The Sun.
London, England, 1861-03-18 00:00:00

SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, MARCH 18, 1861.

T tYa.E

riches and prosper i'ty of Bengal, and its freedom
from famines, sole 1 y to the perpetual settlement.

From Sikkim e learn that the preparations
which have occupieL 1 so long a period are now at
an end, and actual operations have commenced.
The chief command its ; hold by Colonel Gawler, of
her Majesty's 73d 1 Icgiment, and the force at his
disposal amounts to a bout 1,000 men. After taking
measures for the safet.7 of the station of Darjeeling,
the next thing was to drive the Bhooteas from their
entrenchments on the other side of the river Run-
jeet. This was don.e. We had only one man
wounded in the attack, though the fire was heavy,
and the loss of the enemy was probably great. The
Bhooteas are partly armed with rifles and muskets
which our men were obliged to leave behind them
lin their retreat pith Dr. Campbell.

The Viceroy was pected in Calcutta in about a
week's time.

COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE.
CALCUTTA, FEB. 7.

PRODUCE MARKET.—I
"be same remarkable tone
continues in the marke
t as before reported.
Holders do not give way, a:though the home. mar-
kets are all so depressed, and
there is consequently
little doing in our principal s
'taples. Indigo is in
demand, sugar firm, saltpetre high, rice stiff, raw
silk easier, piece goods nothing done, jute lower,
shellac firm, oilseeds firm, hides held firm, opium
higher.
IMPORT MARKET.—No materiL U. improvement
has taken place during the last for.ttlight. Piece
goods remain in the same languid pob it ion, without
any improvement in prices. On the cc Iritrary, some
sales are reported at easier terms. Ya rns show an
inclination to improvement in demo, d, as also in
prices. Metals in steady demand, at 41 -8 to 41-12
for sheathing copper.
GOVERNMENT SECURITIES.—The trans 4 wtinns in
Government securities have been 1; mited to small
i amounts on local account, and rates are almost
I nominal.

TEE NAVY.

The Isis, 44, Capt. E. L. Barnard, fitting at
Chatham for Ascension and the coast of Africa, has
nearly completed taking on board her stores, and
is expected to be ready to leave Chatham harbour
for Sheerness in the course of a few days. Direc-
tions were received from the Admiralty for the
Isis to be fitted with Capt. Kynaston's boat-lower-
ing apparatus, but on Saturday orders arrived
from the Admiralty directing that, instead of
Kynaston's, Clifford's apparatus was to be sup-
plied to the ship.
The Hussar, which has been placed in No. 2
dock at Chatham, where she has been under-
going some alterations and repairs to adapt her
for a target-ship, has been found to be so de-
cayed that the plan originally intended, of affixing
iron plates to her side, has been abandoned. Since
she has been in dock she has been recoppered with
old copper, and thoroughly painted. In consequence
of the obstruction at the entrance to the second
dock by the sinking of a barge, the Hussar will not
be able to leave the dock until the next springs,
when she will be towed to Shoeburyness, where she
is to be stationed.

The screw steamship Princess Royal, 91, Capt.
C. Fellowes, flag of Rear-Admiral R. Smart, K.H.,
Commander-is-Chief of the Channel Fleet, from
Portsmouth, arrived in Plymouth Sound on Satur-
day evening, and yesterday morning saluted the
flag of Port-Admiral Sir Houston Stewart, which
was duly acknowledged by the flagship Impreg-
nable, 104, Capt. Lord F. Kerr, in Hamoaze.
The apprentices' brig Nautilus, 6, Lieut. B. Grant,
was taken on Saturday to the sheer hulk Kent, in
Hamoaze, where her foremast was removed. The
Nautilus was then placed alongside the hulk Dublin.
The screw steam gunvessel Nimble, 5, was towed
on Saturday from the hulk Lively, in Hamoaze, by
the tug Zephyr, and placed at the Rubble Bank
moorings.

The hulk Endymion, having been repaired and
caulked, was put out of No. 4 dock in Devonport
yard on Saturday, and placed at her berth in
.Hamoaze.

The frigate Daedalus, fitting for a receiving watch
ship at Devonport, was put into No. 4 dock at the
dockyard on Saturday to have her bottom over-
hau:ed and repaired with despatch.
The, screw steamship Gibraltar, 101, was put out
of the Jock in Keyham steam yard on Saturday
morning, and placed alongside the hulk Bellona.
The Gibraltar will go outside Plymouth Breakwater
to-day for a trial of her engines and speed at the
measured mile if the weather is favourable.

'Fhe following appointments were made on Satur,
day at the Admiralty —Lieut. John B. Creagh to
the Princess Royal, additional, for service i n the
Porcupine tender ; James E. B, Bruce, midshipman,
to the Jason ; Henry Chase Carre has been nomi-
nated to a naval cadetship; Charles Mosley, chief
engineer, to the Indus, for charge of the machi-
nery of the Himalaya ; Benjamin S. Jackson,
second master, to the Weser; and James D. Her-
vey, clerk, to the Conqueror.

TILE MEDITERRANEAN FLEBT.

VALETTA, MARCH 11.

During the past week there has been a great
gathering of our ships of war in this port. Her
Majesty's ship Neptune, 90 guns, Capt. F. A. Camp-
bell, and the frigate Terrible, 21, Captain F. H. H.
Glasse, C. 8., arrived here on the 4th instant, the
former from the Pineus, Zante, and Corfu, and the
latter from Messina. On the following day the
Hannibal, 91 (bearing the flag of Hear-
Admiral G. R. Mundy, C. 8.), Captain A.
Farquhar ; the James Watt, 91, Captain
E. Codd ; the Cressy, 80, Captain T. Harvey ; and
the gunboat Mohawk, 4, Commander E. H. Howard,
hove in sight from Naples, and came in during the
day. The Hannibal communicated with Messina,
and left there her Majesty's ship Victor Emmanuel,
91, Captain W. J. C. Clifford. Admiral Sir T.
Cochrane, G.C.8., and Lady Cochrane were passen-
gers on board the Hannibal. These vessels, with
those then in port, formed a fleet of seven line-of-
' battle ships, two frigates, two gunboats, and two
surveying-ships, besides the receiving-ship Hibernia
and tug Hearty. The Mars 80, Capt. J. N. Strange,
has since taken her departure for Messina. On the
7th inst. Vice Admiral Fanshawe Martin, the naval
Commander-in-Chief on this station, transferred his
flag from the Cmsar to the Neptune. It is reported
that the Caesar and Algiers will leave for Corfu in
a day or two, and that Rear-Admiral Dacres, at
present holding the post of Captain of the Fleet,
will hoist his flag on the former vessel, and take
the command of a squadron to cruise in the Adri-
atic. The Algiers, it is said, is to change her cap-
tain. By the last accounts from Corfu there were
in that port the London, 90, Captain H. Chad% the
Orion, 91, Captain J. B. E. Frere, the Agamemnon,
91, Captain T. Hope ; and the Queen, 86, Captain
C. F. Hillyar. It was rumoured that the Queen
had been ordered to proceed to Fiume.
Here it is said that Rear-Admiral Mundy will in
a week or two leave for the Coast of Syria, but that
the James Watt and the Cressy will remain at
Malta for the present.

The Medina surveying-ship, Captain T. A. B.
Spratt, C. 8., will take her departure in a day or
two to complete the survey for the intended sub-
mersion of an electric cable between Malta and
Alexandria. Itis expected she will be absent about
a month, and may possibly proceed to Alexandria
before her return. Tho gunboat Mohawk, having
on board Messrs. Ford and Laws, telegraph engi-
neers, who have been sent out by Government to
make preparations for laying this cable, has just
left for Tripoli and Bengazi, for the purpose of
selecting a landing-place.
The Terrible, frigate, Captain F. H. 11. Glasse,
C. 8., has been fitted for the reception of Lord
Elgin, our Ambassador and Plenipotentiary in
China, who is on his way home. She is to embark
his lordship at Alexandria, and to convey him to
Trieste, his lordship having, it said, selected that
route.

Her Majesty's gunboat Lapwing, 4, Commander
M. F. O'Reilly, has been some time looked for
from Candia, and is hourly expected.
There has been a good many cases of sickness on
board the Cressy. The complaint appears to be the
same as that which manifested itself some time ago
on board the St. Jean d'Acre, and of which a few
eases also occurred on board the Cressy about the
same time. There has also been a case of small-
pox on board this ship, and a fresh case of this
disease on board the Liffey. 'With these excep-
tions, I believe the sanitary condition of the crews
of the different ships is generally good.
The American steam corvette Susquehanna, Capt.
G. N. Hollins, which came in on the 28th ult. from
Alexandria and Tripoli, left on the 6th inst, for
Messina. During her stay the several watches
were allowed to go on shore, which is not usual
with American men of war visiting Malta. The
officer in command had no reason to regret his con-
fidence in the men, for they all returned to their
ship in proper time and is an orderly manner.
Several soldiers belonging to the 3d Buffs and the
22d Regiment, in garrison, attempted to desert to
her, but were discovered, and are now in custody.
A fatal boat accident occurred on the night of
the 4th inst. Twelve seamen were going off from
the Custom-house mole to their ship, the Liffey.
As unfortunately is too often the case, some of
the men were the worse for liquor, and the boat
got capsized. The accident happened when they
had arrived near the American frigate, and great
credit is due to the officer on watch of this ship li
for the promptness with which he manned a boat
and hastened to the assistlnce of the drowning
men. He succeeded in saving the lives of nine of
the sailors and the two Naltese boatmen. The
other three English seamen were drowned. Two
of the bodies, those of James Norman and John
Sullivan, were recovered onthe following morning.
The body of the third man, Henry Erickson, has
not yet been found.

Her Majesty's ships at present in port are—The
Neptune, 90 (flag of Vice-Admiral Fanshawe Mar-
tin); the Hannibal, 91 (fish of Rear-Admiral G. It.
Mundy, C. 8.); the Hibenia (flag of Rear-Admiral
H. J. Codrington); the Algiers, 91; the Ccesar, 90;
the Cressy, 80; and the .lames Watt, 91 ; the fri-
gates Liffey, 51, and Terrible, 21; the surveying'

ships Medina, 4, and Firefly, 4; the gunboat Quail,
2 ; and the tug Hearty. We have also in port the
Dutch corvette Cyclops, Capt T. R. Toewallir,
which arrived yesterday from Alexandria on her
way to Port Mahon.
P.S.—Her 111,jesty's frigate Terrible has just left
port for Alexandria.