ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

Otago Witness, Issue 475, 5 January 1861, Page 6

ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

H Wi tt a P*T» torOctoler 26.) '^§BS8 OP^AXES'S PROGRESS. reWCaB^ Tißi i ed <* &** of George "•2XiS?y? fc i. bead uncovered, paid a tSfS^r^S^^ memory of the American ■'StWW?* 11 * a We** tree over the dead . JS? 1 ? £*•?' »st»ng-place. 4 Jrf*i^"crican mail just arrived has brought tne following despatch concerning the arrival °lft? ;?«nce. of Wales at New York on the afternoon of the 1 1 th of October :— i **TKe Prince of Wales and suite arrived at wjtatteryat .2 p.tn., amid the booming of •^Wg™ cheering of thousands. He was "JfcjTO by Mayor Wood, and other notables. •", _ miew fr»g the militia, which he did in colonel s uniform, he proceeded up Broadway an an open barouche, drawn by six coal-black horses. The most unbounded enthusiasm prevailed^ Broadway was densely packed with human beings of all classes, house-windows were packed to overflowing, house-tops completely covered, and every available square inch occupied. The demonstration here entirely eclipsed all others. The Atlantic cable and Japanese celebrities cannot be compared "• ?■" a million people lined Broadway, and there was a splendid military display. The Prince looked well, and was apparently m good spirits, continually, bowing to the people. The weather was fine-a lovely day. beats sold on Broadway at from 5. dollars to 3) dollars each. . It was a grand sight to see the waving of handkerchiefs* There was a good display of British flags." ~

m. blon&in's r*Axe. /'On Saturday (September 15) his royal highness saw M. Blondin execute his most genfie feat— that of crossing the Rapids on Ins tightrope with a man on his back. To Jeave the study of these eternal cataracts to witness the feats of any rope-dancer, however skilful, is very much like shutting your I rayer : book to go and witness a pantomime. Une thing, however, is certain, that if you do go to see Blondin, when he once begins his leats you can no more take your eyes off him, unless you shut them from a very sickness of terror, till he. is safe back again oti land. The place where his rope is stretched is about a quarter of a mile below the Suspension-bridge, STY if *£* pids » and about two below the FaUs. To do Blondin justice, bis skill is so great that he would as soon stretch his rope along the edge of the Falls themselves as not, but at th^ place .there is no point on either side to which he conia secure it. All the waters of Niagara, however, could not make Jus ,fate 1 more certain and inevitable than it would be if he fell from the place where his rope is now fixed. . " It; is stretched between two of the steepest Cliffs over the rapids, about 230 feet from where the waters boil and roar and plunge on m massive waves at the rate of some 20 miles an fiour. To see him venture out on this thin cord and turn summersaults in the centre, standing on his head, or settling down holding vt n aj ? ds >. evolve backwards over the ropi like a Cathenne-wheel, is bad enough for nerjous people ; but on Saturday, aftlr keeping every-oneshaironendfor 20 minutes thus, heproposed to carry a man across on bis back. The mere physical exertion of carrying a man a distance of half a mile is no slight £at, but when that half mile has to be traversed on a tight rope higher than the Monument, from a sea of boiling rapids underneath, where one false movement, the tremor of a single nerve, a moments gust of wind, would hurry both to *n instant and dreadful death, the attempt is so full of sickening terror that not many can bring themselves to witness it, and those who do remain cold, trembling, and silent till the dreadful venture is safely passed. Blondin took the matter coolly enough, and, though ; iyjjh him not to attemptl^p^ineTth^uirei^ c '1 2» Wl«f» danger iir the feiit than appeared to lookers on, and that as he had everywhere announced his Intention of performing it before relinquishing his attempts for the season he felt bound to go *>n. He accordingly divested himself of his Indian chiefs bead-dress and beadwork coat, and put two strong straps, crosswise over his broad muscular shoulders, each strap fitted with a flat iron hook, to rest on his hips, for there his adventurous companion was to rest his legs. Mr. Calcourt .was the man to be carried, and this person, in addition to his own coolness and confidence in Blondin, has himself a sufficient knowledge of toe rope to enable him to stand on it alone whenever Blondin himself wanted rest. All the preparations were soon made. Blondin stood steadily on the rope, and Calcourt, grasping him round the neck, gently and slowly hoisted first one leg into the hook and then the other, and then, allowing his limbs to swing as relaxed as possible, the attempt commenced. Of course, with a rope nearly half-a-mile long, no power can draw it straight. It, therefore, slopes rapidly down at both sides from the edges of the cliffs in which it is secured. This made the attempt look doubly fearful, for it seemed impossible, as Blondin went down the steep indineof cord with slow, cantious, trembling feet, with body carefully thrown back to keep his balance, that he could avoid slipping and being dashed to fragments on the rocks which were far down beneath. At last, however, he passed it softly, and in. about five minutes gained the centre of the rope and stopped, while Calcourt gently raising his legs from the hooks slid off and stood upon the rope, while Blondin rested. Getting up on his back again was an awful business. Twice Calcourt missed raising his legs to the hodks, and Blondin oscillated considerably under the efforts made on his back. At last, however, his daring companion was seated and the task resumed, and after three more such intervals of rest the other side was safely gained. The whole passage occupied a quarter of an hour. Blondin then performed the equally dangerous task of returning along the rope on stilts about three feet high, and this he did quickly and with apparent ease. His royal highness then ■went up to the foot of the Falls in the Maid of the Mist. Let any one imagine three sides of Lincoln's-inn-fields, formed of rocks 170 feet high, and a body of water 50 times as great as that of the Thames at London-bridge, rushing over them each minute, and then they will have some idea of what these Falls are when the little steamer gets into the hollow .square of water just before she is forced back toy the tremendous rush from them down the stream again."