CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

Wellington Independent, Volume II, Issue 86, 8 August 1846, Page 3

CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

[From the Cape Town Shipping Gazette,] . The Slave Tra.be on the East Coasr.— A barque of about 400 tons, engaged in the slave trade, named the Diana, and supposed to be Brazilian, has arrived in Table Bay from the Mozambique Channel, "being sent in as a prize.to H. M. Bloop Mutine. The Diana was captured afterfa long chase to windward on the 10th November, when she was brought to, and found equipped for the reception of 800 slaves. This is the sixth slave vessel taken or destroyed by the Mctine in as many months, so that she may be considered amost efficient and successful crulzer. The Diana also brings intelligence of a conflict the Mutine (in conjunction with tbe Portuguese brig of war Villa Flor,) has had with 4 to 500 piratical Arabs, found to be very extensively engaged in the slave trade, in Pomba Bay ; and from what we can learn, it would appear that the boats of the two flags were sent to destroy a slaver and two large barracoons in the vicinity;—whilst executing this duty, the Arabs under cover, kept up a very sharp fire: the expedition was however enterely successful, the vessel being burnt, and the barracoons completely destroyed : the Portuguese we regret to add had one seaman killed, and a marine severely wounded.

Before tbe boats landed the Mutlne anchored two cables length from the shore, in a position for batteringthe Town, and both brigs commencpd hammering <away, which speedily had th* < fl' ct of drivingthe Arabs from their quarters, wlimi the boats daubed in, landed, and effectually dsstroyuj all.trace.of the»Battacoonß and Town. Tbe«« vrry decided measures are likely to put a stop to the slave trade in Pomba Bay for some time.to .come. We are farther informed that on tbe 15th of October last, the boats of H. M. sloop Mutine were despatched with the-First Lieutenant and Master to destroy a large Arab slaver on shore, twenty miles up one of the rivers to the Northward of -QiiiUi. mane; and executing this duty (which was effectually done) they received a brisk di.-charge of musketry from tbe Aarbs. This fully 6 hows that.these" people are. determined to resist any opposition to their illegal trade. We observe that Steam Communication from England to rndui, via the Red Sea, has not only been put on a firm footing but has also extended ts Chin*; as will appear by the following extract .from the "Naval and Military Gazette " of the 4th Oct. Steam to Ceylon. Madras, and Calcutta, via Egypt.—Regular Monthly Mail Steam Conveyance for Passengers and Light Goods Tne Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Comipany book passengers and receive goods and par-cels-for the above ports by their steamers starting from Southampton the 20th, and from Suez on or about the 10th of every month. For rates of passage money, plans of (the steamers, and to secure passages, apply at the Company's Office, 51 St, Mary Axe, London. Steam to China.—Regular "Monthly Steam Communication for passengers and light good* to Penang, Singapore, and Hong Kong, via Egypt— The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company book passengers to the above ports from Southampton the 20 th of every month. For particulars apply at the Company* Offices, No. 51 St.Mary Axe, London, or No. 57 High-street, Southampton. A similar line, via the Cape, would, we submit, secure at least eqaallf not more permanent benefit to those.countries, not to speak of the manifold advantages to this continent which, -in its now greatly improved condition, so much requires the fostering care of legitimate trade. "We beg to call the attention of our wine farmers, and others to the following paragraph, showing the soccessful use of Guano as applied iv particular to vines and orange trees. There can be no doubt that -such manure would be equally productive when usedtto any other description of fruit trees. 11 Ebtect of Guano on Vires and Orange Tkees—Mr. Drive, of Madeira, in February List, used 4 bags of guano on four fold the quantity of grapes pnodacedin former years, which, of coursei will yield four times the quantity of wine, unless bad weather occurs between this and the vintage Mr. D. also tried it with orange trees, which hava given nearly double the usual number, and much larger in size*—Gore's Liverpool Advertiser." Diseases ik Cattle.—We understand that a certain fatal distemper or disease is now prevalent among cattle in-towa and country, and that some of our dairy keepers in the city have suffered severely by the ravages committed among the cattle. One melancholy instance has occurred, of a re. ■spectable cowfeeder, near Abbeyhill, who has lost his entire stock of dairy cows, nine in number, and we regret to say that the stock was not insured. It is probably not generally known, that recently, one or two companies have been founded, and are now in operation, whose business it is to insur c against mortality in all kinds of live farming stock whether death is occasioned by sickness, by tha slaughter of the animal in consequence of taint from -any contagious or epizootic disease, or by accident, and we would therefore recommend to all classes who keep horses or cows, to insure in case of the epidemic making inroads on their live stock.— Caledonian Mercury.—Oct. 13. The Electric Gun—The Ordnance department have reported in favour of the electric gun. The barrel for discharging the bullets is over the body of the machine, being about five feet from the ground, so that the engineer who works it can take a true aim ; it is supplied with balls by two chambers, one of which is fixed, the other a moveable one, which is called the volley chamber, and may be made to contain any quantity of balls. From 1009 to 1200 balls could be discharged per minute. These volleys are shot off in quick succession, and while being reloaded, tbe stationary chamber continues to supply the barrel, so that a constant discharge is maintained. The bullets are five-eighths of an inch in diameter; but in actual service, the ' apparatus being but little enlarged, would discharge balls one inch in diameter with increased force. The bullets now used are calculnted to kill at a distance of a statute mile.—Gore's Liverpool Advertiser. The steam machine for draining the lake 0£ Haerlem was set to work the other dsy with complete success. In five successive hours it removed 300 cubic ells of water.—Globe.

The Premier akd the Fatimers.—-Mr. 'William Cross, a respectable farmer in this neighbourhood, on Tuesday last (February 3) addressed a letter to the Premier,; in connexion with the respectfully submitted, that were the income tax levied on farmers according: to the profits derived ' from their farms, instead of, as now, on half their rental, this would be one of the best methods that could be adopted to afford compensation for the withdrawal of protection from agriculture. Mr. Cross instanced his own farms as having yielded him little or no profit for these several years past. To this letter Mr.-Cross receiyed, by return of post, the subjoined, pithy reply :—" Downing Street, 4th February, 1846. Sir—l am desired by Sir Robert Peel to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of yesterday. Sir Robert Peel trusts that your farm will be more profitable under the law which he has proposed, than it appears to have been under a system of high protective duties. He bus no intention of making any alteration in the lacome Tax Act. It is clear that in such a case as yours, there could be no claim for compensation, as a change in the law can hardly operate to your injury. I am, sir, your obedient servant VV. H. Stephenson." Mr. Pelouze, the celebrated chemist, who has been for some time placed at the head of the works at the Royal Mint, has recently presented to the Academy of Sciences, a paper on the means he has discovered, and of which he has made experiments with complete success, of measuring, with extreme precision, the quantifies of copper contained in the alloys of copper, zinc, and tin. The proportions of these alloys had not hitherto been accurately ascertained, to the great detriment of commerce and the arts. Ireland.—At the weekly meeting of the Repeal Association, on Monday, the conversion of Sir Robert Peel to the doctrines of Free-trade was deemed encouraging to the cause of Irish Repeal. Mr. Smith O'Brien asserted that he should not be the least surprised if Sir Robert Peel were to state in the House of Commons, some of these days, that in resisting 'the call for Repeal he had acted in error, and was now ready to confer on the Irish people the boon of self-government. The success of the Anti-Corn-Law agitation should prove the best incentive to the Irish Repealers to persevere in theirs.—Mr. Steel denounced and repudiated resolutions lately brought under the consideration of the American Congress recommending the annexation of Ireland to the United States. The rent for the week was .£272 2s.— Spectator, Feb. 7, \ The Limerick Chronicle states that one of the judges had lost .£60,000 by railway speculations. A letter from Gottingen announces that M. Koch, a geologist of that city, has just discovered in the United States, in the State of Alabama, at a depth of 111 feet below the surface of the ground, the complete skeleton of an antediluvian serpent, 114 French feet (121 feet 6 inches English), the vertebra of which are from 24 to 30 inches high, aud 18 in circumference. M. Koch is of opinion that the animal must have lived in the sea, and that it was carnivorous. He proposes to give it the name of archihydar. A letter from Berlin, in the German Journal of Frankfort, informs us that the Jews of that city have made an appeal to the Jews of Europe generally, in order to raise a fund by shares for the foundation of a Jewish colony in America. A fully organised and widely extended conspiracy had been discovered in Poland Amongst those arrested by the Government were several soldiers of the garrison, and a number of the Catholic clergy. In an almost official letter dated Augsburg, February 1, it is stated that The conspirators' intention was on the night of the Polish ball, which is given at Thorn at the end of the year, to master the chief persons of the German party, the commandant, the principal military officers, &c, and seize upon the public establishments and fortifications; at the same time an attack from without would have been attempted. The judges have declared the conviction of Servia and the other pirates, under sentence of death in Exeter gaol, invalid on two grounds—first, that it is not piracy for the Brazilians to carry on the slave trade until they have made it so by the Brazilian municipal law j and, secondly, that the Felicidado was wrongly taken, not having any slave on board, °nd therefore that she did not become a Briiish ship, and was not accordingly justified in capturing the Echo.