ENGLISH SHIPPING.

Marlborough Press, Volume I, Issue 35, 1 September 1860, Page 4

ENGLISH SHIPPING.

SHIPS LOADING FOR NEW ZEALAND. At London. —For Auckland, the Rob Roy and Mermaid; for Nelson, the Bride and Donna Anita; for Wellington, the Thamses City; for Canterbury, the Koh-i-Noor and Harwood; for Otago, the Evening Star and Black Swan. DEPARTURES FOR NEW ZEALAND. June 1, the Henrietta, from the Clyde, for Otago; June 2, the Bruce, from the Clyde for Otago; June 14,the Northern Bride, from Liverpool, for Auckland; June 22, the Caduceus, from London, for Auckland. The following vessels sailed in the month of May: the Chapman and Hound from London. ARRIVALS IN ENGLAND. At Gravesend, May 12, the Christopher Newton, from Wellington, February 8; at London, May 12, the Hastings, from Wellington, Feb. 5 ; at Plymouth, May 20, the Royal Bride, from Canterbury, February 11; in the Downs, June 3, the Harwood, from Auckland, February 19; In the Downs, June 20, the Zcalandia, from Wellington.

Maids for Australia and New Zealand.— The mails for the Australian colonies and New Zealand, intended to be forwarded via Southampton, trill in future he made up in London on the morning of the 20th of each month, instead of on the 12th, and the mails to he forwarded via Marseilles will be made up on the evening of the 20th, instead of on the 18th of the month.On those occasions, when the 20th of the month fails on Sunday, the mails for Australia, &c., will be made up on the previous evening, and when the 2Gth of the month falls on Sunday, the mails will be made up on the following evening. In consequence of this alteration, mails for Ceylon will no longer be despatched on the 12th and ISth of the month. The Australian mail packets will in future proceed no further than Melbourne, and after leaving Point de Galle will touch, to land and embark mails, at King George’s Sound only. The mails for South Australia, New South Wales, and New Zealand, will he landed at' Melbourne, and will be forwarded thence to their destination by such means as may be provided by the colonial governments. Commencing with the month of J uly the homeward mails will thenceforward be despatched from Melbourne on the 26th of each month, and ought to arrive in London with the mails from Calcutta and China, due (via Marseilles) on the 12th (via Southampton) on the 18th of every month. By command of the Postmaster-General. Rowland Hill, Secretary. General Post-office, June 5. — Home News. National Defences. —The Report of the National Defences Commission has been issued. They recommend the construction of new works, or the completion of those already in progress, the expense of which, including purchase of land, is estimated at £2,800,000 for Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight, £3,020,000 •for!Plymouth, £765,000 for Pembroke, £630,000 for Portland, £IBO,OOO for the Thames, £150,000 for the Medway and Sheerness, £1,350,000 for Chatham, £700,000 for Woolwich, £335,000 for Dover, and £120,000 for Cork. The armament of these works they estimate .at £500,000 and add £1,000.000 for floating defences. The total is £11,850,000 ; of which about a million and ahalf has been already authorized, though not voted. It is the intention of Government to

proceed promptly and vigorously on a great portion of the report, but to abandon the attempt to defend Woolwich and the metropolis for the present. It is proposed to expend in all only eight and a-half millions, instead of the eleven and three-quarter millions of the report. This includes £1,885,900 for the purchase of land, which it is proposed to acquire at' once under the Defences Act. As only a small portion of the land will be, wanted for the works, and the remainder will merely be kept clear from buildings, the latter will be let out, and need not be an unprofitable investment. The Government proposes to commence the works immediately, and the Commissioners have pointed out how they may be available for defence in three or four months, even while far short of completion. It is intended to raise the money by terminable annuities, so that the whole sum may be absorbed in tw r enty-five years. With regard to the nature of the works proposed, the Commissioners state that, with the new artillery now' in use as means of offence and defence it will bo necessary to advance the fortification of our dockyards and arsenals so as to command the approaches to a much greater distance. They propose to place works at every weak.point of the Isle of Wight, and wherever a gun can be brought to bear on the channel to Portsmouth, either by Spithead or to the Needles. On various points on the shore or on shoal ground they propose to erect batteries with one, two, or even three tiers of guns, like those that baffled us at Cronstadt, and did pur fleet so much damage at the entrance of Sebastopol. Works consisting of forts, with lines of communication, are to be carried inland, in order to keep at a distance any force that might be landed on another part of the shore. The commissioners propose the improvement and enlargement of the existing fortifications of all the other harbours and dockyards in the same manner. They propose a guard of moveable floating batteries, and suggest means of stopping the channels, to be ready in case of emergency. They recommend that all the new works shall be supplied with the most approved guns, and that the guns of obsolete fashion or irregular calibre they have found about the country shall be disused. They reserve the question of an internal arsenal for a subsequent • ' * report, and they submit to her Majesty these unanimous recommendations “with a firm conviction that their adoption will place the power of this country for self-defence on a par with its other elements of greatness and strength; will" give security to its industry and commerce; afford a guarantee to the maintenance of peace, and add a new glory to her Majesty’s reign.” The Whitworth Gun.— Recent experiments with an 80-pounder give the following results: — “ The first shot fired with a 12-lb. charge of powder struck on the edge of two plates,: passing clear through the 4£ inches of wrought iron, and starting both plates 1£ inch in an outward direction. After passing abbut 11 inches into the oak, the head of the projectile glanced against a massive bolt, w’hich turned’it up at a right, angle to its former course, where it remained buried in the framing between the plates and the inside of the ship. Had it been a shell, and burst in this position, it would have ripped the plate off or blown the main-deck timbers in. The second shot was fired with a 141 b. charge, and hit a small white target in the centre of an armour plate. This went completely through the side into the main deck of the Trusty. • The hole it made in the plate was a clean hexagon, precisely the size of the shot. It passed not only through the wooden side, but through one of the iron ribs of the ship, tearing off and smashing the iron knee, and covering the main deck with splinters of wood and iron. The shot, when found, was so hot that no one could touch it. It scarcely showed any sign of damage beyond being compressed to about an inch shorter, and consequently increased in its diameter at the head by about half an inch. The third shot, owing to a mistake with regard to the elevation of the dis-tance-sight, passed clear over the vessel. : The fourth struck obliquely, passing through the iron and sides, and striking the end of a deck beam, in which it buried itself. The fifth shot pierced, through the centre of a plate and into the main deck of the ship, driving before it a mass of splinters and an immenee iron bolt, which, from the position in which it was found—among the fragments of wood on the main deck—had evidently been dashed through and whirled about with a force only inferior to that of the projectile itself. It was noticed that at the instant of concussion between this shot and the vessel’s side, a broad sheet of intensely bright flame was emitted, almost as if a gun had been fired from the Trusty in reply.