The Sun.
London, England, 1865-11-15 00:00:00

THE WEST COAST OF AFRICA

LIVERPOOL, Nov. 15.

The steamship Ethiope, with the mails from the
West Coast of Africa, Teneriffe, and Madeira, arrived
here this morning. Her dates are :—Benin, Sept.
25 ; Cameroons, Sept. 20; Old Calabar, Oct. 2 ;
Fernando Po, Oct. 3 ; 'Brass River, 5 ; Nun, 5 ;
Bonny and Lagros, 8 ; Accra, 10 ; Cape Coast
Castle, 12 ; Cape Palmas, 14 ; Sierra Leone, 21 ;
Bathurst, 25 ; Teneriffe, Nov. 1; and Madeira, 4th
inst. She brings 3,530 oz. of gold dust, and
13,000 sovereigns in specie.
Business was unchanged at the different points at
which the Ethiope called.
At Lagos communication with the interior re-
mained closed.
Native wars prevailed at Sierra Leone.

INDIA.
BOMBAY, Nov. 14th, 1865.
Col. Bruce signed treaty of peace with Bootan in
public Durbar yesterday.

FRANCE.

PARIS, N ov. 15.

The Moniteur of this morning says :—" The Paris
journals have published details of projected reduc-
tions in the strength of the army, which are com-
pletely erroneous. h order to show how little
foundation there is fox this intelligence, it is suffi-
cient to state that, if the Emperor has determined
in principle upon the reduction of the war expendi-
ture, the means by «hich this reduction will be
accomplished has not yet been decided upon."
The Emperor and tle Empress were received on
their arrival at Compiegne by the Prefect of the
Oise, the Sub-Prefect cf Compiegne, the mayor of
the town, and the principal authorities. The impe-
rial party proceeded to the palace in carriages con-
ducted by postilions, .and escorted by a detachment
of Cent-Gardes and Dragoons of the Empress.
Dinner took place at seven o'clock in the
Galerie-Neuve. The son of Dr. Conneau
accompanied the Prince Imperial. Yesterday
a grand banquet was given by the Emperor
in the Galerie des Fetes to the authorities of the
town. The artistes of the Vaudeville Theatre are
to perform the Famine Benoiton at the palace on
Friday.

The journals of Algiers state that an attempted
murder had taken place in the open market of that
city. Two Maltese second-hand clothes sellers were
quarrelling, when one of them drew a knife from
his pocket and stabbed the other in the abdomen.
The wounded man is lying in a dangerous state.
The assailant was arrested, and did not attempt to
deny his crime.
"At last," says the Currier de Marseille, " we
can announce with certainty that the cholera has
completely disappeared from this city audits environs.
The sanitary state is perfect, and the number of
deaths below the ordinary average. Travellers are
returning to us. Yesterday's trains brought a great
number of strangers, chiefij English, on their way
to the thermal stations of the South, and who will
be induced to remain some days with us by reason
of the fine weather.

The Prefect of the Var has just issued an order
rendering attendance at the communal school obli-,
gatory for the children inscribed on the roll of
public assistance from the age of six to twelve years.
A telegraphic despatch has been sent by the Pre-
fect of the Loiret to his colleagues at Blois, Tours,
Angers, and Nantes, and to the sub-prefects of
Saumur and Ancenis, announcing that a rise has
taken place in the waters of the Loire, and that the
belief was that it would be about four feet at
eiNoer nflooodthoesVany importance had been
ne or the Cher.
signalled Orleans.
either

Several charitable ladies at Colmar (Bas-Rhin)
have recently been the dupes of an ingenious mode
of obtaining money under false pretences, supposed
to be the invention of a soldier belonging to the
88th Regiment, in garrison at that town. The
soldier, real or supposed, accosted some ladies as
they left church, and told them that, having unfor-
tunately had a quarrel with some townsmen, he had
got his bayonet broken. He added in piteous
accents that if he could not obtain 7fr. or Bfr. to
buy a new one, he should be very severely punished
on returning to his barracks. Several ladies, moved
by his distress, gave him the necessary sum, for
which he thanked them profusely, and then hastened
away. Whether this swindler was really a soldier,
or had merely assumed the uniform for the purpose
of accomplishing his fraud, seems not to have been
satisfactorily ascertained.
The bulletin of the Paris Observatory gives the
following as the atmospheric situation yesterday :
"A collection of strong barometric pressures this
morning occupied Central Europe, the North Sea,
the British Islands, France, and the North of Italy.
The sky was generally clear in those quarters, and
winds in general moderate from between N.E. and
S.E. The gale, of which the centre was on Sunday
morning near St. Petersburg, has diverged a little
towards the East. It produced this morning strong
winds over the Russian Baltic. The windwas strong
from the W. on the coast of Norway. The barometer
is falling in the west of Europe, and especially in
the Bay of Biscay." In Paris-yesterday the weather
was exceedingly fine for the season. At three in the
afternoon the thermometer marked 10 Centigrade
(50 Fahrenheit).

The Patrie gives the following details of the
proposed reduCtion in the French army:—" The
Infantry of the Guard, a battalion of each of the
seven regiments of Grenadiers and Voltigeurs, be-
sides two companies of the regiment of Gendarmery,
are to be suppressed, so that the three regiments of
Grenadiers and the four of Voltigeurs would consist
of three battalions of eight companies each, and
that the two battalions of Gendarmery would have
only seven companies. In the Infantry of the
Line each of the hundred regiments is to lose
three companies. 'For the: cavalry the two regi-
ments of Carbiniers would be fused into those of
the Cuirasseurs of the Guard. Each of the fifty
regiments of the Line (the two of Carbiniers no
longer existing) would be reduced to five squadrons
instead of six. For the artillerr4o batteries are to
disappear. The infantry would therefore lose '7
chefs de bataillon, 342 captains, and as many lieu-
tenants and sub-lieutenants. The cavalry Would

lose 2 colonels, 2 lieutenant-colonels, 2 majors, 52
chefs d'scadron, 104 captains, and double the num-
ber of lieutenants alid sub-lieutenants. As to the
artillery, we do not know whether the suppressions
will bear upon the number of batteries or upon
whole regiments. We are also assured, and we
readily believe, that the Emperor's Government,
ever full of kindness for the army, in order to ren-
der so considerable a reduction less onerous to the
officers, is studying the means of ameliorating the
status of those affected by that measure who have
reached the limit of age, by securing to them as far
as possible positions in the civil service. The other
officers would naturally be placed on the books of
the regiments of their own arms, and would take
rank therein according to the vacancies occurring ;
but always under certain limits, and in a manner
that would not cut short all advancement. The
measure in question, when it shall have been com-
pletely executed, will present a saving of not less
than 50 millions in the War Budget, especially if to
these figures are added those resulting from a dimi-
nution of at least 6,000 or 7,000 horses."

An attempt at murder and a suicide have just
taken place in the streets of St. Quentin (Aisne).
A smith, named Lamy, on quitting the prison where
he had been confined a fortnight for illtreating his
wife, waited for the woman at a spot where he knew
she was about to pass, and discharged the contents
of a pistol at her, after which he blew out his own
brains. The woman, although wounded in the
cheek, is likely to recover. •
The Military Tribunal of Nantes last week
tried a soldier, named Besassier, of the 86th
Regiment of the Line, charged with having been
found asleep when on duty as sentinel, and with
having disobeyed and threatened his superior
officers. It appeared from the evidence that on
the night of the 26th September the corporal of
the guard at the central prison of Fontevrault
did not receive the usual reply from one of the sen-
tinels, and on going to ascertain the cause found
the prisoner fast asleep on the ground, and his mus-
ket leaning against the wall. When wakened by
the corporal, the prisoner started up, and used
abusive language, for which the corporal at once
ordered him two days' arrest. Irritated by this, the
prisoner became still more abusive, and refused to
return to the guard-house when ordered by the
sergeant, who had now arrived. He also wrested
his musket from the hands of the sergeant, and
threatened to bayonet or shoot any one who ap-
proached him. To avoid bloodshed the sergeant
and his men left the prisoner to finish his watch.
In due time he was relieved and returned to the
guard-house, when he was immediately put under
arrest and committed for trial. All these facts
having been proved, the prisoner in his defence
pleaded that he was intoxicated at the time, and
knew not what he did. The Tribunal, considering
intoxication no excuse, found the prisoner guilty,
and condemned him to five years' hard labour, and
to pay all the costs of the prosecution.
The armour plated division of the Atlantic, com-
manded by Rear-Admiral Baron de la Ronciere Le
Noury, has arrived at Cherbourg.
On the Emperor Napoleon's recent visit to Are-
nenberg, in Switzerland, he admitted to an audience
an engineer of Constance named Klein, who manu-
factured, in 1835, according to his Majesty's orders,
the first rifled cannon. The Emperor has since
conferred on him a large gold medal, accompanied
with an autograph letter.

We have to announce the death at Paris of Prince
de Castelcicala, Duke de Calvello, formerly Ambas-
sador of the King of Naples to the French Court,
and at one time Viceroy of Sicily. The death is also
announced of M. Le Clerk, senior of the Faculty of
Letters, member of the French Institute.

M. Jules Favre is said to be a candidate for the
seat in the French Academy rendered vacant by the
death of M. Dupin.
BOURSE, Nov. 14.—Two o'Clock. English
Consols are telegraphed with a rise of per cent. ;
nevertheless this encouragement has had no effect
on the market here. Stocks and Shares are consi-
derably weaker, and quoted at lower rates. Threes,
for the Account, are doing at 68f. 40c.—a decline of
12i c. Italian Fives at 65f. 20c., with a similar de-
cline. Credit Mobilier Shares have receded 6f. 25c.
Spanish Mobilier, 2f. 50c. Comptoir d'Escompte
2f. 50c. Immobiliere sfr. Northern Railway Shares
2f. 50c. Lyons if. 25c. Lombard 2f. 50c. Austrian
if. 25c. Saragossa 7f. 50c. Romans 2f. 50c., and
North of Spain 2f. 50c. Three o'Clock The
market has been still more depressed towards the
end. The final quotations were as follow :

41 per Cents 9O 50 Ditto Threes —
Do. end month — Roman 74
3 per Cents. 6B 35 Mexican Loan —
Do. end month 6B 32i Do. Bonds 321 25
Credit Mobilier ... 865 Russian -
Do. end month ... 863 75 Austrian
Bank Shares 3700 Spanish Threes ... 42 50
Credit Foncier 1325 Home Debt
Italian Loan 65 Deferred
Do. end month 65 15

Acct.
... 820 -
1098 75
827 50
567 50
... 532 50
516 25

- - ... 211 25
- - ... 411 25

- - ... 183 75
- - ... 232 50

- 167 50