MISCELLANEOUS.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 272, 8 March 1848, Page 3

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Austrian Government has ordered that the Hungarian tongue alone shall henceforth be employed in the transaction of public business in the principality of Transylvania. The burning of forests is increasing in a frightful manner in Prussia. The last intelligence announces that in the province of Westphalia alone five large forests were in full conflagration. It would appear that the extreme dryness of the summer has been the cause of this unfortunate occurrence. A gun for the purpose of projecting harpoons into whales has been invented in America ; and also a bomb-lance which, on being fired into a" whale, explodes and kills the animal. The Manchester Guardian gives the following curious account of mesmeric experiments in the presence and with the assistance of Jenny Lind :—": — " Miss Lind was present at Mr. Braid's, surgeon, of Manchester, on Friday week, to witness some of the abnormal feats of a real somnabulist, artificially thrown into that state. The subjects were two girls, the elder and principal being about nineteen years of age, and employed in a warehouse. The two were thrown into the sleep by gazing at Mr. Braid's lancet-case, held a little above their heads. They were dressed in their working dresses, and when awake evinced no indication of being possessed of extraordinary powers. Mr. Braid having taken his seat at the piano, which was at some distance from the sleepers, the moment he touched the keys they arose and came towards him, and joir#J him in singing a trio, one taking the air, another the second, and Mr. Braid the bass. Mr. Braid then awoke one of them, and announced that the other was now in that state, that he felt assured she could follow correctly any one in the room in singing any song in any language — that was to say, she would imitate the words and notes as rapidly and accurately as to accompany the singer as if she had been accustomed to sing such songs. This seemed promising too much, and the look of incredulity was obvious on every countenance except that of Mr. Braid, who still confidently dared any one to the trial, either male or female. A gentleman of the party, therefore, sat down and played and sang a German song, in which the somnabuli3t imitated him most accurately. Another gentleman then tried her with a Swedish song, in which she was also wonderfully successful. Mdlle. Lind, who has won such laurels for herself in impersonating a somnabuljst, now sat down to test the powers of this veritable somnabulist. All were breathless to catch the Swedish nightingale's words, and weigh her rival in this novel duetto. Jenny sang most divinely a slow air, like a hymn tune, with, I believe Swedish notes, every note and word of which was correctly given by the somnabulist, just as if they had been accustomed to sing together. Next followed, a long, and most difficult singing lesson, in which Miss Lind ran through all the chromatic difficulties her fertile fancy could dictate, and with all the varied inflections of force and pathos which the human voice seemed capable of expressing ; but, to the astonishment of all present, the somnabulist was not to be done, for so perfectly did their voices accord, that throughout a great part of this performance it was impossible to detect that there were two voices. I saw onelady who was so sceptical on the point that she would not believe that both were singing, till she stood up to see as well as to hear that both were actively engaged in this harmonious strife. Miss Lind now tested her with 'Casta Diva' and 'La Bella a me Ritorni,' in both of which my knowledge of Italian enables me to say the imitation was perfect. After farther testing with foreign words, only and extreme difficulties or puzzling combinations of sound, the somnabulist was aroused, quite unconscious of the extraordinary feats she had accomplished in her sleep, and quite afraid even to imitate what she had done with such promptness and precision in her sleep."

The Duke op Wellington's Cook at Waterloo. — Among other domestic servants who had attended him in the Peninsula, and afterwards followed bis fortunes to London, Paris, and Vienna, was a French cook, a man of much science and excellent method in his way. This artiste always contrived to get his master's dinner ready at the exact time when it was wanted, and on the 18th Jane he applied himself, as usual, to bis duties in the kitchen of the house in Waterloo, where the head quarters of the army were established. Amid the thunder of the battle he never intermitted his task ; and when wounded men and fugitives came crowding back, and a thousand voices urged him to escape while he could, he steadily refused either to budge an inch or intermit his labours — "His Grace had ordered dinner, and would certainly return to eat it. He was not going to disappoint so generous a master for any consideration whatever." And his Grace did come back, as he

had promised, and found his dinner not l e * s recherche than usual ; though the state of hi" own feelings, victor as he was, could hardly permit him to do justice to it. — G trig's Battle of Waterloo.

Adhesive Labels. — Numerous cases of cancer are attribnted by the faculty to moistening tbe adhesive postage stamps with the tongue or lips. — Liverpool Mercury. A fearful example of Corsican vengeance has just been given at Aulleria :—": — " A poor butbeauti(ul ghl, named Lilla Fanfranchi, had been seduced by Pietro Desanti, the son of a rich proprietor. Lilla was constantly calling on her lover to perform his promise of marriage, when she suddenly heard that he was about to be united to a rich heiress in the neighbourhood. She swore that she would have revenge, and, loading a fowling-piece with three balls, she lay in wait for her betrayer near his residence. When he appeared she fired at him and shot him dead. She then fled to the mountains, where she has hitherto escaped from the agents of the public authority."

Howling Monkeys.— "Oar friend related an amusing incident of what he had been witness ; where the monkey, forgetful of every thing else, pounding down the nut with might and main, in a fever of excitement struck it with tremendous force upon the tip of his tail. Down dropped the nut, and away flew the monkey, bounding and howling fearfully. How long the monkey was laid np by hii lame tail our friend was unable to inform ns ; but we thought one thing certain, that monkeys had changed since Goldsmith's days, inasmuch as at that time we are informed, the tip of a monkey's tail was so remote from the centre of circulation as to be destitute of feeling. — Edward's Voyage up the Amazon,

A Hurricane of Horses. — " About an hour," he says, " after the usual time to secure the horses for the night, an indistinct sound arose like the muttering of distant thunder ; as it approached it became mixed with the howling of all the dogs in the encampment, and with the shouts and yells of the Indians ; in coming nearer, it rose high above all these accompaniments, and resembled the lashing of a heavy surf upon a beach. On and on it rolled towards us, and, partly from my own hearing, partly from the hurried words and actions of the tenants of our lodge, I gathered it must be the fierce and uncontrollable gallop of thousands of panic-stricken horses. As this living torrent drew nigb, I sprang to the front of the tent, seized my favourite .riding mare, and in addition to the hobbles which confined her, twisted the long lariett round her fore legs ; then led her in front of the fire, hoping that the excited and maddened flood of horses would divide, and pass on each side of it. As the galloping mass drew nigh, our horses bigan to snort, prick up their ears, and then to tremble : and when it burst upon it they became completely ungovernable from terror ; all broke loose, and joined their affrighted companions, except my mare, which struggled with the fury of a wild beast ; and I only retained her by using all my strength, and at last throwing her on her side. .On went the maddened. troop, trampling, in their headlong speed, over skins, dried meat, &c, and throwing down some of the smaller tents. They were soon lost in the darkness of the night, and in the wilds of the prairie, and no-i thing more was heard of them save the distant yelping of the curs who continued their ineffectual pursuit. — The Horse and his Rider. The Dublin correspondent of the Limerick Examiner gives full details of a story, which, if it possesses that necessary ingredient to give it value, truth, certainly deserves its heading of " a romance in real life." A young lady, of high birth, whose name is wrapped, at present, in mystery, has been residing at Kingston, for the benefit of her health, but being much annoyed by the dogging of a "foreign looking gentleman," she had resolved to Jeave — " Having made the necessary arrangements for her departure, she was proceeding to the train, when she was met by the gentleman, who approached her in the most polite manner, and, addressing her in French, said he was the bearer of an important parcel to her, which had been entrusted to his care by a deceased friend, at the same time putting a sealed package into her hand, and at once disappeared. The lady became . much agitated, took the package, passed on to the train, and went to Dublin. On her arrival in town and opening the parcel, she found a ring, and several sealed envelopes, all bearing her name and address, but written in different hands. In one of these there was a morocco case, in which was enclosed a small stiletto, with foreign initials on the handle, and the blade stained with blood. There was also a lock of hair, evidently that of a female, which bore the impress of having been rudely torn from the head of its owner. There was, besides, the miniature of a young and beautiful female, which bore a striking resemblance to an oil painting which at present exists in an ancient castle in Ireland — the fair original of which,

wu much pitied for her misfortunes and unhappy life. She is said to have died in a foreign land, and her death, it appears, is shrouded in mystery. The parcel also contained several miniatures and trinkets, with a variety of letters and other documents, which, if found to be genuine, would place the young lady in qnestion not only in possession of a title, which stands at present in all its Milesian glory without a claimant, but also a great fortune. The package also contained the half of a marriage certificate, which appears to have been torn in a violent struggle, yet enough remains to show the dates and other matters of importance. . The documents.are said to be useless unless the gentleman comes forward to prove their validity, and explain how he acquired them — from whom he got them, and for what purpose. The gentleman must know something abot|t those things, for otherwise he would not give them into her possession, and of course he should come forward and explain the whole mysterious affair. Some incidents in the life of the lad; whose miniature the gentleman has left behind are strikingly illustrative of this strange affair, and the friends of the young lady into whose hands these things were put are most anxious to have all properly explained." A Spanish Man-of-war, fifty tears since. — ' I eagerly caught at the opportunity of seeing the system of the Spanish navy ; and my wish being made known to the Spanish commander, he imir ediately invited me to take my passage with him, in the St. Elmo, where I was treated with the greatest hospitality. • This ship had been selected as one in the test state of discipline in the Spanish navy, to •be sent to England. She was commanded by Don Lorenzo Goycochca, a gallant seaman, who had commanded one of the junk ships destroyed before Gibraltar in 1781. I had during this voyage an opportunity of appreciating Spanish management at sea. When the ship was brought under double reefed topsails, it was considered superfluous to lay the cloth for dinner ; and when I remonstrated, I was told by the captain, that not one officer would be able to sit at table, being all seasick ; but that he had directed dinner to be got in his own cabin for himself and me. A few nights before our arrival at Falmouth, the ship having whole sails and topping sails, was taken aback in a heavy squall from the* N.E., and I was awoke by the English pilot knocking at my cabin door, calling out, "Mr. Brenton, Mr. Brenton, rouse out, sir; here is the ship running away with these Spaniards." When I got upon deck, I found this was literally the case. She was running away at the rate of twelve knots, and everything in confusion ; she was indeed, to use the ludicrous simile of a naval captain, " all adrift, like a French post-chaise." It required some hours to gel things to rights, and the wind having moderated, we then resumed our course and reached Falmouth. The Spanish posadas are proverbially wretched ; and great was the astonishment of the officers of the St. Elmo on reaching William&'s Hotel at Falmouth, \<y no means at that time a first-rate inn. .Still, such was the effect produced by the carpet, the fire, and the furniture in general, that it was some time before they could be persuaded that I had not conducted them to some nobleman's house, in return for their hospitality to me ; the bill, however, dispelled this pleasant delusion. — Memoirs of Sir J. Brenton.