The Sun.
London, England, 1861-07-29 00:00:00

THE NAVY.

THE CHANNEL FLEET.—The Berry Journal
says The anxiety of the public with regard to
the fleet has at length been allayed by the arrival
of the squadron in Lough Swilly. The vessels lay
off I)unree, at the mouth of the lough, for the night,
and yesterday proceeded up the lough and anchored
in line abreast of Buncrana, and about a mile dis-
tant from the shore. The position taken up is a
line running obliquely from Ramullan to Nedz
Point Batteries. The arrival and anchoring of the
fleet is described as having been a grand spectacle,
such as has never been witnessed in Lough Swilly,
and the inhabitants of this and the neighbouring
counties have an opportunity—which no doubt will
be largely taken advantage of—of seeing some of
the finest vessels in her Majesty's navy commanded
and manned by the bravest of British sailors.. The
length of time which the fleet will stay in this
neighbourhood is, of course, only known to the
admiral, but from inquiries which we have made
we have reason to believe, that it will remain in
Lough Swilly for three or four days, and in Lough
Foyle for perhaps a longer period."
A letter, dated Valetta, July 24, 2 a.m., says :--
"The screw transport Megvera, Commander Hen-
derson, returned to Malta from Corfu on the 19th
inst. She arrived at Corfu at 2, p.m. of the 14th
inst., after a passage of less than two days, and
found at anchor there her Majesty's ships Cmsar
(flagship of Rear Admiral Dacres, C. 8.), Orion,
and Queen, which vessels had arrived that mot n-
ing from Zanto. On the following day the troops
and supernumeraries for the squadron were disem-
barked. The Orion left that evening under steam
for Beyrout. The James Watt, having been re-
lieved by the Gannet at Suda Bay (Candia) on the
3d inst., arrived at Corfu on the evening of the
16th, and was under orders to proceed to Gibraltar
to replace the St. Jean d'Acre, ordered to Malta.
The Megrera left Corfu on the afternoon of the 17th
with Capt. Cox's company of Royal Engineers and
various officers and privates belonging to other
corps. An Austrian frigate and a steam yacht
were at anchor off the Lord High Commissioner's
country house at Corfu, where the Empress is stay-
ing for the benefit of her health. On the 22d inst.
the Megmra embarked various officers and men
from Malta, and proceeded the same day for Gib•
raltar and England. I understand that on the
arrival here of the Megecra, circulars were issued. to
the principal naval and military officers, intimating
that none but invalids suffering from serious sick-
ness and certain to die unless removed were to be
sent on board. Of 200 naval invalids, many of
whom were ordered home in February last, room
could only be found for some 35. It is the same
with the military invalids. Only about one-third
of those who have been awaiting passage for some
months past have been:embark-ed. These wretched
dying men will be reduced to the space allowed to
healthy troops. Very few indeed, if any, lam in-
formed, can be provided with cots. I hear the
most bitter complaints on all sides of the fatal mis-
management of the authorities in neglecting to find
adequate means of transport at the proper season.
The Scourge, 6, Commander W. G. Jones, and
Mohawk, 4, Commander E. H. Howard, returned
on the 21st inst. from the north coast of Africa.
The former called in at Bengazi and Tripoli, for
the purpose of enabling Mr. Forde, Government
engineer, to inspect the telegraph stations at those
places. She brings news from Tripoli to the 20th
inst. Her Majesty's ships are :—The Liffey, 51
(flag of the Commander-in•Cliief) ; the Hibernia,
screw ship (flag of Rear-Admiral Codrington,
C. 8.); the Scourge, 6; the Mohawk, 4; the Fox-
hound, 4 ; and the Hearty, tug."
The Russian screw steam corvettes Boyarinaell,
Commodore Capt. Maydell ; arid Voyvod a, 11,
Commander Matrieff ; and despatch boat I)gigcite,
3, Commander Kornileff, arrived in Plymouth
Sound, on Saturday, as already announced in The
Sun. These steam ships have been four years in
commission ; the corvettes have been chiefly on the
China station and in the Boyaria river ; the de-
spatch boat was occupied at Japan. They left
Shanghai, January 27 ; Singapore, February 25;
Batavia, March 13 ; the Cape of Good Hope, May
21 ; and Fayal, July 19. The boilers of the ships
are to be supplied with new tubes which have been
some time prepared by the Plymouth Foundry
Company. In the course-of the forenoon the Rus-
sian Vice-Consul, Mr. William Luscombe, and the
Mayor of Plymouth visited the Commodore. These
ships will remain some days in the Sound, and
then proceed to Cronstadt.
The Iris, 26, arrived off the dockyard at Chatham
on the 27th inst., from the Australian station, the
ship having been in commission since Jan,, 1857.
She was commissioned at Chatham by Capt. W.
Loring, C. 8., on the 23d of Feb. She was towed
out of the harbour by the Cuckoo steam vessel, and
left Spit head on the 7th of March for the Austra-
lian station ; on the Ist of July following she an-
chored in -Varna Cove, Sidney, and released the
Juno, 29, Capt. S. G. Fremantle, and the 17th of
Sept. she sailed for Norfolk Island, and arrived
there on the 23d of that month, when it was found
that the islanders were in great distress on account
of the want of provisions, particularly flour. In
consequence of this the Iris proceeded to Auckland
for a
,supply of food, having obtained which, she
also procured a vessel to follow with a further sup-
ply. The Iris again reached the island on the 11th
of October, when his Excellency the Governor
landed, and
proceeded to inspect the island, furnish-
ing a code of laws for the guidance of the inhabi-
tants, and appointed, with the usual formalities, a
chief and subordinate magistrate. The Iris after-
wards wont to the Bay of Islands, and remained
there some
thrice in order to grace the ceremony of
raising
a new flagstaff in place of that cut down by
the late redoubtable Honi Heki. It afterwards
sailed to Tana, one of the new Hebrides, to inquire
into the murder of two Englishmen belonging to
the vessel called New Forest ; it was, however, after
a, most diligent investigation found impossible to