Star.
London, England, 1826-09-04 00:00:00

TO A ROBIN REDBREAST.

SY ROHM MULHOUSE.

Minstrel! that sings% throughout the taming Tenrr
Oh, bow I love thy melancholy song;
For there are trills and fall, to thee belong'.
With which the bird of night may not compare.
Oft when the punt and withering hand of 'Care
Has fallen upon me 'mid autumnal shades.
Or when harsh winds blew keen through leaden glades,
And Hope, too timid, flew from grim Despair;
Then bate I twisted, but ab! is might not be—
That all thy plaintive sounds belong'd to me.
For there's a joy in grief within the breast.
When darts a ray of Heaven upon the soul;
And when the breaking heart is thus possest.
'Twere bliss to die beneath the soft contrail ! •

PORTSMOUTH, Sarramsza 2.

PROM THE HAMPSHIRE TELEGRAPH.
INFERIOR OF Arnie s.—lt is most satisfactory to
learn, though thete are no recent accounts from Captain
. CLAPPERTON, R.N. and Mr. DIXON, who are engaged
in the ar uous service of tracing' the Niger from the
Atlantic shores to Timbucton, that Mr. HOUSTnN, who
accompanied Captain C. up the country towards Yourie,
and returned to Whydah Roads, after being absent four
months, gives the most satisfactory accounts of the
progress of the mission up to the arrival at Katunga.
He says, " The climate in the interior is so much
finer than on the coast, that I was only sick one
day. We
.were everywhere throughout this long
journey received with the greatest kindness and esteem
by the Cabouceers, and by the people with acclama-
tions. Provisions are in the greatest abundance, and
carriers for the baggage were furnished at every stage
by order of the King ; and from the time we left Bada-
gry until my return, not even the value of a cowrie
was missed, nor did King, • Cabouceers, or a slave
even beg so much as one. This is surely unpre-
cedented in the annals of African discovery. I
left Katunga Eyco on the 14th of March, and arrived
at Badagry on the 12th of April, haying been absent
four months and five days-50 days in Laiung,4, which
is a large city, having a wall from twelve to fifteen miles
in circumference, part of the ground within being planted
. v ith corn, yams, onions, &c. Like Dahomey it is dis
tint from the Niger or Quavia River about :30 miles,
and about 3&ofrom Badagry, but above 400, taking the
v inding course of the road. The country is varied with
hill and dale, prospet ous and beautiful, great part like
that behind Wyday,clear of wood and well cultivated."
Arrived last evening, the Thetis transport, Lieu-
tenant H. Hopkins, Agent, front Lima and Rio de
. Janeiro, whither she took provisions for the squadron.
She left C illao on the 2d of March, and Rio the 30th of
June. We learn that Lord Ponsonby continued in ne-
vociation with the Brazilian Minister, but the Emperor
..,
appears obstinately bent on the continuance of the war
against the Buenos Ayreans, though it is generally be-
lieved that the contest cannot but be detrimental to his
interests. The expense, it appears, is principally borne
by the province of Rio de Janeiro and its immediate
vicinity, for the people of Bahia, and of the Northern
Provinces, not only refuse to pay the costs and im-
posts, but more orenly declare against the tyranny that
sends their ftllow subjects and children, as conscripts,
to the unprofitable contest in the comparatively cold
country of the Banda Oriental. The prosecution of this
war will do more to estrange the Northern from the
Snu:hern Plainer: of the Brazils, than any other Rica
sure that could possibly have been taken. It seems not
improbaisle, also, that it might cause a misunderstand-
ing with the Americans, who are extremely dissatisfied
• •• at being excluded from the Rio Plata. Two sloops of
war (as the Americans call them), the Cyrene and Bos-
ton left Rio Janeiro for Monte Video on the 27th cf
June; and it was distinctly understood that they would
not allow the Brazilian squadron, on any pretence, to
interrupt the transit of the American ships to and from
Buenos Ayres; in other words, they intended to raise
the blockade as far as it respected American vessels.,
This small squadron was to be immediately reinforced
by the Baltimore, a sloop of w r of similar class to the
Boston. These two vessels ar of 720 toes burthened,
4
flush decked, and are inter i d to carry twenty-four
long 24 pounders, but at pr sent they have only 32
pounder cannonades, and ha e a complement ofll4o
men. Tile English squadron a • Janeiro consisted
oft? e Wel:eslev, 130, Sir George Eyre. Thetis and Dot is
triga•ei. The French squadron was, the Marie Therese,
nt 60 guns, Admiral Rosamel ; La Seine,44, (bound on
a cruise in the Pacific), and the Provencelle schooner.
The French have also in the Rio de la Plata, watching
the interests of their flag, the Alacritit and Cygne, of
20 guns each. The Ranger, 28, Captain L-rd Henry
tnynne, was the only British ship in the River. It was
reported that the Braz lian frigate Netheroy, com-
manded by Captain 11.4t0n, had been driven on shore
in an action with the Buenos Apean squadron, and
that two brigs had been captured, one of la hich, the Ca.
boelo, was commanded by Captain Grenfell, nephew of
Pa co Grenfell, Esq. who was killed in the action. The
Brazilian Government had appointed a M. Passanho, to
he Consul at Liverpool, who was to come to England
in the next packet.
The Portuguese, or rather the Brazilians, affect to
have great consciousness of maritime rights, and singu
lar enough, they have manifested it most in the slave
ti ade question, in which infamous traffic they are in
reality the greatest traders of any nation. An Imperial
vessel, called Emprehendator, has taken into Rio de
Janeiro an English and a French vessel for a breach of
the slave trade laws. The English vessel is a prize to
the Redwing sloop of war, Captain Claverin, which she
had captured, with slaves on board, in the river Wyd-
deli, on the coast of Africa, on board which she put her
Second Lieutenant and some men, and, as a matter of
course, took her papers on board the Redwing. The
Imperial Brazilian vessel falling in with her, made a
scorch prize of her, on the plea of the want of papers,
and is actually carrying on a prosecution against all on
snoard as pir.tes ! The matter has been taken up by Lord
Ponsonby. The French vessel is a schooner taken at
Porto Cabinja, without papers,: but the Master states
he was bound from Nantz to Martinique: he certainly
has to account for why be should have been so far out
of his road.

The Thetis spoke off the Isle of St. Sebastian, the
same day she left Rio Janeiro, the Portuguese line-of-
battle ship Don Juan de Sizto, 74, having on board the
Duke dela Fons, charged with a special mission from
the Lisbon Regency, that his Imperial Majesty would
allow his daughter, to whom he had transferred the
Portuguese crown, to be seat to Portugal in that ship,
aad it was expected that he would allow this to be done.