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BRITISH EXTRACTS.
WEST INDIES.—BASSETERRE, (ST. CHRISTO-
PHER), NOVEMBER 4.—On Friday, the sloop Gig,
Simmons, arrived here from St. Vincent, bringing a pa-
per of that Island of the 25th ultimo, containing the
particulars of the late storm there ; in all parts of the
country considerable damage had been sustained, par-
ticularly among the plantain-walks and the canes ; but
we apprehend, upon the whole (says the St. Vincent
Gazette), that the mischief which has befallen this is
and will prove light when compared with what has been
suffered in those to the northward, from which we fear
the most distressing accounts will be received. Vessels
since come in, that were at sea during the gale, repre-
sent it to have been most severe to windward of the is-
land, as also throughout the Grenadines in this Gov-
ernment ; but from Grenada we learn, that its effects
were but partially experienced there, and that no injury
of consequence was sustained." Accounts had also
been received at St. Vincent from Tobago, at which is-
land nothing of the gale was felt.
" The French men-of-war at Fort Royal, Martinique,
are wrecked in the bay, and we learn that a transport
from France has met the same fate to windward, and
with the exception of a few hands, every soul on board
perished.
" Major Burdett, his lady and family, are said to
have been killed at St.Lucia.
" Devastation has exhausted itself throughout Mar-
tinique, and at a moderate calculation it is affirmed the
planters alone are sufferers to the extent of 35,000,000
of livres.
" Many lives have been lost, and for the safety of
those driven to sea, government has dispatched some
small vessels (arrived from the south) in quest of the
sufferers.
" Many hulls of vessels have been seen at sea, some
surviving hands were picked up off the wreck of an
American vessel as she was drifting to leeward past the
bay the day after the gale."
At a late hour this day, we obtained a sight of a
Martinique Gazette of Wednesday last, containing the
Proclamation of the Governor, by which the ports of
that island are opened for six months (and not for 12
months as mentioned in the preceding letter) ; and in
the same paper there is a Proclamation of Major Gene-
ral R. A. Seymour, Governor of St. Lucia, dated the
22d October, by which the port of Castries in that is-
land, is declared open to vessels of all nations in amity
with Great Britain, for the importation of flour, &c.
lumber and cattle, for three months. There is reason
to hope, from the circumstances of this Proclamation
having been issued the day after the storm, that the
account of Governor Seymour's being killed, will prove
incorrect.—St. Christopher Advertiser.
The following are said to be the circumstances under
which Bernadotte was elected Prince Royal and Suc-
cessor to the Swedish Crown : —" Accident had thrown
into the hands of Bernadotte, as a prisoner of war, the
son of one of the first families of Sweden, the young
Count Morner. His kindness and attention to his pri-
soner was extreme, and upon that event occurring which
again placed the Crown of Sweden at the disposal of
its States, the family of the young man exerted them-
selves in an extraordinary manner to evince their grati-
tude. Party spirit at that moment peculiarly favoured
their design. The nobles were anxious to place the
Crown upon a head that would submit to their aristo-
cratical views ; and the fourth estate, with more reason,
calculated upon the advantages it might derive from
the elevation of an individual, whose birth should place
him upon the same level with itself. Intrigue directed
the choice of both to the same object, and the diet ac-
cordingly proclaimed the election of Bernadotte."
BIRTHS AND DEATHS.—A journal published at
Turin contains a curious article, relative to the life of
man.—The author makes several calculations, which,
in his opinions form the basis of annuities, insurances,
routines, and all kinds of speculations testing on the
course of human life.—He supposes the world to be
peopled by a milliard of persons, who all die in the
space of an age. He lays down 33 years for one gene-
ration, consequently 33,333,333 die in the course of
a year, 91,324 in the course of a day, 3,803 in an hour,
35 in a minute, and in a second 1. The number born,
in the course of a year amounts to 37,937,037, in a day
101,471, in an hour 4228, in a minute 70, and in a se-
cond 1. Out of 1000 children born in the same hour,
there remain 740 at the end of a year ; 600 at the end
of three years ; 584 at the end of five years ; 540 at
the end of ten years ; 446 at the end of thirty years ;
226 at the end of sixty years ; 49 at the end of eighty ;
11 at the end of ninety; 9 at the end of ninety-five ;
and 1 at the end of ninety-seven. The author concludes
from these tables, that one half of the children die by
the age of seventeen.
Out of 10,000 persons, only one arrives at the age
of 100. The following is the comparative number of
persons on the same portion of earth in the different
countries:—In Iceland 1 ; in Sweden 14 ; in Turkey
36; in Poland 52 ; in Spain 63 ; in Ireland 99 ; in Ger-
many 127; in England 152 ; in France 169 ; in upper
Italy 172 ; in Naples 192 ; in Venice 196 ; in Holland
224 ; in Malta 1103.—Such is the difference between
the population of Iceland and Malta.
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