Star.
London, England, 1825-01-10 00:00:00

BATAVIA, AUGUST 21.

We have received sore particulars of the loss of his

Majesty's colonial schooner the Calypso, which sailed
from Amboyna on the 18th of April, with dispatches for
Java. After struggling for several days with contrary
winds, it Struck, on the 28th, at midnight, on a reef
_galled by the natives Passeleurang, about five miles
&W. by W. from the island of Rosagalet. The ship
filling rapTaly with water it was resolved to abandon 1

k; part of the crew got on board, and part
which they put together, but the latter not I
to keep the raft afloat returned to the ship, and
on board the long-boat (which was goo crowded to,re-
ceive any more), promised to send it back to fetch them.
off. This, however, they were unable to do. After
driving about for four days, without food, and eery
little water, and assailed by the inhabitants of
several small islands with shot and darts; the long
boat was surrounded, near the island Lusmadie
five vessels of the natives, and the crew being with Out
arms,and completely exhausted, were taken prisoners by
a hundred of the natives. After having remained tvvelVe
days in slavery in the island, they were set at liberty by
the intercession of the Rajah of Bone, ate, except th
Europeans and sir Javanese. Those relased, to the
number of ten or twelve Europeans and three Javanese,
arrived at Macassar on the 21st of June. We havenp
account of the fate .sf those who remained on the
wreck, but vettels and agents have been lent, to .en
deavour to save them.

(of ir

The days of the S•uth Sea and Missisaippi schemes
are returning, so far as a rage of speculation goes,

though we confess we do not see among the many

jects now on foot, any so extravagant as characterizes
the former periods.
Foreign funds and " home-born projects" as Berl
JONSON would call them, alike occupy the attention.
and capital of the British public ; but, for the last few
days,Mining Shares are all the rage, and Companies aie
forming with capital enough to disemb..wel the earth ofl
all its treasures. The Stock Exchange, this morning, was
a scene of Babel-like confusion, by clamours for shares,
in consequence of which the advance in Mining Shares.
has been almost unparalleled. Thus Colombian Mine
Shares, on which only 51. has been paid, and which
were on Saturday at 481. and 501. this morning rose
to 701. and 751. the Brazil Shares (51. paid), which
were at 361. and 371. have risen to 651. the Angio-Mezi-
can (10/. paid), were of Saturday morning at 681.
and 701. but afterwards got up to 921. and 941. this
morning rose to 150 d —the United Mexican Mines (101 i
paid), which were on. Saturday at 1151. and 1201.
skere this day as high *as 1601. The greatest; demand
is, however, for the Real del Monte Mine Shares.
The Shares in this Company are 4.00/. each, of which
701. only has been paid, and yet their current price
is from 1,0501. to 1,200/. per Share I and few if any
sellers! at the price-15001. per shares is asked this
morning.
There is a similar advance, thoigh not to so great an
eltenr, in almost all the new Atilt Stock Companies.
The Australian Company's shares, on which only 11. has
been paid, are at 211. 221. and the Canada Company
shares, on which 51. have been paid, are at 201. and 251. i
Such is the excess of capital and the eagerness of spe-
culation at present in this country.

There are few measures orpolicy, and few discoveries
in science, however obvious, that, on their first being
made known,are not opposed by some individuals, either
from mistaken or interested motives; to what class we
are to attribute the constant attacks in some of the Pa-
pers on Sir HUMPHRY DAVY'S improved method of
coppering ships bottoms, we know not ; it is our busi-
ness to skew that they are unfounded.

It is already known, that many months ago the
MARANG was fitted out at Portsmouth, on Sir Hum-
WIRY DAVY'S plan ; and that she has recently returned
to that port, from a voyage principally undertaken to
put the experiment to the test. About a fortnight ago
the Hampshire Tekgraph, noticing the return of the
SAMARANG, stated, that though " the oxidation of the
metal (a slip of which is, according to Sir HUMPHRY'S
plan, placed on the edge of the copper sheathing), is
prevented by the defensive action of the iron, the ani-
malcule, which this oxidation used to destroy, now prey
in such security upon the vessel, that the bottom of the
SAMARANG is covered with worms, barnacles, and sea-
weed:, to a degree which prevents her being steered
with necessary safety. She has, therefore, returned to
England to be redocked and rec oppered"
To this statement we gave, on the nest authority, the
most positive contradiction, and should scarcely have
recurred to the subject had not the Times of this morn-
ing prefaced another article from the Hampshire Tele-
graph, by affecting to doubt the accuracy of our refu-
tation, as the source of it was not mentioned. It is trues
we did not give our author4„but it was not anonymous,
and we now do not hesitate to say that it was such as
the Times would not for a moment have doubted; we
shall now, however, give other evidence in support of
our statement.

The Hampshire Telegraph, without noticing the direct
contradiction of its former paragraph, gives, " from a
Correspondent," another article, asserting that the bot-
tom of the Samarang " is in the same state as any other
ship without the protectors—that the weeds havegrown
about two inches in length—that the protectors them
selves are decomposed ;" and that " an Officer belonging
to her, states, that he saw, in the clear water of Ber-
muda, that her bottom was covered from stem to stern,
from two feet below the water-line down to the kelson,
with weeds from 12 to 15 inches in length. The ship
was then so incapable of being steered, that the Ber-
mudian pilots would not take the charge of navigating
her into that port."
These are positive assertions; they are, however,
as positivitly contradicted by the Hampshire Chronicle,
(an equally good authority as the Telegraph) re-
ceived this morning, in the following paragraph:—
" The SAMARANO hal been docked, for the purpose
of inspecting the state of her, copper, which is found
to be perfectly free from all accumulation of barna-
cles, &c. as was at first reported. The iron plates

•

ked in. her ran are very math aorrodsd, lust,the
copper is as fleas as
,when it, was first- tried.; the e`it-
Perim tent, we oadere.ird, was made With Old copper."
The same paper contains a retort of the meeting of
,t4e Portsmouth Philtsaaphical Society, which is still
more decisive, and is confirmed by a letter we have
received from a known correspondent in that town,
which we subjoin. Mr. Cum., the President of the So-
ciety, took the opportunity of contradicting the et roneou s
statements which had gone ((nth. He said, 14 he had mi-
nutelyexa mined the Sam A RA NO since sbe came into dock,
and he said it on the authqrity of a Naval Gentleman
experienced in the subject,- as well as on his own, that
no ship in his Majesty's Navy ever came home from a
foreign station, with a dearer copper, or in a better state
bottom. Nothing, in fact, could be more satisfactory
than the appearance of the ship's copper. The accu-
mulation of weeds or shells was peculiarly small, and
little-else-but a few of the minutest limpets had be-
come attached in the space of several months."
The President also denied that the SAMARANG had
been sent honk in consequence of the failure of Sir
HVZIPHRY'S plan, or that it failed at all. We now sub-

join the letter from our correspondent, and leave the
Hampshire Telegraph and its correspondent to defend
ifs charges as they can..

Posvenotrie, StItMAT Evsamo.
Sin—Various reports being in circulation relative to
the state of his Majesty's ship &Aaiun°, docked here
on Thursday last, and the subject having excited the
` liveliest interest in this neighbourhood, I beg leave to
haul y.ns some remarks made by the President of the
Phiii,s...Hcal Society of this town, on Friday evening.
The President (.lAuxs CALL, Esq.) remarked—" I
wish re,pect to the experiments of Sir H. Davy. I think
it would have been much more in accordance with what
is due to this able experimentalist, that no observation,
should be made on the success of these experiments till
Sir 11. Davy bad modified them, so as to give his own
testimony as to their importance, and the value to
which they are entitled. Considering, however, the
degree of interest which these experiments have exciteu
in the public mind, it was not, perhaps, extraordinary,
that persons, whose province it is to make communica-
tions to the public, should have allowed themselves to
be misled by the representations of persons who were
probably but ill qualified to report on such important
and delicate subjects, and which must require some
degree of chemical knowledge to aid their observations;
nor should I have thus publicly noticed these things, if
the reports had not originated in these towns."
I have carefully examined the bottom of the vessel,
and 'instead of the experiment having failed, the con-
trar) most decidedly the case. The Semarang had
been represented to be so foul that she would not
answer the helm, and the pilot of Bermuda refused to
take charge of her, so that it became necessary to bring
her hOnse, and dock her. The lovers of natural history,
here, were all on the alert, expecting to find an associa-
tion of everything curious in the marine world-adhering
to her copper; when, to the astonishment of all, she
was found to be in a very considerable degree less foul
than ships ingeneral are, m 1911144 from Uui 44in:hatter
such a 1151464 of time as she has been out.--A Naval
Captain. of the highest reputation, made at the same
time a like observation. It was quite apparent that a
very active principle had been in full and vigorous
operation. The iron plates were softened into a spongy '
mass r and, for some distance round the plates, the iron
was as bright as when it first issued from the rollers of ,
the Dock-yard : a very few small barnacles were at-
tached to the copper is the immediate vicinity of the
plates; and in no part of the ship did the vegetation
exceed two inches in length, and was of the most mi-
nute kind, and of the geatest delicacy of structure.
Sir H. Davy is expected here to-morrow, to view
the ship.