The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-12-19 00:00:00

FOREIGN 4- COLONIAL INTELLIGENC

AMERICA.

The British and North American Royal mail steam-ship
Caledonia, Captain Lott, arrived at Liverpool at three
o'clock on Thursday morning. She sailed from Boston on
tilt Ist, and Halifax, where she stopped several hours, on
the 3d instant, and made her voyage across the Atlantic
in the short space of ten days. She has brought thirty-
one passengers.
In Pennsylvania the Rev. Sidney Smith's letter had
stirred up no small commotion.
The recent election in Mississippi, where the question
of paying the bonds was canvassed before the people, has,
we regret to say, resulted in the choice of a large majority
of those adverse to payment, and, thereforr, postpones
more and more the hope of ultimate redemption.
Upon the subjecrof repeal the New York Herald says :
—" The movements of the repealers in this country are
singular enough. In Philadelphia there are two associa-
tions, who are quite at loggerheads. In Boston, one por-
tion has gone over to the abolitionists, in obedience to the
mandate of his Holiness the Pope and Dan O'Connell.
In other parts of the country the same divisions and dif-
ferences have occurred."

During the fortnight which bad elapsed between the
sailing of the steamer s the stock-market presented little
novelty ; and, though slight variations occurred from time
to time in the respective stocks, they had on the whole
been very steady, and undergone considerable improve-
ment. The transactions had been rather heavy, and spe-
culation to a considerable extent carried on.

A steady improvement was taking place throughout the
country, and increased confidence in trading transactions
was manifesting itself, and everything indicated a return
of prosperous times.
Money continued as abundant as ever, and the amount
of unemployed capital was considerable.
This being the last steamer by which remittances can
with safety be made so as to arrive in England before the
close of the year, a good bnsiness was done in exchanges,
and the best bills in the market were sold at 108 to 1081
per cent. The rate on Paris was, City Bills, 5.321 to
5.321; Amsterdam, 391; Hamburgh, 35 to 351; Bremen,
774- to 77i.
The trade in dry goods was rather dull ; indeed, the fall
trade may be considered to have passed, and but little
more business will be done in it this year. The cotton-
market had not undergone much change since the depar-
ture of the Roseins ; prices remained steady. Some spe-
culation had taken place, but not sufficient to affect
prices. The new crop was still estimated at 1,800,000
bales.

The receipts of ashes were large, and they exceeded, up
to the time of the steamer's sailing, as compared with the
same date last year, 15,000 barrels. Potashes were at 41,
Pearls sk—the market closing with a fair demand for both
descriptions.
The New York canals, of Which the business for the
year may be considered closed, had produced a revenue of
2,100,000 dollars, and brought to tide-water more than
2,150,000 barrels of flour.
The Executive Council of Canada resigned in a body
(with the exception of Mr. Daly, the Provincial Secretary)
on the 25th ult., and their resignations were accepted by
the Governor-General. This was not known in Kingston
till the following day; but it being Sunday, the public
curiosity as to the cause• would not be gratified till the
House met on Monday. The latest letters from Kings-
ton, which are of Sunday evening, and are from a gentle-
man likely to be well informed, state, as the understood
reason of this unexpected change, the desire of the late
Council to be con,ulted upon all appointments to office, a
claim which, it would appear, Sir C. Metcalfe is not in-
clined to submit to. The names of the retiring members
of the Council are—the Hon. Messrs. Sullivan, Lafon-
taine, Baldwin, Hincks, Dunn, Small, Morin, Aylwin,
and Killaly.

APPALLING MASSACRE IN NEW ZEALAND.
The morning papers of Friday, are filled with extracts
from the New Zealand journals, received on Wednesday
last, descriptive of a most dreadful disaster which has
just taken place at Cloudy Bay. The following summary
embraces all the leading facts of the case ;—A certain
number of settlers in Nelson district were to be provided
with sections of land. Parties were sent to survey these
allotments. Those engaged in the survey were interrupted
by the native chiefs, who denied that the New Zealand
Company had any right to claim these districts as their
property. Among other acts of hostility, the hut of Mr.
Cotterell, one of the surveyors, was burned. When in-
formation of these troubles was brought to Nelson, the
brig Victoria was despatched, with sundry officers and
men on board, including Mr. Thompson, a police magis-
trate, who—of all things in the world—carried with him
a warrant for the apprehension of the two principal chiefs,
Rauparah and Rangiaita!
After this party. amounting in all to upwards of forty
men, who were supplied with arms on the voyage, came
within view of the natives, who were posted on the other
side of a creek, Mr. Thompson, with Captain Wakefield
and Mr. Cotterell, crossed over to hold communication
with the chiefs. After walking about with them, it is
stated, in a friendly manner, Mr. Thompson showed his
warrant, and after explaining its purport and his own
office, asked Rauparab, to accompany him on board the
Queen's brig. The latter, who had never dreamed of
such a curiosity, naturally refused. Mr. Thompson, who
seems to have had no sense either of the tragic or the
ludicrous, became angry, called on his countrymen to
fix bayonets and advance. Only a few of them had step-
ped on the canoe, when—from what side does not appear
—a shot was fired. An irregular firing on both sides
enaucu, 4.4 in nnsn-ponntahle disorder. and
19 of them were slain.
Such is a summary of the affair, as recorded in the
papers of the colony. There is much unexplained, and
perhaps incapable of a satisfactory explanation. This is
a misfortune which must affect, not only the fortunes of
the survivors, but also the credit of the English nation.
The New Zealand Colonist, of the 30th of June, gives
the following as the complete list of the persons who have
fallen I—Capts. Wakefield and England ; Messrs. Thomp-
son, Richardson, Patchett, Howard, Cotterell, John
Brooke (interpreter), William Clanzay, Thos. Ratcliffe,
William Northam, Thomas Pay, Coster, Jas. M'Gregor,
William Gardner. Ely Cropper, Henry Burnforth, Thos.
Tyrrell, and Isaac Smith. The missing were,—Malin
(chief constable), Edward Stokes, Thomas Hannam, and
John Burton. This catastrophe ,will no doubt cause the
immediate attention of government to be directed to the
subject.

INFERNAL MACHINERY AT THE SIEGE OF

BARCELONA.

MADRID, DEC, 6.

The Esnectador of this morning publishes a remarkable
letter from an officer stationed at Barcelona, respecting
the scientific mode in which the jamanica of that capital
carried on the war lately. This journal has, throughout
the struggle, sympathised with the besieged, and now
publishes the letter with evident reluctance, apologising
for the abusive terms with which it abounds, It appears
that General Sanz is well aware of the "gunpowder
plots," in which some foreigners were said to be engaged
there, and, to make sure, has ordered them all to leave the
city. The principal is said to have been a Belgian engineer
officer, who conducted the defence during the siege.
" Barcelona, Nov. 26.

" My dear friend,--Providence has preserved the army !
A horrid plot has been discovered to blow up our troops,
as well as the cathedral, if we should have attempted to
take the city by assault. We learned from one of the
jamanica who has entered our ranks lately, that they had
buried a number of barrels of powder outside the walls
in the roads and paths by which the assaults were ex-
pected, with wires inserted to discharge them by means of
electricity, according to the new infernal plan employed
in France and England to blow up the hills which stand
in the way of the railroads they are constructing.
" The general, knowing that I understand something
about these matters, sent me at night with an escort in
search of the powder, and after plenty of perspiration, cold
and hot, from fear and hard work, we succeeded in turn-
ing up 13 barrels of it, buried in as many approaches,
under heaps of stones ; each disposed so as to have blown
up a battalion at a time. We were in some danger, 1 as-
sure you, for the wires were still in the powder, and
stretched away to the city walls, as we judged from the
direction of each, buried as they were two or three inches
under the ground all the way into the town, to prevent
them being stumbled on by passengers. This is certainly
the invention of some of those cursed French republicans
whon they had in the city, fomenting the rebellion, for
such an idea would never have entered into the heads of
the brutal jamancieros" (i. e. the mob of the Plaza San
Jamie).
" In each barrel we found two copper wires, tied with
thread at each side of a thick cork, to keep them at a proper
distance until they entered the powder, where the electric
spark was to pass from one to the other, and inflame the
powder lying between. The ends of the wires were bent
over the bottom of the cork, so as to approach within
about the fifth part of an inch, and the wires ended in a
little ball of solder, without doubt to produce a stronger
spark. But this was not all. Lest the spark should pass
harmlessly betweeen two coarse grains of their cannon
powder, these villains had introduced each cork with its
wires into a little wide-mouthed bottle, full of fine priming
powder, that could not have escaped ignition with the
slightest spark. I am sure that they were French toilet
bottles, for one of them still bore a label with the word
' creme.' One of the wires, covered with pitch, led off to
the city under the surface, as I said before ; and the other,
a short end, hung out of the barrel into the damp earth to
complete the electric circuit.
" When the 13th barrel was raised I broke off the wire
to make all safe, and followed its course to the nearest
wall, tearing it up, little by little, till 1 found it passed
through a loophole into an adjoining garden, and at last
into a cellar (altogether about 500 yards of copper wire.)
There we found the infernal electrical machine itself,
hidden in a corner, and covered with a heap of straw.
The machine was nothing, after all, but a common black
wine bottle, mounted in an old cigar box. A crooked
stick in the bottle's mouth served for a handle to make it
revolve on its position. On one side they had nailed a
dirty doeskin glove, with some amalgam of solder in the
palm ; and, on the other, an old snuff-canister which
served for the prime conductor, and the bottle spun about
between both.
" Never did I see such a ridiculous-looking apparatus,
or one contrived to do mischief so quietly ! I assure you
that it had more the appearance of a child's toy than an
electrical battery ; but, on turning the bottle by the aid of
the Hale crooked stick, to try if it was in action, I re-
ceived a spark on my knuckles sufficient to inflame a barrel
of powder a mile off, and blow a regiment to pieces.
" This is, without doubt, the great secret with which
those savages boasted that they would astonish the world,
if we drove them to extremity.
" That which most surprised me was to find this in-
fernal machine in such good working order, in spite of
the dampness of the vault in which it lay ; but, on over-
hauling the old cigar-box, I found in the bottom, instead

of cigars, damp lumps of something like salt, which I
afterwards showed to an apothecary, and which he said
was a preparation used by chemists for drying the air in
their apparatus, as it absorbs all the humidity of the place
in which they enclose it. This composition, he says, is
formed by dissolving lime in muriatic acid, and afterwards
driving off the liquid by a red heat in a crucible.
" From what the jamancia, to whom we owe this dis-
covery, said, we conclude that the author of this infernal
project is some democrat disciple of Fieschi and Co. who
is now strolling amongst the pueblos of the Ampurdam,
instructing the mountaineers in these and other means of
destruction for the troops! But we confide in the care of
Providence, that watches over the safety of our valiant
army. _ _

••Such is the fate of our unhappy country !" exclaims the
patriotic Espectador. " Foreigners are always engaged
in combining the elements of destruction for its ruin!

It is not improbable that tea will be extensively culti-
vated in the Deyrah Doon by an English joint-stock
company.

THE JESUITS IN SWITZERLAND.—The great council
of Lucerne have decided, by a majority of six, that the
Jesuits shall henceforth take no part in the management
of the seminaries of education in that town.

SUICIDES.—PARIS, DEC. 9.—M. Jannin, the director
of the Italian Opera, or at least he who had the license of
that fashionable theatre—and his wife committed sui-
cide the night before last. The cause of this rash oc-
currence is supposed to be the discovery of serious defal-
cations.

THE BISHOP OF VAN DIE➢IAN'S LAND.-Dr. Nixon,
the Bishop of Van Diernan's Land, arrived at Hobart
Town on the 20th of July, and took up his temporary
residence at the Government-house. He preached at the
Cathedral Church of St. David on the following day.
A creditable anecdote is told of the French King.
Being informed that the mother of Alibaud, who was exe-
cuted for an attempt at assassinating him, had fallen into
deep distress, he sent to the Mayor of Marseilles a sum
of money for the use of the unfortunate woman, with the
promise of further assistance.

A NATURALIST TURNED KING.—The last accounts
from Abyssinia state that Dr. Schimper, the well-known
traveller, has obtained possession of a tract of land in the
above country, over which he exercises sovereign sway.
He, however, only intends to remain so long as will be
necessary to complete his collections and observations on
that important portion of Africa.

CHANGE OF FORTUNE.—A Mr. Dominic Von Malden,
of Halifax, Nova Scotia, received information last week
that he had become entitled to a fortune of £17,000 per
annum by a deceased relative in Europe. When the
news reached him he was employed in shovelling a heap
of coals into his cellar. Mr. Von Malden had resided in
that city for many years, and earned a livelihood as a
journeyman printer.—American paper.
The Morning Post announces that a young Scotehman
travelling in t. .e Shand country, adjoining the Birman
empire, has met with a plant, used by the natives for dye-
ing, which is likely to supersede the use of indigo, as it is
only a tenth of the price. He has submitted it to the
Agri horticultural Society of Calcutta, and it has been
pronounced to be a very valuable production—a genuine
black vegetable dye.
SLAVE INSURRECTION IN CUBA.—We find the fol-
lowing paragraph in a commercial letter in the New York
Journal of Commerce, under date of the Bth inst., from
Havannah :—" Yesterday, at 4 o'clock a.m., an express
arrived at Matanzas which brought the news of the rising
of the slaves on several of the plantations. They were,
however, immediately put down, and 50 of them killed
and 67 taken prisoners, whilst others hanged themselves
rather than be taken by the authorities. I did not learn
the number of whites that were killed, if any."
SHIPWRECK.—On Saturday letters were received in
town mentioning the loss of the Oxford East India ship.
She sailed on the 16th of July from Calcutta, laden with
sugar, indigo, bales of silk, &c., and struck on a ridge of
rocks off the Island of Rodriguez early in the morning of
the Ist of September. The passengers and crew were all
saved:by means of another vessel, which was fortunately
not far off. The Oxford soon became a total wreck. The
value of the cargo is supposed to be about £20,000. The
ship is said to be insured to the extent of £17,000.
ANOTHER ROYAL TRIP.—VIENNA, Dec. s.—lt is con-
fidently affirmed, that it is the intention of Queen Vic-
toria to visit the banks of the Rhine next spring, and that
she will remain some time in that neighbourhood. Ac-
cording to some accounts, her Majesty will take up her
residence in the parish of Bruhl, whilst others state that
the Palace of Stollzenfels will be prepared for her recep-
tion. Persons who have the opportunity of knowing the
fact state that a numerous assemblage of crowned heads
will meet on the banks of the Rhine, probably at Co-
blentz.—Silesian Journal.

CONSTANTINOPLE, Nov. 22.—TLe Rev. Dr. Wolff
sets out on his mission to Bokhara, by the Trebizond
steamer, the day after to-morrow. lie has been provided
with two autograph letters from the Sultan, addressed to
the Khans of Khiva and Bokhara, one from the Grand
Vizier, and three from the Sheik-el-Islam. The tenour
of the Sultan's letter is, that the British government,
being the friend and ally of the Padischa, its subjects were
entitled to the favour and protection of his Majesty,
wherever his influence might extend. The chiefs of Bok-
hara and Khiva are exhorted therefore to release any British
officers that might be detained there in captivity, and to
receive with kindness and distinction the venerable pastor
who should come to claim them. These letters of the
Sultan, the descendant of the Caliphs, who is held in great
by all the followers of the Sunnee sect, will na-
turally create a very favourable impression tor Di. won.
at Bokhara. All the evidence which he has succeeded in
obtaining on the Aubject of his investigation at Constanti-
nople is of the most encouraging nature, and tends to
confirm the belief that Messrs. Stoddart and Conolly are
still alive.

SANGUINARY BATTLB IN TETE CAUCASUS.—ST. PE-
TERSBURGH, Nov; 10.—Private accounts give information
respecting some sanguinary actions which have lately taken
place between our troops and the Avarians, a tribe of the
Caucasian mountaineers which is making attacks on the
left of our line of operations. Avaria is not far from the
west coast of the Caspian Sea, mid forms the northern
quarter of Lesghistan. The commissioners, Dittel and
Beresin, both belonging to the University of Kasan, and
ae present on a mission at the expense of the government
which will comprehend a tour through European Turkey,
Asia Minor, Persia, Syria, and Egypt, have lately supplie,l
us with a chart of Avaria—a Trans-Caucasian district,
hitherto entirely unknown. The Avarians and the Les-
ghis are the most cruel and rapacious races of the moun-
taineers. During the rainy season they made a violent
attack on a large village which maintains the relations of
peace with us. Colonel Weselowsky hasteued with his
detachment to the protection of the people. He found,
however, an immensely superior number of opponents,
whom Schomil, the present leaders of the mountaineers,
who has distinguished himself by uncommon spirit and
courage, personally commanded. The force of the enemy
was estimated at from 8000 to 10,000 men. Weselowsky,
notwithstanding that he and his small party fought with
the heroic valor peculiar only to Russians, found himself
obliged to give way to the opposing force. The loss on his
side is said to amount to 1000 in killed and prisoners.
Among the names mentioned in the latter is that of
Lieutenant Abasa, the son of one of our richest spirit-
merchants. Colonel Weselowsky is supposed to have
been either killed or taken prisoner, as no further accounts
have yet been received here respecting him.
Telegraphic dispatches from Madrid, of the sth, 6th,
and 7th inst., were received on Monday by the French
government. They announce the publication of the royal
decrees appointing the ministry, as follows :—Senor Gon-
zales Bravo, President of the Council ; General Maserado,
Minister of War; Marquis Penaflorida, Minister of the
Interior ; Senor Mayans, of Justice ' • Senor Portillo of
the Navy ; The Ministry of Finance had been given ad
interim to Senor Diaz de Sarralde. It had been offered
to Senor Carasco, who declined it. Senors Madoz and
Garnica had been appointed Vice Presidents of the Con-
gress, the former by 70 to 63 votes, the latter by 77 to 73.
The debate was still proceeding. Senor Cortina occupied
the whole of the sitting of the 6th, and was to resume
his speech on the ensuing day. The motion presented by
seven Deputies for the prosecution of Olozaga had been
taken into consideration, by a majority of 81 votes to 66.
Madrid was quiet, and the latest accounts from the pro-
vinces were favourable. The Espectador publishes a let-
ter from an officer stationed at Barcelona, from which it
would appear that the Captain General Banz, had sub-
stantial grounds for the decree which expelled from the
city all persons not provided with passports. •A. Belgian
officer had, it seems, undertaken to blow up the assailing
troops, and with that view, barrels of gunpowder had
been buried under all the approaches to the city, with
wires inserted iu them for the purpose of being discharged
by a galvanic battery, on the principle that was employed
in the destruction of the wreck of the Royal George.
Thirteen barrels of powder, so disposed that they would
have destroyed a whole battalion, were dug up. The
details given in the letter of the Expectador's correspon-
dent are curious. The whole affair appears to have been
managed most scientifically ; and but for the information
from a desertar from the rebels, which led to its detection,
the effects of the explosion must have been terrific.
Madrid journals of the 7th state, the debate on the
Queen's declaration still continued, and it was proposed
that there should be a day and night sitting for the pur-
pose of terminating the affair.

HORRIBLE EXECUTION FOR WITCHCRAFT.

Our readers will peruse with pain the following ac-
count of a case of barbarous cruelty which has occurred
among the Kafirs of South Africa. We should gladly
leave such a revolting case unnoticed, rather than lace-
rate the feelings of the humane by its shocking details,
did we not conceive it to be a duty to make known the
dreadful effects of ignorance and superstition.
It appears that Macomo's son, Kona, was sick ; the
usual course was pursued in such cases, and a witch doc-
tor was consulted to ascertain the individual from whose
evil influence he was suffering ; and, as is also usual
under such circumstances, a man of property, and by re-
putation a man of courage of Macoma's tribe, was se-
lected and condemned to forfeit his life for his alleged
crime—unheard, and without the slightest opportunity
being afforded him of asserting, still less proving his in-
nocence ; it was sufficient that the doctor had said he
was guilty—he must die ! Accordingly, to prevent his
being made acquainted by his friends of his awful situa-
tion, a party of men left Macoma's kraal early in the
morning to secure the recovery of the sick young chief by
murdering one of his father's subjects. The day selected
for the immolation appears to have been a sort of gala
day with the unconscious victim ; he was in his kraal,
had just accomplished the slaughter of one of his cattle,
and was merrily contemplating the convivial duties of the