The Sun.
London, England, 1854-09-09 00:00:00

ROYAL ARTILLERY.

The men of the Royal Artillery returned unfit for ser-
vice assembled at the Ordnance Hospital, Woolwich, yes-
terday, at 9 a.m., and were medically inspected by the
surgeons of the division to which they are attached.

Sixty fine horses for the field batteries arrived in Wool-
wich garrison on Thursday, having been purchased by
Lieutenant-Colonel Wingfield in Yorkshire, and sent up
to head-quarters for exercise in their new employment.

THE DISEASE ON BOARD THE HANNIBAL.
SHEERNESS, Sept. B.—By a letter from the Hannibal,
whilst in the Downs, we have a melancholy account of the
continued disease ant deaths in her up to the time of the
letter being written. The writer says :
" We do not know on board how long we shall remain
here, as it is reported we are to perform quarantine ; even
if it is so, it will most likely be for a few days. God
knows we have had sickness enough on board the Hanni-
bal to deserve quarantine. I would not in my other letters
sent you, my dear wife, alarm you and the children with
the truth, but now that we are comparatively speaking
free from sickness, I can tell you some of our misfortunes.
The day after we left Calais the small-pox broke out
amongst the troops on board; a few days after, typhus
fever appeared amongst all hands ; then cholera came on
top of all, so that we had three horrible and contagious
diseases at one and the same time. Well, after the French
troops were landed, the remains of disease left on board
*ere partly .blown away bY our, leaving the anchorage
where our division of the fleet was laying, and cruising
about outside the Sound ; then, when the forts of Aland
were stormed and taken, the Russian prisoners refused to
deliver themselves up to the French, and so we had to take
them aboard of us. They had not been on board an hour
when two of them died from malignant cholera, so there
we were again. We have been cruising about for tho last
eighteen days, and I think if the deaths had not at last
diminished, the commodore would not have got home yet,
as we all believe he was anxious that no deaths should bo-
cur for a few days before arriving. However, I believe
he will be out in his calculations, for there is one of the
prisoners who is now nearly at hie last gasp. Poor
fellows, they suffer dreadful. We have indeed had death
stalking through our ship, and no mistake. We have
buried seven of a day, and have had from 180 to
200 on the sick list, all slung in hammocks on the lower
deck. From the gun-room door to the foremast bitts the
hammocks and cots were slung, some four and some six
deep. lam thus particular, as I have no doubt some ac-
counts of our goings on have appeared in the newspapers.
We hear on board that the fleet in the Black Sea have also
suffered severely, and also that cholera is prevalent at
home ; but you can have no idea of the little we know of
what is authentic. Some say we go to Sheerness, some to
the Motherbank. We are all for the first ; the other is a
yellow flag station ; but I shall not close this until I know
that something decisive is to take place. All I know is,
that we aro now riding here with forty-five fathoms of
chain out. We have only a few tons of coals on board,
and only a few days' supply of other necessaries. How-
ever, anything can be got here on the shortest notice.
There is a steam-boat alongside waiting orders, and if we
go to the westward she will take invalids to Chatham
Melville Hospital. _ _

"We arc off to the westward. Orders have just been
given to the purser, we find, to supply slops for the sick
going to hospital. The anchor is now being hove up; we
are off—we do not know- where—steering west, with a fine
E.S.E. wind for us. I must tell you our third lieutenant,
the Hon. 0. W. M. Lambert, is sent to Deal Hospital
amongst the invalids. From the time the ship left Calais
to her return to the Downs he has been an invalid, and
the greater part of the time confined to his cot. There is
no doubt he will be invalided. He has been, and is still,
suffering from internal abscess."