The Sun.
London, England, 1867-08-14 00:00:00

li
with those of our .best military authorities, who
consider Gale a most important position, WO mili-
tary and naval, almost capable of being made
iD
second Gibraltar ;' while the medical returns
show less mortality amongst troops stationed there
than at any other point occupied by them in Ceylon.
Ilre quote the following from the Military Sanitary
Reports on Ceylon, published during 1861:
is considered in the " Abstract of Reports" to be the:
healthiest of all tropical stations. Paragraph 193•
states : " If the station were improved and proper
barracks provided the question of the sanitary state
of the troops in Ceylon might be settled in the most
satisfactory way, by removing the headquarters and
all the troops not required for detachment duty to
Gallo.'' Dr. Dane differed somewhat from this
opinion in favour of Kandy, but this does not alter
the position that hitherto Gallo has been pre-emi-
nently healthy as regards troops."

01
fI s
June,d,te
of hh Dee
Islandnnew
w JAPAN.doo
efk Hongt
(0
nOnthe the
so
southern
itiGhe AberdeenKo,
belonging to the Hong Kong, Canton, and Whampoa
Dock Company, was opened in the presence of the
Governor and a large party of invited guests. This
dock is over 400 feet long, 90 feet broad, and 24i
deep. It has been cut out of the solid granite of
which the island is formed, and is a very magnifi-
cent work. It is lined with hewn granite, and pre-
sents a very imposing appearance. The Overland
China Mail looks upon the opening of this dock as
an event of considerable importance. It says :
The Hope Dock is undoubtedly the finest dock
in the East, and whatever credit is due to the
company and to all concerned with the origina-
tion and construction of such a mas`terpicce of
marine architecture is freely accorded:to the pro-
moters of the scheme so successfully intiugurated on
Saturday last. To convey a better idea of the
advantages consequent upon the completion of
such an undertaking, we may give some of the
dimensions and peculiar features of the new
dock. It is 410 feet in length,over all, and 385
feet on the blocks ; it has a breadth from coping
stone to coping stone of 100 feet, and 50 feet at
the bottom ; its width at the entrance is 84 feet;
and its depth of water is 24 feet 6 inches at
spring, and 22 feet at neap tides. It will thus
be seen that it will be able to take in the largest
merchant vessel or mail steamer which enters
Hong Kong harbour, even at low water. The
dock is, of course, constructed with the intention of
accommodating either the ironclad Warrior or
Black Prince (for draught of water), or for the
Pacific Mail Company's steamer the Great Re-
public (for breadth of beam) ; and we understand
that there is only one of the new ironclads—viz.,
the Agineourt, which draws some 26 feet—which is
too largo to enter the Hope Dock without being
lightened previous to doing so. Under these cir-
cumstances it would not ,be surprising if her
Majesty's huge ironclads be sent out to the China
station, for the existeAberdeennce of thißay, s mag Hong Kong,
nificent dock
now opened in
removes what would otherwise be an insuperable
objection to their presence—namely, the impossi-
bility of dock repair in the event of accident.
Some political differences have arisen between the
Daimios and the new Shogoon, with respect to the
opening of Osaka, one of the new ports.
Thirteen clipper ships left Foochow for London,
with tea, on various dates between May 31 and
June 18. The Taewan, which sailed from Foochow
ou the 20th June, got ashore on the North Bank,
in the river Min, and is reported by Lloyd's agents
as a total wreck. She had 789,5001 b,. of tea on

be coming in very
board.
The second crop of silk is reported at Canto
oldersn to
in the interior are holding for very full prices. Rates
slowly from the country ; h
in a few settlements are nominally higher all ro,ind.
The silk market at Shanghai was opened early in
the month ; the chief purchases are said to have
been made by young and inexperienced houses, the
other firms having abstained from entering
the

market.
The tea season has commenced at prices fully
equal to those of last year. Export from Foochow
alone about 14,000,0001b5.
erford Alcock is visiting the ports in
Sir Ruthto
judge for himself by observation and
succession,
in communication with the merchants on the st
what had been the working of the treaty
of Tpo ,
ien-
tsin, and wherein it was iinperfect or defective,
or might with advant
at age be moditied. lie was last
Swatow.
Strong representations have been made to Sin
R. Alcock by residents at the Yangtze ports in
favour of inland navigation by small steamers.
The Minister's reply was undecided, but somewhat
favourable.
The United States ships Hartford and Wyoming
visited the scene of the wreck of the Rover,
south
coast of Formosa. A landing was resistedr
bMacy the
natives, by whose fire Lieut.-Commande-
kenzie was killed. Some concerted action between
the foreign powers is necessary for the protection
of commerce. The Chinese authority there is
purely mythical, and the Government w hill coot
interfere unless backed by foreign aid.
Several lights are to be erected forthwith at the
mouth of the Yongtze.

THE AUSTRALIAN COLONIES.
VICTORIA..
The Melbourne Argus declares that experience o,
the new tariff has uot made the traders of Mel-
bourne more enamoured of it than they were at the
beginning. " Both imports and exports," it says
"have been affected ; we have sent away more gold
without receiving a corresponding increase of
goods ; our intercolonial trade has been seriously'
injured, because buyers have been driven away to
other and cheaper ports; the merchants and traders
of the city barely maintain their ground ; no new
manufactories or means of employment for labour
have been developed under the protectionist policy
of the present Government ; the better classes are
s ; the prices of the lowest
drawing upon past saving
kinds of labour are falling, while those of skilled
labour are in many cases only maintained by arti-
ficial means ; and there are nsore persons idle, yetf
willing to work, wandering about the streets o
elbourne than was ever the case before."
different
M
The Age writes, however, iu a very
strain. It says : the dissatisfied
rngtobcylass in every corn-
poctiTonheofththeemcoesioonfistsco_mapliaai
association of the two ideas
munity—at present are war!t, of.immigration and
dulness of trade. The ass
of the other, they are rather characterised by in-
is strange, for inste of the one being suggestive
is very dull, therefore
acorninopuauttsibtoittb.is.lluetviet:yptliilinngla.nguage the complaint
more people are wanted to share in the dulness. As
it is impassible that both positions can be correct
we shall endeavour to ascertain the truth, and plac,
it plainly before our readers, especially those iu
Europe and in the neighbouring colonies.
" Strange to say, the partial dulness which ex,
is the resul.t of great prosperity. The import trade
is dull, because home production is abundant. 'I I._
are fewer ships in Hobson's Bay, because our wants
do not require to be supplied from beyond seas.
Last year the import grain trade alone gave em-
ployment to 150,000 tons of shipping. In the pre-
sent year there is no such trade in existence. The
change is a highly beneficial one, but as changes
of every character operate unequally, it has not
been unattended with inconvenience. Through-
out the length and breadth of the lane there
is more contentment, arising from the abundance
of the necessaries of life and steadiness of the
demand for labour, than at any time during
the last seven or eight years. The change that
is now going on is exactly that which was
aimed at by the political party now in office. The
temporary depression in commercial circles is a
proof tliAt the policy has been a §uccess. The colony