ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume III, Issue 158, 3 February 1847, Page 4

ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

A figurative Hibernian patriot said, that he hoped this nation would not embark on a sea of trouble with old Ireland, for, if so, she might find the Sham-rock a real one.

A Martyr to Science. — I found a 1a 1 new resident at Monterey, David Douglas, Esq., a naturalist from Scotland, who had been indefatigable in his researches throughout the Northern regions of America, and was adding to' his treasure 'the peculiar productions of "California. "I was told he would frequently go off, attended by his little dog, and, with rifle in hand, search the wildest thicket in hopes of meeting a bear; yet the sight of a bullock, grazing' in an open afield, was to him 'more dreadful than all the terrors of tie forest. -He once told-rae that this was his only fear, little thinking what a fate was in reserve for him. He went afterwards from -Monterey to the Sandwich Islands. One morning he was found at ihe bottom of a;-pit which had been prepared as a trap for wild bulls. It is supposed that, from curiosity, he had -approached too near to get a sight of the furious animal that had been 1 ensnared, and the- earth giving way, precipitated him below. The merciless brute then gored him to death. His faithful 'little dog was found near the spot, watching basket of his collections. — Life in Ca- ■ lifornia. A remarkable document has been published by order of the House of Commons in the form- of a Bulky Blue Book, containing a *' Return of an alphabetical list of names, &c, of all persons subscribing to the amount of £2,000 and upwards to the Railway Subscription Contracts deposited in the Private •Bill Office in Session 1846." The total amount of subscriptions by persons who have subscribed £2,000 and upwards is £121,255,374 :O -. Bd. The names of one hundred and eight persons selected from this list aie published in the papers, the total amount ' of whose subscriptions severally exceed £100,000. The three greatest subscriptions in amount are George Hudson, York, (23 lines) £818,540, Isaac Lyon r <soldsraid, £637,000, and G, Byng Haget, £526,740.

Railways. — It appears ' from a detailed list of railways published iv the Times, which have this session received the Royal Assent, that the capital stock authorised by these acts is £90,540,938 ; the amount to be borrowed beyond the capital is £38,€88i,829 ; giving a & total amount authorised to be raised of £129,229,767 ; the omount of Parliamentary deposits released from the Accountant*' General's hands is £4,147,304; and 'the length of the lines amounts to 3,672^ miles. Reinforcemehts for the Cape of Good Hope. — - We have it from the best authority that Commodore Sir Thomas Herbert, in the Raleigh, 50-gun frigate, about to leave Devonport for the Brazils, has instructions from the Government to Admiral Inglefield, the Commander-in-Chief on that *oast, to proceed in his flag ship, with four other ships under his command, to the Cape of Good Hope, and offer such aid to the ' Governor, •Sir Peregrine Maitland, as he might require of him. The Terrible and Retribution, as vre stated last week, are gone to Corfu for the Rifle batallion there, and will convey them to Gibraltar, where they will meet the 6th regt., from Ireland. Then, if there should be pressing necessity, the steamers will take them to the Cape ; if not, they will proceed by ordinary transports. — Nautical Standard. Screw v. Paddle. — The next week commenced with a trial of speed between' Rattler and Polyphemus, or screw v. paddle wheel. On this occasion Sir William Parker invited the captains of the different ships to assemble to witness the trial ; butoefused permission to several officers wished to be present. The steam vessels, in order to test the relative j amount of their propelling power, were, by the Admiral's order, secured stern to stern by two stout hawsers, which left them, when the hawsers were at full stretch, about fifteen or twenty yards apart. By the time the experiment commenced, it had fallen quite calm, consequently there -could not have been a better opportunity for testing their xival powers. If anything, the advantage was on the side of the Polyphemus, as the Rattler had a slight ■westerly swell to overcome. The engines of both vessels are of the same nominal power ; viz., 200 horse, but in tons, the Rattler exceeds the Polypkemut by 80. This of course gave the former a greater body to propel ; but it must also be remembered that the Rattler has greater length, and consequently a better form of body for speed. The Polyphemus with her head to the eastward, struggled hard for the mastery : her paddles lashed the water into foam, and afforded a vivid contrast in appearance to the quiet, but dogged strength of the Battler. For a long time the victory lay in abeyance. The burr of the sub-marine propeller afforded evidence to the ear that there was a powerful agent assisting the Rattler ; while the loud dash of the paddle gave outward sign that the steam of her antagonist was doing her work. At length the waste

of the Po 7 yphemus began to emit steam in greater -volumes than it had previously, and the revolutions of the wheels to diminish in number, while, on the other hand, the Rattler's waste steam wholly disappeared, and now and then a bright flash from under her quarter, evinced 'increased activity beneath, and the ripples under the stern of the Polyphemus began to show themselves plainly. The Rattler had won the day, and the luckless Polyphemus was dragged astern, at the rale of a knot or a knot and a half an hour, an unwilKng -spectacle of her rival's greater strength. It was a great day for Archimedes ; the Admiral decided that another test should be tried, and their resistive power, when reversed, be proved. The hawsers were accordingly carried forward, and the vessels were secured, with their bows nearly touching each-other, but the result was the same. The screw was in the ascendancy even at its worst point, and it therefore only remains to remedy certain working difficulties in order to render this invention still more important. After the conclusion of this highly interesting trial, the two ships were ordered to try rate of steaming for -eighteen miles to the eastward, and in this trial the *screw had again an advantage, the Rattler beating her competitor 3560 yards in little more than two hours. — Tin. Ser. Gaz.

ATtTiLiiERy Practice in Jeeialabad. — The whole country within long range of the trails had heen carefully measured by the artillery officers, and certainvmarks set up by which the distasce could be accurately-calcu-lated ; and the consequence was, that every shot 'thrown where a group of Affghans presented themselves told : indeed, to such perfection was the gunnery of the place carried, that a man and horse at eight hundred or a thousand yards distance ran extreme risk of being cut down by a round shot ; and on one occasion, at least, Captain Backhouse struck down a cavalier, who could not have approached within a mile of the fort. — Sale's Brigade in Afghanistan.

A Mischievous Tutor. — -A slight misunderstanding- in trade with one of the priests of San Francisco rendered it advisable that I should visit th * north ; and accordingly, having made all necessary arrangements, I was soon on my way for that quarter. Arrived at the misson of St.Louis Obispo on the second <lay of my journey, how great was my surprise, on riding up to the corridor, to be saluted by the Padre in my own language. " How do you do, Sir? Very good oysters, Mr Fish ! come is ! May the devil skin you to make your mother a night-cap!" The- most outrageous oaths rattled from his tongue with most amusing-volubility. At last tired of his display in English, he abandoned it for a language more harmonious in sound, and in which he was more '•competent to converse. The mystery was soon resolved. Ad eccentric old Scotchman, named Mulliken, had resided with htm a number of years during "his administration- of the Mission of Santa Cruz, and had amused himself in -his leisure • moments by adding to the old f.iar's limited stock ot English, who, poor man ! profoundly ignorant of the- real meaning of his salutations, though be had addressed me in the most civil and courteous manner ! — Life in California. The Hanging Tower at Pisa. — Sismondi compares the tower to the usual pictorial representations, in children's books of the Tower of Babel. It is a happy simile, -and conveys a better idea of the building than chapters of laboured description. Nothing can exceed the grace and lightness of the structure ; nothing can be more remarkable than its general appearance. In the course of the ascent to the top (which is by an easy staircase), the inclination is not very apparent; but at the summit it becomes so.; and gives one the sensation of being in a ship that has heeled over, through the action of an ebb-tide. The effect upon the low side, so to speak — looking over from the gallery, and seeing the | shaft recede to its base — is very startling 4 and I saw a nervous traveller hold on to the tower involuntarily, after glancing down, as if he had someidea of propping it up. The view within, from the ground — looking up as through a slanted tube — is also very curious. It certainly inclines as much as the most sanguine tourist could desire. The natural impulse of ninety-nine people out of a hundred, who were about to recline upon the grass below it, to rest, and contemplate the adjacent buildings, would probabiy be not to take up their position under the leaning side, it is so very much aslant. — Dickens' s Pictures from Italy.

Luxurious Travelling. — The travellers on the Dutch railroads being much annoyed by the dust during the hot weather, an expedient has been devised for the purpose of preventing the annoyance, by attaching a car, pierced with holes, behind the tender. The car is filled with ice, which being melted during the journey, effectually lays the dust. Hood says that wicked school-masters, fond of whipp ng their scholars, will, after death, be appropriately condemed to the pit that hath no bottom.

Peruvian Mode of applying Guano. — Opposite to the ports of Pisco and Chincha, lie a number of small islands, noted for their large deposits of guano, or huanu, as Dr. Tschudi corrects the orthography of the word. The doctor gives «ome very interesting particulars concerning this efficacious manure, which, although hut recently adopted in Europe, appears to have been used in Peru as far back as the time of the first Incas. The Peruvians use it chiefly for the maize and potatoe fields ; their manner of employing it is peculiar, and but little known in Europe. A few weeks after the seeds have begun to germinate, a small hole is made beside each plant, filled with huana, and covered up with earth. The effect of the process is incredibly rapid. In a very few days the plants attain double their previous height. "When the operation ie repeated but with a smaller quantity of huana, the farmer may reckon upon a crop at least threefold that which he would obtain from an unmanured soil. Of the white huana, which is much stronger than the dark coloured, less must be used, and the field must be 1 watered sooner, or for a longer time, or the roots will be destroyed. When the land is tolerably good, seven hundred and fifty to nine hundred pounds of huana are reckoned sufficient for a surface of fourteen thousand square feet ; with poor soil, a thousand or twelve hundred pounds are required. — Yon Tsehudi's Travels in Peru.

Anecdotes of Uarrington, the Famous Pickpocket. — At one of the music meetings, in St. Martin's Church, for the benefit of the -Leicester Infirmary, I noticed a tall, handsome man, in a scarlet coat, with a gold button-hole in a black collar, the fashion of the day, moving with a gentleman-like air. This person proved to be t)ie notorious Barrington, the pickpocket. In going up the middle aisle he was invited into the Mayor's peW, and sat between Miss St. John and Mr. Ashby, of ! Quenby, our late member of-Parliament. One of the plates was held at the door by this lady and .gentleman, and when Mr. -Barrington laid his guinea upon the pkte he was kindly thanked by his new acquaintance, and passed otf with a graceful bow. The gentry who held the plates retired into the vestry to add their contributions, and when Mr. Ashby would have placed his ten guineas on the plate, to his utter astonishment they had flown from his pocket. After -considerable amazement, the mystery was explained by one of the company remarking that Miss St. 'John's pockets were turned inside out, and that the elegant gentleman who had sat between them bad helped himself to the subscription he had put on tie plate, and something besides. It is said that Barrington facilitated "his operations by instruments, which he had made ibr the purpose. I recollect a circumstance of this kind. He waited upon a surgical instrument maker, and ordered a pairof scissors of a curious form. A few days afterwards he called for them, liked them, and paid two guineas, which the maker charged. After he had left the shop, the cutler's wife said, ~" My dear, as the gentleman seemed so pleased with the scissors, I wish we had asked him what use they were for. He might recommend us. Do run after him," The cutter scampered out of the shop, and, overtaking the gentleman, hoped he would excuse him, but would he tell him what use he intended to make of the scissors 1 " Why, my friend," said Barrington, catching him by the button of his coat, and staring him in the face, " I don't know whether I can tell you ; it's a great secret." " O, pray do sir ; it may be something in our way." Upon which Barrington pressing hard upon his shoulder, whispered in his ear, " They are for picking of pockets." in the utmost consternation the scissors-maker ran back, and the moment he got into the shop, "My dear, 1 ' he cried, " will you believe it ? they are for picking of pockets." " Yes, my dear," cried the wife, " but what is the matter wilh your clothes?" The cutler looked, and presently discovered that the scissors had extracted the two guineas he had just received for them. — Gardiner's Music and Friends,