The Sun.
London, England, 1865-10-14 00:00:00

Naval and Military Intelligence.

Field-Marshal the General C ornmanding •in- Chief
the Duke of Cambridge, K.G., having concluded
his inspection of the troops and fortifications at
Portsmouth for the present year, left the Govern-
ment House yesterday morning at 9 am., and em-
barked on board her Majesty's steamer Fire Queen,
Staff-Commander Paul, for the Isle of . Wight, at-
tended by his personal staff, and accompanied by
Lieut.-Gen. Sir George Buller, K.C.8., Lieut.-
Governor of Portsmouth, and the general officer
commanding the south-west military district, with
his staff, comprising Col. Gordon, R.E. ; Colonel
:Elliot, R.A. ; Col. Shadwell, Assist-Quartermaster-
Gen. ; Major Mackenzie, aide-de-camp, and other
officers. The guns of the fortress and her Majesty's
ship Victory fired a royal salute on the duke reach-
ing the deck of the Fire Queen, and the royal stan-
dard was at the same time hauled down from the
flagstaff cf the garrison: The Fire Queen steamed
away for Ryde, where his Royal Highness landed
with the numerous staff of officers attending him,
and proceeded in carriages to Sandown, where a
passing visit was paid to the forts on the heights
which overlook the bay. From Sandown the Duke
drove across the island to Parkhurst, where an in-
spection was made of the troops and barracks. Af-
terwards the Duke proceeded to Cowes, and cross-
ing the Solent in the Fire Queen, visited the Royal
Victoria Military Hospital at Netley. From what
has transpired there can be no doubt that the pre-
sent visit of the Duke to Portsmouth and the south-
west district has been attended, in a military sense,
with most gratifying results.
Yesterday Major-Gen. Sir Robert Walpole,
K.C.8., commanding at Chatham, who has been
engaged upwards of a week past in the autumnal
inspection of the faces under his command, com-
menced the inspection of the third battalion
of infantry at Chatham garrison, under the com-
mand of Col. the llon. J. J. Bourke. He devoted
yesterday morning to the inspection of the officers'
and men's quarters at St. Mary's casemated barracks,
together with the•books, accounts, and other official
documents relating to each depot. In the afternoon
the troops were mustered in review order for the
customary inspection on Chatham lines, the depots
present comprising those of the Ist and 2d battalion
of the 10th Regiment, Ist and 2d battalions of the
19th Regiment, 65th Regiment, 80th Regiment,
and the 102 d Royal Madras Fusileers. Prior to the
field movements taking place, Sir Robert Walpole
inspected the kits, arms, accoutrements, clothing,
&c., of the men of the various corps, the condition
of which was, on the whole, very satisfactory. After
going through a variety of manoeuvres incidental to
a review, the troops were dismissed to their quarters.
The inspection of the infantry was brought to a
close yesterday.
The officer commanding the first division of the
Depot Brigade, Royal Artillery, on the occasion of
the official inspection on Thursday by Major-Gen.
Sir Robert Walpole, K.C.8., was Lieut.-Col. C. D.
IVaddell, and not Lieut.-Col. Guy Rotton, as was
incorrectly stated.
The Terrible, 20, paddle frigate, Capt. Gerard E.
Napier, will sail from Spithead to-day for the Medi-
terranean, to relieve the Magicienne, ordered home.

The Basilisk, 6, paddle sloop, Capt. Hewett, V.C.,
under orders for China, is detained at Spithead for
the trial by court-martial of one of her officers.
The Basilisk is being supplied at Portsmouth with
two one-pounder rifled Whitworth guns with their
ammunition. They are intended for boat service,
or as swivel pieces on the ship's bulwarks. In China
this same description of gun is already largely in
use, although not on board her Majesty's ships, and
has gained a very high character for range, accuracy,
and destructive power.
Her Majesty's iron screw store ship Wye, 700 tons,
and 100 horse-power, from the west coast of Africa,
Staff-Commander Valentine G. Roberts, yesterday
arrived alongside the T pier at Woolwich arsenal,
and commenced unsbipping her cargo, consisting of
obsolete guns, carriages, &c., from Sierra Leone,
and naval and military stores from other stations.
The War Department steam store-vessel Lord Pan-
mure, 11. T. Moore commander, also arrived at
Woolwich on the previous night from Devonport
and Cork, laden with guns, shot, &c., from the
former place, and 1,168 quarter barrels of returned
ammunition from Cork, whither she had been de-
spatched with powder and small arms ammunition
for extra supply, to be distributed to the troops in
Ireland. The Lord Panmure left Plymouth at 2,
and encountered a succession of heavy gales, which,
by reason of the combustible nature of the cargo,
mixed with the heavy guns, which were not blocked
off, rendered the voyage one of considerable danger.
She spoke and passed the Wye off St. Catharine's,
Isle of Wight, shaping her course in a north-easterly
direction and bearing up against a tremendous
squall. The Wye afterwards bore up for the night
at Spithead harbour. The Wye is ordered to be
stripped and paid out of commission at Woolwich,
having been relieved on the African station by the
Dromedary, Master Commander Allard, from Wool-
wich. The war department vessel lnkerman, Wil-
liam Pellat, Commander, from Pembroke and Cork,
has also arrived at Woolwich, with returned stores,
and is ordered to reload with 120 tons of guns, car-
riages, shot, &c., for Devonport.
Her Majesty's 6-gun paddle-sloop Spiteful, about
to be commissioned, having been ordered on a
trial trip to the Lower Hope from Woolwich,
yesterday returned to the Royal Arsenal
pier in charge of Commander Dillon, of the
Steam Reserve, having made six runs at full
speed and four at half speed, according to Admi-
ralty regulations established for testing the engines
preparatory to the ship's commission. The average
rate of speed was equal to 10 knots per hour,
and the working of the machinery, which has been
recently repaired, was reported as satisfactory. The
boilers are new, and the repairs throughout the ship
have been very extensive, rendering her compara-
tively new. The whole of her guns were hoisted on
board yesterday from the pier, and the carriages,
platforms, slides, &c., will be supplied to-day.
The paddle-wheel steam sloop Styx, 6, Commander
William B. Urmston, which arrived in Plymouth
Sound on Wednesday, as already reported in The
Sun, left Halifax, Sept. 21, and experienced fine wea-
ther until the last five days. She spoke Oct. 4, lat.
48 44 N., long. 26 47 W., the American ship Wil-
liam Tapscott, and Oct. 6, lat. 47 50 N., long. 19
17 W., the English steamer Achillian. The Styx
brings passengers, two military convicts, and a luna-
tic ; she was put in ,commission on the 3d March,
1861, and has been one of the healthiest ships on
the station. She left at Halifax the flagship Dun-
can, 81, the Euryalus, 35, the Galatea, 26, and the
Gannet, 11. Admiral Sir James Hope, G.C.8.,
was daily expected; from Prince Edward Island.
The Styx was inspected on Thursday morning by
Capt. Seymour, of the flagship Royal Adelaide.
After discharging her powder she will go up
Hamoaze, where her crew will be paid off.

The screw steam-frigate Liffey, 39, Capt. George
Parker, from North America, is daily expected at
Plymouth.

Orders have been received at Devonport to bring
forward for commission the sailing ship Flora, 40,
for a coal depot. She will be available for going to
sea if required through stress of weather.
An investigation has taken place, by order of the
Admiralty, into a charge made against one of
the officials of Chatham dockyard of influencing
workmen employed at that establishment in re-
cording their votes at the recent election for
the borough. The investigation was directed in
consequence of a letter received by Admiral G.
Elliot, the defeated candidate, from one of his sup-
porters at the late election. In this letter it was
alleged that Mr. George, the master smith, and two
of the foremen in the smithery,had exercised consi-
derable influence over the men employed under them
at the last election, to induce them to record their
votes in favour of Mr. Otway, the present member,
and that this coercion had been carried to such an
extent that none of the men in the factory dared
vote in opposition to the officials named. The result
of the inquiry has been that so far from Mr. George
and the other officers named at all influencing any
of the voters the whole of the men employed in the
smithery were left uncontrolled in recording their
votes, while Atkinson, the workman who had made
the charge, subsequently admitted that most of what

he has caused to be written to Admiral Elliot was
untrue, and that neither Mr. George nor the fore-
men in the smithery had exercised any undue influ-
ence over him. The Lords of the Admiralty consi-
dered the conduct of Atkinson, whomade the charge,
and Matthews, a fellowworkmanwhom he employed
to write the letter, to be so bad that they have
directed both to be dismi— ed from the dockyard, and
never to be employed in her Majesty's service again,
while at the same time they forfeit all claim to any
superannuation allowance to which they were en-
titled. Atkinson has been employed in the dockyard
25 years.
A court-martial was held on Thursday morning on
board the Royal Adelaide in Hamoaze, for the trial
of Lieut. Collin Mackenzie Dundas, of her Majesty's
ship Zebra, for being on the 16th of August drunk
and incapable of performing his duty. The prisoner
pleaded guilty, and the Court, taking into considera-
tion his excellent testimonials, adjudged him to be
severely reprimanded and to lose all seniority. The
Court was composed of Capt. Fred. B. P. Seymour,
C. 8., Royal Adelaide, President; Capt. Chas. J. F.
Ewart, Cambridge; Capt. F. S. Tremlett, Impreg-
nable ; and Capt. Stirling, Greyhound. Mr. Wm.
Eastlake, Deputy-Judge-Advocate of the Fleet, was
in attendance. The Zebra will now proceed to
Sheerness, where her crew will be paid off.