The Sun.
London, England, 1858-11-15 00:00:00

The Art Journal. No. XLVII.

The three plates in the November number are of
average merit, and pleasing, though not unusually
impressive. The first is " The Jager's Wife," from
a picture from F. Foltz, in the Royal collection ;
the second is a pretty landscape, from a picture by
Berghem, also in the Royal collection ; and the last
is an engaving of Mr. Baily's statue of the late J.
W. Turner, R.A. The prose part of the work is as
interesting as usual. Mr. and Mrs. S. C. Hall
continue their " Book of the Thames," taking us
this month past Greenwich and Woolwich, and
giving us graceful little vignettes of the Dockyard,
the Hospital, and the Naval School. A paper on
" Windsor and its Historic Associations," com-
mences a series which affords full scope to the
talents of the writer and the artist. The engrav-
ings are very pleasing, especially those of Win-
chester Tower and Dewer Meadows. The serieti
on " British Artists" devotes the fortieth number
to Frederick Taylor, and gives an interesting
account of his works, with numerous illustrations.
There are several other illustrated articles, and all
the variety of artistic information usually afforded
to the readers of the Art Journal.

The Amateur's Magazine. Fryer, Bouverie-street.
This serial is published with the intention of
supplying a medium for bringing before the public
the works of non-professional writers. Many am-
bitious aspirants for literary distinction will wel-
come the appearance of such a magazine, which
will no doubt be quite equal in ability to many
older and more limited publications. It contains
stories, sketches, poetry, reviews, and satires ; and,
considering that the number before us is only the
second, we may anticipate with confidence that the
Amateur's Magazine will be an acquisition both to
authors and readers.

The Wild Flowers of England. Houlston and

Wright.

This charming little serial will be completed in
twelve numbers, and will form a most attractive
volume. It is written by the Rev. R. Tyas, M.A.,
and each part is illustrated with a coloured group
of flowers, by J. Andrews, F.R.S. Our old friends
and simple favourites appear in all the dignity. of
Latin names and Linnean classes, but the descrip-
tions 'are more comprehensible, and the poetical
quotations apt and graceful. All who love the
flowers of the field, as well as their more elaborate
brethren of the garden and the conservatory, should
secure this little work.

The Welcome Guest. Part VI. Fleet-street.

This is a cheap and comprehensive weekly maga-
zine—excellently adapted to family reading. Tales,
sketches, poems, and all sorts of entertaining
articles are given for one penny weekly. Gustav
Freytag's successful work of " Debit and Credit" is
being printed in it, and one or two of Longfellow's
short poems are given, so there is some really
standard literature included. It is in nothing more
remarkable than its contemporaries, but appears to
be quite equal to them ; and as the demand for these
publications is increasing, no doubt it will occupy
a permanent place among the cheap family journals.

2.HE FRANCO-SPANISH EXPEDITION

TO COCHIN CHINA.

The MoniOur publishes the following report re-
ceived by the Minister of Marine from Vice Adm.,
nil Rigault de Genouilly, the Commander in Chief
of the expedition in China :
" Bay of Tourane, Sept. 17.
" Monsieur le Ministie,—l have the honour to
inform you that the orders of the Emperor have
been executed as regards the capture and occupa-
tion of the forts of Tourane. The French naval di-
vision, which had been joined by the Dordogne,
and by the Spanish steamer El Cano, having on
board 450 troops from the Philippine Islands, left
Yu-li-Kan on the morning of the 30th ult., and an-
chored at Tourane on the evening of the following
day. On Sept. 1, I sent a written summons to the -
governor of the forts to deliver them up, and gave
him two hours to consider of it. Not receiving any
reply I attacked all the forts which command the
anchorage, and the two built by French engineers,
which defend the entrance of the river. All the po-
sitions pointed out for the different vessels were
taken up in perfect order. The moment tha signal
to commence firing was seen at the masthead of the
Nemesis all the vessels opened their broadsides.
At the end of a vigorous cannonade of half an hour
the forts which defend the anchorage were silenced.
Detachments from the Nemesis, the Phlegethon,
and the Primauguet, under the command of Capt.
Reynaud, immediately landed, scaled the walls,
and carried them, amidst cries of Vive l'Empe-
reur !' I accompanied this column. A short time
after the Spanish and French troops landed, and I
formed them into lino close to the forts. While
these forts were being attacked by the large vessels,
three of our gunboats, the Mitraille, Fusee, and.
Alarme, and the Spanish steamer El Cano, cannon-
aded the forts at the entrance of the river. The
easternmost of those forts blew up in about half an
hour after the commencement of the attack, and the
greater part of the curtain was thrown into the
ditch. After having personally reconnoitred, under
the escort of a company of Spanish Chasseurs, a
place suitable for a camp near the largest of the
forts, I therein established all the French troops
under the command of Lieut.-Col. Reybaud, and
Spanish battalion under Col. Oscaritz. The prin-
cipal works were occupied by the seamen under
the command of Capt. Ribourt. Although I had
taken the precaution not to move any of the troops
until sunset, and they had only two hours' march,
the heat was so severe that several of the soldiers
died from fatigue. In the night of the Ist Sept.
Commandant Reynaud, assisted by the Sub-Engi-
neer and Hydrographer Ploix, sounded the south-
western part of the bay, in order to be able on the
following morning to bring the gun-boats close
to the western fort, which still held ont. At day-
break the five gun-boats; the Alarm, Avalanche,
Dragonne, Fusee, and Mitraille, and the Spanish
steamer El Cano, under the direction of Capt. Rey-
nand, had taken up their new positions, and in
about half an hour after their fire had been opened,
the fort blew 'up. Immediately afterwards, Com-
mandant Jauregniberry advanced up the river at
the head of a flotilla of armed boats, which had re-
mained stationed near the Eastern fort. The Dra-
gonne and the El Cano then left the Bay of
Tourane, and anchored near the camp, between the
peninsula and the island of Cham: Callao, thus
covering the left of the expeditionary corps, which
had its right supported by the Eastern Fort. Being
strongly fixed in this position, I waited-the ap-
proach of the Annamite army, which according to
information collected by our missionaries was to
march on us with a force of 10,000 men. Up to the
present time this army has not made its appear-
ance. The Western Fort and all other works were,
previous to the attack, in a perfect state of repair ;
all of them were mounted with very heavy bronze
and iron guns. The former are the most numerous,
and in general they are very fine pieces. All of
them are fitted with the elevating screws, and the
whole materiel is far superior to any we have seen
in China. The Western Fort, in additioa to its
armament, contained a number of bronze six and •
nine-pounder field pieces, and they are all mounted
on high-wheeled carriages, well suited for the bad
roads of the country. All the bronze guns have
been removed on board the vessels, but the iron
ones have been destroyed. I have put aside two
magnificent bronze pieces, one to be presented to
the Emperor and the other to the Queen of Spain.
The small arms found are not worthy of 'remark ;
all of them are the common muskets manufactured
in France and Belgium. The powder, of which we
have taken a considerable quantity, is of _English
manufacture, and has probably been purchased
either at Singapore or Hong Kong. All the pre-
parations which had been made show that the
Annamite Government expected an attack."

CRCSSED CHEQUES.—A soldier's red coat, when
photographed, becomes black as a crow • would it not be
wise far us to cross our cheques in red ink instead of black,
and .Indeed any document relative to money transactions
whereby forgery by photography would be neutralised ?
A red Government stamp for cheques, instead of the one at
present in use, would next issue be advisable,