The Sun.
London, England, 1853-08-11 00:00:00

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His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Prussia
arrived at four, per special train, from London,
and was received at the Victoria-pier by Captain
Crispin, of her Majesty's yacht Victoria and Albert,
and a guard of honour. The Prince embarked in
the barge of the Fairy, and was saluted by 21 guns
from the Platform battery on the Royal Prussian
standard being hoisted in the Fairy, which con-
veyed his Highness to Osborne as one of the guests
of her Majesty.
The Fairy whisked away merrily towards the
east, and after she had run out a mile or so from
the shore the Prussian frigate and her consort
roused out their men and sent them into the tops,
and on the nearer approach of the little yacht
manned the yards in very good style, as well as we
could see from the shore. As the Fairy approached
the quarter of the frigate a little jet of flame sprung
from her dark side, followed by a curling belt of
smoke, and ere the report reached the shore the
whole of the squadron took up the firing, which
soon swelled into a heavy cannonade and shook
the windows of Portsmouth, rolling through the
woodlands on both shores like a distant thunder-
storm. The black hulls, which lay dotting the
waters from Spithead all along the anchorage as
far as Ryde, were soon enveloped in a bright
" fog-bank," as dense and heavy as one' of those
snow-white clouds one sometimes sees floating
about towards sunset in a clear sky ; and for up-
wards of three miles nothing could be seen but this
" war cloud," constantly regenerated from the
sides of the fleet, spreading over and shrouding
them in its fold, and then smoothed away beneath
a gentle breeze from the south-east, which covered
the Solent waters like a winding sheet. Above it,
indeed, were visible the masts of the men-of-war,
but all below was without form and void, and the
sight filled one with melancholy reflections as to the
possible extent of vision which will be enjoyed by
those persons in the steamers to leeward to-
morrow, unless there is a very smart breeze indeed
—a contingency which does not now seem very
probable, and which, if it should arrive, might
possibly be attended by still more disagreeable
consequences to many of the visitors who are

afloat: .
The Fairy, having sailed round the Prussian
frigate, ran down towards Osborne, though she did
not man the yards, and his Royal Highness landed
soon after 5 o'clock, and proceeded to the residence
of her Majesty. The roadstead presents an ap-
pearance of great animation. A number of small
yachts are cruising about, and the water is dotted
with men-of-war boats pulling in all directions.
The wind is freshening a little, and it is to be
hoped that it will not alter, but that we may get a
good topsail breeze, as the spectacle of to-morrow
will then be much more effective.
A very proper degree of caution has been im-
pressed upon the several captains, not to fire when
so near her Majesty that the explosion could by
possibility prove annoying. The Duke of Welling-
ton, when her Majesty is on board will not fire at all.
Portsmouth is getting very full indeed, and Leds
are at a price which is without parallel. At
the last of the principal hotels at which one un-
fortunate party applied, they offered 6/. for a bed
a piece during two nights, and could not be ac-
commodated. Even in the suburbs and obscure
portions of the town lodgings were and are very
difficult to be procured, and generally at outrageous
prices. Still the streets of Portsmouth hardly pre-
sent any other than their usual appearance, of a
strangely mingled population of civilians of all
classes, of military of all ranks and regiments, and
of sailors of all grades and services, from the ad-
miral to the cabin boy, and the dandified yachts-
man to the grimy tar of the collier. The man-of-
war's meu, jaunty swaggering, in blue jackets,
' open shirt collars, and most orthodoxly cut trow-
sers, contrast with the slouching spiritless look of
the sailors of the merchant marine. In every
street near any of the numerous landing places the
sun-burnt boatmen accost you, some of them old
men-of-war's men, and who will tell you many a
story of old their exploits. In the principal
street you have officers by the score lounging at
hotel windows, and middies diving into pastry-
cooks'. In another portion of the town, where
all around you is bastion and wall—where the
glacis and the stagnant verdure of the ditch is
all the green you see—amid barracks, batteries,
sallyports, strongly defended bridges, and embra-
sured parapets—in such places the population is
almost entirely military—the Marine, in his simple
uniform, contrasting with the Highlander (the
42d are here at present), and the red-coated sol-
diers of the line, with the blue-coated Artillery-
man. Portsmouth is a most puzzling place to
find your way through. You are instructed to
plunge into sailor-peopled alleys, where models of
ships decorate the windows, and dozens of parrots
are suspended for sale along the walls. There is
a pungent commingling odour of fish, tar, old
ropes, and mud ; and presently, as you plod along,
you suddenly come upon something intruding arm
of the sea, or some redoubt or-shut up sallyport,
and have nothing for it but to retrace your weary
steps. So intersected is the town, indeed, with
this species of obstruction, that a long and tire-
some round along dead walls is frequently neces-
sary to get to a place locally at hand. You see
the despotism of officialism at every step. In-
scriptions engraved over grey gateways notify
that those who have no military right there enter
by sufferance, and warn fly-drivers to go slowly
over the bridges, which give loud clanks and
clacks as the vehicles passes them. And not only
in Portsmouth do you meet a battery of cannon in
the fa_le, but it is in it, as Eothen describes Con-
stantinople, you meet a ship in the street. The
Constantinople ship-street is, however, only one—
the Golden Horn. Portsmouth has many marine
horns, but most ungolden horns are they ; dirty
water when the tide is in, dirty mud when the tide
is out, dirty overhanging houses whether the tide
bli e e e
small ut reoetat
n hd
colliers,
ergarbagee, it
be
nalways.ga wonderHr
e t Here
nt
egr s fialt
the visitor to conceive how th eypossibl y penetrate
up lanes and alleys without shoving their bowsprits
into ea')in-like little parlours, and
how they could
possibly turn round, or rather" go about," without
pulling down a bit of one house ahead and a bit of
another astern. However, that the thing is ma-
naged without the occurrence of any of these ca-
tastrophes we have ocular demonstration. The
handiest way of going from many parts of Ports-
mouth to others is by the harbour, which often
saves you a long roundabout.

The Port-Admiral has issued the following order
for the guidance of parties on Thursday :--
" NAVAL REVIEW NOTICE.
"Sailing-vessels and boats are requested not to
attempt to cross the line of the ships of war about to be
reviewed on the 11th inst., or on any account to pass
between the columns.
"The steamers should keep to leeward of the columns
or ships in order of sailing, as the smoke might prevent
signals being quickly noticed, thereby causing acci-
dent. Masters of vessels must be aware that the
evolutions of so large a number of ships of war require
a considerable space. They are, therefore, requested to
steer accordingly, and not close in to interrupt the
evolutions that may be ordered, as they themselves
will alone be answerable should any accident occur.
" THOMAS CocaRANE, Vice-Admiral,
" Commander-in-Chief.
" Victory, in Portsmouth Harbour, August 8." _
therTCTlNlohsereeaimrbefioLllowing are the signals issued to-day for
the guidance of the Fleet to-morrow :
For Review.—Weigh. The compass course will be
made from the Royal yacht to the Admiral ; on passing
nreaancabreast.tdiosnt
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