The Sun.
London, England, 1856-03-12 00:00:00

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dered rue o❑ shor4, and to take charge of the men as they
landed. The captain remained no board till after the
last man was out of the ship. It was now coming on
dark, and Capt. Warren piped all hands to the beach,
and read the Articles of War. We were preparing tents
for the night (having landed some sails) when a Danish
coast-guard officer came and said, «If we slept under the
teats, nearly all the ship's company would be very ill the
next day." He suggested to the captain to allow the
ship's company to go to some fishermen's huts, about
two miles off. The men were then marched to the huts,
where they were billeted for the night, with orders to
assemble at daylight. This they did, and under Capt.
Warren's superintendence, assisted by some Danish offi-
cers, every exertion was made to save the stores on board
the ship. The next day, too, everything was done to
say+• the stores, but the ship was fast breaking up. On
Friday I proceeded to Thisted, with seven officers- and
42 men, with order.► to proceed to Hamburg, reporting
myself to Col. Hodges, he; Majesty's Consul-General.
This I did.

In reply to questions from the Court, the witness said
—The ship, when she struck, was going at between seven
and eight knots per hour. He could not state whether
any soundings had been obtained on the morning the
ship struck. The engines were not stopped to get bot-
tom. He had not consulted with the captain or the mas-
ter respecting the navigation of the ship--not after
leaving the Spurn-light. Witness would not have consi-
dered it necessary to have stopped the ship to get sound-
ings. He believed there wa►t no lead going when the
ship struck. It was not ;,expected they would make
Hanshohner light on the coast of Jutland before night.
When he gave up charge of the deck, they could see a
distance of about five miles. He thought they were run-
ning parallel to the land. He thought_ they were in
deep water—over 100 fathoms. He was not aware that
any soundings had been taken since the ship left Eng-
land. A considerable number of other questions were
put to the witness, but they were of a purely profes-
sional or technical character.
Lieutenant England and other witnesses were called,
but their evidence did not elicit any particular new facts.
They, however, confirmed the above testimony as to a
laxity in taking soundings and observations.
This morning Commander Warren entered on his de-
fence. It was very long, but it spoke of the death of Mr.
Herbert in generous and feeling terms, and did full jus-
tice to his character. The officers of the ship were then
called, and they deposed to the real, attention, and as-
siduity which Commander Warren had displayed.
The Court remained in consultation two hours, and
then acquitted the crew and officers of the ship, and,
with regard to Commander Warren, found—" That the
loss of the steam sloop Polyphemus is to be ascribed
mainly to the irregularities of the currents on the coast
of Jutland, where she was wrecked ; but, while the
Court considers there is evidence of much attention hav-
ing been paid by the commander, and no want of gene-
ral vigilance was imputable to him, it is nevertheless the
opinio❑ of the Court that blame is attachable to the said
Commander Frederick Pelham Warren in not having
slackened ithe speed of the vessel to obtain accurate
soundings, especially when running, in thick weather,
in the neighbourhood of laud where the currents are
known to be irregular.

" The Court considers that evory exertion was used,
after the wreck, and, upon consideration of all the cir-
cumstances of the case, does adjudge the said Commander
Frederick Pelham Warren to be reprimanded for his
neglect on the occasion."

POSTAL. COMMUNICATION WITH
AUSTRALI_4.

(Frew the Time 4 of this day.)

It will scarcely be believed by persons who are
not immediately interested in the communication
with our Australian colonies that upwards of three
months is consumed in the transmission of a letter
from Melbourne to London. The outward passage
is performed in some eight or nine days less. This
we give as this general average, but the result must
not be regarded as invariable, or even regular, for
in that case it would be more tolerable. There is
nothing so uncertain as the time which will be re-
quired for the transmission of a letter between these
great colonies and the mother country, and vice
re Ma. Now, when it is considered that in the year
1853, according to a return made to the House of
Commons in May, 1854, the declared value of the
imports of British goods into the Australian colonies
attained the figure of 14,506,5321., it will be readily
understood that very important interests are in-
volved in the solution of this postal question. The
trade between ourselves and our countrymen at the
antipodes is completely disorganised by our care-
lessness and improvidence on this important point.
Four years ago an experiment was made to esta-
blish a regular service by way of the Cape of Good
Hope. The public will no doubt have a painfully,
accurate recollection of the result of that unfortu-
nate proceeding. Misfortunes of every kind, from
within and without, fell
,upon these Australian.
steamers, and at length, after the experiment had
been tried by two companies, it was considered a
failure and abandoned. Since that period we have
had a semi-monthly service by way of Suez, which
was maintained with tolerable regularity until ttto
present war, when it was suspended. On the 4th
of the present mouth a meeting of the General
Association for the Australian colonies was held
iu London, and the result of their deliberations has
just been published. They maintain that it was
impolitic and unjust to suppress the Australian and
to maintain the Chinese line, for the relative im-
portance of the lines is shown by a comparison be-
tween the imports of these two quarters of the globe.
Whereas in the year 1853 the value of the Austra-
lian imports from England was only 14,506,5321.,
the value of the China imports was only 1,787,675/.
These gentlemen say, and say with apparent reason,
that " there was no necessity for the suppression of
the Australian post line, for, had the comparatively
unimportant China mail service been selected for
discontinuance, it is clear that the due transit of
the Australian mails need never have been inter-
rupted. This becomes even more apparent when
it is considered that the relative lengths of the two
lines are about equal, and employ the same number
of ships." This appears to be a very satisfactory
answer to the statement which is invariably made
whenever this subject is brought forward, to the
effect that the temporary interruption of our postal
communication with Australia is a necessary con-
sequence of the hostilities in which we are at pre-
sent engaged. Having thus disposed of the general
objection, the members of the Australian Associa-
' tion address themselves next to the question of the
preferable route for steam-vessels between England
and Australia.

There are four principal routes—namely, the
two late mail routes via the Cape and via Singa-
pore ; the route projected by Panama ; a•&d,
finally, the route in a diagonal line across the In-
dian Ocean, by way of the island of Diego
Garcia ; this is the line which is viewed with
favour by the association. We proceed to extract
froth the petition to the Treasury their state-
ment of the comparative distances and of length
of passage, in which they profess to be mainly
guided by the calculations of the Hydrographor
Royal for the Parliamentary Steam Committee.
The figures are calculated upon the run from
Dover to Melbourne. The distance, then, by way
of the Cape is 13,367 miles ; the duration of the
passage, 64 days. The distance by way of Singapore
is 11,521 miles ' • the duration of the passage, 64
days. The distance by way of Panama is 12,686
miles ; the duration of the passage, allowing four
days for stoppages, and taking the speed at 10 knots,
would be 56 days, 21. hours. Finally, on the route
by way of Diego Garcia, recommended by the As-
sociation, the distance is 10,348 miles : the dura-
tion of the passage is estimated at only 44 days.
This island of Diego Garcia, or the Great Chagos,
lies directly in the track of a ship sailing from Aden
to King George's Sound, and is about midway be-
tween the Mauritius and Ceylon. The harbour is
described as well sheltered and free from hurri-
canes, and the island is admirably adapted fora coal-
ing station, just at the' very point where one is
wanted. The Association base their calculation
upon the assumption that 10 knots an hour will re-
present the speed attained ; but they, at the same
time, remind the Treasury that the Himalaya has
already managed to cover 14 knots ; and that the
Persia, constructed for Cunard's Line, averaged
141 knots upon her recent trial trip. There is not
a shadow of doubt that, as the minds of ingenious
men are more directed to these subjects, a far
greater speed than 10 knots will be obtained. To
recur to the Diego Garcia route—the time occupied
between Dover and Men, via Marseilles, Alexan-
dria, and Suez, is well known by experience. In-
clusive of all necessary stoppages and delays, it is,
say, 15 days and a few hours, which includes a
stoppage of 12 hours at Aden. Starting from
this point the rest of the calculation stands thus :
Time.
Miles. Days. Hours.
Aden to Diego Garcia 2,074 8 15
Stoppage at Diego Garcia
Diego Garcia to King George's
Sound 3,113 12 3
Stoppage there
King's George's Sound to Mel-
bourne
The Association take into calculation an allow-
ance for accidental delays of 1 day 14 hours, and
thus attain their ultimate figure of 44 days for the
entire run.
We do not think wo are over-sanguine in the
expectation that many a person now living will
perform tho cliaanee between Dover and Melbourne

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