Poetry. SONG Sung at the Anniversary of BURNS. 25th January 1817. A LOVELY rainbow beam'd on high; By Coila's braes o' green was heard The song to Coila once confin'd, VERSES Recited at the Aniversary of BURNS. 25th January 1817. O FOR that heart-subduing strain, for those bold and trancing tones, What time his cold green turf was spread! Yet deeper sorrow shall not swell, Beside his dark and narrow bed, Yes! I have tale of woe to tell, With nature's ruth unmix'd, unshar'd: Didst thou behold thy native bard? Which came at last, but came too late? Why from his plough, on fallow field, With bribes, and smiles but to destroy? And all that humble life endears. Who, in the meteor gleam of wealth, With all its selfishness and pride! Sincerity still lingers there; Peace to the cottage evening-fire, Our bard in Fancy's school was bred; To bind the holly round his head. How glow'd his youthful spirit then! The pulses of his heart beat high, For new was life, and love, and hope, And nature to his ardent eye. He saw her workings in the sky, When Winter spread its pall of gloom, When Spring laugh'd through a dewy eye, Or Autumn shed its yellow bloom. Like sunny smiles before the storm, These days of transient rapture end, Stretch'd forth to succour and to save, art In decorating vied: while now, alas! The workman and his workmanship are laid Alike forgotten mid the lapse of years. In yonder grass-grown top, from whence the bell Was wont to summon to the house of pray'r, Or of departed spirits sound the knell, Now silence reigns, save when the bird of night Sweeps hooting through the gloom, or, perch'd upon The topmost branch of overhanging tree, Here mould'ring in the dust, the former Of yonder stately edifice, who once In all the pride of birth, and pomp of state, Held thousands in command, now mingled lie, Forgetting, and forgot; without a stone, VERSES TO A YOUNG LADY. BONNY is yon blushing rose, That blows amid the wild; Sae bonny, blooming, Nancy grows→→ For she is Nature's child. Her eye is like the morning's beam, That lights upon the dew, Her smile it is the mid-day gleam, She comes like rosy breathing morn, Her blush outstrips your flow'rs; Now, summers count her sweet fifteen And Time neglects his pow'rs, W.J. Historical Affairs. NEW SOUTH WALES. Our readers will find the following extract from the Sydney Gazette, relative to the newly-discovered country to the westward of the Blue Mountains, sufficiently interesting :— Government-house, Sydney, 8th July 1815. AN anxious desire to render the discoveries in the lately explored country to the westward of the Blue Mountains as com. plete and important to the mother country and the present colony as the means within his power would enable him, having induced his Excellency the Governor, whilst at Bathurst, to instruct Mr Evans to proceed from thence and pursue his discoveries as much farther westward as his means of carrying provisions, the nature of the country through which he should pass, and the unforeseen occurrences, to which, as a traveler in an unexplored country, he might be exposed, would permit; and Mr Evans having returned with the persons who attended him, all safe, his Excellency desires to lay the following brief account, extracted from his journal and report of this tour, before the public, as a continuation of his former tour, which appeared in the Sydney Gazette of the 12th of February 1814. On the 13th of May Mr Evans commenred his tour of discovery, and on the 2d of June, finding his provisions would not enable him to proceed farther, he began to retrace his course back to Bathurst, where he | arrived on the 12th June, having been absent thirty-one days.--In the course of this tour Mr Evans has been so fortunate as to trarel over a vast number of rich and fertile vallies, with successions of hills well covered with good and useful timber, chiefly the rgy bark and the pine, and the whole country abounding with ponds and gullies me water; he also fell in with a large ver, which he conceives would become naizable for boats at the distance of a few Cya' travelling along its banks: from its course he conjectures that it must join its waters with those of the Macquarie River; 11 httle doubt can be entertained that their at streams must form a navigable river very considerable size. At a distance of at 60 miles from Bathurst, Mr Evans overed a number of hills, the points of January 1917. which ended in perpendicular heads, from 30 to 40 feet high, of pure limestone of a misty grey colour. At this place, and also throughout the general course of the journey, kangaroos, emues, ducks, &c. were seen in great numbers, and the new river, to which Mr Evans gave the name of the Lachlan, abounds with fish; although, from the coldness of the season, he was not able to catch any of them. In the course of this tour Mr Evans also discovered a very unusual and extraordinary production, the proper or scientific name of which cannot at present be assigned to it. It possesses much of the sweetness and flavour of manna, bat is totally different in its appearance, being very white, and having a roundish irregular surface, not unlike the rough outside of confectioners' comfits, and of the size of the largest hail stones. Mr Evans does not consider it to be the production of any insect, tree, or vegetable of the country; and from hence the most probable conjecture appears to be, that it is a production of the same nature with that which is found in Arabia, and there called "wild honey," or "the Almighty's sugar plums," and there supposed to be a dew.Where this substance was found most plentiful, Mr Evans saw the kangaroo in immense flocks, and wild fowl equally abundant. The natives appeared more numerous than at Bathurst; but so very wild, and apparently so much alarmed at the sight of white men, that he could not induce them to come near, or to hold any intercourse whatever with him. At the termination of the tour Mr Evans saw a good level country, of a most interesting appearance, and a very rich soil; and he conceives that there is no barrier to prevent the travelling farther westward to almost any extent that could be desired. He states, that the distance travelled by him on this occasion was 142 measured miles out; which, with digressions to the southward, made the total distance 155 miles from Bathurst-He adds at the same time, that having taken a more direct line back to Bathurst, than that by which he left it, he made the distance then only 115 miles; and he observes, that a good road may be made all that length without any considerable difficulty, there not being more than three hills which may not be avoided. From 'From the entire tenor of Mr Evans's narrative of this tour, it appears that the country over which he passed has even excceded the country leading to and surrounding Bathurst, in richness, fertility, and all the other valuable objects for the sustenance of a numerous population. Before closing the present account, the Governor desires to observe, that having accidentally omittted some particulars in his own tour which he had meant to remark on, he avails himself of the present occasion to notice them. When the Governor arrived at Bathurst, on the 4th of May, he found there three native men and six children, standing with the working party; they appeared much alarıned, particularly at the horses-but this soon ceased, and they became quite familiar, eating whatever food was offered them, and appearing very proud of some little articles of dress which were given them. Frequently during the Governor's stay at Bathurst, small parties of men and boys came in, and they always got meat and some articles of slop clothing, and tomahawks, which latter seemed to be highly prized by them. These natives are in appearance very like those of Sydney, though rather better looking and stronger made; some of them were blind of one eye, though not always on the same side. Their language being altogether dissimilar to that of the natives of this part of the country, it was impossible to learn whether their being thus blinded was the result of any established custom amongst them, or merely accidental: the probability is, however, that it is intentional, whatever might be the cause. A native who attended the Governor from this side of the Mountains was much alarmed at the appearance of the stranger natives; but afterwards, perceiving that they did not attempt to injure him, he endeavour ed to hold a conversation with them: their languages, however, appeared totally different, neither party seeming to understand a single word spoken by the other. Those men were covered with skins of different animals, neatly sewed together, and wore the fur side inwards; on the outer, or skin side, they had curious devices wrought. The Governor observed on one of these dresses, or cloaks, as regularly formed a St George's cross as could be made, though he could not connect that circumstance with any other which might lead to the assigning it to a religious ceremony. The manner of forming these figures must be by the throwing up a slight part of the skin with a sharp instrument, round the outlines of the figure. They appeared, judging from the neatness of the sewing and work on P these cloaks, to have made some little advance to civilization and comfort beyond what the natives of this part of the country have done. In other respects, they seem to be perfectly harmless and inoffensive, and by no means warlike or savage, few of them having any weapons whatever with them but merely a stone axe, which they use for cutting steps for themselves to climb up trees by, in pursuit of the little animals which they live upon. These natives never brought any of their females with them on their visits to Bathurst, and the Governor had only accidentally, in the course of one of his excursions from thence, an opportunity of seeing one of them. She was blind of the left eye, wanted all her teeth, and was altogether one of the most wretched looking old creatures that could be possibly imagined, com. posed of merely skin and bone. The Governor, on his return over the King's Table Land, had much gratification in beholding a cataract of immense height, which falls over a precipice little short of 1000 feet down into the Prince Regent's Glen, forming one of the most stupendous and grand sights that perhaps the world can afford. This cataract having been discovered by four gentlemen of the Governor's party, his Excellency has been pleased to give it the name of one of them, by calling it" The Campbell Cataract." By command of his Excellency the J. T. CAMPBELL, Secretary. DREADFUL MASSACRE. (From the Sydney Gazette.) A vessel named the Brothers, brings a melancholy account of the massacre of several of her's and the Trial's crew, by the New Zealanders, at Trial Harbour, at the estimated distance of 150 miles S. E. of the Missionary station at the Bay of Islands, being between the river Thames and Mercury Bay. The Trial sailed from Sydney on the 23d of May, for the Marquesas, intending to call at New Zealand, and there join the Brothers, which had a few days previously taken her departure for that purpose chiefly for the purpose of collecting flax. They remained a month at the Bay of Islands, and from thence adopted a south-easterly course, trading with the na tives as they went along. Making a short stay at a harbour which did not appear to have been before frequented by any Europeans, they named it Trial Harbour, and received very friendly treatment, with a promise of having a quantity of flax pro vided against the return of the vessels They They went towards Cook's Straits, and after running down a considerable extent of coast, returned to Trial Harbour. The natives not having procured the flax according to their promise, Mr Hovell and Mr Barnett designed sailing thence on Monday the 21st of August, but were attacked on the noon of the preceding day, and the decks of both vessels taken possession of by an immense number of the natives. Mr Hovell states, that at half-past twelve, A M. he observed a number of canoes alongside both vessels, but that from the friendly terms he was on with the chiefs and other natives, he had no suspicion of any design against the vessels, both of which were provided with boarding nets, through the interstices of which they bartered their commodities with the islanders. The Trial's people were down at dinner: Mr Hovell was on the quarter-deck, folding a mat, with a friendly chief, Narruroo, near to whom was another chief; the latter, on some signal, supposed to have been given by the former, sprung upon Mr Hovell with his club, and struck him on the back of the head; he reeled, half stunned; a second blow was aimed at him, which he avoided by rushing forward and precipitating bimself down the forecastle hatchway. The assailants now crowded upon the upper deck, of which they obtained complete possession, while several who had intruded themselves between decks, were opposed by the people and killed. Those above tried to ship the main-hatch, in order to shut the crew below, but two men stationed at the hatchway, kept them off with their mus Lets. Their numbers increased, and a rush tas momentarily expected. A constant fire was kept up from below, and the natives crowded all on the quarter-deck to keep clear of the firing up the hatch-way. The cabin sky-light afforded an opportunity of firing upon them there; the occasion was embraced, and two discharges drove them off the quarter-deck. They were astonished and confounded at the unexpected attack through the sky-light, which was fatal to several; they ran forward, still determined, however, to persist in their attempt of capturing the vessel. In passing forward they were again fired at from the hatchway, but at this critical moment arrived Jacky Warry, a native who had before belonged to the Trial, and by his directions to cut the cables of the two vessels, the crews were reduced to the last extremity. They soon drifted ashore, and the assailants, to avoid the firing, crowded in and about the long boat. A steady discharge of seven muskets at one volley, drove them overboard, and thus the crew regained the deck, of which the enemy had had possession four hours.They now saw the Brothers within half a cable's length, also aground, with upwards of 100 natives on the deck. The Trial's swivels were now employed in aid of her musketry, and soon cleared her. Mr Burnett and his people regained the deck of the Brothers, from whence they also had been driven, and a joint fire was kept up as long as the natives were within its reach, which did considerable execution. Mr Burnett's report of the affair states, that at half past twelve o'clock he heard a shout from the Trial, and immediately his own decks were crowded with natives who had been previously alongside his vessel; that he was instantly aware of the intended assault, and seizing a musket, shot one of the most forward. Mr John O'Neal, Mate of the vessel, and a native of New South Wales, for some time defended Mr Burnett against the attacks of several adversaries, with an empty musket; he was himself attacked, and fell, overpowered by numbers. Thomas Hayes was thrown wounded into a canoe, and killed on shore. Joseph Marsden and George Haliogan, the former wounded, jumped overboard, and were protected by a chief's wife; the latter rejoined the vessel, and supposes Marsden, who did not return, to be still alive. William Morgan, a boy, was wounded, as was also Mr Burnett, though not badly; and the next morning the two seamen who had been unfortunate ly killed on board the Brothers, were interred. On board the Brothers were killed Matthew Jackson, an European, and Tetia, a Pomatoo native; and Christopher Harper, wounded. NORTH AMERICA. PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE TO CONGRESS. Washington, Dec. 4. 1816. This day, at twelve o'clock, the Presi dent of the United States transmitted, to both Houses of Congress, the following Message, by Mr Todd, his Secretary :"Fellow-Citizens of the Senate, and of the House of Representatives: "In reviewing the present state of our country, our attention cannot be withheld from the effect produced by peculiar seasons, which have very generally impaired the annual gifts of the earth, and threatened scarcity in particular districts. Such, however, is the variety of soils, of climates, and of products, within our extensive limits, that the aggregate resources for subsistence are more than sufficient for the ag gregate wants. And, as far as an economy of consumption, more than usual, may necessary, be |