The Sun.
London, England, 1861-02-14 00:00:00

TILE N 4 VI

A MaUri correspondent, in a letter dated Valetta,
Feb. B,f a ys :—" Her Majesty's gunboat Foxhound,
ComtnrAr .der A. Mitchell, and frigate Melpomene,
Capt aim C. J. Ewart, took their departure on Thurs-
day , the 31st ult., the former with a mail for Corfu,
s•.id the latter for the coast of Syria to relieve the
frigate Liffey, which is expected here in a few clays.
'TheFoxhound returned from Corfu on the 6th inst.;
her Majesty's line-of-battle ship Agamemnon, Capt.
T. Hope, left port on the sth inst ; the line-of-battle
ship Queen, Captain C. Hillyar, on the 6th, and the
corvette Scourge, Commander W. Jones, on the
7th, all three for Corfu. The line-of-battle ship
Renown, Captain A. Forbes, it is said, will follow
shortly for the same destination. The line-of-battle
ship Exmouth, Captain J. Paynter, is under orders
for Naples, and the line-of-battle ship Cmsar, Capt.
T. Mason, is refitting. Previous to her departure
the officers of the Queen gave a grand ball on board
their ship, which was very well attended, and pro-
inouncetl to be one of the most successful entertain-
ments of the kind this season. Her Majesty's ships
of war at present in port are—The receiving ship
Hibernia (flag of Rear-Admiral H: J. Codrington,
C.D.); line-of-battle ships Renown, Cmsar, and Ex-
mouth ; gunboats Assurance and Foxhound, and the
surveying vessel Medina. There is also a Swedish
corvette here, the Lagerbjelke, Capt. J. L. Melander,
which arrived on Saturday last from Alexandria."
The Spitfire, 5. paddle, Lieut.-Commander Al-
lingham, arrived at Spithead yesterday morning
from Plymouth Sound, having on board 20 men of
the Marine Light Infantry, volunteered for the
Artillery division, and a few naval supernumeraries.
The Spitfire was ordered to coal, and proceed on to
Woolwich.

The Cockatrice, new-class gunboat, made her
official trial of speed yesterday at Portsmouth. The
mean of her runs at the measured mile gave her a
speed of rather over 8 knots. Her engines are 60
horse, nominal, condensing, by Messrs. Penn. Their
Working gave every satisfaction.
The Bulldog, 6, paddle, Commander M'Killop,
bent sails and took in powder and shell at Ports-
mouth yesterday. On Monday next she will embark
a portion of the 15th brigade of Royal Artillery for
conveyance to Alderney. Capt. M'Killop has so far
recovered from the effects of the injuries he received
on board his vessel as to be discharged from the
Royal Naval Hospital at Haslar.

The Icarus, 11, screw, Commander Nowell Salmon,
V.C., arrived at Spithead early yesterday from the
West Indies, 22 days from Bermuda. She has had
fair and strong winds the whole passage up to Sa-
turday last, since which time she has had steam up,
having made the passage previously under canvass.
She was 60 miles off Stilly on Thursday last, but
was blown off the land. On the following day and
night a terrific gale was experienced from the north-
ward. The ship brought home a mail from Bermuda,
'which was forwarded to London by morning train.
She has returned to England in consequence of the
sickness lately on board, and by which she lost six
'officers and 33 men. It was the dreaded yellow fever,
and first made its appearance on board at Belize.
Powder and shell were taken out of the ship at Spit-
head yesterday, and this morning she will go into
the harbour to refit, or turn over to another vessel,
rumour says the Rinaldo, 17, screw. Her Majesty's
ships Nile and Firebrand sailed from Bermuda on
the 20th of January. The Firebrand arrived at
13ermuda, from Spithead and Madeira on the Bth
ultimo.

The Isis, 44, being fitted at Chatham for the coast
,of Africa, is ordered to be andocked on the 25th
inst., when she will at once proceed to her destina-
tion, which is understood to be Sierra Leone.
The Bombay, 81, line-of-battle screw steamer,
converting at Chatham, is expected to be entirely
completed and ready to be undocked by the end of
next month.

Her Majesty's ship Trident, Commander Nicolas,
was Yesterday thoroughly inspected at her moor-
ings off Woolwich dockyard by the Commodore
Supw.intendent, when the crew were put through
a criurse of small arms exercise on the quarter-
dwelt prior to her departure. The whole arrange-
rrtent of the ship and the discipline established
'met with the Commodore's approbation, which
be was pleased to express to Commander Nicolas
before leaving the ship. The Trident subsequently
sailed at 3 p.m. for Sheerness, to receive her sailing
orders from the port admiral (Hope Johnstone) at
that station. It is expected that the Trident will
remain on the home station until June, when she
will proceed to the West Coast of Africa for the
swppression of the slave trade.

The screw steam gunvessel Philomel, 5, Com-
taander Leveson Wildman, from Portsmouth, ar-
rived on Tuesday evening at Plymouth, where she
has embarked two shipwrights to do duty as car-
penters' mates at the Island of Ascension.

The screw steamship Centurion, 80, Capt. H. D.
Rogers, is appointed to be removed from No. 3 dock
in Keyham steamyard to-day, when the screw
steam gunvessel Penguin, tender to the frigate
Narcissus, M, Capt. Risk, will be placed in that
dcsk.

Command& Thompson, Queen's harbourmaster,
swung the screw steamaloop Flying Fish, 6, Com-
mander Charles W. Hope, at Plymouth yesterday,
adjusted her compasses.

The following appointments have been made at
the Admiralty :—Lieut. George Robinson to the
Britannia ; Lieut. Henry Vaughan to the St. Vin-
cent ; John T. Bremner, surgeon to the Crocodile ;
William T. Nilson, surgeon, to the Himalaya ; V.
C. Clarke, surgeon, to the Melpomene ; Joshua P.
Courtenay, surgeon, to the Hero; William Bryan,
acting third class assist. engineer, to the Hogue,
for service in the Harpy ; George Robert Beer,
acting third class assist. engineer, to the Fisgard,
for service in the Bustler ; James Barber, acting
third class assist. engineer, to the Asia, as super-
nemerary, tor service in the Sprightly; H. Coller,
William Blake Roch, Henry Brown, and James W.
Anthony, acting third class assist. engineers, to the
Asia, as supernumeraries.