The Sun.
London, England, 1867-07-18 00:00:00

generally formed one of the prettiest features of the
day's proceedings. But yesterday nothing was
pretty, because nothing could be seen without phy-
sical annoyance and discomfort. One division of the
gunboats attacked Monckton, while the second
attacked Southsea, the Lumps Fort, Eastney, &c.
According to the programme it was arranged that
the Southsea works should be silenced, and that then
Blockhouse and Monckton with the main defences
of Portsmouth should come to the relief and drive
off the flotilla, and it was well that this was so, for
the gunboats in the rough sea and heavy wind would
have stood no chance against Southsea Castle alone.
The fire from the boats was even better than could
have been expected under the circumstances, while
from the steady forts it was replied to with thunders
of artillery. There were, of course, showers of rain
and always heavy wind during the whole time of
this sham battle, which in truth never raged very
fiercely, and at last dwindled down into a mere drop-
ping fire, and the gunboats steamed back to their
anchorage, leaving the victory to the forts. In this,
as in all other portion of the day's proceedings, the
weather spoilt everything„ and a large proportion of
the visitors' vessels had returned to harbour before
it was over.

Before the gunboats had ceased their attack the
Royal yacht weighed anchor and proceeded towards
Osborne, saluted as usual as she passed. It was near
4 o'clock when her Majesty returned, and a race
took place between all the vessels to keep pace with
the Victoria and Albert. When the Royal yacht
was slowly dropping down to her berth the Queen
was risible on deck conversing with the Sultan, and
it was seen with earnest satisfaction that his Ma-
jesty had received the Garter at the hands of our
gracious Sovereign, and wore the blue riband over
his shoulder. A quarter of an hour or more
elapsed before the Queen went on board the Alberta
from the Royal yacht, having taken formal leave
of her Imperial guest, and the signal was made to
salute the Sultan as he returned past the fleet to
Clarence-yard. A guard of honour was in waiting
at the private station, or rather siding in the Cla-
rence-yard, where the royal train was drawn up
near the water's edge. By this train his Majesty
left about 7 o'clock, and arrived at the private sta-
tion at Nine Elms soon after 9. A long cortege of
royal carriages, with a royal escort, was in waiting,
and his Majesty drove off amidst the cheers of an
immense crowd which had collected to witness their
arrival and departure.

It would be ungracious and unfair to the Admi-
ralty, which had charge of this vast pageant, not to
give a word of praise to the excellence and precision
of all their arrangements for the accommodation of
the numbers of the public who were enabled to be
present at the spectacle.

All the dockyard preparations for the visitors were
admirable, and everything that could be done for
their comfort was attended:to on board the vessels,
which was all the more agreeable under such ad-
verse circumstances as were caused by the weather.
The management of affairs by private bodies, such
as railway companies, afforded a strong contrast to
the Admiralty work. On Tuesday afternoon trains
from Waterloo were hours behind time at Ports-
mouth. Yesterday the Viceroy was nearly an hour
late in arriving at the dockyard.
The Queen expressed the greatest satisfaction
with the day's proceedings, although the weather
had proved unfavourable, and the Sultan and Vice-
roy expressed the same feeling, but in still more for-
cible terms. The Victoria and Albert returned to
Osborne after landing the Sultan. The fleet was
illuminated at 9 o'clock, when the wind moderated,
although it continued to blow in thick rain squalls.
During the first part of the display the ships at
Spithead were indistinctly seen. The Duke of Wel-
lington, St. Vincent, and Victory, in the harbour,
presented a splendid appearance with their illumi-
nated tiers of ports and long lights. During the
second part the weather cleared for a short time,
and the fleet showed magnificently, covered in
outline with long lights, the Minotaur being
lit up with red fire over every spar aloft, and
the Victoria in red and white. The general
effect, and more particularly that of the discharges
of rockets, was, however, greatly marred by the
weather.