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THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, SEPTEiVIBER 22, 1860.

IRON-CASED SHIPS.

is our present position that alone of having been sur-
prised in the numerical inferiority which your
article places before us, but this time we have lost
our usual priority in practical experience too ; for,
while our own first armour frigate will require still
some considerable time before she can be launched,
the Gloiro appears to be in full course of
realising established data for the future management
and improvement of the similar structures of our
great neighbour. Doubtless, the superiority in re-
sources of money, material, and skilled labour to
meet the occasion are all on our side, and it had
been well if such considerations bad weighed with
our Administrators during those indications of the
approaching crisis which were evident to so many,
so as to have urged them to secure to ourselves the
lead in this great change and this new rivalry. As
it is, however, the "stern-chase" can be no longer
delayed; and if it be wisely and energetically
prosecuted, with that united effort which the talent
and great practical experience in iron constructions
of this country enables us to call forth, every allow-
ance will, no doubt. be made for any over-reluctance
which may have been shown to enter on that in-
crease of naval outlay which must now be encoun-
tered before England's requisite superiority in the
new description of war-ship can be established.
I remain, sir, yours, &a.,
E. P. HALSTED, Captain, R.N., lately
Commanding the Steam Reserve Fleet
in the Medway.
Talladh-a-Bheithe, Perthshire, Sept. 17.

immense resources in overtaking them. Hardly had
we done so when they strike out a new line ; but it
will be unpardonable this time if we are allowed to
fall so seriously into arrear.

The following letter appears in a contemporary :
Sir,—As a statement of the following facts may
assist to bring the public mind to a safe decision on
the question of that great change in the material
and character of future war-ships so ably mooted
in your article of the 10th inst., recently received
here, I beg to offer them for insertion if considered
of sufficient importance.
There are now before me all the data and obser-
vations, taken on the spot for my own professional
in formation, of the several trials made off Shoebury-
ness since January, 1859, to penetrate the sides of
the floating battery Trusty, built in 1855 for the
purposes of the Russian war, with a scantling of 25
inches of oak timber, covered with 4-inch iron
plates. This vessel was prepared for being fired at
in the beginning of 1857, and, had the experiments
been then carried out, our present state of " indeci-
sion" would most probably have been avoided ; for
at that time no rifled cannon of any power had been
produced, and we now know that at the distance
then intended of 450 yards the spherical shot of
the heaviest smooth-bored gun must have been
found quite powerless to enter the ship.
It was not, however, until January, 1859, that
the first attempt was made to penetrate the
Trusty's side, the gun used being Sir W. Arm-
strong's rifled 32-pounder, which had given the sur-
prising range of 9,200 yards. Fourteen shots in all
were fired, with charges of 61b., and at distances
varying from 450 yards to about 20 yards, the mate-
rial of the shot being cast iron, wrought iron, and
steel. Of these latter two stuck into the side, be-
tween the joints of the plates, projecting externally
6 inches and 2 inches respectively, and indentations
with some cracks were likewise produced on the
plates by the other shots ; but the gun was evi-
dently powerless to injure seriously the complete
protection of the side.
In September, 1859, attempts for two successive
days were. again made to penetrate the side with
Sir William Armstrong's rifled. 80-pounder, which,
with a 121 b. charge, had also thrown its shot more
than 9,000 yards. The first day's distance was 400
yards, at which 10 shots in all were fired, only three
of which, however, took effect so as to give proof of
the combined resistance of the side; but this, to the
surprise of every one, was found to be so practically
complete that it was judged necessary to reduce
the distance for firing on the second day to 200
yards. At this range 11 shots in all were fired,
some of them of 100 lb. weight and of hardened
steel, but even with these no entry could be ejected.
One 801 b. steel shot did, however, succeed in enter-
ing the ship. Its immediate predecessorhad struck
a joint of the plates, and opened it three-quarters
of an inch. On this opening the shot in question
struck fair, and within two inches of the former
shot, which, besides opering the joint, had also
shattered the timber; but, although thus assisted,
the force of the shot on entering was so expended
that it only reached half-way across the deck,
throwing before it, however, a formidable splinter
of iron ; and this single violation of the protection
of the Trusty's side was the only result of the 14
shots which in the two days took effect upon her
plates.
At the trial made in June last with Mr. Whit-
worth's rifled 80-pounder I was not present, but
have since carefully examined the effects then pro-
duced, and found that of the three shots which

TEE NAVY.

The Duke of Somerset, First Lord of the Admi-
ralty, and other members of the Board, with Rear-
Admiral the Right Hon, Lord Clarence E. Paget,
C. 8., Rear-Admiral Sir Baldwin W. Walker,K. C. 13.,
Col. Greene, and Capt. Moore, C. 8., resumed their
inspection of the dockyard and naval establish-
ments at Chatham yesterday morning. Before con-
cluding the inspection of the Royal Marine esta-
blishment on Thursday evening, their lordships
conveyed to Col. Rea, the Commandant, their wish
to witness a body of the Royal Marines go through
the great gun exercise. A party of 60 men, most of
whom have only recently commenced gun drill,
were accordingly selected and marched to the ships'
gun battery. The Marines, who were under the
command of Capt. R. G. Connolly, the Instructor
of Gunnery, were put through a course of gun
drill with the large 68-pounders, and, notwithstand-
ing the great size of the guns, they were moved
about, cast loose, lowered, pointed, and fired with
the greatest apparent ease, the facility, and promp-
titude with which these movements were effected
eliciting the commendations of their lordships. His
Grace and the other members of the Board then
proceeded to inspect the large naval hospital at
Melville for seamen and Mariner; and were re-
ceived by Dr. J. W. Johnston, Deputy•lnspector-
General, and the Staff of the establishment. The
interior arrangements are in the highest degree
satisfactory, the wards being lofty and airy. On a
recent visit to this establishment by Miss Night-
ingale, that lady pronounced the Melville Hospital
to be in every respect the best of the national hos-
pitals in this kingdom. Before leaving Melville
his Grace intimated to the principal medical officer
his satisfaction at the result of the inspection. On
entering the dockyard this morning their lordships
briefly noticed the new works in progress for ex-
tending and improving the yard, the estimated cost
of which is £160,000, the works to be performed
by convict labour. The storehouses and other esta-
blishments not visited the previous day, were
briefly noticed, their lordships being desirous of
paying a visit to St. Mary's Island, adjoining the
dockyard, to witness the progress of the works
there. Previous to leaving the dockyard, however,
the members of the Board had some conversation
with a deputation from the seamen-riggers em-
ployed in the yard relative to what the men con-
nected with that department consider a grievance,
in not having their time which they had spent in
the Royal Navy before joining the dockyard counted
in their service towards a pension. The deputation
was received yesterday by his Grace, who, as well
as the other members of the Board, listened very
attentively to the statements made, and from the
opinions expressed by their lordships it appears
probable that the application of the seamen-riggers
will be attended with success. After completing
their tour of inspection their lordships embarked in
the Admiralty barge, and proceeded to St. Mary's
Island. The works in progress on the island,
which closely adjoin the eastern end of the dock-
yard, are of great magnitude. An area of marsh
and mud of several hundred acres in extent has
been gradually reclaimed from the water, and pre-
parations are now being made for the formation of
steam basins sufficiently large to contain the steam
reserve in ordinary. The island has been em-
banked, and a substantial river wall constructed
entirely by means of convict labour. Their lord-
ships were conducted over the works by Mr. Rivers,
clerk of the works, and Mr. Macdonnell, who has
the superintendence of the undertaking. When
the whole of the proposed steam basins are com-
pleted Chatham Dockyard will be one of the largest
and most complete of the Royal naval establish-
ments. After spending a considerable time on the
island their lordships embarked in the steam yacht
Wildfire, and proceeded down the river to Sheer-
ness, where they arrived about noon, and imme-
diately commenced the inspection of that dockyard.
On landing their lordships were received by Vice-
Admiral W. J. Hope Johnstone, Commander-in-
Chief; Capt. C, Wise (Aide-de-Camp to the Queen),
Superintendent; Commander Martin, Master At-
tendant; Mr. W. Henwood, Master Shipwright,
and assistants, and the principal officers in the
yard and harbour. Their lordships first inspected
the naval barracks. The steam factory was then in-
spected, after which their lordships proceeded to
the part of the wall where it is proposed to con-
struct the new entrance into the dockyard. Their
lordships next visited the boiler shop, and examined
the positions of the proposed entrance to the shop.
After finishing this part of the inspection their
lordships partook of luncheon at the official resi-
dence of the Capt.-Superintendent, at the conclusion
of which they visited the new boat store recently
built from the designs of Col. Greene, and inspected
the new mode of raising and lowering boats in-
vented by Col. Greene. The Wanderer, 4, screw
steam sloop, in No. 4 dock, was next inspected,
when their lordships examined some of the defec-
tive timber which has recently been taken out of
the ship. The only other vessel in the yard which
was inspected by their lordships was the North Star,
22. The members of the Board then visited the flag
ship Formidable, 84, Capt. Luard, and also the
Phaeton, 51, in the harbour. On their leaving the
flagship an Admiralty salute was fired, and their
lordships proceeded to town via the Sheerness and
Sittingbourne Railway, at 3.45 p.m.
The following naval cadets passed on Wednes-
day out of her Majesty's ship Britannia (naval
cadet training ship at Portsmonth) for service in
seagoing ships :—G. B. Bedford (A), H. J. Hild-
yard, J. T. Hardinge, R. C. Gorst (B), F. R: Dicken,
J. W. Sutherland, H. M. Milman, H. W. Gibson,
F. A. Moysey, A. B. Jenkins (B), M. W. Abbott,
C. IV. Atkinson, H. F. Kemble, F. C. Brown, A.
0. Lee, C. E. Gissing, A. J. Ballantyne (C), W. W.
King, A. G. Wauchope, E. Ramsay, A. P. Pascoe,
H. H. Wilding, W. M. Annesley, F. D. Radcliffe,
E. Riddle, L. W. Hayman (C), H. A. Coventry, J.
Hazel, R. H. Rickman, G. W. Eliot, R. G, Fairfax,
G. F. Trollope, E. J. Wingfield, E. A. Cooper, F.
Coddington,
.H. J. Wright, N. Cotton, N. L.
Clark, A. M. Causton, H. S. Price, E. H. Willis,
W. M. Carey, D. G. Proby, A. P. Watson, R. J.
Fortescue, H. J. Garbett, B. H. Ramsden, W. E.
Atkinson, G. L. Lindeman, A. C. Bancroft, C. E.
Wood, C. Langford, H. Steavenson, A. P. Patten,
A. A. Duffield, J. Swan, G. U. Eyres, C. H. War-
ren, T. H. Beddoes, Lord A. P. Clinton, C. G.
Horne, A. C. Loveridge, and A. 0. Leacock.
The Emerald, 51, screw steamer, Capt. A. Cum-
ming, having completed repairs at Portsmouth,
steamed out of harbour yesterday and anchored at
Spithead, to take in powder and shell. She is ex-
pected to sail for the Downs.
The screw steamship Brunswick, 80,
out of Keyham basin, Plymouth, on Thursday, and
towed by the tugs to the higher moorings in was taken
Hamoaze.
onl
The defects of the screw steamship
completed
Capt. H. Broadhead, will be
on egthael, .
70t11.
inst. She discharged her powder yesterday morn-
ing, steamed from Plymouth Sound into Hamoaze
80, Capt. James W.
and took up a berth off Keyham steamyard.
The screw steamship Mars,
Strange, and screw steam-gun vessel Espoir, 5,
Commander Douglas, and the screw steam-sloop
Curlew,
9, will be out of the hands of the dock-
yard authorities at Devonport by the 25th inst.
of Mr.Th eneeeesarYarrangements under the direction
Superintendent Mallalieu, of the R (or Green-
wich) division of police, for the metropolitan police
to take charge of Portsmouth dock and victualling

(From the Times.)

A letter which we insert this morning from an
able correspondent will furnish the public with
some authentic information on a subject of the
highest importance' to our 'national security—viz.,
the success or failure of the new scheme for casing
ships of war in iron. Our former remarks on the
question will have explained the position in which it
now stands. In the main it was a question of experi-
ment only, and yet by some strange divergence of
induction, British and French authorities had ar-
rived at conclusions diametrically opposed to each
other. The French had satisfied themselves of the
utility of the invention, had discontinued the con-
struction
of wooden line of battle ships, had put ten
iron-cased frigates on the stocks, and had actually
launched two of them. We, on the other hand, had,
indeed put out four of the new men-of- war to contract,
but we had not regarded the case as in any way
urgent, and had still concentrated our principal
efforts upon screw two-deckers, exactly as before.
This policy, too, seemed to derive a certain warrant
from the results of baperiment, for we were assured
day after day that no plates of iron producible by
our manufacturers had been found capable of resist-
ing the effects of our guns. Naturally, therefore,
we imagined that the French, to say the least, had
been precipitate, and that, whatever might be the
conclusion finally established, invulnerable ships had
not become a reality up to the present moment.
These impressions, however, will be most mate-
rially modified by the statements contained in Capt.
Halsted's letter. From that communication it ap-
pears not only that a ship's Bide had been found
practically impenetrable when battered at short
range by the most powerful rifled ordnance, but
that the discovery was made twelve months ago, so
that unless the conclusion was to be corrected by
other evidence, we should have had our iron-
sheathed frigates afloat exactly like our neighbours.
Nothing can be more instructive than the results of
the Shoeburyness experiments, as here detailed.
The vessel taken as a target was the floating bat-
tery Trusty, built for the express purpose of offer-
ing the greatest resistance to shot some five years
ago. She was the earliest type, in fact, of the new
invention—the very class of ship which the French
naval architects have since developed into the
Gloire. In 1857 she was "prepared for being fired
at," or, in other words, as we presume, she was cased
in the strongest armour which could be manufac-
tured at that time. The sheathing, in all proba-
bility, was by no means so strong as could be manu-
factured now, and yet it repelled 801 b. shot from
Armstrong and Whitworth guns. We need not reca-
pitulate the results which our correspondent so per-
spicuously details. It is quite sufficient to observe
that with every condition in favour of the attack it
proved virtually ineffectual against the defence.
Twice only in 17 shots could the new artillery pene-
trate the old floating battery, although each of these
shots was fired under advantages which could rarely
be reckoned upon in actual conflict.
This seems decisive; but there aro two or three
questions still suggesting themselves for considera-
tion, and.the subject is so vitally important that
not a single point should be blinked. Were these
rifled cannon really the most formidable weapons
that could have been employed in the experiment ?
Admitting their extraordinary powers of range and
accuracy, were the shots which they threw at point
blank range mote likely to be destructive under the
circumstances of the case than heavy spherical shot
from a smooth-bored gin ? We have heard that a
681 b. ball fired from one of the long 95ewt. guns
will, at a range, say of 200 yards, produce more
effect on an iron-plate target than the elongated
bolt of an Armstrong or Whitworth cannon. This,
indeed, may possibly be alleged as an explanation of
the strange discrepancy between the experiments at
Portsmouth and those at Shoeburyness. At the for-
mer place the smooth-bored 68-pounder was tried
against what our correspondent describes as weak a n d
worthless targets ; at the latter a target thoroughly
well constructed was battered only by rifled guns.
Perhaps, therefore, there is still some room for
uncertainty, though it is natural to ask why so
very obvious a course as bringing the strongest
target to the test of the most destructive shot was
not thought of by those who conducted our experi-
ments. A second question arises from certain
special results discovered during these trials. It
was found that though one or two shots might be
repelled by the iroll sheathing, yet when this sheath-
ing was finally penetrated, as at Portsmouth almost
invariably occurred, the destruction produced was
infinitely greater than would have been the case on
board a wooden veskel. The first shot or two, per-
haps even the first broadside, might rattle harm-
lessly against the ship's armour, but the next would
create such tremendous havoc that the temporary
impunity would have been dearly purchased. When
the side of an iron-cased frigate was once smashed
all on board, it was maid, were doomed. This is
evidently a point of great consequence. Captain
Halstead, it will be see)), actually claims an advan-
tage for iron-sheathed vessels on this very score ;
but here again he is speaking of bolts, and not of
cannon balls.

took effect on the side only one entered the ship.
It received no assistance from the effects of any
previous shot, but where it struck outside the plate
was unsound, and where it entered inside the timber.
was rotten;; and though a greater power of penetra-
tion was here exhibited than in the case of the Arm-
strong shot, yet, like it, it entered the ship in a spent
state, and reached no more than half-way across the
deck. Twelve and thirteen pound charges were
used on :this occasion, the shot being of carefully
prepared steel; but, as in the previous trials, no
shells were fired, it having been judged useless to
do so wheresolid steel had been so completely foiled.
Excluding, then, altogether the attempt with the
32-pounder, we have thus 17 shots, of from 801 b to
100 lb weight, made of special material, of special
form and temper, fired with the heaviest charges
the guns will bear, as far as practicable at right
angles, within the shortest safe distance, from the
two most powerful pieces of artillery ever yet pro-
duced, and the ship's side thus subjected to proof
has been penetrated twice. The side which has
exhibited this power of protection is one of the first
of its description ever constructed. Its outer lining
of iron is slighter than that since manufactured;
the plates of which it is composed are much smaller;
and instead of being firmly bolted upon the timber
beneath them, they were found to be loose, owing
to the shrinkage of the wood since the ship was
built. When struck near their edges these plates
were more or less injured and broken, when near
their centres more or less indented and cracked;
but the iron splinters which went in with the Arm-

strong shot was the only mischievous one of any
sort which the whole 17 shots produced, and both
that shot itself and the Whitworth would have been
perfectly harmless to any one on the other side of
the deck opposite where they entered. With every
advantage, therefore, on the side of the guns to an
extent which could never occur in action, these re-
sults may, I think, be safely accepted as conclusive
proof that, in the terms of your article—
" British manufacturers can' indeed, produce plates of
iron capable of affording such protection to the sides of
British ships that the best of even British guns cannot pene-
trate them. '

But it will be asked, with such results as these for
now a year before us, whence has arisen that " inde-
cision" which, as your article observes, has hitherto
characterised our own adoption of this invention,
and which still seems to delay its progress ?
The only reply is I believe to be found in the
fact that, simultaneously with the experiments at
Shoeburyness, other experiments have been taking
place at Portsmouth which have furnished results
of a totally different nature. Month after month for
more than a year the public has been informed, in
general and in detail, of the entire destruction of
armour plates of all descriptions and of almost all
thicknesses, effected, not by any new and powerful
rifled cannon, but by the old smooth-bored gun of
heavy calibre, with its limited range of some 4,000
yards. And although, as you observe, " it is impos-
sible for us to balance our own experiments in this
matter against those of the French, inasmuch as we
cannot be sure that the conditions were equal," yet
it may be well to apply this process to our own two
sets of experiments, if only to remove the perplexity
caused by the great discrepancy they represent;'
and we shall then readily perceive that the differ-
ence in the essential conditions under which they
have been respectively made will fully account for
the opposite deductions they admit of. The side of
the Trusty, as before stated, was built but five
years since for the express purpose of sustaining
the shock it has shown itself so well able to bear.
The sides of the Alfred, the Undaunted, and Sirius,
experimented upon at Portsmouth, were built
nearer 50 years ago, with a strength of scantling
and with fastenings totally unfitted even then to
undergo that hammer-and-anvil process of hanging
heavy plates upon them to be attacked with the
heaviest guns, and under which plates and timber-
ing have both inevitably succumbed when the ope-
ration had been performed, after " old age" had of
itself already brought these ships to the verge of the
breaking-up dock. Why experiments of such a na-
ture were made under such conditions at all I pre-
sume neither to know nor inquire ; but I doubt not
their necessary results have had the natural effect of
inducing that doubt and indecision in the public,if not
the official mind, which it might have seemed so de-
sirable to avoid in a matter so serious and new, and
in which only the most practical experiments pos-
sible could be expected to afford a safe guidance.
But, whatever may have been the especial object of
these Portsmouth experiments, we may be assured
that whenever British armour-ships may have to
contend with those of other nations the timbering
which supports their plates will be found, not of
the same age and weakness as that of the old ships
named, but on the same scale of strength as that
of the Trusty ; as witness the 24 inch scantling of
the Normandie, now receiving her plates in the
basin at Cherbourg.
Thus, within a period of 10 years, has the march
of human progress twice overtaken with serious
change the status of British naval affairs ; and,
while our requisite force of screw ships of the line is
yet far from complete, we find ourselves unavoidably
launched into the most complete revolution in the
character and construction of ships of war ever yet
known. No ship of wood, of whatever size or force,
can be expected to contend with the modern projec-
tiles of conical and spherical shot, shells, and molten

We can only add that points like these, which a
week's experiments properly conducted would suf-
fice to decide, should never have been left thus in
doubt. For ourselves, We conceive that upon the
whole evidence now 'before us there is reason for
believing iron-cased ships to be, if not a perfect, at
any rate a most important invention. We suspect
that, though the Gloire may not be absolutely
invulnerable, she would be found possessed of such
advantages as would justify our neighbours in thus
closing with the new theory. Possibly our autho-
rities might be ably to show that no iron plates
have yet been proof against the effects of artillery
continuously fired, though, as they seem never to
have tested the best targets with the best guns, we
cannot feel any certainty even on this point. It
appears, however, quite plain that, though this
marine armour may not be impenetrable to the
last, it is impenetrable for a good while, and at.
certain distances altogether so. Is not this an ad-
♦antage worth securing P A frigate invulnerable
at six hundred yards, and proof against at least
one broadside at a third of that distance, would
surely overpower an antagonist possessed of no
such protection. We think it highly probable that
' the best iron plates yet manufactured might be
penetrated sooner or later, and under given condi-
tions, by heavy shot, but if that result could be
averted for a certain time it Would clearly be so
much gain. If the French, in short, have not proved
that a ship can be made invulnerable, they have
proved that a ship can be made far less vulnerable
than other ships without any material sacrifice of
mobility or speed; and if that example is lost upon
us it will go hard with England.
We do sincerely trust, therefore, that all this evi-
dence may have produced its effect upon our Board
of Admiralty during their recent survey of the
doekyards of the kingdom. If the case be but fairly
grappled with there is nothing in it' which should
give us any uneasiness ; indeed, the more naval
architecture is brought within the sphere of mecha-
nical science the more certain would be our national
superiority. We excel the French both in material
and manufacture. We have the bt,st iron and the
greatest resources for working it. We have the best
engineers and the best mechanics. We have also
the best coal, so that, what with fuel and engines
together, we ought always to ensure a general supe-
riority in speed. It is only in one respect, unhap-
pily an important one, that we are surpassed by the
French. They go to work, with judgment, promp-
titude, and decision. They allow no obstructions to
stand in the way of approved reforms. They satisfy
themselves of facts, and then apply their conclu-
sions with a single-mindedness and determination
which ;infallibly sends them ahead. They did so
with screw two-deckers, and left us to strain our

iron, against even a single-decked ship with sides
as impenetrable as those of the Trusty. Even at
200 yards we have seen that favourable accident
alone enables such sides to be pierced at all ; with
sufficient steam speed to enable a fighting distance
of 1,000 yards to be maintained, such ships must
prove " invulnerable" (except through their port-
holes) to any gun yet known, while capable them-
selves of the mitt effective use of their powers of de,
struction against any opponent of wood; and the
" reconstruction" of the line-of-battle portion of our
fleet has, indeed,become =imperious necessity. Nor

A—Admiralty prize for mathematics and navigation.
B—Admiralty prize for seamanship.
C—Admiralty prize for French and drawing combined,

PRICE 4D. STAMPED, sp.

yards have been completed, and the men will leave
London on Monday next. The force neceesary for
this purpose has been raised from volunteers at pre-
sent in the metropolitan police. Inspector King, of
the R division, has received the appointment of chief
inspector of police of the above establishment, and
it is intended to adopt the same course with the
other Government establishments in England and
Wales, as at Portsmouth, until the whole of them
are brought under the charge of the metropolitan
police, as provided for in the act passed in the last
session of Parliament.

The following appointments were made yesterday
at the Admiralty :—Lieut. 0. de Brock, to the In-
dus; Lieut. W. D. M. Dolben, to the Curlew; Lieut.
A. Bagley, to the Edinburgh, additional, for service
in the Coastguard; Lieut. the Hon. V. A. Montagu,
to the Foxhound ; W. G. Scott, mate, to the Tartar;
H. M. Ommaney, mate, to the Royal Albert ; C.
H. Hawkins, midshipman, to the Royal Albert; G.
G. Hunt, midshipman, to the Edgar; F. Walton,
midshipman, to the Diadem; T. V. Williams and P.
A. Davies, midshipmen, to the Tartar ; T. Leetham
and R. M. Curry have been promoted to the rank
of masters.

TEE ARMY.

On Wednesday a dismounted party belonging to

the 10th Hussars arrived at Ipswich Barracks from
Aldershott, under the command of Lieut.Vandeleur.
The troops of the regiment, which will be stationed
at Ipswich, will arrive next week. Norwich will
be the headquarters of the regiment, and the re-
maining troops will reaeh the cavalry barracks in
that city about the same time.
This day (Saturday) detachments of men from
the 9th and 10th depot battalions, under Lieut.
Mason, 37th Regiment, and Ensign Drew, 88th,
will leave Colchester Camp, and proceed to Hythe
to undergo the necessary training to fit them for
rifle instructors. The present strength of the camp
is as follows :-9th depot battalion, under the com-
mand of Col. Dixon, C. 8., 30 officers, 80 non-com-
missioned officers and drummers,'729 privates, 69
women, and 116 children ; 10th depot battalion,
under the command of Col, Street, C. 8., 35 officers,
76 non-commissioned officers and drummers, 1,058
privates, 69 women, and 150 children ; total strength
of rank and file 1,744, irrespective of about 130 men
in hospital, the average rate of sickness being, as
nearly as possible, 7 per cent.
The Hampshire Artillery were inspected on Thurs-
day last at Pembroke dock, previous to leaving the
district, by Col. Raymond. The gallant colonel
having inspected the regiment, read a letter from
the Horse Guards stating that volunteering would
take place on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday
next, and that for the Royal Artillery would be re-
stricted to the 15th battalion. The colonel then
complimented the corps on their discipline and good
conduct while under his command, and assured
them that the same high opinion was held of them
by his Royal Highness the Commander-in-Chief.