The Sun.
London, England, 1862-11-03 00:00:00

7HE NAVY.

The Leander, 51, 400-horse power, which has
been fitting for the first division of the Chatham
steam reserve in the Medway, is ordered to be has-
tened forward for commission. Rumour states that
she is intended to be despatched to strengthen the
squadron in the West Indies. The Arethusa, 51,
500-horse power, recently converted at Chatham
Dockyard from a sailing frigate to a screw steamer,
is to be brought forward for the first-class steam
reserve in the place of the Leander.
His Danish Majesty's screw corvette Dagmar,l6
guns, Capt. Seideliu, arrived at Spithead on Satur-
day morning from Copenhagen, bound for the
Mediterranean, and thence to the West Indies. On
anchoring she exchanged the usual complimentary
salutes with the flagship of the Port Admiral and
the saluting battery of the garrison. The Dagmar
will take in coal at Spithead, and sail again on her
outward voyage about Thursday or Friday next.
The Resistance, 16, iron ram, Capt. Chamberlain,
lying alongside Portsmouth Dockyard, exercised
her crew on Saturday in sending up and down her
Cunningham topsail yards with the sails rolled up
round them, in the presence of the inventor, the re-
sults giving the greatest satisfaction, and proving
that this description of yard can he handled with
as much facility as the ordinary kind. The Resist-
ance, like the Defence, carries a mixed form of top-
sail yards much objected to by naval men. Thus
her upper topsail yard is a Cunningham which is
reefed, shook out, and handled under all circum-
stances from the deck. Her lower topsail yard is,
however, an adaptation of the American double-
yard system, and is fixed to the lower cap. With
the upper sail rolled round its yard and the lower
furled, and both yards stowed, both thus lie toge-
ther at the lower masthead or cap, and therefore
carry their weight at the highest point of leverage
from the deck. If both upper and lower yards
were fitted on the Cunningham principle it would
be of much greater advantage to the ship, inas-
much as a larger amount of canvas would be spread ;
both sails would be furled and stowed alike from
the deck, with the men under cover from the fire of
an enemy ; and when the sails were furled and yards
stowed the weight of the latter would be distributed
more evenly. The lower yard would in this case be
stowed level with the top, and not perched up with
its fellow on the top.

The screw steam corvette Barossa, 21, Capt. W.
M. Dowell, left Plymouth on Friday for the Cape
of Good Hope and China.

The screw steamship Revenge, 73, Capt. Fellowes,
bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral R. Smart, K.H.,
left Plymouth on Saturday for Gibraltar. She sailed
from Portsmouth, and would have proceeded direct
but for some damage to the crank of her shaft, which
was made good by the artisans of Keyham steam-
yard.

The screw steamship Trafalgar, 70, Capt. Dixon,
from Spithead for Gibraltar, which lost some sails
in the Channel, received a fresh supply at Ply-
mouth, and left the Sound under canvass only on
Saturday for her destination.

His Prussian Majesty's sailing corvette Niobe, 28,
having been thoroughly repaired in the Devonport
dockyard, was taken out of the basin on Fri-
day and towed into the Sound, where she
was detained some time in consequence of the
imprisonment of one of her crew. He stabbed
an English seaman on the previous evening at
Stonehouse, where a general quarrel took place out-
side a singing saloon. On Saturday morning a dock-
yard steamtug towed her beyond the breakwater,
and she proceeded for the Baltic.

It is reported at Plymouth that a French squa-
dron has been ob6ervad cruising off Cherbourg.
Lieut. C. G. Nelson, commanding the Rolla, boys'
training brig at Portsmouth, has been gazetted as
one of the gentlemen ushers quarterly in waiting in
ordinary to her Majesty, vice Major-Gen. C. Diggle
K.H., deceased. We presume this mark of royal
favour is intended as a reward to Lieut. Nelson for
the care and attention given by him to the training
of Prince Alfred in his professional duties while on
board the Rolla, and we hope the Lords of the Ad-
miralty will indicate their approval of the manner in
which he has performed his duties by giving him his
commander's promotion. Although, comparatively
speaking, still a young man, Lieut. Nelson has gone
through his full share of service as a lieutenant on
foreign as well as home service, and has now or
years commanded the Rolla training brig,
where his duties have been most trying and mono-