The Sun.
London, England, 1860-07-19 00:00:00

bardment of the town until full time has been
given to all strangers to leave it."

GREECE.

ATHENS, JULY 5.

There has been a change in the Greek Ministry.
M. Coumoundourob, the Minister of Finance, hav-
ing retired, the Ministry has been reformed as

',olio ws :

Miaoulis—Marine, President of the Council.
Botzaris—War.
Conduriotis—Foreign Affairs.
Potlis—J astice and Public Worship.
Lycurgus Crestenites—lnterior.
Eustache Simos—Finances.
The Princes of Orleans, Count do Paris and Due
de Chartres, arrived at Athens on the Ist of July ;
they were received by the King and Queen ; the
King paid them a visit next day ; they paid a rapid
visit to the antiquities, and left on the Tuesday.

THE CHINESE EXPEDITION.

(From the Correspondent of the Daily News.)
HONG KONG, MAY 17.
The steamer from Galle, which arrived on the
9th, brought papers to 2Gth March from England,
and a few days later news by telegraph. The affairs
of Italy, which are engrossing all the public atten-
tion at home, excited a considerable interest even
here. We have learned by this mail the incorpora-
tion of the Italian Duchies into the kingdom of Sar-
einia, and the annexation of Savoy and Nice to
France. What was of more consequence to us at
this junction, the mail did not bring Lord Elgin,
the great pacificator, as he is beginning to be called,
who, it is supposed, is coming to adjust all our dif-
ferences with the Celestials, and cheat us
out of the campaign we are anticipating.
Our preparations are now so far advanced that
whether the ambassador comes or not we
are not likely to wait long. With the ex-
ception of one battery of Armstrong guns, which
started from England to come out overland good-
ness knows how long ago, I think the troops have
all arrived. Indeed, it would appear that owing
to some misunderstanding between the Indian and
English Governments too many have been sent
out, and that, from the Indian Government not
knowing how many were going from other parts
of the world, or the home Goverment being mis-
or un-informed of the numbers going from India,
the force stipulated for in the agreement with the
French has been exceeded ; and the last mail from
Calcutta brought an order from Lord Canning to
send back a portion of the Native Contingent. In
consequence of this the 11th Punjaub Infantry has
been stopped and landed at Singapore, and the
Regiment of Loodeanah remains here to garrison
Kowloon. You must therefore strike out these two
from the statement of the expeditionary force I sent
you by last mail.
General Napier and staff left this on the 11th in
the Encounter, man-of-war, on a special mission.
He is going first to Chusan, then to Shanghai, and
back to Pootoo, where arrangements are to be made
for establishing a depot for convalescents. 200 Eu-
ropean and 300 Native Infantry, with a portion of
the Madras Native Artillery, are to be stationed
there for the protection of the place. After finish-
ing his work at Pootoo the general will go on to the
Gulf of Petcheli, and make a reconnaissance, with
a view to find a favourable spot for landing the
army. Such at least is the camp gossip. His
instructions being secret, no one probably knows
anything about them except the chief of the staff.
The troops have been embarking in the trans-
ports all this week. The 31st and 44th Foot,
the 60th Rifles, Ist Royals, 3rd Buffs, the
Bth and 19th Punjaub Infantry, the Madras Artil-
lery and Sappers, and Barry's Armstrong Battery,
are all on board ship and ready to sail. The first
division will leave in a few days, and in a short
time Kowloon, so lately swarming with soldier life,
will be a desert, and the harbour of Hong Kong,
now crowded with shipping, will be tenanted by
only a few merchant vessels and a solitary man-
of-war. The embarkations have been effected
with great celerity and without any accident.
A floating pier has been constructed in the little
bay at Kowloon. This reaches far enough out
to admit of gunboats coming alongside. The
men are marched down to the shore, along the
pier and into the gunboat, which when full puffs
away with its living freight to the transport, leav-
ing another to take its place and bring off another
load. From another and smaller pier on the other
side of the bay the embarkations are made by men-
of-war's boats, and the native troops have a bay and
pier of their own, from which they are taken off to
their ships. In this way all confusion is avoided.
Each regiment is kept separate, the baggage does
not get mixed up together to the eternal confusion
of quartermasters and frenzy of its owners, and the
men proceed quietly and orderly to their respective
ships. All these arrangements are made by the
Quartermaster-General's department, and one or
other of its indefatigable officers superintends the
operations.
The commissariat difficulty which I mentioned in
a previous letter has at last been solved by the re-
turn to Calcutta a few days ago of the Bengal
officers. You are aware that when the China ex-
pedition was preparing to leave India, Lord Clyde,
who has had ample experience in the Crimea and in
India of the Imperial and Indian commissariat, and
has tested the merits and efficiency of each, sug-
gested to the Indian Government that an officer of
experience in the department, with a sufficient
staff, should be sent to China to co-operate with
and assist the Imperial commissariat, should their
services be required. The Indian Government,
approving of the suggestion, selected an officer of
great and varied experience who had been at the
head of the commissariat department that provided
for the wants of Lord Clyde's army in his Oude
campaign. Several other officers who had had
much practice in the field, and had at different
times supplied the requirements of divisions of
an army, accompanied him, and all arrived
in Hong Kong with the commander-in-chief
of the expedition, or soon after him. Their arrival
was not at all welcome to the officers of the Impe-
rial commissariat. Naturally enough, they looked,
upon them as interlopers. They had been deputed
to undertake the supply of the whole army : it was
their duty to do so. What would be said in Eng-
land when it was told that the department which
broke down in the Crimea had gained nothing by
past experience, and required assistance to minister
to so comparatively small a force as the China expe-
dition? The obnoxious rivals must be got rid of.
In the meantime, however, they had arrived, and
were ordered to undertake the executive duties of
the native troops. It was proposed that the Indian
officers should remain exclusively under the control
of their senior, and that they should not be asso-
ciated with the officers of the Imperial department.
Indeed, it was not possible to assign relative rank
to the officers of the two branches, and make them
work together, for they differed in many respects.
The one hold commissions in the regiments to which
they belong; from which they are only temporarily
separated, and to which they =return at any time.
The others are commissioned only in their own de-
partment ; their mode of keeping accounts, of pro-
curing supplies, in fact their whole system is di-
verse, and therefore to have attempted to amalga-
mate the two would have produced nothing but
confusion and discord. At the same time it was
not possible that in the same army there could be two
distinct and independent branches of the same de-
partment. The Imperial Deputy-Commissioner-
General,who is controller of the expenditure of the
army, could not be held responsible for the outlay, if'
another officer,not under his control,and rendering his
accounts to another government, was intrusted
with the supply of a portion of the force; a spirit
of rivalry would have been engendered, and we
might have bad the two commissariats in the
market bidding against each other for the same
stores, to the great detriment of the public purse.
Moreover, as the native troops have not brigaded
together, but been distributed throughout the force,
we should have had one set of officers providing
for the Europeans, and another set for the natives
in each division and in every brigade; in fact, a
double machinery which would have proved as
cumbrous as it would have been unnecessary.
These difficulties appeared so great that the order
for the Bengal commissariat officers to assume the
executive duties of the native portion of the force
remained a dead letter, and at the end of a month
it was clearly seen that some other arrangemerA
charge of the
into
must be made. As I have stated, the two services
could not be amalgamated, and the difficulties of
the Bengal officers undertaking:
native troops were so great, and 1111:
relations
gruo uends a
ability
it.tyh e attempt
which they would have been thrown witthheitrhegreat
Im-
perialge
branch so incon
could not be made ; but it appeared that there was
still
experiencea i) by which
could be
secured to the.
leixtvhpie:cdefilkittntiiiio°: enNlv,taleovQ6,ydi't'agoahlroDuptelpaecunictiyjrgo.ca colmiiiitneeibuspao4
the responsibility _
them in an
General on the one hand
inferior position on the other.
It was proposed that some particular portion or
division of the army should be made over to them ;
that Captain Fitzgerald, the senior Bengal officer,
should have the entire control over and direction of
his own subordinate officers buttho Mr. Turner,
himself
should in his turn be subordinated to
the deputy commissary-general of the royal army,
who would thus continue to be supreme in the de-

partment, and the responsible authority for all its
operations, Captain Fitzgerald rendering all his ac-
counts to him and receiving all commissariat sup-

plies from him—or in the event of his not being able
to furnish them, making purchases, or drawing
supplies from India, under his direction and sub-
ject to his approval. But this scheme—the best,
perhaps, that could be devised under the circum-
stances—was open to many and grave objections.
The opportune arrival from the Cape of several offi-
cers of his department enabled. Mr. Turner to assert
that the further services of the Indian officers were
not required; they were accordingly relieved from
their anomalous duties and sailed for India and the
Imperial commissariat remained masters of the
situation. It will le seen from the above statement
that there will be great difficulties in the way of the
harmonious and efficient co-operation of the two
branches of the department, but I will not concede
i that these difficulties were insurmountable ; and I

cannot but think it a subject for regret that so
much valuable experience, especially in provision-
ing native troops, and so many trained and able
officers, should have been lost to the expedition—
especially as it is going to localities of the resources
of which we may be said to know nothing. It is
no disparagement to the Imperial commissariat
to say that necessarily they knew little of the many
peculiarities of native soldiers with respect to their
rations, and are but little accustomed to deal with
the inhabitants of eastern countries in making pur-
chases of supplies. I cannot but think that the
knowledge of the Indian officers would have proved
most valuable on these points, and regret that it
was found impossible to retain their services ; but I
have no doubt these considerations were duly
weighed and allowed their full value by the chief
of the Imperial Commissariat before he took upon
himself the very grave responsibility of declaring
that he could dispense with their services, and al-
lowing them to return to their legitimate duties in
India.
19th.—The whole of the French expedition is
now in China, the last ship having arrived in Hong
Kong harbour yesterday, and the greater portion
haS sailed to the north, for Chefoo, a town on the
southern coast of the Gulf of Pecheli, fifty miles
from the eastern extremity of the Shan-tung pro-
montory. We hear little here of their proceedings,
but it is said that finding Wousung, at the entrance •
to the Shanghai river, unhealthy and inconvenient,
they have retained only a small force of occupation
there, and have sent the bulk of their army on to
Chefoo, where the troops will be landed and the
expedition organised. Chefoo has the advantages
of deep water close in the shore, a fine climate,
and good anchorage ; and the province of Shan-
tung in which it is situated produces an abundance
of supplies. Horses and Mules are also procurable,
and the water is good. It is probable that one of
our depots will be established there also. The
rendezvous for the English fleet is the Bay of
Tahen-hwan, to the east of the promontory of Lao-
tie-shan (a portion of the kingdom of Korea),
which runs out into the Gulf of Pecheli opposite
Chefoo, and forms the entrance of the Strait of
Mia-tao, the entrance into the gulf. Ta-lien-hwan
Bay is about 80 miles from Chefoo, and nearly due
north of the latter.
From these two places, when all is ready and the
time is ripe, the two fleets will sail and make a
descent upon the Chinese coast, in the neighbour-
hood of the Taku Forts. Such at least is the camp
story. I do not profess to be initiated into the
secrets of the allied commanders. Great exertions
have been made during the past fortnight, and all •
the preparations are rapidly approaching comple-
tion. A crowd of transports left the harbour yes-
terday afternoon, and will go to sea to-day On
board are the following regiments :—.I)A Royals,
3d Buffs, 31st and 44th Foot, 60th Rifles, Madras
Sappers, Bth and 19th Punjaub Infantry. They
are conveyed by man-of-war steamers, and will
make their way to the rendezvous under sail. The
cavalry will embark last, and will be towed up by
steamers from here. It is supposed that the Com-
mander-in-Chief and the Admiral will leave Hong
Kong immediately after the arrival of the English
mail.
I told you in my last of the orders issued regard-
ing carriages and baggage ; the latter is cut down
to the smallest possible compass, and every brain
is racked in the endeavour to solve impracticable
problems having for their object the compression
of material substances into half the space that
nature requires for them. The demand for por-
table bedsteads and multum in parvo dressing appa-
ratus, &c., is at its height. One occasionally meets
with a wonderful contrivance, which you are told
is a most luxurious bed at night, a sofa and dressing
table and chair by day, and, for aught I know, per-
haps transformable into a bathing tub and tent; but
I have no faith in these mechanical arrangements;
there is generally a screw wanting, or a peg broken,
or a hinge that persists in turning the wrong way,
bringing the whole concern and the owner along
with it to unutterable confusion. Bell tents only
are to be used at the first landing ; but a quantity
of camp equipage of a superior description has been
put on board one of the steamers, and should a
standing camp be formed it will be landed and made
use of.
One ship in each division has been told off as a
baggage ship, to which all the impedimenta not
landed with the troops will be transferred, and re-
main till wanted. Two coolies and 150 lbs. of bag-
gage for each officer is but a small allowance, but
the necessities of the case will not admit of more.
The commissariat have succeeded in collecting a
large number of ponies, and some very fine bullocks;
have arrived from India. I saw the other day a
large number of the Manilla ponies ; they are small,
mangy, and miserable looking, but have some good
points and look of a good breed. Plenty of food and
a liberal allowance of sulphur will restore many 01
them, but some will never be of any use to society
except in the shape of cat's meat. If they cost, as it
is said, 60 dols. each in Manilla, the owner must be
rejoicing in the liberality of the British government.
Each has a huge V. R. branded on its rump, but I
cannot congratulate her Majesty on this valuable
addition to her possessions. In no country, under
no circumstances, is it credible that such animals
could ever be worth such a sum. The arrivals since,
I wrote last have been Gowan's battery, Roy
' Artillery, from Bombay ; head-quarters of 2a
Queen's, from the Cape ; head-quarters of the 78th,
'. from Calcutta; and head-quarters of 15th Punjaub
Infantry, and of Lane's Horse. Part of the King 'S
Dragoon Guards have also arrived from Madras,
and have landed at Deep Bay, on the other side Of
the island.
22d.—The steamer arrived on Sunday evening/
the 20th, bringing English papers to 10th April?
- and a telegram to 13th idem. We are again dis-
appointed by the non-arrival of our great plenipo-
tentiaries. Lord Elgin's delay is accounted for,
naturally enough, by his mother's death; people
are asking whether Baron Gros' mother is dead
also. Lord John Russell's speech on the French
' annexation of Savoy and Nice, and the damage
caused by this act to " the alliance," has been
received with intense approbation by apparently
all classes in this colony. I am afraid the entente
cordiale is not of a very cordial or permanent chit'
meter. Orders from the Wareoffice have been re'
ceived, causing some important changes in 01°
construction of the staff of the force. The appoints
ment of chief of th& staff is disallowed as unneces"
sary, and it is understood that Colonel Heythoruel
who has had the appointment up to the preset)!
time, will return to Calcutta as adjutant-generele
of her Majesty's troops. The appointment also 01
deputy-adjutant-general of native troops is ail?
allowed. Hitherto we have had two deputy•ad‘
efficiently, and d
The pelt)'
jutant-generals, one for the Euearsmo
ep:elmagisai European,
iatshtpeeods oewat hi
:re;
for the native troops. The Secretary of State
for War considers that a duality in any de-
partment cannot work
abolishes it. The depity-assistant-adjutant-general
w n as
th e expedition o
chieff
tonfenianatipveeritarloboprasnreerl
of the
ebnduoet
department.
rraanndgement, but all regret that
find
dle
faultis a soundNvtnt one, et,i
it causes the loss to theokno
of Col. Bruce,
Oncle, and certainly one of the ablest officers in the
Indian army-.
The mail from Shanghai brings no news of if'
latters are quiet •
portance. A in Japan. The trooPe
healthy, which is ti
ot the epoli servicesepolice
i
at Chusan are remarkably
cheerful circumstance as agreeable as unexpected,
for when first occupied in the former war it was s
5'
the
their
store-ships
o peace.
n
perfect Golgotha. Thes e
nlatest rumour
button
tiosnthat
Chinese Emperor has
rins to Souchow, a large city near Shanghai, with
proposals l s for
t hrerhr eoek s Frenchnear haveth en e lostntra one
ee ,
ofao
Amoy harbour. It contained all the saddlery an
harness for their artillery and some ammunition.;
No particulars have been received yet, and i,t,le
possible the cargo, or part of it, may be saved. „
French Admiral Page arrived in the harbour frn,';
Shanghai on Sunday. He is accompanied by tP
chief of the French staff,
The English general and staff are expected e,
take their departure on the 30th inst. The Gen
ral will probably go first to Shanghai en route to
the rendezvous.
The weather continues moderately cool and pleiat;
sant, with an occasional heavy fall of rain. I begat
to be sceptical about there being any hot sea,ses,
here at all. People are still wearing woollen cloteo
and walking out in the sun, in the forenoonf:itVog
perfect impunity. The oldest inhabitants of 11°
ag
Kong tell us it is an extraordinary season, sucslol,l
was never known before; but as I have been.,
the same thing in respect to the season at e_
s i;_..
new place I have ever gone to in any part of the
world, I am unable to believe it. sarrai
The Imperatriz, with the second battery
of
strong guns, arrived yesterday.