The Sun.
London, England, 1857-04-16 00:00:00

Naval and Military Intelligence.

The steam troopship Hithalaya, Commander Has•
well; embarked the headquarter 3 of the 90th Reg&
alongside rortamouth 'dockyard yesterday amount-
ing. to 'about 900, making, with her ship's company,
about 1,100 persons, and dropped out to Spithead,
which she will leave this morning for China.. • The
troops seemed most comfortably berthed, aid snp-
plied with comforts not known to troops employed
•
in the former China war.

The Boseawan, 70, Capt. Glanville, shuck the:gag
of Rear-Admiral Fanshawe, C. 8., last evening. at
sunset, and left. Spithead since for Plymouth, to be
p sidoff atid re-comanjSsonea to carry the flag of R sar
Admiral the HMI. Sir F. .W. Grey, K. C. B , on lie
Cape of Good Hope statiun. The Boscawen sailed
frog'. Berinuda.,ou the 26th ult.,
.experienced strong.
N. W. and %V. width the whole passage. The Indus,
78, Capt. Stewart, C. B mg of Rear-Admiral Sir
Houston Stewart, K. C. 8..; arrived out on the 23d
of March. Tice strain-sloop t)wed the
Bosca wen out through the Narrows and proceeded
ou for St: Thomas's and the -West Indies. Ihe
Bo ,cawetilost wo 'then on the voyage home one
fell frotn.aloft on deck, with the exception of Capt.
Glativil.e, who left her at Portsmouth, and inva7
lidea to Haslar. .

The depot of the.37th Regiment, consisting of 8
sergeants and po rank and file, with Brevet-Major
J. R. latoi#, EiY;ign R. J. Bell Ensign S.
Ilawkes,Endgn F. O. Foily:l4, and Ensign M. A.
BorthWick, will proceed from- the Provisional Bat-
talion, Chatham, this morning to Chicheaer, kit
the:purpose of joining the Depot Battalion un.ler
the comiliand of 061bnel*C.

The Puke of Cambridge has awarled a sitiei•
medal, with &gratuity of. 51. to James Byrne, a
private in the 81st Regiment, at Chatham, for ling
and meritorious conduct:•

The Turkish frigate Geyvau. Bahri sailed fr,m3.
LiverpoOl for Con4autin'ople :on Tuesday,. having
been prevented by the weather from taking her de-
parture .011 Monday. She. fired a royal salute, as
passed the Rock Light, • in honour of the Britsh
flag, a compliment which was returned by the ar il-
lery m ilitia stationud at' the North Fort. Since
the vessel has remained at Liverpobl she has lost 4
of her e,mplemeut. of Men, who were all buried in
the Necropolis, a Dissenting burial-ground.
A, numerous body of the unemployed assetnMed
yesterday evening in the paper factory of the .11r-
senal at-Woolwich, in order to devise the means. (if
possible, . hy soli ;ding contributions from their com-
rades, who are in rho receipt of wages) to reduce
the long list which has been presented to Lord Pim-
mare, containing the names of those who have pe-
titioned. Government for the grant of a free passage
to .Canaaa. A reply was received on Tuesday, in
which his lordship stated, with much comixiiserati,on
for the distress of the men, that his department has
not the means of complying with their request. A
deputation immediately went to the residence in
Lond.n of General CodringtOri, one of 'the mem-
bers for the borough, but untoitunately the general
was absent from home.. .With a lit+le hesitation
they then prciceeded to lay their petition•before :Sir
B. Hawes, who received them most cordially, sym-
pathising with their distressed position, and advis-
ing them to return to -Woolwich an:cl,endeavour to
reduce their number. This was the -object of the
meetinglast evening in the Royal. Arsenal. The
assistance, however, which their .fellow-labour.ers
were enabled to render them- was very trifling. An
additional 100 aie.under orders of dismissal from
the carriage department. Hof the. Royal Arsenal, alio
it is probable may yet be retained through the hu-
mane interference•of Col.-Tulloch, superintendent of
that branch of the establishment, who has conside-
rately represented to GOVernipent the feasibility of
employing the services of ttie entire number now
engaged- thrOughout the ensuing year, and also of
reducing the hours of -labour. The Colonel con-
siders that in place of granting the, afterpart of Sa-
turday:as a holiday to the men, if the whole day
were ceded to them a great portion of them, who
are induAriously.inclined mechanics,. would be in-
duced to turn the day to the advantage of their fami-
lies. Since the termination of the Russian war up-
wards of 7,000 men and boys employed in various
capacities have been disChar,ed from the Arsenal
alone. Many of their families are. consequently in
a State• of utter starvation, and thousands are re-
duced to an inconceivable state of distress. To-
morroW a public meeting. (as announced by placards
through.the streets of Woolwich) of the ratepayers
and the discharged workmen from the Royal Ar-
senal and doCkyard will beheld at the Ratepayers'-
hall, to consider and adopt such resolutions as may
be deetned expedient to relieve the painful distress
caused'by the lati3. discharge of artisans from the
public .establishments in the. town. Mr. J. Town-
send, the newly-elected member for. Greenwich, will
occupy the obair.
'screw steam corvette Scout, lately con-
structed in Woolwich dockyard, is.pow ready to be
placed under the hands of the riggers, and was yis-
terday removed from the fitting basin for that pur-
pose. .
The screw steam storeship Hesper, under fitment
for China, was hauled out of basin at Woolwich y.:s-
terday, and proceeded 'down to the river to try bier
Machinery at therseasured mile. She hasbeen sup-
plied with'one of.Griffiths's patent screw propellers,
which admit_of placing the blades in line with the
keel when not steaming, thereby obviating the
necessity of unsliipping the screw, and giving tue
vessel the full advantage of sail.
The storeship Buffalo, alo.ng the wharf at Wo d-
wich, has cleared out her cargo, and prepared for
survey.preparatory to being paid off, and laid up
in ordinary.-

The, Lords of the Admiralty have sanctioned an
exchange of divisions between Captain John; B.
Prynne, of the Woolwich division Royal Marines,
and Captain R. C. Spalding, Plymouth division.
Mesars. Lucas Brothers, haviog completed the
erection of the ghn-factory • boring-mills and gas-
Works in Woolwich Arsenal, have handed them
over ;o•the charge of the Government officials. The
clock tower, destined-to be carried 120 feet in height
and to tontain a-peal of chime bells, is stayed at
the height of 90' feet, and is to be converted to the
use of a water tower.

NATURAL EBSOUIiCES OF PERSIA.

The soil and climate of Persia are only partially
favourable to production, and the country is sub-
ject to.iiroagh's so severe, that when they occur
they are followed by .a general famine. The soil
is. generally a hard clay, luxuriantly productive
Wuere 'water can .be procured ; but owing to the
scarety of -water, to the unsettled s'ate of the
Govei:nment, to the oppressive *posts, and fre-
quency of civil wars, there have been times when
hardly a twentieth part of the. land has been
under cultivation. Wheat is the, chief Produ.3e;
barley,. millet, and oats are also grown, and rice is
produced in large quantities in the provinde of
.gaztnderan. Persia iecelebrwed for her gardens,
Which produce the most esteemed fruits of Europe,
r such as the fig, pomegranate, mulberry, almond,
peach,and apricot, which are believed to have been
originally brought from that country. The orange,
the melon '(of which
.there are twenty different
species), and the quince, are indigenous, and, in
perfection. Hemp, tobacco, opium, sesantum,
rhubarb, manna, saffron, cotton, turpentine, mastic,
gums,.• gall-nuts, are amongst the .:products of
Persia. Its vines also excellent, and the silk-
.. • • .
Worm is extensively cultivated.
Persia produces, also, the white and black naph-
tha, which was used by the people for lamas before
it becUme for a time fashionable in Eoglard. The.
black ,naphtha is found in Irak Arabi ; but: the
more productive fountains are near lierkoak. ' The
white naphi ha is found floating like a crust on the
surface of the wetter, and is of a thicker consistence,
resembling tallow rather than pitch,- for which the
.
black naphtha is the Persian substitute: Its light
With this exception "the • mineral
products
rodncts of Persia are of particular value.
isbaet disagreeable. With
ble. than that of 'the
not
.lack, and its smell less
Salt is so abundant as to be almost valueless.
There are some copper mines in tire mountains of
Mazauderan and Kerman ; and in Adjerbijan there
are mines of iron apd,silyer. Sulphur and nitre are
found in the mountain of Dernawend, and the tur-
quoise, which' is peculiar to Persia, is found in the
mountains,of Khorassan ; the best in amine near
Nishapore. The marbles of Persia are valuable,
especially the transparent stone called. Tabriz
,mar-
ble, which is produced by the petrifying waters of
a spring near Maragha, the most extraordinary of
its kind in the world... ...
The horses are the handsomest, though not the
fleetest, ofthe East. • •The camels of lihurassan are
equal to those of Arabia. Mules are in general
use, and their breed an object of .particular atten-
tion. The wild ass, an animal in every way supe-
rior to ours, larger and amazingly swift of foet, is
an object of chase, and its flesh a delicacy. Cows
and oxen are kept for agricultural purposes, and
by
nor-
the
for the dairy, 'Chew, flesh eaten onlyits'e
lower classes. The Persian sheeP, with
mous flat tail, weighing alone often as much as
301 b., forms, togetTaerwith . their flocks of goats,
the wealth of the wandering tribes. The boar, the
tiger, hyena, jackal, eagle, vulean,
iu the southern provinces-
bear, the lion,'
acraet.f:sunligt4es die forests that border on
The
and
ofaalscpoina,h
the Caspain. The am:elope, hare,- zebra, foi, and
deer, are found in sufficient abundance for the pur-
poses, of the sportsman.--Morning Advertiser.

•
About 4.50,0001. out of the late ,gold arrivalmaki s from
Australia was sold to' he Bank yesterday,
ng th•
total .taken there daring the present week 670,0001.
This, kowever, still fall.. short of the amount necessary
to repair the extraordinary drol4 ,of the past fortnight.