The Sun.
London, England, 1861-08-17 00:00:00

FORTIFICATIONS OF PO_RTSMOUTII.

Forty 100-pounder Armstrong guns are ordered
to be forwarded to Portsmouth, to be placed on the
salient points of the sea face of its defences and the
western approaches to Spithead. On the old Ports-
mouth line three of these guns will replace the pre-
sent 95-cwt. pivot smooth-bore guns, mounted at
the St. James's-gate, the Semaphore 8-inch shell-
gun battery, and the one on the southern angle of
the King's bastion. The auxiliary earthen redans,
east and west of Southsea Castle, will receive two
each, and the cavaliers of the new forts at Lumps
and Eastney will also be armed with the same de-
scription of weapon. Cumberland Fort will also
receive one, if not two, and will complete the sea
face of the defences on the island of Portsea. The
remaining portion of the guns will be distributed
between Blockhouse Fort, the auxiliary earthen
batteries of Fort Moncton, and at Browndown, the
earthern batteries at Hurst Castle, the fort at Cliff-
end, and Victoria Fort. The addition of these guns
will add much to the effectiveness of the defensive
works at the Needles entrance, and would also be
of great service at Fort Moncton and in Stokes
Bay ; but on all the points of the works bearing di-
rectly upon Spithead, more especially on the " No-
man,' and the "Dean"—that is, the passage between
those two shoals, their service to their friends and
damage to an enemy, when the new forts are con-
structed, will be more problematical. An engage-
ment between an enemy's fleet and the marine forts
would render any support from the batteries on
shore entirely out of the question, owing to the
smoke which would envelope the whole expanse of
water from Bembridge harbour to Southsea Castle.
Under these circumstances any discharge from the
forts at present existing at Portsmouth, or from the
projected ones on the Isle of Wight shore, would be
quite as likely to strike a fort as it would a ship.
Enemy's ships, too, will have this advantage—the
smoke of battle will not obscure their passage in
the deep water ways. The huge forts will not only
pilot their adversaries past the shoals in safety, but
will also point out the exact position of Portsmouth
dockyard, which, if the iron-clad ships really are
invulnerable, they can shell with a certainty even
from amid the smoke of the engagement.

The fortifications, present and projected, for the
defence of Portsmouth harbour, dockyard, and
arsenal may be divided into three sections, inde-
pendent of the works to defend the approaches to
Spithead and the southern shores of the Isle of
Wight :-
1. The inner line of defence, comprising the lines of for-
tification surrounding the towns of Portsmouth, Portsea,
and Gosport, with the Blockhouse double-tier fort, and
Point Shell Battery, on either side the harbour's mouth.
2. Southsea Castle, Lumps, Eastney, and Cumberland
Forts, with their auxiliary e irthen batteries. The Hilsea
lines, guarding the only entrance to the island of Portsea
by land. The line of detached forts (5) from Frater Lake to
Stokes Bay, and the defensive works along Stokes Bay, be-
ginning with Fort Gomer and its auxiliary batteries, and
ending with Fort Moncton, opposite to Southsea Castle.
3. The marine forts at Spithead, the extensive works on
Portsdown-hill, seven miles in extent, and the large de-
tached forts in advance of the forts between Browndown
and Frater Lake, and situate respectively at Lee Farm,
Roome, Newgate, Old Ford, and Wallington, the two latter
lying north and South of Fareham, and guarding the
ap-
proaches to the west end of Portsdown.

The greater portion of the first section, the origi-
nal lines of defence in front of Portsmouth and Port-
sea, landward, have long been acknowledged to have
become useless for the purposes of defence. A large
portion of the Portsmouth lines, from the town bas-
tion to King James's•gate, it has been determined to

level with the ground, and devote the space gained
to the erection of barracks and the formation of
parade grounds, &c. To make this really sensible
work appear ridiculous, however, it has been deter-
mined, at great cost, to connect the remaining por-
tion of the old Portsmouth lines with the Portsea
lines, by bastion and curtain, in the good old style.
The suburbs have so sprung up around Portsmouth
since these lines of defence were first carried out
that a dense population resides up to the very foot
of the glacis, from Southsea Common to the termi-
nation of the Portsea lines on the beach of Ports-
mouth harbour, near the north-eastern extremity of
the dockyard. As a consequence, all guns from
these extensive and expensive works, not pointing
exactly seaward, point with droll significance at the
bedroom windows of the inhabitants of the two
towns. While bastion and ravelin thus situated are
crowded with cannon of all calibre and descriptions,
Southsea beach, which forms one side of the Ports-
mouth harbour channel from the sea, is without a
single battery or gun, from the King's Bastion of
the town lines we have just spoken of to the auxi-
liary earthworks of Southsea Castle. Bastion and
curtain, rampart and moat, which frown so terribly
against the people they are intended to protect,
might surely be more appropriately placed on the
sea beach, where one day they may do service against
an enemy, than be kept inland where the houses of
the inhabitants are gradually closing round and
growing over them. Of the second line of defence
the chief fault seems to be landward. Southsea
Castle and the adjacent forts and batteries are all
able to do good service, although many faults exist
in them. The same remarks apply to Fort Monc-
ton. The line of defence along Stokes Bay assumes a
formidable appearance as it becomes further deve-
loped, as do the lines of Hilsea ; these latter will be
gigantic creations, and are daily making their trace
more plain to the eye of the uninitiated as their
earthen bastions and curtains, connecting the flank
casemated batteries, are being thrown up by the con-
tractor. In nearly a straight line from the south-
west shore of Portsmouth Harbour to Stokes Bay
are fire detached forts, two—Gomer and Elson.--
complete, and three others in course of construction.
This line of forts is now allowed to be not only bad
in situation, but bad in design. Fort Gomer has
always enjoyed an unenviable reputation, while the
other completed work, Fort Elson, has been eva-
cuated by the Royal Artillery quartered in it to allow
of repairs 'eing effected in less than 12 months' time
of its completion. It is now ordered to have 15 of
its heavier guns removed, and replaced by the same
number of lighter calibre. But these lines of forts
are stated to be useless, and it is therefore necessary
to have another girdle, and hence the advanced forts
at Roome, Lee Farm, and Fareham. The forts just

PR1CE....... .4d.
STAMPED ....sd.

referred to, however, are not to be neglected, if they
are useless. They are to be connected by ditch from
Gomer to Elson, but as the forts themselves will not
be complete before December, 1862, probably b 3 that
time they may be ordered to be pulled down again,
so that their construction will not much signify in
their case alone. The warnings inculcated in the
public mind by these repeated failures and mistakes
give but little hope of any reasonable return for the
immense outlay the proposed experimental fort.
making on Portsdown or on the shoals surrounding
Spithead will involve. Sebastopol's greatest forti-
fications were made on the spur of the moment with
the pick and the spade, by the indomitable perse-
veranca of a man of genius. The pick and spade
would also play an important part in England in
the event of an enemy ever landing. Portsdown-
hill, should such an event as invasion ever threaten,
could, by the aid of the garrison, the labour of the
town and dockyard, the convicts, &cll., be rendered
impregnable in a very few hours. The proposed
and existing works and forts for the defence of
Portsmouth, it must be borne in mind, would require
the whole British army to take charge of. What
is required is a good military road, covered with
a rampart, contiguous to and parallel with
the sea shore. Heavy and light batteries of artillery
manoeuvring on this road, backed up by the regu-
lar army and Volunteers, would render more
efficient service than all the costly schemes that ever
emanated from the brains of the Royal Engineers.

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wEt retu
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Regiment, for Aldershott.

RAILWAY INTELLIG.L.NCE.

SOUTH \VALES.

The- directors of this company have decided on
recommending a dividend for the half-year ending
the 30th of June last at the rate of £2 15s. per cent.
per annum, leaving a balance over of about £2,300.
The dividend for the corresponding half of 1860
was at the rate of 2 per cent. per annum.

GREAT WESTERN.
The half-yearly meeting of this ompany was
held yesterday, at the Paddington station—the
Earl of ._Shelburne in the chair.
The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the
report, explained the various causes which had not
only prejudicially affected the traffic during the
past half-year, but added to the expeuditu:e—thy
principal cause being the weather, and an absti ac-
/ion by the South-Western line of a portion of the
Exeter traffic. He congratulated the shareholders
on the fact that the narrow gauge between Padding-
ton and Reading wail; rapidly approaching
pletion, when the full advantages of the arrange-
ment with the West Midland would be felt, the
northern traffic being enabled to come over their line
without break of gauge. He also anticipated
favourable results from the Birkenhead lines as soon
as the Birkenhead docks were completed. In reply
to questions, it was stated that an attempt had been
made to put an end to all disputes with the South
Wales line by a complete amalgamation, and offers
had been made that, of the totaLreceipts, the share
of the Great Western and the West Midland lines
should ba 894, and of the South Wales, 10-0. These
terms the directors of the latter company had de-
clined, wanting 11 out of the 100, which the directors
of the Great Western did not feel justified in the in-
terest of their shareholders in giving. Great stress
was laid by some of the shareholders on the aggres-
sive policy of the South Western Company, and the
directors were advised to take care that the An-
dover and Redbridge line didnot fall into the hands
of that company. The chairman deprecated any
discussion on the subject, though the diectors were
fully aTive.to, its importance ; and also explained his
concurrence in eereartrialivriationlifelativo-ta-the
pressure of taxation upon railways, and the desi-
rability of cultivating the traffic with Ireland when-
ever it could be advantageously done. The report
't
was adopted and the dividend declared.

C 0 LNE VALLEY AND HAL STEAD.
The report of the directors states that the line to
Hedingham was opened on the Ist of July last,
making nine miles now open. The contractor states
confidently that if he gets possession of the land
required he will be able to complete the line to
Haverhill by the end of the present year. The
application to Parliament for power to extend the
railway from Haverhill has been unsuccessful, the
Eastern Counties scheme to make a line to Cam-
bridge having been granted in preference, but the
Eastern Counties Company is bound by the 29th
clause of their Act to make and open their line to
Cambridge previously to opening the other rail-
ways granted by the same Act. The Eastern
Counties Company are also bound to take and work
the railway, it this company call upon them to do
so, on the terms of paying over 50 per cent, of the
earnings. The capital account shows that £129,980
bad been expended. The' revenue account for the
half-year ending the 30th of June last shows that
£1,155 had been received, and £1,142 expended
leaving a balance of £l3.

-461-Aeediterranean. The Megwi