J” ’ W. I I A"

an? @uhmnt metal-n.

Males under 7 . Females do. 12 2] ' Infants 10

‘ Total perished—148 The Minstrel Was well known in the Quebec trade as a passenger ship from Ireland. She belonged to Limerick, ,and re Itemd 296 tpus- Last year she arrived at Quebec, on the May, from Limerick, with 163 passengers. MONTREAL, May 27.—Yesterday, shortly after one o’clock . in the afternoon, the usual official and military arrange-~ ‘ ments were made, for the departure ofthe Govériior Gene— . ral for Kingstdn. A guard of honour, composed of the - IGrenadier company of the 73d Regiment, accompanied by - the band, took its station in front of His Excellency’s resi- L .‘dence, preceded by a detachment of the 7th Hussai's, as .an escort. About two, o’clock, the travelling carriage of Lord Sydenham, drawn by four white horses, 'derw up in front of his Lordship’s residence; and a few minutes after- wards, His Excellency, escorted by the Commander of the Forces, Sir Richard Jackson, .Major General Clitherow, * and suites, took his seat, along with Major Campbell of the ' 7th Hussars, his Lordship’s Military Secretary. Immedi- ately upon his Lordship’s appearance, the guard of honor presented arms, and with the congratulations of glie spec- tators, and a salute from St. Helen’s Battery, His Excellency drove all: His Lordship, though apparently much re- duced by his late severe indisposition, appeared to.be in good spirits; and it only remains to hope, as well on his own account as the future happiness ofthe Province, that His Excellency may enjoy such a degree of health, as will enable him to bring to a happy and successful conclusion the first session of the most important Legislative ASSembiy that has ever met in Canada—Gazette. The Montreal Courier says, that Commercial prospects Q were most promising. 5,936 emigrants had arrived ; nearly double the number which the same period of last year reckoned. Other papers mention the arrival of emigrants, . but say they are not continuing in the Province.

ST. JOHNS, N. F. llle 26.

EMBARKATION or THE Govanon;——His Excellency Go- vernor Prescott, accompanied by Mrs. Prescott and family, embarked on Monday last. His Excellency was attended to the Wharf by the Administrator of the Government, (Lieut. Col Sail) by the Lord Bishop of Newfoundland (Dr. Spencer), by the Heads of the Departments, by the St George’s Society, of which His Excellency was the Patron, by the Ministers of the Wesleyan and Independent Con- gregations, and by a large concourse of the Inhabitants of

v 1- all!

it

Is

11.53513

the Town. On ThurSday, last, being Ascension Day, the Foundation ’ Stone of the Roman. Catholic Cathedral, intended to be a, . erected near Fort Townshend, was laid by the Right Rev. . lid Dr. Fleming. Notwithstanding that the weather was rather “3 tinpropitious an immense concourse of persons (estimated

at from 8 to 10 thousand) walked in procession, and attend- ed the imposing ceremony. A subscription list was open- ed on the ground, in aid of the fund for building. the edifice, when the large sum of about £2600 was sub- scribed—Gazette. '

’15.»!

- . HALIFAX, JUNE 5.

The Paragon Boardcd——The Quebec packet which arrived at New York from Belfast, reports—On the eveinng of Ilth May, in lat. 41 49, long. 57, wind blowing fresh from the “S. W. fell in with the Wreck of the ship Paragon. The mute and four seamen went on board, and found her larboard mil and bulwarks gone—the after hatch and cabin open—ex- amined tfiae cabin and found it empty, with the exception of some papers, which were brought away; saw a chronometer case screwed to one of the lockers, but'the clironometer was gone; went into her hold and found her to be laden with a general cargo—several bales and boxes of which had been opened ; searched the forecastle and saw nothing there except the seameii’s chests, all emptv; saw it sail hanging over the starbord side, but could not tell whether the ship’s side was damaged underneath, as the men were unable to v haul up the sail; saw two boats on the deck, and one on the lat-board quarter; the maiiiinast gone close by the board—foremast standing. The gale increasing, we were compelled to leave.

On Thursday afternoon, the schooner Curlew, under the command of Capt. Townsend, was‘despatched on a cruise to the eastward of Sable Island in search of the wreck.

HALIFAX, N. S., J one 9.——The Caledonia Steamer arrived from Boston on Thursday morning, about 10 o’clock, and sailed again at 7 o’clock in the evening. She takes to England '1 'upWards of 100 passengers, among whom are Bishop Doane of the United States, and the Chief Justice of P. E. Island. 'The Bishop, it is said, goes to England on an invitation to preach a sermon, and consecrate a large church newly built .at Leeds, in ‘Yorksbire.—-Christian Messenger.

Concnas'rnit ELECTION.-—A[ the close of the Poll on Friday last, Mr. Dickson was returned by a majority of 28. The numbers were 712 to 684. Mr. Ross protested against tlie.legality of the election, and demanded a scrutiny.

one colonial tetra-ta.

SATURDAY, JUNE 12, 1841.

Mn. M‘LEon.—Nothing decisive appears on this subject. It is said that the United States Minister in London had ordered the return of the United States ships from the Medi- ‘ terranean, in consequence of information that an attack would .be made on the coast towns, in case of the execution of M‘Leod. It is next to impossible that the U. States autho- irities would be rash enough to commit any such act, no matter what the legal decision—knowing the untenableness of their argument in a national point of view, and the deter- mination of Great Britain ; but why not take some more magnaminous way of getting out of the difficulty, than the trial and the imprisonment ? The destruction of the Caro- .line is not denied, M‘Leod cannot be held amenable, why not adopt some rational and dignified mode of arrangement ? , M‘Leod published aletter in a N. York paper, denying that he was at the homing of the Caroline, and that he ever boasted of being in the attack. He asserts that he had ’ incurred, long since, the dislike of' the insurgents and brig- . ands, and that they have injured him otherwise than by ’ 1hr. present prosecution. - , On May 6th, a conversation occurred in the House of , ‘ Commons respecting this subject. Mr Hume moved for 1be production of the correspondence in reference to the , . Caroline—Lord J. Russell objected on account of pending ‘: negotiations. His Lordship said, that the American .Government had asked for redress, .and the British Govern- ‘ . "Jnent thought preper not to return a formal answer. The - "tAmerican Minister Was informed that the Government Itified the destruction of the Caroline—Sir R. Peel whether or not the release ofM‘Leod had been * , - .—Lord J. Russell said 1 that one of M‘Leod’s ,,lbnco being that the act-7 was authorised, the trial was ~ .'“9'ed toa general Court, where, it was hoped, the Ame- , M Government would act as it could not in a fbderal Court ' Mf-Hume’s motion was negatived.—Novascolian. -A late paper says that the State of Pennsylvania was bank- Pfifi-rtlnt it had contracted a debt of 20 millions of dollars, {public works which entailed a yearly loss, and another 20 " iibons for works not yet finished. .

‘ ‘-

' HEN Quarte ' - ‘ M - ma, tummy. rs of the 83d Regiment marched into, on

_A squadron ofDragmn-Guaids have been removed from- an to Kipgston. he 93d had moved to Toronto. LleUL Wlnye" 0f the was drowned in the Thames, - C" 0" AP! '1 “in h ‘3 WPPOBQd that he was attempting lord the oven , . Persons were quarelling for possesion of the sites of the = shefd houses under cape Dlamondi although other " rtions of the precipice threatened to come down.

a

. tions are based on uncertainty, if not palpable

{7 _ .

bu Wednesday last, an In uest was held at the Courf House'pn the body of An us acphee, Contable, who had been missmg for upwar s of six weeks, and respecting whom the greatest uncertainty prevailed. When last seeii he wa much intoxicated, although a man of correct habits in general. He left the house at which he had been drink- ing at alate hour in the evening, for the purpose ofgoinv home, and is supposed to have passed his own housea' situate near the water 'side, and to have Walked out upon, the ice,wh_ich we then breaking up, by which means he cainerto his untimely end. Notwithstanding the most dili- gent search, no trace of him could be found, until early on the morning of Wednesday last, a man looking for a Stray sheep, discovered the body of a man lying on the beach belowliigh-water mark, at Hermitage Creek. The flesh waS entif one off the face, and it was only from the papers foun his pocket, and which were uninjured, that it _wa recognized to be the body o'f Mucphee. The body beino in spcb a putrid state, that a view could have been of ii: sci-Vice as to proving its identity, the Coroner, it seems, could pot in that case act without a special commission beino' issued for the purpose. The duty, therefore, of holding all Inquest under such peculiar circumstances, devolved upon two Magistrates, and the _ Inquest was accordingly held before the Hon. George Dali'ymple and William Cupdall, Esq. The verdict of the Jury was to the following effect— That the body was in such a state of putrefaction that no marks of violence did appear thereon, but that the deceased (Seine to his death ‘by drowning, when in a state of; intoxi- 8 ion. ‘

,3.

t ‘ .

_DULL TIMES—Yesterday a field of fallow land, in the Vicmity of Charlottetown, twenty-two acres in extent, was sold by auction for £1197, which allowing a propertionate sum for a road of thirty feet width reserved through the pro- perty, would average about £58 per acre. ’

To THE EDITOR or

'riiE COLONIAL HERALD.

SIR ;;I' perceive the House of Assembly made an attempt to rectify some of the errors of the Boundary Bill, in order to regulate the duty of Surveyors, in which, it is much to be regretted, they did not succeed. They were not, surely, fully aware of the importance of the matter, or of the many blunders to which the present system exposes the practical surveyor; or of the misunderstandings, and consequent law- suits, it entails on the inhabitants; otherwise, one of their first acts would be to expun‘ge from the Statute Book every Act relating to Land Surveying in this Colony, and to re- place them by one more philosophically and mathematically accurate, and. more legally true in all its details. I shall en~ deavour to lay before the reader, as briefly as I can, some of those inconveniences, in order to induce those whose duty it is, to apply the proper remedy.

All the surveys heretofore made on this Island have been

made according to the Magnetic Needle. Now, every one conversant with the nature of Magnetic Attraction is aware, that no two compasses exactly agree in the magnetic position of their respective needles—that in no two places on the earth’s sur— face will the position of the same needle be exactly alike, with respect to the Celestial meridian—that the compass is in a slate of continual variation, so that it is d217wa from itself at difl'cr- ent times. From these sources have resulted the errors hitherto committed by Surveyors, when guided solely by the magnetic bearings of their respective compasses, with- out Speaking of other causes of error—such as mineral at- traction, electricity, the state of the atmosphere, &c. Now, we may‘easily conceive what never-ending diversity of lines will result from the labours ofdifl'ei'ent operators, in difi'erent parts ofthe Island,and in distant periods of time; yet such must, necessarily, be the case, while Surveyors are obliged by law to be guided by the .Magnelic Meridian of a certain year and place, as is now the case.

In the year 1809, an 'Act was passed, for establishing an “ Astronomical Meridian at Charlottetown, and by which all Surveyors shall regulate and rectify their several Instru- ments, once in every year, at least, in presence of the Sur- veyor General; who is to grant a certificate that their several instruments are good and sufficient ; and in the certificate shall be set down the variation, at the time of granting the Certificate.” Now, this would beall right, if the Surveyor could, by spherical calculation, find the varia- tion of his compass from the Meridian of Charlottetbwn, as easily as the mariner, by astronomical observation, finds his Longitude from the Meridian of Greenwich; but this the Act does not provide for; and I-am surprised that those persons who were deemed competent to establish a Meri- dian by astronomical observation did not perceive the glaring absurdity of assuming the Meridian of Charlotte. town as a standard to correct the variation throughout the Island; for, contracted as its limits are, I am convinced the variation is different at different places within its precincts ; and, after all, it is not the real variation required by the Act' that is set down in the certificate, but the variation from the variation of 1764. What absurdity! I

In 1834, an Act was passed for ascertaining and establish- ing the Boundaries of Counties and Townships. In this Act, the Magnetic position of 1764 is stated to be N. 15 degrees, 30minutes West; and by this Meridian, adjusted to the time of observation, are Surveyors compelled by law to regulate their instruments. Now, I very much doubt, that the Meri— dian Stones at Charlottetown are in the planeof‘ the Celes- tial Meridian; my doubts are still stronger, that the variation of 1764 was 15 deg. 30min., for these reasons—that I have seen a plan of Lots 36, 37, and 38, surveyed by Mr. Moaiiis, present Surveyor General of Nova Scotia, made shortly after the first Survey of this Island, in order to establish the County Line ; and the variation was marked Fifteen degrees, precisely. On the best maps of the Island. copied from the original survey oan. HOLLAND, the variation is marked 11 degrees, 30 minutes. If this be correct, where did our Legislators find the surplus? But, admitting the variation of the instruments used by Mn. HOLLAND and his assistants to have been 15 deg. 30 min., as he did not establish the commencement of any of the County and Township lines by some enduring and unalterable materials, on term/innit, but left it to the Government Officers, in the Plantation Office at Whitehall, to delineate them on paper, there is no reason for admitting it a standard Meridian: even the framers of the Bill say, “ that no known rules and principles have been provided by Statute for ascertaining and establish- ing the same ;” but as things now are, it is a palpable proof of the scientific incapacity of the fabricators of the Boundary Bill. and a fruitful source of inaccuracy and litigation.

The variation at Charlottetown, in 1820, is stated to be 20 degrees, 18 minutes, and 49 seconds. This must be un- derstood of the Theodelite, or instrument used for the pur- pose of erecting the Meridian Stones. The difference be- tween this and the variation of 1764, a period of 56 years, is 4 deg. 40 min. and 47 see..-—giving an annual variation of 5 min. 9 ec. and 26 thirds. This, in a period of 18 years, to 1838, would amount to 1 deg. 32 min. 49 thirds; to which add the variation in 1820, and you have 21 deg: 51 min. and 38 sec., according to this standard. The variation generally marked on the certificates granted in 1888, was five degrees, which, added to the variation marked in.the Statute Book, as that of 1764, gives 20 deg. 30 min., leaving a dtfl'erence be- tween the Statute Book and Meridian Stomp! at Charlottetown of one degree, twenty-one minutes, and tlm-ty—eighl seconds, to be reconciled by our Legislative Astronomers." I How cans Surveyor preserve his oath inviolate, or (b just-ice according to the best of his ability, when he knows that all his opera- error.

A surveyor that is obliged to take angles with a common Circumferenter. can carcely avoid error, let him ‘be ever so circumspect. Most of those in use are graduated to single degrees only; and when he is obliged, to diwdepne of these degrees, about the 40th part of an inch, into Sixty part» .01“ minutes, by the aid of the needle, it becomes an exqmsue piece of guess-work indeed; and this he must do as often as his course consists of degrees and minutes. Now, an error of 15 of these minutes (the 160th part ofan inch), .on a base line of 100 chains, produces an error of more than two acres! Let us hear the character of this Instrument, by those who make it, and who should be considered the most competent judges: I “ It is not much used in England,whers land is valuable ; but

- in America, where land is not so dear, and where itis necessary

to survey large tracts ofground overstocked with wood, inn little

wood, the Circumferenter is (titled used. We have already observed that this instrument should" never be used where much accuracy is required ; for It is scarcely possible to obtain, with any

.oflcn not so neiu'; it has therefore long been rejected h accurate Siirveyois.”-—Grometrlcal and Graphical Essays, by . Adams, Mathematical Instrument Maker to His Majesty; edited by W. Jones, Mathematical Instruman Maker, London.

Yet, I heard a Surveyor'ionce say, he could measure an angle with one of those instruments, a near as fifteen minutes!

The Legislature should render it imperative on the Sur- veyOr to be provided wiili a Circumferenter which, by means of a nonius, would divide a degree into five minutes, tit-least; he should also be competent, by celestial observa- tion, to correct his compass according to the Astronomical Meridian of the place of survey. To facilitate this, the printers of our almanacks could devote a few pages oftbein to such ephemeral tables as the time of the Polar Star’s being on,,the Meridian of Charlottetown; the Sun’s decli- nation for the same Meridian—the latitude of a few of. the most prominent places on the Island, doc. Before he began his survey, he should find the variation, if practicable—mark it in his field book, and on every plan of survey furnished by him, with the time of making the survey. This corrected course he' should mark on his base line, or primary course, by fixing three stakes, &c., at a convenient distance, which the occupier of the land should be couipelled to preserve from decay, by renewal. This method would prevent much of the wrangling and lawsuits that are daily accumulating about boundaries, now that land is becoming more valuable, and the inaccurate bungling of former times done away with. I hope the House of Assembly will, next Session, resume the subject; and, instead of confining their scrutiny

* to one of the Commissioners under the Boundary Bill, ex-

tend it to every practising surveyor,in the Island. They would then discover the real sources of those blunders that are tolerated in the community, solely because. they aré kept hidden by those whose interest it is that they shoiild be conceale . r

‘ Vox VERITATIS. Mathematical Hall, May 13th, 1841.

.PORT OF CHARLOTTETOWJV‘. - ENTERED. Scbr. Mayflower, VVeuiherbe, Mirumiclii; ballast. Mary, Bronsard, do.; do. Speculation, Wood, Halifax; Goods. Country Maid, Mncdonald do.; do. \ Alert, M‘Intosh, Miraniiclii; do. Regulator, Hayley, Halifax; do. Cliristy Ann, Weeks, Pugwnsh; 500 ft. Boards. - Defiance, Stewart, Miramiehi; 15,000 ft. do. Richard Smith, U’Mura, Pictou; 200 bls. pgckled Fish. CLEARED. Barqu‘e Nortbumberland, Jones, Dalbousie; 100 tons Hardwood Timber, 8 cords Ltllll“‘(m(l. SChI’FBl‘Ulllel‘S, Turnbull, Halifax; I200 bus. Potatoes, 3 cases urs. Trial, Macdoniild, Miramiclii; 350 bus Potatoes, 250 do Oats. Duck, Carver, Fishing Voyage. ' Comuiix,8iewiirt, Miramichi; Goods. , Speculation, German, Newfdld.; 23 bis. Carrots. Lucy, Gerroir, Halifax; 1000 bus. Potatoes. Christy Ann, \Veeks, Buy Verte; Ballast. Barque Saxe Gotlia, Hurtgrave, Miramiclii; 200 tons Hardwood Timber, l7 cords Lathwood.

COLVII.L'E BflY. ENTERED. June 2——Schr.“IIenry, Gerriuu, Miramiclii; ballast: Argus, “ ‘ rier, do.; do. ' (LEAKED. ' June I—Schr. \Villium, Fraser, St. John’s, N. F.; 2000 bus. Pota- toes, 150 do. Oats, 10 cwt. Pearl Barley, 16 tons Scantling, 6 Ilead Neat Cattle. 2,—Schr. Henry, Gerriiin, Miriiniiclii; I700 bus. Oats, 100 do. Harley, 18 bls. Oatmeal: Argus, Perrier, Halifax; 700 bus. Barley, 1300 do. Outs.

Por-

‘ , 5mg ,ertns. ,‘EAji‘zived on Monday, H. M. rig Ringdove, the Hon. Capt. Stewart, from Halifax. ' I

' Sailed on Saturday, H. M. S. Crocodile, Capt. Milne, for Labrador; ‘at'id'h'ar ue Nortliumberlaud, James, for Dalliousic, N. B. to complete .her loading for England.

.- .. MARRIED,

At Boston, U. S., on the 18th March last, Mr. Matthew Lyon, ofthiit city, to Helen Desbrisay, fourth daughter of the late Mi. John Love, of Charlottetown.

DIED, * '

”A't Boston, on the 281h May, the Rev. Thomas A. Grantham, aged 68 years——a native of Newbury, England, and recently of Yarmouth, N. S.

"At Bridgetown, N. 8., on the ISlh ult., in the 29th year of his age, after a protracted illness, which be bore with resignation to the will ofliis Heavenly Father, the Rev.Jesse VVbeelook, VVes- leyan Missmnary.