a detachment of the 6th Dragoons, under Lieutenant-
Colonel Moore, has been Destroyed by Fire when off
Cape Finisterre, with a deplorable loss of life. The
particulars of this disaster are contained in affidavits of
several of the survivors, taken at Gibraltar. Lieutenant
and Adjutant Weir, of the 6th Dragoons, said, that
about 10 o'clock on the night of the 31st of May, the
steward of the Europa came to his cabin and informed
him that the ship was on fire. He immediately went on
the quarterdeck, and asked Colonel Moore if he had
any orders to give. Colonel Moore only desired him to
keep the men quiet, and prevent them from getting into
the boats. This he, with the aid of Dr. M'Gregor,
attempted to do; but despite their efforts, and even without
their knowledge, the boats were lowered by some of
the crew. Soon after receiving the Colonel's commands
he discovered that the gig was gone. He was himself
pushed into the boat with Lieutenant Black, Dr.
M'Gregor, Cornet Turrion, and the second mate, several
soldiers and crew, with a woman, amounting in number
to twenty-seven. After drifting about for an hour they
were taken in tow by the Admiralty agent's gig, in
which were the first and third mate, the clerk, and
two of the ship's crew. They got on board the Kennet
Kingsford, schooner, about midnight. He heard Mr.
Black urge the Captain of the schooner to run down to
the wreck, but he said he was afraid of the fire and of
her blowing up. The first mate said that the boats had
gone adrift. He (Lieutenant Weir) expressed his
astonishment, as they might have been used in saving
the people on the wreck. They remained in the schooner
until taken on board her Majesty's ship Tribune.
Lieutenant Black, the Admiralty agent in charge of the
vessel, said that the boat in which he was picked up
contained twenty-six persons, and would have held
fourteen more, if there had been any opportunity of
rescuing them. He had no oars in the boat, and they
drifted about at the mercy of the sea. He saw Colonel
Moore several times during the fire. He appeared very
cool and collected. The flames were so violent that all
discipline was at end. Had his (Lieutenant Black's)
gig remained alongside the ship, many more men, in
his opinion, might have been saved. William Gardner,
captain of the Europa, stated that Colonel Moore and
himself were sitting by the cabin table when the alarm
of fire was given, and he immediately ran below, and
found fire blazing in the store-room in the fore-peak.
He threw water on the flames, but soon discovered that
they had the mastery, and told Lieutenant Black it
would be impossible to save the ship. He gave orders
to bear up to a barque and a brig to leeward. The
boats, however, were lowered, and the soldiers were
getting into them, when they were ordered back, and
obeyed the call. The spare quarter-boat with Mr. Black
and the Cornet in it, was launched off the poop, and
dropped astern by a rope's end. Mr. Black, from his
age, would otherwise have been unable to get into the
boat. The second mate came to Captain Gardner, and
told him it was the last opportunity to get away from
the ship. He gave him permission, but refused to go
himself, as he was still steering the ship. Colonel Moore
was standing by all the time; the captain pointed out
to him that this might be the last opportunity, but did
not urge him to go, though he heard some of his own
men do so. The Colonel asked what he (Captain
Gardner) intended to do. He replied that they would save
the men if possible, by getting down to the vessels to
leeward, but while any one remained by the wreck he
would not desert her, there being between thirty and
forty souls still on board, and one woman among them.
The Colonel said, "Do what you can for us, and I will
stick by you to the last." His men then said, that all
the officers were gone, and he being an old man ought
to go also. He replied, "I don't care; and, although
they are all gone, I will not leave you." When the
boat with the Admiralty agent dropped astern, the
second mate then got into her, and asked the captain to
hand down a couple of oars. He refused, fearing that if
he did so they would then leave the ship, especially as
he hoped this boat would be useful in removing the men
to the ships for which they were steering. The boat
was cast adrift by some person in her. The captain was
eventually taken off from the fore-channels with the
carpenter, about 3 A.M. of the 1st inst. by the boat of the
brig Clemanthe, which picked up twelve of them in all,
including one soldier, who died in the boat. By some
of these he was told that when the flames had caught
the mizen rigging and burnt it through, the Colonel
and several others, including the woman, fell overboard.
The boat of the Clemanthe made two trips. He (Captain
Gardner) came back in her himself. The weather
was moderate, with heavy rain. To the best of his
belief, had the Admiralty agent's boat stopped by the
ship, she might have saved several lives. Having pulled
round the ship after the last trip, he was convinced
there were no survivors left on the wreck. The persons
who lost their lives by this calamitous occurrence, were
the Lieutenant- colonel, Mr. Kelly, the regimental
surgeon, sixteen of the men, one woman, and two
seamen.

SOCIAL, SANITARY, AND MUNICIPAL
PROGRESS

The Crystal Palace at Sydenham was opened by the
Queen in person on the 10th instant; a day which will
long be remembered in the metropolis. The ceremony
was witnessed by the Prince Consort and the Royal
Family, by the King of Portugal, and his Royal brother
the Duke of Oporto, by the Foreign Ministers, the
leading Members of the Administration, the Royal
Commissioners of 1851, the Royal Commissioners of the New
York Exhibition, the Committee of the Dublin Exhibition,
the Representatives of the Imperial Commission
for the French Exhibition next year, General Morin,
Count Lesseps and M. Arles Dufour, by a large number
of Peers and Members of the House of Commons, with
their families, by the Mayors of the different corporate
towns in the kingdom, by the Presidents and Vice-
Presidents of the chief learned societies in the metropolis,
and, finally, by an assemblage of about 40,000
spectators. The gathering together of such a mighty
multitude made London, from one end to the other, a
scene of bustle, from an early hour in the morning. The
streets were crowded with all sorts of vehicles, hastening
towards the station of the London and Brighton Railway.
The scene on the platform became highly exciting.
The whole of the walking space was crowded with people,
the majority being gaily-dressed ladies, who rushed in
crowds to the doors of every carriage, reckless of damage
or danger. So excellent were the arrangements, however,
that nothing unpleasant occurred; and the eager
thousands were conveyed to the Palace in safety. At
eleven o'clock orders were issued to throw open the
doors, and the assembled crowds burst into the Palace.
The first rush was so tremendous that police and
barriers, and obstructions of all sorts, were literally swept
away, and it required neither ticket, nor influence, nor
money, but merely a good place at the doors, to ensure
admission at the outset. The nave and transept were
flooded by the pent-up tide of human beings, and members
of families, who had been separated in the struggle,
were seen running wildly to and fro. Matters at length
began to adjust themselves, and the visitors to find their
allotted seats; and subsequently to admire the wonders
by which they were surrounded. The raised dais in the
centre of the transept was, of course, the great point of
attraction, and the seats in the intersecting naves and
galleries surrounding it were so judiciously constructed
as to afford as many thousands as possible an opportunity
of witnessing the opening ceremony. The dais was
octagonal, surrounded by a double flight of nine steps,
which gave it a considerable elevation above the flooring,
and was large enough to give ample accommodation to
the numerous royal and distinguished personages who
were to occupy it. The dais was covered with crimson
cloth, and suspended over it by gilt chains pendant from
the very top of the transept, at the height of upwards of
two hundred feet, was a handsome canopy. The interior
of the canopy was lined with sky-blue silk, and upon a
shield was the order of the garter, the royal arms, and
the arms of Prince Albert. The exterior was crimson,
surrounded and surmounted with a rich gilt cornice. At
each of the eight angles of the canopy was a plume of
white ostrich feathers, and round the sides were the