The Sun.
London, England, 1867-10-19 00:00:00

Naval and Military Intelligence.

Capt. Le Mottee, 2d battalion, 18th Regiment, is
held in immediate readiness to embark for the
service companies of his battalion in New Zealand.
Lieut. Sampson has been transferred from the 2d to
thl Ist battalion of the same regiment, and is under
orders to proceed to Chester to join. Capt. Madan,
49th Regiment, is under orders to proceed to the
service companies of his regiment in Bombay, and
will be relieved at the depot by Capt. Corbin.
Lieut. Gillespie, 9Gth Regiment, is under orders to
embark at Portsmouth for Bombay.

The two troops of the 15th Ilusiars stationed in
Ipswich barracks have received orders to proceed
en route for the northern district, " to aid the civil
power."
Letters received by our Chatham correspondent
from the Pacific squadron announce the departure of
her Majesty's armour-plated ship Zealous, 20, 800-
horse power, Captain Richard Dawkins, flagship of
Rear-Admiral the Hon. George F. Hastings, from
San Francisco, on the 6th of July for Esquitnault,
Vancouver Island, where she was expected to remain
for several months. During the time the Zealous
was at San Francisco seven men deserted from her,
a reward of $5O each being offered for their appre-
hension. Two days previously to the departure of
the Zealous Rear-Admiral the lion. G. F. Hastings
and the whole of the officers were entertained by
the military authorities at San Francisco. Her
Majesty's screw corvette Reindeer, 7, 200-horse
power, Commander Edward Nares, was at Guay-
mas on the 2d of August, but was under orders to
leave in a day or two for Mazatlan, calling at Ajia-
bampa en route. During her cruise she had visited
the ports of San Blas and La Paz. The health of
the whole of the officers and crews of the various
ships of the squadron was stated, at the last advice,
to be very good. _

Her Majesty's screw troopship Serapis, Captain
Soady, sailed from Portsmouth on Wednesday, on
her first voyage to Alexandria, with the troops on
board, as already detailed in The Sun.
Her Majesty's screw troopship Tamar, Captain
Sullivan, C. 8., sailed from Portsmouth yesterday
morning on a long round of foreign troop service,
conveying the following troops, embarked on board
yesterday alongside Portsmouth dockyard :—For
Gibraltar.—Capt. Webber and 128 men, Royal Ar-
tillery ; Lieuts. Scott and Brenkeney, and seven
men, Royal Engineers ; Lieuts. Munro and Lawler
and 31 men of the Ist battalion 13th Regiment ;
Major Prevoig, Ensign Phipson, and 52 men of the
75th ; Capt. Scott and 181 men of the 83d Regi-
ment; Lieuts. Irwin and Phibbs, and 51 men of the
87th Regiment. For St. Helena.-37 men of the Royal
Engineers and 17 men of the Royal Artillery. For the
Cape of Good Hope.—Capt. Mansell and 10 men of
the 2d battalion 11th Regiment ; 11 men of the 2d
battalion 10th Regiment ; Brevet Major Ord, 150
men of the 2d battalion 20th Regiment ; Assist-
surge. Knife and Levin ; Mrs. Mansell and Mrs.
Knife and families. For the Mauritius—Captain
Carey and one man of the Royal Engineers, Capt.
Pike (and wife) and one man of the 86th Regiment;
Lieut. Spencer, 86th Regiment. For Penang—
Lieuts. Robson and Carr and 101 men of the Royal
Artillery ; Mrs. Robson, 11 soldiers' wives, and 20
children. For Hongkong—Two men of the Royal
Artillery, one woman and two children, and naval
supernumeraries for the ships in the China Seas.
After disembarking her troops for Gibraltar, on ar-
rival at that port, she will proceed to Ascension, St.
Helena, and the Cape of Good Hope. At the latter
place she will embark the 86th Regiment for the
Mauritius, and will afterwards return from the latter
port to the Cape and take on board the 10th Regi-
ment (2d battalion) for conveyance to Yokohama.
She will, on her way to Yokohama, call in at East
London, Singapore, Penang, and Hongkong. The
Tamar returns to England from Japan and China
with the 2d battalion of the Bth Regiment, and will
probably be away altogether about 10 or 11 months.

A detachment of non-commissioned officers and
gunners of the first division of the depot brigade
Royal Artillery, to the number of 75 men of all
ranks, left headquarters yesterday, and proceeded
to the School of Gunnery, Shoeburyness, for the
purpose of undergoing a course of gunnery instruc-
tion previous to embarcation.
Thu following notification was issued yesterday at
the Admiralty, Whitehall :—" The Channel Squad-
ron arrived at Lisbon this day, October 17."
The screw corvette Esk, 21, 1,169 tons, 250 horse
power, Capt. John P. Luce, recently returned from
a term of service off the coasts of Australia, was
paid out of commission at Portsmouth yesterday,
and her crew granted the customary leave of ab-
sence. George Martin, boatswain's mate, and John
Wingliam, sailmaker, are awarded the silver medal
each and gratuities of £l5, for long service and good
conduct, with annual pensions of £'3B each.
The Nelson, screw line-of-battle ship, Acting
Commander Payne, is taking in her ammunition at
Spithead preparatory to sailing for Victoria.
The unarmoured screw sloop Blanche, 6, 1,268 tons,
350 horse-power (nominal), having been fitted with
her engines and machinery by Messrs. Ravenhill,
Ilodgson, and Co., in Chatham harbour, got up
steam for the first time yesterday alongside the dock-
yard, for the purpose of testing the working of her
boilers and engines. The machinery was kept in
motion for several hours, the engines working very
satisfactorily. The Blanche will proceed with her
outfit in the harbour, where she will be brought for-
ward for immediate service. Yesterday Staff-Sur-
geon 11. Edmonds, M.D., Royal Navy, was engaged
on board the Blanche in superintending the intro-
duction of his new system of ventilation in that
vessel.

Field-Marshal his Royal Highness the Duke of
Cambridge, K. 11., the General Commanding in
Chief her Majesty's armies, arrived at Portsmouth
yesterday afternoon on his annual visit of inspec-
tion. His Royal highness, accompanied by Lord
W. Paulet, Adjutant-General, and other officers,
arrived at the Gosport station of the London and
South-Western Railway at 2 p m., where he was
received by Lieut.. Gen. Sir Geo. Buller, Military
Commander-in-Chief of the district, and staff, the
garrison saluting battery firing a Royal salute with
the ships in harbour. A parade of the troops at
Gosport followed, after which the duke, accom-
panied by his personal staff and the commanding

officers of the Royal Engineers and Artillery of the
district, pail a galloping visit to the fortifications
on the Gosport side of Portsmouth harbour. The
duke afterwards crossed the harbour to Portsmouth,
and alighted at the Government-house, where he
will remain the guest of Lieut.-Gen. Sir G. Buller
during his stay in the garrison. A review of the
troops in Portsmouth garrison will take place on
South-sea-common, after which his Royal Highness
will resume his inspection of the fortifications.
Recruiting for the Royal Artillery has for some
time past been carried on very successfully. Dur-
ing the year 1,800 recruits have joined the depot at
Warley, and last week 150 young fellows went into
the garrison.
Experiments were carried out at Chatham dock-
yard yesterday and the previous day, under the
superintendence of Mr. S. M. Saxby, in the pre-
senc_! of the officials of the establishment, for the
purpose of testing the qualities of the various de-
scriptions of armour-plating and angle and other
sorts of iron sent into the establishment by means
of galvanism and magnetic currents, on the recom-
mendation of Professor Airey, the Astronomer
]loyal. The importance of obtaining more reliable
and accurate tests for the various qualities of iron
than those hitherto in use has long been felt by the
officials employed in this particular duty. Hitherto
there has been no test for the condition of a forging
beyond mere visual examination, and hence a
mass of iron may contain damaging internal
iliws which altogether escape detection. Mr. Saxby,
however, the inventor of the new principle of
testing iron, professes to be able infallibly to discover
the least flaw in any description of iron by electrical
agency. The experiments have been made on some
of the thickest and largest of the armour-plates at
the dockyard, when, by means of the magnetic cur-
rent, the exact quality of iron was instantly ascer-
tai„,.l. Experimeuta have also been made upo:)
1_,,,r of ivou into which a plug of steel had been welded,
when the results were considered perfectly satisfac-
-40 pounder Armstrong gun was also tested
tory. A
by Mr. Siutby, who in a few seconds diesernered. a

defect in the welding of the coil, although invisible
to the eye, but afterwards proved to exist. Further
trials have been made on large guns and rifle har-
rels with equally satisfactory results, and the experi-
ments will be continued next week.

The steam screw frigate Termagant, 1,547 tons,
310 horse power, sold by the Admiralty to Messrs.
Castle and Beach, of Vauxhall, left Portsmouth
harbour yesterday in tow of Messrs. Watkins's
stcamtug Anglia, for the Thames.

Her Majesty's ships Royal Oak and Prince Con-
sort hare been directed to join Admiral Warden's
squadron at Lisbon, and are expected there on the
22d inst.

Mr. Scamp, deputy director of Admiralty works, is
now on a final visit of inspection of the Admiralty
works at Portsmouth, as being carried into effect
according to his great scheme for the extension of
Portsmouth dockyard and for the construction of
the headquarters barracks, &c., for the Roy al Marine
Artillery at Eastney. It is rumoured that Mr.
Scamp has applied to the Admiralty to be relieved
of the duties of the office which he has now filled
for the last 30 years. The works designed by him
and executed under his superintendence at all our
home naval establishments, and at Malta, Gibraltar,
and Bermuda, are of a very extensive, varied, and
interesting character, and remain a worthy subject
for future description and comment.
A committee, of which Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas
M. C. Symonds, K.C.8., is the president, has been
appointed by the Admiralty, and is expected to
commence its investigations at Chatham to-day, for
the purpose of considering and reporting upon the
best method of economising the expenditure in the
transport department of the Navy, more especially
in reference to the employment of dockyard trans-
ports and craft in conveying stores from one yard
to the other. The principal object of the commit-
tee will be to ascertain whether or not a saving to
the country will arise by transporting stores from
one dockyard to another by means of railways or
private vessels, in preference to the Admiralty keep-
ing up an expensive fleet of dockyard lighters and
vessels, with their attendant officers and crews, for
this exclusive service.

The large iron caisson at the entrance to the
third dock at Chatham dockyard—the first ever
constructed at that establishment—having been
completed and fitted in its place, the work of re-
moving the massive coffer-dam, erected some months
since at considerable expense, will be at once pro-
ceeded with. The new iron caisson, which has
been constructed in the most expeditious manner,
is a fine specimen of dockyard workmanship, and
when tested with 140 tons of iron ballast and
the required quantity of water it was found
to be in all respects perfect. The only wooden cais-
son at Chatham yard burst a short time since, and
this is ordered to be replaced by an iron one, which
is to be constructed at a private yard, the Admiralty
having determined on getting rid of the whole of
the wooden caissons at all the dockyards.

The following appointments have been made at
the Admiralty :—Commander W. A. de V. Brown-
low to be resident officer for transport service at
Deptford, vice Commander St. Leger Aldworth,
whose period of service has expired; Commander H.
G. Belson to be inspecting commander in the Coast-
guard, vice Brownlow ; Lieut. A. H. Duthie to the
Cumberland ; Navigating Sub Lieut. J. Henderson
to the Skylark ; Navigating Sub Lieut. Henry A.
Eusther to the Formidable, for service in the Lizard ;
Navigating Sub Lieut. R. W. Stephens to the Mino-
taur ; Navigating Sub Lieut. H. Husbands to the
Ganges, for service in the Liberty ; Navigating Sub
Lieut. N. Child to the Caradoc ; Navigating Sub
Lieut. W. Way to the Dasher ; Navigating Sub
Lieut. F. Hire to the Heron ; Navigating Sub
Lieut. W. B. Meade to the Orontes ; F. Ni. Rayner,
staff surgeon, to the Victory ; and John Donald,
paymaster, to the Wellesley.

UNIVERSITY INTELLIGENCE.

OXFORD, Oct. 15.

Tha Margaret Professor of Divinity (Dr. 'hurt-
ley) proposes to begin his lectures on Tuesday, the
29th of October, at 12 o'cl.)ck. lie will lecture on
the Creed and on the Thirty-nine Articles. Gen-
tlemen who wish to attend the course aro re-
quested to call upon him at Christ Church' on
Monday, the 2Sth of October, between the hours of
11 and 1.

The Regius Professor of Modern History (Nlr.
Stubbs) proposes to give two courses of lectures
during the present term on " The Constitutional
History of England ;" each course to consist of 12
lectures. The first course will be given on Tues-
days and Saturdays, at 11 a.m., at the Taylor In-
stitution on " The Early Constitutional History
down to the reign of Henry II." The second
course (in continuation of that of last term)
will be given on Tuesdays and Saturdays, at 12
o'clock, at the Taylor Institution on " The Con-
stitutional History of the Reigns of Edward 1.,
Edward 11., and Edward III." These lectures are
open to all Undergraduates and Bachelors of Arts,
on the payment of 11, the statutable fee in all
cases except where the student has attended two
previous courses under the same professor. Gen-
tlemen who propose to attend either course are re-
quested to call on the Professor at the Taylor Insti-
tution, at 2 p.m., on Saturday, the 26th of Octo-
ber. The lectures will begin on the 29th.

The teacher of the German language in the Tay-
lor Institution will lecture this term on Tuesdays,
Thursdays, and Saturdays, beginning on Tuesday,
the 22d of October, at 2 o'clock p.m. Ile also
proposes to form a class for those sufficiently ad-
vanced in German to study Danish-Norwegian and
Swedish, in order to illustrate the connection be-
tween these languages and the German and
English.
The teacher of the Spanish language in the Tay-
lor Institution will begin his lectures for this term
on Monday, the 21st of October.

Wheat Crop Speculation.

(From Land and Water.)

Judging from the reports from the other side of
the Atlantic of the American corn trade, our cousins
must have suffere I as we did from the miserable
speculations of travelling land agents, and in like
manner as the " Britishers" were told during har-
vest-time that " Cornwall was very hilly," and
that benighted farmers had a splendid crop,
so possibly Yankee travellers by rail may have
written to the limes to say that Niagara
was a waterfall, and that the American wheat
crop would whip the world. Compare with
this extravagant and exaggerate I estimate the fol-
lowing extract :—" The advices from America state
that in that country, as on this side, disappointment
is experienced from the yield of the wheat crop,
since it threshes out poorly in comparison with the
estimates previously entertained. Many of the
Western farmers, therefore, instead of sending their
stocks rapidly forward, were holding out for
higher rates." Elsewhere we read of a " further
rise" having taken place at New York, and how it
has already been found out that the first reports of
extra abundance were exaggerated. Ilowever,
this last statement causes no surprise, for it is
well known that the Americans are ever apt to
take a sanguine view of their prospects—it is a way
'hey have : so one always receives with some cau-
tion their first reports. For the egregious blunders
of those wiseacres who thought fit to publish " re-
ports" upon the English harvest, reports founded
upon the " baseless fabric of a dreamy" journey by
rail, there is no excuse whatever. Utterly regardless
of the effect which mig'it b 3 produced, by a seem-
ingly authentic statement of our future supplies of
food, these gentlemen appear to have been actuate I
by a wish to see themselves in print, forgetting
that above all things it is imperative to be accu-
rate before committing oneself to " black and
white ;" for litera scripta 7nanet. What can be
their feelings nox ? The northern counties have
concluded harvest, and even where to the practised
eye of the farmer, the man who obtains his liveli-
hood by farming, there had been a prospect of
average crops, the crucial test of threshing has re-
vealed an opposite result, the yield being unsatis-
factory. Throughout the south of England the
same unpleasant state of things had already been
made manifest ; and it is difieult to reconcile the
favourable reports issued by these irresponsible