Aden she proceeded to Bombay, thence to Canton, Amoy, Shanghae, and continued trading backwards and forwards between those ports, and eventually chartered the ship at Cumsingmoon to take Chinese emigrants to California via Callao. She sailed on the 17th February, 1850, having on board, including passengers and crew, no less than 500 souls. Sickness and fever seized the helpless creatures within a few days after her departure. The water and provisions that had been provided for the emigrants became putrid. A dreadful mortality ensued; and the sufferings of the passengers were of the most frightful description. Many committed suicide by jumping overboard, and by the time the ship put into Hobart Town 193 had perished. At Hobart Town the Governor sent all the assistance that was possible to alleviate the sufferings on board. By the 30th of April the medical officer reported the survivors to be convalescent, and the ship resumed her voyage to Callao. The pestilence, however, again broke out, and before the Lady Montague had reached her destination nearly 100 others had died. With the exception of an unintelligible letter from the mate, this is all the information that the Board of Trade have been enabled to elicit respecting this frightful series of calamities. Only three out of a crew of 36 which went out with the ship have come home. It is evident that some very stringent regulations are necessary to protect the helpless people who thus embark. When some great catastrophe occurs we hear of it; but the deaths of a smaller number pass unnoticed. In a storm which endured from the 22nd to the 25th of December, 50 Coolies perished out of 234 in the hold of the Futteh Salem, off Madras. -- AUGUST. 1. DREADFUL OMNIBUS ACCIDENT. An accident of a fearful character occurred on the road between Otley and Ilkley, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, by which the lives of ten or twelve persons were endangered, the limbs of several were actually fractured, and the bodies of nearly 50 persons bruised and lacerated in the most shocking manner. This disaster arose out of the upsetting of an overloaded omnibus in consequence of the rash and reckless conduct of the driver. The number of excursionists arriving at the Arthington station of the Leeds Northern Railway, by the train from Leeds, whose destination was Ilkley, was unusually large, and it became necessary to bring all the vehicles of the station into requisition to carry them forward. When this was done the number of people still requiring seats was large; and it was only by packing the different omnibuses with about twice as many passengers as they are constructed to carry that all were got off. The passengers cheerfully submitted to this inconvenience, and they pursued their journey in safety for some miles. Journeying along the road between Burley and Ilkley, near the road leading to Mount Stead, Samuel Morrell, the driver of one of the omnibuses, stopped, and dismounted to adjust some part of the harness which had become disarranged or broken. It was only the work of a few minutes. While he was adjusting the harness, another omnibus, which had hitherto been behind, and which was driven by James Walker, passed before him. Morrell shortly resumed his place on the box and drove forward. He soon came up to his competitor, and endeavoured to pass him. But before he had entirely got clear of the first horse of Walker's omnibus, the near hind wheel of his own came off, and the vehicle was overturned; the whole of the passengers, 47 in number, being precipitated with great violence among the horses of Walker's omnibus. The shrieks and cries which arose at the moment were dreadful, and the scene of confusion which followed was heartrending and sickening beyond description. Some Some of the unfortunate passengers were trampled upon by the frightened and unmanageable horses, some were lying, bleeding and crushed, beneath the fallen vehicle, and some were lacerated beneath the wheels of the other omnibus. The road was entirely blocked up. Broken coaches, mangled and bleeding passengers, terrorstricken horses, and the screams and cries of the wounded and the distressed, constituted a scene which filled all who beheld it with horror. Those who escaped with the use of their limbs immediately set to work to extricate those who were still in the greatest peril, and to give succour to those who were disabled. It was found that seven or eight persons were very seriously injured: Mrs. Sarah Firth, of Bramley: right thigh and left arm fractured, and chest shockingly crushed. The wheels of Walker's omnibus had run over her. She bled profusely, and appeared in a dying condition. Mr. Sowry, of Leeds: cap of knee broken, and also his collar-bone. One shoulder dislocated. Mr. Scholefield, of Leeds: knee fractured. Mr. Lowe, of Leeds: leg broken, and otherwise cut and bruised. Mr. Strickland: cap of one knee forced off. Mr. Johnson, of Ilkley: wounded in leg. Mr. Fletcher: wounded in the head. Many other persons were severely injured, and nearly all received greater or less bruises. The omnibus appears to have been an old ill-conditioned vehicle. Shortly ofter leaving the station the "brush" of the wheel became displaced, an accident which would not have been of serious consequence under ordinary circumstances; but, with the immense overload that had been placed upon the carriage, and the reckless imprudence of the driver, it almost necessarily led to disaster. That it should have occurred at the moment of the omnibus passing the other was a most lamentable fatality. The driver Morrell was tried for the manslaughter of Mrs. Frith; but Mr. Justice Talfourd was of opinion that the prisoner was merely the servant of others—. of the station-master who had allowed the vehicles to be so overpacked, or the railway company who had contracted to convey the people safely-and that he was responsible for the duty of driving safely only, and consequently that the accident had not occurred from gross negligence on the prisoner's part in that for which he was responsible. He was therefore found "Not Guilty." ANTIQUITIES-DISCOVERIES AT ATHENS. Some very interest ing remains of the ancient architecture of the Acropolis of Athens have been recently brought to light by the researches of M. Beulé, a French savant. Some of the excavations made under his directions have brought to light the last steps of the staircase which led to the principal entrance and the surrounding wall of the citadel. The steps are of Pentellic marble, and not a joint of them has been displaced. The door is 12 feet high, and of the Doric order. The lintel and the casing of the door are in a single block of marble. The wall is 21 feet in height. It is composed of different kinds of marble. At its base are pedestals and fragments of the Roman epoch. The upper part, on the contrary, comprises the entablature of several Doric temples anterior to Pericles. Above the architrave is placed the frieze, with its trigliphs in stone and its metopes in marble, in the same style as the first Parthenon. The cornice does not crown the wall, but is in its turn surmounted by an elegant attic formed of fresh architraves and cornices which belonged to the interior of the temple. M. Beulé has commenced another excavation in the south-west angle of the great bastion, to discover the construction of the western wall. He has found two other arches in perfect preservation, but they do not date further back than the middle ages or the Byzantine epoch. Several fragments of architecture and sculpture, and 23 inscriptions, have been discovered. A bas-relief, well executed, represents eight young Athenians dancing. EXECUTION IN IRELAND.-Notwithstanding the failure of the Monaghan Special Commission, the outraged law has not entirely failed of vindication in other parts of that unhappy country. On the 31st of July, two Ribandmen, convicted at the Louth Assizes of the assault, with intent to murder, on Mr. Eastwood, were hanged at Dundalk. These men, James Kirk and Patrick M'Cooey, were convicted on the testimony of a man named Lawless, a publican in the town, who was summoned as a Crown witness at the trial, and was of course obliged to state on oath what he knew relating to the transaction. It was in a small parlour at the back of his shop, that the intended murder of Mr. Eastwood was planned the night before its perpetration, and he could not help overhearing the conversation that passed, which he was obliged to detail on the trial, although the name of the marked victim of that infamous Riband conspiracy was not then openly mentioned. The lawless state of the country may be conceived by the circumstance that these men had been left to their fate by the Riband-society because they had attempted to plunder as well as to murder their victim; and that nevertheless it was the intention of their friends to carry their bodies, after execution, in procession to the house of Lawless, on whose evidence they had been convicted, and to leave them at his door. This design was of course prevented. On the 4th of August, one Brophey was executed at Kilkenny, for his participation in the Ballymack murder. On the 7th of August, Francis Berry, convicted of being an accessory to the attempted murder of Mr. Meredith Chambré, was executed at Armagh. 8. CONFLAGRATION AT TOTTENHAM.-A most extensive fire broke out, shortly after 4 o'clock in the morning, in the immense range of premises of Mr. Edward Bell, known as the Tottenham Mills, situate on an island surrounded by the river Lea, near the Tottenham station of the Eastern Counties Railway. The premises had been for some time under extensive alterations in order to enable the proprietor to increase his business. Late on Saturday evening the various departments were locked up, when there was not the least appearance of fire; but shortly before 4 o'clock on the following morning the watchman on duty perceived a volume of dense black smoke issuing from the oil mills. He immediately gave the alarm; but, owing to the immense stock of oils, and seeds of the most inflammable character, the flames spread right and left of the mill with extraordinary rapidity. The local engines speedily arrived, but were powerless to check so large a body of flame; and the London Brigade engines were sent for by electric telegraph. The powerful force from London reached the scene of conflagration in less than 30 minutes after being called, when the sight that presented itself was one of fearful grandeur. The engines were backed to the river Lea, and were at once set to work. The firemen directed the branches from their engines, to cut off the spread of the flames in the direction of the dwelling-houses and other buildings on the estate; and to some extent they were successful: but while so engaged a store of 70 tons of oil burst. For an instant or two the flames, re strained by the tottering walls, mounted to a great height, and the wind drove them completely over the river; but after firing a number of trees and saplings growing on the bank, the walls gave way and the blazing oil ran upon the surface of the river. Despite the exertions of the firemen, the main body of fire continued to rage, other tanks of oil giving way with the heat, and the blazing liquid running over the road and into the river. It was not until a late hour of the evening that the flames were got under. The oil mills and stores of oil, seeds, &c., were totally destroyed; the flour mill burnt down, and its contents all but consumed; the counting-houses and offices gutted ; some of the private dwellings destroyed; the old malt-house burnt out. The stabling, enginehouse, and some outbuildings, were fortunately saved. 10. THE QUEEN'S VISIT TO BELGIUM.-Her Majesty departed from Osborne House to pay a short visit to her royal uncle the King of the Belgians. The party consisted of Her Majesty, Prince Albert, the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal, and the Princess Alice. The yachts were escorted by a squadron of steam-frigates. The weather was very rough, and the squadron was compelled to pass the night at anchor in the Downs. On the following morning in a strong gale the fleet ran across to the Scheldt; but the yacht did not reach Antwerp until half-past 6 in the evening-so rough indeed had been the weather that King Leopold had ceased to expect his royal niece, and had to be telegraphed from Laecken. His Majesty dined on board the yacht. The royal family did not land until the following morning. They then proceeded with King Leopold to his palace of Laecken; from whence in the afternoon they drove to Brussels, viewing the streets and buildings of that handsome city, by whose citizens they were cordially received. On Friday Her Majesty went to Brussels and held a reception in the palace of the members of the Diplomatic Corps, and the chief officers of State. On Saturday the Royal family turned homewards, and arrived at Antwerp at 10 o'clock A.M., and immediately proceeded to visit the exhibition of Painting and Sculpture; thence to the Museum and its matchless collection of Rubens' finest works; and thence to the famous cathedral. In the afternoon they embarked in the yachts and steamed down the river, anchoring for the night off Terneuse. On the following morning (Sunday) the squadron again got under weigh; but it now blew so fierce a gale, and the weather was so thick, that they proceeded no further than Flushing, where the men-of-war came to an anchor, while the yachts returned to the smoother water of Terneuse. On Monday, the squadron again set sail, and succeeded in getting over to the English coast; but so thick a fog covered the sea, that it was deemed prudent to anchor for the night in Dungeness Roads; and it was not until Tuesday at mid-day that Her Majesty arrived at Osborne House, having suffered a voyage as tedious and disagreeable as has ever happened to any one of her subjects. 10. DARING ESCAPE FROM GAOL. -Two notorious convicts, named Sparrow and Bird, effected their escape from Wells gaol in a very daring manner. Sparrow is the man who was tried at the spring assizes at Taunton for the dreadful murder of Sarah Watts at Frome [see page 56], and was then acquitted. He was afterwards apprehended and convicted at the quarter sessions for some offence, and sentenced to 15 years' transportation; while he was in gaol under this sentence, it was discovered that he had taken part in another burglary, for which he was tried and convicted at the recent assizes at Wells, and sentenced to an additional 10 years' transportation, thus making together 25 years' transportation. Bird was also convicted of a burglary and sentenced to be transported. In the course of the evening of Monday all the prisoners had irons put on both legs, and fourteen of them were put into one room to sleep. There was sacking suspended as hammocks, on which the prisoners slept in their clothes, as there was neither bed nor covering. At 10 o'clock at night the governor of the Somerset county gaol went into the wards and saw that all was right. At 12 o'clock at night the governor sent a guard to see whether all was quiet, and he reported that all was well. The turnkeys and guards had no other accommodation than a form in a passage into which the doors of the different wards opened. At the corner of this particular room, opposite the entrance door, was a door leading into a long passage, at the end of which was a watercloset for the use of the prisoners in that room. About 4 o'clock this morning one of the prisoners in that room knocked at the door, and told the turnkeys that Sparrow and Bird were off. The officers instantly went into the room and found that a hole had been made |