The Sun.
London, England, 1866-03-30 00:00:00

Naval and Military Intelligence.

The partially iron-cased screw frigate Bellerophon,
14, 4,270 tons, 1,000-horse power, Captain Edward
Tatham, in accordance with instructions from the
Admiralty, steamed out of Portsmouth harbour yes-
terday morning, and gave her machinery a four
hours' trial under full-boiler power, not over the
measured mile, to ascertain the amount of indicated
horse-power of the engines and the maximum num-
ber of their revolutions with her two funnels short-
ened of the extra 16 feet lengths given them tempo-
rarily by Mr. Penn to remedy a supposed defect in
the draughts of the furnaces. It will be fresh in
the memory of the reader that this course has been
adopted by the Admiralty in consequence of the ob-
servations of Sir John Pakington and the motion
of Mr. Graves on the subject in the House of Com-
mons. The trial of the ship's machinery was to afford,
by a comparison of the maximum number of the en-
gines' revolutions and their indicated horse-power, a
certain means of judging how far the speed of the
ship might have been affected by the somewhat excep-
tional circumstances of lengthened funnels to her
furnaces on her trial of speed over the measured mile
on the 19th inst. The ship when she left Portsmouth
harbour yesterday morning drew the same depth of
water forward and aft, burnt the same description
of hand-picked coal, and had the same detachment
of steam factory stokers in charge of the furnaces
as on her trial of speed ; the conditions being thus
rendered as nearly equal as possible, with the excep-
tion that yesterday it was plain steaming to and fro
through Spithead to enable the engines to work up
to their maximum strength without timing the speed
of the ship, whereas on the previous occasion it was
purely a trial of the ship's speed. The ship was un-
der way yesterday four hours, and in working out
the indicator diagrams after her return to harbour
the indicated horse power of the engines was
found to be 6019.110, the maximum revolutions
of the engines being 72. On the previous trial the
indicated power of the engines was 6048, and
the maximum revolutions of the engines 70.5.
The lengthened funnels, therefore, may be
charged with a gain of 29 horse over the short ones,
but with a loss of F 5 revolutions of the engines.
This difference, however, is so trifling that its actual
existence may be due more to the manner in which
the calculations were made than to any variation in
the working of the engines. One great fact, at all
events, is fully established—that Mr. Penn's machi-
nery is proved to be fully equal in all respects to the
anticipations expressed by him, and more than equal
to the terms of his contract with the Admiralty.
The character of the ship for speed when she has
been brought down to her seagoing trim, therefore,
now depends entirely on herself, on the suitability
of her length and lines for high rates of speed—a
suitability claimed for her as her due by her designer
and many other persons, but denied to her by others,
and on this point is concentrated the public interest
in the ultimate results of the ship's trials. The
Bellerophon represents the bluff spoon-bow form of
ship by which Mr. E. J. Reed, Chief Constructor
of the Navy, endeavours to combine the speed of a
long ship with the handiness and manoeuvring power
of a short one, and the fairest comparison that can
be made by which to judge how far he will succeed
in his endeavours lies in the selection of the Achilles
as the competitive ship, a vessel designed with the
hatchet-shaped bow of the Watts-Lang school, and
in which her designers have given her length in order
to secure speed. The Achilles has been tried at both
light and deep draught, the Bellerophon only at
light draught. The Achilles, at Maplin Sands' mile,
at light draught, on the 24th of April, 1864, gave
the following results :—Displacement, 7,895 tons ;
area of midship section, 1,120 square feet; indicated
horse-power, 5,035 ; speed, 14.358 knots. The
Bellerophon, at Stokes Bay mile, at light draught,
on the 19th of March, 1865, gave the following :
Displacement, 6,372 tons ; area of midship section,
1,055 square feet; indicated horse-power, 6,048;
speed, 14.227 knots. The Achilles, at Stokes Bay
mile, at deep draught, on March 15, 1865, gave the
following :—Displacement, 9,487 tons ; area of
midship section, 1,307 square feet ; indicated
horse-power, 5,722 ; speed, 14.322 knots. Messrs.
John Penn, senior and junior, together with Mr.
Anderson, Mr. Penn's chief assistant, were on board
the Bellerophon during yesterday's trial, Mr. An-
derson being in charge of themachinery. Mr. Ward,
Chief Assistant-Engineer of Portsmouth dockyard,
was the Admiralty officer superintending the trial.
The paddle sloop Gladiator, 6, Capt. Aplin,
arrived at Portsmouth yesterday morning from Ply-
mouth, with a detachment of the 66th Regt. on
board, which was subsequently disembarked at the
dockyard and forwarded by South Western Railway
to Aldershot, via Farnborough.
The Liverpool, screw unarmoured frigate, 34
guns, 600 horse power, Capt. Seccoinbe, steamed
into Portsmouth harbour yesterday from Spithead,
and was berthed alongside the dockyard for repairs
and refit.
The hired troopship Cospatrick yesterday arrived
at Woolwich from Bombay, 95 days out, bringing
detachments of invalids and time-expired men from
various regiments—namely, the Royal Artillery,
Royal Engineers, Ist Royals, the 10th, 44th, and
56th Infantry, 72d Highlanders, 102 d Royal Madras
Fusiliers, and 108th Madras Infantry. They were
in command of Capt. Martin, R.A. ; Capt. Ogilvie,
R.A. ; Second Capt. Moncton, R.A. ; Lieut. Rooke,
Ist Royals; Cornet Collette, 4th Dragoons ; Quar-
termaster M'Gee, Ist Royals ; Lieut. Knox, R.A. ;
and Dr. Green, 44th Regt. The total amounted to
256 non-commissioned officers and men, 17 women,
and nine children. Six deaths happened during the
passage home.
The launch of the improved wooden unarmoured
screw corvette Reindeer, the last of that description
of vessel which, in all probability, will ever be con-
structed for the English navy, was effected at Cha-
tham dockyard shortly after noon yesterday, in the
presence of a large concourse of spectators. The
Reindeer was commenced as far back as the year
1860, just at the period when iron was begin-
ning to supersede wood as a material for our ves-

eels of war, and was intended to be constructed
as one of the smaller class of corvettes, to mount
17 guns, for which description of vessel there had
been for some years previously a steady demand.
She was laid down and commenced under the super-
intendence of Mr. 0. W. Lang, the then master
shipbuilder of Chatham dockyard, and was only
about half-completed, when an order from the
Admiralty directed all further work on board to be
discontinued, the whole of the hands being at the
same time withdrawn and placed on the Achilles and
other ironclad ships which were just then being
built as rapidly as the resources of the establishment
would permit. Towards the close of last year she
was surveyed by the Admiralty officials, and a deter-
mination arrived at to complete her as an improved
corvette, to carry a few heavy guns of the most
powerful description which a vessel of her class could
safely mount. flans were accordingly prepared
and submitted to the Admiralty by Mr. Thornton,
the present master-shipwright, under whose direc-
tion and superintendence the Reindeer has been
completed. In order to increase her strength, and
at the same time to impart additional stiffness and
rigidity to the vessel, Mr. Thornton has introduced,
as far as practicable, his composite system of ship-
building, the leading features of which are the in-
troduction of iron-plated bulkheads, instead of
wood, and wrought-iron deck beams, in lieu of
wooden beams. Massive stringer plates worked into
the vessel where necessary impart increased strength
to the frame, and enable her to resist the con-

cussion of her heavy guns, which in the case of
vessels built on the old system which would be such
as to seriously imperil the safety of the vessel. The
system of fitting the bulkheads, or partitions, below
the lower decks of iron, now for the first time intro-
duced in a wooden vessel of the Reindeer class, is
one likely be largely followed in the ships of war,
as the danger from fire is thereby greatly diminished,
if not altogether prevented. Twelve o'clock was the
time fixed for the launch, and shortly after that hour
Miss Catherine Coote Stewart, daughter of Capt. W.
Houston Stewart, C. 8., superintendent of the dock-
yard, was conducted to the extremity of the platform
at the bow, where she performed the ceremony of
" christening" the ship. The last of the supports
having been knocked away, a couple of powerful
hydraulic rams gave the vessel a start, and in a
minute or two afterwards the corvette glided down
the ways into the harbour. The following are the
principal dimensions of the Reindeer :--Length
between perpendiculars, 185 ft ; length of keel for
tonnage, 164 ft ; extreme breadth, 33ft. 21in. ;
breadth for tonnage, 33ft. ; breadth moulded, 32ft.
4in. ; depth in hold, 17ft 5 in. ; burden, 950 8-91
tons. She is to be fitted within a pair of horizontal
engines of 200 horse power (nominal) and will
mount an armament on her weather deck of one
nine-ton pivot gun, amidships, together with six 64-
pounders at her broadsides, besides the smaller de-
scription of guns for boat and field service. An
order from the Admiralty directs her to be imme-
diately brought forward for commission.

Orders have been received at Devonport to ex-
pedite the preparation of several ships for active ser-
vice. They are stated to be the frigates Liffey 39,
and Galatea 26 ; the corvettes Jason 21, and Satel-
lite 21 ; the sloop Peterel 11, and the gunboat
Rainbow. From the size of these ships it is con-
cluded that they are intended for service in the
Gulf and River St. Lawrence. The Liffey is in No.
4 dock at Devonport, repairing, and cannot be
ready for several months. The Galatea is in Key-
ham-basin not yet taken in hand for repair—her
boilers and tanks have been removed ; and she will
be placed in .N o. 2 dock as soon as the blocks are
ready to receive her keel. The Jason is rigged and
fitting for the Steam Reserve. The Satellite is in
No. 1 dock at Devonport ; the artisans have re-
cently been rather busy in her repairs ; she will not
be ready for undocking before May, unless some
extra exertions are made. Tke Peterel is repairing
in No. 2 dock, at Keyham. She will probably be
undocked
,to-morrow (Saturday), after which she
will receive her masts, &c. The Rainbow is in the
first division.

The screw steam frigate Doris, 32, Capt. Vesey,
left Plymouth yesterday (Thursday) for North
America and the 'West Indies.

The ironcascd screw steamship Lord Clyde, 24,
at Devonport, is receiving her guns.
Yesterday a detachment of 80 non-commissioned
officers and men of the 2d battalion of the 2d
Royals, left Chatham Garrison, and embarked at
Gravesend in the Dodo steamer, for Ireland, to aug-
ment the Ist battalion of the 2d Royals, at Cork.

A frightful accident yesterday befel one of the
labourers in the shell foundry of Woolwich Arsenal,
named Alfred Church. Very slight hopes are en-
tertained of saving his life. Dr. Briscoe, Surgeon-
Major, and Mr. Cullen, Staff-Assist-Surgeon at the
local infirmary, rendered every aid which could be
bestowed, and after carefully examining his injuries,
they pronounced amputation of both legs and his
left arm absolutely necessary. It appears that he
was sweeping the floor of the foundry, and incau-
tiously approached the driving band; his clothes
were. caught by it, and he was whirled over the shaft
about 20 times before the machinery could be
stopped.

Lieut. A. H. Gorges, late of the B brigade, Royal
Horse Artillery, who was killed on Sunday morning
last by a fall from his horse on Woolwich-common,
was buried yesterday afternoon in the new cemetery
at Charlton, with full military honours.
The following appointments have been made at
the Admiralty :—Lieut. George S. Brown, to the
Prince Albert ; Lieut. Richard W. llope, to the
Barracouta ; William L. Inch, paymaster, to the
Cambridge ; Alexander Robinson, paymaster, to
the Duke of Wellington ; John D. Parminter, pay-
master, to the Bellerophon ; John P. Allen, chief
engineer, to the Cumberland, for the Reindeer ;
Frederick J. Newton, chief engineer, to the Belle-
rophon ; John D. Lamont, engineer, to the Asia, for
the Cherub ; John Marwood, Andrew) Lloyd, and
Joseph Minhinnick, engineers, to the Bellerophon ;
John Swanson, William Sheen, Walter Brock,
Thomas Muard, Robert Widdicombe, and Richard
W. Lopp, engineers, to the Princess Royal (addi-
tional), for disposal ; Augustus Mills, George Sul-
livan, James Bowman, and Hugh Thomson, first-
class assistant-engineers, to the Bellerophon ; Job
Annable, Frederick Holden, John Plowright,
Robert Wingfield, and Henry F. Strugnell,

first-class assistant-engineers, to the Princess

Royal (additional), for disposal ; Edward P. For-
rest, assistant-surgeon, to the Lion ; Michael
O'Hurlstone, assistant-surgeon, to the Canopus;
Wm. J. C. Row, assistant paymaster (additional),
to the Victoria; T. Backhouse, assistant-paymaster,
to the Lion ; F. A. Carter, assistant-paymaster,
(additional), to the Princess Charlotte ; W. J. S.
Cannon, assistant-paymaster, to the Achilles.

Wreck of the Countess of Ripon, Indian
Emigrant Ship.

NOBLE CONDUCT OF THE CREW.

His Excellency the Governor of Barbadoes has
forwarded to the Board of Trade the following
official report on the loss of the Countess of Ripon
Indian emigrant ship, and the fortunate escape of
508 coolie emigrants who were on board :

The ship Countese of Ripon, Capt. R. Smith
Stuart, master, belonging to Messrs. John Allen
and Sons, of Leadenhall-street, London, and 1,200
tons burthen, left Calcutta Nov. 5 last, bound for
St. Vincent, Grenade, and Demerara with a cargo
of rice, and 508 coolie emigrants. The ship called
at St. Helena, and then proceeded on her voyage.
On Jan. 19 observations were taken on board, and
the ship was in lat, 13 11 N., long. 57 10 W. At
12 o'clock the ship was by calculation 140 miles
from Barbadoes, the island bearing true west, and
making a W. and by S. half S. course. At 8 o'clock
that night an observation was taken by the polar
star, which placed the ship in 13 1 N, having made
12 miles of southing that day. A look-out on the
upper foretophead-yard for the light on the south
point of the island was kept from 11 o'clock that
night. Capt. Stuart thought that from the southerly
course steered, and making a due allowance for cur-
rents, his ship was at least 20 miles to the south-
ward of the island ; but at 5 a.m. of the 20th she
struck on a reef on the windward coast of the island
and became a total wreck. This is the substance of
the statement of the captain and the officers taken
before the court, corroborated by the chart and log
book produced. The question now for consideration
is the cause of the loss of the ship. The court con-
sider that the utmost care was taken in the naviga-
tion of the ship. The observations were carefully
made and recorded, and the ship's position down to
8 o'clock on the night of Jan. 19 accuratelydefined;
that no northerly current existed at the time, and
that the course then steered would have taken the
vessel 20 miles to the southward of the island. We
therefore attribute the loss of the vessel to a power-
ful current running to the northward, into
which
the vessel must have passed after time
the
of the
confirmed in this opinion by t
observation taken at 8 o'clockhe
evidence
. ; an d
of wec aaprte.
Hume, of MM
despatch to his Excellency
the
ha as contained
G Governor,
e r
which has been laid before the court, showing that
even on the night of the 20th, when his vessel
went round to the eastward the island to
render assistance to the wreck, she drifted six
miles to the northward whilst lying off and on near
the wreck. Under these circumstances, and having
ePzefully considered all the evidence which has been
given on this inquiry,
the Court is of opinion that
no blame is to be attributed to Capt. Stuart,
or to
any one acting under his authority, and that they
are entitled to great praise for their successful exi
y
tions in saving the lives of all on board
• , particularly
the helpless women, the sick, and the 7 and
we would particularly mention the
heroic conduct
children
of Mr. Geyde, the second mate of the ship, who
commanded the lifeboat by which means all on

- -
board were safely landed. The Court therefore re-
turn to Capt. Stuart his certificate of competency.
The Court cannot conclude this report without re-
cording their opinion that this disaster would have
been prevented had there been a light on the east
end of the island. The position of the Countess of
Ripon at the time of her approaching the land was
such that the light on the South Point could not be
seen, nor could that light be seen by any vessel ap-
proaching the island from the north-east. The
Court deLire, iu the strongest manner to expru,s
their opinion on this point, because it appears abso-
lutely certain that had not the ship been of unusual
strength, and so holding together in a sea where uo
ordinary boat could approach her, or had she taken
ground a very short distance to the north or south
of the spot where she was wrecked, the loss of life
must have been frightfftl."

JAMAICA.

(Per the Tasmania, via Southampton.)

KINGSTON, March 11.

The Royal Counnissioners are bringing their in-
vestigation to a conclusion, and are requested to
leave for England by the next packet.
The Morning Journal says :—" The evidence of
most importance during the fortnight has been re-
specting the extent of the so-called rebellion, and
how far Governor Eyre was justified in his assertion
that the conspiracy was general throughout the
island. Mr. Eyrc based his opinion upon a multi-
tude of evidence, both oral and documentary, which
he said he had received from the custodes and other
gentlemen of property and influence in the country.
Strange to say, his excellency, when called upon
was unable to produce the documentary evidence,
and had altogether forgotten from whom the oral
evidence had been obtained."

Among the witnesses examined as to the means
employed for the suppression of the disturbances
have been General O'Connor, Colonel Nelson, Lieut.
Brand, and Provost-Marshal Ramsay. Mr. Ram-
say has been arrested on the charge of murder. The
Rev. Robert Gordon has presented his excellency
with an address of loyalty to the Queen from over
5,000 persons, chiefly blacks. The address depre-
cates the massacres at Morant Bay, and deplores
the means employed for the suppression of the dis-
turbances.

The Colonial Standard of March 1 says :
"We have often had occasion to advert to the fact that
the rebels in Saint Thomas iu the East unreservedly
proclaimed that the object of their rebellion was to eater-
initiate the white people, and to have the land for the black.
Not one, whether in the field, before the tribunal trying
him, on the way to execution, or even whilst listening,
with death staring hint in the face, to the exhortations of a
pastor, advanced another reason for his revolt but that he
intended to 'kill buckra' and get 'the back lands free.'
We can conceive that persons in England who have never
had opportunities of observing the character of the negro,
and of marking his dominant passion for the possession of
land, find it difficult to realise the degree of excitement
which may be produced in his mind by flattering that pas-
sion. Gordon knew this tender chord iu the negro's heart'
well, however, and took care to make it vibrate incessantly
in order to overpower every other consideration among the
people who were to be seduced from their allegiance and
propriety, and to be rendered willing tools of his ambition.
It was only necessary for him to represent the white man
as the only obstacle standing between the negro and the
coveted prize to arouse in the latter's breast an uncompro-
mising desire to got the obstacle out of the way. Accord-
ingly, every speech uttered by Gordon, whether in the
House of Assembly or at public meetings, touched in a
manner more or less direct on this main point ; whilst
throughout his correspondence it was also kept in view.
The apologists of the rebels in England have endeavoured
to show that the negro suffered a variety of grievances,
every one of which was sufficient to have aroused him to
deeds of bloody retaliation against his supposed oppressors,
but oven if those grievances had existed, we believe all
persons of experience hero will go with us in saying that
the negro could never have been induced to seek redress
by violent means. It was necessary to connect the pos-
session of the land ultimately with the result of tha
violence in order to drive him to adopt it. Hence
was that the cry, 'kill buckra,' and get the back lands
expressed the means by which the knot was to be cut, and
the one consummation which would comprehend the ac-
complishment of every other purpose.
" It has been alleged in England that the only men who
who could have thrown any light on the cause of the re-
volt have been silenced by death ; and, forgetting the
statement of the rebels themselves, many persons are still
bent on showing that the oppressive administration of jus-
tice, and other fancied wrongs on the part of the whites
against the negro, provoked the rising; but, fortunately,
there is some evidence still left to prove the contrary. The
testimony given on the trial of Alexander Taylor, con-
victed before the Special CommisSion, two days ago, of the
murder of Mr. Walton, at Morant Bay, on the memorable
11th of October, is of this class. John Spence, one of the
witnesses examined for the prosecution, said—" Three
weeks before the outbreak I saw the prisoner at a meeting
house (M'Laren's) at Church Corner, close to Morant Bay;
prisoner told me when he came out of the meeting that
they wanted the back lands, and were going to kill
buckra. M'Laren swore the people at the meeting, and the
prisoner was ono of those who were sworn; they were told
not to toll their father or mother the secret.' The witness
then described the part which the prisoner took in the
murder, and the cruel process of thrusting a stick down
the unfortunate gentleman's throat to finish him. Now,
Taylor, the murderer, it appears, did not live where he
could have experienced any act of oppression at the hands
of Mr. Walton. His residence was in the direction of the
cottage, away altogether from the Retreat, the residence of
Mr.Wa]ton, which is on the opposite road from Morantßay.
What could have impelled him to the barbarous act he
committed but the determination to take part in the plot he
had three weeks ago sworn to aid, namely, to kill buckra'
and 'get the back lands free ?' "