The Marquesas.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume 1, Issue 36, 23 December 1843, Page 4

The Marquesas.

The Proprietaire de VAube publishes the following extract of a letter from M. Davoulay, a warrant officer of the corvette Boussole, one of the squadron under admiral Dv Petit Thouars, employed in taking possession of the Marquesas : — "We have been living for ten long months on salt meat, and consequently the scurvy has not spared us. As the four cows which we brought with us from France are destined to be acclimated in this country, and propagate the bovine race, you may well imagine that they have not afforded us any fresh beef. If the scurvy were the only inconvenience to be met with at the Marquesas we might consider ourselves well off, but war, and a war very different from that which is carried on in Europe, leaves us without a moment's peace or rest. The bad faith of the natives is proverbial, like that of all the inhabitants of the Archipelago called the Society Islands. After having formally made their submission, and sworn fidelity and obedience, they have without the slightest scruple Tnade attacks upon us whenever they fancied themselves to be the strongest. Thus lately the inhabitants of one of the islands in our occupation revolted, and killed the Governor, Captain Alais, two captains of the 3rd regiment of marines, a midshipman, and 11 of our soldiers and soilors, wounding more or less severely 17 more. The Boussole was not at the scene of" revolt at the beginning I of the action, but, being called down by an express, her commander immediately made sail for Va-hi-ta-hu, and in 11 hours arrived at the spot where the battle was going on. I was one of the party sent ashore, and, for the first time, found myself in the face of an enemy. The aggressors were numerous and bold, and managed with great "courage and dexterity two pieces of cannon, which they had captured the day before. The battle continued for eight days and nights with irregular intervals. The Canaques kept up a well-sustained fire upon us ; but our superior skill, and the determined resolution with which we acted in concert, notwithstanding the inferiority of our numbers, at last decided the victory in our favour. The Canaques were completely put to the rout, and we had only to contend with a few isolated individuals who still resisted. The population again made submission, and delivered up the leaders of the revolt, who were immediately shot. The Canaques had 200 killed, and 125 wounded. Among the dead we found their King, who was one of the smallest men of the island, and yet measured 1 metre 90 cen-

merable quantity of small animals, compared to which the oyster itself is a colossus. The liquid enclosed between the shells of the oys. ter contains a multitude of embryos covered with transparent scales, which swim with ease ; a hundred and twenty of these em. bryos, placed side by side, would not maks an inch in breadth. This liquor contains, besides, a great number of animalculse five hundred times less in size, which give out a phosphoric light. Yet these are not the onb inhabitants of this dwelling ; there are also three distinct species of worms. The Gresham Lectures. — A handsome ] building, in the enriched Roman style of architecture, with a theatre capable of con. taining 800 persons, has just been completed at the corner of Basinghall-street, at a cost of £7,000, for the delivery of the Gresham Lectures. Gymnastics. — We -do sincerely think that the introduction of gymnastic exercises into the system of education,, will constitute a remarkable epoch in the annals of our future , history. The social order has long claimed securities which reason and the events of the ■ age imperiously demand. The great objects of exercise, during infancy and youth, are to promote the growth and strength of the body, and to render the feelings, both external and internal, more acute. The games and diver1 sions of children, therefore, as Locke has well ! observed, should be directed towards good! and useful habits, and against the introduction of bad ones. Nature has implanted in I young persons an earnest desire to romp, to} run, to wrestle, and other active bodily exer-j | cises. The construction of the human body! I proves indeed that exercise is its natural; state. Exercise is even more necessary, in' the early stages of life, than attention to the; mental branches of education, for it is astonishing how many perish, by what Salzman calls "the disease of education" — multitudes die every year of this disorder. — Wexfori\ Independent. , The Country Gentleman. — What an; enviable situation is that of a great country | Gentleman in his beautiful little garden in! England ! He may unite all the happiest! opposites — indolence and occupation, health; ful exercise and literary studies. Jn London, and in public life, we may improve the world, j we may benefit our kind ; but we never seel the effect we produce, we get no gratitude! for them ; others step in and snatch the , rewards ; but in the country, if you exert j equal industry and skill, you cannot wait j out of your hall but what you see the cvi- ! dence of your labours. Nature smiles in your face and thanks you ; yon trees you planted ; yon corn-fields were a common; your capital called them into existence ; tliej now feed a thousand mouths, where ten years' ago they scarce maintained some half -a-' dozen starveling cows ; but above all, as you 1 ride through your village, what satisfaction creeps around your heart! By half that attention to the administration of the poor laws, which, in London, you gave to your Clubs, you have made industry replace slotl 1 , and comfort dethrone pauperism. You, a single individual, have done more for your fellow creatures than the whole Legislature has done in centuries. This is the true power : it approaches men to God ; but tto country Gentleman often refuses to acknoff' ledge this power ; he thinks much more of 3 certificate for killing partridges ! De la Cboix relates the following almost incredible instance of sagacity in a cat, which, even under the receiver of an air-pump, dis covered the means of escaping a death whici appeared to all present inevitable : "I one; saw," says he, " a lecturer upon experiment! philosophy place a cat under the glass receirf of an air-pump, for the purpose of demon! strating that very certain fact, that life ean 1 not be supported without air and respiratioc The lecturer had already made several stroke with the piston, in order to exhaust the re' ceiver of its air, when the animal, who begsf, to feel herself very uncomfortable in the rafrj fied atmosphere, was fortunate enough \ discover the source from whence her uneasy ness proceeded. She placed her paw upf-, the hole through which the air escaped, an-, thus prevented any more from passing out* the receiver. All the exertions of the phil l\pher were now unavailing ; in vain he dret the piston ; the cat's paw effectually prevents its operation. Hoping to effect his purpose « he let air again into the receiver, which # soon as the cat perceived, she withdrew h# paw from the aperture ; but whenever $ attempted to exhaust the receiver, she af plied her paw as before. All the spectator clapped their hands in admiration of $t ; wonderful sagacity of the animal, andt^jj lecturer found himself under the necessity o '! - liberating her, and substituting in her pl&°j! \ another that possessed less penetration, &} ' enabled him to exhibit the cruel experiment- \\

timetre (6 feet 2| inches English. You may therefore judge of the height of the people in j general. Immediately after the submission of the natives, we were obliged to lay down the sword and take up the trowel and the j axe, and in 17 days and nights we constructed three forts and five blockhouses, which will be sufficient to protect the garrison from any future sudden surprise. On leaving those shores we shall sail for Valparaiso." In a recent number of the New Zealand Portfolio, we find the following : — "In proportion to the European population, the cost of governing New Zealand is the largest in the known world. In Trinidad, it is 17s. per head. In New South Wales, it is £1 2s. per head. In Western Australia, it is £1 10s. per head. In South Australia, under Captain Grey's improved management, it is £2 3s. per head. In Great Britain and Ireland, it is £1 17s. per head ; whilst in New Zealand, it is no less than £4 16s. 4d. per head." Invention to supersede the Steam Engine. — A German is now in Liverpool, ' endeavouring to induce the merchants and , shipowners of that enterprising town to patronise an invention which, if successful, would be likely to supersede the steamengine. It is thus described in an extract of a letter with which a friend has favoured , us : " This machine can be employed instead i of the steam engine, without fuel of any kind, and without a boiler ; it needs very little repairs, and can be worked without danger ; any power can be employed, from one to one thousand horse, or more ; it may be made of brass or iron, and the power of the machine exists within itself, and does not diminish, but always remains the same. It may be employed on railroads, in ships, and manufactories, with the same effect as the steam-engine, and does not create any noise, nor does it require more attendance than the steam-engine, the first cost not more than- half, and may be made with or without wheels. It may also be remarked, that, as no fuel of any kind may be employed, it would be well adapted for vessels making long voyages. — Cork Constitutional. | From the commencement of the 18th century, Great Britain, France, and Russia, have been the most formidable powers in Europe ; while Holland, Denmark, and Portugal, have ranked among the minor states. From 1700 to the general peace in 1815, these countries have been engaged in war as follows, viz. : — Great Britain, 69 years ; Russia, 68 years ; France, 63 years ; Holland, 40 years ; Portugal, 40 years ; Denmark, 28 years. — Peace Advocate. Bishop of Calcutta. — An officer writing to a relative in England, in March last, makes the following observations :—": — " I saw the Bishop of Calcutta after I heard him preach several times. By candle-light I thought that he was as little altered since I had seen him last as any man could be ; but when I saw him next morning, I perceived that he looked more aged ; he face was more furrowed than it was : still he is wonderfully well ; all his energies of mind are evidently unimpared. His charge to the clergy was one of the most profound and eloquent that was ever delivered. All the sermons I heard Bishop Wilson deliver were equal to any I ever heard from him, and uttered with the same emphasis and energy, although I thought his peculiarity of manner a little softened down. I never heard any one preach who reminded me more forcibly of an apostle or early father of the church. There is so much power and earnestness in his manner and subject, such enthusiasm yet simplicity in all he says and does, and his age and station give so much weight to his words, that I was more struck with him than I ever was before, and altogether was greatly gratified, and improved I hope, by my visit to Madras. ' ' Superiority of Steam. — There is one important fact which we think has been sufficiently proved by the late unfortunate tempest, namely, the superior safety of steam navigation. It will be remembered that when steam navigation first came into use, most persons, including many naval gentlemen, greatly doubted to the safety of steam -vessels. But though this mode of traversing the seas has been now very generally practised for I nearly 20 years, we are not aware that in Europe a single accident has occurred to a steam-vessel, arising specially from the use of steam — a single accident which must have occurred to a sailing vessel similarly circumstanced. A Spot in the Sun. — M. Yon Pastorff, a Danish astronomer, has remarked in a letter to his brother astronomer, Schuhmacher, that he has of late frequently observed a small round spot about the sun, from which he is inclined to infer, as the spot always disappears in a short period of time, that it may be some body which] moves round that planet. Inhabitants of an Oyster. — Observations with the microscope have shown that the shell of an oyster is a w -'rid occupied by an innu-