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

Naval and Military Intelligence,

We have received the following letter from
Malta, dated July 31 :—" The Egyptian steam
frigate lorahimia arrived on the evening of the
29th, from Marseilles, bound to Alexandria, but
having found a telegram awaiting her, with orders
to make the best of her way back to Marseilles, she
left on the morning 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 Minister for Foreign Affairs of
the Viceroy. The Pelican arrived yesterday from
Susa, with despatches."
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 horse power. The armament
for the iron frigate Achilles, 1,250 horse power,
which is to be furnished exclusively with the same
description of gun, is daily expected at Chatham.
Notwithstanding the disparaging statements which
have been made as to the 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
manual labour not the slightest complaint would 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 for
the monster 12-ton and 15-ton 300-pounder and
other guns with which it is intended to arm our
future ironclad vessels of war, it is believed that the
working of these guns will prove a practical ims
possibility.
In 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 command 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 Wilson, and Mr Hay. In November, 1863, the
port side of the bottom of the Recruit was covered
with Hay's composition, the starboard aft with
Crispin's 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 side, 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, Sec., closely adhering to the iron work.
The forward starboard, which was covered with
Wilson's composition, is, so far as fouling is con-
cerned, comparatively free, and in a far better state
than the parts that have had the composition of the
other two manufacturers applied to them, though it;
was 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
to bring forward the Misletoe gunboat for the first
class Sheerness Steam Reserve.
The Clio, steam corvette, 1,472 tons, 400 horse
power, Capt. N. E. B. Turnout, now lying at the
Little Note, 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 shal
relieve the Charybdis, steam corvette, 1,506 tons,
400 horse power, Capt. E. W. Tumour.
The second company of Royal Engineers will be
inspected at headquarters, Chatham, to-morrow,
prior to their embarcatton for the Mauritius, which
is expected to take place on an early date. The
command of the company will et the same time be
handed over by Capt. W, A. Frankland, to Capt.
R. M. F. Sandford.
Major-Gen. Sir Robert Walpole, who
has assumed the command of the forces in the
Chatham district, in succession to MajoreGen.
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 sere
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 Eyre
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 cum-
Mission.

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

Trie screw steam corvette Encounter, 14, C iptain
Roderick Dew, C. 8., was paid cif at Devonport on
Wednesday, by Admiral Superintendent T. M. C.
Symonds, C.B. This ship was put in commission
in September, 1839. On receipt of the despatches
detailing the Pehio disasttr, 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 cf China. Oa 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. A!,Prer the fall of the Taku

Forts, Capt. Dew piloted the Carthage and the Greg
nada, which had Lard Elgin and his staff on board,
to Tien-tsin. On the subsequent advance of the
army on Pekin, be was selected by Sir James Hope
to explore the river. In the last fight 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. Dew was sent in command of
an allied squadron to Ningpo, then occupied by
40,000 Taeping troops, who, emboldened by unex•
pected success, had amused themselves by firing not
only
.into the foreign settlement, but on our ships of
war itlthe river. In spite of efforts to keep the peace
collisiona 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,
tare of Ningpo against such overwhelming odds was
characterised by Sir James Hope as " the beat thing
ever done in China." The Encounter was ordered
subsequently to clear the 30 mile radius of the
Taepings, and Capt. Dew raised and drilled, with
the Encounter's Marines, a disciplined force of
Chinese, commanded by Europeans. On the
iee Encoun-
ter'soccupd arrival at Ningpo that great city was
solely by the Taepings ; trade was completely at a
standstill, and the whole country was given up to
plunder. Order was reestablished by the joint
•

English and French expedition. An urgent 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 returned in the ship. Six