coming over with their whalebone, traded for two days with our fifhermen; but the third day obferving them to be off their guard, and their fire-arms left at fome distance behind them, and that they were a good way from their blockhoufe, thefe vages thought it a good opportunity for attacking our people, efpecially as it was a Sunday, which is a fort of holiday with the fifhermen, and when every body's curiofity or avarice prompted them to run and meet the Indians, the two preceding days having been spent principally about the fifh.The Indians mixing with our people, traded with each particular man for his knife, or whatever cutting inftrument he had, almoft at the fame moment, whilst others brought bows and arrows from their canoes, and diftributed them among their own people and this being done, they inftantly, with one confent, fell upon our fifhermen, and fiabbed many with their knives, which they had parted with, but the very moment before. They killed 11 on the fpot, and wounded 16 or 17; whereupon all our people, that could, fled away to their boats, and got on board a floop which lay in the road (four or five, however, having a little lefs fear than the reft, got into the blockhoufe, and brought off most of the arms, killed one Indian, who was more forward than the reft.) They then weighed one anchor, cut the cable of another, and came away as faft as poffible, leaving their whole fealon's fith, furniture, trade, whalebone, and every thing behind in poffeffion of thefe favages. Our countrymen were 50 at firft, 11 were killed outright, 17 or 18 got off wounded, and of thefe two died of their wounds within a few days. The Indians had been fo prudent as to fingle out and make fure of the principal people: for they killed two masters of veffels (one of whom commanded the floop, the other took care of the fifhery on fhore) and the mate, and flew or wounded every boat-mafter, splitter and mafter-voyage, who are the chief people among the fishermen and fhoremen, being the catchers and curers of fifh. Thefe Efkimaux are a faithlefs and a cruel tribe, and have often furprifed the French in the fame manner, and are, notwithstanding, fo terrified at firearms, that a dozen refolute steady men, armed, would have deftroyed every one of thofe wretches, had there been 500, as they were on an ifland, and had five of our men kept themfelves armed, they would never have been attacked at all. We have had accounts during the courfe of this month, of feveral terrible ftorms on the coaft of America. At South Carolina, a hurricane arofe, Sept. 4, that has been attended with unexpected confequences; for the navigation of. Cape Fear river, from being the moft difficult, is changed to the cafieft and fafeft on that part of the continent. A new channel 18 feet deep at high water, and near half a mile over, having been formed by the prodigious influx of the fea, which threatened destruction to the whole country, Another form arofe on the 4th of October, which did incredible damage along the coaft of New England. The Griffin man of war, of 20 guns, was loft O&tober 25, off Bermudas, and 50 of her men were drowned. 30th. His majefty's fhip Biddeford ran on fhore on Hazebo rough fand, near Yarmouth; captain Gordon, and above one half of his men perifhed. Thofe who efcaped were quite exhaufted, having ftaid till Friday on the wreck, with out other fuftenance than a little raw meat and fpirituous liquor. His royal highnefs the duke of York, in the courfe of this month, vifited Bristol, Bath, and the western parts of England, and by his courteous and frank behaviour, has gained the affection of the people wherever he has been. The contract for oxen this month by the victualling office was 11. 9. Ild. for oxen; and 11. 15s. 6d. for hogs. Charles Pratt, Efq. attor31ft. ney-general, is knighted and appointed lord chief juftice of the court of common-pleas. Murders, robberies, many of them attended with acts of cruelty, and threatening letters, were never perhaps more frequent about this city than during this and laft month. One highwayman in particular, by. the name of the flying highway man, engroffes the converfation of moft of the towns within twenty miles of London, as he has occafionally vifited all the public roads round this metropolis, and has collested feveral confiderable fums. He robs upon three different hories, a grey, a forrel, and a black one, the laft of which has a bald face, to hide which, he generally hangs on a black cat's fkin; he has leaped over Colnbrook turnpike a dozen times within this fortnight, and is now well known by moft of the turnpike-men in the different roads about town. One of thefe threatening letters was directed to a gentlewoman at Waltham-Abbey, vowing death and deftruction to her and her's, with the moft fhocking execrations, if fhe did not leave 5001. in a certain place, or marry her daughter to fome young man at Waltham-Abbey in a month. Five perfons were lately burnt at Hartley colliery, in Northumberland, by an explosion of foul air. A whale 63 feet long was caft on fhore, lately, near Nairn, in Scotland. A fea cel, 6 feet long, 20 inches round, and weighing 30lb. was lately taken in a fhallow water, where it had been left by the tide, at Whitftable, in Kent. Heads of a bill for limiting the duration of parliaments in Ireland, have been agreed to by the commons there, and his excellency the lord lieutenant has been requested to tranfmit the fame to his majefty. Several fhocks of an earthquake were felt at Lima in December, 1760; and one, which happened on the 8th of January, 1761, was much more violent than that which happened in 1756. Accounts lately received of the unfavourable or rather hoftile difpofitions of the Spanish court, have occafioned a very great hurry at both ends of the town. Extraordinary councils have been held, prefs warrants granted and rigorously executed, the royal exchange crowded with merchants, notwithstanding the holidays, which fo many generally fpend in the country. This news too caufed the new fubfcription to fall 4 per cent. The Spanish minifter would have fet out on his return home, if not delayed by his daughter's being dangerously ill. Orders Orders have been fent to the cuftomhoufe for the Spanish ambaffador's baggage to be paffed without any examination, and to be fhipped with out any delays whatfoever. And the Spanish merchants here, having waited upon the earl of Egremont, have obtained leave for all Spanifh fhips, now loaded or loading in any of the ports of Great Britain, to depart in fafety, agreeable to treaties which ftipulate, that in cafe of a rupture, the fubjects of each nation fhall have fix months to return to their refpective countries with their effects. The Spaniards, on the contrary, have laid an embargo on all fhipping in their ports, till they knew how we behaved to theirs. It is computed that among the prifoners actually in England, taken on board of French fhips, there are about 10,000 Spaniards. The fate of the Spanish navy, by the laft accounts, was as follows: 16 to 24; 68 floops, from 8 to 14, befides fwivels, 12 bombs, 10 firefhips, 4 ftore-fhips, 39 armed veffels hired, 7 royal yatchs, 5 fmall yatchs.372 king's fhips. Englifh fhips of war loft, taken, or become unferviceable, 1761. Duke d'Aquitain, of 64 guns, Sunderland of 60, Newcastle of 50, Queenborough of 20, Duke and Protector, company's fhips, loft off Pondicherry.-Cumberland of 50 guns, loft off Goa.-Pheafant floop, loft in the Channel.-Sybilla armed veffel, loft off Gibraltar.-Speedwell cutter, taken off Vigo.-Emerald of 34 guns, Kennington of 20, and Port Antonio floop, broken up and fold. Great Britain, of 120 guns, Victory of 110, London of 90, Formidable of SO, Ramilies of 74, on the ftocks, building new, or rebuilding.-48 fhips (28 of them of the line) are at prefent laid up for repair, &c. Mrs. Canner, of Melton Mowbray, aged 50, was lately delivered of a fon. Some time ago, Mrs. Cook, a fhop-keeper in Middlewich, Chefhire, being in diftreffed circumftances, in her great defpair, murdered her two children, and then put an end to her own life." Died lately. A woman, at Arnhuus, in Denmark, aged 102. Three other perfons are now alive there, aged above 100. Francis Watkins, of Trevethin, in Monmouthshire, aged 102. Jane Prudhomme, near Guife, in France, aged 103. Francis Atkins, aged 104, who had been porter at the palace gate at Salisbury, ever fince Bishop Burnet's time. Mrs. Poft, of Great Cheverill, Wilts, aged 105. Simcon Simeon Aubert, at Autreville, in France, aged 109. Matthew Fuitlen, a burgher of Namur, aged 108. At Grofs-Zieteen, one Daniel Ammyer, belonging to the French colony, aged 113 years, and four months. He was born at Blois in 1648, and had ferved in the troops of France, Sweden, and the Emperor. He enjoyed an uninterrupted state of health, till within a fortnight of his death, when his conftitution broke all at once. Elizabeth Merchant, of Hamilton's-Baun, in Ireland, aged 133. In the courfe of this year, 1761, were chriftened at Newcastle, 623; buried, 408. Increafed in the chriftenings, 35; decreafed in the burials, 114. In the city and fuburbs of Dublin, Males buried, 1144. Females buried, 1148. Males baptized, 900. Females 1049. Increafed in burials this year, 234. In births, 299. The burials in Norway, in the district of Chriftiana, amounted to 6929; and the chriftenings to 11,024. Twenty-three women were delivered of twins, five brought three children at a time. Among thofe who died, 394 lived to the age of 90, 63 to the age of 100, and 7 Four thousand four hundred and' eighty children were baptized, and 7720 perfons died, at Amfterdam. Two hundred and thirty-fix proteftant children were baptized at Ratifbon, and 285 died. They write from Rome that. by the lift taken of the inhabitants of that city, there were 157,458, fouls, 90,239 males, and 67,219 females, of whom were 42 bishops, 2742 priefts, 4381 perfons of religious fraternities and nuns, 1725 monks, 878 ftudents, 1053 poor in the hofpitals, 27 hereticks, Turks, and infidels, the Jews excepted. During last year, 4989 children were born there, and 7149 died. A general bill of all the chriftenings and burials in London, from Dec. 9, 1760, to Dec. 15, 1761. Chriftened Buried Males 8183 Females 7817 16000 Males 10668 Females 10295 21063 At Vienna, 5672 children were born, and 6310 perfons died; 479 more were born than in the year be fore, and ten lefs have died. 21063 On to the age of 101. In the diocefe of Bergen, the perfons who died amounted only to 2580, of whom 18 lived to the age of 100; one woman to the age of 104, and another woman to the age of 108. At Copenhagen, 2749 children were born, 2593 perfons died. On the late transit of Venus over the Sun, June 6th, 1701. TERE we to infert all the WERE pieces that have come to our hards concerning this curious phenomenon, we should be obliged to leave out many things which cannot, we imagine, but prove much more agreeable to the generality of our readers. We must therefore content ourfelves with giving an account of the obfervation of the tranfit in the year 1639, made by our countryman Mr. Horrox, and the firft obfervation that ever was made of that phænomenon; and a table of the obfervations of the late tranfit, June 6th, 1761, made by feveral aftronomers in England, to whom we hear tily with fuccefs in reconciling the difagreements between them, and drawing from their labours fuch conclufions as may prove of fervice to aftronomy and navigation. An account of Mr. Horrox's observation of the transit of Venus over the Sun, in the year 1639. HEN Kepler firft conftruct ed his (the Rudolphine) tables upon the obfervations of Tycho, he foon became fenfible that the planets Mercury and Venus would fometimes pafs over the fun's difk; and he predicted two tranfits of Venus, one for the year 1631, and the other for 1761, in a tract published at Leipfic, in 1626, entitled Admonitio ad Astronomos, &c. Kepler died fome days before the tranfit in 1631, which he predicted, was to have happened. Gaffendi fought for it at Paris, but in voin, (See Merc. in Sole visus & Vous invisa). In effect, the imperfect ftate of the Rudolphine tables was the caufe that the tranft was ex When our illuftrious countryman Mr. Horrox, frft applied himself to practical aftronomy, he computed Ephemerides for feveral years, from Lanbergius's tables. After continuing his labours for feme time, he was enabled to discover the imperfection of thefe tables, upon which he laid afide his work, intending to determine the petition of the fars from his own obfervahis time spent in calculating from tions. But that the former part of Lanfbergius might not be entirely Ephemerides, to point out to him thrown away, he made ufe of his the fituations of the planets, From hence he forefaw when their conjunctions, their appulfes to the £x. ed ftars, and the most remarkable phænomena in the heavens would happen; and prepared himfelf with the greater care to obferve them. Hence he was encouraged to wait for the important obfervation of the tranfit of Venus, in 1639; and no longer thought the former part of his time mil-pent, fince his attention to Lanfbergius's tables had enabled him to difcover that the tranfit would certainly happen on the 24th of November. However, as thefe tables had so often deceived him, he was unwilling to rely upon them entirely, but confulted other tables, and particularly thofe of Kepler. Accordingly, in a letter to his friend, Wm. Crabtree, et Manchefter, dated Hool, Oct. 26, 1639, he communicates his dif very to him, and earneftly defirds him to make whatever obfervation he poibly can with his telescope, |