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
the 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. Corban.
Lieut. Gillespie, 96th Regiment, is under orders to
embark at Portsmouth for Bombay.
The two troops of the 15th Ilussars 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 Esquimault,
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 kit their appre-
hension. Two days previously to the departure of
the Zealous Rear-Admiral the Hon. G. F. llastings
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-
bampt 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 INiajesty'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
87 th 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-
Burgs. 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 iustruc-
tioa previous to embarcation.
The 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
Wingham, 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,
Hodgson, 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, paid 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-
sence 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•
inundation of Professor Airey, the Astronomer
Royal. 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 hen no test for the condition of a forging
beyond mere visual examination, and hence a
mass of iron may contain damaging internal
fl tws which altogether escape detection. Mr. Saxby,
however, the inventor of the nea 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 ex.mt quality of iron was instantly ascer-
tained. Experiments have also been wade upoa a
bar of iron into which a plug of steel had been waled,
when the reriults were considered perfectly satisfac-
tory. A 40 pounder Armstrong gun was also tested
by Mr, Saxby, who in a few seconds cliacoured a