MISCELLANEOUS.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 310, 19 July 1848, Page 3

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Island of Poonah. — Letters have been received from the ships Herald and Pandora, dated Guayaquil, September 16th. They left Callao on the 23d of July, and after calling in at Payta on their way up, arrived at the river Guayaquil on the 31st, and commenced their survey at the Island of Poonoh. About twelve miles up the river there is a bar, which can only be crossed at spring tides. The river is about a mile and a half in width, very rapid and muddy, the banks of slimy mud, dotted in every direction with alligators. The ships continued moving up the river by six and eight miles at a time, in order to allow of the boats returning to the ship every night, as the mist and smell would be highly injurious to the men if sleeping in open boats. The scenery is *cry like that of the rivers on t!ie coast of Africa, and almost as productive of fever. About ten miles below Guayaquil the river is not more than half a mile wide, and the banks dense mangrove swamps. All breezes are excluded, and the air is insufferably hot, although it is now called the >( cool season." The town presented a very pretty appearance at the time, being built on the bank of the river, with windows all lighted up for the evening visaing parties. A promenade run,s the whole length of the town between the houses and the river. The officers of the ships received great attention and kindness from the inhabitants. The town is chiefly built of wood, and the French possess most of the retail trade. Cocoa is shipped here in large quantities for Spain and the United States. The water for the use of the town is brought from a considerable distance up the river, in earthen jars, from a hundred to a hundred and fifty of which are packed on a bolsa (logs of very light wood lashed together with vine), and floated down. The liver opposite to the town is fresh at the last of the ehb, but the water is considered vi.fit for drink ng, passing as it does through a mass of poisonous mangroves. The mosquitoes are so troublesome that the ships lying opposite to the town are obliged to send their crews on shore at night. On the 25th, they had completed their survey, and descended the river, and anchored on the 29th at Poonah, outside ihe bar, where the captain and sixty of the officers and men, in two divisions of three boats each, proceeded to survey the island, which would occupy them ten da)s. They expected to quit the neighbourhood on the 16th, and proceed upwards to Esmeraldez, so as to arrive at Panama about the end of November, then returning southward, to survey irom Point Garrachino to Cherambirar ; then to the Sandwich Islands in March, and to be at Mazatlan or San Bias in June. They will then again proceed northward to the Gulf of California, and be again at San Bias in November, 1848. Th« Pandora has been sent, by order of the Admiral to the Gallipagoes, j to look after coal, as the surgeon of a Yankee whaler had reported that he had seen some in those islands. She had just returned when our letters came away, but we are unable to leorn the result of her visit. Saw mills are rapidly finding their way out here, so that a discovery of such a valuable mineral would be inestimable, when it has now to be brought across the Atlantic. The Grampus, Collingwood, and Catysfort, were at Valparaiso on the 27th August. The Cor.stance is daily expected to arrive there from the northward,' whither she had gone to collect freight. — Nautical Maaazine for December.

Peruvian Use of Guano. — The Peruvian farmers were well acquainted with the different kinds of manures, and made large use of them : a circumstauce rare in the rich lands of the tropics, and prohably not elsewhere practised by the rude tribes of America. They i made great use of guano, the valuable deposit of sea fowl, that has attracted so much attention of late, from the agriculturists both of JSurope and our own country, and the stimulating and nutritious properties of which the In-

dians perfectly appreciated. This was found in such immense quantities on "many of the little islands along the coast, as to have the appearance of lofty hills, which, covered with a white saline incrustation, led the conquerors to give them the name of the sierra nevada or "snow mountains." The Incas took their usual precautions for securing the benefits of this important article to the husbandman. They assigned the small islands on the coast to the use of the respective districts which lay adjacent to them. When the island was large it was distributed among several districts, and the boundaries of each were clearly defined. All encroachment on the right of another was severely punished. And they secured the preservation of the fowl by penalties as stern as those by which the Norman tyrants of England protected their own game. No one was allowed to set foot on the island during the season for breeding, under pain of death ; and to kill the birds at any time was punished in the like manner.— Prescott's Conquest of Peru

the like manner.— Prescott's Conquest of Peru Fate of one of the Founders of- the Bank. — " Mr. Michael Godfrey, whose pamphlet has been quoted, and to whose exertions with those of William Paterson, maybe traced the successful establishment of the Bank, met with a somewhat singular fate \a 1695. Previously to this year, the allied armies had retreated before the wisdom of Louis, and the bravery of his soldiers. The funds supplied by the new corporation changed the scene ; but the transmission of specie was difficult and. full of hazard, and Mr. Godfrey left his peaceful avocations to visit Namur, then vigorously beseiged by the English monarch. The Deputy Governor, willing to flatter the King, anxious to forward his mission, or possibly imagining the vicinity of the sovereign to be the safest place he could choose, ventured into the trenches. 'As you are no adventurer in the trade of war, Mr. Godfrey,' said William, ' I think you should not expose yourself to the hazard of it.' 'Not being more exposed than your Majesty,' was the courtly reply, 'should I be excusable if I showed more concern. 1 1 Yes !' returned William, ' I am in my duty, and therefore have a more reasonable claim to preservation.' A cannon ball at this moment answered the 'reasonable claim to preservation,'by killing Mr. Godfrey, with several officers near the King ; and it requirf s no great stretch of imagination to fancy a saturnine smile passing over the countenance of the monarch, as he beheld the fate of the citizen who payed so heavy a penalty for playing the courtier in the trenches of Namur. Tradition states that Mr. Godfrey's remains, which were buried in the churchyard of St. Christopher le Stocks, were disinterred to make room for the enlargement of that prosperous establishment in which he once felt so deep an interest, and in the service of which he may be said to have fallen." — Francis's History.

Value -of Landed Property. — The beautiful estate of Longformacus, in Berwickshire, has just been disposed of to Mr. Brown, a wealthy East India merchant, for £30,000, being at the rate of twenty-two years' purchase. The arable farm of Rutherford, in Roxburghshiie, belonging to Sir Edmund Antrobus, Bart., Baiilin Lender, of which the lease expires at Whit Sunday, 1848, has just been re-let to Mr. Thompson, the present tenant. The rent during the last nineteen years was £1300 ; the new rent is £2000. This iarm contains 1440 acres, is within a mile and a half of a railway station, and is still considered moderately low. — Caledonian Mercury. An Impregnable Fortress. — At the little village of Mahim, which is situated upon the extreme point of the island of Bombay, which communicates with the neighbouring one of Salsette by a causeway, the erection of which is amongst the many munificent acts of Sir Jemsetjee Jeebeebhoy, is a very small fort. Finding room for our horses in the stables at this fort, which is the lion of the place, we dismounted, and were invited by the Com- 1 manding Officer into his house, where he proceeded to get breakfast ready. It being now a somewhat late hour for breakfast, and our ride having somewhat increased our appetites, we were not sorrry to see the preparations. The repast consisted of bread, eggs, and coffee, to which we did ample justice; and that being over, we commenced our enquiries about the fort. The person whom we have introduced by the fine sounding name of Commanding Officer, was an old Italian, who had been forty-six years in the British service, and having attained to the rank of sergeant, was invested with the important command of this old' fortress, which was, built originally by the Portuguese, but has now fallen into almost a ruin. The old sergeant, however, believes it to be a most important place, and hoists his union jack on Sunday with as much consequence as if it was the strongest fortress in the world. His garrison consists of one man, a boy, and bis wife ; and he, having a natural taste foe gardening, has cultivated the ground within the walls, and-made a.very snug little place, which, if not of much importance to the government, is at any rate a comfortable retreat for an old veteran to pass the rest of his days

in peace. His wants are few, and his pay is sufficient for them ; but be also has another source of profit, which, in the course of the year amounts to a considerable sum. This is derived from the visits of strangers, who, like ourselves, may come there in the course of their peregrinations about the island. On such occasions be is particularly civil and obliging, and provides anything that can be bought in the village for their dinner or breakfast. In return it is usual to make him a present, which, varying according to the number of the party, amounts to a very useful little addition to his means. During the oyster season these parties are very numerous, as many come over for the express purpose of eating these fish, which are here superior to those obtained at Bombay. One gentleman in particular is so constantly coming here, and is withal so great an eater, that the old sergeant always throws his shells in one place, i and amuses himself with watching the increasing bulk of that heap, which of itseli bears no inconsiderable proportion to the total number consumed. This was shown to us as one of the curiosities of the place, as indeed it was, for we should hardly have thought it possible that one man would have eaten so large a quantity in only occasional visits. We were next taken over the fort itself, and were considerably amused by the old man's anxiety to make us fully understand the strength of the place, and how utterly impossible it would be for an enemy to take possession of it without great loss, always supposing it to be well garrisoned, and the guns renewed, which latter precaution we should say was particularly necessary, inasmuch as very few of the present ones had any carriages, the. wood having completely rotted away with age, the guns being the same as those which were placed there when the fort was first built, many of them having the Portuguese marks still visible. We then proceeded to inspect the powder magazine, and finally arrived at a dungeon, into which we entered through a long narrow passage, sufficiently wide to admit but one man at a time. At the end of this gallery was a small chamber about six feet by four feet, concerning which our friend told us a horrible tale. A prisoner, who had been condemned to die by the Portuguese, was shut up in this hole for two days previous to his execution, but upon the third morning, when the guards went to bring him out he refused to stir. The passage being so narrow, they -could only enter one at a time, and as each man turned the corner into the dungeon, he "was felled by a blow from an iron bar which -the prisoner had contrived to pull from the grating through which food was admitted. Four men having entered and been killed in succession, the rest were afraid to enter, and then came the question — How was the fellow to be got out ? Shots were of no use ; for being concealed by the angle of the wall, nothing could touch him until within the reach of his iron bar, which proved a much more formidable weapon than either cutlass or musket, for having been immured for two ■days in this dark place, his eyesight was familiarised with the absence of light, whilst those on the other hand coming out of the open air, were unable to distinguish any objects within. At length a horrible device was suggested, and speedily acted upon. The passage having been filled with straw, it was ignited, and this body of fire was then pushed into his dungeon. The yells of the unfortunate victim as he writhed in agony amidst the flames from which he could not escape, told how the plan had succeeded ; and the vengeance of the law having been thus satisfied at the expense of the lives of four innocent men, it was ordered that this dungeou should not be again used for the confinement of piisoners. — Five Years in the East.