is very full, owing to the rejoicings at the successful laying of the
cable, and many of our fellow-passengers were obliged to get lodgings
where they could.

We found that Lord Napier was in the hotel, so we sent our letters to
him, and had a long visit from him this morning.

Two topics seem at present to occupy the minds of everybody here; one,
the successful laying of the cable, the other the burning of the
quarantine buildings on Staten Island. We were quite unconscious, when
passing the spot yesterday, that the whole of these buildings had been
destroyed on the preceding night by an incendiary mob; for such we must
style the miscreants, although they comprised a large portion, it is
said, of the influential inhabitants of the place. The alleged reason
was that the Quarantine establishment was a nuisance, and the residents
had for months been boasting of their intention to destroy the obnoxious
buildings. The miserable inmates would have perished in the flames, had
not some, more charitable than the rest, dragged them from their beds.
The Yellow Fever Hospital is destroyed, and the houses of the physicians
and health officers are burnt to the ground. At the very same moment New
York itself was the scene of the splendid festivities in honour of the
successful laying of the Atlantic Telegraph Cable, to which we have
alluded.

We came in for the _finale_ of these yesterday, when the streets were
still much decorated. In Trinity Church we saw these decorations
undisturbed: the floral ornaments in front of the altar were more
remarkable, however, for their profusion than for their good taste. On a
temporary screen, consisting of three pointed gothic arches, stood a
cross of considerable dimensions, the screen and cross being together