The Sun.
London, England, 1859-09-30 00:00:00

what may be termed stump masts, with fore and I
aft sails, which would be of no further use than
for lying to in a gale, to assist in steadying her
when under steam, or just to give steerage way
when the steam power was not in use, either from
there being'something wrong in the engine room or
some other reason. But though I admit and think
that the size of the masts and yards our skips are
now fitted with might be considerably reduced, and
yet the ship be under perfect command under sail
alone, and able to thrash off a lee-shore," or make a
passage in the case of steam power failing, I deny
that it would be expedient to reduce them to that
inefficient size, and trust so entirely to the steam
power as merchant vessels, packets, &c., do where
there is little chance of a shell in the engine-room.
By reducing the size of the spars many advantages
would be gained and great expense saved., When
under steam the gain would be in having less top-
weight, and less resistance consequently. Less
hands would be required to leave the guns to work
the ship " in the case again of a shell in the engine-
room," and Iflss motion in heavy weather, both at
sea or at anchor. _

One of Colonel Simmons's arguments in favour
of his plan is the difficulty of procuring seamen on
an emergency. That may be avoided by maintain-
ing a reserve, and I have not heard or read of any
better plan than that suggested by Sir Charles
Napier (than whom nobody has a better rignt a
valued-opinion on such matters from his long ex-
perience and having thought and said so much on
the subject) which appeared in your valuable
columns in a letter addressed to Sir John Paking-
ton viz., to keep up a Channel fleet of at least ten
sail! of the line, manned by seamen with a small
detachment of marines on board—" in a crew of
1,000, for instance, there should be 100"—these to
be constantly changed from ship to shore at periods
of three months or so, and vice versa, by way of
keeping up the efficiency per mare per terram (the
present force at the naval ports to be increased of
course), and then in the event of an emergency half
of the seamen in each ship could be draughted into
the ships in the first class reserve, fill up the rest
of the complement with coast volunteers and the
full number of marines, and we should have 20 sail
of the line manned without touching the Coast-
guard and blockships.
I fear I have already trespassed too long on
you already, or I would adduce other reasons to
dispel the notion of substituting the marine
for the sailor. Nobody, lam sure, has a greater
respect for, or appreciates the invaluable ser-
vices of the Marine corps more than I do, and
I most fully agree with the words quoted in your
columns of the 19th inst., from • a report to Parlia-
ment, in a very sensible letter from "A Colonel,
Royal Marines,"—" that, as an efficient body of
men, they are second to none in the service of the
State ;" and, moreover, I fully agree with him in
his opinion, that, were Colonel Simmons's proposal
adopted, the result would be a deficiency of marines
as well as sailors.

One word on the most important part of this all-
important question, tiat is, always keeping up a
good navy, so as to do away pith the everlasting
difficulty of procuring seamen whenever warlike
spuds appear on the horizon; to assist in doing so
I would arge that a greater number of boys be en-
tered and trained as they now are, " only to too
small an extent," on board those invaluable 'school
brigs" (for it is from that school that our best men-
of-war's men come" ; that the continuous service
system be more fully carried out till every man
may be as liable to be called upon to servo at any
time as well as an officer may ; and that more seri-
ous notice should be taken of the crime of desertion
than it now is, for really the service may, be com-
pared to a pocket with a hole in it just now.
Hoping you will favour these few remarks with a
place in your columns, I have the honour to be,
yo •r obedient servant,
',ept., 27.

A CAPTAIN, R.N.

THE 41FFAIR .OF THE PEIHO.

The following account of the engagement with
the forts of the Peiho is written by an eye-witness :

" GULF OF PECHELI, July 6, 1859.
" When the English fleet left Hong-Kong for an
expedition to the Peiho very few persons had the
slightest anticipation of anythinc, otherwise than a
peaceful and successful trip to the Imperial city of
Pekin. Not a breath of suspicion was aloat ; not a
cloud appeared; the horizon was clear and calm,
and everything denoted peace. When we arrived
at Shanghae rumour did not preserve the same con-
sistency; reports were circulating freely, bat they
did not agree ; some said one thing, some another ;
one authority said every preparation was made for
the reception of our ambassador; another authority
stated that 100,000 troops were collected around
Pekin to dispute our entrance ; but nobody said
that the fdrts of Peiho had been rebuilt, re-fortified,
and re-manned. Well, the Adriiiral had made
every preparation for any contingency that might
rrise. If the troops had to land they knew what
officers would command the divisions ; the naval
department, too, had its officers distinctly named
for the different duties entrusted to them. So far,
everything augured well for success in case of oppo-
sition. Officers, men, gunboats, ammunition, scat-
inn ladders, and, in fact, all the minutim of the
expedition had been carefully planned.
" We left Shanghae and arrived at the Gulf of
Pecheli about the 19th of June, thus allowing a
week for our trip to Pekin, where the treaty was
to be ratified. The force here consisted of the
Chesapeake, flag-ship ; Highflyer, Capt. Shadwell ;
Magicienne, Capt. Vansittart ; Fury, Commander
Commerell ;. Assistance, Commander Heath; Nim-
rod, Commander Winniatt ; Cormorant, Com-
mander Wodehouse ; Cruiser, Commander Bythe-
gea ; and nine gunboats—viz., Lee, Plover, Janus,
Haughty, Forester, Banterer, Opossum, Starling,
and Kestrel.

" In addition to this force the French steam-fri-
gate Duehayle and a gunboat tender, the American
frigate Powhattan and tender, were here, having.
on board the representatives of their respective
Governments.

" The Chinese took not the slightest notice of our
arrival, and made no attempts to pay the ordinary
marks of resp Tt to the ambassadors of the three
Powers, who were anxious to ratify the treaty of
1858.

" The admiral sent a boat on shore to communi-
cate with the mandarin ; and the information they
received was to the effect that no orders had been
received from Pekin,' and consequently he could not
allow any ships to go up the river.
" Such being the state of affairs the admiral,
after communicating with Mr. Bruce, determined
to storm the forts and force a passage. A delay of
some twelve hours ensued in carrying out the ar-
rangements far
.the purpose of allowing the French
and American forces to unite with ours.

" At length, on the morning of Friday, June 24,
the gunboats, with the Cormorant and Nimrod,
went in, towing some 12 or 14 boats, manned and
armed from the different ships. '
" The first object of the admiral was to blow up the
boom (or, mote properly, booms), and then, perhaps,
the gunboats might run the gauntlets of the forts
and take them in flank, should they show fight.
Capt. Willes had charge of the boom' party, and
about 11 p.m.three or four heavy reports told plainly
enough that the trial had been made. Unfortunately
the result was not satisfactory, for though the first
boom was blawn up there still remained an impas-
sable barrier, which defied all assailants. And now
there seems to remain no chance of evading a fight.'
All on r anticipations of viewing the far-famed capi-
tal of C4'hina, with its palaces, and temples, and pago-
das; nil thesisions of receptions and banquets (the
indications of fraternity and amicable relationship)
vanish ioto thin air. The steps of the barbarian
must not defile the pavelnent of the celestial city.
An officer sent a scrawl to his fritncl, and wrote,
The Chinese intend to fight.' Yes, we were to he
saluted ; the English flag was to be saluted ; but it
was not the salute of love. Blood was to be shed
from Inman victims to ratify this celestial treaty.
It reminds one of the great Frederick, who stamped
his edicts with the hilt of his sword. The Chinese
are going to improve on that plan, and intend in
future to ratify treaties with artillery. But passing
by preliminaries, let us come to business.
" The morning of the 25th was calm and clear.
Towards noon it, became rather warm, and in look-
ing over the watery space between our position and
the forts one could discern the dancing wavy glare
of a summer day.
"The gunboats were evidently in position, formed
in three divisions; Capt. Shad well having command
of the red, Capt. Vansittart of the white, Capt.
Willes of the blue, the divisions being distinguished
by the ensign at the mast head. At-2.40 p.m. the'
report of a gon from one of the forts announced the
bwit4itining of the action. Instantly the aprons*
were raised from the embrasures of the curtains,
and a volley of shot and-shell from a hundred guns
fell with destructive effect on our force. The attack
was reciprocated in good earnest, and for the space
of five minutes the deep, heavy report of artillery,
as quick as hail, tells in unmistakeable terms how
fiercely they fought.
• " At the cod of some five or six minutes there is
an explosion, probably a magazine, and after an
interval 'of 10 minutes .more another. Two forts
appear to be disabled, or at least silenced ; but the
other forts and every embrasure along the curtain
continue to pour forth their death-bearing messen-
gers with unabated vigour. The gunboats return
the fire with rapidity and precision, but not with
that crushing effect which we anticipated. Some
of the gunboats are ashore, and are exposed to a
galling and murderous fire. The forts, once having

All the embrasures appear to have an apron, which is
raised when the gun is in position for firing,