MISCELLANEOUS.

West Coast Times, Issue 592, 17 August 1867, Page 3

MISCELLANEOUS.

Ix Algeria. — At half-past ten we reached an oasis called Sidi Maklouf, being the restingplace of the marabout of that name. It seems to me that an oasis — and I have since visited several — is necessarily in the low levels of the desert, and is formed by the outcrop of w ater at that point, the ■na'er passing from the mountains upon some impermeable stratum which is exposed at the oasis. After leaving the oasis the water quickly disappears again in the sand. Sidi Maklouf, upon which -we came suddenly, after driving for hours over the stony sand plains, divided by gentle undulations, was bright green with cultivation, and two graceful palm trees waved their tall heads over the trim garden in which the aubergiste cultivated his vegetables. The oasis yielded to us an excellent dejeiiner, for which, as the aubergiste had no change for a Napoleon, I was unable to pay. But he made no difficulty, "he would always trust the English, he said, " Monsieur would return by that route, or j send him the money." I must allow myself to say here that I never felt more proud of my country than in Algeria. It is the fashion among certain classes in England, as well as on the Continent, to decry our commercial policy as that of " peace at any price," and to speak of the influence of England as a decaying or a dead power. Let me remark, that in traversing this colony — talking with soldiers, colonists, Ar.ibsj and, in fact, all classes, — immediately the conversation approached the condition of the colony, they, without exception, made some observation to the elfeet that if England had Algeria, all would have been happier and more prosperous. Xbr is j,h.oro any better passport to the favor of the Arabs than to pronounce oneself "In^leese." Far from courting remarks of tliis character, I have always expressed, as I consider a traveller in duty bound to express, only the most friendly sentiments with regard to the Emperor and his Government. The moral of it all, in my humble judgment, is, not that England should desire conquests in North Africa, but rather that no government or sovereign, however powerful, will bo able to rcsisb the influence of the commercial policy of England. It may be possible to feed Parisians for some time upon laglorie, but colonists will t prefer solid pudding, and when the colonists of Algeria sigh as they read of the wonderful prosperity of our colonies, it is the influence of England which is working out in Africa, as throughout the world, greater and more glorious conquests to her example than she ever gained by the sanguinary policy of less enlightened years. — " A drive to ih'e Desert," ii> Temple Bar.

llujioks of tub Teleoikaph. — Everyone who is familiar with telegraphic despaches is aware of the grotesque blunders which arc frequently perpetrated by the operators. A specimen of them is given below : — The following message was recently sent from G to ft Canadian city: "Wait letter before writing — Marsh," and was received at dosti' nation thus : "Wash your bauds before writing, you mufl'," A New York paper says the subjoined message was handed into the Utiea telegraph oflice by a gentl«nan of that city : "To , Third Epistle of John, 13th and 14th verses. Signed ," By referring to the loxt it will bo scon that tbere is buite «i respectable letter contained in the verses designated, and a Miiall amount of money saved namely, " I had many things to write, but I will not with ink and pen write unto thoo : But I I trust I shall shortly see thee, and we shall speak faco to face. Peace be to thoe. Our friends' salute tbeo. Greet tbo friends by narae." (3 Jolw, xiii. 14.) — " American Republic."

An Abstracted Gent. — " Old Bumblebee," was the cognomen of Mr Thorns, of Newburyport. He gained the title from the fact of his catching a bumblebee, one daj, as he was shingling his barn ; and, in attempting to destroy the insect with his hatchet, cut ofi" the ends of his thumb and forefinger, letting the insect go unhramed. Other mishaps happened to the old fellow, in the same barn. In one of his abstractions he shingled over his spare hatchet ; and cutting a small aperture in the building to let a little daylight in, this man actually set in a wooden pane, as being economical, and not likely to be broken. Uncle Thorns, in one of his obvious freaks, nailed his left arm so firmly betwixt two boards of a fence he was putting up, that he had to call for help to get extricated from his self-imprisonment. He once put a butten on a gate instead of the post. But the rarest freak of all was when he ran through the streets, with his hands about three feet asunder, held before him, begging the passers by not to disturb him as he had got the measure of a doorway with him. — American Paper. News fob the Ncusebt. — We are informed that an enterprising American publisher is about to bring out a volume of nursery literature, in which the stories and rhymes of the " exploded old country" will be adapted to the tastes and understandings of young America. To illustrate this we shall Venture on a version in prose of Humpty Dumpty : — " Huuipty Durapty sot hisself on a tall rail. Humpty Dumpty dropt off his perch — kcr squash. And ail the equipages, and all the liveried menials of an effete monarchical system was just a one-boss affair as regarded tho sottin' of that unfort'net cuss on that everlastin' rail agin! Moral: — The skreekin bird of Freedom what roosts on the zenith, with his head tied up in the star-spangled banner, rather kalklates that monarchy is played out — some !" — "JW"

Singtjlab, Ke-mabhiage. — The parish register of Bermondsey Church contains the following extraordinary entry, made in the year 1604: — "August. — The forme of a solemn vowe made betwixt a man and his wife ; the man havinge bene longe absent, through whicli occasion the woman being married to another man, took her againe as followcth : — The man's speech : Elizabeth, my beloved wife, I am right some that I have so longe absented my sealfe from thee, whereby thou shouldst be occasioned to take another man to Jthy husband. Therefore I do now vowe and promise, in the sight of God and this companie, to take thee againe as my oune ; and will not only forgive thee, but also dwell with thee, and doe all other duties unto thee, as 1 promised at our marriage. The woman's speech : Raphe, my beloved husband, I am right some thut I have in thy absence taken another man to be my husband ; but here, before God and this companie, I do renounce and forsake him, and do promise to keep my sealfe only unto thee during life, and to perform all duties which I first promised unto thee in marriage." Tho entry concludes thus : — " The first day of August, 1604, Raphe Goodchild, of the parish of Barkinge, in Thames Street, and Elizabeth his wife, wcare agreed to livo together, and thereupon gave their hands one to another, making either of them vows so to do, in the presence of William Stew, parson, Edward Coker and Richard Eire., clei'k." — W.S. — ''South London Chronicle."

Cost of Mail Packet Sjemvices. — The estimates for the Post Oflico packet service for the financial year 1867-8 laid before the House of Commons shows a total decrease of nearly L 14,000 as compared with those of last year. This is caused by a saving of L 12.500 on the North American, LSOOO on the West African, and L 9,670 on the IndiaChina and Australian mails ; of L 290 on account of the Honduras line, and L3 lB on account of smaller items, LIOOO being also saved by the cessation of the second monthly mail between Port Rico and St Thomas. The items of increase include L2OOO for the Holy1 lead and Kingstown packets, LSOOO for the West Indian, L3OOO for I lie Panama and Valparaiso mails, LISOO for the Brazils, and LSOO for a second monthly mail service to the Cape, as well as LI2OO for mails to St. Thomas, Havannah, and all intermediate stations, and an additional sum of L 857 to the total cost of packet establishments. The most noticeable item in the above list is an increase of LSOOO for the West Indian service, which now reaches the enormous sum of L179,O0O ; the total for India, China, Australia, and New Zealand, including all additional services, being L 237,956 and that for North America L 162,500.

There is a story told of a pawkey old Scot, whose wife was very ill, but who tempted by the fine ply in which the river' was, had just slipped awny and stepped down to " tak a cast o' her." He had jusr risen and hooked a splendid fish, which wa3 showing him magnificent sport, when one came running ito him, ' wringing his hands and crying, " Laird, laird, the mistress is dccin — dccin — deem! " " Ah, mon, ye dinna say sac ! Ein away bock thin Donald, and tell her joost to hing on till 'are killt the fussbe."

A gentleman in Brighton having lost his cat, suspected that a lady, • known to be fond of pusscy, had taken a fancy to it . A settrchwarrant was procured, and the inspector reported that the lady had 115 cats, 15 dog?, and a fox, all alive, on the premises.