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MINOR CORRESPONDENCE.

W. R.'s interesting account of Girgenti and Agrigentum will appear in our next, accompanied by a Lithographic Chart, representing the present state of that city and its environs, according to a survey taken in 1817. THE Runic Inscription in Yorkshire will be engraved for our next.

S. R. is informed, that Lydiate Abbey is in the hands of the engraver.

J. P.'s Medal is not uncommon, and has been frequently engraved.

HONORIA LIBERTAS (we are sorry to say) is not to our purpose.

THE Bishop of Salisbury, inquired after by PHILO-SILVANUS, was Martin Fotherby.

In answer to "A Constant Subscriber," the Fourth Volume of "Illustrations of Literature is in considerable progress; but "heavy bodies move slow." The Lives of Sir John Pratt and his illustrious Son, are still in abeyance; but it is hoped that the Noble Marquis, by giving them to the Publick, will add one more laurel to those he has so deservedly gained. The long-promised contributions of the Colossus of Literature, are still in their hieroglyphic state, and must so continue, till some adequate amanuensis can be obtained,

Eu. Hoop doubts his having "fallen into error" (see p. 487) in respect to the epitaph upon JOE MILLER. It was given from a transcript made many years since, and E. H. inquires whether the stone was not transferred from the East side of St. Clement's Danes church-yard, to the upper yard in Portugal-street, at the time of pulling down the antient almshouses, and making the late improvements round the church. The circumstance of the inscription being "preserved and transferred", by order of Mr. Jarvis Buck, Churchwarden, is highly ereditable to that gentleman. It is but few of the neglected but honourable memorials of departed worth, when not wanted to patch or amend the path of kindred clay, that escape the shivering blow of the mattock.

H. C. B. observes, a musical reviewer of celebrity always spells the name of Händel with the German diphthong ä: if this be the correct method, all those who respect his memory must wish, that in future, his name may appear with a diæresis ä, as almost every fount can furnish the type.

G. H. W. states, that "Lord Heuley (vol. XC. i. 396) does not derive his barony from Henley in Oxfordshire. His Lordship married the Lady Elizabeth Henley, sister and co-heiress of the last Earl of Northington, and was raised to the peerage of Ireland by the title of Baron Henley of Chardstock, adopting for his baronial dignity the surname of the noble family whose heiress he had espoused. Mr. Edgeworth, in his Memoirs, derives his pedigree from Roger Edgeworth,

a Monk, a younger son of the Edgeworths of Edgeworth (now Edgeware), in Middlesex; which property was carried to the family of Brydges (query Lord Chandos?) by a female. This Roger Edgeworth wrote a sermon against the Reformers, whose doctrine he afterwards embraced, married, and had two sons, who went to Ireland; viz. Edward Edgeworth, Bishop of Down and Connor in 1593; and Francis Edgeworth, Clerk of the Hanaper, in 1619. In turning over Wood's Athen. Oxon. vol. I. p. 133, I find an account of Roger Edgeworth, who I presume must be the person to whom Mr. Edgeworth alludes, as his supposed ancestor. Wood makes no mention of this Roger's having conformed, or married. He gives a list of his writings, and states that he died in 1560. According to the same author (Wood) Roger Edgeworth was a native of Holt Castle, in Wales. He had many church preferments: viz. Chancellor of Wells, Canon of Salisbury, &c. Wood says, "When Henry VIII. had extirpated the Pope's power, he (R. E.) seemed to be very moderate, and also in the reign of Edw. VI.; but when Queen Mary succeeded, he shewed himself a most zealous person for the Roman Catholic religion, and a great enemy to Luther and the Reformers.'

C. T. would be obliged by 66 a correct List of the Authors of our daily prayers in

use,

and of the Collects; in order to inform general readers of those instructors in piety and true devotion, to be more attracted, if possible, by the praise due to the names, as well as to their prayers and thanksgivings."

THE following statement presents the amount of Duty paid by the different Fire Insurance Companies of London, from Midsummer to Michaelmas 1820:

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THE GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE, For JANUARY, 1821.

MISCELLANEOUS CORRESPONDENCE.

Overland Northern Expedition.

WB
WE have been favoured with the

perusal of a Letter from a Gentleman connected with the Over

land Northern Expedition (noticed in Vol. XC. ii. 548), from which we select some interesting passages, relative to the severity of a North Ame rican Winter. It is dated "Fort Chipewyau, Athabasca Lake*, June 6, 1820."

"My last informed you of my being on the point of departure for this place: the journey, a distance of eight hundred miles, was performed in two months. I need not describe to you, who are such a general reader, the mode of travelling, with dogs and sledges; nor mention the inconveniences produced by the severity of a North American winter; but I will bear my testimony to the painful initiation into the daily practice of walking on snow shoes, the misery of pained ancles and galled feet, which a novice invariably has to contend against, and which patience and perseverance alone will enable him to surmount; they were my companions for seven or eight days; afterwards I felt no inconvenience.

"You can easily imagine the pleasure which a traveller feels at arriving at his encampment under such circumstances. This you will ¡probably suppose to be a sheltered place, whereas its preparation simply consists in clearing away the snow on the ground, and placing thereon branches their blankets, coats, &c., and sleep of pine, on which the party spread in comfort, with a large fire at their feet, though the thermometer be 40 degrees below Zero, and with nothing but the canopy of Heaven to cover them. Here the Voyageur soon forgets his fatigues and cares, and having supped, lolls, stretched at his ease, listening with pleasure to the various narratives of his experienced companions, who usually expatiate at length on the never-failing subject of past adventures.

"The Canadians, who compose the principal body of these Voyageurs, are particularly happy at this kind of amusement, and they possess all the life and vivacity of the French character, with as great a share of thoughtlessness. No men are better adapted for this service; they are active, and quite equal to any fatigue, and though fond of eating to an extreme, yet can they bear hunger with

· Athabasca Lake is situate in 590 N. lat.; and extends from 110 to 115 W. long. It is surrounded by the dreary wilds of North America, which is solely inhabited by savage tribes of Indians. In these desolate and dreary regions, "universal stillness," as the writer of the annexed letter observes, "reigns sovereign mistress for six successive months."

Athabasca Lake is bounded by the Ochipeway Indians and the Great Slave Lake on the North; by the Peace River, the Caribeuf Mountains, and the Strongbow Indians on the West; the Great Athabasca River on the South; and by the dismal and solitary wilds of America, on the East. Hudson's Bay is about 1000 miles East of Athabasca Lake, and that great extent of territory is almost uninhabited and unknown.

The mouth of Copper River is 12° N. of Athabasca Lake, at the termination of the Stony Mountains. If our traveller should reach there, he might travel over the ice two or three hundred miles, and arrive at Melville Island, where Capt. Parry wintered. Discoveries have also been effected by land in the parallel of long. 135o, W.,

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Letter from the Overland Northern Expedition.

much greater patience than the same class of Europeans, and to this melancholy inconvenience the people here are frequently exposed. Instances have been related of their having gone three or four days without food; and their supply is always uncertain at posts where animals or fish are scarce, when unfavourable weather prevents the hunters and fishermen from obtaining them.

"I had a great treat on my route in seeing the huge and shapeless buffalo (or bison of Buffon), and witnessing the different methods of obtaining them. The most dextrous way is, when a well-mounted rider dashes at a herd, singles out an animal, which he contrives to separate from the rest, and by managing his horse keeps him apart, and whenever he can get sufficiently near for the ball to penetrate the hide, he fires, though going at full speed, and seldom fails in bringing down his mark. The principal dangers on this service are, either that his horse will fall into some of the numerous holes which the badgers make; or that the enraged animal should turn furiously round when wounded, and gall his horse, or succeed in dismounting him. Whenever the hunter perceives this disposition, which the experienced

[Jan.

man can tell, he instantly pulls up, and pursues some other means of attack. When the herd are particularly on their guard, horses cannot be used. The rider then dismounts, and crawls towards the herd through the snow, taking care to remain motionless when any of them are looking towards him. By this cautious manner of proceeding, the hunter generally succeeds in getting very near them, and singles out one or two of the best. You will easily imagine this service cannot be very agreeable, when Mercury will freeze, which is often the case.

"The Indians have another method, by constructing a pound. The principal dexterity in this, consists in getting the animals once to enter the roadway; fear then urges them on, and many men are stationed at the head to dispatch them. We visited one of these places near an Indian encampment, and one of my companions took an accurate drawing of the whole scene. In the animals he has been particularly fortunate, which has been much wanted; for I never saw any thing bearing the least resemblance to a buffalo before.

"In the countries where these animals chiefly resort (grassy plains) the natives are much more independent

as high North as 69°, where the sea and fluctuations of the tide have been observed; so that we may reasonably infer, that the Polar Sea, described in our last Volume, extends as far West as 165°, which has already been navigated by the way of Bhering's Straits. We sincerely hope, that the next expedition will remove all doubts on this interesting subject, and we entertain the most sanguine expectations

of a successful result.

The following rough sketch will perhaps more clearly elucidate our observations.

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We have made arrangements for receiving the earliest intelligence respecting the discoveries to be effected the ensuing year in these unknown parts of the Arctic regions; when we hope to have the pleasure of presenting another Chait to our Readers, as a sequel to our last, but on a more extended scale.

than

1821.] Overland Northern Expedition.-Kelloe Church.

than the others; having food and clothing easy to be provided. They are often indifferent to most European articles of commerce. The baneful traffic of spirits and tobacco, with some trinkets, form their only purchases. The poor natives of the other parts bave to toil laboriously to gain even subsistence; they have therefore little to traffic with.

"All the Nations southward of this have suffered much this year from the prevailing diseases which have raged amongst them, and carried off many, especially children. They have now generally recovered their strength, bat not their spirits, which are always greatly depressed on the loss of relalives. There was an instance of keen sensibility exhibited here a few days ago by a whole tribe, which would be scarcely expected in such uninformed minds; they declined to pitch their tents this season on a spot where they had long been accustomed to do, for fear the circumstance should re

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vive the moments of grief they had all experienced in the loss of many relations, or the place should remind them of past pleasures in the society of friends whom they were never to see again. This race of men, Chipewyans, are a mild, timid set of persons, excellently described in Hearne and Mackenzie's Voyages.

"The cold was more severe than has been for many years. Both the old stagers and Indians have complained very much. I have not experienced more severity than I was prepared to expect; when travelling, I could generally keep myself warm by walking.

"You would enjoy the clear frosty nights; the stars appear with uncom mon brilliancy, but the weather is too cold for making observations with any accuracy. The Aurora Borealis is occasionally very fine, and of the most variable kind, both in motion and colours."

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