The Sun.
London, England, 1864-08-05 00:00:00

Naval and

gence,

We have receive id the following letter from
Malta, dated July 31 :—" The Egyptian steam
frigate Ibrahimia trriTed on the evening of the
29th, from Marseil Les, bound to Alexandria, but
having foand a telel ; ram awaiting her, with orders
to make the best of k ter way back to Marseilles, she
left on the mornini ; of the 30th, to receive on
board, for conveying to Egypt, on his return from
Europe, his Excellency Nubar Pasha, who for-
merly acted as the 3 linister for Foreign Affairs
.of
the Viceroy. The P elictn arrived yesterday from
Susa, with despatch es.''

The first of the 100-pounder 61 smooth-bore guns
has been received from the Royal gun factory for
ironclad frigates Research, 4,200 horse power, and
the Enterprise, 4, 160 ha rse power. The armament
for the iron frigate Act illes, 1,250 horse power,
which is to be furnished. exclusively with the same
description of gun, is d ally expected at Chatham.
Notwithstanding the ditrparaging statements which
have been made as to th e alleged smallness of the
battery in the Research and the Enterprise, both
those vessels now carry the largest gun of any ship
in her Majesty's service, with, of course, the single
exception of the Royal Sovereign, which is four
times their size. Were the guns on board the Enter•
prise and the Research worked by' other than
rianual labour not the slightest complaint woull be
raised as to the smallness of the batteries in each
of those vessels. In the opinion of all officers whose
views on the subject are worthy of consideration,
the present mode of working large guns by the old
system of tackles and handspikes is a disgrace to
the age, and unless some simple and easily work-
able mechanical arrangement can be adopted far
the monster 12-ton and 15-ton 300-pounder and
other guns with wttich it is intended to arm our
future ironclad vessels of year, it is believed that the
vor kin g of these guns will
prove a practical im-
possibility.
n accordance with instructions to that effect
received from the Admiralty, it was yesterday
announced in the divisional orders of the Chatham
Division of Royal Marines Light Infantry that
by conimanci of her Majesty, the names of two
officers of the division—viz., First Lieut. William
Henry Nantes and First Lieut. Alfred Emanuel
Otter, have been removed from the list of the offi-
cers of the Royal Marines. By direction of the
Admiralty the whole of the officers were assembled
by Col.-Commandant T. Lemon, C. 8., when the
letter announcing the Admiralty orders was read,
the letter intimating that her Majesty no longer re-
quired the services of Lieut. Nantes, and that Lieut.
Otter has been allowed to resign his commission.
The Recruit, iron paddlevessel, 590 tons, 160
horse power, was taken into No. 2 dock, Sheerness,
on Tuesday last, for the purpose of ascertaining the
results of experiments with the compositions to pre.
vent fouling invented respectively by Mr Crispin,
Mr Wileos, and Mr Hay. In November, 1863, the
part aide of the bottom of the Recruit was covered
with Hay's composition, the starboard aft with
Crispin'a composition, and the starboard forward
with 'Wilson's composition. The vessel was then
taken into Sheerness harbour, where she has since
been lying at anchor. The following results were
disclosed on examination :—lt was found that the
port aide, which was covered with Hay's patent, and
the starboard aft, which was coated with Crispin's
composition, are both very foul, a large number of
mussels, &0., closely adhering to the iron work.
The forward starboard, which was covered with
Wilson's composition, is, so fur as fouling is con-
cerned, comparatively free, and in a far better state
tl an the parts that have had the composition of the
other two manufacturers applied to them, though it
w ae evident that a slight corrosion of the bottom of
the vessel had taken place. An official investiga-
tion will shortly take place, and in the interim the
vessel remains as it came from the moorings for the
examination of the parties interested.
The authorities at Sheerness have been instructed
t.' bring forward the Mialetoe gunboat for the first
cat es Sheerness Steam Reserve.
The Clio, steam corvette, 1,472 tons, 400 horse
power, Capt. N. E. B. Tumour, now lying at the
Little Nere, was inspected by Vice Admiral Sir
Charles Talbot, K.C.B. She will leave Sheerness
to-day for the Pacific, where it is intended she shall
relieve the Charybdis, steam corvette, 1,506 tons,
400 horse power, Capt. E. W. Tumour.
The second company of Royal Engineers will be
i nspected at headquarters, Chatham, to-morrow,
pi ior to their embarcatton for the Mauritius, which
is expected to take place on an early date. The
command of the company will at the same time be
handed over by Capt. -W. A. Frankland, to Cap
R. M. F. Sandford.

Major-Gen. Sir Robert Walpole, K.C.B, who
has assumed the command of the forces in the
Chatham district, in succession to Major. Gen.
H. Eyre has promulgated an order to the troops of
the garrison, in which he expresses a hope that
the officers of the various branches of the ser.
vice will cordially assist him in carrying out
the duties of the service with that promptness
which has hitherto been exhibited. Prior to
relinquishing his command, Major-General Evre
assembled the field-officers and adjutants of the
various corps, and expressed to them, collectively
and. individually, his thanks for the co-operation he
had received from them during the period he had
held the command of the garrison.
The Philomel, screw gun vessel, Commander
"Wildman, has been ordered to be paid off at Ports-
mouth. She came into the harbour yesterday to
dismantle. She has been nearly four years in com-
mission.

The Himalaya, troopship, Captain E. Lacy left
Portsmouth yesterday evening for River, to embark
troops for Dublin.

Tao screw steam corvette Encounter, 14, Captain
Roderick Dew, C. 8., was paid off at Devonport on
Wednesday, by Admiral Superintendent T. M. C.
Symonds, C.B. This ship was put in commission
in September, 1859. On receipt of the despatches
detailing the Pehio disaster, she, with several
others, was ordered to assist in the intended
expedition against Pekin, Captain Dew was
selected for the Encounter in consequence of his
knowledge of China. On arrival, early in 1860, hav-
ing convoyed to China the gunboats Snap and
Bouncer, the Encounter was at once despatched as
pioneer of the expedition. After the fall of the Taku
Forts, Capt. Dew piloted the Carthage and the Gres
nada, which had Lord Elgin and his staff on board,
to Tien-tsin. On the subsequent advance of the
army on Pekin, he was selected by Sir James Hope
to explore the river. In the last light at Pilakao his
gig's crew turned the flank of the Tartar cavalry,
who attempted to cross the river. During the re-
mainder of the campaign Capt. Dew commanded
the flotilla of 400 boats on the upper waters of the
Peiho. The Encounter was afterwards in Japan.
Capt. Dew received the thanks of Earl Russell on
the occasion of the English and French Ministers
leaving and returning to Jeddo at the time of the
murder of the United States' Secretary of Legation.
AS senior officer at Shanghai in 1861 he was again
thanked by Earl Russell for the energy he displayed
in protecting the property of the British merchants,
In April, 1862, Capt. Dow was sent in command of
an allied squadron to Ningpo, then occupied by
40,00) Taeping troops, who, emboldened by nnexa
pected success, had amused themselves by firing not
only into the foreign settlemeet, but on our ships of
war in the river. In spite of efforts to keep the peace
a collision became inevitable, and on the occasion of
an Imperial fleet of war junks coming up the river,
our vessels were fired into, and a volley of musketry
descended on the decks of the Encounter. The cap-
ture of Ningpo against such overwhelming odds was
character:s.ed by Sir James Hope as " the best thing
ever done in China." The Encounter was ordered
subsequently to, clear the 30 mile radius of the
Teepings,
and C.:pt.vowraised and drilled with
of with
no Encounter's Marines, e disciplined force
Chinese, commanded by Europeans. On the E ucoun-
ter's arrival at Ningpo that great city was occupied
solely by the Tarpings ; trade was completely at a
standstill, and the whole country was given up to
plunder. Order was re-established by the joint
English and French expedition. An nrgent re.
quest was made to Capt. Dew that he should take
military command. Captain Dew, Lieut. Davis, and
Dr. Irwin are the only ward or gun room officers
who left England in and returneein th; ship. Six