The Sun.
London, England, 1860-04-21 00:00:00

GIBIRALTAR.•

Our advices from Gibraltar by the Peninsular
and Oriental C.nr pang's steamship China, Captain
J. K. Joy, which arrived at Southampton yesterday
mordng, after landing her mails at Plymouth,
where she put in for coal, are to the 12th inst.
Her Majesty's yacht Victoria and Albert, Capt

the Hon. Joseph Denman, arrived at Gibraltar on
the Bth inst., having made the voyage from Ports.
mouth in three days and nine hours, the shortest
passage on record.. The object of the cruise was to
test the super-heating apparatus with which the
yacht has been recently fitted. The Victoria and
Albert took in about 400 tons of coal at the New
Mole, and left on her return to Portsmouth, touch-
ing at Cadiz.
The French screw steamships of the line Re-
doubtable, Imperial, and Algeciras, forming the
division of the squadron of evolution under the

command of Rear-Admiral Paris, arrived at G:bral-
tar on the morning of the 9th, under sail from );rest,
and anchored in the roadstead of Algeciras. Shortly
after anchoring, the flagship exchanged salutes
with the Spanish garrison. The squadron left Al-
geciras roadstead for Toulon, to join Admiral
Sehenne's squadron, on the forenoon -of the 1 1 th.
As the Algeciras (flagship) steamed past the for-
tress of Gibraltar, her Majesty's screw-frigate
Doris, at anchor in the Bay, saluted the flag of
Rear-Admiral Paris, which was duly acknowledged
by the Algeciras.

The Spanish sailing line-of-battle ship Rey Fran.
cisco, of 84 guns, Captain Ramon Perry, recently
arrived from the Havannah, joined Adniiral Bus-
tillo's squadron off Algeciras on the 2d.
The Swedish Consul-General, M. de Ehrenboff,
has left Gibraltar for Tangier in the sailing corvette
Lagerbjelk, to resume his official duties in that city.
Admiral Mundy's squadron, consisting of the
Hannibal (flag•ship), Capt. Conolly ; the Renown,
Capt. Forbes ; the Agamemnon, Capt. Hope ; the
James Watt, Capt. Codd.; and the Scylla, Capt;
Lambert, sailed from Gibraltar at 2 p.m. on the
10th .for the eastward.

The following British merchant steamers had
arrived at Gibraltar since last advices :—April 6,
the Rhone, Capt. R. Joy, 8 days from Liverpool,
with general cargo for Genoa, Leghorn sand
Naples ; she experienced very rough weather on
the passage and lost three men overboard; 7th, the
Euphrosyne, Capt. W. S. Folland, 9 days from
Liverpool, with general cargo for Malta and Alex-
andria ; Bth, the Tiber, Capt. D. Richards, 7 days
from Liverpool, with general cargo for Gibraltar,
Malta, and Alexandria; same day, the Atlantic,
Capt. A. Horsfall, 6 days from Liverpool, with
general cargo for Gibraltar, Malta, and Alexandria;'
10th, the Marathon, Capt. W. M'Arthur, 41 days
from Liverpool, with general cargo for Malta and
Constantinople ; same day, the Gibraltar, Capt
W. Hall, 9 days from London and 21 for Vigo, with
general cargo and 90 bullocks for Gibraltar ; 11th,
the Albanian, Captain R. Power, 51 days from
Liverpool, with general cargo for Genoa, Leghorn,
and Naples.

The American bark Lillias, Capt. Gilmore, from
New Orleans and Algeciras, laden with cotton and
rum for Trieste, had called at Gibraltar : the mate
was wounded at sea •by one of the sailors, who was
in irons.

The Prussian steamer Boug, Captain A. Alliman,
six days from London, bound for Malta and Con-
stantinople, with a general cargo, arrived at Gib-
raltar on the 10th inst.

The British brig Curlew, Captain G. Devon, 32
days from London, arrived at Gibraltar on the 9th,
and the British schooner Bezabel, Captain W.
Vincent, 24 days from London, on the 12th, both
laden with Government stores.

The British barque Chance, which left Cadiz on
the 27th ult., with salt for Newfoundland, put
back to that port on the Bth inst. in a leaky state.
Freights at Gibraltar were quoted as follow :--
Brazil and RiVer Plate, 12 dols per ton, and 10 per
cent.; Gulf of Mexico and Havanna.h, 12 dols—per
ton, and 10 per cent. ; Malta, Leghorn, Gallus,
and Marseilles, 4 dols and 5 dols per ton, and 5 per
cent. ; lead at less.
Latest quotations of exchange stood as under :
London, 90 days' date, 501- ; Paris, ditto, 5f 30e;
Marseilles, ditto, 5f 31c ; Genoa, ditto, 5f 320 ; Ma-
drid, 8 days' sight, 1 to !, dis. ; Cadiz, ditto, par ;
Malaga, ditto, 8 pm.; Seville, ditto, dis. ; Ali-
cante, I dis. ; Valencia, it dis. ; Barcelona, par.
Spanish Pillared Dollars 3 per cent. premium—no
demand.

2111? 117,1171..

A letter from Malta, dated April 15, says :

"The following are her Majesty's ships in port :
—Marlborough (flag of Vice-Admiral Fanshawe,
C. 8., Commander-in-Chief ), Victor Emmanuel,
Neptune, St. Jeane d'Aere, and Cressy, line-of-bat-
tle ships; Amphion, frigate; Medina, Tartarus,
and Firefly, surveying steamers; Boxer and Assu-
rance, gunboats; Caradoc, despatch boat; Hiber-
nia, receiving ship ; and Harpy, tug. The Tartarus
is being dismantled, prior to being sold by public
auction. Moorings are being prepared here for six
line-of-battle ships,—four from Gibraltar—namely,
the Hannibal, Renown, James Watt, and Agamem-
non; the Caesar, from Naples; and the London,
from Corfu. The division from Gibraltar is reported
to have left for Malta on the 10th of April, the
Scylla also in company. The Amphion, steam fri-
gate, arrived at Malta from Queenstown and Gibral-
tar, with 75 supernumeraries fol the fleet, on the
9th of April. The Assurance, gunboat, is under
orders for Alessina."

Rear-Admiral Sir H. B. Martin, K.C.8., on taking
up his appointment as. Commander-in-Chief of the
Mediterranean fleet yesterday, hoisted his flag, blue
at the mizen, on board the receiving ship Fisgard,
at Woolwich. A salute of 13 rounds, correspond-
ing with the Admiral's rank, was immediately
fired from the guns of the Fisgard, and the flag was
hauled down to be transferred to the Melpomene,
for Malta.
Commander Henry R. Wratislaw yesterday took
up his commission and hoisted his pendant at Wool-
wich on board the new pattern screw schooner
Ranger, fitting for the West Coast of Africa. The
majority of the officers are appointed and have
joined the commander at Woolwich ; and the crew,
many of whom were previously known to the com-
mander, are rapidly entering at the appointed ren-
dezvous, the Ship Hotel. The Ranger is expected
to sail about the middle of next month.

Instructions having been received at Woolwich
from the Board of Admiralty, requiring a detailed
specification of the name and description of every
ship fitted out or repaired in that yard for commis-
sion, reserve, &c., during the financial year 1858-9,
the account was. on Wednesday completed and
transmitted for Parliamentary inquiry. The clerks
selected for that duty have been uninterruptedly
engaged since the 2d of March, and during the last
few weeks they have devoted a great portion of the
night to the task, although the regulations of the
service admit of no compensation. •
The Arethusa, 50, has been safely docked in No.
3 dock at Chatham dockyard, notwithstanding that
at the time she was being hauled in on Thursday
there was a violent gale blowing right into the
dock from the north-east. She will be at once cut
in two and considerably lengthened, and altered
into a screw frigate.
The caulkers have commenced caulking the screw
corvette Orpheus, 21, at Chatham.
The iron-plated floating battery Thunderbolt, 16,
200-horse power, is to be thoroughly repaired at
Chatham, and all her defects made good, as it is
expected that she will be required during the ex-
periments ordered to be made with the Whitworth
guns.
The paddlewheel steam surveying vessel Porcu-
pine, 3, Capt. H. C. Otter, went from Hamoaze on
Thursday into Plymouth Sound, and had her coin-
, passes adjusted. She is under sailing orders.
The screw steamship Royal George,lo2, at Key-
ham steamyard, having had her machinery taken-
out, was placed in No. 2 dock on Thursday to be
cut down to a two-decker.
The screw steamship Royal Albert, 121, Captain
Henry J. Lacon, is under the sheers in Keyhava
steamyard, Plymouth. Her .funnel has been re-
moved, and preparations are snaking for lifting out
her old boilers. She will go into dock when the
Hero comes out.
Fifty shipwrights, 12 labourers, 13 smiths, and
one plumber are to be discharged from the Devon-
port dockyard to-day (Saturday).
The crew of the screw steam-sloop Atalanta, 16,
Commander Thomas M. S. Pasley, at Devonport,
will be paid off on Tuesday next. The vessel will
be placed in ordinary.
The screw steam gun-vessel Espoir, 6, was taken
out of the lock at Keyham steamyard on Thursday,
and placed at her moorings in Hamoaze.
The crew of the sailing line-of-battle ship Indus,
78, Captain W. K. Hall, C. 8., were paid off at Ply-
mouth on Thursday morning, in the presence of ,

Rear-Admiral Sir T. S. Pasley, '
They are a fine
seamanlike set of fellows,and were sober and orderly.
The Marines were marched to their barracks, headed
by a band.
The gunboats Biter and Sheithake were taken out
of No. 2 dock at Keyham on Thursday and placed
in the basin.
The Firebrand, 6, paddle, Commander James M.
Bruce, has sailed from Portsmouth to Guernsey to
bring over •the head-quarters of the 19th Brigade
Royal Artillery.
The Flying Fish, 6, screw, Commander C. W.
Hope, arrived at Spithead yesterday morning from
Devonportr with supernumeraries.
The Victoria, 121, screw, was undocked yester-
day at Portsmouth from No. 7 dock, and berthed in
the steam basin.
The Forte, 51, screw, flagship of Rear-Admiral
Hon. Sir H. Keppell, was yesterday placed in the
steam basin at Portsmouth, and will go into No. 7
dock to-day, to remedy the leak in her stern.
The_ Bacchante's detachment of Royal Alarines
embarked at Portsmouth yesberday.
A second disturbance took place with the Ma ri:, es
on board her Majesty's ship Edgar, at Spithead, on
Thursday evenino,-. A nuinber of them were Lent
pi iioners to the flag-ship yesterday InOrning.
The Decoy and Blazer gunboats were yesterday
launched from the gunboat yard and slipway at
Haslar, at high water, and two other gunboats, the
Angler and Fancy, afterwards hauled up and placed
beneath the vacant sheds. The time occupied in
removing each boat from its shed with its cradle,
placing it on the transporting platform, transfer, ing
it on to the launching cradle, thence to the water,
and finally returning the vessel's cradle to the shed
whence it was originally taken, was 69 minutes ;
but this must not be taken as a faint, st of the time
it would take to launch any of the boats which
might be required for service, as the two hots i t
the present instance were already taken off their-
blocks and set up on their ciadles in readiness for
the operation. To select any one of the 47 boats—
say, one at either end of the line—Ns ould occupy
nearly four hours, instead of only 69minutes as yes-
terday. The plan, pn the whole, is good ; but a small
outlay would greatly simplify the present method
of working, and afford a great saving in time. At
this time there are 47 gunboats, beside mortar ves-
sels, hauled up at Haslar yard. Twenty-two of
these vessels have been repaired at a great cost and
with the exception of coppering, are ready for
launching. Nine vessels are under repair. Four-
teen are waiting examination and repairs, five of
which are uncoppered, the remainder being cop-
pered. The remaining two vessels are the Fancy
and the Angler, hauled up yesterday. This yard
was formed at the conclusion of the Russian war,
for the storing and preservation of the gunboats_
which had been built by contract by various pri-
vate builders during that war. The first boat was
hauled up, we believe, on the lstof January, 1857.
Shortly afterwards more vessels were added, the
boats were stripped of their copper, and it was
supposed that this was the most sensible plan which
could have been taken for their preservation. It was
not long, however, before it was discovered that the
vessels required repairs, and in some instances they
were rather extensive. It was at the time stated
that this decay in the vessels arose from the fact of
their being stripped of their copper, and being set
up high and dry on the bloCks, asd thus exposing
the planking of their bottoms to the action of the
air-draughts underneath the sheds. This necessi-
tated the employment of a number of shipwrights,
&c., under an experienced officer, for their repairs,
which have been carried on, and, as before stated.,
22 vessels have been rendered fit for service, with

the exception of eoppering. Late investigations
have, however, pointed to another source as the
cause of the decay of the vessels.. Some of the cop-
pered gunboats which had been kept afloat having
been hauled up had on examination been found far
more defective than those were which had been
stored beneath the sheds, and the only conclusion
which can be arrived at is that the whole of our
gunboats afloat are unfit for service. Of the nine
vessels now under repair not one but bears the
marks of having-been constructed with the most
reckless disregard to quality of material. Take two
of them, two of the coppered class, which have been
kept afloat, as an illustration of what may be ex-
pected from the 40, or thereabouts, which yet re-
main to be examined at Portsmouth alone. They
stand on their blocks stripped of their planking,
and scarcely a sound piece of wood can be seen about
them, every part bearing the marks of " sap," and
some of their ribs are completely enveloped with it;
the pressure of the hand upon their frame crumbles
it into dust. The white fungus matter grows over
all, and nothing remains but decay.- - The contract
price of these vessels is said to have amounted to
about £5,000 for each hull alone, and, if so, the cost
of repairing each of the two vessels we have named
must amount to about £3,500. Taking one of the
of tho repairs of tho
boats which have been hauled up for preservation,
it will be found that in her case labour and material
amount to about £1,400. The copper bolts, too, in
one of the boats, which ought to have gone chart
through and been clinched on each side, were found
to have been changed into,'short ends, of about two
inches, driven in on each side. In the midst of all
this decay there are two boats, which have been
examined and repaired, which ars declared by the
authorities to hare been constructed in a manlier

creditable to their builder both as regards lalour
and material ; but it is said the doing so nearly en-
tailed their builder's ruin. They are named re-
spectively the Earnest and the Escort. One con-
soling reflection is left—the machinery of all the
boats is believed to be in good condition. In an-
other port of Haslar yard eight iron and 12 wooden
mortar boats are in position on blocks underneath
temporary sheds, and it must naturally be expected
that the latter will prove to be as defective as the
gunboats have.
Rear-Admiral Sir T. S. Pasley, Superintendent
of Devonport Dockyard, accompanied by Com-
mander Brown, master attendant, and Commander
Paul, assistant, were
_conveyed from Ilameaze, on

Thursday, in the paddle-wheel steam tug Confiance
to Mount Batten to witness the second attempt to
float the stranded transport Havering from the

rocks. 1 his attempt was also unsuccessful, although
she had in addition to the four old gun brigs a Go
Ternment mooring lighter attached to her stern and
another to her bow, both of which were hauled
down until the water covered the fore part of their
docks. Four hundred seamepsivere in attendance.
A strong easterly wind continues to cut the tide,
and the brigs, which are almost empty, instead of
lifting the ship, cant over till they immerse their
topsides, which are leaky. A Board of Trade
inquiry was opened on Thursday before Major
Templar and Colonel Langmead, county magis-
trates, at Stonehouse ; Capt. Harris assisted, and Mr.
0, Dowd, solicitor, was in attendance. Capt. Rickaby
deposed that the Havering had three bower anchors
o f about 3 cwt: each. The chain cables were 14
inch, and 125 fathoms long. In October, 1858, she
rode out a very heavy gale on the Goodwin Sands
with the same anchors and cables, the port one only
being down, when there were 600 troops on board
~ and 500 tons of cargo. A ship-of war of 120 tons
has a chain cable of 1 inch ; 913 tons, 1 inch,
and 1,082 tons the same size as the Havering, which
registered 906 tons. Mr. Mulley, district surveyor
to Lloyds, stated that by Lloyds' rules the cables
were of the proper sire ; in his opinion a law should
be passed which would make the testing a ship's
cables compulsory. The Court adjourned until
yesterday. One of the old brigs, the Express, wont
down alongside the Havering on Thursday night.
The following appointments were made yester-
day at the Admiralty :—Thomas Bowen, master,
additional, to the Chesapeake ; George B. F.
Swain, master, to the Chesapeake; James Kiddie,
master, to the Algiers; Benjamin J. Hooper,
master, additional, to the Forte; and Henry Col-
lins, master's assistant, to the Forte.