The Sun.
London, England, 1856-04-24 00:00:00

nine-tenths of which were advertised for hire.
The morning advancing increased the crowd, lin-
ing the common, the Portsmouth lines, and the
beaeh by thousands at a time, and before eight
o'clock there was not au available spot upon which
a view could be obtained that leas not positively
alive with people. The scene which presented
itself from Southsea Castle at about ten o'clock
was of the most curious and animating de-
scription. The vast crowds of people extending in
one black line along the coast as far as the eye
could reach, backed by double rows of carriages,
carts, vans, and every other description of vehicle,
all filled with spectators, the major portion of
whom were of the gentler sex. The gay dresses of
the ladies, as they showed forth to the best advan-
tage in the bright sunshine in all their various
colours, together with the busy appearance of the
numerous booths and tents, reminded one strongly
of the Epsom race-course on the Derby day.
As the hour appointed for the arrival of the
Queen drew near, the steam-frigates and the other
vessels conveying the Government guests set off
from the wharf, and put to sea with their living
freights. These were shortly after followed by the
flotilla of " fast-sailing" cutters, luggers, schooners,
ctc., whose departure for this special occasion had
been advertised for weeks past. The whole fleet
of them, crowded with passengers, weighed and
stood out towards the Spit buoy, with the evident
intention, in their anxiety to obtain a good view of
the manoeuvres of the ships, Of getting as much in
everybody's way as was possible under the circum-
stances, or they would be permitted to do by the
lack-out gun-boats.
The guns of the Victory and the St. Vincent an-
nounced the arrival of her Majesty ; and a few
minutes afterwards the magnificent yacht, the
Windsor Castle, glided out of the harbour. As she
emerged the Portsmouth battery fired a Royal
salute. The cheering was taken up at the end of
the line, and spreading gradually along the shore,
swelled in magnitude as it progressed, until it
reached the castle in one almost deafening roar.

Before the guns of the saluting Watery had
finished firing a puff of smoke issued from the side
of the flag-ship Duke of Wellington (which lay with
the rest of the fleet about three miles from the
shore), and instantly afterwards a succession of
flashes dashed from every vessel
,along
.the lino ;
gull succeeded gun - but the white wreaths of
smoke had completely hidden everything but the
topmasts (for the wind blew towards the land), be-
fore the first low booming report was audible on
shore. The rapidity with which the successive
concussions fell upon the ear, together with the
often-repeated echo among theoforts, produced a
most extraordinary effect, much more resem-
bling the Sound of continuous loud though distant
thunder than' a discharge of artillery. The
sight was one of the most imposing that can be
imagined. The vast line of slips, extending for
miles, enveloped in one cloud of smoke, through
which could be distinguished at intervals the flashes
of the successive discharges of those ships which
were latest in manning their guns, gave an appear-
ance of grim reality to the warlike aspect of the
fleet which evidently produced considerable im-
pression upon the minds of the spectators.
The smoke of the guns, which quickly drifted
between the Royal yacht and the shore, completely
concealed her Majesty's movements for a time; but
it was, no doubt, taken for granted by all those so
debarred that the usual routine of the official pro-
gramme was gone through. By the time the smoke
had cleared away, which it did in about half an
hour, the fleet of gun-boats could, by their white
puffs of steam, be indistinctly seen steaming in two
divisions of two abreast each isetween the line of bat-
tle. Upon arriving at the head of the line the port
column turned round the Duke of Wellington, and
the starboard column round the Royal George, the
Royal yacht being stationed near the flag-ship to
inspect them passing. Their number seemed almost
intermicable, for though sailing iu two columns,
and in each column tivo abreast, it was nearly an
hour before the last of them had turned. The
white squadron, after turning the end of the port
line, took their position in a semicircle in order of
battle opposite the floating batteries, which were
anchored in line north of the great line of the fleet.
The red squadron could be seen making their way,
after passing the Royal George to the southward
of the great ine of the fleet, in the same order,
for the purpose of .passing in the rear, so as to
form in line of battle in Stokes Bay, opposite Fort
Monckton, according to the general ordors.
The blue or rear squadron made straight for
Southsea Beach, and took up position to the east-
ward of the Bayne buoy, just opposite the castle.
The light squadron formed in order on the Mother-
bank, as the reserve.
While the gun-boats were executing these evolu-
tions theefleet had evidently been signalled to get
under weigh, as the bunting with which the ships
were dressed quickly disappeared, and the whole
line- was soon in motion. Those who had first
caught a glimpse of the fleet from the lines ofPorts-
nriouth werealmost without exception disappointed,
the great distance the ships lay from the shore ren-
dering the aspect of even the line-of-battle ships
anything but imposing' but when we consider
that fume than half of the ships %Vete hidden frona
thisnbservation by the point of land, it was by no
means surprising. But when the complete squad-
ron was fairly under steam, making for the pivot
ships, and the vast length of the line stood out in
bold relief against the clear horizon, the sight was
magaificeut in the extreme. In spite of the Ad-
miralty regulations respecting the use of anthra-
cite or Welch coal by all the private steamers
present, the orders were infringed to such a con-
siderable extent' that from the shore, where by
far the largest portion of the spectators were as-
sembled, not much was visible in a .few mi-
nutes but a dusky cloud of smoke. The fleet, after
passing the pivot ships, quickly returned to their
former stations. A signal was seen flying from the
flag-ship. The answer was run up by all the gun
boats. All hands were immediately piped on
deck, and on those vessels nearest, the artillery-
men could be distinguished, opening out the ports,
casting looee the guns, and otherwise preparing for
instantly commencing the action upon the signal
being made. A few minutes afterwards another
signal was evidently read from the divisional ship ;
the men all stood to their stations, the magazines
were opened, and the guns loaded and run out.
In this position they remained quietly steaming
about, to facilitate their evolutions when begin-
ning the attack.
The commander of the fort, observing these
hostile preparations, gave the order to prepare for
resisting the contemplated assault. The artillery-
men loaded and ran out the guns, and waited with
the trigger lines ready to fire the minute the signal
was made. In the meantime the Royal yacht
steamed in about halfway between the fleet and
Southsea Castle. The appointed signal having been
given, the gun-boats-of the blue division fired their
68-pounders in rapid succession upon Southsea
Castle, and then steamed round to pour in their other
bioadside. In the meantime the firing was taken up
by the white division upon the floating batteries,
and by the red squadron upon Fort Monckton. The
squadron of the blue had time to turn and discharge
their starboard guns before Southsea Castle re-
turned a shot ; but when they did fire it was to
some purpose, discharging their 40 long 8-inch
guns in one grand volley. The crowds of people
who had collected immediately under the embra-
sures apparently had no idea of how close they could
conveniently remain while ordnance of that heavy
description was being fired. The effect of the volley
was completely conclusive as far as they were con-
cerned, for it was instantly followed by a grand
rush and scatter, in every direction, and in half a
minute there was not a soul remaining within 50
yards of the fort. The firing from this moment
was sustained 'with the greatest vigour on both
sides, the reports following each other in far too
rapid succession to be distinguished, but continuing
in one uniformly loud roar, broken only by the
broadsides of the floating batteries, in
the fire of the white squadron. The red return'to
on
4ont
kept up an almost uninterrupted The
Monckton, which, however, did .not reply. The
Upon For
clouds of smoke had by this time bidden the whole
fleet, and the positions of. the various squadrons
could only be ascertained by the bright flashes of
the guns and the increasing density of the white
smoke. The line-of-battle ships are supposed to
have taken part in the action from the distance,
judging from the incessant pattering of artil-
lery heard in their rection. As to seeing, that
was entirely out of the question ; nothing was
visible
.but a gigantic cloud of vapour, with the
topmasts of the ships peering above. The Queen
had evidently cut short the programme, in conse-
quence of the time that had beon already taken
up iu reviewing tho ships at anchor. The gun-boats
could not possibly have fired their six rounds per
gun, as they were not in action more than 15 minutes
at the outside when the signal was hoisted to cease
firing. The different squadrons then lay too, still
keeping the order of battle. The ships returned to
their former anchorage, and the review terminated
as far as the sight-seeing people were concerned,
who were left to scramble to town as they best
could. From all that we have heard we are apt
to imagine this task must have been impracticable
to thousands.
a

THE SCENE FROM SOUTFISEA BEACH.
The myriads of human beings who poured on to
the beach from every point and outlet were be-
yond all precedent, and the heterogeneous com-
mixture of character was not the least remark-
able feature of the whole affair. Gradually
the walls, ramparts, ravelius, mounds, housetops,
and even church steeples entered into bold comps-