of the governor to "save time," by the following extract of a letter showing their mode of doing business :

"Two courts were sitting and trying the prisoners. Very few words were required—such as, 'Do you know the prisoner?'— 'Yes.' 'Where did you see him?'-Amongst the mob with a stick and a bayonet'-death; others were found with stolen property-death. Some foretelling the outbreak and sharpening their cutlass death; others for entering houses and demanding powderdeath. And so they went on sending them off with a few minutes' trial, all pinioned and strongly guarded till sunset, when they were marched out and hanged in dozens together on the place of the late murders. After the executions they commenced flogging others that had been taken, and not being able to give a good account of themselves. They have hung and killed several hundreds, and flogged and transported any quantity. I am sick with the indifference shown to life, and I am happy to say that it is nearly over, and we have returned to Port Royal again."

We had intended to give, but must for the present reserve, especial cases of flogging which have been performed by our blue jackets.— "Catting," as it has been termed, and pretty severe it has been by the accounts, laid on in true man-of-war fashion. They are too numerous for our space, but they are attended with circumstances of brutal indifference to the wretched negroes that shall not be lost sight of. And we shall conclude our present remarks with the following extract from the Daily News, which, with a sense of humanity and justice to the name of Englishman, has been unsparing in showing up these atrocious proceedings in our fair but mismanaged colony, a proceeding which will ever redound to its honour.

The accounts by the last mail from Jamaica give a kind of winding up to the massacres, and here is what would appear to be the last of the floggings or, as they are styled in Jamaica, the cattings. The Daily News says:—

It is not less striking than its predecessors. Three men were hanged. Against one there seems to have been no evidence, except the possession of a gun which had belonged to Mr. Hire, and the receiver of plunder pleaded in vain that he had been the means of saving a white woman's life. But on account of previous good character three others, against whom similar evidence was tendered, were sentenced to only a hundred lashes! One of them seems to have created a sensation by the novelty of showing suffering and receiving mercy.

"Richard Thompson, the young African, after receiving eighty lashes, was ordered to be loosened from the gun by command of Lieutenant Brand, he having fainted under the infliction of his punishment. (This is the first case of the kind which has occurred during the execution of the punishments on rebels.) He lay for a long time insensible on the ground; but after he had been dashed with some cold water in the face, and given some of it to drink, he revived. Commander Brand having ordered him to get up and come forward, he came up to

him. But when the commander told him that there were twenty lashes remaining which he was to get, he entreated him to spare him, which was accordingly done; and the poor fellow, writhing under the pain from the wound inflicted by the lash, crawled away."

Another man, named Miles, a schoolmaster and reporter, was tried for having escaped out of custody before trial. It does not appear that anything else was charged against him, and the only witnesses were the officers in charge of the prisoners. He was sentenced to fifty lashes, the administration of which is thus chronicled :

"It was Miles's lot to receive his lashes at the hands of a black-hand corporal of Marines, who is acknowledged by every one to lay them on prodigiously. Every stroke he deals is heard to descend with a heavy whoof' on the back of the recipient, and a dozen given by this stalwart arm are worth fifty of those from any other of the ship's crew. Miles seemed actually bent in two after he received his flogging."

It must also be kept in mind that the accounts of court-martial work we have hitherto received come only from a single town, that of Morant Bay. But it appears they were in progress also at Bath, six miles to the north, and probably also at Port Antonio. Of the doings at Bath we have only this account, by the Morant Bay special correspondent:

"I heard yesterday afternoon from a gentleman, a resident of Bath, that although the executions have been less there than here, the flogging has far exceeded anything in Morant Bay. He says there must have been from 500 to 600 whipped, and that amongst these a number of them were women, no less than about 200!"

Let this stand as a specimen of the management of a British governor, who has pressed the services of the British navy to execute duties belonging to the overseers of the slavery of former days. Is this right? If so, it is a new duty in store for the gallant tars of the royal navy, and one which no humane breast will envy them. The Daily News adds this conclusion, in which we cordially concur.

Is it a horrible dream that we are all in, when we seem to see such things as these written down as the deeds of English soldiers, English sailors, English settlers, in an English colony? If a month ago a foreigner had told us that such things could be, how we should have scorned him. If they had been told us of Austrians in Italy, of Russians in Poland, of French in Algeria, how we should have invoked the curse of Heaven on the men who thus disgraced our common humanity! And now we must read them as done by ourselves not five weeks since, as done not in penalty but in "precaution;" as done not on evidence of violence, but on suspicion of stealing, or conviction of escaping; as done by Englishmen to women! Where can we hide our heads for shame and grief and horror at the incredible and indelible ignominy that has fallen on our name?

And we will add to this:

Let us hope that there will yet come a day of retribution!

THE ROCAS AND THE WRECK OF THE "DUNCAN Dunbar." In the last number of the Nautical Magazine appears the statement of the loss of another fine English ship, the Duncan Dunbar, on that trumpery islet called the Rocas in the South Atlantic Ocean; and following the statement is the journal of one of the passengers of the ten days' miserable endurance to which they were subjected while on the islet when the Oneida, Captain Woolcott, delivered them from their sufferings. We have not as yet met with any report of an inquiry into the cause of this wreck. But the Rocas is not new to the pages of this journal. In our volume for 1856 appears a very good account of the islet by Lieutenant Parish, R.N., of the Sharpshooter, who planted some cocoanut trees on them, four of which would seem to have been found by the Duncan Dunbar, and in our volume for 1857 is an account of the loss of another vessel the brig E. D., of Liverpool, which terminated more fatally than that of the Duncan Dunbar, for her crew were literally starved to death. Their miserable journal appears in that volume, with some remarks of our own on the discreditable manner in which she and her crew perished. And in the same volume appears a communication from the Commander of the Rob Roy showing his attempt to communicate with the Rocas (that appear to have been observed by the ashore) and was prevented by a current of sixty miles in the twenty-four hours, by which the Rob Roy's boat was separated from her, and had some difficulty in regaining her.

But the tendency of all these remarks is to show the necessity of the utmost caution in passing this low dangerous islet and also particulars concerning it, and the dangers by which it is surrounded. With the view of making these better known we repeat Lieutenant Parish's account here.

On the 5th of March, 1856, I sighted the Rocas from the masthead at 4h. 15m. p.m., bearing W.N.W., about nine miles distant, at which time we had no bottom with 46 fathoms. I then bore up N.W. to close the group, and on sounding at 5h. p.m. obtained coral bottom in 13 fathoms, the rocks not being even then in sight from the deck. I therefore determined on remaining in that position during the night, and consequently anchored in 12 fathoms, the highest rock being then first visible from the deck, bearing West, true.

At 6b. 40m. a.m. the next day I proceeded under steam to the N.W., giving the shore a berth of about five miles, until arriving on the N.W. side of the sand banks; where I anchored in 20 fathoms, coral bottom, at about two and a half miles from the shore, with the following bearings:

Whilst describing the semicircle, our soundings were 13, 14, and 15 fathoms until the group bore S.b.E., when there was no bottom with

70 fathoms. From this it appears that the shoalest water exists on the eastern side. A careful attention to the deep sea lead would alone betray to a vessel in doubt the vicinity of the shoal on approaching in that direction; when, if practicable, anchoring is a course strongly to be recommended, until daylight or clearer weather enables the Master to ascertain his true position.

"As the prevailing winds in that quarter will always enable a vessel bound North to choose a course either to the East or West of this shoal, I do not see that any masters would be justified in endeavouring to sight the same, a proceeding which might be attended with considerable danger and the benefits to be derived from which I am at a loss to conceive.

"Having landed on the eastern sandbank, I caused a number of cocoanuts to be planted thereon, which were furnished me by H. M. Consul at Pernambuco, with the view of their forming, in time, distinct land marks which will enable the place to be discerned at a much further distance than is now possible.

"From the means of the sights taken on board the ship and on shore, the position, as follows, inay be relied on :-Centre of southern sand island, lat. 3° 51′ 25′′ S., long. 33° 46′ 23′′ W. of Greenwich.

"This position agrees as nearly as possible with that given by Baron Roussin, and as laid down on the English Government charts.

"The highest part of the bank may be set down at about ten feet above high water mark. Rise and fall of tide seven feet. We found the current to set W.N.W., true, between one and two miles per hour.

"There were many wrecks of vessels lying on various parts of the sandbanks, only one of which presented signs of having been recently cast on shore,-probably the remains of the English barque Countess of Zetland, lost during the month of October, 1855.

"Between two and three hundred bales of cotton, with some anchors, were also observed, and two large casks of fresh water were found high up on the beach out of the reach of the tides. This fact, combined with the place abounding with birds, which may be taken with ease, and the ground being almost covered with eggs, would enable a shipwrecked crew to exist on this group for a lengthened period.

J. E. PARISH, Lieutenant-Commander.

The

"From a plan of the shoal that accompanies the foregoing remarks transmitted by H. M. Consul abroad, it appears that the Rocas consist of three distinct patches of coral rock lying in a W.b.S. and E.b.N. direction. The easternmost is about a mile East and West, and half a mile broad. The middle one is scarcely a mile long, lying N.W. and S.E., having a good large patch of coarse grass. westernmost is about the same size, lying East and West; and the edge of the coral bank which surrounds them is about three miles in length, about W.b.S. and E.b.N.; the whole being about eight miles in circumference. A remarkable rock, ten or twelve feet high, stands on the outer edge of the reef about half a mile due East (true) of the NO. 1.-VOL. XXXV.

D

eastern bank. A wreck lies on the eastern edge of the eastern bank and a hut stands on the western edge of it-the surface between them being covered with cotton bales.

"The sand hummocks are about ten feet above high water mark, and the rise and fall of tide observed was six or seven feet.

"A bank carrying fourteen and fifteen fathoms affords anchorage as far as five miles to the N.E. of the dry banks.

"In reference to the position of these dangers, it appears to have been carefully determined by M. Lartigne, an officer charged with the scientific operations of Baron Roussin during the construction of his charts of the Brazil coast. In chart No. 11 of his Brazilian Atlas we read that the geographical position of the isle of Fernando Noronha and that of the danger known under the name of Rocas have been verified and corrected by M. Lartigne in December, 1825, in the operations of the Bayadere. The positions assigned to these places may therefore be considered very exact.

แ Now, by this chart of M. Lartigue, the place of observation adopted by the officer commanding the Sharpshooter is in lat. 3° 55'7′ S., and in long. 33° 46'7', allowing the difference between Paris and Greenwich, and which position appears almost identical with that adopted by Raper, p. 702, vol. 1839, allowing for difference of place of observation and assuming that Raper takes the centre of the shoal. But this will show an error in the lat. of 4-3′ in that given by the Sharpshooter, which, in comparison with the superior means of the French surveyor, and already followed by Raper, cannot be retained.

"On the whole, Lieutenaut Parish has made a very useful contribution to our knowledge of the state of the Rocas, that would have been still more acceptable had he completed his plan of the shoal, with the soundings on the bank eastward of it in all directions out to deep water.

"It was entirely the idea of Mr. Cowper, H. M. Consul at Pernambuco, to suggest the planting of the cocoanut trees on these shoals, and to carry out the measure through Lieutenant Parish, the Commander of the Sharpshooter. But we trust it will not have the effect of enticing ships too near them in order to make them out; and we caution them not only to have their lead overboard now and then, but also to have an anchor and cable ready for letting go in case of requiring it.

There is an interest attaching to the wreck of the Duncan Dunbar on account of the amount of suffering which it produced on our helpless female passengers who cannot be expected to endure the severe privations to which it subjected them so well as those who are inured to the vicissitudes of the sea. Their gratitude for their delivery has been warmly and affectingly expressed to the Commander of the Oneida, who did his duty nobly. And it is as much on this account as that of throwing out every possible information to our seamen that we reprint Lieutenant Parish's account of the islets. Since our introductory remarks to it were committed to paper the report to the Board of Trade has been made, from which we preserve the following extracts:-