Star.
London, England, 1824-01-31 00:00:00

ANTIQUITIES.

At the Anniversary Meeting o die Antiquarian So-
ciety of Newcastle, on Wednesday se'nnight, an inte-
resting paper by Mr. XV.Chapman, was read to this Meet-
ing, giving an account of the antiquities and curiosities
discovered in digging the Canal from Carlisle to the
West Sea, under that Gentleman's direction. The most
interesting part of this communication related to the:
discovery, on the shores of the Solway Frith, beyond
Brough, of a subterraneous forest of oak, imbedded in
a stiff blue clay, and lying from two to three feet below
the foundation of the Ltoman Wall, which passed over
it. The trees, which were of large dimensions were all
lying towards the north ; the stumps of some were in
their natural position. And what is more remarkable,
the wood of these trees was in so perfect a state, as to
be scarcely distinguishable from Ire ill oak, although. it is
evident that it must have lain there some thousand years,
as the period of its growth must have been Jong .ante-
rior to. the building of the Roman Wall., • ,S 0 pe•teuly
son►nd was the wood that it was used for the purposes of
embankment, &c. along with• other woad. • A 'piece of
it was exhibited and presented to the Society. The An-
tiquities consisted principally of a rudely-carved horned
figure, supposed to be a Bacchus, and a small coin,
both found near 13rough. These were both presented
to the Society by -Mr. Chapman ; as was also the (rag-
meta of a red earthen bowl, found in the station at
Wall-end, on the first sinking of the colliery, and which
was long in the possession of .the late H. Horuby, Esq.
Tilkysqsa.
The course and terminetion.of. this .mysterious
river is on the eve of being filially nettled*" Private.let-
ters hare been received from the African travellers, Dr.
Oudney, Lieutenant Clapperton, and Major Denham,
SU kale as the middle of July last, from Bornou,

whet:. they still remained under the protection of the
Melt:. waiting their further proceeding to the Eastward
until the rainy season shall have ceased. In the Mean-
time they have not been idle, having traced back the
stream of die Niger from the great lake of Tsad, into
which it falls full tt‘i; hundred miles to the Westward,
and within one hundred miles of the lake Thife, into
which Hornemanu had traced its course. Its name, it
s,Tms, between the lake Niffe and the lake Tsad is
Yaon, and on its banks are many pleasing villages and
several large cities in ruins, particularly that of Old
Birnie, which is stated to be nine miles in c►rcumference,
and he horses mostly of brick. It was pillaged and
laid w.►cv.e by the Fallatas, a most powerful tribe of
blacks of Soudan, about fifteen years ago, when those
I:tre cities of Konka, Engornou, and Birnie, near the
Great Lake, were founded by the present Sheik of,
Bunion. We have seen a letter from Lieutenant Clap.
Perron, in which he describes in raptures the beauties of
the Tsakl, and its numerous islands, clothed with ver-
dure, and the tall and elegant Papyrus waving its plumy
head high above the rest. The natives navigate the lake
in large boats, fifty or sixty fret long, sewed together
like those of Mastilipatam, and they have others with
sciaare sterns on which sheers are erected for managing
their fishing nets. How far this inland sea extends to'
the Eastward had not been ascertained ; but in an in•
teresting account, in the last Number of the Quarterly
Review, of the progre3s of these travellers, it is conjec-
tured that its waters may be discharged into the Nile
of Egypt. Clipperton mentions the height of the lake
to be 1200 feet above the level of the sea, which is about
that of the source of the Mississippi ; the length of this
river is :;000 miles; the distance from she lake to the
Mediterranean is little more than 2000; the fall, there-
fore, is more than necessary for this purpose.