The Sun.
London, England, 1854-08-05 00:00:00

THE WAR.

NAVAL AND MILITARY INTELLIGENCE.
The Indefatigable, 50, bearing the flag of Admiral IL
Johnstone, hauled off from the yard (Plymouth) to th•
hulk on Thursday.

The Dauntless, Capt. Ryder, is ordered to take in
ammunition, shell, rockets, shot, and a considerable
quantity of boatswains', carpenters', and gunners' stores
for the Baltic fleet, and is to leave Sheerness to-morrow
(Sunday) morning direct for the Baltic.
The African steam-tug arrived at Portsmouth yester-
day morning, from Sheerness, with the effects of Admiral
Corry, which she landed, and sailed again i❑ the evening
for supernumeraries and volunteers for the Baltic fleet.
The Rhadamanthus steam-transport and the Melampus
store-ship sailed yesterday evening for Pembroke, Ply-
mouth, and Scotland. _

The Athol store-ship has been put out of commission,
and her crew have gone on leave.
The Fantome hired freight-ship completed loading
with provisions from the Clarence yard yesterday, and
sailed to Spithead to await orders previous to her depar-
ture for Constantinople.
The Hornet, Commander Campbell, remains at the
Nore, awaiting Admiralty orders for making good her
defects in her machinery, boiler, &c.
The Endymion hulk was towed into the Sound last
evening by the Pike and Confiance steam-tugs, in charge
of Mr. Mills, master-attendant. She will remain at her
own anchors, and the troops, crew, and gear of the Lord
Auckland will be transferred to her. The Lord Auck-
land will then be thoroughly cleaned.

THE NEW LONG-GUN RANGE.
IMPORTANT EXPERIMENTS WITH NEW ARTILLERY.
Rear-Admiral Berkeley, C. 8., Capt. Alex. Milne;
Captain Sir Thomas Maitland, C. 8., of the Excellent
gunnery-ship at Portsmouth ; Colonel Chalmer, Inspec-
tor of Artillery; Lieut.-Colonel Wilson, assistant;
Col. Chesney ; Lieut.-Col. Wilson, Director of the La.
boratory ; Lieut.-Col. Mitchell, Royal Artillery ; Lieut.-
Commander Joliffe, of the Arrow despatch screw steam
gun-boat ; Lieut. Hore, commander of the Beagle screw
steam despatch gun-boat ; Lieut. Luce, commander of
the Lynx screw steam despatch gun-boat ; and Lieut.
Risk, commander of the Wrangler screw steam despatch
gun-boat, arrived at Woolwich dockyard yesterday, at
10 a.m., and embarked in the Vivid paddle-wheel steam-
vessel, Master-Commander Henry William Allen, for
Southend, on their way to witness experiments
with
large guns at long ranges at Shoeburyness. Their lord-
ships and the numerous officers present on the occasion
were highly satisfied with the practice, which was com-
menced at 2 o'clock p.m. with a 68-pounder gun, 10 feet
long, and weighing 95 cwt., on Lancaster's principle,
the bore being oval instead of round, which gives the
largest guns all the advantages possessed by the beat
rifles, when shot or shells of a particular description are
used. Excellent practice can be made with rifles at con-
siderable ranges, hut until the experiments with Lan-
caster's oval guns and elliptical, or egg-shaped shells,
correct aim could not be taken at the astonishing dis-
tance of 5,000 yards, the range yesterday. The long
period which elapsed during the flight of the destructive
projectile (weighing upwards of 831 b., owing to its
elongated form), caused a feeling of suspense, but when
it fell, at a distance of 5,000 yards (and in no instance
did the shells fall wide or short of the target), the spot
where it burst presented the appearance of the eruption
of a volcano, the sand being raised to a great height in
the air. Experiments were also carried on with
Moorsom's shells at 3,000 yards, and the practice with
_them and with shot was very good. It was at one
time imagined by many that the Minie rifle would have
an advantage over Horse Artillery or field battery
guns, but it is evident Lancaster's invention will re-
store the light 6-pounders made on that principle to
the position and advantage they had over Brown
Bess. Several other guns have been made, of smaller
bores, on Lancaster's principle, for the purpose of carry-
ing on experiments. Their lordships and the large party
returned to Southend-pier at 5 o'clock p.m., and em-
barked in the Vivid on their return to town.