The Sun.
London, England, 1859-08-26 00:00:00

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LWSPAPER

Frz
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0(414° 1- -1 4:49/4'
tion to them, and I was in no apprektlnsiollboS
my
-Telemachus. Indeed, it would have required
an imagination as strong as Don Quixote's to have -
brought about the metamorphosis."
On an isolated rock, to the west of this island,
grows the Fungus Melitensis. known as an excel-
lent astringent and corroborative remedy. This
plant reproduces spontaneously in the month of
March, ripens in June, and was the exclusive pro-
perty of the Grand Master.

i
Cvc._..~ G

A VISIT TO THE GENERAL ADMIRAL.

This ship, now anchored at the Motherbank, and
forming one of. the squadron in attendance upon.
his Imperial Highness the Grand Duke Constan-
tine, was built in America for the Russian Govern-
ment from the design of the late Mr. Webb, the
builder of the celebrated yacht America and the
frigate Niagara, of which latter vessel she is stated
to be an improved
copy. The General Admiral
differs from the Niagara, inasmuch as the latter
only carried, or is intended to carry, a few guns of
great size and calibre, while the former is pierced
to carry 72 guns, and has actually 62 mounted on
board. The first impression, on view of the ship at a
distance of three or four miles, with her hugeblack
hull, her upright stem and cutwater, bare of head,
knee, or other ornament than a slender double-
headed eagle placed close up under the bowspirit,.
and doing duty for a figure-head, and her elliptic
stern without quhrter galleries or moulding—the
first impression all this creates on the mind is, that
you see one of the huge cotton ships, which are at
times seen at Liverpool loaded with the produce of
the cotton plantations of the Southern States. As
you, however, approach nearer to her you discover
her double row of ports (which appear to be very
close together) in two long lines ; but it is only
when close to the ship that the eye can take in her
noble proportions, the lofty side, the beautiful for-
mation of her bow, which, though rather naked-
looking, from the absence of head, knee-rails, &c.,.
yet for that very reason is free from all superfluous
weight—" all for use, and nothing for ornament'
—and is evidently suited to enable the ship to ren-
der a good account of herself when steaming in the
teeth of a gale in mid ocean. On ascending the
vessel's side and stepping down from her bulwarks
to her upper deck the visitor is struck with a feel-
ing of a" want of room ;" the deck—with the guns
in the gangways, a cabin built on deck amidships,
and other matters—has a crowded appear-
ance notwithstanding the ship's great size,
and you do 'not get any clear view of her
quarter-deck battery, for although she carries
guns along the whole length of her deck they do
not show themselves with any effect. The most
prominent objects on this deck are the two Dahl-
gren pivot guns, one forward and the other aft;
they are of 101-inch bore, and weigh each about
15,4001 b. Englgh ; the carriages are made of ma-
hogany, and both gun and carriage, with the metal
work attached, are finished in a very superior man-
ner; these two guns are evidently the great sights
of the ship. The remainder of her armament on this
deck consists of 22 60-pounder shell guns of 71-in.
bore, mounted on mahogany carriages without gear
trucks, similar to the main deck gun carriages on
board the Mersey. For the better working of the
guns in the gangways the booms are stowed aloft
on the gallows, after the manner of a merchant
ship. This deck is also fitted with hawse pipes and.
capstan, the latter fitted with Brown's patent. Two
of Francis's patent metallic lifeboats are carried on
the booms. Over the screw well are erected on a
framework strong cross beams fitted with sheaves
for reeving the gear for hoisting the screw when.
necessary. On descending the roomy hatchway by
the handsomely finished ladder to the main deck

the same feeling of a crowded deck strikes the ob-
server, and you again miss that splendid sweep of

the ship's battery of guns fore and which fo-rms
so prominent a feature on board an English first-
class frigate. On this deck are 36 60-pounders of
74-in. bore, similar to the upper deck, and also
fitted w th carriages on the same plan, with two 30-
pounders for bow guns. The dispart sights of the
guns are fitted contrarywise to the English method.
Each gun is furnished with its handspike with du-
plex rollers, wood: i knees to the ship's side between
the ports, plated with iron. All sponge and rammer
heads are keyed on to the staffs ; stands of drums
are placed near the main hatchway, also a field-
piece with a very light and beautifully-finished iron
carriage. The captain's after cabins on this deck are
of good. space—placed fore and aft in three com-
partments, in one of which hangs an engraving of
his Imperial Highness the Grand Duke Constan-
.

tine. On the lovv-er deck the absence of mess tables,
stools, and gear gives it a strange appearance, when
remembering the prominent position such matters
occupy in an English ship. In the place usually
occupied by mess tables runs round the ship a range
of lockers and sailbins, &c., where the men's bags,
&c., are kept ; these are about 4 feet in height and
6 feet in breadth. On the ship's side at the back of
these lockers are hung the small-arms of the crew;
hooks for hanging their hammocks are fixed to the
beams of both main and lower decks. The officers'
wardroom is very large, and well but plainly fitted,
the deck covered with a handsome oil-cloth and spa-
cious state rooms as officers' bedrooms. The whole
of the wood and metal work throughout the ship is
finished in a very superior and artistic manner. Her
engines we did not visit, but were informed that
they are of 880-horse power, and the average speed.
of the ship 121 knots. Her length between perpen-
diculars was also stated, in answer to our inquiries,
to be 325 ft., or 25ft. longer than the Mersey. The
height 'tween decks we found to be 6ft. 4in., mea-
suring from the under part of the beams down to
the deck. The metal stanchions on her main deck
are fitted with screw heads for raising or depressing
the beams of the upper deck. The height of her
midship port from its sill to the edge of the copper
is 9ft. 6in., and thence to the water's edge 2ft. Bin.;
in all 12ft. tin. ; but, taking into calculation the
small amount of coals she has on board, and 10 guns
short of her complement, she will most likely, when
she has all her weights on board, carry her midship
ports 10ft. bin. from the water. As a summary of
our visit to the General Admiral, we may remark
that it appeared to us that her long sharp bow, with
its bold sheer, and lofty as that of a line-of-battle
ship, her plain serviceable stern, with quarters well
out of the water, and her fine run, giving free ad-
mission of the water to her screw, offered so many
points upon which we might advantageously nn-
prove the construction of our Merseys and Or-
landos, and more especially with reference to
the formation of the fore part of those vessels.
Inboard the comparison went the contrary way,
and the General Admiral's upper and main decks,
which appeared crowded with " notions," offered
but a poor contrast to the Mersey's, with her
splendid battery of 8 and 10-inch. guns. The
utmost courtesy is shown by the officers of the
ship in conducting strangers round and giving the=
every information, and we must not omit to state
that our guide informed us that the ship had been
but a short time in their hands, and. that she was

not yet in that order it was intended she should be.
As we were pulling away from the ship at the
conclusion of our visit the Mersey came down under
steam from Spithead and passed close round the
General Admiral, when again the vision of the
" huge cotton ship" became manifest to the mind,
the Mersey improving wonderfully in appearance
as a man-of-war the closer her proximity became to
her dark rival.

MYSTERIOUS DISCOVERY.

Some excitement was created at the Midland
Railway station, Leeds, on Wednesdaymenotrinin:
uatin gentleman
Bradford,motion first-class
aemnia
in
the discovery of the body of a new-born male
child, under circumstances of grave suspicion.
It appears
hntgheoettrl intoao.4ip
iMondaynheatudreabeen
ei
ef nfio the
e night,i pr
car-
riagesginoimngedtiaoat
ttKealciyrhkae
noticed a large brown paper parcel on one of the
seats. He looked out of the window and called to
the porters that there was a parcel in the carriage,
but the train was already out of the station, andit
was too late to leave the parcel behind. On sum-
mination he observed that it was addressed to a
pentleman in London, and thinking that it might
be valuable, he determined to take it home with
him, and deliver it the next morning, on his return.
to Leeds, to Mr. Chamberlain, the superintendent
at the Wellington station. He, therefore, on reach-
ing the Kirkstall station, took charge of the parcel,
and removed it to his home. The next morning he
brought it back to Leeds and delivered it to Mr.
i‘e‘ifueuesl"teofmthre.
Chamberlain. In the meantime his suspicions had
eres ss
Yesterday
aayt
been
parcel,i and sed bh3e, the
mentioned
those form
suspicions
othtedreesinteepds.necl
gave off such an timeun-
that
te buttak ei ta
nwya was
further
as to justify the officials in questionable odour
exa-
mining it more closely, and. .
the police
having been
morning, however, the parcel
sent for, it was opened in their presence. It WILS
then found to contain the dead body of a full-
grown male child, but there was nothing externally
to indicate whether it had been born alive or not..
The coroner, however, was communicated with, and.
he at once ordered a postmortem examination to
be made, and will open the inquest this morning.
The case is involved, as is usual in such instances,
in a rood deal of mystery.—Leeds Mercury.

MACKEREL.—Immense shoals of macizerell have
been observed off the Northumberland coast di-Iring the
past two or three days. The most remarkable, thing is
that quantities of them have found their way it
prin-
cipal rivers, and on Monday a great number
sere observed
as high up as the Northumberland Dock On Tuesday
morning 1,1.50 fine mackerel were caugb' c by the salmon
nets at one take at the mouth of the Try .to the