The Sun.
London, England, 1855-01-04 00:00:00

ARRIVAL OF THE HI.7IIALAYA.

The Himalaya steam-ship, Captain Thomas Russell,
steamed into Portsmouth harbour yesterday afternoon
and ranged alongside the dockyard jetty, at two o'clock,
and immediately commenced landing her wounded, in-
valids, and baggage ; but, from the want of that
, "organisation" which has destroyed the efficiency of the
army in the Crimea, the landing vote only partially and
imperfectly effected, and the scene was pitiable in the
extreme. There were plenty of small officials, but no
"head." Whether it was a naval cr a military duty o
provide for the comfortable debarkation of these brave
fellows seems to have been a problem not worked cut
by the local authorities at the time of the Himalaya's
arrival, as her own craw and a few of the better able of
the invalids themselves were the first to begin the work
of landing the crippled and their baggage. We saw no
Admiral Superintendent of the dockyard on duty, or
any Major-General Commandant of the garrison ; con-
sequently much delay, confusion, and pain were unne-
cessarily occasioned, and, what appeared more cruel
than all the rest, the luggage of all landed era.:
ransacked on the Open jetty, before a single officer or
man was allowed to leave for home or hospital. This
was a disgraceful exhibition, and one as painful to the
few Custom-house officers who were compelled to per-
form the duty as it was to a bystander to witness.
Smell the Government in town ought to have proviJed
for the baggage of the wounded being examined or passed
11 in a different manner, or else have augmented the
Portsmouth Customs' staff to a degree proportionate
Ito the urgency of the case. Although the place of land-
ing these brave invalids was flanked on one side by the
great and celebrated naval hospital of 'Hasler, and
by a newly-erected and most capacious military hospital
in Portsmouth garrison on the ether, and although the
arrival of the Himalaya had been known 24 hours at
least, yet there were no ambulance conveyances at hand
to receive them when the ship hauled alongside the dock
yard to land her sickly troops, nor were men at hand to
render aid ar.d support the sick without the ambulances.
Indeed the Nature of the accommodation on the spot may
be guessed from the fact that a number of the comrades
of such as were wholly or partially footless, legless, arm-
less, or eyele-,s, helped from the ship to the jetty their
more crippled and more helpless fellow-sufferers, where
they set then, down on their own baggage, a log of
timber, or anything that afforded a seat, or on the damp
deck of the jetty. Eventually, however, a repre3enta-
tive of the Military Governorship of Portsmouth IT.
peered. Lord Methuen, Colonel of the Royal Wilts
Militia, with a fatigue party of about 40 men of that
regiment, gave them some assistance, and, on the ar-
rival of some eight or ten stretchers from the medical
department at Portsee, under the direction of Dr.
Robinson, the worst of the wounded patients (patient,
indeed, the poor fellows were under all these trials) were
placed in them, and removed to sick quarters. The
Brigade-Major of Portsmouth garrison, Major Dalgetty,
eventually arrived at the scene of confusion, but at half-
past 3 very little had been done to facilitate the disem-
barkation of those who arrived in the port at 2 o'clock
on Tuesday, and we understood that not above 50 had
been landed, and but few others appeared likely to be
landed last night, or until "arrangements" (that's the
official term) could be made. At the time this despatch
left, however (7.30 p.m.), we are glad to state all the
wounded had been got out of the ship, and by means of
omnibuses got away to sick quarters.-