The Sun.
London, England, 1860-08-18 00:00:00

" ORDER OF THE DAY.

"Faro, Aug. 12.
" Officers and Soldiers of the Land and Sea
Forces.—The General Dictator having for a short
time quitted headquarters, left me the following
Order :

" ' General Sirtori,—l leave to you the command of the
land and sea forces, being obliged to leave for a few days.
G. GA RIBALDI.'

" Officers and Soldiers,—My greatest title to
your confidence is the confidence which the man
reposes in me who represents your noblest aspira-
tions. I trust that you will obey me as you would
obey General Garibaldi.
" G. SIRTORI, Chief of the Staff."

That is the exact meaning of this is as yet a
mystery which has to be cleared up. Some cir-
cumstances which occurred this morning may help
to throw some light on the mystery. A.Sardiaian
frigate was at the Faro this morning. Dr. Ber-
tani has arrived from Genoa, and has brought, it is
said, important news. These two circumstances
would lead one to suppose that the mystery has a
peaceful meaning. On the other hand, Garibaldi
is just the man to wish to see and promote the in-
surrection in Calabria in person. I dare say by
to-morrow's mail to Naples I shall be able to give
you the true key to the mystery.

(From the Special Correspondent of the Daily News.)
FIRST PASSAGE OF THE STRAITS.
FARO (NEAR MESSINA), AUG. 8.
You will undoubtedly, before this reaches you,
have heard by the telegraph of the masterly and
wonderful preparation made by Garibaldi to cross.
the famous strait, and also, I hope, of the successful
landing of his troops on its right shore. If I mistake
not, it will be this evening that the first battalions
of the national army will cross over to Calabria.
Some people thought at first that this bold attempt
would have been made at night, but as the moon
was shining in all its glorious splendour it would
have been unwise to set out. For the same reason
Garibaldi was obliged to countermand the order he
had sent to Captain Irwin, of Colonel Dunne's bri-
gade, to attack and capture, with a party of about
40 English volunteers, almost all seamen, a Neapo-
litan frigate which was at anchor a little further
down at Fort Cavallo on the Calabrian side. The
blue jackets were rather disappointed, for, in spite
of the shining moon, they swore they would have
captured the Neapolitan man-of-war. The bustle
of warlike preparation which comes to my ear from
every side of this camp is such that now and then
I cannot help thinking that what passes before my
eyes is but a dream. Three months have scarcely
elapsed since a great general landed at Melazzo
with 1,000 men, and now that very man is at the
head of a gallant army which numbers more than
20,000. You will not have forgotten that Garibaldi
divided this army into four divisions. One of these
divisions is encamped here and occupies the ground
which skirts the sea from Pace to Capo di Faro and
Faro Superiore.
Two other divisions, that of Maid and Cosenz,
are still at Messina, but the last-named one will
arrive here either in the course of the day or early
to-morrow morning. It is a pity that brave General
Bixio should not be here, but some disturbances
and terrible political assassinations having occurred
at Bronte, in the province of Catania, Garibaldi has
sent Bixio to put things to rights. It seems that
the exasperations of the Brontese were so great that
almost every sorcio—as the adherents of the former
regime are called—whom they could get hold of was
roughly handled by them. Bourbon officials and
their minions thus reap what they have sown—
hatred and bloody revenge. It is a severe retri-
bution, which I shall not endeavour to justify, but
which I can fully understand. To revert, however,
to military subjects, there are four batteries of heavy
guns which have been constructed all along this
shore. At its extreme point, where the ancient
poets placed Charybdis, the most powerful of these
batteries—six 32-pounders and two 65—has been
erected, and it is intended to bear upon the opposite
fort of Scylla, which, however, some say the Nea-
politans have neglected to mount with guns. The
other batteries, of four guns each, have been placed
at a proportionate distance from each other along
the Faro shore. All the engineering arrangements
are under the directions of Colonels Bordone and
De Flottc, but it may be said that Garibaldi is in
fact the man who has advised them, for General
Orsini, the chief commander of the artillery, does
not stir without the orders of the dictator, The
distance from Faro Point to the Castle of Scylla
opposite is not more than 6,017 English yards. The
heavy guns of Garibaldi will, therefore, at the same
time keep in check the Neapolitan men-of-war, the
batteries of Torre del Cavallo, and the floating and
standing ones the enemy has erected at Villa S.
Giovanni, Gallico, and on other points of the oppo-

site coast.
Whilst I am writing I can see Garibaldi, who
arrived here this morning at 4 o'clock, walking up
and down the deck of the City of Aberdeen, one
of the Sicilian steamers lying in this harbour, fol-
lowing through his glass the movements of the
enemy. There is an amusing story current here,
which I give you without, however, vouching for
its correctness. You are perhaps aware that
the great fishery of the pesce-spada, or sword-
fish, affords occupation to the fishermen who live
in the villages and hamlets scattered about along
the coast from Messina to Faro Point, as well
as on the opposite one of Calabria. This fishery is
performed in the most ingenious manner. A man
ascends a long pole which rises in the centre of the
boat, and when he sees the sword-fish passing
through the current he makes the rowers row in
that direction, and the man at the stern, who is
armed with a long and sharp pike, if fortunate
enough, spikes the fish. Well, one day Garibaldi
disappeared for two hours, and it is stated that
having disguised himself as a fisherman, he went so
near to the opposite shore that from the pole he was
able to reconnoitre all the fortified points of the
Neapolitan coast. True or not, this story forms the
subject of all conversations in the camp, and causes
a great deal of merriment amongst the noble fellows
encamped under a scorching sun on the sandy beach
yonder. lam the more convinced that Garibaldi's
intention is to attempt a landing during the forth-
coming night from seeing the number of field-pieces
scattered about on this shore, and the number of
battalions ready to embark. Besides the steamer
anchored in this small harbour, or rather jetty,
there are about 260 fishing-boats of different sizes,
which complete the adventurous armada. They
lie al:whore:A in two lakes behind the lighthouse of
Faro, and arc therefore screened by it, so that Gari-
baldi's naval prep,rations cannot be seen by the
Neapolitans on the othei side of the strait. These
two lakes in ancient times commaunicated both with
the gulf and the open sea, by way of two canals,
which from some cause or other had beel; choked
up. Garibaldi had the two canals opened, so th-,9t
he can now sail with his fleet from the lakes with-
out the enemy's knowing it. The boats which com-
prise Garibaldi's flotilla have been collected from
different points of the Sicilian coast, and can very
easily ship from 20 to 30 men each. Garibaldi will
thus be able to land a force of more than 7,000 men
where he pleases at once.
It is now five o'clock, and the greatest activity
prevails in the camp. Major Caldesi, the brother
of the well-known London photographer, is just
leaving the City of Aberdeen, apparently bearing,
orders from headquarters. In the meanwhile, Nea-
politan frigates are steaming up and down the
strait, some in the direction of Reggio,
sumo
to-
wards Fort Scylla. Through my glass Ica dis-
tinctly see the officers on the deck lookingsa°thatis going on in our camp. Surely
they must be by
•
this time convinced that the hour of the landing is
near at hand. One of those vessels is laden with a
battalion of Neapolitan sharpshooters, wbo come
bound for
from the citadel of lkiessina, and are
some point or other of Calabria.
As nobody in IVlessina is ignorant that the land-
ing of the Sicilian troops will take place this even-
lug, I hear that the alarm of the townsmen is great,
for they fear that General Clary will bombard the
however, cannot be done without its
city. This,