Star.
London, England, 1819-01-19 00:00:00

NORTH $r PASSAGE.

IMMOMMt eP 1112 lan MONMONIi MOM cu NM AIM
MIMMIMMIT !masa, w ma MILIMUJi as ALMLNeIp.
11MCOMMT or A MDATIIMMIt PAIIANBIL
(Coesiesse bon the seas at Weems* bust.)
a Rude and ignorant as these poor aeatures are,
you must not believe what is stated in the NewsCrs,
that they had no knowledge of a Surmiseo ;
this is not a subject to obtain correct notions about
fromssavages, whose language a e do not comprehend.
Jack distinctly admitted that they entertamed die
same notions of a good and evil spirit as their southern
neighbours do, and which all nations, savage and
civalzed, with certain modifications, seem to enter-
tain. But I must quit the subject of these people,
lest'l should tire Tow One chviiinstanee, however,
dtraidset putsewx, which is this, that their winter
habitations was to the northward, .sid that they
came down south to pass the summer, where there is
more ice and 'now, and eonsequently more food to
be had than in the former situation, a seeming para.
doz, the truth of which, however, was comeetely
verified by us.;
a One of the naives sheaved a desire to get posses-
sion of Jack's cantle, after he had been told-the use of
it.—On the very notthern summit of Ballin's Bay,
which could not be less than 78min.there was much
less snow on the land, and Much less ice on the
water, than we had hitherto met with in any part of
Davis,Straits, Mid these people had 'told its that we
shoidd find it well, therefore, might' oUr new
fried} deem this the happy country, and conclude
that kit the' world to the south of them was ice and
snow ! And if good looks and a cheerful demeanour
may be considered as indications of happiness, they
were certainly in the enjoyment of it ; they were all
in excellent keeping, with faces as round as the full
moon, and exceedingly like the people of KAMS-
chatka and the Aleutian Islands. Their dogs, too,
were in excellent condition: they have long bushy
tails like the fox, a rough straggling mane round the
neck, and have a general resemblance to the wolf:
they seem very quiet, and never bark ; but a young
dog, since its arrival at Deptford, has learnt to bark
as load and long as the noisiest dog in the place.
,u'A breeze of wind, and an open sea, were occur-
rences of too rare and important a nature to'be ne-
glected, and we accordingly availed ourselves of them,
and steered to the northward, leaving these children
of nature, and. is we deemed them, of misery, with-
out the smallest reluctance; for, in fact, they at last
became bold and troublesome, and attempted to steal
-every thing they could lay hands on. We had not
proceeded far, when a singular appearance, of a
deep crimson colour, on the surface of the snow, by
the sides of the hills, attracted our attention, and
the more so when we found it continuing in patches,
for an extent often or twelve miles. Having landed
near tq one of the patches, we collecied a consider-
able quantity of it, melted the snow, and preserved
the colotiring matter which it dejiosited. Various
conjectures Ohre hazarded as to this curious matter,
anifall the thrtekingdoms of nature were put in re-
quisition. Many a page was turned over in our books
of knowledge, with which the Admiralty had libe-
rally supplied us; and at length some one (Captain
Sabine, I believe) found in Bees' Cyclopedia, the
very thing we were in search of, under the word
Snow but the account there given left us just
where we started. Saussure, it told us, found snow of
a bright and red colour, on the Alps, and considered
the colouring matter as the farina of some plant,
while M. Rainond, who found the same lgnd of snow
on the Pyrenees, concluded it to be of mineral origin,
and we now learn, since our return, that ours at
least is neither the one nor the other, but an animal
lubstance, the excrement of birds, as Mr. Brande
supposes, from the quantity of L'ric acid it is found
to contain ; and I have no doubt but he is right, for
in the very neighbourhood of it were such myriads
of birds, of the Auk kind (Alea Alce), that when
they rose up from the ice or the snow, they literally
darkened the sky ; and close to the spot where we
landed, was one of their breeding places.
If I say that they sometimes appeared in hun-
dreds of thousands, or even of millions, it will not
give you an adequate idea of their numbers. We
shot as many as we pleased, and fed the whole ship's
company with them, being very palatable food, free
from all fishy taste or smell, and they made most ex-
cellent soup. We used to bring down from twenty
or thirty at a single shot ; and as we had reason to
believe that these vast multitudes were chiefly con-
fined to the upper part of Baifin's Bay, we laid in a
stock for future supply, by placing them in casks,
with layers of pounded ice between them.

o Having passed Cape Dudley Digges, we opened
oft a sound or strait, which was considered to be'
that of Baffin, named Wolstenholme's Sound ;* but
the shallowness of the water, and the ice within it,
gave no hopes of a passage that way, and we accor-
dingly passed it at the distance of 15 or 20 miles.—
The 4 Whale Sound' of Baffin, was not more promis-
ing; but it appeared to many very desirable that we
should have approached somewhat nearer to 'Sir
Thomas Smith's Sound,' at the north-weitteis et;,
tremity of 'the bay, which presented a very • wide
opening ; but we passed it at the distance ef
63 miles. The land now stretched S. W. and we
ran parallel with it, but at so considerable a distance
that. it was Maly to be seen at intervals, when the
weather cleared up,. which it did, sufficiently to let,
us sea another opening, which we were willing to
recognise as 4 Alderman Jones' Sound,' of Baffin.
The weather was in general mild and exceedingly
pleasant, and the sea in the whole of the upper part.
of the bay, almost wholly free from ice, et
now and then a solitary ice-berg iteating, or a
By the way, we could lave no doubt, from the ion.
mean glaciers wjsich filled the valliesalong the shores-
of Baffin's Bay, and the great depth of water close in
with them, that the many hundreds `cir these mor►
mous messes we
Davis' Straits, some

their origin is
kegs is silarly curious,
hems of castle and cathedrals.

towers and spires,

ava sometimes so
taw sail *tomb
should happen to IbiM
olives more r
displayed. -
Arabian Nights

LONDON.

TUESDAY, 'JANUARY 19, 1819.
TIM FUNDS.
?RIC! Or STOGIES THIS DAT AT OPT O'CLOCK :
Rook Stock 269-.4 per Cent. Reduced 781.79 78f
per Cent. Cons. 78114—Cons. for Feb. 781 79781
si per Cent. 88}{-4 per Cain. 96197 •
-1 per Ct. Navy 1060.-Balk Long Aim. 20 5-16 J.
hmha Stock 232/_.india Bch* 87 88 pre. . ,
r 2 pre.--Exch. Bills (24)19 20 pr.
• '
Flanders Mail-has brought us this morning
Biussels Papers to the 16th inst.
. The Orade of the 15th states, that the Court bad
Itist received the news of the Death of the-I:avant., of
WURTZSIBERGI but none of the other Papers received
-make ariy mention of such an event. Her Majesty is
the sister of the Emperor Acoluxpaa.

A sentence of ii`nost revoking severity has been
pronounced by the (oun of Assiaes at Ghent, en the
prosecution of the Attotney-General of the Nether-
lands, against Messrs.:Dusan and Douala, the Pub-
lisher and Editcr of the Journal des Deux Flanders,
for some articles published in that work, the parti-
cular nature of which is not states. Mr. Dotitur has
been condemned to four years' imprisonment and a
fine of 500 florins—Mr. DL*I3A R to one years impri-
sonment—and both to the joint payment of the whole
costs of the prosecution.

The Joutaal de Gand pretends to have received
news from St. Helena, announcing that NAPOLEON
appefrs ready to sink under the weight of a malady
which leaves but little hope.

Several articles from the Prussian dominions are
occupied with the long promised, but still obstinately
deferred benefits of a Representative Constitution.
The sentiments of the people have been already often
sufficiently expressed on this subject ; and we are
happy to understand that most of the Prussian
Mi-
nisters profess the most liberal principles, particu-
larly the Chancellor of State, Prince HARM:NEMO,
who wishes, it is said, to terminate his administra-
tive labours. by the introduction of a constitutional
system.

No French Papers have arrived this day.

From our Prirate Letters i!ljklearn, that the long
demanded change of the Pren& Prefects of 1815, is
at length about to be effected. :it is asserted that not
fewer than-twenty-two are immediately to be replaced.
This is a measure of the greatest urgency, for the
change of Ministers would produce no salutary ef-
fect if the administration of the government of the
Province's were confided to the enemies of the Con-
stitution. Ultra Royalism must be crushed in every
shape—it is the hydra of fable : llercOes destroyed
it in applyirT, the actual cautery to the trunk, the
moment a head was cut off; and, if M. DECAZES
wishes to triumph over the modern hydra, he must
use the same instrument, and brand the foreheads of
the monster of civil discord, Ultra Royalism. We
doubt whether his moderation of principle will per-
mit him to assume the courage necessary for this de-
cisive conduct ; but the salvation of France depends
on it, and if the Ultras rise from their ashe3, again
to torment the Nation, we do not hesitate to declare,
the fault will be principally to be attributed to
on his part, for those pretended

" Royalists" and " Monarchy men."
The Minerva, the staunch champion of civil li-
berty, is now accused of being bought by the Mi-
nistry, because it is now Ministerial. The charge
Appears to us very unfounded. The Minerva has,
certainly not changed its principles ; it is precisely,
what it was—Condit:dies:al ; and the Ministry having
become so, of course there is an Onion of sentiment
between them.
When a Paper is bought, it is to make it change
its principles—it would be money. thrown away to
pay it for what it had declared itself resolved to maiei
twin from principle. This homage to the Minerva
7 be less to be suspected from us, who have often
104114 fade even with the lifisserva. Oar political prin.
*am present bat slight shades of elliference. We
only slisagrte upon the propriety of emp:ebb% mea-
sures. 'the *nerve viewed this'll, sad eimply in-
sisted on its speedy redress ; and, irritated by theiects-
enemies, it was softesiasee unjust nen.tip'
not going the lengths k joartiope,"..
instance bf.Dessesna was eoistandrceisse•

bitterness bi the 100iiireiS 1
• difficulties he had to so
(:N. his :Teens
go dame. A ingkiall

tear:444 mason; .alone watt/ see-
- adopted othas, hi aesthete goes out,.
bare taken Ms place, and inn Month

al re met wiih in our progress through ;;lions4iis (imgt i
ome aground, and Mims a4cat, bad . Mends, for ac
this bay. The a of these -7" .
lark curious, exhi 'ties the ruiafa 7• Fcentstano
and cathedrals, with thostwalls, ad with much kb
as, in every state of dattaY ; *NI :riot look at the
la G*344017 Pflangsde Sbalt bOrca slid di iietai4
gh them, ia which cam,. g` the OM A:.;..i. in.....;3:
to Ain oot. it is imposOb to coor '1777. "'ma
Mast sight than that, which ii tkut knew that tali
$ a nose so be non with only in the coed; had he ad
Eatettaiosoonts—(To a. coathsesi.) as uhra would 1