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

dered me on shore, and to take charge of the men as they
landed. The captain remained on board till after the
last. man. was out of the ship. It was now cowing• 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
tents, nearly all the ship's company would be very ill the
next day." He suggested to the captain to allow the
ship's compiny 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 tinder Capt.
Warren's superintendence, assisted by seine Danish offi-
cers, every exertion was male to save the stores on board
the ship. The next day, too, everything was done to
save the stores, but the ship was fast breaking up. On
Friday I proceeded to Thisted, with seven officers and
4g men, with orders to proceed to Hamburg, reporting
myself to Col. Hodges, her Majesty's Consul• General.
This I did.

In reply to questions from the Court, the witness said
—The ship, when she struck, wag going at between eeven
and eight knots per hour. Ho 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 cmsulted 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 stepped the ship to get sound-
inns. He believed there was no lead going when the
ship struck. It was not [expected they would make
Hansholmer light on the coast of Jutland before Jiight.
When he gave up charge Orthe deck, they could set) a
distance of about feve-nsilasz- Hnibaught-they were run-
ning parallel to the land. Ile thought they werein
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-
fenc". 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 zeal, 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 attentionhav-
iug been paid by the commander, and no want of gene-
ral vigilance was imputable to him, it is nevertheless the
opinion of the Court that blame is attachable to the said
Commander Frederick Pelham Warren in not having
slackened Lthe speed of the vessel to obtain accurate
soundings, especially when running, in thick weather,
in the neighbourhood of land where the currents are
known to be irregular.
" The Court considers that every exertion was used,
after the wreck, and, uoon consideration of all the cir-
cumstances of the case, does adjudgethb-said Commander
Frederick Pelham Warren to be reprimanded for his
neglect on the occasion."

POSTAL CO.3IIIIUNICAT.TON WITH
AUSTRALIA.

(From the Times of this day.)

It will scarcely be believed by persons who aro
.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 the 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
versa. 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 import Ant point.
Four years ago au experiment was made
.to esta-
blish a regular service by way of the Cape a.Good
Hope. The public wilt no doubt have a painfully
accurate recollection of the result 'or 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 the
present war, when it was suspended. On the 4th
of the , present month a meeting of the General
Association for the Australian colonies was held
in 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 duo 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 aro 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
iwo late mail routes via the Cape and via Singa-
pore ; the route projected by Panama ; and,
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
from 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 Hydrographer
Royal for the Parliamentary Steam Committee.
The figures aro 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 Groat Chagos,
lies directly iu 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 Aden, 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 1.2 hours at Aden. Starting from
this point the rest of the calculation stands thus :
Time.
Miles. Days. Hours.
Aden to Diego Garcia
Stoppage at Diego Garcia
Diego Garcia to King George's 2,071
8 15
Sound
3,113 12 3
Stoppage there
King's George's Sound .to Mel-
bourne
1,380 5 13
The Association take into calculation au 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 we are over-sanguine in the
expectation that many a person now living will
• 1 perform the distance between Dover and Melbourne