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THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 4, 1863,

GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY.
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, That the Meeting
of this Company, to be held in London, on Friday, the 18th
day of September, 1863, will be made Special, for the follow-
ing purposes, that is to say :
To consider and approve an Agreement between the Great
Western Railway Company and the Uxbridge and Riekmans-
worth Railway Company, under the provisions of " The Ux-
bridge and itickmansworth Railway Act. 1561." for the use,
woraing, and maintenance of the Railway of the latter Com-
pany, and for other purposes.
To consider and approve a Lease to the Great Western
Railway Company of the Ely Valley Railway, under the
powers of " The Great Western, llerefbrd Ross and Glouces-
ter, and Ely Valley Railways Act, 1862," and to authorise
the subscription, by the Great Western Railway Company,
of a sum not exceeding £35,000 to the undertaking of the Ely
Valley Railway Company, and the raising the amount so
authorised to be subscribed in the manner prescribed by the
said last mentioned Act.

The Fortifications of Portsmouth.
4

It is a work of more than ordinary pretensions.
Like the forts on Portsdown it may be generally
described as of horseshoe shape, with five faces of
221 ft., 176 ft., 313 ft., 364 ft., and 400 ft. respectively.
It will mount 50 guns 014 its terreplein, double
Haxo casemates being at each angle. The terre-
plein is supported on massive brickwork arches,
which give the necessary accommodation for the
garrison, and the whole work will have an eleva-
tion of 36ft. over the surrounding country, its front
being well covered with earthwork. The diteh en-
compassing the fort is 15ft. in depth, 119 ft. in
width at the top, revetted in brickwork, and with
9ft. of water. Portsdown is thus the base of the
great pOlygon of works designed and now being
carried into execution for the defence of Ports-
mouth. South of Portsdown is the anchorage of
Spithead, and the proposed sites of the marine forts
which are to defend Spithead and Portsmouth from
the sea.

It has been said that es a people we have in the
matters of harbours and breakixaters cast our money
more liberally upon the waters than has been done
by others, but it is doubtful if the same can be said
of the precautions we have taken in protecting cur
shores aginst the ambition of other nations. We are
now, however, engaged in spending some millions
in strengthening the defence of the kingdom at all
its most vital points. As a natural sequence to such
a course a reactionary cry was raised, the work on
foundations for the marine forts at Spithead was
suspended, and at the same time it was understood
that the chain of forts on Portsdown would not be
proceeded with beyond a certain point until the
subject was brought formally before the House of
Commons in the usual course by the Premier. The
significant majority with which the vote on the
Fortifications Bill was recently passed by the house
sufficiently indicated the determination of the coun-
try generally to support Lord Palmerston in plac-
ing the defences of the kingdom on an efficient basis,
and the result of this decision is that the Spithead
forts will be proceeded with, and the chain of forts
on Portsdown completed. Several plans for the forts
at Spithead have been submitted, but none as yet
have been officially selected and determined upon in
all their details, nor is the precise form ire which
the Portsdown forts are to be completed yet agreed
upon. Both are subjects of vast importance and
general interest, and, as they form the salient points
of the outer cordon of defence constructing round
our chief naval arsenal, we shall say a few words
respecting them.

To authorise the creation, conjointly with the London and
North Western Railway Company, of Birkenhead Capital,
not exceeding £474,178 its., for the purposes of the Birken-
head Railway, under the powers of " The Birkenhead
Railway (Vesting) Act, 1E61."
'ro authorise the raising of £227,562 for the general pur-
poses of the Company, under the powers of "The Great
Western Railway (Capital) Act, 1861," by the creation of
Shares or Stock in the Capital, by such Act authorised, with
a Preferential Dividend not exceeding £4 10s. per cent. per
annum thereto, as well as to enable the Directors to issue
the same, pari passu, with the sum of £1,000,000 Capital,
which was created at a special general meeting, held on the
30th May, 186 i, under the powers of the same Act ; the whole
of the said Stock or Shuts to be subject to such terms and
co ditions as the Directors may prescribe, and to be offered
to the Proprietors of the Company in the first instance, and
afterwards the residue, if any, to be disposed of as the Board
may determine.

While Portsmouth is being thus engirdled with
a vast net of fortifications, it is impossible not to
acknowledge, on examining the general plan, that
in the channel of approach from the sea stands the
Achilles' heel of the whole plan. Only five hours'
steaming from the greatest military port of another
country, there is not at present existing one single
obstacle to a hostile squadron steaming into Spit-
head whenever it may choose, and bombarding and
destroying Portsmouth dockyard, its shipping, and
its arsenals at pleasure. It is imbecility at its ex-
tremest point to speak of any effectual resistance
which could be offered by the existing fortifications
now supposed to defend Portsmouth and Spithead
from such a disastrous result. They are old works
which would fall :o the ground from the concussion
of any guns fired from their parapets of sufficient
calibre to inflict damage on an iron-clad fleet. To
show the truth and importance of this statement, it
is here necessary to observe that the mouth of
Portsmouth Harbour, Southsea Castle, and Fort
Moncton form a triangle of which Spithead is the
base, with Portsmouth Harbour at the apex, and
that the guns at these three points are the only pre-
sent obstacles to the entrance of an enemy's fleet
from the sea. Southsea Castle is a very old stone-
built work, partially covered with earth on its flank,
and is in such a dilapidated state that not a gun has
been allowed to be fired from its walls for months
past, not even for blank practice, The front face
of Fort Moncton, which faces Spithead, and is sup-
posed to cross fire with Southsea Castle, is the
weakest part of the work, and would certainly not
bear the concussion from the fire of heavy ordnance.
In these two points, therefore, at the base of the
triangle, there are at present no existing means
for the defence of Portsmouth from a sea at-
tack. The batteries at the mouth of the
harbour are armed with 32 and 68 poun-
ders, and a few 110 pounder Armstrongs,
but they are useless as opposed to iron-clad
ships, nor will they carry guns of sufficient
weight and calibre to prevent iron-clads forcing
the entrance of the harbour. The knowledge of these
facts justly gave the Government the strongest
argument possible for the completion of their scheme
for the marine forts which are intended to remedy
this very weak point in the armour of Portsmouth.

To c ,nvert, from time to time, as and when it may cccur,
all or any of the Preferential 'hares of the united Company
which may have already been, or which shall hereafter be
paid up, into Stock of the like denomination. •
The special business will be taken immediately after the
half-yearly business shall be concluded.
RICHE). POTTER. Chairman.
W. FENTON, Deputy-Chairman.
Paddington Station, Sept. 2, 1863.

The introduction of rifled ordnance utterly
nullified the confined area of all then exis-
ting lines of defence surrounding fortified posi-
tions such as Portsmouth dockyard and arsenal, and
the lines had, therefore, to be considerably
extended, so as to increase the distance between
the points of attack and defence. In the instance
of Portsmouth the northern and southern extremi-
ties of its proposed lines of defence (the central fort
on Portsdown-hill and the marine forts on the
Noman and Horse Shoals) form parts of nearly a
circular defensive line, cf about nine miles in
diameter, between the points named. Portsdown
may be considered as commanding all approaches to
the port from landward (supposing that an enemy
may have Effected a landing on any part of the ad-
jacent coast), and the Noman and Horse Forts,
through the narrow channel by the Warner Light,
from sPa ; supposing also, in the latter instance,
that the Needles Channel is rendered impassable to
any iron fleet.

The position of Portsdown is nearly seven miles
in extent, and runs nearly parallel with the line of
coast, or the anchorage of Spithead, and its centre
rises to a height of 460 feet above Ordnance level,
anp is here at a distance of about 5,000 yards from
Portsmouth dockyard, while the large powder
magazines at Tipnor, and the shipping moored in
the upper part of the harbour, lie at its very base.
The vast importance of such a position and the im-
perative necessity for including it in the general
plan for the port's defence are thus evident, and,
although. the extent of the plan including Ports-
down somewhat staggered even Sir John Burgoyne
yet that able officer, in his evidence before the De-
fence Commission, admitted freely that the defence
of the port of Portsmouth would be imperfect with-
out it, and the fortification of Portsdown was there-
fore decided upon, and has been completed in its
first stage.
It is being crowned kith seven forts—
Purbrook, Farlington, and Cookhorn, ut its
eastern extremity, Wallingford at its western,
and Widley, Southwick, and Nelson inter-
mediately along its crest. 'These forts are being
constructed on an exceedingly simple plan, being
somewhat of horseshoe fo!ni, with the toe of the
shoe pointing inland, and the heel of the shoe to-
wards the sea of Portsmouth, but of strong trace
and prodigious strength, the base line along the
hill's crest. This finishing of the forms of the forts
at the base line is the most important point for con-
sideration in connection with the completion of the
works. A common-sense view of the question would
argue for a simple military road connecting the forts
along the hill's crest, and thus leaving the gorges
open, the latter standing towards Portsmouth, and
if they are only intended as a defensive adjunct to
Portsmouth and its dockyard, this is doubtless the
only sensible idea that can be entertained. It is,
however, said that the Royal Engineers strongly
advocate the construction of " iron-cased" keeps to
close the gorge of each work. It can scarcely be
believed, however, that such a proposition can be
seriously entertained. If an enemy once got suffi-
ciently close to find that a fort on Portsdown was
too hard a nut to crack by bombardment, he would
simply, as the hill is of a chalk formation, cut a gal-
lery or tunnel in the chalk, and blow the whole
affair, " iron keep" and all, into the air. So far as
the works have proceeded at present, their general
design, if left, as suggested, as open forts to the
rear, connected by a military road, has been magni-
ficently conceived and executed. At the east end
of the hill the works are the least forward of any,
but here may be seen the unusually formidable na-
ture of the " trace." It is commanded by three
works—Farlington, Crookhorn, and Purbrook. All
three have yet proceeded in their construction but
little beyond their formation of parapet and ditch
and general outline. Their height reaches 300 ft.
above Ordnance level. Farlington commands
the eastern point of Portsdown, and will
mount 18 of the heaviest guns on: its terre.plein,
with mortar batteries on the angles of its surround-
ing ditches, each battery mounting three mortars.
A sunken gallery communicates with Crookhorn,
which will mount 16 guns on its terre-plein, with
six guns in the angles of its ditch. A continuation
of the same sunken gallery leads from Crookhorn
to the main work at this eastern end of Portsdown,
Purbrook—which will mount 21 guns on its terre-
plein, nine guns in caponnieres in the ditch, and
three mortars in the ditch's west angle. It has a
nearly straight face of 240 ft., looking inland, the
open gorge being opposite the west side of Lang-
ston harbour and the eastern side of Portsmouth
harbour. The ditches surrounding the three works
vary in depth, according to their position, from 35ft
to 50ft. Sunken galleries from the interior of the
works communicate with the mortar batteries and
caponnieres in the ditches. The walls of the ditches
themselves are supported in their vertical formation
by chalk and brick masonry, and these formidable
outer obstructions are carried out generally in the
entire line of works along the hill's crest. At Wal-
lingford, the fort which commands all approaches
to Portsdown at its western end, the arrangements
are somewhat different, owing to its position, but
continue of the same comprehensive and formidable
nature. It will mount 56 guns on its terre-plein,
four of them being in casemates u la Haxo at the
angles. Caponnieres project into the ditch, mount-
ing three guns each at each augle, and have mortar
batteries in the rear. Sunken galleries communi-
cate between the enciente of the work, the capon-
nierts, the mortar batteries, and an advanced
covered way on the right shoulder, which mounts
three guns, sweeping the line of ditch. It stands
at an elevation of 140 ft. above Ordnance level,
has a right front of 520 ft., a left front of
326 ft., a right flank of 437 ft., and a left flank of
383 ft. Its gorge is as yet open like the rest of the
Portsdown forts, and looks towards the seacoast.

The Government plans for the defence of Spit-
head from a sea attack consist of the three marine
forts of the Horse, Noman, and Sturbridge, all three
to be constructed on shoals abutting upon the nar-
row deep water ways of Spithead. The two first-
named will lie south of Spithead, and be the first
obstacles to the entrance of a hostile fleet from the
Channel. The Sturbridge (built on the Sturbridge
shoal, off Hyde, Isle of Wight) can only be of ser-
vice after a fleet has forced its way into Spithead,
and therefore its use under any circumstances would
be very problematical. From its position, even if it
missed au enemy's ship, it must strike a friend, as
its shots in either case would plump either into the
town of Ride or Fort Moncton. It is situate at
4,500 yards distance from the Noman and Horse
forts, and is about 6,800 yards from the dockyard.
It stands, in fact, or rather is intended to stand, in
the centre of the ground into which an enemy's
fleet must never be allowed to enter, and by its fire
would injure its friends more than its enemies. So
well is the inutility of this proposed fort under-
atcod, that Capt. Tyler, of the Royal Engineers, has
not hesitated to condemn it in letters to the public
press, and proposed in lieu to erect a fort on the
Warner Rock, outside the Noman and Horse forts.
The three forts would then form a perfect triangle,
with the " Warner" as the apex and in advance,
and if constructed and armed as contemplated no
iron ship shnuid ever swim past them. All
parties appear now to agree in the expedienCy
of constructing these marine forts, provided
they are built to carry guns of sufficient power to
smash in the sides of any iron`ship that may come
between them. The Government plans have, how-
ever, been severely criticised from the date of the
first report of the Royal Defence Commission, and
various plans have been submitted, some on evidence
before the Commission. and others from non-official
sources, either to prevent an enemy from ever en-
tering Spithead at all, or for rendering it so hot
after he had got there that he would be glad to
quit it again.

Sir John Dalrymple Hay, R.N., when examined
before the Defence Commsssioners, proposed that a
boom should be placed across the channel between
the proposed Horse and Noman forts, and that 12
iron-cased vessels should be connected together by
chains ana moored inside in support, and that 12
vessels, under steam, iron-cased, should be em-
ployed, in addition, to offer the first line of defence
against the enemy. Capt. Tyler, R,E., in lately
reviewing this proposition of Sir John Hay, advo-
cates the additional defensive force of six steam
rams, worked by double or " twin" screws, inside
the forts, and considers that under such circum-
stances of defence, with a fort on the Warner Rock,
it would be impossible for any hostile ironclad
fleet to enter Spithead by its southern channel.
A plan has been proposed by Mr. W. Austin, C.E.,
for closing the passage between .the Horse and
Noman forts by means of floating batteries of pecu-
liar construction and light draught of water, con-
nected by chain cables with the forts, that appears to
possess a great originality of idea, with simplicity
and economy. So far these plans relate only to the
closing of the waterway between the Noman and
Warner shoals, through which an enemy's fleet can
only reach Spithead from the Channel by the
southern passage.
Another plan has been submitted to the authori-
ties by Mr. Pineo, C.E., of Portsmouth, a gentle-
man, by his position and knowledge of the waters
of Spithead, well qualified to give an opinion,
which, from its economical estimated cost, its com-
prehensiveness, and the manner in which it enters
into the extension and defences of the port, deserves
special attention. Portsmouth harbour is separated
from the outer deep waters by a series of shoals,
generally known 03 the Shithead shoals, which ex-
tend in a triangular form from the narrow mouth
of the harbour to opposite Southsea Castle, and
thence to Moncton Fort opposite Ryde. From the
harbour's entrance to Southsea Castle is the" har-
bour channel," about three quarters of a mile in
length, a narrow, tortuous entrance, and parallel
with it extends the Spithead.sholls, which run, or
rather trend back, to Fort Moncton, standing on
the opposite peninsula of land and nearly opposite
to Ryde. The triangular piece of land which thus
forms the shoals which separate the harbour
channel of Portsmouth from the deeper water of
Spithead anchorage, Mr. Pineo proposes to enclose
with two tiers of whole baulk cofferdam piles, with
tica and braces, &c., filled with excavations from the
shoals, which (the shoals) would then be of suffi-
cient depth in the area enclosed within this piling
for two basins—one at the base of the triangular
formation, to be an inner floating basin of about
200 acres ; and the outer one, at the apex of the
triangle, to be a tidal basin of about 120 acres, with
openings to allow of the flow of the tide into the

Although not strictly speaking belonging to the
line of Portadown forts, still it must be considered
" Portsdown" fort, as erected on7the low land at
about a mile distant from Fort Wallington, and
nearer the line of seacoast stands Fort Fareham,
the village of Fareham, which stands at the upper-
most head of Portsmouth harbour, being situated
between the two forts. Any attack upon the posi-
tion of Portsdown from the westward must include
Fort Fareham, which must therefore be considered
i conjointly with the seven hill forts already noticed,

STAMPED ....sd.

harbour channel. The cost of the construction is
estimated at £450,000 only, and this also includes
the construction of wharfs over the piling 200 ft.
wide, with hues of railway on the inner and outer
faces, a coaling depot for ships of war on each side
of the apex of the work, each capable of holding
50,000 tons, with a lighthouse over each.
In addition to the immense tidal and floating basins
which would thus be added to the resources of Ports-
mouth as a naval arsenal, the adoption of this plan
would have the effect of throwing the inmost circle
of Portsmouth defences from their present position
at the harbour's mouth to the extreme edge of the
outer shoals, the 200 feet outer quay room, or as we
have termed it, wharf room, affording magnificent
space for the erection of any number of guns of the
largest calibre. This measure would effectually ren-
der impossible the holding of Spithead anchorage by
an enemy even supposing such enemy had forced
successfully the channels of entrance, and for this
cause alone, leaving out of the question its other
advantages, will doubtless receive the serious atten-
tion it deserves at the hands of the authorities.

Whether the fort be eventually erected on the
Sturbridge or on the Warner it is evident from what
has been here stated that the shore batteries on the
sea faces of Portsmouth required altering altogether
both in design and in their powers of offence; and
this is now being done at the two extreme points of
the base line of the triangle referred to—Southsea
Castle and Fort Monckton. Southsea Castle had a
short time since erected on either flank two earthen
auxiliary batteries, at a cost of £15,000. These are
now, of course, useless against iron ships, and new
works have been commenced of a very different cha-
racter. They consist of a long arm connected with the
Castle, extended out on either flank, the Castle being
made the centre of the work, but it will be altered
altogether in its character. These flank works will
be curvilinear in all their outlines, and will be fitted
with platforms to sustain 22-ton or even heavier
guns. They will be iron-faced, and each embrasure
will be of iron on tbeThorncroft plan, and shielded.
On the right flank of Fort Moncton is being con-
structed a very extensive mortar battery, which will
be also corvilinear in all its outlines: and a similar
battery is now completing on a low bluff
adjoining the seabeach at Puckpool, a short dis-
tance east of Ryde. What is required now to arm
these two last-named butteries with is an improved
mortar for throwing monster shells, for the vulner-
able part of an iron ship is her upper deck, and all
we are as yet endeavouring to do is to smash in her
armour-plated sides.

Thus tar we have endeavoured to describe what
is being actually done, and what bas been proposed
for the defence of Spithead from attack by the
south-east channel. There is, however, a side
entrance for iron-clads to reach Spithead existing
in the Needles channel, and here measures are being
taken to close, if possible, the passage against them,
and Hurst Castle is the point selected. The
earthern auxiliary batteries which flanked the
Castle in a similar manner to the old flanking sup-
ports of Southsea have been removed, and precisely
similar iron-faced and embrasured works to those
Southsea is receiving are being stretched along the beach
from either flank of the Castle, with this addition, that in
the case of Hurst, the guns will all be mounted in bomb
proof casemates, and it will be, therefore, of a stronger and
more extensive character than Southsea. It is certainly
to be hoped that the new work at Hurst may be found
sufficient to close the passage between the main and the
Needles against an enemy. Thousands upon thousands
sterling have been lavished during recent years upon the
Needles passage, and yet the latest, or one of the latest,
works of the Royal Engineers—Fort "Victoria—stands a
monument of their folly, a shell-trap at the base of a cliff,
a thing that has been spoken of with derision by even naval
and military officers, and in the presence, too, of the
Defence Commission.

Mr. Craft's Visit to the King of Dahomey.

The only section of the British Association
which possessed any very 'special interest
yesterday was that which has been through-
out the most popular—the section devoted to the
discussion• of geographical and enthological ques-
tions. Yesterday it was unusually crowded to hear
Mr. Craft give an account of his recent visit to the
King of Dahomey. Mr. Craft commenced by re-
peating what he stated in the section the other
day,—
" That both his grand-parents wero Africans of pure
descent, that they were kidnapped and sent to America,
that he was born there and had lived there as a slave, Ile
was now fortunately out of America. He had been in Eng-
land some 12 or 14 years, and confessed—though he did not
wish to insult any American lady or gentleman who might I
be present—that he did not like America, and, of course
all negroes had reason for sharing that feeling of repug-
I mince. He now considered himself an Englishman of
African parentage, unfortunately born in America. The
subject for consideration was Dahomey. There was a great
deal of difference with regard to the people of that country.
Some extraordinary accounts had been printed of what took
place there, and those accounts had induced him to go there
and to ascertain whether those accounts were true or false,
and whether anything could be done to change the bad
habits of the people in that part of the world. His friends
were much opposed to his going, and said that the King of
Dahomey would be sure to cut his head off as soon as ho
laid hands on him. He felt, however, that it was his duty
to go, and at length a committee was formed for the
purpose of buying presents and making his mission as sue-
cesaful
as possible. At that period the Government had
given up Dahomey as a bad job, and felt they could do
nothing in the matter; and Mr. Layard, the Under-Sec-
retary of State for Foreign Affairs, after informing him of
the opinion hold by the Government, and saying that he
should bo glad to see him on his return, told him ho
candidly thought he never would get back again alive.
He gave him, however, a letter of introduction to the Go-
vernor of Logos, requesting the Governor to give him every
assistance and protection in his power. He sailed from
Liverpool to Lagos about nine months ago, and went to
Dahomey through the lagoons in canoes. They day after
they reached the town where the King was staying, mes-
sengers came saying that his Majesty was ready to receive
his visitors. Here he might observe that, in thus giving a
truthful account of what he saw and heard, he must not be
understood as apologising in any way for the barbarous cus •
toms of the place. He wished simply to state the truth.
The King also sent a rosewood liquor case, furnished with
cut•glass bottles, containing different kinds of spirits. This
was for the purpose of enabling the great men to drink to
the health of Mr. Craft in the name of the King. He then
got into a hammock, and proceeded to the palace. On his
way he saw in the market-place 12 platforms, 40 feet high,
150 ft. apart, and perhaps 101 t. or 12ft. square. On each side
of the platform was a man in an upright position, and quite
dead. These persons had all been executed the night before.
They were clad in accordance with the fashions of the
country, and in their hands or otherwise attached to their
persons were calabashes filled with native produce, and a
cord, to which were fastened two or three sheep. The
meaning of all this was that one Dahomey tribe held an
anniversary in honour of their victory over a neighbouring
tribe. When he came to the other side of the palace, ho
found thousands of natives assembled. As they passed
through the crowd of natives saluted them, and when
they came into the palace yard they found thousands of
the principal people of the country. The chiefs stood
on the right hand of tbo King, while on his left there
were 2,000 or 3,000 Atnaz,ms, attired in their gayest
costume. The King himself oat under a large tee t, and
was surrounded by his wives and a iew officers of the
Amazon regiment. When they approached the King they
bowed to him, and he returned the salutations. He was
was seated on a raised platform about 10ft. square, covered
with handsome cloth. He immediately rose and shook Mr.
Craft and his companions heartily by the hand, saying that
he was glad to see him, and thanking him for taking the
trouble to pay him a visit. He also inquired very kindly
after his health, and after the health of her Majesty the
Queen and of the members of the British Government, to
all which Mr. Craft replied that he believed they were very
well. He then inquired whether the Queen had sent him to
Dahomey, to which Mr. Craft answered No,' but that he
came at the request of a number of English friends of the
King's, who desired to promote civilisation in Africa, and
to encourage a legitimate trade between the people of Eng-
land and Dahomey. He also told him that, though they
did not came direct:y from the British Government, he
knew they had the good wishes of the G ,vernment, who
would be very glad if something could be done in the way he
had proposed. The King seemed at once to understand the
matter, and said it was all right; and he proposed succes-
sively the healths of the gentlemen who had sent Mr.
Craft, of Mr. Craft himself, and of her Majesty the Queen.
It was customary at the palace to taste a little of every-
thing that was offered in the way of drink, but visitors