The Sun.
London, England, 1866-02-01 00:00:00

Foreign Enlistment.

Two English seamen who recently shipped on board tho
Independencia attended yesterday at the Guildhall and
made, before the Alderman, solemn declarations of the
truth of the following statements, prepared by Mr. Thos.
Beard, solicitor. They were forwarded through the hands
of the Spanish Consul to the Secretary of State for
Foreign Affairs, and Mr. Beard has transmitted a copy
to the Spanish Minister in this country. The result
is not yet known. The declaration of King, ono
of the seamen, is as follows :—'• I, George King,
of the Peruvian man-of-war Independencia, now lying off
Greenhithe, hereby declare that I am an English subject;
that on Saturday last, the 20th inst., I was engaged by the
captain of the ship Independencia as an ordinary seaman,
to proceed from London to Peru, or any other port, for
three years, at $l6 a month wages, being £3 4s. English
money. That 1 signed articles on the 25th inst., and was
ordered to go on beard the ship at Greenhithe ; that I ac-
cordingly went on board at that date, and remained on
board until this morning, when I came on shore by leave
of one of the officers, in consequence of the ship not being
ready to sail, and received instructions to hold myself in
readiness to return immediately the ship was ready to sail;
that while I was on board the ship I heard the captain call
all hands aft, and heard him say that they would have to
fight their way to Peru against any Spanish vessels they
might fall in with ; that there would be another vessel
join them after they loft the coast of France, and that this
vessel was now in London. The captain also asked all
hands if they wore agreeable to fight their way out to Peru
at the same wages they were then getting. The men re-
plied that they were. The Peruvian flag was flying when
I left the ship, and had been for three days. The vessel is
a man-of-war, an ironclad ram. I have seen her guns :
they are marked Armstrong. I have seen a large quan-
tity of shot, shell, and powder taken on board every day
since I have been there. The captain and his officers wear
a uniform, and call themselves officers in the Peruvian
navy. I asked the boatswain (an Englishman) what num-
ber of hands there would be : he told me between 250 and
300 men, and that they were 20 short. There were then a
great number of men on board, consisting of English, Ger-
man, French, Peruvians, Norwegians, Portuguese, Greek,
and Americans. The captain and his principal officers are
Peruvian; all speaking the same language. The captain
told me that I should be required to assist in
working the ship and fight as well if necessary
to do so. He told all the men the same. The captain
read from a paper to the men that any Spanish
ship they fell in with they would take. I heard the able
seamen say they were to get $2O a month, the second class
$lB, and the ordinary seamen $l6. The gunner's mate was
to have $3O a month. All the uniforms and bedding are
on board the ship. The seamen's uniform consists of a
blue flannel shirt, blue cloth pants, and a red sash to wind
round the waist, with the tassel attached ; a blue cloth
navy cap, and ribband with the ship's name on it. I have
seen between 300 and 400 men on board night and day at
work for the last three days. They appeared to be in a
great hurry to get the ship ready. E I have also seen the
other ship spoken of by the captain ; she is a wooden ves-
sel, now lying in the East India Docks, and has the Old-
ham flag flying. I have been paid two months' wages in
advance, and I make this solemn declaration." James
Thompson, the other seaman, made a similar declaration.

AQUATICS.

UNIVERSITY BOAT RICE.

The public will be gratified to learn that notwithstanding
all that has been written and said upon the subject, there
is no doubt that the Oxford and Cambridge boat race will
take place this season at the usual time and place. Pending
the presentation of the memorial from Cambridge—pro-
posing to Oxford to confine the selection of honour .men
for the contending crews to those whose residence in the
university had not exceeded four years—the Oxonians lost
no time in commencing the selection of a crew to maintain
the nobly-earned aquatic fame of their university, and the
following were in hard practice during the whole of last
week :—Messrs. Raikes (Merton), Crowder (Brasenoso)
Marsden (Merton), Willan (Exeter), Mason (Trinity), Wood
(University), Goodden (Trinity), and Brown (friuity).
Two or three changes have just taken place. Mr. Brown
has boon relieved from the stroke by Mr. H. P. Senhouse,
and the latest news of the crew leaves him in that position,
although it is fully believed that Mr. W. M. Brown will
resume it ; with the remainder of the crew composed of
Messrs. Raikes, Crowder, Willan, Mason, Wood, Freeman
and Henley (Oriel), one of last year's crew, who has been
unable to take his'place in the boat sooner.
The Cantabs, notwithstanding their long series of de-
feats, are evidently anxious to retrieve their lost laurels;
and, although not nearly all the gentlemen are yet up at
the university, so desirous is the president C.U.B.C. (Mr.
Kinglake) to be up and stirring, that he has already got the
following crew together, who at present are in daily prac-
tice :—Messrs. Lavers (Queen's), Still (Caius), Bidwell
(Trinity), Foster (Trinity), Fortescue (Magdalen), Bourke
(Trinity), Watney (St. John's), and Jerwood (Trinity Hall).
Mr. Selwyn, an old 'Varsity hand, steers themin practice.
In the course of a few days after the meeting of the offi-
cers of the C.U.B.C. we understand the usual challenge
will be officially forwarded to Oxford, and, we need hardly
say, will be promptly accepted. Of course alterations at
this early stage may be looked for in both crows.