The Express.
London, England, 1867-07-18 00:00:00

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THE NAVAL RN

:VIEW.

Although the roughness of the weather prevented
the performanoe of even the simplest evolutioes,
the review—or rather perhaps under the circum-
stances we should say the inspection—of the fleet
at Spithead yesterday was a great success. Out-
aide the Isle of IVight the water was far too rough
to render it prudent to attempt the math /mere'
which had been contemplated ; but within the
influents) of that great natural breakwater, it was
only lively enough to preserve the spectators from
the emulation of wearisome monotony, which
inevitably results from the contemplation of
s perfectly unruffled sea. The appearance
of the long lines of vessels of war was
both beautiful and impressive ; the presence of cur
own sovereign and of two of the greatest potentates
of the East gave dignity to the occasion ; while the
crowds of steaniers and the swarms of yachts
which puffed and panted or flitted with their wide
spruad:ug sails upon the edges of the array of
sWpe, abundantly testified to the interest which the
people of this country feel in the strength and
efficiency of its fleet. The weather, although far
from perfect, was nut so bad as to merit the ex-
tremest condemnation. Frequent showers swept
across the anchorage, and the first progress of the
Sultan through the fleet was made during a
genuine, earnest squall of wind and rain ; but at
the most interesting point of the proceedings the
went lier cleared , and her Majesty, with her proverbial
good fortune, passed between the double line of
ships while the sun was shilling brightly, and all
the beauties of the surroundings, both on land and
water, were displayed to the greatest advantage
under the influence of his beams. The wind was
doubtless strong enough outside, but, as it came
from towards the south-west, the high land of the
Lie of Wight afforded a good shelter, and in
the channel it never rose to more than a good
(*Vial. They must have been very bad sailors
indeed who felt any discomfort from the motion
which was produced by wind and sea; but, never-
theless, we are afraid that some there were—
sanguine individuals who had overrated their
pow ere of endurance—who before the afternoon
was over wished themselves ashore.
The time of embarkation at Portsmouth had
been fixed not later than ten o'clock, and, with
a laudable desire not to delay the departure
of the steamers and to ensure their own passages,
most of the favoured guests were on board
somewhat before that hour. In this instance, unfor-
tunately, promptitude and punctuality brought no
reward. The trains from London bringing the
members of the two houses of parliament, ministers,
officials, and other persons of distinction, were
late in their arrival ; neither the Viceroy of Egypt
nor the Sultan reached their respective points of
embarkation anything near the time at which they
were expected, and even when they came a
long delay took place before the yachts which
bore them to the scene of action moved
out of the dockyard. The combined result of all
these causes was that the steamers lay moored to
their quays long after the time at which they
ought to hays been moving reund the fleet ; and
even after they bad got under way they had to
wait some time in the harbour before the departure
of the vessels which bore tho most distinguished
spectators enabled them to steam ahead to the
scene of the anticipated review. About 11 o'clock
the Viceroy of Egypt arrived in the dockyard, and
was received by the mayor and corporation of Ports-
mouth, who prmentedan address, and soon after the
salute which announced his arrival had closed,
another discharge of artillery informed all rho
were interested in the circumstance, that is, all
who were interested in the review, that the Sultan
had reached Gosport. His Imperial Majesty left
the train at the Royal Clarence-yard, Gosport, and
was conveyed across the harbour to the Osborne,
which had been prepared for his reception. As we
bare already intimated, some considerable delay
took place after his arrival, during which he too re-
ceived an address from the corporation, and it was
not until about twelve o'clock that the Osborne
got under way, and steamed at first
slowly, and then at an increased speed, down the
harbour. The Sultan, who was accompanied by a
numerous suite, took his place upon the bridge,
-and remained there until driven off by a smart
shower of rain. As the Osborne passed down the
harbour the crews of the Duke of Wellington and
the Victory, and the boys on board the training
ship the St. Vincent, manned the shrouds and
cheered lustily. The boys were far more numerous
than the men, and their clear ringing cheers pro-
duced a far more powerful effect than did
the hurrahs of their seniors in the service.
Close behind the Osborne came the Helicon,
which carried the Viceroy of Egypt and his suite,
and next to her the Enchantress, having on board
the Lords of the Admiralty. The Viceroy received
the same honours as had been paid to his suzerain ;
but in the case of the Admiralty yacht, although
the men stood in the shrouds with their hats off,
• they had received instructions not to cheer. The
next vessels to leave the harbour were the
steamers appropriated to the accommodation
of the Lords and Commons—the Syria and
the Ripon—and after them the other ships
which had been told off for duty upon the
occasion made the best of their way towards
Spithead. There was as usual upon such oc-
casions some difficulty in inducing the privately
chartered steamers, which could not be altogether
excluded from the water, to preserve anything like
decent order, and not a little inconvenience was
occasioned by the obstinate folly of the captain of
one craft, which was said to hail from Brighton,
who contrived to place his vessel right athwart the
channel, opposite the block house fort, just at the
moment that it was most necesaarythat it should be
kept clear for the passage of the departing steamers.
As the Osborne turned out of the harbour a royal sa-
lute was fired from thegarrison saluting battery, and
110011 afterwards the imperial yacht came in sight
of Southsea-oommon. The appearance which was
presented by this fine space of open ground was most
striking and imposing. The grand stand it is true
was rather a failure. Either its incompleteness had
occasioned doubts as to its stability, or some other
cause had frightened people away from it •certain
it was that it had not one-tenth part of ihe occu-
pants that it would have accommodated ; but all
alone the line of the coast, far away to South-
sea Castle were crowds of persons who cheered and
waved their hats and handkerchiefs as the Osborne,
bearing the Turkish flag at the fore, steamed
past. The lines and ramparts too were covered
with people, cad those who have had long expe-
rience of Portsniouth bore witness to the fact that
never before has the Common been so crowded as
it was yesterday.
The ships which constituted the fleet to be
reviewed were moored in two lines extending
nearly east and west from within a short distance
of the Spit buoy to a little beyond Ryde pier. The
port, or left hand division, looking eastward,
consieted ontirelyof wooden vessels,and included the
following ships :—Terrible, Victoria (flag), Donegal,
Revenge, Duncan, Irresistible, Lion, St. George,
Royal George, Mersey, Liffey, Liverpool, Phoebe,
sutloj, Dauntless, Nymph, Daphne ; while the
starboard line was composed altogether of iron-
clads, and showed the following formidable array
of vessels of the new era :—Gladiator, Minotaur,

Achilles, Warrior, Black Prince, Bellerophon, Lord
Clyde, Valiant, Pallas, Research, Royal Sovereign,
Prince Albert, Wivern, Viper, Vixen, Waterwitch.
The whole fleet was under the command of
Admiral Sir T. F. Pealev, who hoisted his flag on
board. the Victoria, while the starboard division
was under the direction of Admiral Warden,
whose flagship was the Minotaur. As soon as the
Os&true reached the Spit buoy, and bore up to
pass through the fleet, the leading ships began to
ire a royal salute and manned their yards, an ex-
ample which was followed in due order by all the
Other vessels of the squadron. The discharge of
the first few guns speedily wrapped the fleet
in smoke, but while tho view was uninterrupted by
this dense screen it was a pretty sight to see the
men lying out upon the yards in their white
frocks and ducks. Almost all the ships carried the
Turkish ensign at the fore, and all had the
white ensign, now the distinguishing mark of the
:vessels of the royal navy, flying from their other
masts. There were two vessels lying on either side
'of the fleet which were tlistinguished by their