The Sun.
London, England, 1861-05-10 00:00:00

THE .117 AY I'.

A letter from Malta, under date of the 3d of
May, announces the arrival on the day previous of
her Majesty's corvette Racoon, Capt. C. W. Cham-
berlain, from Jaffa, and the departure, the same
afternoon, of her Majesty's ship Mars, Capt. J. N.
Strange, for Beyrout. No further movements had
taken place among her Majesty's ships since the
Ist inst. The American corvette Iroquois, Capt.
Palmer, was to leave Malta on the 4th instant for
Tunis. Her Majesty's ships in Malta harbour oil
the 3d were the Liffey frigate, bearing the flag of
Vice-Admiral W. Fanshawe Martin, the ,Comman-
der-in-Chief; the Hibernia, receiving-ship (bearing
the flag of Rear-Admiral H. J. Codrington, C. 8.),
St. Jean d'Acre, line-of-battle ship; the Doris, fri-
gate; the Racoon, corvette ; the Alacrity, Lapwing,
Assurance, Intrepid, and Quail gunboats; and the I
tug hearty.

Her Majesty's paddlewheel steam sloop Cyclops,
6, 320-horse power, Capt. W. J. S Pullen, arrived
at Sheerness on Wednesday evening from the East
Indies and China, and saluted the flag of Vice-Ad-
miral W. J. Hope Johnstone, Commander-in-Chief
at the Nore. Yesterday the Cyclops was inspected
by the Vice-Admiral, who expressed himself in
highly satisfactory terms of the appearance of that
vessel, after being so long a time in commission.
The Cyclops will immediately commence stripping,
preparatory to be being paid off. She has been in
commission nearly four years.
Her Majesty's ship Rhadamanthus, Mr. Sturdee,
master commanding, from the Clyde, with engine
gear for the screw steam frigate Bristol, yesterday
went alongside the Royal Arsenal-pier at Woolwich
to land 36 old fortress guns and carriages brought
from Dumbarton Castle.

The paddlewheel steam sloop Driver, commis-
sioned at Woolwich for service in the Atlantic, yes-
terday unshipped her heavy pivot gun—a 68-poun-
der, weighing 95cwt.—to be replaced by a 100-
pounder Armstrong gun.
The hired transports Black Eagle and Rambler,
laden with military stores from Woolwich, yester-
day sailed for Halifax and Demerara.

The steam gunboat Louisa, 2, 60 horse power,
returned to Chatham harbour on Wednesday even-
ing, having been as far as the Maplin Sands for the
trial of her engines since the alterations effected at
Chatham dockyard in her machinery and screw.
The trial, which was under the direction of Mr. T.
Baker, chief engineer and inspector of machinery
at Chatham, and some otr:ers of the officials of that
establishment, was considered on the whole very
satisfactory.

Yesterday preparations were commenced at Cha.
tham dockyard for building the temporary dam
which is to be placed at the entrance of No. 2 dock
in lieu of the present caisson, in order that addi-
tional space may be obtained for the building of the
large mail-clad steamer Achilles, 40. The length
of the second dock, in which it is intended to build
the new iron war steamer, is 330 feet, but by the
substitution of a dam for the caisson now at the
entrance an addition of 20 feet will be gained. The
steam travelling cranes which are in the course of
erection along each side of the dock by Messrs.
Taylor and Co., of the Britannia Works, Birken-
head, will be completed in the course of a few
weeks. These machines are of the most powerful
description, and capable of lifting the heaviest po.r;
tion of the iron work which will be usec.ldienratb
construction of the new frigate. A considerable
portion portion of the machinery required
in
from the
the Achilles has arrived at the dockyard
contractors, but a great deal has
in fact, the
before the ship can be commenced Lod to be received
of the Achilles
chief delay in the commencement
_ival of the various has arisen from the non r.
Up to the present time
de-
scriptions of machinfeerwy-
mechanics have made ap
only comparativedlyock
yard to be employed
on the
plication at the
good platers as they
new frigate,
but
g apply are at
A
once taken o°' s there are to be upwards of 1,000
men employed n building the Achilles, the number
len coil) i
of b
mechanics to o hired must be very large.
It is stated the
Government intend, when a suf-
ficient number of volunteers for the Naval Reserve
have been enrolled oa the west coast of Wales, to
erect a battery at Aberystwith, or have a gunboat
stationed there during the period of drill. The
large space in Milford Haven between Hazlebeach
And the Wear Point will in future be called the

war's-road;' men-of-war Nibitill,
s raving their powder on board, wi.
there, as also will the guardship of the port., The
'chorage is good; and moorings foiline-ofhattle
laid down.
The following are the chief dimensions of the
screw liner Defiance, recently launched at Pem-
broke :—Length between perpendiculars, 254 ft. 9
in. ; length of keel for tonnage, 219 ft. 11 in. ;
breadth, extreme, 55ft. 4in.; breadth for tonnage,
51ft. 6in. ; breadth moulded, 53ft. Sin. ; depth of
hold, 24ft. 6in. ; burden in tons, 3,4751, and nomi-
nal power of engines, 800 horses.
confrom
di t
The screw troopship Adventure, Commander E.
Lacy, was officially inspected at Portsmouth yester-
day by the authorities and reported upon very fa-
vourably. She will be paid off this morning into
the first division of the steam reserve. The whole
of the machinery and boilers will have to be taken
out owing to their defective state. She came home
Ci
oh ni
cythlienduenrcse,aasnindgdurg exertions
past three years her machinery has been in such a
of her engineers to keep her available for service.
The Tyrian quarantine h •
brig, aving completed
during
her repairs below the water-line in No. 1 dock at
Portsmouth, has been undocked and placed in the
old ship basin.
The Surly gunboat, 60-horsepower, tender to the
Cornwallis, Lieut. H. C. Onslow, having taken in
coal, has left Sheerness to resume her duties in the
Humber.

The Undaunted, 51, screw steam frigate, 600-
horse power, which recently arrived at Sheerness
from Woolwich, has been taken into the fitting
basin to be coppered and prepared for the third-
class steam reserve.

The Newcastle, 51, screw steam frigate, which
was recently launched at Woolwich, made her offi-
cial trip at Sheerness yesterday. The frigate left
the steam basin at 9 a.m., in charge of Captain
Schomberg, commanding the steam reserve at the
port, and steamed out of the harbour for the trial
ground, off Mapling Wds, Kr. Price, inspector of
machinery afloat at Sheerness, and Mr: Townsend,
foreman of the engineering department at Sheerness
Dockyard, were on board and superintended the
trial on the part of the Government. The contrac-
_

tors (Messrs. Ravenhill, Salkeld, and Co.) were re-
presented by Messrs. Ravenhill and Hodgson. The
Newcastle is of 600 nominal horse power. Her en-
gines worked beautifully, and showed very little
variation in their revolutions. Her steering qualities
were very good. She made six runs at the measured
mile, the vessel drawing 19ft. 10in. of water aft,
and 15ft. 7in. forward (Griffith's screw, pitch 27,
diameter 28). The average of the six runs gave a
speed of 13.266 knots per hour. Revolution of en-
gines, 60 ; pressure of steam, 20; vacuum, 25. There
was a total absence of hot bearings, and the ma-
chinery worked very satisfactorily.
The screw steamship Cressy, 80, Capt. T. Harvey,
which arrived from Gibraltar at Plymouth on Wed-
nesday, as already reported in The Sun, transferred
yesterday morning about 70 invalids belonging to
the Mediterranean fleet, and the crew of the broken-
up gunboat Quail, into the steamtug Confiance,
which conveyed the former to the Royal Naval
Hospital, and the latter to the flagship Impregnable
in Hamoaze. After receiving about 150 tons of coal
the Cressy was appointed to leave the Sound yester-
day afternoon for Sheerness.

The trial of the screw steam sloop Pantaloon, 11,
outside Plymouth Breakwater, on Wednesday was,
in relation to the engines, perfectly satisfactory,
but the wind from the northward and eastward was
blowing so hard that it will become necessary for
her to make a second trial, which may take place
next week.

CANTERBURY -HALL CONCERTS
A.ND FINE ARTS GALLERY.
EVERY EVENING,
A Grand Selection from Verdi's new Opera,
UN BALLO IN MASCHERA,
(First produced in England at this Establishment),
With a Chorus of Forty Voices.
Also, Verdi's IL CORSARO, never performed at any
other Concerts.
Solos on the Cornet-a-piston, by Mr. Levy.
The Comic Department comprises the Brothers Conrad (in
their new and inimitable entertainments), Mr. Wood and his
talented little Son, Mr. Marshall, Mr• Blanchard, Mr. Hol-
lingsworth, and Miss Rose Howard.
Musical Director, Mr. F. JONGHMANS.