Star.
London, England, 1826-04-20 00:00:00

THE SWALLOW'S RETURN.

Welcome, welcome, feathered stranger,
Now the sun bids Nature smile,
Safe arrived and free from danger,
Welcome to our blooming isle.
Still twitter on my lowly roof,

And hail me at the dawn of day ;
Each morn, the recollected proof
Of time that eier fleets away !
Fond of sunshine, fond of shade,

Fond of skies serene and clear,
Even transient storms thy joys invade,

In fairest seasons of the year.
'What makes thee seek a milder clime.
What bids thee shun the wintry gale—

How know'st thou thy departing time—
Hail, wondrous bird! bail, Swallow, hail!
Sure something more to thee is given
Than myriads of the feathered race ;
Some gift Divine, some spark from Heaven,
That guides thy flight from place to place.
Still freely come, still freely go,
Aud blessings crown thy vigorous wing;
bray thy rude flight meet no rude foe,
Delightful messenger of Spring!

NEW EXPEDITION TO AFRICA.

The following is a letter from one Of the travellers in
the expedition of Captains .Clapperton and Pearce to
explore the interior of Africa :
" Wu Majesty's ship Bruen, off Bader'',
Nov. 29, 1825.
" We have just succeeded in obtaining permission,
from the King of Badagry, to pass through his terri-
tories to Eyo, a friendly nation, to whom he, pays tri-
bute, about nine days' journey to the northwatd of
him, to whose King a messenger has been dispatched
to give notice of our approach. Eyo is a commercial
nation of considerable consequence, being the channel
Of communication between Haoussa and Soudan with
the sea coast, and, as it is frequently traversed by
Moorish traders from those countries in the interior, I
am uncommonly sanguine as to the success of our ob-
ject in penetrating to those countries. The distance
to Haoussa, not including stoppages, is about thirty-
three days, through Eyo • from thence to Tape, a
• friendly Power, to the northward, is about nine days;
• thence to Nyffee, nine; Nyffee, to the Great River,
five, and thence to Haoussa three more, according
to the estimate made by the King of Benin. Mr.
Dickson was sent from Whydah, as we passed it on
our way to this place, to Abomy, to ask permission
• of the King of Dahomey for a pass through his domi-
nions; but as we have succeeded in opening a road from
hence, he has since been recalled, and will follow us,
units' any good fortune should get the better of the
jealous suspicion with which strangers have hitherto
been watched by the Dahomians, who have always
evinced the strongest aversion'to any thing like the
present intercourse with the interior.
" The path by Eyo I look upon, on the other hand,
as promising the most beneficial results to future enter-
prise and speculation, if we can once clear the road for
putting it in practice—it is the most direct and the only
communication at this moment along the coast, and I
feel, in pursuit of such an object, all the enthusiasm I
could desit eto carry us through the undertaking. We
land this evening, and as soon as we can arrange our
carders, which will take two or three days, we shall
commence our march towards Eyo. On our arrival
at that place we expect to be able to procure horses,
&c. there being none on the coast, -our first mode of
conveyance from the beach being by hammocks, carried
by the natives. wbo go along at the pace of nearly five
knots an hour.
" The rains having ceased upwards of two months, we
. are in the best season for commencing our operations,
and I hope we shall contrive to get housed well, towards
Soudan, before they re-appear on the coast. We are
chiefly inch bted to Mr. Houitson's information and in-
fluence with the King of Badagry for this opening from
the beach, the gentleman who has about to forward
Belzoni from Benin, where he had the misfortune to
perish in the attempt. Mr. Houtson has been extremely
kind and attentive in forwarding the present Mission.
You will hear from us as we advance, and as a man-of-
war is ordered to keep up communication by calling
frequently at Badagry, I hope our oppiltunities will
sot be so rare as I first supposed. At this moment 1
can hardly explain to you how much I feel overjoyed
at being on the eve of putting my foot on shore. I
never was better in my life, and when the mind and
body go hand in hand, climate is of very little
•••••••••

The Old Bailey Sessions which terminated last week
presented a most melancholy picture of the state of
morals in the metropolis and its environs. There were
above 440 prisoners in the Calendar for trial, which
" number had accumulated in little more than six weeks.
•
Tbe convictions were numerous, and the Judges who
presided appear to have deemed it necessary to award
severe sentences to a large proportion of those who
sere found guilty : thirty-six were capitally convicted,
and above 120 were ordered to be transported. Accord-
ing to the opinion of persons who are conversant with
the subject, this frightful increase in the number of
those who make their appearance at the criminal bar is
not referable to the peculiar state of public affairs, or
to want of employment among the wor king classes of
soaiety ; the majority being thieves by profess'on.
A man, who calls himself Courtney, on Mond ry last
astonished the natives of Buckingham, by walking back-
' Wards over a quarter of a mile of ground until he had
completed forty miles. This he did for such gratuitous
donations as the passengers and lockers on chose to be-
• stow. He began at eight o'clock in the morning and had
finished his task between six and seven in the evening.
...The teat gave rise to numerous jokes ; most of those
who witnessed it expressed surprise that a man should
get a living by going backwards, when the object of
all others is to get forward& He was compared to a
crab, to a Waterman who looks one way and vssys ano-
ther, and to a spendthrikwho is said to be going back-
wards, because he wastes his property. It was the in-
tention of this retrograder to have surprised the inhabi-
tants by Hying from some high building, but he was
unable to put his design into execution, being denied
access to alt places fitting for the purpose. •
Monday the pulling down of the Park wall beyond
Knightsbridge barracks was begun ; there is to be sub-
stituted in its stead iron railing, similar to that -which
has taken place of the dead wall beyond' Hyde Park
Corner. This imr-rovement is said to be likely to be
continued to the D!agoon barracks at Kensington.—
• Nearly opposite the place where the wall was yesterday
pulled down, a road is walked cut, to lead to Monty-
ton, Fulham, &c.