The Sun.
London, England, 1863-01-17 00:00:00

magician to convert her to an " iron-case ;" fourth,
the to be iron-cased frigate Royal Alfred, of 34
guns, 4,046 tons, 800 horse power. A few hands are
puttering about the Royal Alfred,but the remainder
of the ships on the slip ways are deserted. In the
steam basin the Enchantress, 2, paddlewheel de-
spatch vessel, of 835 tons and 250 horse power en-
gines, by John Penn and Son, got up steam yester-
day for the first time since fitment, and every part
was fc•uud to work in a most satisfactory manner.
Her official trial is expected to take place about the
22d inst. The other vessels in the basin consist of
the Prince of Wales's yacbt,Osborne, under repairs;
the Highflyer, 21 guns, 1,161 tons and 250 horse
power ; the Wasp, 13 guns, 974 tons and 100 horse
power; the Bulldog, 6 guns, paddle, of 1,124 tons
and 500 horse power ; and the Tyrian, Charger, and
Cracker gunboats, all also having repairs carriedout
in hull or machinery. Alongside the south quay
of the steam basin stand a long line of railway
ti ucks,each truck containing a 51-inch armour plate
for the Royal Sovereign, from the manufactory of
Messrs. John Brown and Co., of Sheffield. At the
north-east wall of the steam-basin is the battered
target frigate Alfred, waiting to be broken up; the
newly adopted target ship Powerful, waiting for
new experimental. armour plates for testing by the
guns of the Stork gunboat; the Pigmy, paddle ten-
der, and Leveret, gunboat, the latter tender to the
Dauntless, in Southampton Water, refitting; and
the Lyra, 9 guns, screw sloop, of 488 tons and 60
horse power, lately paid off on arrival from foreign
service at the Cape of Good Hope, and now brought
down the harbour for survey and repair. In close
vicinity to the steam basin stand a large number
of boilers and a quantity of new and valuable naa.
chinery, belonging to different ships building
and in commission. A private building firm
would carefully store and shelter the latter, but
Portsmouth yard contains no provision for such a
purpose, and the rule there is to store it
in the open air, perhaps for the purpose of testing
it by the weather before fitting it in the vessel.
Alongside the south jetty of the yard the Frede-
rick, William, screw line-of-battle ship, 82 guns,
of 3,240 tons and 500 horse power, is being
brought forward for commission in May next, re-
port says, to relieve the fiigship on the North Ame-
rican and West India station. At tb, sheer jetty
lies the Himalaya, screw troopship, Capt. Edward
Lacy, 3,453 tons and 700 horse power, after having
had extensive repairs effected by the steam factory
department to her screw shafting, stern -tubing,
propeller, and other parts of her machinery. This
very useful and economical ship is now again wads -
log orders for further service. A tremendous stock
of timber is collected in the yard, the greater por-
tion of which is American white oak and teak.

His Netherlands Majesty's frigate Daqtr..r sailed
from Portsmouth yesterday for Batavia., calling in
at Rio de Janeiro, on the completion of her repairs•
Admiralty directions have been received at
Chathatn for provision to be made on board the
line-of-battle screw steamer_ Conqueror, 86, 500
horse power, fitting for the first division of the
Steam Reserve, for the following supply of Arm-
strong and spherical solid shot and shell—viz., 560
filled and 2,000 empty 8-inch shells, 340 filled 32-
pounder shells, 30 filled and 20 empty of the Com-
mon and 20 filled and 30 empty of the segment
110-pounder Armstrong shells, 150 filled and 100
empty of the common and 100 filled and 150 empty
of the segment 40 pounder Armstrong shells, 50
filled and 50 empty of the common and the same
number of the segment 20-pounder Armstrong
shells, and 125 of the segment 12-pounder Arm-
strongs. Her Armstrong solid shot will consist of
60 110-pounders, 300 40-pounders, 100 20-pounders,
and 50 12-pounders, together with 2,380 of the
ordinary 32-pounder solid shot. Provision is to be
made in the powder magazines for 690 cases penta-
gon white and 72 cases of metal lined half.

The screw frigate Amphion, 36, 1,474 tons, 300-
horse power, which was paid off about a fortnight
since into the Chatham Steam Reserve, is to un-
dergo a careful survey at the hands of the dockyard
officials, and a report of her condition forwarded to
the Admiralty. The Admiralty have directed her
boilers to be taken out, in order that they may be
thoroughly surveyed, and a full report made of the
state of the hull of the ship, boilers, and machinery.