The Sun.
London, England, 1853-03-09 00:00:00

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.

It is reported that the Mediterranean force, under
Vice-Admiral Deans Dundas, is to be increased, and
that the Channel force is to be at once formed into active
service divisions. Admiral Dundas's fleet is in the most
excellent order. Both ships and men have now a little
rest after ten months' cruise at sea. It is expected, how-
ever, that they will be on the move again by the end of
this month.

We learn from Malta that the damage done to the
Sampson, steam-frigate, by the collision between her,
and the Arethusa, 50, has been greatly exaggerated.
The damaged vessel is by this time nearly ready for sea
again. The weather had been bad in the Mediterranean,
and the shipwrights at Malta were working hard to re-
pair the disasters.

Captain Robert Streatfield (1851), on the retired list
of 18M, died a few days since, aged 68. He was in the
expedition to Copenhagen in 1808, and served continu-
ously for 14 years during the war.
Mr. J. M'Swiney 0.847), of the Calypso, 18, in the
West Indies, promoted to the death vacancy in that ship,
has been confirmed in his advancement.
Mr. William Lang has been appointed master's assis-
tant of the Imperieuse, 51, screw, Chatham.
The officers of the dockyards are reporting against the
present, system of performing the repairs and new works
by contract, and recommending that they shall be done
by hired men.

PORTSMOUTH, MARCH 8.
•
The Agamemnon, 91, Screw, Captain Sir Thomas
Maitland.—lt becomes almost a melancholy duty to
notice the daily cases manifesting themselves on board
'this unfortunate vessel. We are at a loss to understand
the policy of fumigating the Agamemnon whilst her re-
ceiving hulk (Camperdown) is lashed alongside, and a
gangway communication permitted between the ships.
One thing is pretty certain, that there is every chance
for this epidemic to go through the whole crew, officers
and all ; neither is it any joke for the country to be
paying 600 or 700 men who are cooped up in this help-
less and miserable manner, when they might have been
removed to a distance from the affected, and escaped
this lingering and unfortunate sickness.—Herald.
The Drake, lighter, sailed this morning to the east-
ward with stores for this dockyard.
The Elfin, Royal yacht steam-tender to the Victoria
and Albert, Master Commander Alfred Balliston, went
out of harbour this morning to Southampton, and re-
turned in the afternoon.
- The Conflict, 8, screw, is getting fast ready for ser-
vice ; her topmasts are on end, and hands aloft com-
pleting her rigging.
The Duke of Wellington, 131, screw, Captain Henry
Byam Martin, is progressing in the most satisfactory
manner in every department. It is with much pleasure
we witness the energy and zeal displayed to get this
noble ship out of the hands of the dockyard officers.

PLYMOUTH, MARCH 7.
Eer Majesty's frigate Leander, 50, Captain George
St. V. King, which left Portsmouth on the 12th of
February for a cruise off the Western Islands, rounded
Terceira on the 22d of February, and arrived off
Cork on the sth of March. She left that port at
mid-day on Saturday, and arrived here at half-
past seven o'clock last evening. The Leander hove
to off Cork, and received orders from Admiral Purvis
in person to proceed at once for this port, in conse-
quence of the prevalence of typhus fever and small-
pox on board the ships there. The crew of the Leander
ere all well. She had fine weather, with the wind from
the eastward until the 26th of February, since which
northerly winds have prevailed. Spoke, Feb. 16, in lat.
42 37 N., long. 13 8 W., the English ship Looshtach,
for Coquimbo ; 21st, 20 miles N.E. of St. Michael's,
British schooner Dispatch, inquired the bearings of the
island, and then bore up for it ; 25th, lat. 44 32 N.,
long. 26 53 W., Dutch ship Maria, 84 days from Bata-
via to Amsterdam, wished to be reported to Hermann
Philips or Hermann Smith ; March 4, lat. 50 52, long.
11 22, 78 miles from Cape Clear, passed a large screw-
steamer, going west.
The Arrogant, 47, screw steam-frigate, Captain S. G.
Fremantle, whi',h left Cork on Saturday previous to the
Leander, is expected here in the course of the day.
Tine Encounter, 14, screw steam-ship, Captain W. D.
o CJallaghan, from Liverpool, will probably arrive here
trfrday.
The Magicienne, 15, paddle-wheel steam-frigate, Cap-
rain T. Fisher, went out of harbour on Saturday.
The screw steam-ship Sa,nspareil, 81, Captain S. C.
Dacres, with topgallant masts struck, steamed into har-
bour on Friday last, against a strong head wind.
The Avon, 3, paddle-wheel steam-vessel, which sailed
on Friday with supernumeraries for Portsmouth, had
on board an eight-oared gig, 36ft. long, built by Mr.
Waterman, of Anderton, in this port, for his Royal
Highness Prince Albert.

THE WEST INDIES.
The Commander-in-Chief, Vice-Admiral Sir G. F.
Seymour, K.C.8., G.C.H., in his flag-ship Cumberland,
70, Captain Seymour, with the Highflyer, 24 (screw),
Captain Heathfield, left Port Royal for Bermnda Feb. 3.
The Dauntless, 33, screw, Captain Halsted, remained
at 13arbadoes, Feb. 13.
The Calypso, 18, Captain Forbes, was at St. Kitt's.
The Vestal, 26, Captain C. B. Hamilton, was at Ha-
vannah Feb. 15.
The Geyser, 6, paddle, Commander Wilson, left Port
Royal Feb. 1, for Greytown.
The Devastation, 6, paddle, Commander C. Y. Camp-
bell, left Port Royal Feb. 1, for Honduras.
The Persian, 12, Commands!: Mitchell, left Port
Royal for England, to be paid off, Feb. 1.
The Daring, 12, Commander G. Napier; left Port
Royal, on cruise, Jan. 29.
The Alban, steam-tender, Lieut. Commander Mey-
nell, left Port Royal, for Falmouth, Feb. 7.

PRIZE, MONEY FOR THE GLADIATOR AND FLYING FISH.
—Woaidhead and Co. have given notice, that the account
sales of the proceeds arising from the capture of the
slave-vessel, name unknown, by her Majesty's ship
Gladiator, Captain John Adams (her Majesty's ship
plying Fish, Commander G. E. Patey, in company),
Jan. 18, 1851, will be registered in the High Court of
Admiralty on and after the 15th inst.
PRIZE MONEY FOR THE CLEOPATRA.—HaIford and
Co. have given notice to the officers and crew of her Ma-
jesty's ship Cleopatra, Ohristr: Wyvell, Esq., captain,
that an account of bounties received for the Pachetto de
Monte Video, captured March 16, 1845, will be forth-
with deposited in the Registry of the High Court of
Admiralty ; in consequence of an appeal in this case,
the distribution has unavoidably been delayed.
!„; Trn! NAGLER PRUSSIAN MAIL STEAM-PACKET.—The
Prussian Government and the authorities of the Post-
°ffice department of that country having decided on ac-
cseialenr;,lti-n,g the postal communication through the Prus-
for Aingdom, an order was transmitted to this country
r. Elbertzhagen the agent for the Prussian Go-
verament in Lt ondon; to contract for the building of a
faF,t steaniobe
Sitettin toemployed in conveying the mails from
compliance • Stockholm, a distance of about 440 miles. In
with his instructions, Mr. Elbertzhagen en-
tered into
wharf, arrangementsßlackwallfo with Mr. Mare, of Orchard-
of 600 tons, to be fitted with construction of an iron vessel
dbwith oscillating engines of 220
collective horsepow„
vessel, havino. been bllilty John
Penn and Son, and the
andfitted with her engines, was
tried down the river to
her speed. The Nagler,
the name given to the packet, rilncommemoration of the
a:left Mr. Penn's wharf,
late Postmaster-General of Prussia
Deptford, at half-past 10 o'clock ,
1;:loand on arriving at
mweaaGravesend, the
the Lower Hope, in Sea Reach
time was taken, and she ran the
or at the rate o f lG '.
:17:4:416. knotsrameilsui pnni,edo3r
minutes 35 seconds,
hour, with the tide. On returning past
mile, against the tide, she accomplished the distance
5 minuted 12 seconds, or at the rate of 11.538 knots pie
hour. On again running the measured mile with he
tide, she made the distance in 3 minutes 28 seconds, or
at the rate of 17.308 knot per hour ; and her last run
against the tide occupied 5 minutes 19 seconds, or at the
rate of 11.255 knots per hour, giving an average speed
on the four runs, two down and two up, of 14.320 knots
per hour. Mr. Elbertzhagen, the agent, Captain Grae-
Yen, who superintended her construction, Mr. Water-
man, jlLn., who designed the vessel, Mr. Hartree, of the
firm of John Penn and Son, the constructors of her
engines, and Mr. F. P. Smith were on board during the 1
trrAl, and all were much gratified with the result. The
Nagler is a paddle-wheel steam-vessel, drawing 3 feet 6
inches or water, an -3. her enoines, with a stroke of 4 feet
6 inches, 'nada 331 revolutions on the average of the
four runs, the working pressure being 141 b. to the square
inch.

MANNING THE NAM—The report on manning the
navy has trot yet been made public, but copies of the
the document were flitting about amongst the members of
Cal);_liet and the committee last week: The United
"'erviee Gazette says :—" The scope of the inquiry, as
zirgiri,any contemplated, has been wide enough. Ac-
__rf,e:;:rzito the statement of the noble duke, who lately
Ac-
pr,; at the Admiralty, it embraces the state of the
an from the day he entered.th
pereived into Greenwich
Ilos e navy as a boy until
pital." It is one of the

great defects of modern inquiries, that in the labyrinth
of investigation the practical object of inquiry' is lost ;
and so we fear with regard to the " manning the navy"
question. A mass of details has been allowed to con-
fuse the notions of the committee, that the doubtful is
only rendered more secure. The history of the state of
the seaman from the day of his entering the navy
as a boy, to his reception as a veteran in Greenwich
is a mere episode—interesting to magazine readers,
but too romantic for any useful purposes of the pre-
sent day, and, moreover, it would be only a rechauffe
of Marryat, Dane, and Co. All we want to hear
of now is the present condition of the boy and the
present condition of the A. 8., the position and pay of
the warrant-officers, and the hopes of the boys, men,
and petty and warrant officers of the navy, of pay, pro-
motion, retirement, and pension for their widows. There
is another important subject which materially affects the
question of "manning the navy," and that is the subject
of punishment, as well as reward, and the entire reforma-
tion of the naval code. This subject was very slightly
touched upon in the House of Commons last week ; but
the Admiralty may depend upon it that no scheme of
manning the navy will have any good effect upon the
seamen of the present day if it be not accompanied with
some measure of revision of naval punishments. Seamen
continue to " earn their money like horses ;" but they
are grown too intelligent now to "spend it like asses ;"
and what is more, they begin to have a greater respect
for themselves, their wives, families, and connections, to
be subjected to be tied up, without open and fair inquiry,
and flogged like poor "Uncle Tom" and the black
slaves of Cuba, Brazil, or America.—Plymouth Mail.