CHRONICLE. 
and that with considerable deduc- 
‘tions, has at length been made to 
part of the Hanoverian army: the 
majority are, however, left desti- 
tute, with a view to compel them, 
by want, to enter the legion in the 
French service. A lace-merchant 
at Hanover, named Muller, nar- 
rowly-escaped being hanged for seek- 
ing to dissuade some of his country- 
men from entering that corps. The 
French general declared, that all fu- 
ture offences of that nature should 
be punished with death. 
Advices from Canton state that 
the following events had thrown 
the court of Pekin into great diser- 
der :—A favourite wife of the em- 
peror dying, the circumstance was 
not published, on account of the po- 
litical disturhances, till the day pre- 
_vious to the interment. In the mean 
time, according to the predictions of 
the astrologers, lightning fell upon 
the palace, and consumed the com- 
modious and beautiful hall of audi- 
ence; the flames extending to the 
haram, destroyed it, with nearly 
200 adjacent houses ; nor were they 
extinguished till the following day, 
at the hour of the second prayer.— 
The day of this calamity being a fes- 
tival, little attention was paid to it; 
but it derived increased considera- 
tion, from the circumstance of the 
emperor becoming, on the morning 
following, scriously indisposed, 
through grief and anxiety. The 
princess was interred, im secret, in 
a grotto in a mountain, the usual 
cemetery of the ladies of the royal 
haram ; and the horses which belong- 
ed to her were turned loose, to range 
on the mountain, until her sons, ac- 
cording to custom, become of age to 
claim them. A number of women 
ahd eunuchs have received five years’ 
wages, for agreeing to live in the 
441 
tomb ; and when dead, they are to 
be buried therein. ‘The emperor, 
at the date of the last accounts, was 
said to remain seriously indisposed. 
Sumatra has long been known to 
abound with gold; and some chasms, 
occasioned by a recent earthquake, 
have exposed such wealth, as to in- 
duce an opinion at Fort Marlbo- 
rough, that this island contains as 
much gold as either Mexico or Peru. 
In the Lemong country, a pure gold, 
of a whitish colour, is found in dust, 
and lodged in very hard stones on 
the surface ; it is likewise found ina 
clayish red loam, and, on digging, in 
strata extending to the depth of three 
feet and a half, and in others of less 
depth, consisting of irregular shaped 
stones, of a mouldering nature, 
mixed with red clay and hard peb- 
bles. The natives disengage the 
gold from the stones, by breaking 
them. ‘This district is 70 or 80 miles 
inland from Sumatra; but the road 
to it is, from the number of wild 
beasts, impassable,excepting to strong 
parties. Sumatra is supposed to have 
been the ophir of Solomon, from the 
circumstance of the word in the Ma- 
Jay language signifying a mountain 
containing gold. , 
The damage sustained by a dread- 
ful fire, which lately happened at 
Bombay, is computed at 650,000I. 
Nearly 500 horses were burnt to, 
death. 
The following is the official ac- 
count of the loss of the ship Nauti- 
lus, wrecked on the Ladrones ; re- 
ceived from Madras by the Dover- 
castle : 
‘¢ On the 16th of November we 
had fine pleasant weather ; observed 
in 22. 15. N. at sun-set, a ship bear- 
ing W.S. W. pleasant through the 
night. On the 17th, in the morn- 
ing, saw land, bearing W. S. W. 
soundings 
