I have adopted 74° 59′ 0′′, in order to preserve the correction with Bombay.• Colebrooke, Jup. Sat. compared with corresponding Greenwich observations, (in a note from Captain Horsburgh to Captain Beaufort, July the 27th, 1832.) Major Hodgson, Jup. Sat. according to the Tables as corrected by Col. Beaufoy's observations -By 91 lunar transits, (Conn. des Tems. 1836) Wurm. Astr. Nachr. No. 173, 27 eclip. Jup. Sat. Col. Everest, in a note to the Hydrographic Office 88° 21' 30" 88 17 31 88 19 15 88 24 9 88 21 10 88 20 17 8° 6' 18" 88 20 18 corresponding observations Hodgson. D.L. do. 9 Im. I. Sat. 32m. 25.8s.18 3 6 88 17 6 8 Em. do. 31 59.1 f } If we take the mean of Colebrooke's and Hodgson's astronomical diff. long. or 8° 4' 42", and apply it to 88° 14' 0", we obtain 88° 18′ 42′′, which agrees nearly with the result of the lunar transits. By comparing the longitude of Fort William, communicated by Col. Everest, with that lately employed for Madras, or 80° 17' 21", it appears that he considers the diff. long. of these places 8° 2′ 56′′. As we conclude that Col. Everest is the best authority on this point, we shall apply this last quantity to 80° 14', which gives Fort William 88° 16′ 56′′, In assigning this position to Calcutta, we must apply a correction of about-3' to such of Captains Ross and Crawford's surveys of Aracan, and the coast to the southward, as are referred directly to Calcutta, Should therefore the diff. long. adopted above, between Calcutta and Madras be much altered, a corresponding alteration+ must again be carried through these surveys. These changes are necessarily unavoidable, in the attempt to obtain a systematic connexion among all the places. * It is proper to remark here, for the information of the reader, who may not have seen the late errata in my Practice of Navigation, (published in this Magazine,) that the statement respecting the D.L. between Bombay and Mangalore in the page of corrections is erroneous. † I understood at the time I obtained these dala, that the survey had proceeded as far as Calcutta, but that the calculations had not been fully made. 192. Diamond Harbour. Lloyd, 8' 50" (about) west of Fort William, or 81° 8' 6" THE BRITISH QUEEN, steam ship has sailed for Antwerp. The British and American Steam Company it is said, bave received for her the sum of £60,000 from the Belgian Government. For the President the same Company, it is said, received above £70,000 from the Underwriters. The losses sustained by the Company since its establishment are supposed not to be less than £80,000, nor more than £100,000.-Liverpool Albion, Sept. 6. So much for the Ļeviathans, THE VARIATION OF THE COMPASS. (Continued from p. 694.) Royal Observatory, Oct. 1st, 1841, Magnetical and Meteorological Department. Mean Magnetic Variation for August 1841-23° 19′ 1′′. THE following despatches containing accounts of the late brilliant proceedings of our land and sea forces before Canton, will be read with great interest, evincing as they do, in every line, the brave and determined spirit of our gallant countrymen. We find the following summary in the Times. The fact is known in Europe that Capt. Elliot had, at the end of the month of March, concluded a convention with the Chinese; trade was carried on during six weeks, and an appearance prevailed of a good understanding on both sides. But, although a vast quantity of tea was exported, the Chinese were not idle in making preparations for war. Troops were assembled at Canton and its neighbourhood, new cannon were cast, and the forts were put into a state of defence, and several fleets of small fire vessels were got ready to destroy the British men-ofwar. Capt. Elliot went in a steamer on the 10th of May to Canton, where he saw the preparations made by the Chinese. He had an interview with the Mandarin Governor, and on his return to the British fleet he countermanded the expedition which was to proceed in five or six days to Amoy. On the 17th Capt. Elliot went again towards Canton, and orders were issued to the expedition under the command of Sir H. Le Fleming Senhouse and General Sir Hugh Gough to move up the river, and to anchor near the city, where the most hostile preparations were made by both parties. Crowds of the citizens fled, and the merchants began to remove their goods. On the 20th the Mandarin Governor Yu issued a proclamation declaring that there was no ground for alarm, and on the 21st a British proclamation was issued, desiring all the foreigners to retire from the factories" before sunset." The former proclamation was looked upon as a trick to deceive the merchants into a false security, with the object of seizing them during the night. At 11 o'clock that night the Chinese began the attack by firing at all the British vessels within reach of the forts. The fire-ships were let loose, but the British men-of-war were on the alert, and the steamer Nemesis towed off the Chinese vessels. The fight began during the night between several of the British ships and the fort of Shaming, which was silenced in the morning. Eight new brass guns were found in it. During the engagement a fleet of war junks came out of a creek. The Nemesis moved towards them, but afraid of her 31-pounders, they retreated into the creek. Thither the Nemesis pursued them, and during three hours the sailors were busy in setting fire to at least forty junks. Having completed the work, the steamer emerged from the creek decorated with the flags and pendants of the junks; the sailors too presented a comical sight, they were dressed in Chinese robes—some with Mandarin caps, and others, particularly one boat's crew, had each a Chinaman's tail hanging at the back of their necks. On Sunday, the 23rd of May, the squadron and the troops arrived, and the chiefs, Elliott, Senhouse, and Gough, held a conference. They then sent Capt. Belcher, of Her Majesty's ship Sulphur, to reconnoitre the river, and to find a place for landing on the north side. This reconnoissance was attacked, but beat off the assailants, and burned twentyeight of their boats. An excellent place for landing the troops and guns was then discovered. On the 24th, at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the troops being in the boats, the steamers proceeded to tow them to their destination. The Atalanta took the right column, under the command of Major Pratt, of Her Majesty's 26th regiment, to serve and hold the factories on the bank of the river to the south of the city, while the Nemesis towed the left column towards Tsing-hae, five miles up the river, The guns were landed during the night. Before the right column landed the Dutch and British factories had been most thoroughly plundered by the mob of the city. Iu the official account sent by General Sir Hugh Gough will be found an animated detail of the proceedings of the gallant soldiers. The Mandarin Governor of Canton was soon forced to cry out for quarter, and after various parleys Capt. Elliot agreed to spare the city from an assault, and withdraw the British troops and ships-of-war from the river, upon the conditions-first, of the three imperial commissioners and all the troops under their command (the provincial troops alone excepted,) quitting Canton and its vicinity, and marching sixty miles from it, and of the forts not being restored; second, 6,000,000 dollars to be paid for the use of the British Crown within one week, the first million before sunset of that day (the 27th); and third, the troops to remain in their positions until the two former conditions were completed; and the ransom to be increased to 7,000,000 if seven days elapsed, to 8,000,000 if 14 days, and to 9,000,000 if 20 days were allowed to elapse. The losses sustained in the factories, and by the destruction of the Spanish brig Bilbaino, to be paid within a week. The assent of the three Imperial Commissioners was also required to the convention. This was soon granted. After three days delay, the whole of the conditions having been complied with, the British troops, who had previously had several skirmishes with the Tartar troops, were withdrawn, the Chinese furnishing every means to get rid of them and their guus. The heat was excessive-one officer, Major Becher, fell dead from a stroke of the sun. There were several thunder-storms, and sickness was apprehended from the ricefields around the forts where the troops had taken their stations. Ninetyseven men, including fifteen officers, were wounded, and thirteen killed, including Lieut. Fox, of the Nimrod. Sir H. Le Fleming Senhouse died on board the Blenheim on the morning of the 14th of June, in consequence of fever caused by excessive fatigue. The latest intelligence from Macao is to the 21st of June; it represents the Chinese as highly incensed with the acts of the British, and their determination to resist as most uncompromising. The Emperor's nephew had sent a report to his uncle, in which he declares that the English did great execution at Canton, and that the cries of the inhabitants for peace tore his bowels with anguish, and that he had given them several millions" for the opium," and to induce them to withdraw; and that, as he had beguiled the barbarians away, he would set about the repairs of the forts on the river. This report is looked upon as an irrefragable proof of Chinese perfidy, and no security existed for peace. In the meantime Capt. Elliot was busy in settling the sites of the houses in the new city, of which he has laid down the foundation in the island of Hongkong. Preparations were, however, going forward for an expedition destined, as it was stated, to proceed to the northward, as some conjecture, to attack even Pekin itself. Sir J. J. Gordon Bremer had arrived in the Queen steamer from Calcutta. The steamer having on board the new Plenipotentiary, Sir H. Pottinger, and the Admiral, Sir W. Parker, had been spoken with on the 28th of July, in the Straits of Malacca, and was expected to arrive at Macao early in August. Her Majesty's steamer Nimrod came with the despatches to Earl Auckland at Calcutta, and the gallant Capt. Barlow was to proceed by this mail with the despatches for London. A steamer took him on the 10th ult., from Calcutta to Masulipatam, whence he proceeded, notwithstanding the most formidable obstacles in crossing the torrents, with all haste to join the steamer for Suez. It may be proper to mention that the rumours at first circulated respecting the steamer Atalanta having broken her back in the Canton river turn out to be exaggerated. She was injured, but not seriously. She is expected to arrive soon in Bombay, in order to be effectually repaired. In consequence of the non-arrival of the Calcutta overland mail, which was delayed by the torrents on the road to Bombay, the departure of the steamer was postponed until the 2nd ult. The Castle Huntley, a merchant ship, arrived on the 20th of June. The newspapers to that date add but little to the intelligence already stated. The health of the troops, which had suffered from great heat and great rains during the attack on Canton, was improving. The deaths are mentioned of Capt. Brodie, of the troop-ship Rattlesnake, by apoplexy; Dr. Wallace, of Her Majesty's ship Conway; Adjutant Wilson, of the 18th Royal Irish; and Lieut. Fitzgerald, of Her Majesty's ship Modeste, in consequence of a wound received during the attack-Times. OFFICIAL ACCOUNTS OF THE LATE NAVAL AND MILITARY OPERATIONS IN CHINA. (From the Calcutta Gazette, Extra, Aug. 7.) Fort William, Secret Department, Aug. 7, 1841. The Right Hon. the Governor-General of India in Council having this day received intelligence of the happy result of the joint operations of Her Majesty's 1 and the Hon. Company's naval and military forces in an attack upon the Chinese forces in front of the city of Canton, on the 25th and 30th of May last, is pleased to direct the publication for general information of the following despatch from General Sir Hugh Gough, KCB., commanding the land forces, and extracts from a despatch addressed by Capt. Henry Le Fleming Senhouse, KCH., the senior naval officer of the fleet at Canton, to his Excellency the Naval Commander-in-Chief in India, which has been communicated to the Supreme Government. These accounts of the brilliant successes of the British arms have been received with the highest gratification by the Governor-General in Council, who, in expressing his admiration of the gallant conduct of every portion of the forces employed in this service, has deeply to lament the loss which has been sustained by the death of Capt. Sir H. Le Fleming Senhouse, who is reported to have subsequently sunk under the fatigue and exhaustion caused by his exertions in the actions with the Chinese. The Governor-General in Council is pleased to direct, that in honour of this victory of the British arms, a Royal Salute be fired from the ramparts of Fort William, and at the principal military stations of the army of India. By order of the Right Hon. the Governor-General of India in Council. T. H. MADDOX, Secretary to the Government of India. Head Quarters, ship Marion, Canton River, proceeding to Hongkong, June 3. MY LORD.-My letter of the 18th from Hongkong will have made your lordship aware of the temporary abandonment of the movement on Amoy, in order to resume active operations against Canton, consequent upon the constant arrival and concentration of a large force from the several provinces, and other demonstration indicative of an interruption to our friendly intercourse with the provincial Government. 2. From the judicious and unwearied exertions of Sir Le Fleming Senhouse, the senior naval officer, the fleet of men-of-war and transports was prepared to sail on the 18th, but in consequence of light and variable winds the whole did not get underway until the 19th. Her Majesty's ship Blenheim took up her position within six miles of Canton in the Macao passage on the 21st ult., but the whole of the force wss not assembled until the morning of the 23rd, when I proceeded with Sir Le Fleming Senhouse to the vicinity of the suburbs of the city, for the double object of meeting Her Majesty's Plenipotentiary and ascertaining, as far as possible, the extent of the enemy's preparations. 3. It being the anxious wish both of Sir Le Fleming Senhouse and myself to commence active operations on so auspicious an epoch as the anniversary of the birth of our sovereign, every exertion was made, and the troops were placed by 2 P.M. on that day in various craft, procured during the previous day and night by the great exertions of the Royal navy. 4. From all the sources from which I had been enabled to collect information, or rather from the conjectures of persons who have long resided in China (for no European had been permitted to see the country above the factories, and the Chinese would give no information), I was induced to decide on making my principal point of debarcation to the north-west of the city, while another column was to take possession of the factories, drawing the attention of the enemy to that quarter, and at the same time to co-operate with the naval force which was to attack the river defences, in order to silence numerous new works recently erected by the Chinese along the whole southern face of the city. A most spirited and judicious reconnoissance made by Captain Belcher, of H.M.S. Sulphur, the previous evening, established the practicability of effecting a landing at the point I had selected. 5. Every arrangement having been completed by 2 o'clock, and the boats and other craft placed in tow of the steamers, the force moved to the point of attack as follows: |