The Sun.
London, England, 1859-12-17 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 17, 1859.

fordshii e, Dec. 30, at eleven, and Jan. 6, at twelve, at the
Court of Bankruptcy.
James Bromage Williams, wine merchant, Bristol, Jan.
2 and 31, at eleven, at the Bristol District Court.
Thomas Leah and Herbert Leah, merchants, Liverpool,
Dec. 30 and Jan. 20, at eleven, at the Liverpool District
Court.

SCOTCH BANKRUPTS.
Thomas Chamney, boot maker, Edinburgh.
Rev. Joseph George Cumming, late of Birmingham,
now of Musselburgh.
R. J. and W. Thomson, wool merchants, Glasgow.
Robert Menzies, spirit dealer, Glasgow.
Colin Campbell Aikman, merchant, Leith.
Andrew Smith, millwright, Glasgow.
Alexander M‘Konzie, machinist, Glasgow.

and animation. We were assured, before leavinF,
Cadiz, that after the tempests that prevailed in No-
Tember we might reasonably expect a month of fine
weather. Nevertheless, on the 30th ult. and Ist
inst. we had a hurricane and too much rain to be
pleasant, but we hope that was the finale of the
bad weather of 1859 in Africa, and that the good
time is now setting in. It is of the utmost import-
ance to the health of the army, and also to its opera-
tions, that such should be the case.

I have just been informed that 300 of the ivesi-
darios or galley slaves,chosen from among the best-
,sonducted, are this day to be armed, to serve as
aoldiers against the Moors. You are aware, as are
probably most of your readers, that Ceuta is a pre-
sidia a depot of galley slaves, the Brest or Toulon
of Spain. In the present circumstances there is
plenty of employment for these gentry, whom one
meets everywhere in gangs, or by twos and threes,
employed in transporting goods and stores, and
in every sort of hard work. With their coarse,
:brown dresses, rugged physiognomies, and clank-
'mg chains, they are not wanting in a certain
gloomy picturesqueness. Many are here for mur-
der, or at least for killing men in impromptu duels
with knives, an offence for which, at least in
Southern Europe, murder would perhaps be deemed
rather too hard a term. A moment of passion has
doubtless brought many to wear out a wretched life
in the Ceuta galleys. I was in a boat lately with
a Spanish officer of rank, and in the bow sat a tall
man itithe convict uniform, who held his field glass.
I was struck by the expression of his features ; it did
not seem to me that of a hardened criminal—one
of those faces on which every bad passion is to be
traced, so frequently seen among convicts, but
rather that of a man who had suffered terribly from
despondency and degradation. "He is the son of
one of my tenants," the officer said; "he killed a
man in a dem*. (duel or single combat) and was sent
here." The convicts enjoy a large range of liberty
--at least it appears so by comparison with the
far stricter guardianship of some other foreign
bagnios. It may be supposed there is little temp-
tation for them to escape, since they could hardly
go anywhere except to the Moors, whom they
would be likely to find no easy taskmasters. Never-
theless, a great many have run away, and the num-
ber of those supposed to be now with the Moors
has been stated to me at a figure which seems
almost incredible. It is said that the Moors intend
employing them as soldiers in the present war.
I had no time to write to you during my short
stay at Cadiz, or it was my intention, although my
mission here is not political, to make some remarks
on the suspicions and odium which England seems
lately to have incurred in Spain with respect to this
Morocco expedition, and especially since the publi-
cation in the Gazette of the correspondence between
the two Governments. From what was told me at
Cadiz, and judging from conversations that took
place before me, there seems to be almost a convic-
tion, on the part of Spain at least, that England is
favouring the Moors, 'and even lending them actual
assistance. One principal ground for this belief
seemed to consist in the circumstance of Mr. Drum-
mond Hay's remaining at Tangier, or at any rate
going on shore there daily, while-sleeping on board
a British ship—whichever was the true account of
ike case. Whether he be still there or not Ido
not know, for people here are too busy to attend
much to such matters, and I have scarcely seen a
newspaper of any kind since my arrival. But then
he was known, or positively stated to be there, and
the Spaniards asked what on earth he could be
doing there, unless he were comforting the Moors
with his counsel and assisting' their preparations
for defence. Of course, the theme was improved,
and gave rise to the most imaginative assertions.
It was said that British officers made frequent
visits to Tangier, instructing the Moors how to la)
their gunsY.amLso forth. This is decidedly false as
regards the officers of. the garrison of Gibraltar. I
was most positively assured by two officers of that
garrison, who were both at Gibraltar and at Cadiz
at the same time as myself, that no officers had been
over to Tangier. However, the Spaniards are not
to be persuaded on that head ; you would find it
scarcely possible to convince them that English offi-
cers have not been instructing the Moorish Empe
ror's artillerymen. It was even strongly reported.l
and I dare say believed by many, that 25 English
were among the killed or prisoners taken in tht
combat of November 25. This is better than thr
Russians at the Peiho. lam informed, and have
had partial opportunity of observing, that the
Spanish papers, even those which are generally
favourable to England, have been lately unanimous
in assailing our Government and that portion of
our press which has opposed the expedition to Mo-
rocco. The publication of the communications be-
tween Lord John Russell, Mr. Buchanan, and the
Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs may in part
have been the cause of this, but the most recent
cause of irritation, at least in the South, has been
our Consul's remaining in or off Tangier. The
Spaniards asked what occasion he had to remain
there when all under his protection had been with-
drawn and the other Consuls had left. Mr. Hay
is believed to have very great influence with the
1 Moorish Government, in whose behalf it is also as-
serted in Spain that his sympathies are enlisted. On
this head I know nothing of my own knowledge or
otherwise than by common report; perhaps at this
time of writing, the cause of all this anger has been
removed by his departure. If the English Govern-
ment retained him at Tangier when everybody else
had left, it doubtless had its reasons. Ido but state
the fact, that by so doing it made a great deal of
bad blood in Spain towards England.

DEC. 4.

I have little to add to the above. A reconnais
same was made yesterday towards our left, on
ground overlooking the coast in the direction of
Tetuan. Four battalions went out. A few Moors
were seen, but there was no fighting. In the after-
noon the Spanish gunboats were firing upon the
Moors. There is a report this morning, not yet con-
firmed, that the enemy in our front yesterday re-
ceived a large reinforcement—as many, it is said,
as 5,000 men. If this be true, they probably medi-
tate an attack. Up to this moment, however, no
orders have been issued from headquarters indica-
ting an expectation of work to be done, and the im-
pression this morning seems to be that we shall do
nothing of importance until the arrival of the
Third Corps from Malaga, which it is now said
will disembark at Ceuta. A Sardinian vessel has
arrived with horses and mules from Malaga. if
the Third Corps does come hero the people of
Ceuta will risk a famine. This large assembly of
troops in and around so small a place makes
everything extremely dear. The supplies that used
to be obtained from the Moors in time of peace are,
of course, cut off. The Spanish Government would
perhaps have done wisely to declare Ceuta a free
port for the time being, a measure which would
doubtless have caused supplies of various kinds to
flow in. As it is, all that is brought or produced
is devoured on the instant. There are times when
bread is not to be obtained at any price. An officer
told me yesterday that he had paid three reals
(Bd.) for two eggs. Meat is often extremely scarce,
and its quality is sometimes such as to give rise to
unpleasant suspicions that one is eating a bit of
one of the unfortunate beasts that sicken on the
passnge, and breathe their last in the mud at the
landing-place. These small difficulties are, of
course, inseparable from a campaign of this sort,
even at its commencement, and they seem cheerfully
borne by all. Ceuta is at present almost as crowded
and bustling as Balaklava used to be, but is exempt
from the disagreeables of the latter place. The
streets are thoroughly paved, sloping down to a
central kennel, and are generally very clean. It is
different in camp and on the road up to it, or at
least it would be so if we had much rain. Two or
three hours of wet the other night made a great
deal of heavy slippery mud, through which horses