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harbour ought to be provided, and provided at once. War, should war come, will bring its own expenses, and if the harbour be not in progress before the commencement of a war, there is too much reason to fear that it may be delayed another forty years.

"In conclusion, we shall briefly explain on what grounds we think Dover the preferable place. The position of Dover, besides being opposed at about equal distance to the principal western ports of France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, is a salient position near the French coast, and in the very narrowest part of the Channel; secondly, at Dover you get at once into deep water, free on both sides from banks, an advantage which Dover possesses in an eminent degree over all the ports to the north, and in some degree, though in a less degree, over all the ports to the west-the western ports being otherwise objectionable on account of the expansion of the Channel westward. In the third place, a great deal has already been done for the military defence of Dover, both by nature and art. We know of no position in the Channel suitable for a rendezvous harbour (and such a harbour must be strongly defended), which could be made as strong as Dover now is, except at an enormous expense, an expense probably equal to the expense of the harbour itself. Fourthly, the railroad now in process of completion, and which would of course, be finished before the harbour, will bring Dover within three hours of the seat of government-within three hours of London, whither all the railroads of the island converge, and where, in consequence, the whole military strength of the island might be collected in a day or With a rendezvous harbour and a steam fleet at Dover, no camp would be necessary to menace the opposite coast-all Great Britain would be the camp. Have we trespassed beyond our province in treating this matter so much at large? If we have, it is because we have a deep sense of its immense importance; and in any case, if our views are false, the public will be the wiser for having the subject fully canvassed."

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NOTICES TO Mariners.

Hydrographic-office, Admiralty, March 25th, 1841. GOTTENBURG LIGHTS.-The Board of Admiralty at Stockholm has given notice, that;

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1. A light-house of stone has been erected on the island of Winga at the entrance of Gottenburg inlet, which will be lighted in the course of next sumIt will shew a fixed light of the third order, and visible from all parts of the horizon at the distance of twelve miles. The light-house stands in latitude 57° 37' 30" north, and in longitude 11° 39' east of Greenwich.

2. Two Channel lights for the guidance of vessels up to Gottenburg are also preparing, one of which will be placed on Buskar and the other on Botto. Further particulars of all these lights will be published hereafter.

The following are from Lloyd's.

LIGHT-HOUSE AT HOBSON'S BAY, PORT PHILIP. The following notice to mariners has been transmitted to Lloyd's by the harbour-master at Melbourne, Port Philip:

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"After the 1st of August, 1840, a plain stationary light will be shown from sunset to sunrise from a light-house erected on the extremity of Gellibrands

Point, William's Town, Hobson's Bay, visible five leagues in clear weather from any safe position to the southward.

"From the north end of the Western Channel the anchorage at Williams Town bears north 14° east.

"From the north end of Symonds Channel the anchorage at Williams Town bears north 6° east.

"From the north end of the Pinnace Channel the anchorage at Williams Town bears north 5° east.

"From the north end of the South Channel the anchorage at Williams Town bears north 6o west.

"The courses indicated will give vessels a fair berth from the shoal off Gellibrands Point. Care must be taken after bringing the light-house to bear north 67° 30' west, not to stand into less than four fathoms water on the western shore, and also to guard against a bank which lies off the eastern beach, bearing from the light-house from about north 22° east, to north 67° east, one mile and a half. After rounding the light and bringing it to bear about south, 40° west one mile, the anchor may be dropped in four fathoms water in good holding ground of stiff clay and mud." The bearings are all by compass.

WATER AT PORT PRAIA, March 16th." For the information of the shipping proceeding to the south, we beg to acquaint you that water of the best quality is now brought down from the mountains to the beach in iron pipes, at the harbour of Porto Praia St. Jago in these islands, the cost of which is only 320 reis the hogshead. Vessels can take in a supply of water in a few hours."

PATRAS, February 25th.-The Candiot refugees in Greece having resolved to return to their own country, to raise an insurrection against the Ottoman authorities, have seized upon several vessels in the Modena waters, and taken them to Carabusa, in Candia, whether for this or piratical purposes is unknown. An English schooner was taken off Sapienza by a boat full of armed men, and taken to Candia. The British Consul at Navarino warns all vessels to give the Sapienza isles a wide berth, as the isle of Schieza is the place where the Candiots lurk.

CAUTION TO MARINERS ENTERING PATRAS. From several vessels having grounded on a bank of soft mud about a mile west of St. Andrews church at Patras, mariners are hereby cautioned of the spot, it not being very generally known.

In our volume for 1834, we gave Sir John Franklin's remarks on Patras, in which the position of the above shoal water is pointed out.—See P. 454.

BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS.

THE LATE VICE-ADMIRAL SIR THOMAS DUNDAS, K.C.B., (see obituary,) had been in the navy sixty-three years. The deceased admiral had seen much service and was one of the heroes of Trafalgar, at which glorious victory he commanded the Naiad, when he repeated Lord Nelson's signals. Previously, when in the command of La Prompte, he destroyed a Spanish vessel-of-war of superior force. His commission bears date, lieutenant 15th July, 1793; commander, 2d September, 1795; captain, 9th July, 1798; rear-admiral, 27th May, 1825; and vice-admiral, 10th January, 1837. For his eminent services he was nominated in September, 1831, a K.C.B., and was one of those naval officers who had an honorary reward from the Patriotic Fund.

COMMANDER WILLIAM SWINEY, (see obituary,) entered the service in early life, and served under Howe, St. Vincent, Nelson, Keith, &c.; was junior lieutenant of the Leander, in the battle of the Nile, and also in the desperate action that she fought with the Genereux; was actively engaged in the landing in Egypt; and subsequently commanded small craft in the Mediterranean, coast of Africa, West Indies, &c.

THE NELSON MEMORIAL.-There is so much good spirit, and downright worthiness of purpose in the publication of Colonel Drinkwater Bethune's account of the Battle of St. Vincent, which we have already notified to our readers, that we are induced to take another leaf out of the worthy Colonel's book, with the view of pointing out to their attention that the proceeds of it (after defraying the expenses) are to be added to the fund for the erection of the column in Trafalgar square. This cannot be too widely known, and as a further specimen of the style in which it is "got up," as the booksellers say, we annex the following spirited cuts of some of the effects of the action. We are glad to find that the work is added to the list of books to be found in our Naval Libraries. H.M.S. CAPTAIN IN TOW OF THE MINERVA.

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THE CAPTURED SALVADOR DEL MUNDO IN TOW OF H.M.S. NAMUR.

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TABLE LXIII.

For converting Cassel Feet into English Feet, and English Feet into Cassel Feet.

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RENNIE'S PADDLES.-We understand that the results of the experiment with the Trapezium Paddle Wheels fitted to the African, and alluded to in our last number, is quite satisfactory. This experiment was made with a heavy draught of water; the trial with a light draught having been unavoidably postponed owing to an accident. It has most satisfactorily proved that the trapezium paddle-wheel with half the breadth, half the surface, half the weight, and we believe half the cost will produce a greater effect than a common rectangular paddle-wheel; and that in the experiment alluded to, thirty-five square feet of immersed surface of float made the African go nearly one mile per hour faster than sixty square feet of immersed surface of her old paddle float did before, and that with fewer revolutions of the wheels. Finally there was little or no vibration in the vessel, little back water, and little or scarcely any ripple behind.

PERRY'S INKSTAND.-We perceive that Mr. Perry, has improved his Patent Inkstand by attaching the cap of the cup with the filter holding the ink for use, to the air pump, and fitting the cup to screw and unscrew into the top, thus doing away with the third stopper, and preventing the cap from being lost. These are so far improvements both in the 'use and appearance of this valuable article which we have long since recommended to the notice of our readers.

THE Committee of Lloyd's have passed a vote of thanks to Mr. Drummond Hay, the English Consul-General at Tangier, for his active and zealous exertions in the interests of British merchants and shipowners, as displayed in late cases of shipwreck on the coast of Barbary.

HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS PRINCE ALBERT, as a mark of his anxiety for the success of the Niger enterprise, has presented to the Commanders of the Albert, the Wilberforce, and the Soudan, steamers respectively, a highlyfinished gold pocket chronometer, bearing the following inscription:"Presented by his Royal Highness Prince Albert to of her Majesty's steamer on his departure with the expedition to the Niger, for the abolition of slave-trade.-March 23, 1841."

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SLAVE-TRADE.-Extract of a letter from Rio Janeiro, dated Jan. 14, 1841-"On the 31st of December last, H.M. brigantine Fawn, Lieut. Foote, and Partridge, Lieut. W. Morris, being 25 miles to the eastward of the island of St. Sebastian, on this coast, cruizing for the suppression of the slave-trade, descried a brig in the E.N.E., standing in for the land. The wind being very light, both vessels sent their boats to board the stranger, which at six P.M. took possession of her. She proved to be the Portuguese brig Acceicera, having on board 332 slaves, 24 having died on their passage from Quillimane, on the coast of Africa, bound to Ilha Grande. The misery and wretchedness endured by those hapless creatures, and being short of water, when the brig was captured, was most extreme. Slavery is still carried on to a great extent on this coast."

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