MISCELLANEOUS.

Wellington Independent, Volume V, Issue 426, 10 November 1849, Page 3

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Pope.—A curious fact, says the Globe of Thursday, is mentioned to us in a letter from Bologna. Although the Austrian intervention is made in the name of the Pope, his Holiness is so little respected by the Austrian soldiers, that in every house in Bologna which they entered, and where they found a bust of the Pope, they amused themselves by decapitating it with their sabres. Thus, while Pius the Ninth is rejected by the Romans as a tyrant, he is hated by the Austrians as having been the first cause of the Liberal movement. Storm in the Isle op Wight.— The Isle of Wight was visited on Friday by a severe storm of rain, thunder, and lightning. At about 12 o'clock, p. m., a remarkable fine tree on the Norris estate, at East Cowes, close to Osborne, the marine residence of her Majesty, was struck by the electric fluid, and shattered. The storm is represented as having been awful, and most destructive in its career. The " Moral Effect " of Executions. —We can scarcely imagine a more pointed instance of an utter disregard of consequences, and insensibility to the most awful warnings which the outraged laws of society hold out in the punishment of criminals, than the following, which, we are assured upon good authority, is an undoubted fact:—Only a few moments before Kellocher appeared upon the scaffold on Tuesday, last week, to forfeit his life to the stern demands of justice, a group of individuals, apparently countrymen of the criminal, were observed upon the top of a shed opposite the scaffold, playing a game at cards; and just as the mournful procession. that accompanied him to the scene of execution was making its appearance over the prison wall, another knot .of workmen were busy discussing a gill of spirits upon the top of another out-house, aud were actually drinking the health of the unfortunate man immediately before he was launched into eternity. If public executions are in general attended with no better results than these, those who are hostile to their infliction are certainly furnished with a most powerful argument for discontinuance.P./'./. Constitutional. A Fortunatf Purchase.—Some time since, a brig, at present called the Carleton, was put up for public sale at the London Docks, and was purchased by Mr. Scott, a chain-lighterman residing at Wapping, for the sum of £750. After undergoing considerable repairs at the New Crane Wharf, Wapping, the vessel put to sea under Captain Bacon, who had become part owner. After leaving this port it. was found necessary to put into Hartlepool, where, whilst the vessel was undergoing some repairs at the interior part of the bulkhead, sixteen thousand Spanish dollars were found secreted iv a place purposely hollowed out for the reception of the precious deposit. The dollars, as our reporter was informed are of an old mintage and very pure silver. When and by whom the treasure was deposited it is impossible to guess; but, ut all events, Cap ton Bacon lias reason to congratulate himself on the successful result of his first short vogage in the Carlelon. The vessel, it is said, was .originally engaged in the slave-tiade off tlie coast of Guinea, and the treasure so curiously discovered was probably the ill-got*-ton gain of some of,the heartless' wretches engaged in that abominable, traftic, — Time j," June "30. " * - J

aaflfflax'i 1 ..ii_.T___r,i i i ■_.. i it i *»,■_»■■■... 'Sir C. Napier and the 96th. —The Calcutta Star says, " Her Majesty's 96th were reeved at Fort William by the new .Commander-in-Chief at daylight on the morning of the j lth of May. So quietly .had the arrangements been made that scarcely half a dozen spectators besides military men were present. Sir Charles Napier, punctual to a proverb, reached the parade, accompanied by the townDjajor, before a, single officer of the regiment had made.his appearance, and finding no other amusement, walked into the barracks. He soon returned, however, .and subjected the. regiment to a minute inspection, after which it marched past in -slow, and again in quick time, and then advanced in line. At the close Sir Charles Napier addressed the men in a characteristic speech. After alluding to his former connection with the regiment he said :—' I am very glad to meet the 96th again. We have both been a good deal ahout the world since last together, .and I am very glad to hear such a good ..account of the' regiment. Your colonel .tells mo that you are not only in good --.health', but that you are good in conduct '. —that.you have very few men in hospital. ,'JNow/this is all .right, a.idtl hope you will continue to bear a good character. But let me give you a bit of advice—that is, • don't drink. I know young men do not think much about advice from old men. "They put their tongue in their cheek, and think they know a good deal better than the old cove that is giving them advice. But let me tell you, that you are come to .ft country where, if you drink you're done for. You will be either invalided or die. -I knew two regiments in this country— -one drank, the other didn't drink. The one that didn't drink is ono of the finest ;.regim en ts, and has got on as well as any Regiment in existence. The one that did drink has been all but destroyed. For any regiment for which I have a respect J and there is not one of the British regiments whom I don't respect,) I -should always tiy and persuade them to keep from drinking. I know that there are some men who will drink in spite of the Devil and their officers,; but such men -will soon be in hospital, and very few that go in in this country ever come out again. I wish the 96th Regiment every success, jmd am very glad to see it in the state it is.' After expressing to Major Comber;,lege his great gratification he called the -sergeant-major of the regiment, with -whom he had a few minutes' confidential chat. He then dismissed the regiment, and proceeded to an inspection of the .tirsenal."' Robbers in California.—Ej.co.t- ------• .raging to Goin Seekers.—The hunter (though, rarely) has been set upon by robbers, for the sake of the pack of furs "he was carrying on his back to some of ..the' seaport towns on the coast to dispose .■of, but as the fur hunters are generally on foot, and, from habit of watching about ;for either hostile Indians or wild animals, they are always on their guard, and as the robbers well know that they are, to a niah, riflemen who seldom miss their ___ark, they avoid them. During my ramhies in the wilds and fastnesses of California, I became acquainted with many of •them, sbmefroni the back settlements of fhe United States, and others from Canada. I have hunted for months with thorn, and, witnessed some conflicts between them and wild animals, in which the utmost daring and recklessness was exhibited by the hunter. These are not -the men that robbers like to encounter, •hut I have said they sometimes tako a fancy to the valuable pack,of furs which, if .they find any facility of obtaining, they miiko the attempt. It is the very climax of cruelty to plunder these poor fellows ..Of packs which were procured only by outlaying for months iii the depths ofthe forests and wilds of the country, and not infrequently in the hunting grounds of a .tribe of hostile Indians. I once hunted (for three months in company with a hunter well known in California. In idea he was wild and imaginative in the extreme; hiit in his acts of daring, &c, the most cool and philosophic fellow I ever knew. A comercianto, or merchant, at St. Francisco, on whose veracity I know from experience I can depend, told me a story of this man, which will at once illustrate his general character:—This hunter was, some months before I fell in with him, making tho best of his way down the valley of the Tule Lakes from'the interior, ■With a heavy pa <5k of furs on his back, his hever-erring rifle in his hand, and his two dogs by his side. He was joined at the northernmost end of the valley by tho merchant I have spoken of, who was fcrmed only with his sword and pistols. They had scarcely cleared the valley when ft party of robbers galloped out before them. There were four whites fuly armed, and two Indiaus with their lassos coiled up in their right hands 'ready for a throw.' The hunter told the merchant, who was on horseback, to dismount instantly, 'and to cover.' Fortunately for them, thero was a good deal of thicket, and trunks of large.trees that had fallen were strewed in a very desirable ..mariner. Behind tn.os'e' logs the merchant arid the hunter quie.ly'tqbkup their position, iind as they fare : in the act bf doing' so, two or'three skits' were fired at them without effect. The hunter coolly untiedithe j>ack of furs frpm his back and laid Item besite him

' It's my opinion, merchant,' said he,' that them varment there wants either your saddle-bags, or my pack, but I reckon they'll get neither.' So he took up his rifle, fired, and the foremost Indian, lasso in hand, rolled off his horse. Another discharge from the rifle, and the second Indian fell, whilst iv the act of throwing his lasso at the head and shoulders of the hunter as he raised himself from behind the log to fire. 'Now/said the hunter, as he reloaded, laying hack on his.back to avoid the shots of the robbers, ' that s what I call the best of the scrimmage, to get them hrown thieves with their lassos out of the way first. See those rascally whites now jumping over the logs to charge us in our cover.' They were fast advancing, when the rifle again spoke out, and the foremost fell: they still came on to within thirty yards, another fell, and the remaining two made a desparate charge up close to the log. The hunter from long practice, was dexterous in reloading his gun. * Now, merchant,' said he, *is the time for your popguns, meaning the pistols, ' and don't be at all nervous. Keep a steady hand, and drop either man or horse. A man of them shan't escape.' The two remaining robbers were now up with the log, and fired each a pistol-shot .at the" hunter, which he escaped by dodging behind a tree, close to, from which he fired with effect. As only one >obber was left, he wheeled round his horse with the intention of galloping off, when the pistol bullets of the merchant shot the horse from under him. ' Well done, merchant, said the hunter, 'you've stopped that fellow's gallop ' As soon as the robber could untangle himself from the fallen horse,! he took to his heels and ran. down a sloping ground, as fast as he, could. The hunter drew his tomahawk from his belt, and gave chase after him. As he was more of an equestrian than a pedestrian, the nimbleness of the hunter shortened the distance between-them, and the last of the robbers fell. Thus perished this dangerous gang of six by the single hand of the brave hunter, and, as the " comercianto " informed me, he acted as coolly and deliberately as if he were shooting •tame bullocks for the market. The affair was rather advantageous to the hunter, for, on searching the saddle bags and pockets of the robbers, he pulled forth some doubloons, and a few dollars with other valuables they had, no doubt, a short time previously take from some traveller; the saddle-bags, arms, and accoutrements of the four white men were packed up, and made fast on the saddles' of two horses, the hunter mounted a third, the merchant mounted another, his horse being shot, arid thus they left the s6ene of action, and the bodies of the robbers to the wolves who were howling about them, while th6y entered St. Francisco in triumph.— Coulter's Adventures. Mr. Sheridan Knowles, the celeh rated actor and dramatic writer, has just published a work against the pretensions of Romanism, which is said to be a most able production.