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NOTTINGHAMSHIRE.

It is pleasant to see manufacturing towns cultivating successfully the delightfully relaxation of literature. At Nottingham, we observe from the Newspapers, the Literary Society, finding its funds in flourishing condition, has offered two prizes, to the amount of nearly seventy pounds, for the best essays in prose and verse, written by persons belong to the county.

WALES.

Abergavenny Rail-Road.-This projected rail-road, which is to be continued to Newport, will enter the borough on the eastern side of the river Usk, and will be continued some distance along the side of the river to a pill, called the Liswerry Pill. The ground has been surveyed some time since by Messrs. Morris and Hodgkinson. This intended road seems to have awakened much attention and interest amongst the inhabitants of Newport. A hand-bill has appeared, signed by the most respectable and influential residents of the latter town, in which they determine to sign no petition to Parliament for or against the bill which is sought to be obtained next Session for power to form the said rail-road, until a public meeting of the inhabitants shall have been convened for the purpose of discussing the advantages or disadvantages of the same, as bearing upon the interests of the town.

SCOTLAND.

The Shawl Manufacture.-There are now not less than 50,000 artisans engaged throughout Scotland in the manufacture of shawls from Cashmere or the Thibet goat. The yarn, however, for this purpose is at present obtained from France.

The Fossil Tree at Craigleith.-Another fossil tree of large dimensions has been discovered at Cragleith Quarry. About twelve feet of it have been laid bare. It still preserves the cylindrical form, but, if anything, rather seems to increase in diameter. It is certainly the most magnificent object of the kind that has hitherto been seen in this country. Its structure is in some parts very much contorted, and even nearly obliterated, yet a great part of the whole, as far as the fragments detached from the upper extremity have yet been examined, is preserved in the greatest state of perfection.

The Clerks of the Peace have received a circular letter from the Secretary of

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State for the Home Department, requir ing them to transmit, with as little delay as possible, an alphabetical list of all the turnpike trusts within their county, together with the names and residences of the respective clerks to such trusts." It was rumoured some time ago, that it was the intention of Ministers to propose to Parliament a plan for consolidating and taking into the hands of Government all the turnpike trusts in the kingdom. This communication would seem to indicate that such rumour was not entirely groundless.

Great Western Railway.-It is with great gratification that we find the capital of the metropolis and the south of England at length directing itself towards railways. Of the 10,000 shares required to carry the bill for the two sections of the Great Western Railway, for which application is to be made in the approaching Session, through Parliament, between 7000 and 8000 are already subscribed. The success of this first work of the kind amongst our southern fellow-countrymen we hail as most important to all connected with rail-roads. Their capital, once directed as that of the north already is, towards such undertakings as objects of investment, and their first investments being made in one of which the success is so certain, not only may the extension of the system of rail roads on every really good line throughout the kingdom be considered as ensured, but the general direction of capital towards the point will rapidly and most beneficially in fluence the value of the great works of which Lancashire has the pride of having been hitherto the chief support.

Returns of County Rates.--Among the Parliamentary Papers which have been lately printed, is one showing the receipt and expenditure of the county rates throughout England and Wales for the several years between 1821 and 1832. That part of the return relating to the prison expenses of the different counties, if perfect, would be most use ful, but there are few of the counties which present so clear an account as to enable us easily to compare one with another. The same observation may be made with respect to vagrants. Every Scotch or Irish labourer who comes over for the harvest is carried back at the

charge of the public. Either they squander their earnings in gin, knowing they will be conveyed home free of cost, or they save them to pay their landlords' extortionate rent. In 1821

and 1822, the charge for vagrants appears in most of the counties exceedingly high. For two or three years afterwards, it was moderate; but it then began to rise, and has steadily done so ever since. Last year, the cost of removing vagrants in the county of Berks, was 12517.; in Bucks, 8367. (a few years back only 2007.); in Cambridgeshire, (excluding certain hundreds,) 3697. of which 3071. was for Scotch and Irish vagrants, the number passed having increased between 1824 and 1832, from 194 to 1512; in Cheshire, 8801.; in Cornwall, which is out of the line of march of most extra county paupers, the charge was last year only 231.; in Devon, 476/. of which 1847. were on account of Scotch and Irish paupers; in East Essex, 3887. the several number of the vagrants given being 66 Scotch, 287 Irish, and 375 others; in the West Division, the charge is only 987.; in Gloucestershire the charge was 12247.; in Hants, for Scotch and Irish alone, 4537.; in Hertfordshire, the charge is 9537.; in the

small county of Huntingdon, 6287. having been between 1007. and 2007. a few years back; in Kent it was 16537. ; in Leicestershire, 1677. the number of Scotch vagrants being 587, and of Irish, 130; in Middlesex, the charge for conveyance and subsistence of Scotch and Irish vagrants alone, was last year 2950, having gradually increased to that amount from 6807, which it was in 1824 in that year the number passed was 2346; in 1831, it amounted to 9281; and in 1832, to 9576; in fact, a perfect army. Whilst the county pays the travelling expenses of these pleasuretaking paupers (for the greater part of them are regular stagers, who make an annual trip to London at the public expense), it is 244,9857. in debt. might go on through the returns, quoting similar figures from almost every page; but we have said sufficient to show that something must be speedily done to check the devouring evils entailed upon us by the mal-administration of our poor-laws and law of settlement.

We

HOPS.-An Account of the Duty on Hops of the growth of the year 1833, distinguishing the Districts, and the Old from the New Duty :

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THE

NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

THE GAUCHOS;

A TALE OF THE PAMPA S.

THE events I am about to relate may appear wild and incredible to the inhabitants of a country in which justice has long been regularly administered, and where the influence of civilization has ameliorated the passions of men, or, at least, caused them to display themselves in a form less revolting than among barbarous nations.

An Indian shoots at his enemy from behind a tree; a Turk will strike his handjar into the heart of his foe while he sleeps; and a South American Spaniard will rip up, on the spot, the bowels of one who has insulted him ; while an Englishman or Frenchman calls out the man who has cast a stain upon his honour, and running him through the midriff, according to the rules of fence, or blowing out his brains at the dropping of a handkerchief, walks away, and calls this a fair, manly, open revenge-receiving the satisfaction of a gentleman.

Which of these two modes of procedure is the least inconsistent is easily enough decided; but it is also equally clear, that if there must be some extra-judicial check upon the ill-disposed or turbulent part of a community, the latter is that which is least likely to be hurtful to society in general, since it necessarily involves the total absence of mystery. An Italian, with his secret stiletto and his hired bravoes, shows, indeed, that a nation may possess, or have possessed, in perfection, a knowledge of the "arts of war and peace," and yet imitate the savage in his mode of revenge; the cause of which is, doubtless, to be traced to the dark, subtle policy of their governments, influencing society to its lowest ramifications. But it is my object to relate a tale of the passions, and not to investigate the cause of the peculiar manner in which they are displayed among different nations. All who are acquainted with the state of the country in which the events of my narration occurred, will acquit me of exaggeration, in even the more dreadful parts of the recital.

It is about three years since I first became acquainted with a young Englishman, named Ord, who having, on the death of his father, come into possession of some valuable estates in the West Indies, was at that time engaged in examining the value and management of his patrimony. In the prosecution of this object he visited Cuba, where my father, whose mercantile transactions were connected with his, resides, and where Ord remained for some weeks. He had a complete passion for the sea, and in the course of many pleasure-trips among the neighbouring islands, in a fine little schooner which he had brought from England, we became the most intimate friends. There was a noble, almost a wild, enthusiasm about his character, which, though it harmonized well with his athletic and handFeb.-VOL. XL, NO. CLVIII,

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some appearance, would have appeared Quixotic, had it not been borne out by his utter contempt of danger, when danger really existed. I will give one instance out of many. We were beating up against a stiff south-east breeze off Cape Tiburon, in Hispaniola, when one of the men, who had gone aloft to take in a reef in the fore-topsail, sung out to those below that a piratical galley was bearing down upon us with all sail set. Ord and I were at that time in the cabin, and, having exhausted every social subject of amusement, half-devoured with ennui, were engaged separately and almost silently; I, in turning over a set of engravings of sea-fights, and Ord, cursing these "piping times of peace," in lazily setting up a few of the ropes of a frigate, which he was making as a model. Immediately, however, that the man, entering the cabin, doffed his cap, and smoothing down his hair, told his story, Ord uttered a loud whoop of delight, and, springing up with a haste which snapped half the spars in his beloved frigate, rushed on deck.

The man at the helm was waiting for the expected order to put the vessel about, and the crew were at the sheets and braces ready to execute the manoeuvre; but Ord, singing out "steady," seized a spyglass and ran up the shrouds to examine the pirate. In a minute or two he came down, with a joyous expression of countenance, and seeing that his men were whispering discontentedly to each other, well knowing the bloody dispositions of these pirates, he addressed them thus:

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My lads! there are just a score of strapping negroes in the galley bearing down upon us; of course they will be well supplied with cutlasses and small arms, but they have not a single piece of metal among them; now, you all know well enough that the little Petrel (the name of our schooner) has the legs of these luffards, and my wish is to send a message from our long Tom among them in a friendly way; we can run when we can do no better; so all you who are willing to stand by your captain, draw off to the weather side, and if there be any of you who are afraid of a few naked blacks, in a long boat with a lug sail, keep your present stations." Our crew consisted of four Englishmen, a Scotchman, a Dutchman, and three or four negroes; and it was curious to observe the effect of their captain's speech upon them. The Englishmen gave three loud cheers, and sprang to the weather side of our little craft; the Scotchman, more slowly, but quite as determinedly, followed, muttering, that "it was by nae means prudent, but damn him, if he wad craw the dunghill craw;" while the Dutchman, without uttering a word, turned his quid in his cheek, squirted the juice deliberately over the lee bulwark, and, hitching up his trousers, walked after his companions. The negroes alone remained standing; they seemed utterly terrified at the idea of attacking these bloody and remorseless pirates, of whose atrocities they had heard and seen so much, and cast fearful glances towards the nearing galley, as if they felt their long knives already at their throats.

A good dram, and a threat of keelhauling them, however, presently put them all right, and they bustled about with great alacrity to get the "long Tom" (a long-barrelled gun, which we carried, and which was generally stationed amidships) placed astern, with the muzzle depressed, and covered with a tarpaulin. For my own part, as I was more familiar than Ord with the barbarous cruelties of our pirates, I confess that I did not enter into the affair with the joyousness which he seemed to feel. I knew that a moment of irresolution, a chance shot, or a sheet missing stays, might place the pirates alongside of us, and then there was nothing for us but torture and death. However, I had every confidence in the excellence of our seamen, in Ord's coolness, and, above all, in "long Tom." The crew seemed also to consider the gun as their principal defence, for every glance at the approaching pirates was followed by one directed to the manœuvres of one of their companions, who, under cover of the tarpaulin, was cramming

long Tom" with what he called his "grub," being several pounds of grape shot, old spike nails, and so forth.

We were still standing off on the starboard tack, and the pirates not at all expecting the warm reception we were preparing for them, bearing down with a flowing sheet upon us, when Örd, hailing them through a speaking trumpet, ordered them to stand clear, or he would fire upon them. The only answer to this summons was a loud discordant laugh, which, coming down the wind to us, sounded as if they were already alongside. Turning round with a calm smile on his face, Ord nodded to his men, who, having before received their instructions, rounded the little Petrel on the heel, and swept away on the larboard tack with a celerity which could scarcely have been surpassed by the sea-bird whose name she bore. But, though the manoeuvre was performed with the most admirable dexterity, it placed the galley of the pirates for a moment within a hundred yards of us; and as, with our sheets close-hauled, we stretched away from them, a shower of bullets discovered their vexation on being thus baffled. Most of the balls fell short, though two or three rattled through the cabin windows, and one, whizzing between Ord and the man at the helm, snapped off one of the spokes of the wheel, and buried itself in the mainmast. "That's a Spanish rifle," said the helmsman, with great sang froid, "and yon thundering thief in the bow of the boat fired it; I can see the long barrel shining yet; none of their clumsy muskets could have sent a ball as far into a spar of the little Petrel;" and he passed his hand down the splintered wheel-spoke, as a person might examine the wounded limb of his friend. "Never mind," said Ord, "we'll return their civility presently;" and lifting his hat, he cheered on the pirates who had got their boat round, and with sails and sweeps were labouring in our wake.

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Meantime we got " Long Tom's" nose, as the seamen jocosely called it, levelled, and ready for being thrust out on the larboard quarter, the carpenter, with his axe, standing ready to smash the bulwark, which yet concealed the gun from our pursuers. They were soon so near us that we could perfectly distinguish every individual of their crew, and fierce, bloody-looking wretches they were as ever I beheld. Most of them were nearly naked to the waist, where a belt, at which hung pistols and a cutlass, girded their brawny frames. A tall, gray-headed negro stood at the bow of the boat, holding with one hand by the forestay, and the other resting upon the long, Spanish-barrelled gun which our steersman had before noticed. "I could hit him now, Sir, if you would but trust me with your rifle for a moment,' said the man, casting another glance at his partially-shattered wheel. Whether Ord was pleased with that congenial pride in his vessel, and that desire to revenge an injury done to her, which every true seaman possesses, and which the wish of the helmsman discovered, I do not know; but, putting his rifle into the man's hand, and taking his place at the wheel, he simply desired him to make sure. Never did I see gratitude more forcibly developed than in the expression of the helmsman's face, nor did I ever behold more intense agony displayed in human features than a moment produced in his. The gun which he was raising dropped from his grasp upon the deck, and his arm, shattered at the elbow, quivered convulsively at his side. A glance at the smoking muzzle of the old pirate's rifle showed the cause of this sudden injury; while it gave proof of the quickness and deadliness of his aim. At this moment, the men forward cried out that other galleys were making from the shore, which we were now at no great distance from; and, looking round, we saw two or three large boats pulling lustily out of a creek, where they had been concealed by the spreading cocoa-nut trees and thick-tangled underwood.

It was now that Ord's perfect coolness and resolute courage displayed themselves; he put the helm into my hands, and, giving the word "ready, about," to his men, took up the rifle which the wounded seaman had dropped. The old negro was loading his piece, and we could even hear his

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