The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-24 00:00:00

PLR, I'AI R.

TOYAL AGRICUL'T'URAL HALL.
--__
The MORNING and EVENING PERFORMANCES
attic Great Christmas EntertAnmeat will be continued on
MON DAY, Dee. 28, and daily daring the week. Morning at
half-past tWo, evening at half-past seven.
Lanes, Messrs. STRANGA and 1317141 APT.

AT Christmas many 6nffer from INDIGESTION,
and require some little assistance. P A.llll,'S LIFE
PILLS stimulate the digestive organs, and remove, without
the sligh est pain, uneasy or nauseous sensations, so tamiliar
to those who hive indulged a Pale too freely in good Christ-
mas ia-e. May be obtained of any medicine vendor, in boxes,
is ILd, 2s Od ; and in family packets, lls each.

EAUTIFUL WOMEN.—Alabaster Powder,
and the Magnetic Rock Dew Water from Sahara. Cir-
cassian Bloom, Arabian Soaps, and Alabaster Liquid. These
costly and inimitable toilet preparations render the hair,
teeth, and complexion beautiful beyond comparison.—Can be
bad only at Madame RA.CiI ii;TA'S, 47A, New Bond-street,
where she can be consalted daily. All communications are
strictly confidential.

Naval and Military Intelligence.

THE NAVY.
VALETTA, Dec. 17.—The naval Commander.ins
Chief, Vice-Admiral Robert Smart, has taken up
his residence in Valetta for the winter, and a Consi-
derable number of line-of-haaile ships, frigates, and
small craft belonging to the fleet under his corn•
wand are in the harbour. There is likelihood of some
changes occurring shortly among the ships here, as
intelligence was received a few days ago, rather un-
expectedly, that the St. George, 86, Capt. the Hon.
F. Egerton, and the Trafalgar, 70, Capt. T, Mason,
are to go home, to be replaced by the iron-clads
Resistance, 18, Cspt. W. C. Chamberlain, and Royal
Oak, 50, Capt. F. Campbell, from England. A
Court of Inquiry, conaisting of Capt. C. Fellowes,
commanding the Marlborough, and Capt. the Hon.
F. Egerton, commanding the St. George, was held
last week on board the Cossack, 20, Capt. W. R.
Rolland, to ascertain the cause of that vessel getting
ashore at Ayas, in the Gulf of Iskanderoon, some
short time back. It appears that, owing to the
darkness of the night and threatening weather, the
high land of Cape Khanzir could not be seen. The
officers were at their posts and the lead was going
at the time the vessel touched on a sandy spit that
runs out of the Gulf. She was soon got off again
without having suffered any damage, and it will not
be necessary for her to be docked, as was at first ex-
pected. No blame was found to attach to the captain
or officers. The Cossack left Beyront on the 25th
November, after being relieved by the Liffey, 35,
G. Parker, which arrived there on the 22d from
Corfu. The Pelican, 17, Commander Comber, was
also at Beyrout, having arrived there from
Athens on the 17th of November. When off
Lanaka, in the island of Cyprus, on the 6th of
November, the Cossack observed the Austrian
Lloyds' packet Europa on shore. She had a large
quantity of water in her hold, and had been aground
three days. Men were sent on board to pump
her out, which, with the assistance of a portion of
the crew of the French frigate Imperueuse, and by
working night and day, was successfully acom-
plished, and she was towed into the anchorage of
Lanaka. lied it not been for timely help thus
afforded, the Europa must have been totally
wrecked. The cargo was nearly all spoilt, and she
had on board a large sum of money in specie, shipped
for Byrout. Before the Cossack left Cyprus, an
Austrian gunboat and a steamer, which hae been
telegraphed for, arrived to render assistance to the
stranded vessel. On the 11th inst. a court martial
I was held on board the Hibernia, in Malta harbour,
to try John Chapel, second class boatswain of the
Cossack, for being drunk and unfit for duty. The
Court consisted of Capt. T. Meson, of the Trafalgar,
president; Capt. C. Fellowes, of the Marlborough;
Capt. the Hon. F. Egerton, of the St. George;
Capt. T. A. B. Spratt, C.B , of the Hydra; and
Capt. W. Armyt age, of the Magicienne ; Mr. Har-
rington R. Jones, secretary to the Cornmanderain-
Chief, officiating as judge-advocate. The Court
found the prisoner guilty, but, in consideration of
the good testimonials produced, only sentenced him
to be placed at the bottom of the list ef his class, and
to be dismissed his ship. It is expected the Cossack
will leave some time next week for Tripoli, and pro-
bably Tunis, to visit the consulates on the coast of
Barbary. Capt. C. Fellowes end Capt the Hon. F.
Egerton also held an inquiry on board the surveying
ship Firefly, for the purpose of ascertaining the
cause of that ship touching on a rock, not laid down
in her charts, during her late survey of the Corfu
channel, and coast of Albania. The proceedir gs were
merely formal, and the commander and officers were
of course exonerated from all blame. The Firefly
has performed every important and extensive survey
during the last few months of that part of the
lonian waters, which is very ineerrectly given in
the published charts, it never having been properly
surveyed, She has carefully examined and ad-
justed a long line of coast, and discovered five er six
dangerous sunken rocks previously unknown. It
was while taking soundings in going to an anchor-
age that she touched slightly on the Osprey Rock,
given in the latest charts, but which charts had not
been issued to the Firefly. Some of the rocks re-
cently discovered by this vessel lie in a sea which
was sailed over a year or two ago by the greater
part of Vice-Admiral Sir William Fanshawe Mar-
tin's fleet, and nobody on board at the time was
conscious of the proximity
of danger. This survey
is to be resumed at the commencement of next
spring. Yesterday Capt. Spratt gave over the com-
mand of the Hydra, which had returned on the 10th
inst. from Tripoli, to Commander Mansell, of the
Firefly, of which latter ship Lieut. G. R. Wilkin-
son, First Lieut. of the Hydra, took the command
the same day, instead of Commander Mansell.
While at Tripoli the opportunity was taken by
Capt. Spratt of ascertaining by chronometrical reck-
oning, and by signals exchanged through the tele-
graph with Commander Mansell, the exact differ-
ence of longitude between that place and Malta, as
had been done on a previous occasion with Alex-
andria and this island. At the request of the Pasha,
Capt. Spratt laid down several buoys for the guid-
ance of ships entering and quitting Tripoli, and
made suggestions which, if adopted, would at a
very small expense render the harbour a safe
anchorage in all weathers. Captain Spratt leaves
to-day in the Euxino for Marseilles and England.
He retires at his own request, after an honourable
on the survey of the
Levant and Mediterranean. The surveying tender
and ueefal service of 32 years
Growler, Staff Commander J. Stokes, returned on
surveying s thetha
tStkheer ks
ti a
tRe
mc
t.
tain of an island having
Ttmhbaeed ler tbs huyl it
an ofs tT. herutnrins In: aabn os nu:rays p
been thrown up there must have been founded on
misconception—perhaps the ap
nee mistake
of a orm mirage,
sty, oansc e p
some
there is no such islan
on the spot indicate) ; nor does there appear to
have been any disturbance oz nisi-leaving of Keith's
R:,,ef, the nearest shoal to Skeolti, to indicate any
recent volcanic eruption. her :Majesty's frigate
Magicienne, 16, Capt. AV. Armytago, was suddenly
ordered to sea on the night of the llth inst., to
tow in the French wicket Vatican, which had
phhaie/neddratfoohwreVatican has since left for Messina and
gdwrai brokenayt Cape Pasaaro, and had tele-
nassnisetaarnce.
charge on the 'efvheenl`kinlgsgci,cfietnhneeforelltouvirninegd
Capt. Selim Bey,
Marseilles in tow of the French steamer Indus,
which had been telegraphed for. `The Turkish
escapefrigatewhich ran in here to
left on trrhaeitv;iolenee of a gale at
re-
turn on Friday lost, taking with her as passengers
Mr. Goot, of the Malta and Alexandria Telegraph,
to replace Mr. Smyth, who arrived at Malta per
Hydra, and Mr. Stacey, superintendent of the Ben •
ghazi station. Mrs, Tufnell, Miss Gostling, and