The Sun.
London, England, 1864-08-09 00:00:00

Naval and Military Intelligence,

In accordance with instructions received at the head-
quarters of the Royal Engineer establishment at Chatham,
a number of non-commissioned officers and men were yes-
terday selected from the depot and other companies at
Brompton Barracks to proceed to St. Helena, for the pur-
pose of being employed, with the Royal Engineers at pre-
sent at that station, in the construction of the additional
fortifications and other defensive works now in progress at
the island. The 32d Company, which has been stationed at
St. Helena for some time, will proceed to the Mauritius to
relieve the 25th Company, which returns to England on
the completion of its period of colonial service, the company
having been absent nine years. The detachments selected
for service at St. Helena consist of masons, miners, brick-
layers, and other artificers of that class.
Yesterday the 2d Company of Royal Engineers, under
the command of Capt. R. M. F, Sandford, was medically
inspected at Fort Pitt, Chatham, prior to their embarkation
at Portsmouth in a few days for the Mauritius, to relieve
the 11th Company of Royal Engineers, ordered to return to
England after 11 years of colonial service.
The Admiralty yacht Vivid, Master-Commander Allen,
yesterday embarked, off Woolwich-pier, 150 officers, non-
commissioned officers, and rank and file of the Royal Horse
Artillery, in command of Col. the Hon. E. T. Gage, to un-
dergo a course of gunnery instruction at Shoeburyness.
The Vivid sailed from the Royal Arsenal at eight o'clock,
discharged her freight at Southend, embarked a battery of
all equal number of the 13th brigade Royal Artillery, and
returned to Woolwich at half•.past two. The battery was
commanded by Major Roberts,
A number of officers and seamen belonging to the Turk-
Imperial war vessels Estonrel and Relepers Nusrett, now
at Blackwell, about to be fitted with steam machinery, yes-
terday went down to Woolwich and delivered over the
whole of their boats and other stores to the authorities of
the dockyard. The officers and crews, numbering about
150 of all ranks, afterwards paraded outside the dockyard
wall in charge of a senior lieutenant conversant with the
English language. Their peculiar dress attracted a crowd,
who followed them to the pier, where they took their berth
on board one of the river steamers for Blackwell,
The discovery has been made that a system of robbery
has for some time past been carried on at the large manu-
facturing establishment known as the Government clothing
stores, and a number of non-commissioned officers and
soldiers have Leen apprehended and charged with possession
of part of the stolen property. It appears that the frauds
were first brought to light by Ling, a detective officer of
the R division, and steps were then taken by the military
police to search the residences of a number of Royal Artil-
lery soldiers. The result of this prompt action was that the
suspected parties were found to have in their possession a
large amount of eerge, flannel, cloth, calico, loather, S:c.,
unmanufactured into military clothing, in addition to a
number of manufactured articles, the whole being
branded with the broad arrow, and evidently Government
property stolen from the clothing stores. At present ten
persons employed at the establishment are in custody
of the military police, and a most searching investi-
gation is being carried on, which it is believed will result in
the apprehension of other delinquents, A statement of the
facts has been forwarded to the authorities of the War De-
partment, and a military court of inquiry will be instituted
to report on the matter.
The first battalion of the 21st Regiment, which arrived at
Portsmouth on Saturday from the West Indies, disem-
barked from her Majesty's ecrew steamship Tamar, Capt.
Sterling, yesterday morning, under the superintendence of
Col. Shadwell, Deputy-Quartermaster-General, and were
marched into quarters in the garrison in the Anglesea
Barracks. The Tamar commenced coaling again yesterday,
and this afternoon will embark the 61st Regiment for con-
veyance to Dublin. The 61st have just returned from the
Channel Islands, the head-quarters being temporary quar-
tered in barracks in Portsmouth garrison, and the left wing
being still on board her Majesty's steamer Geyser and the
Lucifer tender, which vessels brought it across the Channel.
The hired transport Forest Righte,which arrived at Spit-
head on Sunday from Bombay, discharged the troops she
brought home into Government transports yesterday. They
comprised Careens Sykes, Ist battalion 4th Regiment, in
command; Lieut. Gardner, R.A, ; Lieutenant Hurd, 95th;
Cornet Creagh, 6th Dragoons; Surg.--Major Marlow, in
medical charge of invalids ; 79 time-expired men, 3 military
convicts, 10 insane men, 138 invalids. The invalids were
sent to the Royal Victoria Hospital at Netley, and the re-
mainder to the depots of their respective regiments.
The winter examination of candidates for admission to
the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, will take place on
Thursday, the Ist of December; and for admission to the
Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, on Monday, the 2d of
January, 1865.

Tht Royal Sovereign turret ship, Capt. Sherard Osborn,
C. 8., in dock at Portsmouth, is ordered to be fitted with a
band of wooden sheathing at her water line, and the work
has been commenced by the dockyard authorities. Iron
straps 3in. wide by }in. in thickness and about 6ft. in
length, and averaging about 30in. apart, will be fixed on the
armour plating by iron screws tapped into the face of the
armour plates. Over these iron straps will be laid 3-inch
wooden sheathing, scored to receive the straps and fill in
the space between them, which will be fixed to the straps
by screw fastenings. Yesterday afternoon the men were
just making a commencement in drilling the holes in the
armour plates for the iron-strap fastenings, and, as some
2,000 of these have to be drilled, a pretty correct idea may
be formed of the amount of work which has to be done be-
fore the ship can be again placed afloat, and her gunnery
and other trials concluded. The officials fix the time when
she will again leave the dockyard at "near" two weeks. It
will be far nearer two months. The course taken by the A-
dmiralty with reference to the Royal Sovereign just at this
juncture of her trials is most incomprehensible, as it will
have the effect of deferring the ship's further trials until
the autmnal gales have fairly set in, when, of course, they
will have to be made under the most unfavourable circum-
stances.

The screw steam gunboat Wizard, having been supplied
with a new bowsprit, was taken on Saturday from Ilamoaze
into Plymouth Sound, hut a leak having been discovered,
she returned on Sunday to the Davenport Dockyard.
The screw ateam•sloop Fawn. 17, Commander Charles
Wrey, went on Sunday from Plymouth Sound into Ilamoaze
to have some defects made good.

The screw steam frigate Aurora, 35, Capt. Sir Loop%ld
M'Clintock, from Scotland, arrived at Plymouth yesterday
morning, and was appointed to go up Ramoaze in the after-
noon to have her machinery overhauled.

The Dauntless, 31, left Great Yarmouth Roads on Sun-
day, after landing several coastguarderaen who had been
exercising in the North Sea.

We have been requested to state that the material used
for coating the iron plates of the Royal Oak iron-eased
frigate, as described in The Sun a few days since, was Hay's
waterproof glue, prepared by the Patent Waterproof Glue
Company, and that used on the bottom of the iron frigate
Recruit was Hay's anti-fouling composition.
The sailing ship Superb, 80, attached to the reserve at
Chatham, will be towed out of Chatham harbour at day-
light this morning and navigated round to the Thames,
where she is to be stationed for the use of the officers and
crews of the Turkish steamvessels of war, the Estourel and
the Relepers Nusrett, which have been sent to this coun-
try to be fitted with their engines and machinery. The
superb, which has been fitted up for the service for which