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jno. l. miller & co., Proprietors. J An Independent Journal: For the Promotion of the Political, Social, Agricultural and Commercial Interests of the South. |lewism.gbist, PoMmw. VOL. 4. YOEKYILLE, S. C., THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1858. NO. 5. Skctcfes of CrabcL From the London Illustrated News. LIVINGSTONE'S TRAVELS IN SOUTH AFRICA, The fame of Pr. Livingstone preceeded j the publication of this volume, which will | largely add to his well-earned reputation.? I Ou his arrival in England, after an absence j of sixteen years passed in danger in the pursuit of the noblest objects, he was honored with a special meeting of welcome by the Royal Geographical Society; and publicly annouuccd his intention of communicating to the world a narrative of his adventures, investigations and discoveries. lie has redeemed his promise in a manner that will elicit universal admiration. Though modestly declaiming all literary pretensions, Dr. T i'i-ini,3tnno Vina rlianlnved the CanabilitieS of an accomplished writer?his style being'clear and vigorous, and clear from all meretricious decoration. But the great charm of the book, which imparts to it an enduring interest, is the novelty of the materials of which it is composed. He has penetrated into regions on which the foot of the white man had never before trod ; and beheld flowing rivers where only sandy deserts were supposed to exist. Races of men with whom no European had communicated had been his friends, companions, and disciples. We consider this work of such novelty and importance, both as regards the narrative and the illustrations, as (by consent of the publisher) to transfer to our pages a few of the scenes of vivid interest which Dr. Livingstone has pictured ; and to quote them with these engravings his life-like descriptions. Before entering upon the details of this volume, it will gratify our readers if we give a slight sketch of this benefactor of mankind. He is a nati\e of Scotland, descended from I a respectable, though not opulent, line of an- j cestors; one of whoui on his death-bed called his children around him, and said that he could not discover a dishonest man among their forefathers. lie parted from them with these words, "Be honest." The father of Dr. Livingstone was a farmer of Ulva; but the expense of a large family induced him to remove to the Blantyre cotton factory, near Glasgow. There his son was placed as a weaver, at ten years of age; but attended school where he was taught Latin. At nineteen, he became a cotton-spinner, and his wages enabled him to attend a Medical, Greek, and Divinity class at Glasgow, where he was subsequently admitted a liceutiatc of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons. It was his intention to have gone to China, but he was prevented by the opium war. Kinbarking for Africa in 1840, after a voyage of three months he reached Cape Town, where he started for the interior, travelling around Algoa Bay. From 1840 to 1847, he devoted j his time to medical and missionary labors, without cost to the inhabitants. Shortly af- j ter his arrival in Africa, he determined to obtain a general knowledge of the language, and especially of that spoken by the Bcchuans, called Bakwains, and to make himself' acquainted with their laws and customs, j fkntr VioViito n nrl ninrlps nf for which purpose he secluded himself for sis months, j ** from Kuropeau society. In 1853 he removed j to the beautiful valley of Mabotsa, selecting j it as the site of a missionary station,, and j ^ there his first perilous adventure occurred.? The lions of the neighborhood not only attu/ nd the cattle-pens by night, but the herds , in open day. It was known that, if one in ! a troop of these animals is killed, the whole quit that part of the country. The Doctor j determined personally to assist the people in i uiakiug war agaiust the common enemy; j and the native leader of the party was the I schoolmasters, named Mcbalwe. The encounter, in which Dr. Livingstone narrowly j escaped from death, (which we have illustra-! ted,) is thus related : ESCAPE FROM THE LION. '' Startling aud looking half round, I saw the lion just in the act of springing upon mc I was upon a little height; he caught my shoulder as he sprang, and we both came to the ground below, together. Growling horribly, close to my car, he shook me as a terrier dog does a rat. This shock produced ; a stupor, similar to that which seems to be j felt by a mouse, after the first shake of the j cat. It caused a sort of dreaminess, in whioh | there was no sense of pain, nor feeling of j terror, though quite conscious of all that was J happening. It was like what patients partially uuder the influence of chloroform des-; cribe, who see all the operation, but feel not | the knife. This singular condition was not j the result of any mental process. The shake i annihilated fear, aud allowed no sense of lior-: ror ia looking around at the beast. This pc- i culiar state is probably produced in all animals killed by the caruivora ; and, if so, is a merciful provision by our benevolent Creator, forlesseniug the pain of death. Turning round to relieve myself of the weight, as he had one paw on the back of my head, I saw his eyes directed towards Mcbalwe, who was trying 10 shoot him at a distance of fifteen yards. His gun, a flint one, missed fire in both barrels; the lion immediately left me, and attacking Mebalwc, bit his thigh. Another man, whose life I had saved, after he had been tossed by a buffalo, attempted to spear the lion while he was biting Mebalwe. He left Mebalwc and caught this man by the shoulder, but at this moment the bullets he had received took effect, and he fell down dead. The whole was the work of a few minutes, and must have been the paroxysm of dying rage. In order to take out the charm for him, the Bakatia on the following day, made a huge bonfire over the carcass, which was declared to be that of the largest lion they had ever seen. Besides crushing the bone into splinters, he left eleven teeth wounds on the upper part of my arm. A wound from this animal's tooth, resembles a gun-shot wound; it is generally followed by a great deal of sloughiug and discharge, and pains are felt periodically, ever afterwards. I had on a tartan jacket on the occasion, and I believe it wiped all the virus from the teeth that pierced the flesh, for my two companions in this affray, have both suffered from the peculiar pains, while I have escaped with only the inconvenience of a false joint in the limb. The man whose shoulder was wounded, showed lue his wound, actually burst forth afresh, on the same month of the | following year. This curious point deserves ( the attention of inquirers." The chief of the tribe, called Bechuans, : or Bakwaius, was named Sechele. He was a very remarkable man, and bad embraced | christiauity. His father had been murdered } by his own people, while Sechele was yet a j child. The friends of the family invited ' Tebituaue, the chief of Makololo, to reinstate them which he did, and the usurper was put to death. Sechele afterwards married the daughters of his three under chiefs, and thus secured the allegiance of his tribe, but he became a polygamist before he was a christian. When Dr. Livingstone made his acquaintance, Sechele's authority was fully re- j cognized ; and, as it was the custom of the | country when a new subject was introduced i to interrogate the propounderof it, he asked the teacher if his forefathers knew of a future judgment, and he answered in the affirmative, beginning to describe the scene of the "great white throne, aud Ilim who shall sit on it, from whose face the heavens and earth shall flee away on which the chief said: "Youstartle mc; the words make my boues to shake ; J have no strength in mc; but my forefathers were living at the same time yours were, and how is it they did not send them word about these terrible things sooner? Tbey all passed away in darkness, without knowing whither they were going." Sechele was an apt scholar, studied diligent* 1 * I 1-J V..t ly, ana soon acquirea xuuwicuge) uui u? had a low opinion of the moral power of truth over his tribe, and proposed to flog them into Christianity, with whips of rhinoceros hide, saying that they ought to be only too bappy to embrace Christianity at his command. For three years he made a consistent profession of his faith, but hesitated to part with his three wives, deeming it ungrateful, as he owed his power to their fathers. At length he made up his uiind firmly, made them presents, and sent them to their parents, "with intimation that he had no fault to find with them, but that in parting with them, he wished to follow the will of God." He and his children were baptised. The relations of the wives opposed the new religion, and both the attendance at school and church, became greatly diminished. A very curious dialogue then follows, between our missionary and a rain-doctor, which arose from the continued drought. We are next introduced to a hunting scene The first is descriptive of the chase, where the hunters are seen driving into the hopo or trap; in the second the beasts are entrapped, and in their confusion and terror, fall an easy prey to their pursuers : TIIE llOl'O OR TRAP FOR DRIVING GAME. "The hopo consists of two hedges in the r r tr i i __ l ? L J iorm or a \ , wnicn are very ingn aua ujick. near the angle. Instead of the hedges being joined there, they are made to form a laue about lift)' yards in length, at the extremity of which a pit is formed six or eight feet deep, and about twelve or fifteen in breadth or length. Trunks of trees are laid across the margins of the pit, and more especially over that nearest the lane, where the animals are expected to attempt their escape after they are in. The trees form an overlapping border, and render an escape almost impossible. The whole is carefully decked with short green rushes, making the pit like a concealed pit-fall. As the hedges are frequently about a mile long, and about as much apart at their extremities, a tribe making a circle three or four miles round the country adjacent to the opening, and gradually closing up, are almost sure to enclose a large body of game. Driving it up with shoots to the narrow part of the hopo, the men throw their javelins into the affrighted herds, and on the animals rush to the opening presented at the converging hedges, and into the pit, till that is full of a living mass. Some escape by running over the top of others, as a Smithfield dog does over the sheep's backs. It is a frightful sceue. The men, wild with excitement, spear the lovely animals with mad delight; others of the poor creatures, borne down by the weight of their dead and dying companions, every now and then make the whole mass heave in their smothering agouics.' The account given of the Doers ofCashua j mountains, otherwise named Mugalicsberg, is highly unfavorable, but we arc cautioned j not to coufound them with the Cape colon- ! ists, nor to imagine that Boar is synonymous ' ! with our word boor ; the term, as used iu j ! Asrica, simply means farmer. These people i are hostile to missions, and to English law, which places black and white tucn on terms : of perfect equality. Among them are En! glish deserters and men of desperate charact] er. Whenever they gain the ascendency ! thoy reduce the natives iuto bondage?conj sidering that good government will always | enforce compulsory labor. They are desI cendcd from Dutch and French Ilugucnot c\ ancestors, claim to be among the chosen, j and insist that the heathen arc their inheritance, regarding the colored race as black j property In 1852 the Boers made war on the Bokvauis, killed many of the adults, I and carried off two hundred of our school ! children into slavery. In this foray, Dr. ; Livingstone's house was plundered, hisstock ; of medicines smashed, leaves torn out of | books in his library, and all his furniture I j and clothing sold at public auction, to defray j the cost of this predatory expedition. Our I missionary has traced this outrage up to its j true source. 'The Boers resolved to shut { up in the interior, and I resolved to open in ' the country.' Our traveler then proceeded to the Kalahari desert, of which he gives an interesting description; minutely noticiug plants and j animals as he approached its confines. Nor j is it a useless tract of country, as its name ; : denotes. Accompanied by Messrs. Oswell I and Murray, Dr. L., started for the unknown j ; regions on the 1st of June, 1849. All | round Serotli the country is perfectly flat, and composed of soft white sand The sky is cloudless. A bright sunlight glares over the whole scene, and the clumps of teees aud bushes are so uniform in size and appearance, 1 that no one can be distinguished from the i other. It is a remarkable fact that the i elands, a beautiful variety of antelopes, fed i around the travelers, where water was inac- I cessible to them. We here quote from the 1 volume Dr. Livingstone's remarks on this I curious fact: i HOTTENTOT WOMEN RETURNING FROM I TIIE WATER AND MEN ROUND A DEAD 1 IIARTE BEAST. i 'Here, thou-rh the water was perfectly in- i accessible to elands, large numbers of the 1 fine animals fed around us, and when killed, 1 they were not in good condition, but their stomachs actually contained considerable of water. I examined carefully the whole alimentary canal, in order to see if there were any peculiarity which might account for the fact that this animal can subsist for months together without drinking, but found nothing. Other animals, such as the du ker, (Cephalopus mergeDs) or puti, of the Bcchuanas, the steinbuck (Tragulus rjpestris,) or puruhuru, the gemsbuck Oayx capensis) or hukama, and the po cupine (Hystrix cristata,) are all able to subsist without water, for many months at a time, by living ou bulbs and tubers containing moisture. They have sharpened hoofs, well adapted for digging, and there is little difficulty in comprehending their mode of ] subsistence. Some animals, on the other j hand, are never seen but in the vicinity of ( water. The presence of the rhinoceros, of the buffalo and gun (Catoblepas gun,) of the giraffe, the zebra and pallah (Antelope i melampus), is always a certain indication of ( water being within a distance of seven or [ eight miles; but one may see hundreds of j elands (Boselaphus), also springbucks (Ga- ^ zella cuchore) and ostriches, which being t warranted thereby in iuferring the presence t of water within thirty or forty miles. In- ( deed, the sleek, fat condition of the eland in 2 such circumstances, would not remove the s apprehension of perishing by thirst, from ( the mind of even a native. I believe, how- t ever, that these animals can subsist only } where there is some moisture in the vegeta- j i..".u ii? c i c ?c . LIUU uii wuiuii nicj luuu, IUI in uut jcai ui j uuusual drought, we saw herds of elands j and flocks of ostriches, crowding to the ? Zouga from the desert, and very many of ? the latter were killed in pitfalls on the bank?. , As long as there is any sap in the pasturage, , they seldom need water; but should a trav- , eler see the 'spoor' of a rhinoceros, or buf- ( falo, or zebra, he would at once follow it up, ( assured that before he had gone many miles, , he would certainly reach water.' { On the 1st of August, 1849, they dis- i covered Lake Ngami, a f ne sheet of water, 1 the dimensions of which are not accurately i known. The natives professed to go round i in three days, travelling at the rate of twen- < ty-five miles a day, which would give seven- 1 ty-five miles for its circumference; while t other opinions enlarge it for one hundred miles. It is shallow, fori subsequently saw , a native putting his canoe over seven or | eight miles of the north-east end ; it can . never, therefore, be of much value as a , commercial highway. The water of the \ lake is perfectly fresh when full, but brack- i ish when low. In this region are many , rivers, whose existence was never suspected , in a country supposed to be mere sand. The < banks of the Zouge are represented as beauti- ( ful, resembling closely many parts of the ] River Clyde, about Glasgow, and the trees , which adorn the banks are magnificent.? j Here elephants abound, and a new species j of antelope was discovered. The Zouga , contains ten kinds of fish, which the natives spear with javelins. On the route the trav- ] elers encountered a most formidable insect < nailed 'tsetse ' Tt is net mneh larger than < the common house fly. and is nearly of the j same brown color as the common honey bee. | Its peculiar buzz, when once heard, can ] never be forgotten by the traveler, whose | meatus of locomotion are domestic animals; t for it is well known, that the bite of this | poisonous insect, is certain death to ox, t horse, and dog. A most remarkable feature | in the bite of the 'tsetse,' is its perfect < harmlessness to men and wild animals, and ) even calves, so long as they continue to suck , the cow. 1 Dr. Livingstone gives an interesting ac- | count of the native chief, Sebituane, of ] whom he speaks as decidedly the best spcimen of a native chief. I never felt so much grieved by the loss of a black man before. It was in Sebituanc's territory that the mag- i niticent Kiver Zambesi, in the centre of th* j continent, was discovered. At the period j of its annual innundation, it rises fully twen- ( ty feet in perpendicular height, and floods ( fifteen or twenty miles adjacent to its banks. Dispersed through the volume arc interest- c ing accounts of the the habits of animals, and, as a specimen, we have our author's opinion of the character of the lion : | TIIREK LIONS ATTEMPTING TO DRAG A . IJUFFALO. s 'Nothing that I ever learned of the lion I would lead mc to attribute to it either the ? ferocious or noble character ascribed to it 1 elsewhere. It possesses none of the nobility i of the Newfoundland or St. Bernard dogs. With respect to its great strength there can < be no doubt. The immense masses of mus- y i eel around its jaws, shoulders and forearms, i proclaim tremendous force. They would < seem, however, to be inferior in power, to ? those of the Indian tiger. Most of those ? feats of strength that I have seen performed ? by lions, such as taking away on ox, were I not carrying but dragging or trailing the f carcass along the ground ; they have sprung [ ? on some occasions on the hind quarters of a horse, but no one has seen them on the with-11 era of a giraffe. They do not mount on the bind quarters of an eland even, but try to tear him down with their claws. Messrs. Oswell and Vardon once saw three lions endeavoring to drag down a buffalo, and they were unable to do so for a time, though he was then mortally wounded by a two-ounce ball. In general, the lion seizes the animal he is attacking, by the flauk, no*"* the hind leg, or by the throat, below the jaw. It is questionable, whether he ever attempts to ?eize an animal by the withers. The flank is the most common part of attack, and that is the part he begins to feast on first. The natives and lions are very similar in their tastes, in the selectiou of bites. An eland may be disemboweled by a lion so completely, that he scarcely seems cut up at all. ihe bowels and fatty parts form a full meal for 2ven the largest lion. The jackal comes sniffling about, and sometimes suffers for his temerity, by a stroke from the lion's paw, laying him dead. When gorged, the lion Falls'fast asleep, and is then easily dispatched. Hunting a lion with dogs, involve very little janger, as compared with hunting the Indian tiger ; because the dogs bring him out )f cover and make him stand at bay, giving ;he hunter plenty of time for a deliberate "hot.' We must hurry on to the Balonda tribes, vho are real negroes, having much more vool on their head and bodies than any of he Bechuana or Kaffir tribes. These jeople took Dr. Livingstone for a morman, ) account of the straightness of his hair, rheir chief town in Kabompo, a beautiful ,'alley, through which a rill of water meandirs, 'embowered in banana and other tropical rees, having a great expansion of leaf.'? [n this delightful spot the interview took dace between the mission and Shinte, the :hief of the Balondas: RECEPTION OF THE MISSION BY SHINTE. 'We were honored with a grand reception _1 i _1. t 1 1 ft I jy oninie aooui eleven o ciock. oanwanza ilaimed the honor of presenting us Maneuko >eing slightly indisposed. The native Portuguese and Mambari went fully armed with guns in order to give Shinte a salute : heir drummer and trumpeter making all the joise that very old instruments would proluce. Thekotla, or place of audience, was i hundred yards square, and two graceful specimens of a species of banana stood near >ne end; under one of these sat Shinte, on a hrone covered with a leopard's skin. He lad on a checked jacket, and a kilt of scarlet jaize, edged with green ; many strings of arge beads hung from his neck, and his imbs were covered with iron and copper trmlets and bracelets. On his head he wore i hamlet made of beads, woven neatly together, and crowned with a great bunch of *oose feathers. Close to him sat three lads vith large sheaves of arrows over their shoullers. When we entered the kotla, the whole )f Maneuko's party saluted Shinte by clapping their hands; and Sambanza did obesimce bj rubbing his chest and arms with ishes. One of the trees being unoccupied, [ retreated to it for the sake of the shade, and uy whole party did the same. We were low about forty yprJ* from the chief, and lould see the whole ceremony. The different sections of the tribe came forward in :hc same way that he did. The head man of each making obeisance with ashes, which he carried with him for ;hc purpose; then came the soldiers, all irmed to the teeth, running and shouting towards us, with their faces screwed up so as :o appear as savage as possible, for the purpose, I thought, of trying whether they could aot make us take to our heels. As we did not, they turned round towards bhtnte, and saluted him ; then retired. When all had jome, and were seated, then began the curious capering usually seen in pichos. A man starts up. and imitates the most approved attitudes observed in actual fight?as if throwing one javelin, receiving another nn the shield, springing to one side to avoid \ third, running backwards or forwards, leaping, <fc. This over, Sambanza and the spokesman of Nyamoana, stalked backwards ind forwards in front of Shinte, and gave forth in a loud voice all they had been able :o learn, cither from myself or people, or my history and connection *with the Makololo; :he return of the captives ; the wish to open :he country to trade; the Bible as a work rrom heaven; the white man's desire for the iribcs to live in peace;?he ought to have :aught the Makololo that first, Balonda had jood hearts, and Shinte had neverdone harm :o any one, he had better receive the white man well, and send him on his way. Sambanza was gaily attired, and, besides a profusion of beads, had a cloth so long that a boy carried it after him as a train. Behind Shinte sat about a hundred women, dothed in their best, which happened to be i profusion of red baize. The chief wife of Shinte, one of the Matebele, or Zulus, sat in iront, with a curious red cap on her head. Dnrinrr thp infprvnls hetwppn fhp snppnhes. n r?-----J :hcse ladies burst forth into a sort of plaintive ditty ; but it was impossible for any of as to catch whether it was in praise of the speaker, of Shinte, or themselves. This ivas the first time I had ever seen females present in a public assembly. In the South (vomcn arc not permitted to enter the kotla; ind, even when invited to come to a religious service there, would not enter until ordered :o do so by the chief; but here they expressed approbation by clapping their hands, and aughing to different speakers; and Shinte 'requently turned round and spoke to them. A party of musicians, consisting of three irummers and four performers on the piano, tvent round the kotla several times, regaling is with their music. The drums are neatly jarved from the trunk of a tree, and have a small hole in the side, covered with a bit of spider's web; the ends are covered with the skin of an antelope, pegged on; and when ;hey wish to tighten it, they hold it to the ire, to make it contract; the instruments tre beaten with the hands." The enlightened mind of Dr. Livingstone ecognises the face that commerce must pea etratc the African continent, and conciliate the natives, before Christianity can bestow its blessings upon them. Hence the importance he justly attaches to his discovery of the rivers which connect the interior with the coast. In his last journey, he says : "It was only now that I apprehended the true form of the river system and continent. I had seen the various rivers of this country, the western side flowing from the subtending ridges into the centre, and received information from natives aud Arabs, that most of the rivers on the eastern side of the same great region took a somewhat similar course from an elevated ridge there, and all united in two main drains, the one flowing North, and the other South, and that the northern drain found its way out by the Cogno to the West, aud southern by the Zambesi to the East. I was then on the watershed, or highest point of these two great systems, but still not more than 4,000 feet above the level of the sea, and 1,000 feet lower than the western ridge we had already crossed, yet, instead of lofty snow clad mountains, appearing to verify the conjectures of the speculative, we had extensive plains over which one may travel a month without seeiog anything higher than an anthill or a tree." We have seen how narrowly our adventurous traveller escaped from the lion in the early part of his career, and nearly at its close he was threatened with a watery grave by the attack of an amphibious monster: BOAT CAPSIZED BY A HIPPOPOTAMUS ROBBED OF. HER YOUNG. "I left Nalieleon the 13th of August, and when proceeding along the shore at midday, a hippopotamus struck the canoe with her forehead, lifting one-half of it quite out of the water, so as nearly to overturn it. The force of the butt she gave, tilted Mashauana out into the river ; the rest of us sprang to the shore, which was only about ten yards off. Glancing back, I saw her come to the surface a short way off, and look to the canoe, as if to see if she had done much mischief. It was a female, whose young one had been speared the day before. No damage was done, except wetting persons and goods.? This is so unusual an occuareDce when the precaution is taken to coast along the shore, that my men exclaimed, 'Is the beast mad?' There were eight of us in the canoe at the time, and the shake it received shows the immense power of this animal in the water." g? ?? ???? JfJistcIlaiumts Jeabing THE HARP OF A THOUSAND STRINGS. Come generous friends a little while. And listen to my song, And though my subject is very great, My story won't be long. I'm going to sing about the times, And several other things? We'll sing the words and play the tune On a Harp of a Thousand Strings. Religion, Politics and Law, Arc raging under par, As seen by microscopic aid, In pulpit, forum, bar: A focus brought on either one, The same result still brings? A human being playing away On a Harp of a Thousand Strings. The preachers don't as they used to do, In the good old days gone by; They used to preach of souls of men, 'Till thev made the women cry ; But they read their sermons uow-a-days, And the choir strikes up 'a sing,' And the folks can't join when the tune is play'd On a Harp of a Thousand Strings. The members don't as they used to do? Their zeal and love's grown cold ; They're thinkiug of the corn they've raised, And how to get more gold. And though the preacher reads quite well, Their conscience never stings; They'd rather steal the crown of gold, And a Harp of a Thousand Strings. The politician used to be A man of some renown ; Now, a half a dozen wouhl-be-such Are found in every town; For when one finds he can make a speech, Or soar on buzzard's wings, He mounts a hobby and plays away r\ _ _ it r - mi. ? .j UU u narp oi a muusuuu ciruigs. No matter bow corrupt he is How oft be turns his coat: The nominntior sets him right? He gets the people's vote; He eats his fill at the public crib, He drinks at the public springs? The charm succeeds?he plays so well On a Harp of a Thousand Strings. Then let us take a hasty view Of Justice and the Bar; Alas! how quickly we discern, How altered all things art The sword and scales are little used, The culprit seldom swings ; For gold will make the lawyers play On a Harp of a Thousand Strings. So turn your eyes to every part Of Uucle Sam's machine, You'll find a screw that's working loose? Some place that needs a pin. But I must end my story now, Although my muse still brings, A verse or two for every chord On a Harp of a Thousand Strings. SHOWERS OP PISH. On the night of the 10th and 20th of June, 1G98, when the summit of a volcano north of Chiraborazo, on the Andes, fell in, the surrounding country, to an extent of 43 square miles, was found strewed with fish; a similar event having occurred seven years before, after the explosion of the volcano of Imbabara. In 1666, a grass-field, in the parish of Sanstead, near Maidstone, in Kent, was found covered over with fish, of which about a bushel were collected. There are no rivers or fishponds in the neighborhood, and the place is distant from the sea. The fish were about the size of a man's little finger, were like sprats or whitings, and were supposed to have fallen from a black cloud then passing over the country, there having Deen a heavy fall of rain at the time. In 1825, a shower of herrings is said to have taken place near Loch Leven in Kinross-shire; the wind blew from the North at the time, and probably carried the fish from the sea across Fife to the place where they were found. In 1828 a similar fall of fish ooourred in Ross-shire, 3 miles from the Frith of Tain. On the Oth of March, 1830, numbers of | small herrings were found scattered over the j fields in the island of Ulva, in Argyleshire, after a heavy rain. On the 30th of June, 1741, a fish measuring ten inches in length, with others of a smaller size, fell at Boston, England; and during a thunder-storm, on the 8th of July, in the same year, fish and ice fell together at Derby. A similar occurrence once happened in the neighborhood of Paris, where, after a violent storm over night, the streets were at dawn covered with fish. It was found that a fish pond in the neighborhood had been blown dry. About 1830, fish fell near Dunkcld, in Perthshire; and the thing happened some way from Logierait, on the Tay, where numbers of parr, about two inches long, were picked up on an elevated spot, distant from any lake or river. The falls of fish recorded as having occurred in India, have been more frequent and remarkable than those made mention of at home. Major Herriot, in his 'Struggles through Life,' speaks of a shower of fish as having been experienced during a storm in the Madras presidency by the troops on their march. In July, 1824, fish fell at Meerut, on the of bis Majesty*8 14th, then out at drill, and were caught in numbers. In July, 1826, live fish were seen to fall on the grass, at Moradahad, during a storm. They were of the common cyprinus, so prevalent in our Indian waters. On the 19th of February, 1880, at noon a heavy fall of fish occurred at the Nokulhatty Factory, in the Dacca zillah; depositions on the subject were obtained from nine different parties. The fish were all dead; most of them were large; some were fresh, others rotten and mutilated. They were seen at first in the sky, with a flock of birds descending rapidly to the ground.? There was rain drizzling at the time, but no storm. On the 16th and 17th of May, 1833, a fall of fish occured in the zillah of Futtehpoor, about three miles north of the Jumna, after a violent storm of wind and rain. The fish were from three pounds to a pound and a half in weight?of the same species as those found in the tanks in the neighborhood. They were all dead and dry. A fall of fish occurred at Bilahabad, during a storm in May, 1835 j they were of the chowla species, aud were found dead and dry after the storm had passed over the district. On the 20th of September, 1839, after a smart shower of rain, a quantity of live fish, about three inches in length, and all of the same kind, fell on the Sunderbunds, about twenty miles south of Calcutta. On this occasion it was remarked that the fish did not fall here and there irregularly over the ground, but in a continuous straight line, not more than a span in breadth. The vast multitude of fish with which the low grounds round Bombay are covered, about a week or ten days after the first burst of the monsoon, appear to be derived from the adjoining pools or rivulets and not descend from the sky. They are not, as far as I know, found in the higher parts of the island. I have never seen them, though I have watched carefully in casks for collecting water from the roofs of buildings, or heard of the decks or awning of vessels in the harbor, where they must have appeared had they descended from the sky. One of the most remarkable phenomena of this kind occurred during a tremendous deluge of rain, in Kattywar, on the 26th, of July, 1850 when the ground around Rajikote was found literally coverred with fish ; some of them were found on the top of haystacks, where probably they had been drifted by the storm. In the course of twenty-four successive hours, twenty-seven inches of rain fell; thirty-five fell in twenty-six hours; seven inches within one hour and a half, being the heaviest fall on record. At Poonah, on the 3d of August, 1323, after a very heavy fall of rain, multitudes of fish were caught on the ground in the cantoments, full half a mile from the nearest stream. If showers of fish are to be explained on the assumption that they are carried up by squalls or violent winds, from rivers or spaces of water, not far away from the places where they fall, it would be nothing wonderful were they seen to descend from the air during the furious squalls which occasionally occur in Jnne.?Dr. Buist. From the Charleston Courier. Messrs. Editors:?I have heard and read of much of the extraordinary mildness of this winter, that I thought I would inquire of the seniors whether they recollect the winter of '27?'28. Cold weather was then almost entirely unknown. The pork of the upper part of the State was very generally spoiled by the warmth of the season. A good country ham of bacon could scarcely be obtained in the spring of '28. In January, '28, the usual miry road from Columbia, via Springhill, Ruffs' and Newberry to Greenville, was dry and as firm as in summer. The General Assembly met in January, '28, (the second Monday,) for the trial of the impeachment of Judge James. They remained in session a whole week, with open doors and windows, without fire. The cotton in the upper districts came up in the spring of 1828 from the roots of 1827. If farmers had been aware of its vitality in time, they might have raised a crop of Ratoon cotton. The only severe frost occurred in April, 1828. This winter has so far been remarkable. On the 19th of November, began the only severe freeze known in the upper oountry.? It began from a S. W. blow, and continued from the 19th to the 22d. Since then we in the upper country have had an old fashioned Carolina winter. Frost and sunshine, succeeded by rain, but no freezing, snowing or sleeting weather, eicept that Greenville District was visited by a short snow storm about Christmas. I see from yesterday's papers that the wild geese are turning toward their Northern homes. I doubt not that they are wiser than we are, and that winter is, comparatively speaking, ended. To the poor, what a blessing has been vouchsafed. "God tempers the wind to the shorn Jamb." THE REMEMBIIANCERCharleston, January, 20. An English View of the Negro.? The Liverpool Post says there are twenty times as many "niggers" in Africa as in all the West India Islands and on the American continent, and five hundred fold worse. They are the most miserable of human beings?the most degraded of men. They have always been so; the sun for six thousand years, at least, has looked down upon and fnnnd them Tint, nnlv nhlnnl- and nnrlo " J ? v> but the most debased of slaves. It was not the white man who did this?the black man was the tyrant. A transfer to the white man was bliss; bondage remained?but how different from chains imposed on them on their native soil and their original dwelling place. The Post again asks, "Is there any hope for the future ?" which it answers, "not if things are allowed to remain as they are. The aptitude of the negro for civilization presents only individual examples; the mass have been savage. They are now savages in Africa. There is no use questioning the fact ?it is true. Brought within the control and influence of the white man, it might be different?would.be different; but ordinary means will never overcome obstacles to the exercise of that influence. Released from the presence of civilization, the negro will rf.lonQA infn flio KnrKftrtom nf Viia maa v,"rv ? "* ...? .?w. Sugar from tiie New Cane.?The U. S. Agricultural Society has awarded a large silver medal to Joseph S. Lovering, of Philadelphia, for the care with which his experiments have been made and the samples of sugar obtained from Chinese sugar cane, . presented by him. The society, through its I committee, however, declared that they did not wish to be understood as certifying that the manufacture of sugar from the plant in \ the Northern States is as yet demonstrated to be more profitable than other crops. Mr. \ L's samples were as follows: A sample of clean brown sugar from that made on an acre of land which gave 625 j lbs. of sugar and 123} gallons of molasses; a second sample of brown sugar, very fair, at the rate of 1221-85 lbs. per acre; a third of white sugar, several degress lighter than what is known as clayed Havana, equal to No. 1 coffee sugar, and a fourth sample of pure white crystalized sugar, equal, an Mr. L. claims, to the best sugars anywhere made. Private Letters from Europe.? Private letters received by commercial houses in Savannah, says the Republican, from their European correspondents, by the last steamer, are more favorable than the acoounts by the mails. They represent that there will be an early and universal resumption of work in Manchester, and that yarns are already, by anticipation, in advance of Liverpool prices for the raw material. A preference was also given to nine and twelve months' paper, showing that money was entirely easy. This aspect of affairs is highly encouraging, and should dissipate the gloom on this side of the water. The Europa's accounts, arrived since the above was written, contain nothing to conflict with the opinion advanced.?Charleston Courier. The way they Dispose op the Girls out West.?The people of New York are disposing of their surplus female population by sending young girls out west where they obtain "places" with farmers and others. A Mr. Tracy recently arrived at Janesville, Wisconsin, with a party of these indigent females, and a local paper called the Independent thus describes the manner in which they are disposed of: A charge of ten dollars was made for each person, the money to be paid by the employer and deducted from the future earnings of the young women.? The Free church was thrown open, the young women occupying the seats in rows, some of them crying. Customers then walked along the range with perfect coolness examining one by one, and, as they found one suitable, they planked the cash and carried off the prize." Encouraging to Young Men.?Never content yourself with the idea of having a common-place wife. You want one who will stimulate you, stir you up, keep moving, joke you on your weak points, and make something of you. Don't be afraid that you cannot get such a wife. I very well remember the reply which a gentleman who happened to combine the qualities of wit and common-sense, made to a young man who expressed a fear that a certain young lady of great beauty and attainments would dismiss him, if he should become serious. 'My friend,' said the wit, 'infinitely more beautiful and accomplished woman than she is, have married infinitely uglier and meaner men than you are.'?Timothy Titcomh. <You may do 80 Again.?The following embraces a very exquisite lesson on gentility. A gentleman from Boston chanced to find himself among a little party of ladies, away down east, last summer, and while in the enjoyment of some innooent and social play, he carelessly placed his arm about the slender waist of as pretty a damsel as Maine can boast of, when she started and exclaimed: 'Be done sir! don't insult me!' The gentleman instantly apologized for the seeming rudeness, assured the half offended fair one that be did not intend to insult her. 'No,' she replied, archly. 'Well, if you didn't, you may do so again I I?* The Bridal Veil originated in the cna torn of performing the nuptial oeremony under . . a square piece of cloth, held orer the bride groom and the bride, to conceal the blushes of the latter. At the marriage of a widow, it wae dispensed with.