The Sun.
London, England, 1853-10-24 00:00:00

NEWS FROM AUSTRALIA.

The ship Eagle, Captain Boyce, arrived at Liver-
pool on Saturday morning from Melbourne. She
sailed on the 28th July, and has consequently
made the passage in 84 days, during which time she
was three weeks becalmed, and encountered two
very severe gales after entering the Channel. She
brought home 150 passengers, and 77 bags of let-
ters, containing 45,000 letters and newspapers ;
with a cargo consisting of 120 packages gold dust
(weighing 63,052 ounces and 10 dwts.), valued at
256,000/. ; 2,070 bags rice (in ballast), 3 boxes
apparel, 1 bale whalebone, 2 boxes specimens, 1
box documents, 1 box watches, 4 octaves 3 kegs
wine, and 1,895 loads of flour.
Amongst the specie per the Eagle are the two
celebrated nuggets so long on show at Melbourne,
weighing respectively 217 ounces 11 dwts., and
1,011 ounces 15 dwts.
The royal mail steamer Chusan arrived at Mel-
bourne on the 20th of July with the mails of the
4th of May from England, and sailed on the 21st
for Sydney.
The screw steamer Cleopatra was to sail front
Melbourne for Liverpool, via the Cape of Good
Hope on the 31st of July. The following vessels
had arrived at Melbourne :---The Ituna, from Dun-
dee ; the Urania, from London ; and the Miles
Barton, and the Unity, 'from Liverpool. The fol-
lowing were the projected, departtires :—For Lon-
don—the Elizabethaudllie Madaghicar, the latter
part of July ; and the' liOxbittgh-CAatle, 'the 15th
of September. For . Liverpool—the Cleopatra
steamer, the 31st of July. For Southampton--the
Argo steamer, the 14th of August. For Lima—
the Woodstock, the 28th of July.
Accounts had been received from Melbourne of
the total wreck of the barque Tory on the 15th of
July, while on her passage from London for Port
Stephens. The Tory was bound to Port Stephens
with 280 passengers, principally for the Peel River
Gold Mining Company, and machinery for the
same parses, and had reached to within seven
miles of her destination when she met with the
disaster. All the passengers and crew were saved.
The box, containing 10,0001. in gold, which had
been lost overboard from the steamer Osmanli, in
Melbourne harbour, had not been recovered,
although a diving-bell had been constructed, and
every attempt had been made to recover it.
A person named Quin, who absconded from
Messrs. Train and Co.'s, of Liverpool, in July,
1852, with 1,3001., was captured in Melbourne,
and has been brought back in the Eagle.
Two Government escorts had arrived at Mel-
bourne on the 22d of July—one with 1,737 ounces
of gold dust from the Ovens diggings, and the other
with 3,100 ounces from the Mount M'lvor diggings.
Great excitement had been caused at Melbourne
in consequence of the M'lvor Private Escort Com-
pany's gold escort having been attacked and robbed
on its way to Melbourne of a considerable amount
of gold dust and gold coin. One account states that
the escort wa3 robbed of 2,390 ounces of gold dust
and a large amount of gold coin, and that four
men in charge of the escort had been killed. A
later account states that the escort was attacked by
20 men when about 15 miles from the Mount.
M'lvor diggings, and that the amount of gold dust
stolen was 8,000 ounces, and 4,0001. in gold coin.
No official or satisfactory account of the robbery
had, however, reached Melbourne at latest advices.
The produce of gold at the mines was stated to
be greater than ever, though little was coming
down to Melbourne, owing to the impassable state
of the roads.

The accounts from Geelong state that a decided
improvement was observable in the yield of gold
from Ballarat. The last escort that arrived at
Melbourne brought 6,000 ounces, besides leaving a
large quantity behind.
The value of gold at Melbourne was 3/. 17s. 6d,
per ounce, at which rate several sales were effected.
A large vessel, apparently an American, was
wrecked July 26, between Jarvis Head and Shoal.-
haven, New South Wales.
A brig, from Liverpool, was reported ashore off
Port Philip Heads on the 26th July.
The latest accounts from Perth, Western Aus-
tralia, are to the 10th of July. The operations at
the coal shales on the Preston river were to be dis-
continued, in consequence of the workmen em-
ployed not being able to sink deeper without proper
materials for the purpose, and the boring apparatus
sent down by the Government not being sufficiently
equipped to go down the required depth. The
circumstance was much regretted, as the raising of
coal in that locality must have been attended with
the most beneficial results.

In addition to the gold dust on freight on board
the Eagle, there is a very large amount in the
hands of passengers. A passenger has a nugget of
gold weighing 45 lb., which is not included in the
freight list.

FATAL ACCIDENT AT PLYMOUTH.—A fatal accident
occurred in the Sound on Saturday night when a ser-
geant and private of Marines and two watermen were
drowned. The sergeant, whose name is Hooper Thad
been sent from La Hogue, in the Sound, on shore at
Devonport, to bring the private on board, who had
broken his liberty, and after apprehending him pro-
ceeded to Mutton Cove, and hired the watermen to
take them on board. They left at six p.m., and have
not been heard of since. The boat was found yesterday
morning bottom upwards. The weather was extremel.9
boisterous throughout the night. The Geelong, which
arrived here yesterday, lost three men overboard in a
gale of wind on Thursday, eighty miles off the Lizard.
The Coldstream arrived on Saturday afternoon through
stress of weather, bound to Madras with the 74th
Highlanders on beard.
WINCHESTER GAOL.-At the Hants Michaelmas AS-
sizes, held last week, Lord H. Cholmondeley took occa-
sion to deny the truth of the statement?, made at a
recent coroner's inquest in London, respecting cruelties
practised in' Winchester gaol. Lord Palmerston had
sent down one of the inspectors of prisons to make in-
quiry ; he went over the prison with himself (Lord Chol-
mondeley), and, Mr. Taylor had expressed himself per-
fectly satisfied, and it as was expected that some notice
of the proceedings would come before the court to-day,
Mr. Williams told him that he might state that the
whole was an unfounded charge. He must be allowed
to express his surprise that a public officer like a coroner
should have felt it to be his duty to read and make use
of an anonymous letter, when there could be no one I?7_,
sent on behalf of the visiting justices to answer it, and. its
one of those visiting justices he was bound to say 111,1 f,
had no fault to find with that indefatigable and u
mane ofacer, the goyernor of the prison.