The Sun.
London, England, 1863-07-08 00:00:00

THE ARMY.

The Portsmouth division of Royal Marine Light
Infantry were yesterday inspected by Major-Gen.
Lord W. Paulet, C. 8., the general officer command-
ing the south-west district. The division was formed
in two battalions in brigade order in line, and after
receiving his lordship marched past in slow time and
in grand divisions. They afterwards went through
several brigade movements with great steadiness
and precision. At the close of the movements Lord
Paulet expressed to Col. Aylee, C. 8., and the offi-
cers and men on the ground his entire approval of
their general appearance and drill. His lordship
visited the barracks, &c.
Messrs. Green's ship Trafalgar, Capt. Taylor,
R.N.R., has arrived at Spithead with time-expired
end invalided troops from India. Eighteen deaths
occurred (luting the voyage, and two births. The
Trafalgar sailed from Madras on the 4th of March,
the Mauritius on the 15th of April, and St. Helena
on the 27th of May. Since leaving the latter place
she spoke the following ships :—On the 6th of June,
in long. 3 19 N., 23 22 W., the Dutch bark Vier
Gebroeders ; June 9, in lat. 8 31 N., long. 26 47
W., the bark Corsair; on the /sth, in lat. 23 30 N.,
long. 36 28 W., the Bremen bark Yuca ; on the
17th, in lat. 25 52 N., long. 37 2 W., the brig Valid,
and on the 26th in lat. 40 38, long. 3 25, the schooner
Premier. The troops will be transferred from the,
Trafaigar by Government steamers soon after noon
to-day. The invalids will be conveyed to the Royal
Military Hospital at Netley, and the time-expired
men to Portsmouth, to be sent on by rail to their
regimental depots.

The Wimbledon Meeting of the National

Rifle Association.

Though the actual commencement of the prize
meeting at Wimbledon does not take place until
to-day, the sharp crack of Enfield and small bore
was unremitting yesterday from 1.30 p.m. until
the darkness of the evening had so far advanced as
to make good shooting difficult. The running deer,
sighting, and pool targets were steadily patronised,
soon after gunfire at 1 p.m. announced that the busi-
ness of the day had commenced. This was the only
part of the day's programme in whidla the National
Rifle Association was interested, the remainder of
the ranges being given up for matches, from which
they derive no pecuniary benefit, but which they
kindly allow to be decided at Wimbledon before the
serious business of competing for the Queen's Prize
begins. These consisted of county matches between
Middlesex, Lancashire, and Gloucester, in which
the competition was for honour and a memento, in
the shape of an university pewter; the Middlesex
competition for the National Rifle Association bronze
medal; and a similar competition between the Uni-
versities of Oxford and Cambridge, the fortunate
winner of the medal being entitled to compete for
the Queen's Prize. All day on Monday, and up to
noon yesterday, nothing was going on but the final
touches to the tents, the targets, the mantlets, and
the sheds. Monday was, however, relieved in its
monotony by a totally unexpected visit of his Royal
Highness the Prince of Wales, who, attended by an
equerry, Capt. Grey, and a solitary groom, rode
over by way of Patney, and reached the entrance
to the ground shortly before 4 o'clock. Thanks to
the ceaseless supervision which they have all along
exercised over the preparations, Lord Elcho, Lord
Bury, Earl Ducie, Capt. Mildmay, and other mem-
bers of the council, had not left. His Royal High-
❑ess was received by them, conducted over the
ground, and the general arrangements explained to
him. He first visited the refreshment tent, and
inspected the means by which Mr. Jennison hopes
successfully to meet every legitimate demand in the
important department of the commissariat. Then
proceeding to the range of the 200 yard pool target,
Earl Ducie fired with a Whitworth rifle at the
right-hand target, upon which his Royal Highness
took the rifle after it had been reloaded, and demon.
strated that to his other accomplishments he has
added much more than average skill in the use of
the rifle, by making in the kneeling position a centre
not more than half an inch from the bullseye. Mbjor
Halford, who was introduced to his Royal High-
ness, then made a good shot in the sitting position ;
upon which theprince, being desirous of testing that
mode of shooting, fired several shots, making two
good outers and three centres. Changing his Whit-
worth for a double-barrel sporting rifle, his Royal
Highness missed with both barrels, evidently from
the rifle being incorrectly sighted ; for, on again
trying the Whitworth, an outer, jest under the
centre, and finally a bullseye, bore testimony to the
steadiness of his eye and hand. His Royal Highness
then proceeded to the curve along which the run-
ning deer performs its rapid journeys. Having mi-
nutely inspected the deer, and the mechanism by
which it is turned, the party returned to the firing
points, where amid a large number of spectators,
whom the visit of the Prince had brought together,
some interesting practice took place. Lord Elcho
first fired a couple of shots, which were marked as
centres, showing that no vital part had been hit. The
Prince then made several misses, from not being ac-
quainted with the sighting of the rifle ; but, profit-
ing by his experience, followed with a centre close
to the bullseye, as the fatal spot behind the shoulder
is called, another near the haunch, another in the
loins, a third farther forward, and then three centres
in succession. A few shots with a different rifle were
less successful. The rifle with which he succeeded
so well was a double barrel, made by Mr. Smith,
armourer to the association. His Royal Highness
' was so well pleased with the performance of this

weapon, that he at once ordered one to be made for
the next deer-stalking season. Before leaving the
ground his Royal Highness stated his intention of
visiting the ground again, most probably on the
13th, to witness the match between the Lords and
Commons, and the contest for the Alexandra Prize.
The match to which the greatest amount of inte-
rest attaches, from its affording a sort of standard by
which to judge of the progress. which the highest
class of rifle-shooting is making in this country, is
the international competition between the eight
picked shots of England and eight of Scotland. The
ranges are the longest at which, even in these days
of long range. competitions ever take place; while
the number of shots fired makes it next to impos-
sible that anything but steady good shooting can
succeed. The distances are 800, 900, and 1,000 yards
—l5 shots at each range. Last year the average
marks of the English eight reached 111.25, the
highest score being 121. On the Scotch side the
average was only 90.50 marks ; Captain Horatio
Ross's score of 113 being the highest. The efforts
made by the Scotch to attain a better result this
year, and by the English to maintain their position,
has led to an improvement in the shooting, which
appears likely to leave last year's shooting far be-
hind. Captain H. Ross for Scotland, and Lord Bury
for England, have selected their respective teams by
rigorous competitive trials of skill, which have re-
sulted in the selection of the following for England;
Viscount Bury (exogicio), Earl Ducie, Capt. Heaton,
Mr. Martin Ridley Smith, Lieut.-Col. Halford, Capt.
Hawker, South Middlesex Rifle Volunteers, Mr. A.
Ashton, Capt. Rowland, 55th Regiment, and Mr. A.
Salvia, as a reserve candidate. On the Scottish side
the choice has fallen on Captain H. Ross (ex officio),
Captain Ed. Ross, Mr. Farquharson, Mr. C. Ross,
the Master of Lovat, Mr. Colin Ross, Mr. Hercules
Ross, Mr. Maxwell, and Mr. Henry as a reserve.
The recent shooting of some of these gentlemen is
said to be the finest on record. Some idea of the
splendid shooting which is likely to take place may
be gathered from the following qualifying scores,
each competitor shooting twice over the ranges:—
Captain Edward Ross
Mr. Farquharson
Mr. Colin Ross
Master of Lovat .. 278
Mr. Henry
Mr. Maxwell

For the competition for the Middlesex bronze
medal 36 competitors mustered in front of the coun-
cil tent at one p.m. yesterday, and were told off into
squads. Captain Flood Page, previously to their
marching off, announcing that the Middlesex Shoot-
ing Association, which had been formed under the
auspices of Earl Grosvenor, was prepared to give
four prizes of £5 to those making the highest scores.
Though competition commenced at 1.45, it had not
concluded early enough to allow of the scores being
verified for publication. It is believed that Capt.
Field, Hon. Artillery Company, a member of the
36th, and Private Richards, of the Ist City of Lon-
don, made the highest scores. To-day the details
will be known.

The county competition, any rifle, any position,
10 shots at 600, and 10 at 800, resulted as follows:

GLOUCESTERSHIRE.
Total points at
600 800
yds. yds. Total.
Earl of Dude 3O 33 63
Ist Lieut. Penny, Ist Gloucestershire Ar-
tillery
Gunner Hyde, Ist Gloucestershire Artillery 31 20 61

Ist Lieut. Hanson, Ist Gloucestershire
Artillery, G l9
Gunner Hansom, Ist Gloucestershire Ar-
tillery
Sergt. Gibbs, Ist Gloucestershire Rifles 33
J. Baker, Ist Gloucestershire Rifles

G. Miller, lat Gloucestershire Rifles.... 35
Colour-Sergeant Clutterbuck, 6th Glou-

cestershire Rifles
Sergeant Holloway, sth Gloucestershire

Rifles

Total.. ~

Average

MIDDLESEX.

Sergeant M. Smith, V.R
Lord Bury, Civil Service . 32
Captain M`Gregor, London Scottish 2B
Private Porter, Queen's
Private Mills, V.R. .. 15
Sergeant Thornbury 34
Lieut. Hawker, South Middlesex
Corporal Pell, Inns of Court
Sergeant Brooks, 12th Middlesex
Captain Oxley, 19th Middlesex .. 30

Total 282

Average
LANCASHIRE.
Sergeant Kemp, 3d Manchester 34
Captain Fenton, 24th Lancashire
Ensign Brazil, 61st ditto
Private Halsall, 21st ditto
Capt. Heaton, 3d Manchester .. 36
Capt. Maxwell, Liverpool R,B. .. 28
Private Ashton, Liverpool R.B
Private Sprott, Liverpool R.B .. 3D
Private Formty, Liverpool R.B 32
Private Blanche, Ist Lancashire 33

Totali ...
Average
COUNTIES IN ORDER OF MERIT.

Lancashire

271
56.6

283
66.5

Gloucestershire

32
25
29
33

313
636

63.6

Middlesex

56.3

56.5

The match between the City of Edinburgh and
the City of London, for which accommodation could
not be provided at Wimbledon, came off at the
range of the city of London Rifle Brigade at Plais-
tow, last evening-12 men on a side—the Wimble-
don ranges, 200, 500, and 600 yards, five shots at
each. After a very closely-contested match, the
registered scores gave the victory to the City of
London Rifle Brigade by 3 marks. Verification,
however, of the target at 600 yards showed that 1
mark had to be subtracted from the English tar-
get, and 3 added to the Scotch, making the Edin-
burgh competitors the winners by 1 mark. The fol-
lowing were the competitors, with their gross
scores : On the Scotch side—Corporal Good, Capt.
Smith, Ensign Millidge, Private Robt. Bruce, Capt.
M'Gibbon, Private Neilson, Lieut. Kinnear, Pri-
vate Ferguson, Private Walters, Sergeant Yorslon,
Private M'Leod, and Private Thompson. Gross
score, 392 marks; average, 32.6. On tho English
side, Sergeants Stuckey, Heath, Albiston, Cohlbe,
Drane, and W. Walker; Privates Mackenzie, Win-
ser, Fran, Young, Foster, and Butler. Gross score,
391 ; average, 32-58. The English side lost the
service of two of their best men, who were compet-
ing at Wimbledon for the Bronze :Medal; the So otch
fired under the disadvantages of a long journey and
a strange range ; the result showing that the com-
petitors were very evenly matched.

MARKETS—This Day.

MARK LANE.

Frash up to our market this morning a very mo4lerate
supply of English wheat was received. Both red and white
qualities, however, met a very inactive sale, and Mom,day's
prices were barely supported.

The show of foreign wheat on offer was large. The
demand for all descriptions was in a sluggish state, yet
pzices ruled stationary.

Floating cargoes of grain were in slow request, on former
terms.

The supply of barley on sale was very moderate. Both
for grinding and distilling qualities, we have to report a
slow sale, at late rates.

Malt changed hands slowly, at Monday's currency.
The market was moderately well supplied with oats.
Good and fine parcels were decidedly firm ; otherwise, the
trade was dull.

Beans and peas moved off slowly, at barely late rates.
All kinds of flour were in slow request, and, in some
instances, prices had a downward tendency,

ARRIVALS THIS WEEK:
Wheat. Barley. Mali. Oats. Flom.
English.— 460 lO I 1,660,', I 250
Irish
830 sks
Voraign 1,610 I 860 39,980

BOROUGH HOP.
No change has taken place in the value of hops since we
last wrote. Good and fine qualities command a fair sale,
and prices rule firm.