The priests said that had it not been for our coming, a period of severe distress and suffering would probably have occurred. The crops had been devastated by the locusts, and the present drought would seriously affect the next harvest. Thanks, however, to the money which the English had distributed through the country in payment for cattle purchased by the commissariat, and for hay, wood, milk, &c., and for the hire of transport, the people were better off than usual; and therefore, with the exception of three or four dollars for the aged and infirm, they would decline with thanks General Napier’s gift. The Engineer Corps here have been very busy for the last few days practising signalling. The method used is Captain Bolton’s system, which is in use in the Royal Navy. The method in which these signals are managed on land is, however, less known, and is specially interesting, as it is the first time they have been used in actual warfare. The present is, indeed, a sort of experiment; and if it prove successful and useful, it is probable that the system will be generally introduced into the army. The Engineers are giving lessons in the art of signalling to soldiers of the 33d regiment, and will teach men of each regiment out here, so that the system may be fairly tested. The signals by day are conveyed by flags; there are white, white-and-black, and black, according to the alphabet or method to be used. A single wave to the right means one; two waves, two; and so on up to five; the remaining four numbers are made either by waves to the left or by combination of wavings to either side. These numbers, like the flags on board ship, refer to a number in a book with which each signalman is furnished. Let us suppose, for example, that a general situated upon rising ground wishes to signal to any given division of his army. He makes the signal, let us say, “five.” The signal is passed along by the line of signalmen to the fifth division, who all, by waving their flags, testify readiness. The signal is then passed, “1015.” This means, “move to the support of the fourth division,” which is instantly done without loss of time. Or the flags may be addressed to all the corps of the army; and the order, waved over thirty miles of country, might be, “Concentrate on the centre division.” It is, indeed, astonishing how much time would be gained by using this method instead of sending a score of aides-de-camp scouring all over the country. At night the signals are conveyed by means of flashing lights. These are extremely ingenious in their construction. The signaller, who is always accompanied by a companion with a signal-book, has a brass tube some eight feet long, at the extremity of which is a lantern; in this lantern a spirit-lamp burns; underneath this spirit-lamp is a receptacle in which is placed a powder composed of magnesium, resin, and lycopodium, very much like the mixture with which stage-carpenters produce lightning by blowing it through a candle.