The Sun.
London, England, 1856-10-14 00:00:00

AUSTRALIA.

LIVERPOOL, MONDAY.
The Black Ball packet ship Champion of the Seas
has arrived from Melbourne with advices to the
10th July, 163 passengers, and 92,0000 z. of gold
on freight.

The Lightning, with the mails of the 6th May,
• arrived at Melbourne on the 14th July in 69 days
from Liverpool.
The James Baines, the mail ship of the 6th of
August, had 120,0000 z. of gold already engaged on
freight.
The Goldfields, Moore's Fort, and Lammer-
muir, from London, and the Ellen Bates and
Mindora, from Liverpool, had arrived at Mel-
bourne.

The advices contain no political or general news
of importance.

The news confirmatory of the declaration of peace
had been received with enthusiasm by the inhabi-
tants of Melbourne, Sydney, &c., and each town
celebrated the event by a general holiday.
Commercial affairs were rather quiet. The price
of gold remained at 765. per oz. From the official
returns we learn that up to the 12th of July the
produce of gold amounted to 1,439,5400 z. The
quantity shipped up to that date was 1,693,1730 z.,
weighing 701 tons, and valued at 6,772,6921.
sterling. _ _

The-prospects of the various gold fields were
most promising. _

Exchange on London.—Draughts against gold
purchased at 1 per cent. discount. Freights 3d. to
4&d. per ounce. Insurance, 2 per cent.
In the wool-market there was no change to re-
port, but prices ruled firm.
Tallow had declined, and quotations show a
margin in favour of shippers.
_ _

Aides continued in good demand, but only few
wore offering.
In the labour market there was a steady demand
for agricultural labourers.
The building trades were dull.
_

At Geelong, on the 14th of July, the price of
gold was 765. 9d. per ounce.

AUSTRALIAN RAILWAYS.—The step taken by the South
Australians in opening up the navigation with the river
Murray having seriously excited the apprehensions of the
commercial interest and the inhabitants of Melbourne
generally, will give increased energy to the efforts for
making a railway from the metropolis to the goldfields
in the northern districts. Soon alter the discovery of
gold, when the necessity arose for conveying large quan-
tities of stores to various parts of the interior to feed the
suddenly located population, the absence of all means of
communication pleased heavily upon all concerned. In
consequence thereof certain railways were projected, the
chief of which was that which was to commence at
Melbourne, and running thence to Mount Alexander
terminate on the banks of the river Murray. On the
estimated cost of this work—viz , 1,000,000/., the Colo-
nial Government consented to guarantee 5 per cent.
interest for 21 years, gave the company 50 acres of land
at the west end of the town, and 11 acres at Williams-
town for termini, and all the laud latlonging• to the
Crown which the company may require. The Legisla-
ture also authorised-a gift of 5,0001. in aid of the preli-
minary surveys. With all these a vantages the company
has only been able to raise 65,0001., one-third t,f which
.has .__been expended unproductively. Seeing this, the
Government has just completed the purchase of all the
rights, privileges, and property of the company, giving
in payment for the same 5 per cent. debentures, redeem-
able at par at the expiration of 50 years. This newly
acquired and novel description of Government property
is vested in two officers of the Government for and on he-
rrdyerpeodss possible
tdhe;
half of the colony. These gentlemen have it in contero.
spate., and,
plationi to pusash oan
pthreelimiwoilsy,
with
have e v ordered
mails respectively about 60,0001. worth of plant.
twoananci
,Nett/
Zealand
Gazette.

We announced yesterday the death of Commander
Charles Thurtell (1843), which occurred lately at Calais.
He was born at Brad well, Suffolk, on Feb. 29, 1790.
We extract the following account of the services of this
gallant officer from " O'Byrne's Naval Biography :"-
"This officer entered the navy March 26, 1807, as
first-class volunteer on board the Alert, Captain Robert
Williams ; and in the course of the same year was pre-
sent, under Admiral Gambier, in the attack upon Copen-
hagen. In May, 1809, five months after he had left the
Alert, he joined the Aboukir, 74, Captain George Parker
and Thos. Browne, in which ship we find him accom-
panying the expedition to the Scheldt (where he was en-
trusted with the command of a gun boat), and employed
in 1812 under the flag of the present Sir Thomas Byam
Martin, at the defence of Riga. He there had charge of
a Russian gun boat, and was for three months in almost
daily action with the enemy. In November, 1812, he
was nominated acting master of the Briseis, 10, Captain
John Ross, in the Baltic ; he served next, from Nov.,
1813, until May, 1815, as midshipman and master's mate,
in the Nymphen, 36, and Liffey, 50, both commanded by
Captain John Hancock, on the North Sea and Channel
stations ; and in March, 1817, and September, 1818, he
became Admiralty midshipman of the Cadmus, 10, Capt.
Tohn Gedge, again in the North Sea, and Rochfort, 80,
bearing the flags of Sir Thomas Francis Fremantle and
Sir Graham Moore, in the Mediterranean. At the gene-
ral promotion in 1815, notwithstanding that a very ur-
gent request was made in his favour to the First Lord
of the Admiralty by the magistrates of the city of Nor-
wich, Mr. Thurtell was passed over ; nor did he succeed
in obtaining a commission until October, 1821, when,
being at the top of the Admiralty list in the Mediter-
ranean, he was appointed to a vacancy in the Medina,
20, Captains the Earl of Huntingdon, Richard Ander-
son, and Patrick Duff Henry Hay. In September,
1820, being at the time in command of the Racer cutter,
tender to the Rochfort, he was directed by Commodore
Hon. Anthony Maitland, of the Glasgow, 50, then at
Malta, to proceed to Palermo with a despatch for Cap-
tain John Donaldson Boswall, of the Spey, 20, and in
the event of not finding him at that place, to repair
forthwith to the port of Messina, and thence to return
to Malts. On his arrival at Palermo, not meeting with
the Spey, and the city being in a state of insurrection,
and closely besieged by the Neapolitan naval and mili-
tary forces, who were hourly expected to carry it by
storm, he received through the hands of her Britannic
Majesty's consul general an address, couched in the
strongestjterms, from the English merchants and other
residents, entreating that at a moment of such distress
he would remain by them, and afford them such protec-
tion as he could. With this solicitation he felt it his
duty, under the circumstances, to comply. By his spi-
rited interference he obtained from General Pepe, the
Ileapolitaa commander in chief, permission for the British
to seek safety either in his camp or on board the men of
war in the bay. The Racer afterwards, at the request
of the chiefs of the contending parties, became the theatre
on which, as the only neutral spot open to them, they
entered into and concluded a treaty of peace. The mo-
ment the ratification was signed, she announced the
joyful intelligence by a Royal salute-a salute which was
returned by the Neapolitan fleet and all the forts. The
zeal and exertions thus displayed by Mr. Thurtell, and
the important services he rendered, in a situation in
which no midshipman was perhaps ever before placed, ob-
tained him the grateful thanks as well of the British re-
sidents as of General Pepe and of Prince Patterno, pre-
sident of the Provisional junta of Palermo. The history
of his proceedings was made the subject of a special commu
nication to the Foreign Office by the present Lord Heytes-
bury, then ambassador at the Court of Naples; but, owing
to the circumstance, perhaps, of no official representation
being made of them at the Admiralty, he received not
the least reward. His appointments after he left the
Medina were-July 24, 1822, and May 3, 1824, as first,
to the Chanticleer, 10, and Dispatch, 18, Captains Bur-
ton Macnamara and Edw. Hinton Scott, both in the
Mediterranean, whence be returned at the close of 1824;
Sept. 14, 1839, to the San Josef, 110, bearing the flags
at Plymouth of Admirals Superintendent Fred. Warren
.and'Sfr Sam.. Pym ; and Sept. 26, 1842, again as first,
to the Caledonia, 120, bearing the flag of Sir David
Milne, commander in chief at the same port. He was
advanced to his present rank Jan. 12, 1843, and has
since been on half-pay.
"Remindful of his former services the King of Na-
ples, in 1838, made an application to Government for
the promotion of Mr. Thurtell ; and at other times the
'corporation of Norwich, the Attorney-General (Sir R.
Giant), the Dukes of Devonshire and Leeds, Admiral
Sirt: Codrington, and other distinguished personages,
similarly interested themselves in his behalf."

The reports from Malta, reaching to the 9th of Oct.,
notice the following movements, chiefly confined to mail
steamers and merchant steamvessels :
"The Peninsula and Oriental Company's steampacket
Valetta arrived from Alexandria on the 28th Sept , with
the overland India mail for England, which she carried
on to Marseilles on the same evening, conveying Colonel
Campbell, Captains Bray, Blackwood, Luxmore, and
Pritchard ; Lieuts. Lamb, Macaulay, and Southey ; and
from Malta, Mrs. Gen. Williams and Lieut.• Colonel
Sankey, late in the Ottoman service.
" The Indus, belonging to he same company, arrived
from Alexandria with the heavy mails on the 29th, and
le;t on the same day for Southampton, conveying Col.
Doherty, Major and Mrs. West, Major and Mrs. Dyver-
net, and Commander Parker, R.N. She also conveyed
from Malta Quartermaster Leech, of the Anglo-Italian
Twegion.

"The Colombo screw steampacket, belonging to the
same company, arrived from Southampton and Gibraltar
on the 29th with the outwari India mails, bringing, for
Nialta, Captain Pennefather, and for Alexandria, Maj
General Wilkinson, Colonels Cotton, Steel, Stuart and
wife ; Lieut.-Colonel Grant and wife; Majors Hill,
North, Buller and wife ; Captains Bowle, Shuttlewortb,
Walker, and Waterman ; Lieuts.Asliburner, Martineau,
Hamilton, Wilkinson and wife ; Ensigns Stuart and
Mason ; Dr. Morrogh and wife.
"The Vectis, Peninsular and Oriental Co.'s steamer,
with the overland London mails of the 26th of Sept.,
arrived on the Ist of Oct., bringing for Alexandria, Col.
Cotton, Lieut.-Col. Taylor, Major Payne, Major and
Mrs. Prescott, Captain Ireland, Captain Brown, Cap-
tain
Kembali, Lieuts. Bearsley, Kennier, Davison and
wife, Playfair and wife. The Colombo and the Vectis
left for'Alexandria, on the Ist of Oct.

" The Simoies French postal steamer arrived on the
28th from Marseilles, bringing, among other passengers,
Capt. Baynes, Bth, and Deputy• Assistant Commissary.
General Arthur Baynee, for Malta. She left for Syra,
Smyrna, and Constantinople on the same evening►,
whence the Carmel French postal steamer arrived on the
evening of the 30th of September, bringing Lieut.. Col.
Morgan, Osmanli Irregular Cavalry, for Malta, and
Captain Harris for Marseilles, for which pert she pro-
ceeded on the Ist of October.

"The Indus and theMeandre, French postal steamers,
arrived from Marseilles on the sth, the former convey-
ing, among other passengers for Alexandria, for which
destination she lett the same evening, Mdlle. Rachel,
accompanied by her sister, seeking a change of climate
at Cairo. The Meandre left at the same time for Syra,
Smyrna, and Constantinople, after landing at Malta
Capt. Taafe, Ist Royals, Major-General Warren, Capt.
St. John, 92J, Aide-de-Camp, wife and family.
" The Vatican French postal steamer arrived from
Marseilles, the Italian ports, and Messina, on the sth,
bringing, among other passengers for Malta, Dr. Waite,
47th, Mrs. (Commissary-General) Wild and family.
" Her Majesty's steam packet Oberon arrived on the
7th from Corfu and Zante with the mails.
_ _

"The Malta steamer arrived ex the 2d from Liverpool
and Gibraltar, arid left for Constantinople on the 31,
"Her Majesty's screw steamship of the line Cressy
arrived from England and Gibraltar on the 3d.
" His Netherland's Majesty's frigate Doggersbank ar-
rived on the 3d from the Texel, and immediately after
anchoring exchanged salutes with the garrison and the
flag of Rear-A dmiral Sir 11. Stewart. On the same morn-
ing her commander, the Baron Collot D'Escury, accom
panien by the Chevalier Stevens, the acting Netherlands
consul at Malta, visited Rear-Admiral the Hon Sir M.
Stopford, the Admiral Superintendent of the Dockyard,
and likewise his Excellency the Governor, Sir W. Reid.
On the 6th she took her departure for Smyrna and
Alexandria.

"Her Majesty's steamtug Wallace left for Cerigo on
the 4th with the new light to be erected on that island.
"The Durance French screw steam transport arrived
on the 30th from Toulon, and left forToulon on the sth."

Two companies of the 4th battalion of the Royal Artil-
lery, under orders for Portsmouth and Devonport, as well
as detachments to other home stations, were yesterday
morning officially inspected at Woolwich by the com-
mandant of the garrison, Major-General Williams and
staff. Lieut.-Colonel Maude, R. A., has returned to
head-quarters, Woolwich, from his attendance at the
coronation of the Emperor of Russia. Colonel Eardley
Wilmot., R. A., and Mr. Abel, of the Laboratory De-
partment of the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich, have like-
wise returned from their mission to Silesia, in Western
Prussia, which was undertaken with a view of inspecting
the iron foundries of that country, and investigating the
mode of smelting by means of gas, which is pronounced
to be more successful than charcoal.

The freight ship Nautilus has been ordered to Deptford
from Woolwich to embark provisions and naval stores.
She will return to Woolwich to ship 150 tons of ammuni-
tion, and is-to sait,thence on Saturday next for Bermuda.
The freight ship Camperdown has arrived at Woolwich
from the London Docks, and has commenced shipping
700 tons of ordnance stores for Bermuda.

The transport PrecioEa has arrived at Woolwich with
a cargo of ordnance stores and 1,000 bags of bread from
the East. -

Extensive preparations are being tp,atle by the officers
and troops belonging to :Chatham garrison in conse-
(pence of permission_ liaving been accorded theca by the
authorities,torha-ve a variety of athletic sports, games,
and foot races on Chatham-lines, for various prizes, which
are to be contended for exclusively by the officers and
soldiers stationed at Chatham. The sports will take
place (weather permitting) on Thursday afternoon next,
and considerable interest is felt in the undertaking by
tho officers of the garrison, this Bain; the first attempt
to provide amusements of this kind for the troops at
Chatham. The sports will be under the patronage of
Colonel Eden, Commandant of the garrison, and the
officers who have been successful in getting up the amuse-
ments are Major H. Marriott, R.M., Major S. G. Bun-
kury, Medical Staff Corps, Major C. S. S. E. Gordon,
Brigade Major, Captain W. Lyons, sth Fusiliers, Capt.
Fitzroy Somerset, and Captain F. Brine, Royal En-
gineers. A grand stand is to be erected on Chatham
lines, where the sports will take place, and the garrison
bands will be in attendance.

Her Majesty's sloop Daring, 12, Commander Gerald
Napier, the arrival of which at Spithead we briefly re-
ported yesterday, sailed from Port Royal, Jamaica, OA

the 27th of August, in company with H.M.S. Espiegle,
12, Commander Lambert (both bound for Spithead) and
parted company with her on the 31st off Cape Maize,
Cuba. Nothing of any importance occurred until the
18th of September, when to the northward of Bermuda
she encountered a heavy hurricane, which increased in
severity till the 20th, when it reached its climax. She
e,eaped with the loss of her sternboat and lifebuoy. Fcr
48 hours she was under bare poles; the ship behaved re-
markably well, although the sea ran very high. The
cutwater started, which crippled her bowsprit a little,
but it was soon got all right again. Her hammock
berthing was partially washed away; in fact it was con-
sidered as hard a gala as had been experienced by any
one on board. She sighted the Lizard on the Bth,
light and foul winds ; passed her Majesty's ship High-
flyer and two gunboats in tow, 30 miles S.W. of the
Lizard. Same day also exchanged numbers with the
ship Mangerton, of London, and a great many ships out-
ward bound. The Daring has been four years in com-
mission, and has lost less men than any other ship on the
Jamaica station by sickness or otherwise, She left Spit-
head yesterday afternoon for the eastward to be paid off.
The Espiegle, 12, arrived at Spithead yesterday morning
from the North America and West India station, to be
paid off. She leaves Portsmouth this evening for the
eastward. She spoke on the Bth inst., in lat. 48 34,
long. 0.57, her Majesty's ship Salamander, for Madeira.