The Sun.
London, England, 1869-03-27 00:00:00

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MILITARY AND NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.

The Matine, 17, screw sloop, 882 tons, 200-horse
power, Commander Henry M'Clintock Alexander,

arrived at Sheerness from the Pacific station on

Friday, the 19th inst. She has since been removed
into the great basin, and will be paid off and strike
her flag on Tuesday, the 30th inst. The Mutine
was commissioned on the 7th of April, 1865, by

Captain Blake, who took her out to the Pacific.

He afterwards resigned the command of the ship,

and she then had in succession two acting com-
manders—Lieutenants Loraine and Nicholetts.
Commander Swinburn was next appointed to the

ship, and be in turn gave place to Commander
Alexander, who brought her home. Daring her

commission the Mu ine has been what is generally

termed a healthy ship, the deaths on board having
been very few, an t sickness among the crew

much lets than is usual in ships serving on the

MaCoe was vcrjr nearly
four y&a:s in commission_ She was employed be-

Pacific station.

me,:a Callao and Valparaiso during the extraordi-
nary prevalence of yellow fever at those places,
but und.,r the care of Dr. MArtin, the surgeon
o i board, escaped the disease. The :Undue was at
Coquimbo at the time of the earthquake at Arica,
and tier crew were employed in clearing away, the
ruins and in conveying assistanc3 to the wretched
inhabitants. The Mutine left Valparaiso, home-
ward bound, on the let of January, and performed
the almost unprec,:dented feat of reaching England
in 74 days, not having called at a single port on the
voyage. Nearly the whole distance was accom-
plished under sail, steam having been got up only
while the ship was crossing the Line. The weather
during the greater part of the voyage was favour-
able, but on reaching the chops of the Channel
continuous gales and extremely heavy gales were
experienced. So severe was the weather on one
occasion that two of the quarter-boats were washed
from the davits and lost. Before leaving Valpa-
raiso the Mutine was inspected by Commodore
Powell, who, in the course of his remarks on the
occasion, expressed the great satisfaction he felt at
finding the ship and her crew in such perfect con-
dition, and further said he regretted having to
lose her from the station. Among the officers
who accompanied the ship home are First Lieut. P.
C. Johnstone, who went out in her as Second
Lieutenant ; Lieut. Seymour 11. P. Dacres (son of
Admiral Dacres), who also served throughout the
commission, and while out was promoted to be
Second Lieutenant; Navigating Lieut. Edward B.
D'Arcy, Dr. Martin, &c. Commander Alexander
saw considerable service ashore in New Zealand
during the campaign of 1853, and at the battle
of Raugariri received a shot in the right arm which
has entirely deprived him of the use of it. Before
joining the Mutine he commanded the Hector,
and for some time was commander of the naval
barracks in Sheerness Dockyard. Upon being
paid off the Mutine will be placed in the Steam
Reserve, but the division has not been named.
Only a portion of her stores will be removed, and
by the direction of the Lords of the Admiralty she
will then be surveyed and valued. It is rumoured
that the Mutine will be purchased for the service
of the King of Prussia.
A telegram has been received announcing the

arrival at Bombay, " all well," on the 21st inst.,
of Her Majesty's Indian troopship Jumna, with the
Ist battalion of the 21st Regt., and the draughts
which left Queenstown in the Serapis on the 16th
ultimo.

The 7th Dragoon Guards, now stationed at Col-
chester, are under orders to proceed to Aldershott.
The mounted portion, consisting of two squadrons
—strength, 13 officers, 172 men, 190 horses—is
expected to reach the camp on the sth proximo ;
the headquarters and two squadrons—strength, 12
officers, 193 men, 212 horses—on the following day.
The dismounted detachment, consisting of about
five officers, 144 men, 69 women, and 73 children,
will leave Colchester at 10 o'clock on the morning
of Thursday, the Ist proximo, and proceed via
Stratford, North London line, &c., to their desti-
nation. On arrival at the camp file regiment will
be quartered in the East Cavalry Barracks, and at-
tached to the Cavalry Brigade.
By direction of the Secretary for War, Quarter-
mister J. Jones, Quartermasttr-Sergeant instruct or
J. Mathieson, and Sergeant-Major K. Knight,
of the Royal Engineers, Chatham, have been re-
warded by gifts of money for valuable inven-
tions by them. Tne amount awarded to Quarter-
,
master Jones is £lOO, in acknowledgment of the
invention by him of the iron band gabions now in
use in the corps of Royal Engineers and continental
armies. Quartermaster-Sergeant Mathieson has re-
ceiven £l5O, as the author of several inventions and
improvements in connection with military field
telegraphy and torpedoes, chief among which are
the portable voltaic battery for field telegraph pur-
poses, ebonite connectors for joining insulated tele-
graph wires, mechanical unions for passing and
securing wires used in torpedo operations, toge-
ther with several improved self-acting electrical
arrangements for firing torpedoes. Serg.-Major K.
Knight has received £5O as the inventor of the
shields used by the Royal Engineers in field opera-
tions. The order for the payment of these rewards
was announced to the troops at headquarters,
Chatham, yesterday, by direction of the authori-
ties at the Horse Guards•