[Per s.s. Zealandia, at Auckland.]

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume VII, Issue 638, 25 August 1882, Page 2

[Per s.s. Zealandia, at Auckland.]

The New York Herald's special, dated on board the Invincible, has these details ; —At half-past six the order was passed round the deck to load with common shell, and a gleam of satisfaction shone on ihe men's faces. At seven o'clock the signal was made to the Alexandria to open tho ball by firing one gun. A heavy boom came acvos.3 the water, then ihorc was an

anxious pause —would the Egyptians answer, or would they evacuate tho por;■■■•, but at the batteries opposite we could sou the men loading their guns. The first

order was given to commence independan; firing, and the f'igri.il was run up for tho fleet to begin a gonern! engagement. A. salvo from live guns went from t'uo .side of *>'(•; Invincible, while overhead ten Nordenfeidt guns in tho tops swelled the din which burst forth from all the ships. The bank of smoke which at once nro.ae like a waif from o*:r ship prevented mo from seeing ihe results of our fire, but from the tops it was seen that the shells had struck rather low, and the sights were raised from 1350 to 1500 yards. The

Monarch and the Penelope Ind both been nt work close to hand, and the roar of heavy guns, and ceaseless rattle o_ tho (ratlings and Nordenfeldl machines, and the shriek of rockets which the Monarch was discharging, added to the sounds of our own guns, made up a deep and continuous din impossible to describe and bewildering to hear. In any momentary interval the sound of the guns from the other division of the fleet told that they also were hard at work. Hardy, the midshipman posted in the maintop, signalled the direction of the course of the shells, and tho accuracy of the fire improved ; meanwhile the enemy's shots were coming thick and fast, their aim being directed chiefly against the Penelope and Inflexible. They were firing pi incipally round shot. Twenty minutes after the first gun was fired from the fort, the royal braces were shot away, and immediately after a shot penetrated her forward, a splinter wounding a stoker severely. At this time they appeared to get our range pretty accurately, and round and conical shot whistlod through the masts. I went round the ship and found the men firing the main deck guns, all stripped to the waist. Between each shot they bad to sit down and wait till the smoke cleared. They were anxious to know the result of their work, and asked eagerly questions of me as to what could be seen above, but I could tell them little, for the smoke hung like a veil between ns and the shore. The events of the day show that the determination expressed by Arabi and his party to oppose the fleet to the death has not so far been a vain boast. They fought with their guns to the last, but tbe fire of the fleet was so crushing, and the metal so superior, as to make their resistance ineffective. They appeared to possess no shells, which was fortunate for us. for had they shell, instead of round shot, the casualties would have been much larger. As it is, our success, although not bloodless, has been achieved at much smaller post than could have been expected from the formidable nature of the forts we had to attack. The most interesting incident was that between the gunboat Condor, Commmder Lord Charles Beresford, with Agorni fort. This little vessel went close under the guns of the fort, and opened a tremendous fire, but was unable to silence it. The Admiral then signalled the other gunboats to assist in me engagement.

A correspondent who was aboard the Condor sends the following account of the plucky feat performed by that little gunboat :—At eight o'clock the Temeraire got afloat, nnd the Condor made straight at the second strongest fort—that is the Marabout. The Condor only carries three guns—two 64 pounders and one 7in Woolwich rifle gun. The fort had at least four very heavy pieces of artillery, which were annoying ; the Penelope, Monarch, and Invincible running in within 1200 yaids of these guns, a single shot from which would have sunk her. The Condor managed, before the signal was given to cease firing, at eleven o'clock, to silence two, if not three, of these guns. The Admiral ran up the signal, "Well done, Condor," and sent the Bittern and Beacon to assist in the work of fire. The Marabout fort, was by no means con-ti-mptible. Our vessel was a small object on the water, and was only hit once by a round shot. The Inflexible was enabled to si'ence the guns of Alex's fort with one of her turrets, w'lile she pounded the Hiseltlu with thj other. The accur-te p-aeliee which sir-* was making with her four monster guns at this time called foith repeated bur.-ts of applause fro n everyone about this ve.s-el. Every sheli seemed either to burst right over the Raseltin fort, or to pitch on the parapet of Mex's fort. The lighthouse has not escaped unscathed ; one shell burst half way up the tower, and two large holes are now visible to the naked eye at two miles distance. The ranges at which the Inflexible was firing varied from 6000 to 3000 yards. Accord ing to accounts by persons who remained in the city, bands of murderers during and after the bombardment or the forts made their way into almost every house. Plundering and burning began on the 12th, and scarcely any European dwelling was spared. Stores of petroleum were sent to Alexandria a week before fhe. bombardment, specially to set fire to the to wn. The incendiaries state that they received instructions to fire the houses. A second visit to the town showed that many houses which yesterday were intact are to day in ashes, among them the British consulate.

An eye witness relates that soldiers am others, after plundering the houses, heapei up the bedding, and with petroleum thei set fl're to them.

The sister of the Khedive's wife died from premature confinement during the bombardment.

During the massacre the soldiers set fire to tho house of a limber merchant. The maid servant escaped to the garden, where she remained surrounded by fire, the soldiers laughing at her agony and firing at her, but purposely avoiding inflicting fatal injury, preferring to see her burn to death. Finally she rushed through the flames, and, though wounded by bayonet tinusts, succeeded in securing refuge in the ruins, where she was discovered by the marines and handed over to tho Ameri cans. Along* the line of Arabi Pasha's retreat from Alexandria are several villages, the people in which arc starving. The soldiers robbed them of everything. The entire route is lined with dead horses and with j

carnages.

It is reported that the Bedouins harrassed the soldiers during their retreat, killing 200 of thorn. Several huge holes have been dug as graves. Into these most of the dead have been thrown as they fell. It is estimated that in the forts alone 400 of Arabi's troops have been killed. All sorts of reports were in circulation as to the number of Christians killed. From 200 to 2000 are said to have been massacred, but ! there doe? not, appear any reliable data, as tho forts were in a complete state of ruin. The effect of the explosions of the great shell* must have been terrible, as the strongest wails had crumbled, It is marvellous how the Egyptian?, fought their guns so long. Tho Khedive's palace, lying behind fort Isabo, is knocked about, several room-* destroyed, while fragments of tho shells were scattered broadcast. In tho courtyard, near the entrance gate of the fuic whoso magazine first exploded, we found a sentry lying dead. The first battery we entered contained lOin rifled gnus, which w-jie dismounted by our fire. The ground was torn up and the walls Kk.Atered. . nd the whole place dismantled.' A I'iii, which iiad been dismounted and

been tilted backwards, had made a complete somersault, falling upon and crushing the gunners, who still lay beneath the guii.