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called Lauto, which lies to the westward of this | No eels, however, nor any other fish, were seen pass, and in the centre of an extinct crater. The in the lake."

edge of the crater was found to be two thousand We have also an account of a new faith :five hundred and seventy feet above the sea, and "In the different jaunts across the island, many the descent thence to the water of the lake is one of the Devil's,' or unconverted, towns were vishundred and twenty feet. These gentlemen suc-ited, where our parties were always treated with ceeded in obtaining a line of soundings across the lake, by cutting down trees, and forming a raft of them. They found the depth, in the middle, nine and a half fathoms, decreasing thence gradually in all directions to the shore. The form of the lake is nearly circular, and it has a subterranean outlet. The hill in which this crater is situated is conical, and there is a low knoll at some distance to the south of it, which is the only other elevation in the neighborhood, above the general height of the ridge. The border of the crater is clothed with the usual forest foliage of these islands, which, however, exhibits here more than usual beauty, being decorated with the finely-worked fronds of the arborescent ferns, in widely-spread stars, and the graceful plumes of a large mountain palm. The poets of the island have appreciated the beauty of the place, and allude to the perpetual verdure which adorns the banks of the lake, in the following line:

Lauuto'o e le toi a e lau mea.

Lauto, untouched by withered leaf.

great hospitality. At the town of Siusinga, the chief who entertained our party was a priest of the Gimblet religion. This new faith has made some progress among these islands, and has the following singular origin: A native of Savaii, by name Seeovedi, was taken from that island by a whaleship, and did not return for several years. During his absence he sited several ports, where it would seem he obtained some notions of the forms and ceremonies of the Roman Catholic church. Possessed of considerable natural shrewdness, he founded on this knowledge a plan to save himself from labor for the future, by collecting followers at whose expense he might be maintained. During his absence, and while on board the whale-ship, he had received, as is usual in such cases, instead of his native name, that of Joe Gimblet; and this cognomen is now firmly attached to the sect of which he was the founder. Having formed the plan of founding a sect, he did not scruple as to the means of carrying it into effect; for he boldly claimed a heavenly mission, professing to hold converse with God, and asserting that he possessed the power of working miracles, raising the dead, There is a legend connected with this lake, that &c. He soon gained many proselytes, and had has more of poetic beauty and feeling than one attained great consideration and authority, when, would have supposed to exist among so rude a unfortunately for him, he was called upon to exert people. It is as follows. Many generations since, his pretended power of raising the dead, by restorduring a war between Upolu and Savaii, a number ing to life the favorite son of a powerful chief called of war-canoes, from the latter island, crossed over Lelomiava, who had been murdered. Joe did not to attack Ulatamoa, (or, as it is now called, Ulu- hesitate to undertake the accomplishment of this moenga,) the principal town in the district of Aana. miracle. He, in the first place, directed a house At the time of their approach, two brothers, To'o to be built for the reception of the body, and when and Ata, chanced to be paddling their canoes in it was finished, he required that it should be supthe channel between the reef and the shore, and plied with the best provisions. In conformity with before they could reach the land, were attacked by this requisition, the choicest articles of food that a party of Savaiians. After a valiant defence, Ata could be obtained were regularly handed to Joe was overpowered and slain, while To'o narrowly for the use of the defunct, upon whom he alone escaped the same fate. Overwhelmed with sorrow waited, while every other person, except the chief at the loss of a brother whom he tenderly loved, and himself, was excluded from the building. To'o retired to a neighboring mountain, and bury- The food thus regularly supplied, as regularly dising himself in the darkest recesses of its forests, appeared, and Joe assured the chief that his son made them resound with his bitter lamentations. had eaten it, and, under this bountiful allowance, At length, in his wanderings, he came to the would soon recover his strength, and walk forth. summit, where, stooping down, he scooped out In this way time wore on, until the patience of the with his hands a vast hollow, and, leaning over its old chief began to show symptoms of being exbrink, suffered his tears to fall in until it was filled. hausted. This somewhat alarmed Joe; but as he The lake thus formed, has ever since borne the was a fellow of infinite resources, he contrived to appellation of Lauu-to'o. The regard of To'o for evade inquiry and procrastinate, hoping, no doubt, his brother was further evinced by his adoption of that some lucky incident might turn up, by which Ata's name, conjoined to his own, as his family he should be enabled to extricate himself from the title, and the appellation of Teoomata, a con- dilemma. Unfortunately for him, however, after traction of To'o-ma-ata, is retained by his descend- another month of anxious suspense, the old man's ants, who are still chiefs of note in Upolu, and pigs and taro fell short, notwithstanding the chief's from whom the tradition was derived. The lake dependents had for a long time been restricted of Lauto is regarded with superstitious dread by from using them. All of them were in fact much the natives, who believe it to be the abode of the reduced by their compulsory fast, with the excepspirits, who, in former times, were regarded with tion of Joe, whose rotundity of form seemed to great veneration, and worshipped. These were indicate that he at least ran no risk of starvation. supposed to inhabit the waters of the lake, in the Whether it were owing to the suspicions which shape of eels, as thick as a cocoa-nut tree, and two his jolly appearance excited, or that he began to fathoms long. The attempt of our gentlemen to entertain doubts of Joe's supernatural powers, is explore it, was looked upon as such a profanation, not known; but one day old Lelomiava determined that their native guides left them, and regarded to satisfy himself of the progress making in the them as persons doomed to accident, if not to de-restoration of his son. With this design he enterstruction. The eels were represented as so savage ed the house, and was shocked with the sight of and fierce, that they would bite a person's leg off. his son's body in a state of loathsome putridity.

He immediately summoned Joe, and informed him | sacrificing any advantages whatever. They have that it was time that the promised miracle should an air of haughtiness and insolence arising from be accomplished adding, that it must be done by morrow's dawn. Joe immediately redoubled his exertions, and prayed hastily to all the saints of his calendar. He, however, knew full well what would be his fate if he remained to encounter on the morrow the anger of the savage chief. He therefore effected his escape during the night, and made his way to his native island. There he remained, for some time, incog., but now ventures to appear openly, practising his impositions boldly, and is the worst antagonist the missionaries have to deal with. This story was related by the old chief himself, who, instead of finding his son restored to life, was compelled to bury his body, which he did, with the exception of the head. This he put in a box, and suspended beneath the peak of the roof of his house, where it remains, a witness of his credulity, and of the gross imposition that was practised upon him. While the party remained at Siusinga, a sick native was brought from the coast to a neighboring house, and their host, the Gimblet priest, was called upon to pray for him. This afforded them an opportunity, that might not otherwise have occurred, of learning some facts in relation to the ceremonies of this sect. On this occasion, the priest approached the house where the sick man lay, and when upon the stone platform, in front of it, he drew forth a book from the folds of tapa in which it had been carefully enveloped. He then called upon Jehovah, returning thanks for the many blessings which had been conferred on his people, and asked for a continuance of the same, invoking the name of Jesus. He ended by inquiring the divine pleasure concerning the sick man, and begging mercy for him. The nature of the book could not be distinctly seen, as it was again carefully enclosed in the tapa as soon as the ceremony was over; but so far as it was visible, it bore an unquestionable resemblance to a blank note-book! The proselytes of this sect, in case of sickness, confess their sins to one another, and have a number of fast-days, which are rigidly kept. Their Sabbath occurs only once a month, and is celebrated by the firing of guns, and the puerile mummery in which their worship consists."

The work contains an elaborate chapter on the Samoan group, which, though interesting, is too long for quotation and incapable of analysis. On arriving at Wallis Island, they landed there the prisoner Tuvai, conceiving that their purpose would be thus sufficiently answered; since the course of the wind is such, for the greater part of the year, as to prevent canoes proceeding from Wallis Island to the Samoan group, and on that account his fate would remain a mystery to his countrymen. New South Wales is now too familiar to present much novelty; the following account, however, of the natives is marked with some traits which distinguish it from others :

"The natives of New South Wales are a proud, high-tempered race: each man is independent of his neighbor, owning no superior, and exacting no deference; they have not in their language any word signifying a chief or superior, nor to command or serve. Each individual is the source of his own comforts, and the artificer of his own household implements and weapons; and but for the love of companionship, he might live with his family apart and isolated from the rest, without

this independence, and nothing will induce them to acknowledge any human being as their superior, or to show any marks of respect. In illustration of this, Mr. Watson, the missionary, is the only white man to whose name they prefix' Mr.,' and this he thinks is chiefly owing to the habit acquired when children under his authority. All others, of whatever rank, they address by their Christian or surname. This does not proceed from ignorance on their part, as they are known to understand the distinctions of rank among the whites, and are continually witnessing the subservience and respect exacted among them. They appear to have a consciousness of independence, which causes them, on all occasions, to treat even the highest with equality. On being asked to work, they usually reply, 'White fellow work, not black fellow;' and on entering a room, they never remain standing, but immediately seat themselves. They are not great talkers, but are usually silent and reserved. They are generally well-disposed, but dislike to be much spoken to, particularly in a tone of raillery. An anecdote was mentioned of a gentleman amusing himself with a native, by teasing him, in perfect goodhumor, when the man suddenly seized a billet of wood, threw it at him, and then in a great rage rushed for his spear. It was with great difficulty that he could be pacified, and made to know that no insult was intended; he then begged that they would not talk to him in that manner, as he might become wild and ungovernable. They look upon the whites with a mixture of distrust and contempt, and to govern them by threats and violence is found impossible. They are susceptible of being led by kind treatment, but on an injury or insult they immediately take to the bush, and resume their wandering habits. They do not carry on any systematic attacks, and their fears of the whites are so great, that large companies of them have been dispersed by small exploring parties and a few resolute stockmen. Though they are constantly wandering about, yet they usually confine themselves to a radius of fifty or sixty miles from the place they consider their residence. If they venture beyond this, which they sometimes do with a party of whites, they always betray the greatest fear of falling in with some Myall or stranger blacks, who they say would put them to death immediately. Their great timidity has caused a false estimate to be put upon their character, by ascribing to it great ferocity; and, as an instance of it, it is mentioned, that if a party of natives be suddenly approached in the interior, who are unacquainted with white men, and taken by surprise, supposing that they are surrounded and doomed to death, they make the most furious onset, and sell their lives as dearly as possible: this arises from the panic with which they are seized, depriving them temporarily of reason. They have not, properly speaking, any distribution into tribes. In their conflicts, those speaking the same language, and who have fought side by side, are frequently drawn up in battlearray against each other, and a short time after may be again seen acting together."

But though New South Wales presents little novelty to us, it does to the American in the United States, and accordingly the commander values highly the information which he has ob

In

tained. He enters into a full account of its his- | hands to possess themselves of a piece of the Antory and government, and testifies to its progress. tarctic Continent. These pieces were in great The district of Illawarra in particular he states to demand during the remainder of the cruise. be very prosperous. A Mr. Plunket is said to the centre of this iceberg was found a pond of have sold his farm for £14,000, which but two most delicious water, over which was a scum of years before, he had bought for £700. We fear, ice about ten inches thick. We obtained from it from the last reports received from the colony, about five hundred gallons. We remained upon that Mr. Plunket might have his estate back again, this iceberg several hours, and the men amused or take his choice amongst his neighbors' without themselves to their hearts' content in sliding. expending one quarter the sum thus realized. The pond was three feet deep, extending over an area of an acre, and contained sufficient water for half a dozen ships. The temperature of the water was 31°. This island had been undoubtedly turned partly over, and had precisely the same appearance that the icy barrier would have exhibited if it had been turned bottom up and subsequently much worn by storms. There was no doubt that it had been detached from the land, which was about eight miles distant. The view of the land, ice, &c., taken from this ice-island, is exhibited in the plate, and gives a correct representation of these desolate regions."

The volume concludes with observations made during the Antarctic cruise of 1840 and an account of New Zealand; with the latter we are already sufficiently familiar. But we cannot pass by the cruise, technical as the chapter is, without observing that, although in a mitigated form, the commander still assumes the existence of an Antarctic Continent; nay, he gives an engraved illustration of it as something actually visible. The account in the text follows:

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"Feb. 13. At 2 A. M. we made sail to the southwest, in order to close with the barrier, which we found retreated in that direction, and Now, certainly we have the words "Antarctic gave us every prospect of getting nearer to it. Continent" here used fluently enough-but the Our course, for the most part, was through ice- only things actually met with are icebergs and bergs of tabular form. In the afternoon we had ice-islands. The land, too, is said to have been the land ahead, and stood in for it, with a light very distinct;" but we shall soon find that this breeze until 6 P. M., when I judged it to be ten" very distinct land" is an object not of observaor twelve miles distant. It was very distinct, and tion but of mere reasoning. To be sure, the arextended from west-southwest to south-southeast. gument is somewhat modified by the question We were now in longitude 106° 40′ E., and lati- thus tauntingly put by Lieut. Wilkes :tude 65° 57'S.; the variation was 54° 30′ westerly. The water was very green. We sounded in three hundred fathoms, and found no bottom. The weather having an unsettled appearance, we stood off to seek a clearer space for the night. The land left was high, rounded, and covered with snow, resembling that first discovered, and had the appearance of being bound by perpendicular icy cliffs.

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"Who was there prior to 1840, either in this country or in Europe, that had the least idea that any large body of land existed to the south of New Holland? and who is there that now doubts the fact, whether he admits it to be a vast continent or contends that it is only a collection of islands?"

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a

According to this, if what is now termed the Antartic Continent should turn out to be only large body of land" or "a collection of islands," 14. At daylight we again made sail for the we must be content, and accept the American case land, beating in for it until 11 A. M., when we as proved. So be it :-only let the precise statefound any further progress quite impossible. Iment be understood, and, we repeat, we are willthen judged that it was seven or eight miles dis- ing to give the commander the benefit of his own tant. The day was remarkably clear, and the position. We must of course pass over the inland very distinct. By measurement we made stances in which certain appearances were supthe extent of the coast of the Antarctic Continent, posed to be indications of land; because these which was then in sight, seventy-five miles, and merely register individual opinions, requiring the by approximate measurement, three thousand feet after corroboration of actual discovery. It is our high. It was entirely covered with snow. Longi- duty, however, to give the commander the benetude at noon 106° 18′ 42′′ E., latitude 65° 59' 40" fit of the statement that these appearances were S., variation 57° 05′ westerly. On running in, confirmed by the crew on one occasion finding we had passed several icebergs greatly discolored soundings. Nevertheless, this can only form one with earth, and finding we could not approach the item in the argument favoring the assumption of shore any nearer, I determined to land on the land existing-to say nothing of a continent. largest ice-island that seemed accessible, to make "Ice," Lieut. Wilkes asserts, requires a nudip, intensity, and variation observations. On cleus, whereon the fogs, snow and rain may concoming up with it, about one and a half mile from geal and accumulate; this the land affords." As where the barrier had stopped us, I hove the ship an hypothesis this is reasonable enough-but is to, lowered the boats, and fortunately effected a not the discovery of an Antarctic Continent. The landing. We found embedded in it, in places, conclusions from this supposition are ingeniously boulders, stones, gravel, sand, and mud or clay. deduced, and agree with the relative phenomena The larger specimens were of red sandstone and to a considerable extent; but the frequent and basalt. No signs of stratification were to be seen necessary use of the words "may be" shows that in it, but it was in places formed of icy conglo- the whole matter was doubtful. Thus says Lieut. merate, (if I may use the expression,) composed of large pieces of rocks, as it were frozen together, and the ice was extremely hard and flint-like. The largest boulder embedded in it was about five or six feet in diameter, but being situated under the shelf of the iceberg, we were not able to get at it. Many specimens were obtained, and it was amusing to see the eagerness and desire of all

Wilkes

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"The icebergs found along the coast afloat were from a quarter of a mile to five miles in length; their separation from the land may be effected by severe frost rending them asunder, after which the violent and frequent storms may be considered a sufficient cause to overcome the attraction which holds them to the parent mass.

In

their next stage they exhibit the process of decay, |dition should wish to make the most of it; but being found fifty or sixty miles from the land, and science is so august in her nature, and so severe for the most part with their surfaces inclined at a in her rules, that she declines recording in her considerable angle to the horizon. This is caused archives any sentence as Truth on which there by a change in the position of the centre of grav-rests the slightest liability of doubt;—in all such ity, arising from the abrading action of the cases she prefers the Scotch verdict, "Not waves." proven."

On the whole, however, the commander is in favor of a continent; for he tells us in a note, that "the fact of there being no northerly current along this extended line of coast, is a strong proof in his mind of its being a continent instead of a range of islands." Here follow some other reasons for the same conclusion :—

From Chambers' Journal.

LIFE IN THE SEWERS.

FEW who walk along the streets of London, and see mile on mile of carriage-way and foot-pavement stretching out before them, and branching off "The evidence that an extensive continent lies on every side, reflect upon the vast and wonderful within the icy barrier, must have appeared in the schemes of sewerage that extends underneath. account of my proceedings, but will be, I think, From the remotest district of London to the river, more forcibly exhibited by a comparison with the small sewers flow into larger ones; and these aspect of other lands in the same southern par- again, after a long course and many windings, allel. Palmer's Land, for instance, which is in into the Thames. Were a map executed of these like manner invested with ice, is so at certain sea-subterranean currents, so intricate, yet so regular, sons of the year only, while at others it is quite like the large veins and arteries of the body, it clear, because strong currents prevail there, which would convey a grander idea of the civilization of sweep the ice off to the northeast. Along the the capital than even the magnificent streets, Antarctic Continent for the whole distance ex-filled with the productions of the world, that plored, which is upwards of fifteen hundred miles, extend above ground. Formed of substantial no open strait is found. The coast, where the ice brick-work, well arched and secure, they reprepermitted approach, was found enveloped with a sent a sunken capital which has been variously perpendicular barrier, in some cases unbroken for estimated at the enormous sum of from one million fifty miles. If there was only a chain of islands, and a half to two millions sterling. It is an interthe outline of the ice would undoubtedly be of esting sight when any one of the main sewers is another form; and it is scarcely to be conceived under repair in a principal thoroughfare, to see that a long chain could extend so nearly in the how deep the excavation is, and how many lines same parallel of latitude. The land has none of of gas and fresh water pipes have to be traversed the abruptness of termination that the islands of before the strong current of foul water, running in high southern latitudes exhibit: and I am satis- its capacious brick channel, is reached by the workfied that it exists in one uninterrupted line of men. Several of these main sewers were open coast, from Ringgold's Knoll, in the east, to En- streams, meandering through the fields, before derby's Land, in the west; that the coast (at London became so gigantic as it is now; and longitude 95° E.) trends to the north, and this will among the number may be cited the Fleet, runaccount for the icy barrier existing, with little al- ning from beyond Islington, through Bagnigge teration, where it was seen by Cook in 1773. Wells, Clerkenwell, Fieldham, Holborn, and FarThe vast number of ice-islands conclusively points rington street, into the Thames, once capable, it out that there is some extensive nucleus which re-appears, of bearing merchant vessels as far as tains them in their position; for I can see no rea- Holborn; the Wallbrook running from Moorfields son why the ice should not be disengaged from past the Mansion-House, and by the church of St. islands, if they were such, as happens in all other Stephen, Walbrook, and by Dowgate, into the cases in like latitudes. The formation of the coast Thames; and the Lang or Long Bourne, which is different from what would probably be found still gives name to one of the wards of London. near islands, soundings being obtained in comparatively shoal water; and the color of the water also indicates that it is not like other southern lands, abrupt and precipitous. This cause is sufficient to retain the huge masses of ice, by their being attached by their lower surfaces instead of their sides only."

Any one who has walked over Blackfriars or Waterloo Bridge when the tide is down, may have observed men and boys, and occasionally women, walking upon the shores of the river, knee deep in the slime, with baskets upon their backs, or slung over their arms, picking up pieces of wood that have been left behind by the tide, or bits of Thus, notwithstanding the testimony of other coal that have fallen from the numerous coal navigators, and particularly that of Captain Ross, barges that come up laden from the pool, where in relation to "great Southern Land" discovered the collier vessels are moored, to discharge their by him, and extending from the 70th to the 79th cargoes at the wharfs further to the west. These degree of latitude, and that of D'Urville, the cel-mud-larks," as they are sometimes called, bear ebrated French navigator, in reference to a small generally a bad character, being accused of not point of rocks, called by him Clarie Land, and contenting themselves with the prizes they find on which the commander of the American squadron the shore, but of robbing the coal barges or other claims to have passed three days prior to the vessels, on board of which they can creep at nightFranch landing-and, notwithstanding the appa-fall without detection. However this may be, rent reasonableness of the supposition-we are their functions do not end with the shore, but in compelled to report that so far as investigation has the sewer. With torch in hand, to preserve them proceeded at present, the existence of the Antarc-from the attacks of numerous large and ferocious tic Continent is only an hypothetical assumption, rats, they wade, sometimes almost up to the midand that no claim to its discovery can be main-dle, through the stream of foul water, in search tained by any party. It is only natural that a of stray articles that may have been thrown down commander of his country's First Scientific Expe- the sinks of houses, or dropped through the loop

holes in the streets. They will at times travel for two or three miles in this way-by the light of their torches, aided occasionally by a gleam of sunshine from the grating by the wayside-far under the busy thoroughfares of Cornhill, Cheapside, the Strand, and Holborn, very seldom able to walk upright in the confined and dangerous vault, and often obliged to crawl on all fours like the rats, which are their greatest enemies. The articles they mostly find are potatoes and turnips, or bones, washed down the sinks by careless scullery-maids; pence and half-pence, and silver coins; occasionally a silver spoon or fork, the loss of which may have caused considerable distress and ill-will in some house above; and not unfrequently more valuable articles, which thieves, for fear of detection, have thrown down when they have been hard pressed by the officers of justice. It might be thought that a life amid the vilest filth, and amid so much danger and unpleasantness of every kind, would allure but few; but the hope of the great prizes sometimes discovered in this miserable way deprives it of its terrors, and all the principal sewers that branch into the Thames have their regular frequenters. Were it not that the tide gives them too little time for that purpose, they would extend their researches to the extremities of London; but two or three miles inland is the utmost bound of their peregrinations. Those who value their lives will not be tempted to extend their researches further, lest they should be drowned by the rising waters of the river.

under a grating, by the side of which an old woman sat at her apple-stall, and overheard her discourse with her customers, and was tempted to give the alarm, that he might be drawn up. This, however, would have been a work of time, and he therefore decided to go on. He proceeded accordingly, and arrived at the Thaines without aceident, and immediately informed his companions of the discovery he had made. It was surmised at once that the skeleton was that of the man who had been so long missing. Information was given to the police, and a constable was despatched to see the issue. He would not, however, venture up the sewer, but remained by the river side to await the return of the three "mud-larks" who went up with torches and a basket to bring out the remains of the dead man. They found, on reaching the spot, that the discoverer, in his fright, by falling against the skeleton, had overturned it from its sitting position. A skull, a mass of bones, with a few buttons, and a portion of his shoes, alone remained-his flesh and his attire having been devoured piecemeal by the rats. The remains were collected and brought out without accident. A coroner's inquest was held on the following day, and the identity was established by the buttons, the only means by which it could be proved. Of course it could never be known to a certainty how the life of this unfortunate being had been lost; but the general supposition was, either that he had been suffocated by foul air, or that he had been seized with a fit of apoplexy in that darksome sewer. The simple verdict, "found dead," was returned by the jury.

Such is the romance of common things; and such is one of the many marvels that lie around us and beneath us, observable only by those who are disposed to study the manners, the habits, and the struggles of the poor.

From Chambers' Journal. THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY AT GREENWICH.

Ir is fair to suppose that but few persons in this country are ignorant of the existence of the institution whose name stands at the head of these columns. Some, during a visit to London, and while sauntering in Greenwich Park, may have seen its exterior. Others, again, have read of it in books of voyages, or seen the words printed in the margin of maps, as the point from which longitude is reckoned. But very few possess any definite idea as to the nature of the operations carried on within it; of the patient watching, amounting to severe labor, in conducting the extensive, various, and delicate observations for which it has long been celebrated; or of their high importance in a scientific and commercial point of view.

About two years ago, these and some other particulars of their mode of life were first elicited in consequence of the following circumstance ;An old man who had long pursued this calling was suddenly missed. Every search was made for him by the few to whom he was known; and his wife and family, not without many fears that he had lost his way in the sewers, or had been surprised by the tide, and drowned in his efforts to escape, made anxious inquiries at every police office in London; but without receiving any tidings of his fate. Months elapsed, and his name was passing from the remembrance of all but those who had lost their husband and father by his disappearance, when a young man, passing with his torch up the Fleet, at nearly a mile distant from the place where it discharges itself into the Thames, was startled at seeing the figure of a man amid the darkness sitting at the junction of a smaller sewer with the main current of the Fleet. He shouted, but received no answer, and heard nothing but the rolling of the black and fetid water, and the splash or squeak of the numerous rats which he had alarmed. Advancing nearer, he held the light to the face of the silent figure, and beheld the ghastly countenance of a skeleton. He was not a man of strong mind, and losing his selfpossession in his horror, he stumbled against it and fell. His light was extinguished. His situation was now sufficiently awful; but the added horror of the total darkness recalled his startled faculties instead of scattering them entirely. He knew his way by the number of iron gratings at intervals above, and groped along cautiously, shouting as loudly as he could, to keep up his own courage, and to startle the rats from his path, lest It would not be out of place to give, before prohe should tread upon one which would turn upon ceeding farther, a brief history of the building, him and fasten on his flesh. Grating after grating which is erected on the top of a gravelly hill in was thus passed, and he heard the carriages rat- Greenwich Park, on the site of the ancient tower tling above whenever he came near, and at times built by Duke Humphrey in the reign of Henry the conversation of people. Once he stopped | VI., commanding a fine and impressive view over

These points are, however, ably elucidated in the annual report for the present year of G. B. Airy, Esq., the astronomer royal, which, while it explains the satisfactory state of the scientific proceedings, contains also some general notices that may enable the great body of readers to comprehend the more than national value of such an establishment.

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