The Sun.
London, England, 1865-02-23 00:00:00

Na-val and Military Intelligence.

VALETTA, Feb. 17.—The Magicienne, 16, paddle-
wheel frigate, Capt. W. Armytage, left port on
Thursday last for Corfu, to be present during the
Carnival and the elections. The Orlando, 46, screw
frigate, Capt. G. G. Randolph, left the same day for
the coast of Syria, to relieve the Phoebe, 35, screw
frigate, Capt. T. D. Fortescue. The Hydra, 1,
paddlewheel surveying sloop, Capt. A. L. Mansell,
also left port on Thursday to resume her surveying
duties on the west coast of Greece. The Firefly, 5,
paddlewheel surveying vessel, Commander G. R.
Wilkinson, is still in dock. The Caradoc, 2, pad-
&wheel despatch vessel, Lieutenant-Commander
E. H. Wilkinson, was undocked on the 10th inst.,
and will leave to-morrow (18th inst.) for Alexandria,
to embark Sir Henry Bulwer, who is about to.ret return
to Constantinople. On Tuesday last
itelr Victoria,
101 (flagship of the:Commander-in-
c left her
Vice-Ad-
miral Smart, K.H.), Capt. Goodenough,
ut to sea for
moorings in the Grand Harbour, and p
target practice andgeneral exercise. She re-entered
port this afternoon. This magnificent ship has lately
been thoroughly overhauled, and is now in splendid
order. The Pelican, 17, screw sloop, Com. H. W.
Comber, has been recalled from Bengazi in conse-
quence of it having been impossible to complete the
necessary
repairs to the Bengazi and Alexandria
section of the Malta and Alexandria cable. It ap-
pears there is not sufficient length of cable on board
the telegraph ship Fanny Lambert to replace the
faulty part. The Fanny Lambert will also return to
Malta, and proceed to England. Another section
of the cable, that between Tripoli and Bengazi, has
lately proved defective. This is the first time that any-
thing has gone wrong with this portion. It is sup-
posed the fault lies near Tripoli, and has been
caused by the late storm. Two Prussian war brigs
the Rove, 12, Lieut. E. Arendt, and the Mosquito,
10, Lieut. Nurnberg, have arrived during the week,
the former on Sunday from Palermo, and the lat-
ter on Tuesday from Naples. They are bound for
Cadiz. The long services of Mr. Thomas Hamshaw,
Superintending Engineer of the Royal Naval
Dockyard at this station, have been recognised by
the Admiralty, and an augmentation of salary has
been granted to him. Mr. C. J. Nelson, assist-
master of the dockyard school, has applied for and
received his discharge, and proceeded home in her
Majesty's storeship Supply. The following super-
numeraries, brought to Gibraltar by her Majesty's
steam sloop Geyser, have arrived at Malta on board
the Gibraltar, 81, Capt. R. Coote, and have been
distributed as follows :—Sub-Lieuts. —Messrs. C. P.
G. Hicks and Owen ; Midshipmen Messrs. Voy-
sey, Findlay, Mann, Prothero, Mackenzie, Walcot,
and Chichester ; • Naval Cadets—Messrs. Spring,
Jones and Rogers, to the Victoria, 101, flagship of
the Commander-in Chief ; Midshipmen—Mr. St.
John to the Gibraltar, 81 ; Mr. Baker to the Magi-
cienne, 16 ; Mr. Barry to the Phoebe, 35 ; Mr.
Gamble, Mr. J. Hicks, and Mr. Mandeville to the
Meeanee, 60 ; Mr. Cochran and Mr. Lowe, to the
Royal Oak, 35 ; Mr. King to the Cossack, 20 ; Mr.
Gresley and Mr. Holbech, to the Phoebe, 35 ; Mr.
Beauclerk to the Revenge, 73 (flagship of Rear-
Admiral R. H. Yelverton, C. 8.) ; Naval Cadets—
Mr. Henderson to the Meeanee, 60 ; and Mr. Leckie
to the Cossack, 20 ; Masters'-Assistants—Mr. Fil-
mer to the Royal Oak, 35, and Mr. Snell to the Or-
lando, 46. Mr. Bradshaw, sub-lieut. of the
Victoria, has been appointed to the Enter-
prise. Mr. Compton, masters'-assistant of the
Caradoc, has been appointed to the Orlando. The
English screw steamer Laconia, Capt. John Cain, ar-
rived yesterday from Alexandria, having in tow the
English schooner True Blue, 96 tons, of Jersey,
which she had met with about 240 miles to the east-
ward of Malta, abandoned and foremast cut away.
The corpse of a sailor, having his face bruised, was
found lying in the cabin. The schooner was laden
with wheat and bound from Ancona to a port in
England. There were three feet eight inches of
water in her hold. The logbook showed she had
been navigated till the sth inst. ; and on the slate it
was written that she had continued her navigation
until the following day. The Peninsular and
Oriental Company's steamer Ripon, just arrived,
reports that that she took off the master and three
men from the True Blue, on her passage to Alex-
andria, and that they are coming on in the Delhi,
Mr. Hadow, one of the directors of the Peninsular
and Oriental Company, having granted them a
passage to England. The man found on board
the Laconia was killed by the fall of the foremast.
The body was left in the ship in the confusion of
getting to the Ripon, the master and crew believing
their ship was foundering.
The following is an extract from a letter received
at Southampton from an officer of her Majesty's
ship Liffey, dated Gibraltar, Feb. 15:—" We have
got thus far, and find 230 supernumeraries waiting
to be taken to Colon for the ships in the Pacific.
Our orders are to sail with them immediately, but
the ship is in such a fearfully bad state that we can-
not go until at the soonest the 22d. Thirteen days
making the passage from Malta ! Two of the heaviest
gales I have seen in the Mediterranean, both dead
foul winds. It is a shame to send us across the
Atlantic. Both outside and inside the ship is to
pieces, and they are endeavouring to patch us up
by caulking inside only. A mess they are making of
it, as the oakum comes right through every seam.
They are not to caulk the sides in our cabin, although
the water comes right through. I have not slept in
a dry bed the whole of this month, as there is a con-
stant drip through the main deck and sides on my
bed and all over the cabin. Half our tanks have
broken through the working of the ship. They
cannot be replaced here, so we take them with us,
and shall have to distil the whole way across.
Another heavy gale and we expect them all to go,
as they have been upwards of six years in the ship,
and are as thin as wafers. In fact, we ought to go
to England. A survey of the ship there would
condemn her. Several beams have started, bolts
in knees drawn, as well as the copper bolts in the
side. The decks are too thin for the guns ; and,
to sum up, by the carpenter's report it would take
three months to patch the ship up in one of
our dockyards at home. She requires a new
stock, lock, and barrel, as the soldiers would say.
We might weather out six months longer on this
station, but are unfit for the Westlndies. Our hope
is that the Admiralty will send us home soon, before
the sickly season sets in, otherwise we shall suffer se-
verely from fever, as the ship is filthy below, owing to
the state of the sides and tanks. It is believed that a
large number of rotten planks and timbers will be
found when they examine her bottom by andby. We
have just lost two marines, drowned alongside, and
but for the gallant conduct of Dundas of the 15th, who
was officer of the guard, and happened to be near the
jetty at the time we should have lost two more. He
jumped into the water, and kept two up until a
boat came to his assistance."

The Torch, 5,428 tons, 80-horse power, was com-
missioned yesterday at Chatham for the West Coast
of Africa. She is to have a complement of 65 officers
and men, including marines. The Torch is fully
rigged and has the greater portion of her sea stores
on board. She has just undergone extensive re-
Pairs at at Chatham-dockyard, during which she has
bnalmost entirely rebuilt.
The iron screw steam troopship Urgent, 4, Capt.
Samuel H. Rend
yesterday overson, from Portsmouth, arrived
is appointed to nerd
cy) morning at Plymouth. She
ment,
commanded
byyctol Thomas Addison, C. 8.,
Includin the d Queenstown the 2d Regi-
now quartered in the Raglanßarracks, Devonport.
g epot,iwhie
with the head-quarters,
the regiment !flusters abouts 750
at Cork a detachment of about Onien, On arrival
each
in
ecTillno.cre Island
n,
will be sent to Youghal, Spike Islaned,
and Haulbowline. After serving'
Regiment landed at Portsmouth, whermea, the 2d
they re-
mained nine months ; they then occupied
l
at Aldershot for 14 months ; after which they pro_
ceeded to Devonport, where they have been nearlyr.
two years. Their quarters in the Raglan Barracks
are appointed to be occupied next by the 28th Regi-
ment, the right wing of which embarked on the sth
of November on board the transport Tiverton, Capt.
Smith, at Bombay. The left wing were to embark
shortly after. The Urgent landed a company of
artillery from Portsmouth.
The French gunboat Cuvier, Capt. De la Mure,
from Dartmouth, bound for Falmouth, arrived at

Plymouth yesserday. She is employed in watching
the progress of the French fishing vessel.
A general regimental order, signed by Col. G.
(ambier, C. 8., Deputy Adjt.-Gen. Royal Artillery,
has been received and promulgated at Chatham
Garrison, announcing the next examination for ad-
mission of officers of the Royal Artillery to the ad-
vanced class atWoolwich will be held in the month of
October or November next, under the direction
of the Council of Military Education. Officers ap-
pointed to the class will be required to join in April,
1866. Candidatesfor this class must have undergone
a course of instruction at Shoeburyness, or they
must pass satisfactorily a preliminary examination in
practical artillery. No officer will be admitted who
will not have completed six years' service on March
31, 1866. The subjects in which the candidates will
be examined and the relative importance attached to
each are as follows—Mathematics, 700 marks ; che-
mistry and physics, 300 marks ; French, qualifying.
Mathematics include plane trigonometry (so much
of it as is included in the first 16 chapters of " Tod-
hunter's Treatise") ; co-ordinate geometry of two
dimensions (Hymer's or Todhunter's)—viz., straight
line referred to rectangular, oblique, and polar co-
ordinates; the circle, parabola, ellipse, and hyperbola
referred to rectangular and polar co-ordinates. The
equation to the tangent and the normal to the cir-
cle, parabola, ellipse, and hyperbola referred to rec-
tangular axes, the sections of a right cone made by a
plane. Applications of the above to solutions of
simple problems. Differential and integral calculus
—the earlier portions of " Todhunter's Treatises."
Practical mechanics " Twisden's Treatise."
French will be qualifying for the purpose of ascer-
taining that the candidates have such an acquain-
tance with the language, and especially with tech-
nical terms in common use as to be able to consult
with facility professional works, such as " Piobert's
Traite d'Artillerie," or the " Aide Memoire d'Artil-
lerie." Candidates will be expected to obtain 75
out of an assumed maximum of 100 marks in this
subject, the examination being confined to transla-
tions from French into English. There will be a
probationary examination at the end of the first
-year, and at the end of the second year a final exa-
mination, when certificate's will be given to success-
ful candidates.

The following appointments and promotions have
been made at the Admiralty :—Commander G. A.
Douglas to the Torch, commissioned ; Matthew B.
Grundy, assist.-paymaster in charge to the Torch ;
William J. Grundy, second master, to the Torch ;
Henry J. Weaver, assist.-clerk, to the Torch; John
Johnson and James C. Sanders, supernumeraries
in the Indus, promoted to the rank of engineers :
Lieut. J. G. M'Hardy, to the Excellent ; Robert
Crosswaite, engineer, to the Asia, as supernumerary ;
and Edward Lewis, engineer, to the Liverpool.