The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-12-31 00:00:00

CHESTER AND HOLYHEAD RAILWAY

Yesterday week a meeting was held at the Penrhyn Arms,
Bangor, to take into consideration the propriety of giving
parliamentary notices upon Messrs. Stephenson and Giles's
railway between Chester and Holyhead.
The meeting was attended by many of the neighbouring
gentry, and J. Wyatt, Esq., was unanimously called to the

chair
Mr. Giles then detailed the plan of be projected railway,
and placed before the meeting the apparent merits of the line
of railway to Dublin via Chester to Holyhead. The line had
been surveyed by Mr. Stephenson, and this gentleman was
strongly in favour of it. It had been allowed, on all hands,
that Holyhead was the most fitting terminus. With respect
to Porthdynllaen, he did not feel called upon to make any
remark, having pointed out its inferiority in his report of
1838.. It was always diflieult In estimate the expenses in such
large undertakings; but he was prepared to say that the ex-
penses of the proposed line would not exceed three millions.
and most probably not two millions and a half. One thou-
sand pounds was all that was necessary to place them in a
condition to apply to government fora loan. This sum might
be raised by subscriptions, or otherwise. Mr. Giles then,
wishing the meeting to bear in mind that this sum was esti-
mated upon the least and barest expense of making the ne-
cessary surveys, left the matter in the hands of the chairman
and meeting.
The chairman then suggested that circulars should be sent
round to the gentry and others, to solicit their subscriptions.
Mr. Grenville, hanker, Cheater, entirely agreed, as the
local interests of Chester were so deeply involved.
Mr. Bulkeley Hughes thought that similar meetings ought
to be held in Flintshire, Denbighshire, and the other coun-
ties, in order to stimulate emulation and prevent jealousy.
For his own part, he preferred Porthdynllaen, and, as the
representative of the six contributory boroughs pf Carnar-
vonshire, he would suggest that the surveys spoken of by
Mr. Giles ought to include one of the line of road between
the Menai Bridge, or Bangor, and Porthdynllaen, in order
that the publip might have fair means of testing the compa-
rative merit of the two lines from Bangor to the railway
terminus.
After several other speeches, resolutions were agreed to
for furthering the proposed object, and the meeting separated.

AN INDIAN ESTADLISHWINT.—The nnnaber or servants
and people attached to one person, surprises those who Wye
never been in the east. My own allowance consisted of an
elephant, four horses, eight camels, and twenty domestics ; a
pretty handsome quantity formic individual.—Captain Fane's
Five Years in India.

AN EXTRAORDINARY WOMAN.—Left Meerut on our way
towards Kurnaul, and marched towards Sadanah, the former
place of residence of the Begum Sombre. This celebrated
woman, who died about two years ago, was a half-caste, and
originally married to Colonel Dyce, a German, who obtained,
during the civil wars of India, and after the downfall of the
Great Mogul, and before our taking possession of the country,
one of the many small principalities into which the whole
empire was subdivided. Aware of her husband's love for
her, she pretended, on a threatened invasion of his territories
by the Mahrattas, to destroy .herself, and caused a pistol to
be fired near her palanquin. The plot succeeded. Her
_ ;aid he would not survive her, and shot himself
through the head, when she immediately seized the govern-
ment, soon became one of our closest allies, and was con.
timed in her usurpation, which she retained till her death,
when, according to treaty, it lapsed to our government. She
seems to have been a strange mixture of good and evil. On
the side of the former she is said to have been kind to her
people, and a good mother to her adopted children. On the
tiriics other it is argued that she was arbitrary, avaricious, and at
cruel. The worst story told of her is her having been
jealous of a Nautch girl, to whom her husband had paid
rather too much attention, having buried her alive, and seat-
ing herself above the place, smoking her hookah. The
Europeans about her, however, deny the story, and say that,
except to culprits, she was never cruel. She built and en-
dowetl a
theßo.T.r; catholic chapel, which is very beautiful, in-
laid like the whole of the interior being of white
Marble. She is said to have died worth nearly X 500,000,
which is all left to Mr. Dyce Sombre, her son-in-law, who
took it with him to England.—Five years in India.

spouse

RBWWS

RUSTING NARII4TM

Wp have been fayeured by an eminent yuprcantile tlpin with
a copy of the following letter from one pf their corresPon-
dents. The writer's sufferings will be read with inuch in-
terest ; but the statement in which he represents the British
consul at the Havana as refusing to his shipwrecked country-
men the assistance they had a right to expect from him is one
which demands inquiry. _

" Mansion House, Havana de Cuba.
• In my last letter I informed you that I had taken my
passage by the American ship John Taylor, bound to New
Orleans. Accordingly we set sail from Liverpool on the sth
of September, and got clear of the Channel about the Bth,
after which we had fair sailing till we cleared the Azores,
which was about the 20th. It then fell calm until the 30th,
during which time we made nothing on our course; but beat
up a few degrees to the south, and got into the trade,' which
carried us on rapidly to Antigua, which we made arid cleared
to the south on Monday, 18th October. 'We made the Grand
Cayman on Sunday, the 17th, where we lay to about two
hours to take in fresh provisions ; after which we continued
our course with a fair breeze till 12 o'clock a.m., of the Bth,
when (by observation) we were 37 miles south of Cape
Antonio. About this time it commenced blowing hard,
which caused• the captain to order in the. topgallants and
double reef the topsails. The gale continued increasing until
about four o'clock, when the jib went to rags ; the reefed
foresail, in the act of taking in, followed its example. We
were now riding under a close-reefed maintopsail, with the
wind increasing to a hurricane, and the ship evidently carried
by the current. Though so near land, the thick state of the
weather prevented our discerning any object 50 yards from
the ship, whilst night was fast approaching, with the most
dreadful lightning right over our heads that I ever beheld ;
the obscurity increased to almost material darkness,' for
at each instant, compared with the vivid flashes, we could
scarcely conceive it to be the mere absence of light. About
half-past eight p.m. our maintopsail reef flew into a
thousand atoms ; the maintop gallant mast was blown away
as a rotten branch is carried from an aged tree by the March
winds of the north, the tiller ropes snapped, and our ship
drifted at the mercy of the tempest. At nine p.m. she
struck, our fore and mainmasts went ;by the board, and our
beautiful ship lay a groaning wreck. The sea swept fast
over her, which caused the captain to order a portion of the
bulwarks to be cut away in order to clear the main deck.
which was at times knee-deep in water ; nothing further
could be done.
" The steerage and second cabin passengers had rushed
(many of them naked) to the chief cabin, and clung about
us in their agony, for in all human calculation few were the
moments of our existence. In the moment of anguish and
tribulation the weak borrow strength from those who from
nature or habit can look with a serene countenance on
the danger that unmans themselves, and thus did the pre-
sence of two or three persons inured to hard scenes and dan-
ger impart an inexplicable confidence to roost of the
others. Those by whom I was most annoyed were three
or four methodists, who, instead of comforting others, knelt
down in the midst of the rest, and roared out at the top
of their voices—' Do spare us this once,' and such like rant.
I was almost obliged to swear at them to make them a little
silent, for I was afraid they would drive the poor females
into fits. A gentleman connected with a commercial house
in Liverpool, who was passenger in the first cabin, lent a
hand as long as the deck could be kept, and in the moment
of most imminent danger was one of the coolest men I ever
saw, doing all that a man could do to console the unhappy
without seeming to devote one thought to himself.
" What an eternity-like night! -It seemed to most of us
as though the earth had forgotten to revolve, and that morn
was destined never to dawn again. Nothing could be dis-
cerned beyond the ship's side but the white waves that were
beating around and over her; and though it was well known
that we were on a bed of coral rocks, yet we could not tell
how far we might be from the main land. 'Morning broke at
last amid loud exclamations of thanksgiving from the weak,
and even the strong did not forget to breathe the silent
prayer of heartfelt gratitude to the Supreme Author of
light. I should have observed, that soon after 12 o'clock
the tempest in some degree abated, and some hope was en-
tertained that she might ride it out till the morning ; the
well was sounded, and it was found that she had made but
little water; all took a turn at the pumps, and she was
soon laid dry. At four the hurricane had • abated con-
siderably, the pumps were again manned, and in five
minutes she was dry ; we therefore no longer doubted that
she would ride it out in safety. As soon as it was day, the
longboat was got out, and the passengers were landed with
some difficulty ; for though we found the ship within
100 yards front the land, lying in a sandy bottom, sur-
rounded by coral rock, yet the sea continued to run high.
At length a rope was made fast to a tree on the shore, and so
it was managed to ferry the longboat across, the captain's
gig having been stove in on the first attempt to land. One
poor young fellow, a native of Sheffield, who has an uncle
and aunt abroad, in exerting himself to aid in landing the
women and children, was carried out by a wave and drowned.
He was got out almost directly, and every exertion made to
restore animation, but in vain. On the 20th (the day after),
a few of us volunteered to go in search of inhabitants and
the authorities, in order to obtain the necessary succours.
Luckily just before we started, a mountaineer from a consi-
derable distance made his appearance, who served us for a
guide, and so we, set. out.well armed, for I expected nothing
less than wreckers, robbers, or pirates. The spot where we
were wrecked is called Lapunta del Olandes, on the south
side of Cape St. Antonio, so we proceeded along the sea-
coast towards Cape Corrientes. It was about eleven o'clock
when we set out, and we had not proceeded far when we found
it impossible to go on ; the heat was intense, and, increased
by the reflection from the sea, rocks, and sand,: soon became
insupportable; for my own part I felt suffocated, and groaned
with the difficulty of respiration. Our pulses. were at 120.
We now crept under some palm bushes, and lay until we felt
relieved, when we continued our march until dark. Not
being able to proceed we supped upon those birds we shot on
our way, with some cheese and biscuit we had carried from
the ship, and then stretched ourselves upon some palm leaves
and slept till break of day, when we again put ourselves en
route. As we ware walking along the beach we observed a
number of fishes playing on the surface of the sea. I singled
out one and fired ; the ball passed through the spine just be-
low the head ; the fish floundered for a short time, when I
jumped in and caught him by the gills. I fond it to be a fine
red fish, something like the besago of Biscay, weighing about
121bs. In about an hour we reached the first backwoods-
man's cot, called the Mashora.' Here we were received
with a most hearty welcome by two whites and two blacks ;
one of the latter spoke English. Our fish was cooked ;
they gave us Maintains roasted upon the embers, coffee
made of maize sweetened with honey, and an abundance
of limes, of which we drank the juice. Again we start-
ed, continuing our course through trackless woods, our
guide cutting his way with a long hanger which he wore.
For a long distance we had nothing under foot but coral-
rock as sharp as needles; then commenced the lagoons, for
we were just at the end of the rainy season, and of the most
dreadful hurricane that has been known for 40 years. In
some parts trees, plantations, houses, end every thing else
have been blown down, and the country, in some parts, laid
30 feet under water. We were flue day, for two hours at a
time, up to our middles in water, and for three days we
were at least six hours out of the twelve in water, and the
rest on coral rocks, or amongst roots and brambles, On the
second day, at night, we reached a cottage called the ' Aula,'
where we were well received by a numerous family of young
and old, of all colours but milk-white, and were most gene-
rously treated, and like the first we met with, would not hear
of being paid for anything. On the third day, having shot
about a dozen pigeons on our way, we reached an estate
called the Arreta,' where we were quite feasted, over-
whelmed with kindness, and our pigeons cooked for us to
carry away with us the next morning. On this, the fourth
day of our absence from the wreck, we reached the first
authority—' Don Francisco Lugo Hacienda de Lo Re-
mote.' We were exhausted by the fatigue we had under-
gone ; my legs were covered with wounds, and swollen to
nearly the thickness of my thighs, whilst those of my com-
panions were little better. In all my marches I never
encountered anything half so dreadful as the country we bad
come through ; certainly, although you well know I can
endure much, all the gold in Cuba would not induce me to'
make another such march. Don Francisco Lugo is an
excellent man ; he treated its with parental kindness, lent
us three ounces' of gold to proceed with (for our English
money would not pass), and furnished us with horses and a
guide to proceed to the village (Pueblo) of Guarres, where
we were met by Dr. Don :lose Escovedo, a physician of the
place, who invited us to his house, gave me dressing for my
legs, and offered us money and everything else we needed.
The following morning we proceeded to Final del Rio.'
Here we found the lieutenant-governor, Don ,Jose Callaba,
who immediately brought us to his house, treating us with
the utmost kindness. He further took upon himself to re-
turn the three ' ounces' we had borrowed from Don F. Lugo,
paid our guides four and a half . ponces,' obliging us to take
two more to continue our journey, for which he lent us his
own horses, to take us to ' Colonia,' where we saw the steamer
Serena, commanded by Captain Don Antonia Espinosa, who
received, among other things, a splendid sword from her
Majesty Queen Victoria, for saving the lives of some British
subjects. This gentleman received us with open arms, and
told us that if the steamer were his own he would, proceed to
the wreck forthwith, hut as he was not the owner ha could.
not do it on his own responsibility; he gave me a letter to
one of the owners, soliciting leave to go to the wreck. We
reached here (Calla de la Ovra) by the railway from San
Felipe, and immediately proceeded to the American consul's,
whom, as it was Sunday, we did not find in the way. As the
case was urgent, for we had been 11 days on our way, and
had left 205 fellow-creatures on a desert coast without any
visible means of subsistence, and my mind was very uneasy,
I resolved not to sleep till I had got the affair in a right
channel.

" We drove to the house of the pritish consul, who, after
many verbal civilities, when I put the question home as to
how we were to proceed in order to relieve the wreck, kindly
toadme that ' As a man lie commiserated their unhappy con-
dition, but a$ 4 Aousul he could have nothing at all to do with
them, as they were deserting their country and flag' After
the treatment we had met with here, was in despair; but
at last thought of the American viee.aonsul there. To our
great pleasure we met the American consul himself, who told
us that as a consul he could only serve the American crew
and cargo, but that he would take upon himself to succour
all, and carry the passengers to their destination. He has
also set on foot a subscription to pay our expenses, &c. This
morning the Captain General Valdez, our old opponent in
Catalonia, sent for the American consul (Mr. Irish), and
told him that he should give him 300 dollars from his own
pocket towards the subscription. I trust this may be appre-
ciated, and contrasted with the apathy of our own consul.
The American ship Clarion is chartered to go to the wreck,
and I am pow on board, ready to sail in five minutes."