REPORT OF THE BARQUE BELLHAVEN, GILKISON.-Sand-bank at the entrance of the China Sea.-"I beg leave to forward an extract from the Bellhaven's log of the 3rd of October, concerning the position of a sand-bank at the entrance of the China Sea, not laid down in Norie's charts, nor mentioned in Horsburgh's Directory. It is not in the fairway either for the Caramatta passage, or Gaspar's Straits; still vessels may be carried near it, as we were, with light variable winds and uncertain currents:-" October 3, A.M.-Squally weather with variable winds, much lightning, thunder and heavy rain. 9 A. M. calm, with drizzling rain; finding the current setting westward, at the rate of a knot per hour, brought up with kedge in 20 fathoms. At 11 A M. the weather cleared up, when we saw a low sand-bank bearing west by north, distant about two miles, extending about a cable's length north and south, which is probably covered at high tide. We made it in lat, 2° 35' S., long. 108° 19′ E. At noon a breeze sprung up at south, with which we stood away for the Caramatta passage.-August 13.-H.M.S. Espiegle was at Woosung on her way to buoy the north sands at entrance of Yangtsae Keang."

Trinity House, London February 9th, 1848.

HARWICH HARBOUR.-Notice is hereby given, that, with the object of facilitating the entrance of vessels into "Harwich Harbour," in the night time, lights, as hereinfter described, will on and after the evening of this date be exhibited from the lower part of the High Light-house.

Masters of vessels, and other persons, who may be desirous of entering "Harwich Harbour" in the night time, are, therefore, to observe, that having reached the Rolling Grounds with the High Light open to the westward of the Low Light, as heretofore, a Red Light will become visible in the lower part of the High Light-house, and will so continue until the course between the Beach End and Cliff Foot Buoys is open to them, when the said light will become bright and without colour, bearing by compass N.N.W. W., and being kept in sight, will lead through the said entrance, until they have passed Languard Fort, when the usual change of course to the northward and eastward for the anchorage will be requisite.

The Light will also appear Red immediately after vessels have passed to the south-westward of the White Light, so that by tacking whenever the Red Light on either hand comes into view, they may readily and with certainty maintain their proper course in by the White Light, until they have passed Landguard Fort, as before stated.

The foregoing is to be regarded as a temporary arrangement only, pending the adoption of such further measures as circumstances may hereinafter render advisable.

British Consulate, Granville, February 1st, 1848. SIR.-I have the honour to inform you that, it has been represented to me, in this Consulate, particularly at Cherbourg, that various British merchant vessels have arrived without a manifest: which, with cargo, they ought to have signed by the captain, and if in ballast, make a return of provisions on board on their arrival.

In consequence of which omission, or of not specifying any merchandise on board, therein, they have been seized by the French Custom-house, become liable to have the goods seized not so enumerated therein, and a NO. 3 VOL. XVII.

Y

fine, which may amount to one thousand francs, independent of delay. Fishing boats should have a license, specifying the description, tonnage, names of the owner and master.

I have to request you will be pleased to cause owners and masters of British vessels, to be warned of the penalty they incur, by entering into a French port, or even approaching the French coast, within four leagues, without such manifest or fishing license, as the French Custom-house have notified their intention of henceforth enforcing the law on this point.

(Signed)

JOHN TURNBULL, British Consul and Lloyd's Agent.

To W. Dobson, Esq., Secretary, Lloyd's.

Los ROQUES.-Information has been received from Her Majesty's Consul at La Guayra, that the Columbian Government intend to erect a light-house on the "Los Roques," about seventy-two miles N.N.E. of La Guayra, respecting which, notice will hereafter be given.

TIDAL HARBOURS.

The following important communication from the Admiralty to the Conservators of the River Tyne was read on Wednesday last, at the Quarterly Meeting of the Town Council of Newcastle:

"Admiralty, January 18th, 1848.

"SIR,-I am commanded, by the Lords Commissioners for executing the office of Lord High Admiral, to acquaint you that their lordships have taken into consideration the importance of a more accurate supervision of the harbours of this country, with a view to their preservation and improvement, and have seen fit to establish a department of the Admiralty through which it is intended that all matters which regard the tidal waters and navigable rivers of the United Kingdom, shall be brought to the notice of their lordships, and placed upon record, for the purpose of assisting their lordships in the exercise of that jurisdiction which they hold, for the public benefit, over these waters and rivers.

"Their lordships are persuaded that, in the pursuit of this object, they will meet with cordial and cheerful co-operation on the part of the commissioners, trustees, or other authorities, to whom the local jurisdiction of the several har. bours may have been confided; and they have desired me to address you for the purpose of obtaining the advantage of such co-operation.

"The first step proposed to themselves by their lordships is that of procuring an accurate report of the present condition of each harbour; good charts of its waters; accounts of its tide and approaches, and of its commerce; of the dues and other sources of income raised; of the expense of maintenance, and of the works in progress, or in contemplation; abstracts of the acts and charters by which it is governed, and the constitution of the governing body; and any statistical or other interesting information which may regard it.

"Secondly, Their lordships desire to trace back the history of each harbour, and of the changes which have taken place, by physical causes, or by encroachments or improvements; and to be put into possession of copies of any ancient maps or charts which bear upon these changes.

"Thirdly, They wish to be apprised of any changes or improvements which are contemplated, or of any encroachments or danger of injury which may be apprehended. They hold it to be of very great importance that, for every harbour, lines of embankment and limits of the areas of waters should be

exactly laid down, beyond which no encroachment should, on any account, be permitted, and up to which every improvement should be advanced.

"It is most desirable that such prospective plans should be upon record, and that from year to year, some means of supervision should be established, by which the Admiralty may be kept informed of the progress of any change that may be caused by physical or artificial means; and as the influence and authority of the Admiralty will readily be exercised to prevent injury and to promote improvement, so they look for the co-operation and assistance of the governing bodies, in procuring for the present, and in carrying on for the future, that information of which, for the public good, it seems to be so essential that records and registers should be kept.

"It will be for their lordships to consider, later, whether it may not be necessary to apply to parliament for extended powers for the attainment of these objects. For the present they would merely request from you a reply to this circular, and information as to the extent to which the local authorities may be able, as my lords are assured that they will be willing, to forward its objects. "I am, Sir, your obedient servant, · H. G. WARD.

"To the Secretary of the Harbour Trust,
at Newcastle-upon-Tyne."

-Gateshead Observer.

THE CASE OF BURON v. DENMAN.

This remarkable case, which has been depending for a considerable period, commenced in the Court of Exchequer on Monday last, and terminated on Wednesday. The declaration stated that M. Buron, not being an English subject, was possessed of certain slaves, goods, effects, bills of exchange, &c.. and that the defendant, Capt. Denman, whilst the chattels, &c., above enumerated, were out of the dominions of this kingdom, seized, took, and carried them away. The second count alleged that Capt. Denman_burnt, damaged, and destroyed articles and goods similar to those mentioned in the former count, but did not represent them to be out of the kingdom. The damages were laid at £180,000. Capt. Denman pleaded Not Guilty; and a trial at bar was demanded, the Crown thereby taking the defence upon itself. The Gallinas are a group of islands, at the mouth of a river of the same name, and at a distance of about 160 miles from Sierra Leone. Those islands are governed by King Siacca, who is assisted in his regal functions by his son Prince Mauna, and by a native family of "Goat Men," bearing the common name of Rogers.

In the year 1840, it came to the ears of Sir R. Doherty, governor of Sierra Leone, that Prince Mauna had detained, for a pretended debt, a woman named Try Norman, and her child, both subjects of the Queen of England. The fact was thus conveyed in an official letter to King Siacca :

"Your son Mauna has seized a woman named Try Norman, whom he formerly knew as a servant to Mrs. John Grey, in Freetown, and keeps her and her child, who was born in this colony (Sierra Leone), prisoners, and says, he will not give them up unless he gets a debt paid, which he says Mrs. Grey owes him. Now, he must give them up at once to Capt. Denman, and you must order, and cause him to do so; because, if you do not, the governor has written to Capt. Denman, to ask him to assist this government in taking them by force; and you must know what the consequences will be then. In fact, it will simply be this-that the Governor and Captain will level to the ground every town and house you have, and every establishment in the Gallinas."

Capt. Denman, was at that time the officer commanding a British squadron, which was blockading the mouth of the Gallinas, in consequence of the immense extent to which certain Spaniards carried the slave trade, and likewise, on account of certain injuries received by British subjects from King Siacca and his people. Accordingly, in pursuance of orders received from Sir R. Doherty, Capt. Denman passed the bar of the river with the boats of H.M.S. Wanderer, and "not only procured the surrender by King Siacca of the Sierra Leone woman and child, but concluded an agreement with that chief in the name of Her Majesty, by which, in the consideration of the injury done him, and the danger into which he had been brought, as Sovereign of the country, by the unfriendly and insolent proceedings which the Spanish slave-dealers had permitted themselves to adopt within his territory, towards the power of England, King Siacca consented to the total destruction of the slave factories of those strangers, and the delivery to Capt. Denman, for location in the colony of Sierra Leone, of all the slaves imprisoned in them, with all the chains, shackles and bar iron employed in chaining those persons and forging their chains, and whatever boats and canoes were made use of for the purpose of their embarkation in slave ships."

This tremendously lengthy sentence expresses the nature of the treaty entered into by Capt. Denman, with Prince Mauna and the Rogers' on behalf of King Siacca, who was bed-ridden at the time; and, in consequence of this convention, the Captain proceeded up the river, burnt the barracoons, liberated the slaves, and adopted such measures as appeared necessary to suppress the odious traffic in that quarter. Sir R. Doherty, in a letter to Lord Aberdeen, containing a statement of these facts, thus speaks of Capt. Denman :

"It is not necessary that I should make much comment on the transactions. One opinion only, as it appears to me, can be entertained respecting the decisive measures adopted by Capt. Denman; nor does it seem possible, in any view of the subject, to estimate too highly the service which that very intelligent and active officer has rendered by them to the cause of the suppression."

We

The fact was, that the Gallinas were the most celebrated mart and strong hold of Spanish Slave Trade on the whole line of the African coast. now come to the immediate cause of the trial which has engendered the present article.

M. Buron was a Spanish merchant, trading at the Gallinas, and many of the barracoons destroyed and slaves liberated, belonged to him; and he now sought recompense for the injury and loss he had sustained. Mr. Hill, who appeared as principal counsel for the plaintiff, contended that the defendant, Capt. Denman, was not justified by any treatise, nor by any instructions from the government at home, to adopt the violent proceedings he had carried into effect.

Mr. Hill sought to show that Capt. Denman had taken too much upon himself, and had acted an illegal part, and that M. Buron's property was beyond the jurisdiction with which any treatise, rights of search, or instruc tions, could possibly invest a British officer. The pleas put in by the defendant, and which proved the basis of the Attorney-General's speech in his behalf, were to the effect, that M. Buron was a Spanish subject, and that Spain had made a treaty with England abolishing the slave-trade; that by the law of the Gallinas, the slave trade, without the consent of the King, was prohibited, and that M. Buron had no such consent; that Capt. Denman had set the slaves free by the authority of King Siacca, who was an sbsolute and despotic Prince; that the said slaves were born free in Africa,

and held in slavery by the plaintiff (M. Buron,) in a country not subject to English, Spanish, or any other laws, and that, to prevent the transportation of the slaves to the West Indies, the defendant (Capt. Denman,) set them free.

The principal point insisted upon by the Attorney-General, was, that M. Buron had ample time to learn the existence of the treaty under which Capt. Denman acted; and he stated, and called witnesses to prove, that immediately after the signing of this treaty, all the goods were removed from the factories, either by the Spaniards or the natives, before the storehouses were destroyed; so that the pretence that they were full of property had no foundation whatever in fact. "This done, the slaves to the number of 900, were taken ou board the ships, the chiefs being as good as their word, and the whole establishment of the Spaniards entirely demolished, they, themselves, soliciting the defendant to allow them a passage to Sierra Leone from the place which they had polluted with their abominable practices."

Baron Parke summoned up, leaving it to the Jury to state whether Capt. Denman had acted of his own accord, or whether he acted under the instructions of Prince Mauna and the other Chiefs, and in pursuance of the treaty.

The Jury returned a verdict for the defendant; and thus the atrocious traffic in human beings has received another and signal blow.

NEW BOOKS.

STEAM WARFARE IN THE PARANA: A Narrative of Operations by the Combined Squadrons of England and France, in forcing a Passage up that River. By Commander Mackinnon, R.N. 2 Vols.-Ollier: London. These are two very pleasant little volumes. They relate, in an off-hand sailor-like style, important war operations by steam, the accounts of which lived only in the newspapers of the day, including, of course, the London Gazette.

The author, with a very laudable determination of "pencilling by the way," the important events in which he was going to take a prominent part, commences his diary with the beginning of his voyage, and continues it throughout the campaign in the Parana. This includes two trips up that river as far as Corrientes (about one thousand miles of navigation), several actions on its banks, and a trip up the Uruquay.

So much service must necessarily include much personal adventure, and selected as the author was, as the bearer of despatches, gave him the opportunity of seeing much more than any of his brother officers; he makes good use of his eyes, and, naturally of an inquiring disposition, he collects a considerable stock of information on the habits of the people he found, and the wonderful resources of their country, all of which, with the account of the warfare going on, form the very interesting little work before us.

A few pages of introductory matter, very judiciously prefixed to the journal, places the reader at once in possession of the state of affairs which led to the expedition on which the Alecto was employed, and in which vessel the author served as lieutenant.

Some very valuable notes, translated from a Spanish MS. which fell into the author's hands, throw considerable light on the various tribes of native Indians in the country, and their habits; and will serve, with the author s observations on the extraordinary resources of those fertile regions, to per petuate the work as a useful reference to the merchant as well as the general reader.