letting him out when Mr. Phillips came in, with
whom the prisoner returned to the study. They re •
!mined in consultation some little time, and the pri-
soner left. In about a quarter of an hour after that
witness had occasion to go to his drawer in the study,
when he found that the key was gone and the drawer
locked. In this drawer he kept several articles of
jewellery, consisting of two valuable gold mourning
rings, &c., and on Mr. Phillips opening the drawer
with a key of his own, he discovered that the whole of
the jewellery, of the value of about 161., besides a
purse containing from 12s. to 18s. in silver, had been
abstracted therefrom. Witness had seen all these safe
in the drawer a few moments before the prisoner's
arrival, and he could swear that no person save the
prisoner, Mr. Phillips, and the footman, as before
mentioned, had entered the room in the interval. He
had traced the two mourning rings to the possession of
a pawnbroker, with whom they had been pledged by
or at the instance of the prisoner.
Mr. Phillips said he saw the prisoner at the time
mentioned by the last witness. The prisoner told
witness he had injured his thumb in a frolic with some
companions on the previous night. On examining
the thumb witness's impression at first was that it was
an old dislocation. (It was stated on a former occa-
sion that the prisoner has the power of dislocating
his left thumb at will, which is by no means an un-
common thing). Witness finding that he could make
nothing of the alleged " bad thumb," recommended
the prisoner to go across to St. George's Hospital,
permitting him to use his name to the house-surgeon,
and telling him that probably that gentleman might
be able to detect, what he (witness) could not. As
the prisoner was about to leave, witness asked him to
whom he (witness) was indebted for the honour of
the introduction ?—(A laugh.) To which the pri-
soner replied he was recommended to come to witness
by a man named Davis, of Prague-street, a person
-whom of course . witness had not the slightest know-
ledge of.
William Chapman, footman to Mr. Phillips, con-
firmed the evidence of Mr. Basire as to his being sent
into the study while the prisoner was there. Witness
found him sitting close by the drawer belonging to
Mr. Basire, apparently "whistling for want of
thought," and with his back towards the window.
He seemed to be quite unconcerned about any thing.
The prisoner declined to say any thing in answer
to this charge. He also declined, although good-
humouredly pressed by Mr. Mould, to edify the Court
by showing how he did the trick "of dislocating
his thumb at' pleasure. He was fully committed for
trial, and left the bar smiling with affected indiffe-
rence ; as on the previous occasions.

THE BOERS AT THE CAPE.

The recent disastrous conflicts between the British
troops at the. Cape and the Dutch boors, afford a
favourable opportunity for some account of these re-
mote settlements, of which little appears generally
known, except to emigrants and traders.
Port Natal, from which the news is dispatched, is
situated in Eastern Africa, in 29 deg. 53 min. S. lat.,
30 deg. 32 min. E. ion. It has a narrow entrance
with a bar across, but with a depth of water sufficient
to admit ships of from two to three hundred tons
burthen. It spreads in the interior, into a fine sheet
of water, surrounded with rising ground covered with
wood, and having an island in the Midst. Taking the
river Umzirncoolu as the southern boundary, forty
miles to the south-west of the port, and the Arnata-
koola, seventy miles to the north-east of it, there
appears to be one hundred and ten miles
for the extent of the sea-coast of the
Zoolu territory. On the whole, it may be
assumed, measuring by the Quathlamba moun-
tains, which run parallel with the sea coast, that
the Zoolu country, in which Port Natal is situated,
forms a square of about one hundred miles on each
side. From the range of the Quathlamba mountains,
a number of rivers intersect the plain in their way to
the sea, the largest of which, frequently unfordable,
appear to be the Umzimcoolu and the Tugela.
As regards climate, no place can be deemed more
preferable as a place of residence than the Cape, and
the countries included generally in that term. Situated
in a temperature equally removed from oppressive
heat or shivering cold, where the fig-tree, the vine,
and the orange luxuriate in the open air, requiring
but little aid at the hand of man, it cannot but be
other than a delightful seat. Emigrants acknowledge
this fact universally ; but there are certain draw-
backs which, not existing in the natural features of
the place, are found among the inhabitants there lo-
cated. Close to the frontiers of the Caffre country,
such proximity has caused between the Dutch and
other settlers a mutual pilfering of cattle, a kind of
black-mail business, which has led to a constant col-
lision of interests. Other casualties, such as that
which has just taken place, have on various occasions
tended to distract these regions.
The change produced, 'by a few. Europeans at Natal
Bay, may be regarded as a picture of what English
labour and industry has effected, wherever it has
planted its foot, or actively engaged its hand. Shortly
after the emigrants had settled there, says Isaacs, the
whole landscape around Natal became changed from
one of a wild and savage description to a basy and in-
dustrious scene of natives engaged in that to which
they before devoted but little of their time—the la-
bouring of the soil. Natal from this time seemed as
if every.hing was changed from the savage aspect of
its more primitive days. Its plains, its savannahs, its
eminences, and its undulations, had all an harmonious
appearance. Hamlets, with numerous inhabitants,
pursuing their avocations of guarding their herds and
cultivating their patches 'of land for corn and roots,
could be discerned from every quarter.
`With regard to the general character of the boers,
a correct idea may be formed of the nature of persons
the British, either in a military or commercial point
of view, have to deal with, from a representation which
we shall endeavour to draw up, from traits given by
travellers of these Dutchmen. A Dutch boer may
be said to have not the smallest idea of what an
English farmer means by the word comfort. Placed
in a country where not only the necessaries, but
almost every luxury of life might by industry be pro-
cured, he cares for the enjoyment of none of them.
Though he has cattle in abundance, 'he makes very
little use of milk or butter. He drinks no, wine, in the
midst of a soil and climate most favourable to vine-'
culture. He makes use of few or no vegetables or
roots. Three times a-day his table is loaded with
masses of mutton, swimming in the grease of the
sheep. His house is open to the roof, or covered only
with rough poles, and turf ; the earthy floors are
covered with dust and dirt, swarming with insects
and the disagreeable terms. His apartments are
almost destitute of furniture; a great chest contains
all his moveables, and two other smaller ones fitted
to his waggon. The bottoms of his chairs con-
sist of thongs cut from a bullock's hide. But
the boer, notwithstanding, has his enjoyments. He
is absolute master of a domain of several miles in
extent, and he lords it over a few miserable slaves or
Hottentots without control. Unwilling to work, and
unable to think, he indulges to excess in the gratifica-
tion of every sensual appetite. The African hoer thus
grows to an unwieldy size, and is carried off the stage
by the first inflammatory disease that attacks him.
The cruelties exercised upon the Hottentots by
these boers or graziers in remoter parts of the colony-,
are nowhere exceeded. The boer has been hitherto
almost constantly above the law, and, relying on his
gun as the magistrate alike of his house and his dis-
trict, resists, often with impunity, the payment of his
rent, or any other demand which ,ustice or social
claims might tend to make upon him.