The Sun.
London, England, 1860-10-19 00:00:00

NAPLES.

The Aloniteur gives the following account of
the affair of the Protis, when carrying troops to
Gaeta :

" The last advices from Naples, completely
contradict the news of the capture of the French
steamer Protis, copied by some journals from a
telegraphic despatch from Marseilles. The follow-
ing are the facts of the case :—When King Francis
11. quitted his capital, the French steamers which
he employed for the conveyance of his troops sepa-
rated themselves into two parts ; some remained at
Naples waiting for the payment of the arrears due
to them, while the others followed the Royal army
to Gaeta. Among the latter was the Protis, belong-
ing to the Phocean Company. On the 6th, this
steamer appeared off the town of Augosta, having
an aide-de-camp of his Majesty on board. Her
mission was to receive and convey to Gaeta such
soldiers who were desirous of rejoining the Royal
army. In the absence of any of the authorities of
the town, the captain of the Protis to.* on board
560 men, officers and soldiers, who desired to pro. j

ceed to Gaeta, although, according to the terms of
the capitulation of the garrison of Augosta, the
troops were to ;lie! conveyed to Naples by Gari-
baldian vessels and by the care of the municipality
of the district. When scarcely two miles from
Augosta the Protis was hailed by a Sardinian or a
Garibaldian war transport, having on board the
French Vice-Consul at Syracuse. The Protis stopped
and received that functionary without permitting
any other person to come on board. The Vice-
Consul reproached the captain of the Protis
with having violated the capitulation and tried
to induce him to put back. The captain refused,
but he gave his word of honour that he would
proceed to Naples, where he arrived in tb,z, night
of the Bth after having communicated. at Messina
with the French man-of-war, tly, Imperial. On
his arrival at Naples, the P:aptain of the Protis
was requested by the government to send the
soldiers on shore 7yithout arms. The intention
of the Dictati7;r's Government was to make them
prisoner of war, as having violated the capitula-
tif,n by taking passage on board a vessel other than
one of the Garibaldian navy, as had been stipu-
lated. That determination made the French ship_
ping play a part which it could not accept. Vice-
Admiral Le Barbier de Tinan having been informed
of what had taken place, made known to the Pro-
Dictator that the violation of the capitulation could
not be brought forward as an argument for consti-
tuting the Royal garrison prisoners, and that he
would not allow the disembarkation to take place on
such terms, were he to send the vessel to Gaeta
under convoy of a French vessel of war. It was
therefore agreed that the soldiers on board should
be questioned as to what they desired in presence
of an aide-de-camp of the French Admiral. That
was done, and 360 expressed a wish to rejoin the
King; 199 to return to their families ; and one
only to enter the service of Garibaldi. On the
following day the Protis left for Gaeta with the
360 soldiers.

A letter from Naples:in the Sieele says:—
"At the Castel Nuovo the discovery has been
made that munitions of war were frequently sent
thence to Gaeta. A commissary of the arsenal,
having become aware of the fraud, attempted to
prevent it, and was exposed to some rough treat-
ment in consequence. Public rumour even says
that he is still suffering from the blows he re-
ceived. It has also been found that a Neapolitan
steamer was plying regularly, at the expense of
the Government, between Naples and Gaeta to
carry to the 'tx-king all the news that interested
him. It has likewise been ascertained that
Francis 11. had sent instructions to the officials in
the Ministry of Finances as if they were still in his
dependence. The spirit of charity is waking up at
Naples. A great number of persons, especially ladies,
visit the wounded, and all take something to relieve
their wants. These attentions are so much the more
prized that the Royal Government had left the ad-
ministration of the hospitals, like all the rest, in a
most deplorable condition. Volunteer sick nurses
also abound ; but it is not the same at Caserta. M.
Kergomard, who has just arrived from that place,
tells me that the hospital of Caserta contains 300
wounded, and there are only five women, all per-
sons of good family, to attend them. One only of
these belongs to Caserta, and none to Naples."
Another letter from Naples, in the Debats, says :

" The situation of Garibaldi is not favourable,
and yesterday and the day before he felt profound
anxiety respecting it. He has lost many of his
men, more than the Royalists, since the com-
mencement of the siege, and has 8,000 hors de
Combat, many of them with wounds, which, how-
ever, are slight. He has only 10,000 men at the
outside who are really fit to be brought into
action. Almost all the Calabrians have abandoned
him. These people, like;the Sicilians, manifested,
it appears, a certain repugnance to fight—not
because they were cowards, for, on the contrary,
they like to throw aside their muskets and attack
with the poignard ; but they remarked that,
though they had been engaged on the pretext of
serving as an escort to the Dictator, they had been
constantly engaged in fighting. Garibaldi having
become weary of their grumbling, ordered them to
be collected for a review, and, as he is accustomed
to plain speaking, he said—' Let the cowards leave,
and let the brave men keep in the ranks !' Very
nearly one-half retired. Their havresacks and
pockets, appearing to be very full, were examined,
and the searchers were surprised to find what a vast
quantity of objects they contained,"