The Sun.
London, England, 1864-11-10 00:00:00

and crew of the Florida. Another demand was
then made for our surrender, and Lieut. Porter an-
swered, " I will surrender conditionally." The
enemy then stopped firing, and the commander
called for Captain Morris to come on board ; Lieut.
Porter answered that Captain Morris was on shore,
and that ho as a commanding officer would come on
board as soon as he could get a boat ready. The
enemy then sent a number of armed boats to take
possession of the Florida. As soon as Lieut. Porter
was heard to surrender fifteen of our crew jumped
overboard to escape capture, of whom only six
succeeded, the remaining nine having been shot
in the water by the men on the forecastle and in
the boats of the Wachusetts. Mr Hunter was
wounded and a number of men killed. The enemy
made fast a hawser to the foremast of the Florida,
and, after slipping her ceble, towed her out to see.
I called in person on the President as soon as
possible, but could get no further information from
him, Oa the Bth I sent a protest to the President,
of which I send you a copy, marked 2. On the 10th
our agent was informed by the interpreter that the
President did not intemd to answer my protest, as
the Confederate Government had not been recog-
nised by Brazil, and that 1 could find all the official
correspondence in the newspapers. I then wrote the
letter marked 3, in which reference is made to a let•
ter from the President marked 4. Just before leaving
Bahia, having received no answer, I sent our agents
Mr Dwyer, to the President. The result of his visit
is contained in his letter marked 5, The Bahia pa■
pers contain a number of reports as to the killed
and wounded on board the Florida, all of which I
have thoroughly sifted and find no foundation for
the same.

At the time of her seizure there were about 25
tons of coal on board, most cf which was dust.
The list of officers captured is contained in the re-
port of Paymaster Taylor, marked 6.
The enclosed newspaper is an official extra, con-
taining all the Brazilian official correspondence in
reference to the Florida.—l am, very respectfully,
your obedient servant,
(Signed) C. MANIGAULT MORRIS,
Lieutenant Commanding C.S. Navy.

Gedney v. Smith,

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MIN.

SIR,—I shall feel greatly indebted to you if you wi'l
kindly allow me, through the medium of your valuable
journal, to state that I am not in the slightest degree con-
nected with the person calling himself Dr. Goss, and
residing in King-street, Lincoln's-inn-fields. This is
another of the gross cases in which a medical man is sub-
jected to annoyance and injury caused by an apparent
similarity of name —I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
SAMUEL DIY-GOSS, M,D., F,R,G.S.
24, Newington-place, Kennington-park.

The Fatal Gunpowder Explosion at

Faversham.

The inquest on the bodies of Geo. Sherwood, 64, labourer,
and Henry Keene, 28, labourer, who were killed by the ex-
plosion at Messrs Hall's powderworks, near this town, on
Monday afternoon, took place to-day, before Mr T. T. Delp.,
sans, coroner for East Kent. It was stated durirg the pro-
ceedings that it was 26 years yesterday since the last fatal
casualty occurred in connection with these works,
Mr James Tassell attended to watch the proceedings on
behalf of Messrs Hall and Son. The friends of the deceased
were not represented.
The jury having been sworn, proceeded to view the bodies
which were lying in a portion of the works near where the
explosion occurred. On their return the following evidence
was adduced:—

Christopher Johncock, labourer, employed by Messrs
Hall at the powder-works, Davington, deposed—On Mon-
day I was working at the powder boats from half-past 6 in
the morning until between 3 and 4 in the afternoon. I was
removing powder from the presshouse to the corninghouse,
and thence to the glezinghouse. The dust which came
from the powder I took back to the chargehouse in order
that it might be returned to the mill. At half-past three
o'clock I was waiting in the boat shed for more powder,
when I heard a report proceeding from the corninghouse.
I knew at that time that Henry Keens and John Sherwood
were at work then. I had been in thecorninghouse about
half an hour before, and at that time Sherwood was stand-
ing on the platform and Keene was sweeping up the dust
with a hair broom. That is the usual mode adopted. On
hearing the explosion I put on my slippers and west to-
wards the corninghouse. I saw the boards and materials
with which tne cortungnonse wee unnt euatterea stun urea
in all directions, but could not see anything of the deceased.
I assisted in extinguishing the fire and then returned to
the boat. I put the powder from the boat into the charge•
house and left. I cannot say anything as to the cause of
the explosion.

By a juror—When I was in the corninghouse the ma-
chinery was not going.

The Coroner having bri€ fly summed up, the jury, with-
out retiring, returned a verdict of accidental death, coupling
with it an expression of their opinion that " every possible
precaution is taken in connexion with Messrs Hall's gun-
powder works to prevent accidents."

This afternoon Colonel Boxer attended at the works on
behalf of tho Government to institute an examination into
the probable causes of the explosion.

Murder in France.

A double murder was committed the night before last on
the persons of a woman of the town nrmed Flora Vigreux,
and her son, a boy only two years old, residing in a low
lodging-house in the Rue St. Marguerite-St. Antoine. It
appears that early in the morning the landlord found the
key of the woman's room on the landing, and as a man
with wham she cohabited arrived at the moment he gave it
to him. The latter immediately entered the room, and the
landlord, hearing him utter a cry of horror, followed. On
the floor lay the woman in a pool of blood, with three stabs
in her chest, and on the bed was the poor child, with its
throat cut from ear to ear. A commissary of police
was sent for, and it was ascertained that the
crime must have been committed some hours before.
The landlord stated that the unfortunaie woman
had been visited by a stranger late on the previous
night ; that she came down to his shop sad bought a bottle
of wine, saying that her visitor had promised her 20f. A
chiffonier who occupied an adjoining chamber also said that
during the night he had heard persons quarrelling in the
woman's room, but paid no attention to it, as such things
often occurred. It is evident the poor woman struggled
hard with her murderer, for there was blood all over the
floor and on the window, which she had apparently tried
to open. Robbery appears to have been the motive of
the crimes, for the contents of a sot of drawers had been
turned out on the floor. The police are making active
search to discover the murderer, who is supposed, from
the similarity of the circumstances, to be the same per-
son who murdered a woman of the town some time since
in the Avenue Lamothe Piquet.

THE CONVICT MuLLEß.—Franz Muller, now
under sentence of death in Newgate, continues to
maintain the same reserve with respect to the murder of
which he was found guilty that he has always shown since
his conviction. The same sedate, cool, and collected manner,
too, which seems habitual to the convict has never forsaken
him since the conclusion of his trial, Up to last night he
had shown no inclination to confess, nor is it likely ho will
confess,even if he were incl ined,pendiug the memorial to the
Home Secretary, which will be presented to-day. Yester-
day, or on Tuesday, at his own request, ho saw his country-
man Haifa, with whom he worked in London end lodged for
a short time at the house of the Blythe. He has asked to
see other persons whom he has named, but for the present
the Governor has declined to assume the responsibility of
admitiing them until he can consult the visiting justices on
the matter. Yesterday, again, the Rev. Mr Walbaum, the
minister of the German chapel in St James's, spent some
time with the convict in his cell, and the Rev Mr Davis,
the ordinary, sees him from day to day. The prisoner also
continues to attend the morning service daily in the prison
chapel.

AFRICAN EXPLORATION.—M. du Chaillu has
addressed a letter, of which the following are ex.
tracts, to a brother geographer ;—Fernand-Vaz River,
August 20, 1861—I have felt deeply the loss of my instru-
ments, for I had to wait a long time for a fresh supply from
England; but these having at length arrived, in a few days
I start for the great interior of the African continent. In
this direction it is at any rate a terra incognita. It will be,
as you geographers aro fully aware, a long journey. I will
spend 18 or 20 months exploring the interior, and should I
find it possible to proceed, I will do my Lest to reach the
Nile. I propose then to f Jllow the line of the equator until
I strike the Great River. Of course I must be guided by
circumstancee. lam perfectly aware of the dangers and
hardships I am to encounter, and I know very well I may
lose my life in the undertaking, but I also know that my lit.)
is in the hands of my Maker, and that if he thinks best I
shall return in safety. lam glad to say I have succeeded
pretty well in my photography, and I hope to be able to
take many photographs. I propose likewise making a large
collection of insects, birds, quadrupeds, butterflies, &c., so
you see I will be pretty busy, especially as I must also take
numerous astronomical observations, for which I have been
prepared by good Captain George, R.N., at the Geogra-
phical Society. lam glad I shall have so much to do, as
it may prevent me from feeling too lonely.
'IHE RAILWAY TUNNEL UNDER THE APPE•
NINES.—The tunnel under the Appeuines, on the Bologna
and Florence line, has just peen opened to the public. Tra
yellers may now proceed from Turin and Milan to Rome
and Naples without any other interruption to the railwe
than the few miles which separate Civita•Vecchia from
Orbitello, on the Tuscan coast.