The Sun.
London, England, 1870-06-17 00:00:00

REWARDS TO INVENTORS.

Amongst the Parliamentary papers just issued is one
which gives copies of reports and correspondence as to
the rewards to inventors proposed in the army estimates
for the current financial year. These rewards are as
follow :—A grant of £lOO to Mr. C. F. Guthrie for an
ingenious and efficient rolling bridge applicable to
defensive works. It is proposed to pay the sum of
£5OO to Mr. S. A. Goddard for his improvements
in breech-loading cannon. In the case of Mr. Parsons,
who alleged that the Palliser gun was really invented by
him, the matter has been referred to Mr. Gregory, the
President of the Institute of Civil Engineers. The Trea-
sury has sanctioned a grant of £5OO to Commander
Columb, as a final reward on account of his signals for
naval and military use. The Treasury has also resolved
to ask Parliament for £1,700, to be granted to the repre-
sentatives of the late Jacob Snider, for his invention of
breechloading rifles.

THE ENGLISHMEN CAPTURED BY
SPANISH BRIGANDS.

An account of the adventures of the Messrs. Bonell,
who were captured by Spanish brigands near Gibraltar is
given by a correspondent of the Standard. It contains
some interesting information. At daybreak on May 22nd
the party halted in the neighbourhood of Castellar, where
the captives got some food. Most of the party lay down
to rest. One, however, was constantly on guard, and at
no time was either of the captives allowed to move a
couple of yards away. During the halt Don Antonio (the
brigand chief) said to Mr Bonne'', "Don Juan, when we took
you at the ventorillo near Gibraltar we merely asked you
for 5,000 dols., but now we have carefully considered the
subject, and we must have 30,000 dols." Mr. Bonell
replied such an amount was quite out of their power to
give, and that the best thing would be to kill them at
once. Both he and his nephew were prepared to die
courageously ; they only supplicated that the manner of
their death might be one attended with the least possible
suffering. This style of answer seems to have met the
approbation of all the brigands, for from that moment
they were treated with more respect and less harshly
addressed. A day or two afterwards an incident
occurred which is worth recording as highly characteristic
of the peculiar relgious ideas so often held in Roman
Catholic countries by even the most lawless robbers. The
room in which they were confined was ornamented by
those pictures of the Vi rain and Holy Family so common
throughout Spain. Mr. Bonell observing one of the rob-
bers bringing in some candles, asked him what he
going to do. The bandit replied that the lights
was for the purpose of illuminating one of the
pictures, and returning thanks for the protection so
far vouchsafed to them, and at the same time imploring
the continuance of Divine aid till their enterprise was
finally completed. For seven days this style of life was
continued, the monotony of the prisoners' existence being
agreeably varied by tales of violence, robbery, and blood-
shed in which the bandits had been engaged. From
the scraps of conversation which the Messrs. Bonell
picked up, they are confident that the whole band
must number upwards of thirteen or fourteen men.
The only inhabitant of the house in which they
were kept whom they saw was a decrepid old woman who
cooked the victuals, but they were not allowed to speak
to her. The brigands at length ascertained that they
would get twenty-seven thousand dollars, and determined
on the release of their prisoners. Mr. Bonell, sen., was
blindfolded, and, accompanied by two robbers, removed
from his nephew. He rode for some six hours,
but he is confident that he was taken backwards and
forwards and round the house, for the handkerchief being
somewhat loosely tied he was enabled to recognize stones
and marks on the road. When they halted, the bandage
was taken from his eyes, and he found himself at the
entrance to Xeres. They entered a fonda for refreshment,
the captain of the band warning his captive to appear as
much as possible like an ordinary traveller, and that on
his discreet conduct depended not only his own life but
that of his nephew. From Xeres Mr. John Bonell went
to Cadiz, and the story of his arrival here and his depar-
ture with the ransom money has already been told.