The Sun.
London, England, 1861-01-31 00:00:00

THE NAVY.

A letter, dated Valetta, January 21, from a
Malta correspondent, says :
" Her Majesty's line-of-battle ship Queen, Capt.
C. F. Hillyar, arrived here on Saturday last, six
days from Naples, and one day from Messina, and
is expected to continue in this port for some time.
She left Rear-Admiral Mundy, with four ships, at
Naples.
" Her Majesty's steam-surveying vessel Firefly
left Malta on the same day for Alexandria, under
the command of Lieut. Bedford, her senior officer,
Commander Mansell, and surveying staff, being on
service in the Red Sea, in connection with the con-
struction of certain lighthouses in those waters.
" Her Majesty's gunboat Foxhound, Commander
A.
,Mitchell, arrived here to-day at seven a.m.,
from Corfu, which place she left two days ago.
Her Majesty's steam troopship Himalaya, Captain
Sebcombe, also came in to-day at 3 30 p.m., from
Corfu, with one day's later dates from that station.
A letter received by her says Vice-Admiral
Fanshawe Martin, the Commander-in-Chief, is still
here, and we hear nothing of his leaving us yet.'
" The Himalaya has on board chiefly naval in-
valids, either for the Naval Hospital here or for
passage home. 21 sick seamen, four Marines, and
an officer were disembarked from her to-day. A
Mr. Sutherland, one gunner Royal Artillery, a
woman, and a child ; and the master and six men,
forming the crew of the Maltese vessel Virginia,
wrecked on the 3d instant at Vallona, also
arrived by her for Malta; and four naval officers
and 29 seamen, invalids, &c., for England.
Lieut.-Gen. Warren and Aide-de-Camp Captain
Trevor, who had proceeded in the Himalaya to
Corfu, returned by her. Her precise date of de-
parture has not yet been fixed. Before leaving she
is to take in about GOO tons of coal, and the two sar-
cophagi brought by Captain Spratt from Candia
for the British Museum.

"Her Majesty's frigate Melpomene, Capt. E wart,
at present in port, which has completed her repairs,
is under orders to proceed to Candia."
A later letter, dated Jan. 25, says
" Among the officers who are to proceed home in
the Himalaya are Mr. Tatum, Military Storekeeper;
Mr. Bush, Purveyor to the Forces ; Lieut. Wad-
dington, R.A., and wife; and Mr. Dowling, H.M.S.
Queen,.on promotion to the rank of master. The
Queen brought down from Naples for the Naval
Hospital here Mr. A. Cazaly, master's assistant, and
19 seamen and Marines. She is now refitting, and
will be ready for sea in about 10 days. By the last
accounts her Majesty's frigate Terrible was at Mes-
sina and her Majesty's frigate Amphion at Palermo.
Her Majesty's gunboat Box was at Marsala.
" The English screw steamer William Corry, 8..
Donaldson, master, arrived on the 23d inst. from
London and Toulon. She has been engaged in
, laying the electric cable between Bona and Toulon,
and had on board the cable to connect Corfu with
Otranto. She left Malta the following day for
Corfu for this purpose. Mr. Andrews, Engineer and
General Superintendent of the Mediterranean Ex-
tension Telegraph Company, took passage by her
to superintend the operation; The Sardinian Go-
vernment steamer Sirena, Captain Baron L. de
Cora, arrived here on the 24th, from Naples and
Messina, to join the William Corry, and assist her
in laying the Corfu and Otranto cable, but finding
her gone she followed her the same night to Corfu.
After the operation of submerging this cable is com-
pleted she is to return to Messina, to assist in laying
a cable across the Straits."

'The Bulldog, 6, paddle, Commander H. F.
M'Killop, and the Philomel, 5, screw, Commander
L. Wildman, have both taken up berths off
the King's-stairs in Portsmouth harbour, to
swing for the adjustment of their compasses
before proceeding to Spithead.
The,Vulture, 6, paddle, has been placed in the
steam basin at Portsmouth to have her boilers taken
out and her machinery thoroughly overhauled and
repaired, preparatory for first-class reserve.
Her Majesty's iron paddlewheel steam vessel
Caradoc, Lient.-Commander Charles M. Buckle,
returned to Woolwich from the packet and despatch
service in the Mediterranean, is ordered to be paid
off on Tuesday next.
The maindeck guns of the screw steamship
Aboukir, Capt. Douglas Curry, at Devonport, are
in course of removal.

Capt. Astley C. Key, C. 8., of the guardship of
steam ordinary Indus, 78, in Hamoaze, left Devon-
port on Tuesday for London.
As soon as the artisans of the Devonport dock-
yard have completed breaking up the Invincible,
which is in No; 4 dock, the sloop Liberty, 12, will
be placed in it to be repaired and coppered.
At Devonport it is rumoured that the Revenge,
91, in Hamoaze, will be commissioned in place of
the Princess Royal, 91, at Portsmouth. Besides the
Revenge, the Orlando, 51, and the gunboats Pro-
cris, Sheldrake, Lark, Charon, and Goldfinch, at
Devonport, are ready to be commissioned.
The screw steamship Centurion, 80, Capt. H. D.
Rogers, in Hamoaze, is ordered to he supplied with
some Armstrong guns.
It having been in contemplation for some time
past by the Lords of the Admiralty
to supersede,
in a great measure, the employment of shop,rsesn
ersed
ie,
her Majesty's dockyards by the use of
f.m improvements
ssteenamts
traction engines, some iroportant
have been 'suggested in their manufacture, which
are now being carried out in the construction of
an engine on the improved system, to repladd the
one delivered by the company for the permanent
service of the dockyard at Woolwich. The power
of the now engine will be greater than that of the
former ones, the area of the cylinders being nearly
double. The framing will
also differ, and will be
somewhat similar to that of a railway locomotive,
and an outside bearing is provided, which will con-
siderably strengthen the wheels and prevent their
laminating. The engines will he mounted on springs
and the boiler suspended on trunnions to insure its
being on
a level in ascending and descending un-
even ground, and the steam NV i 1 1 be superheated to
prevent priming. The engines on the old principle
have been engaged for some days past in removing
the Warrior's engines and machinery from Messrs.
Penn's factory at Greenwich, and notwithstanding
the extremely varied state of the weather and the
roads, they have succeeded adruTe,:!T. Yesterday