East Saginaw courier. (East Saginaw, Mich.) 1859-18??, 1864-12-28

made of better than they did upon
this occasion. Tin Pot, as though anx.
ious TO do oil he could to retrieve his
disgrace, exerted himself as l feel Ger.
tain no other human being could have
done.
The other boats were left many
fathoms behind. For four long hours
did we continue our exertions, when
the mate suddenly held up his hands.
We placed our oars apeak and leaned
forward upon our thwarts, gasping,
hot, and with the sweat rolling in drops
down our faces.
" Stand up, Tin Pot !" said old Iron
head.
The Kanaka rose to his feet and laid
his hand upon his harpoon. The mate
turned an uneasy glance upon the
other boats, which were now close up-
on us.
Now then, Tin Pot, look out this
time, and make sure thing Of it."
he whispered.
=" Aye: aye. sirw answered tho Kan
aka, while tho hlna l;rht shnra IN L.
eyes.
Scarcely had the words passed his
lips when tho waters parted directly
in front of the boats bow, and the
huge body of the whale rose from the
sea.
"Give it to him !" yelled old Iron
head---" fair and square, my lad !"
The Kanaka buried his irons to the
socket in the whales hump, and was
turning to change places with the
mate, when, with a sidelong whirl,
the monster raised his Aukes, which,
sweeping the air i'll a slanting direc-
ton, struck the eide of tho islanders
face, dashing his head from his shout
ders. The bleeding trunk fell over
into the sea, and that was the last /
ever saw Of my chum.
The after oarsman, who was good
sailor, then took the steering oar and
attended to the running line, while
the mate stepped to the bow of the
boat, and unfastoned lance as coolly
us though nothing had happened. Z
have only to add that we succeed
ed in killing our whale and towing
him to the ship. But tho fate of my
chum throw gloom upon my spirits
from which / did not recover while
remained in the Centaurus.
The prophecy of Owreenoona had
certainly been fulfilled
Ancient Wrought-Iron Artillery.
A correspondent of the London
Times says:
In 1927, when tho English in Nor
mandy made their last assault on the
Mont ST. Michel, they brought to their
aid "piasiars maehiaes espomaataJles CT
dirrs engines de g,lerre," with which, to
continue the words of the old chroni-
clcr, "ils dreSs1eat une Jattrie 81 f,r,use
cOHtre les mwailies qaHs y .frcnt JreeAs."
rsafuuB riIv5v rorIui,ia6io -vv~1,--...
guns, which, on the rcputse or ths .i,s-
siegers, they were compelled TO leave
behind them, and which have remain
ed on the rock to the present time.
Interesting as those pieces of artil-
lery are, both in a historical and o
constructive point of view, very little
has hitherto been known about them,
and / am not aware that any complete
ard accurate description Of them is in
existence.
During late visit to Normandy l
have endeayored lat the suggestion of
my friend the Secretary Of the Ord
nance Select Committee), to supply
this want, and possibly the following
notes may be acceptable to some of
your readers.
i found tho guns in a bad state, be-
ing choked UP with masses of stone,
sand, rust and rubbish, which had
probably been there for centuries, and
had become almost as hard rs con-
glomerate. However, 10y the oour-
teous aid of M. Marquet, the director
of the "Maison Centrale," Ito whom
antiquarians and architects are so
much indebted for his intelligent and
Jealous preservation Of the beautiful
ecclesiastical building on the island) l
contrived TO get them tolerably clear,
to obtain their dimensions, and to
take photographs of them.
The guns are Of the kind termed
"barbadoes," and are of different
sizes. The larger one is 10 inches
calibre, 30i inches greatest external
diameter, and II feet total length; Of
(which about feet Inches belongs
to the barrel, or chase and 3 feet 4
inches to the smaller powder chamber
in the rear. The smaller gun is ID
inches calibrc, and II feet 8 inches
long.
They are true "built up guns, be-
ing formed of longitudinal wrought
iron bars, about three inches wide, ar
ranged like the slaves of a cask, and
bound round closely with hoops of the
same material. The analogy of this
ancient construction with that of the
modern wrought-iron guns is very Gu
rious.
/ found a projectile in each gun
and several others lying about. They
are granite balls, roughly spherical,
and little smaller than the BORE
Those for the larger gun will proba-
bly, weigh about 300 lbs. each; but il
the size of tho gun be noted according
( to the calibre on the same principle rs
modern guns for round shot, it must
be called q 920-pounder The breech
chamber would hold about forty lbs.
of powder estimate the weight OF
the large gun to be about 81 tons, and
of tho small ono at about % tons.
So little are they priced by the
commune to whom they are said to
4 belong, that the Marie offered to sell
them TO me if / would fetch them
away. / am, sir,
Your obedient servant,
WIN. POLE.