Star.
London, England, 1828-10-30 00:00:00

THAVELLIIIL

Tie following biography of this distingtikhed tra•
•rlier is abtidged from one compared fur the Edinburgh
Adrediser

ow Major Alexander Gordon Lain', eldest son of 11r.
Wm. Laing, A.R. was horn at Edinburgh the 27th of
December, 1794. His father, one of the most popular
classical teachers of his day, having for *rally years had
an Academy in the New Town of Edinburgh. young
Laing received nearly the whole of his education under
the paternal roof, and, indeed, all that valuable pot-
thn of his learning which went to prepare him for the
University, he received directly at the hands, or rather
we should say from the lips of his father. Under such
guardianship, and possessing, as he did, a quick intuitive
perception, together with an ardent desire fur the ac-
quirement of classical knowledge, it might naturally be
expected that he would make rapid progress in his aca-
demical studies, and accordingly, at the early age of 18.
he entered the Alma Mater of his native city. The late
respected Professor of Humanity, Mr. Christison, per-
ceiving his taste for literature, frequently took occasion
to point to this youth, in the public class, as one whose
example it would be for the benefit of all his fellow•
students to imitate, though few might aspire to rival
him. With the view to habituate him in communicating
that knowledge to others which be so eagerly acquired
himself, Master Laing went, in his 15th year, to fill for
a time the situation of assistant to Mr. Bruce, an eminent
teacher in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, whence he returned to
Edinburgh, six months after' and entered upon a similar
duty under his father.

44 At this period the habits and prospects of the
embryo traveller had apparently assumed a settled and
determinate form; at least, nothing appeared to be
farther from his intention than the active. bustling. and
adventurous life of a soldier, or the still more hazardous
and arduous employment of a professional traveller in
the unexplored regions of inhospitable Africa, amid the
hordes nf its selfish,treacherotmand uncivilized Africans.
Circumstances. however, occurred which unsettled all
his peeconceived plans, and'aroused him to that spirit
of enterprise and adventure which characterized his
after life. It was his fate to emerge into the world at a
time when the profess:on of arms was everywhere
blended with that of the civilian; at a time. when it
was considered that' every man in Britain was in
duty bound to hen a sword or a firelock. and to
know how to use them ; and it may be safely said,
that nowhere was that feeling more generally acted
upon, or that duty better understood. than in Edin-
burgh, the birth place of Alexander Gordon Laing.—
During that rage of martial fever, which few men and
fewer youths escaped, Master Laing having attained his
seventeenth year, was, like most of his acquaintince,
not invulnerable to its attack; he was, in 1810, appointed
anEnsign in the Prince of Wales'sSiinburghVolunteers
—a corps which certainly had n.,thing fascinating about.
it, though it afforded the asecasinnal oppostunity of
sporting a military uniform, and of displaying a staid'
of colours. This regiment was originally armed with
pikes, and although it was afterwards provided with
muskets, the men continued to be vulgarly, and rather
iionically, 'denominated the pikemen.
Captivated with the slight foretaste of military ser-
vice which the volunteer system afforded him, the ob.
ject of this memoir would be a soldier,' and would be
nothing else ; he could no longer submit to the restraints,
or go through the monotonous routine of school disci-
pline; he, in fact, now regarded teaching with the most
sovereign contempt, and finally gave it up at the termi-
nation of the second year, the latter of which was doubt-
less spent in a struggle between duty and inclination,
as it was anxiously desired by his patents and relatives
that he should not change his profession. Being. how-
ever. bent upon the military service. he, in the year
IEII, went out to Barbadoes, where his uncle, Colonel,
afterwards General, Gabriel Gordon, then was, and
with whom he remained a short time till he obtained an
Ensigncy in the York Light Infantry, which regiment
he immediately joined at Antigua, and in two years
thereafter he was promoted to a Lieutenantcy in the
same corps. which he held until the regiment was in.
duced. and Lieutenant Laing was then placed upon the
half pay. •
i• Having no relish for inactive life, he exchanged, as
speedily as the business cobld be negotiated, into the
Second West India Regiment, which he joined at Ja-
maica. While•there he had to undertake the duties of
Deputy Quarter Master General, the exertions of which
department induced a liver complaint ; and in order to
Ire establish his health, the Medical Gentlemen mom.
mended a sea voyage. He accordingly sailed to Hon-
disras,by which his complaint was considerabtfedhevid;
bist the Governor, Colonel Arthur, finding bias an
at-
tive and intelligent Officer. appointed him to the office
of Fort Major. and would not suffer him to return to
IJamaica, but bad him attached to another division of
Ibis regiment, then in Honduras where he remained
until a return of his complaint forced him to come home,
his frame being so much debilitated that be was unable
to walk, and it became necessary to carry him on ship•
board. •

" The effects of this attack made a serious impression
on his constitution, and, in consequence, he remained
for nearly 18 months with his friends in Scotland.—
During this time, however, one-half of the 2d West
India Regiment, that to which he was attached, was
reduced, and he was again placed upon half-pay. to
the autumn of 1819 he returned to London, and having
been sent for by the late Sir Henry Torrens, then
Colonel of his regiment, was familiarly complimented
by him on his former services, immediately appointed
Lieutenant and Adjutant, and proceeded to Sierra Leone.
"Early in January,lB22, Lieutenant Laing was sent
by the late Governor, Sir Charles M4Carthy, on an em-
bassy to Kambia and the Mandingo country, to ascer-
tain the political state of those districts, the disposition
of the inhabitants to trade, and their sentiments in re-
gard to the abolition of the slave trade. Having eze•
cuted that mission to the complete satisfaction of the
Governor, and some alarm having arisen as to the fate
of Sannaster, a Chief in amity with our Government,
who had been taken prisoner by Yarradee, a war man of
the Bing of Soolima, Lieutenant and Adjutant Laing,
though his health, which had suffered from the effects of
his f .rnser journey, was yet only in a state of conva.
lescence, was appointed to undertake a second embassy,
for the purpose of proem ing Sannassee's release from cape
tivity. On arriving at the camp of the Soolima army, he
was infcrmed that the onfortunateSannassee had been set
at liberty after his town had been burnt, and that his
life bad been spared only from the fear of offending
the British Governor. While upon the second mission
he had observed that many men who accompanied the
m a as my possessed considerable quantities of gold,
and having learned that ivory abounded in Soolima, he
suggested to the Governor the advantages to the
colony of opening an intercourse with these people;
that such an attempt would not be attended with
much hazard or expense, and that a great object
would be attained by the knowledge of many coot•
tries to the eastwatd of the colony, which, like dot

of t) Soolimas, Was !crown only by name. This
suggestion was •uhmitted to the Council. •ho ap-
proved the andcrtakinq. and left it to the judgment of
the traseller t s pursue his own route. He was now
as Much a airlontcaer traveller as before he had been
a volunteer Officer—nay more se, being in tact al-
!Owed to prosecute his own enterprise in his own way.
This thttd mission, upon whith he set out from Sierra
Leone On the 16th If April, 1822, led him to penetrate
through a far more extensive track of country than
before, much of itsprevictsly unexplored, but which is
particularly described, together with the inhabitants.
their manner:, cu toms, itc. in his highly interesting
Journal, published only three yeas since, its publics•
Lion having been retarded, first, by his being called into
active service during the unfortunate Ashantee war,
and subsequently by his being hurried off on his last
great enterprise, when he was compelled to leave the
superiniendence of its publication to his friend C tram
Sabine.

~

" While at Fahtba, upon his third embassy, l'e to
ceived intelligence of his ptomotion to the rank of
Captain, and immediately .on his return to Sierra L .one,
in the autumn of 1822, be was ordered to join his regi-
ment on the Gold Coast, ahem he wasemployed in the
command of a considerable native fOrce on the frewtier
of the Ashawee country, and was frequently engaged
with detachments of the Ashantee army. Upon the
death of Sir Charles M'Caithy in 1824, Captain Laing
was sent toEngland to acquaint the Government with
the state of Inc command in Africa. At this period he
obtained a short leave of absence to revisit Scotland,
and.again returned to Lnndon in October, 1824.
"An opportunity now presented itself, which out,
traveller had long ansiothly desired, of proceeding,
under the auspices of Government, on an expedition to
discover the course and termination f the Niger. He
was now promoted to the sank of Major. and departed
from London on that enterprise early in Feb. 1825, with
the intEation of leaving Tripoli for Timbuctoo in the
course of the slimmer of that year. The kind treatment
which he ex 3er ienced from the late Marquis of Hastings.
then at Ma.ta, where the Major went on his way to
Tripoli, will be in the recollection of most newspaper
readers, as the fact of his being repeatedly entertained at
the table of the Noble Marquis was noticed in all the
publ c journals at the time.
" At Tripoli a highly interesting scene awaited him,
while at the same time it must have been to himself,
and at least one other individual, a peculiarly painful
one, both in prospect and in retrospect. In the progress
of the intercourse which the Major necessarily had
clay with Mr. Warrington, the British Consul at Tri-
poli. a strong friendship between them was contracted,
and it led to a more tender feeling between the Major
and the accomplished daughter of his friend. The parties,
it will be recollected, were utter strangers to each other
but a few weeks before—there was nn time to waste in
protracted courtship. and on July 14, 1825) Major Laing
was married to Miss Emma Maria Warrington. But
The eie of their marriage was also the eve of his depar-
ture upon that mission Irons which he was doomed never
to return ! The second day after the nuptials he set
out for those vallWs of death wherein all preceding
adventurers had found a grave. The bitterness of part-
ing the object: of recent and romantic passion, under
such circumstances, is to us altogether inconceivable ; to
the parties it must have been indescribably distressing.
We base but a few steps farther to trace. and these
lead to the commencement of the traveller's thirty-
second year; beyond this is a chasm which cuts us off
from his tomb. From the time of his leaving Tripoli
until he reached Teat. which he was forced to do by a
circuitous route. letters were frequently received from
him ; the last that reached this country was from that
place, under date of the 27th December,lB2s) the 80th
anniversary of his birth. From that time no accu-
rate accounts were received of his farther progress,
and indeed little else was heard of him but vague re-
ports of his death, with alternately equally vague con-
tradictions of these reports. Within the last few weeks
the reports of his death have been confirmed in itman-
ner which has removed all doubts of the melancholy
fact from the minds of his frieods ; and these but too
well authenticated accounts state him to have fallen by
the hands of the barbarians, under the murderous Gat
of the King of the Potash% to a portion of whose sob-
, jects he had been known in his previous missions. He
is stated to have suffered soon aftet the 21st of Sep-
tember, 1826."

Thursday se'nnight a brown paper parcel, containing
a slow fuse, encompassed by brimstone. matches, and
tow, which 'had been ignited, but which extinguished
itself, 4was di►covered in some straw in the hay lot of
4k. John Holland, of Pevensey, placed there unques-
dolts-ably for the purpose of destroying it by fire.
Last week as a Noble Lord was driving home his
carriage from Nottingham, having his greys four in
hand, he overtook an old woman, one of his tenantry.'
whom be accosted, " Well. young woman, where are
yon going?" As her eyes were none of the clearest, she
did not recognise him, but said. " Mr. Coachman, can
you take me to Bonney r Ask the guard." said he,
at the same time giving the footman a significant look.
She was put inside, where she soon observed that the
coach was very splendidly lined. On stopping, she said,
" What a smart coach you've got, I reckon it's one of
the London um J what mun I re ye. coachman 7'
" Oh, ask the guard," said he again ; he refused to
take any thing. and drove off, leaving the old woman
wondering at the fine coach in which they took folks
for moots

Tuesday. in the evening. several shopkeepers residing
in Shadwell and its neighbourhood were defrauded of
money, by an individual who went into several shops
under the pretence of purchasing goods. The following.'
is his mode of proceeding :—Upon going into the shop
be addresses the person in the shop by his or her name,
and order sdiffereut articles. which haloes approves, to be
sent to some neighbouring house, which he desires to
be in about a quarter of an hour. as he has to call at
some other place previous to going there. He has net
left the shop many minutes before he retoms in great
haste, and invariably asks the loan of 90J. for a me.
merit. as he is in want of that sum to make op a put.
chase ; this being obtained, the goods are sent as di-
rected. but the direction proves false, and be never re-
turns to pay the money borrowed. El these MOMS be
has defrauded levers!.

An extraordinary measure was taken by the police
in Paris on Wednesday morning, regarding sitar or
eighty of the clerks employed in the Artival Depart-
ment at the General Post-office. At the hour when
they usually commence their work, a detachment of
polite-agents broke into the office and seized all em•
ployed in the above division, including M. Jacqueson.
who is their chief. In order not to interrupt the busi•
aitss, the clerks were conducted by small detachments
to their residences, where they were summoned to de•
fiver op their papers, family letters, private correspon•
deuce, Ike. all of which were seized asd carried of So
great was the number of perquisitiont, that it was diffi.
cult to procure a Commissary of Police to be present,
at eaeb.—Poris Paper.

SPORTING INTRLUGEN‘Ii.

i
'IT

NEWMARKET THIRD OCTOBER MEETING.
Nawssa age; Oetoonn
Handicap Mate of in for three yr olds and upwards. A.F.. •
Lord Yen+lans's b e Hebs, S yrs, Tat Mb .. ..
Lord Cavrodisbis Auriphion, 4 yrs. Sot Sib S
Mr J. Shelley's b I Rosa* S yr., ist itlb ••• .11
Mr. Aleynell's b e Serf. 4 yrs, est 121 b ••• ... 4
Duke of Richmond'. Alderman. s yrs, sot mdb
Won by a neck.
Lord Sefton's Pastime Mr. Radcliffe 's Fleter•de-Lls,
Weatherley's Tay, Lord Tavistack's Tice Vicar, and Doke of
Grafton's Oases, were drawn.
Match 300 mos k ft. Sst 71b. rads. A.B. M.
Duke of Richmond's Guinan tee. ft. from Mr. Tbenairs
Merchant.

Fifty Pounds for two yr olds est 71b. and diree. Mt 10Ib. T.I.C.
The winner to be sold fur 350 gs. ke.
?.b. Udny's b f Sontag. 3 yrs ...
Mr. Guiles e by Borodino. 2 yrs ..
Won by a length.

.. 1
le

Towasir—Fuans Mt PA IMOLAI&
Handicap Sweepstakes of 10 son. each. Ad U.
Mr. Robert's fby Blacklock. 3 yrs, 710 .. ... 1 i
Lord kgremont's &umps, 6 yrs. Mt 1116 ••• ••• • "
Lord William's Brocard. 4 yrs, est 76 ••• ... •
Betting-4 to 1 apt Mr. Robert's fby Madlock-4 to S nit it'
Stump.-7 to 4 apt' &.card. The Judge placed but two.-62
paid. At the Bushes, the mot behtg beat off, the coolest lay bm
tween the filly by Blacklick and Stumps. the former rushed fam
ward, and woo dried,' by two lengths; rode by Pavia.
Fifty Pounds for two yr old, carrying a limber; three, ?et A;
tour, 114 Mb ; five, lit 31b; sis, est ?lb; and aged, Set 106....
List three silks of B.C.
Mr. Sowerby's b c Palawan, 3 yrs . .. ... a.. 1
Mr. O'Connor's b c Charon. 2 yrs ••• ••• .. S
Mr. Henry Symonds's b f Careful, 2 yrs .•
..r. Payee's ch f Urgaads•S yrs ." ••• ... •
Betting-100 to 4 aim Paleareo-10 to 1 agst Chars—S to 1
apt Urganda. The Judge placed but threw
Nieman, Charon, Careful. and Urgaoda, ran abreast to the
Doke's Stand ; Palemon and Charon then sioskd themselves out,
and a beautiful struggle ensued, terminating is favour of PAWNS
by a length ; rode by Wakefield.
Match 100 salmis ft. Sat alb each. A.F.
Lord Southampton's Lepanto rev ft. from Mr. Payee's c by
Walton.

At the nest Datietster ?dealing Mr. Rabissotes b f Mr 011viri
is mucked &vitas Mr. Ritmlales eh l by Mgare, fur Soo, k ft.

CRICKRT.
The following Cricket Match was played this wadi at Kneels..
too Common-
-Ist limbo. td Innings.
Bennett, run out
Coggin, b. Banked
Wells. stumped Mille 111 dine •• ....erne Ipe••• .116
Beech, c. Calcon
MA b. Danford 0 run oat ••• •• .....•............ 1
Wybro, c. ditto ......
Pointer. run out
*alley, ditto
Hatch. c. Taylor—
Hannan, e. Hopkins
Williams, not oat

SS
Kissossos.
Ist halm. 1141 innings.
BOlas, b. Wells .......14 c. Wybro . ... ...» I
Taylor, rim out ... 8 rue out
Hanford, c. Harmer 23 b. Beaten ........... ... ..... S
G. Walker. stampedPointet 1 b. We 115......... .. ...... ..... 0
H. Walker, b. Wells t 4 ditto ... 1
Smith, stamped Pointer 9 ditto
Oakley, e. Hatch.. ...... . 0 b. *neat S
Calcort, b. Welk ... ....kb ruts out .. "... S
MIKCo a il, •••obb 0 b. wens... ..... •a* ....sow. 0
Wee; b. Wells ...... .. 0 b. Bennett .............. 0
Cantata, Dot out ......" 1 not out
Byes

A

104 *
IClaptes winning by 24 teas. The hatdei in the Ist Wigs ei
the Kinston was beautiful ; bet In the 24 it was so dark, they
could scarcely we the ball cowards the coadasiaa, sad this se-
, mats for the groat asasb's of bye*.

A few evenings since the cabin of the Hector East
Indiaman was entered, and robbed of six valuable
watches, and a quantity of plate and jewellery, vatted
at upwards of 200 i.
Yesterday an Inquest was held at Storey's Gate Coffee.
both', on the body of Mrs. Sarah Hurst, aged 49 jean,
a respectable widow Lady. It appeared from the elf.
dance that the deceased bad pone last Tuesday week to
Watling•street, to call on a friend, and in crossing the
street her foot slipped and she fell down, and the hind
wheel of a waggon, which was passing, went aver her
by accident ; her leg was dreadfully lacerated. and met.
tification ensued: she died on Saturday. Verdict--
Accidental Death.

Suwon, Ocv. 49.—Yesterday afternoon a Coroner's
inquest was held at the Darnley Arms, Strood-hill, on
view of the body of Silvester Thornley. Esq. who met
his death under the following circumstances: Charles
Thompson deposed, that in the afternoon of the day
previous he was proceeding down Strood•hill, when be
saw the deceased on horseback, about thirty yards be•
fore him; he was tiding at a slow pace; he saw him
suddenly fall from his horse as though he was shot, and
the horse gallopped away ; he ran to the assistance of
the deceased, who was gasping for breath, and ap.
permed as if he were in a fit ; witness raised him up, but
he bad ceased to breathe..—Kr. Charles Carrother, sur-
geon, deposed, be was ►ent for to the Darnley Arms ; the
deceased had been dead some time when he arrived
there; witness had attended the deceased and his family
for some years; witness bad opened the body of the de-
ceased, and from its general appearance, did not hesi-
tate to state that the deceased had died from apoplexy.
The Jury returned a verdict of—Used by the visitation
of Gon.

Friday, as the shipwrights were attending the boiling
of some plank. in Sheerness dnck-yard, one of then, ei
the name of °moon. who was standing on the edge of
the kiln, assisting in getting a plank out. slipped into
the boiling water up to his breast, immersing oat of bh
arms also; he cried for help, and was immediately takes
out of the kiln; whe • without any assistance. he threw
off his jacket and waistcoat, loosened his brace., and ran
t i the Dock-yard surgery ; however, he was so dread.
lily scalded that he died the next morning—An In.
quest was held on the body, when a verdict of ti Acci-
dental Death" was returned.

Tax COSIIMSSION Or • Minipanic— About ten years
ago, Brockway, a waggoner. while passing on the Wits
ton road, was attacked by five persons, named Foyle,
Jennings, Cable, Eyres, and Haut. The three first and
the last were identified by a boy as the panics who
dragged him out of the waggon and robbed him. Eyres
absconded, but was subsequently apprehended, and
after a short confinement liberated. The others were
sentenced to transpOrtation, and have since returned.
Brockway was found in the morning with his head
dreadfully bruised. It was intimated at the trial that
the unfortunate man must have fallen, and that his
death was occasioned by the wheel passing over his
bead. This was deemed improbable at the time, and
the Judge expressed his suspicions. The prisoners were
sent abroad, and nothing further transpired until abwat
a fortnight since, when Hunt was taken dangerously
ill, and has made a full disclosure of all the circa*.
st am's ; the most prominent fact of which is, that after
having robbed Brockway, they placed his bead White
the•wheel, which passed over it, and caused iambs
death. • The -state of Hunt's mind is represented as •
dreadful. He takes to himself the act of placsag the
bead seder the wheel. incessantly exclaisiergoe This
is the aro that did k."—Drek Journal.