The Sun.
London, England, 1846-02-02 00:00:00

S V Ng
FEBRUARY 1846
PRICE SD.

NATAL INTILLIGENCE.

PORTsMoynit, FRIDAY.—The Grampus, 59, Captain
H. B. Martin, requires, we are informed, a great many
more alterations than at first seemed necessary, espe-
cially below. Her stowage-room is so very limited that
she can carry but little more than two months' bread for
her complement. It appears exceedingly strange that a
frigate with the hull of a line-of-battle ship (the Tre-
mendous, 74) should be so very deficient in stowage;
but such appears to be the fact, as the Grampus cannot
carry enough provisions for her complement of 500, nor
stow the usual quantity of ammunition carried in a 50-
gun frigate. We endeavour to account for this seem-
ing great inefficiency thus:—The 74's of the class of
the Tremendous were only calculated to carry a sea going
complement of 600 men and officers. Our 50-gun fri-
gates of the present day have complements varying from
4.:0 to 500, officers and men—thus, the old 74 carriel
and provided for but 100 more men upon the average ,
than the present 50. Line-of-battle ships have the
lower gun-deck allotted to the crew to mess, sleep, and
stow their luggage upon, the orlop-deck being used for
stowage as well as the hold ; whereas, in frigates, the
orlop-deck is appropriated as the mess-deck, and the
stowage is confined to the hold alone the main-deck
being kept continually clear, as if ready for action,
similar to the upper deck in a line-of-battle ship. This
is the way we account for vessels razeed from line-of-
battle ships to frigates being so limited in their stowage.
The Eagle, 50 (also a razee), which took out Admiral
Inglefield to the River Plate, was similarly ill-condi-
tioned for stowage, and was unable to provide her crew
with proper sleeping-room. The Grampus draws 22
feet aft ; but, however defective she may be at present,
we do not anticipate that she will turn out a bad invest-
ment for the money expended upon her in fitting her as
a frigate after having been most recklessly condemned
as a 74.
The Comet steam-vessel, Lieutenant-Commander W.
Prettyman, left yesterday morning before day light for
Plymouth, with supernumerary boys from the Victory
for the ships fitting at that port.
The Aid naval lighter, Smallman master, sailed on
Wednesday with victualling stores for Sheerness and
the other eastern yards.
The Emerald tender, Master-Commander Beach,
sailed on Wednesday with supernumerary seamen for
the Electra, Scout, &c., fitting at Chatham and Sheer-
ness.

The Falmouth navy lighter, Tozer master, sailed on
Wednesday with Government -stores for the eastward
depots.

To-day the tide has risen to an extraordinary height at
this port, inundating all the lower part of the town and
doing much damage to warehoused property. From the
Point beach nearly up to Capstan-square the water was
deep enough to swim an ordinary wherry; at high-water
the waves dashed over the ramparts and rendered the
usual approaches impassable; the landing-place on this
side of the Floating-bridge was rendered unavailable by
the water, the sea making a clean inroad through the
avenues into Bath-square and Broad-street. The lower
parts of the town of Portsea and the suburb of Southsea
were also similarly inundated. On the Gosport shore the
effects of the high tide were similarly destructive. The
tide of to-day has been considerably higher than the one
with which we were visited during the recent sojourn of
the King of the French.
The Drake and Lively naval lighters arrived yester-
day, the former from Devonport, and the latter from the
eastward, with Government stores.

CHATHAM, JAN. 30.—The Raleigh, 50 guns, fitting
for an advanced ship, was put out of the fourth dock on
Tuesday, the 27th instant, when she was taken along •
side the shear hulk, and had her masts and bowsprit put
on board, and was taken into the third dock on the 29th,
for her completion in all her fitments.
The Calypso, 20 guns, Captain Henry Worth, came
into dock on the 27th instant, and has received an addi-
tional false keel of six inches, and also to her gripe ; and
her copper bottom having been cleaned, she was put
out of dock on Thursday, the 29th ; she will be com-
pleted by the dockyard to-morrow. She is expected to
receive her guns, powder, and stores on Monday next.
She requires about fifty hands to complete her strength.
The Cumberland, 70 guns, having been fitted for an
advanced ship, was put out of dock on Wednesday last,
and placed in ordinary until her service is required.
The Columbine, 16 guns, was taken into dock this day
to have her defects made good, and to be prepared for
commission; she is one of Sir W. Symonds', and was
built at Portsmouth in 1826.

The Rochester lighter—Richard Sudweeks, the mate
of this vessel, has been appointed master, vice Mr.
Richard Grandy, appointed master of the Fortitude coal
depot. The vessel is loading with naval stores fur
Portsmouth yard.
The Duck lighter, J. Savage master, is loading for
Woolwich yard.
The Teazer steam-vessel, building, is to be completed
for launching with all dispatch; several additional hands
have, therefore, been put on her.
The Peril, 18 guns, in ordinary.—A fatal accident
occurred to a lad named Swail, who fell overboard and
was drowned. The lad was not missed until his cap was
seen floating near the ship. Drags were instantly ap-
plied, but the body could not be found.

SHEERNESS, JAN. 29.—The Raven cutter, Lieutenant
Commander J. Stephens, sailed for Hull and North Yar-
mouth on Saturday, for the purpose of bringing round
any seamen who may have entered at the rendezvous
established at those ports.
The African, port steamer, Second Master Barker,
proceeded to Woolwich on Monday, to have certain de-
fects in her machinery made good.
The Duck lighter has proceeded to Chatham with
naval stores.

The Sampson steam frigate, Captain Thomas Hender-
son, has taken on board 150 tons of coals, intending to
fill up at Portsmouth. She is now having her com-
passes adjusted i❑ the harbour, and will go to the Nore
to take in her powder and be inspected by the Com-
mander-in-Chief on Saturday, after which she will pro-
ceed to Spithead to be paid advance wages.
The Viper, 4, schooner, Lieutenant Edward Gray, is
nearly complete in her fittings, and will leave the basin
to-morrow. She has already bent sails, and is now hav-
ing her armament fitted, which consists of two 18-
pounders, 5i feet long, 15 cwt. each ; and two 12-
pounder carronades. It was intended to have mounted
a long gun forward, but there was no room for one.

The Fury steam-sloop is being jury-rigged with all
despatch, upwards of 100 men from the Ocean being
busily employed on her. The Sampson will take her
in tow as far as Portsmouth, en route to Liverpool.
The Electra, 18, Commander Hall, and the Snake, 16,
Commander Brown, progress slowly with their fittings
in the basin. Both have got the tops over their mast-
heads, and the few seamen that have entered with the
detachments of marines who joined on Friday from
the Chatham division are proceeding with th• lower
rigging.
The Wildfire steam tender continues refitting in the
basin, and the Tartarus steam-surveying vessel in dock.
The Dido, 20, Ferret, 10, and Griffon, 6, are also still
in dock under repair. The Ferret is nearly ready, and
will probably be commissioned in the course of next
week.

In accordance with an Admiralty order, a report has
been made to their Lordships of the state and condition
of the heavy frigates in this ordinary, viz., the Chichester
and Worcester (new), and the Cornwall and Conquestador
(razees), 50-gun frigates, and the probable time it would
take to fit each of them for commission.

Ships in Harbour.—Trafalgar, 120, flag-ship ; Ocean,
80, ordinary ship ; and Sampson, steam frigate.
WooLwicnr, JAN. 30.—The Onyx, steam-vessel,
brought down the river from Ditchburn and Mare's, has
had Lieutenant Mudge, the officers and crew of the Ariel
steam-vessel, transferred to her, and left Woolwich yes-
terday for Greenhithe, to have her compasses adjusted
previous to proceeding to be employed as a packet-vessel
on the Dover station.
The African steam-vessel arrived at Woolwich from
Chatham, to have her defects made good.
The Monkey steam•vessel, Master Commander Wm.
Bryant, left Woolwich yesterday for Portsmouth, with a
large steam-vessel's funnel for practice, from the Excel-
lent, gunnery-ship at that port.
The Manosuvrer arrived at Woolwich yesterday, from
Chatham.

The Harpy, Lieutenant Commander H. B. Procter,
left Woolwich this morning for Greenhithe, to have her
compasses adjusted, and will then proceed to Devonport.
She is expected to proceed with the least possible delay
to South America, for service in the River Plate.
The Gladiator and Terrible steam-vessels will not be
completed before the middle of next month.
The Princess Alice steam-vessel, Master Commander
L. Suaithett, will leave Woolwich for Dover early next
week.
theH Henry
yyWoolwichavl r
tghe ne
e command
ad n
d fifty
oof Lieutenant
privates
morn-
ing at nine o'clock for a passage to Blackwall,
aloa,r iednmievsbi.asTrokTne dwuoantdsßeero ff's-wharf on Friday
en route to Chatham, until,
the new barracks in progress
of construction at Woolwich are completed. The re-
moval of these troops took place to make room for the
recruits daily pouring in from all parts of the country,
orders having been issued to the recruiting parties of the
four divisions of Royal Marines to send all recruits to
head•quarters, at Woolwich. A large model of a por-
tion of a ship-of-war is in progress of construction at
the rear of the new Marine Barracks, at Woolwich, to
exercise the men with large ship-guns, four of which
are mounted on each aide of the model. Sergeant-
Major Cooper, of the Woolwich division, was presented
with a silver medal and a gratuity of 151., and Private
Martin, a silver medal and a gratuity of 51., for good
conduct, on Friday last. They were presented with the
medals, in presence of the non-commissioned officers and
men of the divisions on the guard mounting parade at
ten o'clock a.m.

[ADYERTISNMENT.]—The Earl of Aldborough and
Holloway's Pills.—An astounding Cure by this miraculous
Medicine after every other means had failed. See extract of
his Lordship's letter dated Villa Messina, Leghorn, Feb. 21.
1845. "To Professor Holloway. Sir,—l beg to acquaint
you that your pills have effected a cure of a disorder in my
liver and stomach which all the most eminent of the faculty at
home and all over the Continent had not been able to effect.
Nay, not even the waters of Carlsbad or Marienbad. (Signed)
Aldborough."—These wonderful Pills will cure any disease of
the liver and stomach. —Sold (also Holloway's Ointment) at
Professor Holloway's establishment, 244, Strand and by all
medicine vendors throughout the civilised world.

NAVAL GUNNERY.
(From the Nautical Standard.)
The gunnery establishment on board the Excellent, in
Portsmouth Harbour, is regarded by many of our most
intelligent naval men as one of very great importance to
their service, and in this we perfectly agree with them,
bnt it were well had the introduction of the new system
not interfered with the maintenance, in due strength, of
the Royal Marine Artillery—a well-trained and most
useful corps—to whose real value the eyes of those in
authority have once more been opened. The reduction
of this corps was a blunder. Its recent augmentation is
a step in the right direction. The usefulness of such a
force is not exceeded by that of any other corps in the
service. Afloat—and more particularly in steam and
mortar vessels—there can be no better gunners. Accus.
tomed to the sea, they feel as much at home there in the
use of the great gun in all fighting weather, as any men
in the navy, and they have the advanta, e of being better
disciplined than the sailors. Again, on shore, the marine
artilleryman is in no respect, of eadiness practice, or ge-
neral efficiency, inferior to the MPH of that' distinguished
corps, the Royal Artillery. At his gun, either on land
or at sea, there can be no better man than him.
But we have not yet mentioned an advantage which
the marine artillery man possesses over the
seaman-
gunner, and which we consider so important in the
present posture of affairs, that our chief object in pen-
ning this article is to call attention to it. The marine
artilleryman is enlisted for twenty-one years' sea- service.
Whatever cost the country may be at to train him, she
is sure of his service for his best days. When his
training is completed she knows that she has in him a
most effective, well-taught, and brave combatant ; andthat she can rely upon retaining his services
whilst
the prime of life continues. She knows that in training
him she has not been at the charge and pains of
instructing a man who, after his next three or four
years' service, may transfer himself and the knowledge she
has taught him, into the gunnery force of a most jealous
and unfriendly nation; there not only to turn his hand
against her, but to teach his new fellows all that he
learned from her, and thus bestow on a foreign power,
according to his ability, the benefit of that system,
which, to maintain, his own land has borne the (in such
instances) profitless cost. Now with the seaman-gunner
the case is widely different. At a considerable cost to
the country he learns the management of a ship's guns.
Grant that his training is perfect, and his usefulness
afloat undeniable. He is sent a finished gunner to a
sea-going man-of-war. His officers are glad to have a
man so well taught and so serviceable in the day of
battle. He serves his term of three or four years.
The ship is paid off. What becomes of this man whom
his country has been at the expense and trouble to
teach and train? Can she compel him more than any
other man to re-enter her service? Again, in the hour
of need, to take his place at the ship's battery, and on
the gun-deck show how England trains her sons for the
battle?

No. His training on board the Excellent has net un-
taught him the frequent waywardness and caprice of a
sailor. Jack, gunner, or no gunner, is ever as incon-
stant and unsteady, except when an enemy is actually
before him, as the fickle element on which he sails.
He may just take it into his head quietly to cut the
Queen's service, for it start at least, and make his next
voyage in some merchantman, American or America
bound. His third change will as probably be to the
first Yankee frigate he may fall in with. Ile will find
her with plenty of hands to make the work light, and
himself in the receipt of increased pay, and with a
ship's company, the best part of whom have no more
right to hail for the States than he has. In return for
all these advantages he will do his part toward teaching
his new shipmates how to defend the red striped flag ;
and the republic will thank the rulers who send her
such smart rods wherewith to whip the Queen's Brit-
ishers.

An American, not long ago, hearing an English naval
officer boasting of the system on board the Excellent,
replied, "Oh ! you mean our Excellent ! Yes, we get
some famous gunners from her. We do ad-mire that
system, and we hope you'll stick to it."
Now, we ask, does England act wisely in maintaining
the present system of providing gunners for her fleets,
and sharing them with America ? Because we feel con-
vinced of the excellence of such corps as the marine
artillery, we do not, therefore, say that there should be
no regular seamen gunners. We most readily admit the
usefulness of these men. We are not ignorant of the
alertness of their exercise, and the correctness of
their practice with the sturdy thirty-two. We can
well appreciate their services. But for this very
reason do we the more firmly find fault with
the present uncertainty of retaining them for a sufficient
term—for a term far exceeding the usual duration of a
ship's commission. Surely it cannot he a proper expendi-
ture of any part of_the sums .granted fur the fortuatiOni
and maintenance of a great naval force, .to bestow it on
the instruction of a body of men upon whose services we
can reckon for only a very short term, and who, if this
year ours, may be an enemy's the next. Surely it can-
not be wise, after carefully training a combatant, not
only to neglect to secure his services, but actually to
leave it in his power to employ the skill and knowledge
acquired at our expense, in teaching still further to our
cost the warriors, and in defending the flag, of a hostile
nation.

At this moment England is menaced by the President
at least, of the United States. lie has very plainly
threatened to take possession of a territory to which we
assert a right equal, if not superior, to that of his own
nation. This may be a threat, and nothing more. We
sincerely desire that such it may eventually be found—
not that we lack confidence iu England s might—not
that we fear that the event of the war would tarnish the
well-won fame of her gallant sons, or that victory will at
length desert the flag that " for a thousand years has
braved the battle and the breeze," but that we wish not
for any glory, or any triumph, bought at the price of
war's misery and man's blood. We do not wish for war.
Still the chances of an open rupture with the States,
it cannot be denied, are greater now than they have been
for many years. It is, therefore, most reasonable that,
while we do all that we honourably can to avoid hostili-
ties, we neglect no measures of precaution or prepara-
tion. The more complete these are, and the fewer the
advantages we leave within an adversary's reach, the
more will we lessen his desire to assail us, and should he,
nevertheless, indulge it, the more rapid will be our pro-
gress in bringing him to his senses, and teaching him
once more to value the blessings of peace. Taking this
view of the matter, we would wish at once to throw
every obstacle in the way of his slyly benefitting by any
naval institutions maintained at our sole charge and
trouble. Taking this view, we cannot think it prudent
to allow our seamen gunners to abandon our service for
that of the States whenever it may please them.
It may be said that there are difficulties in the way
of altering the present system of entering these men.
Be it so. There are difficulties to encounter in almost
every change of system in a country such as ours ; but
shall we, therefore, be deterred from every reasonable
reform ? Now, in the face of all difficulties, we venture
to assert that the interests of the country require that
the short-service system cease, and that all men entering
for instruction as gunners on board the Excellent be en-
listed for unlimited service, as the men of the marine
artillery, or at least for a term of fourteen or fifteen
years. Whenever their ships are paid ofl; let them have
a reasonable term of leave, and let them
return to quar-
ters at Portsmouth, until their services in sea-going
ships shall be again required. In Portsmouth they can
be usefully employed during such intervals. Upon this
system they will learn to identify themselves more closely
with the royal service ; they will acquire more eFsrt
habits of discipline ; their health and stamina will be
better preserved ; and the country may make certain,
which she now cannot, of an adequate return for the
charge and trouble of their training and instruction.