The Sun.
London, England, 1854-07-31 00:00:00

MAIL FOR THE BLACK SEA.

The following notice has been posted at the principal
gate of Woolwich dockyard :—" Letters for the Black
Sea Fleet will be despatched by her Majesty's steam-
vessel Industry, on August 4, for Devonport. Letters
for seamen, marines, and boys serving in the Black Sea,
will be forwarded by this opportunity if posted in time,
and marked by her Majesty's steam-vessel Industry.' "
The postage of one penny must be paid on the letter at
the time of posting it.
- - -
By a letter received from the Janus here yesterday
morning, dated the 24th instant, in Khge Bay, she was
then most unexpectedly ordered to return to England
immediately, after sending• some particular mails home
via Copenhagen and Hamburg. Time was not even
allowed to give notice to the officers and crews of
the squadron that there was an opportunity to send
letters home, such was the urgency of her departure.
Nothing whatever is known to the officers through-
out the squadron as to their final destination. The
squadron had a tedious passage out, owing to continual
calms, and were considerably detained in consequence
of the St. Vincent being such a slow sailer. The
Bull D.ig fell in with the squadron about 100 miles
below Kioge Bay, and with all her steam up she
could riot tow her more than five and a half knots. The
entire passage out was accomplished by steam. On the
21st instant considerable alarm was created on board
the Commodore's ship, the Hannibal, by the appearance
of a decided case of small-pox amongst the French sol-
diers. Happily, up to the time of our leaving there has
been no further case. Every precaution was taken,
every man has been medically inspected throughout the
ship, and the greatest cleanliness is observed, and a free
ventilation is enforced. The utmost harmony exists
among the officers and men with the French troops.
The officers of the Hannibal are very much disap-
pointed at not being permitted to pay a visit to Copen
hagen, a boon that has been granted to the officers of all
the other ships of war, both English and French whilst
at anchor in Kioge Bay, and amongst her crew there is
more than the usual amount of grumbling, for which there
squadron. The writer
seems some very evident cause, as compared with other
ships of the line in the same
says, " It might be well if the honourable commodore
would look round and ascertain the cau
e. It could be
very soon remedied if he did so ; the ropes would run
much lighter both to the officers and men.

SHIPS IN COINIXISSION, Scc•
The following are the only men-of-war of a sea-going
character now in commission at Portsmouth :—Power-
ful, 84, fitting, Captain Elliot ; Colossus, 80, screw
steam-ship, Captain R. S. Robinson ; and Boscawen,
70, Captain Glanville. There are also in commission
here several small steam•vessels, but the most powerful
is the Dasher, 2, Capt. Lefebre, the others being
yachts, &c.
We have several other steamers getting ready for sea,
amonst which are the Curacoa. 30, screw-frigate ; Har-
rier, 16, screw-sloop ; Swallow, 8, screw-sloop ; Centaur,
6, paddle-frigate, &c. The whole of these vessels are
complete in their machinery, and will soon be ready for
sea.

Portsmouth Dockyard has not been so "slack of work"
as at present for 25 or 30 years, so far as the fitting out
of ships is concerned. This inactivity for the exigencies
of war, however, admits of a larger nuvober of men being
placed upon the ships building and re•fitting. There are
l Frederick, 3 110. The last 120 ; Royal
Sovereign, four three-deckers in course of construction on adjacent
building slips in this establishment :—The Marlbo-
rough,,
over
eg
In 3, 11,
20s c; r ew
and
Roy
; Princea ofe de V
named has been ready for launching for several years,
but being on the sailing principle, and a sister ship to
the Queen, it has not been deemed advisable to float
her, although we should have thought her ship•room
worth something, but that, placed in juxtaposition with
her decay if in the water, perhaps amounts to nothing.
The Marlborough is being got out of hand as fast as pos.
Bible. The Shannon, a 60-gun frigate of 600- horse power, is
also being got on with as fast as possible, considering
that much delay has been caused by the slip not being
long enough, which defect is now being remedied by the
addition of more flooring to the basemen,„ The three-
deckers Royal Sovereign and Prince of Wales are newly
up in frame, and have had no bands employed upon
them for some time. But it is in the outfit of a fleet
that Portsmouth Dockyard excels, as we have seen in
the equipment and storing of the great armaments that
have sailed for the purposes of scientific trials or warlike
demonstrations during the past ten years. The excel-
lence of the work, and the expedition with which it is
done in this yard, in every department, have assisted
materially in maintaining for the British navy that cha-
racter for durability, strength, and perfection of fitting
that makes it present so gratifying a contrast to the
Russian and other navies.

Her Majesty has been pleased to become patron of
the Portsmouth regatta, and to give 27d. to be contended
fur by the distressed watermen of Portsmouth, Portsea,
and Gosport,

"Kamehameha 111., King of the Hawaiian Islands.
" 'Be it known to all whom it may concern, that we,
Kamehameha 111., King of the Hawaiian Islands,
herehy proclaim our entire neutrality in the war now
impending between the great maritime powers of Eu-
rope ; thst our neutrality is to be respected by all belli-
gerents to the full extent of our jurisdiction, which by
ROYAL MARINES. our fundamental laws is to the distance of one marine
Captain John Elliott, of the Chatham division, has
`league surrounding each of our islands of Hawaii, Maui,