Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842), Saturday 23 May 1812, page 2


SYDNEY.

Sitting Magistrate for the ensuing Week—S.

LORD, Esq.

Assize of Bread for the ensuing Week—the same

as before.

Average Prices of Articles at last Saturday's

Market :—Wheat 9s. 4½d. per bushel ; Maize 6s. per bushel ; Potatoes 8s. per cwt ; Fowls 7s. per couple ; Eggs 3s. per dozen.

The Ruby, which sailed for Bengal the 26th of March, was spoke by the Mary in Lat. 39° 10', Long. 116° 48'. We are sorry to add, that she had met with severe weather, and had lost her

main top-mast.

On Monday a High Court of Appeals was held at Government House, and the several Memorials of Appeal to His Excellency the GOVERNOR and COMMANDER in CHIEF, were read. His Excel-lency was then pleased to order, that such of the Respondents as wished to reply should attend on Thursday morning for that purpose. The Court was then adjourned till Thursday ; when the Re-plies were read; and His Excellency was further pleased to order the attendance of all the parties on Friday ; upon which day the several decrees were pronounced. Among the Causes of Appeal were two that were of considerable interest to the trading world, as they related to the promissory notes in general circulation. The circumstances of one of these causes (and they were precisely similar to each other) were as follow :— The re-spondent held small notes drawn by the appellant

to an amount exceeding £75, and tendered them for payment ; the appellant offered payment in copper coin, which was rejected, and sterling demanded, which was also refused ; he therefore brought his action before the Civil Court, and obtained a verdict for the full amount in sterling money ; against which verdict the appeal was made. The appellant, in his memorial to His Excellency stated in argument, that although the word sterling was expressed in each bill, yet that they were uni-

versally deemed as currency ; and that the difference of value between the two kinds of money was 20 per cent. That the reason of their being drawn as sterling was because a Proclamation had been published prohibiting the issue of any other than

sterling notes, but that another Proclamation had provided, that copper coin was to be deemed a ster-

ling payment to the extent of five pounds : That as these bills were drawn for very small sums (from 2s. 6d. up to 20s.) they could not, when issued, be

considered of any value superior to copper coin, and consequently, that if a large number were kept together with a view of making a demand in sterling, as which they were not paid out, instead of currency as which they were paid out, the issuer would be a loser of 20 per cent, and the holder,

whom it was suggested had not received them at any other than copper coin value, be an undoubt-

ed gainer in the same proportion ; and to this heavy and unexpected loss the drawer of such bills, who issued them more as an accommodation to trade than from any other motive, would constant-ly lay open, unless relieved: and finally sug-gesting, with due submission to His Excellency's opinion, that as these bills, being each under £5, of consequence were separately demandable in copper coin alone, the appellant ought to be allowed to pay them in that way, whether separately or aggregately presented. To these arguments the respondent in his memorial of reply set forth, that the bills in question were all made payable in sterling money by the drawer himself, and consequently that the

holder was under no necessity of depreciating their value: that one essential difference between copper money and these bills was, that by a Proclamation quoted by the appellant it was ordered, that as copper coin was intended as an accommodation in the way of small change, no person should hoard the same together for large payments, and that no one should be allowed to pay or receive copper coin for any debt exceeding £5; whereas there was no prohibi-tion to the payment of these bills to any amount.---That under the existing Regulations of the Colony

copper coin bills were prohibited, and sterling ones admitted, with the word sterling inserted in the body of the bill, which certainly would not have been the case, had it been intended that they should be paid in copper coin : That the Respondent, who was not unacquainted that by Proclamation £5 in copper coin was ordained a sterling payment, had not objected to receive so much of his demand in that way, but declined receiving more: wherefore he had brought his action, and obtained a verdict, not by any accidental failure of the Appellant, but after a very patient hearing of the case, with the various arguments on either side.HIS EXCEL-

LENCY'S decree confirmed the verdict of the Civil

Court.

The Atalanta has brought as passengers from Rio the two little girls whose miraculous destiny it

was to be preserved, with a Mrs. Morley, the mo-ther of one of the children, from the Boyd's mas-sacre at New Zealand. They were brought to Rio by the ship City of Edinburgh, last from Lima

under freight : by which vessel also, as formerly, stated in our account of the dreadful circumstances attending the Boyd's capture, they were rescued from the hands of those ferocious savages, as was Mrs. Morley also, who died at Lima during the City of Edinburgh's stay.

Several ploughs upon an improved principle, two of which are in possession of John Blaxland, Esq. have been imported by the vessels last arrived. This is called the improved Scotch plough, and is said to perform, as much with one man and two horses as the common plough was capable of with

two men and four horses.

Among some valuable plants introduced into the Colony by Mr. Suttor, who returned in the Mary, are several plants of the date, palm, and olive in a healthy state. These plants are natives of the Grecian Isles, and most parts of Italy, where they are much cultivated, and furnish a great part of the food of the inhabitants. From the olives of these Countries the best sweet oil is produced, and as the plant flourishes in climates very similar to ours, we have reason to hope it will arrive to perfection here. The date tree produces a nut of a farinaceous kind, and is frequently used in the place of bread, is an abundant bearer, and will thrive in almost any soil. It is accustomed to frost in its native country, and will it is also hoped, add to the variety of our vege-table productions.

When the Mary was off Broken Bay, where she lay some hours becalmed, a little boy of the name of Mansfield, an apprentice, fell overboard by accident, and his head unfortunately striking against the iron work of one of the chains, he fell senseless into the water, without the power of exertion, and sunk gradually to the depth of se-veral feet, when his threatened destiny was averted by the hand of the Rev. Mr. FULTON, to whom Providence had assigned the gratifying task of rescuing a fellow creature from an untimely fate. The Reverend Gentleman had happily observed the accident, and without a moment's pause leaped off the deck to his assistance ; when having raised him to the surface of the water, cords were thrown out, by means of which the effort became suc-cessful. For upwards of an hour after the youth was taken on board he continued in a state of

stupor, with scarcely any other sign of life than

the occasional utterance of the most lamentable or

rather piercing shrieks. From the symptoms that appeared a fracture in the skull was apprehended, and the face entirely blackened. On the vessel's entering the port, however, the little patient, whose age does not exceed twelve years, was re-ceived into the General Hospital, where we are happy to say, the severe effects of his misfortune have yielded to the skill and exertion of the Gen-tlemen whose province it is to administer relief to the afflicted in that most excellent institution.

In last week's Gazette it was stated that the ship Clarksen had called at the Island of Amsterdam, whereat the Fox brig had been wrecked, and the major part of her crew left. We now beg leave to apologize for that account as erroneous, it being

the Mary, Captain Laughlin, that touched there, under the following circumstances :-While Mr. Edwards (who returned to the Colony as a passenger in the latter) was in London, he received a letter from Captain Cox, with whom be had been long previously acquainted, and who was apprised of his

intention of coming out in the Mary, informing him of his then recent arrival in the Canada, Ward master, and detailing the particulars of his ship-wreck-concluding his letter with a pathetic repre-sentation of the miserable fate in which he left his people, and requesting him to make Capt Laughlin acquainted with the particuars, not doubting that his humanity would lead him to their relief, if living, and not relieved before. The requested representation was of course made by Mr. Edwards, and Capt. Laughlin, obedient to the dictates of humanity, made the Island in his way, where he found, to the great satisfaction,of himself and all on board his vessel, that the poor fellows had under the favour of Divine Providence already been re-moved. Upon approaching the Island, and finding no living creature discernible, the utmost aprehen-sion was prevalent, as the dread of their having

perished could only be alleviated by the very doubt-ful imagination that they might possibly have been relieved. A boat was lowered as soon as possible, and Mr. Edwards was one of the party sent to as-certain the fact, which was immediately productive of a universal glow of satisfaction. In our former account we mentioned ,that a written statement had been found in a bottle :-its contents were to the

following effect :-- "The ship Venus, of London, Uriel Bunker master, 3d. June, 1811, from London 84 days, touched at this Island on her passage to Timor, and took off eight men left here by Capt. Cox, who went away in an Ame-rican ship 4 months before, with the rest of the crew of the Fox, Wm. Cox master, they having been wrecked at this Island. The people say that

it was the request of Capt. Cox that no vessel, touching at this Island, will take away any of the stores, &c. of the said wreck, as he means to come back and take them away himself as soon as possible. It is requested that any person find-ing this will leave another to the same effect.— The Fox belonged to Messrs Campbell and Co. of Port Jackson. Agreeable to the tenor of the request made in this letter, Mr. E. replaced it where he had found it, and the Mary resumed her

course hither.

Moowattye, the native lad who was taken to England by Mr. Caley, botanist, in the Drome-dary, has returned by the Mary, and is now appa-rently about 21 years of age. It was with much difficulty permission for his landing was obtained, and that too not until security was given for his orderly conduct, it being the wish of His Majesty's Government to discourage as much as possible the practice of conveying the Islanders of these Seas to England, as answering no purpose whatever, unless we can esteem as such the gratification of a momentary curiosity.--He was supported by the bounty of Sir JOSEPH BANKS, who requested Mr.

Suttor to take him under charge until an opportu-nity should offer of sending him back. Of his manners while in England some eccentric anecdotes are related, the authenticity of which we cannot doubt:-His pronunciation of the English language was generally admired ; his apparel, which was also provided by the benevolent Baronet we have above had the honor to mention, was directed to be of good quality, to which the taylor did not forget to add the very pink of fashion, so that Mr. Moo-

wattye was to all intents and purposes a black beau. He was proud of his finery, and effected to deport himself with all the distance and gravity assumed by a pauper rising unexpectedly to fortune, who seldom fails to entertain just notions of his own

importance. Moowattye attended every show he heard of, and generally appeared more surprised at the numbers of people assembled in a crowd than at any other circumstance. He was boarded at Chel-sea, and used a coffee house, where he generally smoked his pipe of an evening, and drew much com-pany who were desirous of seeing a native of this Colony. The magnificence of the finest buildings, or the dazzling lustre of the principal streets, but little attracted his notice ; and when once asked how he liked the fine shops and houses he answered, that they were all very good, but not equal to the woods in his own Country. He was accompanied to the play by a Gentleman, who observing to him that it was excessively hot, he replied, not so much hot as want air. Another Gentleman at the Chelsea coffee house expatiated on the change of his condition and hoped that upon his return to his own Country he would not again intermingle with his native tribes, but by his example induce others to alter

their way of living, hoping above all things that he would not throw away his cloaths : To which admonition, after taking his pipe deliberately from his mouth, and leaning over the table so as to speak directly in the Gentleman's ear, he significantly replied, if I should, I'll send you word. Another Gentleman hoped that he would apply himself in

future to industry, and told him he doubted not he would wish to bring out with him some implements of husbandry, and cloathing for his tribe : making no reply to which, the Gentleman asked him what

he would wish to take to his friends as a present ? his answer was, something to eat. While at Rio on his return hither, a boat he was going on shore in happening to be overhauled, he informed the

Officer who interrogated him that he was a black Gentlemen, sent out as a Botanist to New South Wales, and since his return, as we are informed, he has sold for the small sum of seven and sixpence a

handsome fowling piece he had received as a present

from a Gentleman who had treated him in other respects with much kindness, and remembrance of whom he had pledged himself to keep it for ever

and ever. This latter circumstance is a proof that he has not yet learnt to set a value upon property, and of course but little amendment can be expected in a point of industry.

The Proclamation contained in this Gazette,

permitting the circulation of Copper Coin Notes, is , likely to have a very salutary operation. In the first place, no doubt will in future arise as to the real value of a bill, provided the drawer is to be de-pended on ; and in the next place it will prevent the heavy loss the drawers have been hitherto exposed

to by the difference of money, and which until the present Proclamation was unavoidable ; at the same time that the internal trade of the Colony will be facilitated by a more convenient currency than cop-per coin itself.