The Sun.
London, England, 1864-12-24 00:00:00

MALTA.

DEC. 16.
Sir Henry Storks, the new Governor, reached
Valetta, from Marseilles, on the 30th ultimo. The
Malta Observer of the Ist instant thus reports his
arrival and entrance on office
" We are glad to announce the arrival in Malta
of our newly appointed Gouernor, his Excellency
Sir Henry Storks, who, attended by Colonel Peel,
Military Secretary, and Lieut. Strahan, A.D.C.,
disembarked from on board H.M.S. Psyche yes-
terday at noon, under the salute due to his high
rqnk. A guard of honour furnished by the Ist.
22d Regiment, and the chief civil, military, and
naval authorities, received his Excellency on land-
ing at the Calcara-gate.
" Strada Reale was occupied by a great number
of the inhabitants, many of whom respectfully
saluted his Excellency on driving through the prin-
cipal streets of the city; and the salutations were
courteously acknowledged. Soon after the entry
of Sir Henry Storks into the Palace, her Majesty's
commission appointing his Excellency to be Go-
vernor and Commander-in• Chief in and over the
Island of Malta and its dependencies, was read and

promulgated by Sir Victor Houlton, Chief Secretary
!o Government, in the Hall of St. Michael and St.
George, in the presence of the consti;uted anthori-

ties, and a considerable number of the inhabitants.
His Excellency then took the customary oaths of
office, which were administered to him by Sir A.
Micallef, the President of the Law Courts. Irames
niately afterwards a proclamation was issue(' an-
nouncing that his Excellency had assumed the ad-
ministration of the Government; and that all ffi-
cers, civil and military, and all other her Majesty's
subjects, and persons inhabiting the Island of Malta
and its dependencies, were required to be obedient,
aiding, and assisting unto him in the execution of
the powers and authorities vested in him by virtue
of the said commission."

The following naval intelligrnce of the week is
published in the Malta Times of to-day (Dec. 16) :
" The Revenge, 73, bearing the fl rg of Rear-
Admiral H. R. Yelverton, C. 8., Captain the Hon.
F. A. Foley, arrived on Sunday evening at 6 o'clock
from Tunis. She left Malta on Saturday, the sth
of Navember, and arrived at Syracuse on the fol-
lowing morning, whets she saluted the lealian flag
with 21 guns, vi bich compliment was returned b)
the garrison with an equal numher of guns. C,
Wednesday morning, 9th November, she proceeded
to Palermo, and reached that port on the morning of
the 10th, when the usual salutes were again ex-
changed, and the customary visits of ceremony took
place between the English Admiral, the Governor-
General of Sicily, and other high officials of the
town. At the close of a week (16th Nov.), which was
very agreeably spent in visiting the different ob-
jects of interest in that delightful part of Sicily,
the Revenge sailed for Palma Bay, in the Island or
Sardinia, and on her voyage to that port enconn
tered a succession of strong north westerly gales,
in which she carried away her main topsail yard,
sprung her crosejack-yard, and split several of her
sails. In the dangerous work of repairing these
damages, during the violence of the gale, not the
least accident of any kind occurred, which says
much for the order and discipline maintained on
board this magnificent ship. From Palma Bay,
which she entered on the 21st November. She
proceeded, after a stay of three days, to Port
Mahon, in the Island of Minorca, staying there
ten days. At this plats extensive fortifies-
' tions are being erected at the northern
entrance of the harbour. The forts and outworks
extend over a large area, and are intended, when
complete, to mount 1,000 guns, while the requisite
garrison will be from 10,000 to 12,000 men. These
works were commenced about seven years ago, and
are expected to occupy Some six years more before
completion. There are at present about 1,000 men
employed in their construction, drawn chiefly from
the Artillery, Engineers, and infantry
which form
the garrison. Oa the 6th December the Revenge
left Port Mahon for 'Tunis, arriving in the bay on
the evening of the Btb,having experienced calms and
light variable winds the Whole way. There were
at Tunis the French iron-clad frigate Invincible,
and the aviso L'Actif, Italian corvette Etna, and
English gun vessel Tyran. Her Majesty's corvette
Racer, 11, arrived at Tunis from Malta on the 9th
December, the evening previous to the departure
of the Revenge for this island.
"On Tuesday morning the Gibraltar, 81 (bearing
the flag of Vice Admiral Smart, K.H.), Capt. J. C.
Prevost; the Meeanee, 60, Captain G. Wade-
house; the Orlando,
46, Capt. G. G. Randolph ;
and the Resistance, iron-clad, 16, Capt. W. C.
Chamberlain, left Malta harbour to exercise their
crews firing at a target, and returned again the
same evening.

" Capt. J. C. Prevost, commanding H.M.S.
Gibraltar, who has been appointed Captain of the
Gibraltar Dockyard, in place of Capt. Otnmanney,
promoted to Rear Admiral, will, it is said, shortly
proceed in his ship to the Rock, where, it is ex-
pected, his successor, Capt. R. Coote, will meet him,
to take the command of that ship, and return with
her to Malta.''

DECEMBER 17.
Her Majesty's ship Victoria arrived this morning at six
o,clock. She will hoist the Admiral's flag, under a salute
at noon.

On Thursday the whole of the marines of the squadron
landed at Calcara Gate, under the command of Captain
Arthur Ellis, senior captain of the Royal Marines on the
station, and marched out into the cauntry, returning on
board their respective ships in the afternoon. They were
iu heavy marching order, and presented a good appearance,
especially the Eif tilllerY, which are as fine a body of men as
can be seen anywhere, their new uniform and " busbies"
attracting no little attention.
The day previous a grand review of all the troops in gar-
rison was held on the .Floriana parade-ground, in the pre-
sence of his Excellency Lieut.-General Sir Henry Storks,

OUTRAGE ON NATURE.—The practice of defacing
with great advertisements rocks, trees, and bridges, in spots
visited for their remarkable beauty, is extending in Canada.
A correspondent of the Montreal Gazette_ writes :—" This
morning I find a circular among my letters, in which an
advertising agent coolly proposes to deface the country in
the most systematic manner, carrying with him a corps of
bill-posters, painters, &c,, to put advertisements on the
prominent rocks, bridges, and fences,' which he designates
as the most novel as well as the cheapest way of advertis-
ing.' " Some of the loveliest glens and vales in the White
Mountains and other parts of the States are barbarously
disfigured with ineffaceable advertisements of quack medi-
cines. A bill is to be introduced into the New York Legis-
!attire making this aitgraceful Practice penal,