The Sun.
London, England, 1848-05-10 00:00:00

10, 1848.
•
+ 4,7 MAY
gaez

solelykwing dcnepoernidnegn't oenrhseha:
remained ignorant of the circumstances until the fol-
at immense distances irrespective of colour being
poen.es be:
I readers
will figure to themselves two diamonds drawn on paper,
one over the other, and were to number them from
top to bottom 1,2, 3,4, they would find the sum total
Cap-
tain R.N., commandieg
make 10, which Nv iI 1 ailinit of 15 changes, viz., two 3'd,
two .I's, two s's, two 6's, and two 7's, which, by number-
ing the letters c,f the alphabet, admit of "3' "m-
-wunie,,tions being made. Sir James Clarke Ross, Cap-
L basLE Ga
simple
bo as a
SEVERITY
.v.
the
Et eeßioneoyf
signals,
onight tnent..he...
search. of Sir John Franklin and his lost voyagers, is
going to take out those '
the expedition about to go in
signals as the best adapted for
certain communications between ship and ship. Lieu-
tenant Redl's intelligence and talent deserves encourage-
ment;
in c thisouri
accounts
signals and signal
lamps, as
lti
portion
u of
BA:eDd '
of their light far surpasses 4n
rino°lwP'llll:FtNl.)A—ort\s‘in'eougtah v,
e and o f chargespublication
a eBrme
aeClnatpgs ourt;
abiblnauctkni3acvt):' nut, t'h' sbe
C seen.
sameß
foanythingf
.thea g
re
el
csaehot
aTt3ril
in-tgieeaEet
nhsp: r
tr. i 01
which
eLehus:CiecEcerh)d'
cruelty etlhty s statements;
for
rd other
some
portions
:es; h:11 practised
oonf excessive yesterday
flogging,
tions from the Bellerophon,'
~
com-
pany during the short time she has beenthe ship's
1n commission.
We are well aware that
there was certain *
foundations
time we felt assured that the facts were, as usual,
very much exaggerated. We are now enabled, on the
authority of a communication from Bellerophon,
to contradict thfs'a reached
was contained in the paragraph extracted
Devonport Telegraph's correspondence,and
we are
from the
sure our west country Contemporary will
receive
the denial of the horrible imputation on
the officers
the Bellerophon with as much satisfaction as wehavof
had in drawing it forth. With reference to the flug gi e
we have also the gratification to be able to correcttit
exaggerations which have been set afloat; but we must
confess that the bare truth is painful enough, and whether
or not those frequent punishments on board the Bellero-
phon were justly deserved, and of necessity administered,
or the culprits have been harshly treated and excessively
tortured, of this we are assured that no body of men, in
any position in public or private life, deplore the facts so
much as the Lords of the Admiralty do themselves. The
Bellerophon was commissioned on the 23d of September,
1847, and, with a crew of 450 men, left Spithead
about the middle of December. She then proceeded
to Gibraltar, Corfu, and back to Gibraltar ; and, on
the 22d of April, to Spithead. According to the log
of the ship, from the time she was commissioned
O.
to the
30th March last 29 of the crew were punished.these 16 were seamen (viz., 5 A.B.'s, 2 landsmen, 2 car-
penter's crew, and 7 ordinary seamen), 10 marines, and 3
boys. The total number of lashes inflicted was 732, and
the average number to each man was 25k. There were
15 punished
2 fur stabbing, and 1 for filthiness, &c. During the run
from Gibraltar five men were punished with 9G lashes.
Thus the total number flogged since the ship has been
in commission is 34, and the total number of lashes in-
flicted was 828, and not " 1,600," as stated.
The number of desertions was stated to be about 94.
This is also incorrect ; the number checked as absent
without leave is 54, and it is expected that many of this
number will return to the ship.
These we believe to be the real facts of this painful
case, and it is quite bad enough, without any exaggera-
tioO. Captain Baynes is known to be an excellent officer,
and. a very mild disciplinarian. We trust that in future
he will be "captain of his own ship."
THE: CHANNEL SQUADRON.—Rear-Admiral Sir C.
Napier, with the St. Vincent and Prince Regent, are
ordered to Spithead, and may be expected in about a
fortnight. The Ganges, 84, at Sheerness, is ordered to
the Nore; the Powerful, 84, at Portsmouth, to Spithead,
on the 15th; and the Caledonia, 120, at Devonport, to
Plymouth Sound.
THE SURVEYOR'S OFFICE, SOMERSET HOUSE.—It is
reported that Mr. Watts, master shipwright of Sheerness
Dockyard, is ordered to Somerset House, to assist Sir
Baldwin Walker in his duties as Surveyor of the Navy;
and that Mr. Read, now one of the committee of refe-
rence at Portsmouth, is to act as master shipwright at
Sheerness during Mr. Watts's absence.