number of navvies were employed upon the contract of Messrs. Baylis and Eckersley, in the construction of the Settle and Carlisle extension of the Midland Railway. This was "big pay day," and the navvies, after receiving their wages, repaired in gangs to their respective quarters. The men consisted of Englishmen, Irishmen, and Scotchmen, divided into distinct gangs, who worked together, drank together, and fought together, too. The English fancied that the Irishmen were working for less money than themselves, and this suspicion engendered much ill-feeling, which vented itself in a very forcible manner when the men had drunk deep. A company of navvies were drinking in the New Inn, about a mile from the village, and tossing for gallons of ale, when another gang came up and demanded admittance. The inn being already full, they could not obtain admission but by way of effecting a forcible entrance; they stormed the house, smashing the windows with stones, and making a complete wreck of the place. A general fight ensued, in which many heads were broken and one man fatally injured; this was a navvy, named Cornelius Cox, an Irishman, who had been held up and kicked in a very savage manner by two navvies, while a third battered his head with a spade. After being thus abused he was thrown over a wall, where he was discovered two or three hours afterwards so much injured that his case was at once seen to be hopeless. He died on the 17th. A Scotchman named Campbell was pursued by a dozen navvies to a store belonging to the contractors, and there brutally kicked and mutilated. Another navvy was left on the road with his ribs broken, while broken heads and bruised faces were numerous. The next day (Sunday) was spent in drinking and disorder; but as the New Inn had been wrecked, and the principal publichouse of the village drunk dry, the violence. somewhat abated, and the arrival of a body of police to reinforce the local constabulary tended to preserve order. On Sunday, however, a combined plan of action had been arranged. The Irishmen all worked in a cutting known as Dickenson's cutting, and two strong gangs of Englishmen, much more numerous than the Irish, were employed in Lowwood cutting and Barrowwood cutting. On the 17th a gang from each of these places began simultaneously to march upon Dickenson's cutting, with the avowed intention of driving the Irish from the works. The Lowwood division was found in the village four deep, armed with bludgeons. But the timely appearance of a body of the county police across the road with cutlasses had the effect of checking the march. The other gang from Barrowwood, however, did succeed in making its way to Dickenson's cutting, and driving the Irishmen from the works. This done, they broke up into groups and spent the rest of the day in loitering about the roads, and there were frequent fights; all work being suspended.

19. WRECK OF THE STEAMER "CAMBRIA."-The "Cambria," one of the Anchor Line of steamers, which left New York on the 8th, went ashore on the island of Innistrahull during the gale that

raged during this night, and became a total wreck. Four boats containing some of the passengers and crew left the ship, but only one of them was picked up, and that contained only one sailor and one lady passenger-the former alive, the latter dead. The loss of life was very great, over 170 persons. Large quantities of the wreck were washed ashore on various parts of the coast at Antrim and Donegal. The body of a lady, about twenty-five years of age, elegantly dressed, was washed ashore at Dunluce Castle, Portrush. This was supposed to have been the lady who was in the boat with the rescued sailor, M'Gartland, who made a statement of his escape. He said in the night the weather was very bad, so that he could see nothing outside the ship. He remained on deck till about eleven o'clock. Then he went below.

"I had seated myself," he continued, "at my bunk, thinking over old times and my near approach to home, when suddenly there was a horrid crash, and I was sent spinning forward on my face on the floor. I did not lose my senses, although I was a good deal frightened, and, getting to my feet, I hurried up on deck. Here I found passengers running to and fro in great excitement, but I cannot say there was much crying or shouting. I was myself much put about. I heard the order given, Launch the boats,' but I cannot say whose voice it was; and I also heard some one saying, "There's a mighty big hole in the boat.' Our vessel, I now knew, had struck the rock of Innistrahull, bow on, but at that time I really saw nothing beyond the boat itself, the night was so dark, and there was so much blinding rain and spray. I did not see the light on Innistrahull. There were seven small boats, I think, on board, four of which were lowered. When the boat in the steerage end was lowered, I got into it with others. There were in all, to the best of my judgment, ten or eleven of us, all steerage passengers, I think, besides two seamen. No provisions were taken on board; we were near shore. Our boat, however, was scarcely launched when she capsized. When the boat lurched over I got hold of it, but I cannot say what part of it, and when it righted again I managed to scramble in. I never saw a living soul after that. I did not hear a single cry when the boat heeled over, and I never afterwards saw any of my companions. I was very much put about. I must have grasped the boat quite mechanically, and when I got into it again I don't know that I could have told where I was. I did not see the Cambria' go down. The waves carried my boat quickly away from her. When I recovered myself I noticed some one lying in the bottom of the boat. I stooped down and found that it was a young woman, lying face downwards. She was dead. I saw that nothing could be done for her, poor thing; and, to tell you the truth, I did not feel able to do much for myself. The oars were tied with small ropes to the boat, and I was not equal to the exertion of recovering them; I just let the boat drift aimlessly along. The wind and the waves carried me along all the morning with my melancholy burden-the poor thing at the bottom of the

boat. At half-past two o'clock that afternoon, after fourteen hours' and a half drifting helplessly in the storm, I was picked up by the Enterprise' (Captain Gillespie) in Lough Foyle. I was almost insensible at the time. A rope was passed round my body, and I was drawn on deck. I was brought to Londonderry, and have since been almost entirely confined to bed. I lost all my clothes and eleven guineas in money."

The vessel, it appears, which was under sail and steam, and proceeding at a rapid pace, struck on Innistrahull, a dangerous island, guarded with lighthouses, about ten miles from the coast of Donegal, and about 135 miles from the city of Derry. The vessel immediately commenced to fill, a tremendous hole having been made in her bottom. The fires were at once put out, and every attempt was made then to save the passengers, who rushed on the deck, and crowded the boats, four in number, which had been speedily launched. The chief keeper of the Innistrahull Lighthouse made a confirmatory statement:-On the night when the "Cambria" was wrecked he had opened a door or window in the lighthouse apparently a few minutes after the steamer struck on the rocks. Looking to seaward he observed a light a short distance away which suddenly disappeared, and then rose above the roar of the tempest the agonizing shrieks of men and women, which were quickly stilled. The following is a list of passengers, in addition to those in the steerage. The names of places refer to the destination of the passengers:

CABIN.-Mr. James Hague and Mrs. Hague, Liverpool; Mr. Joseph Clerk, Londonderry; Colonel Hayden, Liverpool; General Davis, Glasgow; Mr. George Witton, Glasgow; Mr. James Purse and Mrs. Purse and two children, Glasgow; Mr. Joseph Smith and Miss Rebecca Smith, Liverpool; Miss A. Steers, Liverpool; Miss Elsie Kattie, Liverpool; Mrs. George Hill, Liverpool; Mrs. M'Naire and two children, Liverpool; Mr. and Mrs. George T. Emery, London; Mrs. Peoples, Londonderry; Mr. Leonard Heussmann, Glasgow; Mr. A. L. Holland, Liverpool; Miss Jessie Greenleaf, Glasgow; Miss E. H. Pusey, Liverpool; Mr. and Mrs. W. Bingham and two children, Glasgow; Mr. and Mrs. John Hobson, Liverpool; Mrs. C. Hayden and Miss L. Hayden, Liverpool; Mr. Heinrich Zimmermann, Antwerp; Mr. George Wildfang, Liverpool; Mr. R. Rawson, Liverpool; Mrs. A. L. Pall and Miss Ellen Pall, Liverpool; Miss Agnes Notman, Glasgow.

INTERMEDIATE.-Mr. William Hill and Miss Theresa Hill, Glasgow; Mr. Henry Waltman, London; Miss Harriet M'Creedy, Londonderry; Miss Mary Adams, Glasgow; Miss Agnes Burr, Glasgow; Mr. James Baird, Glasgow; Mr. S. D. Granay, Liverpool; Mrs. Granay, Liverpool; Mr. Matthew Mowat, Glasgow; Mr. Robert Patton, Glasgow; Mr. L. Gilmour, Glasgow; Mrs. Asdale, Glasgow; Mrs. Young, Glasgow; Mr. James Kesch, Glasgow; Mrs. J. Rustom, Glasgow.

The "Cambria" was an iron screw steamship, of 1312 tons

;

register and 1997 tons builders' measurement. She was built at Port Glasgow by Messrs. Robert Duncan and Co., under special survey, and classed at the highest rate at Lloyd's, having been constructed with heavier plating than is required by the rules. Her length was 324 feet 6 inches; breadth of beam, 35 feet 2 inches depth of hold, 22 feet 5 inches; and she was fitted up with six bulkheads and part awning deck. Her engines, which were made at the Finniestown Steamship Works, Glasgow, were of 400-horse power. She left the Clyde for New York on the 17th of September, her crew numbering seventy-four all told. She was in command of Captain George Carnahan, who had long been in the service of Messrs. Handyside and Henderson, and enjoyed their confidence as an able and experienced officer.

24. THE AURORA BOREALIS.-This evening about 7.30 the sky over London was overcast with a bright appearance similar to what is often seen in connexion with a great conflagration. In a short time several forked pillars of the Aurora Borealis made their appearance, extending from the zenith in a north-western direction. The pillars were of considerable brightness, and after flitting and moving about in the atmosphere for some time they entirely disappeared. There was scarcely any wind, and the atmosphere, although not decidedly frosty, felt keen. At a few minutes past eight o'clock, the "calls" were received simultaneously to a large fire supposed to be raging in the locality of Kingsland. At that moment a bright cloud could be witnessed in the northern and western horizon-the points, as far they could be traced in smoky London, were from the east-north-east, terminating, as near as possible, west-north-west by south. From all parts of this cloud issued flashes, first of dark red, changing to light blue, and succeeded by others of an orange pink and even green hue. The whole rose in pulses along the dome of the sky towards the zenith, where the corona was about to form, when it suddenly parted. It was not till then that the many thousands of London fireseekers became convinced that they had been deceived as to the raging of a fire. The London Salvage Corps turned out with their engine and traps, and the metropolitan bridges were crowded with thousands of persons, watching what they imagined to be the progress of the largest fire that had ever occurred in London. The moment the phenomenon disappeared the stars shone out brilliantly, with a clear blue sky.

At eight o'clock in the evening the sky north-east of Windsor Castle was most brilliantly illuminated by the Northern Lights. So bright were the atmospheric phenomena that crowds of people rushed up to the Castle under the impression that a large fire was raging in the district. The Aurora consisted of various tints, chiefly of a rose colour, variegated with streaks of yellow and white light, fading into cerulean blue with a tinge of green. The display lasted about an hour. The dark outline of the Castle Chapel stood out wonderfully against the strange bright light.

At Norwich a magnificent display of the Aurora Borealis was

visible about ten minutes past eight, and lasted about twenty minutes. The whole horizon was lit up with masses of colour, as if the town were on fire. The streamers were white, suddenly changing to pink, and then to carmine, while the corona in the zenith was deep purple. These gave place to other white streamers, again colouring. A less vivid display was visible for some time longer.

NOVEMBER.

9. LORD MAYOR'S DAY.-According to usage on the 9th of November, the new Lord Mayor of London (Alderman Dakin) was escorted to Westminster, with all the accustomed civic pomp, to be formally presented to the Barons of the Exchequer. The weather unfortunately was most inauspicious, the whole metropolis, and the city part of it especially, having during the greater part of the day been wrapped in one of the densest fogs ever known within living memory. At one time the authorities at Guildhall thought they should have had to resort to torchlights in conducting their Chief Magistrate to Westminster; but the notion appeared to be fraught in practice with many inconveniences, if not with positive danger, and was therefore abandoned. As an alternative they ordered the whole of the street lamps to be lit, and that was done accordingly throughout the line of procession. About one o'clock the civic dignitaries, including the new Lord Mayor, with his predecessor in office (Alderman Besley), all wearing their official robes, assembled at Guildhall, having previously gone thither from the Mansion-house, preceded by trumpeters. The route of the pageant lay through Gresham-street, Princes-street, King William-street, Cannon-street, St. Paul's-churchyard, Ludgate-hill, New Bridge-street, Blackfriars, and thence on to Westminster by the Thames Embankment, and it was crowded on both sides from beginning to end, especially the eastern part of Cannon-street, which, with some of the adjacent-streets, includes the Ward of Candlewick, represented by the new Lord Mayor in the Court of Aldermen, and which was here and there decked with banners in honour of the occasion.

At two o'clock the procession was marshalled in front of the Guildhall, and started on its way amid a blaze of gaslights. First came the band of the Grenadier Guards, followed by men bearing the banners of the Livery Companies of Lorimers, Painter Stainers, Wax Chandlers, Cutlers, Goldsmiths, Fishmongers, and Grocers. Behind them were the Masters and Wardens of the Tallow Chandlers', Innholders', and Spectacle Makers' Companies, all in open carriages, with their distinctive banners, and escorted at intervals by the bands of the London Rifle Brigade, the Thirty-third Middlesex Volunteers, and the Victoria Rifles. Next came Mr. Under-Sheriff