At Harwich, Hull, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Liverpool, Cornwall, Fort George, as well as in London and Edinburgh, recruiting for these companies was carried on very briskly. Recruiting at Dublin was also permitted; and some draftsmen from the Dublin Society School were, about this period, enlisted for the survey companies. The Military Asylum at Chelsea and the Hibernian School were likewise canvassed to procure eligible boys for training; but such was the circumscribed nature of the education imparted to the children at Chelsea, that of the number selected to join the companies, a few only were found that gave promise of future aptitude and usefulness; and of those who succeeded, none ever distinguished themselves by their talents. From the Hibernian School ten boys were received, all of whom were clever and intelligent; but one lad far outshone his comrades, and in time, by his zeal, extensive mathematical attainments, and varied acquirements, gained the highest position in the sappers on the survey. The person alluded to is Quartermaster William Young. The fourteenth company quitted Chatham for the survey, and landed at Belfast, its first head-quarters, on the 15th July. On the 26th September, a trial of the capabilities of the pontoons invented by Sir James Colleton, Colonel Pasley, and Major Blanshard, took place at Chatham in the presence of the Duke of Wellington; and the men of the corps employed on the occasion displayed much zeal, spirit, and activity. Sergeant Jenkin Jones was particularly praised for his conduct in managing the pontoons of Major Blanshard; and as the Master-General arrived a day earlier than was expected, and ordered at night the exhibition to take place the next morning, much of the success of the efforts in favour of the cylindrical pontoons is ascribed to the sergeant’s able and zealous arrangements and personal exertions. This induced Colonel Pasley to recommend sergeant Jones as a non-commissioned officer fit to be entrusted with any difficult or important detached duty, which might save the services of an officer. One private, William Berry, fell from a raft during the trial, and was drowned. Sergeant William Addison and second-corporal James White embarked at Portsmouth on board the ‘Despatch’ in November for the coast of Africa, and were employed under the direction of Captain R. Boteler, R.E., in surveying the British dependencies and forts at Sierra Leone and the Gold Coast. The corporal died on the service, and the sergeant landed at Portsmouth 10th August, 1826, and rejoined his corps.