Star.
London, England, 1818-09-10 00:00:00

THE BAHAMAS&

The following is a copy of a dispatch froni Earl
BATHURST to leis Excellency Governor CAtdERON,
communicated by his Honour the PRESIDENT to the
two traticlies of the Legisliture, immediitely after
the Session was opened: " •

" Il.wning-street, rebnary 2114 1818.

• `Stro—l have hid the honour of receiving your dispatch of
the 3cl December, and of submitting to his Royal Flgghness the
Prince Regent the humble Petition and Address of the House
of Assembly of the Bahamas, which it inclosed. I have receive
his Royal Highness's ccinvmands to instrucs you to inform the
House of Assembly, that the arrest and commitment of Mr.
Wylly, under 'all the circumstances of the case, appear to hie
Royal Highness to have been highly obj,2ctionable, and that ltie
Royal Highness entirely approves of the conduct of the General
I Court upon lir. Wylly 's being brought before them on a writ
of habeas eorpui,eley issarsi itch as his recommitment is
prison would have implied, tLat in the opinioti of the Court :le
arrest and imprisimment of Mr. W. had been warranted by lain
o You may further assure the Assembly, that his Royal
ness will ever be ready to afford them protection and support in
the due exerche of their pr;vileges,• but that Royal Ilightissi
cunsidc-ed that it Would be inconsistent wits the due adnshs.i
stratioa of justice,-and with the persoael Liberty of the inhabi-
tants alb: Bahamas, if the Assembly were allowed to genes'
an uncontroidediight of arresting, and contmitting.to prism my
°Phis Majesty's subjects ,ur.der the plea of en alledzed breach
of Privilege •, that a clan:a on their part to a power of this nature
can only lead to a repetition. of those contentions which have tin.:
happily accrued between the Lerida:ire Assembly and the Ge-
neral Court, tending to degrade their respective agthoritiei la
public estimation, and to create a serious, at not a fatal interrup=
Lion of all public proceedings.
With respect to that part of the Memorial which relates to
the rejection by the Council of certain Rills sent up to them by
the Assembly—his Royal Highness considers the Council have,
in common with the Assembly, a full and undoubted rig, .t
to *decide• how far the several Legislative mansures brae ht
under' their considerations are fit to become Laws of the
Colony; ard that in whatever light the Assembly may view the
grounds upon which the Council act is particithr instances, they
cannot but feel that any interference with the privileges of the
Council in this respect, might lead to consequences not mire
subversive of the constitution of the Bahamas, than fatal to the
similar privileges of the ilLase of Assembly itself —I hasp tete
honour to be, Sir, your most obedient, humble servant, •

" To Governor Camerout &c. "
The House of Assembly, after. several Resolutions
expressive of their dissatisfaction with the above dia.
patch, having, renewed proceedings-against
Wylly, Esq. for offences alleged to have been cesz4
mimed by hint against the late loose, summoned
him to attend at the Bar, to answer to the several
charges. Yesterday nas the appointed day ; bet nt
eleven o'clock, after the Legislative Council bad tr.,
sembled, and the loose. had.met, his Honour the
President came down from the Goyiernment Route
to the Council Chamber, where he cuninanded the
immediate attendance of the House, and was pleased
to close the Session with the following Speech:

" Gentlemen of the Council, Mr. Speaker, and
Getul.mea of the House of Auction*,
" At the commercLuteut of the present Session, I laid lxfu,rtr
you the copy of a dispatch from the Earl Utthurs t, one of his
Majesty's principal S:nrctaries of State, to his Exceilem-y Go-
vernor Cameron, hearing date Downing-street, the soda
bruary last, stating," &c.—(Mere his flouour proceeded to read
the contents of the dispatch as given above).

" Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the hour, of Assembly,.
" After the communication of this dispatch, it was to be hoi,rd
that all former differences would have ceased, and that the Ifoese
would have proceeded to the discharge of the public blisiti;--.2
with temperance and moderaticn—instqd of which.the Home
has been occupied only in Resolutions and Acts inissrrect in pi. Sat
of facts, unconstitutional in principle, and evincing in terms ap-
parently of studied disrespect, a total disregard to the commanat
of the Crown, signified upon points distinctly submitted by the
House to the Royal Judgment and decision. The House has
also commenced further proceedings against his Majesty's Attu.-
ney-Genersl, for an alleged offence, for which he was committed
by the late House of Assembly, and discharged upon the disso-
lution of it. •

" This Act, unsanctioned by any precedent or usage whatever,
and going beyond the powers ever exercised even by Parliament
itself, appears to me to be an assumption of arbitrary and ill,.
gal authority, so pregnant with immediate 'danger to the rights
and liberty of the subject, that I cannot, consistently with the
duty which I owe to my Sovereign, permit the House to pto.
ceed any further towards the oppression of an individual, who
has been already imprisoned for a justifiable resistance to an DJ,
gal warrant ; for I must ever maint.,in, that a warrant e::der
which a person is committed in 'execution, before he is heard in
his defence, is, according to, the principles of the British Con-
stitution, illegal and void, from whatever authority it may ema-
nate. If it were possible, however, for me to be so regardless
of my duty, as to permit the Ilote.e to continue in the once-,
trouled exercise of a dangerous and unconstitutional power, tEe
acts, resolutions, proceedings and temper of the House lead di-
rectly to renewed and increased contentions between the autho-
rity of the Assembly and the Judges of the General Court;
I feel it, therefore, necessary, in order to preserve the public
peace, to protect from violence per,ons sleclared by thejudgmer.t
of the Crown, upon the complaint of the House, to be guilty' of
no offence whatsoever, and to prevent, if possible, a fatal Inter-
ruption to all public proccodi,,,,,i, to resort to a power
.
tionally vested in me, as his Majesty's Representative.
" Gentlemen of the ('ouncil, Mr. Spealter, and -
Gentlenteu of the House of As4enthly,
" I, therefore, think fit to prorogue this General Assembly
to Tuesday, the 21st day of July instant; and it is hereby pro.
rogued accordingly. (Signed) " wee. snow stumanus.
" Council Chamber, 14th July, isle."
BAHAMA ISLANDS. •

" By his Honour William Vesey Munnings, Peg. President and
Commander in Chief in and over the said Islands, and of the
Garrisons there er that may be sent thither, Chancellor, Vice-
Admiral, and Ordinary of the same,
A PROCLAAIATION.

" Whereas the General Assembly of these Islands stands proro-
gued to Tuesday, the 31st July inst. and whereas it is expedient
that the said deneral Assembly shauld be dissolved, I do, there_
fore, by and with the advice and tumultuous consent of his
Majesty's Council of these Islands, issue this my l'roclathation,
dissulving the said General Assembly, dnd the same is hereby
dissolved accordingly.
" Given under my hand and the Seal of the raid Islands,
at Nassau, in the Island Of New Providence. the 15th
day of July, Anno Domini 1818, and in the flity.eigbs
year of his Majesty's reign. " Wm. Vzscv Mantxlx4,
By 1313 %blame's Conuttawl, " C. 11. Sz3sur, Dcp. Sec."

reismommium
A3iERICAN SEA SERPENTS.

?ROM MR. C'H.TIVRN'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.
Something extrordinary is always making its ap-
pearance in Ame:•ica, and accounts of the same ge-
nerally appear in the English Journals grossly mtg.
prated. lam one of those who from experience
have learnt the caution necessary to be observed be
fore placing implicit confidence in the relations of
our transatlantic brethren, and am old enough to'
remember the sensation caused by the supernatural
appearances on the Apalachian mountains; the glory
by which they were surrounded, dispelling the dark-
ness as the morning sun triumphs over the clouds of
night; the vision lasted until some fanatic asserted
it was the " descent of the New Jerusalem," when
reason prevailed, and we heard the inhabitants and
• them no snore.*
• Lately we have had " moving stones" in Carolina,
but w!•:••11 ease,) their motion when Dr. James; of
New York, set on fiNst 'a enquiry concerning them.
What I at present wish to observe upon is, the ac-
count of "huge Sea Aerpents," lately s•ii i to have
been seer along that wonderful coast; my intention
• however is not to eutet into any disquisition whether
or no they arc of the same species with those of an-
tiquity—those which destroyed Laocoon and yet
figure in sculpture, that which proved the youthftd
nerves of Hercules, or the more sagacious one sibich
foretold the death of Julian, and thereby proved
itself a good christian. This I will leave to my Ame-
. brethren who are well qualified far such re-.
searches. I merely intend to state that the Serpents
r the Ocean, such as they are described in the ac-
Vats from America, are no novel appearance, but
been seen in the Mediterranean. I happened to
. .

on board the l'hiloanel, one of his Majesiy's brigs
war, commanded by Captain Guison; having
Wined her on the 12th December, 1811, at Gibraltar;
ord Cochrane, Commissary-General Macdowel, mid
,ptain liardinge of the Engineers, were passengers.f
mmnioa them thus particularly as they are living,
can contradict me if I state any thing which is
correct.

After relieving with a supply of provisions the For-
aguese fortress of Melillo, on the coast of Barbary,
and anchoring for one day before the celebrated ruins
'f 0: an, we entered the bay of Algiers, and moored
vessel about three miles to the eastward of the
where vessels in common do not ride. Our

.ve for chusing this position was in order to sound
Bay as secretly as possible. The depth of water
~fight be nine fathoms. One of the cables was cut
under water on the second day of our anchorage, I
apprehend by the coral rocks, near which place the
hip was. A seaman remarked to me from the poop,
where he was fishing, that he believed the devil in
shape of a serpent had cut our cable, and was
along-side as long as the ship. I immediately
:ed over the gangway and perceived four of these
reptiles sporting in the water : they appeared to me
about thirty feet in length, of a dark brown colour,
-ith a slight silvery tinge on the belly, and on each
•of the head ; the head was small, and in thick-
of body the size of a stout man's thigh, tapering
towards the tail. I observed them frequently roll
over, stretched at full length, and when preparing
advance the head was raised and the tail lolled
upwards like a coach.wheel, in size nearly to the
middle of the animal's back ; lowering its head which
seemed to have been raised as a necessary action to
preserve its balance in folding up the tail, it darted
forward with considerable velocity, unfurling itself
it advanced. The sailors vainly endeavoured to+
catch one of them, letting down shark-hooks with
different baits. My opinion was, that the mouth of
animal, which generally appeared open when the
Id was reared, would not admit a bait larger than
orange, being quite out of our ideas of propor-
m with respect to its body. They never came nearerl
ithe surface than sir feet, so we found it useless to
attempt them with a harpoon. The men bathed
amongst them unmolested, I)or did they abandon the
vicinity of the vessel on the occasion, which con•
firmed me in my opinion, that from ie size of the
mouth, they were incapable of being dangerous to
men. We saw them every day during our stay,
until our removal into the Mole, when they left us,

rather we left them. An old Greek renegado told
they were common in the bay; but he had never
mown any of them being caught. Achmet, the Ad-
miral's pilot, then on board the 50-gun ship, de-
stroyed shortly after by Lord Exmouth, said they
:e regarded by the fishermen with a superstitious
'erence, who believed if they left the bay the fish

iould also leave it.
They had nat, to me, that "carved" appearance
noticed by the Americans. I mislit have discovered
hat, and several other peculiarities of form in them,
• a more narrow scrutiny, but I imagined they were
ly curiosities to myself, and scarce worth recording
my Journal. I did, however, record them from
tractice never to omit noticing whatever passed
ender my observation. I pointed them out to Lord
Cochrane and the other passengers, and it I recollect
aright, his Lordship said they were not uncomnion,
• words beat ing that construction. After this state-
talent, " the American serpent," losing its claim to
tovelty, is divested of much of its interest ; as it is
more wonderful that the serpent of tile Mcditer-
'ean should be seen on that coast, than the whale
Greenland on the coast of Cornwall.
Fitzroy-plata. I am, &c. J. Sr. MITFORD.
P. S. The master of an American vessel arrived at
.'enobscot asserts his having encountered at sea
serpent full one hundred feet long, and in thickness
greater than a water cask. This formidable animal
reared itself several feet out of the water, took a look
' the ship, and quietly glided astay. An affidavit
said to be preparing for the master and crew, to
tablish this extraordinary fact. This account is
s•en in Lloyd's List, which alone renders it worthy
notice. The dimensions of a water cask are va-
tons, barrels, butts, and puncheons, and those called
gang-casks on board of merchant ships commonly
t °Main 200 or more gallons, and are at least three
* •TLow luminous appearances on the Apalachian mountains
were ascribed to the patticular state of the atmosphere. Sums
If the American philosophers even travelled from Philadelphia
observe them.
t Certain ifardinge, a man of considerable talent, took views
A he city niolc and batteries, whilst the masts-c of the brig
sounded the bay Minutely under pretencrof grappling for the lost
anchor. I should believe Lord F.zinouth act, 4.1 tern 2 captain
lisr,litige's plan' as that gesstleman remarked to me in case of
sunhardment the very situation occupied by the <l;sees Charlotte
that mcmiorale,le event afterwada taking

feet in di;rriet,er ; if the latter is meant, " astoaishiag"
indeed must be the size of this animal; if by " water
cask" is meant the barrel in common use, about one
font in diameter, more astonishing still must it be in
the former case, as the master's fears must have malt.
nified his powers of vision, and in the latter it may
be accounted for by suffering him to have passed a
cable washed, off some ship's deck in a gale, which
I think not improbable. About twelve years ago an
American captain trading for furs, saw cm the shores
of New Zealand an animal of the serpent kind which
rose out of the water and looked into his main-top ;
of this fact an affidavit was also prepared, but never
administered ; perhaps this may be the same ani.
mat and the discoverer the same person. I have
heard more extraordinary things asserted by Ame-
rican Captains, whose accounts cannot be too cau-
tiously received, but to this I give no credit. " Jona-
than" had heard of the serpent, and determined to
have share in the glory of firing it as a native of
" the Columbian Ocean."

National vanity is deemed preferable to trials by
most American seamen, and the above may be set
down as a fit companion to the Scotch Mermaids which
were exhibited in the western isles, and were actuaOly
sworn to by several Scotch persons and second-sighbed
old women. I se2 no reason to alter my opinion, that
the serpent of America a ttl the Mediterranean are of
the same species, and not uncommon, though rarely
noticed. The difference in size will soon be recon-
ciled, and as America is the land of the marvellous,
they are entitled to forty or fifty feet extra upon such
an occasion. I expect some other Captain, on the
strength of this great discovery, will import us a
parody to its honour on the famous national song,
such as—

Hail. Colombia! favour'd strand,
Yard witk snakes by sea and land !

SOCTII AMERICA.

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