The Sun.
London, England, 1862-04-21 00:00:00

EGYPT.

A letter from Alexandria, dated April 10, says :
—The only intelligence we have received of the
movements of the Prince of Wales since his depar-
ture hence on the 28th ult., was brought by the
Osborne, which, as was previously arranged, re-
turned to Alexandria in the beginning of last week,
after an absence of only five days. The weather on

the passage to Jaffa was perfection, and the voyage
prosperous and smooth to a degree remarkable even
in these highly favoured latitudes. The Prince
landed privately on the afternoon of his arrival, and
enjoyed a walk in the orange groves for which Jaffa
is celebrated throughout the Levant. The trees are
at this season laden with fruit and blossom, the rich
profusion of which may be judged of by the fact
that at night the air is heavy with the perfume,
even out at sea at a distance from the land. His
Royal Highness also visited the house idontified by
tradition as that to which " the Centurion' of the'
Italian band" sent his servants in search of Peter,
who lodged at Joppa " with one Simon, a tanner,
whose house is by the seaside.' In the evening the
commanders of her Majesty's ships.in attendance on
the Royal yacht and the Consul of the port dined
with his Royal Highness. The next morning, being
Sunday, Divine service was performed on board by
the Rev. Professor Stanley, who preached in especial
reference to the history and scenes of the Holy
Land. The party afterwards proceeded to the shore.
His Royal Highness was received at the landing
place by an officer and guard of honour sent to Jaffa
by the Pasha of Jerusalem, who it was found bad,
moreover, furnished horses for the use of the Prince.
The party were speedily mounted, and at once pro-
ceeded on their pilgrimage to the Holy City. They
were to leave Jerusalem on the 9th, on their jour-
ney towards the north, and to reach Beyrout in the
beginning of May. Her Majesty's ship Doris con-
tinues in attendance upon his Royal Highness,
following a parallel route along the coast. The
Osborne sails for Beyrout on the 15th inst., but
will call at Jaffa, his Royal Highness having kindly
desired that the officers of the Royal yacht should
have an opportunity of likewise visiting the sacred
city.

We learn by telegraph that the German contrac-
tors of the Egyptian loan have negotiated it in the
European markets with signal success. There was
hardly room for the slightest doubt that this would
be so. The Viceroy has had the wisdom, even at
the eleventh hour, to check the course along which
the Government seemed at one time to be hurrying
headlong to its ruin, and the speedy recovery of his
credit affords ample proof of the well-grounded con-
fidence that is felt in the resources of the country
over which he rules, and of the ease with which its
wealth and prosperity might be raised to a height
which for ages past it has, unhappily, not been per-
mitted to attain.

The new commercial treaty has not yet been car-
ried into execution in Egypt. The local Govern-
ment had until lately received no official notice of
it from Constantinople, but arrangements have at
length been entered into for bringing the new Cus-
toms' regulations into operation, and a meeting of
the principal merchants of Alexandria took place a
few days ago at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs,
for the, purpose of regulating sundry matters of
detail. For some time to come the new convention
will occasion a loss of some importance in the por-
tion of the Government revenues derived from the
Customs. The rate of duty upon exports is at once
brought down from 12 per cent to 8 per cent, to be
ultimately reduced to only 1 per cent, while the in-
crease in the duties upon imports will, according to
the new treaty, only take effect when all other
nations shall have agreed to the higher impost. As
yet only England, France, and Italy have acceded.
The loss to the Egyptian Government in its export
duties will thus, even for the first year, amount to
little under £150,000. _ _ _

Her Majesty's ship Firefly has arrived at Alex-
andria from Malta, on her way to resume her sum-
mer work for completing the hydrographie survey
of the Syrian coast. lam informed that advantage
will be taken of the opportunity to determine the
precise position of Jerusalem, and of some
other points of interest more or less distant
from the sea. The public already lies under
great obligations for the valuable charts of these
seas that are due to the labours of Captain Man-
sell and his officers, and for which, I must,
indeed, add, no small thanks ought to be rendered
to the British Admiralty, by whose liberality the
results of these laborious surveys are with open-
handed impartiality bestowed upon all nations.
Their immense importance to navigators may not
inaptly be exemplified by the fact of its having
lately been discovered that the coast line to the west
of Egypt, has hitherto been laid down on the charts
with an error of no less than. seven miles. Fortu-
nately the error was on the right side—that is to