The Sun.
London, England, 1868-01-08 00:00:00

THE ABYSSINIAN CAMPAIGN

A private letter from the camp at Zulla, dated Decem-
ber 19, ccntains the following :
' The Norma arrived here on the 13th, and I at once
landed. The appearance of the place is remarkable, but
perhaps 'distance lends enchantment.' The bay is
about twelve miles across, but the water near the
shore is very shallow, so that the ships, of which there
are four men-of-war and about twenty-five transports,
generally have to anchsr a long way out. One fair jetty
has been built and another begun. The spring tide,
which is now at its full height, sweeps over the completed
jetty whenever the wind blows, but will not do any
material harm useless there should be a storm. The
beach is a most curious sight, and reminds those
who were there of Balaklava,. Sheds, tents, and stacks
of stores lying in the open, lines of bullock carts with sup-
plies for those who are further up the country, mules being
piled with saddles, and coolies carrying bundles, are all
over the place, and the air is thick with dust, which, ex-
cept close to the sea, is fin, or Gin. deep. This, indeed,
is our greatest discomfort, as it flies in clouds, and every-
thing in my tent is thickly covered with it when there is
the slightest breath of air. To keep clean under the
circumstances is a matter of difficulty in a country where
the nearest water is fourteen miles off, and where every
drop consumed has to be brought from the ships, nor is
the condensed water as refreshing as common fresh water,
and consequently the bullocks and mules, &c., consume
far more than they would otherwise do. " The demand
is frequently much greater than the supply, and many a
mule, unable to quench his thirst, lies down and dies.
The scene which was enacted when Sir Charles Staveley
first arrived was horrible—the animals all fighting for a
place, and seizing the troughs in their mouths, while the
men would plunge their heads into the same troughs from
which the beasts were drinking, many of which are known
to be suffering from a disease they call `African g'anders,'
which has carried off many, but is not in reality glanders
at all, fortunately. Added to these difficulties, the
muleteers, who were a very polyglot and scampish lot,
struck work, and were sent back, and thus hundreds o:
mules were left wandering about the country without
food or water. Sir Charles at once had them collected,
employed soldiers to take care of them, sent up the
sick to Hadooda, about fourteen miles, where there is
and set about sending others with supplies to the
various places where troops are, or where the depOts
may be established. Things, in consequence, arc now
in a very orderly state ; and if we get the means of fil-
tering the water from the ships, we shall be quite ready
for the arrival of snore troops. The heat is not very great
here ; generally the thermometer is between 80 deg. and
90 deg. in the shade. The climate I believe to be healthy,
and the sick are very few. The only things worthy of
note about here are the remains of Zoulla, the ancient
Adullis.' There are very complete ruins, and I fancy
pavements and other remains may be found below the
surface, for it is only natural a city on the coast will in
time be covered with deposit from the sea. . . . The
dust is frightful, so I am glad to say the General and two
or three of us are going up to-morrow to Senaf6, the most
advanced post occupied by us. It is about 70 miles up ip
Tigre. We shall be away five or six clays, as Sir Charles
wishes to be back here some days before Sir Robert Napier
arrives."

SPORT AT NOCTON.—EarI De Grey, with five
friends, has had excellent sport during the -last week. 011
the Monday, with six guns, the party bagged over 1,400
head of game, of which 1,200 were rabbits. The next day
the party shot over a portion of the woods, killing up-
wards of 700 head, but over Blankney the party was not
so successful, under 300 being all that were bagged.

POLICE PRECAUTIONS IN DUBLIN.—The police
duties in the metropolitan district have been now so ar
ranged that on very short notice the entire force at the
disposal of the authorities can be brought into requisition.
The reserves have been considerably reinforced, and in no
instance are less than two constables—armed with re-
volvers and cutlasses---:allowed to patrol together. A per-
fect system has also been adopted for conveying with
expedition intelligence of any alarm to the nearest station
on Tuesday, for the first time, one of each of the two gates
for pedestrians leading into Dublin Castle was closed, and
in addition to the military sentry who keeps guard with
loaded rifle, a police constable has been placed on duty to
watch suspicious characters. At a quarter-past four
o'clock in the afternoon, in consequence of orders received
by the officer of the main Castle guard, all the entrances
to Dublin Castle were closed, and no person was permitted
to enter except on producing an authorisation, or satisfac-
torily explaining his business.—Dublin Evening lhail.
ATTEMPTED ESCAPE OF A CONVICT.—WhiIe the
convicts employed on the Chatham Dockyard extension
works were at work on St. Mary's Island, one of the
number, named John Campbell, who is undergoing a
term of seven years' penal servitude, attempted in a very
daring manner to effect his escape. The convict, who
had armed himself with a heavy iron spanner, had
contrived to conceal himself beneath the boiler
of one of the brickmaking machines, and on being missed
an active search was immediately instituted to dis-
cover his hiding place. About a quarter of an hour after-
wards he was discovered by Police-constable 17, on duty
at the works, when, on being ordered out of his hlding-
place, Campbell commenced a determined attack with his
weapon on King and Courtman, two of the warders en-
gaged in re-capturing him. He was, however, soon over-
powered, although not before the convict warders had
drawn their swords, when he allowed himself to be con-
ducted to the prison, where he will undergo the punish-
raeut awarded to convicts attempting their eicane.

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II ER MAJESTY.

OSBORNE, Jan. 7.
The Queen walked and drove in the grounds yes-
terday afternoon, accompanied by Princess Louise ;
and her Majesty, accompanied by Princess Beatrice,
walked out this morning.

The _Princess Mary of Cambridge and Prince
Tcck are expected to visit Stockton next Monday, on their
way to Wynyard Park, the seat of E ,r 1 Vane. The town
council will receive their royal highnesses on their arrival.
His Excellency Haider Effendi, the Turkish
Ambassador at Vienna; arrived from Vienna yesterday
morning, and in the course of the afternoon visited his
Excellency M. Musurus Pasha at the Turkish Embassy in
Bryanston-square.

The Earl and Countess of Charlernont have been
entertaining a succession of friends at Marino House, Dub-
lin. The earl and countess's party will not be discon-
tinued till their return to England in the course of next
month.

The Earl and Countess of Yarborough and a,
lerge party assembled early in the present week on a visit
to Sir Edward and Hon. Lady Filmer, at their seat near
Maidstone.

The Earl and Countess of Hopetoun and Miss
Constance Reynardson have left Long's Hotel for Canford
Manor, Dorset.

Viscount and Viscountess Sydney have passed
through town on their way to visit the Marquis and
Marchioness of Ailesbury at Savernake, from Frognal,
Kent.