The Sun.
London, England, 1866-04-19 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, 1111311SDAY EVENING, APRIL 10, 1868.

the great river called the Wabbe S'nalmli, which
flows near Magdesho and Brava. Colonel Rigby
suggests that the Resident at Aden might induce
some of the Oghaden tribe of Somalis to rescue the
captives, or at least to bring information as to
where they are residing. Inquiries should also be
made at Brava and Magdesho, and that trustworthy
natives be sent into the country, who, in the cha-
racter of traders, might be enabled to obtain the
much-desired information.

The exertions of Colonel Rigby and Col. Play-
fair have resulted in the almost indubitable cer-
tainty that some at least of those who were on
board the ill-fated vessel when she drifted from the
reef reached the Somali country alive, and were de-
tained as prisoners by the natives. It becomes in-
teresting to know what has been done and what can
be done to ascertain the fate of these unfortunate
Englishmen, and to restore them, if still alive, to
the relatives and friends who have for so many
years been sorrowing for their loss. The local au-
thorities at Zanzibar and the Mauritius have made
efforts which have procured some information, but
not enough, and, above all, have not procured the
liberation of the survivors. The slow but gradual
accumulation of evidence has encouraged the rela-
tives of the St. Abbs' victims to urge upon the Go-
vernment to make some decided efforts. Sir R.
Murchison has thrown his philanthropic zeal and
scientific ardour into the cause. Several members of
Parliament have urged upon the Foreign-office the
necessity and the duty of exerting all the means at
its disposal to terminate the sufferings and the sus-
pense which during so many years have been under-
gone by the captives in Africa and by their relatives
at home. The result has hitherto not been encou-
raging, as no means have been taken to ascertain the
fate or to procure the release of the unhappy pri-
soners. It is true that the Foreign-office did make
some inquiries through its agents and through the
East India-office, but Brigadier Coglan, the agent at
Aden, wrote in May, 1862, that in his opinion it was
highly probable that any of the persons on board the
St. Abbs had lived to reach the shore. Against that
opinion, however, there is the evidence of natives
who had themselves seen and who had heard of white
prisoners among the Somalis, and the statements
made by different persons at different places, all tend-
ing to the same point. There is the evidence of
articles having been seen in the possession of and
received from natives, which articles are proved to
have been on board the St. Abbs, and the hides marked
with English characters which have recently come to
light. From all these circumstances there appears no
room to doubt but that some white men were, and
probably are, held in captivity by the savage tribes
of the eastern coast of Africa ; and whether those
unhappy persons be or be not the survivors of the St.
Abbs, it is equally a national duty to employ every
effort to obtain their release, or to put an end to the
prolonged suspense of their relatives in England.

a lower point than it has before reached for three
years. The good work is going on, and, surely,
the day is not far distant when an American green-
back will be worth its face in gold.—Anglo-Ameri-
can Times.

Naval and Military Intelligence.

Yesterday Major-Gen. Sir R. Walpole, K.C.8.,
commanding the forces in the Chatham district, ac-

companied by the officers of his staff, inspected the

;barter screw steamer Lady Jocelyn, which has been
oak-en up by the Government for the conveyance of

reinforeements for the various corps serving at
Gibraltar and Malta; the total number of officers
and troops conveyed to those stations being be-
tween 600 and 700 men of all ranks. During the
day the following troops embarked at Government-
quay, Gravesend, on board the Lady Jocelyn, un-
der the superintendence of Brigade-Major W. Lynch
and the officials connected with the Quartermaster's
department at Chatham garrison :—For Malta—
Lieut. Col. H. P. Yates, Lieut. M. F. H. Weans-
land, Lieut. F. 11. W. Milner, Lieut. H. H. Crook-
olden, 75 non-commissioned officers and men, and
one woman, of the 3d Brigade Royal Artillery ;
Lieut. Short, 2d battalion Bth King's Regt. ; Lieut.
J. Tennyson, Lieut. W. R. Elliott, Ensign J. W.
Bazalgette, Quartermaster W. H. Martin, one
officer's wife and three children, one armoury-ser-
geant, one woman and five Children, of the 29th
Regt. ; Staff-Surg. P. M. Jacks& ; Lieut. C. L.
M. Kinivan, 84th Roe. ; and Chaplain the Rev. T.
W. Burridge, M.A. For Gibraltar—Lieut. Wm.
Naugle, Lieut. W. J. Franks, 89 non-commissioned
officers and men, 8 women, and 9 children of the
2d battalion 16th Regt. ; Lieut. J. R. Watson, En-
sign S. B. Blyth, Ensign E. C. T. Stone, 51 men of
all ranks, 3 women, and 8 children of the 2d batta-
lion 23d Royal Welsh Fusiliers ; Ensign C. Roberts,
42 men, 2 women, and 4 children of the 42d Royal
Highlanders ; and L ieut. J. D. Brockman and wife
86th Regt. ; giving a total of 18 officers, 372 non-
commissioned officers and men, 3 officers' wives, 20
women, and 34 children. In addition to the above,
12 officers and 260 non-commissioned officers and
men of various regiments will embark on board the
Lady Jocelyn at Portsmouth. The embarkations
were effected yesterday in a very expeditious man-
, ner, and the vessel will take her departure from the
L Thames to-day. The Lady Jocelyn will bring home
. the 38th company of the Royal Engineers and de-
. tachments of other corps.

The B battery 4th Brigade Field Artillery, num-
bering five officers, seven sergeants, three buglers,
and 152 rank and file, with 25 women and 42
children, together with the whole of the materiel
of the battery, including six light 12-pounder
Armstrong guns, 93 horses, ammunition wag-
gons, hospital carts, and other stores, have arrived
at Chatham garrison from Woolwich, and have
taken up quarters in the North-square, Brompton-
barracks. The battery was uncles the command of
Col. N. 0. S. Turner, with Capt. the Hon. R.
Dillon, and three subalterns.
The Cameleon, 17, screw sloop, 952 tons, 200-
horse power, Commander T. M. Jones, arrived in
Sheerness harbour yesterday at noon, and saluted
the flag of Vice-Admiral Sir Baldwin Walker,K.C.B.,
the newly-appointed Commander-in-Chief. The
vessel will be shortly taken into dock and dismantled,
after which she will be paid out of commission and
placed in the third division of the Sheerness Steam
Reserve.
The following appointments were made yesterday
at the Admiralty :—Commander C. J. Balfour to
the Winchester, vice Chapman, promoted ; Lieut.
E. W. Hereford to the Britannia, additional, for
service in the Dapper, tender.